April 28, 2013
On April 24 I headed to the Lido for breakfast hoping to find another adventurer to ride the Grand Canal. Lo and Behold, Michael and Claire from Australia were sitting trying to decide what to do. We hooked up for an expedition around Venice. We took the shuttle bus that Prinsendam provided from the ship to the People Mover which runs between a very huge parking lot and the downtown. For 1 Euro each it got us to within about 2 walking blocks of the Grand Canal. Once there we needed to buy tickets for a round trip on the #1 vaporetto. We found a PT ticket seller but he only sold tickets for the #2 vaporetto that terminates at St. Mark`s Square. As the cue was building quickly we thought we should just get on and was told to pay on the vaporetto. Well we had a lovely scenic ride along the Grand Canal and to Lido Island and then we came back again. The day was sunny and I spent the whole time thinking about what might happen if checkers came on and I got arrested. We never did pay. Venice has about 15,000 residents but there are about 60,000 that service all the shops and tourist attractions. These folk live outside Venice and commute by vehicle or the train crossing the lagoon from the mainland on the 3 mile expressway. Everyone transfers to the People Mover. AM and PM commute along the Grand Canal is a sight to see. There are stops along the canal for the vaporettos, but there are private boats, taxi boats, delivery boats, boats tied up along both sides of the canal and also police boats. One vaporetto has to wait for another to leave the stop going the opposite direction and then the second can pull into the same place but going another direction. Boat congestion was a sight to see. We saw the Doges Palace, St. Mark`s Square, Rialto Bridge, and the Bridge of Sighs as well as many other older buildings. Allow for a three hour round trip just staying on the vaporetto.
On April 26 we were anchored off the coast of Sicily at Taormina at the Port of Naxos after we had sailed for one day. We took a ride around to see Taormina along with a stop at the Gival Jewelry Factory where we watched jewelry being made from the lava of Mt. Etna. Mt Etna had spewed ashes into the air the previous Saturday leaving black ash 5 centimeters thick on the highways and the fine ash was still on the street and layered on cars when we got to the factory. As we drove along we watched the mountain as it blew smoke into the sky. Mt. Etna is the highest mountain in Europe. It has destroyed the town of Cantania 9 times and has erupted more than 140 times. Currently it stands at 3,330 meters high but the height varies as liquid magma is deposited on the rim. Sometimes it gets smaller as the rim is torn down by the next blow. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean with 26,000 square kms. It is said that ice cream came from Sicily about 1860. Taormina has about 12,000 residents. There is an unemployment rate of 15% among young people as many of them graduate with degrees but can`t seem to find work. Technical training is needed as construction workers, plumbers, electricians are in short supply. I enjoyed the area with its great views and the lovely people. Later in the evening we passed the island of Stromboli with its mountain spitting fire and lava. Passing it at night was beautiful and as we reached the north side we could see the constant orange glow.
Our next port of call was to be Sorrento for two days but there were going to be 3 other cruise ships anchored in the bay so our captain made some changes so we spent one day in Naples. I took off on a tour of Pompei but the rain and the slippery marble caused me some concern so I did not get up to the old city. There was a very nice hotel that a group of us sat in and visited while others went trinket shopping at the outdoor booths which surrounded the walls of the old city. Traveling passed Mount Vesuvius was almost bewildering after seeing both Mt. Etna and Stromboli as active. The ride was a nice one to see the surrounding countryside but I did miss seeing Pompei. Upon returning to the ship we had a very nice dinner and watched the traffic near the port. A tram station is right near the port and we saw trolley buses. There was a great deal of construction outside the terminal. A Hop On Hop Off bus stopped just across the street outside the terminal. Naples seems to be an easy city to get around in. Naples has a population of 1.6 million and is the 3rd largest city in Italy. Pompei and Herculaneum were both destroyed in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Pompei had been an important crossroad for commerce. The last time Vesuvius erupted was in 1944. The area around Vesuvius has about 900,000 residents.
Today April 28 we arrived in Sorrento. Sorrento is a wonderful small town with huge walls that come almost right down to the harbor. Like many of these old walled cities the roads are narrow and they have hairpin turns with high walls on both sides. The view from the upper city looking down on the port and our ship was clear and beautiful. The day seems to go by so fast once we'd returned from our tour that I did not have enough time to get the whole perspective of the town. A trip down the Amalfi Coast was winding and quite spectacular. There were many houses built way up on almost verticle cliffs with swimming pools and hot tubs. Interspersed with modern highend real estate were old watchtowers that sat sedately on points. Summer here is April through October and this was a 4-day weekend so there were lots of tourists out with most of them on motorcycles.I have been introduced to a new liquor made with lemons. It is quite popular here and is known as limoncello. It is sweet and has a thickness like port. The port area in Sorrento is lovely and has a nice walkway along the port.There were a number of small stores but as it was Sunday many of them were closed. It is now around 7 pm and we have left Sorrento and are heading to Civitavecchia which is a port for access to Rome. I have planned to see Rome tomorrow though how much walking I do will be decided as the day goes by.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The Adriatic Sea
April 20, 2013
Yesterday was a day at sea and with two lectures and the cocktails and Captain's dinner along with the 140ith birthday of Holland America Line. It turned out to be quite a busy day. The travel guide talks about our upcoming ports and where the ship will be docked and whether there will be a shuttle bus to take us to town and the layout of the area as well as the tours that HAL offers. The dinner was great and we sat with the doctor and his wife along with a retired teacher and a lovely lady whose native tongue was Spanish and knew little English. So upon returning to our already cramped cabin we find that HAL has given us a lovely almost 800 page book on the Mediterranean titled THE GREAT SEA which is in the ship`s library. Glancing through it the author traces the history from 22,000 BC right up to 2010. Great book even if it does weigh 5 pounds!
Today at 7AM we docked at the beautiful port of Dubrovnik, Croatia and we will leave at 4 AM tomorrow as we only need a few hours to reach Kotor, Montenegro. I toured north along the coast to the town of Ston which has the 2nd longest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. The old town of Dubrovnik is circled by a wall which a number of passengers said they had walked on. The wall of Ston is over 6 kilometers and I did get some pictures of it. We continued on to two different family wineries one which does export to Canada and the US so I decided that I would purchase a bottle when I get home. The Adriatic Sea looked like a lake today, no waves, but the day was sunny. Dubrovnik is on the UNESCO world heritage list and since the 1990 war many buildings have been fixed or rebuilt. They have a new bridge over a channel built in about 2005 cutting 18 miles off a trip north as they used to have to travel to the end of the channel to get to the other side. During the war Serbian ships blocked the channel putting a seige on the city from October 1991 until the summer of 1992. The residents had no water, electricity and the roofs of houses were shelled for 24 hours straight. Food could not be shipped in and many people died of starvation. Croatia has 4.5 million people with about 15,000 living in Dubrovnik which is in the southern part of the country on the east side of the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Zagreb which is in the north. Croatia has 1000 islands which they manage. Dubrovnik existed as an independant city republic for 500 years with the Venetian empire on one side and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Napoleon conquered it during his reign. More history than I am able to relate. Lunch was at a family run winery. The family home was over 500 years old and the area we ate in had been the wine cellar until the new one was built. Back in Dubrovnik`s heyday during the 15th and 16th century it had the second largest merchant fleet after Venice. We also stopped at a small quiet fishing village that had been totally burned during the war with Serbia. At some point Serbian military was needed in Bosnia so they left and Dubrovnik started the clean up. Currently, the country is planning to join the EU in July and Slovania plans to join later. Croatia has a very winding coastline and there are plans to build a highway, but the route needs to go through about a 5 mile section of Bosnia. There are legal and political ramifications with the plans. Find a map and you will see that Bosnia almost comes right down to the Adriatic sea. International help came from many countries to rebuild and in 1998 the tourists started coming back. The Dalmation Coast was and now is a very beautiful area once again attracting people from northern Europe. Many big name hotels have been built and the rocky mountainsides are being terraced to grow grapes. Oyster and mussel farms and salt production are smaller exports than wine but the area is doing well with its tourism and shipping businesses.
