Day 22 – Istanbul is Constantinople…

Yes, they know the song. J

 

Like most days around here, it was cool, but at least the sun was shining.  The ship didn’t get to that part of Turkey until the afternoon, so we decided to make a ‘short day’ of it.  The pier, once again, offered no shortage of taxi drivers promising you anything for “a good price” (including iPads, Chanel #5 perfume, etc), but the Principal had done enough research to know that we just needed to get to the end of the pier and there would be a tram that would take us downtown.  Unfortunately, what we COULDN’T find was the thing to buy tickets to get ON the tram… so we walked.  And we walked.  And we walked.  We actually walked all the way from Asia to Europe.  Yep, Istanbul is the only city that spans 2 continents and if you cross the bridge, you’re on a new continent (it’s a large bridge).

The wares in Istanbul are a little different than in Greece & Rome.  They’ll still sell you anything ‘touristy’, but they’re known for several things… the spice market (a lot of it fake, especially the saffron, unless you know what you’re looking for), the apple tea (the locals don’t drink it, but they think the tourists love it) to go with the Turkish tea sets, and then the scarves.  LOTS of beautifully woven scarves.  These are not the “black burqa” muslims you might think about, these ladies wear bright colors.

Still, one thing we weren’t expecting were the stationery stores.  We must’ve ventured into a “corner” or something, b/c we counted no fewer than 14 stationery stores all within a 3 block stretch.  They all had beautifully calligraphied wedding invitations in the window and it wasn’t until we’d passed our 3^rd or 4^th in a row that we realized it must be a ‘thing’ in this neighborhood.

 

 

Speaking of bright colors. We ran into this interesting view just a few blocks along out walk from the ship to the bridge. It seemed odd at the time, but we later learned that this was the first in a series of what has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Part graffiti... part community beatification... part social protest (with any number of groups thinking it was for their cause.

 

 

 

 

 

We find our way through the old Spice Market and eventually on to the Grand Bazaar... and while it’s ‘busy’, it's not overwhelmingly crowded.  The Principal decides to buy me a nice scarf/shawl and while we’re in the booth (these are not ‘stores’, they’re booths - with many back rooms hidden through the tiniest alleyways) the man asks him, “Are they all yours?”  It’s a question I used to hear quite frequently when the kids were little, but not so much in recent years.  The Principal confess that, “Yes, they’re all ours.” At which point the man turns to me and says, “You had all these children?”  I’m not sure why that’s such a surprise, but, ‘Yes, they’re all mine, too.”  He then punches the Principal in the arm and says, “Congratulations!  We love big families!”  It was quite the experience for the Principal.  I don’t particularly feel like I have a ‘large family’, but it was cute to see the Principal’s expression on his face at the compliment.  It wouldn’t be the last time we heard it.

More walking and we meet up with BIL/SIL/DN were outside the Grand Bazaar taking a short rest from their purchasing.  We ventured in only to “see what it was like” and promised ourselves we’d come back tomorrow.

We DID figure out how to find tram tickets, and security at the tram indicated that 3 of the children would be free (it’s hard to read Turkish, even with the “English” lettering), but getting through the turnstiles 2 at a time proved to be a little tricky.  Still, it was nice taking a tram ALL the way back from Asia (or across town, if you’re feeling less dramatic).  It really did drop you off right near the dock… and we were back.  A couple of photos of the kids out in front of… well, something with a fountain on each side… and we’re done.

 

A side note here.  We realized on our journey back, Istanbul is a ‘dog city’.  In many of the cities that we’ve been in, the locals seem to allow either feral cats, or stray dogs.  Never both… but there are definite “Dog” cities… and “Cat” cities.  Rome is a “Cat city”.  They even have an entire center square near the ancient forum dedicated to housing these feral cats.  Apparently there are a couple of vets that go over and take care of them… it’s a bit odd, to tell you the truth.  San Gimignano is also a “Cat” city, as was Ephesus.  Athens was also a dog city.  In fact, they had signs all over the forums saying that the guests were invited NOT to pet the dogs that lived there.  Istanbul is a “dog” city.  In little park areas everywhere you could see 2 or 3 large dogs just lying in the sun.  There were a couple where you had to really look to see if they were breathing (they all appeared to be, just lazy).  Living in the US, it’s not a sight you see very often.  In all our travels we were never bothered by any of the animals, but it was interesting to take note of what the locals ‘tolerate’.  “Cat City” or “Dog City”… each one seemed to have a flavor.

