We enjoyed another wonderful evening on the Crystal Serenity last evening.
Before dinner, we stopped by the Lido Deck to check out the nice dinner buffet that they had set up. It was quite an impressive buffet with all sore of delectable items with several themed foods related to our stay in Istanbul. In fact they brought on board two local chefs to prepare, cook and carve these skewered meats of lamb and chicken. They were each several feet high and they almost shave the meat as they cut it.Everyone who we spoke with thought they tasted wonderful.They certainly smelled great to us. J
We also spoke with a couple more of the Lido Deck Stewards who will be leaving the ship to go back home for vacation. With the departure of these Lido Deck Stewards, a similar number of Lido Deck Stewards have just joined the ship. Many of the Stewards arriving to the ship we sailed with during the seven-day voyage before the World Cruise began and/or at the beginning of the World Cruise. We will miss those going on vacation and while looking forward to seeing those stewards who have returned from vacation. These folks are absolutely wonderful. They work so very hard, and have a smile on each of their faces and so many of them we have known for many years.They are just wonderful warm and friendly people and are part of the heart of the ship.
We dined in Silk Road with two senior officers of the ship and we had a wonderful time. Our reservation was for 8:30 PM, which is the latest we have dined since the seven-day cruise when we had our family on board.
The waiter who served us is the same waiter who serves us on other evenings when we dine in Silk Road and he knows our preferences as well as those of the two senior officers. So, he surprised us by pre-ordering the types of sushi, sashimi, and other appetizers that each of us prefers Now, that is an example of what truly amazes us about Crystal. All we had to do is to order our entrée and whatever other item we might want before that such as a soup or salad. The meal was just outstanding.
What we most appreciated was the wonderful conversation that we had and the time that these officers took out of their schedule to dine with us. For us, it was another very special and memorable evening.
We slept very well last evening. By the time we went to bed Keith had already been up for close to 21 hours so he easily fell asleep.
Keith still managed to wake up quite early in the morning and was back in the Fitness Center working out on the Elliptical Machine. He worked out for about a half hour when fellow guests Brian and John made it up to the center a few minutes apart from one another. After Keith’s workout he stopped by the Lido Café and spoke with Lido Deck Steward Ruel who helped Keith prepare some coffee to take back to the room.
We had breakfast in the room as we normally do. Rather than working out before breakfast Anne Marie worked out after breakfast. She worked out on the treadmill while she listened to one of the many audio books that she has kept up with during the course of this voyage.
While Anne Marie was working out, Keith went off the ship to take a long walk back over to the Spice Market. He left the ship at around 8:30 AM and returned back a couple of hours later.He made his way along the pier and then exited the terminal.He eventually made it to the bridge. Although there were not many pedestrians at this hour of the morning both sides of the bridge were lines with men fishing. It is quite an activity. A few vendors were selling various bread that look like large pretzels.After crossing the bridge, Keith walked over to the Ferry Terminal. There were several ferries arriving and other leaving this area.
When Keith initially arrived to the Spice Market many of the vendors were setting up items. This includes putting the spices out in the spice shops and in other shops selling candy goods the same thing was being done. Within about fifteen minutes of arriving to the market, more and more people started to arrive and by the time Keith left it was getting more crowded with perspective buyers. Keith passed a shop and the person remembered Keith from yesterday and asked where his wife (Anne Marie) was. We had spoken to him for less than thirty seconds when we passed by yesterday so it is amazing that out of the thousands of people visiting there each and everyday that he remembered us.
After Keith left the Spice Market he walked around the immediate area and looked at all of the beautiful tulips that were blooming. They were all sorts of colors. On his long walk back to the ship he ran into a couple of head waiters from the Main Dining Room; Tall Peter and Carmello.
It really has been so very nice to have a couple of full days in Istanbul. The two overnights have been great for both the crew and for the guests. It provides a lot of time for the crew to go ashore and likewise it provided time for passengers to take organized tours but to also have time to walk around on their own in a leisurely manner.
When Keith got back to the ship he did some reading and writing while Anne Marie was writing in her journal and also writing a few thank you notes to members of the crew.
We had lunch in the Lido Café and as usual we each enjoyed a very nice salad entrée.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie went back to the Fitness Center for another workout on the Treadmill while Keith ran some errands on the ship and also spoke with some of our fellow passengers.
This evening we will be dining in the Main Dining Room as we sail to our next port of call in Kusadasi, Turkey. We have had a wonderful three days in Istanbul and look forward to a day at sea tomorrow.
The following quote is on the longer side but is just a reminder to focus on all that is good. Each of us has something to celebrate and to be thankful for and we believe this starts with positive thinking.
“The tenth is actually a story my old boss used to tell just about once a month; it’s about two boys who one beautiful day were exploring their neighbor’s farm and came upon an empty barn that smelled of manure – the first boy said. We got to get out of here, this smells horrible”, but the second boy said “Oh boy, this is great – there must be horses around!” Yes, true optimists can even find a silver lining from manure!”
Keith and Anne Marie
No comments:
Post a Comment