Day Eight - Mykonos

The boat didn't get to Mykonos until midday so we all stayed out late the night before, the kids are enjoying their new friends on the kids clubs. We've met some great people on board and had a nice evening with some New Yorkers, Trish and Mitch. In port we couldn't dock so we had to wait for tenders to take 50-60 people at a time from the ship to shore. Thinking that this would take a long time we elected to wait an hour or so before going down to deck 5 and hitting the line. Our plan didn't work as it looks like every one else had the same idea and we ended up being late on shore after waiting 30 minutes in line anyway. Once ashore we had no idea how to get to the bus station, the pretty village is a maze of streets and nothing is signposted. We did some window shopping and then asked for directions to the bus station. We made it right on time as the next bus was leaving and 15 minutes later we were at Paradise Beach. 16 euros later and we had 3 sun lounges right at the waters edge under an umbrella. The water was full of different types of fish and we had some fun chasing them around wearing goggles. The waterproof video camera that Eric got for me was excellent and we have some nice footage. After heading back to town we turned e window shopping into real shopping and Abs picked up a nice Pandora-style bracelet and Cam a nice fishing boost model.Then we got back onto a tender and after some chill time had both our girls join us for dinner while Cam went ti kids club. Today we have our second sea-day on our way to Naples and tonight is the last formal night, lobster for dinner! In Naples we have a tour booked down to the Amalfi Coast, we're half way through this adventure and loving everything.

Andy, out.

Day Seven - Istanbul

Sailed into Istanbul during the early hours this morning and were treated to a great sunrise view of the European side with the Palace, Blue Mosque and St Sofia Church (so far being on the port side of the ship has been great). We had originally planned an organized tour of the city but decided a few weeks ago to cancel it as the major sites are very close to each other. We met up with a girl Jo had met in the hot tub and her family (husband and parents) and decided on the spot to try to get a taxi tour with them from the docks. We organized two cabs @ 100 euros each for the day and off we went. While Jo and I enjoyed the mosque and church the kids showed signs of over-culture and we decided to skip the cistern and go straight to the bazaar. Unfortunately in cliched Turkish style one of our cab drivers flaked on us and switched himself for another guy who couldn't speak any English. Our US friends ditched him and paid only half the originally agreed fare (for half the tour) but we stayed with our guy who was half decent. The bazaar was great fun and Jo picked up a beautiful table throw for a good price although I think my bargaining skills need some work (being tight for time didn't help).We got back to the boat and enjoyed some chill time by one of the pools while the rest of the passengers returned slowly from the city. I've tried out the time lapse feature on our new video camera for departure, looking forward to seeing what that looks like later. Tomorrow we have a late arrival into Mykonos at midday so we've let the kids off the leash tonight and not set a bedtime, let 'em (and us) sleep in before hitting the beach and maybe some snorkeling. Jo and I are dressing to the nines for dinner with Jazz joining us. Then a bar and finally a movie under the stars, U2 concert, to finish us off is the plan.

Andy, out.

Day Five - Kusadasi to Istanbul

We had planned to get off the boat today and see the ruins of Ephesus but the early start was too much for us and we decided for some R&R on the boat. Tomorrow is Istanbul which we're doing on our own as most of the sites are close to each other. Wish us luck with the pick pockets :-). Athens was good fun, the other 14 people in our tour group were great fun and we'll see some of them again for the Florence/Pisa tour next week. Net access is $0.50 a minute so forgive how brief this post is, I'll doing something longer offline and paste in it later.

Click on either photo above to go to the full set.

Andy, out.

Day Four - At Sea

On the first day the kids joined a 'scavenger hunt' that took them all over the ship collecting stamps from various kiosks. Then last night their stamped tickets were entered into a prize draw. With 3000 passengers on board you would think that the chances of winning would be remote-ish... from three entries the kids won four prizes, 3000 guests, 12 prizes on offer, 11 entries. Cam scored some free Internet time, Abs a $50 gift voucher for the boutiques and Jazz $20 to play in the bingo final. Cam also scored the fourth, and final prize, of dinner and wine for two in one of the specialty restaurants (the ones that have an extra cover charge per person), so he is currently our favorite child [grin].

