Our Amazing European Adventure! Navigator of the Seas & Norwegian Epic Review w/pics

[Deebs2]

Looking forward to reading more!! Thank you for taking the time to write this!!

[ShellDil]

So, we left off leaving the Agora and were heading towards the New Acropolis Museum. We zoomed through a flea market and met our driver for the ride to the Museum. It's a blurry picture only because we were walking so incredibly fast! I kind of like that about the picture though - it sort of shows the feeling of that moment. Chaos!

 

At this point, my dad was getting tired of walking and standing. He has a bad knee and with the 55,000 stairs we had climbed already that day, or what felt like that many anyway! He decided to skip the museum and he and my mom went to a little café for some beer and snacks! The rest of us went to the museum. The museum opened in 2009 and houses the artifacts of the Acropolis.

 

As you walk in you are walking over excavations of ruins that were discovered while building the museum.

 

We went through the museum with Georgia and she explained many of the pieces there, beginning with the pottery and what the different markings meant as far as the dating and history. And then we moved to the various statues of offerings to Athena. Then we moved to the statues of the Porch of the Maidens. The originals are here – the ones in Greece anyway! They are currently being restored and you can see how they are doing that process.

 

Then we moved to the top floor where Georgia told us what the panels on the top of the Parthenon meant – what the mythology told us and showed us how the gods were represented.

 

 

 

If you like mythology, archaeology, ancient history – this was a totally fascinating day! For me, it was absolutely amazing!

[ShellDil]

After the museum, we made our way back to the ship in plenty of time. We relaxed a bit on our balcony for sail away. We'd now gotten used to ordering some snacks from room service when we got back to the ship- the cheese platter was a hit.

 

 

 

We had dinner in the Main Dining Room. Once again the staff was wonderful. We really glad to have chosen My Time Dining. We had no problem getting reservations when we wanted them, and were seated at "our table". Our waiter automatically brought Alex a plate with two steaks - no sides. Love it!

 

After dinner, my parents went their way, Keith back to the room - he's not one for shows - it seems he'd rather watch the limited tv and movies in the room. He likes his downtime. And the kids and I went to see the Ice Show.

 

It was really good. Who would think they could pull off an ice show of that caliber on a moving ship? It’s a very small rink, and they still manage to do some pretty impressive moves!

 

Afterwards Alex of course left to go to the teen club, the rest of us went to bed.

 

Tomorrow is Ephesus!

[jessicalorene]

I was on this cruise the week before you and adored it! Loving the review, subscribing!

[cw2go]

Love checking in daily for your latest addiction to this thread. Thank you for taking the time to post this review. Wonderful job!

 

Patty

[ShellDil]

Thursday, June 13th, Ephesus

Today is not only our day in Ephesus, but it’s my 21st Anniversary! What better way to spend our Anniversary, than in an exotic land? Well, I think Keith could think of better ways to spend it – lying on a beach, drink with an umbrella in it, but he was being quite patient – indulging in my never ending quest for ancient history!

 

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 looking forward to our visit. Also for those interested, there was never a mention of a carpet tour – we never indicated we wanted to visit one and they never asked if we wanted to. I let Kagan know what sites we wanted to see and that’s where we went.

 

So – we met Yelda right on time at 8:00 am. We had a short walk to our van and once in, the driver was off and Yelda started telling us all about Kudasai and Turkey. We could tell this would be a very interactive day! First was the question – are we in Europe or Asia? Why, Asia of course! About half of our group of six got this one right! On our way to Ephesus, Yelda told us about this part of Turkey today, a brief history and about where were on a map and where we were going.

 

I can’t really say enough good things about Yelda. She was fantastic! She had so much knowledge about seemingly everything! The history, the architecture, the religions – which play such a role in this part of the world. She kept us all engaged.

