Category: 2011 – Costa Atlantica, Eastern Med & Black Sea, 19 Sep – 1 Oct

Safely under the first… Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Getting closer. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

looking back Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

The first bridge is in view….. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

we start our transit…. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

This time we enter the Bosphorus during the hours of daylight so there will be plenty of opportunity for photos on this transit. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Our second full sea day will see us pass through the Bosphorus on our return leg. At about 9.00 local time we will embark a pilot near Turkelifeneri and sail up the Bosphorus and under the 2 bridges: Bogaz & Fatih Sultan Mehemed. About 50,000 ships pass through here every year of which 8,000 are petroleum or liquid gas cargo ships. We will then enter the Marmara Sea heading onto the Dardanells straight at around 4.00pm. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

A sign of the times! Even Ronald McDonald has made it to Yalta. You can just see the Golden Arches if you look closely enough. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Our second stop was the Livadia Palace which was absolutely fascinating because of its history. First because it was the summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family and secondly it was the venue for the Crimean Conference in 1945 and where the initial plans were set in motion to form the United Nations. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

We have just spent a very busy 5 hours touring some very interesting places along the Crimean coast. Our first stop was the Alupka Palace which was designed by English architect Edward Blore, all the stone were hand carved out of volcanic rock. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device