Naples, Italy
Actually we put anchor down in Sorrento and used the ship's tenders to go ashore. The waters were a little rough so we got a late start. When we met our guide he took us to a hydrofoil and we sailed to the Isle of Capri. Using a funicular we went to the city center which is located at a high point on the island. There we just walked around the area visiting a beautiful garden and taking photos of the incredible views. Then we used the funicular to retrace our steps and the hydrofoil again to sail to Naples. In Naples we boarde a motor coach to go to the ruins of Pompeii. After a quick stop for some pizza, we were guided through the ruins of Pompeii.
It was an incredible day again!
]]>Giza, Egypt
Our time in Egypt was fantastic. We did the overnight tour in Cairo which made for a more relaxing time since Cairo was 3 to 3 ½ hours away from the port. We were in a bus of 41 guests, our driver, our tour guide, an escort from the ship, and one security guard. These people were with us for the 2 days of touring. Our guide was a beautiful lady who had a the classic Egyptian look and she had a degree in Egyptology so she was quite knowledgeable about the antiquities we were to see.
All of the tours left the ship in a caravan to go to Cairo. There were about 12 of these with 3 of them staying overnight. We had a 3 hour drive to Cairo and our guide gaveus commentary as we rode through the countryside for about an hour. The countryside was not just sand - lots of agriculture along the way too. Our first stop was the Step Pyramid. There were also ruins from the Temple and "city" around the Pyramid. My pictures show you the details. Many vendors were trying to sell us souvenirs or camel rides. We were warned to avoid these until the last stop on the second day. It was very hot and this was truly just sand around the pyramid complex. We had plenty of time to explore and take photos.
Lunch was a lovely buffet in a nearby hotel. After lunch, we visited the Mohammed Ali Mosque within the fortress of Saladin. This is a copy of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul but it is decorated in Alabaster and thus not blue inside, so it is often called the Alabaster Mosque. It was a beautiful building and ornately decorated. I also took photos of the views of Cairo from the grounds around the Mosque.
After the tour we checked into our hotel - the Cairo Fairmont - a 5 star hotel. It was fabulous! The room overlooked the Nile River. Then we left for the light and sound show at the Pyramids. The traffic was terrible and they had to delay the show a little bit because there were so many waiting to get in! The show told a brief history of the 3 pyramids using lights on the pyramids and displaying images on other ruins.
The final event of that day was a dinner in the hotel - a wonderful buffet spread again.
Our second day started with breakfast on a Nile River cruise. The food was good and the views fabulous! Then we visited the Museum of the Antiquities. This houses many of the items from the Pyramids - including the King Tut items. It was incredibly crowded in the hallways but we were well guided using headsets to see the highlights. No photos were allowed in the museum so I cannot show you those sights but I could hardly believe the condition and quality of many of these ruins! And although the crowds were terrible in the hallways - I stood in front of the King Tut mask by myself!
We then went to the great pyramids. Our first stop was the largest, the Great Pyramid of Cheops which was built of 2,300,000 limestone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each. What was amazing is the fact that the stone blocks were not at all of any regular size! When finished it was covered with smooth limestone (which you can see some of on the second pyramid).
Then we drove to the Pyramids of Chephren or Mycerinus, the next 2 smaller ones. The pyramid of Chepren still has part of the smooth limestone finish at the top. It is the middle sized one and is close to the smallest one. There are ruins of the temple that would have been used to prepare the mummies for the burial and we could walk to the ledge and see the back side of the Sphinx. You could walk down into the Chepren pyramid - which only Lorna did.
Then we drove close to the Sphinx and walked through the temple near it and close to the Sphinx. It was amazing to me how close we were allowed to get to all of these. Our last stop was an overview site where we did a little shopping and Lorna took a short ride on a camel!
We went to lunch at a local hotel and then started our 3 hour drive to Alexandria.
This was an incredible adventure!
]]>Giza, Egypt
We have been in Egypt for 2 days and just reboarded the ship. We will be at sea for 2 days so I will try to post pictures -- but this was an incredible experience. We saw the pyramids -- at a light show at night and close up in the heat of the afternoon! We had breakfast while sailing on the Nile! and we visited the Museum of the Antiquities in Cairo. We also stayed at a 5 star hotel in Cairo!
