Russell's travel tales

Monday 30^th – Out and about in Singapore

Again being cheap Kiwis we decide rather than pay for a hotel breakfast, as for some reason Renee left breakfast off the menu for this hotel, we would go out and find a café for breakfast.  Well that was a mistake as we struggled to find anything.  We ended up at a local place where we got two under boiled eggs, toast and stewed sweet coffee all for $2 each.  It wasn’t overly nice but filled a hole, Doug snuck off to McDonalds for a milkshake.

We were meeting Vanessa, (a very special friend of ours and a temporary local resident of Singapore) at midday so we thought we would grab a taxi and head up to Orchard Road for a bit.  He spun us a yarn about all the shops being shut until 11:30 and how about he drop us of at a factory outlet shop.  It tuned out to be a bloody jewellery factory shop.  We were out of there quick and grabbed another cab to the Ion Centre, Orchard Road.  They certainly had some high class shops in Singapore, all the name brands and more.  We organised for Vanessa to meet us up there and when she arrived went and had some lunch on level B3.

We decided to buy some tickets for the open top, hop on hop off bus and tour the town which also included a river cruise.  There are buildings of all shapes and sizes, most of them very impressive, lots of new ones under construction.  My high light was getting to the top of the Marina Bay Sands building.  This building is a hotel with three high towers and what looks like a boat across the top of the towers.  It stands out on its own and is one of the tallest buildings.  Vanessa was able to sweet talk our way up there saving us $20 each.    We went up 57 floors and on the top was what maybe you would call a park with swimming pools and hot pools.  The pools were right against the edge with their water level up to and flowing over the edge and of course people swimming. Very impressed I was. In the base was a huge super high class shopping mall and Casino.  It stretched under the road and up on the other side and had in it a canal with boats being propelled (with an oar, but not rowed) along.  Doug and Ngaire decided not to join us with Vanessa and her partner, Cam for dinner and they went off to find some seafood at one of the many restaurant’s along the river.  We headed over to the Muslim area for dinner at the Blue Jazz where we had excellent European meals with a bottle of Nelson wine and a table out on the footpath.  It was a very enjoyable evening and after ten before we were looking for a taxi back to the hotel.

Tuesday 31^st – A relaxing day in Singapore before a late flight out

This was the last day of our holiday.  I thought I had better ring Dolly & Hoosun Wong, the folk we had had the enjoyable night with in Delphi.  I got into trouble for not ringing them the moment we landed.  They both had a full day ahead.  We headed out to “The Plain Café” 50 Craig Street, a place out the other side of China Town where Vanessa had suggested we may get fried eggs and sandwiches etc., but more importantly good coffee.  She was right except for the fried eggs but we had a really nice breakfast and the best coffee since being away.

Dolly rung us and they had re organised their days so that we could meet for lunch at the Hawker Centre on (or near) Beach Road and the golden mile.  Hawker centre means local food and we were in for a treat.  Dolly took charge and rustled up dish after dish of local food, it was like a huge banquet and we were never going to eat it all.  I am not going to try and name everything because I couldn’t but we did have what Dolly called the queen of fruit. It was like an over large passion fruit which you squeezed to break the outer shell and picked these white segments out.  The centre looked like a small clove of garlic but tasted divine with a mandarin/mango taste, very yummy.  The whole meal was a very enjoyable experience, Vanessa joined us halfway through and made a big dent in the food we had left but Dolly still got to take a big doggy bag home.

As we headed back to the hotel it started get very dark, we had heard thunder while we were eating.  We went via the underground and when we came out at Clarke Quay it was bucketing down.  Amazingly we were able to find shelter to within 20 metres of the hotel.

We arrived back about three, we had already booked out but they had said we could come back for a shower and to freshen up before our flight however we managed to sweet talk them into letting us use the pool facilities as well so we went swimming in the rain.

Renee we give the Park Regis a 10+ but we never ate there.  An indication of why were that two beers and a wine while we were at the pool cost $43.  The taxi to the airport was under $20 and we were there just on five for our 2205 flight on a Singapore Airline’s Boeing 777-300 to Auckland.  We needed time to pick up Margaret’s cigarettes.

Wednesday 1^st June – Home

The flight from Singapore was nine hours and I didn’t think I got much sleep however the others told me I had much more than them.  Auckland customs was a breeze but slower than the others as our bags had to go through the scanner.  We declared some apple tea so went in a different queue to Doug and Ngaire but beat them through the door where good friends, Karen & Murray were waiting to pick up D & N and drive back to Tauranga and get a meat pie for Doug.  We were on the 12.30 Air NZ, new all black Airbus A320 back to Wellington where Michael and Nicole were waiting for us.

Renee – You did a great job for us.  Everything worked like clockwork and our hotels all passed muster.  Well Done

The next job is to sort the photos and get them up although you may see them on my home page Gallery first.  www.hailes.co.nz

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Tuesday 24^th – Day 11: Back to Istanbul

We head out on the last leg of our tour.  When we get to Istanbul we will have completed over 2,750 Km in the bus.  We are on the road at 9 and have an hour trip to the ferry where we cross the Sea of Marmara to the out skirts of Istanbul.  It is a half hour trip on a ferry similar to our crossing of the Dardanelles.  We stop along the way for a refreshment stop and get into central Istanbul around mid day.  The traffic certainly slows down as we head to the Grand Bazaar for some shopping,  This is apparently the biggest under cover bazaar in the world with tourists coming in especially for it.  We were told it was just a mad house and if you said hello to a shop owner you were hooked.  This all proved to be hype and we were not hassled by the store owners at all.  We didn’t buy anything either as it was all pretty much the same stuff we had been seeing already.

We took up one of the options of a cruise on the Bosphorus river.  This is the bit of water between Europe and Asia and of course is right in the middle of Istanbul.  You have the Sea of Marmara at one end and the Black sea at the other.  It is a fascinating cruise looking at all the flash houses, palaces and hotels along this coast line.  We went under both the bridges built across it.  It is also a busy piece of water with ferries crossing and ships traversing.

It is back to the hotel where we started in (Holiday Inn) Istanbul to get ready for dinner at supposedly a famous night club called the Kervavsaray with belly dancers and folk dancers and an impersonator who got up some of the audience to share his jokes and songs etc. What a great laugh we had at this part of the show, we finished up dancing to ‘real’ music before our tour guide forced us to leave. Some of our crowd were not wine drinkers so we did get to drink their allowances also!!!!!  The show was good but we were packed in like sardines and it was impossible to watch the show and eat your meal if like me you had your back to the stage.

