Dubrovnik

We arrived in Dubrovnik at the civilized hour of 9am.  The ship docked a few kms out from the old town so we caught a couple of taxis to the Pile Gate, the furthest you can go by car, after that it’s all shanks pony as the old town is pedestrian only.  We walked over the real life drawbridge, just like the castles of old and entered the UNESCO designated old town of Dubrovnik.  This is my 3rd time here and each time it enchants me with it’s narrow streets, cobbled roads all encircled by the high stone walls of the town.  Some of it has been patched up by new concrete and the terracotta tiles on the roofs are new after they blasted the hell out of it during the 1991 war.

Like Venice, Dubrovnik was settled by refugees escaping the pillaging & sacking of their home areas, it was a very nasty time, and made themselves a nice life on rocky islands & outcrops and becoming very commercially viable.  Dubrovnik started life out being called Ragusa as it was founded on rocks around 639AD. I’m not sure when it had the name change but it appears it was after 1713.  Dubrovnik means ‘well wooded’ after the hardwood forests around that was used to build ships.

Five of us, Maureen, Roger, Ellen & us two decided to walk the wall.  It begun with a climb of approx 90 very steep stairs, just inside the main gate.  That wasn’t the end of the stairs as all around the wall we climbed up & down a series of them.  Someone told us there were about 600 of them and I can easily believe it. The wall dates back to around the 13th century although parts of it are 21st century judging by the repair job.  I think the circumference is only about 2-3 km but it was very hot and by the time we stopped and looked at the view & rested & walked slowly with lots of photos, it took us approx 2 hours.  The views were spectacular and the colour of the sea was this beautiful sapphire blue and so clear we could see the bottom in some parts.  Kayaks cruised slowly past and looked so clear & outstanding against this amazing colour of the sea.  No photo can capture it, it really has to be seen to be believed.  By the time we finished the walk, I must admit I had had enough of the wall and was well & truly ready to come down.

We had somehow lost Ellen by now as she loves her photography so lingered a lot to try & capture the magical scene. M & R & us decided we would catch the ferry to Cavtat, a seaside resort town across the harbour & a trip of 1 ½ hours. It started life as a Roman town and is where Edward VIII & Wallace Simpson honeymooned. I can understand why, it was so tranquil over there, very clear water that looked so tempting to have a swim although no beach to speak of so you have to climb down stairs then walk or jump into the rocky waters.  Not much to do there so very relaxing and lots of restaurants with a scattering of souvenir shops.  We spent an extremely pleasant hour or so sitting at a local café that was recommended to us by fellow ferry passengers and dined on squid, salad & pizza as we gazed across the still blue waters with the bobbing yachts and dramatic Dalmatian coastline.

We wandered down the main street and bought a couple of t- shirts & a lovely necklace for me that was very nautical looking and matched the new t-shirt perfectly.  After that the day turned to shit.

We climbed aboard the ferry to take us back, which by this time had a lot of people onboard.  As I stepped in, I stepped on the first step but somehow missed the next one and down I went like a sack of salts.  It happened so quick I didn’t even feel myself falling but I somehow twisted up and hit my back on the step and was all askew.  I couldn’t move as there was such a pain in my back and I felt almost winded.  Jon & the captain somehow managed to drag me up onto a seat and I sat very quietly for quite sometime.  Lucky I seem to be made of elastic as I had come right in about 20 minutes and have been good as gold ever since.  We seem to be determined to injure ourselves on this trip, maybe it’s just attention seeking.

After we got back we found an internet café to catch up on emails.  I hate foreign computers as the keyboard is different, but not only was the keyboard different but what it said on the keys wasn’t necessary what that key was.  So after trying to get into our email for 10 minutes, wasting time & money & the girl behind the bar couldn’t give a toss as she smoked away & chatted to the single guys. We gave up and went back to the ship, being hot & tired by this time & more than a little grumpy.  I had a shower & got changed for diner & thought I would try on my new necklace.  Well, we have no idea what happened to it but it never made it back to the ship & suspect that bitch back at the bar is now in possession of it.  I don’t know if that is true but it capped off an afternoon that was so pleasant and suddenly turned to manure.  I will get over it but still feel a little miffed.

Do you think he needs help?

We have had a lovely day at sea, busy morning with a lecture from the Scotland Yard crime scene investigator, then the cooking show from master chef commendatore Alfredo Marzi, who is a real trick, followed by bingo.  I won bingo the other day.  The prize was $90 but unfortunately I had to share with another person (the only time 2 people have won!) still I was happy with my $45 and spent it in Dubrovnik.  The jackpot for bingo is now $1800 so it’s really exciting now!

Then we transited the Messina Strait which is the narrow point between the toe of Italy and the island of Sicily.  At it’s narrowest point it’s only 1.6 kms wide.  It was an amazing journey as we were so close to Italy and saw the town which seemed to stretch forever and an incredible road they have built around this mountainous area.  It was a concrete road all built up on pylons and kept disappearing into the side of the hills.  The pilot got on board to guide us through the strait and the ship didn’t slow down much so this tiny boat had to scoot up to us at approx 16 knots p/h and the pilot leaped onto the ropes to climb aboard.  Even the captain came out on the bridge bit that sticks out the side of the boat and whipped out his little pocket camera to take a photo!

Next stop is Naples then we have a busy schedule of 5 days in a row of 12 hour days in different ports.  There is Naples tomorrow, then Rome, then Florence then Cannes then Barcelona so I doubt I will be writing much more until next week.  We only have a week & a half to go so nearly the end of the trip & this blog.

Venice

St Marks Sq

Venice must be the best port in the world to cruise into.  It is absolutely spectacular and you just don’t want to miss a second of it.  I think everyone on board the boat was on the deck both coming into and sailing away from Venice.  Most ports are at the arse end of the town or even several kms away and are very unappealing to say the least but Venice is definitely not one of those ports.

