May 24, 2013 Istanbul - St. Sophia, Tokapi Palace, Hippodrome and underground cistern

Today is going to be a busy day touring the Old City sights. Since our hotel is in Taksim Sq. we must take our bus to the Old City- a trip of about 45 mins. due to traffic.

If one is planning to stay a few days in Istanbul, I recommend staying in a hotel in the Old City where everything is in walking distance. Chora is a distance away and is best reached by taking a taxi- takes too long to take public transportation and risking getting lost.

We arrived at the bus drop by the Topkapi Palace around 9am and walked to St. Sophia (Agia Sophia) Museum/Church/Mosque.
We were able to get in when the museum opened and it was not too crowded.  This time like last time we were here there were several tour groups of Greek visitors.

Our guide took us up to the gallery to see the mosaics and then to the main level where we could see some mosaics but mostly the designs where the mosaics were covered when St. Sophia was converted to a Mosque.

When we visited St. Sophia a few years ago there was some restoration work going on but not to the extent at this time. Although there is a lot of scaffolding there is no work going on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia




We then went to the underground cistern to see this amazing underground reservoir- one of many in the city.
There were a lot of tours and the passageways narrow it  took a long time to traverse the reservoir and to see all the columns.

http://www.istanbultrails.com/2008/06/the-basilica-cistern-the-coolest-spot-in-town/

Our next stop was a walk to the Hippodrome- now just a large plaza to see two obelisks and to see the Blue Mosque from a distance.

We then walked to the Topkapi Palace and due to time restraints saw the four ? courtyards, the treasury and the religious exhibit.

To really see the Palace and enjoy the grounds and views one must spend at least 4 hrs. If one has seen the first part of the tour one can pay extra and tour the Harem.

http://topkapisarayi.gov.tr/en

Per this web site the St. Irene museum is now open to individual visitors. If you have a chance go see is as it has been closed off for tours except for concerts.

After visiting the Palace we headed for our last stop, the Archeological Museum which is next to the Palace. Warning- no elevator so if  one has knee or leg problems one either takes the stairs or just sees the exhibits on the first floor.
http://www.istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr/main_page

Near the museum was a nice snack bar/cafeteria where we stopped and enjoyed refreshments before boarding our bus back to the hotel.

May 23 2013 Pilgrimage to Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey

We wanted to take a trip to Cappadocia and other parts of Turkey that had an Orthodox history. We were lucky to find room in a group that was leaving on May 23, 2013.
We will be travelling by bus and by air and a private ferry on this tour.

Since we had been to Constantinople before and saw all the tourist sights we would now able to visit the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate as well as some local churches and monasteries as well as two  that have been converted into museums. One was both a museum and a mosque!

Our itinerary will be:
Constantinople, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Kusadasi, Patmos (Greece) and back to Constantinople.

We arrived in Constantinople on KLM late afternoon. This was the only flight that arrived in the afternoon-British and other airlines had late arrivals- after 11pm! This arrival time was the only reason we selected KLM to fly to the Poli.
Service on the airline was so so even in premium business class but the worst thing was that KLM lost my suitcase!!
I filed a lost bag  claim with the airline and also with Travel Guard and was told to wait until the next few air france and klm flights arrived; that my bag might be on board one of those flights.

The hotel and my guide both checked with the airline and airport the next day and no luck. The Travel Guard rep said to buy some replacement clothes up to $500. The airline rep said I could just turn in my clothes to the hotel laundry daily in order to get by until my bag was located.

The only fortunate thing is that it had mostly my clothes in it- had it been my wifes we would be in bad shape.  After this we will now pack two bags and ea. will have 1/2 mine and 1/2 hers so if we lose one bag we will have some clothing to wear.

The next day after our tour was over we went up and down Istiklal St. (Taksim Sq.) looking for some shirts and shorts and pants for me to get me by while we were on our land tour. Only two stores- Gap and Columbia- had t shirts and sox and a shirt that fit me. No large sizes ie XL or size 42 pants/shorts were to be found.

So I had three more t shirts, sox and a short sleeve shirt to add to my limited wardrobe.

While shopping we noticed a large police presence in the side streets of Istiklal St. and wondered why. Well the next day we found out. The local people had a peaceful demonstration against the govt. plan to redevelop the Square & the police tried to break it up.  The demonstrations were ongoing while we were in Turkey.

After the shopping we had time to go down to the Galata Tower and ride the elevator to the top to get views of the City.  It is a relatively easy walk from the Tower back to Istiklal St.  and Taksim  Sq. where our hotel was located.

The group we were to join arrived later that us and we just hung out waiting for them as we could not get our rooms until the whole group was there.

Eventually they arrived, we checked in and went into our room.

Dinner was in a private dining room every night we were at the hotel and breakfast in the Mezzanine.

OCT 7 DEPARTURE FROM ISTANBUL

It was nice to spend the night on the ship in Istanbul- guests went ashore for sightseeing and dinner.
Due to the limited flights from Istanbul to San Francisco on British Air, our flight left at 8 am and in order to make the flight we had to disembark at 6am to get our transfer from the ship to the airport.

When I was in the ships computer room printing out our boarding passes I overheard other guests mentioning early flights ie 2am!

Tour books warn that the taxis outside the departure gate do not go by meter but negotiated price and may not be available for such early departures.
We made arrangements for a private transfer which worked out great.

I suggested that the cruise line offer a shuttle service for their guests in order for them to have a safe reasonably priced trip to the airport keeping in mind most cruisers were over 60 and in good to fair health.

Istanbul is a city I would visit again.

My only comment is that not many Turkish people involved with tourists speak English ie taxi drivers, hotel staff, etc. We found more English speaking Turks in central Turkey who worked in the hotels, bus drivers etc.

