Cruising the islands 20th -23rd May

We bade farewell to our marvellous Turkish guides at the Port of Kusadasi as he handed us over to another guide. We were all sorry to leave him as he was such a good guide - intelligent, witty, knowledgeable, knowing the measure of the group and constantly engaging on a professional and personal level. He was not afraid to give us a realistic account of the current political and economic situation and happy to engage in discussion. We all looked on him as a favourite son!!
Check in at the ship was seamless and we had access to our cabins straight away. One of the very good aspects of the tour was the porterage of luggage - no bags to carry or manoeuvre as they were taken to and from our rooms, 
The ship was large but not like the behemoth docked beside us, 4000 passengers and all going more or less to the same sites!! We were very impressed with the interior of the ship - clean, bright, spacious with little sense of the crowds except at the lifts - we used the stairs mostly craving for opportunities for exercise! Three magnificent meals a day with a great choice and lots of fruit and vegetables,  plus, of course a myriad of cakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Hard to resist at times!! We sailed at 1pm for Patmos arriving there at 4pm. Transport to the island was by tender and was scheduled to take at least an hour. We declined the visit and decided to attack our colds and fatigue with rest. 
The following day we opted out of the tour of the island and the Grerk ruins as it was a very early start and instead went independently to visit the lovely town ship of Rhodes which had attractive lanes and architecture and some classy tourist shops - quality merchandise and not expensive.
Views of Rhodes and the ship. 
The following day we visited Crete and the city of Heraklion and agsin took off independently for a walk around the town ' not as pretty as Rhodes but we found a good pharmacy for some cold medicine and a Starbucks so we could get the WiFi!! Awful coffee but good WiFi!! 

Heraklion, quite ordinary but functional!

Later in the day we approached Santorini and planned to visit by tender and walk the 480 steps yo the top, despite the weariness of the cold. As we approached the caldera and the massive rock that is the island we were transfixed by the geology and the elusive town perched on  top, almost touching the sky. It is a marvel to behold and and emitted an air of magical unreality - the spell we had no desire to to shatter by going with the masses and the 4000 passengers from the other cruise ship to climb the steps and be enveloped by the throng! Instead, we stayed on the empty ship, swam in the pool, and continued to marvel at the sight in front of us. It seems Santorini merits a separate visit at another time.
Santorini and the steps leafing up to the top. 
The fascinating rocky layers on the cliff. 
The following day we arrived at the Port of Lavrion on the Greek mainland to start our week's tour of Greece.

Popular posts from this blog

Turkiye

We arrived on Friday last and have been on the go almost every minute of the day, so a detailed post will be delayed. Briefly, we saw amazing sights in Instanbul, visited Gallipoli and had a very thorough lecture on the disastrous landing and ensuing battles, and today visited Troy. We are now in Izmir and leave for Cappadoccia tomorrow.
Read more

Hagia Sophia

Image
The famous Hagia Sophia was built in the earlier Byzantine (Christian ) era and was destroyed by the invading Ottomans and later by the earthquake of 1346. It was restored by Mehmed the Conquerer in 1357 and converted to a mosque. There are many frescoes dating from the Byzantine period in evidence adding to the splendour of this magnificent building which words alone fail to describe. Hagia Sophia - some interior photos to follow. Evidence of Christian period. Our visit to this cultural magnificence was followed by something more mundane - a turkish delight and baklava tasting! What a selection and so delicious!! The generous sampling satisfied us as lunch and then we went to see the underground cisterns huch were the original water storage facilities and vaste!! Under ground water cisterns. We next visited the Grand Bazaar and did not get lost!!  Some photos!  So many stores with ceramic and ...
Read more

Middleton by Youlgreave 7th -21st June

Image
Settled in on the Saturday and on Sunday took our first walk to the next village-  Youlgreave . There is a footpath all the way which makes for easy dry walking. In the afternoon we felt a bit more adventurous and took to the recommended walk from the village. First part was on a path and dry, despite the occasional shower but then we were directed oner the fields first part OK  but then we walked through knee high very wet grass, through a field with very curious but friendly horses and finally back on the road. By that stage we were wet through - so no more fields of grass after rain! On the Monday we visited Bakewell and Buxton. On the road to Bakewell, we were following a fast tractor pulling a horse/cow/farm animal box, heading for the market. When we got close to town we saw many, many such vehicles parked as it was the livestock market!! We were disappointed with the farmers'  market as there was only one vege stall, and so many more selling clothes etc. We found t...
Read more