CIVITAVECCHIA (say that fast 3 times) - April 15th

Originally built by Emperor Trajan who had a villa here, this city is a major port for Rome since the 13th century. The Renaissance fortifications that surround the harbor area were completed by Michelangelo in 1535.

Right by our ship were these ruins.

It was a cold and dreary day and unfortunately not enough time to take the train into Rome which was an hour trip so we wandered the city.

Not much to see except a central food market where we bought the most delicious olives imaginable!

Everything is sooo expensive.  These hams were $25 Euros a kilo.

Ever see such a big pepper? Me neither!

Len took this interesting shot of an old door. Huge - at least 14' tall. The small door cut into it is average size.

By the market, this lady was watching the traffic go by.  I don't think too many visitors come to Civitavecchia!

I have been collecting pins and souvenirs to put on the back of my jacket and have something from every port we have been to.  I never would have thought I would find a pin with the name Civitavecchia on it, but I did.

SORRENTO AND CAPRI - I'm running out of adjectives - April 14th

The ports are coming fast and furious now.  No more numerous sea days.

If we were to pick a spot to return to, it would definitely be Sorrento.  It is everything that we've ever seen and more! 

We had the whole day to explore!

The ship dropped anchor in the Bay of Naples and we took the ship's tender to the harbor then boarded a shuttle bus to the village atop the hills.

 

Towering cliffs with houses, hotels & the village itself perched on the edges. April has to be the best time of year to come here.  The weather was perfect. Sunshine and cool.  Wisteria was in bloom everywhere and  flower boxes and pots were abundant. The central plaza was exquisite and everything is clean!

People were sitting and drinking coffee, laughing and talking throughout the village.

There were intimate restaurants on narrow alleys and everywhere people were walking.

We strolled many streets, peeking in windows and finding all the hidden charms this village offered.  At this flower shop Len bought a package of heirloom tomato seeds.

We strolled the streets with our mouths watering at all the delicious fruits, vegetables, breads and pastries

they offered. If I lived here I'd probably be 500 lbs.

Too bad I didn't have more room in our suitcase for this!

It is not really tourist season now but the streets were busy with shoppers.

There were beautiful old buildings on every street and some of them had frescoes more than

300 years old.

We wandered with another couple from 9am till 2pm and we did not have to get back to the ship until 5:30.  

What to do.........what to do?  Let's got to Capri for lunch!

We went back to the harbor and boarded a ferry for the 20 minute ride to Capri, an island visible from Sorrento.

Everywhere along the harbor were restaurants and small cafes with people eating or drinking coffee, chatting and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

We found a restaurant by the water, sat under an umbrella and had the very best pizza EVER!

We re-boarded the ferry for the trip back to Sorrento and with 15 minutes to spare, made it back to the ship.  It was a fantastic day!

Before we departed, Len took this photo of Mt. Vesuvius.

As our ship cleared the harbor I was feeding the seagulls by tossing bits of breadsticks and Len caught this one right by our balcony.

Just terrific!

GLORIOUS GREECE, CRETE - April 12th

Len took this fabulous picture the night before our ship neared Crete.

We had no tours planned for Crete since it was only a short stop (5 hours), but at least it gave us an opportunity to visit the city of Heraklion.  The weather, since before we left Jordan has been amazingly beautiful.  Cool, sunny, delicious!

If I lived in any of these Mediterranean countries I would be 500 lbs!  Their breads are fantastic and the smells from all the bakeries throughout this trip has been exquisite and Crete was no exception.

I think if I had any complaint about this world cruise it would be that some of the stops in the counties we have visited are too short (and a few too long.)

Crete is the largest island of Greece with the civilization flourishing from 2000 BC.  The frescoes show bejeweled woman elegantly gowned and coifed at a time when most of Europe was inhabited by primitive tribes.

The ship provided a shuttle bus to the town center where we just got off and wandered the lovely streets.

There were vendors lining the streets with all sorts of things.  Their fruits, vegetables and fresh caught fish were wonderful.  That is a full size tangerine that Len put beside the radishes to show you just how large the radishes are.  Amazing!

The city was clean, everyone was friendly and almost everyone, everywhere speaks English.

Our 1/2 day in Crete was lovely, just too short.

The Captain announced that around 10 PM this evening we would be passing a volcano, Stromboli,
the most active volcano in the Mediterranean.  It was windy and freezing cold but the ship slowed down
enough for Len to run out on deck and take a picture.  There were 2 more much larger eruptions we could see them but could not get another picture.

Would you believe there is a small town at the base of this volcano and years ago it was a favorite honeymoon destination.  Crazy!

JERUSALEM - April 10th

I can't tell you just how comfortable we felt in Israel regardless of the fact that the week before, missiles were falling on the port city of Ashdod where we arrived.