Last night the kids hit their clubs and Jazz is the first to hook up with a group of girls and be off with them until after midnight. Today is one of only two sea-days (we're not in port) so it's an opportunity to stay out a little later and then sleep in. Once we port in Athens tomorrow it's four ports in four days with early starts so we can make our tours.

Lack of uploaded photos is 'cos my laptop has died and I only just got an adapter for the power supply... the ship has American style points and I bought my Euro plug. Anyway the battery is filling now so I should have some shots uploaded later today.

Tonight is the first of two formal nights so we'll be dressed to the nines at dinner, you may not recognize us in the photos. For now it's a beautiful day, the Adriatic is like a pool table, I'm by the pool with Jazz, who is reading her book and drinking a virgin strawberry daiquiri... I think I'm missing something... Ah! Margarita please!

Andy, out.

Day Three - Cruisin'

We are now living in a thousand foot skyscraper hotel with 3000 other tourists and another thousand staff waiting on our every need. The hotel is horizontal and doing about 22 knots in the Adriatic Sea having just embarked from Venice. Jo and I are sitting on our balcony listening to the water lap the side of the ship, the kids are off to the pool (and mocktail refills). This is sick!

The ship is amazing, the staff are fantastic, the food insane. We had a three course meal last night that was at least as good as we've ever eaten. The cool part being that when Abs and Cam ordered a main dish and then didn't like the chicken pie the waiter swapped it for chateaubriand in about 60 seconds, instant happiness.

Last night was pretty quiet aboard as most people went into Venice for the evening. We stayed on board and the kids entertained a small crowd with their kareoke, Abs with some Lily Allen, Cam Alien Ant Farm and Jazz with B52's. We met a great couple from NZ and enjoyed a nightcap with them before hitting the hay. This morning we were up around 8 to watch the ship depart right past Saint Marks Square before heading off to breakfast in the crowded buffet. Tomorrow we arrive in Athens and the tours begin, but for now we'll enjoy a fairly relaxing day, after the emergency drill anyway.

Will try to upload some photos later.

Andy, out.

Day Two - Venice

We're in Venice, and after tracking the weather weeks in advance and seeing thunderstorms galore, it was surprising to land and see sunshine. Guessing the "never trust the weather man" saying was correct this time! We were taken to our hotel by a water taxi that went through the Grand Canal, where we got a brilliant view of the Rialto Bridge and went right under it! Instead of the everyday entrance by a front door, there is a dock at the hotel we are staying in and we jumped off and was helped by the very friendly bell hop. The rooms are amazing, and are worth every penny! I mean, it is an ex-palace! We decided to spend our afternoon yesterday exploring Venice. We got our map and off we went! We pretty much saw most of the city yesterday; Rialto, St. Marks Piazza, The Grand Canal and Basilica dei Frari. The walk was long, and we hate dad for dragging us around the labyrinth of alleys and bridges, but we finally got back to the hotel in the late afternoon. Mum went for a nap while us kids took dad to the square outside and ate a pizza.

The only food we have eaten so far in Italy has been pizza and spaghetti! It's kind of something you have to do! Today, I am typing this as I sit by the Rialto in a nice restaurant. Earlier we visited Merano where we watched a master of glass blowing, make a horse and a flower right before our eyes! It was incredible and according to our guide, the glass master had been working for the factory for forty years! Talk about experience! Our plan for the  for the rest of the day is to chill and relax. Tomorrow is where the real adventure begins, because we will be able to board our cruise ship, and it will take off on Sunday morning. For now I say ciao!

Jasmine :)

Oh did those feet...