Wednesday 25^th – Day 12: Last day of the Tour

Another 9 o’clock start as we head over to the old town for sightseeing.  It is another hot day and very pleasant wandering around looking at some of the monuments and obelisks as we soak in the history.  We do the Blue Mosque where we take our shoes off and the girls put on scarves.  It is a magnificent building with a huge dome supported by half domes.  There are lots of beautiful stained glass windows.

Next is the Hagia Sophia a former Orthodox basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum.  It was famous for its massive dome, and was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years.

We are all starting to get churched out by now and we wander off and find some lunch and then I head off to look at the Basilica Cistern.  It costs me an extra 10 lire to view it but worth it.   It is a huge underground structure which used to provide water to some of the buildings on the hill.  It had a capacity of nearly 3,000,000 cubic feet of water.  The ceiling is supported by 300 odd columns, some of them carved.  There was an upside down Madusa on one of them.  It was then a rush to get back to our meeting point for our visit to the Topkai Palace.

This was an Ottoman Palace built around the 15^th century.  It covered a lot of ground made up of four main courtyards.  We wandered around here for about 2 hours looking at the palace jewels, one the biggest diamond in the world, much too big for our fine fingers, old clothing of the time, and the harem, library etc Ngaire even found the room where they turn blokes into eunuchs, yuk.

Back to the hotel to get ready for our farewell dinner at a restaurant looking over the Bosphorus.  A beautiful view, a nice meal and our tour was virtually over.  It was all goodbyes as some were leaving the hotel at three the following morning to catch early flights.

We went back to our hotel room to listen to music booming out at us from what must have been a nearby nightclub but it finished at eleven so not sure.  At about 12.50 we got disturbed by an almighty boom and then what sounded like fireworks.  I saw smoke rising from the street at the front of the hotel so hoping it was fireworks and not associated with the riots we had heard about.

Thursday 26^th – On our own again

With no rush and in our top rated hotel we are looking for a relaxed day today.  We do have to change to a new hotel though as this one was part of the Trafalgar package and us poor Kiwi’s can’t afford the NZ$400 per day for this place.  We have breakfast with Jan and David from Melbourne.  I forgot to mention that this was the only place that has served us bacon in the whole of Turkey.  No fried eggs but yummy although a bit salty bacon.  We say our goodbyes to a few folk still around the hotel, put our bags in storage and are off for a stroll in the New town (I Guess) where they have shops and stuff more akin to home.  We really just wander as we are full up on historical sites and stuff and get back to the Holiday Inn about 2pm.  We book a van to take us to the Orka Royal  Hotel back down in the old city area, in fact just below the Topkai Palace.  Renee we decide that you have really done a great job in sorting out hotels for us both in quality and location.  The taxi van ride is a two in one deal as it is as exciting as a River Rafting adventure.  Our driver swapped lanes at least every thirty seconds, no gap was too small for him to charge at, horns blasting as we went.  But then he didn’t have a clue where our hotel was, the traffic was thick and he had to ask people directions.  We must have over shot the street and we ended up getting dropped off at a street a couple of blocks above it.  He pointed out a sign I couldn’t see and said there it is I let you walk from here.  He then had the cheek to charge us 10 lira more than the hotel said it would cost.  All part of the experience as we head down this cobbled street dragging our bags.  We found the hotel on this street that had been closed for a reconstruction which may have been part of the taxi driver’s problem and it did make us wonder what the hotel was going to be like but all turned out good enough for a 7 maybe 8 rating.

We dumped our bags and went off for a walk.  We found a park below the palace and spent some peaceful time wandering through that  and coming out on the coastline before finding our way past the main railway station back to our hotel.

We went up to one of the restaurants we had passed towing our bags earlier in the day for dinner.  I had some lovely lamb chops.  After dinner we strolled back to our hotel.  It had a pool on the roof of our hotel and beautiful view over the sea and we decided that we would head up there tomorrow evening for happy hour.

Friday 27^th – A wander around the Spice Markets

We have a relaxed start to the day with a leisurely though not exciting breakfast.  We set off about 10am to find the spice market, just wandering in the general direction that people keep point us towards.  We found a swag of garden shops which were interesting.  We didn’t know you could buy Strawberry seeds.  Just as well we aren’t allowed to bring them into NZ TA otherwise you wouldn’t of had a chance next summer as the strawberries over here are yummy.  The Spice Market was just next door and it was much more interesting than the Grand Bazaar as you could almost buy anything here from hardware to Viagra.  We split up and met back at a café area for lunch.  Again there was not a lot of interest in selling you stuff and when it was time for prayer some of the shops closed even although there were people in them.

We were going to meet Doug and Ngaire back at the hotel for 4 o’clock happy hour and probably got back about 3.  Unfortunately the temperature had dropped and the wind had come up and there was a bit of rain about.  Ngaire’s reckie of the roof top suggested it was too cold up there and just a couple of people huddling under a rug drinking tea.  I tried to catch up on the blog while the others went out and brought some wine.

Dinner was pork chops again but they were not as nice as the night before.

Saturday 28^th – We begin our journey home

We wake to another not so good day.  It is promising rain and trying hard but it doesn’t on us anyway.  We decide to go for a wander along the waterfront.  It is a busy place, ferries are coming in, guys were catching anchovies and mackerel by the bucket and boats all over the place.  Everyone is trying to sell us tickets for a trip on the Bosphorus.  We could have had a trip for 10 lire instead of the US$40 we were charged by Trafalgar.  We may not have had the commentary in English but I would be surprised if it wasn’t.  We wandered around a bit, did the common search for a WC thing before getting back to the hotel for our mid day taxi van to the airport.  The driver was another Stirling Moss want-a-be (they must all go to same driving school) and had us at the airport in under half an hour.  To drive in Istanbul you have to be super confident and not be put off by the cars tooting at you.

We have three and a half hours until our flight so dump our bags, grab something to eat and go into the lounge to wait.  Our plane is an Airbus 321 and Doug ends up sitting across the aisle from the rest of us.  Our flight to Munich takes just over two hours with a snack of Pasta and wine for some of us where we have a four hour lay over before flying out.  We have sat on our bums quite a bit over the last two and a half weeks, tummys and butts tell the story….  We next have a 12 hour Flight to Singapore and arrive there at 3.50 in the afternoon. Yipee!!!!

