Monday, April 06, 2009 – SUEZ CANAL, Egypt
Arguably the single most vital traffic artery in the world; an average of 90 ships a day pass through transporting 14% of the world’s trade
We, and the entire ship it seemed, were up extra early as we began our crawl through the Suez Canal. There are no locks and you would think it would be monotonous viewing with sand all around you but it was a great day!! It was so interesting. You are so close to land that the people are whistling and shouting and waving to you. There are flies and birds flying around; these have not been seen in weeks!!! As we were traveling northbound, the starboard side, right, is mostly sand dunes. There are few buildings and even fewer homes. There is a ferry service to serve both sides of the canal. There are many military installations along the left bank, and soldiers were even out there waving to us.
There are only three main cities along the route. We started at Suez, at the south end, which was heavily damaged during the 1967 and 1973 wars. It is now an industrial center producing petrochemicals, fertilizers and cement. We saw many oil wells and pumping stations. Then Ishmailia is along the way, a pleasant town with tree-lined boulevards and parks along the waterfront. Port Said is at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, established in 1859 as a base for the construction and operation of the canal and today is the home of duty-free goods.
The idea of opening a canal dates back to 2100BC!!!!! Who would have thought that???!!
The earliest attempt took place during the 26th Dynasty in Egypt and over 120,000 men lost their lives. It was only abandoned when an oracle warned the king that invading foreigners would be the only ones to profit by it!!! Around 500BC, Darius I completed the project through to Great Bitter Lake. It was extended and then abandoned about 200AD.
Work commenced again in 1859 and finished in 1869. Guiseppe Verdi composed the opera AIDA for the completion of the canal. Egypt’s ruler had financed a third of the canal’s construction, which contributed largely to his bankruptcy. In 1875, shares were purchased by the British government and the canal became a focal part of the wars in the area.
The Suez Canal is an artificial canal 101 miles long and 984 feet wide at its narrowest point. It was built to allow two-way water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation of Africa. Before it opened in 1869, goods were sometimes off- loaded from ships and carried over land between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
There are no locks and sometimes the ships look as if they are floating through sand when you see them at a distance as you can’t see the water at all! Remember the saying, “Ships of the desert”? There is one shipping lane with several passing areas. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal: two southbound and one northbound.
We were in a convoy of nine ships going northbound, each spaced 1.5 miles apart. We transited from 7:00AM-5:00PM at an approx. speed of 9miles/hr. The low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ship’s wakes. In 2003, it was reported that 17,224 ships passed through the canal averaging about 8% of the world’s shipping traffic. Receipts from July 2005 – May 2006 totaled $3.246 billion dollars and 18,193 ships passed through the canal.
We began in the Gulf of Suez Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) and then proceeded to a waiting area. We dropped anchor until we were notified of our position in the convoy. We proceeded to the Newport Rock Channel to make sure we were at the entrance of the canal in order to start the convoy at 6AM. We entered via Little Bitter Lake at 8AM, which takes 30 minutes to cross. Then we entered the east branch of the channel to get to the Great Bitter Lake, which is a salt water lake between the north and south part of the Suez Canal. Just before noon we passed the Gebel Maryam war memorial on the port side. We passed a much larger war memorial on the starboard side in mid-afternoon with huge stadium next to it and green grass park, which is highly unusual in the desert. Then we passed under the Suez Canal Bridge and reached Port Said about 5PM. I counted 24 ships waiting to begin their convoy on the southbound journey.
This piece of trivia really took me by surprise…
Our Statue of Liberty was originally designed to stand in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal!! Inspired by the colossal statues at Abu Simbel (Egypt), French sculptor Bartholdi formulated the idea of a huge statue of a woman bearing a torch to represent progress. The idea was ultimately abandoned due to the cost and the “Light of Asia”, was sent to New York, where she became Lady Liberty.
!!!!! What do you think about that?? I never learned that story in history class!!!
Spent a lot of time on passenger work today! Email and telephone bills will be a shock, I’m sure.
Gorgeous weather with a warm sun yet the day started out hazy and cold!! I actually had my wool slacks and long sleeve shirt on while others were running around in their shorts!
