Travel Blog
Please allow us to share some of our travel experiences with you!
Seabourn Cruise on Seabourn Pride
12/12/201112:45:55 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment
The Yachts of Seabourn is a luxurious, all inclusive, all suite, small ship cruise line with truly interesting itineraries (and spectacular food and wine options). Staff and friends recently returned from a 14 day tour that included Turkey, Greece, Cypress, Egypt, and Israel. One of the passengers wrote a daily account of the trip and was gracious enough to share it. Enjoy!
Entry 1We had an easy overnight flight to London but had to be content with the tea sans crumpets served on board. We had only an hour and a half at Heathrow Airport before our connecting British Air flight to Istanbul, Turkey .. Arrived on time at 4:20 PM their time.
We have been to Istanbul before but that was in '88...and what a difference 20+ years can make to such an ancient city. Amazing how much cleaner. Virtually all the Diesel vehicles which Include trucks and busses, all taxis and small delivery vans, and most private cars have been converted by the force of high government taxes on gasoline to compressed gas .. thereby cutting emissions and the resulting smog index by fully 2/3. When the sun came out the city literally sparkled, for all the spires of the municipal buildings and the ubiquitous mosque's minarets, topped with a vanelike crescent moon, are gilded in gold. Add that to sunlight on the waves of the bisecting strait, The Bosporus .. like a cartoon of Disney's magic kingdom!Istanbul is actually on two continents.. there's the European side and the Asian side connected by two suspension bridges across the waterway dotted with an armada of ferries. City officials admit to a population of 13 million but Turkey has little if any control of it's borders so the unofficial estimate today of Istanbul, a stable safe and religiously tolerant city, is closer to 15 million. It would be absolute chaos were it not for the tolerant considerate nature of the average Turk. Really .. amazingly pleasant people bound together by such ancient culture that modern day ups and downs seem insignificant in comparison. We've had a guide and a Mercedes minibus to take in as much of the city as possible. For examples.. Have a look via Google at the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace .. spelling may be wrong on that last bit. The Asian Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar. We stayed and had our first fine dinner at the Ottoman Hotel Imperial. The quality of the Native-to-Turkey fruits and vegetables is extraordinary except perhaps to what we get at home in high summer, and the prepared meals have been very good and interesting .. Primarily European fare but with an Asian accent often with a smokey or toasted infusion and a hint of cinnamon or clove. Nothing's too hot or too strong.. Just distinctive.We took a cooking class the second afternoon at a school run by a Dutch woman and her Australian partner George called Cooking Alaturka .. a neat experience to prepare with close guidance, for that evening, a five course dinner. We worked in a small kitchen so while doing a familiar task I learned new technique. And then at an appointed time we were joined by others unknown to us to fill the modest restaurant for a single seating dinner service where we got to eat and share what we'd prepared. The menu: Hot yogurt soup with dried mint. Green runner beans cooked in olive oil with chopped onion, garlic and tomato. Crisped flatbtread pillows stuffed with highly seasoned spinach. Cubed, browned lamb stewed in tomato sauce then set on a puree of roasted eggplant. And for dessert.. walnut-stuffed figs, poached in a light syrup. YAY.And in the spirit of things.. we drank a bit too.Apparently these private enterprise small session cooking classes are offered all over the world .. certainly something we'll look forward to. Dick was so enthusiastic .. He came away dubbed Chef Richarde! And I have an apron as a souvenir. So it's been an amazing two days trying something new, seeing places for the first time and revisiting sites with fresh perspective.In the Thank God department: We had an able personable guide to set and then enable priorities, and a skilled driver .. essential to negotiate the web of narrow often very steep cobble stoned streets .. In sum: It's all good. We're in a group of ten friends and "easy" travelers..all delighted to be here.
Right Now: We are among ~200 passengers on board Seabourn cruise line's PRIDE, heading towards Kusadasi. PRIDE is one of their smaller ships and certainly smaller than what I'd think of as an average cruise ship. We have a suite amidships that opens out to a shallow balcony. From out there I can't feel it but I can taste the salt spray. There's a following sea and the sun's coming out.Entry 2Today is a day at sea so we were here for lunch in the dining room. Cold crab claws with a remoulade, a cup of hot, double strength chicken consommé, and a grilled Reuben sandwich. Dessert was something called a Frangipan .. a three inch by 3/8 inch square piece: a cross between a dense cake and a fudge made with crushed pistachios, only a little bit of sweetener to make it barely sweet, topped with a skimcoat of vanilla pastry creme and crowned with a rosette of strawberry foam. WOW. And not too caloric. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
Entry 3If it's Sunday then were at the pier in Patmos, Greece .. but it's yesterday that I'm reporting on.