 

Well, Alex was in quite a mood today – as you can see in the pictures from the morning. It was around today that it sort of clicked that we needed to feed him on a pretty regular schedule or he got very moody! Also, I think the pretty constant playing of the conflict currently going on in Istanbul at the time was weighing on his mind. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that he’s only 13, and as smart as he is, it may be hard to separate the fact that Istanbul and that conflict is nowhere near where we were going – which also happened to be in Turkey. The cruise ship had an International CNN channel that seemed to have a constant loop of the police “handling” the protest in Istanbul. At this point I can’t quite remember – was it tear gas they used? But in Alex’s mind Turkey is Turkey and where were we taking him? So, until he felt a comfort level with the day, and had a good, serious meal he was an absolute terror to be around.

 

 

[ShellDil]

The forecast was for rain, we even felt a few drops as we came off the ship, but we were lucky! The rain held off and for most of the day, the sun was shining. We had perfect weather!

 

Now, Ephesus. I can’t even begin to describe it, but to say it’s impressive!

 

 

 

 

What made it different to me from visiting Athens was that this was an entire city. You could envision the whole civilization that must have lived out their daily life here. The technology of the time was just amazing.

 

 

 

Athena Nike

 

 

[ShellDil]

 

We absolutely went into the Terrace houses, except my dad, who was concerned that maybe there would be too many steps – I think he would have been fine. But the Terrace Houses are houses built into the hills that are currently being excavated. There is an extra admission fee to visit, but it’s very worth that small extra fee. They call them the houses of the rich – there are six residences here. You can see the mosaics and the frescos – the colors are amazing! You can see the pipes that were used for plumbing!

 

 

 

 

 

These Terrace Houses for me were most definitely the highlight of Ephesus. The detail of what has been recovered is amazing. The ruins are massive.

[ShellDil]

Then of course there really is so much more. There are stones with carvings indicating where the Dr would have been. There are the public bathrooms, which were apparently quite the social gathering places! There are statues, fountains, buildings... There is then the Carvings that were in front of the merchants indicating that they were Christians – and this is how the first symbols of Christianity came about and eventually developed into the Jesus Fish that we have come to know today!

 

 

 

This was the public bathroom! Often used for meetings and social time - quite the hangout!

 

 

 

[ShellDil]

Moving on we approached the facade of the Library of Celcus. This itself is one huge, amazing structure! It is said to have held 15,000 scrolls!

 

See what I mean about the grump in the picture? Glad he's not reading this! He obviously needed lunch - and NOW!

 

It’s here I’ll mention the cats. In Athens it was the city of the stray dogs. Everywhere! Ephesus was the ruins of the cats! Here at the Library of Celcus was a mamma cat nursing her three baby kittens. I’ll say the crowd to take pictures of this site was as busy as any part of the ruins here! Animals sure draw a crowd! Especially when baby animals are involved!

 

As we walked towards the exit of this part of the town on Ephesus, we had a chance to visit the larger of the amphitheaters. Keith, Alex and I went in and climbed up the rows of seats to get a view from above.

 

 

Just had to share - not exactly sure what this would be, but they were selling them at the somewhat high pressure sales stands on the way back to our van leaving the ruins.....

 

It was a great morning! But we still had much more to see. But so far, Turkey was absolutely nothing like I had expected. It was so green and lush. Rolling hills and vast open spaces! I don’t know if I expected deserts or it to be flat. But it was very peaceful, it was beautiful. We all were really enjoying our time here!

[Trish12345]

I love your review! I was on this ship a week after you. Turkey was my favorite port. And yes, there were days you climbed 55,000 stairs. Of all the things I have seen in all of our travels, the City of Ephesus ranks at the top of the list. One thing I was never clear on was are the ruins in their original location or have they been moved/placed to their current location?

[ShellDil]

I love your review! I was on this ship a week after you. Turkey was my favorite port. And yes, there were days you climbed 55,000 stairs. Of all the things I have seen in all of our travels, the City of Ephesus ranks at the top of the list. One thing I was never clear on was are the ruins in their original location or have they been moved/placed to their current location?