Since Montenegro was only a 3 hour trip from Dubrovnik we left there at 4 AM and docked in Kotor about 8 AM. Montenegro means black mountain which is what the Venetian sailors saw as they approached the harbor. The mountains are still quite forrested making them look dark. Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia until May of 2006 when it voted to become a republic. As with all the Balkin countries history overlaps, boundaries change, wars and seiges occur so I will leave it to the reader to do research if interested. Venice did have control over Montenegro and it shows in their Venetian and Baroque architecture. Boka Kotorska is one of the most picturesque natural inlet on the Adriatic coast. The population of the country is 680,000 and Kotor has 40,000. The capital is Podgorica and has 220,000 people. As we travel throughout these long established regions many old walls are still standing which were used to protect the city from pirates, invaders, and conquerors. The old city walls are 3 miles long, 60 feet high and 45 feet thick. Montenegro's 53 mile Tara River Canyon is the world's second largest and deepest gap behind the Grand Canyon in the US. Our tour was a taste of Montenegro and took us high up into the mountains. We traveled a one lane road with switchbacks that had a few passengers wondering if they would make it back alive. I sat near a window and I knew there was only one duel tire on the road as the other was over the edge. The scenery was spectacular if you could get past the narrow winding road. There were 37 switchbacks and as we approached buses coming at us I wondered what their policy was . Who backed up? But we made it to a high valley for wine tasting and snacks. I bought a brandy that is used for medicinal purposes. It is made with white wine, a carob pod and a number of herbs. One puts everything in a glass jar and leaves it in the sun for 45 days then strain and bottle. Take one tablespoon in the morning. It goes down with a very warm almost hot feeling and is used by locals for almost every common ailment. After our snack we continued on again on the winding road with stops for photo opportunities along the way. It was an exciting day as we were all returned to the ship safely.
April 22 - We anchored in the bay off the coast of Korcula which is one of 1,000 islands of Croatia. The island of Korcula belongs to the Dalmatian archipelago. It is the 6th largest Adriatic island with an indented coast. It has two mountains: Klupca at 1,864 feet and Kom at 1,670 feet. The economy is tourism, grape vines, olives, fruit, fishing, and fish processing. It lies just off the mainland of the Dalmatian Coast and ferries operate to the mainland 18 times per day. Korcula has an school and students from the penninsula on the mainland get ferried across to school daily. We were told stories about life on the island. There is a hospital but it has no obstetrics department. There is one midwife but quite often babies are born in cars while trying to get to Dubrovnik for delivery. As the young people age they leave the island as the opportunities for work are greater in the larger cities. This quiet quaint island is concerned about its future. It has a history dating back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. Korcula is also the name of the only town on the island as the rest are villages. Korcula island has about 17,000 people whereas the town has 3,600 people. Our guide said that the residents know one another and though there is a police department most problems occur with drunken visitors. Korcula island is 47 kilometers in length and 4 to 5 kilometers wide. The island has an average of 41 days of rain per year making great weather for grape growing. The island has many vineyards and there are places as we drive along that are brand new fields. With some questions we learned that no new vineries can be started once Croatia becomes part of the EU. Croatia has a 20% unemployment which is better than Greece's at 27%. Our tour took us to the far end of the island to Vela Luka where we enjoyed coffee or a walk along the seaside promanade. A cultural difference I noticed was that coffee is not taken out. People sit for hours and read the paper and chat with one another in sidewalk cafes. The cafes have no paper cups and you are served your drink at a table outside. No one is in a hurry to leave and no one walks off with their coffee cup. Coffee is a very social time. Vela Luka has more residents than Korcula town at 5,000 plus but is still a village. One interesting thing I learned was that a variety of grape ( I hope I spell this right ) known as Plavac Mau has similiar DNA to Zinfandel. Researchers are trying to decide which came first or whether they might be the same grape originally but because of soil , sun, water etc the DNA slowly changed. I have certainly taken the opportunity to do a lot of wine tasting. There is an island in the archipelago that is known for its stone which has been used torebuild many of the areas damaged historical buildings and also the stone was used in the building of the White House.
April 23- The mist or fog made the entrance to Venice less than desirable but has the bad weather became more sunny the view was delightful. Venice has piles of history and much of Venetian arts, culture and history affected many of the countries we have visited. I viewed building after building from the cabin window as we came up the Giudecca Canal. I hurried to the top deck to take some arrival pictures of the small canals as we passed. I saw the Renaissance and Byzantine styles of buildings.The center and the most famous part of the city is Piazza San Marco, known by North Americans as St. Mark's Square. St. Mark's Cathedral and the Doges Place are two of the most important and imposing structures in Venice. Both of them have been rebuilt due to fires over the centuries. Both of these buildings have histories back to the 800s. The Bridge of Sighs connects the prison to the palace and was the route that prisoners were taken to and from the judgement hall. There are 117 islands that make up the city of Venice. Lido is a long island that has been very important to Venice. It is known as an island that tempers the tides, but as global warming occurs engineers scramble to find a way to protect the 550 plus square kms of the lagoon that Venice sits in. Two well known islands are Murano and Burano. Venice is well-known for its glass "candies" which were traded in the time of Marco Polo. The glassworks were moved to Murano by a decree in the 13th century because of fire hazard. Burano is known for the fine lace work which is done with precision. The city is laced with 150 canals and more than 400 bridges linking them. Some islands are linked by ferries and there is only one road, 3 miles long, to the mainland. Venice began as a place of refuge for those fleeing the Barbarian invasions in the 5th century but today it is a vibrant, interesting city filled with nightlife, magic and mystery. Was Marco Polo born here? Some say yes but others say he was born on Korcula. What we do know is that he traveled the waters that are being traveled today. The ship is in port all day tomorrow so I hope to get out and ride the water buses tomorrow if time allows, but today I had a wonderful tour around Venice sightseeing. The boat I was on did not go down the Grand Canal, but I hope to find the closest Vaporetto station and take a ride tomorrow.
Yesterday was a day at sea and with two lectures and the cocktails and Captain's dinner along with the 140ith birthday of Holland America Line. It turned out to be quite a busy day. The travel guide talks about our upcoming ports and where the ship will be docked and whether there will be a shuttle bus to take us to town and the layout of the area as well as the tours that HAL offers. The dinner was great and we sat with the doctor and his wife along with a retired teacher and a lovely lady whose native tongue was Spanish and knew little English. So upon returning to our already cramped cabin we find that HAL has given us a lovely almost 800 page book on the Mediterranean titled THE GREAT SEA which is in the ship`s library. Glancing through it the author traces the history from 22,000 BC right up to 2010. Great book even if it does weigh 5 pounds!
