Day 11 - Ephesus (Port of Kusadasi), Turkey We started out with Pat joining us, but he had a hard time making it down the dock, so decided he would spend the day on the ship instead. We met our guide outside the dock, who was the ex-husband of the guide we were supposed to have. Apparently our guide broke her leg a couple of weeks ago - a hard thing for a guide. Anyway, the new guy had been a guide for 15 years and was quite knowledgeable himself, so we were wel...

Istanbul Impressions: Jim - busy city, a lot to offer, a lot of historical stuff. Alive city as opposed to some of the others which are just tourist views of old stuff. Harbor was alive with boats. Sally - the Sultans were rich! More to see and do than we had time for. Lots of people. People seeking you out to sell ("shop goonies") Noah - people talked a lot to us - big buildings - spicy food - making the cheese pastry was my favorite part - interest...

Day 8 - Istanbul, Turkey I did NOT sleep last night. I think it was the malaria drugs, as I had some troubles after them the last couple weeks (we take one pill a week). I finally got up at 4:30 and read my book while waiting for the sun to rise. It was a good day to be up early, as we sailed from daylight on, through the Dardanelles - 40 miles of a channel (2-3 miles wide) similar to the Columbia Gorge only a shipping channel rather than a river. It included Ga...