John Burke's a-Musings: Thomson Majesty Leaves Kusadasi

Monday 15 June 2015. We have returned to the ship following our excellent excursion to Ephesus. Most days once back on board I left my camera in the cabin. All of the photos on this entry therefore are courtesy of David Lancaster esquire, fellow traveller, friend (...he must be somebody's...) and sometime singer extraordinaire (strange singer...)

Time for the daily blockage of the gangway photo... Whilst David gives precise directions for us to pose, the couple waiting to get off, decide to go back in and have lunch...

We head up top to have a look over the side at the tall ship moored on the other side of the jetty. I've seen lots of these on various cruises but can't recall ever seeing one with sails set...

Lunch onboard for Fran and I tends to be a plate of fresh pineapple and melon. Just about anything is available from salads to full blown hot dinners but with a hearty breakfast and the excellent evening dinners of several courses I just can't eat a big lunch as well. I think fondly of those days on holiday in seaside resorts as a teenager when I would eat a full English breakfast, a burger at ten o'clock, a dinner involving chips, another burger at three in the afternoon, a full meal at tea time and then probably another snack mid evening and possibly something for supper aswell - and maintain a slim figure! What the hell happened...?

It's mid afternoon and we are sitting, reading or doing puzzles out of the sun cooling down with fruit juices.

...or maybe not fruit juices... Cocktail of the Day is a San Francisco - "a vibrant mix of dry martini, vodka, orange juice and crème de banana".

It comes time to sail away from Kusadasi. We head back up to Deck 11 at the top of the ship to watch us sail away. The little Greek tugboat stands by. Don't you just love those? No wasted space at all, they are just long enough to provide a bit of stability - a round boat would bob all over the place and require more power to move - and the tiny bridge is totally glass, giving a 360° view.

Thomson Majesty having moved away from the dock, the tug crosses the bows ready to assist if needed as we swing around to face the open sea.

Kusadasi's island fortress. It covers the entire island which is linked to Kusadasi by a paved causeway. It was built in the 13th century and restored by the Ottomans after their invasion, a hundred years later, to protect the town and port from attack by pirates including the famed Barbarossa who operated in this region. The Ottomans added the walls around the island which is called Pigeon Island due to the migration of birds to here and "Kusadasi" itself means Bird (kuş) Island (ada).

Successfully swung, we head out and away from Turkey, following the setting sun back to Greece. Tomorrow we will be in Piraeus, the port for Athens.

Rested, showered and changed and ready for the evening aboard and dinner. Having only had a light lunch, we are now eagerly anticipating our dinner, which is a leisurely affair with anything up to six courses - appetiser, soup, salad, main, dessert, coffee. Every course involves choices from three or four alternatives (even the coffee course has several varieties of tea available).

Yankee and Marwill are all agog, wondering what we will choose to eat tonight! Marwill always starts immediately by serving us a glass of white wine and a glass of water.

Above and below are two of the desserts from tonight's menu. Small portions ensure that you are not over-faced and for those with large appetites, they would actually be happy to serve two desserts anyway.