Friday, August 31, 2012
This just in
We just booked our rooms for next year - Venice to Rome! There's going to be a Mediterranean, Part 3!
Istanbul
Istanbul. Well, the sail-in was quite stunning. Istanbul is separated by the Bosphorus Strait - on one side is the continent of Europe and on the other side is the continent of Asia. You see many Mosques and very picturesque buildings. We did book a tour for this stop. We were to see the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. Overall it was WAY to crowded, particularly at the palace. Part of the issue is that there were 4 cruise ships in port at the same time so it made it super crowded. The palace has four different areas, each behind the other and each with only one entrance - which I'm sure was originally for protection. There were thousands of people there, all trying to move back and forth between the four areas. For my geek friends, it was like trying to move 1 Gig of data through an RS232-C serial port. AHHHHHHHHHH! Each level had more gardens - which couldn't be enjoyed because so many people were there - and then we had to squeeze through the opening to get out. Ray does not like crowds (neither do I - but he has a worse time than I do) and it really kinda freaked him out. On top of it, the guide was not very fluent in English and had a significant accent. Plus she really wasn't paying attention to the group - she just charged forward not seeing how difficult it was to keep up with her. We got to one destination and she was surprised to find that some people got lost along the way. Really?! She used an umbrella so we could find her - I nicknamed her the Mary Poppins from Hell.
After the palace, we were supposed to have free time to go to the Grant Bazaar (can you say more crowds?!) and lunch if we wanted. Well, the four of us opted for lunch! We found this quiet place on a side street - the staff were great and they suggested this platter of Pizza and Kebap (which I heard as kebabs - as in skewers). We said fine - and expected a small pizza and some skewers. The picture shows what came out - not only was the food delicious, it was a work of art in food! Roast Lamb, Chicken, vegetables - it was a nice hour and a half.
We did walk past the Grand Bazaar entrance - but none of us are really big shoppers. After lunch we went to the Blue Mosque - Ray was expecting Navy Blue and it's more of a Delph China blue. It's very pretty and very large - and was less crowded. We were going to go back into town for dinner, but none of us wanted deal with it so we just stayed on the boat.
The next morning, Tenon and I decided to get off the boat and walk around a bit - seemed a shame to be in Istanbul and stay on a cruise ship. What we saw in our hour walk was a modern city (including an electronic parts store which of course immediately peaked my interest), with very nice people. We saw some great looking restaurants - and kind of regretted not doing dinner there since we'd heard so many people say how good the food was. One thing we noticed is that a number of the restaurants had a space set up for what was basically a pot of charcoal - and they cook your food tableside. Unfortunately since it was morning, they were just getting the charcoal going, but we didn't see any examples.
I think we may have misjudged Istanbul because of the initial crowds. Next time I'd skip the touristy places and opt for something that was more local culture. Also - we didn't make it to the Asian side and that's something I would have liked to have seen.
After the palace, we were supposed to have free time to go to the Grant Bazaar (can you say more crowds?!) and lunch if we wanted. Well, the four of us opted for lunch! We found this quiet place on a side street - the staff were great and they suggested this platter of Pizza and Kebap (which I heard as kebabs - as in skewers). We said fine - and expected a small pizza and some skewers. The picture shows what came out - not only was the food delicious, it was a work of art in food! Roast Lamb, Chicken, vegetables - it was a nice hour and a half.
 |
| Blue Mosque |
 |
| Lunch! |
 | |
| Mary Poppins from Hell |
 |
| Sail In |
 |
| Sail In |
We did walk past the Grand Bazaar entrance - but none of us are really big shoppers. After lunch we went to the Blue Mosque - Ray was expecting Navy Blue and it's more of a Delph China blue. It's very pretty and very large - and was less crowded. We were going to go back into town for dinner, but none of us wanted deal with it so we just stayed on the boat.
The next morning, Tenon and I decided to get off the boat and walk around a bit - seemed a shame to be in Istanbul and stay on a cruise ship. What we saw in our hour walk was a modern city (including an electronic parts store which of course immediately peaked my interest), with very nice people. We saw some great looking restaurants - and kind of regretted not doing dinner there since we'd heard so many people say how good the food was. One thing we noticed is that a number of the restaurants had a space set up for what was basically a pot of charcoal - and they cook your food tableside. Unfortunately since it was morning, they were just getting the charcoal going, but we didn't see any examples.
I think we may have misjudged Istanbul because of the initial crowds. Next time I'd skip the touristy places and opt for something that was more local culture. Also - we didn't make it to the Asian side and that's something I would have liked to have seen.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Mykonos and Santorini
 |
| Bill & Tenon in Santorini |
 |
| Bill - the Chief Editor-in-Queen |
 |
| Gay Cruise! |
 |
| Pelican Shopper |
 | |
| All White Buildings |
 |
| Pelican Shopper |
 | |
| Mykonos Welcome from Harbor |
The streets in Mykonos (and Santorini, actually) are a labrynity - this was basically to keep pirates from being able to find their way around their city. As a result - it feels a little Disneyesque. As we were wondering the streets, we noticed an interesting shopper just ambling along as if he/she were one of the crowd. It was a pelican! Ray sound out loud how he didn't realize how ugly the birds were while standing in front of it - and I of course responded something to the effect 'Dear, be kind - he might here you'...which is basically how I act around Babe - assuming that all animals speak English...of course we're in Greece, so it didn't understand a word he said anyway since obviously it's only fluent in Greek! LOL
We went to be fairly early, but the 'boys' were out to party in Mykonos and apparently there are ongoing infrastructure problems in Greece. Apparently the power went out on the whole island for an hour right in the middle of the party. Oh dear, that didn't go well!
