May 30 - Some final thoughts about the Seabourn Encore and the Dubai to Athens itinerary

There have been many negative comments on cruise forums about the Seabourn Encore and her sister the Ovation.  Long time Seabourn cruisers call them “megaships” and say they carry too many passengers (600).  We found the Encore to have many features we preferred to the smaller ships.  The configuration of our cabin, particularly the bathroom, was far superior.  We liked the larger Observation Bar, Colonnade (both indoor and outdoor) and the purpose built Thomas Keller Grill.  Seabourn Square was larger and more comfortable.  We found no decline in service and certainly the quality of the food was just as good as on the smaller ships.  We’ve booked a cruise for next year on the Encore’s sister, the Ovation. 

The itinerary is a very interesting one but I think going in the fall is probably a better time.  When we did a similar route five years ago it was in October and I don’t remember it being nearly as hot.  The itinerary is also good for those who like sea days because there are many of them.  If one goes to the Middle East, one needs to have a very open mind about differences in cultures because the countries we visited have very different ideas about many aspects of life that we take for granted.

Petra is a place not to be missed.  It is an arduous hike, but truly a wonder of the world.  If you go to Dubai, take the time to visit Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, two of the other Emirates to get a different perspective.  Israel is one of the most fascinating places we’ve ever been.  It’s worth it to take very comprehensive tours there.

So the 2019 voyage is history.  Next year we are celebrating our 50^th wedding anniversary.  I was excited to find a cruise that has us boarding the Seabourn Ovation on our actual anniversary (and it happens to fall on a Saturday and we were married on a Saturday).  We’ll go back to the Baltic and be able to see more of some ports we visited two years ago.  Then we’ll see a few places in Norway, Belgium, England and Ireland which will be totally new to us.

May 26 - Athens, London, and Home

We docked in Piraeus, the port for Athens, on Sunday morning.  After a final breakfast we gathered our carry-on bags and disembarked.  Our luggage had been placed on a cart already, along with a bag that didn’t belong to us.  After sorting that out, our driver met us and we were off to the Athens airport.  We had a long wait before the ticket counter opened but we had a place to sit and it was entertaining  people-watching.

Our flight to Heathrow was uneventful.  Due to schedules and my fear of making tight connections, we opted to stay overnight at the Sofitel Heathrow attached to T-5.  We’ve stayed there before and it’s quite nice.  On Monday morning we were able to check in and check our luggage for our flight to Dulles right in the hotel lobby.  How convenient that was!

Our flight was on time and very nice.  I do like daylight flights better than overnight ones.  We arrived a few minutes early, zipped through the Global Entry kiosk (what a great thing that is!), snagged our bags and a porter, and found our driver waiting with a sign.  Wonder of wonders, traffic was great going down I-95 and I-64.  We were home by 5:30 PM.  It’s always great to be home!

So ends our 2019 odyssey, or as Al has called it “The Last Crusade.”

May 25 - Agios Nikolaos, Greece

After a relaxing sea day we arrived this morning off the little Greek town of Agios Nikolaos on the eastern end of the island of Crete.  The last time we were here we docked right in the town and took a tour to Knossos, the legendary residence of King Minos.  Today we anchored and had to tender into the town and we had a short day; all aboard was 2:30.  Therefore, we decided to wander around the little town.

Agios Nikolaos from our ship

There were lots of little sailboats around

Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas in Greek) is a fishing and tourist town.  It's a nice place and one that I think we could actually spend a few days visiting and enjoying. There’s a little harbor with quite a few small boats tied up and  along the shore lots of open-air cafes.  There are three or four shopping streets selling primarily touristy “trash and trinkets.”  We walked up and down a couple of the streets and saw lots of natural sponges and dresses that looked they came straight out of Mamma Mia (the movie).  If I were tall, slender, and more than a few years younger I might have been tempted to buy a gauzy Greek dress. Alas, I’m not, so I didn’t.

Shopping street

 

I think this same fishing boat was here five years ago on our last visit.

Charming little harbor

Steps to a little courtyard

We did, however, come across a very nice jewelry shop we had visited last time  we were here.  The owner’s now deceased husband handmade some beautiful jewelry with Cretan themes.  We had bought something there 5 years ago and when we told her that, the owner treated us as long last relatives.  We found a couple of unique things which we bought as mementos of our visit.  After a stop at one of the cafes for a drink and to watch the people wandering around the little harbor we headed back to the ship. We had to do the dreaded packing because tomorrow the cruise ends.

Packing to go home is always easier than to go on vacation.  You know that everything gets packed; there are no choices to make.  It didn’t take long and then we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the veranda and enjoying the ocean. In the evening we were able to walk in to the Thomas Keller Grill for a nice dinner.

