Whole day in the Holy Land - Wed 29th April

Our tour guide, Adrian, who packed so much information into one day

Lutheran church built in honour of the Kaiser. Some say the dome on top resembles the German WW1 helmet

young Hassidic jews walking past the statue of King David

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The laying out stone

Inside the Church of all Nations

Israeli soldiers in a friendly cluster

Olive trees at the Garden of Gethsemane

Hassidic school children at the Wailing wall

Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The queue for the burial site

In the queue for the Wailing wall

Site of the Last Supper... maybe

View over Mount of Olives

The entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Our day in Jerusalem was long, hot  (35 degrees plus) and very busy.  Our guide, an expat Brit from Manchester, was full of beans and information that he was eager to share   It was enough to put my mind in a spin.  Vaughan was right in his element though; he really loves his ancient history.
Jerusalem is not like an insect in amber: frozen in time. In many ways it is just another middle eastern city with traffic jams and ugly apartment blocks that look remarkably similar to each other.  But it has layers of history going back thousands of years, complicated by conflicting religious interpretations of texts and capitalisation of  biblical locations, then mix that all up with international politics. 
Not only that, there is dispute among church scholars about the true location of the Last Supper, the site of the Crucifixion and Jesus' tomb and at least three possible sites for the Garden of Gethsemane.  We visited the one at the Church of All Nations and saw what MIGHT have been an olive tree old enough to be there at the time of Christ.
Some of these 'holy' sites, such as Christ's tomb, which is presumed to be inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, have been altered beyond all recognition by those who wish to worship them.   We actually got more of an idea of how the tomb might have looked when we visited the Syrian section of the same church.  (There are six different Christian denominations running it) than by queuing for two hours to see a marble shrine erected 200 years ago on it.


Our individual highlights included:
Vaughan
1 The visual impact of the Church of All nations (next to the Garden of Gethsemane)
2 The Davidson historical interpretation centre near the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall showed the history of the region very well
3 Getting free wi fi at the Olive  Branch hotel where we had our lunch.  (We've been having trouble accessing the internet for several days)

Cheryl
1Buying myself a silver and gold Jerusalem Cross at a store on the Via Dolorosa.  A very appropriate memento, I thought.
2 People watching at the Western wall:  a school of Hassidic (ultra -orthodox) Jewish school children following their teachers, an Indian Muslim family including a little boy in traditional dress carrying a modern back pack, the group of female Israeli National Service soldiers clustering around each other taking selfies- and carrying their automatic weapons as casually as handbags, and watching people slowly backing away from the Wailing wall.
3The Cardo Maximus, the main street of the market with their narrow alleys so crammed with stalls selling absolutely everything that we were reduced to single file in several spots.  Thank Heavens we had a guide bringing up in the rear or who knows where we'd have finished up.  One thing that was missing here was the haranguing from stall holders to come buy- which we appreciated. 

The day was intense and we fought against dehydration, full bladders and information overload, but it was a fascinating glimpse at one of the most culturally significant places on the planet.

Thursday was a sea day and we took things very easily today:  attending a lecture about our upcoming ports and a talk about Mediterranean art.  Friday will see us at anchor in the caldera of the volcano that forms  the island  of Santorini.  I'm really looking forward to visiting this one.

A stroll around the walled city of Rhodes 27th April

Tugboat taking us into Rhodes

Rhodes Windmills viewed from the ship

One of the gates into Rhodes

Medieval fountain

See the coat of arms above the door.

Cafe in the trees

Ruined church inside the gate

Rhodes
We had breakfast on deck overlooking the port of Rhodes, and I can tell you it is a lovely way to start the day - so long as the sun is shining like it was today.  I've taken to bringing my camera to breakfast now, as the views over the last two days have been magical.  Today I caught a glimpse of dolphins frolicking at the stern of a luxury yacht moored alongside.  The sea is a glorious blue and very still.  We couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions for our independent walk around the old walled town of Rhodes.

