Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A Piece of the Rock
Friday April 24
Day at sea. Reading, writing but no arithmetic. Very calm seas. Saw some whales blow. Quite a few of our long time shipmates leaving at Dover in 7 days. Sniff Sniff
Saturday, April 25
Gibraltar: This British dependency is a little peninsula bounded by Spain and the sea. This little piece of turf has been a key in military activities for hundreds of years. It pretty much controls movement in and out of the Mediterranean. I took a little tour up thru miles of caves that were built to defend against a potential German invasion in WWII. A very diverse mix of cultures and religions live and work here in harmony. An airport was built with the spoils of cave building and it starts and stops at the sea’s edge with a highway bisecting the runway. Like our lift bridge to Park Point traffic is stopped when a plane takes off. Sue takes a general tour of the Rock. There are remnants of more forts than usual because of heavy pirate activity in the 18th and 19th centuries in this area. They have a state of the art desalinization plant here. We only are in port for a half day, but it’s a beautiful day full of activity. On our way out of the bay we see a small sail boat flip over. A short time later a rescue vessel shows up and we see a person bobbing in the sea with a life jacket on. He was pulled out of the water but I’m sure he had some hypothermia issues. The sea here is quite cold and he was in for quite a long time. The wind is up around 40mph so we button up our porthole as we head out into the Atlantic. The South coast of Spain is full of many wind generators. One big wind farm.
Day at sea. Reading, writing but no arithmetic. Very calm seas. Saw some whales blow. Quite a few of our long time shipmates leaving at Dover in 7 days. Sniff Sniff
Saturday, April 25
Gibraltar: This British dependency is a little peninsula bounded by Spain and the sea. This little piece of turf has been a key in military activities for hundreds of years. It pretty much controls movement in and out of the Mediterranean. I took a little tour up thru miles of caves that were built to defend against a potential German invasion in WWII. A very diverse mix of cultures and religions live and work here in harmony. An airport was built with the spoils of cave building and it starts and stops at the sea’s edge with a highway bisecting the runway. Like our lift bridge to Park Point traffic is stopped when a plane takes off. Sue takes a general tour of the Rock. There are remnants of more forts than usual because of heavy pirate activity in the 18th and 19th centuries in this area. They have a state of the art desalinization plant here. We only are in port for a half day, but it’s a beautiful day full of activity. On our way out of the bay we see a small sail boat flip over. A short time later a rescue vessel shows up and we see a person bobbing in the sea with a life jacket on. He was pulled out of the water but I’m sure he had some hypothermia issues. The sea here is quite cold and he was in for quite a long time. The wind is up around 40mph so we button up our porthole as we head out into the Atlantic. The South coast of Spain is full of many wind generators. One big wind farm.
Barcelona, land of the Catalans
Thursday April 23
Barcelona Spain: This was a half day tour that should have been a full day. Great city-It was St. George’s Day. The whole city was on vacation. Roses for the girls and books for the boys. The trip was a lot of slow down and shoot pictures fast. Got to see the Olympic village of 13 years ago. The highlight was getting a good look at Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Temple. This is like seeing the Pyramids or the Parthenon half done. Have been working on it for over a hundred years-probably another 50 to finish it. Check it out on Google for more of the story and pictures. There are 80 stone craftes working on this cathedral now. Passed by a couple of bull fight arenas. Today bullfighting isn’t very popular so they are used for concerts, Back on the ship we watch a flamenco folkloric show; it was a real heel-stompen, guitar-strummen, Spanish-singen event!
Barcelona Spain: This was a half day tour that should have been a full day. Great city-It was St. George’s Day. The whole city was on vacation. Roses for the girls and books for the boys. The trip was a lot of slow down and shoot pictures fast. Got to see the Olympic village of 13 years ago. The highlight was getting a good look at Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Temple. This is like seeing the Pyramids or the Parthenon half done. Have been working on it for over a hundred years-probably another 50 to finish it. Check it out on Google for more of the story and pictures. There are 80 stone craftes working on this cathedral now. Passed by a couple of bull fight arenas. Today bullfighting isn’t very popular so they are used for concerts, Back on the ship we watch a flamenco folkloric show; it was a real heel-stompen, guitar-strummen, Spanish-singen event!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Cannes, France and Rome, Italy
(For some reason this didn't download where I wanted. See photos below! Sorry!)
