The Captain's Log

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Opera in Turkey

Dates for the Opera Festival at Aspendus have just been confirmed. We are planning two holidays to take advantage of the Festival’s amazing programme which is staged at Aspendus’s wonderful Roman amphitheatre.

Option 1, 6-13 June 2007, 7 nights, 8 days
To hear the Gala Concert and separately attend Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’.

Option 2, 10-17 July 2007, 7 nights, 8 days
To attend Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ and Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’.

Click here for detailed itineraries!

For both holidays we fly in and out of Antalya on Turkish Airlines (flight costs excluded). Each itinerary will include sailing and cruising down the exceptionally beautiful coast on our luxury gulet, ‘M/S Odysseus’. This stretch of coastline includes Mount Olympus, the ancient city of Phaselis (known to Alexander the Great), The Great Waterfall, the great city of Perge and the Roman city of Side.

Your onboard guide Dargan Bullivant will give talks covering each site, the design of Roman theatres of which three will be seen, a large Roman aqueduct, a virtually unspoilt stadium and a fine Roman agora.

M/S Odysseus has a crew of four: captain, masterchef, steward and sailor. First class, freshly prepared Turkish cuisine will be served. There will be ample opportunity to enjoy sailing, snorkelling and kayaking off the boat during the holiday.

Price: $3000

Price is per person assuming 2 sharing a double cabin, and includes all tickets including opera tickets (2 per person), champagne suppers at each of the two opera performances during the week, lectures, notes and maps. Not included: flights in and out of Antalya, visas, gratuities to the crew of four.

A guided extension tour to Istanbul available, to precede or follow the holiday, including trips to the main sites. 3 nights, 4 days, based on bed and breakfast hotel accommodation.

Price: $820 for a double occupancy room. Price includes all ground transport and guide fees.
Accommodation can be arranged at the Four Seasons, Ciragan Kempinski or Ritz Carlton Hotels at an extra cost.

As places are limited, please contact us as soon as possible for further details, pricing and to make a booking.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Oh! Those lazy days aboard Piccolo

My husband and I had never been to Turkey.  So we set out to experience it all - the sights and sounds, the tastes and smells, the culture and religion, the historical and modern.  We enjoyed every day to the fullest, but the trip became memorable during the week we spent aboard the gulet PICCOLO.  Every day for a week, Captain Yilmaz and his crew took us to tiny village ports and anchorages where we could explore on shore or swim in the beautiful blue waters or just relax on board with a good book or music.  My favorite spot was the day we anchored off shore at Knidos.  We explored the ancient ruins of this port city with no one else around, no tourists, no guides, just eight friends discovering bits and pieces of history.
Then we returned to our PICCOLO to swim, relax, and have another excellent meal, always made from the freshest ingredients from the local villages or fisherman, and prepared by Bekir and served by Erganey.
Captain Yilmaz coached us in backgammon but none of us ever came close to his expertise!  When we finally returned to the port of Bodrum, it seemed like a metropolis to us and we missed the lazy days on board the PICCOLO.
Patty and Buz Lowe.

Patty and Buz were part of a group from Seattle who enjoyed a late season Blue Cruise in October.