October 12 - Wednesday - Today its onwards into Turkey. we are on the road by 9:30. We’re not sure how long the process will be to get a visa and cross the border. We are now leaving the European visa free travel zone (called Schengen), which feels like borderless travel - although there are borders its visa free travel with few places where you are asked even to stop when crossing a border. When we travelled between, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Monaco, and Greece, which are all part of Schegen, there were no issues crossing the borders. Today we are entering a new country that is not part of that zone, and we know we need entry visas that are issued at the border for travelers from Canada (other countries as well) but we are not sure what that will entail.
We arrive at the border within 30 min. of leaving the hotel. At the Greek border M gets our passports stamped and inquires about visa - after a couple of checks, we are told you have the police stamp, you’re fine to go. Alright we think, now we travel over a bridge which has a couple of checkpoints with armed guards on either side as we continue to the Turkish border crossing. It is here that we have our vehicle papers checked, then passports checked, visas issued, and then all paperwork checked all over again at a third checkpoint. The border guards were very helpful advising M where to go to get things done at each step.
Alright, 45 minutes later, we are on our way. The landscape changes to include larger farm land holdings and bigger farm buildings and more modern machinery than what we had seen in Greece for the most part. The roads aren’t as well maintained in this area, but we can tell from the map that they will improve as we get nearer Istanbul. Actually about half way we come across some highway reconstruction to increase lanes and repave. This is welcomed. This highway is heavily patrolled, in fact we have seen more police radar on this stretch than we have seen for the entire prior 6 months!. We join onto the National highway (which would lead into Bulgaria if leaving `Turkey). Once we get onto the newer highway, we come to a toll booth which is unmanned - not like other places in Europe. M tries to figure out what to about the machine and a trucker behind us beeps, He’s motioning M to pull forward. Obviously he can tell by our plate that we are not from here and we don’t know what to do. He pulls ahead and rolls down his window and shows M where to cross the motorway lanes to buy a toll pass. Ok, so we pull over onto the side of the road and M crosses two lanes, stops at the median and crosses two more, to get to the booth. He buys a 50 Turkish Lira pass, allowing us to travel on the tolled road. He crosses back the lanes back to the vehicle. He ran back to the toll booth and scanned the pass. We are free to go! This highway is great and the banks along the roadway are manicured and landscaped, impressive.
It’s not long that we come to see the outskirts of Istanbul. The city appears endless. As we have entered Turkey we notice the vast number of apt. buildings. A lot of them appear new or well kept. We see a sign saying population 12.5 million people. We marvel that this is the largest city that any of us have ever been to. Later as we talk with locals we learn that the current population is more than 15 million, meaning that Istanbul alone has more people than all of Greece!
We have decided to park our car at the international airport for the two weeks we are touring. We know that long term parking exists. Having seen all the traffic, it’s a good choice. We do not have GPS for Turkey on the vehicle, so trying to find the hotel could be difficult. We follow the roadsigns and easily find the airport and locate the parking with ease. We find a spot and unload everything we want to take with us and go in search of a WC (bathrooms) before getting a taxi to the hotel.
The taxi ride to the hotel is about 25 min long at a set price. He took us along the waterfront, on a very pretty drive, past a number of monuments, partial rock walls, centuries old. We see a number of mosques with tall steeples - we’ll have to ask about those. We arrive at the Conrad Hilton which is the start hotel for our tour. It is very big and has some beautiful parkland around it. As we arrive in the driveway, we are stopped by a security guard who uses a camera device which he uses to check underneath the vehicle and checks the trunk before allowing us onto the hotel property. To enter this beautiful hotel we need to have our bags x-rayed before going further into the lobby. Well, we certainly know we are going to be safe here (we learn later than these security rules came in after 9/11). The hotel is beautiful, we have arrived a day early and will hang out and enjoy this beautiful facility. J is quite impressed with this 5 star hotel. Check in is a breeze although J is surprised that our room isn’t any larger than other hotels we have stayed in... It was a time for us to teach him that just because we’re in a fancier hotel doesn’t mean we’re going to have larger accommodations.
It’s near 3 pm and we haven’t had lunch yet, so we go down to the Monet restaurant for lunch. Our waiter Mehmet is wonderful and he takes a shining to J. We don’t think they see many kids in this hotel. We have a delightful and delicious lunch - J is treated to a macchiato by Mehmet and small Caesar salad. He comes by and chats to practice his English, he tells us that he is taking another English course to improve. We say goodbye and tell him perhaps we’ll see him tomorrow.
We go explore the hotel to locate the pool, and gym facilities. T sees a salon so makes an appointment for later as she hadn’t had a cut since the end of June - it was time!!! J wants to go to the pool and M and T decide to work out in the gym which we can see the pool from there. We all enjoy the great facilities and then head back to the room. We decide to go down to the same restaurant for dinner and are treated very well by all the staff. They do enjoy chatting with us, the manager of the restaurant came over and chatted a few times, offered his card to us in case we ran into problems in Istanbul, we could call him. We asked him a number of questions and he was more than happy to answer us. We have found the people we have encountered so far as very friendly!
J went back to the room to play a computer game while M and T go up to the summit bar at the 14th floor of the hotel with an amazing view of the river, the bridge linking Europe to Asia and some of the Istanbul skyline. We sat out on the terrace, with pashminas courtesy of the hotel around our shoulders and had a “Hilton priced” nightcap. The manager of the restaurant had warned us that Turkey is expensive for two things, gasoline and alcohol....
October 13 - Thursday - Our first full day in Istanbul. We head down to the restaurant for a wonderful buffet breakfast. J has a couple of things to finish on an assignment before we venture out to explore the area of Istanbul around the hotel. We walked through the park next to the hotel and then ventured through neighborhoods nearby. There were a number of older buildings now housing museums, walked by some very old mosques, old rock walls, and some narrow steep roads - as this area is up on a hill. There are some beautiful ornate wrought iron fences around parks and other properties. It’s high density residential here. We walked down several streets to get to the road along the river.
It’s very busy along the main road. There are some high-end hotels along the water, and a former palace which is now the highest priced accommodation in Istanbul with some really cool gates that show the Asian influence in architecture. We decided to head toward to water to walk around and watch Istanbul in action. We are near a university so we see many young students. The entrances into the university grounds are all gated with security and passes need. The waterfront is busy with people selling food, and trinkets. We pass by bus and ferry terminals. The water front is busy with the coming and goings of ferries that transport people across the channel to the Asian side of Istanbul. There are a number of men fishing off the pier. We also see police around patrolling on foot keeping an eye on things.
