Day 27 - Wednesday May 10 - At Sea between Kusadasi and Canakkale Turkey - Heading to Istanbul

By Ellen Outten

 




Our captain advised us that the winds were too strong and it was not safe to dock in Canakkale Turkey, so we have an unexpected sea day today.   While I won't have a chance to see the excavations of Troy and hear the story of the Trojan Horse, I am not that disappointed.  After all that I've seen in the last 27 days, I have had an amazing adventure.

If it's a sea day, then there's corn hole (or baggo as they call it here on the ship).  The captain of the ship is pretty good at it.



At 2 pm we sailed through the Dardinelle Straights.   I was able to capture a few pictures of the city of Canakkale.  While we can't make land due to the high winds, I caught a few glimpses of what we might have seen.




At 5 pm we sailed under the new Canakkale bridge.  It is now the 3rd longest span for a suspension bridge.  My camera couldn't capture the entire bridge in one shot.


Dinner at Manfredi's Italian restaurant on board.   It's on deck 1.  We sit at sea level looking out this window at the view that sailed by.

Tomorrow we dock early, approximately 7 am in Istanbul. We've already been given lengthy directions on how to leave the ship and the documents we have to have with us. Passports, Turkish Visas, Security Barcode document we have been provided with to allow us to go through the marine terminal as well as our quiet box (audio system for guided tours), tour tickets, stateroom key card, money, etc.
We've been instructed to wear long pants, cover our shoulders and we have to have a shawl to cover our heads when we enter the mosque.
I'll be taking an optional (extra payment) tour called, "Istanbul's Most Amazing Edifices". I'm looking forward to seeing the Blue Mosque named this because of all the blue tiles inside.

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