27 September - Arriverderci Roma -Venice, Italy

Woke up this morning and ready to travel to Tiburtina Station to catch the very fast train to Venice. Our driver got us there with nearly an hour to spare. This train is really an experience. At one stage the speedo was reading 290 km/hr and it hardly felt as if you were moving. By 1 pm we had arrived at Santa Lucia station in Venice and it was time to catch a Vaporetto (Waterbus) to the place we were to meet our contact for our apartment. Eventually got all that sorted and by 2:30 we were installed in our two bedroom apartment which is very modern and absolutely beautiful. Even an outdoor area to enjoy a drink and a cigar. This is the view from our front door.

Went for a quick walk to do some beer and grocery shopping and to explore our environment.

Nearly time to go and choose one of the many great looking restaurants around here, including one serving Indian - no kidding!

26 November - Rome, Italy

Our hotel here in Rome will be the source of a few laughs over the next few years as we recall our time here. It is located in the Palazzo Espozisione and has been fitted with the smallest lift we have ever seen. Officially rated at 4 persons, three is a bit of a squeeze - when you try for four it will go sometimes but not other times. Today was our third day in Rome and a fine day. Breakfast was at the local coffee shop next door and then we decided to walk to the Pantheon. The Pantheon today houses a Catholic basilica in the oldest building still in use in Rome. It is 2000 years old and consists of a rectangular columned section at the front with a domed circular building at the rear. The dome is actually larger than the dome at St Peters, and has a hole at the apex which is open to the weather. The  Pantheon is also famous as the burial place of two Italian kings, and also of the artist Rafael.

Walking between the famous sites in Rome requires you to navigate along many narrow and winding streets which are endlessly fascinating and filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. The streets are all cobblestoned and filled with pedestrians and motor scooters.

Rome is bisected by the river Tiber (Tevere in Italian) crossed at various points by bridges. We walked down to the river at one point to take look.

All these little streets are the network which connects many large squares or piazzas. One of the most spectacular is Piazza Navone which features many important buildings, restaurants and a couple of large fountains.

Tomorrow we are due to catch the very fast train to Venice, so after a quick pizza tonight it will be time to repack the bags again and to get an early night.

25 September - Rome, Italy

Our second day in Roma. We travelled to the Vatican City by taxi this morning. Rosa and I booked in for the Vatican Museum Tour which included access to the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. The guided tour entitled us to jump all the queues which by the time we arrived at 09:00 were already 500m long.
Our guide was Sara, who spoke excellent English, and quickly conveyed her knowledge of the subject and her passion for it to our group of about 15 people.

The Vatican Museum is a huge complex which houses the art collected by various popes over the last 2000 years and is truly astonishing. To properly view all the exhibit and understand it would probably take years, but Sara expertly guided us through the highlights.

After a couple of hours of viewing the most amazing sculptures, paintings and tapestries we were finally allowed into the Sistine Chapel, which features the famous ceiling painted by the then 30 year old Michelangelo. No photography is allowed inside the chapel - it would be impractical with all the people there - so I've borrowed a photo here.

The overall effect of entering this incredible place is truly overwhelming. One can only imagine the effort it took to paint this incredible work of art in only 4 years. The final phase of our tour was to visit the St Peter's Basilica, and the first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the building which is just over 180 m long.

The dome of the Basilica, also designed by Michelangelo is also incredibly beautiful.

Priceless works by Michelangelo abound including this beautiful statue of Mary holding a dead Jesus after the crucifixion.

Finally after three full hours it was time to catch up with Sandra and John. By then it had started to drizzle a bit (the first significant rain on our holiday) and to go back to the hotel for lunch and to plan the afternoon activities. After a great lunch of pannini and cafe late at a nearby restaurant, it was time to head out for an inside look at the Colloseum. The rain had eased to a few occasional drops and the walk from our hotel was only 20 minutes or so. Once again, to stand inside a structure which was built more than 2000 years ago is truly amazing. Today, it is possible to walk around two levels of the Colloseum which provides a great opportunity to imagine the activities which took place here during the height of the Roman Empire.

