Cruise over Cory spring break

We took a cruise out of Venice over Cory's school break. Venice is an 8 hour drive from Stuttgart - good thing we drove instead of flying as nobody was getting on a plane when they got off the ship due to the Iceland volcano eruption.

We went to...

Bari Italy - toured the old town area with a guide. Went into a church where a baptisim was going on. When done, everyone ran out - most to have a smoke.

Katakolon, Greece. This was near Olympia - the origins of the olympics circa 100 ad.

Izmir, Turkey. One hour drive from the ruins of Ephesus founded in the 4th century. Very impressive.

Istanbul, Turkey. Lots of mosques, and the Grand Bazaar billed as the original shopping mall (est. 1450, has 3000+ shops).

Dubrovnik, Croatia. Very cool historic port city. We all agreed we could return here someday.
Weather was decent until some drizzle/clouds at the end. Temps were kind of cool at sea with a strong wind.

Venice - spent Friday night there before getting on the ship.

































From the ship






Ephesus




















Goddess of Victory - Nike (notice "swoosh" of dress)































Istanbul










Inside the Blue Mosque -had to remove our shoes (in plastic bags) and women suggested to wear a head covering (they had loaner scarves).













The Grand Bazaar










Apple Tea in the grand bazaar (all locals seem to be drinking this).













Lots of guys selling something like a pretzel.










Dubrovnik

Bari

Just outside the church...check out the suit and the velvet shoes!