Venice - Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th September

Spent time in Venice again.

Tuesday was spent wandering the streets, crossing small & large canals and getting lost. We had a lovely lunch (chicetti-like tapas) at a small foodie restaurant off one of the main streets about 600 metres from our apartment. 

Dinner was held in the apartment with some prosciutto, cheese & crusty bread matched with prosecco & wine all  picked up at the local spa (super mercato) for about €40.

After dinner we wandered around the streets and waited for our ship to leave the port, it was a spectacular sight to see the Regal Princess (all 17+stories) move down the Grand Canal...making the palaces look small. We were all a little sad that we were not on board.  Walked back to our apartment through St Marco's square after midnight, it was quiet on the streets, except for the refugees selling Gucci handbags...we all had a great sleep.

Our apartment was located between vaporetta (water ferry) stations...a great location. The building was probably 500 years old & looked onto a small canal. Even when we had the windows closed we could here the sweet serenading of touristas sailing past in the gondolas.

Wednesday we headed to Murano, the home of everything glass and Burano, the home of everything lace.

In Burano we went to one of Bern and Steve's regular haunts when they are in Venice. The restaurant was called Il Gatto Nero (the black cat) and it served some fantastic fresh seafood. The owner looked after us very well. The food was excellent and we enjoyed some lovely wine and finished with a top class lemoncello. First one for the trip. Brought back some fond memories for Janine.

Good to finish off the trip with some nice food...

When we finished our feast we headed back on the ferry to Murano and wandered around the streets of the island. Bern was able to grab some nice glass items and then we headed back to Venice after a quick spritzer (aperol & soda) each.

That's our last night of our adventures as we head out to Milan in the morning then fly to Australia that evening.

We hoped you enjoyed our blog and our apologies for being a bit slack when on the boat.

Ciao for now!!

Steps: Tuesday 15,545 Wednesday 13,895 

Venice - Monday 22nd September

Arrived this morning in Venice cruising down the Grand Canal. Got some great snaps of the city from 14 stories high. Due to the fact we had both starboard and port cabins we we're able to alternate between them to get the best view of what was happening.

Once the boat manoeuvred into it's position, we had some breakfast and headed out to see a bit of Venice.

A magical city with lots of bridges and lots of streets to get lost in. Which we did many times.

This will be our last night on the ship so we may have to have a few celebratory drinks.

 

Steps: 13,770

At sea - Sunday 21st September

Spent a lazy day on the ship travelling from Athens to Venice.

Caught up on the blog and relaxed.

Had a lovely dinner at Sabatinnis that night but once again ate too much. Cased in our casino chips as this was the last night of sailing so the casino would be closed once we hit Venice.

Steve & Tony had another bike race with plenty of sweat dripping on the floor from both of them.

Steps: 8,340 plus a 8 km bike ride in the gym

Piraeus - Saturday 20th September

We arrived in Athens very early in the morning. A little pressed for time and we may be becoming a little ruined out. By time we got to brekkie most of the others on board had bolted and were running around Athens. We decided to hit the new museum that has been set up to maintain the artefacts from the pantheon. It was fantastic and week worth the trip. 

On board there are lectures provided on each destination (live & on the TV) we are fast becoming fans of Julio Delgado...as he provides useful tips (like taking old shoes to the mosque)...his advice about Greek road rules...' The traffic lights are just ornamental'

Sunday 21st...a day at sea. We are travelling up the back of the Italian boot, passing Albania,   Bosnia &  Herzegovina, Montenegro & Croatia. Tis a very humid day that will be spent by the pool. It us formal night on the boat so we are putting on our Sunday best & heading to the Italian restaurant Sabitini's...when being photographed together will need to use the panoramic view...

Observations: amazingly we are still seeing people on board that we have never seen before yet other individuals keep re appearing...the muscled up Cockney bloke with no neck and no leg muscles (bit like a tanned squid), the red haired tacky twins wearing soooo much jewellery and make up they would sink if they fell, or were pushed, overboard...which could happen as they have been seen to jump the queues on more than one occasion- but we are not too sure which one to point the finger at. There is also the midriff bearer...seen numerous times at the bread basket in white shorts size 20...when she is clearly a size 26....then there is us...of course we are well proportioned, well dressed and have impeccable manners....

Steps :11,991

Kusadasi - Friday 19th September

Our sister and friend Maryanne died this morning after a long illness. A very sad start to the day. We are happy she is now at peace. RIP

Had a champagne toast to her and John and Chris.  We will miss her dearly. 

Kusadasi is a port we had not heard of but it turned out to be a real highlight. We were picked up at the port by Mray who was an exceptional tour guide with his vast knowledge of Turkey & fantastic sense of humour kept us interested all day. We visited the ancient city of Ephesus and the House of Virgin Mary. Once a thriving Port (3000 years ago) Ephesus is a mass of ruins (not all excavated as yet) and you can imagine the grandness of the city...marble streets (which were heated through a system of hot water pipes), temples, an arena (gladiator fights...& the best way to judge the size of the city...by type number of seats), the library & the public latrines (you sat side by side doing your ablutions...no toilet paper (some things have not changed!) however you used a sponge on a stick to clean your nether regions you used a sponge on a stick...which you rinsed for the next person!!! 

Mray pointed out many sites including a Statue of Nike which provides a good photo opportunity...Mray tells people wanting to take a photo to 'just do it'...we thought it was funny at the time. 

Our second stop was the house of Virgin Mary, she came here when she was 'very old' (probably younger than most cruisers) after fleeing from Bethlehem (for her own safety post the crucifixion...AD) it is said to be Mary's final resting place. A modest dwelling in lush surrounds...Mary chose this place for the natural spring...location, location location even in early AD!

We also stopped at a cooperative that showcased Turkish carpets. After a demonstration on silk production, rug making knotting techniques and a very informative lecture on the different qualities of rugs we drank tea, raki (ouzo) and walked on the most luxurious carpets...Steve made himself at home & rolled around on the rugs...

Steps :10,109

Istanbul - Thursday 18th September

Istanbul...20 million people came out to greet us...it was busy & chaotic & the only overcast and rainy day we have had. We visited the Blue mosque which was incredible. We kept our shoes in a plastic bag due to advice from the travel advisor on board that we should wear old shoes and we could change our shoes on the way out for better ones. We were afraid some go the other visitors may have had the same intention. 

Christian & Muslim. The church of Sofia - Christian for centuries and then overnight Muslim when Fatih Selmet rode in and took over the city. The church/mosque is now a museum showing Christian and Muslim artefacts together. A bit like having two bob each way. 

The Grand Bazaar which is very bizarre...6000 shops most advertising 'genuine fakes'...talk about consummate salesmen...

Steps :15,826

Mykonos - Wednesday 17th September

Magical Mykonos...lots of boats, ships, shops & people!!

It is like walking through a Greek calendar,  with winding stone paths, white walls everywhere, blue doors, colourful bougainvilleas dripping from balconies, (mostly) interesting shops and restaurants around every bend serving fresh seafood & ouzo...

Within 5 minutes of getting off the ship Stavros Smith was asked where the ATM was...obviously he was looking too much like a local! Later that day Stavros went to the barber & had a shave...On return to the boat, security did a double take as the clean shaven version didn't quite match the photo identity.

Also within 5 minutes of arriving on shore Janine & Bern had made some purchases...a nice frock for Janine & a colourful top for Bern. Very good shopping from trinkets to gold (we did the former)

Steps :16,626