 

You know, I was a bit surprised at just how much I loved this part of the trip! I knew I'd love the Italy part, but this Eastern Med portion was unexpected for me. It is definitely an area to return to! I really loved Turkey too.

 

As far as Ephesus, the ruins are in their original location. There are actually four "cities" of Ephesus that they have now found. The city had to keep moving due to the sea or river???? I'm not sure which, moving over time and depositing silt, covering the city that was current. They are currently excavating Ephesus IV I believe which is somewhere near St John's Basilica. I think one of the cities is built above another one? Someone here may have better details. I wish I had some notes on this, and I bet my son remembers the details. I can ask him tomorrow. I'll tell you, by the end of the trip, I felt like I heard Hadrian's name in my sleep! He was everywhere! Same with Napoleon! It did all start to become a blur to me!

[Newtoncruise]

Great review. Tell the grump to subscribe to growingyourgreens on YouTube. Me thinks he needs a more balanced diet! Not flaming at all. Just a suggestion.....

[ShellDil]

Great review. Tell the grump to subscribe to growingyourgreens on YouTube. Me thinks he needs a more balanced diet! Not flaming at all. Just a suggestion.....

 

I can't disagree with you there! However, his mood improved 100% about lunchtime our Ephesus day, and never became grumpy again. I firmly believe he was concerned about going to Turkey and our safety as a whole! Once he realized he was going to be ok, he relaxed for the rest of the trip. I may have missed mentioning it in the beginning, but Alex experiences severe travel anxiety, so a three week trip overseas was tough for him to handle to begin with. Usually once we reach our destination and he sees all is fine, he regains control, but I think this one last piece was too much out of his control to lose the anxiety until he knew we'd all be safe.

[dodgersmom]

Loving the reviews and pictures!

 

Cannot wait to be there. Question, and I am sure you are getting to it... I have been looking for a tour in Ephesus that does not take up to the carpet or leather factories. Did yours?

[ShellDil]

Loving the reviews and pictures!

 

Cannot wait to be there. Question, and I am sure you are getting to it... I have been looking for a tour in Ephesus that does not take up to the carpet or leather factories. Did yours?

 

Hi! No, our tour did not include any visit to a carpet or leather factory. We didn't mention wanting to go to one, and it was never suggested that they bring us to one.

[ShellDil]

Our next stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. There has been some debate as to what part of Mary’s life was spent here. Was she really here? Was it her final resting place? Yelda said that after all of the back and forth, the current evidence does point to her coming here and living here. The foundation of the house and the stones of the keyhole shaped pool carbon date to the right time. As well as the painting that you can see inside of the house, which is thought to be of Mary – also carbon dates back to the time that Mary would have been living at this home.

The keyhole shaped pool that was part of the vision of the nun who had visions of Mary's home before it was discovered.

 

 

The foundation was all that would have remained of Mary’s house. The rest of the small building has been reconstructed to be a small chapel. The smaller room is thought to be where Mary would have slept. It is set in a very beautiful, lush mountainside. You can just imagine Mary living out her final days here in peace.

 

After walking through the home we went to the area outside known as the “Wall of Wishes”. This is a large wall, similar to so many in the world, where pilgrims, or visitors like us, can write our wishes on a piece of paper or fabric and leave them in the wall. Megan, Mimi and I all chose to leave a wish, or personal intention here.

 

 

There is also a water fountain here at the wall that some pilgrims believe to have special healing powers or powers of fertility.

 

I am not a particularly religious person, but I was however raised Catholic. My parents both grew up in a very strong Catholic church household and are both now Methodist. My mom is a very spiritual person and is very active in the Church. Many people have asked me if being at such a religious place would have significance for someone who is not Catholic, or not religious. I can answer for myself – for me it was a very peaceful place. I don’t believe one has to be Catholic to understand the journey that these people from history took and the effect they had on the modern world we now live in. Much of Turkey is now Muslim and they honor the Catholic beginnings that came from their lands.

