Civitevecchia tomorrow
And the end of this wonderful cruise and life experience. I probably should take a photo of what this cabin looks like while packing is going on, but I don’t think I ever took one of it on an every day basis so for all you know, this is the way it looks all the time. Getting peeks into some of these “staterooms” I’m convinced some folks never unpack and just leave everything lying around. Not everyone of course, but my heart goes out to the poor cabin stewards who must do their best in these situations.
Sorrento
What a gorgeous place. And while rain was forecasted, we had absolutely breathtakingly beautiful weather. It was cool enough that I needed a jacket sometimes and while I could have used a hat, I certainly didn’t have to have one. I had a nibble in the Panorama Buffet and then waited for Ed which took much longer than my comfort level. Eventually we headed out to the tender and the Commendatore was on board dressed in a suit and tie. He was going to give a talk in Sorrento. There are a few other cruise ships in the bay of equal size. We finally landed at the base of this huge Cliffside. Princess provided a shuttle up the hillside and we decided because of time to take it. Last time we walked up and down it. Must be at least a 100 steps each way and requires dodging crazed Italian drivers hell bent to make it around those hair pin curves at a new speed record. We were dropped off near a store we had visited last time. We walked around a little and in one of the stores asked a lady for a recommendation on a restaurant. She gave us a few ideas including one that had caught Ed’s eye on the corner of the intersection with a minipiazza. Along the way, there was a cathedral somewhat hidden in a shopping area where a marriage had just finished. With body language, I asked the priest if it was OK to go in to see the church which was, not surprisingly, absolutely breathtaking. On the way out, we ran into Tom and JoAnn having cappuccino. Many folks wanted to have it in Italy to see how authentic it is. Since I don’t drink coffee I can’t give you a report.
So we found our way to the Aurora Pizzareia where that is only one of the dishes. I wanted Insalata Caprese (of course) which the waiter was trying to discourage us from ordering. He was pushing a veggie plate. We ordered both and each was fantastic. Not sure why he wasn’t very encouraging of the Instalata Caprese; Perhaps they were low on the gorgeous (looked like heirloom) tomatoes. Then we had decided on a pizza that had cheese, ham, mushrooms, and other goodies on it. This was big enough for 3 people though it was advertised as being for one person. We ordered a small bottle of white wine, enough for two servings, which was Ok by me and Ed said was really good. We both ate way too much but boy was it good! Before we went back to the tender, we got gelato: hazelnut for me, double chocolate for Ed. Mine was terrific; his was way too sweet even for him. But if we had not done that, we wouldn’t have forgotten the fact.
Many other folks from the ship wound up here as well. In fact, as usual, we saw folks from the ship everywhere. We even ran into Max, our dining room waiter who looked like a teenager though he must be over 50. We teased him about looking for a Chinese restaurant since that’s usually what his entourage eats when on shore. Ed also picked up a USA Today and an International Herald Tribune along the way. (as an aside: this morning I dropped off the IHT we picked up in Athens at the library on board and it was scooped up and devoured right away.
We went another direction but not before Ed went in search of the olive oil they served us at lunch to sop up with bread. It really was good but I would have been satisfied to look for it in LA. Not Ed. He wanted a bottle right away. So a waiter told him to try the supermarket down the block. Turns out they didn’t have it so he finagled the head waiter into selling him a bottle from the restaurant. I better not break in the luggage when that 400 pound gorilla in baggage at the airport slings our bags around.
We walked past churches which were (disappointingly) closed—a sign of the times I’m afraid. I recall when the church building was never closed. Lots of shops with lots of lemoncello themed goodies to get as mementos. We dropped a few Euros here but the economy will never rest on our shoulders. The strategies vendors use to manipulate you are fascinating though. When Ed presented his Amex card to pay at one place, the guy said he needed Euros since his “machine is broken.” He did speak THAT much English. I laughed to myself and we acted dumb about that strategy.
We took the tender back and soaked up more astonishing views of the shoreside in this bay that goes from Capri to Naples. And when we hit our cabin, it was back to the reality of packing.
Athens vs. Sorrento
I keep hoping I’ll like Athens more than I have so far. I haven’t been anywhere else in Greece except Rhodes which hardly counts in a way. But as Ed and I were walking around Sorrento, I remarked on how both countries have a long history with old everything but Athens is depressing and not at all a draw and Italy is gorgeous and happy and a wonderful draw. Go figure. I haven’t written Greece off, but I’ll need to keep looking for things that would draw me there.
As I write this, Ed is finishing up bags while I’ve been doing the tip envelopes, “you made a difference” cards, and the evaluation of the cruise and delivered everything (almost) where they’re supposed to be. So I’m going to close off and upload all this so that I can also pack the electronic gadgetry as well.
I’ll try to post a closing reflection sometime after we get back.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
We fly home tomorrow
In the bay near Sorrento as I post this.
Tomorrow Sorrento
And the day after that, we fly out of Rome back home. With luck that is because of the volcanic ash cloud which seems to be meandering over Europe and North Africa willy nilly.
Disembarkation Lecture
This is a review of the process and all the requirements for leaving the ship and getting to the airport safely. I think they do a magnificent job considering the logistics but it is not without it’s “challenges” as Ed’s problem with the luggage tags, and thus our time to leave, can attest. I’m putting a positive spin on it: it means we will have more buffer time to make the airport and thus our flight, comfortably.
Culinary Demonstration
He did Baklava. Wow! That’s a LOT of work. He also showed us how to do manicotti dishes and cannelloni. At the end, there was a tour of the galley which I passed on since we’ve seen it a few times. We got our certificates of completion attesting to our participation in these culinary classes (which we are told would cost us $5K in LA.
Trivia
I got there late but we did well as we won! It is also the time to redeem our tokens so we are having some choices to make. We have over 60 and the “prizes” are things such as Princess mugs (actually quite nice but too big and heavy for us to take), luggage tags, recycle bags, lanyards, passport cases, hats, and playing cards. In the afternoon we didn’t win but we were only 1 point from the winners. We gave Frankie an envelope with our tokens in it and a wish list. He sent a bag of our “order” to our room.
Whatever will we do with it?
Last world cruise, we were given a crystal globe a little larger than a golf ball. In our room today was a wall plaque for each of us engraved with our name and the dates of the cruise. It’s gorgeous but…
Lunch
Visited with some folks we have come to know on the cruise including an 80+ man from Slidell near New Orleans. This will be his last long cruise (he only does about 30 day cruises now) as he’s tired of the long flights. He’s sticking to the Caribbean in the future. Not a bad idea: these ships are pretty good assisted living facilities.
Packing: yuk!
This is never a good time for us. And today was no different. I tried to arrange things as Ed wanted them but without much success so I simply left him to do whatever with the packing. I no longer even attempt to pack as he has always undone it and redone it as he likes so I gave up long ago. But it does mean this cabin is waaaayyyy too small for us.
The Hero’s Journey: Timeless Tales from the Mediterranean
While Ed went to take a computer class I went to this lecture by the anthropologist. She discussed the commonalities in cultural terms, think Joseph Cambell’s mythological lectures, of the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Dante’s Inferno. Since I missed these in my education, and you hear of them all the time, I was interested in the synopses and analyses of these three classics. Now I won’t guarantee you I can remember any of it long enough to explain it to others but I enjoyed the lecture.
Captain’s Cocktail Party
This was the last hurrah for everyone and the place is packed for free booze. It is also formal night so everyone’s gussied up—well most anyway. It’s fun to see people in their finery.
Dinner
David brought champagne so we toasted everyone’s health and a safe journey home. The other couples are both spending some time in Italy before returning home. Jo Ann’s ankle is better off and on. She has to elevate it frequently and keep ice on it. The Commendetore met us at the door to the dining room and we each got a parchment menu. Fancy dinner time. Food as always was scrumptious. In fact too much so. We’ve been celebrating so much I know I’ve gained a few pounds this last week. It’s back to Lean Cuisine when we’re home.
Tonite’s show
It’s the musical extravaganza they do on formal nights. This one was new and it’s title was Sounds of the city. As they always do, the singers and dancers were outstanding.
The Straits of Messina
The weather and the views have been spectacular today. After the show, it is still light since we are going so far north so it was twilight as we viewed Sicily on our port side and the coast of Italy on starboard. It was absolutely like something out of a movie.
Tomorrow is Sorrento and we’ll take the tender in and just walk around this fun hillside city between Naples and Capri. It is also the beginning of the Amalfi Coast which is noted for it’s small towns clutching the sheer cliffsides. Positano where the movie “The Postman” is set is one of the first as you go south. You need to leave the driving up to the Italians though as there’s no room for error on these roads around these cliffs. Packing will be done tomorrow evening with only our roll aboards left with us. We are taking the Princess transfer bus to the airport; this is so much easier and their prices became competitive closer to the voyage. Even though we get another hour tonite (YEAH) it still means a 5 am docking of the ship and we must be ready to leave the ship at 6:45 am. Ed has finally settled with that. I’m just as glad for the extra time.
