Our 26 night cruise to the Black Sea
A week had already passed since being in UK waters and what a different view we had - Malta was visible from one library window and Sicily the other. We were approaching the Greek port town of Gythion in the southern Peloponessos. Such wonderful fish restaurants and some great ouzeries here apparently - we just had a nice mooch around then headed to the most important and interesting place to visit in the vicinity - Diros Caves. This underground system of waterways ifs fascinating to explore by boat; who knew there was an underground lake here? It was then time to take the ships tender back to our floating hotel for our evening meal.
Waking up in Pireaus (the main port of Athens) was quite phenomenal and we had an exciting day ahead, starting with the Acropolis Museum (top tip - definitely book tickets online beforehand to avoid long queues).We hear bad press on Lord Elgin, wander the Evzones outside the tomb of the Unknown Soldier then back through the National Gardens with time for some yummy gelato as our reward before returning to the ship.
Unfortunately upon reaching Mytilene it was too windy to make the it to land meaning we had an impromptu sea day and had to entertain ourselves onboard. Luckily there is always so much to do, however we chose to relax with a jigsaw in the spacious library whilst sailing through the Sea of Marmaris and past Gallipoli. We will look forward to seeing it in day light next week though!
When we were approaching Istanbul, the wind was so strong that we ended up being late into port and I must admit it was a little bit of precarious entrance to docking ... Finally secured, we made our way to Topaki Palace; a museum subject to more colourful stories than most of the world's museums put together. Onward to the famous Hagia Sophia which is the former Greek Orthodox Christian cathedral ... later an Ottoman mosque ... and now a museum. Quite the history! The Blue Mosque, the Cisterns, the Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar were all explored - you could spend an age here. We were to depart at 9pm which made for a magical evening with grandstand view of the lights and sights of the city.
At Bourgas we enjoyed an hour or so exploring shops, cafes and churches throughout the town then we were on to Yalta which we absolutely loved. This town is very much 'St Petersburg of the Sea' but with the addition of a stunning mountainous backdrop. We visited the cathedral and market - which was a bit of an eye opener selling kittens in birdcages amongst other animals ... We watched a boxing match which was taking place along the front, amongst folk who were calmly playing a game of chess on the sea wall, not far from the spot from which the Russian Royal family escaped the Revolution.
Oh now, Odessa and what a beautiful city this is. In fact, the dock area appears to be the in place for locals to see and be seen, in amongst the upmarket shops and hotels. We opened our curtains to the view of the Potemkin Steps, setting us up famously for a day of exploration beginning at the cathedral. An incredible building built in 1804 with immense history as you can no doubt imagine. The whole cathedral area is wonderful; with high class shops, craft markets and the Boulevards, leading to infamous Mother in Law's Bridge which is covered in padlocks symbolising loves who want to lock their hearts together forever. Quite aptly, we were followed onto the bridge by a bridal party! After lunch onboard again, we had a full afternoon in the town, wandering Shevshenko Park and the monument of the Unknown Sailor, also complete with bridal parties galore.
For the absolute contrast, we arrived next in Constanta to be greeted with museum doors closing on us for the Mosaic Museum (we did finally gain entrance) and a wonderfully ornate casino building near the lighthouse on the front. Our cruise route took us back round to Istanbul and Dardanelles in the daylight which was great. Our intention was to rise early for the Istanbul sail through but were woken by a tattoo on the ships horn as we sailed under the Bosphorus Bridge – scattering boats between Asia and the Golden Horn; a larger version of Venice, perhaps.
Samos is one of the greenest islands in the Aegean sea. It is the birthplace of Gods, philosophers, mathematicians, historians and many personalities, which shaped our current way of being. This is all a little ironic given the pantomime of a performance we watched as a local ferry appeared to leave several cars behind on the quayside as it departed 30 minutes earlier than advertised! We had a lovely little explore of the town; wandered past the shops, churches and parks then enjoyed local ice cream as our reward. We were then to depart and make our way across the beautiful Mediterranean Sea to Malta, where we arrived so early I was fortunate enough to catch a picture of the sunrise over Valletta.
Like most of Malta, Valletta has been strongly influenced by a variety of cultures and nationalities. Most significant was the impact of the Knights from the Order of St John who were given ownership of the city in 1530. The British also had a significant impact, one that can still be seen today. We enjoyed our visit to the cathedral and saw the palace and gardens from outside. Passing the stray-cat feeding stations we then went up to the battery – at Upper Barrakka Gardens you can enjoy fabulous views across the harbour and if you time it right, be there for the midday gun salute; the ‘Saluting Battery’. Perhaps best enjoyed with an ice cream!
We then found ourselves heading towards our final stop on this magnificent cruise, all too quickly 26 days were nearly over. Despite appearances on approaching from the sea, Alicante was extremely pleasant. We managed to pick up a few holiday gifts and were quite surprised at such delightful palm lined streets and blue-flag beaches which this town offers so close by. Why on earth you’d want to go to Benidorm over staying here, goodness only knows!