We had the most extraordinary 6 hour tour in Turkey from the port of Kusadasi to the ancient city now in ruins of Ephesus; the modern portion built in 1,300 BC was home to 300,000 and boasted the busiest and most opulent slave, merchandise, and financial market. There's the ruin of an amphitheater that seated 25,000. Ephesus sported venues and advanced housing with indoor hot and cold water plumbing, independent piped sewer lines and, as evidenced in the ruins, one building at least that had a functioning hydrologic elevator! And yes...that was 1000+ BC when people in what's now England and Scotland were barefoot, wore animal skins, never bathed and were terrified of fire. In Ephesus there were private and communal baths .. some covered with skylighted domes to become steam baths. Vestial Virgins were chosen as a high honor as children to live 30 years in a central compound .. their sole responsibility being to keep the municipality's eternal fire from going out. New to the city?..that's where you went to get your household's fire. And Ephesus had it's library. Google will tell you about that and probably show a picture. The facade's every bit as esthetically beautiful and intricately carved as can be depicted in a photo. So why was the city abandoned to ruin? The harbor silted in, moving deep water commerce further and further from the city center and thus causing economic devastation. Today..the harbor is six kilometers away from what remains in ruins of a magnificent light house that had a clear glass lens that shot out a beam for miles.The lighthouse also served as a protective custody prison for Saint John. In his fervent fourth century AD Evangelical Christian preaching, he denied the existence of all too human-like "small G" gods like the gods of weather, travel, wine, women, food and song and therefore by extension the need for silver dolls that every household possessed of their favorite gods. Thus he effectively destroyed the Ephesian sculpting, casting and silversmith industries. To escape a lynching, he was housed protectively by a sympathetic governor in the lighthouse and it was from there, that he wrote and issued his Epistles, etc. Amazing to be here at the site of such fundamental Christian history. There's a surprising number of tourists here this late in the Tourist Season.. But to my benefit at least, there in Ephesus it felt and sounded like a market day might have, and only added to my sense of reality. It probably happened back then and it's a trip today, to listen to a clearly Turkish guide lecture in Japanese. There's evidence in the ruins that Chinese merchants were there. At the time, Ephesus was an aquatic crossroads for the traveling world. They depicted the planet World as Round.
The cave where St. John lived and wrote his revelations is in the mountains above this Greek coastal village of Patmos but I have little interest to visit there, so today's a day at leisure. I get to write to you, have a pedicure, enjoy a light lunch and take a walking tour with Dick through Patmos and climb to visit their ancient Acropolis.Shipboard, it seems like every time I sit down around here, some liveried crew member appears, asking if I'd like something. It's all very easy, professional and unpretentious .. in the best sense, a modern Edwardian culture. Forbidden is too strong a word but tipping is strongly discouraged and no staff person would ever ask or look expectant. Ship's crew contract with Seabourn to be on board for six to nine months, then take leave of several months. They do their best by us because they want to and brighten with a Thank You.Entry 4It's a typical-for-here day .. clear sky and bright sun. About 65 F degrees. All the thermometers are in Celsius. We've just had breakfast on the fantail beneath a broad awning...I sitting in a slit of sunshine and Dick happily in the shade. Somewhere in a brochure I read that the sun shines on Rhodes for 300 days a year and there are torrential rains within the remaining 65 that fill vast cisterns. There must be decent soil here too because I can see lush green and tall trees from the ship.
We're tied up against a man made pier that lies across the harbor parallel to the walls of the "old city". Many islands and coastal ports in this region have walled cities within the greater, as much to protect them from invaders of all sorts. Now, any new construction within this walled old city of Rhodes must be built using the old stones from whatever's being replaced. So it's the new city that has foreign cuisine restaurants, retail outlets and shops, modern hotels and boutiques. There are also some terrific fountains in the new city and an enormous archeological museum. Not sure I'll have time to visit the latter. We're on a 1:00 tour this afternoon that will visit a mountaintop monastery-fort .. as much for the view .. and then we'll walk back through the old city.Entry 5Today was much as expected .. but with a twist. Rhodes is an island measuring roughly 50 by 20 miles with a high mountainous interior. Modern Rhodes has history that has not yet been softened by the passage of time.
