Mediterranean Iconic Shores Ocean Cruise

Day 6: Tuesday, November 04, 2025 - Istanbul, travel, and Cappadocia, Turkey

The day's statistics:
-  Weather: upper 50s
-  Steps: Linda: 11,912; Steve: 14,933

After awaking and getting ready for the day, we headed to the World Café for breakfast.
On our trips I don't usually take pictures of the morning breakfast, but I will for the first one when there will be the same thing for a few days, or if it is especially different or interesting.
This was our first and I think one of the only breakfast pictures I took.
Linda had her favorite egg benedict with a Sfogliatelle (she later found a torpedo shape roll that worked really well with eating the egg in the cup), and a couple roasted tomatoes; while I had some eggs, mushrooms, bacon, sausage (later on the trip I stopped taking sausage and just stuck with the bacon), and hashbrowns. I also only had one plate.


After breakfast, we returned to our cabin, brushed, and gathered what we needed for our excursion: tickets, camera, and quiet voice devices.

As a quick aside: I was told that there were 960 passengers on the ship (almost at capacity). Over the course of the cruise, we found that the movement of people off the ship each day for excursions was very well done. With the staggered start times - usually 15 minute windows - even when there were four buses of travelers, there was never really a bottleneck at the gangway. It was just so smooth.
Yes, it's true that not everyone was leaving to go on an excursion, but that doesn't matter. The way it was handled was very well done. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but on the rivers typically the entire population of the ship - or most of it, at least - would leave at once. On the oceans, there would be the same number of people leaving for just one excursion.

Today's excursion was "Istanbul on Foot & Bakalava". Mmmmm, baklava...
We headed down the gangway and I noticed something interesting. The gangplank is designed so that it can be used for a number of different heights, and has wheels and hinges so that it can be put out and left in place as the tide ebbs and floods. Neat and convenient too.

We made our way through the rat maze, and all the way back to the garage where the buses were.
There were people gathering for our group of merely seven - SEVEN - on this excursion.
We met our guide Ismael, and confirmed our VOXes were working.
When we were all present, we headed out.
We learned that there are two types of mosques: Imperial, with two or more towers; and "regular" with just one.
The Muslim holy day is Friday. The biggest mosque was built in 1550. A woman has no obligation to pray, while I man has an obligation to pray five times a day.
Our first stop was at a mosque not far from where the ship was docked.

In front of the mosque was the fountain where male attendees wash - primarily their feet - before entering to pray.

The dome was nicely decorated with a large chandelier hanging down.


Flanking the main dome were four symbols of the Muslim faith including: Abu Bakr, Allah, "Muhammad, peace be upon him", and Uthman ibn Affan.




There were a number of interesting architectural highlights.










There was a faucet and basin on one side of the prayer area and Ismael quizzed us on what we thought the purpose of it was. After a number of unsuccessful guesses - including some "good ideas" - we were told that There are prayer lines on the carpet. The men line up to pray on these lines. The women pray from an area behind where the men pray - contrary to what may be popular belief - because having the women praying in the same space as the men, they could become a distraction to their praying.

Ismael told us a couple stories, including one about his [former] fiancé and a bachelor party trip to Mexico.

After our tour and review inside, we headed to the next stop.
We walked through town a little, see some sights, and passing by a number of shops and, more so, restaurants.










Our target destination was Namli, a family owned restaurant and market.

Our treat here wasn't just a small nosh, or a tasting, but a full Turkish breakfast.
The Viking excursion description stated "Begin the culinary portion of your tour at a beloved deli, featuring an array of Turkish delicacies, to savor authentic flavors, including mezes, olives, cheeses and pastries."
Not sure who to... "blame", but we were NOT expecting what turned out to be a nearly full Turkish breakfast. Part of the problem is that we could have had ONE plate of each item, not two - there were only seven of us, after all. But we weren't expecting so much food. We'd've probably had less breakfast if we knew - or even thought - that we would / might have had so much to eat. I'm not saying it wasn't good - it was REALLY good - just unexpected.
Anyway, They put five plates of food out for four people, and five more for three. We were on the three end...
Bread, cheese, honey and cream, olives, and cucumbers and tomato.

We were also given coffee, tea, or any other soft drink.
And then they added an egg and tomato dish called Menemen.

And then they added a plate with some sliced meats on it.

Oh boy, that was a lot of food...
After about an hour, most decided to visit the restroom before moving on to our next destination.
Bathrooms aren't something I comment on too much, but here was a rare example. I happen to notice that there was a fly painted on the bottom of the urinal - I assume to give the guys something to aim at...

As mentioned above, there was also a market along with the restaurant.

Time to head to our next location.
We weaved back through the city some.







The next destination was the Güllüoğlu Bakalava Factory, a famous family run baklava company.

After going to the CEO's office, we were told about the company, the family, and baklava.

Then an assistant brought in covers - shoe, smock, and head - for us to wear before WE headed to the factory floor.
I counted about 50 workers - that I could see.
We started off in a room overlooking the workers, so there is a good amount of reflection. Also in the first room was a heavy cloud of dust - starch dust, to be specific. The workers in the first room were rolling the sheets of flour thinner and thinner, applying light coats of starch in the process.

Incidentally, we were told that the workers take breaks from the cloudy room after two hours.
Anyone who wanted was given the opportunity to try the starch apllying technique which is to throw the starch on the table next to the sheet of dough as the cloud lightly covers the dowgh. We both gave it a try, but only one of us got a video of the other... (see below)
The next room was the assembly room. Here, the sheets of dough - 40 layers in each pan - are cut and inserted into the forms, with layers of butter and pistachios included.




Again, those that wanted to try, were given the opportunity to try to slice the baklava (at the pre-marked spots).

