Monday, April 12, 2010
We left Istanbul a little after 5:00 PM yesterday afternoon as we sail to our next port of call in Kusadasi, Turkey. As we mentioned, it was so nice to have three days in Istanbul and we believe that was not only appreciated by the guests but also by the crew. It gave everyone lots of time to take organized tours, and to go out on their own, without having to rush from one item to the other.
Like us, everyone we spoke with had a wonderful time in Istanbul. This included those visiting here for the very first time along with those such as us who have visited here before. It is a very interesting city with lots of historical sites to see offering a wealth of history and there is a very nice feeling to the city. We all felt very safe walking around Istanbul and the added plus is that the majority of the locals who we met spoke English very well and we found them to be very friendly. It is a fun city to see on foot for those visitors who enjoy walking. We found the city to be relatively clean. Like other special harbors around the world such as in places such as Sydney and Hong Kong, Istanbul has a beautiful harbor with lots of activity. There are lots of ferries and other boats and the waterway provides a major form of transportation for both locals and visitors.
While we did not eat ashore, those who did enjoyed the food. The all day tours included lunch and there was also an evening tour that included dinner. Turkey has lots of great local cuisine to experience.
We really enjoyed walking around the spice market with all of the attractively displayed spices and they were very colorful. The aroma was equally nice. Other items looked equally impressive such as both the little bite size candies along with the large candy that they can cut for you. The same goes for other items such as stores that carried various cheeses. Even the fish market (and we have seen quite a few fish markets) on this trip looked very clean and did not have that fishy odor.
While this country has a high percentage of Muslims unlike many other places that we visited in the Middle East it is nice to see men and women walking together and even holding hands as they walk. In general, the locals wear western clothing. Yes, as part of the religion they pray often throughout the day and it was evident that the mosques we saw around the city were quite busy. One could also clearly hear the call to prayer over the loudspeakers that were strategically placed throughout the city. Keith even heard them and the call to prayer very early each morning he was working out at the Fitness Center.
For those who have never visited Istanbul, we highly recommend it.
We had a very nice time on the ship last evening. We had dinner in the Crystal Main Dining Room. The dining room was fairly quiet last evening with several guest dining at other venues such as Prego and Silk Road. We enjoyed talking with the wonderful wait staff in between courses. We spoke with our senior waiter, Pedja, and our Waiter, Therese about all that they did while we were in Istanbul. We spoke with our headwaiter Bojan about Istanbul and also about food, which is always a fun topic to discuss with the headwaiters about. Bojan was also preparing a dessert for those who wanted a special treat this evening. The headwaiters in the Main Dining Room have all worked for Crystal Cruises for many years and as such have expertise and a wealth of knowledge about cuisine. We like to ask them questions to learn as much as we can from them. We also spoke with our wonderful sommelier, Jiri, who has been our sommelier since the start of the World Cruise adventure. He is around the age of our son so it is fun to talk with him. From time to time we will ask his advice about a variety of wines and have learned a great deal from him as well. Leo the Main Dining Room Maitre d’ also stopped by and chatted with us for a few minutes. He is wonderful about getting around the dining room to talk with the guests and he is a true professional keeping on top of everything.
Dinner itself was just wonderful. We each had a favorite salad of ours and we each had Salmon for our entrée. We had a couple of side orders of vegetables. For dessert, we had berries. Keith enjoyed the Crystal Reserve Pinot Noir while which was introduced just a couple of months ago. Anne Marie enjoyed a white wine which we had leftover from the other evening.
After dinner, we saw Petrina Johnson who is a West End recording artist and singing star. She has appeared in numerous theater productions in London’s West End and internationally. She was in the original cast of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana and has appeared in Sunset Boulevard at London Adelphi Theatre where she starred with Petula Clark and Rita Moreno. She has also appeared in several other plays. She has many Television credits as well. She has also appeared on Crystal ships many times. We thought the show was wonderful. She sang a nice wide range of songs and we also enjoyed the music of the Crystal Galaxy Orchestra.
We had hoped to stay up later to attend a special Swingin with the Gentlemen from the Galaxy Orchestra session in the Avenue Saloon but we were fairly tired after being up so early so we will try to attend the next session that is held in the Avenue Saloon.
We slept extremely well and we were up early this morning. Keith was the second to arrive to the Fitness Center and enjoyed a nice long workout on the Elliptical Machine. He caught the last few innings of a major league baseball game on ESPN so it was nice for him to see a portion of the game. It ended in the bottom of the ninth inning with a tie breaking home run. He also caught up with some worldwide news. Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Café. As soon as Lido Deck Steward, Ruel, saw Keith from a distance he started making the two cups of coffee that he knows Keith prefers. By the time Keith got back to the room Anne Marie was just about the door to begin her workout on the treadmill. After her workout she brought back some coffee to the room.
Today is a sea day as we sail to our next port of call, which is in Kusadasi, Turkey.
We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast in the room as we listened to our favorite daily morning show (well it is the only daily morning show on the ship but if there were others it would be our favorite J) starring our outstanding Cruise Director and World Cruise Hostess. Keith also called into the show and correctly answered one of the trivia questions. J It was a sports question and about Football. Now, that is Football as in American Football not how most of the world thinks of Football (eg., Soccer). J
During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge at 9:00 AM local time he noted that we were sailing in the Daranelles Strait as we were sailing off the coast of Turkey. We had beautiful views of the coast. The Captain noted that from the strait we would next be sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.
Today was a wonderful day packed with so many fantastic activities and entertainment? Before the start of dinner there were sixty, yes sixty, organized activities on the program and that does not include many other activities that one could do on their own.
There were two wonderful morning lectures. Special Interest Lecturer James Maas who presented “Everything you should know about sleep but are too tired to ask gave the first lecture. This was his second presentation on this voyage about sleep.
After his presentation we attended the lecture given by Celebrity Lecturer Harm De Blij. His presentation was on Afghanistan and the Future of South Asia.
There was also a third presentation in the afternoon by destination lecturer Jayne Bridges whose topic was “Kusadai – Imagine life in ancient Greece at Ephesus.” We watched this on the television later in the day.
Following Harm De Blij’s presentation we attended a special Presentation followed by a Question and Answer Session with the President of Crystal Cruises, Gregg L. Michel and Senior Vice President of Operations, Thomas Mazloum. They both recently joined the ship in Istanbul and will be here for the next few days.
We then went to the Lido Deck for Lunch. Today’s luncheon featured an Asia Café Buffet. We enjoyed nice salad entrees that we prepared for ourselves.
In the afternoon Anne Marie took another of her nice long walks and Keith read, wrote, spoke with some fellow passengers and even found time for some paddle tennis.
This evening is packed with lots of activities. Before dinner, we will attend a Matinee Production titled Standing Room Only.
After this show will have dinner with three fellow passengers who we dined with last month and who invited us to dine with them this evening at Silk Road.
After dinner we will attend the “International Cocktail Party”. Guests are asked to wear local attire or cultural clothing that we have purchased sometime during our journey since leaving Miami, Florida. Complimentary cocktails will be provided and there will be dancing to live music by the Crystal Sextet.
If that is not enough, two shows will be given by Comic Magician Nick Lewin at 8:45 PM and 10:30 respectively.
It is amazing how many wonderful activities have been scheduled for today. There is something for everyone.
We find that all of us can stay young for life. Young to us is what you feel inside and what you feel inside can also make you young on the outside as well. With this in mind here is today’s thought for the day.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
“We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of a regret.”
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