Down Under!

The journey begins!  On our way now to Austin before we set off on our month long journey. The apartment is packed up into the POD, the car is full with our trip luggage , and items to return to vermont. We are excited about our upcoming camping holiday in New Zealand.  Stay tuned and come along for the ride!  ✈🚐

Last Day at Sea

We’ve travelled for 62 days and over 17,000 miles visiting 34 ports. From our little apartment at sea, we walked out many mornings into a world far different from ours. Riding our bikes, walking through back streets or travelling down the road further away, we discovered warm smiles from people with different religions, colors and limitations. But we found the same desire to love the things that are important. How simple could the road of mankind be if we weren’t spun daily by those with terrifying agendas and media who disperse ever changing sound bites that keep us off-balance.

Our nine weeks floating around has seen many changes. Initially we had to change course away from our Egypt stops because of the revolution only to “sneak” in during a quiet moment before unrest began again. We sailed carefully by Libya in turmoil, careful to remain 100 miles off the coast. After leaving Morocco, a Marrakesh café was blown up where our ship friends had enjoyed a coffee a few days earlier. From CNN International, we learned of the Mississippi Delta floods and Central USA Tornados on the very route we would have travelled at the same time as this trip. We learned of the Japanese nuclear disaster that occurred because of incompetence and continued its devastation because of leaders trying to save face. Our cabin television has begun to blare the 18 month coverage of the Presidential candidates as if we deserve to be sidetracked by this sporting event. And the memory and discussion of 9-11 continues on, deservedly.

To Miriam and I, this has been a Grand Journey. It gave me a time of reflection and solitude following the loss of my Mother. It has also given us continued times of celebration on how fortunate we are to have three families that are our children. They are six sensitive loving adults who all are successfully pursuing their own joy and wrapping us into their lives. There is not a day at sea that we do not receive words and pictures and on land in each of our stops, we have jumped up and down at phone booths talking with them and our three sweet grand children. We have also been gratified that Harvey has some reprieve from his daily pain and Carol continues to have her same enthusiastic voice. But we have also been saddened news of the death of Uncle Norman, and by the battles of our friend Lori Feldman and by Uncle George Grant. We wish them and their families complete healing.

Life is unfolding as best it can and we continue to be grateful for what we have. We look forward to seeing family and friends and walking the meadows of HydeAway Farm.

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Our last stop was certainly a treat. We were to have a short day with a departure time of 2 p.m., but at 8 this morning the captain announced our extended stay, not leaving until 4:30 p.m. The weather was superb, so we headed out for a long walk to the base of the cable car. We were the first ones up the steep ride that took us over the city, gardens and caverns below. The scenic town of Monte was at the top and we had a great vista over the whitewashed homes with red tile roofs below. We took the famous wicker basket sleigh ride back down the mountain – commandeered by two men in white suits and hats, who rode the wooden slates of the sleigh as we sped down the slippery roads for the ten minute ride. Crazy! Together with Karen and Guy, we walked down the rest of the way on the very steep winding roads to the center of town.

Funchal was a delight – a clean, well planned beautiful city. We were lucky to be there on this day, as it was the start of the annual flower festival! The city was lush with loads of exotic flowers and stalls selling plants, bulbs and seeds. The center walkways were decorated with ornate floral arrangements meticulously laid out by gardeners, and costumed men and women performed music and dances in the streets. We enjoyed our walk around the shops and particularly noted how many shoe shops there were. We later learned that the Portuguese are infatuated with shoes!

As we set sail tonight we realized it would be seven days before we saw land once again – sailing on to the “new world”, Ft. Lauderdale….

Cadiz/Seville, Spain

We boarded a small bus at Cadiz portside for our tour to Seville ninety minutes away. We entered this stately city, with its Moorish and Roman origins and architecture. The cobblestone boulevards were huge – void of cars and only available to light rail, pedestrians and horse and buggies. Our first stop was the royal palace and gardens – whose architecture was mostly Arabic – with its mosaics, archways and tile work. Although the Christians took over power in Seville in 1248, they admired the Moorish style. The castle is still used today by the Spanish royal family for weddings and huge gatherings.

Right outside the walls of the castle was the Jewish quarter – a maze of small streets and squares. The Jews provided the financing for all the lavish buildings in the center of the city. After their expulsion in 1492, all the synagogues were destroyed. We didn’t find out if there was still any Jewish presence…

We crossed the square into the largest Gothic cathedral in the world – a monstrosity of church which had at one time been a mosque. We had never seen anything like it – giant pillars, gold inlaid Biblical imagery)! The surprise inside, was a monument built to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus (his orders were to never be buried on Spanish soil – thus his coffin is on a pedestal held by four statues).