Rhodes is famous for its strategic location between Asia, Africa and Europe and has been a trading centre for centuries.  More recently it was famous for the Knights of St John building and defending a fortress here for three and a half centuries during the Crusades, before famously relocating to Malta.

What struck us was the integrity of the thick walls that surround the city and their finely carved turrets and gates, and the windmills at the port. 
There is a mosque occupying the higher ground in the centre of the town - and perhaps significantly,  there is a ruined Christian church near one of the gates.

The Street of the Knights still has many of its buildings intact and some depict the coats of arms of the different European nationalities in the order.
We visited a museum housed at the Palace of the Grand Masters located at the upper end of the Street of the Knights, which was full of ancient archeological treasures, mosaic'd floors and medieval religious paintings.

Sokrates street runs parallel to this street and it is full of merchants selling the usual tourist fare and urging you to come buy.  We resisted ... mostly.  We did see some beautiful jewellery stores, but we limited ourselves to buying some t shirts and gifts for friends and family instead.  We have to pace ourselves though  This is only our second port and there are heaps to go.

Since we'd had a very substantial breakfast,  we  didn't bother having lunch ashore and kept going until around 3pm when we stopped for gelati then a coffee in a shop that was literally built around two trees.  Feeling footsore, we decided it was time to return to the ship.  It was lovely to have a cold drink waiting for returning guests at the gangplank.  We have to carry our ID card with us at all times and they do a visual check every time we leave and return to the ship.   It might seem like a pain but it meant that we were able to leave port a little earlier than scheduled since everyone was back on board ahead of time.

We realised we were  just in time for the afternoon trivia contests and then tried to snaffle a washing machine before dinner.  We had no luck with either unfortunately and our pile of dirty laundry grows daily. 

There is a choice of dining on board.   Two involve a surcharge and we don't plan to frequent them often - if at all.   The other two are the a la carte restaurant on level 5 and the buffet on level 9.  Each day the buffet's theme changes.  Tonight it was Vietnamese while yesterday's was Turkish.  Tomorrow's will be Japanese.   The quality of the food is excellent in both restaurants and they prepare everything from scratch.  House wine and beer are free with meals, which means you only pay for non house wine and spirits in the dining room.   If we wanted anything more than soft drinks, tea coffee or juice at other times we would have to pay for it.
It's a pretty good deal actually - especially as we were allowed to bring our own duty free grog onboard (to drink in our cabin)  I quite enjoy a limoncello on ice out on the balcony, or while I'm writing this.

Tomorrow we visit Paphos in Cyprus: population 1 million.  It's strange to think this tiny dot in the Mediterranean has twice the population of Tasmania in a fraction of the space.  More about our adventures tomorrow - and perhaps we'll get our washing done too!

At the House of Dionysus

At the House of Dionysus

One of the lesser tombs at the Tomb of Kings

The five domed Byzantine church. No photos allowed

Paphos, Cyprus.  28th April

Cyprus is a divided country.  The northern part is Turkish and the southern, Greek.  We were at anchor off the southern coast at Paphos, which has been a UNESCO site since 1988.  It is the third largest city in Cyprus and is famous for its archeological sites.

It was a late arrival- at about 10am -so we made good use of the time available and managed to put a load of washing through the ship's washing machine.  We hung it out on our balcony, confident that today's hot weather would have it dry by the time we returned this afternoon.

Today's arrangements meant we had to be tendered ashore to meet our tour buses.  Each tender holds about 150 people and were dropping off and picking up people every quarter hour.  With only 6 hours ashore we had to make sure we were back in time to catch the last shuttle at 3:30pm.

We visited three sites: the House of Dionysus, a five domed Byzantine 11th Century church and the Tomb of the Kings.  Our guide, a lovely Cypriot girl, took us through all of them.  Although the Tombs were quite interesting, the highlights for me were the frescoes in the church that were as bright and vivid as the day they were painted centuries ago and the beautiful mosaic floors at the House of Dionysus, representing many Greek fables.    She told us several of them, with not a happy ending among  them, but it was the detail and movement in the images on the floors that took my breath away.  I wished I'd gotten more pictures but I thought, wrongly, that I would be able to buy plenty of  postcards as a memento.
Once back at the ship - returning on  the second last tender for the day - we had a late lunch poolside with some friends, then relaxed in our cabin (after folding the now-dry washing. Woo hoo!)