What a day. We staggered back to our hotel late this afternoon for Heinekens and Spumante and a much needed rest. We found a fabulous Trattoria for dinner last night and we are that impressed we're heading back again tonight.

24 September - Rome

Our Alitalia flight to Rome this morning departed Istanbul at 06:15 which mean the alarm clock went off at 02:45. Just as well we got an early night last night last night. After a two hour flight we landed in Rome, and we also wound the clock back one hour which meant is was only 7:30 am. The ride from the airport to our hotel was nearly an hour due to some horrendous traffic even at that time of day. The check in at the Espozione Hotel was a pleasant surprise. When the checkin staff realised we had been up half the night they gave us one room straight away and the second one only a half hour later. That meant that we were ready to hit the tourist trail by mid morning to see what we could see.

Our first stop was the Trevi fountain, which unfortunately is under renovation. We have seen this famous landmark in many photos, brochures and movies of course but we were not prepared for the sheer size of it. The central statue must be the height of a four story building. A pity about the renovations but it gave us a pretty unique view of the Fontana di Trevi.
From here we wandered off to find the Colloseum and en route found many other famous landmarks including the excavations of the Forum Romana.

Next stop the Colloseum, another short walk away.

By mid afternoon we were getting a bit weary - not surprising given the early start, so back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and a beer and some bubbly. Tonight we'll try our luck at one of the many pizza and pasta places we spotted along the way. Tomorrow we expect to visit the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica.

22 September - Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is one of the most amazing places I have ever experienced. It is a large, bustling city at the crossroad between Asia and Europe and absolutely bursting with a myriad of cultures. Despite being thousands of years old, and certainly preserving many of the antique aspects of the city, the overall impression is of a modern, and busy metropolis. The place is clean, the inhabitants look well dressed and everywhere you look there is a variety of stores and restaurants offering ... well everything you can imagine. The range and quality of food and goods is just staggering. The other impressive aspect of Istanbul is it's location. It is located on what must be one of the most protected harbours in the world. From the Mediterranean you first pass through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul is located right at the northern end of the Sea of Marmara and at the beginning of a 32 km natural straight called the Bosphorous. The Bosphorous Strait connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea.
The variety and size of ships which navigate the Bosphorous includes large freighters and pleasure craft and today we even saw a Russian submarine pass through here. For the Russian navy the only access to the Medirranean is through the Bosphorous.

We started today with a 90 minute cruise along the Bosphorous. As you travel up this waterway it is lined with palaces, 1000 year old forts, cafes and restaurants and the homes and mansions of the rich and famous - simply stunning.

Our guide Denise, tried very hard to explain all the features we were cruising past, but we were a bit too preoccupied taking pictures and it was also hard to hear her above the rumble of the engine.

After the Bosphorous cruise our bus delivered us back to Sultanahmet, the suburb we are staying in where we once again visited our favourite coffee/pastry shop. This time we were allocated a table on the fifth floor (the roof of the building) which was accessed by the smallest elevator we've ever seen - 2 persons max. One benefit of this was a great view of the Blue Mosque .

Having restored our energy supplies with pastries it was time to visit Topkapi Palace. This huge palace was the home of several of the Ottoman emperors and is now a fantastic museum providing insights into the lifestyles of the Ottoman rulers.

We seemed to walk for miles to take in all the exhibits and eventually had to admit defeat and head for 'home'.

After cocktails and little naps we were ready to step out once again to one of the local restaurants here for dinner. In our area the restaurants, which are mostly open air are wall to wall and the smells are delicious. Back in the hotel now and time to go to bed soon. Tomorrow has been set aside for some shopping in the Grand Bazaar and the local markets.

