Day 11: Istanbul, Turkey

After a 6:00 buffet breakfast at Raffles we went out onto our balcony and could see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia in the distance.

I could still remember how awed we were by those mosques in 2005.














Turkish musicians greeted us at the port.

The Hop On Hop Off Big Bus at $40 a person was more reasonable than the $99 a person excursion we'd signed up for earlier.  This way we could go at our own pace.

Ear buds were provided so we could listen to information in English about what we were seeing.

There was also free wifi on board the bus. Yae!

Here is the Bosphorus Bridge that connects Europe and Asia.

Turkey is the only country located in both Europe and Asia.

People in Turkey are considered Eurasian.

Istanbul (which used to be Constantinople) has 16 million people and is the largest city in Turkey.  There are 75 million people living in Turkey.







I do love to take photos of crows in different countries.

I took this photo from the bus of these workers doing landscaping on a hill.

We also passed the New Mosque.

The Yeni Cami, meaning New Mosque; originally named the Valide Sultan Mosque and later New Valide Sultan Mosque after its partial reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665; is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminonu quarter of Istanbul. It is situated on the Golden Horn, at the southern end of the Galata Bridge, and is one of the famous architectural landmarks of Istanbul.
                       --Wikipedia


Feeding the pigeons here is supposed to bring good luck.

We hopped off our Big Bus and headed for the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.














The Blue Mosque is in the background.

What are the odds of this happening???   We ran into Arnold and Nancy at the Hagia Sophia and he took our photo for us before running to catch up with their tour group.

We decided to go to the Hagia Sophia first.

I still remembered what an awesome place that was and looked forward to seeing it again.

The sheer size of the mosque took your breath away.

Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul. From the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.                         --Wikipedia

On the left is the Pillar of St. Gregory the Miracle Worker.  Devotees used to believe that the sick could be healed by touching it.  Now people think that sticking your thumb in and twirling your hand would grant you a wish.

The photo on the right shows Art climbing to the second floor of the mosque.

The view from the second floor was amazing too.















This is a mosaic of the Virgin Mary with Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene.

We left the Hagia Sophia to walk to the Hippodrome since the Blue Mosque was closed for prayers.

This is the Obelisk of Thutmose III.

After specifically bringing a scarf all the way from Hawaii to wear at the mosque, I forgot it on the ship.  I forgot Flat Stanley too.  I was really grateful that scarves were provided at the Blue Mosque.

It was lovely to be inside the Blue Mosque again and see all the beautiful blue tiles on the walls.









We boarded the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus and returned to the ship.

It was a more relaxing day of sightseeing without having to worry about keeping up with everybody.

I later noticed Hop On Hop Off buses in other cities too.  It's something to remember for any other trips we take.

Day #10: Delos, Greece

After a relaxing Day #9 at sea, we arrived at the port in Mykonos, Greece on October 15th, Wednesday.

Just around this time, Art's Panasonic camera went on the blink.  There were dark spots in the lens so I had him use my smaller Sony camera.

Unfortunately as he was playing with the camera to learn the functions, he managed to reformat my SD card which effectively erased all the photos I'd taken.

Sigh...

It's a good thing I use two cameras!

Since Art knew I've always enjoyed Greek and Roman mythology, he agreed Delos would be an interesting place to visit.

The island of Delos, near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece.
                       --Wikipedia

Our city tour guide, Christina explained that Delos is surrounded by 29 islands and was supposed to be the birthplace of Artemis (also known as Diana) and Apollo.  

The myth goes that Zeus was once again participating in extramarital affairs, this time with a minor goddess named Leto.  When she became pregnant, Zeus' wife, Hera refused to allow Leto a place to give birth.

Zeus brought up an island from the sea which was Delos.  There Leto gave birth to twins, Artemis and Apollo.

This is the House of Dionysos.


It was amazing that we were still able to see mosaic from the 3rd century BC.

Men lived on the lower floors and women were on the upper.

There were few windows which insured privacy.  The buildings were also tall so that it would be cooler.

This amphitheater could hold 6,500 people.  Wealthy people would be on the first row which had back rests.

The Naxian Lions were dedicated to the sanctuary of Apollo near the end of the 7th century BC.

And here are the famous twins, Apollo and Artemis.  He was the god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, etc.  Artemis or Diana was the goddess of hunt and the moon. 

The boat dropped us off on the opposite side of the Mykonos harbor.

Christina told us that all buildings on Mykonos must be whitewashed three times a year and that the roofs must be flat to catch rain water for the cistern.

The water was so clear that it almost made me want to wade in it.

I wasn't exactly sure what this was.

Penguin?



We were now headed toward Istanbul. Art had cancelled the excursion we were going to take and opted instead to use the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus option since we'd seen so much on a land tour we took there in 2005. 

Day #8: Pompeii

It was October 13th, Monday when we docked in Naples, Italy.  One of the places we'd always wanted to see was Pompeii.

We could see the peak of Mt. Vesuvius in the distance on the right.

Aha!  Pizza makers below our balcony!


Our Norwegian Cruise Line excursion again provided bottled water.

I'm not positive of all the Non-Stop excursions, but I've heard they didn't get the free bottled water and had to purchase their own.

One of the first things we saw after entering Pompeii was the Piccolo Theater.

Our FAVORITE tour guide during the entire cruise was Vito!  He was full of good humor and incredible knowledge.  You knew everyone loved him because throughout our walk other tour guides would call out to him or come over to give him a hug.  Vito laughed saying they were nice to him just because he was old.

Vito explained that the indentation in the stone here was for sliding doors.  

 

There were narrow streets covered with large, smooth cobblestones.














 Apparently, sewage and other things were often thrown in the streets so these high stone walkways were used to cross the street.  They were also spaced wide enough for chariots.

