Days 6-7: Kusadasi Turkiye and Dardanelles

Day 6 (May 4): Kusadasi, Turkiye 

Today we arrived in Kusadasi.

We booked a private tour to Ephesus that also included Turkish food tasting.

After being picked up at the port, we stopped at Selçuk, where we bought local olives, cheese, honey, and simit (Turkish bagels); one was filled with tahini. We then enjoyed our breakfast and Turkish tea outside near the aquaducts.

it was cool to see stork nests on top of the aquaducts.

After breakfast, we visited Ephesus.

After leaving Ephesus, we stopped to taste a variety of lokum (Turkish delight) then headed back to Selçuk to see a few historic sites, including the outside of St. John Basilica and a small mosque 

And then visiting the larger Isabey Mosque.

For lunch we had döner kebabs, kokoreç (grilled lamb offal), 

and çiğ köfte (the bulgar version).

We then sampled several types of baklava for dessert and made the obligatory stop to shop for a Turkish rug and enjoyed Turkish coffee and hot apple tea.

After the tour, we wandered around around Kusadasi before returning to the ship.

Once back on the ship, I went to the thermal spa to soak out the aches and Steve wandered about. I returned to my room to find a wet spot on the floor in front of the bathroom, which I incorrectly assumed Steve made when stepping out of the shower.

We went to dinner and the food was very disappointing. To top it off, my glass of wine had bottom of bottle sludge!!

When we returned to the room,  the floor was still wet, so we placed a towel over it before going to bed.

Day 7 (May 5):  At Sea - Cruising the Dardanelles 

Today is a much needed sea day but it has been anything but relaxing. The wet spot was wetter, so we called maintenance. It turns out that our cabin and the cabin next to us (and maybe others?) are experiencing a leak. Maintenance claims to have fixed it, and placed a large fan in our room to dry it out by blowing the water around our whole room. Steve has been "trapped" in the cabin so the door can remain open.

It didn't dry out and started to stink, so we needed to pack everything up and change rooms....and then solve all the cleaning and maintenance issues with the new room. 

Then, guest services kept calling the room to check on everything but would only let the phone ring 2-3 times, so by the time I answered the phone, they were hanging up. And as soon as I got comfortable, they would repeat the process. I finally answered in time and asked them to stop calling so I could nap. As soon as I laid down, a different guest services person called. Then I tried to nap again and my room steward knocked!!!!

At this point, I'm less than impressed with Holland America.

Our room steward did leave us this during turn down service, in an attempt to make up for all the inconveniences

Days 8-9: Istanbul, Turkiye

Day 8 (May 6): Istanbul, Turkiye 

We had a full day today in Istanbul.

We walked from Galataport to the T1 tram line and got off in Sultanahmet.

We went to see the Blue Mosque before the lines got long.

We decided to skip Hagia Sophia, since there are lots of scaffolds inside and outside 

We also skipped visiting the Basilica Cistern, opting for the smaller, and free, Gulhane Park Cistern.

 Unfortunately, it was closed when we arrived, but we had a nice stroll through Gulhane Park.

And played with the cats 

We then took the tram to Karikoy, so we could ride the ferry to Kadikoy on the Asian side. 

We wandered around for a while and split a pide for lunch. 

We then rode the trolley to Moda and back to the port 

From there, we caught a ferry to Besiktas, passing the Maiden's Tower

Once there, we tried some street food (roasted chestnuts and some dessert) then decided to go on a Bosphorus Cruise, which was a nice relaxing way to see the area.

We were seated so we could see the European side as we went up the Bosphorus 

And the Asian side as we return down the straight.

After the cruise, we went to catch the tram, which is when I realized that I confused Besiktas with Kabitas. 

So, we wandered around for a little while and stopped to eat some borek (we tried both cheese and potato, and both were delicious!!)

From there, we decided to get much needed massages.

We hopped on a bus heading toward the port (not really sure it went there) but before we got to Kabitas, traffic got really bad and the driver kicked everyone off in the middle of traffic.

As we walked to the Kabitas tram stop, we saw lots (100s) of police in riot gear, and then saw a big protest.

Since traffic was getting all backed up, we walked the rest of the way back to the ship.

Once we were back on the ship, we enjoyed the night view of the city before going to sleep.

Day 9 (May 7): Istanbul, Turkiye 

I woke up really sore this morning, so I went to the ship's thermal spa to soak in the hydrotherapy pool while Steve enjoy more of Istanbul on his own.

I suggested that he go to Galata Bridge and talk to fishermen and have a fish sandwich (balik durum).

The ship left Istanbul in early afternoon.

We topped off the night with dinner at the specialty steak house (we were not impressed).