Sunday 29^th – Singapore

The flight was reasonability uneventful and in a Lufthansa Airbus A343.  Margaret and I were against the Window and the plane configuration of 2-4-2 meant we only had our selves to climb over.  Ngaire cursed me as she reckoned I must have arranged that we always got the window seats with Renee.  This was not true of course.  I don’t think any of us slept much but the meals were reasonable.  We arrived on time and everything was well until Margaret declared her cigarettes as you have to do here.  We then had to go to the customs counter where they wanted either $50 tax or for $4 would hold them until we left.  We chose the later but needed to pay in SG$’s which we didn’t have yet and no ATM until we were through the door so it was a credit card transaction.  Bloody smokers are a pain in the ass.

The taxi driver couldn’t find our hotel, The Park Regis, 23 Merchant Rd, and we went around the block three times.  A great hotel Renee, in again a great location.  Apart from Ngaire not getting window seats you are getting good points.   We settled in ad headed of to find an ATM and something to eat.  China town was just around the corner so that was where we headed, a bustling place for a Sunday night and found a nice place to eat and watch the world go past.  It wasn’t long before we had polished off a couple of large jugs of Tiger beer and a nice meal.  Noodles and Black peppered beef for me, Chicken & Potatoe Curry for Margaret, Doug a pork dish and Ngaire Chicken Satay..  I tried to get a haircut but after being told yes they decided they were closed come back tomorrow.

We went back to the hotel and had a swim before retiring to bed.  We are starting to appreciate the hot weather.

Sunday 22^th – Day 9: Cappadocia – Ankara

We were allowed a sleep in this morning as we were not leaving the hotel until 9.30.  We stopped off to view Uchisar castle which is what we got hailed away from on Friday. Uchisar means highest area around and there was a castle carved into the top of it.  We didn’t go in, it was just a chance to get photos of it as it was the most dominant point around.  We stopped at a couple of more photo opportunities and then were off to Ankara about a three hours plus drive away plus lunch.  It is colder today and now raining.

We got into Ankara about three and headed straight to the Museum.  Although small it had a good collection of items from right through the ages.  Ankara is the capital city.  Because it was in land and most threats came from the sea..

We were then off to the mausoleum of Ataturk.  As I mentioned before this is the guy that fought at Gallipoli and for the Turks independence who was a super hero.  Even although he didn’t want any thing they built this super impressive mausoleum for him.  It was on the highest hill and is guarded 24/7 by the forces.  Huge.

We then booked into our hotel, The Barcelo in Ankara.  Gocke pointes us all to the Supermarket across the road and warned us that at Bursa there would be no where to buy drink except at the hotel.  It looked like more than half the bus dropped their bags in their rooms and went shopping.  We went to Doug and Ngaire’s room and were joined by Damien and Noelene for drinks before an enjoyable meal which included some slices of beef.  Margaret and I watched a Movie from Gocke called “My Life in Ruins” about a tour guide in Greece.  It was a laugh relating it back to our tour.  The local team must have won the football as at about 9.30 the car horns started going crazy and didn’t stop until well after I went to sleep.

I gave the hotel a nine (out of 12 now).

Monday 23^rd – Day 10: Ankara – Bursa

A five hour drive ahead of us today so we are back to 6.30 wake up calls and on the by by 8.  We head out of Ankara, the second largest city and head for  Gordion, the city of King Midas.  Remember the midas touch where everything turns to gold.  We had to detour off the main highway for this and there was nothing much to see except the tulumus which were little man made mounds with a body (and his worldly possession) buried under it in what looked like a log house.  The weather has warmed up and it was a very pleasant interlude before getting back on the bus.  The main roads here are very often a duel lane road for each direction I guess like our motorways but not.  The traffic flows well until you hit the towns

Next stop was Bursa and the Green Ottoman complex which was a Mosque beautifully decorated in tiles.  It was in the process of being restored.  The girls had to cover their shoulders so we saw a collection of scarves come out.  It was like a group of older country woman.  We all had to take our shoes off as well.  Not the best idea as my feet stunk.  We then went across to the tombs of some important Ottoman Sultan and his family.

Next was the Grand Mosque where it was shoes off and scarves on again.  This one was huge and again beautifully decorated.  Lot of people in praying or reading the Koran.

We were then given an hour and a half at the adjacent bazaar.  Little alley ways to wander around in but again silk, jewellery and clothes, nothing exciting.

Saturday 21^th – Day 8: Cappadocia

WOW ballooning over Cappadocia, they say it is on the top 100 things to do before you die list and I can see why.  Except for the early rise it was simply fabulous.  We were there in the early dawn watching them fill the balloons and one of the things that made it such an experience was the number of balloons.  I reckon there could have been 100 or more and they were rising from all over the area.  It took a little while and there was a real buzz of excitement in the air as the balloons started lifting into the sky.  We were off the ground at 6.10am. It was so smooth that apart from the view you would hardly know you were moving.  The view was out of this world as Cappadocia is an amazing place with all the rock formations.  It was a beautiful morning and we just drifted amongst the other balloons now and then going down into the valleys.  There were times when you could almost touch the rocks.

It was all over much too quick, we were up for about 50 minutes.  These guys were really good we drifted over the edge of a small town across the top of some power lines over a motorway and they were able to land it on the trailer.  We had a glass of champagne to celebrate and were whisked back to our hotel for an 8 o’clock breakfast.

We were staying two nights here at the Dedeman Cappadocia hotel so we didn’t have to have our bags packed.  This hotel probably got an 8 rating even though both Fifields and us were put in suites.  The hotel was reasonably old but comfortable.

Cappadocia is the area, we were staying in Nevsehir. We headed off to Goreme which is a museum area where there is some churches carved out of the rock.  A few frescos and stuff all, very interesting.  We had a bit of an incident in one of the churches. We were waiting there in our group to go in when this French guy tried to push in.  The guide told him a few times to go to the back of the queue which he ignored.  When it was our groups turn to go in he came in with us.  The Colonel (Howard, one of the older gentlemen in the group with a cane and a bushy moustache) went and stood in front of him.  The guy gave him a shove and it was all on for a minute until this guy was virtually turfted out of the church by the group.  Message here was don’t tangle with the old guys.

We were then off to a pottery place.  I reckon the guides don’t get paid they live on tips and commissions, however it was interesting with very intricate workmanship.  We ended up with something in Margaret’s bag which has to be packed carefully.

At lunch we had Gozleme, a Turkish pancake which was really nice but it took ages to come out as each base was handmade and time consuming to make by the ladies as the guy did the cooking.  This upset some and we were all a bit longer than our allocated hour.