Day 21 – Izmir… Ephesus… House of Mary & St. John’s Basilica

 

Generally speaking we are comfortable making our own arrangements for shore excursions and travel outings.  In thinking about it, we may have only ever done 1 shore excursion through a cruise company, everything else has been something we’ve arranged on our own.  That all said, MIL & The Principal made specific arrangements for a tour, transportation for 12, a guide… everything we’d need to get from the port to Ephesus & the House of Mary.  It was going to cost 45 Euro each… but as it was our only guided tour planned for the entire trip, we figured we’d splurge.

You know that with all that planning something was bound to go wrong. We exited the ship and looked for our tour who was nowhere to be found.  A phone call confirmed that our ride/guide wasn’t there and didn’t sound like he was coming.  There was either some glitch in the confirmation of the date/time… or he found a higher paying fare.  Regardless, we were all standing on the port with nothing to do.  However, don’t believe for a moment that that means there was no transportation to be had.  Nosiree.  Like every other port/tourist drop off spot, taxis ABOUNDED… all promising a better trip than the other guy with a better taxi, more knowledge of the area, better English… you name it, they could promise it. 

We’d felt a little disenchanted with the Greek taxis, but we needed something. The Principal, with a little prayer, found a young guy that spoke pretty good English AND he and “his brother” could transport the 11 of us (DN decided to stay in the kids’ area on the ship) in just 2 taxis for 280 Euro.  It wouldn’t be a guided tour, but it also wouldn’t mean we’d be stuck getting lunch at some hole-in-the-wall, AND we’d be able to get out to see St. John’s Basilica… AND it was going to be cheaper than the 495 Euro anyway.  Definitely worth it, so they shook hands and we piled into the taxis.

It’s a somewhat lengthy trip out to Ephesus, and I was starting to get a little concerned… but then we saw the sign that read “Efes” .  YEA!!  The House of Mary is at a higher elevation than “regular Ephesus”, so we opted to start higher and work our way down.  It would be easier for those that were having a little trouble walking.

If you haven’t heard the story of how they found the house, I would encourage you to read it.  While there wasn’t a “Mary, mother of Jesus, slept here” sign… the evidence seems pretty solid… and, at the very least, is very interesting.  It’s a very small, humble house, fairly secluded with a cistern accessible to animals, up and “out of the way” of Ephesus-proper.

The trip down to Ephesus put on display a very large port city with TWO theatres, apartments/townhouses… shops… working streets… a few temples.  You can distinguish the “old city” from the “newer parts” of the city, and they’re still excavating. 

 

 

 

 

Sitting in the shade you can just imagine Paul beginning a church down by the river, moving in to the city from the sea.  People meeting in their “house churches”… St. John staying there doing what he could for the fellow believers… all in a bustling heathen city that took in the troubles of the then modern day world.

Poor Flat Paul didn't draw as much of a crowd. :)

On an interesting note... perhaps the street vendors in Turkey are more honest than those in major cities in Rome? At least they're not pretending that those are real Rolex watches right?

Oh well... our hopes for honest dealing were squashed on the final walk back to the ship as we were offered brand new 64gb iPads for a mere forty euros! For those inclined to give it a try... the ship's crew calls them "iRocks"... because that's what's inside the sealed box. :)

 

Our last trip was out to see St. John’s Basilica which was a small church built upon the tomb of St. John.  When the emperor Justinian found out about it, he decided it wasn’t NEARLY good enough, so he built the Basilica, utilizing the altar of St. John’s tomb as part of the focal point. 