May 23 - Jerusalem, Bethlehem and back to the ship in Haifa

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Before I talk about the day’s sights I think I should say something about our tour guide Yair. He is a very interesting character.  He is a 46 year old very proud and patriotic Israeli.  He wore a sort of Crocodile Dundee hat and carried in addition to a backpack a leather case with a trumpet.  Like most Jews, male and female, he served in the Israeli Defense Force for several years as a medical paratrooper and then in  the reserves.  At various stops along the way, he would pull out of his backpack the Good News Bible and would ask a member of the group to read a passage particularly relevant to the place we were seeing.  Then he would take out his trumpet and play a short piece which also was meaningful to where we were.

Yair with his trumpet

Our first stop of the day before the crowds came was the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus is supposed to have prayed on the night before his arrest. The garden is on the Mount of Olives and was a place that Christ and his disciples were known to frequent. Thus Judas was able to lead the authorities there to  make their arrest.  Next to the Garden is the Roman Catholic Church of All Nations.  As with every other edifice in this city, when construction and renovation is done remains of earlier buildings are found.  On this site the remains of a chapel dating to the 4^th century have been found.  Also in the church is a piece of bedrock on which Jesus is said to have prayed.  The church has many beautiful mosaics both inside and outside.

Garden of Gethsemane

Mosaics on the facade of the Church of All Nations

Mosaic above the altar of the Church

We entered the Old City through the Zion Gate.  We walked through the Jewish Quarter to  what some believe is King David’s tomb.  It’s located in a corner of a room  in what at one time was a Byzantine church.  It was very unprepossessing.  Who knows if it is the real site because nothing has been authenticated.  As we were leaving the tomb we encountered a parade of sorts with young boys beating drums and parents who were Orthodox Jews carrying signs with a man’s face on them and some writing in Hebrew.  Yair, our guide, whipped out his trumpet and played a Hebrew melody.  The parade people cheered and clapped and wanted us to join them but Yair told them we had to go.  We asked him when they had passed what they were parading for.  He told us they were followers of a rabbi who had died 25 years ago and they believed would come back as the Messiah.  What was interesting about that was that this particular rabbi was from Crown Heights in New York and had never been to Israel! 

The parade for the Crown Heights Rabbi

We continued walking through the Jewish quarter and saw some of the old ruins which lie under the city.  There are countless layers of civilizations beneath the current buildings.  The city is built on Mt. Zion which is believed to be the site on which Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, his first born son until God stopped him.  All around us were places which are part of history.  It’s kind of awesome to walk through these streets and alleyways.

Ancient ruins uncovered in the Jewish Quarter

We crossed into the Christian quarter and made our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The emperor Constantine converted to Christianity early in the 4^th century and sent his mother Helena to Jerusalem to look for Christ’s tomb.  With the help of two bishops she reportedly found three crosses near a tomb.  This led them to believe that they had found Golgotha, in Hebrew the place of the skulls, which in Latin was called Calvary.  It was on this site that Christ was crucified and buried in a cave.  A church was built on the spot and over the centuries  edifices there have been destroyed; each time a new church has been built. Parts of what we now see date back to the 12^th century.  Inside are two of the holiest sites in Christianity, the spot on which He was crucified and the tomb where His body was placed and from which He rose from the dead.

Front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  Notice the ladder propped up by the window on the 2nd floor

There is something about this Church which provides a window into the problems of the Middle East in general.  The Church is administered by 6 different branches of the Catholic faith.  In order for anything to be done to the building all six sects must agree.  On the second level of the façade near the entrance is an old wooden ladder.  It was there when we visited 5 years ago and it’s still propped up against the wall.  It has apparently been there for more than a century because there has been no agreement about moving it.  Back in the 16^th century one of the Caliphs of the Ottoman Empire realized the Christians couldn’t agree on things and he gave over the keeping of the keys to the church and the opening of its doors to two Muslim families.  To this day descendants of those families maintain those responsibilities.  So here is an interesting thing to think about.  If 6 Christian sects can’t agree on something, how are we to expect Christians, Muslims, and Jews to agree on things?

Pontius Pilate's Palace

After a brief walk through the Armenian quarter and lunch there we ended our visit to Jerusalem.  It was on to Bethlehem which is located in the West Bank and under Palestinian control.  Our guide was not allowed to go through the checkpoint with us so we dropped him off.  We went through the wall which Israel has built to separate the Palestinian areas.  I won’t go into the politics of this as told to us by Yair.  I’ll just say that the Israelis have very strong feelings about the need for and success of the fence.