For four thousand years, Rhodes has been occupied and reoccupied primarily for it's strategic location .. equidistant from Asia, Europe and North Africa .. and it's most remarkable natural resource of abundant potable water. The concentrations of rock formations in this region are predictable. Patmos relies on watersheds and cisterns as it's exclusively marble. The limestone that makes up Rhodes however serves as a sponge and a filter .. to take every drop that falls and return it in springs and wells as clean potable water. So forever, Rhodes has served as a crossroads for material and financial commerce and a major watering hole for whoever's en route. Add the mix of Greeks and Romans, Arabs and Muslims, early Christians and the Crusaders, Ottomans, Italians from 1912 to '43, Germans until '45, then the WW II Allies until '48 and then, after 2000 years of separation, back to Greece...it's no surprise that there's an amazing mix of culture here. Many sites, especially of religious significance, show evidence of four and five buildings erected on the same site..all using the same stones. A lot of important buildings are now no longer structurally sound and in today's economy there's no government interest or money in Greece to continue restoration projects, so I did have the feeling that yet another earthquake could change the landscape forever. That was certainly the prospect for Rhodes until Italy seized control in 1912 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire post WW I. It was during that time that the dictator Benito Mussolini installed his Fascist government and developed a propensity for employing slave labor. In 30 years, the Italians transformed Rhodes from a ruin strewn rather sleepy traveler's watering hole to a site of restoration and new/old construction. Mussolini wanted Rhodes to be a desirable playground for his senior officials and a gift of sorts to the Italian king at the time, Victor Emmanuel III. So the Italians in 30 years built and rebuilt whole sections of the island and restored a palace fit for a king that from a series of earthquakes had stood in complete ruins for hundreds of years. They built sophisticated roads particularly coastal roads, all the principal government buildings and libraries, etc etc . Really, amazing and would have been quite a wonder if the Fascists hadn't conscripted 6000 slaves and 4000 local Jews, the latter that weren't worked to death later deported for extermination. So there's been a mixture of blessings here that need a blind eye to the recent past. In sum though, it all amounts today to a very successful Tourist Destination on a beautiful island that reportedly runs seasonally for seven months of the year. I heard it said several times: Everybody works like crazy for seven months and then has four months OFF. A fly in the ointment? During high tourist season the temperature can regularly be above 110F. Yup. That's not a typo. Still, the masses come and depart from here in droves; like 40 flights a day. Hmmmm. Wonder what lives they're escaping from? Tourism is the only industry.
Tomorrow to Marmaris.Entry 6
Marmaris probably has a lot to commend it beyond picturesque but in today's world it's known especially for it's safe harbors and attraction as a sailing and presumably racing capitol of the region. e.g. Where we tied up abutted a marina featuring a veritable forest of masts. I noticed that many of the virtually identical sloops measuring 50+ feet had large numbers stenciled on their hulls for official ID.
We took a 6 hour Seabourn tour from Marmaris to reach the village of Dalyan to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Caunos. All ruined sites interest me .. I can imagine the sounds of a bustling public and the scents of a commercial setting and daydream it all into a startling reality that is truly a day dream .. but in this case yesterday, Tuesday, it was the getting to and fro that was the most remarkable part of the day .. what I've found to be a typical day: cool and only a few whispy clouds with occasional direct rays of strong sun.
We began with a mountainous 45 minute scenic bus ride to Dalyan .. on stretches of new Turkish road that'll soon become divided highway. From town center we left the bus and transferred to a heavy, wooden, double ended open launch for a meandering trip down river to a region short of a beach on the Mediterranean .. a site that in ancient times had been the rim of Caunos's harbor before silting had moved the shoreline and, a recurring theme, forecast Caunos's decline as a prosperous city. The 30 km river is maize-like, lined with enormous tall rushes of papyrus and totally devoid of channel markers or from what I could see, any directionals at all. The pilot of course had transversed the route, as seemingly random as I thought it, probably a thousand times in recent memory and, with my anxiety level hovering around zero, we had a very good guide .. But my sense of visiting an ancient civilization way preceded arriving at our destination. Just imagine: Baby Moses in his rush basket could have floated by at any moment! Wonderful.