It’s rather poignant that last time I was able to see where Peter is believed to be buried… and this time we’ve seen Paul, and now John. It makes them all seem that much more “real”… they were born… they lived… served the Father… and then died.

The trip back to Izmir was rather uneventful, and we reboarded the ship all agreeing we’d done our fair share of walking for the day.  Tomorrow is Istanbul… or Constantinople… or even Byzantium.  Whatever you call it, it promises to be intriguing and educational.

Day 20  - The Acropolis & Areophagus

 

Today was a big day for Flat Paul.  He revisited the Acropolis... and Mars Hill (really Ares Hill … ie. Areophagus for the  Greeks).  It’s a noticeable climb, but the Greeks have done a better job of creating paths through the ruins… parts of it were even paved, or at least leveled out with a coarse aggregate concrete in places (and slick marble in others).

We had another Rick Steves audio tour and that definitely added to the mix.  For example, the Parthenon has been “being repaired” for more than 20 years… and it apparently only took the original Greeks 10 years to finish it the first time around.  Modern technology isn’t really helping them.  The gold statue of Athena had a full ton of gold on the surface of it.  The Principal did the math on how much that would cost in today’s dollars.  HOLY COW!  Talk about putting your money where your faith is.  Funny how pagans can be so dedicated.

The base of the monuments offered a MUCH better detour around the rather persistent taxi cab drivers/street vendors, so we opted to head down that way and end up taking the subway home.  Here is where we learn that Greek pickpockets are no less plentiful… and no better at their craft.

 

 

 

A group of 3 (1 man & 2 women) start pushing & shoving their way into the already pretty crowded metro train.  Not too unusual, but The Principal had to convince one of the women SEVERAL times that she was NOT going to get his wallet.  They quickly moved past me and I made sure they didn’t get to my purse either.  This clearly wasn’t going as they expected.  They left me behind and went through a noticeably LESS crowded area to get to the back where BIL was standing with DN.  The Principal made a motion indicating what was about to happen and BIL indicated he knew.  One of the women repeatedly went after his wallet… and BIL repeatedly thwarted her efforts with his walking stick… looking down, smiling & laughing at her the entire time.

The train stopped… the 3 of them exited… we had no further incidents.  It makes me wonder what would happen if they had random “air marshall” types.  These pickpockets make NO bones about what they’re doing… and yelling, “GET YOUR HAND OUT OF MY POCKET” does little to deter them.  I wonder what would happen if they suddenly had random citizens handcuffing them to the poles in the subway trains.  There IS security outside the trains… but inside… there are posters warning of pickpockets.  Funny how “violent crime” is extremely low… but “petty theft” is RAMPANT.  Very annoying for travelers.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly subdued for the adults.  We are clearly not in our 20’s anymore and so after lunch we opted to take a nap while the kids begged to go to the kids’ area.  The boys decided they wanted to have dinner with their new friends, but the requirement was a “shirt & tie” for the evening, and this was fine by them.  They were quite handsome in their dress up clothes while the other 4 of us ate at the regular dining room.  They’ve really managed so well getting around the ship on their own… making their scheduled activity times… making new friends… making good decisions… having a good time. 

Tomorrow is another big day for Flat Paul… we journey to Ephesus… and while I understand we won’t meet any real Ephesians… it should still be really cool!

Day 19 – Katakolon Greece (Olympia)

 

Well, given what we saw today… the Greeks don’t take as good care of their ruins as the Italians do (Editor's note - OTOH, Rome wasn't buried by centuries of alluvial and tsunami deposits).  We rode a bus to Olympia and after spending nearly 3 weeks in Italy where everything is written in a Latin-based language… this was very different.  It really WAS all Greek to me – LOL!  The Greeks don’t use the same alphabet… so you can’t really muddle through and piece together what you can recognize.  Some signs are translated into English, but most are not.  It adds a new dimension to our adventures.

