Vista Cruise

We arrived exhausted after flying from Phoenix to Seattle on Alaska Airlines and then 12 hours more to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. St. Christopher watched out for us, though, with both flights on time and with better food than usual. The Turkish flight, however, was full of big families, and there was one screaming baby in particular who had repeated tantrums. There was even a changing table set up at the front of Coach! The Istanbul airport is very elaborate. We learned our first Turkish word—cikis, which means exit. Oceania had a kiosk outside of Baggage Claim and transported us from there to the Vista. Very efficient. The beautiful Vista is Oceania’s newest ship and what enticed us to do this cruise. We checked out our ship a bit, had dinner, and then went to our stateroom to gear up for our first excursion in the morning. Our delightful steward, Raymond, came by to introduce himself.

Istanbul is today a transcontinental city (located in both Europe and Asia) straddling the Bosphorus Strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). The city's historical and commercial downtown is on the European side, and around one-third of its population is on the Asian side. It has had many names over the centuries, including Byzantium, New Rome (when the Romans made it their new capital), and Constantinople. The city’s name of Istanbul was not officially changed from Constantinople until 1930. The name “Istanbul” was derived from Greek. Turkish soldiers asked Greek migrants heading to the city where they were going; they told the soldiers in their language “to the city,” which sounded like Istanbul.Read more

Izmir is a major seaport and Turkey's third most populous city after Istanbul and the country’s capital of Ankara. It has a population of over three million (metro around 4.3 million). Izmir (as Smyrna) was established in the early-11th century BC. In the late-7th century BC, the town was devastated by the Lydians, restored in the 4th century BC by the Macedonians, and later conquered by the Romans. Smyrna was part of the Byzantine Empire starting in the 4th century AD. In 1415, it became part of the Ottoman Empire. After WW1 (1914-1918), Greece claimed Izmir, but in 1922 the Greeks were driven out by the Turkish forces. We visited the shrine to the Virgin Mary (her house) and Ephesus. The Virgin Mary House is located on the Bülbül Mountain, near Selçuk. It is known that John brought the Virgin Mary to Ephesus about four to six years after the death of Jesus. In 1891, the Lazarist priests, upon the dream of the German nun A. Katherina Emerich, discovered that house (the foundation of it) where the Virgin Mary spent her last days. There was a line to get in for a mere two-three-minute walkthrough! We never did see the four fountains supposedly close by for health, wealth, happiness, and whatever because of being rushed to our bus, although Shirley lit a candle outside the house for her and Jane for their health. Ephesus (Efes) is an ancient city in Turkey’s Central Aegean region, near modern-day Selçuk. Its excavated remains reflect centuries of history, from classical Greece to the Roman Empire. We spent an hour on the hillside in 103-degree heat and no shade. When we got back on our bus, a lady in our group said: “That was a nightmare!” We then had another fascinating rug-making demonstration (tea or a fruit drink is traditionally always served beforehand) and a lovely lunch. Another small fact: Green and black olives come from the same tree, just at different ripeness levels.Read more