Barcelona Airport

We are sitting in the VIP lounge at the airport, unwinding with a couple of people we met on the cruise.  Five hours down... five to go.  Our flight officially gets in after 1 am tomorrow, so, of course, we miss all our connections to Anchorage.  Delta proposed routing us to ANC via Minneapolis on Monday, but not in first class, so Scott asked them to look for the first available flight with first class seats.  To make a long story short, we´ll get to ANC at 6:27 PM Tuesday.  That should put us home around 9:30 or 10... depending on weather.

See you soon!

Valleta, Malta

We spent the sea time out of Alexandria enduring what the ship calls “increased hygiene” measures to prevent GI illnesses – translated that means no self service at the buffets, extra hand sanitizing stations, crew spraying carpets (to counteract the Egyptian dirt we might have tracked in?), and no going and getting yourself a cup of coffee (except for those of us lucky enough to have coffee makers in our rooms).

Valleta entrance

We sailed into Valleta, Malta, eagerly.  The entrance is pretty tight, with massive walls lining the city and a narrow port channel.  We moored behind a German frigate.  

Valleta harbor

Mdina, St Paul's Cathedral

Rather than do a ship tour we opted for the HO-HO bus… that’s a hop on, hop off.  Right as we boarded the open top level of the bus, it started spitting rain… the bus company was prepared and promptly handed out ponchos.

Malta is home to the Knights of Malta, defenders of the Roman Catholic church, and, indeed, there are churches everywhere.  One church in Mdina was St. Paul’s home church when he was named Bishop of Malta and where he is believed to be buried.  

the bombed church

There was one church with a huge dome that was bombed in WWII and the bomb penetrated the roof, but did not go off… today they keep a replica in the sacristy.

Near Italy and Africa, it is a historic crossroads – and has been invaded multiple times, as well as serving as a launch point for the crusades.  It was most recently under British rule (until the 1960s), so they speak Italian, Maltese, and English.  We even saw one building that had a sign saying Napoleon had ruled the island for seven days.  There is even an old naval hospital that handled British troops from the battle of Gallipoli.

They do like their religious festivals, and Christmas decorations at every turn reminded us that December is here… where did the year go?

We are headed now for Barcelona… with strong storms moving across Europe and closing airports in the UK, we picked up some gale force winds and pretty good swells.  We sat at lunch and watched the waves crashing from the lap pool onto Deck 12.  Barf bags began appearing throughout the ship due to the rough seas.  We think the line mistook seasickness for GI distress because at dinner they were serving bread instead of putting a plate of rolls on the table and even the salt and pepper shakers were removed.   After Scott complained, we were allowed to have the waiters give us freshly ground pepper. 

They are taking the measures a bit too far.  After dinner, our friends returned to their room to find their ice bucket had been removed and their coffee maker.  We still have our cappuccino machine and our ice bucket, so there must be separate rules for suites. 

We’re all packed and ready to leave.  We’re taking a ship’s tour to Monserrat (a monastery in the hills near Barcelona).  It is supposed to have a killer view and a famous choir, and what works for us is that it kills some time … allowing us to check in to our hotel.  (When your ship arrives at 5 am to meet westbound morning flight schedules, the hotels just don’t have rooms ready!)

We’ll be home before we know it.

Observations on Egypt

goats on sidewalk, sheep in street

Our overall impression of Egypt was that it was extremely dirty… trash everywhere, trucks dumping garbage into canals that ran between the streets.  Horses, cattle, sheep share the roadways and sidewalks with trucks and cars.  Many of the buildings are unfinished, yet still have their TV satellite dishes.  Major developments are being built to the north of Cairo… there were signs touting malls and planned developments and highway interchanges “to nowhere” were disrupting traffic on the highway.  Chaos is a kind description.

We were very glad to be back on board where we could shower and wash our clothes to get rid of the Cairo dirt.  It makes you believe in the saying, “There’s no place like home.”

Sailing shortly after a beautiful sunset was welcome!

Egypt- Day 2

All day long Sunday we had seen banners for the election… and during the performance we heard many sirens.  The next morning we found a bulletin on the English version of Aljezeera TV that protests over fraud in the election had turned violent. The next morning as we turned from the Alexandria Highway onto Giza Road we saw army armored personnel carriers and riot gear. 

We got to Giza just before it opened.  The smog was a bit better, but it was still hard to see.  The best part was we beat the hordes of buses.  At the panoramic overlook we had the place to ourselves.

We finished with a walk down from the Great Pyramid to the Sphinx.  It looked a bit bigger in the daylight.

We headed from there into downtown Cairo to the Egyptian Museum where we had a chance to see the King Tut exhibit and many, many antiquities.  No pictures were allowed here.

