Lisbon Portugal by Land & River

This was our second visit to Lisbon and we opted for an overview bus tour and an hour and half boat ride to see the city from the Tagus River.

We had to be reminded that Portugal became a Republic as recently as the 1970s.

The old town is still the center of activity expecially for tourists.



Because the Queen Victoria was not leaving the port until midnight, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a fine meal at one of their many seafood restaurants not far from our ship.

First Time in Barcelona

The Familia Cathedral in Barcelona has to be one of Europe's most photographed sites and was the first place we visited. It has been under construction since 1882 and and was the work architect Antonio Gaudi devoted most of his life to. It is expected to be finished by 2026. It is owned by a private foundation that easily funds construction from admission fees and private donations.

Barcelona is definitely a city we would like to visit again. It is clean with wide boulevards and pedestrian walkways similar in some respects to Paris.

If the British Empire dominated the middle and far east, then the Romans dominated Mediterranean countries and cities and Barcelona is one of them.

Architect Gaudi's influence and work is seen everywhere, well beyond the Familia Cathedral. His implementation of nature and curves and angles can be seen in this downtown building. Of course he was praised and ridiculed at the same time.

Barcelona is famous for the zillion balconies on their city apartments dating back many centuries and residents make use of them, like this girl getting her morning fix from a drag on her cigarette. Little did she know someone in the passing bus found her to be a worthy photo topic!

BUT...the best of all we didn't capture on our camera. As the bus toured the downtown city streets and our guide talked, we were looking left, right and up and down when suddenly I yelled to Phyllis (sitting next to me) "He's naked" and fortunately she caught a glimpse of this hairy macho Spaniard standing in his 2nd story window breathing in the Barcelona morning air and posing for all to see!! That's a first.

One of the highlights of our tour of Barcelona was a stop at 3 tapas restaurants to sample a few tapas and wine. You can see them being made in the photo. Bigger than hors d'ouvres, smaller than sandwiches.

The Italian Countryside

The highlight of our tour of the Italian countryside was a visit to an olive farm (that's an ancient olive tree we are posing in front of) that of course harvests and makes olive oil to die for..extra virgin, cold press and within 24 hours or less of being harvested. They served a great buffet of small snacks including bruschetta.

We have had the good fortune of being in Rome a few times and opted not to take a tour into the Eternal City. The Civitivecchia port is 40 miles from Rome so we took advantage of being close to the Tuscanny countryside and took a peaceful tour to Tuscannia an ancient medieval town that you see in these pictures.

ROMANTIC NAPLES and INCREDIBLE POMPEI
isn"'''IIiiiSNIsn't this a great picture of Phyllis leaving Naples Harbor with Mt. Vesuvius in the background? Ten years ago we visited the Amalfi Coast but she got sick and we were unable to visit Naples or Pompei. We made up for it this time and after our tour of Pompei we found a little family restaurant on a narrow side street of Naples and we let the diet and fitness go to pot! Linguini and vongole, gelato and a bottle of Chianti!

When Pompei was uncovered after 1700 years under Vesuvius' lava, an impressive advanced society was found.

Here are evidence of beautifully done frescos and a very "modern" public (his and hers) baths with an amazing system for creating and capturing steam. Our guide was fond of saying, "there is nothing new..the Pompeians were doing it before Christ."

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD it is believed the city of Pompei had 50,000 citizens and it was some number like that who died covered by volcanic lava and choked by the poison gases. Archeologists found bodies petrified in the lava and they were able to make plaster casts like this one that captures the individual's final position. There are many evidences of accomplished tile and artwork like this front door greeting that warned "Beware of Dog"

Here is the main courtyard of the City of Pmpeii where people gathered and business was transacted. That is Mt. Vesuvius in the background and maybe you are as surprised as we were that it was so far from the city.

Our cruise up the west coast of Italy Sunday morning was romanticized as we passed close by the Isle of Capri.

A Nice Day in Pireaus

We have been to Athens and seen all the sites being offered by the ship's tour office so we opted to stay in the Port of Pireaus which is a nice island city about a half hour from Athens. Our dining companions Darryl and Marty were in the same situation so they joined us for a walk around the island enjoying the picture postcard harbors on our 2 hour walk.

You might think 4 experienced world travelers would be wise to fast talking salesmen but we have to admit we were taken at this beautiful scenic restaurant in Microlimano Harbor called 4-Brothers. The guy offered to relieve us of the trouble of ordering our lunch and proposed a variety of fish (which he brought to the table) accompanied by a Greek Salad. The food was good but not worth the $100 EACH which he relieved us of.

We thought this was an interesting contrast sharing the same water and port on the Greek Island of Pireaus. We stood in the same place to view these exceptional yachts and then looked down to see the fishing boat that has had better days.

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of seafarers and is the name of the church by the harbor with this gold plated candelabra and painted dome.

Passing Through Suez Canal

It took 8 hours from the time we left the Red Sea to pass through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean.


