Month: August 2023

We arrived at Istanbul at 10:00. Ayva and Ari stayed in bed while Tavis, Addison, and I got off the shipped and toured the area on foot. Our goal was to find the Grand Bazaar.

It took us a while to get off the ship because so many people were disembarking. It was a long maze to find our way out of the terminal. Eventually we made it onto the streets and just started walking West. We eventually came to a bridge and found underground pathways to cross busy streets. After crossing the bridge, there seemed to be shops everywhere, but this was not the Grand Bazaar.

We kept walking West, up the hill. About 45 minutes later, we found ourselves at the entrance of the Grand Bazaar. There are metal detectors everywhere here. Once we entered, it seemed very similar to our side, but inside a building. Words cannot describe the sheer volume of vendors and small market stands. Everywhere you look, as far as the eye could see was shoppings. I have never seen such an endless market. It is amazing how many stores sold the same merchandise! Each area sold the same type of products. When we first entered, every store sold jewelry. Then we walked through a clothing area. There were tons of tiny stores all competing with each other. The vendors were good though. If you said “No Thank you”, they left you alone. We just window shopped this morning since there was really nothing we wanted to purchase. After leaving the shops we just picked a direction and continued walking. We found huge castle walls and eventually came to an entrance. Inside the ancient wall was a huge park. It reminded me of Stanley Park. We also went into a small cistern. By the time we got back to the ship, we had walked over 13km.

Ayva and Ari enjoyed staying on the ship. They felt like they were the only ones onboard and had free reign of all areas. There were no line ups anywhere!

We were quite tired from our morning trek so we got into our bathing suits and went to the pool deck to find some lounging chairs. We also grabbed some lunch from the buffet. After eating, we swam at the pool and sun bathed for a bit. Once it started getting crowded, Tavis and I went back to our room and spent 2 hours figuring out a car rental to replace our train to Bressanone on Monday. Darn construction on the train the only 3 days we are planning to be there!

By 18:30, we decided to take Ayva shopping for shoes. The Bazaar closed at 19:30 so we knew we had to hurry. When we crossed the bridge, Ayva found a shoe vendor with genuinely fake Nike Airforces for 400 turkish lira ($20 CAD). She tried them on and learned that her shoe size in Turkey is 26. Addison also bought 1.5kg of Turkish Delight a little ways into the shops! We wandered around as the storefronts began to close. We probably could have gotten better deals, but we were not good at haggling and we didn’t have any small Turkish Lira bills.

We slowly made our way back to the cruise ship. We stopped on the bridge on the way back for some photos of the beautiful sunset. We got back around 20:15 and went straight to the buffet for dinner. This time, we only walked 8km around town. My legs were definitely feeling the exercise today from walking over 25km (over 35,000 steps)!

After dinner, we thought we would catch a show. Ayva and I stopped for drinks and onion rings along the way. We thought we were running late, and Tavis told us the place was packed. When we arrived, the theatre was practically empty because the show isn’t until tomorrow. Instead, we went up to the top deck to take photos of the city at night. By chance, we got to see the moon rising above the city. I have never seen such a beautiful moonrise! We tried to capture it in photos but it doesn’t even begin to capture the size or colour of the moon as it rose.

We watched us leave the port at 23:00 and went to bed around midnight. Tomorrow is a sea day so it will definitely be a sleep in day!

Nautical Info

MSC Splendida navigated from one Turkish Point to another, navigating from Kusadasi to Istanbul through the Dardanelles Strait and into the Sea of Marmara. We passed under several bridges whilst on approach to the port. Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, serving as the country’s economic, cultural, and historic hub. The city straddles the Bosporus Strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is the most populous European city, and the world’s 15th largest city. We departed at 23:00. The distance between Istanbul and Corfu will be 722 nautical miles.

We were scheduled to arrive at 07:00, but we actually arrived into Port at Kusadasi about 15 minutes behind schedule. We didn’t have to meet our guide until 08:00 so we met the kids up at the buffet at 07:00 and watched the passengers start to disembark. At 07:55 we were out in the parking lot and met our guide promptly. Her name was Gulcan (giljen), which means Rose Heart, so she said we could call her Rose.. We also had a driver, but I cannot remember his name. He didn’t do any talking. We loaded into the Mercedes van and off we went.