It was a great schedule too as we had a lazy morning, breakfast was delivered to our door then we causally got ready then went on deck by 11 to watch the spectacular show of cruising down the Canal San Nicolo Oi Lido then through the Canal di San Marco passing St Marks Square then onto our berth by 12pm.  Usually we arrive at 6-7am so it’s always an early start.  Then we always have a time limit and have to be back on board the boat by a certain time.  This day was different as we didn’t have to reboard until 1.30pm the next day so we could stay out all night it we wanted.

We excitedly gathered downstairs with passports & water bottles at the ready then shot off at the first available opportunity.  Venice has a few new things since we were last there 4 years ago.  It now has a people mover from the port to the station, which is a driverless monorail.  It also has a fancy new bridge going over the canal to the train station but everything there is pretty much how it’s been for the last few hundred years.  The first place I wanted to head for was San Simeon Piccolo.  It’s a fairly unexciting 15th century church but it was the name I was interested in.  On the way we passed the Carlton Hotel so we all had to have our photo under that as well. Then we wandered towards San Marco.  It’s fairly easy to find your way around so you don’t need a map if you want to go to the Rialto bridge, San Marco or the train station as wherever you are there will be a sign pointing the way.  If you want to go anywhere else you could be a bit stuffed.

On the way you pass interesting little shops, yummy looking bakery’s with meringues the size of a football, narrow streets, cross numerous bridges with the inevitable gondola cruising underneath or delicious smelling cafes.  It was at one of these that Jon & I pulled up at while the others continued walking.  You really have to have a pizza and a beer when in Italy, it’s just the polite thing to do. 

We eventually made it to the famous square & as we had done the Basilica before we chose to go to the Doge’s palace, constructed in the 14th centaury. The Doge was a Duke and the chief executive to Venice.  He was elected by the council and had sweeping powers but almost remained a prisoner as he wasn’t allowed outside the palace and was there until he died. He could go out occasionally but not for long and only with permission and 7 people had to accompany him. This palace had a huge courtyard in the middle with a door leading straight into the side of St Marks Basilica.  The first bit we saw looked a bit ordinary until we came to his private quarters and the council chambers.  Wow, just couldn’t describe these rooms.  Each room seemed to be bigger than the last with magnificent frescoes and gilt on the ceilings & masterpieces on the walls.  We weren’t allowed to take photos but it was simply an incredible building. 

As well as the Grand Council they also had the far more powerful “Council of Ten“.  These guys watched over security & had a network of spies & secret agents. Inside the palace is a model of a Lion’s mouth. You could leave an anonymous note here, dobbing in someone you thought was a traitor. The Counsellors imposed criminal judgements, the poor accused didn’t have to be there, had no right to appeal & sentence was carried out immediately.  If they were to be imprisoned they were lead over the Bridge of Sighs (said to be named because through the small windows of the bridge you can get a glimpse of the canals and life on the outside and was the prisoners’ last look before being locked away, maybe forever) and connected the Doge’s palace to the formidable prison on the other side. 

Looking thru the bridge of sighs

It was all a bit grim as we passed over the bridge and thought of the poor souls who were lead here for real.  At least we got to get out again.  Then we slowly wandered back to the boat, stopping to eat again some more wonderful Italian fair before collapsing in bed with very sore feet & legs.  I did go up on deck to listen to the Venetian orchestra under the stars which was lovely as the night was balmy and the music wafted over the evening breeze but by that time I had had enough fun for one day.

Next day we were off bright and early to again wander around the narrow streets and poke our nose into the interesting shops.  There were so many mask shops and thousand of different masks, some were so elaborate and beautiful, they were just amazing. With it’s 118 islands, 150 canals and 400 bridges, there is a lot of exploring to be done. You can take the vaporetto which is the equivalent to a bus but it’s the local ferry if you get sick of walking but then you miss all the little streets which then open every now & then to a Campo where there might be an old church or statute & you wonder, where the hell did that come from.

Another thing these Mediterranean folk did back over the centuries is nick other countries treasures, it just seemed to be the done thing.  In Istanbul in the Hippodrome was a column that was taken from Karnak Temple in Egypt and in turn four bronze horses were stolen from the Hippodrome and now adorn St Marks Basilica above the main doorway.  They also took St Marks bones from Alexandria in 823 & reburied them here so no-one was above nicking other peoples treasures or bits of bodies.

Back on board and the farewell sail back up the canal and into open sea heading for Dubrovnik.

Greece

It was such a fast trip in and out of Athens there just wasn’t enough time to really enjoy it.  I hadn’t been looking forward to it as I knew we had a tight timeframe but I did enjoy it more than I thought.

We managed to dock a little earlier and was off the boat by 7.00am.  M & R decided they wanted to catch a ferry to a little Greek Island since they had seen Athens before and we had missed on Mykonos so they went their separate way.  The 4 of us proceed to walk down the wharf area to find the train station into town.  It was a bit more of a hike than we had anticipated and Jo & I were all for catching a taxi but it seemed no-one was listening to us so we were made to walk all the way.

The train ride from Piraeus, which is the port town, to Athens is only about 20 minutes so we were there by 8am and well before anything was open.  Jon & I wanted to go to the Parthenon set up high on a hill so we headed off to catch a taxi while Jo & Ellen decided shopping was the order for the morning.  Our taxi driver was very friendly with enough English to have a chat.  He pointed out several major hotels that had all closed their doors and said that at least 10 major hotels, never mind about the smaller ones, had all closed down over the last year or two.  We thought the Gold Coast was bad but poor Greece has been hit much harder.