We were the only ones at our dinner table, which was fine. Entertainment was Katzenjammer, the four-handed pianists and Emma Sinclair and Christopher Riggins, singers. I worked on the computer for about 2 hours and prepared for Cairo/Alexandria!
The ship and public areas are still under restrictions due to the noro-virus.
Lectures: “Galileo and Darwin”; Carol Thatcher “Travels: On and off the Red Carpet”; Meet the Environmental Officer; “Port Architecture” and documentary on the Suez Canal.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Count your blessings
Sunday, April 05, 2009 – at sea in the Red Sea headed to the SUEZ CANAL
We are 30,472 nautical miles from New York! Perfect summer day with sun and blue skies
Work did not progress as smoothly today as there were all kinds of distractions and disturbances. S L O W email connections, no replies to phone calls, I took another Arabic lession…one of those days. We did have a fun lunch with new friends; he had been the General Manager of an ABC-affiliated radio station in DC and we heard many interesting tales.
I was slightly frustrated. I needed to get out and be a “passenger”. So I took a walk around the deck and we have the Sinai Peninsula on one side and Egypt on the other. There are oil rigs and pumping stations around us (I had no idea Egypt had so much oil) and helicopters landing on the oil rigs.
And I stopped to watch the people -- mostly older folk who have worked many years. What a life they are enjoying today. What a day to be alive…lounging and relaxing in the sun by the pools, no rush hour traffic to contend with, no worry about their next meal (we have at least four venues at any given time to choose from), no family problem to attend to at the moment and they are just enjoying the moment. I hope they take the time to look, pinch themselves and realize how truly fortunate they are.
What a glorious afternoon.
Formal night and Masquerade Ball tonight! We enjoyed a great dinner with our tablemates and saw the VANITY FAIR production with the Cunard singers and dancers. Tried to work on the computer again and bed very late.
We are 30,472 nautical miles from New York! Perfect summer day with sun and blue skies
Work did not progress as smoothly today as there were all kinds of distractions and disturbances. S L O W email connections, no replies to phone calls, I took another Arabic lession…one of those days. We did have a fun lunch with new friends; he had been the General Manager of an ABC-affiliated radio station in DC and we heard many interesting tales.
I was slightly frustrated. I needed to get out and be a “passenger”. So I took a walk around the deck and we have the Sinai Peninsula on one side and Egypt on the other. There are oil rigs and pumping stations around us (I had no idea Egypt had so much oil) and helicopters landing on the oil rigs.
And I stopped to watch the people -- mostly older folk who have worked many years. What a life they are enjoying today. What a day to be alive…lounging and relaxing in the sun by the pools, no rush hour traffic to contend with, no worry about their next meal (we have at least four venues at any given time to choose from), no family problem to attend to at the moment and they are just enjoying the moment. I hope they take the time to look, pinch themselves and realize how truly fortunate they are.
What a glorious afternoon.
Formal night and Masquerade Ball tonight! We enjoyed a great dinner with our tablemates and saw the VANITY FAIR production with the Cunard singers and dancers. Tried to work on the computer again and bed very late.
Petra, Jordan
Saturday, April 04, 2009 – AQABA, Jordan
Clear blue skies with a hot sun and low humidity! Another perfect summer day…but we are in their winter period
The approach was beautiful as we sailed up the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia was on the starboard side (right) and Egypt on the port side (left) with magnificent mountains and towns and cities at the water’s edge. Aqaba is the only port town for the entire country of Jordan and has been declared an economic zone and granted tax-free status.
We were off the ship by 9:00 and worked to organize taxis to Petra. This took some time as some additional people decided to join us and there were too many “chiefs” negotiating with the taxi drivers. Finally, it seemed to work out and off we went with our driver, Fauzi.
We passed through a customs declaration zone but since we were tourists, it was easy enough. The scenery is incredible. Dry, desert mountains and arid plains with sheep, goats, camels, Bedouin tents, shepherds, small villages…it was very scenic and a picture perfect day for photos. We also saw a few areas where they are harvesting tomatoes. In northern Jordan, their oranges are sent to Harrods in London!
