Europe – 2009 – day 10

The pictures are:
1. Barb with our tour guide – Avi.
2. Behind the alter is the cave at Nazareth where Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived.
3. The Jorden River where Jesus was baptized.
4. Two fences with landmines inside!!
5. Samples at lunch

6. The main course

We took over 200 hunderd pictures, wish you could see them all.

After a very short night we woke up in Haifa, Israel. Haifa is Israel’s largest port and industrial city and is located on the slopes of Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Neither words nor pictures will be able to describe the sights that we saw and the emotions that we felt. It was truly one of the most memorable, if not the most memorable days we have ever had in a foreign country.

We were met at the port entrance at 8:30am by our tour guide, Avi Avinoam. He has lived in Haifa all his life and also is a war veteran who was wounded in one of the wars. His parents escaped Nazi Germany; however, his grandparents were killed in the concentration camp – what a guide to have.

We started off by driving for about an hour from Haifa to visit Nazareth and the visit to the Basilica of the Annunciation, where the Angel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

Following Nazareth, we visited the Jordan River and where

Then we drove to the Sea of Galilee and then onto the Golan Heights. We took a long drive around the Golan Heights and stopped at the border of Israel and Jordan and then saw the border of Syria. The border looked very plain at first, just a tall fence with barbed wire on top. Then Avi told us that the fence was electrified. Then he showed us the second fence inside the first and then he told us that the space between the fences was mined!! We then drove by a number of outposts for Israel, Jordan and Syria. We were actually in the exact place where the Syrian’s would send bombs down on the Israel people in the valley below. We drove by Syrian pillboxes and other fortifications. The Six Year War drove the Syrians off the top of the Golan Heights and the area has been relative peaceful ever since.

We then ate at a local restaurant in a Kibbutz (commune) where we had a fish called St. Peters Fish because it came from the Sea of Galilee – it was Tilapia. We also told Avi to order for us and not only did he order the fish, but he ordered samples of 14 local dishes – what an experience we had eating lunch. Yes, Ed tasted everything and loved most and really liked the fish!!

After lunch we drove back around the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, where the miracle of the fishes and bread took place and then onto the site of the Sermon on the Mount.

Then it was a one hour drive back to Haifa and a tour of the new city and back to the ship.

Just an indescribable day – I hope that I have conveyed some of the wonders to you.

Europe – 2009 – day 9

The pictures are:
1. Winning the blackjack tournament.
2. On the deck.
3. Going to dinner
4. Our table at dinner

This was our second sea day and we needed it to rest from the trip so far. Also, Ed has a cold or something. Benadryl tablets seem to be helping. Since we stayed up so late last night, we slept till almost 10am and it felt good.

Nothing much happened except walking around the ship visiting and talking to people and then at 2pm we went to the blackjack tournament. Barb also played in the tournament for only her second blackjack tournament and we both qualified for the finals.

In the finals, Ed won first and Barb won second!!! Wow was that fun. We won $500 and a genuine 100% 24 caret gold plastic trophy. The pictures is of Barb and Ed just after winning with Helen, our casino host.

It is a formal night so we dressed and were out of the room by 7:30pm so we could have pictures taken and then we just people watched.

Then we went to a marvelous dinner, saw a great show with the music of Broadway and onto the casino. We have had lots of people come up and say congratulation for our success in the blackjack the tournament.

Went to sleep about 2am and onto Israel.

Europe – 2009 – day 8

The pictures are
1. Bazaar
2. More Bazaar
3. Lunch
4. The beach
5. The Equinox at dockside

On to Turkey and we woke up in Kusadasi which is one of the most beautiful cities on the Aegean Sea. Situated on Turkey’s west coast, it is one of the country’s main vacation destinations. It is also the gateway to Ephesus. We went to Ephesus two years ago from the city of Izmir, so today we stayed in Kusadasi.

There are really only three major things to do in this city if you don’t want to go to Ephesus and they are shopping, eating and going to the beach and we did all three.

We spent the morning shopping in the bazaars of Kusadasi and we had a lot of fun. They said that there were over 1000 shops in the Grand Bazaar and I think that we went into them all. Barb bought a beautiful leather jacket, so maybe it is the year of the leather jacket, I just don’t know.

The weather was 89 at noon and it was really hot so it was time to head to the beach.

We found a lovely little sidewalk restaurant on the promenade above the beach and had a platter of beef, chicken, lamb, sausage and some other food that I didn’t quite know what it was but it was all good.

We stayed at the beach until 3 and then rode the local bus back to town and shopped some more. Shopping in the bazaars of Turkey is quite an experience. They get right in your face, grab your arm and almost pull you into their shop if you even look at something on display, but it was all fun.

Back on board we set sail for Haifa, Israel and will arrive there after a day at sea and rest tomorrow. Hope everyone back home is having a great weekend – we are.

It was a wonderful evening with dinner, a show and a great time in the casino. We left the casino at 2:30am very tired but tomorrow is a day at sea and we can catch up on our sleep and energy.

Europe – 2009 – day 7

The pictures are:
1. The walled City of Rhodes from the ship.
2. Lunch
3. The beach
4. Part of the harbor
5. The Equinox.

We woke up to another beautiful day and docked at Rhodes, Greece. During the day, the temperature was typical of the days we have had, clear and 84. Can’t beat the weather.

We walked into the old city and yes we did buy something. Barb bought a bracelet, imagine that!!