He dropped us off nice & close so we lined up for our tickets and went inside the gates, along with 10 million other tourists.  There were at least 4 big cruise ships in town, one was another Princess ship so there were lots of tour groups from each of these ships.  I would say come the afternoon it would have been much quieter.  The Parthenon is very nice and of course so historic & famous but after the temples of Egypt it really wasn’t a patch on them or as awe inspiring.  Go if you must but I wouldn’t rate it high on the list of must sees’. The Acropolis is 2,400 yrs old and built entirely of Pentelic marble.

With an eye on the time we only spent about a half hour there, maybe more before wandering down to the Plaka which is a 19th century shopping district and one of more interest to me.  There are narrow cobbled streets with little shops, tavernas & café’s which I could spend many a happy hour poking around in.  We sat at a nice little café and ordered a plate of calamari, big glass of beer and a frappe.  That beer was the nicest, coldest & most tastiest of beer ever know to mankind. It was just perfect and hit the spot like a cold glass of beer ever could.

I love the food in Greece, can’t be match by Greek food at home or in any other country, somehow it just has to be in Greece so I had been looking forward to that but there just wasn’t enough time to eat what I wanted so I ate what I could.  Another not to be missed delicacy is a cheese pie.  Never count calories when eating a cheese pie, just bite into it and enjoy the taste for what it is, just yummo.

After our snack we headed for the most ridiculous thing we have seen so far and that takes some beating.  If you ever wanted to watch one of the most ridiculous ceremonies in the world, I’m told the changing of the guards on the Pakistani border would take some beating so this must be a close 2nd.  It is the changing of the guard of the unknown solider outside Parliament House in Syntagma Square.  It is in this square that you see all the protestors on telly when they don’t like the Government telling them they have to work harder & longer with no benefits except earn money.

Anyway, these guards are picked for being tall & handsome.  I don’t think there would be one under 6ft.  The guy I stood beside was towering well above me.  They wear funny little outfits with the most outrageous shoes with big pom poms on the toes. There are two guards who stand absolutely stiller than statues for an hour until the relief come goose steeping across the square.  There are three that match down, the two relief and a third that gives the commands and matches away with the two that were there.  As the new guys arrive, in slow motion the incumbent guards lift one leg up like a praying mantis, knee bent then unfurl the leg, kick it high, bring it down bending at the knee again and scrap the ground in a backwards kick then stand straight.  Repeat several times.  As you march you hold one arm high in the air at the same time as lifting the opposite leg as high in the air as you can go then point the toes so the pom pom flicks nicely then lower the arm as you lower the leg then raise the other leg but you can’t raise the other arm as that is clutching a rifle.  It is all done in slow motion and has to be seen to be believed. Talk about ministry of silly walks, these guys are tops.  John Cleese couldn’t have done it better.

Time was also marching on & there was a fish market we wanted to see so we went down a street that would take us back to the train station and almost where we left them 4 hours ago were Jo & Ellen looking at some scarves.  They had had a lovely morning shopping and very pleased with their purchases.  Jo, Jon & I took off back up the road to see the fish & meat markets which was well worthwhile.  It was a big indoor market, lots of noise & yelling, big slabs of meat hanging from hooks and even little bunnies hanging from their back feet, stripped naked except for their fluffy little tails still intact and fluffy hind feet, poor little things.  Next to that was the fish and baskets full of them, mostly sardines & salmon with a smattering of other types as well as octopus & squid.

Back to the ship and ready to go by 1.30pm.  Not much time but enough to eat a cheese pie & see a couple of sights.

That night was the deck toga party. It actually wasn’t bad, the band were great and the cliental were a little younger, mostly 50’s - 60’s and all swinging to the beat.  It was fun to dance under the stars in the Mediterranean sea amongst the bed sheets & various togas.

The next day was a sea day so we hosted a Turkish afternoon tea party and I got to Christian my new tea set.  I had bought some apple tea and of course some Turkish delights and sent out the formal invitations so the team all arrived at the appointed time and we had a very civilised tea session. 

Today we land in Venice and have the whole afternoon all night until lunchtime tomorrow so it will be great.  We started off the day with breakfast on our balcony, the sea is so flat with hardly a ripple and a gentle breeze danced lightly across our faces as the sun beamed down. Tonight they have a Venetian orchestra &  opera singer who will be playing on deck under the Venetian stars, what a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Istanbul

Instanbul, Constantinople, call it what you will but you can never call it dull or unexciting.  I was last here almost 30 years ago and indeed it wasn’t dull & definitely not unexciting then but that’s another long story that thankfully didn’t make the papers, (not like the Greek saga).

I’m pleased to say that Istanbul is as exotic, alluring & unusual as always but this time it has something different about it. It has become trendy & sophisticated. While still somehow managing to hang on to old traditions a modern element has crept into ancient & historical Constantinople.

We are not sure if it was the mere fact that our last few ports (Aqaba excluded) were dirty & dingy & steaming hot and this seemed like a true haven or in fact it was a haven in it’s own right but whatever it was, everyone we have spoken to has absolutely loved this city. True, there were the usual touters that constantly called out to you to buy a carpet or their leather goods or whatever, the difference was that with the Egyptians, who wouldn’t leave you alone for a second & you just wanted to slap them away like flies, the Turkish with their dark eyes, long eyelashes and seductive smiles you wanted to ask ’how many carpets would you like me to buy?’  Before you ask I didn’t buy any carpets but I did buy a tea set which I’ve always wanted to buy and it only weights 5ks without the sold brass teapot and he did convince me to buy only the best and most expensive one they had because he promised I wouldn’t be sorry.