The drive was about 2 hours and driving beside us were approx. 23 buses from the ship!! And we were all headed in the same direction! We had to change money to buy our admission tickets and we entered the gates to PETRA. “Few ruins carry the reputation of mystery, beauty and magic of Jordan’s legendary Petra, that rose-red city half as old as Time”.
The Nabataeans were ancient Arab tribes who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula, more than 2200 years ago and settled in southern Jordan. They were involved in the caravaneering business and became the undisputed masters of the region’s trade routes, levying tolls, protecting caravans laden with Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and silks, African ivory and animal hides. Their powerful kingdom stretched to Damascus and included parts of the Sinai and Negev deserts, which was no easy task when you remember the region was dominated by the Greeks, the Hasmonaeans and then the Romans. The Romans finally toppled the kingdom in 106 AD. Even then, Petra and the Nabataean civilization managed to flourish and prosper for many more years until their demise in the 14th century. Petra was rediscovered by a Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in 1812.
Wadi Musa is the town closest to Petra, now full of tourist hotels and restaurants. The admission fee to Petra is $30 for one day and upon entering, you have a choice to walk, ride a horse or take a chariot ride down the wadi to the Al-Khazneh (Treasury from Indiana Jones fame). Gene and a friend chose the chariot/carriage and a friend and I walked (prices varied from $35-60 for the one way ride downhill.) The chariot ride was incredibly bumpy as the wheels are thin, the horse goes quite fast and the road is made up of stones approx. a foot wide and long. The sand is not even with the stones so the ruts are deep and the carriage falls into the ruts…The walk was beautiful. Through the As-Siq, the ancient main entrance to Petra. It is an impressive 3600 foot long, deep and narrow gorge of stunning natural beauty. The siq is hemmed in by cliffs soaring up to 240 feet high so you see the bizarre-looking geological formations, colorful rocks, agricultural terraces, water channels cut into the cliffs, dams, and votive-niches carved into the rock.
Just when you wonder, “Where IS that Treasury??”, you come to bend in the road and emerging around the next corner you suddenly come face to face with Al-Khazneh – the pride and joy of Petra and the most beautiful monument there. You feel dwarfed by its size – 90 feet wide and 129 feet high in a courtyard setting. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb of an important Nabataean king and some scholars believe it was later used as a temple. Other sights in the city are: High Place of Sacrifice, the Obelisk Tomb and Bab As-Siq Triclinium, the Theatre (which could hold 7000 people), the Royal Tombs, Urn Tomb (largest of the Royal Tombs and was re-consecrated to serve as a Byzantine church), Palace Tomb, Sextius Florentinus Tomb (the only tomb with an inscription so they know positively for whom it was built in 126 AD – a governor), a Colonnaded Street, Qasr Al-Bint, (a freestanding main temple) and Ad-Deir (the monastery with 800 stairs!!). There are over 34 sites on the local map and there are hundreds more not unearthed -- yet.
Many children hawk their jewelry and donkey rides for the long walks on the sand and cobblestone pathways. The hiking is phenomenal, if you have time, and the scenery all around you is colorful. It is truly a memorable destination for the variety of the ruins, the vast area they are cover and the colors of the intriguing shapes that surround you.
We made our way an hour down the road to Wadi Rum, a “national park” in the pink-sand desert surrounded by the most gorgeous mountains, rock formations and Bedouin communities of the Howeitat tribe. It has been described as “one of the great natural landscapes on the world; a dramatic and inspiring terrain through which pilgrims, traders and herdsmen have journeyed for millennia”. It is a haven for hikers and campers. We arrived in the late afternoon so the sun shining on the mountains was absolutely breathtaking. With the shadows and sunshine changing in each crevice, you can only imagine how beautiful it must be at sunrise or sunset. It is a popular vacation spot for Jordanians. T.E. Lawrence, in “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, wrote this description, “vast, echoing and godlike”.
Wadi means valley. These wadis have offered the easiest passage for millennia to the nomadic Bedouins and to trading caravans en route to or from the Arabian peninsula. Rum refers to the moonscape, an allusion to both the erratic terrain with alternately shifting sand and parched, cracked earth. You can easily see the criss-crossing of fault lines with in various colors. Exposure to rain and wind has sculpted the sandstones into weird shapes that look at times like giant mushrooms, organ-pipes or dropping candle wax. If we had had time, as you can easily spend days here, we could ridden a camel through or taken a 4-wheel jeep drive through the area.