We spent the afternoon roaming around the area looking at rock formations.  Things like the sitting camel, the kissing cousins, the three sisters and others with rude descriptions.  We were back in the Hotel for 5 o’clock and headed down for happy hour before dinner.

Friday 20^th – Day 7: Konya – Cappadocia

Today is the halfway mark on our tour with 6 days to go.  We are not counting day 1 & 14 as I don’t consider them as tour days.

We have left by 8am and head off across the Obruk Plateau.  Our next night will be in Nevsehir, Cappadocia.  It all very flat on a long straight road.  Our first stop is the Sultanhan Caravansary.  They used to have one of these about every 40km as this was about what a camel could walk in a day and of cause it was the place to park your camel and rest up in safety.  This one was the most well preserved and largest in Turkey.  It smelt like the camel caravan had just left for the day.

We next stopped at the underground city of Sarhati.  Very impressive a large community space built under ground.  They were originally built by the Greeks to hide from the Arabs.  When they had the land swaps in 1922 the Greeks were moved away with nobody knowing of these underground villages.  None were known about by the Turks until a shepherd fell into one in 1957 and then they started looking for them.  They have found 16 so far.  Apparently this is the safest to show the tourists but still very impressive.  It would not have been hard to get lost as I discovered when I started to do my own exploring.  As it was three dimensional and small poky little passageways between openings I got disorientated very quickly.

We arrived in Cappadocia and quickly saw the rock houses.  Truly amazing conical shape rocks where people had hollowed out to live.  You have to see them to believe them.  Some had a mushroom top on.  The government has now  stopped people living in them but there are hundreds all over the place.  As we stopped and had only been out of the bus 2 minutes it started to hail.  If Gokce need away to get folk on the bus quick this was it.  People literary ran for the shelter of the bus as the hail quite hurt.

Because of the weather we headed for a rug co-op that we had scheduled for Saturday and were shown the intricacies of rug making and of cause got the opportunity to purchase the bargain of a lifetime.  Doug and Ngaire succumbed so it was our turn to laugh.

Off to the hotel and some wines while some of the group went to a Whirling Dervishes show.  At US$40 per person we gave it a miss.  Apparently it was very spiritual according to some when they came back. Dinner was good and back to the room as Margaret & I need to be in reception at 4.40am tomorrow as we are going to do the Hot Air Balloon ride in the morning weather permitting.  Yahoo.

Wednesday 18^th – Day 5: Antalya

Well we got another sleep in this morning.  Staying two nights in the same hotel is good as you have no bags to get outside the door before breakfast.  It was a good breakfast and we are starting to realise bacon is going to be a rarity in a Muslim country.

We are in the bus for nine and already to go when it starts raining, our first in Turkey.  Everyone is given five minutes to go back to their rooms for umbrellas.  It is only twenty minutes to Perge, our next pile of old rocks.  This one is renown fo having the best preserved Roman Baths.  It also has a couple of round towers at the Hellenistic gates, older than the Roman Gates to the city.  The baths are impressive and you can see all the water  & steam systems under the floor.  It has a really nice curved main street that would have been impressive in its day.  It rained the whole time we were here so my coat and leggings got an airing.  However it did clear up after this to be hot and sticky.

We were then off to a Leather outlet and treated to a fashion show and the opportunity to buy expensive Armani coats at one fifth of the cost.  A bit like the Jewellery place, not sure why we were there until I got suckered in to buying a jacket.  Not too upset as it is a nice jacket made of beautiful silk leather.  Very light and thin like a shamie.  I also managed to get it reduced by over 60%.  I’m told I got a bargain.

It’s in the bus and off for a nice lunch at a traditional Turkish place.  I had a really nice spicy kebab which made the juices flow.

We then went to the Antalya Archaeological Museum which had most of the findings from Perge and was considered one of the most important in Europe.  It was impressive and well laid out.  All the same old gods though.  We decided to walk back from here to our hotel as the weather was now beautiful again.  We were able to follow the tram line as we knew how to get from that to our hotel.  We think we walked through the old city, poked around some markets where Doug brought some Sultans tea which was going to heal everything and make Ngaire happy.  I heard her complaining the next day that it hadn’t worked.  We made our way back to where we had had drinks the night before going back to the Divan Antalya for dinner.

Thursday 19^th – Day 6: Antalya – Konya

It is a holiday here today as it is the anniversary of the beginning of the struggle for independence for Turkey in 1919.  We were up and away by 8.30 although I did go and dabble my feet in the Mediterranean before we left.  Almost everyone on the bus has Doug’s cough now.  We have an hour to Aspendos where we see supposedly the best preserved Roman theatre in the world.  It is pretty good and would have seated some 14,000 people.  It also has the stage which differentiates it from the Greek theatre.  There are also some interesting Roman aqua ducts here where the water was transported to the town.  Ngaire got on a camel for a photo but was worried it was going to get up and she would be charged for a ride.

Back in the bus and head in land where we are going to stop at a traditional Ottoman style house and be their guest for lunch (not the main course I hope).  The lunch was disappointing, the salad was sitting on the table when we arrived and we spent time chasing the fly’s away.  It was yoghurt and herb soup and a hot pot type beef thing.  I wouldn’t have a clue what desert was, some pudding soaked in something.  It was made to look like an invite to a locals home but I think was pretty commercially run.

Back in the bus with another for another four hour drive to Konya and over another mountain pass.  We were in the snow this time and really rugged country. Not a lot of vegetation.  In Konya we head to the Karatay Koran school from the 1200,s  where the students went to study the Koran.  It was then a short drive to the Meviana Museum and Mausoleum.  This was the home of a mystic sect called the Whirling Dervish.  They obviously did some whirling dance in white costumes and have a high profile in Konya.  It is a lot cooler here and we got thunder and rain but fortunately managed to avoid getting wet.

Our Hotel was the Rixos Konya, a 25 floor hotel that almost seemed to be out in the country.  It was a very flash place that towered against anything near it.  We had a set menu for dinner that was far from flash.  Bodes well for breakfast tomorrow.

There was a flash bar on the 25^th but when we went up there no one wanted to serve us.  I don’t think they appreciated my shorts.  Our room was on the 10^th.

Monday 16^th May – The day Michael, Nicole & Dylan took possession their House

It was really good to hear that Michael & Nicole have brought a house while we have been away and took possession today.  This has all happened while we have been away and it just makes you realise how long that has been.  Congratulations and I hope it is a happy house for you guys. Mum read out your text to me at some ungodly time this morning.

