Leaving Istanbul, we had a short stop at the Greek island of Mykonos.  We boarded one of the ship’s small boats, or tenders, and rode to shore. I hadn’t heard much about the island before, but Mykonos was quite a pleasant surprise, featured on many postcards and calendars -- tightly packed whitewashed houses, blue roofs, steep streets, and picturesque windmills.  We stopped at a dockside café to have lunch…which turned out to be the best meal we’ve had on the entire cruise.  Sitting outside, we ordered a wide range of local dishes and enjoyed every single one:  olives, Greek salad,...
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Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul -- I’ve wanted to see this place since I was a kid reading adventure stories…the epitomy of exotic lands.  Photos of the jaw-dropping Blue Mosque on the harbor with its piles of domes and fairy-tale minarets inspired a lot of my fiction, particularly recent books like Crystal Doors: Sky Realm and the Terra Incognita novels. And the city certainly didn’t disappoint.  As the ship pulled in at sunrise, I went off to get coffee for us, and I saw the giant orange sun rising out of the mists on the eastern horizon.  From our cabin balcony, we watched the...
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    It was an early morning -- Rebecca and I left for our tour of Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri at 7:15 AM (after a rushed breakfast in the buffet).  We boarded one of eight buses and rode from Naples to Pompeii, where we wandered the astonishing ruins in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.  The air was filled with a pall of smoke…nothing to do with volcanic eruptions, just agricultural fields being burned.  Pompeii was as incredible as I had hoped it would be. Next the bus drove along the rugged and beautiful coast to Sorrento where we had lunch,...
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