Tag Archives: ephesus

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J603 Arcadia to the Eastern Med 16.05.26 – Part 7

Probably the last bit

The Med is currently like a mirror. We have had a couple of nights of slight movement, but that just meant we slept extra well.

In fact, since Ephesus, pretty much all we have done is sleep. We wake, we doze, we have brief conversations, we turn over, and we go right back to sleep.  Remember those Lovely new mattresses? Well, yes, they still are Lovely. Getting out of bed is getting more and more difficult. We’ve even got the room temperature pretty much sorted. I forgot to turn the fan on last night, and regretted it. But we have been getting up at about 3pm, eating a late lunch/ brunch at 4pm, then I have acupuncture at 5 and then we go to dinner.  In fact, if I have been in contact with you recently, and I seemed strangely alert, it’s because Greece, Crete and Turkiye are three hours ahead of the UK. So my 2am has been your 11pm. We went back one hour last night, so we are (a) allowed more sleep (b) getting closer to normal time

Saturday is a little different because I have a hydropool session after my acupuncture session. This is the “proper spa” bit, with the massage jets and salts and stuff. They charge £40 for two hours, but I’m getting it for free because (a) I have spent so much on acupuncture (b) Joel is very lovely (c) Joel is very senior so what he says, goes (d) the other pools do not have steps, only ladders. Even if I didn’t damage my shoulder climbing the ladder last time, no point in risking undoing all of Joel’s needles’ sterling repair work. So I shall descend and ascend a tad more gracefully than before, hopefully.

Last night we found a bit of the ship we had never been to before, even when we lived on here for three months! It has an indoor bit and an outdoor bit. It’s beautifully deserted and sheltered from the wind. If we ever come on here again, we know where we’ll be spending most of our time!

We won the quiz last night. That’s the third time. No tie-breaker. Just outright winning. Largely thanks to me *bows magnanimously*. There were a couple of WTFs: the first ebook ever published being the US Declaration of Independence, despite the fact it’s not actually a book, it’s a single page document, and whether a stye is on the eye or the eyelid. But winning is winning and beating the grumpy professional quizzers is the important bit. Which really is our only goal. Our team mates, Ken and Irene (from Scotland) and Bryan and Doreen (from South Yorkshire) are just as committed as us, in this regard. Our dinner tablemates, Carol and Roy, have decided to hate them vicariously, as well, despite having never set eyes on them, which is nice.

17.05.26

Tonight, we started on -1 – standard punishment for winning the night before – so we just missed being in the tiebreaker, which I would have won (what’s the current population of Gibraltar*), as my answer** was the closest to the correct figure.  Ken scored a spectacular point, being the only person in the entire room who knew the answer! The question was, in television terms, what does PAL*** stand for?

My hydropool session was AMAZING. I had the whole pool to myself and I played in the various jets for about an hour. I was so relaxed afterwards, I could barely stand unaided! Found some interesting ouchy bits, that may warrant further investigation in the future, but it was all mostly idyllic. I even managed to find my scrunchie after it got blown off by a particularly powerful blast! It was truly genius of me to wear a blue scrunchie to get into a blue pool. Sometimes I scare myself. Dad sat by the pool and shouted questions over the noise of the water. He was most perplexed when the steam started condensing on the ceiling and dripping back down onto him!

We have confirmed that tomorrow’s stop in Gibraltar is, indeed, only a half day, and it’s the morning half at that – BOB is 1.30, for pity’s sake, so we are going to skip it. We do like contributing to the economies of British outcrops, but there are limits to our abilities, and frankly, we are probably, neither of us, still quite recovered from Ephesus. Indeed, quite a few people we have spoken to have also decided not to get off tomorrow. I feel bad for Gibraltar’s economy, but rushing around like blue-bottomed insects doesn’t suit this crowd. I’m not sure our other tablemates, Malcolm and Sue, have even disembarked once during this trip. It’s a very laid-back cohort.

My last acupuncture session with Joel was surprisingly painful; much more so than any previous session. I think he wanted to leave me with something to remember him by. I certainly have a fascinating collection of perfectly circular bruises on my lower legs. I actually quite like it when one occasionally hurts. It makes me feel like something is happening. The lack of pain afterwards is an obvious clue, but during, you just have to lie there and hope! At least if I can feel something hurting, I know something is working. And if it hurts, it stops me fidgeting, Which I was not aware I did until now.