We sat down at an outdoor cafe for lunch. We ordered kebabs - which here means anything cooked on a spit, so it came open faced, donair style chicken piled on a long thin wrap. M decided to try his first Turkish coffee, brave man! Down on the bottom third of the espresso size cup are the grounds. M figures he drank a little too far down, a bit gritty there - yuck. The Turks love their tea, which is quite strong. The proprietor of the cafe served us each a complementary cup of apple tea which is very delicious, similar to hot apple cider. We continue to walk around the area and soon find a cobblestone street lined with small shops and cafes very busy with people. Its after 5PM now and we can see that folks have gotten off work and are starting to enjoy the evening.
We head back to the hotel and while M does some computer work T and J head to the pool and gym area again. Then we meet up with our tour guide and fellow tourers at the tour introduction meeting. We find the tour will include two other Canadian couples, several Australians, two couples from New Zealand, some couples from the UK, and several couples from the US with 8 of the folks from New York City. We go back to the Monet for dinner and return to our room for an early evening as the tours starts early tomorrow.
October 14 - Friday - The first day of our Insight Vacations tour. We have to have our luggage outside of our door for 7:00 am for the bellmen to pick up and bring down to the bus. The wakeup call arranged by the tour director is for 6:30. We head down to the lobby for breakfast at 7:15. The restaurant is busy with early diners many of them likely on tours.
Our tour departs at 8 am with the first stop about 15 min. from the hotel to catch a ferry to travel along the the Bosphorus (which separates Europe from Asia). Unfortunately it’s raining today and the cloud ceiling is low, so the view isn’t quite as spectacular as it could be.
We travel along the water, getting information about the buildings and establishment of Istanbul. Istanbul now has 15 million people, with 2700 mosques and about 500 churches of other denominations just in Istanbul. There are 4 million registered vehicles here - and no doubt as we travel about the traffic is really busy! We don’t see the scooters around here like Italy. As we travel along the river we see freighters coming up the channel to enter into the Black Sea which is the gateway into Russia and the Ukraine, etc. There are a number of ferries traveling across to Asia.
We travelled along the water for about an hour or so and then got back on the bus and continued enroute to the “second bridge” to take us into the Asian Istanbul. The bridge is very busy with traffic, there are 2 main bridges, and a tunnel as well as another bridge soon to be constructed. With the amount of traffic there is, there is definitely a need.
We took a ferry across the Sea of Marmara to cut out some of the distance toward our final destination for the day, Bursa. After lunch we head to a small Turkish city called Iznik also known by its ancient name Nikaia (Nicaea). We drove through a number of agricultural regions. It was interesting to see how in some places there were crops being grown amongst the olive groves, we hadn’t seen this before. Nicaea is where the 1st and 7th Ecumenical Councils met and where the Nicene Creed was written. It also had a vital role in being the capital city during the Byzantine rule and the Ottoman rule. We stopped to have a look at the Hagias Sophia that started as a church, then a mosque then abandoned until about 4 years ago when the Turkish government restored to preserve this important place in history. There was a remnant of a mosaic floor, different from the ones we saw in Italy. The shape of the church was reminiscent of the churches built in Ravenna.
Our last stop of the day was the Grand Mosque and the Silk market in Bursa. The Grand Mosque allowed women as well as men in. We had to take our shoes off at the door and carry them within plastic bags. T had to cover her head with a provided scarf, as expected of all women as their hair is considered a distraction. The women and men pray at different areas of the mosques, to avoid distraction during prayers.
Within this mosque there were 20 domes, many more than usual. This one has so many because the sultan at the time had promised the people that if they won the war, he would have 20 mosques built for them. However, this became impossible to fulfill as money was tight and so many people had died, so instead he had built this large mosque with its 20 domes. The mosque was built at a time when iconism (having portraits or idols) was not allowed within the mosque, so calligraphy is used in fancy format to provide the decor of the interior.
The centre of the mosque has a fountain used for cleansing before prayer, must wash feet, hands, arms to elbows, face, three times prior to commencing prayers. Usually the people wash outdoors in the faucets provided, but this fountain is present because originally the person who owned the land where the fountain sits, did not want to give up her house/land. The woman appeared in the sultan’s dream and warned him not to build the mosque on this land or she will haunt him. So, he had the mosque built around this area, and built the fountain on what had been her land. It’s Friday and today is the day Muslims go to the mosque to pray.
After seeing the Grand Mosque we went over to the Silk Market. It was here that J got a glimpse of how unusual a blond boy was in this country. All kinds of women kept coming up to him and touching him - smiling at him, making comments. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about all the attention - he fled a couple of times! The silk market was really cool - there must have been fifty shops selling silk scarves, ties, shirts etc. made from the silkworm that form cocoons in the mulberry trees in this area. In a couple of months the silkworm cocoon can leave 1000 meters of silk-wire. Amazing, beautiful silk that is world renowned. There was much to choose from and see. The colors and array of scarves was amazing.
Of course, T bought herself one - couldn’t resist. We also bought a silk print to have stretched and framed when we get home.
Bursa is one of the major industrial cities of Turkey. We see a number of factories - textile and car manufacturing. The hotel was built around an ancient Turkish bath house which is still in operation. It was very cool to see. We chose not to have one today, but will have opportunities further into the trip. We have dinner with our tour group and get to know some of the folk better, then head back to our room where M does a blog post before we all nod off to sleep.
October 15 - Saturday - We are up at 7 and on the bus at 8:30 for day 2. Our first stop is at a 13th century village, Cumalikazik, which is where one of the 24 clans who started the Ottoman empire settled when they came to Turkey. It is one of the only surviving villages of this time period. It’s also where the first mosque was built by the Ottoman clans in this area at that time period. It’s English translation is “Friday prayer clan” where the villagers would go for Friday prayer. It was like stepping back in time. The lanes were small round uneven cobble stones, not re-done like some towns we have been in on our travels. Some of the buildings are two story and some are three. The buildings are mud bricks, some with mud mixed with rocks and timbers. There are some that have some paint on the exterior. If there is a third floor it is made of timber. Usually the lower level was used to keep animals while they lived on the upper level. We wondered around this village for about 30 min. gazing at the old style building techniques - it was fascinating.