Today at 7AM we docked at the beautiful port of Dubrovnik, Croatia and we will leave at 4 AM tomorrow as we only need a few hours to reach Kotor, Montenegro. I toured north along the coast to the town of Ston which has the 2nd longest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. The old town of Dubrovnik is circled by a wall which a number of passengers said they had walked on. The wall of Ston is over 6 kilometers and I did get some pictures of it. We continued on to two different family wineries one which does export to Canada and the US so I decided that I would purchase a bottle when I get home. The Adriatic Sea looked like a lake today, no waves, but the day was sunny. Dubrovnik is on the UNESCO world heritage list and since the 1990 war many buildings have been fixed or rebuilt. They have a new bridge over a channel built in about 2005 cutting 18 miles off a trip north as they used to have to travel to the end of the channel to get to the other side. During the war Serbian ships blocked the channel putting a seige on the city from October 1991 until the summer of 1992. The residents had no water, electricity and the roofs of houses were shelled for 24 hours straight. Food could not be shipped in and many people died of starvation. Croatia has 4.5 million people with about 15,000 living in Dubrovnik which is in the southern part of the country on the east side of the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Zagreb which is in the north. Croatia has 1000 islands which they manage. Dubrovnik existed as an independant city republic for 500 years with the Venetian empire on one side and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Napoleon conquered it during his reign. More history than I am able to relate. Lunch was at a family run winery. The family home was over 500 years old and the area we ate in had been the wine cellar until the new one was built. Back in Dubrovnik`s heyday during the 15th and 16th century it had the second largest merchant fleet after Venice. We also stopped at a small quiet fishing village that had been totally burned during the war with Serbia. At some point Serbian military was needed in Bosnia so they left and Dubrovnik started the clean up. Currently, the country is planning to join the EU in July and Slovania plans to join later. Croatia has a very winding coastline and there are plans to build a highway, but the route needs to go through about a 5 mile section of Bosnia. There are legal and political ramifications with the plans. Find a map and you will see that Bosnia almost comes right down to the Adriatic sea. International help came from many countries to rebuild and in 1998 the tourists started coming back. The Dalmation Coast was and now is a very beautiful area once again attracting people from northern Europe. Many big name hotels have been built and the rocky mountainsides are being terraced to grow grapes. Oyster and mussel farms and salt production are smaller exports than wine but the area is doing well with its tourism and shipping businesses.
Since Montenegro was only a 3 hour trip from Dubrovnik we left there at 4 AM and docked in Kotor about 8 AM. Montenegro means black mountain which is what the Venetian sailors saw as they approached the harbor. The mountains are still quite forrested making them look dark. Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia until May of 2006 when it voted to become a republic. As with all the Balkin countries history overlaps, boundaries change, wars and seiges occur so I will leave it to the reader to do research if interested. Venice did have control over Montenegro and it shows in their Venetian and Baroque architecture. Boka Kotorska is one of the most picturesque natural inlet on the Adriatic coast. The population of the country is 680,000 and Kotor has 40,000. The capital is Podgorica and has 220,000 people. As we travel throughout these long established regions many old walls are still standing which were used to protect the city from pirates, invaders, and conquerors. The old city walls are 3 miles long, 60 feet high and 45 feet thick. Montenegro's 53 mile Tara River Canyon is the world's second largest and deepest gap behind the Grand Canyon in the US. Our tour was a taste of Montenegro and took us high up into the mountains. We traveled a one lane road with switchbacks that had a few passengers wondering if they would make it back alive. I sat near a window and I knew there was only one duel tire on the road as the other was over the edge. The scenery was spectacular if you could get past the narrow winding road. There were 37 switchbacks and as we approached buses coming at us I wondered what their policy was . Who backed up? But we made it to a high valley for wine tasting and snacks. I bought a brandy that is used for medicinal purposes. It is made with white wine, a carob pod and a number of herbs. One puts everything in a glass jar and leaves it in the sun for 45 days then strain and bottle. Take one tablespoon in the morning. It goes down with a very warm almost hot feeling and is used by locals for almost every common ailment. After our snack we continued on again on the winding road with stops for photo opportunities along the way. It was an exciting day as we were all returned to the ship safely.
April 22 - We anchored in the bay off the coast of Korcula which is one of 1,000 islands of Croatia. The island of Korcula belongs to the Dalmatian archipelago. It is the 6th largest Adriatic island with an indented coast. It has two mountains: Klupca at 1,864 feet and Kom at 1,670 feet. The economy is tourism, grape vines, olives, fruit, fishing, and fish processing. It lies just off the mainland of the Dalmatian Coast and ferries operate to the mainland 18 times per day. Korcula has an school and students from the penninsula on the mainland get ferried across to school daily. We were told stories about life on the island. There is a hospital but it has no obstetrics department. There is one midwife but quite often babies are born in cars while trying to get to Dubrovnik for delivery. As the young people age they leave the island as the opportunities for work are greater in the larger cities. This quiet quaint island is concerned about its future. It has a history dating back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. Korcula is also the name of the only town on the island as the rest are villages. Korcula island has about 17,000 people whereas the town has 3,600 people. Our guide said that the residents know one another and though there is a police department most problems occur with drunken visitors. Korcula island is 47 kilometers in length and 4 to 5 kilometers wide. The island has an average of 41 days of rain per year making great weather for grape growing. The island has many vineyards and there are places as we drive along that are brand new fields. With some questions we learned that no new vineries can be started once Croatia becomes part of the EU. Croatia has a 20% unemployment which is better than Greece's at 27%. Our tour took us to the far end of the island to Vela Luka where we enjoyed coffee or a walk along the seaside promanade. A cultural difference I noticed was that coffee is not taken out. People sit for hours and read the paper and chat with one another in sidewalk cafes. The cafes have no paper cups and you are served your drink at a table outside. No one is in a hurry to leave and no one walks off with their coffee cup. Coffee is a very social time. Vela Luka has more residents than Korcula town at 5,000 plus but is still a village. One interesting thing I learned was that a variety of grape ( I hope I spell this right ) known as Plavac Mau has similiar DNA to Zinfandel. Researchers are trying to decide which came first or whether they might be the same grape originally but because of soil , sun, water etc the DNA slowly changed. I have certainly taken the opportunity to do a lot of wine tasting. There is an island in the archipelago that is known for its stone which has been used torebuild many of the areas damaged historical buildings and also the stone was used in the building of the White House.