As we started on our adventure, Rose asked us what we wanted to see, and made some suggestions. We decided to start at the house of Virgin Mary. As we drove up mount BulBul (which means Nightingale), Rose told us the story behind the. Sacred location. It is believed this is where St John brought Virgin Mary. He built her a house. He died in Turkey at 98 years old. It has not been confirmed that Virgin Mary lived here, but many believe this is the location.

Rose also told us about the Amazon women who lived in communities with only women. The name “AMA-zon” means “one breast”. women in these communities fought battles to protect themselves. In order to be effective, they cut off one breast so they could ride horses and use bow and arrows to fight.

When we arrived, we paid 1000 Lira for tickets. The prices more than doubled yesterday! It was very crowded, but Rose stayed with us until we arrived at the door and told us stories of the history and how the site was found. She was also great at answering our questions. After waiting 30 minutes in line, we spent about 30 seconds walking through the house. Then we were able to fill our water bottles with the holy water.

Before leaving the site, we found free wifi so the kids could quickly check their emails. They have been disconnected from the Internet for 4 days now! We then left for Ephesus and we were able to get out ahead of the tour buses.

We arrived at Ephesus around 09:30 and there was no line to get tickets. Rose helped us purchase our tickets from the booth. As we entered, there were a lot of sleeping dogs and a cat just inside the gates. It was a strange site.

Rose informed us that this was actually the 2nd Ephesus. The first city was built on marshland and often flooded, so they moved to this location further up the mountains. It is believed that 250,000 people inhabited the city, and 50,000 were wealthy and lived in the upper city during the Roman times. Over 800 years they inhabited the city until it was destroyed by earthquakes. They tried to rebuild, but when Malaria swept through the city, the inhabitants abandoned the area. The water levels had also dropped and it was no longer a booming port city.

We toured the area as Rose provided commentary on each part. From the baths at the top, to the stadiums, houses, shops, public bathrooms, library, stadium, and the open market, all the way down to the old port. Today, the water level has dropped several km and is nowhere near the city. This was one of my favourite sites. We explored the area until just after 11:00. It was hot but there was some shade along the way.

Next, Rose suggested that we check out an authentic Turkish leather shop. They provided apple tea and put on a fashion show. It was the first time I experienced a real fashion show with the stage, lights, and music. They even pulled Ari to the back and included him in the show! After, they took us into the shop and tried to sell us their products. The one Ayva tried on was a lightweight reversible leather jacket. They are very thin and do not wrinkle. They come with a 1 year guarantee. They also came with a starting price tag of $1,500 USD. They offered 60% off which was still $700CAD. The jackets were beautiful, but a bit too expensive for us, and not very practical for our next 20 days of travel. We left with only our photos and memories. It was a neat experience though and I am glad Rose took us here.

Our last stop was a local carpet weaving shop. They welcomed us and taught us how the wool and silk carpets were weaved. We also learned how they get the silk from a cocoon. Each caterpillar is dried in the cocoon and then softened in waterr and spun. They must do this so the silk does not break. They get a minimum of 1km of silk from a single cocoon!!!

The rugs were amazing! They appeared a different shade depending on where you stood. If you look at the rug from the direction of the weave, the colours were vibrant. When looking from the opposite direction, they were washed out. We would have loved to purchase one, but we didn’t have tens of thousands of dollars to spend. It can take up to 8 months to hand weave a large carpet. Even the tiny ones were $500! As much as I love these, I think we are going to stick with the $100 IKEA rugs. It was quite an experience though and we enjoyed the apple tea.

After a great day of learning the history and culture of Turkey, we returned to the ship and said goodbye to Rose and our driver. It was still early but we were exhausted! Once onboard, we got drinks, ate lunch, and had a siesta.

We left the port at 16:00 and met the kids at the bowling alley for a few games. Later we went to the main dining room for dinner and then caught a show. I am quite impressed with the level of entertainment onboard. Lastnight, we saw a ventriloquist who had us laughing the entire time. Tonight it was Cirque de Soleil vibe with the variety of talents that were used to tell a story. I tried taking photos but it just doesn’t capture the wow factor that that you get from a live show.

Tomorrow we arrive in Istanbul.

Nautical Info

MSC Splendida navigated through the night in an Easterly direction, bound for the Turkish Port of Kusadasi. The pilot expected us to embark at 06:00, with the Vessel alongside in the Berth at 07:00. We are about 10 minutes late. Kusadasi is a large resort town on the Turkey Aegean coast, and the centre of the seaside district of the same name within the Aydin Province. We departed at 15:00. The distance between Kusadasi and Instanbul is 350 nautical miles.