Fall is beginning to arrive here as the fields are plowed and some of the leaves are turning color. Today’s temperature is going to be about 15C and down to about 6C. We travel through a number of cities full of apt buildings and quite a bit of new construction, mostly apartments and industry such as Bilecik, Again we see new road construction as they are working on improving the infrastructure. We even see a few subdivisions, a couple of times we’ve seen houses designed like N. Amer. suburban homes. The majority of people live in apartments/condos. We’ve left the mountains and head into the “breadbasket of Turkey” flat land where they grow sugar beets, grain and sunflowers. This central and Eastern part of Turkey gets cold up to -20 C in the winter and they get lots of snow.
Stopped for lunch at a university “young people’s town” Eskisehir, that had a large mall complex. We went up to the food court where there was some western cuisine - Burger King and Sbarros. We have found the odd N. Am. restaurant chain franchise in some of the modern shopping malls.
We travel through some hills which are rich with marble and travertine marble. We pass piles of crushed marble alongside of the road used for the base of the. Gordion was established in 12th century BC being a stronghold until the 6th century BC. This was also the place where Alexander the Great cut the famous Gordion Knot. We stop here to visit the tumulus of King Midas. A tumulus is an underground 4 walled timber room, where a corpse is placed inside with all kinds of gifts and then covered with dirt. The size of the tumulus that is believed to be for King Midas is the largest one in the area, overall there are likely 50 different tumulus. The mound that houses the tumulus is about 40 ft. high. There is a tunnel taking us into the nucleus of the burial within the tumulus where we can see the actual burial area.
We travel on to the capital city of Turkey, Ankara, original name Angora - after the angora goat, whose wool is wonderfully soft. This city became the capital in 1923 by Ataturk because of its central Turkey location and good natural fortifications. At the time the city was very small, under 100K, but is now about 5 million people, the second largest in Turkey. As consequence, the city is very modern and the infrastructure is all in place for large boulevards and public transportation, and continues to expand. As its the capital city we pass many government, military and commercial headquarters for this country.
We arrive at our hotel, the Hilton which is in a central part of the city. Once we were checked in a luggage was delivered to the room, we went for a walk suggested by Saba, our wonderful tour director. We find the area easily and its hopping with people, streets jammed with cars, double parking all over the place, in some cases, there is valet parking where you leave the car double parked hand over the keys and come back later. We walked a while, noticing western store names as well as European and many coffee/tea shops. We headed back to the hotel to enjoy ‘happy hour’ with some of our tour group before dinner. We are getting to know our group and already have several friends. We have a nice dinner then head back to our room for another early evening.
October 16 - Sunday We are on the road again by 8:00 am we spend the morning visiting the Anatolian Civilization Museum of Ankara exhibiting a rich collection of archeological objects found during excavations in Anatolia. Then we visit Anit Kabir, the monument and museum built to commemorate Ataturk (the first President of the Republic of Turkey, and the man Turks credit for creating their nation in modern times), and the War of Independence for Turkey which occurred after World War 1. This is very informative to many of us as we know little of the history of the formation of the nation of Turkey following WW1. The museum is done well, showing the horror of war, as well as the birth of a new nation.
After leaving Ankara we are on our way to the region of Cappadocia. Turkey is a vast country, and we travel through flat land with the occasional hills. We travel through industrial cities as well as smaller villages. We travelled through a city that has a plant that manufactures F16 military jets (and will convert to making the new F35 jets once ready), and others plants that assemble cars, and textile manufacturers. Along the way we stop to visit the mausoleum of Sufi philosopher Haci Bektas
before heading to Nevsehir in the Cappadocia region. This area has really only been promoted for tourist purposes in the last ten years, as consequence, the amenities such as first rate hotels are lacking (an although we have only been staying in hotels for a few days, we have already become accustomed to the benefits of the top notch ones).
Once we arrive at out hotel, M and T immediately start doing the laundry. As we stay in this hotel for two nights, its time to do the wash as everything will have time to dry before we need to pack the suitcases again. We have become quite used to doing hand washing as its really the only way to travel for so long with only one suitcase each.
After dinner we have an opportunity to attend an original Whirling Dervish 'Sema' ceremony in the nearby town of Aksaray. These people practice their worship by entering a trace-like state and twirl their bodies around in circles repeatedly. M counted that the 5 men we watched twirled about 500 revolutions during the 30 minute ceremony, and yet they looked relaxed and calm at the end, no evidence they were dizzy, M was almost dizzy just from watching. Some compare this to practicing yoga.
October 17 - Monday We have a full day in the Cappadocia region- and what a day it is. This area has an incredible beauty. Cappadocia is extraordinary and has bewitched travelers’ for centuries. It was formed a millennium ago as volcanic ash first settled, then hardened into soft rock, and finally eroded, forming the strange and fantastic spires, domes, pinnacles and gorges. Lots of folks use this are as a place to go up hot air balloon as the view from above is spectacular and this morning as we begin our tour, we do see the last of the balloons finishing the journey down the valley - a pretty sight.
We drive to the unique Pasabaglari Valley, where multiple fairy chimneys hewn from the earth and shaped by centuries of erosion lend a moon-like landscape and atmosphere to the valley. We walk around the area and J finds a few places he can climb up and enter the houses that were carved out from the stone.
T finds a shop with pashminas and successfully negotiates a price she can live with (and one that is likely less than 30% of what she would pay at home).
Near lunchtime we arrive at a carpet workshop were we will be fascinated by the beauty of the carpets, a tradition that reveals the nomadic origins of the Turkish people. We learn about and watch a demonstration on how handmade carpets are made, how long it takes (from a few months up to 18 months), and the various materials used (wool threads on a wool backing, wool on cotton, and the most laborious and hence expensive silk on silk. We were amazed to learn that the wool on wool (the easiest to make and the weakest material) handmade carpets will last 150 years being walked on. M told one of the workers that our country is not that old yet. The workmanship of the carpets was exquisite as they displayed all the various kinds in the many patterns of the nation.
During the presentation, we were also shown how they make silk string from the cocoons harvested near Bursa, which they use to make the carpets. It was fascinating how simple the process is to make the silk strands. They use natural products such as pomegranates to dye the string. Another cool thing we learned was that the silk on silk carpets (which apparently last over 400 years) change color when turned around when the light hits them for different angles. M walked around one carpet about 4 times and was amazed as the color kept changing. We find out that this is a dying art, but it is supported by the Turkish Government in trying to keep it going. So we chose to support it too, you can check if you come walk on our floor in Calgary when we get home.
