Trips, Pics, and Tales

It was time to go check out our cabins, and then get ready for our sail away from Ft. Lauderdale! We were on deck 9, and as I mentioned, we had cabins right across the hall from one another, a Boardwalk Balcony for the kids and an Ocean View Balcony for Keith and I.  When we went in to drop off the carry on bags and do a quick "check out the cabins" we were lucky enough to have our luggage be dropped off already! By the time stamps on the pictures it was about 3:45, so we were lucky that it came so early!  Just a couple of pictures of our cabin And a picture of the bathroom, sort of! It's pretty difficult to actually get a picture of the bathroom, but I'm guessing most of you have seen the pictures before! I don't have pictures of the kid's room, but it was exactly the same as ours, although we did have their beds split apart. At some point I know I have a picture of them sleeping, which I will post    and they'll love me for that! So...

So, tonight was the fireworks! Pretty much the theme of the night was the "80s" Pretty fun if you're my age! So, around 10:30 up at Spice H20 they started the Awesome 80s Party. Basically a big 80s dance party with videos on the screen and the crew all decked out in 80s clothing. I'm not usually one who is much into the deck parties, but what the heck - fireworks were coming up, and 80s music - Megan and I went up and joined in the fun and really, we had a great time!  We noticed about 10 minutes or so before the fireworks the kids from the teen club started to filter into the crowd. We saw Alex come in with a bunch of friends. He didn't see us, and that was probably just as well. He was having a good time with his new friends. They hung around through the fireworks and left shortly after. Megan and I hung around for a pretty long time after the fireworks, during the 80s party and had a really good time. It was a concert like atmosphere. I have to s...

It was a long adventure, and it it took about four months for me to tell you, my faithful readers all about it!  But I had a great time sharing our European Adventure, as it has come to be known...with all of you!  Doing so, along with writing my trip reviews on some of the travel sites that helped me so much in my planning of this trip and some of my past trips, mainly cruise critic and fodors , has absolutely ignited my passion for blogging and writing again! Before writing about this past adventure I really neglected this blog for far too long and I plan to not do that again!   Unfortunately though I have to admit I have no trips planned in the near future to blog about!  This is unusual for me.  Not to say I don't have the constant "what if" trips running around in my head and the virtual trips planned almost daily as I day dream about where we will head next!  I'm sure one of those will eventually come to life!  Hopefully sooner than later! I...

Today is Father’s Day! We got up and gave out the cards to Grandpop and Keith at breakfast. I told Keith that our plan for a Fa ther’s Day gift was to get him the week Spa Pass when we were sailing on Epic next week so he would have a place to go to relax every day. He seemed to like that idea, but then again he also felt like in a week with only one sea day, he wouldn’t be able to make full use of it. We’d think about it. Maybe just a massage instead. We went to the Windjammer one last time and then carried our own luggage off, as we had a driver coming at 8:30 to take up to Termini train station for our train to Venice. We decided not to take the train from Civitavecchia to Termini since Mimi and G-pop would have to walk their luggage from the Port to the Civitavecchia station, and the once at Termini possibly have to take their luggage up steps to transfer trains. Convenience of the driver won out here and it was well worth it. We walked off the ship very quickly and found our drive...

This trip was certainly amazing!  We'd even be visiting one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World!  Although before we'd get there, our next stop was St John’s Basilica. This is set high on a hill with a fortress in the background. The Apostle, St John is buried beneath the Basilica. Yelda told us that when the Basilica was built, parts of the Temple of Artemis were used. The Temple was a Pagan building so there was no consideration that they were using pieces of such a magnificent structure. Same thing happened when a nearby Mosque was built. More of the Temple of Artemis was torn down and used.  And that is the main reason why only one pillar remains of this Ancient Wonder!   After our time at the Basilica we made a quick stop at what is left of the Temple of Artemis. This was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World! You can tell by the size of the remaining column just how huge it must have been! The temple was built for t...

Now, we’re on our way to lunch. Yelda asked us if we’d want to go to a more local place rather than a typical tourist location. Sure! We were wondering what type of food is typical here in this part of Turkey – or really in any part of Turkey for that matter! We arrived at the restaurant. It wasn’t fancy, there were several tables outside, and Yelda brought us inside. There were tables inside, but more important, there was a display counter with fresh meats and the appetizer courses on display. Yelda, and perhaps the owner maybe, took us through our choices, explaining the different foods. Everything was pretty much what we would think of as Greek foods. She said that their proximity to Greece plays a big role on their diet. Other areas of Turkey are more influenced by a Middle Eastern culture and have a different diet. We ended up choosing several different appetizers and main courses. The appetizers, or sort of tapas, were served family style and then our main dishes came out. ...

Thursday, June 13th, Ephesus It was another early morning! The bright side is that I’m sleeping really well though. I seem to be waking at the crack of dawn, every day! No complaints here though. So, once up, breakfast arrived right on time and it was another enjoyable meal out on the balcony. Today we’d be meeting Yelda from KSG Tours, otherwise known as Kagan Kosagan’s tours. I found his name also on Cruise Critic. There are several tour companies mentioned and mixed in there I found a review that mentioned his name. Then maybe another and then someone else mentioned Yelda as a fantastic guide. I did a search on Trip Advisor and he got great reviews, mainly in Istanbul, but a few popped up for Ephesus. But Yelda’s name kept popping up. Especially for tours with families. I contacted Kagan back in September, specifically requested Yelda and we were all set. Throughout the year, I’d get friendly emails From Kagan wishing us Happy Holiday’s or mentioning that they were l...