21 September, Istanbul Turkey

Another day in Istanbul. The goal today was to visit some of the main tourist attractions here. This is a bit more complicated than it seems. Istanbul is the world's fifth most popular tourist destination and when you are here that becomes obvious. For the main attractions you have to queue and for religious sites there is a further complications. Muslims are called to prayer five times per day and no visitors are allowed in mosques during that time. So our first target this morning was the world famous Blue Mosque (The Sultan Ahmet Mosque). This incredible  structure was built in the 1600's during the Ottoman Empire period.

After queueing for about an hour we were finally at the entrance to the mosque. The ladies had to don scarves to cover the hair, and we were all required to take our shoes off.

It was all worth it though, to see this incredible space and its dome, completely covered in intricate mosaic patterns is a stunning experience.

We spent about 30 minutes here before moving on to the adjacent Hagia Sofia. The current building which was built around the year 530 AD (yes that's around 1500 years ago) was built on the site by the Roman Emperor Justinian on the site of an earlier Greek structure called Hagia Sofia which is Greek for "Holy Wisdom". Most other structures which date this far back are only available to us as ruins but this building is still in fantastic condition. It is amazing to stand inside it and to realise it was built 500-600 years before any of the great European cathedrals.

After the defeat of the Crusaders and the rise of the Ottoman Empire this once Christian church was converted to a Mosque, and it served in this role from the 1330's to the 1930's when it became a museum. Once again, standing inside the building fills you with amazement that there were artisans who could build such a structure 1500 years ago.

There are lots of signs of restoration inside. Apart from scaffolding to reach the dome there is also a lot of work to restore the Christian mosaics which were destroyed or covered up during the Muslim takeover.

After negotiating the queues and working our way through these great monuments it was time for a break. Istanbul has fabulous restaurants and on arriving I noticed they have fantastic pastries etc. so we found a nice place for a coffee and a treat.

Our final visit for the day was to the Basilica cistern. Once again a structure dating back to around the 530's. Built again by the emperor Justinian the cistern was built as an underground fresh water storage. Water was delivered here by aqueduct and stored underground.

Once again, we were amazed by the size and workmanship of this incredible structure. It is difficult to believe it has stood here for 1500 years. Istanbul gives you a completely different perspective on antiquity and history.

Tomorrow we are booked on a boat cruise of the Bosphorous Strait - a great way to get a different view of the marvellous city of Istanbul.

20 September - Istanbul, Turkey

A fascinating day yesterday. We left Kusadasi in the evening and dined in the San Marco dining room knowing it was our last night after nearly 4 weeks aboard the Constellation. It was time to say goodbye to all the excellent staff who looked after us both in the cabin and in the dining room. The service on board, as well as the experience of sailing with the Celebrity Constellation has been outstanding. Coming into Istanbul through the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara is a unique experience. As you approach this incredible city which is almost the size of New York, familiar landmarks start to appear on the horizon. Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace all glide by on the port side as we came in to berth. The ship berthed at about 2 pm, but we were still able to spend one more night aboard so, in the afternoon we went for a walk into the city to familiarise ourselves and to get hold of some local currency, the Turkish Lira. Later in the night, on a warm balmy evening I went for a stroll on Deck 11 to get a nighttime glimpse of the city. The ship seemed totally deserted and I took a photo of the pool deck with not another person in sight.

Finally, this morning at about 8:00 am it was time to say goodbye to our home at sea and to find a taxi to the Tan Hotel in the city. I still can't believe that the four of us, plus all our luggage fitted into a medium size Fiat sedan. It meant that some suitcases travelled on our laps, but fortunately it was only a relatively short ride.
One we were settled into the Tan Hotel it was time to explore our surroundings, in a couple of hours we walked around the Grand Bazaar (4,000 shops in one great market), the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and Hagia Sofia.

The historical significance of Istanbul is amazing. Located in the Hippodrome is an Egyptian obelisk which was first made in Egypt in 1140 BC, and was moved to Istanbul (Constantinople) by a Roman Emperor in 340 AD. The Egyptian hieroglyphs look like the were carved yesterday and they are over 3000 years old. Tomorrow we will start visiting some of these outstanding sites in earnest. Our hotel is located right in the middle of most attractions as well as great markets, shops and cafes.