Turkey

We were lucky enough to have two stops in Turkey during our cruise. Although our first stop in Turkey was a very short amount of time, we were only there from 7am until 1pm, it was still one of the top experiences we had, our morning in Ephesus, was certainly one to remember.  We used Celsus Travel for our tour, and this is where I officially met the woman whose luggage I stole... she was nice about it and I was thankful there were no hard feelings.  Our group was fun and tour guide awesome.  I loved being in the area that was so important for early Christianity, where Paul lived for 2 years during his missionary journey and Mary spent the last years of her life.

Our first view of the ancient city of Ephesus

Our tour group

Pretty amazing ruins, this is Nike, Goddess of Victory

Main street of Ephesus, these ruin are some of the best preserved in the world

Temple of Hadrian

Roman Bath

Inside the Terrace House, the world's biggest jig saw puzzle, putting the floor back together.

The Terrace Houses were where the rich lived in Ephesus

Such incredible ruins

Roman Library of Celsus

Gate of Augustus

Odeon

We loved our day in Ephesus and the next morning we woke up and were in Istanbul! 

The view from our balcony

Istanbul is such a fascinating city.  Half in Europe and half in Asia, with so much rich history and a tumultuous past.  One great thing about Istanbul as well is that the city is right off the port, so we were able to just go in and explore on our own.  Here's  what we saw...

First stop, Blue Mosque

Such a fascinating building.

Hagia Sophia

First a Christian Church, then turned into a mosque and now a museum.

Something about putting your thumb in this hole means you're lucky

Apparently this is where the Sultan sat

The iconic underground cistern

Medusa's head

The Hippodrome of Constantinople

The Grand Bazaar

I loved Istanbul.  Unfortunately one of the top sites was closed that day, Topkapi Palace, apparently it is closed on Tuesdays, but we certainly had a full day of seeing the sites above.  We had time for a relaxing lunch at the famous  Pudding Shop followed by traditional Turkish Baklava and some time to shop.   Let me just say, if you're in Turkey, don't shop at the Grand Bazaar.  Everything is over priced and they do not bargain with you if you're American.  There are shops all over Istanbul that have way better prices.  So go and see, but don't stay and buy.  I'd definitely love to visit Turkey again.  It was nice as well to finally have a couple port stops without any issues or unexpected drama, but don't worry,  next up is Mykonos and the drama continued there.