Anzac Cove

 

The ship slowed to a crawl, the sun peeped over the Anzac beaches and 2000 passengers gathered on the upper deck to pay tribute to those brave young men and women who sacrificed their lives in this corner of the world – so far from home.

Brave gentlemen and women whose faces are lined with the passing years, drank shots of warm milk and rum as their medals gleaned in the early morning light –flags were lowered to half mast -  we joined the choir in the singing on Amazing Grace and Abide with Me - the lone bugler played The Last Post and Reveille – sprigs of rosemary were pinned to shirts and worn with pride  - heads bowed in prayer – national anthems were sung with gusto - and  there was hardly a dry eye as we slowly cruised along this deceptively peaceful section of coast which has so many stories to tell and as we reflected on this sad piece of our collective history and those traditional Anzac biscuits were passed around on this cool morning – national pride shone on every face.

Congratulations to all the veterans and the ship’s crew who were responsible for planning and presenting this wonderful service - - we really appreciated your efforts.

Turkish delight in Istanbul

We were up early this morning because the sail in to Istanbul is spectacular – the sun glints off the minarets of the mosques and the palaces, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace  and Aya Sophia stand out on the hills of the old city. We have been to Turkey before, so we arranged a private tour with Kagan, the same guide that we had on our last visit.

After friendly hugs, we headed off to the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent in the heart of the Old Town of Istanbul. We drove down a street filled with ‘boys toy shops’, blocks of hardware stores which would give Bunnings a run for their money. Under the bridge was a collection of bike shops. Kagan explained that it was a ritual in Turkish families for the father to bring his son to this area to select a bike which would then be presented on the day of his circumcision ‘when he wasn’t able to ride it!!!’ One of the more unusual window displays which had us scratching our heads was a window filled with dolls and a sign which read ‘Viagra buy 2, get 3’ – can anyone explain the significance of the dolls in the display????

I had left my shawl on the bus, I was judged by the guard at the door to be unsuitably dressed, so I was given an ‘outfit’ to wear to cover up in the traditional style – accompanied by the giggles and comments of my friends. Kagan gathered us around and we sat on a corner of the floor while he explained the history and features of the Mosque, the largest in Istanbul.

Turkey straddles the European and Asian continents, so we crossed over the suspension bridge which divides the two continents on our way to Beylerbeyi Palace - the Sultan’s Summer Palace – one of 12 country palaces for the Sultan’s enjoyment, occupied by the last Sultan until the end of WW2. The power of the Sultan was very evident – gold and gilt everywhere – opulence overload - we had to put bootees over our shoes (similar to surgical bootees) before we could walk on the floors. Whenever the Sultan walked into the romm, the mere mortals were expected to drop to their knees, bow their heads and kiss his robes three times, while he then patted the top of their head.

Each room was more richly decorated than the first – although everything needs a good dust now!! The Sultan’s bedroom was a disappointment - where we had expected to see expensive fabrics and gold decorations, and maybe a huge four poster bed,  the bed was quite small and surrounded by a row of carved chairs – his doctor, lawyer, advisers, tailor, chef, dresser, shoe cleaner etc. were expected to sleep sitting up on the most uncomfortable looking chairs at his bedside, just in case their services were needed at the whim of the Sultan – whew!!

The Palace was situated on the banks of the Bosphorous in lavish grounds – unfortunately – in their wisdom, the Turkish Government has built a suspension bridge almost over the top, so the tranquillity of the palace competes with the constant hum of the traffic.

Our next stop was at the Grand Bazaar – a rabbit warren of stalls selling all sorts of things – after some hints from Kagan about how to bargain in the bazaar, we were let loose. Arnold bought a leather jacket and was very pleased with his negotiating skills – I bought a few gifts – but the constant crowds and hassling from the vendors is very wearing – everyone asks ‘do you want a carpet, my brother has a carpet shop’, and the opportunity to just browse was spoiled by the constant badgering. We sat down for a coffee and were actually pleased to leave with our purchases.