Our drive back to Alexandria was more of an adventure than the southbound trip.  About an hour out of Alexandria, right in front of the McDonald’s pit stop, we were stopped by the police.  Ahead we could see smoke, and people on the highway.  We sat for about half an hour before the police allowed tourist vehicles to go over to the frontage road and around the problem.  As we are moving past, the police in full riot gear are moving in a phalanx along the southbound lane, with weapons drawn.  Scott got a picture of two civilians running along the right hand side of the road with AK-47 rifles.  We were very glad to get away.

We had arranged to return to Alexandria early to tour the Roman catacombs… a cemetery that supposedly was found in the early 1900s when a donkey’s leg broke through the ceiling.  It was originally three levels underground, but problems with ground water prevent anyone from going past the second level.  Because Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great, this cemetery was part Roman, part Greek and part Egyptian… the Greeks and Romans were into cremation, and the Egyptians mummification, so this was a mix.  There was a place they called the dining room, where Greeks would bring supper and get out the urn of their departed family member and have a feast.  In the Greek tradition, after they would break the dishes.  The Arabic name of the place meant pile of broken dishes.  No pictures were allowed here either.

Just as we got back to the ship, they announced that additional problems along the Cairo-Alexandria road meant that most of the buses were going to be late, so they delayed our sailing.  We left nearly an hour and half late.

Egypt - Day 1

We arrived in Alexandria at dawn in a thick fog… from our 8^th deck stateroom we could see wisps of light above the fog as the lighthouse rotated.   Eerie!!!

We hurried off the ship to catch our tour, only to be held in place in the parking lot by the tourist police.  The fog, national elections and standstill traffic were the reasons.  Two and a half hours late we got out of the port.  Our adventure began…

Once we reached the Alexandria Desert Highway we were treated to an exhibition of chaos.  Trucks, buses and vans all competing for the highway… nobody pays attention to lanes, the drivers pull onto the shoulder or a frontage road to get ahead of somebody.  When we made a pit stop at Omar’s Oases, an hour out of Alexandria, most of our fellow travelers were shell shocked.  Walking into the toilet, an attendant hands you toilet paper, and expects you to put money into the pot.  I had heard about this on cruise critic, so was prepared… others were not.

pigeon towers

The adventure continued… past salt drying ponds, a camel ranch, tall towers we were told were pigeon roosts, speed bumps that slowed the traffic to a crawl, pedestrians that run across 6 lanes of oncoming traffic, small pick up trucks with water buffalo, goats, or local produce, and trucks and buses with men and women hanging on.   Four hours later we reached Giza… it was so smoggy we could barely make out the pyramids. 

Ramses II

We had a very good guide named Hagar – a Nubian from the south of Egypt who was working on her masters in Egyptology and Tourism.  She suggested we modify the tour schedule a bit to avoid the huge crowds at Giza, so we headed to Memphis and saw the Alabaster Sphinx and several large statues of Ramses II. 

Ramses II

Alabaster or Memphis Sphinx

From there we went to Saqqara, to the Step Pyramid … the oldest pyramid in Egypt.  We toured the necropolis, and got some good pictures. 

Because the historical areas were closing we headed to our hotel, checked in, then left to attend the sound an light show at the pyramids.  Sitting in the amphitheater, you could make out the shapes of two pyramids, and we suddenly realized that the Sphinx was right in front of us.  Both of us had the same reaction… it’s much smaller than we thought it would be!  At first we thought it might be a model, but, as the show began we realized it was the real thing.

Turkey

Our ship pulled into Izmir, Turkey’s second largest port and third largest city.  We had a private car and guide, so we headed out before all the buses from the ship could get organized.  After an hour drive through agricultural areas, we arrived at Meryemana – the house believed to be where the Virgin Mary spent most of her last years after Jesus asked John to care for her.  It is hidden high in the hills near Selkuk and the ancient port of Ephesus.

Many, many pilgrims come here, so we were delighted to get there early… we had the house to ourselves for a few quiet moments.  Three popes have come to the site and consecrated it… validating the belief that it is her house.  The sick come to get water from three wells and to leave paper prayer requests on the courtyard wall.  The hillside was nearly destroyed in a forest fire a few years ago, but the fire stopped within sight of the house… adding to the local beliefs in the miracles of the place.

Virgin Mary's House

the spring

From there we went down the hill to the upper entrance of Ephesus – a Greek and Roman port that once was on the Aegean but is now about 3 miles inland.  Unlike Pompei and Ostia, the streets were marble slabs, and Greek statuary was everywhere.  One of the interesting elements was that early Christians came here because as a crossroads it was more tolerant than other areas.  To identify themselves they used a rosette that spells out I X E Y S… or Jesus. 

