Istanbul Day 2

 

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 & feta salads, which also contained sliced Greek olives, and were excellent.  For entrées, Bev had the seafood (shrimp, scallops, salmon, peppers, onions) kabob and I had the grilled filet mignon with grilled asparagus.  

Gavin, as you can see, had the WTF burger.  For dessert we greatly enjoyed  “The Cookie” with vanilla gelato.  This was a freshly baked giant chocolate chip cookie baked in a crem brule dish.  It was very tasty.  

By now we were passing through the narrow passage that leads into the Mediterranean Sea. 

We managed to get a family picture with the bridge in the background. 

We passed beneath the huge suspension bridge that reminded us of the Golden Gate Bridge.  

Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Ephesus mid-morning.