It started to rain, but we voted to take our chances and take a cruise along the Bosphorous. The traffic was crazy – the president of South Korea was here for trade talks and so there were police on most corners and Korean flags everywhere, holding things up.

By the time we arrived at the boat, the rain had stopped and we enjoyed a leisurely hour sitting on the deck with a glass of local white wine (very good) as Kagan pointed out the sights and differences between the European and Asian sides. Bill Gates has a house in the hills with views over Istanbul. The Kaminski Instanbul Hotel, on a stunning position on the waterfront has a suite which is an exact copy of the ballroom in the Summer Palace – only $35,000 per night – bargain!!

At the boat dock there were a lot of stall selling food – the main offerings were enormous baked potatoes with a variety of fillings and waffles – the best I have ever seen. We stopped at one where a young Turkish guy played up for Garry’s video camera and we had a lot of laughs as he piled our waffle with his ‘Masterchef Special’, white chocolate, nutella, pistachio sauce, bananas, strawberries, kiwifruit, apricots, nuts, choc bits and dried fruits. He told us that his name was Tom Cruise. The waffle was delicious and well worth the 12 turkish lira (about $5.50) for the entertainment value.

We returned to the ship and were once again caught up in a traffic jam – finally the driver said that we could wait in the traffic for another 20 minutes or walk back to the dock – about five minutes away – we chose to walk.

Our friends, Sharon and David were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary today, so we joined then for champagne celebrations before having a quick dinner and heading to bed.

Captain, throw off the lines and let us head to Anzac Cove, a very special place in the hearts of Aussies and Kiwis……

 

Magical Mykonos

 

After a few really busy days, I am running a bit late with the blog, but I will try to catch up on the next sea days.

We had a relatively short stopover in Mykonos today – 7.00am – 1.30pm. The ship was docked about 3.5 kms from the Old Mykonos Town, and a shuttle was offered for $10AUD return trip. We lined up for the shuttle tickets and were on the first bus into town again - we never want to waste a moment.

We have been to Mykonos three times before but have usually stayed in the old town, so today we decided to go swimming from a local beach – Rick Steves recommends Platis Gialos because it is sheltered from the winds and is sandy – many of the beaches here are pebbly-  it is only about 5kms. from the main square in town, so we decided to take a taxi to the beach – Joanne negotiated with one driver for 10 euros, which seemed to be the going rate.

We were almost the first to arrive at the beach before 8.00am, a vast expanse of coloured body to body sunbeds in different colours depending on whichever hotel they were in front of. We settled our things on a couple at the water’s edge and went in search of coffee – the cappuccinos are never hot and with very little coffee – just a lot of foam – so I will be glad to have a coffee from my little Nespresso when we get back home again!!

We were just enjoying our coffee in the café, and the beach was quiet and tranquil when suddenly the peace was shattered - we heard a noise coming down the hill behind us, and saw a troupe of about 30 from the ship – on a paid tour, coming in full force towards the beach – including one man on a mobility scooter – who then complained cause the beach had sand and he couldn’t get his scooter down – I may have missed something here, but I thought that you may have considered the sand, BEFORE you booked a tour to the beach, especially if you needed a scooter to get around – just saying!!!

I was speaking to a couple who lay down beside us on a couple of sunbeds, and she said that they paid $45 (90 per couple) for the bus, so they were quite shocked when someone came along and charged then 10 euros each to use the sun bed until midday, when the bus was returning to pick them up.

While we were sitting on the beach, there was a constant stream of hawkers trying to sell stuff – most from Senegal - Arnold succumbed to a 30 minute leg and foot massage which he really enjoyed, while Jo and I ordered a cold glass of white wine, laid on our sunbeds and the shopping came to us – the dress sellers, the CD and DVD sellers, the watch sellers, the sunglass sellers and, of course, the handbag sellers – all came along and tried to tempt us with their wares.

When we arrived, we saw a sign 50 metres up the road, with the times for the local bus, so we packed up and got on the 11.10am bus back to the old town – 1.60 euros per person. The bus runs every half hour and took about 10 minutes. Mykonos town is the next stop, so it was very easy and we were dropped in the centre of town.

