Day 39 - Kusadasi, Turkey - for one of us anyway...

Paula not so good, so late morning, I went ashore for a while to stretch my legs whilst Paula hibernated to try and recover.

An easy walk to the town or at least, the bazaar.  Unlike the Istanbul bazaar, this was just another area of shops in a traffic free environment.  At almost every shop however, there was a shopkeeper outside, usually smoking, trying to entice you inside.  The wares on offer were generally of reasonable quality and not too expensive either.

The streets were clean and as they widened out, away from the bazaar, the shops took on a distinctly less touristy approach and a far more local approach.  A very pleasant place to walk around, even though every few yards there were calls that my hair needed cutting and my shoes needed cleaning!  OK, I can take a hint...

I bumped into Mal and Megan and Mal had opted for a local haircut that included a scalp massage and his ear hairs singed!  I really can't see NZ's health and safety zealots supporting lighted tapers in close proximity to the ears (and nose).

My simple purchase was another litre of sour cherry juice from a small supermarket and I was charged a modest €1.29 but they wouldn't accept coins as they are on Turkish Lira, so I handed over a €5 note and got a 10TL note as change.  That was reduced to a 5TL note after purchasing a very tasty cherry gelato.  (Yes, I love cherries…)

Back to the ship the long way round along the waterfront – a pleasant but hot walk.

Paula didn't make sail-away but got up shortly after, so suitably showered and refreshed, she made it to the buffet long enough for a bite of tandoori chicken (it really needed a sauce!) and rice, whilst I added prawns (yes, again) plus spaghetti and meatballs to the chicken on my plate.  Very tasty and with a couple of glasses of house lemonade (lemon squash) and then cheese and biscuits taken out on deck for fresher air, we both felt better.

Cruise Director Mark also informed us that Deputy Corey who leaves tomorrow, is being replaced by Bernie, a south American lady and not the Canadian guy we expected.  Good news.  Whereas Corey was eye candy to some of the ladies, who only went to Zumba to dream and fantasise, I suspect that Bernie will be attracting more guys…  I don't Zumba anyway, but Paula has been known to give it a go.  Paula was much better after stretching her legs and getting a bit of fresh air, so hopefully she is now over the worst, but as Piraeus (for Athens) tomorrow is a repeat port, a day of R & R is in order and we won't feel cheated.

I grabbed an evening coffee again from Andrew and also had time to chat to Terri and Alex in the Atrium, but crashing before 10pm means I probably won't sleep too well – again, but the main thing is that Paula is on the mend.  A few welcome emails from NZ and we wish the upcoming travellers (you know who you are) a safe and enjoyable journey.  Six are off to Europe and two to the Gold Coast, so pot luck dinners in Auckland will be down to about three people for a while!  If it is any consolation guys, we do miss you anyway.

With the half way mark just a few days away, we are still enjoying ourselves, albeit with a slow down over the last day or so, but with 7 ports in 7 days, maybe that was a blessing in disguise.