Gottfried Travel Adventures

 Oct 9, 2021 Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands. Great little town. We first visited a monestary and we lit a candle and said a prayer for baby Taylor. 🤗 We then walked through the town of Thera. Lots of shops with leather goods, olive oil soaps, and lots of herbs.  We enjoyed the pool area on the ship and had a nice meal (Asian) at the Chef’s Table.

 October 8, 2021 Santorini is different in that it it used to be a large island that in 1640 BC (roundabout), erupted with the greatest power of any earthquake known which cause the crater to be turned into a caldera. It’s eruption caused tsunamis, and ash to be settled on top of the remaining land.. The deepest part of the caldera is about 1200 feet. You can see the layers of the land and volcanologists study this area all of the time. The result of all of that violent natural force is a beautiful set of islands. Today we visited Oia (pronounced Ee-a), third (the capital, pronounced Fee-ra). Everyone should visit Santorini!! 

 Oct 7, 2021 Every port so far is better than the last one. Rhodes is our favorite so far, but Santorini is tomorrow.  Rhodes is a very well preserved walled city with 150,000 inhabitants. There is also a very old, but still practicing, Knights of St John of Jerusalem, or something of the sort. This is reminiscent of the knights of the Templar! The Grand Masters Palace is available to tour. There are 156 rooms with magnificent mosaic floors and furniture. Another of the 7 wonders of the Ancient world was here in Rhodes. A giant bronze statue of the Greek god Helios (sun God) straddled (they think) the entrance to the port. A small replica of the Greek God Helios. The Knights of St John of Jerusalem still practice here and induct new members. a ceramic tile floor A mosaic floor for the nine muses One of the many mosaic tile floors We walked throughout the town, shopping, sightseeing, having cocktails, and a fish pedicure!! We loved Rhodes! So clean, friendly, interesting! An entrance to

 Oct 6, 2021 Not only are we in Turkey, we’re on the Asian continent. Turkey is a peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea (north), the Aegean Sea (west), and the Mediterranean (south). Their neighbors are Syria, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Georgia, and Armenia. Turkey has only a small area in Western Istanbul (former Constantinople) that is on the European continent. The Eastern part is on the Asian continent. The Dardanelles is the narrow passage of waterway that links the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. Turkey is a Muslim country but it is also secular. The Turkish (at least the western ones) live in harmony with all others and put no rules on their Muslim population. Their national drink is an alcoholic one, Raki, which is a stronger version of Ouzo. 🥴 Woman are free and respected. They can wear what they want. They recently had a woman prime minister. First impressions were very positive because our cruise is the 1st cruise to come into Kusadasi in 2 years! The bus drivers and tour guides are