Tomorrow we arrive in Ashdod, Israel- and will be going through some strenuous passport control on board ship.  We've also been advised to dress conservatively.  I noticed many tourists in Cyprus wore skimpy - even strapless- dresses.  (Some will be seriously sunburned after today too as it was about 28 degrees and there wasn't a lot of shade.)  I guess that's the kind of apparel the Israelis want to avoid.  I think I'll be OK in a T-shirt and jeans even if the weather is expected to be in the thirties.  Ashdod will be our southernmost port ( ie hottest) until we reach Tangiers towards the end of the cruise. 

Kusadasi and Ephesus

This carving of the goddess Nike is due to be removed and displayed in a museum very soon.

The amazing two story libarary, which was until recently, under a carpark

Divot holes in the marble to prevent slipping

The secret Christian sign

My luxury purchases: silk pashmina and a lambs leather jacket

Today's weather is a vast improvement on yesterday's.  Our guides have told us that we have picked the right time to be here too.  In a few weeks the temperatures will be climbing into the 40s.  Today's weather was was a far more reasonable mid twenties:  scarcely a breeze and no clouds.

Today's morning tour took in two cities:  Kusadasi is known for its holiday resorts and shopping for: silk goods, leather, jewellery and carpets, while neighbouring Ephesus is famous for  its massive Greco Roman ruins which are being excavated and preserved by archeologists.   Approximately 10% has been uncovered and other parts are known to be under a nearby mountain and the relocated bus park (the bus park was originally located over the remains of the two storey library)  This ten percent is still larger than what is visible at Pompeii in Italy.

Ephesus once had a population of 250 thousand but now only houses archeologists and tourists.  It was once a port but is now 12 km inland. The resulting swampland was perfect for malaria bearing mosquitoes and not so good for its other inhabitants.  After several sackings and one too many earthquakes, the city was was finally abandoned in the 15th. Century.

It was fascinating to see how well preserved some of the ruins carvings are and our guide was truly exceptional.  Our group was very lucky to have him as he was able to tell us tidbits that made the history come alive eg many of the marble paving stones have divots carved out of them to prevent people slipping on them in wet weather.  He also showed us the cryptic sign Christians used between each other in a  hostile environment. 

We saw a wonderful carving of the goddess Nike in the open air, which is about to be relocated to a museum within a few days.   The Grand Theatre  nearby has been used recently for concerts by Elton John,  Barry Manilow and Sting.  The seats are stone, but we gather people sat on cushions.

Leaving the site felt like we were running the gauntlet as we were accosted by people selling us postcards, books, Turkish delight and bookmarks.  I couldn't get aboard the bus fast enough as they tried to bargain with me.

Our guide showed us three sites in all.  The first was the house where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have spent her last years, which is on the top of a hill in a peaceful garden.  It is tended by nuns from Rome and three Popes have visited it in recent years:  Popes Paul VI, JP II and Benedict.

The last site was a very tourist oriented place with souvenirs and a mock gladiator battle playing every 20 minutes. 

At the end of the morning our guide showed us where we could spend our money at reputable stores in Kusadasi - and I think he steered us right.  I bought two lovely items: a pure silk pashmina and a lambskin lined reversible jacket, which I am very happy with.

We ran the gauntlet again going through the market on the way back to the boat.  We managed to avoid the worst of it but frankly I wasn't interested in going back out again after lunch.   Instead we had a quiet afternoon, admiring the views of the city from our balcony and trying to ignore the Russian music blasting out over a loud speaker.  While we were there, two boats arrived bearing political candidates names - and the whole thing turned into a political rally for next month's elections. 

As the time for sailing drew closer, we went up to the Looking Glass Lounge, which is as high and as forward as you can go, to join a Trivia competition.    It was good fun, the views were great, the drinks were free - and then we won!

Tonight's buffet meal is Turkish, which is apt since this is our last night in Turkish waters.

