Travel Report From Turkey

Travel Report From Turkey

I endured the tuexdo dinner with the first engineer. Interesting people at the table. One couple have scheduled a 60 day cruise on this ship. The woman next to me was German and spoke no English. Another couple is from Vancouver, BC. Charlie and his wife are from South Carolina. The woman across from me is from England, but was born in France and tells a story about her family being held by the Germans when they occupied France. The first engineer is from Norway and describes the capacity of this ship to convert salt water to fresh, the power of its engines and the amount of fuel it consumes. Everyone has a story. I drank too much wine and ate too much food. Plus they separated spouses so Lita is not next to me to monitor my conduct which is always a problem in a social setting. But it was an interesting evening.

After traveling all night we have arrived at Kusadasi Turkey. Two other much larger cruise ships are here as well. There is a tourist gift shop area you have to get through in order to get to the town. I am reassured to find a large Starbucks store as soon as I reach the end of the dock area. The narrow streets are full of small shops, one after another. In front of each shop the owner or an employee are standing. You cannot walk past without being spoken to about the store contents. Signs say "genuine fake watches" and there are store after store of fake Rolex and every other brand you can name. The experience of working your way through this maze of dedicated sales people is worse then any beach in Mexico with it’s beach vendors. Since fake everything is so prevalent here, one hesitates to even think of  buying anything. How would you know if it is real or fake. Turkish rugs are everywhere. This not my cup of tea at all. Lita endures it, but I fold after a short time and decide to go back to the ship where it is safe from the horde of desperate sales people. I will listen to my Italian tapes in anticipation of our stop there and relax on the ship. The ship doesn’t leave until 11:00 pm and our next stop is Myukonos, Greece which I do enjoy visiting. At least the sun is out and the bay is lovely.

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