Rhodes was formed in 408 BC because it was located along a major trading passage. The old city is pretty and now is shops and shops. As we have been here before, we did not tour the city and countryside, but after shopping went to lunch at a local café. We split a Gyros plate and it was very good.

After lunch we went to the beach. Rhodes is now a major tourist destination and there are miles and miles of beaches, all with umbrellas and beach chairs to rent. If you go to Google Earth and key in Rhodes, Greece, you can see the beach that we went to. It is on the north point of the island. From Google Earth you can see all the beach umbrellas lining the beach – it is quite a sight. The beach and the sun were wonderful, but the “sand” is really volcanic rock, a lot of small rocks, not sand like we know of in the US. This was almost impossible to walk on with bare feet.

We walked back to the beach and bought a bottle of Kahlua at a local market and poured the contents into two soda bottles in order to bring it onto the ship.

We had a wonderful evening – seeing a show, eating with new friends, dancing and then a great casino visit.

At 5:45pm we set sail for Kusadasi, Turkey and seeing the island by sea as we rounded the north end of the island was a real treat.

Then after midnight it is on to bed because we will be in Turkey soon.

Night – Night!!

Europe – 2009 – Day 6

The pictures are all from the Market – an amazing place.
1. Fish
2. More fish
3. Chicken
4. The head of something

5. Cutting meat
6. Pork

Everything is just sitting out on tables, some most of the fish was on ice and the meats were just on table.

We were in the port of Athens when we woke up at 8am and by 9 we were off the ship and on the shuttle bus to take us off the docks. From there it was a 20 minute walk to the city train station and the train into downtown. The train was very crowded and while standing on the train the couple next to us said that they were from Texas and when we said we were from Bloomington, Illinois they said they had lived there. The end of the story is that Ed used to work in the same data processing department as he did. His name was Don Dugan and they left Bloomington in the late 70’s. What a small world!!

Our first stop when we got to the town was the Agora, the fruit, meat and vegetable market of Athens – what an amazing sight. The market was built in 1985 and they have 108 butcher stalls, 150 seafood stalls and 80 fruit and vegetable stalls. A stall is about 30’ wide x 40’ deep and has an average of 5 employees. The meat, fish and everything is displayed right where you can reach out and touch it if you want. Anything you want to eat is at this market. We have never seen anything like it. I hope the pictures that you see will show you how the market was.

We then found a local stand in the market and ate lunch. I do know that I had some kind of liver and other parts and Barb had some kind of sausage. That’s all we could understand but it was really good.

Then it was on to the old city to do shopping. Guess what – Barb bought 2 purses – they were a great bargain and it must be the year of the purse. We also bought a neat statue to put out by the ponds.

After shopping it was time to get on the train and head back to the port – what a fun day.

The evening was walk around, dinner, show and then the casino. Not bad for a fun evening.

Our tablemates and the ship are simply wonderful – this is probably the best ship we have ever sailed on and are looking forward to the rest of the cruise.

Night

Europe – Day 5

The pictures are:

1. Making a baked bread basket.
2. Barb and the main dining room during brunch.
3. Our table mates for dinner.

Well we went to the Israel meeting and were cleared and able to now go into their country. It was a strange meeting, taking less than 5 minutes to compete everything but at least they are happy.

Today is a day at sea so after that we went on a tour of the kitchen – it is so amazing how they can serve thousands of meals a day and keep the quality and service so exceptional.

We took advantage of the relaxing day by lying out in the sun for a few hours and it was fun and hot.

We participated in a slot tournament in the afternoon but neither of us did any good.

This was the first formal evening and we got dressed up early and sat around and people watched – what fun talking about everyone!!

Dinner was very special and afterwards we all headed to the show room to see the first major show of the cruise and we were not disappointed. It was a spectacular version of Cirque du Solia (sp) and the cast was really very good.

We have had mixed feeling but it looks like Celebrity is beating our Carnival Cruise Line – we’ll see how the next few days feel.

Then it was on to the casino where Ed came out ahead and Barb broke even – that’s a win for both tonight.

Tomorrow is Athens and it should be fun.

Europe 2009 – day 4

The pictures are:
1. Sorrento from the coast highway.
2. Positano.
3. A hotel on the hillside.
4. The beach at Amalfi.

After our first late night it was a little hard getting up early but we were up and on the dock to meet our driver at 8am. Our driver and guide for the day was Giancarlo and his web site is http://www.tourofitaly.com/ if you want to read about him. This was a great tour of the Amalfi Coast and we had a wonderful day.

We started out by driving to Sorrento, a small town of 20,000 but a beautiful town on the coast. We shopped for an hour and then met Giancarlo for the drive to Position, a small town on the Amalfi Coast which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful towns on the Coast – it was incredible – with everything basically on the side of the mountain.

We stopped there for another hour and then it was onto Amalfi, vacation home to the rich and famous and wow what a place to visit. Some of the hotels were 20 – 30 stories above the water with an elevator inside the mountain to take you down to the beach. The pools and decks were suspended right off the side of the mountain.

We ate lunch there at a local’s seaside restaurant and have a wonderful meal.

After shopping at Amalfi, we drove over the mountains for 1 ½ hours before arriving back at the ship.

What a class ship this is, waiting at the dock were staff with ice cold wash towels and glasses of water. Every staff person on this ship is exceptional in their friendless.

Well we had a great dinner, a good show and fun time in the casino. The only problem is that we turn the clocks ahead one hour so it is no 1:51am and we have to meet Israeli Security people tomorrow morning at 9:45am. They are talking to and checking out each person on the ship!

So, good night for tonight.