The Howeitat are members of the largest Bedouin tribe in Jordan, who claim descent from the Prophet Mohammed and the Nabataeans. They are no longer fully nomadic for they live in villages in winter, but in the long parched summers they still move around with their flocks and tents in search of pasture. Archeologists have discovered civilization 400,000 years ago in Jordan and there are more than 12,000 sites being explored throughout the country.
We drove the last hour back to the ship and arrived JUST as the vast majority of the 23 buses were unloading! After a nice dinner with new friends and seeing the photos from our tour today (!! – technology is wonderful!!!), we had a fantastic Spanish flamenco show (while sailing in the Red Sea???) and then went out for star gazing. I have a GREAT PHOTO of the moon on my camera which they took THROUGH the eyepiece of the telescope. Again, technology!!! WOW!
Clear blue skies with a hot sun and low humidity! Another perfect summer day…but we are in their winter period
The approach was beautiful as we sailed up the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia was on the starboard side (right) and Egypt on the port side (left) with magnificent mountains and towns and cities at the water’s edge. Aqaba is the only port town for the entire country of Jordan and has been declared an economic zone and granted tax-free status.
We were off the ship by 9:00 and worked to organize taxis to Petra. This took some time as some additional people decided to join us and there were too many “chiefs” negotiating with the taxi drivers. Finally, it seemed to work out and off we went with our driver, Fauzi.
We passed through a customs declaration zone but since we were tourists, it was easy enough. The scenery is incredible. Dry, desert mountains and arid plains with sheep, goats, camels, Bedouin tents, shepherds, small villages…it was very scenic and a picture perfect day for photos. We also saw a few areas where they are harvesting tomatoes. In northern Jordan, their oranges are sent to Harrods in London!
The drive was about 2 hours and driving beside us were approx. 23 buses from the ship!! And we were all headed in the same direction! We had to change money to buy our admission tickets and we entered the gates to PETRA. “Few ruins carry the reputation of mystery, beauty and magic of Jordan’s legendary Petra, that rose-red city half as old as Time”.
The Nabataeans were ancient Arab tribes who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula, more than 2200 years ago and settled in southern Jordan. They were involved in the caravaneering business and became the undisputed masters of the region’s trade routes, levying tolls, protecting caravans laden with Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and silks, African ivory and animal hides. Their powerful kingdom stretched to Damascus and included parts of the Sinai and Negev deserts, which was no easy task when you remember the region was dominated by the Greeks, the Hasmonaeans and then the Romans. The Romans finally toppled the kingdom in 106 AD. Even then, Petra and the Nabataean civilization managed to flourish and prosper for many more years until their demise in the 14th century. Petra was rediscovered by a Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in 1812.
Wadi Musa is the town closest to Petra, now full of tourist hotels and restaurants. The admission fee to Petra is $30 for one day and upon entering, you have a choice to walk, ride a horse or take a chariot ride down the wadi to the Al-Khazneh (Treasury from Indiana Jones fame). Gene and a friend chose the chariot/carriage and a friend and I walked (prices varied from $35-60 for the one way ride downhill.) The chariot ride was incredibly bumpy as the wheels are thin, the horse goes quite fast and the road is made up of stones approx. a foot wide and long. The sand is not even with the stones so the ruts are deep and the carriage falls into the ruts…The walk was beautiful. Through the As-Siq, the ancient main entrance to Petra. It is an impressive 3600 foot long, deep and narrow gorge of stunning natural beauty. The siq is hemmed in by cliffs soaring up to 240 feet high so you see the bizarre-looking geological formations, colorful rocks, agricultural terraces, water channels cut into the cliffs, dams, and votive-niches carved into the rock.
