Dec 5, 2013 Day 2 at Sea

Dec 5, 2013  Day 2 at Sea

High of 15c.  Sea temperature 20c.  Quite warm to be outside, even at 9 am.

Started off to be a glorious day on the balcony. 

The first day we figured out quite quickly the wet scrambled eggs were from a carton. 

Jennie was the only one that like them!

Fresh eggs were available upon request.  Here an omelet is being made just for me.   

Another long walk all over the ship.  This time we ended up viewing the bridge. 

We explored every inch, then returned to our cabin.

By 11:30 it was wonderful to soak up the sun on our balcony. 

 First time we were able to sit outside. 

At 2 we went to the theater to watch a show.  

Junior cruisers performing a circus show.  They were adorable. 

Twirling plates on a stick, done by the older children. 

The whole cast after the performance. 

Very well done considering the amount of time to practice. 

Time to polish off the second bottle of wine in Immy and Jennie's cabin. 

 Compliments of Norwegian.

Very big glasses....Jennie finished mine. 

Other entertainment was available, including towel-folding demonstration, listening to jazz, and a few others.  

This seemed the better choice.  Gezellig with a glass of wine.  

Early dazzling sunset.  Around 4:30.    

Seen from our balcony.  Smoking Mt. Etna in Sicily.

Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Italy. Located near the east coast of the island of Sicily, it is 10,900 feet (3,329 meters) tall with a base circumference of about 93 miles (150 kilometers). It is also the volcano with the longest record of continuous eruption.

Nov, 2013 eruption of Mt. Etna.  Picture off the internet.

Between the island of Sicily and Italy, we saw Mount Etna.

The evening show:  Mega production show -Elements!  Earth, Air, Water and Fire.

Magic, visual feast of flying, and music and dance.  

Acrobats flying through the air in a circle above the audience.  Spectacular show.

Tons of small white papers came down in buckets.

The acrobats and dancers.

Finale with the Norwegian Jade Officers, Staff and Crew. 

The happy happy, white t-shirt guy made us smile everyday.  He stood at the entrance of the Garden Cafe with a spray bottle of sanitizer.  "Washy washy, happy, happy" is what he said to everyone entering the cafe.  Everyone got a squirt.

Staff standing in line as we exited the theater with their cute towel puppets. 

Really looking forward to tomorrow.  Naples and Pompeii.  

Dec 4, 2013 First Day at Sea

Dec 4, 2013   Day 1 at Sea

Marcel making us morning coffee.  
Breakfast was always in the Garden Cafe.  Buffet.

Entertainment was provided during our days at Sea.
Are you ready for this!!
Napkin folding.."the most fun you'll ever have with a napkin!" that is what the flyer quoted.  And we did have fun.  

Our cruise director Jill by the piano.
Mid section of the ship.  A bonus with all the swaying of the ship!

First project was a candle.  
Immy's candle is on the floor to prove to the camera that it can stand.

Jennie took some pictures from the second floor, but after a few shots she thought, "how many pictures can I take of napkin folding", and off she went. 

Cutlery goes inside the napkins.  The only one I remember how to make.

Jill and a hottie Italian. 

Booties. 

After thrilling stimulation of napkin folding, we had
a cup of expensive but not very good cappuccino in the Blue Lagoon Cafe.  
We were able to listen to this awesome singer below. 

  RJ Reid took center stage.

   RJ Reid

After coffee we went outside.
Waves were 7.5-12 ft. high today.  Mostly dry food for me all day,
till supper when the waves died down to 4-7.5ft.

Island of Kea.  One of the Greek Islands.
A bit of sun-rays makes for a striking picture.

Black skies and run-rays.

We got quite close to this picturesque Island of Kea. Population about 2500. 129 sq km. 

The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece. The Cyclades comprise about 220 islands of which many are inhabited. The islands have become popular tourist attractions. The islands are peaks of a submerged mountainous terrain, with the exception of two volcanic islands, Milos and Santorini 
Kea Island is underlined in red. 

A long stroll around the deck a few times.  Quite warm when the sun was out. 

TV in our room constantly showed us where we were.  It was also much easier to recognize the Islands we passed when we knew where we were.  Red mark on the left is where we are.  Island on the right is Kea.  Not very clear.

Sun rays on Kea Island made it stunningly breathtaking. 

The afternoon matinee show:   Daniel Hochsteiner - World Star Speed Juggler.
Picture of the Stardust Theater taken 2 hours before the show.  

After a delicious dinner, we listened to this group sing.  The 4Ever band.  They were extremely gifted with sensational voices, but we all felt we missed what could have been a great show.  Most of the time we all had our fingers in our ears. Sigh.  Way too loud.  
They were accompanied by the Jade Orchestra.  There must have been a competition between the sound men for the orchestra and the singers to see who could be louder! 