Anzac Day at Sea

I am writing this as the New Zealand commemoration ceremony is being held at the high ridge of Chunuk Bair, where the stone memorial to the New Zealand soldiers and the massive statue of the Turkish military commander who was later known as Ataturk stand near each other.  The base of the statue was undergoing some last minute alterations when we were there and it was good to see the organisers' frantic activity paid off.

Our morning began at 4:30am and we were up on the Pool Deck (Deck 9) by 5:00, where 400 deck chairs with rugs had been set up.  These seats  were already full by the time we arrived, so I had my coffee laced with rum standing up along with another 100 or so passengers.  The full complement is 650 so that represented a terrific turnout.  The chairman of Cruiseco (and occupant of the owner's cabin next door to us) delivered a very respectful speech, then the Captain and a guest representing the SA RSL also spoke.  The ship's pianist played Abide With Me and the National Anthems of both Australia and NZ, but the most moving moment for me was the bugler standing high behind us on the bridge playing the Last Post and the minute's silence that followed, while the ships sharing the drift zone with us stayed close by with their running lights blazing.

When the service was finished, a list of fallen soldiers with a connection with passengers, including mine, was screened.  I thought that they did a very nice job of a 'non- official' ceremony.

Shortly after our's finished, we were able to watch the actual Dawn Service live from ANZAC Cove on the big screen.  I got a little thrill when I spotted our ship during their coverage. 

We were allowed to sail by Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay shortly after the official ceremony was finished and it was interesting to see some of the landmarks we'd visited on Thursday from a different perspective.   I had a chance to thank the manager of Cruiseco, who was also in attendance for the company's efforts for today.  He was absolutely thrilled how well it had all been received.

Over the course of the morning we also watched the other two services live: from Lone Pine and Chanuk Bair.  Seeing how those attending were rugged up against the weather made me feel quite sorry for them - especially as they have to trek out on foot.  The weather has been quite overcast and chilly today so we were glad to return inside.

Other than doing some hand washing this morning, our day has been very quiet.  We are looking forward to hearing what's happening with our first shore excursions and after than, a guest lecturer will be talking specifically about  Ephesus.

Regarding the laundry.  There are only three self serve washing machines for the whole ship.   You can  always arrange to have it done by room service ($5.00 a T shirt) so I suspect we'll be doing most of ours in our cabin and drying it on our balcony.

A Daytrip to Gallipoli and Embarkation day

It occurred to me that visiting Gallipoli two days out from the Centenary celebrations had several advantages than being there on the day.
1 We went in and around the site by bus.  Visitors on Anzac Day get dropped off an Anzac Cove and have to make their way around on foot.
2 Although it was busy today, it wasn't a patch on the thousands expected on Friday night. 
3 We will be aboard our ship moored off shore during the dawn service.

Impressions of our day trip.

It was a long day.  We set the alarm for 4:45am, then after an early 5am breakfast  ballroom hit the road by 6.30 in a convoy of 24 buses.  We reached the peninsula some four hours later, spent four hours there, then headed back to the city, returning to the hotel at about 10pm.  Despite the long drive to and from the Gallipoli peninsula, the weather was perfect throughout: neither hot nor cold - and no rain - for once.
We visited several sites around the Gallipoli site.  For me the most memorable were at ANZAC Cove, where Ataturk's famous speech to the mothers of the soldiers in 1934 is carved into stone, and at Lone Pine where I was able to find the grave of my paternal grandmother's second cousin, who died in November 1915 as a newlywed with a baby on the way.  
We also visited the New Zealand memorial site, the Beach Cemetery where John Simpson's marker can be seen and the new ANZAC museum.  People have often talked about the eeriness of the place, but I didn't sense that.  What I did see was an ill conceived military operation that was doomed from the start and went on far too long.  An unexpected side effect was the creation of national identity for Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Turks.
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Once back at the hotel we started packing for our departure as our bags have to be outside our door by 9 am. Thankfully it didn't take long since we were both rally  tired.

Friday April 24th -  Embarkation day.