Terrace Houses

piping

As a port it was very wealthy, and eight Terrace Houses have been preserved under a protective roof.  This enables archeologists to work on what could be called the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle… they are trying to restore some of the areas, but there are many intact walls, frescoes and mosaics, and the piping that heats the floors of the houses and thermal baths.  

Terrace House mosaic

It was all built into a hillside and is now protected by ramps and viewing platforms.  Unbelievable! 

Also in the city was the Celsus Library, second only in size to the Library of Alexandria.  It had room for 16,000 papyri (paper scrolls).  When Alexandria banned the export of papyrus, Ephesus came up with other ways to make paper.  This area of Turkey is still making paper.

Aphrodite

Celsus Library

Roman Amphitheater

Last, but not least, there was a Roman amphitheater that could seat more than 24,000.  Even today the acoustics are amazing.  As we stepped inside, a group was square dancing on the stage… something our guide had never seen.  This was supposedly one of the places that St Paul preached because he could not use the churches.  And nearby is the St John Basilica where he is believed to be buried.  A lot of history in one place.

We finished up with a brief stop at a carpet weaving school where local girls spin silk into thread and tie intricate carpets with more than 1,000 knots per inch.  We managed to avoid the hard sell, sampling the strong Turkish coffee that was offered as a sign of hospitality.

The thing that really surprised us was how lush and green the area was… in many ways it looked like the Napa Valley – grapes, dates, oranges, artichokes, hazelnuts and peaches.  I think we expected arid, but the Aegean coast was beautiful.

Crete

Crete is very mountainous.  

We came in from the west, following along the cliffs.

We arrived in Heraklion, the capital of Crete, about 8 am… and watched as the captain pulled off some great ship handling, turning a 960+ foot ship in a 1000 foot turning basin without tugs.  We stood on the observation deck (deck 14) and there were moments that we could not see the pier or the breakwater.  Scott’s only comment, “I’m impressed!”   It is amazing what you can do with azipods and thrusters.  We tied up behind one container ship (with stevedores yelling in Greek) and at a pier next to two Minoan ferries.

We chose not to take one of the ship’s tours, instead we walked along the port and into the city, enjoying the boats and views of the Venetian fort.

Most of the impressive structures we saw were left by the Venetians… a loggia, nice fountains, banks, and walls around the city.

It was nice and peaceful until we got to one of the main streets near the market and ran into a student protest.  It was a small, but vocal group.  We just wandered away from them, but they circled around and finished their demonstration in front of the restaurant where we had lunch. 

Tourism, fishing and sponge diving seem to be the main industries…

All too soon it was time to get back to the ship.    

Scott watched sunset from the balcony with a gin and tonic in hand.

Three Seas

On Wednesday, we went from the Tirenian Sea to the Mediterranean… and later into the Aegean.

 

We sailed by Stromboli volcano about sunrise.

About noon we got to the Straits of Messina, separating Sicily and mainland Italy. When Scott was on the USS Detroit he remembered going through here often.  While the small boys went into Naples, Detroit would go to Augsta Bay and refuel, then meet up with the ships and refuel them as they headed back into the Med.  He remembered Messina as a small fishing village, and was surprised to see how much the area had changed… high rise buildings, ferries going back and forth, big wide freeways winding up the hills. 

We saw Mount Etna… at least the lower third of it.  Then we turned left and headed for Greece.

Unfortunately, the threats of strikes in Athens caused NCL to cancel our port visit there.  (All the historical sites would have been closed and the transportation systems compromised.)  Instead, the captain announced we would be visiting Crete.   More to come...

Ostia Antica

We arrived in Civitavecchia on Tuesday, in the middle of a major thunderstorm… it was not looking promising for sightseeing.  But, by the time we boarded our bus, the sun was peeking through.  We met up with new friends from Novato (a retired chief and VA nurse) and headed south towards Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, crossed the Tiber River and entered the archeological district of Ostia Antica… the ancient port of Rome.

You first walk through the necropolis, because Roman law would not allow people to be buried inside the city walls.  Amid the graves we saw partial mosaics… they turned out to be only a hint of what was to come.  Our first stop was at the Neptune Baths.  The site has some observation platforms that allow you to get up and look down into some of the buildings.  The views were amazing.

Neptune

Ostia has an amphitheater that is used by locals for concerts and plays during the summer.

Ron & I check the B&B

One building was billed as a Roman B&B… 

so of course we had to check that out.  Their kitchen was particularly nice...

The commercial forum showed the remains of shops… 

all of which had mosaic “signs” out in front.

Out in front of the center’s workshops they had piles of marble… since this was a major seaport they imported colored marbles from throughout the Med.  As we are walking by, Scott remarked, “Hey, this is the Roman version of Home Depot!”