Back outside we noticed women and young girls all dressed in flamenco style dresses – beautifully put together outfits with hairpieces, shoes and jewelry to match. Men were also all dressed in suits. Today was the Fiesta of Seville and everyone was heading across town to the fair grounds. We decided to follow people for the mile walk – all who were converging to the site in horse drawn carriages, buses, taxis and on foot. What a wonderfully festive feeling – amazing site to see. No two dresses were alike and everyone (babies and little girls alike) were dressed for this occasion. We only had a short glance into the fair, but could see the thousands of guests eating, drinking and dancing.

Upon our return to Cadiz, and a Spanish dinner on board the ship, we returned to explore the medieval town of Cadiz. It was a magical maze of carless cobblestone streets, will small shops and central plazas – a place to gather, mingle and drink a cup of coffee. Our late departure certainly allowed us to have a great “taste” of Spain!

Motril, Spain

Early morning rough waters entering the port of Motril caused the Captain to abort our arrival. It was a disappointment to many as the Alhambra in the inland city of Grenada was a highlight.
As the ship sailed on, later in the day we had a surprise daylight crossing out into the Atlantic with Gibraltar on the north side. Close enough to get a good view from upper deck, our geographer, Frank, provided us historical commentary.
The added bonus was arriving in our next port, Cadiz, early evening instead of the next day. Hopping off, we strolled the wonderful narrow cobblestone streets of this mid size city as the sun set.

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

We were barely on our bikes when the overcast skies began to rain down on us. Locking our bikes, we opted to walk the city. We expected a small town and what we found was a sophisticated old city with brand name shops and historic and classical buildings. Once the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the port is amongst the largest in the Med and hence is a center of business and culture. Like all the other Italian cities we have visited, the many tree lined squares and quaint plazas were surrounded with outdoor cafes, pizza bars and gelato stands. But, once again, the shops lock up at 1 p.m. for the daily “siesta”, and everything comes to a halt.

Tonight, we’ve been invited by Captain Schoonerbeck to join him and the other Dutch officers, in the captain’s quarters, to celebrate the Dutch Queen’s birthday. Invited guests are Dutch passengers on board! Stephen will have to find someone to speak English with-perhaps the barman. The dining room has been decorated with red, white and blue flags, complete with windmills and “klompen”. Miriam feels right at home…

Royal Wedding at Sea

A sea day with a difference: Our ship was transformed into a British Celebration with the wedding day of Will and Kate. Early morning began with a briefing on the Royals followed by a switch to BBC coverage on big screens. British High Tea and cookies were served with the showroom decorated with British flags and regalia. Perhaps 300 passengers attended, of the 2 billion that watched worldwide. We really are a speck in the sea. Our evening continues with a formal Royal Dance and a Beatles “name that tune event”. If it wasn’t for the Boston Tea Party, our fellow excited American passengers could have had a better chance at being invited to the wedding.

Separately, Carnival Corporation is rarely mentioned as the parent of Holland America, but today there is a celebration onboard of the company’s 100th ship. Today 227,000 passengers on those 100 ships will eat cupcakes and drink free champagne for the record-breaking largest “toast at sea”. Hooray for freebies. Time to follow Carnival stock.

Katakolon/Olympia, Greece

This tiny port on the western Peloponnese is a quiet village ready for local and foreign tourists. The Prinsendam was one of five ships docked here this morning. The ruins of Olympia are located just 20 miles from town, thus its attraction. We took a bus out to the archeological site of the original Olympic Games. Ritualistic games began as long ago as 1000 BC and continued until 393 AD. The games were revived 15 centuries later (1896) and until today, a torch-bearer sets out from Olympia every four years to carry a flame to the games worldwide! It was an expansive site – hard to imagine all that took place at this very spot!

This afternoon we biked along the shores of Katakolon. The long pristine beach was deserted, and we could envision it was full in the summertime with local vacationers filling the many tiny homes along the way. The town streets were lined with tourist shops selling the same Greek souvenirs none of us really need! It was an opportunity to make some phone calls and mail a few postcards before boarding and joining the parade of departing ships as we sailed away.