]]>Nazareth, Israel
We docked in Haifa, drove to the upper edge of the Sea of Galilee, then stopped at multiple sites along the Sea of Galillee including where the Jordan meets the Sea. Then it was on to Nazareth and finally back to Haifa. What a day!
Our first visit was at the Mount of the Beatitudes -- with beautifully manicured grounds and chapel. Our guide read the beatitudes from the bible to our group on the steps of the chapel. There was group of Korean deacons traveling and visiting most of our sites all day. They chanted in each chapel! This was also our first view of the Sea of Galillee.
From here we visited the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes -- with the same approach - reading the scriptures and our visiting deacons chanting!
Then on to St. Peter's Primary -- where supposedly Jesus told Peter about building his church on the Rock - and the rock is there. Larry dipped his feet in the Sea of Galillee there.
Next we visited Capernaum. There was mass going on in that chapel so we could not look in - but under this church are ruins you can see through the floor of this chapel. The ruins of a synagogue are also nearby.
After a lovely lunch at a hotel - we went on to the River Jordan. I have pictures of Larry and Lorna standing in the river!
Our final stop was Nazareth where we visited the Church of the Annunciation - built on the site of the well where Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel. This is a magnificent two story structure and there are large mosaics on the grounds and in the chapels donated from countries all over the world. Next door is the Church of the Holy Family - a service was going on so we saw little detail there.
Then it was back to port and we are on our way to Jerusalem!
]]>Nazareth, Israel
We have been sailing now more than 24 hours -- on our way from Kusadasi, Turkey to Haifa, Israel. It was a lovely and relaxing day at sea today. Since Larry and I have a suite, we get special breakfast in the Sabatini restaurant -- so quiet and peaceful! Then I had a hot stone massage while Larry went to the Culinary demonstration. The head chef for all of Princess Cruiseline did this demonstration! Then we had a luncheon for the 40 most travelled passengers on board - amazing we made that one. The Cruise director was at our table - with Anita and Lorna! Fabulous lunch and interesting conversations!
The girls shopped and played cards -- Larry did his thing! Now for the first formal night!
Tomorrow we dock in Haifa and then it is off to Nazareth.
]]>Esphesus, Turkey
I was having internet issues again the other day -- and only managed to put up a few pictures from Ephesus. I just noticed I never wrote about that day!
We docked in Kusadasi and met our guide-- Zachary! Our first stop was the house of St. Mary - high on the hills! Then on to the ruins of Ephesus -- still so impressive! There are so many and it is so expansive -- you really get the sense of what walking through the city in the time of Christ might have been like. They have only excavated about 30% of what is there yet. The Celsius Library is the most complete and is a sight to behold.
Then on to the museum which houses many of the articles uncovered at Ephesus. We did buy a DVD there -- hopefully we can capture more of the memories with it.
Then we visited the site of St. John's tomb - in the ruins of an old church that had been destroyed by earthquake.
Lunch at a local hotel was not our best but the folk dancing was wonderful.
We did some shopping in Kusadasi before returning to the ship. All in all, it was a marvelous day!
]]>Patmos, Greece
Our visit to Patmos this morning included a tour where we saw the cave where St. John wrote the book of Revelations and the Greek Orthodox monastery on this island. We were not allowed to take pictures inside either of these so my pictures are always outside the actual sites. There is also a monastery museum housing many relics and some interesting manuscripts and copies of manuscripts.
]]>Santorini, Greece
We tendered in the Caldera at Santorini and used small ships to get ashore. There we met our tour guide to see the beauty of Santorini. Our first stop was in Oia, a lovely town, with the architecture of this area prevalent everywhere - the white walls with blue trim. The typical house has a cylindrical roof that is also white but another older style is built into the mountains. My pictures show that too. Lots of beautiful blue domed roofs, characteristic of the region, can be seen in my pictures.
A little shopping time and walking through very narrow walkways was great fun and we finished this off with some cappuccino and greek coffee in a small café overlooking the sea. We visited a Greek Orthodox chapel that was more than 900 years old. Someone along the way had painted over frescos on the walls but some had been partially restored. We later visited the new Greek Orthodox church - beautifully decorated. We took some pictures of black beaches - although the "sand" was more like small black gravel.
