2 ½ hours from landing in Cincinnati. Home Sweet Home. Skyline, Wal-Mart, Costco, Panera – never will I take you for granted again. I’m ready to go buy anything in bulk. Just because I can. We’ve got suitcases full of stinky clothes, stinky shoes, and snow globes. Thanks to 9/11 we can’t carry on the snow globes Mackenzie collects. We ended up with so many souvenirs for the kids that we had to pick up a carry-on bag in Egypt. It’s made of camel hair. Actually, it has a Diesel logo on it. Yeah, right. It was right next to the $20 Rolexes.
Our trip was pretty darn good. Ernie had the adventures he needed to spice up retirement. He’d gotten a little restless going from 20 years of being in different cities every week to hanging aroud the homefront.. Though he got frustrated with the map reading, metro madness, train confusion, language barriers, Hobbit stairs and baguettes, I haven’t seen him that excited and happy in a quite a while. We were good traveling companions with few spats and no big arguments (thank you to friends who prayed!). The weather was more than cooperative with only a couple of rainy half days and was much cooler where we expected it be be too hot. The people we encountered in different countries were mostly kind and helpful and just want to make a living like the rest of the world. People do with so much less than Americans – less space, less possessions, less independence. But instead of feeling like a spoiled child I appreciated the American lifestyle, freedom and comfort more than ever. Yes, I could make it with a dorm size fridge, only two kitchen burners and an 18" square sink in the kitchen. Or with a shower that comes with a shoe horn and no hope if you drop the soap, or no outside space, or room for only one love seat and a table, or a closet that only holds 20 hangers. And all for around $400,000. But give me my side-by-side plus an upright freezer in the garage. Give me my big screen TV. Give me my yard with all those weeds to pull. I won’t complain about cleaning so many bathrooms for at least a month. I get to have a couch all to myself and catch up on all the stuff I DVR’ed . I want to fill my giant "Grandma" coffee mug from Disneyworld instead of refilling a demitasse cup. As much as I love visiting other countries and learning about their lifestyle and history, I am an American girl through and through. I’ll say it loud and proud!
Ernie is asking me where I want to go next!
Maryl
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
I Think I Saw the Pyramids
written Thursday, Oct. 7th. Internet has been a pain so couldn't post earlier.
Alexandria, Egypt. Got on tour bus. 2 ½ hour drive to see a famous mosque in Cairo. Covered my head and went inside. Interesting and pretty and simple. Back in bus. Stopped for lunch on a boat on the Nile. Surrounded by city. No reeds or bullrushes. Lunch show belly dancer. Everything shook but her store-bought boobs. Back in bus. Eventually pyramids appeared behind the high rise buildings. Tour guide says 10 minutes then back on the bus. Dodged souvenier hawkers, camel ride offers, horses, and a million other tourists. Rode bus to lower pyramid. Paid extra to take an inhumanly crouched walk inside the pyramid. Back on the bus. 15 minutes to see the Sphinx. Ernie leaves ticket on bus. Bus disappears. Get in line to pass through arch shoulder to shoulder with people coming in and going out. Sudden nausea. Get out of line and give ticket to Ernie. Find some fresh air and another view of Sphinx. See Ernie who gave up on line also. Find bus. Stop at bazaar. 40 minutes. Hmmm. Why so much time now? Bought stuff. Back on bus for 3 hour ride back to ship. Meantime, learned about how wonderful Egypt and Islam treat women, as well as the freedom headcovering brings.
Egypt's city buildings were all grey stone rectangular highrises. The only color seen was the laundry hanging off the balconies. So much trash and poverty. And more trash. All over the streets, sidewalks, parks. Cars stream down the 6 lane highway along with mules pulling carts and people in the median plying their wares. Sellers of trinkets are agressive -- the $2 they might make from a sale makes a huge difference to the family income. We were warned to watch out for the camel rides -- make sure you have negotiated the entire price before you hop on because they will charge you extra to get down! Bargain, bargain, barbain for anything you might want to buy and don't touch it until you are sure you want it or they will considere it purchased. I don't get why the cradle of civilization is so uncilivlized! There wasn't much redeeming about Alexandria or Cairo. I was happiest when we made it back safely to the bus! Seeing the pyramids and sphinx made it worth the trip, but we have no desire to return. We were surprised to find the pyramids sitting right outside the city -- not out in the desert as we imagined.