“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.”- Jacob M. Braude

Monemvasia, Greece

This tiny rugged island is in the far south of Greece. It’s one of the country’s most alluring little medieval villages inhabited by a small number of residents who travel the pathways on foot in this carless settlement. It’s one of the great benefits of our small ship visiting ports that can handle only smaller passenger numbers.

Unfortunately, after a lot of roaring of engines at daybreak, the Captain advised that inclement weather would not enable him to set anchor. The foggy morning and high seas forced us to sail away without this port stop. Too bad!

Piraeus/Athens, Greece

We shared a cab from the port of Piraeus inland to Athens this morning – equipped with raincoat and sweaters for the cool weather. We had been to Athens in 1971 – 40 years ago –with backpacks, we arrived by deck class on a ferry from Brindisi, Italy! Wow, what a difference ….
Must say, it doesn’t look like Athens has changed much in all that time. We were told how miserable the economy is here, with high unemployment and a dismal future. Apparently, the Greeks had severely misrepresented their financials in applying to the European Union (EU) to meet the minimum requirements. Today the country is in severe financial situation, and major cutbacks are being implemented by the EU.
The hop-on-hop off bus ($42 for 2) allowed us to see all the main attractions of the city although we didn’t venture up to the Acropolis since we could appreciate it from the view below. Tons of touristy shops, all selling the same souvenirs, lined the streets of the Plaka district. It was nice just to get out and walk around, boarding the bus whenever we felt like it. Although we had a late departure from Piraeus, we decided to return to the port around 5:30 p.m., since the weather had turned rainy and cold. We hung out in the port terminal, joining crew and passengers, to capture free internet.

Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey

Kusadasi is the resort destination for many Europeans. Sophisticated hotels on cliffs are juxtaposed with winding town streets that are the bazaar selling cheap leather coats, rugs, “genuine fake watches” and useless touristic souvenirs. Most of the passengers loaded up and on return, the ship store suddenly had even more of this stuff in their own makeshift “Turkish Bazaar” on board.
The real attraction down the road twenty miles is Ephesus. We took a tour provided free by our travel agent. Our first stop was at the house of the Virgin Mary, where she was said to have lived the last years of her life. Our Christian friends were unaware of her connection to Turkey but the story of John taking her there as a promise to Jesus on his deathbed seemed plausible. Recent Papal visits there apparently have validated the theory.
Continuing on to Ephesus, we arrived at a stunning archeological site; considered the best preserved archaeological site in the world. Miriam had visited Ephesus on an earlier trip in 1975 and it has remained an indelible experience all these years. (On that original trip, Stephen instead opted to find a Turkish shoe shine box in the Kusadasi Market for his Dad-the brass box is in our Vermont farmhouse today). Ephesus is amazingly complete with a 25,000 seat amphitheater, baths, a great library and more. Later we visited the Museum which had several sculptures and friezes of great detail. This was an incredible visit. We lunched at one of the cliff side luxury hotels where we enjoyed folkloric dancers of “Whirling Dirvishes, spinning at incredible speed. It was a great ending to our two city introduction to modern Turkey and its ancient heritage.

Bodrum, Turkey

This beautiful picturesque bay was a perfect place to ride our bikes once again. The wide sidewalks along the shore were lined with fishing boats and large ferries to take tourists to Greek islands close by. We ventured past the many shops that were just opening, to ride right out of town to the next bay. During the height of the tourist season, this place must be packed – there were tons of restaurants, hotels and clubs with hundreds of chairs set up – ready and waiting. This was still a month or two early though, so we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. Everything was pristinely clean and manicured. We decided to each get a haircut at a local shop! Our ride back to the ship took us past a flea market along the coast. The whitewashed shops and homes, together with the bright blue skies and perfect temperature, made this a really special stop!

Israel - Day Two - Haifa

And now for something different – a segway ride through the streets of Jaffa! After a quick lesson on how to drive a segway, we were off to discover the beautiful seaside ancient town of Jaffa. We were frankly surprised how quickly we learned how to maneuver it! For two hours we drove along the seawall – zigzagging around people, cars, and shops. It was really great fun and we got pretty good at it! Nurit was waiting for us in her cute apartment just one street back from the beach in Tel Aviv, with lunch she had prepared. Off we were again, since Hillel had to see a patient back in Herzaliah, Jennifer, Stephen and I walked the beach near his office. Back again to the apartment for a snack and to pick up our luggage. The trip up to The Port of Haifa was an hour – to return to our ship.
Hurwitz’s – thanks for two terrific days! Of course, we were sad that Jonas, Nava and Raziela were not in Israel (they were spending Passover in Sydney Australia), but glad we had this opportunity to spend such quality time together. Your hospitality is incredible and we hope to reciprocate one day soon!

