Hi, first of all, let me correct one thing...no bad odors IN the rooms. Denise's room is 751 and she has no anchor like I do ...that's my key beef.

We spent today in Ephesus and this spot is incredible. It is truly an ancient wonder for which I was unprepared. We had an excellent tour guide who Denise arranged and we learned an incredible amount. Our favorite learning was that the library was connected to the brothel, so you can imagine what the ancient Romans told their wives..I'm at the library dear....gives a new meaning to "booking a room!"

The weather was lovely..not a cloud in the sky, but I found carpet prices high...$4K for a 4 by 6 silk high quality carpet. There are BIG differences in qualities amoung silk carpets and the $2600 price can't be accurate for anything decent. I looked today and only saw poor quality for that price.

Didn't purchase anything, so Doug is still breathing. The full day tour from the ship received RAVE reviews and is highly recommended.

Today, we had a turkish tea on board with apple, orange and lemon tea and turkish sweets. Boarding time was 3:30 and sailaway 4. We don't arrive in Istanbul until 6:30 tomorrow evening.

Again, I think this cruise could rival others I had taken if we had taken it a month earlier when we could have enjoyed the beaches and could have visited Delos. Cold and windy weather hampered our time and has kept us indoors. This is something to consider, as rainy period is October - May.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day on board before arrival in Istabul where we have 3 days of touring.