Back from Vaca

We're back from our vacation to Greece and Turkey. We loved Istanbul, such a colourful city. We visited the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, the Blue Mosque, the Haggia Sophia and took a lovely cruise along the Bosphorus Strait. We also took the tram and went to a Turkish Dance show which included some fabulous belly dancing. Staying at the Crowne Plaza hotel in the old town was a treat and we didn't want to leave.

Visiting the Greek Islands was a dream come true, although it was not without some trauma. The Louis Cristal cruise ship is more of a 3 star facility. A lot of people contracted diarrhea including my family. It could have been a virus. The cabins had tiny washrooms complete with a squigee brush to push the water toward the drain after a shower. We were also asked to avoid putting toilet paper in the toilet in true European style and dump it in the waste bin instead. Our waste bin didn't even have a lid.

Poor M had severe diarrhea the first night. The next afternoon, we disembarked in Mykonos. He proceeded to faint after about 20 minutes on the island and hit his head on a rock. Fortunately we were with 3 other families. The 3rd family we had just met on the tour and the couple happened to be doctors. The doctor acted quickly and stopped the bleeding on M's head and declared that he needed stitches. An ambulance came and transported M and myself to hospital. The doctor there immediately put M on an IV drip, declaring that he was dehydrated. He had also bruised his shoulders and they were painful. The group continued their touring of Mykonos, including our kids. M and I were able to return to the ship that night where he got some more drip. On the bright side, I was able to see the sunset from the hospital window and we were able to appreciate Mykonos by night! I had also ventured out to the pharmacy to buy some medicine.

The next morning, M and I were able to disembark and enjoy a walk on Patmos. M bought new sunglasses as he had broken his other ones during the fall. We even bought 12 litres of water back to the boat to share with the group as it cost 6 times as much on the ship. I carried the water most of the way.

We cancelled our family tour that afternoon, of the Ancient Ephesus ruins in Kusadasi, Turkey. The ship doctor had booked M for a precautionary CT Scan at a private hospital in Kusadasi. The scan took about an hour (the radiologist doctor said everything was fine although we received the report in Turkish) and they offered us some refreshing apple tea at the hospital. Ephesus would've been a long, hot (45C) walk anyway. K and I went shopping at the Turkish bazaar in the port after that. We had fun buying some leather goods, although I think I could've done a better job at the bargaining.

The next morning we went with the group on a tour of Rhodes. We climbed the Acropolis in Lindos (slippery marble steps) and visited the old town in Rhodes.

I particularly liked the Agios-Nikolaos port in Crete where the cruise ship docked the next morning. Lovely mountain views and we were able to swim at a beach there. The water of the Aegean Sea was clear and refreshing, a pebbled and rocky beach, as opposed to sandy. M didn't swim because he didn't want to get his head stitches wet at that point.

That afternoon we disembarked on tender boats to visit Santorini. It's very steep but the town of Oia is very picturesque, just like in the movies. And real estate is super expensive. At Thira, we had the option of descending to the tender boats by cable car or Donkey. Everyone seemed to be doing the cable cars.

We ended our tour in Athens, staying at the Ledra Marriott hotel. I have to mention that I felt like I was still rocking a few days after disembarking the ship. Anyway, the hotel was gorgeous, with a rooftop pool that had an Acropolis view. we swam there one night and it was surreal. That first night in Athens, we dined at an outdoor restaurant in the Plaka area under the Acropolis, which was also surreal. Unfortunately, the next morning, M woke up with a swollen throat (suspected allergy) and we again rushed to emergency at a private hospital about 10 minutes away. They put him on a steroid drip to reduce the swelling and the doctor decided to keep him in hospital for 2 nights' observation. M seemed fine at this point, but whatever. We were due to leave the next morning! Thank goodness we had listened to the travel agent and purchased deluxe travel insurance! We were able to get a flight home the day after M was discharged from hospital, although we had been told the flights were very busy and there was the possibility of having to wait for days.

At any rate, hopefully I can post some photos soon, I have some good 'food' ones.

M is still tired and getting lots of rest, he's been through a lot. He's usually very healthy.

I still have a bit of jet lag, but we did 4 loads of laundry and the mail is all taken care of. We're getting back into the busy routine. Summer is slipping away and the back to school sales have started.