Crete, Greece

Today we docked in Hania, Greece.

We docked on one side of the island but the old towne and beach was on the other side. 

We didnt know that.  Yes, we walked a long way and we were not making any progress.  We did not see one cab in sight.  We did find this little town and that was really cool to see.

A fortress wall was built around the harbor.

We finally found a cab and brought us to this beach.  This was not at all what I was expecting of a beach in Greece.  I was really excited about this day and the beach was kind of like Hilton Head.  The water was clear but just a darker color.

Jackson would have loved this beach.  Look at the size of the doughnuts that they sold at the beach.

There was a highway built down the middle of the island and what seemed like forever to make it to the beach took us less than 10 mins back to the ship!

So when we woke up this morning we were already docked in Crete and it was kind of overcast a little.  I guess it was just early.

When the ship pulled out of port and about 10 mins on our way, this was the view we were getting.  This was the kind of beach that I was thinking of.  The sun was brightly shinning and the water was that turquoise blue that I had always seen.

I think that there are better islands to visit in Greece than Crete.  Next time!

Back on the ship we went to a captains reception that was on the bridge.  It was pretty cool to see all the technology that makes this ship go!

They had a very cool circus parade down the promenade.

Every circus needs some elephants!

The ships entertainment was so incredible.

Ephesus, Turkey

Where are you going on your cruise?   Italy, Greece, and somewhere in Turkey, not even sure where and Turkey is not someplace I would have put at the top of the list to go BUT....   this ended up being Char and my favorite day and place that we visited.

This was pretty much the view from where the ship was docked.

They always had some kind of custom from the port country as you got off the ship.  Char and I tried to always dodge by all the ship photographers.

As soon as we walked out of customs, we were on the streets of this large bazaar.  It is just like out of the movie Alladin.  The streets were covered by the large canopies.  Expensive Persian rugs were everywhere and they would ship them home to the US for you.  

PS.  I dont care for Persian rugs at all so no shipments were being made back to my house.

As like all the other days, we would just start out on foot and go exploring.  From the bazaar we went straight up some massive hills and was in a neighborhood.  I always liked doing this to just see what the everyday life was like.  This neighborhood was not particulary nice or clean.

The magazine stand was cool and not one word in English.

Also found this skanky little cat hanging out on the dumster.

Huge oranges hung from the trees.

Even in Turkey you can find a Burger King and McDonalds.  I did not partake in the McDonalds.  Still my favorite restaurant but would be concerned about how it would taste in Turkey.

There definitely were some shadier streets with tattoo parlors and sex shops.

Couldnt choose between the purple and blue so I didnt get one.

Much nicer part of town.  The streets were very clean and the shops were well kept.  

These are chili peppers hanging out to dry on the balconies.

These lanterns hang everywhere.  They were so pretty.  They also sold them everywhere but I just couldnt imagine them hanging in our trees in Stiener Ranch.

The trees were all painted white in the cemetary.  I never found out the meaning of that.

They wash their feet before they go into the mosques.

The bread looked so good.  Char kept telling me to get some but never really wanted to carry around a loaf of bread.

These "pretzels" looked so good.  We were not going to pass on one of these.

We should have,  it was not even close to a pretzel.

It was some kind of bread that had a horrible taste and I did not like it at all.

We made it to Lady Bird Beach. 

So did a lot of other people.

The beach was packed person to person.  

We got chairs on the front row right at the water so it wasnt so bad for us.

The water was so beautiful.  It was so clear and more of a green color than what it shows here.

We would only go into the water one at a time with all of our back packs hanging around.

Our beach boy was kind of annoying but he did take a couple of pictures of us.

This was a perfect day at the beach.  Really was so relaxing and other than tons of people also enjoying the beach, it was really a great day here.

The Turkish woman just went right into the ocean with all their clothing on.  I couldnt get over this.

Many Hookah bars around.

The buildings all had water tanks on top of them.

Walking back to the ship we saw this little printing press in an open doorway.  I had to take a picture of the Heidelberg for my Dad.

Sighting the ship in port always reminded us of how big it was.

We both agreed Turkey was our favorite port.

Back to the ship.

Back to the top deck for a late afternoon full of relaxation.

White night on the ship.  (ok now I remember, this night was actually last night leaving Athens)

White Latin party.

We had so much fun out on the decks dancing the night away.

This is how we spent the late afternoon.  We were laying out on the deck and it was really hot so we got on some clothes and went to cool off skating.  Yes, they seriously had an ice rink on the ship.  CRAZY!

Ice skating is dear to our hearts and will always remind us that thanks to ice skating,  our parents met and the 4 of us were born.

This was so much fun for us!   There were 2 boys from Brazil that have never been ice skating before.  They were hanging on to the sides for dear life.  They were good sports and now they can say that they have been ice skating.

I think this cute little guy was a bulldog.

Looking down the promenade.

We didnt even go to the dinning room tonight.  We played one game of Texas Tina.  We had to because of our Texas friend Tina.