Anyhow, I digress. I have since heard from several people who went to the pyramids how the whole trip was spoiled by the hawkers who touched them and manhandled them.  Our poor waiter was grabbed by the waist and thrown onto a camel then the camel stood up and he couldn’t get off.  He had to jump from a great height just to get away.  They got in the way of every camera shot then wanted money, it was hazy anyway so hard to get a good picture and that was the best bits about the day.  Cairo is no better than Alexandria in way of rubbish. Apparently there has been no rubbish collection in all of Egypt for 18 months due to some disagreement.  There were dead animals lying in the streets of both cities and even dead horses on the side of the road so Turkey would not find it hard to beat all of that.

We had an unfortunate day the day before as we were all looking forward to Mykonos, me especially as it was my first day out of the cabin and I love Mykonos & was beside myself with excitement.  There were two other ships in port which meant we had to anchor & tender into shore.  We were due to anchor at 7am & be off the boat shortly afterwards.  On our TV we have a channel that shows our position and gives updates on time, day, date, temp and charts the ships progress.  At 7.10 we still hadn’t stopped and were in full steam mode so I started to watch the TV and saw with horror that Mykonos was behind us.  We had missed the captains message (which is only heard in the hallway or open deck so if your inside you don’t hear a thing) that said due to strong winds it was unsafe to anchor so we were giving it a miss. Well jolly roger to the bloody captain, didn’t he know how devastating this was?  Didn’t he know I had already missed one port and have now missed another?  Apparently not and I don’t think, between you & I that he cared.

So on we sailed to Turkey, the only constellation was we got to sail through the Dardanelles in the daylight.  The Dardanelles is a narrow strait connecting the Aegean Sea to the sea of Marmara.  The other strait in Turkey is the Bosporous  & together they connect the Black sea to the Mediterranean.  The Dardanelles is 61 kms long, 1.2 to 6kms wide and average depth of 55 meters so it is really long and skinny. The other interesting fact is water flows in both directions, one from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean via a surface current & the other in the opposite direction via an undercurrent. There were plenty of undercurrents after the Captains decision about Mykonos too, I’m not letting that go lightly. 

Moving forward, I got up early so I could watch us sail past the old city into port then was ready with my backpack & wallet, gathered the troops together and gave their instructions for the day and what we were going to do.  I think at this point they were wishing I hadn’t recovered quite so well as I was back & full of good ideas.  All credit to them, they humoured me and off we set.  It was a long walk out of the port and we had intended to walk into town as my plan A was to catch the hop on hop off bus but at the last minute I saw they didn’t start until 9.30am so plan B was to walk.  As we emerged from the gates & everyone strode off I took a pamphlet that someone handed out and here was the bus and as luck would have it, it was sitting across the road waiting for us.  I quickly called the troops back and declared we had reverted to plan A and hustled them across the road (which was extremely busy) like mother duck and bundled them all on the bus.  When we sat down I looked around & saw we were missing one.  I don’t know how she did it as she was right there when we were outside the bus but somehow, quick as a silver fish, Ellen managed to sneak off and was gone before I knew it. I can see I will have to keep a closer eye on that one, she’s just as bad as Jon and can disappear in the blink of an eye.

We chose to sit up top which did have a roof but was open sided so we had an unhindered view. We were having a lovely ride, it was a beautiful day, the sea glistened and we listened to the guide thru our earphones pointing out all the interesting spots and it was all very attractive & clean with some amazing sights like the old city walls which have been around since I think 5th centaury AD.  I can’t remember too clearly as things suddenly took a turn for the worst.  Out of nowhere, a rogue tree branch decided to throw itself halfway up inside the bus and whack Jon across the face before withdrawing. He was sitting in front of me as we both wanted a window seat. I saw the branch and I heard the branch but it was so quick then next thing I knew Jon had half turned to me clutching the side of his face and blood was spouting out everywhere. It was horrifying, I didn’t know what had quite happened.  I started searching for tissues in a panic but luckily Maureen came up with a bag of them then she sent Roger down to alert the driver who managed to pull into a local restaurant just near the fish markets and take Jon into the restrooms there to clean up. It was his nose that was bleeding so badly but bleeding from the outside where the tree had cut through.  It was so lucky it didn’t get him in the eye as there was a cut just above it to. Poor Jon, we were all a bit shaken after that and the worst thing was, he was wearing his favourite tee shirt and it was covered in blood.

As we walked around the market he did get a lot of attention and people asked him what happened.  He even drew the attention of a local plain clothed policeman who wanted to know if there was a problem. I’m not sure why it didn’t hit the guy in front of Jon who deserved it more as he wouldn’t sit still in his seat.  If he was not leaping out of his seat and throwing himself in front of M & R to take photos, often getting in the way of their photos, he was lifting his right cheek off the seat and farting very loudly.  It wasn’t just once either, he did it at least ten times.  I almost whacked him with my brochure once, it was disgusting.

Our first place to visit after leaving the bus was St Sophia or Hagia Sophia. Brief history on Istanbul ,it was first colonised by a Greek called Byzas as he recognised what a great strategic position it was being the narrowest point between Europe & Asia and that the sea lanes between southern Russia and the entire Mediterranean passed here and nowhere else so he founded Byzantium. Nothing like naming a town after yourself. You often see that word described in architecture like a Byzantine Church or Byzantine pattern or style so I guess that’s where it comes from.  Then along came Emperor Constantine nearly a thousand years later and was looking for a new Rome since the old one was not doing so well.  In 313 he issued an edict of tolerance for all religions so the Christians stopped being persecuted. Then he set his sights on Byzantium or New Rome but somehow it just got called Constantinople. I’m not certain of the date St Sophia was built but it must be around 500 AD as it was built by Emperor Justinian to replace Constantine’s original basilica burnt down in the Nike Rebellion.  Not sure what that was about either, maybe they ran out of Nike shoes one year.  The basic design is a Greek Cross inside a square and capped with a massive central dome 105ft in width and supported with columns and arches. It has marbled floor & walls and it absolutely massive and very beautiful. It was converted to a mosque when the Ottoman Turks took over sometime around 1453.  It is now a museum and one of the most amazing ones I’ve seen.  Huge chandeliers hang from enormous heights but hover just above your head and if you make the climb up the series of ramps, like a car park that you never seem to get to the top of, you can look down from the mezzanine and take in the aspect from above and wonder just how the hell they did it and so long ago.