Some people we knew had mentioned that we should get in touch with a private guide to tour Jerusalem, I contacted the guide, and Zvika met us at the port terminal. We went to the old part of Jerusalem in his car with the Rabbi from the ship and his wife.

Our first impression of this area of Israel was that it is sooo green.  Millions of trees have been planted in Israel from tree donations mostly by Americans and Canadians and it was glorious to have been there in April with the sun shining in a brilliant blue sky and to look out on the vast forests and fields of crops in the desert compared to all the other desert countries we have visited.

Did you know that Israel is the largest country (not Belgium) that ships tulips all over the world, including to Belgium!

Jerusalem is divided into 2 parts.  The old city and the new city.  Here is a view of new Jerusalem.

You enter old Jerusalem through gates and we entered through the Turkish gate. They devised the entrance to the city so that when enemies tried to enter the city they had to make a sharp right turn so that they could not just charge through the gates.

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BC, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world.

Talk about crowds!
Christians, Jews and Moslems filled the streets, and this was one of the first weeks tourists came after the missles the week before.

There is a serenity within the old city and the mixture of Christian, Jewish and Moslem sites is amazing.
There are excavations all over the city and the ruins, dating back thousands of years is spectacular.
Built into the sides of the hills, the walkways are steep and narrow and accessible only by walking.

Here is one of the excavations of Roman ruins painstakingly being rebuilt.  There are frescoes on some of the walls and original mosaics on the floors of wealthy homes built during King Herod's time

There were hundreds of young people - many with guns walking around and Len posed with a few.  The young people look clean, energetic and proud.

Here a photo of the Dome of the Rock with the sun glittering of its golden dome.

Located in the center of old Jerusalem, it was filled with visitors.

We walked the Via Dolorosa, where Christ walked his last steps.  Amazing.  

The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for Roman Catholics.

This was a group of nuns making a pilgrimage up the Via Dolorosa.

Throughout the old city are markets carrying everything from holy objects to foods, spices and souvenirs.  There are Jewish, Armenian, Moslem and Christian markets.  We wandered all though these areas

It was a very touching moment when we saw and prayed at the Western Wall.  

On our return to Ashdod there were these "sandwich trucks" memorial. The reason these armored vehicles are referred to as "Sandwich" trucks is due to their type of armor. Shortages of proper military-grade metal armor neccesated the use of alternating layers of lower-grade metal/plywood armor. Sand, cement, rubber and even glass were also used.  These trucks were used to bring food and supplies to the Israeli troops defending Jerusalem in 1948.

There were armaments on the truck mostly supplied by the Czecs. Since the Israelis had no money 

Ben-Gurion sent Golda Mier to American Jews to get money for Israeli defense.  He told her she had to come back with $25 million dollars, instead she came back with $50 million dollars.

Our guide Zvika, who served as both a para-trooper during the 6 day war as well as part of the security team of the Ambassador to Brazil in the 80's was so full of interesting stories we were sorry to leave.

TRANSIT THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL (or keep your doors closed because of the flies) April 9th

We were the first ship in a convoy of 14 other ships to enter the canal heading from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean.  I had always assumed that it was one straight cut through the desert.  It is not.
Although Egypt is on both sides, the western side is occupied with small villages right by the canal. The eastern side is far more barren.  It is 102 miles long and took us from 8 in the morning until 5 in the evening to go through.  It is basically a one lane route.  There are no locks and the water flows freely.  In general the canal north of Bitter Lakes flows north in the winter and south in the summer  There are passing places in Ballah By-Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake.

This is the view behind us as we entered the canal with all the other ships following behind.

 The price to pay to the canal authorities was in the neighborhood of $200,000. for our ship!

This photo if of the Ballah By-Pass just a island in the middle of the canal where ships going in the opposite direction can park till the north-bound ships has passed.

At the next by-pass, a ship is heading into the Red Sea but it looks like it is stranded in the sand of Great Bitter Lake by-pass.  Actually it is in the water on the other side.

There are hundreds of Egyptian Army guard stations all along the canal and helicopters regularly fly over the canal.  There are many tanks are stationed as well.

Across the lake from Ismailia is a memorial to the Egyptian soldiers who died battling Israel in the 1973 war, a 216-foot-high bayonet whose silvery white blade glistens in the noon sun

There are numerous small villages along the canal and here is a ferry stop waiting for our boat to pass before it dodges the next boat going up the canal.

The El Ferdan Railway Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt. It is the longest swing bridge in the world, with a span of 1100 ft (340 m). It replaced the 1963 bridge, which was destroyed in the Six-Day War.

This bridge which is for trains, opens only during the day and is closed so the train can cross the canal at night.  

Talking about flies.  You could not really stay outside during the transit because there were so many flies.

 Not sure how the villagers deal with this problem but I get the feeling they don't mind it much.