Alexandria, Egypt. Got on tour bus. 2 ½ hour drive to see a famous mosque in Cairo. Covered my head and went inside. Interesting and pretty and simple. Back in bus. Stopped for lunch on a boat on the Nile. Surrounded by city. No reeds or bullrushes. Lunch show belly dancer. Everything shook but her store-bought boobs. Back in bus. Eventually pyramids appeared behind the high rise buildings. Tour guide says 10 minutes then back on the bus. Dodged souvenier hawkers, camel ride offers, horses, and a million other tourists. Rode bus to lower pyramid. Paid extra to take an inhumanly crouched walk inside the pyramid. Back on the bus. 15 minutes to see the Sphinx. Ernie leaves ticket on bus. Bus disappears. Get in line to pass through arch shoulder to shoulder with people coming in and going out. Sudden nausea. Get out of line and give ticket to Ernie. Find some fresh air and another view of Sphinx. See Ernie who gave up on line also. Find bus. Stop at bazaar. 40 minutes. Hmmm. Why so much time now? Bought stuff. Back on bus for 3 hour ride back to ship. Meantime, learned about how wonderful Egypt and Islam treat women, as well as the freedom headcovering brings.
Egypt's city buildings were all grey stone rectangular highrises. The only color seen was the laundry hanging off the balconies. So much trash and poverty. And more trash. All over the streets, sidewalks, parks. Cars stream down the 6 lane highway along with mules pulling carts and people in the median plying their wares. Sellers of trinkets are agressive -- the $2 they might make from a sale makes a huge difference to the family income. We were warned to watch out for the camel rides -- make sure you have negotiated the entire price before you hop on because they will charge you extra to get down! Bargain, bargain, barbain for anything you might want to buy and don't touch it until you are sure you want it or they will considere it purchased. I don't get why the cradle of civilization is so uncilivlized! There wasn't much redeeming about Alexandria or Cairo. I was happiest when we made it back safely to the bus! Seeing the pyramids and sphinx made it worth the trip, but we have no desire to return. We were surprised to find the pyramids sitting right outside the city -- not out in the desert as we imagined.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Greecy Turkey
I’m sitting in the sun on the ship’s deck, poolside, watching the bean bag toss game. Actually, it’s mini-cornhole and I think the Ohioans are winning. We’ve met quite a few people from Ohio, however I think Americans are in the minority. There are lots of people from Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and Spanish-speaking countries. It’s a nice mix. We’re glad to have this day at sea. We had three touring days in a row and we need a break.
Athens was our first stop on the three day whirlwind. It was the first time we’d been in a country where you can’t even begin to read any of the street signs. We tried to find the metro but gave up and took a cab to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. The ride showed us an unappealing city – large, crowded, dirty – dirty in more ways than one. There were plenty of sex shops and strip shows along the city streets. Of course the Acropolis is another site in a series of endless ruins we’ve visited, but still very interesting to us. It was pretty cool to see the spot where anyone could stand and speak without fear of repercussion. I imagined the Paul standing there and speaking about Christ in the midst of all the statues of other gods. After our time there we walked to the Plaka to do some shopping. It was a nice area, nice people, and we found a few more souvenirs. Since our bags were loaded to the hilt when we started this trip, I seriously think we are going to have to pick up another type of suitcase and pay for an extra bag. One gets caught up in the moment! Ernie is the main culprit. He sees all this manly stuff – statues of Spartans, metal helmets, chariots. I think he wants to bring it all back to create a total man cave in the basement and that I should just give up.