April 23- The mist or fog made the entrance to Venice less than desirable but has the bad weather became more sunny the view was delightful. Venice has piles of history and much of Venetian arts, culture and history affected many of the countries we have visited. I viewed building after building from the cabin window as we came up the Giudecca Canal. I hurried to the top deck to take some arrival pictures of the small canals as we passed. I saw the Renaissance and Byzantine styles of buildings.The center and the most famous part of the city is Piazza San Marco, known by North Americans as St. Mark's Square. St. Mark's Cathedral and the Doges Place are two of the most important and imposing structures in Venice. Both of them have been rebuilt due to fires over the centuries. Both of these buildings have histories back to the 800s. The Bridge of Sighs connects the prison to the palace and was the route that prisoners were taken to and from the judgement hall. There are 117 islands that make up the city of Venice. Lido is a long island that has been very important to Venice. It is known as an island that tempers the tides, but as global warming occurs engineers scramble to find a way to protect the 550 plus square kms of the lagoon that Venice sits in. Two well known islands are Murano and Burano. Venice is well-known for its glass "candies" which were traded in the time of Marco Polo. The glassworks were moved to Murano by a decree in the 13th century because of fire hazard. Burano is known for the fine lace work which is done with precision. The city is laced with 150 canals and more than 400 bridges linking them. Some islands are linked by ferries and there is only one road, 3 miles long, to the mainland. Venice began as a place of refuge for those fleeing the Barbarian invasions in the 5th century but today it is a vibrant, interesting city filled with nightlife, magic and mystery. Was Marco Polo born here? Some say yes but others say he was born on Korcula. What we do know is that he traveled the waters that are being traveled today. The ship is in port all day tomorrow so I hope to get out and ride the water buses tomorrow if time allows, but today I had a wonderful tour around Venice sightseeing. The boat I was on did not go down the Grand Canal, but I hope to find the closest Vaporetto station and take a ride tomorrow.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
On the Aegean Sea heading north to Croatia
April 18 - in the afternoon
We had four stops in Turkey: one was Antalya, Marmaris, Kusadasi, and Istanbul. I touched on Antalya and Marmaris in the previous posting so today I will chat about Kusadasi and Istanbul. Turkey is a very westernized country. They have McDonalds, Starbucks, and many highend clothing and accessory stores. I saw no tents with camels, but I saw many young folks practicing their English on us. I have been on the lookout for electric buses and trams carrying folks about these big urban areas as I go out on tours. Antalya had a tram that ran in a circle around the town.
April 14 was a tour of Kusadasi with wine and cheese and lunch in a mountainous village. Sirince is a quaint village town where wine is made the old way and rebottled for use by the villagers. We tried some red and white and when I went to read the label the guide said the bottles are recycled so what is written on the bottle label will not necessarily be the type of wine in the bottle at the time of pouring. I learned about Turkish coffee. Apparently Turkey does not grow coffee so Turkish coffee is known by how it is brewed not the growing of it. Grind coffee as you would grind for expresso. One tablespoon to 3/4 cup cold water. Put coffee into small pan then add cold water. Heat to just under boiling. Pour into cup grounds and all. Let sit for a minute or two. DRINK. Some like to add sugar. From this town I got two bottles of wine: mulberry and pommegranate and both will make great spritzers. We wandered around the town whose streets were very narrow, left over from centuries ago. We had a delightful tasting lunch in a home that was built over 1000 years ago. Turkish cuisine is not highly spiced but the spices used in cooking a green bean and mushroom compote were especially good. We had homebaked bread, meatballs with eggplant and potatoes, a rice-like dish that reminded me of couscous or quinoa, and home grown fruit. Noelle, one of the librarians, hung with me as we scoured the small family-run stalls along the streets. Handicrafts and homegrown bottled jams and jellies could be found. The tour also showed us the upper part of Ephesus which I would love to do the walk down the hill past the bathes and library of the old city. In order to get to Ephesus we needed to drive through the city of Selcuk, which lost 40,000 people in 1999 when an earthquake hit the area. Ephesus had once been a coastal town but today the sea is far away as earthquakes have changed the topography of the land. Kusadasi is Turkish for Bird Island and it lived up to its name. There were lots of birds though I know little about them.
April 15 we docked at Istanbul about 4 pm. An overnight stay would allow us to see this big city in the night as well as the day. I took a tour and saw the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia Church, the Hippodrome and traffic beyond belief. The Bosphorus tour had been cancelled but I saw a lot of the city. Istanbul is the only city that sits on the borders of both Asia Minor and Europe. The Bosphorus is a narrow strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and separates the European and Asian sections of the city. It was founded by the Byzantines in the 7th century BC but by the 4th century AD the name was changed to Constantinople by the Roman emperor. The city served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire until it was conquered by the Ottomans in the 15th century. The Ottoman Empire fell in 1923. Istanbul has about 16 million people, while Turkey has about 75 million. History is long and arduous to remember and when it goes back many milliniums it makes it even worse. Turkey has that kind of history with rulers, sultans, and others managing the people. The Bosphous is 22 miles in length, and has a small bay called the Golden Horn that separates the new European section of the city from the old European section. Many cultures have made themselves visible by the architecture: Venician, Neo-Classical, Roman and many others. Then there were the Dardanelles. This is a wide strait that runs between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara and over the years has been fought for control. There are over 70,000 ships that use this passage yearly- Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus then to the Black Sea. As we sailed out of Istanbul I was sorry to have left Turkey. It was clean, neat and though there may be problems a tourist would never know. The people were helpful and kind. Although Istanbul is the largest city the capital is located in Ankara in the north of Turkey. GOOD BY TURKEY! I will miss you.
April 18 is a day spent in Athens. We are docked at the Port of Piraeus and are due to leave very shortly. We arrived yesterday afternoon and I just sat on the 7th deck and took in some sun. It had been rainy and misty/cloudy in Istanbul. The sun is warm, day is clear which helps with taking great pictures. The Piraeus port is the largest in Greece and it is basically the port for Athens. Piraeus sits next to Athens and is served by a train that runs between the two. I saw artic diesel buses, trolley buses, and an electric tram which runs down tracks when we were exploring the city. Information from the last census shows there are 9,987 islands of Greece with 16,000+ kilometers of coastline. We took in many old buildings all having their names with a story attached but for me my day was the joy of sitting with a cup of Greek coffee and staring at the Acropolis. There is major work being done on it but it sits in such a predominate position on a hill that one can hardly miss it. Greece has about 11 million people with 5+ million residing in the Piraeus/Athens area. Shipping and tourism are the two main money makers for Greece. Many shipping magnets come from or are stationed here. There were many ferries coming and going from our harbour ferrying people among the islands.
April 19, tomorrow, is a sea day and I have been indulging in some acupuncture treatments on my knee. Sea days are days for lectures about our upcoming ports. Tomorrow night we have been asked to the captain's suite for wine and then down for a dinner with him. There is usually about 40 guests that go, so we will not be alone. We just got a new captain as the other got to go home so it will be nice to meet him, though I miss Captain Roberts already. There are also games that I sometimes play on sea days along with the movie, if it is any good. There are groups who have gatherings to knit and crochet and those that play bridge and mah jongg and for those that love to exercise there are lots of morning classes to greet you. Then there is Annette and her culinary chef who whips up tastey delights from main courses to fancy deserts. Then there are some mixology afternoons where you can go and learn how to mix drinks and indulge. For me when I get some quiet time I do a sudoku and enjoy the sun.
We had four stops in Turkey: one was Antalya, Marmaris, Kusadasi, and Istanbul. I touched on Antalya and Marmaris in the previous posting so today I will chat about Kusadasi and Istanbul. Turkey is a very westernized country. They have McDonalds, Starbucks, and many highend clothing and accessory stores. I saw no tents with camels, but I saw many young folks practicing their English on us. I have been on the lookout for electric buses and trams carrying folks about these big urban areas as I go out on tours. Antalya had a tram that ran in a circle around the town.