Tomorrow Sorrento
And the day after that, we fly out of Rome back home. With luck that is because of the volcanic ash cloud which seems to be meandering over Europe and North Africa willy nilly.
Disembarkation Lecture
This is a review of the process and all the requirements for leaving the ship and getting to the airport safely. I think they do a magnificent job considering the logistics but it is not without it’s “challenges” as Ed’s problem with the luggage tags, and thus our time to leave, can attest. I’m putting a positive spin on it: it means we will have more buffer time to make the airport and thus our flight, comfortably.
Culinary Demonstration
He did Baklava. Wow! That’s a LOT of work. He also showed us how to do manicotti dishes and cannelloni. At the end, there was a tour of the galley which I passed on since we’ve seen it a few times. We got our certificates of completion attesting to our participation in these culinary classes (which we are told would cost us $5K in LA.
Trivia
I got there late but we did well as we won! It is also the time to redeem our tokens so we are having some choices to make. We have over 60 and the “prizes” are things such as Princess mugs (actually quite nice but too big and heavy for us to take), luggage tags, recycle bags, lanyards, passport cases, hats, and playing cards. In the afternoon we didn’t win but we were only 1 point from the winners. We gave Frankie an envelope with our tokens in it and a wish list. He sent a bag of our “order” to our room.
Whatever will we do with it?
Last world cruise, we were given a crystal globe a little larger than a golf ball. In our room today was a wall plaque for each of us engraved with our name and the dates of the cruise. It’s gorgeous but…
Lunch
Visited with some folks we have come to know on the cruise including an 80+ man from Slidell near New Orleans. This will be his last long cruise (he only does about 30 day cruises now) as he’s tired of the long flights. He’s sticking to the Caribbean in the future. Not a bad idea: these ships are pretty good assisted living facilities.
Packing: yuk!
This is never a good time for us. And today was no different. I tried to arrange things as Ed wanted them but without much success so I simply left him to do whatever with the packing. I no longer even attempt to pack as he has always undone it and redone it as he likes so I gave up long ago. But it does mean this cabin is waaaayyyy too small for us.
The Hero’s Journey: Timeless Tales from the Mediterranean
While Ed went to take a computer class I went to this lecture by the anthropologist. She discussed the commonalities in cultural terms, think Joseph Cambell’s mythological lectures, of the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Dante’s Inferno. Since I missed these in my education, and you hear of them all the time, I was interested in the synopses and analyses of these three classics. Now I won’t guarantee you I can remember any of it long enough to explain it to others but I enjoyed the lecture.
Captain’s Cocktail Party
This was the last hurrah for everyone and the place is packed for free booze. It is also formal night so everyone’s gussied up—well most anyway. It’s fun to see people in their finery.
Dinner
David brought champagne so we toasted everyone’s health and a safe journey home. The other couples are both spending some time in Italy before returning home. Jo Ann’s ankle is better off and on. She has to elevate it frequently and keep ice on it. The Commendetore met us at the door to the dining room and we each got a parchment menu. Fancy dinner time. Food as always was scrumptious. In fact too much so. We’ve been celebrating so much I know I’ve gained a few pounds this last week. It’s back to Lean Cuisine when we’re home.
Tonite’s show
It’s the musical extravaganza they do on formal nights. This one was new and it’s title was Sounds of the city. As they always do, the singers and dancers were outstanding.
The Straits of Messina
The weather and the views have been spectacular today. After the show, it is still light since we are going so far north so it was twilight as we viewed Sicily on our port side and the coast of Italy on starboard. It was absolutely like something out of a movie.
Tomorrow is Sorrento and we’ll take the tender in and just walk around this fun hillside city between Naples and Capri. It is also the beginning of the Amalfi Coast which is noted for it’s small towns clutching the sheer cliffsides. Positano where the movie “The Postman” is set is one of the first as you go south. You need to leave the driving up to the Italians though as there’s no room for error on these roads around these cliffs. Packing will be done tomorrow evening with only our roll aboards left with us. We are taking the Princess transfer bus to the airport; this is so much easier and their prices became competitive closer to the voyage. Even though we get another hour tonite (YEAH) it still means a 5 am docking of the ship and we must be ready to leave the ship at 6:45 am. Ed has finally settled with that. I’m just as glad for the extra time.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Headed to Sorrento, Italy
Athens on your own
Ed got up and started getting ready so I did as well. The ship was in the process of docking. The Aida diva ship was to our side scooting up to the pier beyond us. There were 5 cruise ships in port today. That does not include all the ferries and small boats, plus so many other vessels. This is the major port for Greece and it shows it. I did my internet stuff while Ed went to get breakfast. He met Tom there and he is on his own today as Jo Ann has an appt with an MD in Athens to have her foot checked. She’s been here before but this is Tom’s first time.
We met them both in the hallway and made it out to the terminal where Jo Ann left to return to the ship while we strolled out to find out how to get to the metro/subway station. As it turns out, we kept walking and decided to take the bus from Pireas to Athens and this was not only cheaper (1 Euro per person each way) but we got to see so much more of Athens and vicinity on the way. We also went by the hospital where Jo Ann had her appt and so on the way back, Tom got a photo for her album.
We made it to a square that sounded something like Smyrna and then we picked up the Hop on Hop off bus. We went one stop to the Plaka area where we walked in. You could see the Acropolis from everywhere in this area with the Parthenon on top. We also saw the brand new Acropolis museum. Clearly this was a busy tourist day. The weather was warm enough but not blazing as it has often been on this trip. We walked around various cute little streets and finally decided on a restaurant, Evisla or something like that, where we decided after a while to dine family style. Ed ordered Mousakka, we got pita bread, hummus, tzadzeki (sp) and Aubergine (I can’t recall the English name now but it’s the Eggplant dish. We also ordered a salad and the guys had beer while I had tea. We shared a bottle of water and at the end, the waiter brought us some ouzo. Yeech. What a waste on me. I can live without licorice and this is definitely strong flavored. But I do have to say it was really smooth.
This was Tom’s first time having Tzadzeki and I’m glad he liked it. This was a little more bland than I like but it was very good. We (again) asked for directions to the cathedral where Ed wanted to get another Greek fisherman’s hat from the same place. We did eventually find the place and Tom also bought one. We then wandered all around and eventually made it back to the hop on hop off bus and we took the full circuit and listened to the acoustic guide. At one point we saw bullet holes, and they looked fresh, at a metro entrance. Later we saw an impromptu memorial with lots of flowers where obviously someone had recently died. We don’t know the details about any of this.
We caught up with the bus to Pireas and off we went. I still am not impressed with Athens; perhaps the rest of Greece would be more interesting. But I am glad we did the bus and saw so much of the back alleys of Athens. We made it back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare.
The advantages of going off on your own as we did is the fun of exploring an unknown place and transport. People want to be helpful and many speak excellent English. And it’s less expensive by and large. But the disadvantages are considerable. You waste a lot of time trying to get around and find places. You’re out to sea in terms of prices and good shops and restaurants. The main thing that is nerve racking for me is the time factor. If we were staying in a hotel, it wouldn’t matter if we were late getting back. But there is simply no fudge room if you’re delayed in returning to the ship. We did very well today but we had planned on being back before we actually made it.
Ooops
In addition to the expected sweating and such, I looked in the mirror and discovered that some bird had left a rather large “present’ on my right shoulder, so I showered and changed before dinner. We are not sending any laundry out now so we can be sure that we have everything when we leave the ship so I will be doing hand laundry again tonite.
Dinner
All present. Jo Ann was very funny in telling her story of going to the doctor in Pireas. Basically he said she has a Level 2 strain and gave her some advice on how to manage it. The taxi ride to the hospital cost $44 Euros; the one back only $8 Euros. The charge for the hospital and MD costs? Zero! The other couple took a hydrofoil to an adjacent island, rented a car and travelled around that island where there is a temple to Poseidon. They had a nice lunch in a seaside restaurant.
Tonite’s entertainment
It’s hard to describe this except to say that it was the crew doing a pub night. They were very good and there was a singing competition with the Lounge divided into two teams singing two different songs. Later there was a balloon bursting game which I’ve seen before and which is hilarious. One of the poor male dancers had a pin on him to break the balloons to spare him the pounding from the women. Long story. And finally they did my all time favorite skit: If I were not upon the sea. Each time it is different and each time it is hilarious.
Disembarkation “challenges”
We have completed 3 questionnaires about our flight plans. This information is important because we must be able to leave the ship and take the transfer bus in time to comfortably make our flight. The tags were here tonite and they were wrong. So Ed went down to clear it up and picked up white tags. I was looking at the schedule and it is true our tags should be white, but they should be a different number. So Ed went down to the purser’s desk to clear it up. They would not change it which means we must get up earlier and leave earlier than what would otherwise have been necessary. He is steaming so I’m keeping busy until it passes over.
And the days are definitely getting longer as we go farther from the equator.