Later we visit the Göreme Open Air museum. The people of Göreme realized that the soft rocks of the area could be easily carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries. This Christian sanctuary contains many examples of Byzantine art from the post-iconoclastic period. These frescoes are a unique artistic achievement from the 10th - 12th centuries. There are several fascinating Byzantine cave chapels to explore, most of them decorated with exquisite and colorful biblical frescoes. These were developed so that the Christians could hide and continue their religious beliefs without being persecuted.
We then drive to the incredible underground city of Derinkuyu, with some dwellings containing rooms expanding seven levels beneath ground level. The people stayed in these underground villages to avoid attackers that would come. They kept full supplies of water and food, a common kitchen, rooms for families, rooms where they kept the live animals, and would sometimes stay underground for up to 3 months, as the attackers from the west would always leave by late summer as the winters in this area were too cold for them. J follows Saba through this area and later gets deputized as the ‘assistant tour director’. All these sites we visited today were within a half hour’s drive from the town where we were staying. Today we spent most of our time outside of the bus and by the end of the day, everyone was ready to relax.
T made one last stop with some of the tour group to a turquoise jewelry factory. In Turkey, the stone is called Turkish Quartz and it is a much deeper blue than Arizona, Mexican, or Chinese turquoises. The pieces within the show room were quite ornate, not really her style.
After dinner we have another cultural surprise. We go to a local cabaret spot for a show, including a series of folk dances from around Turkey and then the highlight of the evening, a belly dancer. J was sitting near the front and was one of the audience chosen to participate in one of the folk dances. His real surprise came when the belly dancer came over and sat on his knee and game him a kiss.
It was Saba’s birthday today and we all helped celebrate while at the cabaret.
October 18 - Tuesday We are on our way to Konya. The first stop is at a pottery shop, something this region is known for, both white and red clay. We attend a demonstration on the art of pottery making using the foot kick-wheel. The man who demonstrates has been doing this for thirty years. In about 10 minutes he made a wine decanter with a donut like shape complete with stand, handle, and spout. Although its only a demonstration version (and likely not quite of the quality he makes for sale) its amazing how fast he can work with the clay to make this piece, a true artisan. We are enthralled by the delicate work. J is invited to help demonstrate the process. He really enjoys himself and perhaps might like to take a pottery class once we return home. He is asked to help assist in displaying some things and is rewarded with a lovely bowl to take home. We go through a number of rooms and observe the various stages of design, painting and finishing of the products. Some of the pottery pieces takes months to paint these incredible intricate designs. They are truly a piece of art. We are told this is a dying art in Turkey. So T thought we should support this as well.
We stopped at the museum of the founder of the Whirling Dervishes, interesting site. Our other stop, in Sultanhari, was at a 'Caravanseras, which were developed along old trade routes to provide shelters and protection to nomadic traders. These centuries-old buildings were built of stone and housed Caravaneers and their cargos plus their horses, donkeys and even camels as they made their way along the old Silk Road trading route that stretched all the way from China. They had to be in before sunset and all out by sunrise. They were manned by the military for protection. There is such history in this country - pretty neat.
We have all noticed on the tour that Turkey is a modern country. On the drive today Saba tells us about the Turkish economy and how the efforts within Turkey to meet the conditions set out by the European Union for Turkey to be able to join the EU have moved Turkey from a 3rd world country a few decades ago into a much more modern and progressive country, and much of that progress has occurred over the last 10 years. Many of us remark that the Turkey we are witnessing is not what we had expected, and especially the cities are very modern and new. Yet as we near Konya we notice garbage along the route - lots of plastic bags etc. Saba tells us that the people in rural Turkey tend to dump garbage wherever they want. We’ve also notice garbage piled near the roads used as fill to build up land.
Konya, known as 'Iconium' in Roman times, was once the home of the mystic sect of Whirling Dervishes and the old capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire. Konya is another nice looking city, known as the most conservative Muslim city in Turkey. We have learned that Turkey is about 98% Muslim. We see many more women wearing headscarves and learn that in this city the daily 5 calls to prayer are more adhered to. We visit the Mevlana Museum, with its beautiful fluted turquoise dome, and see the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret all related to this sect. While at the museum Saba helps manage us through quickly as he learns the Turkish Foreign Minister will be arriving shortly for a public visit and media event so we need to get away before we get ensnarled by the added security.
Our hotel would be first class anywhere and has a lovely view of the area. Once at the hotel T and M go workout while J goes for a swim. Then T and M join others on the tour for a glass of wine in the penthouse bar with its magnificent view of the city and skyline, J opts for a movie in our room. We all have a nice dinner before heading to bed.
October 19 - Wednesday We leave Konya and head for Anatalya, on the south coast of Turkey and on the Mediterranean. We travelled through flat farmland, foothills with quarries. golden grasslands and interspersed with trees. Sometimes we see places where they have planted trees for forestation - when T asked about this, we find that its to make things greener. Although around farms, farmers have planted poplar trees for his future generation. In case there is a need for money, and farming is poor, the family can use the trees to obtain money. If they don’t need the trees, then they are left for the next generation, kind of like a legacy.
We leave the plateau area to travel through the Taurus Mountain range to get to the southern coast. The mountain sides look like the rocks were stacked, with mainly coniferous trees interspersed with some trees whose leaves are changing color.
We drive up to around 2000 m to the highest. As we go through the mountain pass the temperature changes from around 15 C in the pass, to 26 C when we arrive near the coast.
Before arriving in Anatalya we stop at Aspendos to visit what is considered the best preserved Roman Theatre anywhere in the world. We learned how to tell a Roman Theater from a Greek one. The Greek ones were built into the hill, as we saw at Segesta. The Roman ones were built free standing. It was cool to see and a good leg workout to walk up to the top and back down. J got to do that twice as he had forgotten his headset at the top when he sat with T for a picture.
Next we went to the Hellenistic or Roman city of Perge to visit the extensive ruins, including the gate-towers leading into a street where ancient chariot ruts can still be seen.