April 14 was a tour of Kusadasi with wine and cheese and lunch in a mountainous village. Sirince is a quaint village town where wine is made the old way and rebottled for use by the villagers. We tried some red and white and when I went to read the label the guide said the bottles are recycled so what is written on the bottle label will not necessarily be the type of wine in the bottle at the time of pouring. I learned about Turkish coffee. Apparently Turkey does not grow coffee so Turkish coffee is known by how it is brewed not the growing of it. Grind coffee as you would grind for expresso. One tablespoon to 3/4 cup cold water. Put coffee into small pan then add cold water. Heat to just under boiling. Pour into cup grounds and all. Let sit for a minute or two. DRINK. Some like to add sugar. From this town I got two bottles of wine: mulberry and pommegranate and both will make great spritzers. We wandered around the town whose streets were very narrow, left over from centuries ago. We had a delightful tasting lunch in a home that was built over 1000 years ago. Turkish cuisine is not highly spiced but the spices used in cooking a green bean and mushroom compote were especially good. We had homebaked bread, meatballs with eggplant and potatoes, a rice-like dish that reminded me of couscous or quinoa, and home grown fruit. Noelle, one of the librarians, hung with me as we scoured the small family-run stalls along the streets. Handicrafts and homegrown bottled jams and jellies could be found. The tour also showed us the upper part of Ephesus which I would love to do the walk down the hill past the bathes and library of the old city. In order to get to Ephesus we needed to drive through the city of Selcuk, which lost 40,000 people in 1999 when an earthquake hit the area. Ephesus had once been a coastal town but today the sea is far away as earthquakes have changed the topography of the land. Kusadasi is Turkish for Bird Island and it lived up to its name. There were lots of birds though I know little about them.
April 15 we docked at Istanbul about 4 pm. An overnight stay would allow us to see this big city in the night as well as the day. I took a tour and saw the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia Church, the Hippodrome and traffic beyond belief. The Bosphorus tour had been cancelled but I saw a lot of the city. Istanbul is the only city that sits on the borders of both Asia Minor and Europe. The Bosphorus is a narrow strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and separates the European and Asian sections of the city. It was founded by the Byzantines in the 7th century BC but by the 4th century AD the name was changed to Constantinople by the Roman emperor. The city served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire until it was conquered by the Ottomans in the 15th century. The Ottoman Empire fell in 1923. Istanbul has about 16 million people, while Turkey has about 75 million. History is long and arduous to remember and when it goes back many milliniums it makes it even worse. Turkey has that kind of history with rulers, sultans, and others managing the people. The Bosphous is 22 miles in length, and has a small bay called the Golden Horn that separates the new European section of the city from the old European section. Many cultures have made themselves visible by the architecture: Venician, Neo-Classical, Roman and many others. Then there were the Dardanelles. This is a wide strait that runs between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara and over the years has been fought for control. There are over 70,000 ships that use this passage yearly- Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus then to the Black Sea. As we sailed out of Istanbul I was sorry to have left Turkey. It was clean, neat and though there may be problems a tourist would never know. The people were helpful and kind. Although Istanbul is the largest city the capital is located in Ankara in the north of Turkey. GOOD BY TURKEY! I will miss you.
April 18 is a day spent in Athens. We are docked at the Port of Piraeus and are due to leave very shortly. We arrived yesterday afternoon and I just sat on the 7th deck and took in some sun. It had been rainy and misty/cloudy in Istanbul. The sun is warm, day is clear which helps with taking great pictures. The Piraeus port is the largest in Greece and it is basically the port for Athens. Piraeus sits next to Athens and is served by a train that runs between the two. I saw artic diesel buses, trolley buses, and an electric tram which runs down tracks when we were exploring the city. Information from the last census shows there are 9,987 islands of Greece with 16,000+ kilometers of coastline. We took in many old buildings all having their names with a story attached but for me my day was the joy of sitting with a cup of Greek coffee and staring at the Acropolis. There is major work being done on it but it sits in such a predominate position on a hill that one can hardly miss it. Greece has about 11 million people with 5+ million residing in the Piraeus/Athens area. Shipping and tourism are the two main money makers for Greece. Many shipping magnets come from or are stationed here. There were many ferries coming and going from our harbour ferrying people among the islands.
April 19, tomorrow, is a sea day and I have been indulging in some acupuncture treatments on my knee. Sea days are days for lectures about our upcoming ports. Tomorrow night we have been asked to the captain's suite for wine and then down for a dinner with him. There is usually about 40 guests that go, so we will not be alone. We just got a new captain as the other got to go home so it will be nice to meet him, though I miss Captain Roberts already. There are also games that I sometimes play on sea days along with the movie, if it is any good. There are groups who have gatherings to knit and crochet and those that play bridge and mah jongg and for those that love to exercise there are lots of morning classes to greet you. Then there is Annette and her culinary chef who whips up tastey delights from main courses to fancy deserts. Then there are some mixology afternoons where you can go and learn how to mix drinks and indulge. For me when I get some quiet time I do a sudoku and enjoy the sun.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Continuing around the Med
April 10,2013
On April 5 we docked at Larnaka, Cyprus. Our ship had changed colour overnight, from a white and black to a reddish colour. It had been very windy in Malta so we could not sail on to Gozo but that wind had come across the North African Sahara Desert. Winds will carry sand in the upper atmosphere where it will then fall onto the ground covering everything.Cyprus has a population of about 1 million with 80% being Greek, 18% are Turks, and 2% are Armenian and Lebanese. Nicosia is the capital and has about 200,000 people and is in the middle of the island. I had decided that I wanted to go inland so I had a tour that took me to Nicosia which is a divided city. Greeks live on one side of a wall while Turks live on the other side. I suppose it might be similar to Berlin when they had a wall, but people can come and go but in a very unique manner. As a tourist I can not cross the wall from the Turkish side to the Greek side on the road. I would have to fly to Larnaka on the Greek side and then drive back to the Greek side of Nicosia. Archeologists have found relics dating back 9,000 years before Christ. It was about 2,000 BC when writing was found and scrolls show that Cyprus has been ruled by the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Bysantines, to the 9th century AD, Crusaders, Venetians, Ottomans and finally Great Britain from about 1878 to 1925. Cypus receives about 2.5 million visitors a year making tourism its largest GDP followed by agriculture of potatoes and 32 varieties of grapes for tables and for wine. In 2008 Cyprus ran out of water and spent 60 million Euros to buy water and have it shipped from the United States. Larnaka has a population of 17,000 people. As we traveled the roads we saw many solar water heating panels on city roofs. Water is collected on the roof and the panels keep the water very warm. Electricity is quite expensive. I learned that oleander and rosemary are planted to draw misquitoes and other small flying bugs that get stuck to the plant so it is a natural way to get rid of them than by spraying with bug spray.
