Blogging Problem

We are having computer problems. Two of the blogs we wanted to post were in fact posted but in the wrong order. We have one more post plus more pictures. Unfortunately, we don't know when we will be able to get them posted. Be patient.

Tim and Lynda

Pictures

The top picture is the upper room. The bottom picture is the altar over the site of the cross where Jesus was crucified.

In the Jerusalem blog both pictures are of the Wailing Wall. You will see Lynda in one of them.

PIctures

The top picture is the upper room. The bottom picture is the alter over the place where the crucifix stood.

In the Jerusalem blog the pictures were both of the Wailing Wall. Look closely and you will see Lynda in one of them.

Limassol, Cyprus

Limassol, Cyprus, November 3, 2011

Limassol will not be very high on our list of favorite ports of call. We were in port for only five and half hours. The ship docked in the middle of the industrial port so, unlike the past two days, we did not get a chamber of commerce view of Limassol from our ship. After lunch, we took the shuttle bus from our port to the city center. We found a small café that had free WiFi and order a beer and took care of computer business. Computer time on board is very expensive so if we can find free computer time on shore we use it to post our blog and check e-mail. After we finished our computer work we took a short walk about the city. Limassol is famous for lace and we saw many shops featuring quite detailed lace work. We also visited several small art galleries that featured locally produced art work. There were excellent examples of glass, copper and other metal works of art. Limassol was not any prettier in the city center than in the dock area. We were only off the ship for about two hours.

This morning Tim did laundry while Lynda slept in. He had an interesting encounter with another passenger who was folding his freshly washed and dried Michigan Football t-shirt. Tim quietly enjoyed hearing the Michigan fan admit that we had kicked wolverine ass again this year.

The high point of the day clearly was our private tour, with the ship’s executive chef, of the ship’s galley including a demonstration of how the fresh pasta is made. The machine used to make the pasta is quite involved. Lynda teased the chef as to whether he was a chef or a machinist. The machine the kitchen uses can make all of the pasta for the evening meals in less than an hour. It was fascinating to watch the chef switch the different bits on the machine to make the different shapes of pasta. For tubular pasta such as penne the machine is fitted with a special device that automatically cuts the pasta to the desired length. For longer, flat pastas like spaghetti the pasta is cut by hand. The chef also demonstrated the machine that makes the stuffed pasta, ravioli for example. The machine can make 60 servings of ravioli in 15 minutes. After the pasta demonstration we were shown the rest of the galley. There are 42 chefs in the galley who work in different shifts because our ship has 24 hour room service. The executive chef explained how the orders are brought to the kitchen and organized so that the executive chef can monitor how many orders of each entrée are being placed. We learned that the chef must keep track of the many regulations for each country that is visited. These regulations apply not only to the food served, but also to the bin in which each type of garbage is disposed. We were rather surprised to discover that the “soft” trash, peelings from vegatables, lettuce and the like, is crushed and put into the sea once we are over 15 miles from land. Tim asked about the meals for the crew and found out that there is a separate galley, with its own budget, that prepares the food for the crew. They are not allowed to eat any left overs from the dining rooms for the guests. While we are sure they are well fed, we are also sure the crew does not get the dining options that we choose from each evening. We felt quite special because we saw another group of about 6 passengers come in for a tour that was not as extensive as the private tour we received. It was certainly another example of the outstanding service we have been receiving.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel November 4, 2011