The archaeological site is free for students, so we buy the other tickets and head in to look around.  There’s honestly not a lot there.  Some broken columns, some broken walls… some labeled signs with diagrams (etc)… but it’s hardly a HUGE historic site. 

We have only about 2 hours (or less) so we meander through the paths, and finally make our way to where the actual Olympics started.  The kids have a quick review lesson and run a race… sort of.  We find where the Zanes (plural for Zeus) stood.  We hadn’t known about those, but apparently if somebody was caught cheating, they were taxed and the money was used to fund a base & statue of a Zeus… labeled with the offender’s name and what they did.  There were 16 of these statues!  Some things never change.

It’s a short excursion.  It seems we were back on the bus and back at the ship early… lunch and a nice relaxing evening.  Tomorrow is going to be a BIG day.  We get to Athens… Mars Hill… the Parthenon (not the Pantheon – LOL)… very exciting.  Off to bed early tonight (no, I’m not going to the show). 

Day 18 – 1^st Day at Sea

A day at sea!  Other than visiting the actual destinations… I absolutely love days at sea.  The ships have SO many activities … and yet, sometimes taking a nice quiet nap is just what you want… and you’re not missing your planned destinations.  It also helps b/c we found out last night that, you guessed it, we’re losing ANOTHER hour.    Seriously??  Greece is in a different time zone… so, better to lose the hour and adjust on your day at sea than when you’re trying to arrange to meet a tourbus, catch a train ride, or some other formally scheduled activity.  Still… I hope this starts reversing itself soon.  I’m now 7 hours off from where I was a month ago.

We opt for a “quiet restaurant” over the buffet b/c even though the menu is much more limited, there is DEFINITE seating available and it’s much calmer. 

The girls ask to be checked in to the kids’ area and I tell them I’ll pick them up for lunch.  The boys, being teenagers, don’t get checked in… or out… they do their own thing.  Last night I saw them, and 5 other teens doing some sort of scavenger hunt all around the ship… and had a GREAT time.  They don’t want to miss a minute of the planned activities, including their “Teen Group Lunch”… so I wasn’t entirely sure when I’d get to see them.  Releasing this much control this fast is somewhat hard for somebody like me who is accustomed to juggling lots of balls at once… and always knowing where their children are (or at least are supposed to be).

Another walk around the ship, we view a group of chefs showing off their various skills from Sushi to Pastry.  I joined MIL and MIL2 for a “Trivia Competition” where we did “okay”, but hardly “fabulously”.  I’m not that good at “Pop culture” stuff.  Oh well, it was still fun.

Lunch was chaotic.  We opted for the “Regular Buffet” and the teens, while they all got their food there, ended up taking the food back to the teen room… so I just waved to the boys who waved back and told their friends, “Hey, guys, that’s my mom. Say ‘Hi’ to my mom”.  They all did.  They’re so goofy. J

The girls vault off with a new friend to take pictures as we pass through the Strait of Messina.  It’s the small strip of water that separates “the boot” of Italy from the “Ball being kicked by the Boot” known as Sicily.  Kind of a neat picture… goes along with our pictures of the Stromboli Volcano earlier this morning.  There WAS smoke that appeared to be coming from the volcano, but nobody seems concerned – apparently it has been erupting for about 2,000 years now.

The Principal opted to lie down for a nap. I journey out to find the girls and check them back in to the kids area.  I also purchased 2 lanyards for Boo Boo & Doodlebug for their Room Card keys which operate as their ID cards for entering/exiting the ship.  He doesn’t usually carry a wallet, and she doesn’t usually carry a purse like the other 2, so this will be well worth it.

After the evening meal, a number of the adults decide to see a show.  I’m not usually “up” for seeing a show… particularly a “song & dance” thing on board a glitzy cruise ship… but all the other adults want to go see it, so I venture in.  It could’ve been worse.  The show was called Shout! which, in my opinion, was a lot like CATS! … a lot of singing in search of a plot.  . (Editor's note - The Principal happens to be a fan of Cats and doesn't appreciate the comparison. :) ) Not exactly an hour of my life wasted… but stringing a lot of ‘60’s music together for no apparent plot really is lost on somebody born in the ‘70’s. The Principal sneaks off with the girls and finds some crepes and fondue - and a surprise waiting when they return to the room.

