Santorini cntd.......

I seems the beauty of Santorini is too much for some of you but if you find it irresistable you might like this property which is for sale.

This is a peek through the door

It only needs a little renovation!

Gardening space is scarce in this part of Santorini

and you need a head for heights,

but with views like these

who would care.

For you

Why I was taking this mystified a gentleman passing by!!!

As though they knew I would be unhappy at leaving they threw a  party on deck,

and then we slipped away from the island.  The snow had turned to diamonds.

I had a lump in my throat then and I have it again now, I do hope I can return one day.

Santorini......

A dream come true.  So often places can disappoint but this magical island was everthing I had hoped. There are many more spectacular photographs on the web than mine but these are for my memories. This is one of the first views, with the villages looking like snow on the top of the cliffs.

We had to go ashore by tender and we landed very close to what I immediately named "Shirley Valentine's cafe".

We could have walked up the cliffs or taken a donkey but we opted to queue for a while and took the cable car,

This takes you up to Thira but Oia was were I wanted to be so we took the bus which gave us a good view of the other (flatter) side of the isand. 

And then Oia

A tumble of steps and little narrow passages filled with intriguing houses and tempting shops.

My daughter spotted this little conversation piece.

I could live here

or here

More tomorrow

Bodrum....

After the excitments of Ephesus a relatively quiet day, Bodrum is a bustling little town and was busy with tourists.  We missed out on the Underwater Museum because of the crowds and then found that by all accounts we had missed a treat. We did however visit the busy market,

and admired the pepple mosaics

back for lunch

a game of golf, it may look small but it was fiendishly difficult

leaving in the evening, this reminded me of the wedding in Mama Mia

The sunset for you

and one I played with

Went to bed in anticipation of visiting Santorini, somehwere I have wanted to go for about 15 years.

Kusadasi and Ephesus.....part 2

There were some things that were more of a social thing than they are now.  Our guide demonstrates.

Perhaps the most iconic building in Epohesus is the Library facade,

there is only an entrance room behind but the actual building stretched over a hundred yards behind. It must have been a true wonder.

The last part of our visit was to the large theatre,

Back in Kusadasi we visited a carpet maker, we were shown some beautiful carpets which can take a year to make.   We had a quick look round the town trying to avoid the over zealous shop keepers. I am sure they would sell more if they would let you look before they pounce.

Then it was back to the ship for R&R before returning to Ephesus for a classical concert in this magical setting.



As though all this was not enough we ended the day with a movie under the stars.  What else but "Mamma Mia"

                                                                   For you

 and  here's one I made earlier.

Kusadasi and Ephesus...Part 1

An early morning breakfast in the Colonnade and then by coach to Ephesus. Our first sight was the smaller of the two theatres.

There is restoration work going on all round and our guide told us it will take 400 years to uncover it all. All the hills you see around hold secrets.

At one time it was the second largest city in the Roman empire and when you look down this main street you just need to replace the tee shirts with togas and you get a sense of what a bustling place it must have been. 

This is what our guide described as the "Bond Street" of Ephesus, small luxury shops with wonderful mosaic paving out side and a shady portico overhead.

Next to the shops were the terrace houses, homes of the very wealthiest people. How beautiful they must have been.

This room was described as the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the world. The marble wall is being painstakingly rebuilt. The tables hold thousands of fragments.

 A bit of peeling paint and rust for you.

 

Day 2.....

The Sea of Marmara and Dikili. Could a non sailor ask for a calmer sea than this.  We had to keep checking to make sure we were moving.

This is the whirlpool on our deck, can you feel the heat?

A little more exploration found the corridor to the main restaurant

and the library

Another visitor to Dikili, one of the Wind Star yachts.

There was trip to Bergama Pergamon but we were saving ourselves for Ehphesus.

This is deck 8

The "round window" is the roof of the spa and in the bottom left are the tables of the Patio.  Lunch here was perhaps one of my favourite parts of the whole journey. A glass of ice cold pino grigio and a buffet with everything from gaspacho to beef burgers. Salads, pizzas, dips the choice was bewildering but the chips(fries)......aah the chips, simply the best I have ever tasted.  We tried to find the secret but all we could get was that they were fried and then dipped in some magic formula and then fried again.  Oh, I miss those chips.

As we slip away from Dikili in the evening sun

I leave you with this detail from one of the sculptures on board to play with.