The kids thought Jo and I were nuts, singing 'Jerusalem' while driving through the Yorkshire countryside. It isn't the first time and wont be the last, but it is always fun. I helped the four of them into a cab around 5am Monday morning and sent them on their way to the airport, promising to follow them on Wednesday just to give me some more time at work and save my days for other trips. They flew to Stansted airport, east of London and the headquarters of cheap-skate airline RyanAir. From there it's a 3 hr train ride from the airport railway station to Leeds. I made the same trip 2 days later and drove an awesome Benz C180 sport up so we'd have transport around Yorkshire.Jo's cousin Paul and his wonderful missus Helen put us up in their home near Wakefield and we felt very much part of the furniture thanks to their great hospitality (we owe you on the flip-flop when you come our way guys). Their kids Joe and Laura were great and I know our clan had a great time knocking around with them for the week. Our first evening took us out for good traditional pub grub and a reunion that has been 20 years coming when I met up with Jo's other cousin Graham.He toured Aus during the second summer that I was going out with Jo (I guess I was 20) and we had some great times on a long road trip through the Snowy Mountains and on to Canberra. He and I spent the evening remembering things the other had forgotten and laughing our asses off. The Rhodes side of the family are a great bunch and we're already planning on dropping on on them again if we can manage it.Part of our trip, actually the heart of it, was to visit the places that had meaning to the Rhodes clan, specifically Stan and Barb, and show the kids a little of their family background. Norman, Stan's brother, offered to take us on a tour of some of the important sites south of Leeds, so show us the area that he and his sibblings were evacuated to during WW2. We had a great day touring the country lanes, hedgerows and amazing pubs and other landmarks. At the manor where Stan stayed for the duration we cheekily drove up the driveway and knocked on the door, amazed to find that the home is still owned by the same family and were welcomed without hesitation and encouraged to have a look around. Cam agreed that curry sauce is the best condiment for chips, I enjoyed a cod butty.That night we said goodbye to Norman, Paul and Helen and set off for Lincoln to stay with Scott and Bill's cousin Nicola, or more correctly her parents Keith and Mary. They put on a fantastic BBQ for us and spoiled us rotten into the next day. We drove to Hough on the Hill, the little town where Scott and Bill grew up with Bev on a sprawling farm. The village was a picture postcard, the church's spire incorporates an old Saxon tower that's around 1000 years old. The house had changed quite a bit, but the new extensions followed the older buildings character really well. I finally got my mixed grill (a combination of pork, swine and pig) for lunch and almost lapsed into a food coma. The Nicola took us to a local manor, owned by fellow horse riding/hunting friends. They don't hunt the foxes anymore, instead tracking down people who volunteer to be the 'game'. We saw the hounds, about 40 of them, and the noise they made when they saw us was very cool 'woooowooowooowooo', great dogs who wanted to lick us to death through the fence. The farm attached to the manor has a very historic tower on it's grounds, originally built by the Knights Templar and it was from there that they were arrested and taken for execution when their order was finally dissolved in the 13th century, very cool stuff.From there we took in a tour of the manor owners future home, a massive mansion being constructed a mile away. Truely huge, our home in Aus would fit in the dog kennel. I didn't take any pictures or video of that, no need to give Jo any reminders that she didn't marry a lord :-).

We returned to Wakefield in time for Paul, Graham and Joe to take me to see a rugby match between their beloved Leeds Rhinos and Wighan. I've not watched a lot of rugby but having come to love NFL I found that I could easily enjoy the game and although Leeds didn't win (my fault I'm sure) I had a great time. During the taking of the photo below a copper told me that he'd arrest me the next time I invaded the pitch... to which Paul replied cheerily 'See you next time then!' ROFL.On our final full day I wanted to revisit an area of the shire that had made a big impression when I traveled there with my school mates Paul and Chris 24 years ago. Up through the moors to Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay. It's a great drive, although we caught the worst of the traffic and what was a 90 minute drive back turned into a 3.5hr drive there. We ended up not stopping in Whitby as it was rammed and moved on the Robin Hoods Bay where we had lunch at a pub on the top of the sea-wall that protects the lower town from the stormy North Sea. The tide was out so we could walk down the slip way and out onto the rocks. An icecream van was parked on the rocks and Jo enjoyed a cinder toffee cone (icecream with Crunchie).On our last day we squeezed in driving to the church where Stan and Barb were married. Sadly it had been renovated in the 70's and basically ruined by removing the high ceilings and all the classic features of the church except it's steeple (which was covered in scaffolding). In timeless England some things do change.

Our next trip to Blighty will be to London, most likely in September. But I hope we get back to Leeds before we head home to Aus, maybe for Christmas...

Andy, out.