Odessa, Ukraine - July 5

A thunder storm welcomed us into Odessa – mail language here is Russian not Ukranian. The city walking tour that is booked for the morning is cancelled. We have another one booked for the afternoon, so hopefully that will go ahead.I am having a tonne of trouble getting photos posted from the boat, so photos may be posted haphazardly.

The afternoon’s tour to the Odessa catacombs goes ahead. It takes about an hour by bus to get to catacombs used during the war to fend off the Germans. Apparently Odessa has 3500 km of human-made catacombs.

The cruise line we are on prides itself on its high level of service. This was very clear to us at lunch today. While eating at the buffet restaurant the waiters carry your plate to where you are seated! You basically walk along side the waiter while he carries the plate. Just as I thought I was being ignored by having to actually carry my own plate from the dessert buffet, the waiter swooped in from out of no where to rearrange my place at the table by moving my tea pot about 3 milimeters so that my dessert plate would fit. Perhaps this story looses something in my telling it, but my point is that we are being well taken care of!

Things I noticed about Odessa…
1. Men don’t care for wearing shirts…men of all sizes, doing any number of things.
2. Women of all sizes wear very tight clothing.
3. There is very, very little English anywhere we were. This made it painfully difficult to find a café to enjoy a Ukranian beer. Prices seemed relatively cheep however…about 1.50 CAN for a beer.

This shot is of the famous Potemkin steps – 192 steps and the view above is from our balcony in Odessa!

Constanta, Romania - July 4

We have another wonderful breakfast in our room before boarding a coach for an hour's drive to an archeological site and museum. There are tonnes of storks around the archelogical museum! Apparently they like to nest on the tops of electricity poles and can be seen quite regularly.

We also visit a folk art museum - similar things to Ukrainian, like eggs and wheat focus.

The rest of the day is spent relaxing on the ship.

Boarding the ship - July 2

Although we know we can't check into the ship until after 3:00, we figure we can check out of our hotel and leave our bags at the ship early and take off until check-in time. Were we WRONG! We showed up and were told we would have to 'wait'. Nobody (the only people there were passport control) could tell us when exactly we would be able to drop our bags, so we waited. And we waited. And we waited. This experience was made even more pleasant due to the fact that when we were first dropped off I needed to find a WC, and after 90 minutes my eyes were turning yellow! Finally, we were able to board, check bags and find a washroom! As my eyes returned to their original color a glass of Champagne comforted us.

Once we were free of bags, we hit the Besiktas soccer stadium for a couple of shirts. The service in shops in Turkey is over the top! Very friendly and right on top of you, yet not really off putting either. Chris makes friends speaking the universal language of soccer.

It has been very hot since we arrived in Istanbul and is hot again today - probably over 30.

We wander around Istanbul for the last time before boarding the Seven Seas Navigator - our home for the next 10 days. Our room is very big compared to other ship-board rooms we have stayed in. It is about 250 square feet - bigger than many land hotels we have been in! We have a bathroom with a separate shower and tub, a walk in closet, a king sized bed, a sitting area with a couch and a table and chairs and a balcony, bottle of Champagne on ice and a stocked mini bar - very nice. Departure is delayed a few hours because some passengers have not arrived, so we are able to go back into Istanbul after dinner.

There is a row a of Shisha bars very close to our ship where we share our last water pipe and try pistachio coffee. Had I known this delicious stuff existed earlier I would have drunk nothing else in Istanbul! It's more like hot chocolate than coffee - made with crushed pistachios and milk served in tiny espresso like cups. This place is great...great atmosphere (loads of people), men offering to sell fruit, yogurt and pistachios, backgammon and very friendly attentive staff.

Things I noticed about Istanbul...