After having crossed the mountains it has warmed up. M was ready for the 24C weather and quickly took of the pant-legs of his convertible pants to be the first one in shorts (as any warm-blooded Canadian would). Later we arrive at our next hotel, at the Mediterranean seaside resort city of Anatalya. Its fabulous here, we walk to the cliff above the water and take in the view of the sea and mountains nearby. Oh it’s wonderful to feel the warm air again! M and T have a drink with some of our new friends while J opts for another movie in our room.
October 20 - Thursday Today is a free day, and all of us of the tour have chosen to pay for a charter boat ride along the coastline this morning. It’s a beautiful clear sunny morning (it’s so nice to be back in shorts) and the views are wonderful. We see that these charter boats all leave from the ‘old’ harbor of Anatalya, and they are well-kept wooden boats, gleaming with varnish. We move along the coastline, which is entirely built up with the hotels and apartment buildings of the city, and really get a good view of the cliff down to the water from our hotel. The boat takes us to a lovely waterfall coming of the cliff, which must be absolutely spectacular after a big rain. After the boat ride we walk around the old harbor area some, then find a kebab place for lunch before heading back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon.
We all went for a good workout at the hotel gym before heading to the water. The sea here is the Mediterranean so we all go for a swim and enjoy the warm sun at the waterfront for the rest of the afternoon.
After dinner, while T and M enjoy conversation with friends we have met on the tour, J goes to watch a movie and play computer games. Then it’s off to bed for all as we have an early start again tomorrow.
October 21 - Friday Up early again and away by 8:00. Today we are headed to stay near modern day Denizli. We say modern day, because a number of these sites we have been to go by their ancient names. We pass through more pine forests and cross the northwestern side of the Taurus mountains to our first stop the Temple of Aphrodite at amazing Aphrodisias another historical city which has the best ancient stadium we have yet seen. This stadium sat 30 000 people and in its day it had reserved seats. Those with more money had more privilege, just like today. We were even shown where a backgammon board was carved into a marble seat which showed us how long this game has been around.
After touring this amazing site which still has much archaeological work yet to do to find all that must be here, we travel to Pamukkale, also known as 'Cotton Castle' and a truly unique sight which is another UNESCO site. This magical and spectacular natural phenomenon was created by deposits from thermal waters that cascaded down the mountainside over hundreds of years, forming a myriad of pools and terraces. As the water overflows from the pools, dazzling cream-colored stalactites are formed that, from afar, resemble cotton (or snow for those of us that see more of that than cotton). The pools are filled with hot spring waters that supposedly have healing properties.
After a stop for pictures we head to our hotel, which among a few other hotels in this area is allowed to use some of the thermal water for their spa pools, so T goes for a thermal bath which she reports later was 45C. J plays some football outside before watching some homework videos on Champlain and Evangeline. Then we have dinner and call it an early night.
October 22 - Saturday After a great night’s sleep we are up and away at 8:30 and we go to visit the ruins of Hierapolis, which was founded by the King of Pergamon in 190 BC and by the 2nd Century AD it had become an important Roman bath centre. This area was affected by earthquakes long ago, so many of the buildings were destroyed and rocks laying about in the fields. The extensive ruins of Hierapolis are right above the ‘Cotton Castle’ at Pamukkale, so now we get some shots of this landscape from above. It was a wonderful sight that we spent touring and wandering about on our own, walking along ancient Roman roads, through remains of ancient bathhouses.
There is an operating thermal bathhouse and it was very busy with many Russian tourists. One could even have an exfoliating of the feet done using little tiny tadpole looking fish. Not for T! but did see some people having it done - Yuck!! The view of the valley from the location of this ancient city is fabulous, we could definitely understand why they settled on this plateau. Today we pass near two New Testament cities. Laodicea, which was largely destroyed in the 6th century, currently being excavated, is near this site. We are also nearby the city of Colossae where the Colossian church was that Apostle Paul wrote to. Today we travel near the Maeander River, (so full of twists and turns gives us the word ‘meander’)
After lunch, we pass Ephesus (we will tour it tomorrow) to stop at the house where supposed the Virgin Mary lived later in life when taken there by John, in the hills above Ephesus.
Then are off to a very nice beachfront hotel, Carissma, in the lively coastal town of Kusadasi. We all have sea view rooms overlooking the lovely bay.
It’s about 24 C and J wants to go for a swim. It’s fairly rough off of the dock, as this resort doesn’t have a beach. J enjoyed floating amongst the waves while T watched him from the dock. The water and outdoors are slightly cooler than Antalya, but this doesn’t stop him. We had a wonderful meal and then retired early.
October 23 - Sunday Today is the day for visiting Effessus, one of the best-preserved classical cities in the eastern Mediterranean and a great example of Roman architecture. Kusadasi is a port where cruise ships dock, and this is evident and Saba warned us as we neared this wonderful site. We are let off at one end of the site and we will be picked up at the other end. The crowds are immense, probably like Pompeii in the summer months. The fall and spring are the high seasons for tourism here because the summer months have temperatures in the 40’s. We wander amongst the ruins, learning about the history of the settlement and it’s importance in the stories of the Bible. St. Paul had spent about 3 years here and stories are recorded about he and the Ephesians. There are some wonderful sights and remnants of buildings and walk the marble street once used by Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. We passed a roman bath house, the library of Celsus (which is probably the most photographed building of this site), a greco-roman theatre seating about 24000, used for live performances today, and terraced houses, where the most wealthy people in Ephesus lived.
Always an important religious centre, Ephesus was founded by Ionian Greeks in the 11th Century BC and flourished under Roman rule. The Greeks replaced the cult of the Anatolian fertility goddess Cybele with Artemis and built a fabulous temple in her honor. With the arrival of the Romans, it became the Temple of Diana and was one of the original seven wonders of the ancient world.
After we left this wonderful site we head to a leather factory outlet where we learn about the lambs leather and sheep leather. We are shown a few things and treated to a fashion show (another first for J to see) with their latest designs, all with numbers on them, in case, you would like to see and try on the product. The leather factory provides products for top Italian design houses as well as Burberry and is the largest in Turkey. The products are beautiful and very soft. While there we saw a celebrity "Elton Jeffrey".
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that backed onto a train museum. T accompanied J through the grounds that had wonderful old steam engines and some passenger railcars and a classic turntable. One of the engines dated back to 1867. After wandering amongst the trains, and J climbing in and out of the engines, it was now clear why some of the old stories and pictures showed engineers with their heads out of the window. They had no choice if they wanted to see what was ahead! Some of the newer models, around 1947 had small windows that the engineer could look out ahead. This was a great break for J to enjoy himself.