Maureen hoping all her dreams will come true

The next spot was just down the road in the Basilica Cistern.  It use to be the reservoir for the Byzantine Great Palace by the same Emperor who built St Sophia around 500 AD and can hold 100,000 tones of water.  They also filmed a James Bond film down here ‘From Russia with Love”. The place was amazing and you would never know it was there.  You descend 55 stones steps underneath the city & into a dim dungeon like place.  There is spot lights every so often lighting up the columns of which there are 336 of, all with different designs & 9 meters in height supporting a cathedral style ceiling with beautiful arches.  It’s like an underground labyrinth like where the phantom took what’s her name.  There is still water there with large fish swimming around.  You can wander around it on a series of walking platforms.

A couple of likely lads

We headed off for lunch after that thinking we may need to fortify ourselves for the bazaar.  We found a lovely little local café, with seats the size quite suitable for kindergarten children but were surprisingly comfy once you managed to get down there.  Getting up was quite another matter and had a very pleasant Turkish lunch.

Then we headed to the Grand Bazaar and Grand it was. It has been around since the mid 15th century and is another amazing structure with the arched ceilings and over 4,000 stores up and down 60 streets selling anything from leather to spices to tea sets to any manner of souvenirs and of course, carpets.

Roger caught me out big time.  I thought they had gone a different way so was looking in awe at myriad of shops when I heard a voice behind me say excuse me lady, excuse me lady I want to give you money.  I thought this was a new take on touting but ignored it as I’m so practiced at now but the voice was insistent, excuse me lady, excuse me lady and I heard the Velcro of a wallet opening.  I was starting to get nervous now and just said no thank you and kept going.  But still the voice followed me, I could see someone out of the corner of my eye but wouldn’t look.  He came so close and was leaning over me so I almost struck out & said NO when I heard raucous laughter.  I finally looked at this annoying person and it was Roger trying to give me back 10 lire he owed me for lunch but he was doubled over clutching his stomach.  Well then I did whack him with my hat I was so flustered.  The Turks are not that bad.

We spend the next few hours happily cruising around the shops, bartering for bits & pieces until it was time to reboard the boat.  There is so much to see there, a few hours just doesn’t cut the mustard but it is a definite must to return.  Two stupid women didn’t come back until nearly an hour late and almost missed the boat.  Wish they had as they were so blasé about it and couldn’t understand why everyone was annoyed.  The ship was delayed half and hour from leaving which is big bucks in nautical terms.

We watched Istanbul slip away under a setting sun, the silhouette of the mosques with their graceful minarets standing out on the skyline and the beautiful harbour gradually disappearing under the fading skies. A more romantic and exotic city you will never find.

The next morning (today, which is apparently Thursday) was up early again for the dawn service in ANZAC Cove.  The bugle played, the choir sung, the priest held a service and the Captain said a few words before chucking a wreath overboard into the sea below.  We cruised up and down the bay for the morning then set off for Athens which we should reach by 6am for yet another early start.  Only half day tho as going again by 2pm (stupid women excluded) and ready for some fun for the toga party that night.  Yep really looking forward to seeing this crowd in their togas!

Jordan

The day before my confinement and straight after our long day at the Valley of the Kings we landed at Aqaba, the port town in Jordan, to the right of Sinai and made most famous by the scene in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” of Arabian riders lead by the man himself thundering out of the desert & capturing the port from the Turks.

I’m not sure if you really know what the story was about but it ultimately meant the start of the end of the Turkish empire in Arabia.  A lot of the filming was done in Wadi Rum which was just out of Aqaba and in the direction we were heading. A ’wadi’ by the way means a dry river bed and Aqaba mean difficult to pass.

Jordan was called Transjordan and by the end of the war, with the help of Lawrence & the Brit’s the Arab army liberated Damascus and made Prince Faisal King of Iraq & his brother Abdullah King of Transjordan.

In 1948 the UN voted to partition the Palestine Mandate between Jewish & Arabs. Abdullah fought against Israel & occupied the West Bank territories, including East Jerusalem.  In 1950 they were added to his kingdom and became Jordan.  Of course they lost the West Bank in the 1967 six day war, I guess it’s a matter of win a few, lose a few.

That’s your history lesson of the day, back to Aqaba.  One of the first things you notice coming into port is a huge flagpole with the flag of Jordan waving at the top.  Or at least that is the theory, when we saw it the flag was half mast & by the time we got in, it had disappeared so no photos of it.  It did reappear when we came back but as it was night it was too late.

we were here by ourselves

We instantly noticed how different Jordan was to Egypt from the time we stepped on board the bus which was so much nicer, roomier & in better repair, no ripped seats or upholstery.  The countryside was cleaner, the desert more like the desert you imagine, after all, it was here where they filmed the scenes of Lawrence on his camels walking over the sand dunes and just generally far more interesting. There seemed to be lots more Bedouins and their goats & donkeys wandering around within sight of the road and the exotic look of a camel or two strolling down the main streets of Aqaba.

