Day 9, Kusadasi

On Day 9 we found ourselves back in Turkey, in Kusadasi. This is the port from where one accesses the 10 BCE Ancient Greece city Ephsesus. It used to house the Temple of Artemis, which is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Alas, only a few rocks remain today. A more complete facade remains of the Library of Celsus. Although at some point I would like to visit these sights, by now we were completely historied-out, and after the last two days of first learning about Ancient Greece of Olympia and then spectating Mykonos, both my mom and I were too tired to trek on another historical excursion (Ephesus is also a 30 minute bus ride away from Kusadasi). So instead we decided to just take it easy and stroll through town. This ended up being a nice day. We first walked to the Kusadasi Castle (Kusadasi Kalesi). We then made our way to the bazar and the site of the historical kervansaray (the Islamic world version of a stage coach inn but for caravans). We then walked along the coast to the El Heykeli sculpture featuring an extended arm holding up several birds. From here we got a nice view of the town, along with its rainbow colored staircases and houses.

We ended the tour at a restaurant located by the port, where we tried a meat platter and also a plate of various baklava-like sweets.

Day 10, Istanbul

And that brings me back to the end of this wonderful 10 day adventure. The next morning we watched Istanbul inch closer and closer, and our ship eventually parallel parked right between two other vessels. The ship is quite nimble for its size! Funny enough, while watching this arrival, we overheard Slovak, and started chatting with a Slovak family that was doing their roundtrip out of Trieste. I only wish we had run into them people few days earlier so we had more time to catch up. Their adventure was only mid-way through while ours was ending.

Once we got off, our next stop was the Grand Hyatt near Taksim Square. According to Google Maps, it was not a long distance, so I figured we can just walk there to see something on the way (and to avoid the scammy taxis per our prior experience). Well, I did not check the elevation gain, since while not far horizontally, there were some serious stairs to climb! But we made it. I checked into the hotel (where I ended up staying for a week at the club level for "free" using points). I offered my mom to spend the night but she was in a hurry to get back to Bulgaria to check on her cats. So we grabbed lunch, and then I called Uber to take her to the bus terminal from where she caught an overnight bus back home. I stayed behind to wait for Sandra to arrive so that we can do a proper sightseeing of Istanbul. For that read, the next section on the Istanbul, Bulgaria, and Rome journey.

So what did I think of my first true cruise and also o MSC? Both were great. Cruising is a different way to travel, and I feel it is a good compliment to the extended stay in a hotel needed to truly appreciate a city. Given everyone's limited vacation time, we don't have the luxury to spend days on end in multiple cities every year, and cruising offers a bite-sized taste of what different regions have to offer. It is also a good way to travel with larger families or with elderly family members with limited mobility. Not needing to pack up your suitcase to travel to a new city is a plus. I also very much enjoyed MSC. Their rates are very affordable compared to other lines, but the quality is the same - or even better - than other "premium" lines (looking at you Celebrity!). The nightly shows were top notch (our favorite was a nature-based acrobats production) and I found the food in the main dining room to be excellent. We did not eat in the buffet too much due to it being crowded. There were also many opportunities to get free drinks, like sparkling wine at various giveaways or events. The downside, which comes with the summer season, was that the ship was packed of families with kids. This made using the main pool essentially impossible. I got into the hot tub just once, and it was a tight squeeze. The spa area, on the other hand, was not busy at all, and I frequented it daily (I bought the pass). But, as is typical of my visits to steam room, I ended up getting quite sick few days after the cruise ended. I recovered slightly in my week waiting for Sandra to arrive but my sniffling noise made our next adventure bit less fun. For that, please click here to read part 3 of my 2023 European summer vacation. Another complaint, which is common to many cruise lines, is that there is no affordable laundry on board. You can do laundry, but its per item, and who wants to pay few dollars to get a pair of socks washed? So I ended up doing a lot of "bucket laundry" using the metal trashcan and then drying my clothes on the balcony. It worked out well.

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