Ed got up and started getting ready so I did as well. The ship was in the process of docking. The Aida diva ship was to our side scooting up to the pier beyond us. There were 5 cruise ships in port today. That does not include all the ferries and small boats, plus so many other vessels. This is the major port for Greece and it shows it. I did my internet stuff while Ed went to get breakfast. He met Tom there and he is on his own today as Jo Ann has an appt with an MD in Athens to have her foot checked. She’s been here before but this is Tom’s first time.
We met them both in the hallway and made it out to the terminal where Jo Ann left to return to the ship while we strolled out to find out how to get to the metro/subway station. As it turns out, we kept walking and decided to take the bus from Pireas to Athens and this was not only cheaper (1 Euro per person each way) but we got to see so much more of Athens and vicinity on the way. We also went by the hospital where Jo Ann had her appt and so on the way back, Tom got a photo for her album.
We made it to a square that sounded something like Smyrna and then we picked up the Hop on Hop off bus. We went one stop to the Plaka area where we walked in. You could see the Acropolis from everywhere in this area with the Parthenon on top. We also saw the brand new Acropolis museum. Clearly this was a busy tourist day. The weather was warm enough but not blazing as it has often been on this trip. We walked around various cute little streets and finally decided on a restaurant, Evisla or something like that, where we decided after a while to dine family style. Ed ordered Mousakka, we got pita bread, hummus, tzadzeki (sp) and Aubergine (I can’t recall the English name now but it’s the Eggplant dish. We also ordered a salad and the guys had beer while I had tea. We shared a bottle of water and at the end, the waiter brought us some ouzo. Yeech. What a waste on me. I can live without licorice and this is definitely strong flavored. But I do have to say it was really smooth.
This was Tom’s first time having Tzadzeki and I’m glad he liked it. This was a little more bland than I like but it was very good. We (again) asked for directions to the cathedral where Ed wanted to get another Greek fisherman’s hat from the same place. We did eventually find the place and Tom also bought one. We then wandered all around and eventually made it back to the hop on hop off bus and we took the full circuit and listened to the acoustic guide. At one point we saw bullet holes, and they looked fresh, at a metro entrance. Later we saw an impromptu memorial with lots of flowers where obviously someone had recently died. We don’t know the details about any of this.
We caught up with the bus to Pireas and off we went. I still am not impressed with Athens; perhaps the rest of Greece would be more interesting. But I am glad we did the bus and saw so much of the back alleys of Athens. We made it back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare.
The advantages of going off on your own as we did is the fun of exploring an unknown place and transport. People want to be helpful and many speak excellent English. And it’s less expensive by and large. But the disadvantages are considerable. You waste a lot of time trying to get around and find places. You’re out to sea in terms of prices and good shops and restaurants. The main thing that is nerve racking for me is the time factor. If we were staying in a hotel, it wouldn’t matter if we were late getting back. But there is simply no fudge room if you’re delayed in returning to the ship. We did very well today but we had planned on being back before we actually made it.
Ooops
In addition to the expected sweating and such, I looked in the mirror and discovered that some bird had left a rather large “present’ on my right shoulder, so I showered and changed before dinner. We are not sending any laundry out now so we can be sure that we have everything when we leave the ship so I will be doing hand laundry again tonite.
Dinner
All present. Jo Ann was very funny in telling her story of going to the doctor in Pireas. Basically he said she has a Level 2 strain and gave her some advice on how to manage it. The taxi ride to the hospital cost $44 Euros; the one back only $8 Euros. The charge for the hospital and MD costs? Zero! The other couple took a hydrofoil to an adjacent island, rented a car and travelled around that island where there is a temple to Poseidon. They had a nice lunch in a seaside restaurant.
Tonite’s entertainment
It’s hard to describe this except to say that it was the crew doing a pub night. They were very good and there was a singing competition with the Lounge divided into two teams singing two different songs. Later there was a balloon bursting game which I’ve seen before and which is hilarious. One of the poor male dancers had a pin on him to break the balloons to spare him the pounding from the women. Long story. And finally they did my all time favorite skit: If I were not upon the sea. Each time it is different and each time it is hilarious.
Disembarkation “challenges”
We have completed 3 questionnaires about our flight plans. This information is important because we must be able to leave the ship and take the transfer bus in time to comfortably make our flight. The tags were here tonite and they were wrong. So Ed went down to clear it up and picked up white tags. I was looking at the schedule and it is true our tags should be white, but they should be a different number. So Ed went down to the purser’s desk to clear it up. They would not change it which means we must get up earlier and leave earlier than what would otherwise have been necessary. He is steaming so I’m keeping busy until it passes over.
And the days are definitely getting longer as we go farther from the equator.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Currently in PIreas Greece
At sea before Athens
That sun is BRIGHT! It’s impossible to ignore it blaring around the curtains. I was up first about 7:30 and Ed woke up pretty soon after I came back to bed. I did my usual with the internet in the library.
Today’s purchase
They are having outlet sales on board and I got a congrats card for Kathy and Chuck as they will be getting married soon after they get home. And I got a jogging suit I had been interested in earlier in the cruise but it wasn’t present in my size at that time. I had a little pang about getting anything additional at this point but Ed didn’t bat an eye.
He had asked me earlier to put out the hanging clothes that I didn’t need between now and Rome. So I drug out all but a few things, put them into two piles (those that should stay on hangers and those that could be folded. Well somehow we got our wires crossed and so I had to put much of it back. Since Ed just redoes it if I pack, I simply put things out and get out of his way as a rule. Since Sorrento is our port before we disembark at the port of Civitivecchia a few miles from Rome, that last day will be nuts. Perhaps we can get some packing done during the day at sea between Athens and Sorrento.
And speaking of Athens, we got another letter from the Captain today keeping us up to date about the unrest in Athens where a protest has been planned for the foot of the Acropolis tomorrow. So they are playing it by ear. This will be interesting.
Port Talk: Sorrento
We have been to Capri, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast on earlier trips so I’m not quite sure what we’ll do in this tender port, but we will enjoy doing nothing but walking around if that’s what we decide. What an interesting part of the world and how colorful.
Trivia
We are getting to the end and so we took a photo of our “team” since Susan and Hazel do not often show up in the afternoon. We had our usual fun and WE WON! We scored 19 missing the question about the nationality of the first woman to top Mt. Everest (Japanese just in case). So now we have to deal with these 60+ tokens and collecting our gifts. This afternoon we lost fair and square. Even had we gotten the question for which we selected the wrong answer among us, we would not have beaten the top team this afternoon.
Lunch
Since we have a BIG dinner tonite, I stayed in and enjoyed an orange while Ed went for a snack upstairs.
In the Shadow of Mt. Etna: Volcanoes & Tectonic Plates
This was done by the professional Journalist and he did a very nice job of describing the top 10 volcanos in the world and why they made that list. Along the way, he talked a little about Pompei near Sorrento which is our port in two days.
The Pacific Princess Choir Farewell Concert
David Crathorne has done a magnificient job of pulling together between 40 and 50 passengers into a very credible choir. The concert had a great theme of friends and the selections of pieces from various genres were perfect. A very unusual thing to expect on a cruise.
Red Hat Society Social Tea
I went down for this get together but not with much enthusiasm. One of the ladies just turns me off so badly; the others are pleasant and I enjoyed the visit but left after 30 min for trivia. That time was long enough for me. But I was able to show everyone the photo of the wedding dress I dyed as many of them want to try it too.
Cocktail Party for World Cruise passengers
There are a lot of folks who have been on here for the whole cruise and this was a get together for us. We were introduced to all of the staff who oversee things. A few we had heard of but never seen at least where we knew who they were.
Choosing photos
This was a chore I didn’t look forward to completing but I also didn’t want to put it off any longer because the lines will be fierce after tomorrow. We have been saving the best of the photos along the way and so today we winnowed out and whittled down until we had a manageable stack of photos from which to choose. One of the cutest is from the formal night where we wore somewhat matching Chinese outfits and Carlos had us bow to the camera. It’s probably our favorite from this cruise.
Chef’s dinner
Ed wanted to do this again and while I enjoyed it, it is waayyy too much food at one time for me. It is impressive how they put all these multiple courses together. The service is impeccable. The food unbelievable. I most enjoyed visiting with a fellow who worked most of his career with the Public Health Service including a few years in Gallup, NM. He is an engineer, born in Kansas, and he and his wife are now retired at a Del Webb site in Arizona. You can see his humble beginnings in his personality and I just simply enjoyed how genuine he is. There was a young couple present as well. They do trading on-line so they are working on this cruise. They have four laptops with them and have to keep track of the time in the US and work those hours no matter where we are in the world. I have seen them on some of the cruises but had wondered why we didn’t see them very often while on ship. I actually thought they were ship’s staff in some fashion and simply lived somewhere in the bowels of the ship laboring away at some menial task.
That sun is BRIGHT! It’s impossible to ignore it blaring around the curtains. I was up first about 7:30 and Ed woke up pretty soon after I came back to bed. I did my usual with the internet in the library.