By April 7 we were aware that the next 4 days would be very busy. Tours, eat, and sleep and that is exactly as we figured. Alexandria, Egypt was the first port of the hectic 4 days. Built by the conquering Alexander the Great, Alexandria retained the prestige of Egypt's capital for 10 centuries. Alexander had taken a previous city from the Persians destroying it and then built another city on top of that one. His Greek rule lasted 301 years. Gods were very important and when a war was won temples would be built on top of the conquered city showing who had more power. Also cities were built where there was water so a new city would be built over the old city. Here in the Middle East there have been cities dug up up to 21 different cities that were built on top of one another. Alexandria remained the capital until 968 AD when eventually, after the capital had been moved from small village to small village, came to Cairo where it has been the capital since. Egypt has 84 million people 80 % are Muslims and 20% Christians. Five million people live in Alexandria. Our tour out of Alexandria took us west toward Cairo. The Nile River separates Giza from Cairo so though we had a lovely lunch on the Nile we never entered Cairo. In Giza are the 3 main pyramids and then also alongside are the smaller Queen's pyramids. Down the hill sat the Sphinx his nose and his beard had been removed ( the beard is in a museum in London and the nose had been vandalized). The weather was hazy due to the red sand which could be seen everywhere. We drove by a beautiful park on the west side of the Nile which was opened in the same year as the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Tourism makes up 17% of Egypt's GDP. They also export natural gas. Because these countries are so close to one another it is most interesting to note how history dovetails one country to another. There was a riot in the streets of Cairo while we visited Giza but none of us knew about it until the next day.
April 8 we docked at a the very modern Port of Said where a group of dancers greeted us as we exited the ship and today was to be a tour of Port Said. As I exited past all the trinket vendors in their booths I noticed many police around the port. This stop will have been our first that we all felt that we were VIP's. Five layers of police were there to protect us. Our ship was the first to arrive since January. Due to a football game riot no ship had gone to Port Said. The country had also had a government change and Egyptians are very emotional and have strong feelings about the circumstances under which they must live. Port Said is a relatively new town but it has grown very fast. It was started back in 1859 to house the workers building the Suez Canal. It is a melting pot for people from all over Egypt. Our tour ventured forth with pick-ups full of police following us. We went to the Military Museum which was closed. As we were walking about a military commander along with the town's governor decided to open it so we could walk through. I had a chance to thank the chief of police for the security as well as opening of the museum. I felt safe and we had undercover police riding in the buses. Port Said is a tax-free zone for those who live in the city. A car is bought and no tax is paid as long as it stays in Port Said. A license can be purchased to allow the owner to drive to some place in Egypt but only for one week then the owner has to return to Port Said. Port Said has been shut down over the years and the 6 day war in 1967 caused much damage so the city has been rebuilt since 1975. The red sand could still be seen in areas that had no wind. Now the sad part of this tour was the discussion of football/soccer and the riot. In February 2012 there had been a game between Port Said and Cairo. The Port Said team had won and the city had OK'd the Cairo fans and team to spend the night in the stadium instead of driving back to Cairo. Port Said fans stormed the stadium and 72 young people lost their lives. The result was that the courts were to pass judgement on those that were guilty in January 2013. The stadium was vandalized and has not been used since that horrible night. The expectations of the government was that there would be more riots when the judgement was handed down by the courts. That day came and in January 2013 and 22 people were hung. Egypt has also had some political issues as a new government took over and many people are dissatisfied with the new police chief, and president.
April 9 I awoke to the sound of the side thrusters as we docked in Ashdod. It was our stop for the day and I was up early to head to Jerusalem. Packing history of that city into one day is an impossibility but I did see the Mt. of Olives, the entrances to old Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, Zedikiah's cave, Herod's gate, Lion's gate and Damascus gate into the old city. We were shown the wailing wall which is the only part of the old city's wall still standing after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. We had lunch in a nice kibutz and a stop for shopping along with picture taking opportunities. The drive from Ashdod to Jerusalem showed us the countryside of Israel and it took 90 minutes each way. Jerusalem is crowded with traffic and pedestrians but as we drove around I have a much better picture of the areas that were covered by Jesus and the apostles. Jerusalem has 802,000 people made up of Jewish, Islam, and Christians and Israel has 7.25 million. There is some road construction occuring along with an addition to a fast train service that will tie Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv in about 40 minutes. The longest tunnel in the area is 13 kilometers long. We saw a number of these new tunnels getting ready for the train and new ones for vehicles. The weather was far nicer than the previous few days. There were some white clouds blowing around but the vistas were much clearer.
The folllowing day was April 10 and we docked at Haifa north of Ashdod on the coast of Israel. Haifa has 260,000 people and rests on the coast with Mt. Carmel as its backdrop. Including the surrounding area the population is about 600,000. It is a very modern city. We were informed as to how important education is in this country. There are 280,000 students attending universities in Israel and many Nobel prizes have come from Israel. The Intel chip for computers came from this small country, recycled water for irrigation was started here so as our tour took us inland to Nazareth we saw the reclaimimg of the desert areas using recycled water. Israel has no mines yet many diamonds come from Israel. South Africa has mines but when the UK controlled both South Africa and Israel diamonds were shipped from Africa to Israel. It was during the period of 1917 to 1948 that Israel took over the diamond industry cutting or faceting them. Potash is exported from the Dead Sea. Views and places we saw were Nazareth which is now primarily occupied by Arab peoples. We visited the Jordan River which was more like a creek than a river. Whether that location is the exact spot where John did the baptising one only knows but it was a beautiful spot to reflect on the occurance. We went to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle changing water to wine for the wedding reception, the Church of the Annunciation, Church of St. Joseph, Mary`s Well, Peter`s Primacy at Tabgha, Capernaum, Mount of Beattitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. On our way back to the ship we drove to the top of Mount Carmel for a view over the Bahai Gardens. Our two days in Israel was not enough but it certainly gave me some insight that I had only read about and imagined. Though I did not get to Bethlahem it has 25,000 people. Haifa is the 3rd largest city in Israel and is known as the San Francisco of the Mediterranean.
On April 12 I had hoped to finish this episode of blogs and get it posted. The previous day had been a sea day and I slept until dinner. But when I awoke the sun was shining and the view of Antalya, Turkey was beautiful. I had no tour planned but since Holland America had a shuttle bus to take us to town I decided to explore. The centre of town was clean and neat. In fact, even the port area was neat. The bus let us off near the old town and a clear viewpoint so I took some pictures. Interested in trams the city had one running down the side of the street and I took pictures of them as they went past me. Just a short walk in a clean, fresh air city was all I needed. The route of the bus ran along the beach but it did not have white sand- Can`t have everything! Shopping has not been high on my list though if I do see an unusual item I may buy it.I hope to find some Turkish coffee.
Today is April 13 and we are in Marmaris, Turkey and I have returned from a tour of some of the area. We drove through Pine forests to Sakar Mountain Pass. We had a drink and I took pictures at a local roadside diner and drank Turkish tea. We drove to a small fishing village of Akyaka. There were lots of photo opportunities so we took pictures at Icemeler Bay for views over Marmaris Bay.
Tomorrow we will be in Kusadasi, Turkey where I will take a tour titled A Taste of Kusadasi. I expect that I will be trying some Turkish food for lunch. Kusadasi is the jump off point for Ephesus, the Temple of Apollo and magnificent Miletis. Our adventures are ongoing but can be quite tiring.