1. very clean...after a day walking in sandals my feet are hardly dirty like they usually are in Europe

2. there are very few Turkish women visible...all workers we have seen (other than our chamber maid and hotel restaurant waitress) are men

3. public WCs are great...of course we have only been in tourist areas, but all but the one in the non-tourist place we ate lunch in have been fully equipped

4. street food is limited to corn on the cob (interesting), pretzels and ice cream

5. the Muslim call to prayer is pretty much ignored where we were - although this happens 5 times a day we only heard it in the afternoon and at night

6. no mater day or night I felt safe

7. I'd be happy to visit Ιstanbul again

Nessebar, Bulgaria - July 3

I have never been a fan of room service...things have changed! After a room service breakfast we tender (small boat used to shuttle passengers because the ship can't dock in the town - photo below is from the tender) into Nessebar. Nessebar is a small tourist village on the Black Sea. We have a walking tour, a wine tasting (where Chris and I are part of the entertainment - only got a photo of Chris!) and time on our own where we have a drink on a terrace over looking the sea and shop a bit.

Tonight is formal night. I like dressing up...Chris is another story. We lose some money at the casino after dinner and call it a day.

Istanbul Day 2 - July 1

Today is Mosque Day. First is the Hagia Sophia. Today this is a museum, but was a church around in the 6th century and then a mosque and now a museum. It is still under restoration, which is uncovering paintings from the church days that were covered when it was converted into a mosque.

Next is the Blue Mosque. This is a functioning mosque. The place is huge, but it doesn't take much time to actually go through - maybe 15 minutes.

The palace here (Topkapi) is closed today, but we walk around the grounds. Although it is a very hot day the huge trees here cover the entire grounds with shade. These grounds overlook the water where we stop for a drink.

We try to find the spice market which is a VERY HOT, slightly less maze-like version minus the live chickens of the market we visited in Morocco. Just when I think we will never find our way out of this sweaty, crowded laberynth we're out. The temperature really led the way. Once we were out the heat dropped!

Lunch is a place not very touristy. We have what is like a pizza called a pide. We are served a giant pita bread along with a red peper spread and shreadded cheese like we would get bread at the start of a meal at home - delicious.

We make one last visit to the Grande Bizaar for a Turkish tea set. These are small glass cups with a tea pot and serving tray. We're a bit worried the glasses may break, but are reassured as the guy selling them stands on them!

Dinner is in square with a tonne of fish restaurants, muscians and people everywhere - great atmosphere. The appetizers come in small plates on a huge tray that you select off of. We choose octopus salad - very good.

I am loving all of the different foods here. Today for breakfast I had rose flake jelly. Not bad - kind of spicy.

A day of travelling

We've arrived. After almost 20 hours of travelling from Calgary to London to Istanbul we are finally here! The hotel arranged to pick us up (will insert pic later) which made things very easy. We are staying at the Hotel Nena. It has A/C, wireless internet and roof top restaurant (like most places here seem to) where we eat breakfast. The rooftop restaurant has a great view (unbelievable really!) of the city especially the Blue Mosque (pictured below), the Hagia Sofia and the Bosphorous strait.

After breakfast we join a city tour on a bus accompanied by an audio guide. This lasts for about an hour and a half where we see the sites of Istanbul.

Lunch on a terrace consists of kofte which are essentially lamb meatballs - which come with rice and veg.

After lunch we wander around and find ourselves in the Grand Bazaar - a GIANT covered market. Apparently there are over 3500 shops and stalls here. The main things here are carpets (of course), jewelery, and leather, but basically you can get anything you want. We're not big shoppers but come away with a shall. A few other things caught our eyes so we may go back.

We head back for a nap after a trip to a grocery store for water and beer. There's not much for booze, but we are able to pick up some beer.

We don't head out again until about 9:00 and the temperature has cooled off nicely. The day was quite hot - not too humid, but hot. There are cats everywhere! Not bothersome, but everywhere you look. Dinner is a Turkish delight! Chris has a plate of various meat kabaps and I have "Iskender" which is doner meat with youghurt all on top of bread. After dinner our waiter sets us up at a cafe around the corner where we share a water pipe and play backgammon. Definately a new experience for me.

Summer 2008

Chris and I are off tonight for another summer vacation. We are headed to Istanbul, followed by a Black Sea cruise, then Athens and finally a week in Croatia. Here's a map of the cruise route. As usual we are always happy to hear from home, so don't be shy with the comments.

Bread by the kilogram, seats on toilets

Certainly many things have stood out for me over the last few weeks Chris and I have spent in Europe. Many of these I've already mentioned and some that I haven't.