Today’s purchase
They are having outlet sales on board and I got a congrats card for Kathy and Chuck as they will be getting married soon after they get home. And I got a jogging suit I had been interested in earlier in the cruise but it wasn’t present in my size at that time. I had a little pang about getting anything additional at this point but Ed didn’t bat an eye.
He had asked me earlier to put out the hanging clothes that I didn’t need between now and Rome. So I drug out all but a few things, put them into two piles (those that should stay on hangers and those that could be folded. Well somehow we got our wires crossed and so I had to put much of it back. Since Ed just redoes it if I pack, I simply put things out and get out of his way as a rule. Since Sorrento is our port before we disembark at the port of Civitivecchia a few miles from Rome, that last day will be nuts. Perhaps we can get some packing done during the day at sea between Athens and Sorrento.
And speaking of Athens, we got another letter from the Captain today keeping us up to date about the unrest in Athens where a protest has been planned for the foot of the Acropolis tomorrow. So they are playing it by ear. This will be interesting.
Port Talk: Sorrento
We have been to Capri, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast on earlier trips so I’m not quite sure what we’ll do in this tender port, but we will enjoy doing nothing but walking around if that’s what we decide. What an interesting part of the world and how colorful.
Trivia
We are getting to the end and so we took a photo of our “team” since Susan and Hazel do not often show up in the afternoon. We had our usual fun and WE WON! We scored 19 missing the question about the nationality of the first woman to top Mt. Everest (Japanese just in case). So now we have to deal with these 60+ tokens and collecting our gifts. This afternoon we lost fair and square. Even had we gotten the question for which we selected the wrong answer among us, we would not have beaten the top team this afternoon.
Lunch
Since we have a BIG dinner tonite, I stayed in and enjoyed an orange while Ed went for a snack upstairs.
In the Shadow of Mt. Etna: Volcanoes & Tectonic Plates
This was done by the professional Journalist and he did a very nice job of describing the top 10 volcanos in the world and why they made that list. Along the way, he talked a little about Pompei near Sorrento which is our port in two days.
The Pacific Princess Choir Farewell Concert
David Crathorne has done a magnificient job of pulling together between 40 and 50 passengers into a very credible choir. The concert had a great theme of friends and the selections of pieces from various genres were perfect. A very unusual thing to expect on a cruise.
Red Hat Society Social Tea
I went down for this get together but not with much enthusiasm. One of the ladies just turns me off so badly; the others are pleasant and I enjoyed the visit but left after 30 min for trivia. That time was long enough for me. But I was able to show everyone the photo of the wedding dress I dyed as many of them want to try it too.
Cocktail Party for World Cruise passengers
There are a lot of folks who have been on here for the whole cruise and this was a get together for us. We were introduced to all of the staff who oversee things. A few we had heard of but never seen at least where we knew who they were.
Choosing photos
This was a chore I didn’t look forward to completing but I also didn’t want to put it off any longer because the lines will be fierce after tomorrow. We have been saving the best of the photos along the way and so today we winnowed out and whittled down until we had a manageable stack of photos from which to choose. One of the cutest is from the formal night where we wore somewhat matching Chinese outfits and Carlos had us bow to the camera. It’s probably our favorite from this cruise.
Chef’s dinner
Ed wanted to do this again and while I enjoyed it, it is waayyy too much food at one time for me. It is impressive how they put all these multiple courses together. The service is impeccable. The food unbelievable. I most enjoyed visiting with a fellow who worked most of his career with the Public Health Service including a few years in Gallup, NM. He is an engineer, born in Kansas, and he and his wife are now retired at a Del Webb site in Arizona. You can see his humble beginnings in his personality and I just simply enjoyed how genuine he is. There was a young couple present as well. They do trading on-line so they are working on this cruise. They have four laptops with them and have to keep track of the time in the US and work those hours no matter where we are in the world. I have seen them on some of the cruises but had wondered why we didn’t see them very often while on ship. I actually thought they were ship’s staff in some fashion and simply lived somewhere in the bowels of the ship laboring away at some menial task.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Pireas Greece tomorrow
In the Mediterranean Sea
Someone came on the PA system between 5 and 6 am to tell us that we were entering the Suez Canal. Well needless to say, there wasn’t much sleep after that. Eventually we both rolled out and Ed went to the gym. I got ready and went to the library for the internet stuff.
Holiday Store at Sea
This is (supposedly) our last chance to purchase goodies for $10 USD. The prices are certainly lower than other places I’ve seen them but then you have to figure out who would like them as gifts. So as usual, I just looked.
Spectacular Culinary Demonstration
Commendatore dazzled us again with his quick, and deceptively easy looking, preparation of Caesar salad served two ways, pork chops with veggies, and creama caramel in individual or group servings. Along the way we learned a lot of helpful hints. And we received two recipes not to be found in the cookbook: one for moussaka and one for a dessert that is loaded with Calories!
World Cruise Lover’s Luncheon
There were folks from the 2008 and 2009 world cruises who are on this cruise. There were probably 40 + people. It was a fun reunion. We sat with the two Chucks at a window seat with a wonderful view of the Suez as we sailed along. Commendatore prepared a wonderful luncheon. We looked at the menu and figured we’d get choices. As it turned out, we got a little of everything on the menu. And there were wines to join the foods.
I went to the computer area to see if I could audit a course. No one showed up for it and Tim had an agreement with another passenger for a private lesson if no one showed up for the class. I got a few answers to some challenges in Photoshop and then ran down to see what was left of the 1:30 pm program
Reflections: A Voyage of a lifetime 2010 World Cruise Highlights
Werner, the videographer on board, prepared a video of less than an hour of many highlights from this cruise. There are 4 DVDs of his videos and Ed had ordered them some time ago so we’ll have all of it. They do such a great job in the Video and Photo departments. Simply amazing talented folks.
Port Talk: Piraeus
Marty Green did his usual terrific job of presenting Athens in a quick tour. I’m still not sure what we’ll be doing there but we may take the Metro Subway into the Plaka area and just walk around. You can see lots of the sights we’ve already seen from that area and Ed hopes to buy another Greek fisherman’s cap.
Transiting the Canal
Originally, the plan was to stop at Port Said, Egypt on the northern exit of the Canal to refuel from a barge. The Captain came on around noon to let us know we wouldn’t be doing this as the seas are too high near Port Said for a safe transfer of fuel. While the transit of the canal was quiet and smooth as you would expect, as soon as we approached the mouth of the Canal near the Mediterranean, the seas became very choppy and the ship began it’s usual swaying when you are in choppy waters. After all this while, we can feel when the ship leaves a harbor or quiet waterway. It is almost winter like outside with wind, sprinkles, and gray skies.
On either side is this sugar fine sand. Periodically there are sentries who seem to be perpetually sleeping on duty, so what’s the point. Here and there, fishermen can be seen plying their trade. The unique pigeon domes are seen here and there. Egyptians grow birds in these beehive looking, tall structures for eating. Occasionally, there were fields with crops growing on the edges of the shore.
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty currently standing in NY Harbor was originally conceived to appear at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal? There was no money to pay for it and through a very circuitous route, it eventually wound up in America. Another bubble burst.
Frankie’s International White Elephant Auction Sale Extravaganza
This is where people put their regretted purchases up for auction for themselves or to donate to charity. It’s amazing what people have. Two dresses were actually the nicest. There were two bottles of wine. One person introduced a bag of the chocolates they put on our pillows each evening. Go figure. But sometimes the competition for the most mundane things is astonishing. One fellow paid $5 USD for a faux (of course) Rolex watch. When I left, it was up to $20! Ed came back with a pareo with Vanuatu, his favorite port on this trip, on it in large letters. He paid $5 for it. Now….I want to see HIM wear it. Ha.
Yikes! No water
There was an announcement at one point that the transfer to fresh water on board is taking longer than expected and that it will be an hour before the water is back on. First time ever on a ship where they provide water via desalination. And then I went to the restroom and forgot…
Afternoon movies
There were two documentaries about the Suez Canal and one about the Egyptian Pharoahs. Both well done and full of great photos and old videos. Ed missed them. He was either at the auction or slept through them.
Dinner
Everybody present. JoAnn’s foot is still a problem so she will be seeing a MD in Athens. She asked Nikolas if the MD will speak English. He said he’ll be an expert to address her needs.
Tonite’s Entertainment
This was a professional pickpocket who has done videos showing how pickpockets work and explains the techniques to you. But in all of this, he is madly picking pockets in the audience. It’s amazing how fast and subtle he is. We have seen some of the same tricks at the Magic Castle, where all the magicians are members. But he went much further. He had folks put things in a bag unknown to him (though he did know who had the bags) and then he would first guess what was in the bag with a great deal of accuracy. He’d then describe the item and what type of person the item would fit. Eventually he returned all the items to the people who had originally put them into the bag(s) with 100% accuracy. Ed was one of the “victims”. He put in his coffee card for the ship. Of course, he just blended into the audience with his shirt with the tiger emblazoned front and back, in gold, on a black shirt!