A 6.30 wake up call and we were on the bus for 8.  Breakfast was ok they had some nice fried eggs but no bacon.  Not quite what you would expect for a hotel of this standard.  Interestingly all the vehicles coming into the hotel were checked for explosives and big rams had to be lowered into the road before the vehicle could proceed.  Not like home at all with security checks on the doors.

We were off to Ephesus which is an excavation of a city that was founded sometime around 10,000 BC by the Ionians.  It was about an hour on the bus from Izmar and a pleasant drive through countryside which I think I have said before could be NZ.  The big difference you notice is the lack of fences.  Gokce was saying that they get up to five crops a year off some of the fields.

We arrive at Ephesus and pile out of the bus to a stinking hot day.  The weather has certainly warmed up.  There is enough excavated here to actually give you a feel for the place and what it may have been like in its day.  There was certainly a lot of decadence around suggested most likely from the Roman times.  Apparently in it’s hey day 250,000 people lived here.  That is not much less than Wellington today so it must have been a thriving place.  It had a library here which was once considered the equal of Alexandra library.  It had been destroyed in an earthquake and everything lost but they had done a very good job of restoring it.  A two story building and we took a group photo in front of it.   The other thing worth mentioning was the lavatories.  They were restoring one which had 50 seats.  Apparently it was a very social occasion with these 50 seats around in a big square.  There were marble seat around the outside all very close to each other .  A flowing drain passing along the front where you dipped a sponge in and cleaned yourself.  It was probably better to be at the start of the line rather than the last.  Apparently they even brought entertainment in.  It was for men only.  It seemed the men were the only ones who were allowed to openly socialise.  The women were supposed to be looking after the home.  This still goes on today in Turkey where the Coffee houses are apparently men only.  They do have some good ideas over here.

It was really an interesting place and rates high on the sites to see.  Not equal to Pompeii but getting there.  There were people all over the place and of course 100’s of buses.

For some reason I can’t fathom out we were then off to a jewellery factory/store with the emphasis on store.  I even heard the women complaining about the cost.  One Aussie girl took a liking to a bracelet and when enquired on the cost even with our supposedly 28% discount it was US$34,000.  However a couple of the yanks brought something.

It was then off for lunch, a pretty crappy buffet before heading for the Virgin Mary’s House.   VM’s house was up on the top of the hill just past Ephesus.  It was a very peaceful small shrine amongst the trees.  We all filed through there before filling a bottle of holey water from a spring which passes under the house.  Some people then wrote out a small wish and placed it on the wall.  The water didn’t taste that good so used it for cleaning teeth.

It was a three hour drive from here to our next hotel, Pam Thermal Hotel at Pamukkale. (btw. Kkale means castle).  It was a quant hotel with thermal pools we were housed in large chalet type blocks with an open area in the centre and no lifts.  We were on the third floor.  We would probably rate this at an 8.  Certainly the food selection and quality while still reasonable had dropped away.

We dumped our bags and were off for a swim in the thermal pool s.  They were a golden mud colour, probably because they were full of the clay type mud which of cause you were supposed to cover yourself with.  You could move to a pool closer to the source and get 58 degrees.  I only made the second to the top.  It was then a refreshing swim in the large normal pool and a few beers around it before dinner.  Dinner was a buffet again ok but just.

That evening we had a belly dancer dance for us in the Disco.  She was really good and her actions very much choreographed to the music.  She was also quite a stunner.  She got some of our group up on stage for a bit of a wobble.  It was a really good evening and people on the tour are beginning to mix well now

Home to our chalet to bed.

Tuesday 17^th – Day 4: Pamukkale – Hierapolis – Antalya

We are allowed to sleep in today.  The wake up call is not until seven WOW.  It is becoming a bit of a routine now.  Get up, have a shave, shower and for you today Max I put my black briefs on (the ones you like).  It is then pack the suitcases and get them out the door to be picked up before wandering down to breakfast., back to the room for a constitutional , clean your teeth and off to the bus. We have it down to a fine art now.

Our first stop today is only minutes away at Pamukkale, a very impressive thermal area up on the side of a hill.  We stopped at the bottom to take some photos before heading up to Hierapolis (meaning up on the hill). If the NZ Pink and White Terraces were supposed to have been a world wonder they must have been fantastic.  These were almost all white and extensive and really were a great sight with pools and beautiful clear water flowing.  However things are a bit influenced by man as they control where the water flows and they let areas dry out and therefore it does not moss up and become very dirty.  No geysers’ that we saw but it used to be a really big city back in the BC’s where people came to be healed.  Again extensive piles of rocks and lots of fancy Sarcophagus’s (tombs).  It was a huge place and very beautiful.  We could have spent most of the day wandering around but we had to be back to the bus by eleven.

A long drive from there through to Antalya with a stop for lunch and a couple of times for refreshments.  It was a beautiful drive through some lovely countryside and a pass through the mountains.

We arrived at our hotel reasonably early perched on the cliff above the Mediterranean Sea.  The Divan Talya with steps (and a lift) down to the sea rated an 11 but for sitting would have been tops.  Fantastic and we were going to be here two nights.

We went for a walk in the sun up towards the old city and found a café to sit in and have a beer & wines for the girls.  Back to the hotel for a nice dinner where we had steak for the first time in a while.

We were invited to one of the Aussie’s rooms (Damien & Noelene) so had to pop out for a bottle of wine.

Friday 13^th May – A change of Countries

We didn’t need to get up too early this morning as our plane was not until 2pm. However I’m not used to sleeping in so was awake by 6.30 and this was a good chance to catch up with the blog for the last three days.  We had another really nice breakfast and I managed to get my blog on line, even although I had Ngaire nagging me she wanted to go and I had said 10.30 we were out the door by 10.45.  I did notice only half the blog went up and I had to reload it at the airport.  We didn’t want to pay the E6 for ringing a taxi so we started walking towards the square.  We managed to get a young taxi driver to pick us up after about five minutes.  He was interesting and explained about the hardships for the young people.  No money and hard to get a job, he was getting on a very good day a max of E50.  He and his fiancé were hoping to immigrate to Melbourne in three or four months.  We were at the airport with heaps of time and checked in.  A bit boring hanging around an airport but they did have free wi-fi so bearable.  We were nearly half an hour late getting away after being bussed to the plane, an Airbus A319-100.