The next day was Rhodes and it was really a pleasant surprise. We didn’t expect much but found it to be charming and accessible. We were able to walk off the ship and into the old portion of the city which was walled in by the Greeks in the 14th century to protect them from the Turks. There were old churches, mosques, fortresses, restaurants and shops within the walls. Of course the shopping was all tourist-oriented, but you could still imagine the vendors of old selling from the same locations. There was a small museum where you could see and sometimes touch artifacts from as old as 400 BC. In the distant hills you could see the white-washed houses you expect to see in Greece. I wasn’t feeling great so we skipped exploring beyond the walled part of the island. I went back to the ship early and Ernie had a full afternoon by himself to take as many pictures as his heart desired. He sat in an outdoor café with a beer in a boot (a glass shaped like a boot -- I don’t know what the heck the boot means but those glasses are everywhere. I’m sure a boot glass would have ended up in the man cave if he hadn’t restrained himself
Yesterday was our first official "paid" tour. We docked in Turkey and went on a bus with our tour group to Ephesus and other sites. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and talkative, especially on the bus ride back when you were ready for a nap! His English was good but we really had to concentrate because of his accent. At one point he was talking about the number of "slives" in Ephesus in Roman days. He said it several times until I finally I got it – "slaves." In Ephesus we learned once again about the many gods that were worshiped which resulted in the thriving image-making and selling businesses in the marketplace. I can’t imagine what it was like for people to hear John to speak about a God who loved them and didn’t want any statues or sacrifices. We saw the arena where the people wanted to stone Paul for what he was saying – started by those who made and sold the images and didn’t want their thriving income threatened. Though we’ve read about this, it brought a greater understanding to see the area and realize what a revolutionary idea the Gospel was to the residents of Ephesus. John returned to Ephesus and finished out his life writing. The streets of Ephesus was paved with marble. You can see that city was very sophisticated in its heyday -- a for world trade with people from all over walking the streets. It was interesting having a Muslim as a tour guide. Everything had a bit of a Muslim spin, but he did say it was a miracle that John lived to be over 100 when the average life span was 40something years. Ernie asked him about Noah’s ark because it is said to be in Turkey. The guide is also a mountain climber and he’s climbed Mr. Ararat. He says you can actually see the outline of ark which is petrified, broken in two pieces. He also said they have found two ancient circular stone anchors in the area. There is so much mystery surrounding that area and political junk that have prevented excavation. The guide had no doubt that it was Noah’s ark. He believes in the same OT writings in which Christians believe. Another site we visited had the ultimate outhouse. The toilets were for the wealthy men. There were two long marble benches facing each other with about a dozen holes cut out. It was a social poop, with musicians to entertain you, and a chance to do a little business (as you were doing your private business). The toilets were for the wealthy men. There was a waste disposal system and water to clean yourself. Your slave could be used to warm up the marble seat for you in winter and fan your butt dry after you washed yourself. The women, slaves, and kids? They were on their own.
We stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful spread of side dishes and fish. Unfortunately, the dishes were pretty bland and the fish (mullet) was grilled whole-- eyes, scales, tail. It tasted pretty good once I got past its unhappy face. There have been lethargic cats and dogs roaming freely in every place we have been. There were cats hanging out in the restaurant waiting for a morsel of fish. I picked up a piece of fish for a cat and was rewarded with a scratched finger when he grabbed for it. Broke the skin, a little blood, and now my new concern is "cat-scratch fever." I have no idea what that is besides an album title, but it sounds serious.
The last part of the tour was a short sales pitch at a carpet store. The carpets were beautiful, made either of silk, cotton or wool. The cotton was so fine that it felt like silk. Turks are big into bargaining. Right away the rugs were ½ price, then another discount to cruise passengers and then you could start the real bickering. I did a little wheeling and dealing on my own. When we were in Ephesus, a young man approached me selling woven bookmarks for 3 euros. I proudly got him down to 1 euro and choose my bookmark. He was surprised that I only wanted one. Later, when we were in the downtown shopping area near the port, I saw the same bookmarks at 3 for 1 euro. I realized that 3 for 1 was what I had bargained for earlier but I didn’t understand. Oh well, I made somebody’s day in a country where the average salary is about $10,000/year and I’m sure his was much less.
