The cruise is starting to feel like home now. Our table mates are a nice group of Canadians and Americans, speaking a mixture of French and English. Iain is in his element, being the only teen around. He's getting lots of attention. A friendly gentleman beside him at the table buys very expensive wines each night, and then insists that Iain must expand his knowledge of great wines. I sometimes get offered a taste too, which is very nice of "Steve" the table mate.
We're at a table of 8 people, so there's always lively chatter. Tonight was the Captain's Dinner: Full formal wear, but also state of the art cuisine. We had duck a l'orange, and filet mignon, and for dessert, Milles Feuilles.. All delicious and gobbled down quickly. Iain had two appetizers -Clam and Mussel chowder! And so, the gentle rocking of the boat becomes 'normal' and we feel more sea sick on flat ground than on the boat. It's amazing how the brain begins to accept movement as 'normal' after a day of it. Tomorrow, another day at sea, and then Jerusalem! An unexpected surprise, since Cairo isn't safe (in their minds). Iain was a bit disappointed, but we're now excited to be seeing a city with history on every street corner. And what better time to be there than at Christmas! We'll continue on to Luxor and Sharm El Sheik after Israel, so we'll still get to see the best of Egypt. Ok, that's my time all used up for today. $10/hour internet fee on board!
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BLOG: POMPEII DAY.
Well, it has to rain sometimes, and it did this morning. We were booked to go see Pompeii, so we got ready and headed down to deck 2 to get off the ship. This ship is smaller than the others we've travelled on, so it takes some getting used to. I'm going to feel a bit stir crazy on the 4 days at sea segment of the trip, I fear! Anyway, the bus was fine, and the drive only 20 minutes. We saw a man making cameos carved out of shells, -very lovely and a fine art of bygone days. We took photos, and then got our souvenirs at the street stall outside. They had lovely venetian glass necklaces. We also bought lava stone bracelets to add to our travel bracelet collection! Pompeii was huge. Nothing like I imagined. There was an amphitheatre, -since the Greeks had founded Pompeii and Naples, and then it had changed hands when the Romans arrived. (Naples means 'New Polis (city) ” in Greek, we learned! The guided tour thing always makes me feel stir crazy since they stuff all kinds of unimportant minutae in the tour to make it look like they know their stuff, or to take up the full 2 hours with talking. We walked ahead, so that we could really experience Pompeii alone, without the crowd. That way the photos would be more focused, and with fewer people in them! This tour gave us each our own microphone device so whereever we were, we could hear to tour if we put our earbud in. This gave us the option of listening in when we weren't taking photos. The top level, -a kind of huge sports field surrounded by pillars- was most amazing. Beside this arena was an overhang, with shelves of items on it. After hundreds of rooms we'd photographed, it was great to find detailed items! Bodies metamorphosed in lava as they boiled alive, and pottery pieces, -in full size and undamaged by the lava! So the photos are a bit gruesome today, but that childhood dream of seeing Pompeii is now checked off the list! Tomorrow, 2 days at sea... to relax and get some writing done! Also, the cruise company has decided to move us away from Cairo, so we're sailing all the way to Israel instead of Alexandria. We'll spend a day there, (Jerusalem at Christmas- very fitting!) and then sail down the Suez Canal and see lower Egypt, just missing the pyramids and the Cairo Museum, but getting to Luxor and The Valley of the Kings later in the week! All is well. Life is becoming more sane at last! It's wonderful to be fed and looked after 24 hours a day. Once again, it's 5am and I'm awake. It does make for excellent photography opportunities though, being wide awake before sun up! We're going to head out together this morning to see what new paths and pictures we can find around the town. This afternoon we board our Cruise, and tomorrow we'll visit Pompeii .. a dream of mine since childhood! Today will be busy, and once on the ship (the Costa Allegra, for those who care), blogging will be my main means of communicating with you all, until we arrive in Mauritius on the 26th of December...
Time to head out for another photo morning! Enjoy your day wherever you are! |
MeHilary Slater: I write in the morning before I get out of bed. I write in the evening when the world is quiet. I write at Starbucks, where I can escape the household interruptions. But most of all I write in November, when NaNoWriMo inspires me! Archives
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