We were in Turkey by 3.45, getting a permit for Margaret was a breeze and cost E15.  Customs in this part of the world has been a non event you just walk straight out after emigration and picking up your bags.  The Trafalgar rep picked us up as we walked out and placed us in a spot while he found some more customers and put us all on a mini bus.  An interesting ride into the city with heaps of traffic and at one point a car skidding to a stop beside us.  For a long part of the trip they had a dedicated bus lane in the middle with those bending Mercedes buses stacked to the gunnels with people.  Some of the buses were extra long with two swivel bits.  As seems to be the way we dropped all these others off at flash hotels before getting to our own, the Holiday Inn.  Renee I know you didn’t pick this for us but if you had you would have got a 12.  Although it didn’t look much from outside for us peasants it was like a palace, huge inter connecting rooms,  a shower that was probably bigger than eight times the size of Mykonos, a flat screen TV (our first) with heaps of English speaking channels.  We were in heaven and just relaxed until our 7 o’clock Tour Briefing.

At our briefing we met a wide assortment of people, no Kiwi’s that we have picked up on yet.  Our tour guide seems like she is going to be a fun person and seems to have a good knowledge so all looks good.  Doug is not the oldest and the ages are up there but there did appear to be a lot of humour in the room so all bodes well.

Doug wasn’t feeling so well so he headed off to bed while the girls and I went off to find something to eat.  We found a huge mall where we went through scanners before we were allowed in.  There were about eight floors of higher class shops, the top one being all food places and of course with such a selection choosing something became difficult.  We settled for these thin pizza based things with a small amount of meat and other stuff all with a Turkish name I can’t remember.

We browsed around the mall and then back to our palace.

Saturday 14^th May – First day and off to Gallipoli

After a 6.30 wake-up call and a hearty breakfast with a selection so large and yummy looking it was difficult to make choices we are on the bus and off.  Istanbul is a hustling bustling city with traffic jams and horns blowing and it takes us a while to be clear of the city.  We have a four and a half hour bus ride to lunch.  We could have almost been driving through New Zealand country side as it was lush and green with fields of different colours.  The yellow field were a bit different apparently they were canola plants for which you make the oil.

Lunch was a roadside café and ok.  It was a bit like lining up in a work cafeteria (when we used to have them), you pointed at what you wanted and they slopped it on a plate for you.

We were then off to ANZAC Cove.  Now I didn’t think I was that emotional but I did find a tear coming to my eye more than once as you begin to chock up.  You did really did have to wonder what our boys were doing here dying on the other side of the world from their loved ones.  It was a beautiful place, quiet and a beautiful sunny day, so peaceful but there was nothing here to fight over.

This place is also seen by the Turks as their birth place,  Obviously they won this battle and their commander who incidentally had been hit by a bullet but survived because it hit his pocket watch by his heart became a super national hero and went on to be responsible for Turkey becoming an independent Republic.  Ataturk’s photo apparently is in every house in the country and they worship him.  He had no blood line and no one is allowed to take his name as a family name.  I get the feeling we will be hearing a lot more of him even although he died in 1938.  We went from the cove up to Lone Pine Cemetery, the monument erected by the Aussies.  I was surprised to find the Kiwi names on the side of this monument where the Aussie names were on a wall in front of it.  There were many gravestones around the monument.  I am definitely going to have to do a bit of research around what actually happened here.

Well we are starting to understand the tourist season.  As we drove up to the top of the hill where the Turkish monument is there are buses for Africa.  There must have been 100 or more and of course a parking nightmare.  I don’t think I would like to be here on ANZAC day, well I would really but it will be a traffic nightmare.  I was surprised to find a huge New Zealand monument right next to Ataturk’s.  There were also a few reconstructed trenches.

I think this is a place that all Kiwi’s should make the effort to visit at sometime in their life.  I just wish I had more time it had all been very rushed.

We were on the bus and off to catch the ferry across the Dardanelles to Canakkale.  Again a pile of buses waiting for the ferry.  We got on the second ferry, an old dungier but it was only a 30 minute trip, smooth and picturesque

Off the ferry and a 15 minute ride to our 5 Star Hotel, the Kolin, it was nice but not up to the standard of the night before.  I think they were swamped by tourist buses.  It was out of town so nowhere to walk to except a K Mart type shop across the road.  They have a funny law in Turkey, apparently you are not allowed to take food or drink into a hotel.  After going down to the bar and finding the cost of a beer was 11 Lira we decided we were going to be criminals.  We visited the shop across the road and stowed a large bottle of wine in Margaret’s handbag.  Suddenly realised that these handbags that Margaret buys are good for something.   It’s a drink in our room before dinner at seven.

Dinner is a Buffet with a fine selection of good food especially the meringues which one managed to find its way onto my plate for each round.  After dinner while the girls went exploring I went to investigate what a Turkish bath was and decided to indulge.  It was really great and highly recommended.  A sauna before a really vigorous scrub down with a course mitt, then covered in smelly soapy stuff  with a bit of a massage and a slop down to clean all the soap off.

I slept like a baby.

Sunday 14^th – Day 2 Canakkale – Troy – Izmir

Another 6.30 wake up call but because of all the buses at the hotel we needed our bags outside the door by seven this morning before heading down to breakfast.  It was bedlam with so many people but we did manage to get in a good breakfast before piling on the bus.  We took off 1 passenger short and had to stop on the road while someone went back to find her.

Troy was not to far away and we were about the third bus there.  Well an even messier big pile of rocks.  Apparently Troy had been built over the top of ten times so that seemed to be the theme.  Troy is credited with having the first ramp in the world.  Can someone check that out for me please?  For those of us that had been brought up on the myths of Troy this place was a disappointment.  They blamed this German bloke Schilman for going in there and breaking all excavation rules and just digging a big trench as he searched for the treasure of one of the kings of Troy.  Sounded like another excuse to me and was typical of what we had been seeing in Greece where they didn’t really appreciate what they had.  They did have a replica of the horse but it was that big it would never have fitted down any of the streets.  They were apparently questioning whether the ten year Troy war was another myth.  The whole experience is about myths so not a problem.

We were in the bus and a three and a half hour ride to lunch.  Lunch was really nice with me having a Lamb Kebab which looked nothing like I expected and was really nice.  The others had Turkish pizza which is not round like an Italian one but more in a boat shape cooked in a wood fired oven and again really nice.  I know this because I ate some.  Next stop was a visit to the Asclepion Medical Centre a pre Roman Hospital where it sound like if you were to sick they wouldn’t let you in.  It sounded more like it was a mental hospital.  It had a theatre, tunnels, covered walk way and stuff.  At the end of the day just another pile of rocks but I found it quite interesting.  You could see an Acropolis way up on the hill a couple of kilometres away.  Our guide, Gokce, pronounced “got chee” said they think they have discovered a tunnel between the two but yet to be confirmed.  That would be impressive if there is.