World Cruise Costume Party
Dancing and games where passengers wore costumes they had picked up in the various countries. I put a purple Red Hat T-shirt, pants I bought in Sharm El Sheik, my Egyptian headdress, and over the body, I wore the belly dance outfit I got in Dubai (or was it Oman?). We had dancing and then the costume contest. I made the first cut but in the end there were two ladies who won. One was all in black with only her eyes showing. I thought this one was a worthy first place winner. The other lady came into the contest well after it had started. She did have a good sense of humor (you’ll see why I say that in a minute) but I thought she took advantage by popping up after the first cut. She was about 5’ tall and about as wide. But she had a lot more guts than I did. I wore the t-shirt and pants UNDER the belly dance costume. She just wore the belly dance costume! She had a shawl on and covered her face with a lacy top with coins all over it so it was a cute and authentic looking costume.
All of this was followed by a Champagne Waterfall: greatly overrated imho. Even so, Ed and I went up to be silly with the rest, help the Maitre d’ pour the bottle, and have our photo taken. There were in excess of 600 wine glasses in that pyramid. We get free champagne with this event. I took a few sips, and then put the glass down with the comment: “life is too short to waste it on cheap champagne.” One of the perhaps not-so-good things to happen on this cruise is that I’ve tasted some really good champagne and I am now ruined forever. Now I know why I’ve never liked champagne before!
I’m not sure when we left but it was after the ship’s crew had departed. It takes a while for my body to cool down after dancing and such so we surely got to sleep well after midnight. We were laughing at ourselves because we have been in smooth seas for so long we’ve had to learn anew how to hang onto the side rails when walking around the ship, and anticipate the movements of the ship.
Someone came on the PA system between 5 and 6 am to tell us that we were entering the Suez Canal. Well needless to say, there wasn’t much sleep after that. Eventually we both rolled out and Ed went to the gym. I got ready and went to the library for the internet stuff.
Holiday Store at Sea
This is (supposedly) our last chance to purchase goodies for $10 USD. The prices are certainly lower than other places I’ve seen them but then you have to figure out who would like them as gifts. So as usual, I just looked.
Spectacular Culinary Demonstration
Commendatore dazzled us again with his quick, and deceptively easy looking, preparation of Caesar salad served two ways, pork chops with veggies, and creama caramel in individual or group servings. Along the way we learned a lot of helpful hints. And we received two recipes not to be found in the cookbook: one for moussaka and one for a dessert that is loaded with Calories!
World Cruise Lover’s Luncheon
There were folks from the 2008 and 2009 world cruises who are on this cruise. There were probably 40 + people. It was a fun reunion. We sat with the two Chucks at a window seat with a wonderful view of the Suez as we sailed along. Commendatore prepared a wonderful luncheon. We looked at the menu and figured we’d get choices. As it turned out, we got a little of everything on the menu. And there were wines to join the foods.
I went to the computer area to see if I could audit a course. No one showed up for it and Tim had an agreement with another passenger for a private lesson if no one showed up for the class. I got a few answers to some challenges in Photoshop and then ran down to see what was left of the 1:30 pm program
Reflections: A Voyage of a lifetime 2010 World Cruise Highlights
Werner, the videographer on board, prepared a video of less than an hour of many highlights from this cruise. There are 4 DVDs of his videos and Ed had ordered them some time ago so we’ll have all of it. They do such a great job in the Video and Photo departments. Simply amazing talented folks.
Port Talk: Piraeus
Marty Green did his usual terrific job of presenting Athens in a quick tour. I’m still not sure what we’ll be doing there but we may take the Metro Subway into the Plaka area and just walk around. You can see lots of the sights we’ve already seen from that area and Ed hopes to buy another Greek fisherman’s cap.
Transiting the Canal
Originally, the plan was to stop at Port Said, Egypt on the northern exit of the Canal to refuel from a barge. The Captain came on around noon to let us know we wouldn’t be doing this as the seas are too high near Port Said for a safe transfer of fuel. While the transit of the canal was quiet and smooth as you would expect, as soon as we approached the mouth of the Canal near the Mediterranean, the seas became very choppy and the ship began it’s usual swaying when you are in choppy waters. After all this while, we can feel when the ship leaves a harbor or quiet waterway. It is almost winter like outside with wind, sprinkles, and gray skies.
On either side is this sugar fine sand. Periodically there are sentries who seem to be perpetually sleeping on duty, so what’s the point. Here and there, fishermen can be seen plying their trade. The unique pigeon domes are seen here and there. Egyptians grow birds in these beehive looking, tall structures for eating. Occasionally, there were fields with crops growing on the edges of the shore.
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty currently standing in NY Harbor was originally conceived to appear at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal? There was no money to pay for it and through a very circuitous route, it eventually wound up in America. Another bubble burst.
Frankie’s International White Elephant Auction Sale Extravaganza
This is where people put their regretted purchases up for auction for themselves or to donate to charity. It’s amazing what people have. Two dresses were actually the nicest. There were two bottles of wine. One person introduced a bag of the chocolates they put on our pillows each evening. Go figure. But sometimes the competition for the most mundane things is astonishing. One fellow paid $5 USD for a faux (of course) Rolex watch. When I left, it was up to $20! Ed came back with a pareo with Vanuatu, his favorite port on this trip, on it in large letters. He paid $5 for it. Now….I want to see HIM wear it. Ha.
Yikes! No water
There was an announcement at one point that the transfer to fresh water on board is taking longer than expected and that it will be an hour before the water is back on. First time ever on a ship where they provide water via desalination. And then I went to the restroom and forgot…
Afternoon movies
There were two documentaries about the Suez Canal and one about the Egyptian Pharoahs. Both well done and full of great photos and old videos. Ed missed them. He was either at the auction or slept through them.
Dinner
Everybody present. JoAnn’s foot is still a problem so she will be seeing a MD in Athens. She asked Nikolas if the MD will speak English. He said he’ll be an expert to address her needs.
Tonite’s Entertainment
This was a professional pickpocket who has done videos showing how pickpockets work and explains the techniques to you. But in all of this, he is madly picking pockets in the audience. It’s amazing how fast and subtle he is. We have seen some of the same tricks at the Magic Castle, where all the magicians are members. But he went much further. He had folks put things in a bag unknown to him (though he did know who had the bags) and then he would first guess what was in the bag with a great deal of accuracy. He’d then describe the item and what type of person the item would fit. Eventually he returned all the items to the people who had originally put them into the bag(s) with 100% accuracy. Ed was one of the “victims”. He put in his coffee card for the ship. Of course, he just blended into the audience with his shirt with the tiger emblazoned front and back, in gold, on a black shirt!
World Cruise Costume Party
Dancing and games where passengers wore costumes they had picked up in the various countries. I put a purple Red Hat T-shirt, pants I bought in Sharm El Sheik, my Egyptian headdress, and over the body, I wore the belly dance outfit I got in Dubai (or was it Oman?). We had dancing and then the costume contest. I made the first cut but in the end there were two ladies who won. One was all in black with only her eyes showing. I thought this one was a worthy first place winner. The other lady came into the contest well after it had started. She did have a good sense of humor (you’ll see why I say that in a minute) but I thought she took advantage by popping up after the first cut. She was about 5’ tall and about as wide. But she had a lot more guts than I did. I wore the t-shirt and pants UNDER the belly dance costume. She just wore the belly dance costume! She had a shawl on and covered her face with a lacy top with coins all over it so it was a cute and authentic looking costume.
All of this was followed by a Champagne Waterfall: greatly overrated imho. Even so, Ed and I went up to be silly with the rest, help the Maitre d’ pour the bottle, and have our photo taken. There were in excess of 600 wine glasses in that pyramid. We get free champagne with this event. I took a few sips, and then put the glass down with the comment: “life is too short to waste it on cheap champagne.” One of the perhaps not-so-good things to happen on this cruise is that I’ve tasted some really good champagne and I am now ruined forever. Now I know why I’ve never liked champagne before!
I’m not sure when we left but it was after the ship’s crew had departed. It takes a while for my body to cool down after dancing and such so we surely got to sleep well after midnight. We were laughing at ourselves because we have been in smooth seas for so long we’ve had to learn anew how to hang onto the side rails when walking around the ship, and anticipate the movements of the ship.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Transiting Suez Canal now
Into the Gulf of Suez
We had a 9 am mtg so I set the wake up call for 8 am. Though we were both awake long before then, it still wasn’t fun getting up.
Health Check
Since Ed has signed us up for another Chef’s dinner, we had to appear to be sure we understood the rules. For example, no open toed shoes, must wear a lab coat while in the galley, must wash our hands on the way into the galley and sing Happy Birthday, to ourselves if we wish, twice as we wash our hands. There is a video on the ship’s channel that reviews the handwashing procedure at regular intervals. So I guess we passed! Whoopie!
Port Talk: Suez Canal
I’ve heard other port talks about the Canal and have transited it twice before, but I learned so many new facts about the Canal. I never knew there is a 2 lane tunnel under the canal, joining Egypt with the Sinai peninsula, at the south entrance. There is a swing bridge which I may have seen but forgotten. Many of the little towns along the way were new to me—at least what I recall. 50 ships a day transit this crucial waterway. Oil tankers who are too tall can off load some of their oil into a barge which follows them through the canal, and then take it back on at the opposite end.