Santorini was fine- it was very similar to Mykonos, but MUCH hotter for some reason.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Accidents Happen Everyday
Our last night in Rome before the cruise were were quietly sitting having pizza and wine, when a Taxi cab careened off the street and high a light pole right in front of the restaurant. Fortunately no one was hurt - but it did make for some excitement! I was quite impressed with how quickly the Italian police were on the scene.
We were sitting in a lounge area of the hotel afterwards and this random group of people from England stopped by with three bottles of wine - seems they had been upstairs celebrating someone's 40th birthday when roof top bar closed. It was a little random and bizzare - but fun!
Yesterday was the first of our days at sea. I slept until Noon - it felt wonderful...of course we didn't go to bed until like 3am. WAY later than I ever stay up. Celebrity has upgraded the beds on this ship I think. Usually the beds are 'ok' - but this is really comfortable.
Car accident
Random people stopping by
We've just pulled in to Mykonos, Greece. We're here until 4am this morning so the party boys can stay out late tonight. We've heard so many fun things about this place - we actually decided not to take a tour and instead are going to leisurely walk into town and find some place to have dinner. When we first pulled in, Tenon (who works for Home Depot) said - this looks like the perfect place to open a paint store! LOL. I'll post a picture eventually, but in the mean time see if you can guess why he would say that.
We were sitting in a lounge area of the hotel afterwards and this random group of people from England stopped by with three bottles of wine - seems they had been upstairs celebrating someone's 40th birthday when roof top bar closed. It was a little random and bizzare - but fun!
Yesterday was the first of our days at sea. I slept until Noon - it felt wonderful...of course we didn't go to bed until like 3am. WAY later than I ever stay up. Celebrity has upgraded the beds on this ship I think. Usually the beds are 'ok' - but this is really comfortable.
Random people stopping by
We've just pulled in to Mykonos, Greece. We're here until 4am this morning so the party boys can stay out late tonight. We've heard so many fun things about this place - we actually decided not to take a tour and instead are going to leisurely walk into town and find some place to have dinner. When we first pulled in, Tenon (who works for Home Depot) said - this looks like the perfect place to open a paint store! LOL. I'll post a picture eventually, but in the mean time see if you can guess why he would say that.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Collesseum
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Well, we've made it to Rome!
The trip was fairly uneventful - it was pretty bumpy flight on the way over, but other than that the flight was fine - and actually about an hour early.
Bill and Tenon were scheduled to be about an hour later than we were, so we were expecting to have to wait around for them for two hours - but as it turned out they were early also.
The hotel that we are staying at has been really good about emailing back and forth about our accomodation - they arranged the pickup service. Just before we left I got a 'Welcome to Rome' email just letting us know current weather and that were looking forward to seeing us. They saw that the flight came in early and actually called to ask if we were ready (we weren't, Bill and Tenon weren't here yet). The driver appeared about an hour after they called, really just as we were all ready to go.
When we arrived at the hotel (like about 9am) obviously our rooms weren't ready, so we walked around a bit, and then went up to the hotel rooftop garden and bar to have lunch. The waitress called and check on our room about 12:30 and they were ready, so we got into the room early. Turns out internet is complimentary, as is the mini-bar (!). They gave us a really nice kind of general welcome/ introduction to everything, had our bags waiting for us at our rooms, and then about 5 minutes after we got into the room, a tray of wine and snacks arrived, compliments of the hotel. I am completely blown away by the hospitality.
Hotel Aartemide
So having taken a nap, we're off to explore a bit. We' supposed to be 15 minutes from the Trevi Fountain and not far from the Coliseum. I'm sure dinner and wine will be in there somewhere. I expect to return to my tradition (can you make a tradition in 2 years?) of trying Spaghetti Carbonara !
The trip was fairly uneventful - it was pretty bumpy flight on the way over, but other than that the flight was fine - and actually about an hour early.
Bill and Tenon were scheduled to be about an hour later than we were, so we were expecting to have to wait around for them for two hours - but as it turned out they were early also.
The hotel that we are staying at has been really good about emailing back and forth about our accomodation - they arranged the pickup service. Just before we left I got a 'Welcome to Rome' email just letting us know current weather and that were looking forward to seeing us. They saw that the flight came in early and actually called to ask if we were ready (we weren't, Bill and Tenon weren't here yet). The driver appeared about an hour after they called, really just as we were all ready to go.
Hotel Aartemide
So having taken a nap, we're off to explore a bit. We' supposed to be 15 minutes from the Trevi Fountain and not far from the Coliseum. I'm sure dinner and wine will be in there somewhere. I expect to return to my tradition (can you make a tradition in 2 years?) of trying Spaghetti Carbonara !
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Getting Started
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)