Bad weather closed the port of Katakolon! We missed the ancient city of Olympia for a rocky day at sea. Sorta like having an unexpected snow day in the middle of the week!

And now we have our final day. Lazy morning and an afternoon of packing. This has been a wonderful trip and we aren’t done yet. It is hard to believe we still have almost a week in Tuscany ahead of us!

Santorini is the idyllic Greek Isle and a unique geological site. The island itself is a volcano but the center of the volcano collapsed and filled in with water creating a caldera. It is a protected basin of water that forms a natural harbor. Boats arrive at the harbor, but the towns are located hundreds of feet above on the top of the island. Transiting to the towns is an adventure.

The ship’s tenders arrive below Fira and the options to get up to the top include riding the cable car up, riding the hundreds of feet up on the back of a donkey, or walking up the 500 + steps up to the top next to the donkeys. Manuel did not recommend the last option. (though some people did it anyway).

We took a boat ride to the harbor below Oia and then travelled by van up to the top. The narrow cobblestone streets were packed with people, single file in each direction and we were fortunate that we were the only ship in port today. Despite the crowds our visit was delightful!

BUT, I was wearing the wrong color!! It has been a bit of a chuckle to see all the influencers in their fancy clothes and poses at each stop. Even the youngest little girls have their swirls and poses for the pictures. But today, it seemed everyone had gotten the memo to wear that wonderful blue color to stand out against the whitewashed homes. Or, at the very least white and blue! Next time.

We have been teasing that this wonderful anniversary celebration is the “Mediterranean Honeymoon “ we never had 50 years ago. But, during David’s time while deployed to the Med. he did have the opportunity to enjoy some beach time and dived for sea urchins. He brought them home and they have been a special reminder of that time. And today, I found a shop that had handmade jewelry that included real sea urchins. It was so amazing and so very special. We shared the story of our trip and the special meaning of the sea urchins with the store owner. I don’t know who was more delighted, us or her, but we received big hugs along with our purchase!

Lunch was at a picturesque wine bar tucked away on a back street. David stuck with Greek coffee, but I enjoyed some local wines and we shared prosciutto and grilled octopus. So yummy!

We ended our day in Fira and a trip back to the tender dock on the cable car.

We had a second morning in Istanbul. Because the ship stayed in Istanbul overnight, you could stay out as late as you wanted day 1 or get up early on day 2 and take in all the things you didn’t have time to do on day one. All aboard call was 11:30 AM.

We did 18,000 steps on day one. All plans for day two were cancelled!! We slept late and enjoyed the hot tub and realized we had to respect our age and stamina.

We weren’t the only ones!!! We met a young couple riding the cable car down the cliff in Santorini who were from Nova Scotia and on their honeymoon… and they also slept in and cancelled day 2 plans! And Manuel, the cruise director was joking at the show last night about ALL.THE.WALKING! In Istanbul!

So, take note. Bring your energy and walking shoes to Istanbul!

One of the most wonderful parts of traveling is the brief interactions you have with local citizens. To see things through their eyes, to understand the pride they have in their country, their beliefs, their way of life.

We had a private guide in Istanbul… Gem. He was an excellent guide who felt like a good friend by the end of the day. He was passionate about his Muslim faith, proud of his Turkish heritage, and quick with the jokes! He will hold a place in our hearts.

AND, he was a VERY.FAST.WALKER! Initially, I was s little nervous that I could keep pace and keep him in view. Istanbul is a large vibrant city, then add 3 large cruise ships and there were crowds and tour groups everywhere. But, we had a wonderfully full day!

Our first stop was at the Basillica Cistern, built around 530 AD to serve the great palace. It was huge! The site of a scene from the James Bond movie “From Russia with Love.” It was majestic! The columns (repurposed from Roman ruins destroyed in an earlier earthquake) make it feel like a cathedral, the changing lights. It was a favorite!

From there we went to the Blue Mosque. It is very large, very busy, and very beautiful. So many people “spectating” among devout worshippers. The tile work was amazing. Exquisite chandeliers and NO COBWEBS! Among the glass lights there are ostrich eggs with the raw egg still inside. They last more than 100 years and keep away the spiders?! Who knew?! But worth a try. No more dusting ceilings and corners!!

No visit to Istanbul is complete without a trip to the Grand Bizarre! The people! The gold! The spices!! Fortunately we stopped for coffee. The coffee shop was also featured in From Russia with Love but is owned by a friend of Gem’s and the cookies they serve are made by his wife’s cousin so we had to stop! (Besides, it was a good chance to finally stop and sit!!) Gem said the best baklava comes from Turkey. I can’t verify that claim. I can tell you the cookies and the baklava were some of the best I have tasted. Oh, and you don’t put sugar in your coffee when you eat it with a sweet. The bite of sweet sweetens the coffee!

