Day at Sea and Ephesus

As the children were falling asleep, Marshall and I noticed that we hadn't left the port yet.  The boat was supposed to leave around dinner time, but hadn't.  An announcement was made that due to high winds, the boat couldn't leave the port until the winds died down.  Then very late, around 10pm the Captain announced that because we were leaving so late, we wouldn't have enough time to make it to Greece for any significant amount of time, so we were going to skip Greece and head straight to Turkey whenever we could leave.  Marshall and I were disappointed of course, because it meant that we wouldn't see Greece at all.  We really hope to make a separate trip some other time.

The boat finally left port sometime in the middle of the night, and was in some really rough seas, based upon how much rocking we were doing in the bed!

The next morning we got up and began to enjoy our first day at sea.  It was very windy and cold, so swimming outside wasn't an option, but we did enjoy the inside swimming pool!

We discovered the best place to sit in the buffet was at the very back of the ship.

We passed some beautiful Greek islands.

And many many Cargo ships.

We went out on the pool deck and let the kids play in the wind.

The next morning during breakfast we were already approaching the city of Izmir, our first port.  The winds had died down and it looked like it would be a great day!

Maddox was a little excited, and ready to get off the boat!

We met up with our tour group, and got our stickers- we were on bus #9- taking a tour to see the ancient city of Ephesus.

Leaving the port, the city of Izmir didn't look like a very pretty place.

But once we were away from port, you could tell how huge it was!

We arrived- it was cloudy, but very bright outside.  I forgot my sunglasses and squinted all day.  There were ruins as far as we could see.  Ephesus was a city with Greek and Roman history, but to me was most famous for the fact that the Apostles Paul and John(you know, from the Bible) had lived here for a time, and it also housed one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Less than 20% of Ephesus has even been excavated.

It's hard to imagine this as a city filled with thousands of people. Ephesus had a very complex system of aquaducts.

Ionian columns.  I can't believe I remember that.

This was the main road through the town...paved with marble.  It was called Harbor Road because at the end of it was the city's harbor, but over time the river that passed by silted up the harbor.  Now the harbor is over 5 km away!

There were columns along the side of the road.  Can you see that man leaning on that column?  OMG.

Perhaps if I had paid better attention in Doc Frost's Greek class I could tell you what this says.  I didn't, so I can't.  Or...is that Latin?  I took that too.  Still can't tell you.

This was a home of a wealthy person, which you can tell by the elaborate tile floor.  Funny- it's 2013 and that fact hasn't changed.

This is the Temple of Hadrian, built in the year 145.

This was a public restroom.

This is the Library of Celsus, which was built in the year 120, and held around 12,000 scrolls.

 Also in the city was the largest ancient outdoor theater, which seated around 25,000 people!  It's hard to tell just how big it was, but it was HUGE!!

We had our picture taken on the steps.  Then it was time to rush back to the bus!

Our Spring Break Trip

Better late than never.  I'm sure that's true.

We cruised during Spring Break on the MSC Divina- leaving from Bari, Italy, and traveling to Katakolon in Greece, Izmir in Turkey, Istanbul in Turkey, Dubrovnik in Croatia, and Venice in Italy.  We actually disembarked in Venice, instead of going back to Bari, because we wanted to have extra time in Venice.  It proved to be a smart decision.  I booked the cruise in January, through a company called Vacations to Go.  Initially they were very good with making the reservation, and then paying.  However, I found that after I had paid, the communications were always slower and more confusing than I'd like.  For instance, at first we were told we'd need Visas, then we were told we wouldn't, so I researched it myself and decided not to get them.  (We ended up not needing them).  Then we never received our reservation confirmation via email, and couldn't book the excursions without it.  Then, we finally received everything we needed just a few days before sailing, which was way too late for my comfort.  Lesson learned.  If you book through them, stay on their case until you get what you want.  Kids cruise free on MSC, but I will say that you get what you pay for.  Now that we've done the cheapest Mediterranean cruise, I can tell you that we wished we had paid a little extra for Costa.  Another lesson learned.  Anyhow.....

We flew Ryanair out of Frankfurt Hahn airport, and it was a very easy (and relatively cheap) experience!  Ryan has such cheap tickets, but very strict rules and fees for baggage.  We only paid for 1 checked bag (20kg), and each of us carried a small carry-on. We were prepared to pay for another bag on the flight home if we needed it, but it wasn't necessary.  I also knew we could do laundry at the apartment we had rented in Venice if we needed to.  Hahn is about 1.5 hours from where we live- and not really close to Frankfurt either, so I'm not sure why it is called Frankfurt Hahn.

Mdx brought her backpack with lots of toys.

Mav had a little snack before boarding.

The flight was short, only about 2 hours.  On Ryanair you listen to advertisements the whole time you fly, and nothing is free.  You pay for any drinks or snacks that you want.  We landed at the airport outside of Bari, and took a taxivan into the city to our hotel.  He drove extremely FAST!!  I booked a hotel that was relatively close to the port (Hotel Boston), thinking that we would walk in the morning, but we decided to take a taxi since I wasn't sure how far it was, and there was light rain.

In European hotels you have to book rooms based on how many people you have, so here is an example of a quad room.  Even the rooms booked as doubles typically have two twin beds pushed together.

We got teeth brushed and the kids went to bed pretty easily.

The Marshall and I enjoyed some Italian beer sitting in the dark while the kids slept.

The next morning we made our way to the cruise check-in.  It was a cool and extremely windy day!

We turned in our luggage, and then had a lot of time to sit and wait for our number to be called so we could board the boat.

I didn't get a good picture of the boat that first day, but it was HUGE!  Once onboard we headed to the buffet to eat a late lunch, since our luggage wasn't in our room yet.

The buffet was okay, not great.  In general they served basically the same thing all the time.  They also didn't have any kid sized utensils, which made it hard for the kids to eat.  We stuck with the buffet most of the time, and really only ate in the fancy dining room three times.  We found over and over with MSC that they said they were child and family friendly, but really they catered to families with older kids- anyone with kids under 5 would have a hard time on these cruises, I think.

Mav did his best with a giant fork.

I stuck with the salad bar, and grill.

After lunch we explored the ship some more, and then let the kids rest up a bit before getting dressed for dinner!  It was Italian night (of course!) so there were Italian specialties on the menu.  They always had special menus for the kids too.  We didn't order a drink package, because I felt like we would feel like we had to drink a ton of alcohol to get our money's worth out of it.  I'm glad that we didn't because in the end I think we saved money.  We got a few drinks here and there, but weren't drunk the whole time (and some people WERE!)

Maddox took this picture of Marshall at the dinner table.

Yes, we are those people that give their children electronics to get them to be quiet in fancy places.  Don't judge.

This Kindle Fire has paid for itself with how many peaceful dinners we have eaten.

The dinner was pretty fancy.  I ate more than my share of bread and REAL BUTTER.

We headed back to the room and got the kids into bed.  Maverick and I slept in the bed that you can see here, and Maddox and Marshall each slept in one of the fold down beds that you can barely see in the corners.  I was worried about Maverick falling out of bed, but if someone did fall out of bed, they'd just fall onto the poor people sleeping in the middle.  :)  It worked out well.  The kids are cringing in this picture because they didn't want it to flash in their face.

Next up- our first full day on the cruise!