Venice

The last time were in Venice was 40 years ago! Our first European trip – fly now, pay later! I remember very little of our time here. I know we enjoyed it. I remember visiting the major sites. Also that we had a lot of luggage and that managing it in and out of the water taxi and to the hotel was a nightmare.
We love and have collected (to a small degree) art glass works so we had often talked of coming back for a visit. This cruise provided such an opportunity (and has whetted our appetite for another visit soon).

We sailed in from about 10.45am finally docking about 11.30am yesterday. This is a wonderful place to enter from the sea – absolutely beautiful. And the weather was perfect – clear and warm.

Venice consists of an aggregation of 120 or so islands that over the centuries of its existence have become the remarkable network of canals, bridges and narrow twisty streets. No other city I have visited has the same unique feel.

I love the water, it is everpresent here (and far cleaner than I remember it).

There are watercraft everywhere. Ranging from motor boats through the vaporettos and water taxis to gondolas; the mega yachts of rich and famous (motor and sail) and cruise ships of every type – masted sail cruise ships, small and exclusive liners and of course, mega liners.

So this is the scene then as you sail in. ships of all sizes sailing all around; blue, blue sky; blue calm ocean and glimpses of land. First the Lido;

then Giudecca on the Port side of the ship with Venice to Starboard as you sail down the Giudecca canal;

then finally into the Marittima Basin and our dock at the Cruise Port. People on the water incredibly hospitable – everyone waving.

The first view of the iconic landmarks – Piazza San Marco, the Campanile and the Palazzo Ducale and the thousands and thousands of tourists! Amazing.

We were anxious to make the most of our time here and chose not to do any organized tour but rather take a water shuttle – arranged by the ship - from the dock to a berth close to San Marco. So we went down to the gangplank area as we were arriving and were off the ship and on the shuttle in the first group.

It was a Sunday for our first day and the city was packed with visitors. Spent all afternoon wandering around starting off in the area of Piazza San Marco

then following a very random path towards the Rialto Bridge;

back along the Grand Canal for a way then cut across again to the Piazza.

This was one of the few ports we stayed overnight – the only cruise ship left as the others moved on. Most people went back into the City for dinner but we stayed on the ship, drank some wine, had a bit of dinner and relaxed.

As this Celebrity megaship sailed out, passengers lining the rails and waving, they were playing Andrea Bocelli (sp?) singing "Time to say Goodbye’ – Merle loves this song so took it very personally

Seagull landed on the rail of our balcony and just sat there for the longest time looking at us – must mean something – so I took a pic

This morning (Monday) took the first shuttle back again (8am). Wonderful thing to have done – the Piazza was virtually empty; the tourist shops closed. People commuting into work arrived, the coffee shops / bars opened and folks popped in for an expresso (and what looked like a Campari); food stores opened and people were there buying the days supplies – a city slowly coming to life.

Shopping stores only opened at 10 or 10.30 so things were quiet. Wandered the streets, did the requisite purchasing then back on the shuttle to the ship after noon for a 2pm sailing.

Loved Venice. Will come back for touring soon – didn’t get to Murano. Didn’t get to the Ghetto area and the museum. Want to.

Many of those reading this know Venice so there is little I can tell you. Except maybe how I experienced our brief time. First off, I had a smile on my face all the time I was here. Everywhere you walk there is something that catches your eye.

A lovely view of a canal from a bridge and gondolas gliding along

Beautiful Hotel courtyard with a glass fountain and elegant guests having breakfast; across the canal from there a classical Venetian home with beautiful flowers growing in window boxes.

Stores selling beautiful Venetian – made handiwork; lace from Burano; Glass from Murano; Leather goods; wooden keyrings and fridge magnets in the shape of cute and engaging characters.

Also, of course, stores selling lace, glass and leather goods (in far greater numbers) made in PRC (Peoples Republic of China) and Africans (Nigerians perhaps) selling bogus this and that (just like NYC).

Most delicious ice cream – I wont say "the most’…… the ships is up there but Happy Valley surpasses all. Vanilla is the flavor, of course.

Candy in stores that looks unique even when it isn't - had to buy the brittle

The sights; Piazza San Marco is special.

The world beats a path here – tourists of all flavors.

The Bridge of Sighs – the thought of where the name comes from – prisoners on their walk from sentencing at the Doge’s Palace to the prison and its enactment.

The clock on the Basilica and its way of telling the time digitally for todays world – VIII.30am it was when we took the pic

Piraeus

Woke up this morning in Piraeus, the port city a short distance from Athens. We are now well and truly in the middle of tourist season in the middle of the Med! Cruise ships were docked all around us – local and international – arriving and departing. We’ll see what things look like at the other ports of call but this certainly supports Greece’s major source of revenue – from tourism.

Had a few choices to make – could take a ship’s tour to Athens and see the sights, spending a short while in the Plaka on our own and do a bit of shopping (in fact that was our original intent). We could alternately take a ‘hop-on hop-off’ bus ride to Athens and do the same. We are only here till 1.30pm so it would be a fairly rapid look see – I’ve been here before and done that so we decided to spend the day exploring Piraeus instead.

