mumandpoo: Mediterranean Cruise on the Queen Victoria

Time marches on,so we go back to August 2015 when we found at a very good price a cruise out of Athens that would take us to Santorini, a place I have always wanted to see. Looking at the two previous cruises on this the Cunard ship, Queen Victoria we could also combine a cruise to Istanbul and because of an overnight stop there we could make possible a long day trip to Gallipoli and then could start our cruise in Venice, another place on "the list". Then when our cruise ended in Rome I could show Poo Florence and the Cinque Terre, places I had classed as some of my favourites. So we left for Venice, flying over Afghanistan.

Venice, a beautiful city.

On our canal cruise we get our first look at our home for the next three weeks

First port of call,Korcula in Croatia.

The next stop was Heraklion, a port on the island of Crete where we had been to before on the Mary, this time we caught the local bus out to Knossos.

Then on to the Island of Rhodes

The Temple of Apollo

Next stop was the port of Kusadasi in Turkey, where we took a tour to the ancient city of Ephesus.

The Basilica and Tomb of St John

Really enjoyed Athens

Temple of Zeus

A day trip to Delphi

We sailed back towards Turkey and enjoyed sailing the Dardanelles

Arriving in Istanbul, we were first off the ship for our private tour to Anzac Cove. The most wonderful day

Lone Pine and Poo found his great uncle on the Honour Roll

The Trenches

Looking towards Suvla Bay

A late night back to Istanbul and next day we did a city tour.

We sailed back down the Dardanelles and sailed round to Anzac Cove and took in the view as had our Diggers on that first Anzac morning.

After a day stop at Volos we spent a day at Mykonos. A beautiful island

Another stop in Athens then we were back to Turkey again, this time stopping at Bodrum where we did a four wheel drive tour.

Next stop Santorini, just beautiful.

Next was the port of Katakolin where we took a bus to Olympia, the home of the Olympic Games.

The starting mark and running track

Our last port of call was Salerno where we did two tours. First to Sorrento.

Then to Pompeii

Then we sailed into Cittavecchia, the port for Rome, where after being waited on for three weeks, we became backpackers and caught the train to Florence, stopping off in Pisa for a quick look at the leaning tower.

Then on to Florence where from our hotel room we had the most beautiful view. Heaven.

A day trip to Tuscany

We took the train to the Cinque Terre. A most gorgeous area of northern Italy . Five little villages hugging the coast. We made our base in Monterosso where our room with its glorious balcony looked out over the ocean.