Trivia
Those taking the dance classes had champagne right before Trivia so they may not have been as sharp as we’d expect. Our team again was one point below the winners. I think the teams must be pretty well matched since this is often the case and not just with our team. Occasionally one team will blow the others away but it’s rare. And the winning team changes a lot and is certainly not a given. The afternoon session was awful with questions that defy description. Perhaps it’s the staff’s revenge for our (meaning that all of us are responsible for how all the trivia players behave) behavior. We lost this afternoon; our score was 9, the winning team got 10. The team who’s quiz we graded got 3. That tells you what it was like!
Mother’s Day/Sunday Brunch
The Commendetore put together the big Happy Mother’s Day display by himself and it was gorgeous. He just used stuff available on the ship: wine glasses, red covered chocolates, serpentine, balloons, and an enormous cake the pastry chef made which is likely not edible. The decorations inside were ice carvings and the ones made with fruits and vegetables. Many of them were of a mother and child.
Afternoon project
I was toying with the idea of submitting a photo for this segment’s contest where I have put monkeys around Ed in our cabin. I borrowed Chuck’s Mac and spent the whole afternoon trying to get it where it looked seamless. Eventually I decided not to spend more time on it. I don’t have the documentation to help me over some of the hurdles, and the handouts from the computer class are often absent the little side things you want to achieve. And finally, my neck and shoulders were hurting and so it became clear to me that this was not something I should be doing. Fortunately there wasn’t anything compelling this afternoon; Estelle Harris was talking about her life again and the book club was meeting about Nicholas Sparks’ book “The Choice” which I had read before we came on board.
I was checking out the computer classes to audit and there were none this morning and only one this afternoon that I had taken before and I couldn’t deal with auditing it one more time. Of course, just wait until I try it on my own with my own photo and I may be sorry I didn’t try to embed those little traces in my brain yet one more time.
Dinner
All present. JoAnn’s ankle is up and down. Of course, she walked Petra yesterday with it wrapped in Ace bandages and it’s getting back at her today. We laughed about some odd behavior on the part of fellow bus travelers, the book club discussion, and such. The dessert tonite was Cherries Jubilee so I sinned again and had some. We did talk about how going on a world cruise changes your thinking about world events. You begin to see how and why other cultures and ethnicities think as they do. Some of achieve this learning but certainly not all. Some folks are still very sure that their way is the best way for all. Wonder how they’d feel if they were on the receiving end of that attitude in their native land.
And speaking of the Petra experience, I think we are finally rehydrated. I was surprised that a little muscle that runs parallel with the tibia in the lower leg is letting me know that it was not happy with the walk yesterday. I don’t ever recall that muscle being a problem. And my plantar fasciitis (at least that’s what my MD thinks it is—it’s gone on for a year now) is not really any better though I’ve certainly been doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
Entertainment
Tom Fletcher is billed with the idea “no thinking required.” That fits this population pretty well. We saw him on the last world cruise. He’s an older guy with a booming voice and is a good joke teller. Of course, we have heard some of them before but it’s still fun to hear them with someone else’s twist to it. And he put JJ into some of them which was great fun since we are all so fond of him.
Our view over the ocean today
We can often see land on either side but the haze is such that it’s often indistinguishable. We are clearly in the Gulf of Suez and creeping along as we must transit the Suez Canal in a convoy. There isn’t enough room in many areas of the Canal for a two way passage so ships go to the Bitter Lakes and wait until the transit ships from the other direction pass on. There are two convoys from the South and only one from the North; I don’t know why.
We saw some oil rigs out in the water at several points, some huge container ships very close by, and someone claimed to have seen some dolphins though I couldn’t see them (that doesn’t mean much as folks who know my vision will understand). The weather has been hot and humid but the sun hasn’t been searing. The mountains in the distance loom as giants lying on their sides watching us sail by.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow afternoon Frankie will have the customary International White Elephant Auction. This is done at the end of the cruise so folks can get rid of those purchases that now seem incredible. The money can be kept by the person or donated to a charity of the person’s choice. This is always hilarious because you cannot imagine what people have picked up. There is a wall hanging from Phuket that we’ve seen several times that was originally purchased for $24. And there’s a red manual penis vacuum pump (I’m not making this up) which draws a lot of interest but no bids—at least none anyone is owning up to!
We had a 9 am mtg so I set the wake up call for 8 am. Though we were both awake long before then, it still wasn’t fun getting up.
Health Check
Since Ed has signed us up for another Chef’s dinner, we had to appear to be sure we understood the rules. For example, no open toed shoes, must wear a lab coat while in the galley, must wash our hands on the way into the galley and sing Happy Birthday, to ourselves if we wish, twice as we wash our hands. There is a video on the ship’s channel that reviews the handwashing procedure at regular intervals. So I guess we passed! Whoopie!
Port Talk: Suez Canal
I’ve heard other port talks about the Canal and have transited it twice before, but I learned so many new facts about the Canal. I never knew there is a 2 lane tunnel under the canal, joining Egypt with the Sinai peninsula, at the south entrance. There is a swing bridge which I may have seen but forgotten. Many of the little towns along the way were new to me—at least what I recall. 50 ships a day transit this crucial waterway. Oil tankers who are too tall can off load some of their oil into a barge which follows them through the canal, and then take it back on at the opposite end.
Trivia
Those taking the dance classes had champagne right before Trivia so they may not have been as sharp as we’d expect. Our team again was one point below the winners. I think the teams must be pretty well matched since this is often the case and not just with our team. Occasionally one team will blow the others away but it’s rare. And the winning team changes a lot and is certainly not a given. The afternoon session was awful with questions that defy description. Perhaps it’s the staff’s revenge for our (meaning that all of us are responsible for how all the trivia players behave) behavior. We lost this afternoon; our score was 9, the winning team got 10. The team who’s quiz we graded got 3. That tells you what it was like!
Mother’s Day/Sunday Brunch
The Commendetore put together the big Happy Mother’s Day display by himself and it was gorgeous. He just used stuff available on the ship: wine glasses, red covered chocolates, serpentine, balloons, and an enormous cake the pastry chef made which is likely not edible. The decorations inside were ice carvings and the ones made with fruits and vegetables. Many of them were of a mother and child.
Afternoon project
I was toying with the idea of submitting a photo for this segment’s contest where I have put monkeys around Ed in our cabin. I borrowed Chuck’s Mac and spent the whole afternoon trying to get it where it looked seamless. Eventually I decided not to spend more time on it. I don’t have the documentation to help me over some of the hurdles, and the handouts from the computer class are often absent the little side things you want to achieve. And finally, my neck and shoulders were hurting and so it became clear to me that this was not something I should be doing. Fortunately there wasn’t anything compelling this afternoon; Estelle Harris was talking about her life again and the book club was meeting about Nicholas Sparks’ book “The Choice” which I had read before we came on board.
I was checking out the computer classes to audit and there were none this morning and only one this afternoon that I had taken before and I couldn’t deal with auditing it one more time. Of course, just wait until I try it on my own with my own photo and I may be sorry I didn’t try to embed those little traces in my brain yet one more time.
Dinner
All present. JoAnn’s ankle is up and down. Of course, she walked Petra yesterday with it wrapped in Ace bandages and it’s getting back at her today. We laughed about some odd behavior on the part of fellow bus travelers, the book club discussion, and such. The dessert tonite was Cherries Jubilee so I sinned again and had some. We did talk about how going on a world cruise changes your thinking about world events. You begin to see how and why other cultures and ethnicities think as they do. Some of achieve this learning but certainly not all. Some folks are still very sure that their way is the best way for all. Wonder how they’d feel if they were on the receiving end of that attitude in their native land.
And speaking of the Petra experience, I think we are finally rehydrated. I was surprised that a little muscle that runs parallel with the tibia in the lower leg is letting me know that it was not happy with the walk yesterday. I don’t ever recall that muscle being a problem. And my plantar fasciitis (at least that’s what my MD thinks it is—it’s gone on for a year now) is not really any better though I’ve certainly been doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
Entertainment
Tom Fletcher is billed with the idea “no thinking required.” That fits this population pretty well. We saw him on the last world cruise. He’s an older guy with a booming voice and is a good joke teller. Of course, we have heard some of them before but it’s still fun to hear them with someone else’s twist to it. And he put JJ into some of them which was great fun since we are all so fond of him.
Our view over the ocean today
We can often see land on either side but the haze is such that it’s often indistinguishable. We are clearly in the Gulf of Suez and creeping along as we must transit the Suez Canal in a convoy. There isn’t enough room in many areas of the Canal for a two way passage so ships go to the Bitter Lakes and wait until the transit ships from the other direction pass on. There are two convoys from the South and only one from the North; I don’t know why.
