East meets West

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Another day at sea today as we move from Athens to Istanbul in Turkey. Our path takes us through a narrow passage in the Dardanelles past the Gallipoli Peninsula. ANZAC cove is actually on the far side of the peninsula so we didn’t get to see it but we did go right past the modern city of Gallipoli. At the beginning of the passage is the ancient city of Troy but as we went past at about 4am, we didn’t manage to spot Brad Pitt or Eric Bana 😉

Em just wanted to go back to the kids club this morning so while she played there, we played Chinese checkers while watching the world go past out the panoramic windows at the front of the boat. It is still very overcast so there is not much of a view but we are close enough to the coast to see the small villages dotted along the shore.

As we are part of the Mariner’s Club with Holland America, we got an invite to the Captain’s Lunch today. After picking up Em, we got dressed a bit more smartly and headed to the formal restaurant. A lovely seafood lunch followed by a swim in the pool before we went up on deck to watch while the boat docked in Istanbul. The port authorities were being a bit difficult so it was a bit late by the time we were actually allowed off the boat but we wanted to test the entry procedures. The Turkish website said we needed visas for entry but there was no requirement as we went ashore – they didn’t even want to see our passports! At $60 each, we should have saved the money for a nice river cruise or something. Oh well, live and learn.

This is a city of over 17 million people and it spreads out along the coast for miles. We were cruising past apartments and industrial areas for about 45 minutes before entering the actual harbour. Traffic is pretty bad so we walked up and over the bridge near the port and found the river cruise terminal. A 2 hour round trip cruise costs just €10! Mind you, there was quite a queue… but it still beats the $140 river cruise offered on board the boat. As we returned to the boat, we found a whole shop dedicated to selling hundreds of varieties of Turkish Delight. Every colour and flavour was represented but we decided to save any purchases until tomorrow.

Back on board, it was Turkish Bazaar evening with traditional Turkish foods and live music by a local group brought aboard for the night. We tried some really delicious foods like Dolmes, flavoured rice in a cup of capsicum, followed by Turkish delight of course J

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