Today has a
mostly cloudy sky, light wind and 16 C for the temperature and not much
temperature change. We were supposed to
tender in from the ship, however, at 7:25 a.m. the captain announced on the
public address system that the ship was able to get permission to dock. It is the largest ship ever to dock here, at
294 feet in length. The previous longest
ship to dock at Trabzon was 240 feet long. We had breakfast in the Dining Room, sitting
with a couple from Arizona and a couple from Sydney, Australia. After breakfast, we collected our jackets and
tickets then went to the Celebrity Theater to get our excursion stickers. We
were on the bus and on the way to the first stop by 8:30. On the route to our first stop, we passed a
castle built at the highest point of Trabzon, in the Byzantine time.
Trabzon, a commercial
Black Sea port city, is located on the historic Silk
Road and has a superbly frescoed former Byzantine church named Hagia Sophia. The
English translation of Hagia Sophia is Devine Wisdom. It is now a mosque. We were able to go into
the mosque, after removing our shoes. There is no stained glass or any kind of
religious images allowed, but there was an electronic display indicating the
daily prayer times, which change daily based on the sunrise times. There are
three churches in Turkey with the same name. This Hagia Sophia was built in the
mid 13th century as a church, by former King of the Trabzon Empire,
Manuel Comnenos I. The bell tower to the west side of the church was added
later and was dated back to 1427 by the British traveler and researcher G.
Finlay. Trabzon’s Hagia Sophia is located on a hillside overlooking the
sea. Below it is a highway interchange
that was constructed by filling in the area and building a new road system into
the city center. The half hour allowed for photos and enjoying the view was
shortened by rain, but the rain ended before our next stop. The next stop was Ataturk Pavilion, named
after the founder of modern Turkey who used this house on his Trabzon visits.
The Pavilion, about 2800 square feet on three storeys, was constructed as a
summer residence by Konstantin Kabayanidis in the late 19th century and lies on
the ridge of Soguksu which overlooks Trabzon. The building reflects the
influence of European and West Renaissance architecture with pine trees
surrounding the gardens. There was a silver jewellery store, with lovely woven
silver items and a souvenir shop. Our last stop on the tour was at Boztepe Hill. We had a panoramic view of Trabzon and
several Trabzon families were enjoying tea from a samovar in a small pavilion.
Then part way down the hill, the bus group also enjoyed a typical tea ceremony
of Black Sea Region, with tea made using the Samovar before returning to the
pier. After lunch at the Oceanview buffet, we walked for 30 minutes on decks 11
and 12 to be sure we were well on our way to 10,000 steps for the day. Then went to update my journal and upload the
day’s photos.
The Nightcaps band was playing dance music in the
Rendez-vous before dinner where we danced for most of the half hour before
dinner. Tonight’s dinner choices were a spicy Hawaiian Tuna Poke or Poached
Anjou Pear in pastry for the appetizer, followed by Roasted Beet and Citrus
plate or mixed greens with goat cheese & dried cranberries salad, then the
entrée choice of Chicken Roulade or Lamb
Kebob. Our waiter, Angel, produced a coffee tiramisu dessert for the whole
table. After dinner, we checked out the Emporium boutiques $10 Madness sale,
before attending the magic show, with British illusionist, Michael White and
his contortionist partner, Hulan, in the Celebrity Theatre at 9 p.m.
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