Here is a trivia question for you: HOW MANY LOCKS MAKE UP THE SUEZ CANAL?

We joined the northbound convoy and were led by another cruise ship. Freighters followed. There is a large lake in the south where ships wait for a convoy to be formed and then join in.

Ships coming south pull over and park at a specific time to let the northbound pass by.
There are zero, no locks on the Suez Canal.

The Captain identified the military ship as US Navy but I can't find a flag or name anywhere on it but the amount of visible communications tools you can see on it probably acounts for it's anonimity. The ship was going the opposite way and it was moving to the front of the southbound convoy as military gets first position in any convoy.

We cleared the Friendship Bridge, which connects Egypt with the Sinai Desert and the rest of the middle east, by 10 feet.

We had heard that there was some shooting from land at some ship a few weeks ago and that might account for the presence of soldiers in lonely outposts all along the canal.

SEEING THE HISTORIC and FABLED NILE RIVER


There have been many "firsts" for us on this voyage but none was more unbelievable than seeing Egypt and the Nile River for the first time. History books, geography, current events and movies all came to life as we watched the sunset. We were on our only overnight away from the ship traveling 3 hours to locate in Luxor.

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RTEURTESY OF THE

Security was tight in Egypt. From the time we left the ship to our Luxor destination we stopped at several check points but we thought this dude was outrageous alone in the desert protecting who?

Courtesy of the Egyptian government we received an armed guard escort for our large bus convoy from the ship's berth on the Red Sea to to our overnight sightseeing headquarters in Luxor. Check the guy on the left. He was our bus guard. That slight lift out of the back of his coat is not the wind. Each carried a weapon.

RURAL EGYPTIAN FARM LIFE

Our excellent female Egyptoligist guide stressed to us that the farming people we were going to see for the next 3 hours preferred this laid back life rather than the hectic life in the city.

We were stunned by the way of living in mud huts attached sometimes to brick buildings and almost all with thatched roofs. You can see how the home looks unfinished and that is because the owner has permission for aditional floors when his son gets married and the couple moves in. Maybe you can see the re-bar sticking out of the walls waiting for the next floor to be built.

We saw many satellite dishes on roofs and in contrast saw these mud outdoor ovens. Marriage is expensive and the poor couple starts in the hole after the guy presents gold something at engagement, then prepares the home fully furnished all before marriage.

There was plenty of visible evidence along our ride to and from the Red Sea of the heritage and customs of the people. They looked happy and decently dressed.

These school girls are in traditional garb and the boys taking a break at the local hangout emphasizes the public separation of the two. Women are not seen in the fields working and husbands are never seen in the market shopping alone.

Our motorcade of buses stalled harvest progress along the 3 hour route to Luxor as police stopped traffic at all intersections but it afforded us a wonderful look at the people.

Sugar cane was being harvested and the only mechanical haarvest tool we occasionally saw was an old tractor but without a doubt the hardest working thing in Egypt is the donkey.

KARNACK & LUXOR TEMPLES PLUS VALLEY OF THE KINGS

We were told it was a light tourist day at Luxor Egypt at Karnack and Luxor Temples but it was mobbed with eastern Europeans and Russians. Our first sacriligious thought was of Johnny Carson's skit as Karnack the Magnificent.

These temples were built for occupancy by the Gods and his priests and each King or pharoah believed it was his duty to make the Temple bigger and grander than his predecessor. All of it serves as testimony to the civilization that existed years before Christ was born.

One of your first thoughts upon entering the ancient (2,000 to 4,000 years BC) Temple of Karnack is to wonder how the slave builders managed to erect stone walls, pillars and oblisks without modern day scaffolding.

What appears to be left over rubble in the picture is really "scaffolding"used to climb on as they worked higher and higher..then it would be removed as they worked their way down.

King's like Ramses IV figured the God occupying the Temple of Karnack would go out strolling so they lined the passageways with these stone lions with odd faces to protect them.

Ramses IV and his fellow kings made sure there were always statues of themselves so the God wouldn't forget who built the Temple.

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

Many of you have no doubt visited museums hosting exhibits of incredible stuff taken from the tombs of Egyptian Pharoah Kings with the most famous being the one of the boy king Tutankahman who took over at around 10 years old and died before reaching 20.

Valley of the Kings is on the west bank of the Nile where the Tombs are located. We walked into 2 tombs which are hollowed out caves dug deep into the sandy rock you see in the pictures. There is nothing in the tombs as all the jewels, furniture and gold objects placed there for the king's use after death have been looted or are in museums. Remember we are talking about 2,000 or more years before Christ.

Luxor Temple is in the center of the Egyptian city of Luxor right on the Nile River. The city thrives on tourism with at least 75 fancy riverboats berthed here. Luxor Temple was "connected" to Temple of Karnack by a long wide grass area protected on both sides by stone lions.

This is King Tut and his child bride. And these are two phony sweepers at the temple who make their money posing with tourists!