Today on the ship Fox Sports is showing a Canucks game.
Its my first chance to watch them play this year, as we don't get very many games, and they unusually don't show Canadian teams.
So its nice to see them play.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Flooding in Venice
The last day we were in Venice it was quite cold, the coldest it had been since we have been in Europe. It was the first time most of us took the sweaters off the hangers.
I was walking into St. Mark’s square and was noticing that it was high tide. The square is the lowest part of the city and during many high tides the whole square floods.
While the whole area was not flooded most of it was, and the tourists were all having to walk across the square on platforms. Or to wait on them to enter the church.
In many areas gondolas were stuck on one side of a bridge as they were too little space to fit under them.
As it gets closer to winter the flooding gets worse and worse.
I was walking into St. Mark’s square and was noticing that it was high tide. The square is the lowest part of the city and during many high tides the whole square floods.
While the whole area was not flooded most of it was, and the tourists were all having to walk across the square on platforms. Or to wait on them to enter the church.
In many areas gondolas were stuck on one side of a bridge as they were too little space to fit under them.
As it gets closer to winter the flooding gets worse and worse.
Our ship went to Mykonos after Istanbul. On the way we went through a big storm with lots of rain and wind, and rough seas.
Mykonos, a Greek island, is the last new place we go to this Europe season.
We arrived at noon, but crew were not able to get off the ship until 2pm as it was a tender port and we had to wait for all the guests to get off first.
Mykonos’s main town is made up a series of confusing winding streets, which were built this way to confuse pirates who might be invading, and allow the locals to escape and ambush the attackers.
One of the landmarks of the island are the windmills which were built by the Venetians in the 16th century. They are no longer used but are still one of the islands most recognized landmarks.
One of the things Mykonos is well known for is its nightlife, which was a shame because we leave early in the evening so we were not able to find out.
We did find a good gyro place, but it was nowhere near as good as Lucky’s in Santorini, but it was nice to have a good Greek gyro again.
Mykonos, a Greek island, is the last new place we go to this Europe season.
We arrived at noon, but crew were not able to get off the ship until 2pm as it was a tender port and we had to wait for all the guests to get off first.
Mykonos’s main town is made up a series of confusing winding streets, which were built this way to confuse pirates who might be invading, and allow the locals to escape and ambush the attackers.
One of the landmarks of the island are the windmills which were built by the Venetians in the 16th century. They are no longer used but are still one of the islands most recognized landmarks.
One of the things Mykonos is well known for is its nightlife, which was a shame because we leave early in the evening so we were not able to find out.
We did find a good gyro place, but it was nowhere near as good as Lucky’s in Santorini, but it was nice to have a good Greek gyro again.
Mykonos is a nice island, and it would be fun to spend more time there, we only go there once more, hopefully it wont get too cold as it will be in mid November.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Istanbul Day 2 Part 1
The second day in Istanbul started before the sun was fully up in the sky.
Our driver wanted to get going 15 minutes before the other buses because the first part of our day was to cross the Bosporus bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul.There are only 2 bridges that cross the Bosporus and the traffic coming into the European side in the morning is very heavy and the line of cars can stretch for many miles, and can take hours to come from the suburbs. Much like people coming across the Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver, only with many times the amount of cars.
We crossed over the bridge, which when it was built it was the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world. and went to a place on the shore to take a picture of ourselves in Asia. The place we were was the closest on-ramp to the bridge, but even still the traffic was very busy, with many lanes merging together, before they got on the bridge.After we got back to the Old town, we got off our bus and went to the old roman Hippodrome. The hippodrome is a shadow of its old self, and just the basic outline and a few decorations are all that's left of it.
There are 2 obelisks, one from ancient Egypt, that was put there in 390AD, and it is similar to one that stood in the Circus Maximus in Rome.The other was built in the 10th century and was at the other end of the hippodrome, it was originally covered with gilded bronze plaques, but they were removed when the city was sacked during the 4th crusade. Also 4 bronze statues of horses used to decorate the Hippodrome, but these were also taken by in the 4th crusade and now are on St. Marc's in Venice.
