Another hot day in Istanbul. We ate in the Pennant Grill again last night, out on deck, overlooking the river and the exotic skyline. As the sun set, many of the mosques were floodlit, making the scene even more magical. At 10:30 we headed to the theatre to watch tonight's speciality act - Gary Lovini, described in the daily programme as 'a showman'. I had a feeling he was a violinist, and also that he'd very recently played at the small theatre in our home town. A quick text to Julie confirmed that Harold had been to see Mr Violin (anagram ) at the Lowther only a few days ago, but she didn't elaborate... Anyway, we took our seats, but it really wasn't our cup of tea. I felt myself nodding off a couple of times, and was very glad when it was all over.
We did the HoHo bus tour today and came back to the ship mid-afternoon for a spot of relaxation on the balcony. Around 6pm we watched Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Windstar's Star Pride sail away. There have been two more small cruise ships here today, called Berlin and Corinthian, but not from cruise lines I recognise. The line of cruise ships docked in Istanbul are a tourist attraction for those on the ferries and excursion boats that continually criss cross the water. It's far from peaceful, but fascinating to watch.
Tonight's main act in the theatre was a ventriloquist. He was actually pretty good, had most of the audience, including us, laughing. After the show we briefly went out on deck to watch the deck party, but it's a bit cringe-worthy, so we didn't stay long.
Tuesday, 16th September
This morning we walked to the Istanbul Modern gallery, not far from the port. Not a single artist that we'd heard of, but Wow, it was amazing. We were quite overwhelmed by the variety and quality of the artwork. Back on the ship at lunchtime, just in time for Sailaway. Once at sea, we headed to the theatre to hear a talk about the film The Wizard of Oz. A new speaker, Helen McGregor, came onboard a couple of days ago and we'd enjoyed her first talk which was about the silent movie era. Today's lecture was equally good, but it leaves us with a dilemma for the rest of the cruise as her time-slot will clash with shuffleboard or the art class.
Janet
XX
No comments:
Post a Comment