Our last stop was at Hagia Sophia. It is huge! Built as the supreme church for Orthodox Christians in 530 AD, it became a mosque when the Ottomans conquered the city. Then after WWI, it became a secular museum befitting the modern Republic of Turkey. In 2020 it was once again converted into a mosque. So much history!! Amazing architecture. We didn’t have enough time to really see as much as we would have liked but I’m so glad we got to experience it.

We said “good bye” to our friend Gem, but not to Istanbul. Our last adventure in the city was a fish dinner on the Bosporus River. We had wine and beer and a boney fish (turbot) that I had never heard of or seen before. We soaked in the lights of the city and the many many boats and ferries that passed by. We were on the bottom level of the Galata Bridge and the fishermen with their long lines hung down from the top past us and caught multiple small fish (like mullet and sardines) on a single line with a fishing pole with a light on it. We had a long memorable dinner. Expensive! But such an amazing experience!

We docked early and scheduled our private tour to start at 8:30 AM. But even that was a little late to try and miss the worst of the crowds at Ephesus. So.Many.People! Ephesus was a large city, population near 250,000. So a realistic experience I suppose! And, we were some of the lucky ones as the line of tour buses and taxis waiting to enter the area was very long when we were leaving.

Our guide Ismail, was so knowledgeable. He was proud of his country and heritage. David and I knew a lot about the New Testament era of Ephesus and Paul’s time there. So to walk by the amphitheater where he spoke and through the area of Jewish merchants where he worked as a tent maker seemed astonishing.

Much of the architecture is only now being reconstructed as earthquakes destroyed much of the city. But the one wall of the library of Celsus has been rebuilt and gives a sense of the massive structures in the city.

As many tours in Turkey, ours included a stop at a Women’s Cooperative were we saw a demonstration of the double knot technique and the spinning of silk thread. These coops were founded by the government to give the women in more rural areas a means of income. They are exempt from many of the taxes to make it more attractive to purchase from them. It was fascinating to hear the customs associated with the rug weaving.

Ismail’s wife is a nurse, yet she still made 2 rugs to bring to the marriage that they use in their home. His 10 year old daughter is going to an English school and speaks fluent English, yet she is also learning to make her own rugs. When it is said, “She has finished her rugs.” It is understood she is ready to marry.

After our lunch at the cooperative, we had some Turkish coffee, “middle” (coffee with just a little bit of sugar). They served it with a small container of water. If you were invited to a Turkish home for coffee, you would also be presented both coffee and water. If you started with the water, it meant you were hungry and you would also be offered something to eat. If you started with the coffee you were satisfied and did not need food.

So many ways of communicating indirectly about life and status. Who knew just the way you drank your coffee carried so much meaning.

Mykonos is one of the Greek Islands that you see in brochures… the way Nova Scotia is depicted by Peggy’s Cove. Mykonos has the white stucco buildings with the blue trim, windmills from long ago, winding white washed alleys topped with overflowing dark pink bougainvillea… everything you could want in a Greek Isle!

We arrived ahead of schedule and quickly made our way to Mykonos Vacation Scooters. It’s a family business of cousins and uncles and George! They took amazing care of us and after a quick pickup at the old port terminal we had our scooter for the day.

How many people get to say, “I spent my day touring Mykonos on the back of a scooter!” Thank heavens David is an expert rider! There were literal 180 degree “sharp right/left turns,” fast moving traffic in both directions and some crazy moments of David driving and me holding up the phone trying to decipher the GPS instructions. But the scenery and the curves were awesome!

We drove into town. We had wine and beer by the sea watching the tourists walk by, we found an overlook spot to view the harbor and the windmills and we made it out to Lia Beach on the Eastern side of the island. We spread out beach towels and walked across course sand and larger rocks at the edge of the water to go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! This is the kind of day where you want to pinch yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming this!

On the way back we stopped at the windmills and then headed back to return the scooter. George, the cousin who provides the taxi service for the business deserves his own post!!! The stories he shared in a half an hour of interaction could fill a book! George, who was married in the States (and thinks he might still be married but not sure…) regaled us with his adventures!

But the whipped cream and cherry of our day was reuniting with friends from our previous cruise in January on deck 15 where we went to watch the sunset. We had had plans to connect with John and Charlotte at the martini bar the first night of the cruise but never made it. And the tonight there they were!! Group hugs and a reconnect and the perfect ending to a “pinch me is this real” sort of day!

Another HOT day of walking the city streets, admiring the architecture breathing in the smells of fresh fish in the market and gorgeous flowers at the 24 hour flower shop Navarro.

