The First Cruise

The Boat

The Cruise Ship that we went on was called the Nieuw (New) Amsterdam and the Holland America Line owns it.  The boat it self is magnificent but not as good as the Radiance of the Seas we went on earlier in the year. 

It has a swimming pool, lovely restaurants including a buffet, lots of sun bathing areas, a kids club (it was really bad though), and several other cool things (no games room though!). 

We spent in total 12 days on the boat and 2 of those days were at sea for the whole day the rest we were in port (sometimes travelling) doing activities.  The cruise was really amazing but I can’t wait for the Allure of the Seas on the Royal Caribbean in America.  

Kotor, Montenegro

Our first port of call on the cruise was a town called Kotor, which is located in Montenegro.  Kotor is famous for it’s city wall that surrounds the older part of the town, back in the 4^th Crusade the English and French conquered the city for the Venetians and they won claiming the land and naming the area after the black mountains.  It is now in an independent country called Montenegro not owned by the Venetians.

What we did in Kotor

In Kotor we did a tour that covered a town outside of Kotor called Budva as well as exploring Kotor.  In Budva we went for a swim and explored the small towns old side.  In Kotor we visited the inner walls, saw some churches and visited the museum, which were all very interesting.

Istanbul, Turkey

Our second port of call was Istanbul (it was used to be called Constantinople), which is part of Turkey (we stayed here for 2 days).  The river that runs through Istanbul is called the Bosphorus and is the boarder between Asia Minor and Europe. 

Some of the major attractions in Istanbul are the Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace, The Blue Mosque and the Grand Bizarre.  The Hagia Sophia is 1400 years old and means the “Holy Church of Wisdom”.  It was originally a Christian Church but was converted into a Mosque in the 15^th century.  The Hagia Sophia also has the largest dome in the world and it is said to contain doors made of wood made from Noah’s Ark and they are at least 2300 years old.  The marbles in the Hagia Sophia were cut by using silk (shows you how strong silk is) and the church was made by up to 100,000 slaves and only took 7 years to build.

The Blue Mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet the 1^st and started construction in 1609 to 1616.  The mosque has 6 minarets, which was 2 more than you traditionally have to have.  It was a considered a threat towards Mecca because the main Islamic mosque only had 4 minarets.  They decided to add 3 more minarets to Mecca’s mosque so it wouldn’t be considered as a threat. 

Topkapi Palace was built for Mehmet the 2^nd in the years 1459-1465 and is made out of 4 courtyards, it is one of the largest palaces in the world.  Now the palace is open to the public and it contains all of the costumes of the imperial arms and all of the jewelry (including the Topkapi Dagger and the Topkapi diamond, which is one of the largest diamonds in the world). 

Mehmet the 2nd established the Grand Bizarre shortly after his conquest of the city in 1453.  There are several entrances to go into the Grand Bizarre, the most popular being “Gate 1” (so original).  The Grand Bizarre has over 4,400 shops inside and hundreds of streets as well, so there is nothing you can’t buy there.  The Grand Bizarre with all of it’s streets and shops make it really easy to get lost even though there are streets sign and posters everywhere so don’t stray from the main street or you might never return…   

Mykonos, Greece

Unfortunately on the way to Mykonos winds of up to 80km/h were blowing and we had to abandon this port of call, so instead we continued onto Kusadasi a half a day early and spent the night there.

Kusadasi, Turkey

Our third port of call was in Kusadasi, which was once again in Turkey.  Kusadasi is well known because only 10 minutes drive from the center of the town is Ephesus.  Ephesus was a city built 3000 years ago and the Romans lived there.  At the time it was an independent city, which means that if everyone paid their taxes then they could continue living freely without Roman soldiers roaming the streets.  Ephesus is now a destroyed city and only 10% of it has been examined.  We also went to a museum after Ephesus and saw Artemis’ Temple, which was originally in Ephesus but was moved to the museum.  Near Ephesus is the acclaimed house of the Virgin Mary.  It is said to be the place where Mary spent her last years and it is now a museum.  There are several things you can do there, there is a spring that is underneath the house and you can drink the water without it being tampered with, there is also a wall that you can tie something to (e.g. a paper, a tissue, flannel etc.) and you can then make a wish (I made a wish).     

What we did in Kusadasi

The first night after arriving early in Kusadasi we decided to go and explore the “Grand Bizarre” of Kusadasi (it definitely wasn’t as big though!).  We bought leather jackets, a few T-Shirts and other souvenirs and later had dinner at a lovely fish restaurant overlooking our cruise ship. 

The second day we were in Kusadasi we went to the house of the Virgin Mary, which was an experience and later visited the remains of the famous city of Ephesus!

Santorini, Greece

Our third port of call was the spectacular Santorini in Greece.  Santorini was built on a moon shaped crescent island that was made by a huge volcano that erupted about 3400 years ago and spread dust into the atmosphere which covered the whole earth for a year.  But it also sunk the surrounding landscapes and the whole of Santorini is made in a horseshoe with islands surrounding it.  The main town in Santorini is made on a huge cliff face 370 metres above sea level and there used to be only one way to the top.  You could choose walking the zigzagged path that has 600 steps or you could get a donkey that would take you right to the top in less than 10 minutes.  Now in the old port a very rich couple bought a cable car that went from the top to the bottom and back again, this has helped tourism in Santorini.  Now there is a new port called “new port” that has a bus route that goes to the top instead of having to take the stairs (a lot easier)! 

The houses in Santorini are always blue and white (mainly white) because white reflects the sun and the blue reflects the sky and the water, which means that the inside of the house is going to be cooler.  The main moneymaking business in Santorini is the tourists and the wine.  The wine is made not like in New Zealand or in any other part of the world, they wind the roots of the vines when they are young so they are like baskets, this helps when it is very windy so they don’t get blown away.

What we did in Santorini

In Santorini we went on a hidden villages tour throughout the narrow alleyways throughout Santorini, which was great fun and I thought a great place to play hide and seek.  In the afternoon we had a lovely lunch and some ice cream and took the steps back down towards the old port where we took a tender boat back to the cruise ship.        

Split, Croatia

In Split we had a quiet day and went on a relaxing bus tour around the coast and to a small country house where we had lunch.  Croatia isn’t a very big country, all together it has 4.5 million people and Split is the 2^nd biggest city (if you could call it a city) and has 200,000 people, which is considered a lot to the people that live there.  I enjoyed the day in Split and thought that I could come back when I was older.

My Highlights

My highlights on this cruise was going to Santorini (even though mum made me walk the stairs) and seeing how many houses are on the crescent island.  I also thought that Ephesus was really interesting because of all the old ruins of the city and how long it stayed above ground.  I also enjoyed the boat itself and I would definitely go on it again if I could, but explore other cities and towns next time I went on it.   All in all it was a wonderful cruise and I really enjoyed it.

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus

The Grand Bizarre (well a part of it)

Our Boat from a View

In Venice on a Boat to the Cruise Ship

The Cruise Ship

The Remains of Ephesus Gladiator Stadium

Ephesus Rubble

The Library of Ephesus

The Blue Mosque

The Hagia Sophia Dome

A Topkapi Palace Entrance

A Topkapi Pakace Entrance

The Hagia Sophia

A Church in Kotor

The Kotor Wall

The House of Mary and me putting a tissue on the wall

Me on a Tour Bus!

A Common Santorini House

A Santorini Church

Having Fun in the Water in Santorini

The Houses of Santorini

Santorini on a Cliff