 

As we left this mountain, Mt. Koressos, we knew it was time for lunch! Yelda would be taking us to a local restaurant. Here we wouldn’t even have menus! We’d choose our food by looking at it and pointing to what we wanted! Yum!

[kruzinkel]

I also was amazed by Turkey (we were in Ephesus and Istanbul). Ephesus one of my favorite ports ever. amazing site!

[ShellDil]

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. We chose hummus, a Tzatziki that was very traditional and one that was mint flavored, feta with tomatoes, an eggplant mixture, mushrooms with cheese, a cheese rolled with feta and of course fresh pita to eat with it all. I have never had such fresh tasting Greek, or shall we say Turkish food – ever! We invited Yelda to eat with us and really enjoyed one another’s company.

 

After our appetizers, out came the main dishes. Some of us got meats, to be made into gyros. The pita bread was a bit different from what we had with the appetizers. It was thinner. Others had a meatball type dish. Alex had some beef skewers. Everything had wonderful seasonings. All of the plates had a fresh salad that was served with olive oil and a pomegranate vinaigrette. It was all delicious – and of course, far too much food!

 

 

 

To top it off, Yelda asked if we wanted to try the infamous Turkish Coffee.

 

My dad and I took her up on the offer and maybe when she chose to get tea we should have taken that as a hint! It was pretty darn nasty! Once you got past the initial, well I suppose the word would be shock! Then you could manage to sip it. I’m used to cream and sugar in my coffee, so regardless it would have seemed really strong to me. But also, you can’t drink the full tiny cup because all of the coffee grounds are still in the cup and it’s really sludgy. That would be the best way to describe it! But we were glad to have tried it and it perked us up for our next stop! Tummies full and fully caffeinated, off we went to our next destination!

[ShellDil]

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.

 

 

 

From this hill, you can see the pillars of the Temple of Artemis.

 

Yelda told us that when the Basilica was built, parts of the Temple 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.

 

[ShellDil]

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 the first time in 800 BC! Can you imagine?

 

It was destroyed and rebuilt 3 times after that and before it’s final destruction in 401 AD. In comparison to the Parthenon in Athens, this temple was 425 long and 225 wide with 127 columns that were 60 feet high. The Parthenon is 230 feet long, 100 feet wide and had 58 columns. Now, having just been to the Parthenon and been incredibly impressed, it was hard to imagine just how BIG this temple must have been and how incredible it was!

Here you can see the remains of the Temple, the mosque, the Basilica of St John, and the Fortress all together!

 

I just had to include this dog! I like to call him the "crocodile dog"! He was just peeking out enjoying himself there in the marsh.

 

 

[ShellDil]

We left here and made our way back to port.

 

Once we parted ways with Yelda and thanked her for a fantastic day, we decided that we wanted to check out the Bazaar area. First mission was to try some Turkish Ice Cream! Now, this definitely was not gelato! The consistency was sort of sticky, but the flavor was good! And of course when they serve it to you they like to play around with switching the cones and flipping the ice cream around. Megan definitely got a kick out of that!

 

I shopped for my magnet. We were told by Yelda that Turkey is known for bargaining when shopping – now I’m sure that’s not true for a 3 Euro magnet! But for higher priced items maybe. She said that the vendors are expecting to bargain with you for everything. The shopkeepers were fairly aggressive here, but they were also very friendly.

 

I wanted to get one of the evil eye bracelets or key chains, but couldn’t really find one I liked. At one store I picked up a key chain that you could have your name written on - I liked it, but wasn’t going to buy it. I picked something else out instead. While I was talking to the shopkeeper’s assistant – making small talk, he asked me Megan’s name. Apparently the owner had taken the keychain I had originally looked at and asked for Megan’s name and made it for her while I was talking. He gave it to me at no extra charge. He was very proud of the work he made at the store. There was a lot of hand crafted art work there and he told me that he took the store over from his father and was happy to give me the 2nd key chain. That was really nice of him!

