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31 October - 3 November : Merhaba Turkey!

Halloween in Ancient Ephesus & the Greatest City in the World

Trippin'.
Ephesus. No visit to Turkey is complete without a journey to the remarkably preserved Ancient City of Ephesus. The presence of a number of noteworthy ruins was once the greatest cities of the Ancient world and is home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
We booked a half day tour with Nur & Ekol Travel and had a personal guide all to ourselves to take us through Ancient Ephesus. One of the most amazing sites I have ever seen.. so well preserved. You truly do see how life once was some two- thousand years ago. In an ancient city like this, having a guide is far better than any travel/ history book you can get. We were able to go at our own pace and have all of our questions answered. Lunch was included-- our first Turkish meal-- and one we cannot wait to experience again when we go to Istanbul. All in all, Ephesus was everything people made it out to be. Truly an experience and highlight of the entire cruise.
Istanbul. While you may have preconceived opinions and ideas of what to expect when visiting Istanbul, they all hold truth to a certain extend. Istanbul is a bridged between modern and ancient, conservative and progressive, religious and secular, the very familiar and at times exotic and where East truly meets West. Whatever it is, we all can agree, Istanbul is undoubtedly becoming more interesting by the day and can hold its own next to the Rome and Bangkok destinations of the world.
So glad we ended our 3- week vacation in Istanbul because it is, hands down, the greatest city on Earth! And while the weather was unforgiving at times, it was bearable. A few drizzle here and there was not enough to ruin our time here. We stumbled upon the best guide ever-- Ayse from OurExplorer while planning the trip and she turned out to be even better than what other travelers had reviewed. We only booked her for half the day for the Cistern, Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia for $30 per person and she was not only nice, but spoke English very clearly and even managed to suggest us places to eat and shop. She knew her Istanbul history. Of course we've read up on places that are a must for eats and she was able to confirm it's authenticity. She also told us how to bargain at the bazaar and that we should pay no more than such and such for souvenirs. A great start to our 2.5 days in Istanbul.
The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar is a sight to be seen. It is every photographer's dream.. and the shopping is not bad either! I went a bit nuts and came home with 10 pashminas-- they don't make it like this anymore. It was a must! We had some of the best food, the best shopping, and the best experience here in Istanbul than our entire trip combined. Lastly, it may just be Turkey in general, but Istanbul has some of the nicest people you will ever come across. People here will literally pick up the money you drop, chase you down and hand it back to you. That has to count for something, right?!

Sleeping: Maywood Hotel, Nobethane Caddesi No:25 Sirkeci, tel: +90 212 520 21 93. Have the cab driver call the hotel for directions because it is not easy to find but is located just minutes walk from the monorail system and is two short stops to the downtown area. Convenient and cheap!
Eating: Sultanahmet Koftecisi, tel: +90 212 513 14 38. Don't be fooled by the other look- a- likes in town. This place is the real deal!

More Photos.

View full Ephesus gallery here.
View full Istanbul gallery here.

29 - 30 October : Scenic Santorini & Windmills in Mykonos

Smart Car Ride to Oia Village and Wandering Mykonos Town

Trippin'.
From Santorini's undeniably striking views to Mykonos' cosmopolitan lifestyle and cubist architectural roads leading you in circles, it is no wonder that these two island attract such great followers. Both with its own unique style delivers and exceeds all glossy picture- postcards expectations.

Most of Santorini is perched atop cliffs so from the ship, we not only had to take a small boat to shore, but have the option to either ride the stinky donkeys up to town or take the cable cars. The cable cars line was a ridiculous 45 minutes long but we had no other choice. I was not about to smell like a donkey for the entire day. Originally, we planned on renting some ATVs to ride to Oia, but after considering the distance and coldness in the weather, we decided to rent a car-- a Smart Car!
We spent a great portion of our day in Oia while in Santorini. Oia is stunning and picturesque with shops and homes clinging onto the rolling cliffs and hills. It was the perfect backdrop to a great photography day. Upon returning to Fira, the city center, we had extra time, and decided to hit up an internet cafe to catch up on some emails. Dinner was planned early, or so we thought, until it donned upon us that we had to get in line to take the cable cars back down to our cruise ship. With thoughts of missing our tender, I tried to find others from our ship ahead of us in an attempt to cut in line. We managed to get down just in time to catch the very last boat back to the ship. Missing our ship would have been disastrous but am glad it was just a very close call.

While Mykonos may be known as a party island that does not sleep, this is true only 3 months out of the year. The rest is dormant and desserted, which was both good and bad for us. We really had no big plans for Mykonos, just rent a few vespas and drive to some popular beaches, but the wind prevented us from renting vespas. And with most places closed, we were limited to the city center where a few stores and restaurants were open just to accommodate the cruise ships. Good news, I can't imagine wandering the narrow streets of Mykonos during peak season when the island is flooded with tourists. Bad news, all the shops were closed.. or so we thought. For a good portion of the day, the shops shut down for an extended lunch, nearly 4 hrs! So we were left with just the windmills and had a blast playing around with our jumping photos. Despite the extremely windy day, the windmills stood still enough for us to take some great shots.
After lunch, and our first taste of hummus this entire trip, we retreated to the ship for a nap. That's how much time we had. We made it back in town just before sunset and dinner. But before we could settle on a place to eat, we realized all the shops were opening up and G had a glimmer of excitement so we took it to the streets again, this time, for a little retail therapy.

Eating: Lucky's Souvlaki's, center of city in Fira (Santorini), may be a chain but a darn good one at that. In fact, G claims this to be the best gyro he has ever had. And believe me, he has had more than his fair share so it speaks volumes.

More Photos.

View full Santorini gallery here.
View full Mykonos gallery here.

25 - 26 October : Camels in Cairo

2- Days in Cairo with Memphis

Trippin'.
A city of millions-- 14 million, or 16, no one really knows-- it's chaotic traffic, people and overall rhythm of the city is overwhelming and intimidating to any first time visitors. Cairo has a lot to offer, but not without discretion. Come prepared, preferably with a local guide at all times, and you'll find Cairo to be a historical milestone achievement. It's beauty and charm is a product of its history, but can sometimes be lost amidst the hundreds of taxi scammers and souvenier sellers aggressively vying for your attention (and wallets).

We booked a 2- days tour with Memphis which includes transportation to and from Alexandria along with accommodations in Cairo, museum entry tickets and a personal guide. Truth be told, now that we've done it, I'd highly recommend 1- day in Cairo (and 1- day in Alexandria for Cruisers). It's a lot to take in even for experienced travelers. To call Cairo filthy is an understatement, but what can you say about a city that has been around for over two- thousand years?! We were blessed to have a local guide with us during our 2- days stay. And while we witnessed tourist after tourist getting ripped off and mobbed by camel riders and souvenir sellers, we managed to walk through without a single stare. I even saw one man physically taking a camera off another tourists' neck! Ridiculous I know, but now you know too. On constant alert is how I felt and that was with a guide. Having a guide not only saved us from getting ripped off and mugged, but it's always better to have someone tell you the history rather than reading it out of a book. Although, we did wish our guide spoke better English. His was quite limited compared to some other guides we ran into throughout the city. Oh well, can't believe we went to Egypt! How many can say that?!

More Photos.

View full gallery here.