Best of Greece and 7 Day Aegean Cruise

Day Ten – 20 Sept 2009

Weather: Cloud, sun, showers (of course) and 21 degrees

I was up at 6:30 and went up on deck to check out the sunrise.

I went to the buffet for breakfast and then waited around until we could board our bus at eight. We met up with Salem and drove up towards Taksim Square (and we’re happy we didn’t go up on our own – there wasn’t enough there to justify the hassle).

The bus then proceeded to the bridge and we crossed into the Asian side.

My first time in Asia. Ticked that off the bucket list.

Salem noted there was a sign saying Welcome to Asia – after we passed it.

We drove to a park area below the bridge and took a few pictures of the European side with about a half dozen other buses.

We re-boarded the bus and drove back to the European side and the old section.

Yup. Salem didn’t warn us of the Welcome to Europe sign.

We visited the Blue Mosque which was not unlike Saint Sophias, but as an operating mosque, it was brighter and better kept.

Both were equally impressive.

At a very fast pace, Salem led us back to the bus and brought us to a shop called Matis for a rug demonstration. We sipped on apple tea and had Turkish bagels while the owner demonstrated the different types of rugs with wool, cotton and silk content. The price for them was in the thousands and tens of thousands.

After the demonstration ended, I made the mistake of asking one of the salesmen how much one rug was. It was excessively expensive, so I went to the WC. When I came out, he was waiting for me. When I told him my price range was in the 50 Euro area, he showed me a rug the size of a paper towel. I told him I was more interested in the jewelry and he said he could show me that but he brought one of the paper towel rugs with him.

The jewelry was reasonably priced. I picked out a silver necklace with white gold and after a lot of pressure and running out of time, he managed to get 75 Euro from me for both the rug and the necklace.

Oh well, every trip has one such purchase. I thought it would make a great mouse pad.

But my cat adopted it.

I should note that attendance at these demonstrations is NOT mandatory. The pottery one had been short and sweet, but the rug one was too long and the selling practices far too aggressive. If you’re not willing to part with hundreds, even thousands of dollars, skip the demo and spend the precious hour or so on the street outside. If you go in for the demo (which can be interesting), just don’t ask about buying a rug.

We re-boarded the bus, and as we drove away, we realized that we had left someone behind. Salem said she was okay and that George would just put her on another bus. We later heard that she had bought an expensive carpet, and by the time she left the store, she found we had left. No one had told her and she was a bit panicked at being left behind. George was on one of the buses behind us and got her back to the ship.

We returned to the ship after a quick photo stop at the railway station that was the stop for the Orient Express.

It only arrives once a year and costs 5000 Euro. Salem had us in and out faster than speeding train.

At this point, I was getting the feeling Salem was in a hurry.

We had a quick lunch on the ship and we returned to the bus at one. Since it was a holiday, Salem expected that the Topkapi Palace would be packed. We managed to beat the other buses there but the place was swarming with locals and tourists. We crammed inside the courtyards and then Salem just let us go for an hour to look at the jewels in the rooms that surround the courtyard.

There were so many people, you could barely get a glimpse. The write-ups were small and the rooms dark and suffocatingly hot despite the cooler outside temps. It took us about fifteen minutes to walk through the rooms, leaving us with forty-five minutes to sit and wait inside the overcrowded palace.

The Sycamore trees that had been struck by lightning, and were now homes to cats, were more interesting.

Almost all my pics of Topkapi Palace are of the cats.

Most of the tour was waiting around one of the trees within thirty minutes of arriving, but Salem didn’t show up until an hour had passed.

He walked out of the courtyard at a fast pace and others in the group had to hold up their hands and hats to let others in the back know where we were. Salem didn’t give us a chance to visit the shop at the palace and no opportunity to shop that afternoon at all. When someone said they wanted to buy postcards, he said she could outside the palace from the street vendor. Salem pointed one out and rather than wait while the women made their quick purchase, he walked on. He took a right and disappeared from sight. We ran after him while they were still making their purchase and we ended up waving to those behind us every time he made a turn. Some of the older members of the tour had a very hard time keeping up and if it weren’t for the rest of us stringing out to point out which route to take, they would have been lost.

I really want to know what was so important that this guide went out of his way to dump us as fast as possible. (In the years and almost thirty more tours, I’ve never come across a local guide as bad as this one.)

It was soooo disappointing as we simply didn’t have enough time to shop in the bazaars the day before and a lot of people put off purchases that we expected we could have made that day. Not only that, but Salem had stuffed the Hagia Sophia visit into last night when there was MORE than enough time today to visit the site (we walked by it at least TWICE). So, we could have had an hour and a half in the bazaar yesterday. And we should have been told that there would be no other shopping stops today. If I had my time back, I would have skipped the palace visit and went shopping. One does not get to Istanbul that often.

Optional Opinion: This is really kind of a necessary optional as it gets you into the old town to show you the highlights. We just ended up with a really really bad local guide. Other buses said they didn’t get back to the ship until an hour before sailing while we were back a full three hours before sailing. So, I would recommend the optional, skip the rug demo and don’t put up with squeezing Sunday’s itinerary into Saturday afternoon. Get as much time as possible in the Grand Bazaar, and if you see something you like, buy it (but wait until Kusadasi for pashmina).

So, Salem dropped us off at the port and many gave him a small or no tip because he was so rushed. I dropped over to the small shop next to the port to pick up an Istanbul t-shirt for my nephew and found the prices even cheaper than the bazaar. I re-boarded the ship and took advantage of the wireless connection in the port to catch up on my email.

At 5:30, I went up on deck expecting the ship to leave. As we waited and the ship didn’t move, we heard an announcement that said they were looking for a man. The announcement sounded several times then at six the ship began to move. We don’t know if he got left behind or not.

The weather was clear unlike the trip into Istanbul, so I was able to get some nice pictures as the sun went down. Outside the Straits, dozens of freighters and tankers were moored in the sea. It was an amazing sight.

Tonight was the Captain’s night and everyone was “encouraged” to wear their best outfit. If that was pants and a polo shirt then that was fine. The only dress code that was enforced at dinner was “no shorts,” and that applied to all dinners. Other than that, you could get away with anything. Some people dressed up. Some definitely over-dressed. If you don’t want to waste precious luggage space and weight on clothes that you think you “need” for the Captain’s night, don’t bother. I had packed a shirt to go with my black jeans and didn’t even need to do that.

Those that dressed up and over dressed were more interested in getting their pictures taken with the captain at a cocktail party before dinner in the Metropolitan Lounge. One from our group went and said it was short and sweet and as soon as the picture was taken they were swept aside for the next couple. The captain must loathe these photo ops. Hundreds could show up. I didn’t go. I was too busy taking sunset pictures. I changed into “my best,” including my sneakers.

Dinner was very good, as usual. We returned to our assigned table tonight and our regular waiter, Robert.

He was really sweet and was the one person on this cruise that I intended to tip extra. Trafalgar included the tips to the waiters and stewards, but you can tip more. George told us to do it discretely as tips that are noticed usually end up in a pot.

For dinner, I had a salad, chicken and potatoes and a Festival Cake (cheesecake). After wandering around the duty-free shop, I tried to log on to the internet but it was down.

There was another show tonight at 9:30 (movie songs) but I decided to skip so that I could get some laundry done and relax after the whirlwind Istanbul tour.

I returned to my room to get started on my laundry and found that the steward had not only turned my bed down, but formed my beach towels into two swans that look like they were kissing and formed a heart.

I double-checked to make sure all my underwear were still there….