After lunch we spent time in Selçuk, modern day name for the city near Effessus, at the museum that houses many of the archaeological finds of Effessus: tools, statues, utensils, etc. We left there to head to the Swissotel, our accommodations for tonight in the port city of Izmir. This city has a population of 4 million people. We see both beautiful sights and modern well kept buildings as well as squalor. M and T go out for a cappuccino and then we all work-out before dinner.
October 24 - Monday - Wake up call for 6:30 and bus departs at 8AM to drive to Çanakkale, located on the shores of the Dardanelles, which connects the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea and touches both Europe (Gelibolu Peninsula) and Asia (Biga Peninsula). After having passed a couple of port cities, a couple of oil refineries and lots of olive trees, we come to our first stop of the day. The ruins of the ancient city of Pergamon, one of the most important cities in the development of Asia Minor.
We spent an hour touring this site, where we heard of medical treatments similar to our relaxation and subliminal techniques used in spas and other meditative sessions. There was another theatre as well as underground tunnels where some of the treatments took place. On the way out of the site, we came across a vendor selling roasted pine nuts. M bought a bag - delicious! We learned where to find the pine nut within the pinecone. That was neat, we’re going to see if we can get some pine nuts from some of the cones we have on our BC property. Of course, with every stop, there are vendors selling their wares. Today’s slogan of buy today and pay next year, made many of us laugh. There are some high-pressure sales tactics that have made us laugh.
We learned there are few Greeks living in this area now, because in 1924 there was the great exchange where 3 million people who were of Greek ancestry in the region were deported back to Greece while Turks in Greece were taken back to Turkey, not a proud moment in Turkish history according to our guide. This happened all over Turkey.
On the way to Çanakkale, we see women handpicking cotton and see piles of the fluffy white stuff in warehouses. After our three-hour drive, we reach Troy (Truva). It existed over 4.000 years ago and was known as a major ancient civilization. Archaeological digs found nine separate periods of settlement. (3000 BC-AD 400) on what became accepted as the site of ancient Troy.
Apparently each settlement was built atop of the previous one. We saw the remains of the ancient city walls and a replica of the famous wooden horse about 45 ft high. In times of war, they would add onto their normally 20 ft. walls with sun dried red mud and red mud bricks to make the wall 3 - 4 times higher for protection. All the residents around would go inside the walled city in times of battle. Historians are still at odds as to whether or not this fable or indeed the battle itself actually occurred. Arriving in Çanakkale we have the remainder of the day to relax in the wonderful Kolin Hotel.
October 25 - Tuesday Today we are on our way back to Istanbul. We leave at 7:15 to catch the ferry, taking us across the Darnelles, the entrance into Sea of Marmara leading onto Istanbul and beyond. Our first stop is to the 1915 battlefields of Gallipoli. We listen to the story of the landing at Anzac Cove.
The landing beach is narrow and saw how this played a huge part in the loss of so many lives. As we drive along the curvy road, we some trenches used during the battle. There are monuments and cemeteries of 31 commonwealth countries on this peninsula.
It is rugged territory and the Turks definitely had the advantage as these troops landed, but both sides lost many men. The number of dead in this 8 month battle is astounding (~250,000) and so many were so young. We stopped at the Aussie, New Zealand and Turkish cemeteries. It was a sobering start to the day’s excursion. Today there is no development in this area and likely never will be as there are so many bodies buried amongst the hills.
The rest of the day is spent driving to Istanbul with a couple of stops for a coffee break and lunch break. J passed the time on the bus by working on a number of homework assignments. As coincidence his religion assignment today, was about cities we had just visited in the last two weeks. Pretty cool!! We arrive at our hotel by 3:45, beating the rush hour traffic. The traffic in this city is brutal, every man for himself!!
Tonight a group of us have chosen to go out together to a restaurant Saba recommended for a “farewell dinner”. We leave the hotel at 6, it takes us about 20 minutes to go about 2 km to another funky area of Istanbul. The area is on the Bosphorous waterfront. There are a number of cobbled streets, lined with little shops, which we pass by. The restaurant, Messo, is a seafood restaurant and we have a delightful meal, sharing messas (dips such as hummus, yogurt with arugula, smoked, pureed eggplant). Besides calamari, some of us had sea bream while others had sea bass. We all enjoyed the change from the buffet fares we had for the past 14 nights.
Once back at the hotel, we settled in for an early night as we were getting up early for our last tour day in Istanbul.
Our Turkey tour route (image taken from Insight Vacations website)
October 26 - Wednesday Well, today is our last day with the group. We leave the hotel by 8:00 to get to the area where the sites are to visit today. As we drive, Saba comments that it’s going to be busy as there are a few cruise ships docked. Each ship holds about 4000, so as we travel, he notices what direction the cruise ship busses are traveling, and directs our driver, Yunus to change where he will let us off. What a great guide!
Our first stop is the Topkapi Palace, a walled city perched above the Bosphorous and the Golden Horn, was the home of the Ottoman sultans and complete with a harem.
We arrived 15 min early and can already see people lined up to purchase tickets to enter. We have our tickets and Saba knows the ins and outs, so we are the second group in line at the door. This allows us to get ahead of the crowd that steadily grows as we await to enter. J and T go through the halls that house the Sultan treasure collection. They are dazzled and amazed at the collection, including an 86 carat diamond.
We visit the 17th century iconic Blue Mosque, built for Sultan Ahmet I with its six minarets, rather than the usual four found across the rest of the Muslim world. Its interior with 20 000 wonderful blue Iznik tiles, has a massive central dome with 4 semi domes and four massive pillars to support it.
Outside of the mosque, we walk into the Hippodrome, where Roman chariot races were held and there is an Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius that is over 3500 years old. We also visit the Hagai Sophia which was first a church, then a mosque, and is now a museum.
Our guide, Saba gave us some tips for bargaining and after a nice quiet meal with Saba, in the Istanbul Bistro, it was time for some haggling at the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is an enclosed market with some 4500 merchant stalls. After a while the shops start to look the same, there’s a leather area, a jewelry area, clothing area rug area, etc but we choose not to venture too far as its like a labyrinth and so easy to get lost. As soon as you look at something, the merchant is there trying to bring you into the shop and get your attention and business. T haggled at one shop and brought the price down quite a bit, but at another, she wasn’t nearly as aggressive, oh well, you win some, you lose some! It was neat to see the place, merchants sitting outside their shops sipping tea, others offering you help to try and persuade you to come into their shops...