Waiting for us at a makeshift wooden landing was a converted farm wagon set with bench seating and an awning cover .. there to haul us by tractor up to the site of ruined Caunos. We had about 45 minutes to wander. Most impressionable from my perspective was scanning the evidence of an earthquake that had disturbed only 1/3 of the stadium seating of a large theater. At Time Up, we were returned to our launch .. then delivered to a simple outdoor restaurant for an excellent alfresco lunch; I was served a whole fish crusted in hot olive oil and garnished with 1st rate tomato wedges .. and we all agreed that the local wines were remarkably good. I normally do not drink in the daytime but made an exception in this case and therefore, dear reader, beg your pardon for sleeping half the time on the bus trip back to the ship. It was the same route out though, so what I missed was a similar view from a different perspective. I was awake however for a spectacular glimse of the Aegean Sea.
Yesterday, November 1st, was our 38th anniversary. Our traveling companions at dinner could not have been more thoughtful or creative in helping us celebrate the event. Really...they outdid themselves with poems, toasts, and a collective gift of napkin rings we'll cherish .. to go with a handsome embroidered linen tablecloth and napkins set I'd bought the day before. We ate SO well and drank a bit. The pastry chef made us an elegant pistachio cake. (Remember the Frangipan I've described?)Beautiful and photographed for posterity /:-)
Today, after an overnight steam, we're in Antalya, Turkey. It's a shuttle bus ride from the pier provided by Seabourn to town center. This is a very busy commercial port with many container ships loading and offloading, so the size of our ship is close to insignificant by comparison to the behemoths around us.Again it's a cool beautiful day. This afternoon we'll be taking a tour to visit the ancient city of Termessos.Entry 7We've had an amazing day at Termessos but that's for a later email...
Much of this region is dry most of the year with rainfall occurring in their three winter months. That's why everyone's astonished that we're having such ideal weather. But we are.There's lots of Oleander and many versions of Hibiscus. And there are literally miles of greenhouses containing peppers and tomatoes, eggplant and a host of other vegetables. Much is exported to western Europe; a major industry. I learned long ago: The simple garnishes that accompany a lunch plate .. a bit of lettuce and a sliced tomato .. are extraordinarily good and not to be overlooked.
Some hotels and apartment complexes have planted palm trees but I think they look out of place. Large cacti, some in flower with the recent rains that preceded our arrival, are in many public places. And there are hundreds of thousands of olive trees supporting again another major industry.True woods or woodland are growing hundreds upon hundreds upon thousands of Turkish Pine trees. Stands of trees I can see in lots beside the road have bare trunks that run up for, I'm guessing 50 feet, and then burst with a pine bough creating a canopy of green. Apparently Turkey is plagued, especially in the hot and dry summer months, with forest fires so these wood lots are kept clean of debris. I expected manicured forest within City limits but this attention to ordered fire prevention extends out to remote areas as well.Come to think of it, all of Turkey is neat and picked up. Lots of people's job is to carry a long handled dustpan type box and whisk broom .. to sweep up cigarette buts and the occasional piece of waste paper. Either these guys are very efficient or the average Turk does not litter. There is no debris in City Centers, along the roads or at any of these archeological ruin sites.
Entry 8The trip from Antalya to Termessos was wonderful..a spectacular 45 minute bus ride through rural countryside, village after village, and then the climb on a serpentine road from sea level up to 1200 meters.Then we hiked what felt like a vertical climb on a rock strewn path up to the ruined site.
Despite a many month's campaign in 330BC, Termessos was never conquered by Alexander the Great. Now, I know why. Anybody approaching could be spotted a mile away and have Lord knows what dumped on their heads. The Termessians too had an elaborate inter-connected system of vast cistern water collection and had hauled stone enough to build a fortified main gate and fortification walls that would intimidate a modern army. Much of Termessos is in ruins from frequent earthquakes but the piles of fallen stone attest to the labor that was expended by its 20,000. The most impressive structure remaining with some portions ruined but the majority still largely standing and certainly recognizable for it's function, is a 2000 seat amphitheater .. again entirely of stone blocks that I'll guess must weigh 500 pounds a piece; maybe more? You know better than I about that. What's a block of marble the size of a suitcase weigh? Times umpty thousand blocks. All of them hauled from the quarry, then UP. Cripes.
