Our cruise

I will attempt to chronically explain our recent cruise by destination. We flew into Milan Italy. By this time on our trip, I was already getting sick. I was cold, tired and wet from the rain. I had a fever, chills, a cough and a headache along with a runny nose. I ate a cold, soggy pizza and retired directly to bed. Genova was where we boarded the ship. I was still running a fever and now I had started coughing. I went to sleep early in our cabin. The cabin that we had booked for Jenny, Eliana and I was adapted for a person who used a wheelchair such as myself. 

There was a showerseat and a balcony. It was large, spacious and comfortable. I was too sick to do anything other than venture out of the room to eat. Jenny, Eliana and Jenny's family got to enjoy the on board shows though. In Napoles, I was feeling well enough to venture off of the ship (in my wheelchair) and got to see a famous fountain before it started dumping buckets of rain and we had to scramble for cover. We managed to get back to the ship without getting soaking wet. In Santorini, I didn't get off the ship because the terrain was too hilly for my wheelchair. In Heraklion, I was actually feeling better but I had managed to get everyone else sick. No one from our group was feeling well enough to disembark in Heraklion. Our final cruise stop was Estambul, Turkey. They cut our cruise short by one day because of a Turkish national holiday. They did give us a 50 euro onboard credit though.

Personally, I didn't enjoy Istanbul at all. It was dirty, crowded, poverty filled and definitely not friendly for people who are disabled. We were denied entry to various tourist sites. The tiny cobblestone streets did my electric wheelchair no favors. I spent the majority of my time inside the van we had rented (with a driver to show us around).

After leaving Istanbul, we were meant to fly to Madrid. Jenny is always paranoid about missing her flight. She convinced /forced everyone to go to the airport three hours early. This turned out to be a good decision because due to a miscommunication, our driver dropped us off at the wrong airport. 

He brought us to the national destination only airport. Since we were flying to Madrid, Spain the international airport was located an hours taxi ride away. Luckily, we found our own transportation, and because of Jenny's paranoia about being late, we had enough time to make our flight to Madrid. 

After arriving in one piece to Madrid, we managed to get on board a bus to Pamplona (after some delays and confusion). After a four hour bus ride (with one transfer). We made it back home to Pamplona in one piece. 

I am still sick. I currently have a cough and a runny nose. However, my sore throat, fever and chills are gone. I hope to be back to normal soon. It was not ideal getting sick right as I went on vacation. I feel bad that I was responsible for getting everyone else sick. I also feel bad that everyone had to modify their trip to accommodate my limited mobility. Additionally, I feel bad that Jenny had to take care of Eliana and I all while being sick.

We had terrible luck with elevators on this trip. In multiple different locations, the elevators were out of service. I was forced to walk down multiple flights of stairs. I was lucky to have the ability to walk (although not well).

I would return to both Italy and Greece for another visit. However, I have seen all that I want to see of Turkey. I have no desire to go back again. Being in Turkey, where their President /Prime Minister/Dictator is, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. I was slightly worried about us. However, we managed to follow all of the local laws and we had no trouble. Even in a dictatorship, all of the police and local security officers were very nice and friendly, especially to Eliana. They were very nice to her and curious about her life. It just goes to show that as long as you follow local laws, even in a dictatorship you can have a good time. 

We went on the trip with my in laws, Jenny, Eliana, my sister in law Ana and her boyfriend Fran. There were certainly some bumps in the road. However, overall I had a good time and I am glad that we got to go. 

Til next time, Tyler