The morning started off a bit slow with a nice breakfast with Noel spending time catching up to date with the daily Blog and updating photos which will b uploaded when we get a good Wi-Fi connection in Istanbul. Jennifer continued with her sewing on the picture of three bears.
We decided to have an early lunch as later in the day we are due to go out to a evening at the amphitheatre in Ephesus to ancient city which in the AD years. To learn all about this historic city see link. There were day time tours to the historic site but this would be difficult for Noel and when listening to some of the guests who took the tour it was quite hard work climbing down the side of this amazing historic site.
An early dinner in the Colonnade before we left and walked from the the ship to coaches about ten minutes walk with about one hundred plus people attending the function. The coach ride to the amphitheatre took about thirty minutes initially along the coast and then leaving town to where the original coast used to be before the sea retreated?? what happened to Global warming when the seas are due to rise.
Arriving at the site we walked past about forty shops selling the usual t-shirts, handbags etc etc with the owners waylaying the guests on route to the evening event being held within the base of the amphitheatre. We were greeted by staff holding wine and then we had a photo taken for free they say, and the tables were laid out with nibbles, mostly dried up carrot and nuts and other bits and pieces which I don't think anybody touched when looking at the tables on leaving. There was approx. six people to one table allowing all forward looking. The small 8 piece orchestra played about ten pieces of classical music which they did very well although if you were at the back of the auditorium then it might have been hard to hear. The orchestra took a ten minute break after about playing for twenty minutes and then played for about a further twenty five minutes. Half way in to the evening the daylight disappeared and the lights came on around the old stadium and it looked quite beautiful.
We left the site around 21.30 for the half an hour journey back with the local tour guide passing around his I-Pad for people to make positive comments about his work needless to say we avoided this. I am getting fed up that each time you take a flight, train ride, Uber trip, stay in a Hotel, eat in a restaurant you get an email asking you for your comments on their performance. If companies are concerned about their performance then they use their own staff to check it out like the US Tv programme where company owners put on make up and work in their own company rather then sending out emails all the time.
On arriving back at the Cruise Port the coaches dropped us off far away from the ship so the you MUST walk past all the shops selling rubbish and again being pestered by shop owners to visit their store on the other hand once we had gone thro security by guards not wearing masks, yet we as tourists must, we walked towards the ship to be greeted on the pier with about sixty crew waving and dancing with a big sign shoeing ‘Welcome Back’ to the high music sounds of Le Chic, amazing reception.
The part continued around the pool deck until about midnight with free flowing booze and food, none of which could Noel eat. We stayed up for a while then went to bed around 12.30 very late for us, as Jennifer is on a walking tour of Mykonos starting at 0845 tomorrow morning.
We were able to speak to our daughter earlier today and see the grandchildren which was nice.