Just when you wonder, “Where IS that Treasury??”, you come to bend in the road and emerging around the next corner you suddenly come face to face with Al-Khazneh – the pride and joy of Petra and the most beautiful monument there. You feel dwarfed by its size – 90 feet wide and 129 feet high in a courtyard setting. It was carved in the 1st century BC as a tomb of an important Nabataean king and some scholars believe it was later used as a temple. Other sights in the city are: High Place of Sacrifice, the Obelisk Tomb and Bab As-Siq Triclinium, the Theatre (which could hold 7000 people), the Royal Tombs, Urn Tomb (largest of the Royal Tombs and was re-consecrated to serve as a Byzantine church), Palace Tomb, Sextius Florentinus Tomb (the only tomb with an inscription so they know positively for whom it was built in 126 AD – a governor), a Colonnaded Street, Qasr Al-Bint, (a freestanding main temple) and Ad-Deir (the monastery with 800 stairs!!). There are over 34 sites on the local map and there are hundreds more not unearthed -- yet.
Many children hawk their jewelry and donkey rides for the long walks on the sand and cobblestone pathways. The hiking is phenomenal, if you have time, and the scenery all around you is colorful. It is truly a memorable destination for the variety of the ruins, the vast area they are cover and the colors of the intriguing shapes that surround you.
We made our way an hour down the road to Wadi Rum, a “national park” in the pink-sand desert surrounded by the most gorgeous mountains, rock formations and Bedouin communities of the Howeitat tribe. It has been described as “one of the great natural landscapes on the world; a dramatic and inspiring terrain through which pilgrims, traders and herdsmen have journeyed for millennia”. It is a haven for hikers and campers. We arrived in the late afternoon so the sun shining on the mountains was absolutely breathtaking. With the shadows and sunshine changing in each crevice, you can only imagine how beautiful it must be at sunrise or sunset. It is a popular vacation spot for Jordanians. T.E. Lawrence, in “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, wrote this description, “vast, echoing and godlike”.
Wadi means valley. These wadis have offered the easiest passage for millennia to the nomadic Bedouins and to trading caravans en route to or from the Arabian peninsula. Rum refers to the moonscape, an allusion to both the erratic terrain with alternately shifting sand and parched, cracked earth. You can easily see the criss-crossing of fault lines with in various colors. Exposure to rain and wind has sculpted the sandstones into weird shapes that look at times like giant mushrooms, organ-pipes or dropping candle wax. If we had had time, as you can easily spend days here, we could ridden a camel through or taken a 4-wheel jeep drive through the area.
The Howeitat are members of the largest Bedouin tribe in Jordan, who claim descent from the Prophet Mohammed and the Nabataeans. They are no longer fully nomadic for they live in villages in winter, but in the long parched summers they still move around with their flocks and tents in search of pasture. Archeologists have discovered civilization 400,000 years ago in Jordan and there are more than 12,000 sites being explored throughout the country.
We drove the last hour back to the ship and arrived JUST as the vast majority of the 23 buses were unloading! After a nice dinner with new friends and seeing the photos from our tour today (!! – technology is wonderful!!!), we had a fantastic Spanish flamenco show (while sailing in the Red Sea???) and then went out for star gazing. I have a GREAT PHOTO of the moon on my camera which they took THROUGH the eyepiece of the telescope. Again, technology!!! WOW!
Red Sea and sunshine
Friday, April 03, 2009 – At Sea in the Red Sea (one of the most saline bodies of water in the world)
The Red Sea is approx. 1350 miles long, 123 miles wide and its deepest point is 7254 feet. We pass the coastlines of Sudan and Egypt during the day.
Absolutely perfect summer day with a gusty wind and no clouds!
I wanted to stay outside all day and do absolutely nothing!! The waters are incredibly smooth and a deep blue color, the breeze is strong and the sun is bright – my kind of perfect day! I walked and then dawdled out on the deck.
At the lecture on “Modern Jordan” we found out there are approx. 3.5M in the capitol city of Amman. 1M Iraqis have sought asylum in Amman and that is creating a strain on their water supply. They are in the desert and there has been a draught so they expect a shortage of water this summer. There are resorts on the Dead Sea, where it is easier to float due to the salt content in the water. Jerash and Petra are historical sights where concerts are regularly held – Placido Domingo was just there for a concert with other tenors. Wadi Rum is a lunar mountainscape for trekking and camping. Aqaba is their only port and we will dock there tomorrow.
After a late lunch, I saw out on the balcony and worked on the computer. It is the Costume Ball tonight/a formal night, and Emma Sinclair was the soprano singer from the West End in London. Enjoyed seeing the Moon and Saturn through the telescope back by the pool area.
