Wait wait wait

Aircraft arriving Istanbul hit some birds so could not fly again. New plane flown in for us. Departed 24 hours late. Comfortable hotel in Istanbul. Mixed with the Turkish jet set around the swimming pool. Onward arrangements put us 24 hours late arriving Christchurch. So should be home mid afternoon Tuesday. Xxxy

The adventure continues

Our onward flight was cancelled at 9pm last night so we were forced to spend the night at the luxurious Renaissance Hotel, then spend the morning lounging beside the pool. All very trying.
But back at the airport we queued for hours to get our new tickets.  In the Emirates lounge now having a cuppa.  Hopefully the rest of the journey will be trouble free.

Hurray, clever old me! I have turned off the predictive text correction which translates any mis-spelt words into whatever it feels like.

Istanbul coda et fine

Arrived airport. Taxi was early so a hurried departure from hotel. Now waiting for boarding. Looking forward to seeing you all. Xxx

Istanbul reprise

Wow we had a lie in this morning as Bursa is not far from Istanbul (6:30am). Visited leather factory and resisted the urge to buy. Then across a ferry over a corner of the Sea of Mararma and into the big smoke. To the grand bazzar later then a farewell dinner. Tomorrow on our own in the morning and in the afternoon we start the long journey home - forgotten what it looks like.

Hazelnuts for sale to tourists. Works out around NZ $70 per kg!

Bosphorus from the bridge

Cunningly hidden in this picture there are about 20 million satellite dishes. See how many you can count.

Pamukkale and Hieropolis - WOW!

Location, location -that was definitely foremost in the Romans' minds when they built the city of Hieropolis above the beautiful cascading white terraces of Pamukkale.  They are not only stunning but cover a huge area, and as an added bonus flow over with warm mineral water. The ruins of Hieropolis are impressive too and it was obviously a large weallthy city in its time. A very long drive today to Bursa where we visited a mosque. Very lovely, and in daily use. Then on to the hotel. Nice room with a courtyard below  in which is set up lots of tables covered in white, plus a stage with loud speakers. It is apparently a henna party which will stop at midnight but until then it could be noisy. Not really what we wanted.

Colossal cave

You are in a maze of twisty little passages all alike. Or thats what it feels like. This hotel is huge. Way out on the back blocks where there are thermal pools similar to the pink and white terraces.

The place is called Pamukkale. 

But before we got here we visited ruins of Ephesus. Spectacular. And a traditional carpet weaving demo.

Hot as hell Troy and Pergamon

A blistering 44 degrees today phew! We are all fried to a crisp. First stop was Troy and very interesting. Tour guide has lots of knowledge on it and not too hot there. Lunch was "different" - we went to a village and were taken in small groups to various houses where we were given local food. Lovely hostesses but the food was dripping in oil, plus some of their home made wine, not what we are used to though. Then a long drive to Pergamon which we was really good but in 44 degrees heat we were all sagging a bit. Forecast is for 32 in the shade tomorrow so a wee bit cooler than today. The hotel we are in is very poor compared with yesterday's which had amazing service and food. This one has no service at all and most of us ended up bringing up our own bags and the set menu was set to a choice of one thing. And it is purportedly 5 star. Ephesus tomorrow and looking forward to that.

                             Troy

Our hostesses

 
                               Pergamon

Gallipoli

Sort of pleased to leave stifling Istanbul this morning, but do not regret the experience. It is good to know what you are missing after you have left. The bot is only a memory too which pleases me.
Coach ride to Gallipoli stopping for lunch at roadside cafe. Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair all very respectfully laid out and grave sites well cared for. Very hot. Down to the coastal town of Eceabat and a fe

rry took 4 or 5 coaches and a dozen cars across to Canakkale and our hotel. Seventh floor views to die for and note the picture above the bed! Now to test the buffet dinner.

Long hot and sticky start to our tour

There were two things that made the start to our first day less than ideal - the 6.30am wake up call and the fact that Bryan had the dreaded tummy bot in the night. Fortunately we had pills with us and they did help but he had hardly slept so was feeling none too good in the heat, and long periods of standing that is part of this kind of tour. We managed the Topkapi palace which is impressive but had to dip out on the blue mosque, then managed the Hagia Sophia which is probably not spelt right. Very impressive but a bit too hot to fully appreciate it. The day ended with a very nice 90 minute boat ride on the Bosphorus which was a lovely way to see the European and Asian sides of Istanbul in the shade with the wind in your face.
Back in the hotel the cleaner chose today to not make up our beds and not replenish our water bottles. Obviously not our day.
Never mind, Gallipolis tomorrow and hopefully we will both be firing on all cylinders.

Overload

Overloaded with luxury in our hotel for three days. Will we ever escape. Brsr fillet steak and mushrooms ever yesterday evening.
Istanbul is overloaded with people, yellow taxis (mostly with panel damage), pavement stalls selling everything you don't need, and some things we do need like local style sesame rolls and turkish delight, people, yellow taxis, sunshine, yellow taxis and lots of people.
Walked from our hotel in Sisli to T

axim square and back absorbing the atmosphere which is hot, sweaty and smells of spice, bodies, sweet corn and roast chestnuts.
Tonight we check in with our new tour guide.