It was only about an hour to our hotel from here with a nice drive around the coast.  The hotel, Swissotel was right in the middle of Izmar and pretty flash, 5 star apparently.  I will only give it 11 points as the buffet selection let it down a bit and the room was a bit small, but a bath and a shower and a few other modern bells and whistles.  Gokce said if we had come in privately it would have been over 500 lire.  Izmar was Gokce’s home town and apparently renown for its beautiful women.

Before dinner we went out and walked down the promenade and found a bar with outdoor seating for some beer and wine.  A 750 ml cost us 7 lire here and a smaller beer at the hotel was 15 lire.  This was Sunday evening and there were 100’s of people out walking the promenade.  For 10 lire we could have had a puff on one of these Turkish pipes but the guy couldn’t tell me what we would be smoking.

No Turkish bath tonight.  It was too late

Tuesday 10th May – The start of our 3 Day Classical Greece Tour

Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise or so the old saying goes.  Anyway  up at the crack of dawn, a shave and hot shower and down to breakfast.  I guess for the next two and a half weeks this is going to be us as we are going to be on tour.

Our bus arrive bang on time  and as it blocks the whole road we are rushed onto it.  There are already a handful of people on board but as we don’t appear to be all doing the same thing we realise they are just gathering us up.  We get to Syntagma Square we are on the correct bus and others get shunted off.  More people pile on and we have 16 in total on a 54 seater.  Plenty of room to spread out and with the people in the front seat getting off Margaret and I grab that seat above the driver.  The drivers console is like what I would imagine a plane to look like,  Switches, dials and gadgets all over the place.

First stop the Corinth Canal, 90 minutes away.  6,000 metres long 79 metres down to the water which is 10 metres deep and takes ships up to 10,000 ton.  It was built in 1892 and they must of taken a few wheelbarrows of dirt out.  It had very steep banks and was quite an impressive canal.  They even had a Bungee jump on the bridge we saw it from.

It was then off to the theatre of Epidaurus.  This was a Greek theatre which could hold 15,000 odd people in the middle of no where.  It is supposed to have the best acoustics of all the ancient theatres but it didn’t have the echo effect I got at the Rhodes one.  You are supposed to be able to hear a whisper from any seat in the place but it didn’t work for me.  To many lawns cut with out my ear muffs on me thinks.

We are off again stopping at Nafplion which apparently used to be the capital before it shifted to Athens for a quick photo shoot of 3 castles, One impressive one 900 and something steps up a hill,  One less impressive one  on a lower hill and one out in the water.  Something about where Greece had its guillotine for a short while when they copied the French.  We were then off to Mycenae.  Here we learnt that Acropolis actually means fortified hill.  More ruins and piles of rocks but we did get to go in he Tomb of Agamemnon.  The poor guy had been out fighting the wars, came home with his mistress only to have his wife knock them both off.  His tomb was inside a hill and quite huge.  When they had finished they restored the hill to hide the tomb.  We then had a 3 hour drive through to Olympia.  The driving today was through some really nice and interesting country side.  We drove through olive and orange groves and along some beautiful costal routes.  Some of the olive trees were apparently over 200 years old with very large trunks.  There were heaps of tunnels yet the traffic seemed very light.

Our Hotel for the night was the Antonios Hotel in Ancient Olympia.  It was interesting we were dropped at this hotel.  All the others were taken to a “Higher Class” hotel.  For some reason they were on a 4 day tour considered First Class and we were on the 3 day tour obviously of a lower class.

Our hotel was great anyway and the bus driver came back to ours.

Wednesday 11^th May – Olympia to Delphi on our 3 Day Classical Greece Tour

We were being picked up at 8.30 this so no big rush.  Breakfast not so hot as there was no bacon but it filled a hole. The bus driver was ready and waiting for us at the appointed time and we were off to pick up the first class passengers.  They weren’t very complimentary about their hotel so that made us feel better.  We would probably give ours an 8 Renee. Good and roomy but lost points on the shower, meals and lack of wi-fi in the rooms.  It was a short ride to the archaeological site in Ancient Olympia.  Apart from all the tourists I found this place very serine. It had a nice feel to it set amongst the trees and grass.  The legends and stories that George our guide was able to spin had you sticking close to him hanging out for more  I would say more but I would never get the spelling right and Andrea would laugh even more at me. I guess mostly the bad spelling is me Andrea but sometimes bloody MS Word puts in the wrong words for me.   As you should have guessed this is where the Olympic games had its beginnings and ran every four years for something like 900 years.  We saw the Stadium, similar to the other stadiums we had seen at just over 200 metres in length.  There was no seating at this one and everybody was equal and sat on the grassy slopes.  Just like the Basin Reserve.  The men competed naked and anointed in olive oil.  This is probably why no women were allowed in the stadium.

We then went and had a look around the museum.  This was a really impressive display of stuff that had come out of the ruins.  Apparently some of the best stuff had disappeared to Berlin as the Germans had done a lot of the excavating back at the end of the 19th Century, still very good though and I guess a lot of jig saw work fitting all the pieces together.

We went off and had an extremely nice buffet lunch.  I would have been more than happy to have called it dinner with a very large selection.  Again my spelling (and my memory for these unusual names) stops me from describing it all to you but it was yummy yummy yummy.  Back in the bus and around to the customary souvenir shop.  The good news was this one was disguised as a wine tasting stop.  The wine, ouzo and olive oil was really good and they didn’t hold back on the samples. When the guy left we were able to help ourselves.  Really good and I don’t think Margret brought anything so was on a real winner there.

We were then on the road to Delphi, a three and half hour drive.  We went through one of the larger potato growing regions, over a really flash long bridge at or close to Patra and we were now back on the mainland. We drove around the coast before heading up in the hills for Delphi.  We went through what was supposed to be one of the largest olive plantations in the world with over three million trees.  It must have been a hell of a job picking them as apparently it is all done by hand. A larger tree can produce over 100kg of olives.  We went up the mountain on a zig zag road just going up and up.  We crossed an aqua duct  that apparently provided all the water to Athens several hundred km away.  It didn’t look that big.

We were dropped outside the Hermes Hotel in the middle of Delphi at 5.40 and told to be in the lobby by 8pm to be taken to dinner. Dumping our bags in our rooms we were off to explore the town.  For us blokes that took about two minutes.  We found a 2litre  bottle of red wine for E6 and headed back to our rooms for a tipple.  The girls were quite a bit later getting back so Doug and I got a good share of the wine.  It wasn’t too bad either.  Dinner was at a hotel a couple of doors down the road.  It was average but we had a real enjoyable night with a Singaporean couple, their daughter and an Australian lad.