I would have like to have seen Aqaba and maybe will come back one day to explore more but for now we were heading for the lost city of Petra. Not as long a drive as the day before, only about a 2 hour drive which we didn’t mind given the comfy bus & interesting scenery. It was through here that Moses lead the Israelites to Sinai.  We did stop at a photo stop (they called it that as it had sweeping views to the valley below but what it really was, as coincidentally there was also a souvenir shop, was a grab at your money stop).  This shop had lovely souvenir’s that came with lovely prices.  I was going to buy my usual little dishes that I tend to buy from different countries.  They usually look the same but are hand made & hand painted & written on the bottom the country they come from.  The most expensive I’ve bought was in Italy in Deruta,  famous for it’s hand made porcelain and that was around 15 euros.  So I took my time and selected 3 small dishes that I calculated couldn’t be more than $30 total.  When I took them up to the counter they told me it was USD67!  Back I went & carefully replaced each one.

The inevitable lunch followed that, which seems to me, to be a waste of time. A sandwich would do instead of a 1 hour sit down lunch, although very nice but it, pardon the pun, eats up the day. We didn’t get to Petra until 2.30pm as we left the ship late as well so little time left to explore. The guide also seemed to like the sound of his own voice (was the only one who did) so insisted on stopping every few meters to explain this amazing monument or little nook or meaning of this bit sticking out, so a little frustrating and next time we would do what Maureen, Roger, Jo & Ellen did which was catch a taxi from the port and drive straight there.  Much cheaper & quicker so if you ever come on a cruise this way, don’t take the tour.

Saying that the actual place was out of this world.  In fact it had been named one of the 7 wonders, after the Wall of China. It was built by the Nabataeans (ancient Arab tribes) during the time of the Roman Empire and was a pivotal city for the trade routes as it had fresh water. In a place which gets an average rainfall of 300mm p/a (can fall that in a day on the Gold Coast) that makes it a pretty attractive place. Merchants moving between Arabia, Red sea & Syria, and caravans on the silk & spice route from India & China to Greece & Rome all passed through Petra.

It’s a bit like Cober Pedy where they have carved their houses into the rock but that is where the similarity ends.  Here they have carved out beautiful temples, theatres, houses & tombs into the rock walls in the finest of details.  The most famous of these is the Treasury which is the first thing you see and where they filmed Indian Jones. It actually wasn’t a Treasury but a tomb carved for some king in the 1st century BC then later used as a temple.

Petra comes from the Greek work rock.

Before you get to the city you have to walk through the Siq which is a natural narrow canyon 1200 meters in length, sometimes only 16 ft wide in places and the towering coloured, mostly orange & black, sandstone walls of 650 ft tall. (I’m working off American & European brochures hence the metric & imperial figures). It is just beautiful with it’s colourful rock, amazing formations, ancient carvings as well as the incredible water channel they cut into the cliffs to bring the water down.  During the camel caravan times, because it was so narrow and the caravans generally consisted of 1200 - 1400 camels, they were only allowed to bring two down carrying the goods, go back & get more.

The only traffic that is allowed down this narrow pass nowadays were the horse & buggy’s and boy, did they rocket down there. If you didn’t leap out of their way I swear they would have run you down.  They were a touristy thing for people who didn’t think they could walk the distance but looking at them I’d far rather walk than take my life in my hands on one of them.  I also wouldn’t do it on principal as those poor bloody horses were almost flogged all the way down & back at break neck speeds and not all of it was smooth.  Some parts had remains of a Roman road, big rock cobbles so not only difficult for the horse but enough to rattle your false teeth clear out of your head.  They were beautiful Arabian horses but some looked in poor condition and one look exhausted as he climbed the last little bit, slipping on the stones as he pulled some big fat tourist spilling out of the trap back to the top.

As we were making our way down we met Maureen & Jo who were on their way back.  They had already been there for 4 hours so got good time for their money although they went in the heat of the day which was absolutely baking while it had cooled down a fair bit by the time we made it down.  Roger was somewhere behind them and Ellen, they had reported, was last seen heading up a mountainside with a man & his donkey! Obviously no one had any fears for her safety, more likely they feared for the man & his donkey.

We got our first peak of the Treasury just before the end of the Siq thru the narrow gap then, as we stepped out into the open, there it was in all it’s glory.  With it’s height of 43m and width of 30m, it looked magnificent and the whole area looked exotic with camels wandering around, dressed in the gear just like in the film (you really will have to watch it again), red woollen covers with long knotted tassels and donkeys standing around or being lead by their reins and these absolutely jaw dropping craved facades in the towering rock faces. 

It would take about 3 days to explore this place with some justice but as we only had 1 ½ hours we barely had time to scratch the surface. We did make the climb up a steep hill to look at the colourful tomb walls that were etched into the rock.  With the beautiful swirling patterns of red, orange, pink, white & black across the tomb ceilings and walls and the views down to the valley below with it’s passing traffic of donkeys, camels & tourists made the hot, arduous climb to see them truly worthwhile.

Frankincense & Myrrh

We didn’t get to see the famed monastery, further down the road and up a flight of 800 stairs, or the colonnaded street with the Roman marble pavement or even Ellen with her man & his donkey but what we did see was incredible.

After one more shot at the expensive shop on the top of the hill (I’m sure the buses are given a kick back for that) we were driven back to the boat to set sail for the Suez and the beginning of my confinement.

In my opinion it was a more enjoyable day than the day before even though seeing the Egyptian tombs is also a not to be missed event.

Tomorrow we reach Mykonos and hopefully by then I will be allowed off the boat after being locked in my cabin for three days.  Even Jon is starting to look attractive to me! Nah, just kidding, he has looked after me very well, catered to my every need and as he keeps reminding me, I truly am a very lucky girl.

Egypt

The worst possible scenario has happened.  I have been confined to barracks for 48 hours due to a gastro virus therefore I will miss one of the highlights of the trip, a visit to the pyramids.  I’m not the only one, over 40 people have been confined & it’s going thru the ship like a dose of salts, so to speak.  If I dare leave the cabin and get caught out, the consequences are dire as they will throw me off the ship.  I can’t sneak off the boat either as they have blocked my cruise card, which you use to clock on & off the boat, bastards.