Mykonos is a wonderful picturesque place – postcard perfect – and so we strolled along taking photos and sat down in Little Venice for lunch – a great Greek salad and grilled octopus, while the waves crashed against the wall beside us.

After lunch, we suddenly looked at our watches and had half an hour to get back to the shuttle meeting point, so we walked along the waterfront – checked out the souvenirs and shared an ice cream.

A lot of people we have spoken to are afraid of doing their own thing in the ports – getting lost or missing the ship and always book tours from the ship. Mykonos is definitely one port where you can do your own thing – it is a wonderful maze of narrow streets lined with whitewashed walls and lots of little cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and galleries.

While we were eating lunch, we were passed by a group from the ship on a walking tour - $85 for a two hour walk through the old town – however, in our opinion, if you are physically capable, it is so much more fun to just wander where the whim takes you.

Captain, pull in those lines and let us head to Istanbul – the Grand Bazaar is calling my name…..

 

Stunning Split

 

After researching Split, our second Croatian port, we decided to just walk around the city and follow a walking tour downloaded from Rick Steves. We anchored about 1.5 kms off shore and took the tender to the pier. It is just a short walk across the road to the Old Walled City, which was originally a palace built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

 Like so many of these cities in the Eastern Mediterranean which have been at various times occupied by the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Venetians and Turks, Split has evidence of all these influences in its history.

 After several invasions by the Huns and Goths, the palace was converted into a walled settlement for protection with four gates the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron gates, built around a central courtyard. During the day, when ships are in port, a number of performances take place in the courtyard – we watched one performance at midday where four acapella singers dressed as Roman soldiers performed – and it was excellent. Today, the palace is an interesting maze of shops, bars, restaurants and museums.

During a period of invasion, Christianity was banned and so churches moved into hidden places. We visited St Martin’s church, up three flights of winding narrow stairs into a beautifully carved church carved into the walls of the palace – it was only about 2 metres wide by 3 metres deep – the smallest church I have ever been into – an order of nuns still lives nearby and tends to the church.

In the morning, we spent several hours walking through Split – through the local commercial area and the residential area without any tourists in sight – it was great to get an insight into the lifestyle of the people of Split – we sat at a small café for a coffee (1.7 euros for 2 cappuccinos) and watched as a small car drove up onto the footpath, opened the back doors and the lady driver took out two small children with backpacks and held hands with them until an older lady ran out of the coffee shop we were at, and took the children, while the mother jumped back into the car and drove off – some things are universal aren’t they!! We had a great time exploring and walked almost 20 kms according to my pedometer – confirmation that the broken foot is completely healed!!

I wanted to get my haircut and we checked out a number of hair salons by looking at the hairstyles on the hairdressers themselves – the pudding basin cut still seems popular here and my hair is so fine and hard to cut anyway – the stylists we saw didn’t engender a lot of confidence for me – so it will have to wait until another port now.

We could hear thunder and lightning overhead, and the rain started so we decided to head inside for lunch. The waterfront promenade is known as the Riva and it has been redeveloped into an interesting bustling plaza reminiscent of some of the Parisian street scenes – we stopped at one café, Pomodori, and enjoyed a great lunch for 35 kuna ($7) and free wifi – a great attraction when the internet on the ship is so slow and expensive. We can’t believe the cheap prices here for food and drink after some of the prices in Venice!

After lunch, it was still spitting softly so we stayed indoors at the Split City Museum – which contains displays of the palace’s history as well as Greek, Roman, early Christian and medieval cultures and influences. Tickets were 20 kuna ($4 AUD) The Art Gallery had a display of funny heads carved from wood which we enjoyed.

Close to the city, the Port Suma Marjan is a large green park situated on a headland with spectacular views down the coast as well as over to Trigor and the Italian coastline. Since it was raining again, we decided to take the small tourist train – the Turistivki Vlakic – through the park and along the local beaches – about a 50 minute loop through a beautiful natural park for 50 kuna ($10).