Lunch was a Greek buffet which we truly enjoyed. This was topped off with a small wine tasting at a local winery. Then a little more shopping as we made our way to the cable car to make our way back to the ships to take us to our cruise ship.
Santorini, Greece
We tendered in the Caldera at Santorini and used small ships to get ashore. There we met our tour guide to see the beauty of Santorini. Our first stop was in Oia, a lovely town, with the architecture of this area prevalent everywhere - the white walls with blue trim. The typical house has a cylindrical roof that is also white but another older style is built into the mountains. My pictures show that too. Lots of beautiful blue domed roofs, characteristic of the region, can be seen in my pictures.
A little shopping time and walking through very narrow walkways was great fun and we finished this off with some cappuccino and greek coffee in a small café overlooking the sea. We visited a Greek Orthodox chapel that was more than 900 years old. Someone along the way had painted over frescos on the walls but some had been partially restored. We later visited the new Greek Orthodox church - beautifully decorated. We took some pictures of black beaches - although the "sand" was more like small black gravel.
Lunch was a Greek buffet which we truly enjoyed. This was topped off with a small wine tasting at a local winery. Then a little more shopping as we made our way to the cable car to make our way back to the ships to take us to our cruise ship.
Santorini, Greece
We tendered in the Caldera at Santorini and used small ships to get ashore. There we met our tour guide to see the beauty of Santorini. Our first stop was in Oia, a lovely town, with the architecture of this area prevalent everywhere - the white walls with blue trim. The typical house has a cylindrical roof that is also white but another older style is built into the mountains. My pictures show that too. Lots of beautiful blue domed roofs, characteristic of the region, can be seen in my pictures.
A little shopping time and walking through very narrow walkways was great fun and we finished this off with some cappuccino and greek coffee in a small café overlooking the sea. We visited a Greek Orthodox chapel that was more than 900 years old. Someone along the way had painted over frescos on the walls but some had been partially restored. We later visited the new Greek Orthodox church - beautifully decorated. We took some pictures of black beaches - although the "sand" was more like small black gravel.
Lunch was a Greek buffet which we truly enjoyed. This was topped off with a small wine tasting at a local winery. Then a little more shopping as we made our way to the cable car to make our way back to the ships to take us to our cruise ship.
Athens, Greece
We visited the new Acropolis Museum today (just opened last year) and we were very impressed! After that it was on to see the Acropolis and walk around the Parthenon and other temples.
I will write more about this tomorrow -- but look at the photos I posted!
]]>Athens, Greece
We are on our way to Santorini now. Our ship is lovely and we have a beautiful and spacious suite!
]]>Athens, Greece
We had a fabulous day today! We took a tour that drove us through the countryside to Delphi where we saw the Oracle of Delphi and the Temple of Apollo. There was a museum there housing the best of the archealogical finds from these ruins. These were the from the 5th century B.C. Our guide was very knowledgeable (used to teach art history). We had lunch in a typical Greek restaurant in the quaint and beautiful town of Arahova. It was a long ride to and from this site but well worth the trip.
]]>Athens, Greece
Our flights were great! In fact we arrived an hour early in Athens ! After arriving at our hotel and eating a snack we headed off on a tour to the Temple of Posiedon. I have posted our pictures from that trip. We ate a very inexpensive meal at a local place near our hotel and I am about to finally go to sleep.
All of our bags arrived and our hotel (Ladera Marriott) is fabulous. Tomorrow we are up early for a long day to the Delphi.
]]>Albuquerque, USA
Well we leave this Sunday, so we are busy trying to get ready. We are very excited about the trip we are about to take. Larry and I are traveling with Anita (Larry's aunt) and Lorna (a friend from church). We have been to all of the places on this trip before except for those in Israel and Egypt -- the highlight of our trip!
I wanted to enter an entry in this blog now so that we can verify that all is working before I leave town. Whenever we can, I will try to write in this blog -- partly as a record for me -- and to let you hear what we are experiencing and see our pictures.
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