 

 

Alex and I hung back while everyone else went back to the ship. We bought some gifts for a friend of his and enjoyed some time together. His mood had greatly improved and would remain this way the remainder of our trip.

 

Overall Turkey was nothing like I had expected. I think we all felt this way! I had seen some pictures of Ephesus, but I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful everywhere we went today was. It’s a very clean area and there is so much open space. It’s a huge contrast to our day in Athens yesterday! I’m not saying that Athens is dirty- but it’s a huge city. Much different from today.

 

Once back on the ship, it was pretty much the same as in the past. Unfortunately even though tonight was our anniversary, we didn’t get to do much to celebrate. But tomorrow Keith and I are going to Portofino’s. Date night! We weren’t able to go tonight because it’s the Murder Mystery Dinner and there were no private reservations available. We did enjoy dinner in the MDR again though, no complaints! The Navigator feels like home to us by now, we’ve settled in nicely!

[ShellDil]

Friday, June 14th, Chania, Crete

Today we docked in Chania, Crete. After many months of trying to figure out what to do here, it wasn’t until right before the trip, that I found out that the name of the town was actually pronounced as “Hania”!

 

The ship actually docks in Souda. Our time in port is a very odd time – 6:30 am – 3:00 pm. I’m not sure why this is since the next day is a Sea Day. You would think they could stretch our time in town a bit later so we could really enjoy this town instead of having to rush to get a bus back to the ship by maybe 1:30 to be back on board by a 2:30 on last on board time. Not to mention that docking at 6:30, there wasn’t much to really “do” in town that early!

 

So, that’s my only real complaint at this point about the itinerary at all. But that being said. Chania is relatively new in the cruise ship world. Finding independent excursions here was much more difficult than in other ports. Also, by this point in the trip I was looking for that “something fun” for the kids that maybe was a bit different from the ruins and history that we had done for the past few days with such intensity. This was also a bit of a challenge with the timing that we were in port.

 

However, I was lucky to stumble upon a small company called Sea Star who runs private small boat tours around Thodorou Island, just off the coast of Platanias Beach. They got great reviews on Trip Advisor and their website showed a few different options that would fit into our short time in port. Since their boat only holds 8 passengers plus their crew of 2, we knew we’d be able to customize our day. Elise emailed us promptly once I found them and we set up a 2 hour boat tour with a stop for snorkeling. This sounded like a perfectly relaxing way to spend the day!

 

Although when I told Keith about our plans for the day and how we’d be doing something different – he just laughed – and said “um, Shelley – how different is going out on a boat? You do realize we’re on a cruise?” Well, I meant a small boat, where you can feel the sea, swim in the Mediterranean! Snorkel! A different type of day from the walking and inundation of facts that we’d had! And as you’ve probably figured out I LOVE that type of day! But by now we all needed a bit of a break from it I think.

 

So – the time came and we met Elise at the port. Unfortunately it was quite a cloudy morning. As we drove to Platanias Beach she told us how she, a woman from France, came to be here in Crete, and we enjoyed getting to know one another. This is another thing we really enjoy about private tours. Getting to know the people who live where we visit and getting to know about the cultures of the towns. We also told Elise what time we had to be back to the ship and that we’d like to have lunch in Chania. She suggested that instead of a 2 hour boat tour, we make it 1 hour – we’d still have plenty of time on the boat, plenty of time to snorkel and she’d arrange for a taxi to take us to the Old Town. She thought if we did the 2 hour boat tour we wouldn't have enough time to visit the town and have lunch. We'd be too rushed. It was settled! This would be our plan!

 

We got on our boat, and off we went!

 

 

Thodorou Island is a National Park Sanctuary and no one is allowed on the island, other than the care taker. He shows up each morning and cares for the wildlife and island then goes home. Also, once a year there is a pilgrimage allowed to the ruins of a small church that is on the island.