The “lasts” have started: last massage, last acupuncture, last port, last formal, etc. We’ve made our list of who gets a tip. Which reminds me, we need to go to Reception for envelopes. It’s a bit more dignified to hand over, rather than just waving pound notes about.

The current muzak in the buffet is What if God Was One of Us, played on a flute and a harmonica. I think the pinnacle (nadir?!) on this cruise was probably Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven’s Door sung as a breathy lullaby. Yikes indeed.

19.05.26

Yesterday was the last formal and today I packed. That’s it. For the whole two days. The rest was eating and sleeping. We gave out our tip envelopes and swapped emails with a few people. My new phone has a very strange quirk. When you add a new contact, it vanishes! I have no idea why or how or how to prevent it. It’s getting faintly ridiculous. I swap info with someone and then I have to chase after them to get it again. I feel like a right muppet. Any suggestions?

The last shorts day was Gibraltar. When we passed through the Pillars of Hercules and turned right, the temperature dropped like a stone. 26 down to 16. So out came the jeans! The forecast tomorrow at home is 20 degrees, which is very confusing. The weather while we have been away has been, apparently, somewhat erratic. Kate Kinsella from BBC weather has done a lovely short piece about how mid-May in the UK is renowned down the centuries for a sudden cold snap, although, unfortunately, she didn’t explain why! We have kept an eye on home, and are well aware of how cold it got.

The sea state has remained ‘virtual millpond’ throughout, until last night. We woke to fair few white horses (force 4?) today, but even they have calmed down as the day has progressed. The usual grey-blue of the Atlantic looks like rumpled silk, its so still. It’s like being in the Doldrums, but without the warmth.

We realised today that, during this entire cruise, not one single announcement has been broadcast through the cabins. So it can be done! You just need the right captain, it seems. You know, one that actually gives a stuff about the passengers. Remember those?! Mercifully, some kind soul has also arranged for the clocks to go back tonight, so we get an extra hour before the 8am cabin eviction. Thinking of the passengers, again?! Careful, P&O Cruises, people will get ideas!

I put all our cases out before dinner, as one is supposed to do. This may be the first time in 27 years I’ve managed it. I usually manage it by about 10pm, but they prefer them by 8. When I got to the table, I was so shattered, I could barely speak, never mind chew. I think, this weekend, I will have a major crash, but I left it free on the assumption I might. Just don’t expect much from me, words-wise! When we got back to the cabin, I realised I had packed all the chargers! Luckily, the cases had only made it as far as the lift lobby collection cages, which are maybe six feet from our cabin, so I nipped out and grabbed back a charger from the vanity case. The list of things I keep finding in the cabin that should have gone in is rather high, but I think we’ll manage.

So ends another cruise. We have had a lovely time on Arcadia, and it has been nice to visit new places and meet old friends and new.  I don’t want to go home yet. Time to look in earnest at making our next booking(s).

*Answer = 28,000

**My answer = 20,000

***Phased Alternating Lines

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J603 Arcadia to the Eastern Med 13.05.26 Part 6

Ephesus

Kusadasi (pronounced Koo-sha(ng)-dassy) which means Bird Island. It’s not an island, fyi, and the birds are migratory, so they’re not here at the moment, I don’t think – mostly storks, apparently.

Talking of birds, we picked up a couple of sparrows in Sicily. Presumably, they didn’t feel like winging it all the way to Greece. I think they got off in Piraeus.

Yesterday was Santorini. We did not disembark. Firstly, didn’t have the energy. Secondly, what for? By all accounts, it’s very pretty, but there’s not a lot to see or do. And we needed to recharge our batteries ready for today. Knossos really knocked us both out (but Dad is now fully recovered). We spotted one blue roof from the ship, as we departed. That’ll do.

Dad was running out of some ointment he uses – he accidentally packed an empty box! – so we tried to get some from the onboard doctor. Now, granted this is a private business concession, but the idea that we had to pay £120 for an assessment before we could buy something we had a proven prescription for, was a little too rich for our blood. When it was £45, that was bearable. But £120 is just taking the whatsit. So, I stopped at a pharmacy near Knossos and purchased two tubes for £15. About the same price as the UK, if Dad had to pay for his prescriptions. £120. FFS.