Bye bye Budapest hello Istanbul

Well, we are in the Radisson Blue Hotel  in Istanbul, which is by a country mile the poshest we have ever stayed in. We said farewell to our lovely boat this morning and to all the friends we have made from all around the globe. A magnificent two weeks. The final night was a bit full on, starting with pre dinner drinks of Polanka  which is about 50% proof, followed by dinner and wine on tap, then rounded off with a trip to see Budapest by night. A long day but lovely day.
Istanbul airport was incredibly busy, huge queues for passport control but we made it through and eventually managed to spot our Tour man who ferried us to the hotel along with another couple who are on the tour.

View down into the foyer from our 2nd floor room

View from our window not quite as good!

Trying out the bed for size

Farewell festivities and Budapest arrival

Yesterday evening entertainment consisted of show music from five Brataslavian ladies and then after dinner the crew dod some comedy sketches to entertain us.
Arrival in Budapest was stage managed to perfection. Eight am blue sky and warm sun. City is spectacular. Photos will not do justice to it. We have skipped the city tour this morning in favour of relaxation. But bisy schedule this afternoon and evening. Then Istanbul.

Regensburg. Untouched by bombs.

Regensburg is too far east and too small to have suffered bombing. Started in roman times as a border fortress between Rome and the huns. Very prosperous from river trade in silk and spices between Istanbull and Europe. Then the Islamic empire moved into Turkey  and shut the trade down so Regensburg slumped. But now prosperous on tourists. Huge cathedral as ever. Rivals Cologne in size and wealth in its heyday.

We arrived at start of "october"fest season. Lunch in town square bratwurst and bier and watched gay rights parade. Tried not to get too close!

Vienna and Bratislava

We have renamed our "stateroom" the Tardis,  cos we go to bed in one place then in the night we time travel to somewhere else. All very clever. Yesterday we had the day in Vienna and we and everyone else were really looking forward to it - romantic Vienna. We had a coach tour through the city and eye overwhelmed by street after street after street of big ornate buildings with loads of ornate carvings and statue after statue. There was so much of everything that it actually was too much and just about everyone we spoke to was not all that impressed. But there are unexpected gems on any trip and the gem of Vienna was a chance close up of the beautiful Spanish Riding School Lippanzer white horses. They were led right past us - we just happened to be passing at the right moment. So magnificent.
In the afternoon we had a walk to the edge of the city with a lovely American couple we have become very friendly with. Then in the evening after dinner we went to an operatic concert in a very ornately decorated concert room. It was wonderful, a small orchestra, male and female opera singers, and some ballet style dancing. They do ensure you have some lovely experiences on this cruise.
Today we are in Bratislava and we have fallen in love with it. It has so ugh character and our guide was old enough to have experienced the communist regime so was a mine of information on the subject. Lovely buildings, narrow streets, and apparently the ubiquitous pick pockets - one was spotted attempting to probe someone's handbag.
Tonight is the farewell dinner so more inches on the waistline are forecast. That will be followed by some international entertainment by the crew which should be a lot of  fun. We are betting that the Purser who never smiles will not be doing a turn.
Tomorrow we will wake up in Budapest!
                           Below Vienna

Bratislava

Hazy view from the castle, the forest is in Bratislava and the 600 wind vanes are in Austria

Melk and Durnstein

Started the day in Melk where there is a Benedictine Abbey that is out of this world with frescoes and paintings and guilded everything.
Then down the Wachau valley renowned for white wine in many varieties and apricots with everything including marmalade schnapps and ice cream.
Then Durnstien where King Richard Coeur de Leon was held captive for several years and ransomed back for zillions of silver. We climbed to the ruined castle on a hot afternoon for a stunning view of the valley. Evening concert on the ship by a slovak duo very versatile traditional and modern instruments. Tomorrow Vienna.

Regensburg. Yesterday.

Hi. Everything out of order. Regensburg was begore Passau but as we are in the Danube gorge internet keeps collapsing and Carol has jumped the gun and done Passau first. So
Back to Regensburg. Originally Roman fortress to keep the huns from crossing the Danube and entering Roman territory. Very wealthy in medeaval times through the silk and spice trade with the east via Istanbul. When islam overran Turkey that stopped and the town declined with two results. Sea trade started tesulting among other things the discovery of New Zealand and Regensburg was ignored in WEII and escaped inscathed. Therefore it has retained its medeaval buildings including the cathedral built to out do its trading rival Cologne. Both have huge Cathedrals.
We visited at the start of the "october"fest season and the town was full. Included in our lunchtime entertainment was bratwurst, bier amd a gay rights procession. All adding to the colour.
Weather is now superb warm sunny light breezes.
Currently dropping gently through a Danube lock with the pianist playing Leibestraum and slowly digesting lunch. What could be nicer.