Today was a long, exhausting but exciting day. Our tour left port at 7:50 a.m. for Jerusalem. Lynda was not happy. It was a bit more than a two hour drive to Jerusalem with Lynda enjoying the scenery and Tim napping. About 15 miles outside of Jerusalem we stopped for a potty and coffee break. Of interest at this break was the fact that the café was across the street from the Monastery of Amasses, the first of three places that Jesus was seen after his resurrection. We than drove on into Jerusalem. There were several things that surprised us about Jerusalem. First, Jerusalem is a major city, around 800,000 inhabitants. We had always thought of it as small. Second, the terrain that the city is built on is quite severe, with major hills and valleys. Third, we did not know that Jerusalem was the capitol of Israel. We assumed Tel Aviv was the capitol. On our way to our first stop we drove by the Knesset, the parliament of Israel. We also drove by the Foreign Office where our guide pointed out that Condolesa Rice had spent much time in negotiations in this building. No mention of Hillary. We also passed the Prime Minister’s home Our first stop was Mount Scopus where we looked out towards the Judean Desert and the start of the West Bank. The West Bank that you all have heard about on the news is the area west of the River Jordan that separates Jordan and Israel, actually on the east side of Israel. From Mount Scopus we drove to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives gave us a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem and also the Garden of Gethsemane located just outside the Old City walls. Next we visited the Upper Room, the site of the last supper. Over the years the room has been expanded but we were shown the approximate size of the original room. The Upper Room is very near the Tomb of King David that we next saw. Of interest here was the fact that women and men entered from different sides of the tomb and both men and women must have their heads covered. Lynda has a picture of Tim in a paper yarmulke that he had to wear. After lunch we walked into the Old City, our first stop being the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church contains the sites where Jesus was nailed to the cross, where the cross stood when Jesus was crucified and the location of the tomb where he was buried. At the site of the crucifixion there is an altar underneath which is a golden plate marking the location where the cross stood. We watched many people crawl under the altar to kiss the golden marker. On each side of the altar there was glass through which you could see the actual stone from Calvary. It was very chaotic and crowded around this spot where a Greek Orthodox priest struggled to keep some semblance of order. Don’t ask why a Greek Orthodox priest. It would take too long to explain and we still probably would not be able to make it clear. The church itself that was built around and over these sites is quite beautiful. We left the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and walked down the Via Dolorosa where the original stations of the cross are located. The Via Dolorosa is filled with little shops much like the bazaars in Turkey and Rhodes. We left the Via Dolorosa and followed a rather serpentine route to the Western Wall, better know as the Wailing Wall. To Jews this is the most holy of all sites. The Western Wall is actually about an 84 yard section of the original wall from the 2nd Jewish temple, over 2000 years old and the temple that Jesus visited. Given the conflicts between Jews and Muslims it won’t surprise you to learn that this wall continues on underneath a Mosque. Today people go to the wall to pray. Many write their prayer requests on a small piece of paper and than fit it into a crack or crevice in the wall. Once a month these requests are removed and buried on the Mount of Olives. Like the Tomb of David, there is a separate section for men and women and all must have their heads covered. After spending time at the Western Wall we rode in our bus to a hill overlooking Bethlehem, located just outside of Jerusalem, what we would consider a suburb. We didn’t go into Bethlehem but it is now part of the West Bank controlled by the Muslims. The Israeli’s have built a security wall around Bethlehem and it is very difficult for tour buses to go there. Again, we think of Bethlehem as a little town but it actually is a town of 85,000 people. Our guide spent a lot of time during the day lamenting the constant fighting between the Jews and the Muslims. The problem is that both religions can show proof that they should be the ones controlling the area. Sadly this has been going on for hundreds of years and will probably continue for hundreds more. We returned to our ship about 7:30 exhausted but moved by what we had seen. Fortunately, our thoughtful ship’s crew greeted us with glasses of champagne and a Welcome Back Home receiving line. Have we mentioned how much we are enjoying Silversea Cruise Line?


Tomorrow we travel to the north of Israel, visiting Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. It will be another very early start and a long day. Hopefully it will be as rewarding as today.

An Enchanting Island

Rhodes, Greece, November2 ,2011

This past summer our friends Mike and Sue asked us to meet them for dinner to discuss their making their first sojourn overseas. During the course of the dinner, Mike asked Tim if we had ever had any travel disasters. After much thought Tim responded that we had not had any. Any problems that we had encountered were cultural problems that were our fault. Tim told Mike that the joy we get from traveling is encountering new cultures. Just as there is no bad day of golf there is no bad day of travel. We mention this because we are sure that some of you are a bit tired of us talking about another wonderful day of travel. Unfortunately for you, it was another excellent day. We had not signed up for any cruise sponsored shore excursions, planning on exploring on our own. We were at the shore excursion concierge desk discussing our options when one of the couples we had dinner with our first night on board asked if we would be interested in renting a cab with them to go up to Lindos. Duh! Did the sun come up this morning? We talked with the concierge to get guidelines on renting a cab and set off. After brief negotiations with the cab driver we were on our way. It was about an 18 mile trip to Lindos. Once out of Rhodes City the landscape became quite barren and hilly. We saw many goats along the road that our cab driver assured us were domestic and just foraging about.

Just outside of Lindos our driver pulled off the side of the road to give us an opportunity for pictures. We had a breathtaking view of Lindos below us. Lindos is a small town located at the northern tip of the Island of Rhodes. All of the buildings were white washed just like you see on the Greekce travel posters. An acropolis sits on a high hill above Lindos. When we arrived in Lindos we were immediately confronted with a stall full of donkeys available for us to rent to take us up the hill to the acropolis. Neither our new friends, Greg and Sue, nor we were interested. We agreed to meet back at the taxi stand at a certain time and explored Lindos. What a lovely, quiet little town. There were the usual tourist trap type shops selling t-shirts, etc. but none of the overbearing hawkers we had put up with in Turkey. These souvenir shops were mixed in with jewelry stores, little art galleries and the like. We also came upon a drop dead gorgeous little Greek Orthodox Church. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures. As we sat and had a small pizza and a beer for lunch we were struck with how simple a life the residents of Lindos lead. We may have been a bit envious.