But today was Ephesus. This was the reason we booked this entire cruise. The second largest standing Roman city in the world, after Leptus Magna in (whatever remains of) Libya. I booked a tour with Get My Guide two days before we sailed. £37 quid a head for a six-seater, air-conditoned minivan with guide and driver. Bargainous. It meant getting on the quayside for 10am, which we did not enjoy, but after that, it was plain sailing. Hussein and Levent met us. Hussein’s English is excellent. We picked up three Germans from the AIDAblu, which was moored next to us, and off we went. Hussein told us all about the local agriculture – Turkey is almost entirely self-sufficient (how cool is that?!)– and this area is particularly renowned for peaches, nectarines and hazelnuts. The Germans nodded along, but spoke little, so the atmosphere was a little muted, but we coped. Hussein is the reason I know about the pronunciation and meaning of the town’s name. Apparently, this is the beach resort of choice for non-coastal Turkish people. They get 2 million visitors in the summer months, which as their school holidays are currently 12 weeks (at least until the education minister changes again, quote unquote), is quite a lot of people. We were moored between the AIDAblu and the Odyssey of the Seas, and seeing how their teeny, tiny single lane roads coped with about 10,000 passengers*, I’m glad I won’t be here when it gets “really busy”!

When we disembarked, and I saw the length of the quay to get from the ship gangplank to the terminal, I asked if there was a wheelchair we could borrow. No. Luckily, we had spotted one by the lifts, so I went back on board and pinched it. The attendants kept saying we had to ring Reception and ask for permission. I just kept rolling. What’s the point in schlepping Dad to Ephesus if he’s totally exhausted before we even get there?! As it was, even after walking the length of the berth, between the terminal and the street, a large permanent market has sprung up, and just pushing him through it all pretty much did for me. Hussein took pity on me and took over, and thereafter, he was Dad’s pilot. My gratitude was plentiful, but Beki and Joel are going to have to do a lot of extra work patching up my shoulders over the next few days. And I got an official bollocking from the head of security when we got back.

Ephesus was fab. Again, wooden boardwalks – although this time with older wood that wasn’t entirely pothole-free. 40 euros per head to get in isn’t cheap, but it was worth every penny. Hussein took us to accessible bits, where we could look at the view over the less accessible bits, and he pushed Dad the whole way. One of the Germans had a mobility scooter, and she was a demon driver!

Hussein explained all the various bits – the Library (which looks spookily similar to the Treasury in Petra), which once held 12,000 scrolls, the Senate (which held 1400 Senators at one time!) and the Agora and Forum, and so on. It was utterly wonderful. I couldn’t have been happier. In less pain, perhaps, but not happier.

Strictly speaking, this is the fourth Ephesus. It used to be a port, but now it is 10km inland. Silt and time is all it takes. Most of it was built by Greeks, so they call it Greco-Roman. The inscriptions were in Greek. And we found some carved graffiti of secret Christian symbols, from before Constantine made it not just allowed, but compulsory. Apparently, the version we are left with was mostly built by Alexander the Great.

There is a little shop near the exit, and I duly tried to contribute to the restoration works that continue. They reckon they have uncovered only about 10-20% of the city so far. In fact, the Amphitheatre is currently closed and boarded up, as that is where the current excavations are. The girls behind the counter thought it would be funny to diddle me on the exchange rate, but I was so hot and weary, I just let them. Sure, four euros for a fridge magnet labelled as one euro. I don’t care. Last of the big spenders, me.

We returned to the ship via the Temple of Artemis, which is sadly reduced to a single column (!). So much for that Wonder of the Ancient World! We were BOB for about 1.30, and then we both crashed out for about two hours. Then we went up to the buffet for breakfast/ lunch. Official BOB was 4.30, and we headed off into the wide blue yonder for three blissful and desperately needed sea days before Gibraltar. I am now going back to bed for a further nap before dinner.

I’m told it was 9 degrees in London today, so I won’t harp on about it being 26 here. That would be mean of me.

*Odyssey of the Seas 4800 pax, 1300 crew, AIDAblu 2500 pax,600 crew, Us 2500 pax, 900 crew (almost all of which got off today; it’s funny seeing your waiters in normal clothes = 12,600 (usual caveats apply).