As I write this we are traversing through the Suez Chanel and it truly is amazing.  Lucky we have a balcony so at least I can sit out here and gaze at the passing scenery.  There is a lot of desert, mostly flat although there have been a few sand dunes and every now & then will be a little settlement or a watch tower (they monitor all ships very closely) with a house beside it and some greenery, seemingly in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  There have been more greenery or plantations of date palms but mostly just sand.  We have passed a few small wooden boats with lots of waving, whistling & yelling from the occupants, must seem very daunting this huge boat passing within metres of them.

We picked up the pilot 6am after being at anchor since 1am as we had to join the convoy of north going boats.  It is extremely narrow & looks like we will barely fit thru, could almost reach out and touch the land.  About 4 hours into the journey we came to the Bitter lakes and it is here where it is wide enough to pass the south bound convoy.  It is also here where they stranded 15 ships during the 6 day Arab-Israeli wars back in 1967 and blocked the channel for 8 years. 

The channel took 10 years to dig and was opened in 1869. Over 1.5 million people worked on it, 125,000 died and is approx 120 miles long, 79 feet deep & 673 feet wide.  I can’t imagine what a task it must have been, out here in the middle of a desert with your pick and shovel.  It’s hard to describe what it looks like and even harder to take a photo as there is lots of nothing but interesting all the same.  We passed by the Suez war memorial which had this huge bayonet shaped monument and also went under the El Ferdan railway bridge, another marvelous feat of engineering being the longest swing span bridge in the world. It is now 2.30pm and we have just dropped the pilot off, we are passing Port Said and heading for the open Mediterranean sea.  There are lots of cargo and container ships in port, some are really massive.

It’s the 17th June so we must be in Alexandria.  That’s about all I can tell you about Alexandria unless you want some history about it as I am still confined and facing a possible 48 hours more so all I can do is gaze out from my balcony and tell you how many ships are in port and what cargo it looks like they’re carrying and how many containers are stacked up on the wharf opposite me.  I did watch them refuel this morning, a large boat drew alongside us and took 3 ½ hours to fill us with diesel, that was exciting.  Maureen has been up and loaded me with books & Ellen came up with her iPad, laptop and a hard drive full of movies so I can’t say I have nothing to do.

There is also plenty of activity happening in or around my cabin.  The phone goes often from either the nurse or customer services checking to see if I’m ok, I think they are just checking to make sure I’m still in here and haven’t sneaked out, then I get fumigated twice a day.  Two men come in, completely covered up from head to toe in white suits, booties, full hat and face mask like they are walking into Chernobyl nuclear station and spray stuff around everywhere, on the picture frames, on the balcony railings, on every surface available then attack the toilet like it contains some vile beast from the deep and needs to be killed as quickly as possible. (Actually they may not be far wrong there). I even got a lovely personalised get well card from Princess today.  They do take this seriously tho, Jon heard today that if another 100 people got sick they were going to raise the yellow flag and no one would be allowed off.  That would be a major disaster all around, to quarantine the entire ship. As I was watching the refueling I noticed a number of heads popping over their balconies to watch, they would only be there if they had to be.  

I started watching Lawrence of Arabia, which is a great movie, made even better because we had just been to the very place where he lived & fought & where they filmed it but first I need to tell you about the stop before that which was Safaga & the Valley of the Kings.

Safaga is a smallish port town in Egypt on the Coast of the Red Sea & is of no great consequence that we saw, but it was from here we took the marathon bus journey of 3 ½ hours through ‘serious’ desert as described by our guide to Luxor and on to the Valley of the Kings not far from there.  We travelled in an armed convoy so no bus left until all the buses were full and we set off together.  It looked rather impressive as this convoy of buses snaked around the granite mountains (they called them mountains but they were mere hills) then into the desert.  In Egypt, if you have 4 people or more travelling you have to have an armed guard, this is ever since those 63 tourists were killed at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is where we were heading.

There wasn’t much to see on the way there besides the occasional Bedouin camp with a few goats or a camel or two.  I couldn’t take many photos as we just flashed past any point of mild interest.  The desert wasn’t even a nice one, not one with big rolling sand dunes like you see in the movies, just a dull, grey gravel with not a skerrick of greenery, blade of grass or tree, real serious desert.

Typical sight

It did start to green up the closer to the Nile we got. To Egypt the Nile is life and life is the Nile, it is their only source of water, without it there would be nothing.  We finally drove over this famed source of water and could see the river cruise boats stacked side by side, some were 5 deep making it a long walk for the people on the furthest boat to shore. 

Our impression of Egyptians has never been favorable and having experienced a little of Egypt I’m afraid we haven’t changed our minds.  They are a dirty race, have no regard for hygiene or cleanliest. The water courses flowing from the river were choked with rubbish, almost so much you could walk across the water to the other side.  Jon has just come back from his morning in Alexandria and report it was the dirtiest, smelliest, most disgusting city he has ever visited.  Here was one of the greatest cities in the world, at it’s peak it was the second city in the Roman Empire, one of learning, a theological powerhouse, perpetually engaged in debate with the thinkers at Antioch & a commercial hub and today is Egypt’s 2nd largest city but what a stinking toilet of a city. Now THAT isn’t mentioned in any of the brochures.