A portion of the wall

Border checkpoint through the bus window

There was a marked difference when we crossed the “border.”  The city of Bethlehem looked no where near as prosperous.  Interestingly the major tourist site of the city, the Church of the Nativity, is under the control of Christians, both Armenian and Palestinian.  While small, there is a Palestine Christian community. Our guide for this part of the tour was one of these and had been baptized in the Church of the Nativity.  Before going to the church we stopped in a large gift shop owned by some of this small community.  Their principal source of income is selling things to tourists and we made our contribution.

The Church of the Nativity is actually three different churches connected to one another.  The first and the one built above the grotto where Christ is supposed to have been born is Greek Orthodox.  Because of the masses of people in there we were only able to see the entrance to the grotto which lies beneath the altar.  The other churches are an Armenian one and a Roman Catholic one. The latter is the one from which Midnight Mass is televised on Christmas Eve.  The Greek Orthodox Church was the most ornate one with mosaics dating back to the 4^th and 6^th centuries.

The very ornate altar area of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Nativity. The grotto where Christ was born lies below

Roman Catholic Church of Nativity

After a pretty brief visit we were taken back across the checkpoint, picked up Yair and headed north to meet our ship in Haifa.  Once again we passed through fields of grapes, olives, citrus and other fruit trees.  At every turn the Israelis have planted.  It’s quite remarkable what they have done.  Traffic was horrendous!  Because of the heat wave there are a number of brush fires around the country which have closed some roads.  That combined with the fact that Thursday afternoon is the beginning of the Jewish weekend made for a long and slow ride up to Haifa.

Haifa at night as we sailed away

We had two long, very hot days in Israel but they were worth the time.  It’s hard to put it into words, but as we walked through these places which we’ve learned about and in which things happened that were so momentous, we couldn’t help feeling something stirring within our souls.  That may sound trite or cheesy, but everyone we spoke with felt the same thing.

May 22 - Ashdod to Haifa, an overnight journey through Israel

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This morning found us at the port of Ashdod, Israel.  After going through a face-to-face meeting with Israeli immigration we boarded our bus for an overnight tour of several parts of this interesting country.  As we drove out of the port city we passed through lush agricultural areas and pine forests.  This is amazing because before the Jewish people settled here most of what was then called Palestine was desert or swampland.  The Israelis are masters at irrigation and agricultural management.

Just one example of the fields we saw

We headed southeast toward our first stop at Masada above the Dead Sea. The trip took us from sea level  to roughly 1450 ft below sea level . That makes the Dead Sea the lowest point on the planet on land. To reach Masada we drove along the shore of the sea and I’ll tell you more about that later.

Masada is an ancient Jewish fortification built atop a large type of mesa  overlooking the Dead Sea to its east with a cliff drop off of approx 1300 ft.  King Herod the Great  built two magnificent palaces for himself and massive fortifications between 37 and 31 BC.  During the first Jewish-Roman War after the destruction by the Romans of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, a violent extremist Jewish splinter group which had earlier taken the Roman garrison at Masada essentially made their last stand against the Romans on that high fort.  The Romans constructed over a long period of time an access ramp and siege tower and were preparing to overrun Masada. Rather than being captured and enslaved or killed by the Romans, the 960 Jewish men, women, and children committed suicide and mass murder.  When the Romans entered they found all the buildings ablaze and only two women and five children alive. We tried to figure out why the Romans didn’t just wait the Jewish defenders out.  It didn’t appear that there was any way for them to resupply with food or even water, but I guess for the Romans it was a matter of pride to put down a rebellion.

It's pretty desolate up on Masada.

From Masada we went down to the shore of the Dead Sea to Ein Bokek and the Lot Spa Hotel.  The Dead Sea is bordered on the east by Jordan and on the left by Israel and the West Bank.  Its main tributary is the River Jordan.  It’s one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth; it’s 9.6 times saltier than the ocean with a salinity of more than 34%.  Jordan and Israel have agreed on a project to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea to try to increase the water level and we could see portions of the canal.

Beach at the Dead Sea Resort

It was incredibly hot along the shores; the temperature was nearly 110° F.  After lunch in the hotel some of our fellow travelers went for a dip in the Sea.  We didn’t.  While there were changing rooms, I had read and been told that it’s impossible to get all the salt washed off in one shower and the prospect of sitting in a bus for the ride to Jerusalem in brine was unappealing.  I walked down to the beach and took pictures but that was it.  As it was, I thought I would melt!