The internet/email are working again and our birthday balloons are now on the walls of the room! The roses are still in bloom, along with the lilies and the scent is so nice in the room.
Lectures: “Ghost Universe: The greatest challenge to modern science”; “Italian Navy’s little-known Underwater Adventure in the Mediterranean” and “Box Ships”. Did you know an American founded the first container in the port of Newark, NJ in 1956?? These box ships transport over 90% of general cargo world-wide. Anthony Hewitt played a Chopin piano concert at 2PM.
The Red Sea is approx. 1350 miles long, 123 miles wide and its deepest point is 7254 feet. We pass the coastlines of Sudan and Egypt during the day.
Absolutely perfect summer day with a gusty wind and no clouds!
I wanted to stay outside all day and do absolutely nothing!! The waters are incredibly smooth and a deep blue color, the breeze is strong and the sun is bright – my kind of perfect day! I walked and then dawdled out on the deck.
At the lecture on “Modern Jordan” we found out there are approx. 3.5M in the capitol city of Amman. 1M Iraqis have sought asylum in Amman and that is creating a strain on their water supply. They are in the desert and there has been a draught so they expect a shortage of water this summer. There are resorts on the Dead Sea, where it is easier to float due to the salt content in the water. Jerash and Petra are historical sights where concerts are regularly held – Placido Domingo was just there for a concert with other tenors. Wadi Rum is a lunar mountainscape for trekking and camping. Aqaba is their only port and we will dock there tomorrow.
After a late lunch, I saw out on the balcony and worked on the computer. It is the Costume Ball tonight/a formal night, and Emma Sinclair was the soprano singer from the West End in London. Enjoyed seeing the Moon and Saturn through the telescope back by the pool area.
The internet/email are working again and our birthday balloons are now on the walls of the room! The roses are still in bloom, along with the lilies and the scent is so nice in the room.
Lectures: “Ghost Universe: The greatest challenge to modern science”; “Italian Navy’s little-known Underwater Adventure in the Mediterranean” and “Box Ships”. Did you know an American founded the first container in the port of Newark, NJ in 1956?? These box ships transport over 90% of general cargo world-wide. Anthony Hewitt played a Chopin piano concert at 2PM.
Red Sea and Carol Thatcher
Thursday, April 02, 2009 – at sea into the Red Sea, passing Yemen and Ethiopia
Hazy and humid and hot
Walked and swam and went to the fitness center! Carol Thatcher, daughter of Baroness (ex-Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher, is onboard as a lecturer. Her lecture: “Life in the Political Goldfish Bowl” filled the Royal Court Theatre. Carol is a British journalist and was on British TV and was elected “Queen of the Jungle” due to a contest where she had to live off the outback in Australia for a week…(some of that was lost on the Americans…). She is a very good speaker, has a voice like her mother which projects (!) and presented several comedic stories from her Mother’s political career, which began when Carol was 6 years old. After a fun lunch with friends, we saw the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” -- my way to spend an afternoon! Great fun. After trying to resolve some computer issues (not quite resolved yet), we had a nice dinner and then the RADA group presented “FUMED OAK and RED PEPPERS”. It is Country and Western Night and there is star gazing again (Yeah!!). We saw the moon and Saturn and its rings and Titon, its moon.
We have had to declare our cameras for Egyptian customs! They want the type, name and serial number of each camera being taken into the country. First request I have ever had for this type of information!
Lectures: “Diamonds and Ammolite”; “Queen Victoria star gazing – a tour of the Arabian skies over the Queen Victoria”; “Postcards Home – Glimpses of a Vanished World”.
Hazy and humid and hot
Walked and swam and went to the fitness center! Carol Thatcher, daughter of Baroness (ex-Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher, is onboard as a lecturer. Her lecture: “Life in the Political Goldfish Bowl” filled the Royal Court Theatre. Carol is a British journalist and was on British TV and was elected “Queen of the Jungle” due to a contest where she had to live off the outback in Australia for a week…(some of that was lost on the Americans…). She is a very good speaker, has a voice like her mother which projects (!) and presented several comedic stories from her Mother’s political career, which began when Carol was 6 years old. After a fun lunch with friends, we saw the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” -- my way to spend an afternoon! Great fun. After trying to resolve some computer issues (not quite resolved yet), we had a nice dinner and then the RADA group presented “FUMED OAK and RED PEPPERS”. It is Country and Western Night and there is star gazing again (Yeah!!). We saw the moon and Saturn and its rings and Titon, its moon.