Israel - Day One Ashdod

What a welcome! There were Jennifer & Hillel to greet us as we arrived into Ashdod port! So great to see them and to begin our two day adventure together. Our first stop was back at their home to visit with Sharon, Jay, Boaz, Eitan and Tzi. The kids have grown so much and showed us all their new rollerblading and bike riding skills. Jennifer prepared a beautiful picnic and we set off north to the western Lower Galilee hilltop of Zippori National Park for lunch and a guided tour, compliments of Adele and Gary. It was a picture perfect day and we enjoyed the great company and magnificent mosaics and archeological ruins. On our drive back home, we stopped to stroll through the town of Zikron Yakov, a hilltop community famous for its wineries and artist shops. We ate a delicious Passover dinner at an outdoor patio, along with the many families and young people enjoying this holiday season together. We arrived back home to be met by Ilan and Sima, who had stopped by to say hello. We were so impressed by Ilan’s latest invention – a meat drying machine made out of a hollowed computer shell!

Cairo -Port Said Egypt Day Two

After breakfast, we were back on the bus for our 20 mile drive to the Sakkara Pyramids and then the ancient capital Memphis. Some of the pyramids are being restored with workers chiseling stone and hauling rock up simple scaffolding. We surmised that their backbreaking work was not so different from the original slave workers. Again walking all over the huge site we were fascinated at how well the hieroglyphics and carvings had survived the nearly 4,000 years. Stephen climbed/crawled down a shaft deep into the heart of a pyramid to see the burial rooms still adorned with wall etchings and paintings.
In Memphis, we were able to walk around a massive 50-60 foot statue of Ramses II and view the Alabaster Sphinx, which is in better condition that the more famous Giza Sphinx. A mandatory stop was one of many Carpet Factories/Schools where we saw children as young as 8 or 9, working away hand tying rugs. It was child labor as we know exists in third world countries. Were these children slaves or young underpaid workers robbed of their youth? The coins we gave them were quickly hidden away. Saddened by what we saw, none of us bought anything.
Later in the day we viewed the Mohammed Ali Alabaster Mosque before returning on a three hour drive to Port Said and our ship. Just before reaching home, we drove along the Suez Canal and saw the new Mubarak Peace Bridge, which we are sure will have a new name when it opens in a few months.
Egypt was a wonderful experience. Few tourists provided an ease of seeing incredible sights unencumbered. Aside from the chaos and poverty of a mid Eastern city, people were happy that we were there on the first days of their new democracy. Our Egypt lecturer on board ship a few days prior to arrival was not as optimistic, in that the upcoming elections may not bring a moderate leadership. In the meantime we were glad we were there, and the anticipated “revolution” that is happening each week since the fall of the government, did not occur today as predicted.
And now as the Prinsendam thrusters are revving up for departure, we are ready for our Exodus and arrival in Israel in the morning.

Passover

We sailed today, past Libya, on our way to Egypt, careful to remain outside the “100 mile no cruise zone”. Our Passover Seder on board tonite was in a private dining room with 140 guests (perhaps 40 of whom were Jewish). Rabbi Starr led the service, with the Captain and his wife joining the festivity. Holland America went all out with porcelain Seder plates complete with all the authentic components from maror and haroseth to manishevitz wine and schmura matzohs . Each table also had beautiful new hagaddahs. It was a wonderful event.

We received the following email from Josh back in The Gambia who had celebrated that African country’s first ever Seder. You’ll recall from our Gambia blog entry, that we brought Josh a Passover kit when we saw him earlier in the voyage. Here’s his update:

Happy Passover from The Gambia! We had quite the seder in Gambia yesterday - 22 people (21 non-Jews). And thanks a supply of Passover goods I was able to treat everyone to the staples - matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, and matzoh. Well, let's not call it a treat. When it came time to clean up I noticed a collection of matzoh balls on the ground around where most of the Gambians were sitting, talk about being discrete. And they certainly weren't fans of the gefilte fish either. At least they liked my homemade charosset, also the Dean's new favourite word.

