Day 25/Cruise Day 12 -- At Sea

We passed between Italy mainland and Sicily and could see both. Bo had her hair done in the ship’s salon (a pretty good experience and the result also pretty good) and then had a very lively lunch with two couples from Texas who have a lot of land and raise cattle and horses. They told us about a desperate drought they were experiencing that forced them to sell almost all cattle and drive long distances to buy feed for their horses. We compared notes about this cruise (they are very experienced cruisers who started cruising in the 1970s) and came to the same conclusion that we have not seen that many obese people gathered in one place before. Then Bo went to a seminar entitled “How to eat more and lose weight”. Surprisingly, it was very sparsely attended, but it wasn’t very good either.
Tomorrow morning we get to Civitavecchia at about 7 am and get off the ship at about 9 am. Our first cruising experience is almost over. Would we do it again. Maybe.

Day 24/Cruise day 11 -- Chanie, Crete

The port of Chania on the island of Crete is our last port of call. The ship was docked about 8 km from the town so we had to take buses to get there. The old port area is very charming with a Venetian lighthouse and fortifications and a row of colorful houses (mostly hotels and restaurants), but it is totally geared toward the tourists forced onto the island by the cruise ship. We walked the port then inland to get a feel of the city. Nothing noteworthy. On the way back to the ship, it got quite unruly as everybody was trying to squeeze into the bus to make it back before the 1:30 pm deadline.
At dinnertime we were all together again and everybody got quite chatty, even the Irish lads who are normally quiet. One of the told us about the leather waistcoat he bought on Crete. But the biggest bombshell came from Dorothy, one of the Lancashire ladies. When we started talking about the tonight’s show whose theme was the Beatles songs, she told us that she knew John Lennon very well as a boy and young man because her late husband was related to John’s mother. She saw him grow up and remembers his first music pursuits and his first performances. She even got some drawings and writings that John did as a boy, but her husband threw them out because he didn’t like them. She knew Lennon’s first wife Cynthia (who apparently was a “very lovely girl”) and their son Julian. This was quite amazing. Then we went to the Beatles show, which was a lot less amazing as the group who pretended to be the Beatles was definitely much less talented.

Day 23/Cruise Day 10 -- At Sea

We decided to try breakfast in the dining room. All other days we did buffet, where you can help yourself to all kinds of things then find a table and enjoy it. In the dinning room they sat us at a table for 10. It was a very unpleasant experience having to listen to a bunch of self absorbed Jewish Americans. The daily list of activities included a table tennis tournament. Al signed up and after several games emerged victorious and received a gold medal.
The day was sunny, but very windy so we mostly spent it inside -- reading and … yes, eating.
For dinner, we were all together again -- the two English ladies and two Irish lads. We even took pictures together. The Irish guys befriended an American couple from Miami currently living in Berlin who joined us for a brief chat.
After dinner, we went to the jacuzzi in deck 11 and had a nice long chat with a young American couple from Missouri. Then we went a 9:30 show, which wasn’t very good.

Day 22/Cruise Day 9 -- Haifa

We decided to not take a tour and do it ourselves. We set out walking the city. It is a pretty city built on and around many hills. It is called the San Francisco of the east. We walked a main street Ben Gurion Ave in the area called the German Colony because it was started by the German crusaders. Many street cafes, all with wifi. We took a bus to the top of Mt. Carmel with a spectacular view of the city and the gardens of the Bahai temple below. Getting around is difficult since most signs are written in Hebrew and busses have no routes posted. We asked directions from several people but they did not speak English. But many spoke Russian (there must be a huge population of Russian Jews in Haifa) so Bo’s Russian came in handy. On the way from the bus stop to the top of Mt. Carmel, we met a young woman and asked her for directions. She answered in perfect English and told us that she was from Ohio and moved to Haifa two years ago when she married an Israeli. She walked with us to the top and told us about her experiences and observations. After viewing the Bahai Temple gardens which were beautiful, we needed to take another bus to an area called Stella Maris. We found the bus stop, but didn’t know which bus to take so we asked. Again English was useless, but the elderly lady answered to Russian and told us to take bus 32. However when bus 115 came, she ushered us to get in with her. As we got in, she consulted half of the bus in Hebrew where we should get off. We didn’t understand anything, but half the bus was saying Stella Maris so we figured they were trying to help us. Finally, another lady told us when it was time to get off. She walked with us a bit and showed us where to go (in Russian again). From there we took a scary aerial cable car down to the sea. We picked up another bus and got back to the German Colony. Lunch was at a sidewalk café. The waiters supplied a hookah (eastern water pipe) to many of the patrons (men and women). Food is good and plentiful (also expensive). We ordered just one fixed priced lunch package, which consisted of an appetizer, main course, beer and desert for the price of the main course. What we got could feed at least 3 people. We had a big plate of fabulous hummus (hummus is a specialty here and every restaurant has its own and they can be quite different) and a special kebab, which turned out to be pieces of ground lamb with herbs + 6-8 little bowls with fried cauliflower, squash, marinated peppers, stewed tomatoes and a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and pickles. It was all delicious.
After lunch we went to the train station and took a train to Akko (ancient Acre), about 20 miles north of Haifa. It is the oldest port in the eastern Mediterranean. It has a totally different character from Haifa. We went to the old city which is a walled city dating back 1000s of years. It also has a high percentage of Arabs. The crusades came here and established churches. Napoleon brought his army here but was not successful in conquering it. We walked steep steps to the top of a fortification and when we got to the top there was a group of about 12 Muslim women (in traditional clothing) sitting on the ground having a picnic. They offered us food and insisted. We each took a stuffed grape leaf (dolma) and thanked them but they offered us more food (chicken) but we politely declined as we were still full from lunch. We visited the Citadel which was also built by the crusaders. We walked in the maze of narrow streets, through the local souk, peeked into mosques and other buildings. We also went to the port, which is still a working fishing port. It was a hot day so we got pretty tired. Around 6 pm we took the train back and ended on the ship by 7 pm. Again, we watched the lights of Haifa from the 14 deck bar as the ship was leaving. We shared a table with a nice young German couple, Mathias and Sabine. Mathias was a computer programmer so he and Al had a lot of things to talk about.
Impressions of Israel. Security is more than anywhere else. Metal detectors everywhere- shopping mall, train station, etc. Military service is compulsory. It is common to see young girls in uniform carrying M16 rifle.