On April 5 we docked at Larnaka, Cyprus. Our ship had changed colour overnight, from a white and black to a reddish colour. It had been very windy in Malta so we could not sail on to Gozo but that wind had come across the North African Sahara Desert. Winds will carry sand in the upper atmosphere where it will then fall onto the ground covering everything.Cyprus has a population of about 1 million with 80% being Greek, 18% are Turks, and 2% are Armenian and Lebanese. Nicosia is the capital and has about 200,000 people and is in the middle of the island. I had decided that I wanted to go inland so I had a tour that took me to Nicosia which is a divided city. Greeks live on one side of a wall while Turks live on the other side. I suppose it might be similar to Berlin when they had a wall, but people can come and go but in a very unique manner. As a tourist I can not cross the wall from the Turkish side to the Greek side on the road. I would have to fly to Larnaka on the Greek side and then drive back to the Greek side of Nicosia. Archeologists have found relics dating back 9,000 years before Christ. It was about 2,000 BC when writing was found and scrolls show that Cyprus has been ruled by the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Bysantines, to the 9th century AD, Crusaders, Venetians, Ottomans and finally Great Britain from about 1878 to 1925. Cypus receives about 2.5 million visitors a year making tourism its largest GDP followed by agriculture of potatoes and 32 varieties of grapes for tables and for wine. In 2008 Cyprus ran out of water and spent 60 million Euros to buy water and have it shipped from the United States. Larnaka has a population of 17,000 people. As we traveled the roads we saw many solar water heating panels on city roofs. Water is collected on the roof and the panels keep the water very warm. Electricity is quite expensive. I learned that oleander and rosemary are planted to draw misquitoes and other small flying bugs that get stuck to the plant so it is a natural way to get rid of them than by spraying with bug spray.
By April 7 we were aware that the next 4 days would be very busy. Tours, eat, and sleep and that is exactly as we figured. Alexandria, Egypt was the first port of the hectic 4 days. Built by the conquering Alexander the Great, Alexandria retained the prestige of Egypt's capital for 10 centuries. Alexander had taken a previous city from the Persians destroying it and then built another city on top of that one. His Greek rule lasted 301 years. Gods were very important and when a war was won temples would be built on top of the conquered city showing who had more power. Also cities were built where there was water so a new city would be built over the old city. Here in the Middle East there have been cities dug up up to 21 different cities that were built on top of one another. Alexandria remained the capital until 968 AD when eventually, after the capital had been moved from small village to small village, came to Cairo where it has been the capital since. Egypt has 84 million people 80 % are Muslims and 20% Christians. Five million people live in Alexandria. Our tour out of Alexandria took us west toward Cairo. The Nile River separates Giza from Cairo so though we had a lovely lunch on the Nile we never entered Cairo. In Giza are the 3 main pyramids and then also alongside are the smaller Queen's pyramids. Down the hill sat the Sphinx his nose and his beard had been removed ( the beard is in a museum in London and the nose had been vandalized). The weather was hazy due to the red sand which could be seen everywhere. We drove by a beautiful park on the west side of the Nile which was opened in the same year as the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Tourism makes up 17% of Egypt's GDP. They also export natural gas. Because these countries are so close to one another it is most interesting to note how history dovetails one country to another. There was a riot in the streets of Cairo while we visited Giza but none of us knew about it until the next day.
April 8 we docked at a the very modern Port of Said where a group of dancers greeted us as we exited the ship and today was to be a tour of Port Said. As I exited past all the trinket vendors in their booths I noticed many police around the port. This stop will have been our first that we all felt that we were VIP's. Five layers of police were there to protect us. Our ship was the first to arrive since January. Due to a football game riot no ship had gone to Port Said. The country had also had a government change and Egyptians are very emotional and have strong feelings about the circumstances under which they must live. Port Said is a relatively new town but it has grown very fast. It was started back in 1859 to house the workers building the Suez Canal. It is a melting pot for people from all over Egypt. Our tour ventured forth with pick-ups full of police following us. We went to the Military Museum which was closed. As we were walking about a military commander along with the town's governor decided to open it so we could walk through. I had a chance to thank the chief of police for the security as well as opening of the museum. I felt safe and we had undercover police riding in the buses. Port Said is a tax-free zone for those who live in the city. A car is bought and no tax is paid as long as it stays in Port Said. A license can be purchased to allow the owner to drive to some place in Egypt but only for one week then the owner has to return to Port Said. Port Said has been shut down over the years and the 6 day war in 1967 caused much damage so the city has been rebuilt since 1975. The red sand could still be seen in areas that had no wind. Now the sad part of this tour was the discussion of football/soccer and the riot. In February 2012 there had been a game between Port Said and Cairo. The Port Said team had won and the city had OK'd the Cairo fans and team to spend the night in the stadium instead of driving back to Cairo. Port Said fans stormed the stadium and 72 young people lost their lives. The result was that the courts were to pass judgement on those that were guilty in January 2013. The stadium was vandalized and has not been used since that horrible night. The expectations of the government was that there would be more riots when the judgement was handed down by the courts. That day came and in January 2013 and 22 people were hung. Egypt has also had some political issues as a new government took over and many people are dissatisfied with the new police chief, and president.
April 9 I awoke to the sound of the side thrusters as we docked in Ashdod. It was our stop for the day and I was up early to head to Jerusalem. Packing history of that city into one day is an impossibility but I did see the Mt. of Olives, the entrances to old Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, Zedikiah's cave, Herod's gate, Lion's gate and Damascus gate into the old city. We were shown the wailing wall which is the only part of the old city's wall still standing after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. We had lunch in a nice kibutz and a stop for shopping along with picture taking opportunities. The drive from Ashdod to Jerusalem showed us the countryside of Israel and it took 90 minutes each way. Jerusalem is crowded with traffic and pedestrians but as we drove around I have a much better picture of the areas that were covered by Jesus and the apostles. Jerusalem has 802,000 people made up of Jewish, Islam, and Christians and Israel has 7.25 million. There is some road construction occuring along with an addition to a fast train service that will tie Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv in about 40 minutes. The longest tunnel in the area is 13 kilometers long. We saw a number of these new tunnels getting ready for the train and new ones for vehicles. The weather was far nicer than the previous few days. There were some white clouds blowing around but the vistas were much clearer.
The folllowing day was April 10 and we docked at Haifa north of Ashdod on the coast of Israel. Haifa has 260,000 people and rests on the coast with Mt. Carmel as its backdrop. Including the surrounding area the population is about 600,000. It is a very modern city. We were informed as to how important education is in this country. There are 280,000 students attending universities in Israel and many Nobel prizes have come from Israel. The Intel chip for computers came from this small country, recycled water for irrigation was started here so as our tour took us inland to Nazareth we saw the reclaimimg of the desert areas using recycled water. Israel has no mines yet many diamonds come from Israel. South Africa has mines but when the UK controlled both South Africa and Israel diamonds were shipped from Africa to Israel. It was during the period of 1917 to 1948 that Israel took over the diamond industry cutting or faceting them. Potash is exported from the Dead Sea. Views and places we saw were Nazareth which is now primarily occupied by Arab peoples. We visited the Jordan River which was more like a creek than a river. Whether that location is the exact spot where John did the baptising one only knows but it was a beautiful spot to reflect on the occurance. We went to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle changing water to wine for the wedding reception, the Church of the Annunciation, Church of St. Joseph, Mary`s Well, Peter`s Primacy at Tabgha, Capernaum, Mount of Beattitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. On our way back to the ship we drove to the top of Mount Carmel for a view over the Bahai Gardens. Our two days in Israel was not enough but it certainly gave me some insight that I had only read about and imagined. Though I did not get to Bethlahem it has 25,000 people. Haifa is the 3rd largest city in Israel and is known as the San Francisco of the Mediterranean.