We are back at the hotel by 4 and say goodbye to Saba and Yunus. We have really enjoyed the trip and enjoyed the company of many. Some of us decide to go up to the fourteenth floor of the Conrad to have a glass of wine and enjoy the view.
We have a wonderful chat and say goodbye to a few more people. Some of us plan to keep in touch.
Tonight we decide to go downstairs to have dinner in the Monet restaurant. We see Mehmet, our waiter from the beginning of our tour and we say hello. He sends over a dessert for J at the end of the meal. We enjoy discussing the places we stayed at and rated the accommodations - it was a good discussion. Before going to our room, we bring J up to the 14th floor bar and show J the view of the city and the beautifully lit bridge in the distance.
We are looking forward to not having to get up at 6:30 tomorrow am.
October 27 - Thursday - Despite the fact that we could sleep in, we don’t and are down at the buffet by 8:00 am and say goodbye to a few. J doesn’t feel to well this am, has a stomachache, so breakfast isn’t a long affair. After a hot bath, he feels better. M and T go down to workout at the gym while J recoups.
We check out of the hotel just before noon and store our luggage. We decide to go for a walk to find somewhere to have lunch before we pick up our luggage and take a cab to our next hotel, the Housez Suites. We wander amongst streets bustling with people and pass a fish market. We stop at a restaurant and order some messas. The owner took M and J into the fish market to choose a fish and they came back with one and some prawns. Once the owner shows M how much the fish is going to cost, we decline the fish but keep the prawns. The lunch ends up being quite expensive compared to what we have been having but again, it was a cool experience for the guys to go into the market.
The cab ride to our hotel isn’t far, but with the traffic, it takes a about 10 min. From our hotel suite we can actually see the Conrad where we had just spent 2 nights. This place isn’t as fancy as the Conrad, but since it’s half the price, we’ve booked it. This place isn’t far from walking back to the hotel to meet up with our friends, Donna and Darryl, from the trip.
We walked over to the Conrad, which took us about 15 min. and pass a crowd of men gathered in a square and have jerseys, scarves, or hats or the local soccer club, the Black Eagles. Tonight there is an 8:00 game and the party has already begun! Once we reach the hotel and meet D and D, we are off on foot to the first tram stop about a 20 min walk to catch a funicular to go up to Taksim Square. Once again we have to pass the growing crowd of chanting soccer fans en route. T and Donna notice that women are not anywhere around. There are vendors selling team gear all over. D and D haggled for a scarf that looked very sharp with his new leather jacket he bought at the Grand Bazaar. We found the station and with the help of a local, manage to buy the tokens for the funicular.
We arrive at the station just as it was loading up, it is very crowded on the first three cars, but as we move toward the rear cars, there is more room. Once we get off the funicular at the station, we are engulfed into the crowd, almost like a wave, moving at a quick pace. Once up at street level, the hustle and bustle continues.
Taksim Square is a pedestrian only thoroughfare that is about a mile long. It’s lined with stores, shops, restaurants and various street vendors selling lotto tickets (jack pot 2 trillion Turkish lira), roasted chestnuts - this the time of year for the new crop and the Turks love these, they are everywhere. There is a single tramcar that goes down the street occasionally ferrying people. The pace and crowd is amazing - we marvel at how fast everyone is moving and the sheer mass of people. It reminded us of crowds you’d see going to a Flames game, but it never let up! It was lots of fun to walk through the area.
We found this cool courtyard full of restaurants. Like the Grand Bazaar, each one was trying to lure us into to their establishment. We had a beer at the first place, but then left there, and found another spot within the courtyard to have dinner within the restaurant. Like in Italy, people can smoke outside the restaurant, but not inside. We had a very nice dinner and then walked back out onto the square - it was time to head home.
Once again, the pace picked up and it was no less crowded, as we made our way back to the station. What a great time we had experiencing this place! Once we came out of the station, down below, we made sure we were on the right side of the road to lead us back toward our hotel. The traffic is very busy in both directions with police presence all over. As we approach the soccer stadium, late game goers are hurrying by. We can hear the crowds chanting from within the stadium and the entire sidewalk is lined with policemen with shields etc ready to manage any post-game disorder. As we walk we see the police in action and hurry by. Soccer is big big business in Turkey. As we traveled through the country we saw many satellite dishes that Saba said was so they could watch their beloved soccer teams.
October 28 - Friday - J sleeps in until 9:00 and once he’s up we head for breakfast. We change and get ready to leave by 10:15 to meet Donna and Darryl to tour the Dolmabahce Palace, located on the shore of the Bosphorous. It was built by the sultan in the 1850’s to replace the Topkapi Palace which he felt wasn’t fancy enough. We arrive at the gate, go through security and line up to purchase tickets. The wait takes an hour, having us relish the organized tour where waiting in line didn’t happen often.
Once we get our tickets, we realize we have missed the 11:40 cutoff time and will have to wait until 12:40 to tour. We had seen some fellow tour members about 10 people ahead of us and they were fortunate enough to get into the earlier tour.
We decide to go for a walk and return before the next tour. It is windy along the water, so we chose not to sit there and after about 10 more min. we find this little hovel of a place to get a glass of Turkish tea. We sit on stools that are about a foot high around short tables, another neat experience. We watch the guys prepare their kiosk for the day’s crowd of purchasing sausage or meatball kebabs. Judging by the number of buns one guy was slicing, they do a whopping business in a day. We made sure to get J a sausage kebab before we head back to the palace.
Once we returned to the palace grounds, we lined up near the palace entrance to wait our turn.
While waiting to get into the palace, T saw a wonderful entrance. She told M that if he was getting the wine cellar he saw in Barolo (see the blog post from Piedmont if you have forgotten), then she should get this entrance for our place in Wycliffe.
We covered our shoes with plastic booties and followed the large group assigned to an English-speaking guide who led us through this enormous place. The first part of the tour took us through the administrative part of the palace where the sultans met the public. What an amazing place. The decadence is astounding - baccarat chandeliers in many rooms, the largest weighing 4 tons! There are many massive crystal floor lamps made in Birmingham, London. The attention to detail is wonderful. Every room is decorated in a theme, draperies and fabrics of all the chairs and sofas match. The ceilings are exquisite. There are 285 rooms in the palace and we see only a few. The last room we visit is the Grand Ceremonial hall, which is spectacular and is still used today for special state functions. It was absolutely worth the wait! Donna and T went on a second tour which was the sultan’s harem, a term used for immediate family members. Not as spectacular, but interesting to see and learn about the comings and goings of the sultan families.