One that I haven't was a way we saw bread being sold in Germany - by the kilo! These loaves of bread were huge, at least 30 cm in diameter and very dark. They were sold as cheese would be - in wedges, by weight. I can't remember what the per kilo price was, but very interesting.



Another thing that needs to be mentioned given last year's blog is the WC/toilet situation. I didn't once have to hover due to an absent seat. Maybe this is a central Europe thing I don't know, but last year (especially in Spain) I was surprised if there was a seat!

Budapest

It's our last day in Europe. A city tour is organized for this morning. We did this tour last year so we decide to sleep in and do our own thing.

There is a market very close to where our ship is docked. The is anything you could imagine here. How about chicken feet? It took me a bit to figure out what these actually were. There was a lot of other meat like offerings that I wasn't ever able to identify.

We spend the rest of the morning window shopping and people watching. Lunch is back on the ship. In the afternoon we visit another market and a synagogue. The synagogue's cemetary has many unmarked graves from the war.

Bratislava

The ship staff got all of us ready for the potential of showing passposts as we got off the boat berfore our tour of Bratislava, but there was no one in the pasasport office. Apparently, the office is often empty - I guess they aren't too concerned.

It is too bad that we arrive so early in the morning - 8:30 - not exactly early, but before any of the shops and cafes are open. We take a walking tour of the city tour and are back on the boat by 11:00.

The rest of the day is spent sailing to Budapest. This is a bit too much sailing today. It wouldn't be too much if it was sun deck weather - the rain is back.

Vienna

Today begins with a city tour by coach under a blazing sun. Sprinkled among the old beautiful buildings are many statues and monuments of old muscians. Maybe someday there'll be one of my brother someplace.

We stop at Belevedere palace - no longer a palace but an art museum. Not huge, but quite a few pieces I recognize. I have to say, I could do without museums that aren't art museums. I could spend all day in an art museum.

During our own time in the city we get some take-away calamari from Nord See. This place seems prolific in Europe - like a European McDonald's. We've seen in a lot of these places on this trip and remember them from previous trips. - I Iove street food! If I wasn't so chicken to talk to people in a foreign language all I'd ever eat would be street food!

We quickly get back to the ship for lunch and off again in the afternoon to tour the Schonbrunn Palace. This is Vienna's version of the Versaille palace. It is smoking hot and quite crowed- needless to say, the palace is not air conditioned. It is even hotter when we tour the garden.

Before we get back on the bus we have a bit more street food. This time it is ice cream, but not an ordinary cone. You pick a flavor and the ice cream guy puts a tubular thing of the ice cream substance in a contraption with a handle that he then pulls down like a slot maching. This turns the 'stuff' in the tub into a soft-serve ice cream type substance. Not exactly fresh with no preservatives, but tasty and entertaining.

Pretzels in Melk

The morning is spent sailing, so we sleep in. The mid-morning pretzel, beer and sausage performance allows us to skip breakfast. I had to pass on the white sasuage - too white. Not appetizing at all! I did have a taste, but not an entire one. Chris didn't mind them and I'm pretty sure my dad would have been in heaven!

It is finally sun deck weather which is where we have lunch and sail to our next destination - Melk.

Melk's claim to fame is a working monistary which we tour in the afternoon. Then we spend a while in this very small town on a terrace with a glass of wine and buy a bit of Austrian chocolate.

Anchors aweigh - 4:00 we set sail again - the weather is perfect for the sun deck and a Margareta before dinner.

Passau/Linz

The weather seems to be a bit better today - not windy at least. We are at the confluence of the Danube, Ilz and Inn rivers. This puts a lot of boats in a tiny town.



As today's entry suggests (Chris' spelling) our morning walking tour finishes at (what else??) a cathedral containing Europe's largest pipe organ - 17 774 pipes. We listen to a fabulous organ concert - loud, bombastic (you could feel the low notes) and we are actually familiar with the pieces.



We are back on board for lunch and sail through the afternoon.



In the evening we dock in Linz, and head out for dinner. Although the town seems quite big there isn't all that much action. We settle on a traditional Austrian dinner of calamari and Greek meatballs!