Maryl
Athens was our first stop on the three day whirlwind. It was the first time we’d been in a country where you can’t even begin to read any of the street signs. We tried to find the metro but gave up and took a cab to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. The ride showed us an unappealing city – large, crowded, dirty – dirty in more ways than one. There were plenty of sex shops and strip shows along the city streets. Of course the Acropolis is another site in a series of endless ruins we’ve visited, but still very interesting to us. It was pretty cool to see the spot where anyone could stand and speak without fear of repercussion. I imagined the Paul standing there and speaking about Christ in the midst of all the statues of other gods. After our time there we walked to the Plaka to do some shopping. It was a nice area, nice people, and we found a few more souvenirs. Since our bags were loaded to the hilt when we started this trip, I seriously think we are going to have to pick up another type of suitcase and pay for an extra bag. One gets caught up in the moment! Ernie is the main culprit. He sees all this manly stuff – statues of Spartans, metal helmets, chariots. I think he wants to bring it all back to create a total man cave in the basement and that I should just give up.
The next day was Rhodes and it was really a pleasant surprise. We didn’t expect much but found it to be charming and accessible. We were able to walk off the ship and into the old portion of the city which was walled in by the Greeks in the 14th century to protect them from the Turks. There were old churches, mosques, fortresses, restaurants and shops within the walls. Of course the shopping was all tourist-oriented, but you could still imagine the vendors of old selling from the same locations. There was a small museum where you could see and sometimes touch artifacts from as old as 400 BC. In the distant hills you could see the white-washed houses you expect to see in Greece. I wasn’t feeling great so we skipped exploring beyond the walled part of the island. I went back to the ship early and Ernie had a full afternoon by himself to take as many pictures as his heart desired. He sat in an outdoor café with a beer in a boot (a glass shaped like a boot -- I don’t know what the heck the boot means but those glasses are everywhere. I’m sure a boot glass would have ended up in the man cave if he hadn’t restrained himself
Yesterday was our first official "paid" tour. We docked in Turkey and went on a bus with our tour group to Ephesus and other sites. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and talkative, especially on the bus ride back when you were ready for a nap! His English was good but we really had to concentrate because of his accent. At one point he was talking about the number of "slives" in Ephesus in Roman days. He said it several times until I finally I got it – "slaves." In Ephesus we learned once again about the many gods that were worshiped which resulted in the thriving image-making and selling businesses in the marketplace. I can’t imagine what it was like for people to hear John to speak about a God who loved them and didn’t want any statues or sacrifices. We saw the arena where the people wanted to stone Paul for what he was saying – started by those who made and sold the images and didn’t want their thriving income threatened. Though we’ve read about this, it brought a greater understanding to see the area and realize what a revolutionary idea the Gospel was to the residents of Ephesus. John returned to Ephesus and finished out his life writing. The streets of Ephesus was paved with marble. You can see that city was very sophisticated in its heyday -- a for world trade with people from all over walking the streets. It was interesting having a Muslim as a tour guide. Everything had a bit of a Muslim spin, but he did say it was a miracle that John lived to be over 100 when the average life span was 40something years. Ernie asked him about Noah’s ark because it is said to be in Turkey. The guide is also a mountain climber and he’s climbed Mr. Ararat. He says you can actually see the outline of ark which is petrified, broken in two pieces. He also said they have found two ancient circular stone anchors in the area. There is so much mystery surrounding that area and political junk that have prevented excavation. The guide had no doubt that it was Noah’s ark. He believes in the same OT writings in which Christians believe. Another site we visited had the ultimate outhouse. The toilets were for the wealthy men. There were two long marble benches facing each other with about a dozen holes cut out. It was a social poop, with musicians to entertain you, and a chance to do a little business (as you were doing your private business). The toilets were for the wealthy men. There was a waste disposal system and water to clean yourself. Your slave could be used to warm up the marble seat for you in winter and fan your butt dry after you washed yourself. The women, slaves, and kids? They were on their own.
We stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful spread of side dishes and fish. Unfortunately, the dishes were pretty bland and the fish (mullet) was grilled whole-- eyes, scales, tail. It tasted pretty good once I got past its unhappy face. There have been lethargic cats and dogs roaming freely in every place we have been. There were cats hanging out in the restaurant waiting for a morsel of fish. I picked up a piece of fish for a cat and was rewarded with a scratched finger when he grabbed for it. Broke the skin, a little blood, and now my new concern is "cat-scratch fever." I have no idea what that is besides an album title, but it sounds serious.