It was your typical seder, minus the crowd and the setting. The power was off throughout, and only two of us had experienced Passover seders before. Tom, one of my favourite British gentiles asked the Four Questions. I taught everyone the chorus to Dayenu, always a crowd pleaser. For "Echad Me Yodeah" we took turns singing the English verses in a tune of our own choosing. All four cups were consumed and Eliyahu made quite the detour. And of course, the Afikoman was a hit. Hidden in a mango tree, my friend Dinesh was thrilled to find it and receive his prize of 25 dalasis ($1) and mouse glue.

The time-tested trick of withholding dessert until post-part II of the seder kept most people around to the end; though many of the Gambians bailed after dinner.

Not bad for a West African start to Passover.

Alexandria & Cairo, Egypt Day One

We entered Egypt as part of our Passover celebration with a plan to visit the pyramids and “exodus” to the “promised land”. Fortunately, we are not slaves and Pharaoh is long gone.
Today we left the ship after docking at Alexandria for our two day guided tour ashore. One of the passengers had arranged an eleven passenger private tour that would bring us back to the ship tomorrow evening in Port Said. Our guide introduced the itinerary with a comment that we would need to rearrange our days “as there would likely be a revolution tomorrow”. What he really meant was that crowds may group in Cairo to protest some issues such as better healthcare, education etc. Relieved at his clarification, we settled in to enjoy the new democratic Egypt. Things were calmly normal, although we really had the country to ourselves as tourists are just beginning to arrive. Along with our driver and guide, we had a security guard travel with us, and at times during the two days, we were escorted by a car of tourist police.
After a quick stop in Alexandria to visit new Library and ancient Lighthouse, we proceeded on our 3 hour drive to Cairo down the Nile delta. On arrival, the Pyramids of Giza were before us. We could only pinch ourselves that we were there as we trekked around in the sand. The Sphinx was a bit of a surprise as it is smaller than we had thought. After lunch at a restaurant on the Nile, our afternoon was spent at the Egypt Museum of Antiquities. We were overwhelmed by the massive amount of relics. The highlight was the King Tut collection. We were astonished at how the items were too accessible; people leaning on them and touching everything. Fortunately, little looting occurred during the January overthrow of power. When we stepped outside the museum to board our bus again, before us was the burnt out government building totally damaged during the January uprising.
Our day ended with the amazing Pyramids/Sphinx sound and light show. Overnight was at the Mercure Hotel in view of the pyramids. Our bed seemed to roll as it does on the ship and we were exhausted!

At Sea

Lots to choose from: Lectures on “Weird World Architecture” and “History and Modern Politics of Israel”; Six technology classes sponsored by Windows; Le Cirque New York cooking demonstration in the culinary theater sponsored by Food & Wine; Yoga, Tai Chi and Abs classes. Less exciting is laundry with free washers, dryers, detergent. And there’s more. So tempting to do it all but perhaps best to take a break and get ready for our next marathon group of ports.

Ravenna, Italy

The ship offered a free 25 minute shuttle into town, but we thought it would be a nice bike ride in. The roads were flat, but the two lane highway took us past huge industrial sites, with smokestacks spewing black smoke. This is the industrial north of Italy. After an hour of riding, and hoping we were going the right way after many “turnabouts”, we met a lady on her bike and asked for directions. We followed her straight into the center of Ravenna. It turned out to be a cute medieval town, with cobblestone streets, a massive center square, with many affluent shops. And this town was filled with bike riders! In fact, they had free bike rentals on several corners. We parked ours and walked around – whole families were out for a Saturday walk, a cup of coffee, and to shop at the flea market set up all over town. Since we had a short port stop, we hoped the shuttle bus back to the ship, folding up our bikes and putting them in the baggage hold. We’re ready for our two day voyage to Egypt

Venice, Italy Day Two

With a bit of a growing cold, Miriam joined in on the second day of discovery. We bought a 12 hour Vaporetto boat pass (the local bus system) for $25 per person and headed out with a transfer to Murano Island. This is the home of famous Venetian hand blown glass; proof that if you have one euro to thousands you can take home a piece of crafted glass. The challenge is figuring out which glass is Venetian versus a Chinese similarity. Shopkeepers‘ signs warned of buying authentic. Yesterday, we noticed several Venice shops selling identical leather goods were manned by Asian proprietors. The day was too glorious to be distracted by anything but the incredible scenery. Returning to Venice, we opted to walk a different 90 minute route back from Piazza San Marco to the ship. The view of the Grand Canal as we crossed the Rialto Bridge was spectacular as vaporettos and gondolas raced by. A small pizza ($4.50) and a can of Coke ($4.00) kept us going until our return to the ship at six. Ciao to Venezia