Dubrovnik and Ravenna

Dubrovnik and Ravenna

We really enjoyed our two days of sailing from Egypt to Dubrovnik. This is what cruising should be, just laid back and really relaxed.  We had perfect weather and very calm seas so we would spend most of our time on the deck.  On a small ship like this one, you really notice how many people are onboard when you are at sea. In port most of them are on tours, but at sea they are everywhere on every deck of the ship.  One pair of elderly sisters who must have had an inside cabin laid claim to two of only five two-top tables in the dining room and spent the entire day taking up space.  On the second day the restaurant manager made them move to a table for four out of the way of traffic; he was rather upset with them but said that it happens often, despite the fact that the card room was empty and they could have had that all to themselves.  Go figure.

The second evening was formal again so we decided that we would do a lot of walking on the deck and used the treadmill too so that we were nice and tired for a long nap after lunch.  The real goal was to be well rested for dancing after dinner.

From CC:  We were dressed to the nines for the formal night and leaving our cabin on our way to cocktails when we heard a very loud whining noise coming from either our balcony or perhaps from the ceiling on that side of the room.  It almost sounded like drilling, but we knew there would be no repairs occurring at that hour. 

I was still in the doorway as Wm went back into the room to investigate, and just then the captain appeared in the hallway.  We exchanged pleasantries and he asked how everything was going so I decided to tell him!  I said to him, “might as well go right to the top – there is a loud noise in our room.”  I truly thought he’d make a note of the room number and pass along the message or else tell me whom to call – but instead he walked right past me into the room to hear the noise for himself.  Wm looked up in great surprise, greeted the captain, and then looked at me with widened eyes and mouthed, do you know who he is?”  I grinned broadly and repeated what I’d said to the captain already – might as well go right to the top.

The captain thought it might be the wind and he promised to investigate further, so we thanked him and we continued on our separate ways.  We are so very amused that the captain of the whole ship was in our cabin – but heck, if his ship is to be ship-shape he needs to know what’s happening!  It was swell – and the noise was gone when we returned to our cabin.  And by the way the dancing was swell too. Back to William …

We arrived in Dubrovnik at about seven the next morning and from the very first view we knew this was going to be the highlight of the trip.  The little harbor looks like a cross between Nice and Venice, with lovely white stucco homes with terra cotta roofs, lots of palms and crystal clear water.  We waited for the busses with the tour groups to leave and then took a shuttle bus to the Old Town.  What a treat!  We were lucky that it was off season since we were told that it can be really, really crowded in the summer but we had the joint to ourselves and we just walked all over the place, stopping here and there for coffee, wine and Internet.  The only problem was that this stop was the shortest and we had to get back on board by 1:30.  We shall return to this gem sometime when we can rent a car and travel up and down the lovely Dalmatian Coast.  We had lovely views of the coast and all the little islands as we glided out of the harbor and steamed northwest towards Ravenna. 

We had been to Ravenna before and therefore didn’t want to be a part of the tours that were on offer.  We again waited for everyone to leave the ship and then wandered out to the shuttle, which was charging ten Euros for each person, but there was no real choice since all we really wanted was a grand Italian lunch and there was nothing at the port.  We wandered around the lovely city for hours and I had to keep asking Cindy if we had really been there before since everything seemed so new to me, an advantage of age.  We kept looking at menus and rejected all of them as not meeting our needs, until I literally stumbled across a little sign that said Wine Bar. We walked in and our mouths just dropped. Here was a huge place with high vaulted ceilings filled with paintings and mosaics.  The chalkboard specials were exactly what we wanted and thus we accepted the waiter’s invitation to escort us to a lovely little table for two.  As we entered the large room we saw the two heads of the dining room on the ship, one from Lisbon and the other from Genoa, tucking into mounds of pasta and meats.  We knew then that we had made the right decision to eat here.  Once seated, we ordered two glasses of the local white wine, Trebbiano, which was delicious. We got some of the famous bread from the region and Cindy ordered marvelous local pasta with pumpkin, cream, bacon and nuts.  I had the special rabbit, which I must say tasted even better when I ordered a glass of the local red to go with it.  It was just a perfect Italian luncheon and we resisted the temptation to end it with an espresso since we wanted to return to a little café we had enjoyed earlier in the day.  There we had two espressos and shared a little glass of Vecchia Romagna, my favorite Italian brandy then it was back to the ship for a nap.