We saw some oil rigs out in the water at several points, some huge container ships very close by, and someone claimed to have seen some dolphins though I couldn’t see them (that doesn’t mean much as folks who know my vision will understand). The weather has been hot and humid but the sun hasn’t been searing. The mountains in the distance loom as giants lying on their sides watching us sail by.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow afternoon Frankie will have the customary International White Elephant Auction. This is done at the end of the cruise so folks can get rid of those purchases that now seem incredible. The money can be kept by the person or donated to a charity of the person’s choice. This is always hilarious because you cannot imagine what people have picked up. There is a wall hanging from Phuket that we’ve seen several times that was originally purchased for $24. And there’s a red manual penis vacuum pump (I’m not making this up) which draws a lot of interest but no bids—at least none anyone is owning up to!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
On to Suez Canal
Petra, Jordan
The tap on the door woke and room service was delivered with a smile. As I looked out the balcony doors, you could still see lights on the shore in the distance. We gobbled down our breakfast, got ready, and went down to the Cabaret Lounge a few minutes early. Since we were on bus number 8, it tells you a lot about the enthusiasm of the other passengers for tours. Since we all leave and travel in caravan, there was little incentive to rush except to get one’s preferred seats.
Our Guide
Soli (Sol-ee) is one of those ageless young Arabic men. He’s not married and happy that way. He was born in and lives in the little town of Petra, and has degrees in tourism and archeology. He was fun. Just before the front of the Treasury appears as you emerge from the groove in the high walls, he tricked us into turning opposite the site (we hadn’t seen it yet---long story—and didn’t suspect it was right around the next curve), closing our eyes, and then eventually, pulling up the theme music from Raiders of the Lost Ark and having us open our eyes to see the front of the Treasury peeking out at us. His English was good compared to many of the guides we’ve had along the way, and he learned it all from tourists. His pronunciations are sometimes British, sometimes American. And he uses slang expressions in many dialects and languages. We had fun with him. He sometimes takes two full tours into Petra for a total of about 15 miles a day. He’s a skinny little guy.
Their eyes
I have been struck by the piercing eyes of the peoples in these countries. They are a rich, golden brown, with very white sclera and with the dark lashes, it’s quite mesmerizing. Think of Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. And speaking of that movie, Lawrence’s headquarters was in this area so you can imagine the rough life. And we even saw the train tracks as we travelled both ways today.
Going out and returning
We traveled by caravan through an ever changing topography. The mountains are craggy and sharp peaked in most places, and then others they are rounded at the tops. There is basalt and granite for the most part, but limestone prevails nearer to Petra. It was over a two hour drive and toward the approach to Petra, we began to steeply climb the mountain range. Along the way, there were some adjustments to the air conditioning which either froze most folks out, or was nonexistent. Ed thinks the driver didn’t know how to work the controls.
Along the way, we saw Bedouin encampments with their vehicles parked outside. Sheep were seen periodically, often right at the side of the road and you could always find the shepherd nearby if you looked long enough. We saw camels here and there and there were signs to watch for camels crossing the road; I gather they can be wild in some of these areas.
We saw men and women in various versions of native dress, but Western attire was common particularly for the men and the young women. Overall, however, the landscape seems pretty barren of human life. One wonders how they survive. Tourism is the main industry. Aqaba has some minerals to export and there’s potential oil reserves underground, but other than a patch of green here and there were someone had eked out a patch of wheat or barley, and a few scattered very spindly looking trees, there’s nothing out there. I believe they essentially get their water from Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The Bedouin tents are made out of skins and tapestries created from the hair of animals. They look pretty sturdy and I assume they must be cool inside. The flooring is all carpets.
Petra
Spectacular. Amazing. Stupendous. Remarkable. Eye popping. Well you could go on and on. It is a five mile walk to see the small part of this whole complex that we saw. You walk down to the Treasury, the most well known of the structures, so that means you must walk UP to get back out. There are horses and donkeys nearby that you can use for a tip of about $5 USD (what an interesting way to say it rather than the fee is $5 USD). The little horse traps (carriages) hold two normal sized people very snugly for a spine jarring trek down, or up, to the Treasury. The cost is $35 USD one way if I heard accurately. There are only 10 available and while they said they wanted to save them for disabled, clearly lots of folks weren’t what we’d call physically disabled.
The weather was mild for this area but it was still hot and we still sweated our share. We each had carried a bottle of water from our room and had consumed it on the way down. Many folks were upset that there was no water given to us on the bus; this is almost always the case in these hot climates. On our bus, our guide found 14 bottles but we were 34 passengers. At the Treasury Ed got another bottle and a Diet Coke (a little puny, skinny can that looked like they had slapped a diet Coke label onto a miniature Red Bull can). Later at lunch, he and I split a 1.5 liter bottle of water plus more. I went to the restroom before the trip back (remember: never miss an opportunity to go to the restroom on these tours) and when I tried, there was only a drop or two there. When I was back in the cabin, maybe half a cup. Clearly we were dehydrated by the heat.
4000 visitors a DAY visit Petra so you can imagine the crowds at this point. Our 10 busses were but a small part of the fleet in the parking lot there. There are several souvenir shops but nothing extravagant and the aggressiveness of the vendors is tolerable.
The land is a combination of similarities to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion all rolled into one. But it’s not any of these places. The geological formations could sometimes be mistaken for each other but Petra’s surroundings are not those of SW USA. The heights of the walls around you as you enter are impressive. These walls also have carvings into the walls which have been eroded away by the flash floods through this wadi through the years, but they are still recognizable with the help of a skilled guide. One area had a camel caravan carved into the sides of the walls. This was a stopping point on caravans and so that it was very appropriate for the times. I’m amazed folks could find all this but clearly the locals never “lost” it.
As we drove away, you could look back on the mountains behind us and see where Petra is hiding amid all these colorful rock formations. When shown what to look for, you could identify where you had just left at least in a conceptual fashion.
A decent visit to the area around Petra requires a minimum of three days to do it justice. We only had a few hours but that’s better than nothing.
Recommend going to Petra?
Without exception I would highly recommend everyone go see this incredible place while you can. By that I mean not only that it will still be open to visitors, but also that you’ll have the physical stamina to do it. I am so glad we went, but I wouldn’t do it again. The heat is something I cannot deal with comfortably and it absolutely drains both of us.
Lunch
Near the visitor’s center for Petra, there is a Movenpick hotel. Locally it’s called the “move and pick” and there is a shop near the front gate of Petra titled: Pick and Move. Those of you who know this chain know how nice it is. Probably 5 star. We had to go through a scanner before entering and lunch was buffet style. It had a mix of offerings with basic Middle Eastern dishes. The hummus was so good. There was a chicken dish that was great: the chicken wasn’t special but the sauce and veggies with it were scrumptious. There was a strawberry and cherry dessert that was indescribable. And I’ve told you about the bottles of water they made available to us.
But there was another side: If you ordered anything not included in the voucher we were given, it could cost you dearly. Our guide had cautioned us to ask the price before ordering. A man at the end of the table ordered a beer: Amstel is all they had and a small can at that. I asked how much the hotel was charging and the wife said she had no idea but it wouldn’t be cheap. The waiter delivered the beer and later another, older man came along to tell the man that the beer would be “seven and a half US dollars”. When Ed joined me, I passed this along as he had requested one too. In the interim, the older man came back to collect for the beer and it was now $8 USD. No explanation. At the movie tonite, we heard that some folks ordered three beers and it cost them $27 USD. Highway robbery is alive and well.
Welcome home!
When we came back to the pier at 6 pm, we were welcomed (all of us, not just Ed and I) by the Commendatore and the Maitre D’. We were given cold wash cloths to wipe down with and a cup of lemonade. Very good PR!
Dinner and a movie
Because I didn’t want to change out of my grungy clothes from today, I told Ed I didn’t want to go to the Dining Room for supper. We were late anyway for our usual time. So I checked out the back deck of the ship at the Panorama Buffet and it was still too hot for my still too warm body, so we sat inside and watched the sun go down over the mountains behind Eliat (which is easily seen directly across the Gulf of Aqaba). In it’s own way, it was pretty and very interesting. No rainbow of colors, but pretty nonetheless.
Up in the Air:
Well this was a strange movie. It had some amusing moments but the whole idea is pretty unsavory. One fellow said as we were leaving the Lounge: I can’t believe I didn’t walk out of this crap. It wasn’t as bad as Sunshine Cleaning but it isn’t worth the effort to film it. Just a heads up.
Athens
We all got a letter in our mailboxes today telling us that Athens is still on. The State Department hasn’t issued any extraordinary precautions about it. So, none of the other exciting ports we had contemplated. Sigh.
Eeeek! Only a week left!
And it will be busy. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and the Sunday brunch they do so well. We have to appear at 9 am for a health check as Ed wanted to do the Chef’s deluxe dinner….again. So that is tomorrow night. Nothing like two tempting meals to bust a good intentioned diet.
Then I’ve got an idea for an entry into the photo contest but I need access to Adobe Photoshop and that’s a stretch. We’ll see if I can get access somewhere to play with it.
