Travelling aboard the Jade

Well, this is quite the experience! We have been to Istanbul and visited the Aya Sofia which is TOTALLY AWESOME! We have experienced Turkish cuisine which is unusual to say the least...not quite sure what I think about it! The Blue Mosque is not quite as nice as the Aya Sofia but still outstanding. We had the pleasure of being in Istanbul during the tulip festival and everything was in full bloom which was beautiful. We boarded the Jade the other day and are having lots of fun exploring the ship. Today we are in Izmir and it was to be 24 degrees but they were a bit off as it is currently 31. We walked for over 10 km. (at least it seemed that far) just experiencing the sights/sounds etc of this country. Currently back on the ship waiting for it to leave Izmir to go to Mykonos which will be our first stop in Greece. Looking forward to not being harrassed by carpet salesmen.....unbelievable to say the least (and no, we did not buy any carpet!!) We are still trying to figure out how to get pictures on here so keep posted and we'll get it figured out. There are no connection ports for doing this so we may need to do it at an internet cafe at our next port. Hope you are all doing well.. Bye for now, Dan and Heather (mom & dad)