Vacation Posts Continued
Barb and Wanda - I'm having trouble sending email from the ship so please copy off and share with everyone at work. Thanks!
First things first - It is Monday October 31 and we are supposed to be in Ashdod, Israel but we are not. We are still in Haifa. The Palestinians have been launching rocket attacks on Ashdod so our Captain kept us here in Haifa for a third day. Pretty much every other cruise ship with a scheduled stop in Israel is also here as no one is docking in Ashdod right now. The ships that aren't here probably went to Cyprus.
We are safe and leave at midnight tonight for Rhodes, Greece. So unless Lebanon decides to get involved in the situation (when Hezbollah launches rockets at Israel they tend to hit Haifa) all is well.
Monday 10/24 - Delphi
The day was cool and somewhat overcast, which actually made for a good day to be climbing all over a mountain. Our first stop was a Greek Orthodox Monastery dedicated to St. Luke (not the Luke from the Bible, another one). The place was originally built in the Byzantine era and there are ruins and even some buildings that date back to that time. There are two churches, one right next to the other, and the youngest is still hundreds of years old. Both are just amazing with wonderful mosaics, frescoes and icons. The monks allowed us to take pictures as long as we didn't use flash - both Dad and I were able to get some very nice shots. The location of the monastery is on the side of a mountain, looking down into a deep valley with pine, Cyprus and olive trees, with more mountains all around. I now understand the meaning of "pastoral setting". The place is amazingly beautiful and so peaceful.
Next we wet to Delphi and our first stop there was the museum. I was a kid in a candy store! Everywhere I turned there was a piece that I'd studied in school! Athanasia actually let us spend quite a bit of time there but I still could have spent longer. And we were allowed to take pictures! No flash, of course, but the museum is modern with lots of natural light so most of the pics came out very well. I was taking pictures of The Koros (two status of young men, very famous) when one of my tour mates teased me about taking pictures of their naked backsides. I explained that I wanted to be able to show that the Greeks sculpted in the round - each side being detailed, not just the front. And besides, they have really good butts!
After the museum we finally made it to the site of Delphi itself. Talk about climbing a mountain! Totally worth every twinge in my poor put upon knees. Athanasia was a great guide, giving us the background of the buildings, making us think, and letting us take our time to really take it all in. I didn't cry but I had the goofy grin on my face again. Walking the Sacred Way to the Temple of Apollo was such a moving experience - I've studied the site in school and read books but nothing beats actually being there.
I intend to go back to Greece sometime to spend more time in Athens and Delphi as well as see more of the country. Athens was grey and far more modern than most people think. Yes there was trash from the recent sanitation strike but amazingly the Greeks kept the piles contained around the dumpsters so the trash wasn't taking over the city. Lots of graffiti though. Some of it is really very good too. I definitely liked being out in the countryside more than in the city though. Mainland Greece is beautiful. I can't wait to see the islands.
Tuesday and Wednesday were sea days so we didn't do much. We did a wine tasking on Wednesday, which was a lot of fun. Otherwise we just read and relaxed.
Thursday 10/27 - Egypt
What can I say about Egypt? Well, in a word, it sucked! Egypt is dirty. I mean really, really filthy. There is trash everywhere, piled up on the streets, in the parks, blowing everywhere. Everything stinks from the garbage and the pollution. Our guide told us that the government doesn't provide enough dumpsters and trash cans and people don't want to walk to find one so they just dump their trash anywhere they want. It is disgusting. And the traffic! If there are traffic laws in Egypt I didn't see any evidence of them. There are no street lights, no signs, and everyone drives like a monkey on crack. I have never been so terrified in my life. It is a miracle that we only saw one accident (although it was a bad one with a car flipped over). Cairo was just dirt, trash and the cacophony of car horns, screeches, and screaming in Arabic.
I would like to saw that the Step Pyramid at Sakkara, the Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx were amazing but honestly? I couldn't really pay attention to them. Everywhere tourist go there are vendors, hawkers and just plain con men trying to get your money. If you stop to take a picture or just to take it all in they swarm on you. Bookmark - one dollah! Headdress - one dollah! Papyrus - one dollah! I take your picture - one dollah! You say "No Thank You" to them and they just move the the next item in their pile. plastic pyramids, pens, t-shits, statues, etc. They don't leave you alone, they follow you around, they don't take NO for an answer. At the panoramic point at Giza, the only place where you can get a pic of all three pyramids together, they were extremely aggressive - two even touched me, grabbing my arm to get my attention so they could try to put something in my hands. This is one if their tricks - put an item in your hands, say no, no it is yours my friend, refuse to take it back, then demand money for it. I refused to take anything and this one guy just kept pushing it at me until Dad came up and said "She said no now leave her alone" and pulled me away.
I don't like crowds at the best of times and these guys just pushed all my panic attach buttons. I still don't know how I didn't end up running back to the bus to hide. And if another one of the bastards had touched me I'd be in an Egyptian prison because I would have hit him.
The only highlight of the day was on the way back to the bus after the Sphinx when one of the vendors was trying to get Dad's attention and said "I give you one thousand chickens for your woman!". Luckily Dad ignored him - I'm not sure what I would have done if he's started negotiating! Personally I was offended - I'm worth far more than one thousand chickens! Where were the camels?
I still love Ancient Egypt and intend to continue studying it but I doubt if I will ever go back to modern Egypt.
Next up - Israel.