We transit the Suez Canal on Monday and that is the luncheon the Captain is giving for those of us on board for whom this is our second (or more) world cruise. Can’t miss that one! And I think it’s also the Egyptian themed night The 12th is Athens and the 13th is our last formal night. We also need to decide on our photographs before then as well. The 14th is Sorrento and then waaayyyy too early on the 15th, we are off to fly home from Rome.
The tap on the door woke and room service was delivered with a smile. As I looked out the balcony doors, you could still see lights on the shore in the distance. We gobbled down our breakfast, got ready, and went down to the Cabaret Lounge a few minutes early. Since we were on bus number 8, it tells you a lot about the enthusiasm of the other passengers for tours. Since we all leave and travel in caravan, there was little incentive to rush except to get one’s preferred seats.
Our Guide
Soli (Sol-ee) is one of those ageless young Arabic men. He’s not married and happy that way. He was born in and lives in the little town of Petra, and has degrees in tourism and archeology. He was fun. Just before the front of the Treasury appears as you emerge from the groove in the high walls, he tricked us into turning opposite the site (we hadn’t seen it yet---long story—and didn’t suspect it was right around the next curve), closing our eyes, and then eventually, pulling up the theme music from Raiders of the Lost Ark and having us open our eyes to see the front of the Treasury peeking out at us. His English was good compared to many of the guides we’ve had along the way, and he learned it all from tourists. His pronunciations are sometimes British, sometimes American. And he uses slang expressions in many dialects and languages. We had fun with him. He sometimes takes two full tours into Petra for a total of about 15 miles a day. He’s a skinny little guy.
Their eyes
I have been struck by the piercing eyes of the peoples in these countries. They are a rich, golden brown, with very white sclera and with the dark lashes, it’s quite mesmerizing. Think of Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. And speaking of that movie, Lawrence’s headquarters was in this area so you can imagine the rough life. And we even saw the train tracks as we travelled both ways today.
Going out and returning
We traveled by caravan through an ever changing topography. The mountains are craggy and sharp peaked in most places, and then others they are rounded at the tops. There is basalt and granite for the most part, but limestone prevails nearer to Petra. It was over a two hour drive and toward the approach to Petra, we began to steeply climb the mountain range. Along the way, there were some adjustments to the air conditioning which either froze most folks out, or was nonexistent. Ed thinks the driver didn’t know how to work the controls.
Along the way, we saw Bedouin encampments with their vehicles parked outside. Sheep were seen periodically, often right at the side of the road and you could always find the shepherd nearby if you looked long enough. We saw camels here and there and there were signs to watch for camels crossing the road; I gather they can be wild in some of these areas.
We saw men and women in various versions of native dress, but Western attire was common particularly for the men and the young women. Overall, however, the landscape seems pretty barren of human life. One wonders how they survive. Tourism is the main industry. Aqaba has some minerals to export and there’s potential oil reserves underground, but other than a patch of green here and there were someone had eked out a patch of wheat or barley, and a few scattered very spindly looking trees, there’s nothing out there. I believe they essentially get their water from Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The Bedouin tents are made out of skins and tapestries created from the hair of animals. They look pretty sturdy and I assume they must be cool inside. The flooring is all carpets.
Petra
Spectacular. Amazing. Stupendous. Remarkable. Eye popping. Well you could go on and on. It is a five mile walk to see the small part of this whole complex that we saw. You walk down to the Treasury, the most well known of the structures, so that means you must walk UP to get back out. There are horses and donkeys nearby that you can use for a tip of about $5 USD (what an interesting way to say it rather than the fee is $5 USD). The little horse traps (carriages) hold two normal sized people very snugly for a spine jarring trek down, or up, to the Treasury. The cost is $35 USD one way if I heard accurately. There are only 10 available and while they said they wanted to save them for disabled, clearly lots of folks weren’t what we’d call physically disabled.
The weather was mild for this area but it was still hot and we still sweated our share. We each had carried a bottle of water from our room and had consumed it on the way down. Many folks were upset that there was no water given to us on the bus; this is almost always the case in these hot climates. On our bus, our guide found 14 bottles but we were 34 passengers. At the Treasury Ed got another bottle and a Diet Coke (a little puny, skinny can that looked like they had slapped a diet Coke label onto a miniature Red Bull can). Later at lunch, he and I split a 1.5 liter bottle of water plus more. I went to the restroom before the trip back (remember: never miss an opportunity to go to the restroom on these tours) and when I tried, there was only a drop or two there. When I was back in the cabin, maybe half a cup. Clearly we were dehydrated by the heat.
4000 visitors a DAY visit Petra so you can imagine the crowds at this point. Our 10 busses were but a small part of the fleet in the parking lot there. There are several souvenir shops but nothing extravagant and the aggressiveness of the vendors is tolerable.
The land is a combination of similarities to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion all rolled into one. But it’s not any of these places. The geological formations could sometimes be mistaken for each other but Petra’s surroundings are not those of SW USA. The heights of the walls around you as you enter are impressive. These walls also have carvings into the walls which have been eroded away by the flash floods through this wadi through the years, but they are still recognizable with the help of a skilled guide. One area had a camel caravan carved into the sides of the walls. This was a stopping point on caravans and so that it was very appropriate for the times. I’m amazed folks could find all this but clearly the locals never “lost” it.
As we drove away, you could look back on the mountains behind us and see where Petra is hiding amid all these colorful rock formations. When shown what to look for, you could identify where you had just left at least in a conceptual fashion.
A decent visit to the area around Petra requires a minimum of three days to do it justice. We only had a few hours but that’s better than nothing.
Recommend going to Petra?
Without exception I would highly recommend everyone go see this incredible place while you can. By that I mean not only that it will still be open to visitors, but also that you’ll have the physical stamina to do it. I am so glad we went, but I wouldn’t do it again. The heat is something I cannot deal with comfortably and it absolutely drains both of us.
Lunch
Near the visitor’s center for Petra, there is a Movenpick hotel. Locally it’s called the “move and pick” and there is a shop near the front gate of Petra titled: Pick and Move. Those of you who know this chain know how nice it is. Probably 5 star. We had to go through a scanner before entering and lunch was buffet style. It had a mix of offerings with basic Middle Eastern dishes. The hummus was so good. There was a chicken dish that was great: the chicken wasn’t special but the sauce and veggies with it were scrumptious. There was a strawberry and cherry dessert that was indescribable. And I’ve told you about the bottles of water they made available to us.
But there was another side: If you ordered anything not included in the voucher we were given, it could cost you dearly. Our guide had cautioned us to ask the price before ordering. A man at the end of the table ordered a beer: Amstel is all they had and a small can at that. I asked how much the hotel was charging and the wife said she had no idea but it wouldn’t be cheap. The waiter delivered the beer and later another, older man came along to tell the man that the beer would be “seven and a half US dollars”. When Ed joined me, I passed this along as he had requested one too. In the interim, the older man came back to collect for the beer and it was now $8 USD. No explanation. At the movie tonite, we heard that some folks ordered three beers and it cost them $27 USD. Highway robbery is alive and well.
Welcome home!
When we came back to the pier at 6 pm, we were welcomed (all of us, not just Ed and I) by the Commendatore and the Maitre D’. We were given cold wash cloths to wipe down with and a cup of lemonade. Very good PR!
Dinner and a movie
Because I didn’t want to change out of my grungy clothes from today, I told Ed I didn’t want to go to the Dining Room for supper. We were late anyway for our usual time. So I checked out the back deck of the ship at the Panorama Buffet and it was still too hot for my still too warm body, so we sat inside and watched the sun go down over the mountains behind Eliat (which is easily seen directly across the Gulf of Aqaba). In it’s own way, it was pretty and very interesting. No rainbow of colors, but pretty nonetheless.
Up in the Air:
Well this was a strange movie. It had some amusing moments but the whole idea is pretty unsavory. One fellow said as we were leaving the Lounge: I can’t believe I didn’t walk out of this crap. It wasn’t as bad as Sunshine Cleaning but it isn’t worth the effort to film it. Just a heads up.
Athens
We all got a letter in our mailboxes today telling us that Athens is still on. The State Department hasn’t issued any extraordinary precautions about it. So, none of the other exciting ports we had contemplated. Sigh.
Eeeek! Only a week left!
And it will be busy. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and the Sunday brunch they do so well. We have to appear at 9 am for a health check as Ed wanted to do the Chef’s deluxe dinner….again. So that is tomorrow night. Nothing like two tempting meals to bust a good intentioned diet.
Then I’ve got an idea for an entry into the photo contest but I need access to Adobe Photoshop and that’s a stretch. We’ll see if I can get access somewhere to play with it.
We transit the Suez Canal on Monday and that is the luncheon the Captain is giving for those of us on board for whom this is our second (or more) world cruise. Can’t miss that one! And I think it’s also the Egyptian themed night The 12th is Athens and the 13th is our last formal night. We also need to decide on our photographs before then as well. The 14th is Sorrento and then waaayyyy too early on the 15th, we are off to fly home from Rome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)