Thursday 12^th May – Delphi on our 3 Day Classical Greece Tour

Breakfast was the worst so far.  Not much to chose from between dry bread and cakes.  I had cornflakes and peaches(I’m sure they were Watties) and that was about it.  A 6 on this hotel Renee although the view from our rooms probably put it up to a 7.  It was a fantastic view with a mountain you almost felt you could touch and a view down to the sea and 3 million olive trees.  I am sure the photos will not do it justice.  Oh the shower you had to hold up with one hand while you tried to wash yourself with the other.

This time the first classers picked us up and they obviously scored with a much better hotel this time.  It was only two minutes down the road to the Ancient Archaeology site.  It was really a cool mountain day and glad we had wrapped up.  We went to the museum first while it warmed up.  Delphi was the place everyone came to ask the Gods advice on what was going to happen.  Apparently it was said they had two rules.  No one was refused and if they ever got it wrong they would shut up shop.  This must have been the start of shifty lawyer as they never got it wrong.  It was all in the way you interpreted the words and of course that was your job until you tried to get your money back.  This again was a pile of old rocks but the stories and legends were good.  You could relate a lot of them to stories we already knew and words we use today in every day speech.  I even went and spoke where Socrates’ and Pythagoras had supposedly shared there theories.  It was all good.

Another lunch where I had some really nice stuffed tomatoes with chips and then we were dumped on the side of the road to wait for another bus to take us back to Athens while the four day people went on.   We waited nearly 2 hours in the cold Renee, we weren’t impressed.  Then we got mixed with one day people which mucked us about and the day got worse.  We got into Athens and the traffic was bedlam because of some rioting.  The main square and surrounding area was shut down and we had to drop a truck load of people at their hotels.  We did see a bit of the rioting and were glad we were in the bus.  Guess who was last, just us and the bus driver even the bloody useless guide didn’t say good bye.  We got to our hotel at about 8.30 to find ourselves in the middle of a whole bus load being dropped off.  When Doug showed them how to work the lift they thought he was the porter and were handing him their bags.  If you know Doug you can imagine how that went down.  We managed to push our way through and get served as this was our third time to the King Jason and we were now regulars.

Renee you will be please to know we have upgraded this to a 8 or 8+ and consider you have done us pretty good on your choice of hotels for us.

We broke our rules and headed off to the Chinese restaurant we had enjoyed so much the other night.  A mistake, they must have had the No 2 chef on as we weren’t as impressed however it did fill a hole and we went back to our rooms to polish off another 2 litre bottle of wine that Doug had brought in Delphi as we couldn’t easy take it into Turkey tomorrow.  Thats going to be even more fun.

Sunday 8^th May – Time to explore Athens

We woke to a beautiful day, a real feel of summer. A nice English breakfast before setting off.  We thought we had better start with a trip to the Police Station to report my unfortunate lose of the night before.  The Omonia Police station almost looked like a temporary set up in an old office building.  Windows in doors had been replaced by hardwood, dark hallways, no signage, door kept locked etc.  We only knew it was a Police Station because of the cars outside and few people that sort of looked like cops,  One carrying what looked like an AK47.  The ones we spoke to were all very nice, even has a sense of humour and we got our report filed reasonably quickly.  One guy told me an older fellow like me should be giving the younger ones the advice of being careful of pickpockets and not the other way around.

We decided to grab one of these open top double deck sightseeing buses and do the round before deciding what to do.  For E20 each we had a two day pass on the hop on hop off bus and two routes to explore.  The main city loop was an hour and a half the port loop one hour.  We sat on the top deck and soaked in the sun and the sights.  Went past old buildings, statues, parks, historic sites and the flea market listening on earphones to a pretty tame commentary with Greek music reasonably loud in the background.  The Acropolis was always on our list to see so that was our first hop off.  This must have been some special day because we got in for free, there was an orchestra playing and being seriously recorded for supposedly TV and people all over the place.  With the beautiful day the atmosphere was great and the Acropolis and surrounding buildings really fantastic, it made all the other ones we had seen pale into insignificance.  We spent a few hour wandering around the sight which gave you an amazing view over Athens.  What a huge white city it was spreading at 360 degrees for miles.

We wandered down into town and just walked.  We ended up going through markets and shopping and all sorts.  We found a little bakery type place for lunch before doing some more walking.  We then hopped on our bus and got off at Hadrian’s gate which supposedly marked the line between the old and new cities, walked up to the National Gardens where the most interesting thing was a couple of turtles walking around on the track and the lawns, wandered up to the Panathenai before hopping on a bus which would take us close to our hotel.

A really interesting city, lacking in decent footpaths where cars parked anywhere they could.  But certainly a lively place.

Dinner was at Alexander the Great’s not far from our hotel.  Doug and I ate pork chops, Margaret a Moussaka and Noddy a spaghetti Bolognaise.  Very ordinary really, probably a disappointment.

Back to the hotel as being a tourist does wear you out.

Monday 9th May – More time to explore Athens

A leisurely lie in today, down to breakfast at 8.45 and then off to catch our bus.  We had to go to Syntagma Square to catch the bus for the Piraeus tour.  We discovered we would probably have to wait there an hour and a half four that bus so hop off our bus in Athinas Street early to hoof it to the square rather than be hanging around.  As it was Monday all the shops were open and it was an interesting stroll.  We went through this fantastic meat market.  Meats of all sorts being cut up or hanging around.  There were chocolate shops (which we had to sample) and all sorts.

We were shortly on the bus to Piraeus, sitting on the top deck as the bus sped at what seemed like 80km/h as we got blown to bits.  The commentary was even lamer.  Piraeus was the port but a city in its own right. It was also large and was claimed to be the biggest port in Europe and the third biggest in the world for passenger numbers.  It was very pretty and there were a few rich boys toys but we didn’t get off the bus and came back into Athens.

Back in Athens we just walked brought some nibbles for drinks.  For E3 we had olives, salami and peanuts such that we didn’t eat them all and discussed only having an Ice cream for tea.

In fact that that is what we did, went for a reasonable walk, had an ice cream and wandered home to read out books.

Even though it was a very enjoyable relaxed day we were tired.  We have to be up early tomorrow as we are being picked up at 7.45 for our 3 day Classical Greek Tour.