We had walked over to La Pedrera (Casa Mila) Gaudi’s Modernista private commission that Rick Steeve’s describes as “a much photographed roller coaster of melting-ice-cream eves” yesterday. A sight not to be missed! So today, we went first to the Placa de Catalunya, and from there made our way to the “Block of Discord” to follow Rick Steves’ audio tour of the Eixample (expansion). The newer, section of the city that showcases the homes of the wealthy who hired modernista architects to design their extravagant homes.

The Block of Discord features 3 distinct homes by 3 very different architects of the day: Casa Batllo by Gaudi, Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and Casa Lleo Morera by Lluis Domenech i Montaner. The exteriors are so very different it is hard to pick a favorite. But my favorite INTERIOR courtyard was Casa Amatller! The Amatller were the premiere chocolatiers in Barcelona and we sat in the courtyard and I enjoyed the most wonderful liquid chocolate to sip and dip my strawberries into!

We struggled with the heat both days. While the temperature was only about 80F, the sun and humidity made it feel much warmer. We would step inside a store to hope to find a little air conditioning and a little reprieve, but the locals are more use to the heat and less inclined to use AC. We could actually pick out the locals because they were often wearing sweatshirts!

One of the delights of the Eixample remains all the forethought put into its development. “In (Cerda’s) vision, each block-square district would have all the services its residents would need: hospital, park, market, schools, and day care centers.” So even today, the neighborhoods of the Eixample are very community centered.

Dinner found us eating paella down near the port we would leave from the next day and close to the church where we had tickets for a classic music performance by a string ensemble and soprano. Such a lovely way to end our time in Barcelona.

After 3 busy days in Barcelona, it was a joy to have access to AC, a veranda and much shorter walks to meals and activities. But our cruise experience has been enhanced by unexpected delights. We arrived at stateroom 6300 to find a wonderful gift: a plate of fruit and cheeses plus a bottle of wine from Nancy and Fran.

Meeting our delightful room attendant Rhonda who immediately felt like a friend. But she completely stunned us with an anniversary greeting when we returned to our cabin Sunday evening to find balloons and rose petals and fresh flowers welcoming us!

Before we left, April had made us 50th Anniversary tee shirts and whenever we wear them we get spontaneous greetings and congratulations from those we pass making this a true celebratory cruise!

As I entered Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece, I had goosebumps and tears. It is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had. To step into this massive space filled with amazing light from the beautiful stained glass windows and the huge stone columns that direct your gaze upwards … there are no words just over whelming awe!

The attention to detail. The planning. The engineering. The execution. And to think that so much of the concept and original engineering was done between 1880 and 1926 when Gaudi died suddenly in a traffic accident at 73. No computers. No CAD. No 3-D design…. And with all the thought and planning Gaudi put into Sagrada Familia, he knew that it wouldn’t be completed in his lifetime and others that came after him would add their interpretations to the concept.

The Nativity Facade is Gaudi’s. So many intimate details, but the most fascinating to me is that he used actual molds of people’s face, animals, babies to create the realistic appearance of the sculptures in the tableaux. His reason, no one could do it better than God.

We also had tickets to go up in the Nativity Tower to get a sense of the height and detail of the four high towers. An elevator up but over 400 steps down a spiral staircase. Do this while you are “young!”

It has been much warmer here than we expected. Low 80’s but very humid! We did over 17,000 steps on this sightseeing adventure. We got back to the hotel HOT, tired, sweaty, … the most amazing day. We would do it again and stay longer!!!

We landed in Barcelona in the early afternoon, found our driver and made our way to El jardi, our hotel in the old section of the city. Fun notes on our trip included David commenting on all the motor bikes/scooters “lane splitting” between the cars on the highway. Although “Mr. Motorcycle Safety Coach” was very concerned about the practice, our driver told him it was legal in Barcelona. He also admitted that with all the traffic in a city of 4.2 million people it really helped with getting around. His commute to work on his motor bike takes 15 minutes (thank you lane splitting) but in a car it would take close to an hour.

We also passed an amazing hillside cemetery Cementerio de Montjuic. It is actually a tourist attraction as it has a lot of art and history within the many acres, a cable car that can take you up to a restaurant that serves tapas under the palm trees and a magnificent view of the city and the harbor. It won’t be part of this trip, but maybe the next one!

The hotel is an older building in the old section of town. Our room has a little balcony that looks out on the central courtyard filled with locals enjoying tapas and a drink, entertainers from street musicians to strong young men doing acrobatics. And this morning the crazy screeching of Mitred Parakeets sitting in the trees by our balcony. We have heard them around the city but they are not easy to see as their bright green feathers blend in with the trees they frequent but their screeching is unmistakable!

Some of the window displays are amazing. And I love the little tile vignettes found at the edge of a street or by a shop.