A couple of views of the Dead Sea

As we drove along the shoreline on our ride to Jerusalem we could see large salt flats where the water has completely evaporated.  There were also major sinkholes which had formed wiping out whole communities and the major roads; hence we had to make some detours.  Despite the heat and sand, the Israelis are doing a marvelous thing.  Along the way we passed acres and acres of date palm plantations.  Some are newly planted; others are at full growth.  Within 20 years, who knows, this place may look entirely different, more like a lush tropical forest.  As an aside, Israel is one of the largest producers of Medjool dates in the world.

Date palm plantations. Who knows, in twenty years this may be a tropical paradise.

Along the way we passed the caves at Qumran where in 1946 two Bedouin shepherds found the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The Scrolls are written on papyrus and have tremendous historical significance because they contain the second oldest known versions of the Hebrew canons, essentially the Old Testament.  The shepherds eventually sold the scrolls for the equivalent of about $300.  After passing through a number of hands and being authenticated, they now belong to the Israeli Department of Antiquities.

Our day’s journey ended in Jerusalem at the top of the Mount of Olives.  From there we had a spectacular view of the Old City, with the golden dome of the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque built on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.  I think it’s important to understand that to Judaism the site of the temple built first by Solomon and after that temple’s destruction the Second Temple, is the most important place on Earth.  It is there that the Ark of the Covenant was supposedly housed.  Because the Muslims who came later built a mosque on the site and to Islam it is their 3^rd holiest site, it is an area of great sensitivity and tension.  Because of this, archaeological digs are limited and neither side is willing to give up the area.  It’s very difficult to see how a resolution can be achieved.

The old city of Jerusalem from Mount of Olives

After looking at the view and hearing a reading from the Book of Psalms we reboarded our bus to check into our hotel right outside the Old City.  We had an opportunity to go for a night visit to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall.  We decided to pass because we had been there on our last visit to Jerusalem and truthfully we were pooped; I think the heat did us in.

May 21 - Suez Canal

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After a relaxing day with wonderful fresh breezes while cruising out of the Gulf of Aqaba and through the Gulf of Suez  with the Sinai Peninsula on our starboard and Upper Egypt on our port we arrived around 7PM  last night at our anchorage for the gathering of our convoy to go through the Canal.  Ships have allocated slots in convoys north and south bound.  We are number one in our group.

The Sinai Peninsula.  It looked pretty desolate until we got close to the canal.

We began our transit around 3:30 AM (we weren’t awake).  The Suez Canal was built between 1859 and 1869 by the Suez Canal Company, a French operation created  by Ferdinand de Lesseps.  It is a sea level canal unlike the Panama Canal so there are no locks.  It is approximately 120 miles long and it shortened the journey from London to the Arabian Sea by some 5500 miles.  Until 1956 the Canal was owned by the United Kingdom and France.  In that year Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized it which precipitated the Suez Crisis. While the canal is still owned and operated by the Suez Canal Authority of Egypt, by treaty vessels of all countries  whether commercial or warships may use the waterway without distinction.  Last week one of our battle groups passed through on its way to the Arabian Sea.

This De Lesseps was an interesting character.  Some years after his great success building the Suez, a feat which gained him fame and fortune, he proposed building  a sea level canal through Panama.  He had never been there and had no idea of the differences in terrain and climate. He formed a company and enlisted investors.  Eventually, the company went bankrupt and he became something of a pariah.  It was then that the US stepped in under the  leadership of Teddy Roosevelt and built the Panama Canal with its sets of locks.  This was only accomplished though at the expense of  a lot of loss of life due to disease. Only after Walter Reed figured out that mosquitoes were transmitting the diseases of yellow fever and malaria and how to deal with them was progress made.

So back to the Suez.  On either side there is sand, sand and more sand.  We are facing the Sinai side and there are lots of watchtowers and little forts.  There is all kinds of construction going on.  We don’t what they are building but a lot of sand is being moved. Then a little while ago we started passing what looks like a new city.  There are blocks and blocks of 6 to 8 story buildings in rows and rows stretching almost as far as the eye can see.  Some of them look completed; others are still under construction.  We suppose that Egypt has decided they need a new city on this side of the canal. Also since the last time we passed through the canal, a portion has been widened to speed up transit time and a side channel has been opened to allow berthing and unloading of ships.  It’s clear that a lot of investment has been made here.

Sand, sand, sand

Fort and watchtower on the Sinai side.  There are lots of these along the way.

Some of the towers are manned as this was; some are not.

The line of very large container ships following behind us

Fishermen hanging out near us. We stirred up the fish for them

And another boat fishing with hand lines. Notice both boats means of propulsion - oars

A truck full of construction workers who drove by honking and waving at us

Commemorative sign in front of the newly built city

New city which looked huge. I think it may be called Ismaila but I'm not sure.