We have had to declare our cameras for Egyptian customs! They want the type, name and serial number of each camera being taken into the country. First request I have ever had for this type of information!
Lectures: “Diamonds and Ammolite”; “Queen Victoria star gazing – a tour of the Arabian skies over the Queen Victoria”; “Postcards Home – Glimpses of a Vanished World”.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
April's Fools Day
April 1, 2009 – in the Gulf of Aden (in the Arabian Sea) sailing between Yemen (south coast of the Arabian peninsula) and Somalia (in the Horn of Africa)
We have “coalition” destroyers around the ship and helicopters flying overhead. We are not sure which country they belong to but they are there to protect us. I went out to walk on Deck 10 and heard the helicopter overhead and it certainly stopped me in my tracks. What a wake-up call. This life is certainly not whether you wear “elegant casual or semi-formal” to dinner at night.
We tried to do laundry and it was a test – in patience and timing. Due to the norovirus, they have the laundry closed for four hours in the middle of the day and close earlier than normal. There are approx. 300 people using the same machines on each floor. And everyone knows it takes longer to dry your clothes than it does to wash them. Need I write more???
I went down to the purser’s desk earlier than the requested 9:30 AM to sign up for the “Bridge Navigational course they will be offering for the first time so there was quite a line to sign-up. After signing up, we were handed a note, “Thank you for your interest in taking part in the Bridge Navigational Course on Queen Victoria. Your name has been registered today on April 1, 2009. (April Fool’s Day!) Thanks for being a good sport.”
GOOD ONE! Over 351 registered for this course….
Then we noticed an announcement in the daily programme that they will close Deck 3 so they can install a moving walkway.
April Fool’s! Or could it be the first escalator at-sea…??
On the Queen Mary 2, they are in Rome today. We heard that their Captain announced that Italy had just held a national election and, effective at midnight, had just changed their currency. All people going ashore should go to the purser’s desk to exchange their euros for the new currency, the “pizza”. And people lined up for the new currency!!!!!
Lunch with friends and worked on the next shore excursion. The Captain announced a change in itinerary for Cairo/Suez Canal, which involves some thought and decisions on our end. They are not tendering from Suez but will do Giza pyramid tours from Alexandria.
Met friends for a drink and chat before dinner. Wine tasting seminar. Dinner and then the best entertainer of the cruise – a comedian/mime --- Mr. Yacov Noy.
www.threelegs.com
Then it got even better!! We were on Deck 9 in the very back and all the lights had been turned off and the ship’s telescope was set up to see the moon!!! Astronomer Francisco Diego, from Mexico, was there to explain the heavens and galaxies and it was fabulous. We saw the craters on the Moon as if we could touch them and saw a “globular mass of stars” in the Sombrero Galaxy (cause it looks like a hat!).
Missed: RADA (drama) workshop; $1000 and under Champagne Art Auction; “Persian Empire” lecture by Phillip Harding; “T.E. Lawrence – once of Arabia, always of Britain” lecture by Col. Gerald McCormack; “Selling the Sea” lecture by Dr. Peter Quartermaine; classical concert by pianist Anthony Hewitt.
Clocks were set back an hour again. It is now 11:30 PM on the ship and it is 4:30 PM in Delaware, same day. Staff total 1000; there are 185 females and 815 males from 51 countries! Passengers: 1714 from 33 countries (398 from USA and 818 from UK).
We have “coalition” destroyers around the ship and helicopters flying overhead. We are not sure which country they belong to but they are there to protect us. I went out to walk on Deck 10 and heard the helicopter overhead and it certainly stopped me in my tracks. What a wake-up call. This life is certainly not whether you wear “elegant casual or semi-formal” to dinner at night.