 

 

The main “inhabitants” of the island are the Kri-Kri goats! They were brought here to protect them. They are fed and cared for and now they number in the 80s. We saw several of them on the mountain side. We also saw a few falcons while boating around the island. Elise told us all about the history, geology and biology as we toured. There’s even a Venetian fort that remains at the top of the island from the 1500s!

 

 

[ShellDil]

We stopped for about 20 minutes or so to snorkel. It was the perfect amount of time. My mom doesn’t snorkel, or swim actually. She stayed on the boat and chatted with the captain. While we were in the water, Elise would dive down and bring up marine specimens to show us – starfish, shells, urchins, sponges – all kinds of things. Then she’d bring them over to the boat so the captain could show them to my mom.

 

 

 

 

We all thoroughly enjoyed this few hours. It was great to be in the water and out on the water on the boat. I enjoyed talking to Elise – she was a fascinating person and had a lot to share.

 

When we got back to their dock, she had their assistant call a taxi. This is where things got a bit confusing, on our end – not so much from them. Since we were a group of six, they sent two taxis. The person at Sea Star told the drivers where to take us. I assume they told us to Chania, Old Town. Now – remember, no one else in my family really had a clue about this trip – as far as planning or where we would be going or what we were doing! I was the lead!

 

So how do we split up the six of us with drivers who don’t speak much English at all? Well, for some reason I put Keith and the two kids in one taxi with a 20 Euro bill and off they went. I don’t even know if Keith had his wallet! They left so quickly! After they left, I realised I had our bag with everything in it, including his wallet. We asked in advance how much the taxi would cost, so at least I knew he had enough money to cover the taxi!

 

The other taxi eventually arrived and my parents and I piled in. We never thought about the fact that we’d have to find Keith and the kids! Don’t all cruise passengers go to the same place? DUH? Well luckily our driver drove through an area and Keith and the kids happened to be sitting on a wall and they flagged us down. Keith told us after they left he got to thinking how he had no ID, didn’t have his Sea Pass card and had pretty much no money! Only Megan had her Sea Pass card! He had no idea where to go, nothing! But luckily we all met up and all was well.

 

Sort of – we definitely were not in the “Old Town” tourist area – we were in a very busy area. But I knew we were close! Since we didn’t come here with the cruise people earlier we had no maps, we had no idea where to get the bus back to the ship…

 

No problem – we’ll figure it out! How hard can it be?

 

Well we did it! We found a security guard, asked him where the Harbor was and he pointed and said something that sort of sounded like directions. After wandering around a bit, we found the Old Town! And as luck would have it, as we were walking down to the Harbor and looking for a place for lunch, we bumped into Catherine and Ger! Our new friends from Ireland – imagine that! Of the thousands of people in this town, we find people we know! And thankfully they did have a map and they showed us where to go to find the bus when we would be ready to go back to the ship. Feeling a bit more comfortable now, we wandered down the mobbed tourist area looking for a place for lunch.

[ShellDil]

Now here, we had probably the worst of our in port lunches. Probably our fault. We just stopped somewhere instead of looking around for something that really looked good. We were hungry and knew we didn’t have a lot of time. It did have a nice view of the water though! But probably the biggest clue that it would be bad was that the menu choices were American food. So, when Megan ordered a cheeseburger and it came out as clearly not beef, we wondered just what it was? Once the waiter translated to another waiter and so on, they finally told us “Pork” of course as if we should be shocked!

 

After lunch we had a bit of time to walk along the shops and take in the view.

 

 

 

Then we had to fight the crowds to walk back up the busy street to catch what seemed to be a city bus designated as one to go directly to the port. We had to figure out where buy tickets – got that! And off we went.

 

While we had a great day on the boat, the time in Chania was definitely rushed and crowded. Again, I wish the time in port could have been extended.