The last part of the tour was a short sales pitch at a carpet store. The carpets were beautiful, made either of silk, cotton or wool. The cotton was so fine that it felt like silk. Turks are big into bargaining. Right away the rugs were ½ price, then another discount to cruise passengers and then you could start the real bickering. I did a little wheeling and dealing on my own. When we were in Ephesus, a young man approached me selling woven bookmarks for 3 euros. I proudly got him down to 1 euro and choose my bookmark. He was surprised that I only wanted one. Later, when we were in the downtown shopping area near the port, I saw the same bookmarks at 3 for 1 euro. I realized that 3 for 1 was what I had bargained for earlier but I didn’t understand. Oh well, I made somebody’s day in a country where the average salary is about $10,000/year and I’m sure his was much less.
Maryl
Friday, October 1, 2010
Happy Feet
Yesterday Ernie and I actually hugged, jumped and danced when we got into our cabin. We were so ready for the king size bed and reasonable shower. The drawer and closet space is more than enough. There are several TV channels in English (we were starting to really miss TV). We have a big round porthole with nothing blocking our view. We got such a great price on this cruise, plus the cabin is nicer than we expected. All is good in our travel world.
The ship is gently rocking its way out of Naples, heading for Greece. We’ll have a day at sea tomorrow and we will do nothing read and nap in the sun. We’re so looking forward to it. Today we caught a bus to catch a train to go to Sorrento. It was an easy way to travel but took too long. We didn’t realize that we could taken a boat to Sorrento in 1/3 the time. Oh well. We came back to Naples on the boat and it was a scenic trip. Sorrento is a fairly peaceful town on top of a hill overlooking a bay in the Mediterrean. We strolled around the streets and picked up a couple of souvenirs for the family back home. Sorrento is famous for it’s marquetry (designs made with wood veneers) and Lemoncello (a liqueur made with lemons). We got a little of each.
We’re enjoying the four course dinners and the service. Tonight I went for all starters. I had pumpkin soup, onion soup, spinach dip and a Greek salad. The waiter didn’t even act like that was strange! I really could have stopped eating after the pumpkin soup but of course I didn’t. We skipped dessert to go to the show so I get points for that. The show was a Beatles cover band and they were actually pretty good. "John" in the band asked the audience to enjoy these songs popular from the 60's and somebody shouted out "we were there!" So true, almost everybody there was 50+. It was fun and we were cheesy and sang along to all the songs. I yelled out "I love you, Ringo" and Ernie cringed. The motto onboard is "You’ll Never See These People Again".
We bought a block of internet time on the ship so I can still blog and check FB and email. Aren’t you glad??
Maryl
The ship is gently rocking its way out of Naples, heading for Greece. We’ll have a day at sea tomorrow and we will do nothing read and nap in the sun. We’re so looking forward to it. Today we caught a bus to catch a train to go to Sorrento. It was an easy way to travel but took too long. We didn’t realize that we could taken a boat to Sorrento in 1/3 the time. Oh well. We came back to Naples on the boat and it was a scenic trip. Sorrento is a fairly peaceful town on top of a hill overlooking a bay in the Mediterrean. We strolled around the streets and picked up a couple of souvenirs for the family back home. Sorrento is famous for it’s marquetry (designs made with wood veneers) and Lemoncello (a liqueur made with lemons). We got a little of each.
We’re enjoying the four course dinners and the service. Tonight I went for all starters. I had pumpkin soup, onion soup, spinach dip and a Greek salad. The waiter didn’t even act like that was strange! I really could have stopped eating after the pumpkin soup but of course I didn’t. We skipped dessert to go to the show so I get points for that. The show was a Beatles cover band and they were actually pretty good. "John" in the band asked the audience to enjoy these songs popular from the 60's and somebody shouted out "we were there!" So true, almost everybody there was 50+. It was fun and we were cheesy and sang along to all the songs. I yelled out "I love you, Ringo" and Ernie cringed. The motto onboard is "You’ll Never See These People Again".
We bought a block of internet time on the ship so I can still blog and check FB and email. Aren’t you glad??
Maryl
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