We walked for four miles around the deck after our nap and before cocktails, just to work up the appetite. We did most of our packing before dinner since they wanted the bags outside the door as soon as possible. That night, as on most final dinners on cruises, they did the parade of the Baked Alaska, which was the same as the others but without sparklers. Seems there had been a fire on one of these occasions last year so now they just march around with the huge deserts decorated with those little battery operated candles.  Quite lame if you ask me!

There was no dancing this night as everyone was retiring early since we were to arrive at 4 am and most everyone needed to be off the ship by nine.  We woke up early and walked around the empty deck for a while enjoying the skyline of Venice. We had a light breakfast and finished our last minute packing before our 8:30 departure from the ship.  We had opted for a bus transfer to the airport in Venice and we were happy we did since there didn’t seem to be any taxis outside the port. It was fun to drive to the airport, one that I used quite regularly in the mid-eighties.  It looks nothing like it did then, but it still has style.  Our flight wasn’t until 12:30 and we arrived at 9:30 so we had to kill an hour with all of our luggage in tow before the check-in was even open.  There were lots of places as you might suspect where we could have our penultimate Italian coffees so the wait wasn’t difficult. After checking in and clearing immigration we visited a lounge that afforded spectacular views of the runway and the lagoon.  Unfortunately it was quite foggy so we couldn’t see much of Venice either from the lounge or upon our departure. The trip to Paris was quick and easy and since Air France had cancelled our flight for that day (which we knew ahead of time), they paid for us to stay at the Airport Sheraton right in the airport, which was most comfortable and enjoyable, especially since they gave us access to the Club Lounge.  The next morning we were up and ready for our 10:40 departure to Dulles. It was a lovely flight, on time and well serviced.  All too soon we were home and the trip was over, but we were delighted to be back to the fall colors and warm weather of West Virginia. Here are some photos of our last days on the cruise.   Best wishes to all, Cindy and Wm

Cairo and the Pryamids

Sunday, November 6, 2011 Part Two

Yes, we are home having arrived yesterday. Air France had cancelled another one of our flights but they put us up at the Sheraton in Charles De Gaulle airport so it wasn’t too much of a hardship.  We are delighted to be home and had a wonderful adventure.  More of that in the coming days.  Happy Sunday, Cindy and Wm.

Cairo and Pyramids

We docked rather early in Port Said, Gateway to the Suez Canal.  We were on the tour buses for Cairo at 6:30 am and we had to depart in a convoy with a military escort, which is always fun. Everyone seems to have an abundance of caution, but everything we saw was normal and everyone on the streets was waving to us on the bus.  The little city of Port Said was very quiet since it was very, very early and it was a Friday  (their Sunday) so nothing really gets going until a bit before mid-day prayers.  We had a very good guide and she explained a lot about the Suez Canal, the history of Egypt and what we were going to be experiencing.  It is a very, very long ride to Cairo and we were lucky that it was a Friday since it helped to reduce the traffic.  We could see the smog about an hour before we arrived in Cairo and the quiet flat farmland gave way to a congested, loud and filthy city.  There was garbage everywhere and lots of rather creative driving which kept everyone on the edge of their seats.

Our first stop was the Egyptian Museum, which is right next to Tahrir Square so we could see all the burned out buildings that were casualties of the Arab Spring in Egypt. The museum is monstrous and filled with marvelous examples of art, statues, mummies, and of course, all the stuff associated with King Tutankhamun, which I have to say was rather impressive.  We were given about thirty minutes after the ninety-minute tour to wander and I went into high gear and tried to see as much as I could.  The building itself is spectacular, built in 1901 by a French architect and in some places it looks exactly like any one of the major train stations in Paris that were all built at the same time as the museum.  Unfortunately the Egyptians aren’t taking very good care of the building or the artifacts and it was dirty and somewhat decrepit, but the good news is that a new museum is under construction.