And the view. I run out of superlatives writing these daily pieces, so you think of one and apply it to the view. Today's impression reminded me of the most dramatic that Dick an I saw from the Domecar this Spring in the Canadian Rockies.. but this time, the silvery color of these marble mountains is something else again. When I come back to Termessos, I want to be on the theater's ridge at sunrise...
The last hour of the tour was spent in one of Turkey's most impressive museums. This was a beauty. Modest in size and containing a spectacular collection of antiquities, it was a real treat. Contained too a statue of Hercules that had been broken in half many years ago with the upper half spirited out of the country for prominent display in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Long story short.. Negotiations were finally completed with the Turkish government after years of stalling on Boston's part to reunite the halves. The whole Hercules in perfection was in today's museum. I've read somewhere the curators present said the halves literally clicked. No doubt. The image of the whole is in my mind.
Entry 9
After an overnight steam and an 8:00 AM arrival in Alanya, Turkey, we're back by 2:30 from a six hour tour to the ancient cities of Aspendos and Side (pronounced SeeDay). Per usual, the trip for me to and fro by bus was as visually interesting as visiting the featured sites. By this time I'm used to spying the remnants of aqueducts in a farmer's field or a mountain of tumbled stone that on closer inspection yields indecipherable ancient texts, intricately carved capitals or a fluted column. It's not from boredom .. It's just become a part of our everyday landscape. Better put: The average Turk lives among these constant reminders of antiquity with perhaps the same sense of appreciation that you enjoy driving by a north shore beach bathed in morning light. Neither's attraction is going anywhere soon and thus sometimes can be taken for granted even though the fellow behind or next has flown thousands of miles to enjoy. Together there's a level of thrill that's shared, just being present.
So, today's trip on a scale of one to ten for me was low keyed except perhaps for me voicing some conclusions.
Aspendos by my Turkish standards is a modern city boasting easily recognizable ruins, many dating in the vicinity of the 4th century AD. Most fascinating is an intact theater built by the Romans in the 2nd century to accommodate and probably shock and awe too, 20000+. This theater employs the modern concept or invention of a stone backdrop behind the permanent stage thus improving the theater's acoustics .. to become an auditorium. In high tourist season which ended with September, they use the buildings for classical music concerts, and opera, theater and dance productions. Interesting bit: Preservationists found that concerts that featured modern amplified music caused destructive vibrations to the building's foundations .. like a modest earthquake from above .. so the City has built a new fortresslike stadium on the other side of town where one can pulse and pound away with abandon. I thought Aspendos seemed crowded .. although adding an appropriate life to the theater/auditorium .. but I was assured that this crowd was nothing in comparison to the in season crush. I say spare me. Turkey's success at becoming a tourist's Mecca will have unintended consequences .. Pollution being foremost in my mind.
Side seemed to be even more of a commercial success .. sited as it is on a peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean. It's a beautiful site with panoramic views of Roman ruins in the foreground of brilliant blue glimpses of the sea, but damn...around this ancient site is bursting with new hotels and condominiums and far too very close to their partially ruined theater, is a commercial district that's become a mall of sorts of umpteen shops selling familiar merchandise.
I say The Chambers of Commerce need a Taste Police and a Wastewater Management Board before it's too late. Amazing what risks a government, ours included, will take for the short term gain of popularity.
Wow. It's after 5:00. We're at sea again .. heading for Cyprus.
Entry 10This is going to be brief.Nicosia was not a disappointment from whatever I'd imagined, especially in the visual experience traveling to and from the ship but there was not anything extraordinary that needs a lot of text here. OK. There's a fabulous museum and I didn't have enough time to cover top to bottom. But what I saw was magnificent. Ask me for more detail?
Cyprus is at the end of its nine month dry season. Moonscape countryside reflects that. Apparently it's a sea of wildflowers in April to June. Cyprus is a strategically important site for today's political powers and that was not lost in history's players. Makes for an architecturally unique island with a mix from ancient cultures up to a total domination by the British until Cyprus gained Commonwealth status in the early 1960s.