Dinners were usually in the Alizar or Grand Pacific Dining Rooms. 
The other ones had a cover charge. 
In the evening we quite often found a towel animal.  
Jennie and I went back to listen to RJ Reid in the Atrium till 11.  
He took requests all night.  It was an enjoyable evening. 

Clock back one hour tonight.
Welterusten.  Buona notta.  Good night.

Dec 3, 2013 Day 2 in Istanbul, Turkey

Dec 3, Istanbul, Turkey.   Day 2 - a free day. 

Günaydın - Good Morning 

“A must! To enjoy Istanbul on our own”

Immy and Jennie opted to go back to the Grand Bazaar while Marcel and I went for a 4 hour stroll through a part of Istanbul.   Loved the little crowded streets and see the locals in their daily activities, tasting the true colors of Istanbul.  

The little narrow streets amazed us.  How they get their cars in and out was a puzzle. The world’s second worst city in traffic congestion is Istanbul, second to Moscow.  Istanbul is drowning in traffic chaos.  Cars are everywhere.  We saw a large tow truck towing a car. How it got through...I have no clue. 

Walking still farther away from the docks, we climbed up this very long and steep road.

Love, love all the small streets.

We walked through the Kılıç Ali Paşa neighborhood exploring the narrow streets lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, and of course stopping for cappuccinos.

A red basket was lowered to the ground from the top floor.  The boy on the right has a package to be put in the basket. 

He took out some money and put in the package.  

We saw it pulled back up to the top floor. 

When we got to an open area, we made sure we could still see the docks with their ships, so we could find our way back.

We explored the nooks and crannies.  It was definitely a man's world.  No women were seen anywhere as sales people.

Had to try some roasted chestnuts.  Delicious.  We got back to the ship at 2:30.  A pretty cold but dry day.  Only 7c today.

Meanwhile, Immy and Jennie were having their own smashing fun time!

At the Grand Bazaar.

They both bought a gorgeous leather jacket.  Immy sipping a cup of sweet tea.

Jennie with her new jacket.  

All that shopping tired them out and they headed for the Turkish Bath to be pampered. 

First time for Immy.

 Our experience in the Turkish Bath:  Immy's story. 

We walked in and were handed a little pouch.  We got changed and put a towel around us,  and walked into this huge steam filled room,  with a huge round marble bench in the middle,  big enough for many people at the same time. We were told to put our bikinis on.  What bikini?  Turns out the pouch contained a bikini - one size fits all;  Jennie got into hers no problem;  me,  that was another matter.

But we both lay down on a piece of the marble on our stomachs,  and waited.   Heard a scream from Jennie:  turns out they doused her with a bucket of warm water.  My turn was next,  but I was prepared because of Jennie's scream.

They then proceeded to wash us with some sort of loofah cloth.  We were  rinsed off with a bucket of warm water.

Then they squirted something on us,  I assume some kind of soap,  and we got lathered up,  again with a loofah cloth.  when our backs and the back of our legs were done,  there was an unceremonious "turn",  accompanied by a slap on the back.  They then repeated the same washing.

After we were rinsed off again,  they shampooed our hair and we were told:  Jacuzzi.  So we walked over to this huge Jacuzzi with warm water on the one side and cooler water on the other.  Back and forth between the two.  Wonderful!

By the time we got out we felt soooo clean,  and our legs felt like rubber because of the Jacuzzi.

An experience I would not have missed!

Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. 

More excitement on our taxi ride home:  Jennie's story.

Immy and I wanted to go back to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, so we took a cab.  We were quoted 10 euros to go into town, but bargained the driver down to 8 euros.  When we wanted to go back to the ship, we were quoted 20 euros by the first cab driver, so we approached a second one.  He told us that it always costs twice as much to go back!  But we offered him 15 euros and he accepted.
 
Partway there he started talking about the amount on the meter, and that we would have to pay more.  Immy said "No", but we don't think he heard.  We were almost there and he started asking for 25 euros because of the traffic and the cost of fuel.  Immy was starting to waiver, but I was having none of it.  I informed him that a deal is a deal!
 
Then he said something about going to the police.  Later on Immy saw a policeman, pointed him out and said "Let's go talk to him", but the driver ignored her!
 
When we got to the dock, Immy held out the money to him, but three times he pushed her hand away.  She got out of the car and handed the money to me.  Again he started to argue.  I told him "How would it be after we had agreed on 15 euros, if I now said I would only give you 10?"  He was still adamant that we pay 25 euros.  So I placed the money on the front seat beside him and started to get out, when he put his hand on my leg and tried to hold me back.
 
He didn't succeed.  We paid the agreed on price.

A great acrobatic aerial show at the Stardust Theater in the evening.

Celia and Julien  "Come Fly with Me"

At 8:30 we left Istanbul for our next 2 days at sea. 

iyi geceler - Good Night