OCT. 6, 2014 ISTANBUL END OF THE CRUISE

Today we arrived in Istanbul. We were able to see the ship cruise through the Bosphorus to Istanbul.
The weather is warm and mild-what a treat after so many days of cold and rain in the Crimea.

Since we arrive so late- 2pm- we plan to go to the Dolmabahce Palace which is a 15 minute walk from the pier.

We were allowed to leave the ship at 3 since it took a while to clear Turkish customs and headed for the Palace.

What the tour books don't tell visitors is that they must go through security-slow process- and then line up at the front entrance of the palace. It seems groups get preference over independent travellers. If we paid the inflated price from the ship excursion desk we might have gotten in earlier but the length of the tour is the same.

Museum guides give the 45 min tour and all visitors must  wear booties that are provided in order to not dirty the carpets.

Our guide was very good but the group had some people who talked during the presentations making it hard to hear her.

The furnishings and rooms were fantastic!! But thinking how the Sultans got the money to build such a palace was thought provoking as the money came from taxes from the occupied territories of the Ottoman Empire and possibly the work done by slaves.

We were only permitted to see one small part of the Palace. I suspect that the balance is in disrepair and therefore not able to be seen.


There was a strict no photo inside policy so we did not take any photos but bought some postcards at the gift shop.

This Palace warrants one visit whereas I can go back again and see Agia Sophia and Chora again and again.

If one has seen all the sights in the old city and been to Taksim Sq. and the Galatia Tower and Chora then visit the Palace.  It is just out of the way from the other sites and the old city so I would allow half a day to travel to and from the Palace plus the time to wait to get in and then see the grounds.

Oct. 5, 2014 Burgas, Bulgaria

During our voyage across the Black Sea we experienced rain and wind but the weather forecast for Burgas is sunny and mild and everyone is looking forward to it after all the cold and rain in the last couple of days.
The ship was able to dock at the pier in Burgas and it was an easy walk to the excursion tour buses.

Not many choices of tours here. Our friend who was here several weeks ago recommended we go to Nessebar. Her ship docked near Nessebar so it was easy for her to spend more time touring the ruins and sights of Nessebar.

Our tour was for only four hours. Due to exchange issues we could not go into the ruined churches (now museums) as all the little exchange shops were closed.
After we walked the historic area we decided to go to a restaurant for a snack and coffee. Here we were able to pay in Euros and got Levs in change.

If we ever come back to Bulgaria we will go to a restaurant/cafe and buy something so we get Levs in change and use for souvenirs or museum entrances.

Nessebar is compact and easy to walk although there are few street signs or signs directing tourists to the many church museums.

There were several other museums but lack of Levs and time prevented us from seeing them.

Next stop Istanbul.

SAN FRANCISCO ROUND TRIP CRUISES ON CELEBRITY INFINITY

The recently refurbished Infinity will be making several SF round trip cruises to Alaska in 2015.
In addition there will be two Panama Canal cruises - 1 from SF to Ft. Lauderdale and 1 from Ft. Lauderdale to SF.
I was on the FT. Lauderdale to SF Cruise in 2009 and it was wonderful!!

Oct 4, 2013 Yalta, Ukraine

I don't know if I mentioned that when we packed we were expecting temperatures in the 70- low 80's. The unexpected cold weather was a shock to all passengers on the ship as we did not have clothing for the cold and wet weather.

In  other ports in Europe one can find vendors selling sweatshirts and cheap umbrellas. Here in the Ukraine not a vendor was to be found.

Consequently we braved the weather to take all our tours.

Yalta is another port where we needed to take a tender to go ashore.

Last night my wife got sick and went to the doctor's office where she received medication and was told to stay in the cabin for a day as a precaution for norovirus.  The staff would provide room service for her and the nurse would call periodically to check on her.

Today we planned an 8 hr. excursion of the three large palaces in Yalta which included the one that the representatives from Britain, US and Russia met to discuss the war (WWII).

Since my wife was ill I was going to go on the excursions and left on an 8:15 am tender to shore where I got on the tour bus. It was cold!

When we got off the bus at the first palace- Massandra Palace- there was a light snowfall!
The tour took about an hour and we had a short break for photos and rest rooms before we were going to the Vorontsov Palace.

When we got to the Palace we were told it would be a ten min. walk which normally would be no problem but in the rain and wind it was really a challenge. We waited in line to enter and at least were somewhat warm. I wanted to buy a book on the palace but since I did not have the local currency I could not.

We spent and hour and were almost at the end when our guide got a message that the group was to return to the ship due to bad weather- the captain did not want us stuck on land and not be able to take the tender to the ship.

We did not visit the 3rd Palace which is the one most passengers wanted to visit- Livadia Palace- where the Yalta meeting of the 3 Powers was held. We did drive by it but could not see it as it was hidden by the foliage on the highway.

Part of the tour was to stop at the Swallow's Nest and have lunch but all we did was take a really short photo stop of the castle and then go to the pier.

We waited in freezing cold weather on the tender while the crew rounded up all the passengers who were on shore and then sailed to the ship.

When I got to our cabin my wife informed that after our tenders had left for the tour the captain cancelled all tenders to shore and everyone had to remain on board- losing the chance to visit this city.  This was a shame as most of us took this cruise to see the 3 Ukrainian ports but the bad weather spoiled our trip somewhat.

Normally the weather would have been warm and sunny and all the touristy stands and shops would have been open.

There was an announcement that the ship would be sailing sooner than scheduled due to weather and that in Burgas, our next port, the weather would be warmer and some sun.

My wife was feeling better and said that if she had to be sick it was today as we could not really enjoy the tours we signed up for.