I took away this thought .. Forever after, I've been here and western news reports will be filtered by that fact.Both Greek and Turkish inhabitants of Cyprus could not be more pleasant. That is, for me, the best take away impression and something I'll remember through western news reports...Entry 11The stretch from Haifa to Jerusalem is one enormous garden, occasionally interrupted by towns or settlements. Some are of ancient structures. Some are modern in a boxy built cookie cutter fashion of cream colored cement form..a few with a Palladian window. Some settlements are sprawl. Some are in your face provocative in what I presume is disputed territory. All structures are surrounded by fertile land in production. Beyond the rim is Desert. With 60 days of rain: Desalinization, irrigation and conservation is key. I presume Israel employs highest level of scientific method.
I could write a lot about the City Jerusalem, Old City and New; a teeming mountainous moonscape restored from desert and built on and then later destroyed and restored by a succession of invaders, founders then followers of religion, and those occupiers in need of a strategic advantage .. But looking at all that through the lens of an observer, it's the politics of separation to tolerance revealed of the region that interested me the most.
Yesterday, I saw an answer to "Why can't they just get over it and settle their differences?" The crude answer is: Because the inmates have taken over the asylum. There are too many entrenched factions .. True believers are equally, profoundly non believers in the other's true faith. Power lacks the power to negotiate or for that matter even consider change. From the simplest example can be taken the basis for failed diplomatic solutions: In a minaret, the man who climbs up the tower five times a day to call the faithful to prayer, he never occupies the top step. That's reserved for Allah. All powerful, all encompassing, all of perfection and authority Allah reduced to occupying a designated space. Thus, and this is the point I've gained, Allah's followers are beneath, never with Allah. So how, on the basis of fundamentals, can we expect a faithful Muslim to negotiate away territory or tradition that from a nuts and bolts standpoint is simply not his to trade? Hassidic Jews may walk with their God but they are not of this world that I occupy. At the Wailing Wall and within the adjacent library I have never been in the proximity of so many writhing breathing rarified air. I don't know the truth or appropriateness about such matters of dress and tradition and plainly I am respectful of the conviction of the Hassidim, but I believe I once witnessed a similar thrill of Ecstasy by contact high in a Crack House and believe me, in that place half would have flown to death if there'd been an open window. Negotiate? Compromise? I don't think so. Tolerate? Perhaps probably.If I understand: For many Jews in Israel their devout faith is expressed by proxy. Hassidic Jews serve that function and thus, the more practical majority of Jews are free to live and work in a modern world. This global majority of observant Jews and Israel's coalition government will do little to alienate their keepers of faith and tradition.And then there's the Christian Sector of Jerusalem where Christians can point to the exact spot or touch the exact stone or drink from the same source that we can know of only from reading the Bible. I for one can't imagine a Green Line border ever running through there.
So I left Jerusalem today thinking more clearly then ever: Jerusalem should have diplomatic status similar to that of The Vatican and thus be independent of any Arab-Israeli Two State Solution. The Jerusalem I saw personifies Unique. A Tolerant Jerusalem deserves a good leaving alone.
We sail at 2:00 for Port Said, Egypt.Entry 12We arrived in Port Said (pronounced Sigh Eeed) early early, in time for a 7:00 AM bus departure to pass through the enormous city of Cairo and then wend our way to the Giza Plateau, to the Pyramid of Cheops and the Great Sphinx and finally, to the Step Pyramid of Sakkara. Those structures were every bit as impressive as I'd hoped..even fabulous in some respects. A fascinating and some would say miraculous accomplishment from an engineering standpoint. In fact nobody knows for sure how they were built.
But visiting the pyramids was a snapshot in comparison to the full length Egyptian feature of passing through Cairo. SO many people and SO clueless to what's become of them. 23 million souls in Cairo seemingly oblivious to poverty, depravation, a failed public services sector, the Mountains of trash and a pernicious smog from burning whatever whenever wherever. Evidence of national political corruption and the effects of violations of countless social contract is everywhere. Seen from my seat on the bus: Blocks upon blocks of tall story brick apartment buildings that lack all utilities connections .. Built on what had been hundreds of acres of Cairo's public garden district, sometimes a swamp .. unfinished shells of buildings facing on dirt paths in lieu of streets, built so close together as to allow only shaft lighting between these structures devoid of windows and doors. And yet I'm told over 7 million low rent paying squatters occupy a fraction of the unfinished apartments .. tenants to landlords of who knows what authority creating their own solutions to the absence of conventional water/sewer and electricity connections. And then there's another million otherwise homeless living in the grand cemetery. Go ahead. let your imagination run with that thought and then, there's everyone's trash..paper metal cans glass..thrown on the ground in every neighborhood .. rich and poor alike .. Or dumped in what had been the city's main irrigation canal. Here's a picture: In the irrigation canal there's is a dead horse. A stone's throw away is a man fishing. Nearby is a woman doing her laundry.Really.. it was mind boggling.