Day 17… we made it!

 

Well, they have embarkation/debarkation down to a science.  Luggage here, people there, sign here, walk there… and you’re in your room.  I have to say that, logistically speaking, when traveling with more than just a few people (and 12 DEFINITELY counts as more than a few) cruising is easier than most other travel options.  Room & Board are taken care of… everybody can “do their own thing” and not get (too) lost … and you still get to lots of different places without having to pack/unpack haul luggage through cities over ancient cobblestone streets.

 

 

 

Of course, gluttony can be a huge problem, too (though this photo is just a 4-year-old being a normal 4-year-old).  I have a “4 floor” rule when it comes to waiting for the elevators, so we get more exercise than some… making that 2^nd ice cream cone not as bad for you – LOL!  More and more people are traveling from a greater variety of places it seems… so the early announcements are made not only in English, but in Spanish, Italian & German… and then the Captain’s Welcome Announcement was made, by HIM, in all of those AND Japanese.  It certainly takes up air time filling the hallways, but it’s fun to figure out what you can understand… and what just sounds Greek – LOL!

Getting ready for supper

The 4 kids all have to be formally registered for the Children’s Programs… and since Boo Boo’s birthday was yesterday, he now qualifies to be in the Teen Room.  He’s BEYOND thrilled!  The girls are technically in the same room, but there is a 6-9 y.o. group of leaders, and a 10-12 group of leaders… and while they do a LOT of things together, sometimes the girls do different things.  DN is in his own 3-5 y.o. room and they have an entire program just for them.  Cruising companies are DEFINITELY taking an interest in families that travel b/c even in this “off season” time of year, there are 287 kids on board, and 84 teens.  Not all will take advantage of the kids programs… but they certainly are a lot of fun.

NCL does a “Freestyle” type of cruising that certainly has some advantages if you have a very flexible, highly variable sort of day… and that can certainly happen with vacations.  Others still do the “Seating times” for breakfast and dinner… which also has some advantages.  Regardless, the food abounds from multiple places on the ship, and that doesn’t even include the “upcharge” restaurants here on board.

Unpacking, getting organized, and taking a walk around the ship to get oriented takes a bit of time… and the kids clearly made some new friends at their “Intro Night” tonight… this will be fabulous. 

 

Oh... and some things never change. :)

 

Day 17 – Off to the CRUISE SHIP!

Our final leg of our journey is set to begin.  Since our train ride didn’t leave Florence until 9:30am, we didn’t need to have an ungodly wake up time. 

WHEW!  Breakfast turned out to be the 12 of us, and 250 or so high school/college students from all over the world.  Truly a worldwide experience.  No bacon & eggs this morning, we’re back to croissants with butter & cappuccino/hot tea.  The kids WERE able to find a small cup of milk (I have NO idea why milk is not a ‘go to breakfast drink’ in this country??) and we started our trek to the train station. 

 

What to do when the seats face backwards?

Five people chose a taxi for themselves & luggage, The Magic Homeschool Bus + FIL opted for the adventure of hiking the mile or so through the streets which isn’t difficult in Florence because they have designated streets AND sidewalks… not areas that act as both… plus parking areas for anything with wheels.  Have I mentioned that Florence really is more organized than much of the other places we’ve stayed?

 

 

 

 

 

The trains almost always run on time (thank you Mussolini)… and we easily make our connection to Rome.  Making the transfer, however, promises to deliver more challenges as we have to get 12 people, all their luggage OFF this train, across at least 1 terminal (likely 2) and up/down escalators… (or, since this is Rome, likely stairs).  Thankfully there are several options over the 90 minutes after we arrive, and our tickets are good for any of them.  All will get us to the ship on time. J

 The last train is really a local commuter train, so there isn't much luggage space... but our nephew loves the idea of sitting alone in his "fort".