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The journey home

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 Well all good things must come to an end, and so it was with this vacation. The Istanbul cruise terminal is new and very efficient if a bit confusing. Luckily there were lots of employees ready to show you where to go. I had a private transfer to take me out to the airport, and today traffic was back to normal. It took about 45 minutes in light traffic. There were 3 sets of security to go through, plus check-in and customs, so I would recommend allowing at least 3 hours. And there are certainly lots of shopping, restaurants etc if you have extra time. We departed on time, and arrived on time, but 12 hours on a full flight seems very long. No complaints about the plane or the service, but it's so hard to get comfortable on a full flight. Vancouver airport was quite busy, but customs/immigration didn't take too long. What did take over an hour was the luggage. It started coming out right away, but as there was so much of it (most people seemed to have 2 to 3 large suitcases) the...
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A retrospect

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 Now that I'm back home and back at work, here are a few thoughts on my trip. First of all, the trip was wonderful. All destinations were excited to have tourists returning, and all places were less busy than usual. The crew on Azamara were very glad to be back at work, and service was second to none.  Covid protocols requiring a negative test prior to boarding, and in our case another test before disembarking in Israel do add an extra layer of anxiety. But once onboard I felt very safe. There is lots of room to spread out, and options to eat outside if you want. All staff and crew are masked. Masks are recommended for passengers while moving around the ship indoors, though I would estimate that only about 1/3 of passengers followed this (I did so) . Many of the countries required masks while on shore excursion buses. And of course masks are required in airports and on flights. To me wearing a mask isn't a big deal, it's become second nature. I would recommend a few things ...
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Istanbul

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  We transited through the Dardanelle Straights at night, but I woke up several times to see the lights in several towns and a huge bridge. In the morning we had reached the Sea of Marmara and were heading for Istanbul. A cloudy day but no rain so far. This is the coldest day we've had, only about 15C. There are a lot more ships here, mainly freighters. Istanbul is a huge city, about 16 million official inhabitants so it's very spread out. It's a very exciting sail in trying to spot some of the famous buildings like Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. As we're circling around to dock the Moslem call to prayer is sounding all around us. We dock about 2pm, and shortly after get the all clear to go ashore. I'm doing a walking tour, though we are bused to the old part of the city to start it. Because this is the last day of Bayrami, the celebration after the end of Ramadan it's incredibly busy and many things like the Grand Bazaar are closed. All public transport is fr...
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Days at Sea

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 On this cruise there are 2 full days at sea, and several partial days. They are a welcome chance to relax, take part in some of the ship activities, and for me to catch up on my blog and do a little work if need be. I bought an internet package for the whole cruise at $20.00 a day. It's been well worth it for me! It can be a bit slow at times for things like downloading pictures, but on the whole it's been good. There are lots of options for meals. The Mosaic Cafe is not far from my room, so in the morning I pop down and take a cappuccino back to my room. The have small pastries, mini sandwiches and cookies as well. On sea days both Windows buffet with it's outside deck, and Discovery dining room are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At lunch time and into the afternoon, the outdoor Patio has hamburgers, grilled sandwiches and snacks. There are snacks or tapas in some of the bars in late afternoon. For dinner, Windows isn't a buffet, but a la carte, and has reginal...
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White night party

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  The White night party is another Azamara signature event. This is the first voyage this spring that Pursuit has been able to hold it outdoors, as the weather was unusually cool in the Mediterranean. I sat with some new friends, Carmel from Waterloo, Barbara and Annette from the U.K. and Sue and Neil from Langdale. There was a fabulous buffet, I couldn't try everything but the seafood - prawns, scallops, sea bass and calamari were exceptional! The band played to start (a bit too loud), then a D.J. for a while. There was a crew parade with crew members waving the flags of their countries, so many different ones! Then the singers and dancers backed by the band got almost everyone up dancing. Lots of fun and the dancing kept us warm as the night had started to cool a bit. 
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Kusadasi

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We arrived in Kusadasi around 7am. It's quite misty this morning but no rain. There are 2 other cruise ships in town, Celestyal Olympia and MSC Lirica. This is only the 2nd day on this cruise when there has been another ship docked next to us. Both are much larger than us. I'm doing an Ephesus tour with an 8:15am start. It's really the perfect weather for this kind of tour. About 18C, overcast but dry. It's about a 30 minute drive on quite a winding road. The bus lets us off at the top of the site, and our tour takes us down. We have an excellent guide called Gengis. He is a history teacher, and this is his 2nd job.  It's hard to describe Ephesus, it's so impressive, and so large, and with so much history. I walked around and marvelled and tried to just let it sink in. Our tour included the Terrace houses, a fairly recent excavation where they are still piecing things together. We had a short talk from an archaeologist who has worked on this site, very exacting ...
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Limassol Cyprus

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 We had a bit of rock and roll last night, I felt it rocked me to sleep! My cabin location is fairly low and central, so pretty stable. A beautiful sunny day as we arrive into Limassol harbour. I had decided yesterday to book a shore excursion for Cyprus and I'm so glad I did! The drive to Omodos took about an hour, and went from the coastal plain through winding hills , terraced vineyards and small villages. Cyprus is divided between the Greeks and the Turks, we were on the Greek side. Omodos is one of many wine villages, and a popular spot for people from Limassol to come for Sunday brunch. It's really charming with it's winding streets, small shops and many restaurants. The Greek Orthodox church is very ornate and beautiful with some Russian icons and by tradition a piece of the rope that bound Jesus's wrists. I did a wine tasting, the wine was all very good but the grappa was terrible! I bought a couple of bottles of wine, 9 euros each. We then had a coffee break in...
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