We explored Rhodes City upon our return from Lindos. It is much larger than Lindos and, as you would expect, more bustling. Because Rhodes City is where the cruise ships dock there were considerably more of the tourist oriented shops, but it was still not as frenetic as the bazaars in Turkey. We returned to the ship in the late afternoon so the rest of the day was spent lounging, having another wonderful meal and seeing another good show. Tomorrow we arrive in Cyprus. Again, we do not have any excursions planned. We only have about five hours in port so we will probably just take a shuttle bus into Limassol and explore a bit.

We did get some bad news this morning. It was announced over the intercom by our captain that because of shelling in the area of Ashdod in southern Israel we would not be docking there. Instead, we will go directly to Haifa and spend two nights in port there. The good news is this will not affect our planned excursions to Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. Unfortunately, the trip into Jerusalem will be considerably longer due to a longer drive. For us that simply means we’ll see more of the Israeli countryside - another bonus!

A Grand Bazaar

Kusadasi, Turkey, November 1, 2011

We have often found in our travels that the places we have enjoyed the most were the least thought of destinations; places where we have little knowledge of the destination going in and absolutely no preconceived ideas of what to expect. Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia immediately come to mind. Our visit today to Kusadasi, Turkey falls into that category. Our ship docked at the pier directly in front of the town center at 7:00 this morning. The sun was just rising over the hills that surround Kusadasi. It was a stunning view. We spent the morning at Ephesus but more on that later. After our tour we walked about the city. We were constantly passing by small groups of men surrounding a backgammon board. Two of the men were playing, the others either kibitzing or possibly waiting to see if they had bet on the correct player. As several shopkeepers pointed out to us, the middle of November is the end of the cruise season in the Eastern Mediterranean and many of the shops will close until the beginning of next year’s cruise season in the spring. So it was a slow pace. Some of the merchants just nodded as you passed by, others half-heartedly tried to lure you into their store and others showed almost desperation in their attempt to sell you something. Such was the case at a leather goods store that we stopped in front of. Tim pointed out an attractive leather ladies coat to Lynda and immediately regretted it. The owner was all over us in flash, and before you could say “Kusadasi, Turkey” had us on the second floor with Lynda trying on the coat. As proof of his need to sell the coat, the price started at $1080 and the sale was completed at $260. We imagine that the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul was like this. If you can learn to ignore the hawkers than it is great fun walking through the Bazaar.

Two thousand years ago Ephesus, along with Rome and Alexandria were the three most important cities in the world. At that time Ephesus was located on a river on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Two thousand years later it is located about three and a half miles from the sea. By the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. its glory days were long gone. About 20% of Ephesus has been reconstructed by archeologists. Probably the most interesting and impressive building was the façade of the library. At its zenith, the library contained over 12,000 scrolls and was the third largest library in the world. Tim is convinced that Stevium Jobacus’ invention of an application that allowed one to download a scroll to one’s kindlium spelled the end of the library. Actually, of more interest to the reader of this blog is the fact that the library contained a secret tunnel that led to the brothel across the street from the library. Only men were allowed in the library and you are left to your imagination regarding husbands telling their wives they would be spending the evening reading a real page turner of a scroll down at the library and to not wait up! The Grand Theatre has also been reconstructed. It seats 24,000 people and in its day hosted plays and town meetings. It has been used more recently to host concerts by musicians as varied as Elton John and Luciano Pavoratti. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, after a concert by Sting it was discovered that there was a noticeable shifting of the stones so now only classical concerts are allowed. Of interest to those of you with an off-beat sense of what is important, we also toured the public toilets. These public toilets consisted of long slabs of marble with 42 holes cut in them to allow men to take care of their business. As there were only 16 of us in our tour group we suggested a group picture with us sitting on the toilets would be fun. Our tour leader did not concur.

From the Ephesus site we went to the Ephesus Archeological Museum. It was a small museum but had an impressive array of items that had been found at the Ephesus dig. Unfortunately, the tour ended at a rug shop back in Kusadasi. The five minute demonstration of how silk is obtained from a silk worm cocoon was fascinating but the rest was just a sales pitch. Poor guy had to move 4000 rugs in the next two weeks before he closed for the season so there were deep discounts available. We felt like we were watching an American commercial live. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the ship.

After a lovely meal in the Italian Restaurant on board we took in our first floor show. The show featured a male singer from London who had starred in many West End productions. He was backed by a live quartet, grandiosely called “The Silver Wind Orchestra”. It was actually a pretty entertaining evening although it is hard to get use to an English singer, backed by four Philipino's singing and playing great American standards.

Tomorrow we will be on the Island of Rhodes, Greece. See you then.