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23.03.29 Post 13 – Kusadasi, Turkey (Türkiye) and Ephesus

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  23.03.29 Post 13 – Kusadasi, Turkey (Türkiye) and Ephesus   As you may know, the country of Turkey has changed its name to Türkiye! (so as not to be confused with the bird – according to our guide). Ingrid and I again visited the amazing ancient city of Ephesus and were once again charmed by its beauty. After visiting the last residence of Mary, mother of Jesus, we proceeded with our great guide to the restored ruins of Ephesus. Walking down the ancient streets and gazing into each room gives you a glimpse of how life was carried on over 2,000 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus This city, complete with its 24,000 seat theater, Library of Celsus, and nearby Temple of Artemis, completed around 550 BC, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a must see.   Ingrid and I liked it so much the first time we went there that we talked Jan and George into doing the strenuous hike (mostly downhill). Everyone loved it as our terrific guide made eac...
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23.03.27 Post 12 – Jerusalem, Israel

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23.03.27 Post 12 – Jerusalem, Israel   The first time Ingrid and I visited Jerusalem it was a religious experience as we went with our church group from Our Lady of Loreto and every day started with mass. This time it was about as crowded and secular an experience as you could imagine.   Israel was in the midst of riots, but was still amazingly crowded. We took the tour bus from our port of Ashdod to Jerusalem in about an hour and when we arrived at the old city walls we were immediately engulfed in people.   Not rioters, but just a swarm of people and we could hardly hear the guide because of the “celebrations” that were taking place all around.   We finally got to the wailing wall, but again because of so many people and celebrations we could hardly hear anything but music and drums. I’m fairly sure the celebrants were having a nice time, but it sure made visiting the wall a downer of an experience. Our guide proceeded to take us through the ...
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  23.03.26 Post 11 – At Sea   Often I leave out all the sea days thinking that the port days are where all the action is, but that is a mistake.   Some of the most enjoyable days on a cruise are at sea, when you can sleep in and just have a very relaxing day. Boredom never creeps in as there is always so much to do and so many things to catch up on. On this day we enjoyed a special dinner at the sanctuary watching the sun set. Fantastic surf and turf along with marvelous company made this one of our more memorable dinners and offered a great ending to a lovely day at sea.            
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23.03.26 Post 10 – The Suez Canal

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  23.03.26 Post 10 – The Suez Canal   Travel through the Suez canal was remarkable. The Island Princess was leading the northbound convoy flanked by two tugboats. Convoys start from the north and from the south and are timed so that they overtake each other in the part of the canal where there are two channels. We left Suez around 5:30 in the morning and didn’t make it to Port Said until about 4:30 in the afternoon.   The whole day was spent going 8 to 10 knots making sure we didn’t get stuck in the canal like the container ship Ever Given - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Suez_Canal_obstruction   Ingrid and I went to the bow on deck 15 just to check out the passage and we didn’t leave for about 4 hours. It was just fascinating watching the desert pass on the starboard side (right) and all the civilizations pass on the port (left). So many small, oar-powered boats would wait for us to pass and then fish to the side where the fish were sca...
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23.03.24 Post 09 – Aqaba, Jordan and Petra

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  23.03.24 Post 09 – Aqaba, Jordan and Petra   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra   Well – have I used the word AMAZING yet.   I was going to save that for Petra in case it lived up to its billing and AMAZING barely begins to describe the city carved into the rock!   Fitting, because Petra gets it name from rock, just like Peter was the rock upon which the church was founded. Rock is everywhere and beautifully decorated and carved rock. Caves and pillars and tombs and steps and even an amphitheater carved directly into the rock.   You start your journey to Petra with a two-hour bus ride from the port of Aqaba over the jagged mountains surrounding the port.   Petra is at about 3,000 feet so the winding track to get there is beautiful. There are many vistas that give you the opportunity to look out over the desolate countryside. The hills are often dotted with shepherds tending their flocks looking for patches of green. ...
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23.03.18 Post 08 – Muscat, Oman

  23.03.18 Post 08 – Muscat, Oman   We finally made it to another of the 10 countries in the world that only have 4 letters in their name – Oman.   Can you name the other 9?   We spent the day on the hop-on-hop-off bus.   It took about 2 hours to go around the whole city where they described the various palaces and Mosques. At the end they dropped us at the souks (bazar or shops).   We found a nice little shaded restaurant right near the bus stop at the entry to the souks and had a snack with Jan and George. We then spent a couple hours wandering the many covered aisles and marveling at the local people and shops. Some things were just for tourists, but much of the souks are for the locals, so wandering and just people watching is a fascinating experience.     In the harbor, right near the Island Princess (our ship) we saw two of the yachts owned by the Omani Royal Family and the Sultan of Oman (#2 Fulk Alsalamah and ...
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