2023 Italy Turkey & Greek Islands BevLarry

  June 30, 2023  –  Istanbul, Turkey Departs: 2:00PM We woke up late this morning to a beautiful, clear morning.   After breakfast, I worked on the blog for yesterday and sorted through about 270 photos to select for the blog.  It was a beautiful day with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the lower 80’s.  Once Emily, Sean, Olivia, and Gavin returned from their Turkish breakfast ashore, we joined them on the “Magic Carpet” to relax and visit.   At 2:00 pm the ship set sail for an overnight sailing to Ephesus.  As we sailed into the Marmara Sea we had great views of the Hagai Sophia and Blue Mosque.   Dinner this evening was at the Roof Top Garden Grill, which is located on the 15 th  deck.  It is an outdoor restaurant with great views of the sea.   We had shared appetizers of pork sliders, roasted cauliflower, and seasonal vegetable crudité.  Bev and I had watermelon & ...

  June 29, 2023  –  Istanbul, Turkey Docked - Arrival: 1:30PM   After many hours of sailing,  we arrived around 12:30 pm at the strait of Bosphorus where Europe meets Asia and docked at the port of Istanbul at 1:30 pm and disembarked at 2:00 pm into the Galataport area.   As we sailed into the Bosphorus, both the Hagai Sophia and the Blue Mosque were prominent on the skyline.  Blue Mosque and Hagai Sophia Hagai Sophia The Blue Mosque The port of Istanbul terminal is very modern and was completed 2 years ago.   As we got near the end and were exiting into the central city, our guide, John, met us. Emily had scheduled him through Airbnb for a day of touring the important sights of Istanbul.  John is a recent college graduate who is free-lancing as a travel guide.  He is exceptionally fluent in English and very knowledgeable of Istanbul’s history and the sights.  So, off we went.  He immedia...