Mareblu

Possibly Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia?

Very impressive, Lyle

True, but we stayed in a hotel on the water where the "esplanade" looked exactly like that, but minus, from memory, the bollards. It was further away from Istanbul's old central bridge, beyond the nightly-lit new span, much closer to the Black Sea.

In Australia, the judiciary is independent of the legislature and the executive. Westminster system.

Maybe a section of the Bosphorus away from city....Istanbul by night?

Bravo 👏. Must be your turn…

Good try, but much farther afield. You have 2 words correct.

Hint: a setting for many iconic movies, but poignantly and movingly, a scene of great injustice and heroism

I love the painted silos all over Australia. Yaaay…at last! My turn?😂

Oops….Rosebery

Rosebety, Victoria?

Yes, I understood that, and sorry if I seemed to be questioning your rationale. I didn’t express myself well. I actually agree it could close if this madness continues and/or spreads.

😳

Well done. Beautiful building

Closing the canal would cause havoc for shipping. So far I haven’t heard mention of it. Peace in our time🙏🏻

True, Marion, and our cruise will be calling at many of the western Med ports before heading east to Valletta, Greece and Turkey. I suspect that should we avoid Turkey, a few more Greek isles will be added.

Yes, they have indeed, but only those to ME ports in countries in the vicinity of this terrible conflict. We have been following threads closely, because we and our fellow Canberran friends are booked on Oceania Vista's three-weeks Med April '24 cruise. Turkey is the only destination we are wary of at the moment, especially as their President was whipping up the crowds in Istanbul overnight (our time) with inflammatory and threatening calls. We were looking forward so much to the deeply meaningful experience of sailing the Dardanelles on Anzac eve, and overnight in Istanbul, but it would seem to be a doubtful stop, at this stage. Five months is a long time in cruising, so we'll watch and wait. We have spent many weeks in Turkey a few years ago, but our friends have never been.

Make it another local one...

Did they buy in the development next to the stadium about 10 years ago?

We’ll hold you to it🥰. So, so glad you’re home and more comfortable.

Sending healing and loving wishes, Les. Thinking of you in the hospital on the hill, not far from that lovely blue water (and pesky sandbar). We'll be in direct contact soon, after you've had time to hopefully successfully settle this setback, to see if you'd like a visit (or not). We can pop down most week days. So many CC friends here supporting you. Fondest, Linda and Mario

Sounds more like Lucifer😂

Please report back🙏🏻

basor, AMHuntFerry, EJL2023 and 1985rz1: A message of gratitude to you all, and to our diligent TA, who refused to accept Oceania's directive that we were not eligible for the 25% discount on shorex without paying the premium to switch to Simply More. We have just received, via our TA, an apology from O, and the advice that $AUD785.00 will be deducted from our final payment, due in a few weeks, for our Vista cruise next April. This amount represents the discount now applied. O prefers to simply deduct the amount, rather than refunding our credit card. We are perfectly happy with that arrangement. You were all correct, and I salute you. When we booked, this cruise was advertised as a special offering, where we could choose either OBC, House Select package, or up to $1500 discount on shorex. We chose the drinks package, which we have now upgraded to the Premium package. I had assumed that the usual discount (YW) for a minimum number of shore excursions, which we had always received when enjoying many O cruises in the past, didn't apply in this case. The O rep our TA spoke to the other day was of the opinion that to receive the discount, we needed to pay approx. $900 each and switch to SM. Our TA actually included us in a 3-way call for this decision. After carefully scanning the T&C, she persisted, and Voila! On another note, a major glitch with O's website, when purchasing shorex, is one mentioned by at least one other CC contributor. I had originally purchased 9 tours, but then the following day purchased 1 more. The minimum on this 20-day cruise to trigger the 25% discount is 10. I suspect if I'd purchased the 10 at once, all the doubt may have been avoided, and the discount applied at the end of the purchase. In my case, and in others I've read about on CC, 9 plus 1 did not make 10. Anyway, all is now well, justice has been administered, and I'm very grateful for all your correct advice and assistance.