Today could be said was divided into two parts: the first, our tour of the Domabache Palace and the Spice market, and the second, boarding the Azamara Quest to begin our month long cruise.
Having decent weather made our tour of the palace and market so much more pleasant than our earlier tours and we really enjoyed our morning.  We bought some souvenirs - and even managed some light haggling.  I felt quite proud of our purchases.
The bus dropped us off at the Port where we queued with the rest of the embarking passengers for passport control and ticket processing.  It was all pretty painless and all we had to do was make our way to our room, where our luggage was later delivered, then go to the restaurant for some lunch.
The afternoon flew by as we unpacked - for the last time in a month- Yay.  Then we were herded off for the obligatory safety drill at our muster zone.  Before we knew it, it was time to sail and we all went up to Deck 9 to watch our sailaway.
The daily program is huge, so we won't have any trouble at all finding things to keep us amused on sea days. Of course with 24 ports of call to fit into the trip, there aren't too many of those. We've already made some firm friendships from our time in Istanbul, so things are looking pretty good right now.

It's now approaching midnight and the steady chug of the ship has suddenly stopped.  This must be the drift zone that we've been told about.  It will be dawn in about 5 hours and we'll be having our own predawn service then watch the ABC live coverage on big screen TVs.  It should be a very special time.

Sightseeing in the rain.

There were 24 buses booked to take our group to the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace today.  Now I understand why we are using a hotel so far out of town: the line of buses went entirely around the block.  Twice.

We were on bus number 23 because we were a little late down to breakfast.  Buses left as soon as they were filled so we were amongst the last aboard.  Our guide, Baris (pronounced Baresh) was excellent and will be our guide for tomorrow if we can get ourselves onto the same bus.  Breakfast is at five so there will be NO excuses for being late tomorrow.  The Gallipoli day trip will be a LONG one.

But I digress.  Half of the buses went to the Blue Mosque first and the others went to Topkapi.  Our group went to the Mosque and we arrived just as the heavens opened.  Let me tell you it's no fun queuing for half an hour to get inside with rain trickling down your neck, then being told you have to take off your shoes before you can enter.  Thankfully we were prepared and had plastic bags for our shoes at the ready.  Then, those of us without appropriate head covering had to borrow a head scarf.  I figured my cap didn't quite do the job and borrowed one and Vaughan snapped a photo of me in it.  It's likely to be the only photo of me in this blog, so here it is. 

The interior of the mosque is simply gorgeous. The artistry of the interior's semi, quarter and full domes have to be seen to be believed and we snapped lots of photos as we shuffled around the perimeter. ( We were not allowed under the main dome as we are not Muslim)
 
Once we were reshod, we headed off on foot for the Topkapi Palace - and then the rain really settled in.  By the time we reached the ticket office we were all cold and bedraggled - and frankly all I wanted was a hot drink.  Still, we persevered and once cut loose from our guide, managed to have a look in the confectionery kitchens and the exhibition of manuscripts.  The queues were too long for us to visit the treasury, which was disappointing, as there was a massive diamond on display I would have liked to see.  (See, always a jeweller's daughter at heart.)

We met our guide back at the entrance at the designated time,  then hurried back to the bus as a group, getting aboard - quite literally - as the thunder and lightning started.  The rain poured down so hard, we couldn't see out of the windows.  We'd noticed many ramshackle half derelict houses on the way from the hotel into the city and I wonder if they are inhabited.  They wouldn't do much of a job keeping the rain off and the cold out.

It was at this point we decided that we wouldn't be heading off to the Grand Bazaar after lunch - shuttle bus or no.   We might get to the Spice Bazaar on Friday: embarkation day, but that will be it.  I'm not much of a one for haggling or being accosted to admire rugs/ jewellery I have no intention of buying, so  I'm not too bent out of shape to be missing it today.

This afternoon has actually been quite relaxing.  We met a lovely couple from Sydney over lunch and just chilled with them for a while.  We plan to have a quiet evening too- what with the 6am departure for Gallipoli ahead of us.  The weather forecast looks promising too.