En Route from Istanbul to Odessa, Ukraine

Greetings from the Black Sea. Ship life has been going well thus far (though once again the roommate is quite the distraction from having a good time). We sailed through the Bosporus today but I was still sleeping; hopefully I’ll see it on our way back from Odessa and Yalta.
We were in Kusadasi on Sunday, but unfortunately, I had safety training and then a rehearsal. We set sail at 1:00pm so I was unable to step off for a minute. I did go out on the crew deck and take some pictures. All the Turkish scenery I have seen so far has been beautiful. Mosques are everywhere, but the coolest thing I’ve seen in Turkey was a statue basically sitting on top of a mountain.
We had a drill yesterday morning because the British Coast Guard will be conducting more drills at the start of our next voyage so we need to be ready, and that, coupled with being stuck on in-port manning from noon until 6:00pm, meant I only had enough time to step off the ship for about 40 minutes. I got off, took some pictures, and got back on. Istanbul is a beautiful place, and even though I was walking on the pier, it was still nice to get off the ship. The surreal feeling is still present; it is yet to hit me that I am overseas and not in New York anymore.
Last night, after finishing work at about 12:15am, I went with a few of the other entertainment staff on board to a hookah bar in Istanbul, and we ended up staying there till 2:30 or 3. The bar was located right across the street from a beautiful mosque, and I also enjoyed a great chicken kebab. It has just occurred to me that I haven’t spoken about the quality of food aboard the Queen Victoria. It doesn’t totally suck but it is more or less the same every day. There’s always some salad, a random type of pasta, and then they tend to have a chicken, beef, and fish dish each night, along with a potato-based variety. Consequently, the chicken kebab was wonderful.
We will be arriving in Odessa tomorrow morning, and then will be proceeding to Yalta on Thursday, before heading back through the Bosporus to Athens and Messina, Sicily; the voyage will end in Rome on the 30th. Unfortunately, I lack the necessary document to get off in Odessa, but Yalta should be amazing!