We wanted to do a bit of shopping so we headed to the local fresh markets – where lots of local produce - fish and fruit and vegetables are on sale. One of our friends is celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary tomorrow, so I wanted to get some flowers – we found an enormous bouquet and would have paid $150-200 in Australia – in Split, it was only 8 euros – I thought she said 80 euros and I was prepared to bargain until Arnold handed over 10 euros and got change!!

We laughed when four different people on the tender back to the ship asked if we would be allowed to bring the flowers back into Australia – since we have six more weeks to go on the ship, I think that the flowers will be in bad shape by then!!

Once again, we have decided that we would like to spend more time in Croatia – the coastline is so pretty and the thought of sailing along here on a cruise has a great deal of appeal.

Captain, pull in those ropes and let’s head to Mykonos – the beaches of Greece are calling…..

 

Koper Slovenia

Our guide, Graham was an Englishman who came to Slovenia, met his wife and has stayed to make this country his home. As part of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia has had a very chequered past, but we were very surprised by the countryside and culture. Bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, Slovenia shows the influences of its neighbours – the architecture in the south is very Italian/venetian while the northern part is very Austrian – reminiscent of those snowy Christmas cards.

Our first stop was in the capital, Ljubljana (lew–be–arna) in the centre of the country, about an hour from the port – described a true art town because of the beautiful architecture – it was lovely to wander around the pedestrian streets, across the triple bridges and into the farmers market in the Town Square – stalls filled with all the local fruit, flowers and vegetables. The Town Square was surrounded by the Town Hall, picturesque homes and the Fountain of Slovia – inspired by bernini’s Four Rivers fountain in Rome. The coat of arms of the city is a castle surmounted by a dragon, and it is seen on buildings everywhere.

 It was cooler and started to rain, so a few purchases of jackets and umbrellas were in order. We had a great coffee while the rain eased, at the Vodnikov Hram café, in a lovely old building and then returned to the van to travel further north to Lake Bled.

OMG – what a beautiful sight – the water of this stunning lake is a clear turquoise colour, surrounded by pine trees – and on a rocky outcrop above the lake stands Bled Castle, which dates back to 1011. The photos tell the story much better than I can.

There is a steep walkway up to the castle which is surrounded by a high defensive wall, and three terraces. The views across the glacial lake from the castle are spectacular – in the centre is a small island with a medieval church – a picture which is famous worldwide and the site of many weddings. The tradition is that the groom must row the bride across the lake to the church and then carry the bride up the 300 steps to the church – wow!! A local cultural monument, this castle includes a museum, medieval chapel, café, printing works, wine cellar, ironworkers forge and reception centre – admission is 8 euros – well worth it just for the views.

We drove back down to the lake and walked around the lake and stopped for lunch at the Park Hotel deck overlooking the lake and its white swans. The two local specialities are Blueberry Snapps and Blejska Kremna Rezina -  the original Bled Crème Cake – a concoction similar to our vanilla slice – with layers of flaky pastry, vanilla custard, cream, and icing sugar – first developed in the 1950’s. I am reliably informed that both were delicious.

The daily special menu at the door was interesting – Crème cake with your choice of Southern Comfort, Muscat or cocktails – the cake was very sweet so these offerings were intriguing.

Back at the port, we had time for a walking tour of the walled old city, led by Graham. Since tourism makes a huge contribution to the economy, the old town is very similar to those in every other city around here – souvenir shops, cafes and bars, all crammed into the previous castle spaces. We did find a lovely shop selling salt products, since Koper is the site of a large salt pan. As well as flavoured cooking salts, there were all variety of handmade body scrubs – I loved the lemon and ginger scrub – smelled so refreshing.

Some local vendors had set up alongside the ship, and a cultural shop was in full swing – we danced our version of a polka?? to the upbeat music. One stall was giving away tastes of local wines – not really to my taste but we did buy a glass because they were so friendly.

Another great day in scenic country that I would come back to in the future – an unexpected delight.

Captain, throw off the lines and let us head back to Croatia, Split looks interesting……