We all piled back on the bus and headed toward our lunch, which was close to the Pyramids.  As we drove there we were overwhelmed with the filth of the place.  Canals were choked with plastic debris, discarded furniture and surrounded by filthy kids throwing more junk into the water, not the most appetizing thing to see before lunch.  While we were still in a very dense part of the city of Cairo, we could see the Pyramids in the distance.  I had thought we would have to travel through parts of the Sahara before getting to Giza, but it was really right up against the city and it was quite jarring to go from city to desert just like that.  As we got into the bus after our lunch, we were told that we could not go to the Pyramids for another hour for some reason related to prayers, but not to despair, we would be making a stop at a souvenir stop while we waited!

This was one of the most disappointing stops you can imagine.  We had to get out of the bus and run the gauntlet of hawkers selling garbage made in China. They all seemed to have one phrase of English, “One Dollar, One Dollar” as they tried to sell you glass pyramids and wooden camels, and they would not let you get by them.  We all had to wear these stupid tags that identified our bus color and number and these guys were very clever and would say, “Okay, everyone on Red Bus 9 this way,” in an attempt to get us to go over to his stall before we even got to the shop.  Several of our fellow travelers almost fell for this and I had to intervene and yell at them, “Keep moving, and do not talk to these people.”  I enjoyed that since the hawkers got mad at me.

We finally got out of the shop and headed to the Pyramids where we had to make three stops. One to see all three of them from a panoramic site, one close to the smallest Pyramid so we could walk up and touch it or something and the other by the Sphinx.  I think, in reality, we made three stops so that we could be assaulted three times by more filthy vendors hawking camel rides, trinkets and guided tours.  The bus would just be coming to a stop when eight or ten of these guys would come racing over to the doors and try to drag you to something they were selling.  It was pathetic and really ruined much of the feel of the Pyramids.  We did manage to get away from many of them by telling them in Arabic that we didn’t want anything and wishing them a good day.

I have a very bad feeling about Egypt.  I think this revolution will turn out to have been in vain.  The country is poor, has nothing the rest of the world wants except history and high end resorts on the Red Sea, and the money from these tourist lures really doesn’t trickle down to the masses.  I think the Muslim Brotherhood is going to take advantage of the power vacuum, the poverty and the tough economy to make significant inroads into the political arena and within three to four years, Egypt will be fighting a civil war between Islamic and Secular rule.

While the three and a half hour ride back to the ship was no more enjoyable than it had been inbound, at least we were putting distance between Cairo and ourselves, which gave me great pleasure. We arrived at 8:30 pm and the ship set sail for Alexandria at ten.  The next day we did not go on any of the tours in Alexandria since we had had enough of being assaulted and we couldn’t stand the idea of getting on and off any more buses.  We did walk off the ship with the idea of finding an Internet café outside the port gates but as we approached the gate some fellow passengers came back and warned us not to even think about it. They tried to walk to a café and they had lots and lots of people following them asking for money, not even trying to sell anything. They said it was just as filthy as Cairo and they just didn’t feel safe.  We really didn’t need to hear much more so we walked back to the ship.  The only things we had thought about seeing - The Greco-Roman Museum and the Library of Alexandria - were both closed, much to the disappointment of those who took the tour.   

The ship was set to sail at seven pm and Cindy and I were on the deck doing our four miles at five.  We noticed that there were two tugs and one pilot boat heading in our direction and we thought that they were a bit early, but they weren’t coming for us. There was a huge tanker near us and they approached that vessel to get it out to sea.  It appeared that everyone on that vessel was asleep because the boats kept sounding their horns over and over again for about thirty minutes, but couldn’t rouse anyone. Finally the pilot boat pulled ashore and someone got off and managed to wake up the crew. There was a flurry of activity and they tried to get the tanker ready to depart and we laughed like crazy that they could be so lax.  No sooner had the tanker been escorted out of the harbor that our horn sounded and it was time for us to head out to sea for two days enroute to Dubrovnik.  We were very, very happy to see Egypt disappearing in the dark.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

One of the few disappointments we had on this lovely cruise was when they told us we would only have one stop in Israel.  We had been scheduled to stop at both Haifa and Ashdod but they decided to eliminate Ashdod for security concerns, which meant that the scheduled tours of Jerusalem would now depart from Haifa as opposed to Ashdod.  In practical terms this meant that we would be on a bus for ninety minutes longer than we would have if we had started the tour in Ashdod. 