Anyway, back to our tour.  We eventually arrived at our destination and we grateful to get off the bus which had been as comfortable as the worst economy class flight I had ever been on.  As soon as we disembarked we were descended upon by dozens of hawkers who weren’t willing to take no for an answer.  Everything was $1 until you showed some interest then suddenly it was $60! They were so in your face and followed you constantly flogging things from postcards, plaques, trinkets & most popular, scarab beetles. To Egyptians scarab beetles symbolized rebirth or new life as a beetle will lay it’s eggs in a dead scarab beetle so if you saw a dead beetle you would know that within is new life.  To these guys it just represented money, as much as they could get.  We had one guy follow us and he started at $60 then said ok, ok $55 (no Answer) ok, ok $50 (walking away) ok, ok $45, this went on until he came down to $4 and that only took about 3 minutes. Another thing they were selling was a magazine, I have no idea what the mag was as was too scared to even look at it but just as I was climbing back on the bus, my hands full of water bottles, camera etc this guy threw it on top of my pile & yelled magazine for you madam.  Well, I wasn’t having that so got my one remaining finger and flicked the mag, firing it back so fast he didn’t know what hit him.  Jon was behind and cracked up, he said the look of sheer surprise on his face was priceless.

What we had come to see was were they buried their kings or Pharaohs. The history of Egypt is split into the Old Kingdom (ended by 2150 BC and was when the Pyramids where built), Middle Kingdom (only lasted for 500 years) & New Kingdom which didn’t start until 16th century BC so there were many hundreds of years between the old & new.  After that came the Persians then Alexander the Great so was ruled by Greeks for 500 years, then by the Romans for another 500 years then finally the Arabs or Muslems in the 7th century.  The Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom) built the temples of Luxor & Karnak on the East bank of the Nile then started on the tombs on the West bank.  Everything to do with life was on the East Bank and everything to do with death was on the West.

These tombs where started well before the actual death of the king because as soon as they died they couldn’t do any more work, which was why King Tut’s tomb was never finished, he died too soon. 

Just before we got there we stopped for a quick photo opportunity to see two huge 64 ft statues called the Colossi of Memnon, they were attached to a temple built in the honour of Amenhotep III, a Pharaoh approx 1400BC.  Not much left of the temple but the statues were still fully intact.

We were lead into the big visitor centre then through there to where there were little trains waiting, like the ones you get in shopping centres to take kids around.  They took us, in the burning oppressive heat with hawkers hanging off the side, up to the gates of the tombs.  Our tickets allowed us to look in three different tombs and for an extra $20 you could see King Tut’s tomb, we didn’t take that option.  Our guide recommended the three we should see so off we went.  It was so hot here with the sun reflecting off the stark sandstone walls, think it was over 40 degrees but as soon as you descended into the tomb itself it was really cool and so amazing.  Here was the real thing, not replicas, not pictures, not just a representation but the real, ridgy didge, true McCoy ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  The walls were adorned from bottom to top and over the ceiling with pictures & symbols and what amazed me were the incredible colours.  To think that they were drawn so many thousands of years ago and still in great condition and so vivid.  We weren’t allowed our cameras there so unfortunately no pictures.  There were no Mummies or anything in there, just the drawings, except for King Tutankhamen, I think he was still in there.

tombs of the workers

These tombs are a labyrinth of underground tunnels, they have found 64 so far and are sure there are more.  Not much to look at from the outside but once inside it’s indescribable.  They must have been incredible when they were filled with all their treasures.

I thought the touters couldn’t get inside the tombs as you have to pay for that but there were a couple of guys handing out square bits of cardboard that you could fan yourself with as you walked around. Very kind, I thought, as I gratefully accepted one and used it as I walked down one particular steep tomb to gaze at the wonders down there.  As we came back up the guy was standing there ready to collect them again but I should have know that nothing is for free here.  He was holding out his hand for money! He got the cardboard back but not his money.

Next stop was lunch in a 5 star hotel back in Luxor, not a bad lunch considering they were catering for 500 people all at once.  Luxor stands on the site of ancient Thebes which was the capital of Egypt for more than 1400 years during the Middle & New Kingdom.  I guess it’s more modern now but not too much to look at.  From here was just a short drive to the Temple of Karnak. 

This was also amazing, (don’t know any other words to describe these things).  You walked down an avenue of ram headed sphinxes which then leads to the entrance of the temple, in the middle of which is a huge hall, ceiling now gone, that covered 50,000 sq ft & is the largest space of any temple in the world.  You could fit the Notre Dame inside it. What was equally incredible were these large columns and I mean LARGE, people looked so small beside them, even made our larger traveling companions look small although it didn’t make them any prettier.

There were 134 of these columns and each one was intricately carved all the way up.  Some of the details were so fine and the lines so straight it was incredible to imagine how it was done in such hard stone.  Even the historians have no idea what sort of tools they used or how they did it. This temple was well preserved as it had been buried in sand for hundreds of years so the colours were still strong and the colours were amazingly - well, colourful.

Back on the bus to the last temple, the Temple of Luxor. There was a big sigh from the passengers when we were told there would be another hours walk there.  By this time we were all hot & tired but off we trooped to see yet another temple.  This one was built by the aforementioned Pharaoh Amenhotep III.  The two temples, 2 miles apart, were once connected by an avenue of rams, a few still remain.  That’s a lot of rams.

There used to be two obelisks in front of the pylon but someone did a deal with the French back in 1831 where they swapped it for a lovely French clock.  The clock never worked but Paris got a nice Egyptian obelisk.  Fair swap some may say.

replaced with a French clock

Then we had the 3 ½ hour drag back to the boat, most of it in darkness so nothing to keep us amused except for the fact that they didn‘t seem to use their lights at night. They did put their left hand indicator on and that was the only clue there was another vehicle on the road so it made it somewhat exciting. The first hour or so wasn’t bad but the last 2 were really tedious so it was with great joy & relief when we finally saw the lights of the boat.  I must say the stars were really bright and I couldn’t even see the Southern Cross.