After the tour we walked back toward the waterfront ferry terminal and found an outdoor cafe to have a bite to eat, since it’s 3:30 and we didn’t eat anything since breakfast. It’s a great place under an awning with padded benches around tables. There are backgammon games to use, which they call tavla. We ordered donair sandwiches, wraps filled with meat - beef or chicken. They were very good and of course we all had a couple of cups of Turkish tea while Donna and M squared off playing a few matches. When it was time to go, we figured out the bill and D and D placed a couple of lira on the table for a tip. M not paying attention to what the coins were for, grabbed the couple of lira and said “We could keep these for when J needs to use the toilets.” Both D and D exchange a look with each other and T just shrugs. So, as we walk away from there, they say, “So you don’t tip? M is oblivious to the point of the question replies “Yes but only if the service was good”. Donna then asks “Don’t you think they gave us good service” and lists off the extra things they did. M - Well yeah, that was good. Donna - So why didn’t you leave our tip there? M - That was your tip? Yeah .... by now we are all laughing and chiding M. We have a good laugh at M’s expense and he vows to return tomorrow and leave a decent tip.
For dinner, we chose a tiny restaurant located across the street from our hotel. We had a great meal, enjoying samples of soup as well as free desserts and some great local cuisine – a neat experience.
October 29 - Saturday - We relax this morning and J does a couple of assignments. We’ve agreed to meet Donna and Darryl for lunch, so M can pay for a tip this time! We meet and head over to the café from yesterday where we share tea and a couple of games of backgammon, M continues his unbeaten streak, then pays the bill and leaves a tip to make up from yesterday.
We walked across the road to a restaurant and had a wonderful meal - a platter for 4 of grilled meats and veggies. We feasted on the array of foods, really enjoying the experience. We said our goodbyes to D and D and walked back to the hotel. J went up to hang out while we went for a coffee at Cafe Nero, advertising Italian coffee. Oh yeah, we’ve been missing our Italian caps - no one makes them like the Italians!!
Once we returned to the hotel, we worked out at the hotel gym and then prepped our suitcases for the next stage of our journey. About 8, we decided to return to last night’s restaurant. Yet again all three of us enjoyed our meal in this little establishment.
October 30 - Sunday - We are up and ready to go for breakfast just before 8. We went downstairs to the restaurant but the lights were out. T asks if there’s breakfast - yes it opens at 7.
Ok, we wait around and soon the place opens. Not long after the lights go on, the desk clerk with who we chatted yesterday, informs us that day light savings time has just come into effect at it’s only 7 am now - Oohh, now we understand why the lights weren’t on yet. Oh well, we’re up now, let’s eat and get on our way.
We’re off to the airport, taking 20 min. or so to get us there. We need to get the car before heading for Greece. With directions from Saba, we are quickly on the right highway to take us to the border. The drive is fairly uneventful, other than when M stops at the toll area to buy a card toll to get through the entrance. He tries to buy a 50 Lira card, which he knows is enough to get us through the tolls, however, he’s told no - he has to buy a 100 Lira one. Not willing to argue, as a language barrier definitely exists, and we just want to get going, he pays for the new card. ***TIps for our Canadian friends who choose to drive to Istanbul, when you get to the first KGS toll booth, don’t take the 50 Lira card the guy offers you, buy the 100 Lira card which will get you back out of the country. The reason, the 50 Lira card will run out on the way home, and the next guy will sell you a 100 Lira card even though you don’t need it***
We drive back the way we had come two weeks ago to the border. Getting through the border is quick and painless, the number of trucks lined up waiting to get through is very long, likely about 50, good thing we don’t have to wait in that line to get through. ”Good Bye Turkey - we’ve had a great time!” the three of us say aloud. Once in Greece, it’s smooth sailing to Thessaloniki where we are spending the night at the same hotel before. We think it’s the same room too!
J kicks back for a while, as he has done a number of homework assignments on the drive over, while M and T go explore the neighborhood. We found a coffee shop/bakery to have a cap and treat, giving J some time to himself as well as for ourselves.
Our room is very cold. We’re told there’s no central heating, but are advised to use the air conditioner to heat it. It works, after the hotel maintenance guy checks it out. We’ll definitely be snuggling under those duvets tonight!
October 31 - Monday - After breakfast, M makes the call to Peugeot in France to arrange for our car drop off in Milan for next weekend. We are driving across Greece to get to Igoumentisa to catch our ferry to Bari, Italy tonight. The drive takes us through some pretty territory. It starts off quite flat with lots of orchards and then takes high up into the mountain passes about 1000m as we get into the mountainous part of Greece. We decide to take a detour off of the main highway to go to Meteora where monasteries are built on isolated mountaintops. The drive is beautiful along a windy road. With the sun shining, the hillsides are ablaze with fall colors, reminding M of eastern Canada.
We arrive in the town of Kalampaka and negotiate our way through to climb the hills behind it to arrive where these monasteries are built. The landscape is amazing and we marvel at the effort it took to build these facilities perched on the top of these pinnacles! We were very glad we had decided to check out this site - well worth the detour. What a site to cap off a great visit to Greece.
We stopped at a taverna down in the town below and had a fabulous lunch before getting back on the road. It’s definitely off-season in this area, it must be crazy in the peak of high season. We enjoyed our drive back toward the major motorway through a number of small hilltop villages.
We arrive in Ignoumenitsa and head to the ferry terminal to collect our tickets for the car and ourselves for tonight’s sailing. We find out that the ferry won’t arrive in port until 11:30 as it is coming from Patra. We won’t be boarding the ship early and watching a movie (like on the way over). We decide to go into town and sit in the park along the water, enjoying the sunny fall day. J does a science experiment in the park as well as plays at the park. To while away the time (6 1\2 hours) we hang out at the ferry terminal, charge the computer, read, do homework, go out for something to eat and watch the Robin Williams movie “Jumanji” in the car (as the noise level in the terminal is too loud). We were please when we finally got to get on the ferry – it’s late by 30 min. Once the car is loaded and parked, we head up to our cabin and go to bed. It’s the same ship we came over on a month ago so we know our way around.
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