On April 12 I had hoped to finish this episode of blogs and get it posted. The previous day had been a sea day and I slept until dinner. But when I awoke the sun was shining and the view of Antalya, Turkey was beautiful. I had no tour planned but since Holland America had a shuttle bus to take us to town I decided to explore. The centre of town was clean and neat. In fact, even the port area was neat. The bus let us off near the old town and a clear viewpoint so I took some pictures. Interested in trams the city had one running down the side of the street and I took pictures of them as they went past me. Just a short walk in a clean, fresh air city was all I needed. The route of the bus ran along the beach but it did not have white sand- Can`t have everything! Shopping has not been high on my list though if I do see an unusual item I may buy it.I hope to find some Turkish coffee.
Today is April 13 and we are in Marmaris, Turkey and I have returned from a tour of some of the area. We drove through Pine forests to Sakar Mountain Pass. We had a drink and I took pictures at a local roadside diner and drank Turkish tea. We drove to a small fishing village of Akyaka. There were lots of photo opportunities so we took pictures at Icemeler Bay for views over Marmaris Bay.
Tomorrow we will be in Kusadasi, Turkey where I will take a tour titled A Taste of Kusadasi. I expect that I will be trying some Turkish food for lunch. Kusadasi is the jump off point for Ephesus, the Temple of Apollo and magnificent Miletis. Our adventures are ongoing but can be quite tiring.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The History around the MED
EASTER SUNDAY March 31, 2013
We arrived at Valletta, Malta this morning and the view from the ship is probably the most awesome that I have ever seen. The walls come right down to the port and the old buildings can be seen from the windows. The harbour is well constructed and today the sun is shining and the water is a beautuful blue. I have taken some pictures but a crew drill kept me off of the deck that I wanted to film from so I will wait until later. I will be heading out on a tour of the island this afternoon and with today being a holiday there may be many local out enjoying the weather.
I want to wish everyone a very HAPPY EASTER and may your bunny be good to you and bring you a surprise! I tried to post on Easter so I am trying again.
April 3, 2013 at Iraklion (or Heraklion) Crete
We arrived this morning and docked at New Harbour (Port of Heraklion) on Crete the largest Island of Greece. Meeting some of the merchants in the terminal stores was a nice morning spent as many of them are from other countries. This is their first day of rain in 55 days so everyone was happy and joyful. Some of our passengers walked into town to explore the churches and some areas with old buildings. I chose to come back to the ship.
One of the most exciting experiences for me is the idea of going back in time, wondering how people lived many years ago. Our two day stay on Malta in Valletta gave me what I had wished. The island is about 27 miles long by 15 miles wide and sits south of Sicily but has 400,000 residents which has the largest population density of all European countries. The history I have been exposed to goes back to 1492 basically when exploration of Columbus set sail from Spain. Malta has relics from 760-780 CE. There are 365 churches on the island, one for each day. The first day there I took an island tour and saw the Island of St. Paul where the apostle was shipwrecked. We saw the Blue Grotto which has been used in movies. Just about everywhere there were old buildings but the juxtaposition of new with old makes a wonderful sight to see. Malta is known for its wine, but the main GDP is tourism. They admit to having a problem with garbage and recycling as one sees litter all over which is sad as the island is gorgeous. We were suppose to travel to Gozo which is another smaller island close to Malta, but because of the winds there our ablility to tender to shore would be dangerous. So we stayed in Valletta overnight and another day. That gave Mez and I the time to explore. We hopped the HOP ON and HOP OFF bus around the island and exited at a location so we could do a harbour tour which was great! We saw forts built by the Knights of St. John and learned about the conquests of Malta by a number of different peoples over thousands of years. The years of 2100 to 1900 BCE were mentioned as groups inhabited the island. This trip has prompted me to do some more reading as the information given us comes way too fast to process. It is easy to get around the island. Hop On and Hop Off buses do three different circuits plus there are city buses. It cost us 20 Euros each for a days pass including the 1 and one half hour harbour tour.
When it was finally time for us to leave the harbour we had a cannon send off from the fort. Thank goodness there were no missiles in the cannons. We were all up on deck getting pictures of the smoke. I will never know what Gozo might have given us but having the extra day on Malta was great!
Mez has just returned from a tour on Crete and said it was a very self sufficient economy and a beautiful country. Tomorrow is another sea day and then on to Larnaca, Cyprus.
We arrived at Valletta, Malta this morning and the view from the ship is probably the most awesome that I have ever seen. The walls come right down to the port and the old buildings can be seen from the windows. The harbour is well constructed and today the sun is shining and the water is a beautuful blue. I have taken some pictures but a crew drill kept me off of the deck that I wanted to film from so I will wait until later. I will be heading out on a tour of the island this afternoon and with today being a holiday there may be many local out enjoying the weather.
I want to wish everyone a very HAPPY EASTER and may your bunny be good to you and bring you a surprise! I tried to post on Easter so I am trying again.
April 3, 2013 at Iraklion (or Heraklion) Crete
We arrived this morning and docked at New Harbour (Port of Heraklion) on Crete the largest Island of Greece. Meeting some of the merchants in the terminal stores was a nice morning spent as many of them are from other countries. This is their first day of rain in 55 days so everyone was happy and joyful. Some of our passengers walked into town to explore the churches and some areas with old buildings. I chose to come back to the ship.
One of the most exciting experiences for me is the idea of going back in time, wondering how people lived many years ago. Our two day stay on Malta in Valletta gave me what I had wished. The island is about 27 miles long by 15 miles wide and sits south of Sicily but has 400,000 residents which has the largest population density of all European countries. The history I have been exposed to goes back to 1492 basically when exploration of Columbus set sail from Spain. Malta has relics from 760-780 CE. There are 365 churches on the island, one for each day. The first day there I took an island tour and saw the Island of St. Paul where the apostle was shipwrecked. We saw the Blue Grotto which has been used in movies. Just about everywhere there were old buildings but the juxtaposition of new with old makes a wonderful sight to see. Malta is known for its wine, but the main GDP is tourism. They admit to having a problem with garbage and recycling as one sees litter all over which is sad as the island is gorgeous. We were suppose to travel to Gozo which is another smaller island close to Malta, but because of the winds there our ablility to tender to shore would be dangerous. So we stayed in Valletta overnight and another day. That gave Mez and I the time to explore. We hopped the HOP ON and HOP OFF bus around the island and exited at a location so we could do a harbour tour which was great! We saw forts built by the Knights of St. John and learned about the conquests of Malta by a number of different peoples over thousands of years. The years of 2100 to 1900 BCE were mentioned as groups inhabited the island. This trip has prompted me to do some more reading as the information given us comes way too fast to process. It is easy to get around the island. Hop On and Hop Off buses do three different circuits plus there are city buses. It cost us 20 Euros each for a days pass including the 1 and one half hour harbour tour.
When it was finally time for us to leave the harbour we had a cannon send off from the fort. Thank goodness there were no missiles in the cannons. We were all up on deck getting pictures of the smoke. I will never know what Gozo might have given us but having the extra day on Malta was great!
Mez has just returned from a tour on Crete and said it was a very self sufficient economy and a beautiful country. Tomorrow is another sea day and then on to Larnaca, Cyprus.
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