You could still see some of the paint on the walls.

Pompeii was first settled in the 7th century by the Greeks.  Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.  There was no lava.

Excavation began in 1748.  3/5 of the town is already excavated.

There were 18,000-20,000 people living in Pompeii at the time of the eruption.

You can see Vesuvius in the background from Pompeii.  It looks peaceful, but it can still erupt again.














Seeing bodies that have been covered by ash brought home the shock of the tragic events.

 

It was wonderful that we arrived early because Pompeii was soon crowded with tourists. 

This raised relief on one of the stones on the street pointed the way to the nearest brothel.  Would you believe it took me a long moment to realize what the relief was?

 

I'm so glad we were finally able to see what an incredible place Pompeii was.

We have lots of oleander in Hawaii, but I don't think there are a lot of double ones.  Vito reminded me that it is poisonous.  It is pretty though.

These morning glories were also strikingly colored.















Art and I returned to the ship early, and we were able to see when Arnold and Nancy returned.

Our fun loving Non-Stop tour guide secretly told the wait staff it was our anniversary.

It was a HUGE surprise when they started singing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and brought us a cake.

Ummmm... Nope.  Our anniversary is in January.

There was a one hour time change as we headed out to sea.

Day #9 was to be a relaxing day onboard ship.

Day #7: Rome, Italy

Since we'd already spent over a week in Rome in 1993, we wanted to try something different this time.  We opted for the Secrets of Underground Rome Tour.  Arnold and Nancy would be seeing the Colosseum and other incredible Roman sites.

At each port, there were crew members dressed in regional costumes offering to take photos with you.

We joined our NCL Underground Rome tour which took us to Catacombe S. Domitilla in Civita Vecchia (Ancient Town).

And yes, we were definitely underground.

I was hoping Rome was not a place where earthquakes could happen.

The catacomb of Domitilla has over 11 miles of subterranean tombs.  It dates back to the 3rd century and is the burial place for Christians of long ago.

We were able to see a lot of tomb paintings that are still visible today.

Our docent, Laura told us that there were 150,00 bodies buried and that Romans then were under 5 feet tall. She also said there were 65 catacombs in Rome.  This is one of the largest.

There was also a subterranean church.

We saw more pino (umbrella pine) trees that we were introduced to in Pisa.  These are the trees that produce pine nuts that I love.

Our guide had told us then that the name Pinocchio comes from Pino.

Pino comes from the name Giuseppino.










Our bus soon took us to the Colosseum.

We spotted more Roman soldiers.  It was fun to see cousin Arnold and Nancy go rushing by with their tour group.




Our group did not go into the Colosseum, but stopped for a closer look at Ludus Magnus the gladiators' training academy which is across the street.

Oh yes, we remembered Flat Stanley this time.

We met a lovely woman named Bernice from New Jersey who we would bump into several times during our tours and onboard ship.

I was so amazed that she often traveled alone enjoying the world.

We walked to St. Clements Church.

This ancient church was transformed over the centuries from a private home that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st century to a grand public basilica by the 6th century, reflecting the emerging Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power. 

                                                                                     -- Wikipedia

Masimo was our city guide.  He reminded us of a college professor who wished he hadn't retired.

He was a fount of information on every nook and cranny of Roman ruins.

Masimo led us underground to the basement and explained the three levels of the 1,000 year old San Clemente basilica.  The basement had been a 4th century early Christian church, and below it a Roman Republican Era building that was destroyed by The Great Fire of 64 AD.

Next stop:
Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, is a church in Rome, Italy, commissioned in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII, whose brother, Antonio Barberini, was a Capuchin friar. It is located at Via Veneto, close to Piazza Barberini.  

 The church is most famous as an ossuary, known as the Capuchin Crypt, in which is displayed the bones of over 4,000 Capuchin friars, collected between the years of 1528 and 1870.      --Wikipedia

This is where the Imodium stopped working for poor Art.  He had to get to a bathroom immediately.   And this was before he saw the inside of the Cappuccin church with the all the bones on the walls. 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

We were not allowed to take photos in the church, but I found this photo in Wikipedia.

I didn't know that cappuccino is so named for the color of the Cappuccin monks' robes.  Now, every time I see a cup of cappuccino I might remember the bones in this church.

And so ended another day.  Art was actually feeling pretty good.

Could anything else go wrong?

Day #6: Pisa, Italy

The Norwegian Spirit docked at the port in Livorno.  We grabbed breakfast at the Raffles Buffet at about 7:00.  It was teeming with people ready to disembark for our next outing.

Nancy would be spending the day resting to recover from her fall on the previous day in Provence.

Our city tour guide was Viola who informed us that Pisa and Livorno were historical rivals.

Pisa was the richest town and is where Pinocchio was published in 1811.

The bus ride to Pisa from Livorno took about 45 minutes.  We then boarded this little train into Miracle Square.

Art and Arnold were looking forward to climbing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

I do not like steps.  I said I'd wait at the bottom for them and would look at their photos.

I'm not sure how my mind got changed, but Art said I needed to do this.

We made it to the top!!!

Would you believe we forgot Flat Stanley?

The Leaning Tower is 57 meters (about 187 feet) high.

There are 294 steps!

Once we got back down we did what all the tourists were doing.

Sorry about the distortion in these panoramic shots.

We mailed a postcard to KC which cost 2 Euros (almost $3) and collected our free water bottle.  All the NCL tours seemed to give out free water bottles.

 When we got back to the ship, we saw this towel monkey hanging from our ceiling.

We never buy photos on board ships because they are really expensive.  We were perplexed to find this waiting in our room.  Arnold and Nancy had surprised us with the photos!

We were happy and relieved to hear that Nancy was feeling much better and ready to join the outings.