The port services work extremely efficiently here. As you disembark from the ship shuttle buses await to whisk you to the terminal which offers duty free and local shopping opportunities (as well as the usual pro-forma security and ID check).

From a bit of a distance the port looks very attractive. Buildings up the slopes along the coast, beautiful blue ocean and sky and lovely ships and motor yachts sailing around or at anchor. Closer scrutiny shows the impact of the economic downturn here, sadly. Walking the streets you could see shopfront after shopfront shuttered and closed

Buildings half-constructed and shuttered and completed buildings partly full but falling apart.

Also many people on the street in very poor shape.

Despite this obvious evidence of things being at a low ebb here; goods in the stores are not cheap – prices in Euros but at a seeming premium. We did a bit of shopping for everyday stuff – magazines at sidewalk news stands, wine and supermarket stuff at Carrefours.

One bizarre feature was an entire street of shoe shops!?!

There was this wonderful street market selling everything the mind can conceive.

The food area was wonderful – Olives, Cheeses, fish and seafood, lovely fruits and veggies.

The meat stands displayed cuts and bits-and-bobs that left a lot to the imagination!!!!!

As a port city, Piraeus clearly caters for the industry. A maritime company had the most exquisite headquarters building.

Bookshops stocked magazines and textbooks focused on marine subjects – logistics, navigation and other esoteric subjects. Clothing stores selling uniforms for officers and staff.

On our way back to the ship, about midday, it was sunny and hot. So we sat at one of the innumerable sidewalk cafes for a drink and some munchies.

An observation: every café fully occupied with men (predominantly) sitting drinking, chatting and smoking

Interesting observation – everyone smokes. If you are averse to the smell of cigarette smoke you cant really sit at a café or enter a store (even the food stores)

Uneducated thought – are these folks living on retirement income? They are clearly not working normal hours (it was Friday). Are they out of work? Perhaps its just southern Med way of life.

The Dardanelles

The approach to Istanbul from the Mediterranean is via passage through the Dardanelles Strait (connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara). This is an extremely busy waterway and we had to get permission to enter early (during the evening instead of night). One plus of missing out on Mykonos, I guess.


The Dardanelles waterway is bounded by peninsulas - on the Eastern shore by Asia; on the Western shore by Europe. It is hugely significant to the Australians and New Zealanders because of the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 / 1916 in which their troops were heavily involved

After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 Australian (and New Zealand) men got caught up in the tremendous enthusiasm to become involved – adventure and support of King and Country. They signed up in droves. Famous units included the Lighthorse (mounted cavalry with superior riding skills) and miners from Broken Hill and other major areas (hence ‘diggers’)


They expected to land and fight in Europe against the Germans (the Western Front) but the first troops dispatched were instead landed in Egypt to protect the Suez Canal. While en route a Turkish Army had been marched under difficult circumstances through the Sinai Desert and had attacked the Suez Canal. British, Indian and these ANZACS (as they came to be known) defeated the Turks and in follow up battles the Australians took Beersheba and in fact spearheaded the taking of Damascus.


In the meanwhile the war on the Western Front had achieved stalemate with the allies facing the Germans from trenches that ran from Belgium to Switzerland. Churchill came up with a strategy to break this stalemate by attacking Turkey at the Dardanelles and, if successful, driving through the Balkans and joining with Russia to attack Austro-Hungary from behind.


In a nutshell, the Gallipoli Campaign was a strategic failure and a disaster for the allies. French, British and ANZAC troops landed on beaches on the Asian and European peninsulas, succeeded in gaining a foothold but then failed to exploit their positions or make any real headway. Turkish resistance was determined and fierce. Allied leadership was probably wanting. The result was that the allies suffered over 200,000 casualties out of the over 450,000 troops they landed (with similar outcomes for the Turks).


The subsequent results of this campaign are interesting – on one hand the ANZACS have become forged in Australian and New Zealand consciousness, Australia developed a national identity and the concept of ‘mateship’ was cemented. Gallipoli is dotted with war cemeteries, monuments and parks for both sides and has become a place of pilgrimage for visiting Aussies.


Turkey became a secular Muslim nation (now at risk) under Ataturk after the war. During Gallipoli, Ataturk, then known as Mustapha Kamal was a senior officer in the Turkish Army. During the initial Allied assault, as his troops were retreating without ammunition he famously stopped them with the words – “ You are not here to fight; you are here to die!” at which they turned, fixed bayonets, and stopped the advance in vicious hand-to-hand fighting.


The Australian troops who survived and were evacuated from Gallipoli went on to fight on the Western Front where they again experienced terrible times and losses. The ANZACS subsequently have been active participants in all the campaigns of WW II, Korea, Vietnam and various peace-keeping missions with a tradition founded here in Turkey


After leaving Istanbul the ship held a memorial and wreath-laying ceremony off the beaches of ANZAC cove (where the landings took place in 1915).

The decks were packed. Speakers included the Captain, senior crew and a priest and the passenger choir (led by our friend David) sang the hymns and National anthems. Very moving.