So here we are steaming towards Istanbul! We are expected to enter the Dardenelles strait around 4 pm so we are keeping ourselves occupied until then! So far my day has been:
- 9 am: Breakfast of Eggs Benedict
- 10 am: Cake decorating with marzipan
- 10:30 am: Magazine reading in the Library
- 11 am: Appetizer demo with Tzatziki, Baba Ganoush, and Hummus. Delish!
- 12 noon: sitting with my feet propped up in the Crow’s Nest writing to you fine folk! 🙂
The cake decorating was OK – there were only 8 of us or so, but we only learned how to make roses and leaves from the marzipan. I guess that’s better than nothing (and I sure can’t claim to be any good at it!) I’m not a huge fan of marzipan but maybe I’ll make some and have some fun – in the winter! The appetizers presentation was interesting. All pretty basic and easy, but sometimes after seeing just how basic and easy they are, there is more incentive to actually try them at home. Especially the tzatziki!
The next item on the agenda is Name That Tune out by the pool at 1 pm so I have an hour to roam around and see what I can get up to! Maybe find some other members of Team Spain! I have a suspicion that the lads are in the Pinnacle Bar indulging in their literary pursuits! And I was right!
Name that tune by the pool was good – we didn’t actually play but should have since it was pretty easy! Then it was time for line dancing but we were too hungry and headed to the midship pool for our Mexican buffet. We did some more lounging and then headed to the bow of the ship for the entry into the Darenelles.
As we entered, the war memorials were on our port side. In WWI the Dardenelles played a key role and was the site of many fierce battles. Total losses neared 200,000 between the Turks and the Allies with armies coming from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India, and France.
Seeing the narrowness of the strait you can imagine strategic advantage to those holding the land. The narrowest part of the strait is about 1.2 km wide and it was quite cool to be sailing so close to land. As for length, it is 61 km long.
Soon it was time for our pre-dinner swim and final formal night preparations. The star at dinner was the surf and turf. Or at least it was until the rhubarb crisp. The.best.crisp.ever! And I have eaten a lot of crisps in my day! It was a fun dinner and one of our waiters, Indra, made little origami lobsters for Virginia and I! So awesome!