We had to wake up at 6 am to get ready for a 7:15 departure to Jerusalem, not something you relish when on a vacation, but this was our only shot so we really had no choice.  The bus ride was narrated by a Zionist who attempted to be fair in his representation of the Arab/Israeli conflict, but of course it was impossible.  His soliloquies were as monotonous as the scenery; there was nothing but rock and dust once we headed inland for the long drive to Jerusalem. At some point we came to an ugly wall that separates Ramallah and the West Bank from the rest of Israel. 

We finally got to Jerusalem and were able to get some photos from atop Mount Olive.  This was a rather overwhelming day since our guide was hell bent on making sure we saw EVERYTHING in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  After our vista photo ops we headed to the Garden of Gethsemane and the neighboring Churches of All Nations and the Paternoster.  Back on the bus and off to the Western Wall, aka the Wailing Wall.  We first had to go though security to enter the wall area, separate lines for men and women since the Orthodox Jews do not like the sexes to mix.  In fact, only a very, very small portion of the wall is open to women while the rest is just for men.  There is a large library within the caverns of the wall that holds scrolls and holy books.  It was also filled with Orthodox Jews in prayer and I understood more why it used to be called the Wailing Wall.

We regrouped as a tour and were off to the Arab Quarter of Old Jerusalem.  These were narrow alleyways filled with people and shops. This is a very old quarter and the walkways were all made of large smooth stones that have been there for thousands of years.  We had a few downbursts of rain and the stones became very slippery and it didn’t help that most of the way was uphill. We followed the Via Dolorosa, Sorrowful Way, which marks the route that Jesus followed from Antonia to his execution.  All fourteen stations are marked in the walls where they took place; the last four are all in or around the Church of the Sepulchre.  I must say that at the end of our time in Jerusalem, I was feeling much like this quotation from a review of the book Jerusalem in the Washington Post, “The 19th-century novelist William Makepeace Thackery, one of many disillusioned visitors, wrote that ‘there’s not a spot’ in Jerusalem ‘at which you may look but where some violent deed has been done, some massacre, some visitors murdered, some idol worshipped with bloody rites.’”

We exited the Arab Quarter past a Mosque that had been erected right next to the Church of the Sepulchre and headed to the bus, once again, for our trip to Bethlehem. I must say that at this point of the day I would have been happy to just head back to the ship but of course there was no turning back.  Bethlehem is basically a walled city.  Inside the Palestinians manage it so we had to stop and get a Palestinian guide since the Jewish guy was not allowed to continue the tour.  After getting permission from the local police to drive to the Church of the Nativity, we finally got out of the bus and headed up the hill to one of the oldest churches in the Holy Land.  There is a very, very small entrance into the church, supposedly to prevent livestock from entering.  We went through the three separate altars and areas that are controlled by the Armenians Apostolic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and the Catholic Church. There are, as you would imagine, lots of little spaces where there are special shines and it can get very crowded very fast, so I was in and out of the must-see places rather quickly.  It was kind of cool to be right there where Jesus was born and they have done a great job in keeping this place ‘outside’ of the politics of religion.

We were finally finished with all of our touring but they had one surprise left for us. It is mandatory for all tour buses to stop and shop in Bethlehem before being allowed to leave.  We had to stop at one of the large and lousy religious souvenir stores for thirty minutes before being allowed to get back on the bus. The one good thing was that the store had a nice toilet so everyone had a last call before our three-hour trip back to the ship in the dark.  As it turned out the trip back was more like three and a half hours because of an accident and we didn’t get back until about 8:30 pm.  The ship extended the dining until 9:30 pm so as to accommodate everyone on tours.

Needless to say, we did not sign up for any tours the next day opting instead to just a gentle walk around Haifa, which is a really pretty city if you stay in the wealthy areas; isn’t that always the way it is anywhere?  We managed to get back to the ship in time for a late lunch and lovely nap to rest up for the trip to Port Said and our visit to Cairo the next day.

To be continued….