We watched the assembly that only took a couple minutes even with the demo - so they must go through this SO much faster when they are left to their devices.
After the assembly, we headed upstairs to the room where the ovens were.
After the trays of baklava are baked at for 45 minutes at 160° C - 325° F - they are doused with a couple ladels of boiling sugar syrup.
In addition to the traditional small rectangular pieces, they make other shapes including a seashell style.


The CEO wanted to take us to the factory's restaurant so we could try the baklava.
We made our way downstairs and headed the couple of block over to the restaurant.



We sat at table where a collection of different baklavas were awaiting us.
There were savory choices as well as sweet.

We were given a demo - by the CEO - of the proper technique for eating baklava.
First, secure the baklava on the end of the fork with half of it sticking out away from the tines.
Second, dip the long end into the cream.
Third, dip the creamed end into the pistachio nuts.
Fourth, enjoy.


In summary, some of the making from above, as well as our baklava host discussing the baklava.

After our snack, we were shown some very elaborately constructed baklava designs.

And we took a group photo.

Our snack time was over, we left the café, and headed to our next destination: another mosque, this one 300 years older than the previous one.
This one was a little - OK, a lot - larger than that last with a capacity of 2,000.
Outside there was a model of the entire compound.


Since this mosque has just one tower, it is not an Imperial mosque.
We passed the fountain.

We headed inside after we took off our shoes.
We weren't permitted in the prayer area, so I had to photograph what I could from all the way back here.










Some more we learned is that the males are obligated to pray five times per day, usually at 8:00 AM, noon, 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and 7:00 PM. If one cannot make prayer at those times, they can make up for it at one time (rather than at five different times). So it is more of a five-twelve minute commitment totaling one hour than a five-times commitment.
Children are allowed into the prayer area, but they aren't obligated to pray. They can, say, even play soccer while prayer is taking place. The goal is to not discoourage them from being in the prayer area so they are more likely to accept praying later in life.
The females of the family are priorized in order of mother, sister, and wife.

Our foot tour was over, and we headed back to the ship which was not just a couple blocks away.


Though a couple already left us to stay closer to in-town rather than having to walk all the way back, our guide left the rest of us just outside the entrance to the cruise terminal - that was also part of a large two story "strip mall" (it wasn't enclosed, so "mall" wasn't a sufficient description).
We ask Ismael about the location of a store to get souvenirs, and were pointed in the direction of a store on the second floor to the left. We bid him "güle güle", and headed off before going to the ship, as we needed to get our souvenir shot glass and postcard because we were leaving Istanbul and weren't sure how prolific souvenirs were going to be before we leave Turkiye.
We only saw clothing and similar stores at the end, so we headed in the other direction.
We weren't doing too much better on the other end either, and we even stopped into an educational-like store to see if they had anything to no avail.
I used the Translation app on my phone to ask the clerk if there were souvenirs anywhere. She said, pointing, "down there, on the left". Thanks!
We headed down there and finally saw a toy store. The doors on the second level were locked. It turns out we were also at the back of the store. It took a couple minutes but we figured out how to get to the front on the lower level. The space on the lower level was smaller as it was behind another store. Going upstairs was where most of the space was.
We wondered around and then finally found some shot glasses. The selection was small, but we were able to find one that was acceptable. We purchased it and headed out.

In the mall, we saw a couple fast food restaurants.
I usually like to get pictures of the McDonald's® menu to use the Big Mac® as a comparable price point as so many people know what a cost of a Big Mac® in their local area should be.
We hadn't [yet] passed a golden arches for me to do that, but I did see this Burger King® ad that has rather comparable prices. Here, the Whopper® is 315₺, or about $7.38.

We didn't have far to walk to get to the cruise terminal entrance.
We showed our room key to the guard, went through a scanner at security, and headed through the rat maze to get to the ship's dock.
I could have easily fit an entire river ship into this similar shot, rather than just the back three-quarters or so. But this give a bit of perspective regarding how large the ship is - as if the pictures from yesterday weren't enough...

By 3:30 we were back onboard, and decided to stop by the Living Room bar to get some coffee. We had a nice chat with Patrick too.
After we finished up and headed to our cabin to drop off our travel items - mostly the camera - and headed to the Explorer's Lounge to play a little Pinnocle before dinner.

We were seated at table 53 again, and were served the bread basket, still water, and red wine as we reviewed the menu.
I usually take two pictures of everything to help assure that at least one of them will be nice and clear and well lit - but that doesn't always work.

On the table as part of the set-up are little bowls that have two flowers of butter, with a small silver dome covering it.

The initial place settings pretty much have a fork and knife. The waitstaff will bring by different utensils that pair with what your appetizer will be - such as a spoon, or an appetizer fork and knife.
Also, either in the past or just on the rivers, soup is served in the bowl whereas on this ocean ship the soup bowl is served empty (or with a little of whatever type of soup it is in the bowl) and the broth is poured from a silver pitcher into the bowl at the table - this provided a MUCH hotter soup (which is probably why they do that).
I take pictures of the menu so I don't have to note or remember what we had to eat - look at the dish, see it on the menu, done. Every once in a while that doesn't quite work out well...
Linda had a soup, grilled shrimp, and [maybe] (blueberry) cobbler.



I had three courses too. I mean, crab salad, seared sea bass, and chocolate mousse.



During our meal, the sun set. We also left port. I was constrained by the phone's ability to take pictures in reducing light through a double paned window.

We returned to the room for a little before we headed to the Star Theater for the captain's welcome toast.
The department heads were also introduced. We were also told that there were 50 nationalities represented by the 488 crew members.
The phone camera focused on the crowd rather than the stage.

We returned to the room - for the final time of the night - washed up, and went to bed.

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