Inside our bus we were introduced to a remarkable personality. Sally, an attractive, traditionally dressed Egyptian Muslim with a (required) BA in Egyptology has been a professional tour guide for over 20 years. During a Q&A session that she encouraged on our way back to Port Said, she described herself as 44, tea total but fond of cigarettes, divorced and living in Cairo with her recently widowed mother, her sister a single parent and her three children. An active outspoken advocate for social justice and being all too cognizant of Egypt's precipitous decline, Sally was on site present and witnessed acts of violence and too many deaths during the demonstrations in Cairo we saw at home on TV that ultimately brought down the regime of Egypt's dictatorial President Hosni Mubarek.At some point late in the day Sally said, and I'm scarcely paraphrasing, Egyptians are very easy going. They laugh and smile a lot. Egyptians joke about everything. If they took everything seriously, they'd have a heart attack. And, when gently pressured about the inherent risks of smoking, she smiled and said wryly that (surely) the air pollution would cause lung cancer.
The people I observed seemed approachable. Eager to please. They lit up at the recognition of foreigners. They smiled and waved when the bus passed. I'm told if it's possible, the average Egyptian will lead to your destination rather than simply give directions. From Islamic prohibition there's very little consumption of alcohol. Islam is silent on tobacco. Street vendors at the pyramid sites were aggressive but not rude and they never touched me or got too in my face. They need the business. I wished they were selling something I wanted. All day long I never saw a single act of aggressive physical violence. That is, human on human. Can't say the same for a man's relations with his obstinate camel. They are ornery critters that kick bite and spit thus the meshed muzzle bag, but just maybe there's more provocation than I'd realized? Of course in their dependant profession if a balky camel wins, neither the beast of burden nor the driver will earn to eat.
The injustice of it ALL and the really appalling filth was very disturbing; I can't help but imagine Cairo in summer's heat.. So I say there should be a special place of atonement for their deposed Tragic Figure. At first a progressive dictator and a successful international negotiator that in fact strengthened Egypt's prospects for a peaceful existence in the region...it seems, especially in his last five years, Mubarek couldn't control his grasping greed for what is reported to be in the Billions .. Perhaps he suffered the delusions of a modern day Pharaoh? As luck would have it I've read Cleopatra's new biography. Nope. Mubarek was no Pharaoh.Seems one particularly outrageous revenue source was he instituted a tax on everyone for trash collection and then didn't deliver .. So, disillusioned and what all else, people gave up and now today's generation of age 30 and under, and that's about half the nation's 87 million .. a number that's growing by a million every nine months.. they don't know what environmental cleanliness is nor do they seem to need or miss it or to have reason to object to disorder, the incomplete, or the chronic lack of enforcement of civil health and safety laws and regulation. There are Zero to No trash barrels. Burning is done camp fire style. And the black smoke.... In sum: Mubarek and his government effectively erased Egypt's public service institutional history.There are no traffic rules. That's No limits that I could see of any kind. Stopped in traffic, we were passed on the right by a taxi driving on the sidewalk. People I watched looked bored rather than amused by the audacity. Official policy favoring the safety of tourists, we traveled thru Cairo's city limits in an MP led and followed convoy of five busses. In tourist season Sally said there can be as many as 50 busses in a convoy. OK. That's got to be led by a tank. Since Mubarek's fall there is no civilian police force..it's all Army .. And they carry automatic weapons. The soldiers I saw did not seem threatening .. more like serious kids in ROTC.
On the day Hosni Mubarak finally stepped down: ~1000 protestors had died bringing that about.45% of Egyptians live below the poverty level . That's less than a per capita income of $25 per month.