One of the many mosques built among the new structures

We’ll complete our transit sometime around mid-afternoon and we’ll be in the Mediterranean. Tomorrow we have a very early morning wake-up as we arrive in Ashdod, Israel.  Each passenger is required to have a face-to-face meeting with Israeli immigration.

Exiting the Suez Canal near one Port Said's large container ports

On a completely different note, for the first time our trivia team came in first!  It’s only a game but it was fun to win one session.

May 19 - Al’Aqaba and Petra, Jordan

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This morning we arrived at Al’ Aqaba, the only port of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  Yes, that is the official name of this country.  King Abdullah II, the current ruler, is a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed (something like a 43^rd great-grandson).

Aqaba (for short) is at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and in quite an interesting location.  Only a few miles to its east is Saudi Arabia and to its west is Eliat, Israel.  In fact one can see the lights and buildings of both.  We had to get up early for our tour departure.  Once again we decided to go to Petra.

As you leave Aqaba you begin a journey through what is absolutely desolate desert.  On all sides are vast mountains of rock with only an occasional scrubby tree or bush.  This truly is Lawrence of Arabia country. As we drove along we would see an occasional Bedouin encampment.  They are nomadic people and evidently camp for a while in a place that has some water for their goats, sheep and camels and then move on to the next spot.

Some of the rugged terrain

The black tent in the middle is a bedouin encampment

After a couple of hours we arrived in the city of Petra.  This is the modern city which has been built in the hills around the ancient city.  Petra is believed to have been settled as early as 9000 BC and it became the capital of the Nabataean civilization in the 4^th century BC.  The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who found Petra’s proximity to trade routes advantageous so they built a great city there.  This was a center for trading in frankincense, myrrh and spices.

Petra is often called the Rose-red City because of the marvelous color of the rock from which it has been carved. What is amazing when looking at the edifices is that the beautiful column, capitals, and decorations were all done with only primitive hand-tools.

We had been here before several years ago and made the walk down to the city through a narrow gorge called the Siq.  The walk is a couple of miles each way with a drop in elevation from about 5400 ft to 4800 ft.  It is hot, dusty and in some places paved with uneven stones.  We remembered that the last time on the way up we thought we’d have to get the Jordanian equivalent of 911 to get us to the top.  There are horse carts you can take down, but they look only slightly better as they gallop along at breakneck speed on wheels that are not round but rather crenellated.  So when the opportunity to travel in style down and back in an electric golf cart presented itself, we jumped on it. 

The Bab al Siq or Gateway to the gorge leading to ancient Petra

The Siq  You can see how narrow it is.

The crown jewel of Petra is the Treasury, that place where Indiana Jones finds the ancient knight still guarding the Holy Grail.  You can’t go inside, but the exterior is breath-taking.  The façade is nearly 40 meters high with towering columns topped with Corinthian capitals, carved friezes and figures, and at the center top a huge funerary urn which legend says houses a Pharaoh’s treasure.  In the front of the Treasury is a sort of town square in which one can take a camel ride, get photos taken with Nabataeans soldiers, or buy “treasures.”  It’s like a movie set version of an ancient souk.  An enterprising Arab spotted Al and negotiations began for a genuine imitation silver bracelet and some “ancient” coins.  We enriched the local economy by a little, but Al had great fun haggling with the guy.  After all, how often do you get to Petra, Jordan?

The Treasury

An Arab entrepreneur happy with his new American friends

Camels waiting for riders

One of the many horse carts

After a look about and some photos, we took our golf carpet back to the top.  As we rode along I looked at the faces of the people making the trek back up and they looked flushed and pained.  We knew that feeling last time.  One side note, I was astounded by the choice of footwear some people, particularly women, had made.  I saw several with those kind of sandals with skinny flat soles  more like flip flops than anything else.  Whatever were they thinking?

Once up in  modern Petra we went to the Movenpick Hotel for the buffet lunch included in our tour.  It was blissfully cool and serene with a nice selection of salads, a couple of entrees and lovely desserts.  Then it was time to board our bus for the trip back across the desert.

The last time at the midway point on the road to Aqaba, Seabourn had trucked out champagne, caviar, foie gras canapés and the staff to serve them.  That didn’t happen this time because it’s Ramadan and it would be offensive to the owners of the roadside rest stop.  Oh well, such is life! Seabourn did welcome us home in their traditional way with most of the housekeeping and bar staff lined up cheering and dancing to lively music.

Welcome home from pierside

Welcome home from our balcony perspective

We have two sea days coming up as we traverse the Gulf of Aqaba and Gulf of Suez first and the Suez Canal on the second day.  I think we’ll sleep well tonight.