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.