Istanbul Day 2 part 2
After the Hippodrome we walked to Hagia Sophia. This is now the third building built on the location. The current one was built from 532-537AD and had 10,000 people employed as builders, and had materials brought from all over the Roman Empire.
Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral in the world for over 1000 years, and is still one of the largest in the world. The construction used 4 half domes to create a base to support the main central dome.
After Constantinople was conquered my the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the church was converted to a mosque. The minarets were built then and the building was rebuilt, and modified. Many of the mosaics that had christian pictures were plastered over, which preserved them in very good condition. The building was used as a mosque for another almost 500 years.
In 1935 the building was transformed into a museum, and the old decorations were restored. When we went in there was a large scaffolding that is in the central dome, restoring the mosaics of the ceiling.
The building is definitely showing its age, but considering its near continuous use for almost 1500 years, and its surviving many large earthquakes, it is an amazing structure.
After Hagia Sophia, we went to the Grand Bazaar, stopping first for a carpet demonstration.The carpet demo is something that every tour includes, but it was something that I was looking forward to, so I could get more information on them, as I plan to buy a carpet before the end of my contract.Everyone is given a drink, apple tea being the norm, but also raki, a Turkish alcoholic drink.Then they bring out the carpets, starting with the cheapest, wool on wool, and going up to the most expensive, silk.There were some very nice designs and some of them were ones that I really liked. But I didn't have any plans to but today, so I didn't talk to the sellers much, except to ask a few questions.
After the carpet demo, we had 1.5 hours to look around the Grand Bazaar.
The Grand Bazaar was opened in 1461 and consists of 58 streets and more then 1200 stores. The main area is all covered in domes, and divided into separate sections, like the spice area, the leather area, and jewelry. With many carpet, souvenirs stores and everything else scattered in between.
The Bazaar gets hundreds of thousands of visitors daily. So the people who work at the stores have lots of practice trying different ways to get customers to enter their stores.
I didn't end up buying anything more then just a magnet in the Bazaar, but possibly next time I will be in a buying mood.
After the Bazaar we went for a traditional Turkish lunch at a restaurant just outside the walls of Topkapi Palace.
After that we were back to the ship. A long 2 days of touring but well worth it.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Istanbul Day 1
We arrived in Istanbul the other day and stayed overnight.
Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans 2 continents. Europe and Asia.
The history of the city is many thousands of years long, and it has served as the capital to some great empires. The main 2 were the Eastern Roman Empire, and another thousand years later the Ottoman Empire.
The 2 day tour I was on took us to many of the major sites of he city. Our first day had us go to the 2 main sites of Ottoman Empire.
We docked at 1:00pm the first day, and like usual the tours were dispatched from the theater of the ship. Never before have I seen it so busy for tours. Definitely a majority of the guests were there. And getting the people out of the theater and onto the buses was a big and long operation.
When we finally got going we left the port and went to Topkapi Palace, the Palace of the Ottoman Sultans.
The Palace surrounded by a large wall, and inside there are a series of courtyards and rooms. Which included the Imperial Treasury, the Audience Chamber, the Sultans Library, and the Imperial Harem. As well as mosques kitchens, and other places to house the thousands of people who lived there.
The National Treasury houses many pieces of jewelry and art from the Ottoman Empire. Some of the most impressive are the Topkapi Dagger, the golden candlesticks, made from over 100 pounds of gold, and the spoonmakers diamond, the 3rd largest diamond in the world, at 86 carats.
we were not allowed to take picutres inside, so I am using stock photos.
Another room, the Privy Chamber houses relics from Islam, and include the cloak of Muhammad, and some of his swords, and hair. Also shown was the staff of Moses, and many other relics.
The back of the Palace looks out to the Asian side of Istanbul.
Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans 2 continents. Europe and Asia.
The history of the city is many thousands of years long, and it has served as the capital to some great empires. The main 2 were the Eastern Roman Empire, and another thousand years later the Ottoman Empire.
The 2 day tour I was on took us to many of the major sites of he city. Our first day had us go to the 2 main sites of Ottoman Empire.
We docked at 1:00pm the first day, and like usual the tours were dispatched from the theater of the ship. Never before have I seen it so busy for tours. Definitely a majority of the guests were there. And getting the people out of the theater and onto the buses was a big and long operation.