The plan Sally outlined: Egypt's National Constitution will be rewritten once elections are held. There were election candidate's posters and billboards in Cairo practically everywhere I looked. The West has its expectations but it remains to be seen when the Army will allow elections.
So..When I think about the day: I am truly the better for having traveled in Egypt. In what for me was a surprisingly intimate setting I visited the pyramids (touched one) and the Great Sphinx and now I will see them in my mind's eye. And too I am grateful for having been in Cairo. I have taken away a fondness and a sympathy that might not have come about without eye contact. For sure I'll be a much better interpreter of Western press.Glad to move on.It's been a beautiful day here .. a day at sea en route to Crete...Entry 13Writing about Crete will be easier.
We've been here once before with an Academy at Charlemont school group so this time with limited time, we chose to take a pass on visiting the ancient ruins of Knossos and instead tour the town from the ship. Dick's more interested in prowling and window shopping than I, so while I write this, he's not back yet. We did share however a walk through the main shopping district that's a climb located above the harbor .. Being a Greek island, all's as neat as a pin and such a contrast to our last street scene in Egypt. Makes me appreciate the favor.
It's, by now, past high tourist season so a lot that looked inviting was closed. I peeled off from Dick and the tourist's district and climbed a shear face of stone steps that led on to a quiet street and a very attractive Pension hotel. Not quite as neat off the beaten path but still well maintained..and clearly more indicative of the true sense of the island. At the bottom of the hill I found a coastal stone path that occasionally had a descending staircase leading to the shoreline. One case led down to a boat yard where there were enormous sailing yachts in winter dry dock. Lots of guys doing yard work including brightwork on vessels from all over the world. Some vessels really were fabulous.
Crete must be alive in season. I hope Greece's austerity program doesn't kill this golden goose.. Fishing yield alone, as it once did, would never support the island.
It's 12:30. PRIDE sails for Piraeus at 1:30.
So...I'm back from lunch. No question I enjoy being looked after. They do a very good job and for us it is so pleasant to be in a cashless environment. No checks to call for wait for and settle. No tipping.For a change of scene.. Today a luncheon buffet in the dining room was set up to snake through the kitchen. Half the choices were cold service. Hot and cold..There's no way I could eat one sample of everything. The variety is amazing. For example I didn't choose from: The soups. The German sausages, sauerkraut, baked beans, etc. Umpteen varieties of breads and rolls. The amazing variety of cheeses. Cold mixed salads and slaws. The roasted suckling pig. And another half a dozen silver roll top chafing dishes containing God know what but could be hash, broiled tomatoes, mixed roasted vegetables, home fries, a variety of chicken, meat stews, something totally vegetarian, etc.
My cold choices: Thin slices of 5 varieties of rice wrapped sushi, a small ramekin of a soy with wasabi dipping sauce, some smoked salmon, 1/2 a split king crab leg, 2 stone crab claws, 2 steamed mussels, a 2" slice of spring roll with peanut sauce, 1/2 a juice lemon, a dressed artichoke heart, a variety of grilled and dressed vegetables that included eggplant, a paper thin slice of beef filet.
For round 2...My hot choices: Some stir fried lamb, puree of fresh peas with mint, crispy French fries. On a second pass, 2 fried soft shell Vietnamese red crabs, some white rice.
For dessert: I had a 2" slice of something that's a cousin to an English trifle called a Summer Pudding. It's made with sponge cake or lady fingers, a lightly sweetened puree of berries and pale sherry, and a variety of the whole berries. The pudding is set in a bomb mold and chilled to the point of freezing. Very good, bright purple and surprisingly light in texture. I demurred on the whipped cream.
There were at least a dozen other cake and pie confections and cookies to choose from along with a wide variety of fresh fruits artfully displayed and ices, sherbets, and ice creams with all manner of fruit and cooked sauce toppings.
Even with tramping on tours and going to the ship's gym, I'm sure I've gained back the weight I lost for this trip. No problem there. It's been fun to be thrilled by the menus and by in large the table service has been excellent.
Almost The End.
We'll be back in Gloucester tomorrow night. Blane is meeting our plane. We're British Air. Athens to London to Boston arriving 9:40 PM or 3:40 AM in body's time.Welcome to our Travel Blog
12/9/20117:39:25 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment
Welcome! Please enjoy reading both our experiences as well as those of some of our clients!
