Scenic Tours and Emerald Waterways

Scenic Cruises currently offer an "all inclusive" River Cruise experience to clients and have introduced a new product "Emerald Waterways". One innovation on their ships is a heated swimming pool with retractable roof which transforms into a cinema in the evenings. Accommodations on these ships range in size from single cabins at 130 square feet to the owner’s one bedroom suite at 315 square feet with most cabins being 180 square feet. The variety of sizes allows them to market to clients travelling at different budgets.

Gallipoli

Gallipoli is a long journey through hills and the never ending suburbs of Istanbul.  The apartment blocks go on forever for its 15 million people.  We saw everything from highway construction to hay fields (some already mown), fields of wheat and other crops, tractors and women in long coats and scarves weeding. There are lots of roadside cafes and picnic areas full of trees for shade.

Gallipoli is big, crowded and beautiful.  Monday is a national holiday so there were lots of Turks as well as Aussies and New Zealanders.  The cemeteries are beautiful, full of flowers and well kept. The whole experience was somewhat emotional. Women in the washroom washed their faces, hands and feet to cleanse themselves before praying in the Turkish Cemetery.  There is a monument with the words of Ataturk telling Allied mothers that although their sons are buried far from home, the Turks do not regard them as enemies and they will be looked after as respected and loved comrades and sons.  I found it all very moving.

After visiting the cemetery we went on a ferry to the Asian side and Canakkale.  We walked up and down the seafront with everyone else. The older women were in patterned harem pants and headscarves, some women dressed western attire and others wore long fitted coats or looser chadors, mostly of fine, light material because of the heat. On their heads everything from tight black scarves to hijabs of every colour and pattern making a fashion statements.  For dinner we had Turkish fish and chips with salad which was delicious.

Istanbul

Istanbul is amazing! We feel that the Turkish people are incredibly friendly, kind and helpful.  We waited an hour for our car at the airport and other tour guides offered to help, lent us their cell phones and made the 'Where are you calls?' on our behalf. On the way to our hotel our taxi driver stopped his vehicle, ran to a stall, and then opened the back door to toss bottles of cold water to us. These are examples of the kindness of the Turkish people we have met.

We are in staying in the old city which is full of narrow streets, shops, stalls, roadside vendors of plums and chocolate covered pastries. I do not think our feet have touched the ground and I have eaten plenty of Turkish delight.  Supper was lamb stew with honey, roasted almonds, apricots and I do not know what else.  It was delicious! I did not have the wine, but everyone else said how good it was.  And Turkish tea in glasses.  The best part?  Half the price of a meal in the UK!

Praiano

We really liked the Praiano on the Amalfi Coast: both Sorrento and Positano are larger communities but we preferred the smaller town. While at the villa we visited Paestum: an archaeological that features three Greek temples that are well preserved. Even though the local bus service in Praiano was good we found that organizing tours from that location was difficult in comparison to a larger urban centre like Sorrento.

London

Paris' Gare de Nord is an incredible space. The Eurostar took two hours and fifteen minutes to go from Paris to London and at St Pancras’ Station there is a one hour the line up for a photo set up at Platform 9-3/4. London’s black cabs now come in every colour, many with ads.  Our hotel is an 1860 townhouse divided like a rabbit warren and the original staircase remains absolutely gorgeous.  I pity the person who has to polish the brass banister! We use the wifi in what might have been a drawing room it has ceilings which are at least 12 ft. The hotel room is twice the size of the one in Parisand the bath is long enough to lie down in!  

Thursday was full of activities. The Paris hotel's version of a continental breakfast was croissants, breads, pastries, ham, cheese, scrambled eggs, fruit and cereals.  The London hotel's version is basically breads and cereal. This morning we walked to a Spanish Cafe where we sat in the sun and dug into grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, egg, toast and tea.  It was so good!  Then we headed off to the Tower of London for a tour by a humorous Beefeater Guard. Never mind the bling of the Crown Jewels; the workmanship on the swords of state and the armor in the White tower is jaw dropping. All of it was done by hand with tools we would regard as primitive.   

After our tour we walked over the Tower Bridge to Shakespeare's Globe and then to Fleet St.  We were so hungry by then we did not do the Globe tour; instead we had lunch at El Vino in Fleet St where I ate my annual treat of cheese.  A fabulous Ploughman’s Lunch of French bread, delicious picked onion, salad, and three different cheeses (an English blue, a French goat cheese and an old cheddar).  El Vino is so far the only bar where the barman has an English accent.  We think Toronto is multilingual and diversified. London is even more so. We rounded out our day with tickets in the top balcony for Les Miz which was very good.

On Friday we walked down Kensington Gardens Road, it is a real embassy row made up of beautiful old stately houses.  No photos allowed and police are set up at both ends as well as the middle. Then we went for a quick tour of Kensington Palace state apts, which were interesting. A display of dresses really brought home how tiny Queen Victoria was and how tall Diana of Wales was.  We had tea in the garden; unfortunately the Orangery was booked for a private function.  It looked like a gorgeous building so that was a shame.  Then we walked through the park watching people lying on the grass, walking babies, and groups of children's birthday parties just like at the Palais Royale gardens in Paris.

Paris

One of our customers has shared their travel experiences in Paris

The evening we arrived we ate our first proper French meal at Vaudeville which is all marble and mirrors. The tables have has to be pulled out then be pushed back in, in order to get to the banquette because they are only an inch apart. My travel companion had steamed cod with potatoes puréed with semi salted butter and I had Norwegian salmon with black rice done in a thin broth. Sublime...absolutely sublime. I have never eaten a meal so slowly and savoured every bite.

Yesterday morning we walked through half empty streets where shops were preparing for Saturday shopping: strawberries from Belgium, French raspberries, the fishmongers was a feast for the eyes and boxes of 5 cheeses were 9 € a box.  People were sitting with their cafe aux lait and croissants.  There was a long line-up at Notre Dame so we went back to St Chapelle, which we had walked straight past.  It is a 13th century chapel...incredibly beautiful, we spent a long time there.  We had a lunch of lukewarm frites and a large sandwich that would have fed me for a week and took forever to eat. The food here is incredible! Last night we went to a tearoom and enjoyed black tea fragrant with rhubarb and wild cherries with lemon cake soaked in lemon syrup. After a long walk and we found the Palais Royal arcades and gardens, a child's birthday party was going on and people were just sitting and reading.

On our third day in Paris it looked like rain so we took the early train to Versailles where we could use our Musee pass to avoid the ticket line up and be inside.  Ha!  The security line is outside.  Every tourist in Paris had the same idea...it looks like rain, let's go to Versailles!  They are doing the original gold coloured trim on the roof.  Unbelievable.  Back in Paris we toured the  the Musee Orangery with its fabulous Monet panels and then walked through  the Tuileries Gardens in the rain. Loved it!

On our last day in Paris we went to the Louvre and spent twenty minutes

in the glass pyramid and then to the Sully Gallery. Many of the walls in the museum are covered with coloured marble and the ceilings are beautiful. We checked out the shops in the afternoon. 

Cancellation Insurance

Clients have the option of purchasing several types of travel insurance. Cancellation coverage is frequently misunderstood by travelers. Personally I seldom purchase the warranty offered with a item however in travel it differs because the amounts risked are far higher than the price paid for your ticket. An illness as minor as an ear infection can ground you from flying and leave you stranded in a foreign country. Most excursion fares are non refundable/non changeable ticket and hold no value for getting home. Many times passengers pay full fare tickets at inflated prices to return.

A cancellation insurance policy can hedge the restrictive terms that a travel contract dictates and provide protection from a variety of unexpected events.