When we finally got going we left the port and went to Topkapi Palace, the Palace of the Ottoman Sultans.
The Palace surrounded by a large wall, and inside there are a series of courtyards and rooms. Which included the Imperial Treasury, the Audience Chamber, the Sultans Library, and the Imperial Harem. As well as mosques kitchens, and other places to house the thousands of people who lived there.
The National Treasury houses many pieces of jewelry and art from the Ottoman Empire. Some of the most impressive are the Topkapi Dagger, the golden candlesticks, made from over 100 pounds of gold, and the spoonmakers diamond, the 3rd largest diamond in the world, at 86 carats.
we were not allowed to take picutres inside, so I am using stock photos.
Another room, the Privy Chamber houses relics from Islam, and include the cloak of Muhammad, and some of his swords, and hair. Also shown was the staff of Moses, and many other relics.
The back of the Palace looks out to the Asian side of Istanbul. There was a lot of the Palace we didn't have time to see, and it would take many hours to see the majority of the Grounds.
Day 1 in Istanbul continued.
The second part of the tour took us to the Blue Mosque. we were
going to go there first but at the time we were in the area it was closed as it was one of the prayer times.
When we did go it was a short walk from Topkapi Palace.
The Mosque was built in the style of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine church, which was the largest building for over 1000 years. There is another mosque near where our ship docked that is an exact copy of Hagia Sophia, only smaller, and was built by an Ottoman architect to study how it was made.
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia
The Blue Mosque improved on the design in a few ways, but it is still very similar.
Like any mosque we had to remove our shoes before we went in, as the floor is covered in carpets. The originals were removed 30 years ago and are now in a museum, but they were used for 400 years before that, and are still in good shape.
The Blue Mosque is not the actual name of the mosque, its really Sultan Ahmed Mosque. But it is called blue mosque after the blue tiles that line the interior.
The mosque has many large chandeliers hanging from chains attached to the roof. And they kind of make the pictures look odd.
Mosques don't have lots of painting like you would find in a church, as Islam doesn't allow pictures of their holy people, so it is an interesting change from the many churches I have gone to lately, most of which have variations of similar scenes from the bible painted around the walls and ceilings.
After we left the mosque it was back to the ship.
Istanbul at night.
The next part of the tour started early next morning.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Climbing the Duomo in Florence
Last time we were in Florence I was a tour escort on the Taste of Florence tour, which I took because it gives half the day as free time.
The reason I took the tour was to climb the Duomo. There are 463 steps to the top of the cathedral, and as yo get higher you see the curve of the dome, and have to lean top the side as you climb. Ands in many spots you need to squeeze to the side to let others going down to pass by.
Half way up the climb you enter to the inside of the dome, where there is a large painting covering the entire top of the domes ceiling.
At the top you get a commanding view of all of Florence. I have been to the top before, and also climbed the bell tower, right next to the Duomo.
But this was a good time of the year to do it as it wasn't too busy at the top, so I could relax on the benches and enjoy my time at the top.
The reason I took the tour was to climb the Duomo. There are 463 steps to the top of the cathedral, and as yo get higher you see the curve of the dome, and have to lean top the side as you climb. Ands in many spots you need to squeeze to the side to let others going down to pass by.
Half way up the climb you enter to the inside of the dome, where there is a large painting covering the entire top of the domes ceiling.
At the top you get a commanding view of all of Florence. I have been to the top before, and also climbed the bell tower, right next to the Duomo.
But this was a good time of the year to do it as it wasn't too busy at the top, so I could relax on the benches and enjoy my time at the top.Thursday, October 1, 2009
Go Canucks Go!
Hockey Season is starting, and the Canucks have been playing well, through the preseason. Winning 7 games, and only losing twice in overtime.
I won't be able to see many games, or listen to them, as I am away until December, But I'm back in time for some of the midseason. Then some live Olympic hockey, hopefully with Team Canada starting Roberto Luongo in goal.
I won't be able to see many games, or listen to them, as I am away until December, But I'm back in time for some of the midseason. Then some live Olympic hockey, hopefully with Team Canada starting Roberto Luongo in goal.
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