We tried to do laundry and it was a test – in patience and timing. Due to the norovirus, they have the laundry closed for four hours in the middle of the day and close earlier than normal. There are approx. 300 people using the same machines on each floor. And everyone knows it takes longer to dry your clothes than it does to wash them. Need I write more???
I went down to the purser’s desk earlier than the requested 9:30 AM to sign up for the “Bridge Navigational course they will be offering for the first time so there was quite a line to sign-up. After signing up, we were handed a note, “Thank you for your interest in taking part in the Bridge Navigational Course on Queen Victoria. Your name has been registered today on April 1, 2009. (April Fool’s Day!) Thanks for being a good sport.”
GOOD ONE! Over 351 registered for this course….
Then we noticed an announcement in the daily programme that they will close Deck 3 so they can install a moving walkway.
April Fool’s! Or could it be the first escalator at-sea…??
On the Queen Mary 2, they are in Rome today. We heard that their Captain announced that Italy had just held a national election and, effective at midnight, had just changed their currency. All people going ashore should go to the purser’s desk to exchange their euros for the new currency, the “pizza”. And people lined up for the new currency!!!!!
Lunch with friends and worked on the next shore excursion. The Captain announced a change in itinerary for Cairo/Suez Canal, which involves some thought and decisions on our end. They are not tendering from Suez but will do Giza pyramid tours from Alexandria.
Met friends for a drink and chat before dinner. Wine tasting seminar. Dinner and then the best entertainer of the cruise – a comedian/mime --- Mr. Yacov Noy.
www.threelegs.com
Then it got even better!! We were on Deck 9 in the very back and all the lights had been turned off and the ship’s telescope was set up to see the moon!!! Astronomer Francisco Diego, from Mexico, was there to explain the heavens and galaxies and it was fabulous. We saw the craters on the Moon as if we could touch them and saw a “globular mass of stars” in the Sombrero Galaxy (cause it looks like a hat!).
Missed: RADA (drama) workshop; $1000 and under Champagne Art Auction; “Persian Empire” lecture by Phillip Harding; “T.E. Lawrence – once of Arabia, always of Britain” lecture by Col. Gerald McCormack; “Selling the Sea” lecture by Dr. Peter Quartermaine; classical concert by pianist Anthony Hewitt.
Clocks were set back an hour again. It is now 11:30 PM on the ship and it is 4:30 PM in Delaware, same day. Staff total 1000; there are 185 females and 815 males from 51 countries! Passengers: 1714 from 33 countries (398 from USA and 818 from UK).
at sea...March 31
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 – at sea –
Started the day with exercise!! I walked the decks and it was gloriously sunny and breezy, went to the fitness center and swam. We can see a few ships way out there but no animals…yesterday they say a large pod of porpoises and a whale!!
I finished my book “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” and worked on the computer while listening to the lectures on TV. Met friends for lunch, worked on projects, Gene had a Balinese massage and spent time in the hydro-pool and three types of saunas and met with friends in their cabin for happy hour! We enjoyed seeing their cave diving photos and slide shows of the various ports of call. Nice dinner and then “Katzenrummer” pianists entertained – four hands on one piano! I went to see the movie “Doubt” and worked on the next private shore excursion.
Lectures: “Astronomy: Building the Universe” by Astronomer Francisco Diego; “Innocent Freighter on the Outside” by Army Col. G. McCormack; Hearts and Harps by RADA Drama team (poetry reading).
Started the day with exercise!! I walked the decks and it was gloriously sunny and breezy, went to the fitness center and swam. We can see a few ships way out there but no animals…yesterday they say a large pod of porpoises and a whale!!
I finished my book “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” and worked on the computer while listening to the lectures on TV. Met friends for lunch, worked on projects, Gene had a Balinese massage and spent time in the hydro-pool and three types of saunas and met with friends in their cabin for happy hour! We enjoyed seeing their cave diving photos and slide shows of the various ports of call. Nice dinner and then “Katzenrummer” pianists entertained – four hands on one piano! I went to see the movie “Doubt” and worked on the next private shore excursion.
Lectures: “Astronomy: Building the Universe” by Astronomer Francisco Diego; “Innocent Freighter on the Outside” by Army Col. G. McCormack; Hearts and Harps by RADA Drama team (poetry reading).
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