Tuesday, April 21
Civitavecchia Italy: This is the seaport that we dock at to make the drive to Rome. An hour and a half of driving thru Wisconsin Dells type countryside brings us to downtown Rome and the Vatican City. The whole of Rome is spattered with ruins of 3300 years of different stages and ages of Rome’s history. We hook up our museum headsets so our tour guide can easily communicate with us and off we go to the Sistine Chapel. This huge chapel depicts the origin of the world and life of Christ in many frescos and paintings on the ceiling. With a couple of thousand people at a time constantly slowly flow thru the chapel from one end to the other, it’s pretty moving--no cameras and no talking, just looking up and thinking how could one man do this 600 years ago. The 500-year old St Peter’s Basilica can fit two Notre Dames of Paris in it. Big and beautiful, just like the square outside where the Pope addresses the people twice a week. Next we get to walk up and around the Colosseum where many poor men and animals met tragic fates for the amusement of other folks for hundreds of years. Constantine outlawed this barbary in 313 AD. Like many of the places we have been, a week is needed to explore and experience it all.
Wednesday April 22
Cannes France: A huge crescent-shaped bay with homes and businesses line this port, too shallow for the ship so we must use the tenders again. Sue is so talented, on the way to shore she starts singing Love My Tender Cute, Hun. We hop off and onto a bus that takes us to Nice and see the sights. This area is the home of high grade olive oil, many fragrances for perfume, the hugely successful Cannes movie festival, the flowers that are shipped daily around all of Europe, and the Monte Carlo Casino. We can see the leading edge of the southern Alps from here. Snow capped and all. They have outlawed cars in many downtown areas and turned them into green spaces. Only walking or electric tourist trains. Good idea. The highlight is a visit to St Paul, a perfectly preserved, medieval walled city perched on a high hill in the middle of Nice. It was the 16th, 17th and 18th century refuge and inspiration for many famous European artists. A beautiful little church sits in the middle of this maze of 8-foot wide streets. We have a nice romantic lunch at a open air café complete with a roaming singing minstrel. Later we have some ice cream and watch a group of men playing Bocce ball in a dirt yard next to another café. Very relaxing day.
Tuesday, April 21
Civitavecchia Italy: This is the seaport that we dock at to make the drive to Rome. An hour and a half of driving thru Wisconsin Dells type countryside brings us to downtown Rome and the Vatican City. The whole of Rome is spattered with ruins of 3300 years of different stages and ages of Rome’s history. We hook up our museum headsets so our tour guide can easily communicate with us and off we go to the Sistine Chapel. This huge chapel depicts the origin of the world and life of Christ in many frescos and paintings on the ceiling. With a couple of thousand people at a time constantly slowly flow thru the chapel from one end to the other, it’s pretty moving--no cameras and no talking, just looking up and thinking how could one man do this 600 years ago. The 500-year old St Peter’s Basilica can fit two Notre Dames of Paris in it. Big and beautiful, just like the square outside where the Pope addresses the people twice a week. Next we get to walk up and around the Colosseum where many poor men and animals met tragic fates for the amusement of other folks for hundreds of years. Constantine outlawed this barbary in 313 AD. Like many of the places we have been, a week is needed to explore and experience it all.
Wednesday April 22
Cannes France: A huge crescent-shaped bay with homes and businesses line this port, too shallow for the ship so we must use the tenders again. Sue is so talented, on the way to shore she starts singing Love My Tender Cute, Hun. We hop off and onto a bus that takes us to Nice and see the sights. This area is the home of high grade olive oil, many fragrances for perfume, the hugely successful Cannes movie festival, the flowers that are shipped daily around all of Europe, and the Monte Carlo Casino. We can see the leading edge of the southern Alps from here. Snow capped and all. They have outlawed cars in many downtown areas and turned them into green spaces. Only walking or electric tourist trains. Good idea. The highlight is a visit to St Paul, a perfectly preserved, medieval walled city perched on a high hill in the middle of Nice. It was the 16th, 17th and 18th century refuge and inspiration for many famous European artists. A beautiful little church sits in the middle of this maze of 8-foot wide streets. We have a nice romantic lunch at a open air café complete with a roaming singing minstrel. Later we have some ice cream and watch a group of men playing Bocce ball in a dirt yard next to another café. Very relaxing day.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Sorrento Peninsula on the toe of Italy
Sunday April 19
Day at sea: Church--choir--port lecture--passenger talent show--looking at pictures and writing fill this day.
Monday April 20: Sorrento doesn’t have a deep water dock so we have to take the tenders to shore. Haven’t had to do that since Easter Island. We wind our way up the hillsides of this lemon tree loaded coast to Pompeii. This was a city of 20,000 that perished as a result of Mt .Vesuvius blowing its top in 79 AD. Walking the streets is like being put into a time capsule and turning the dial back 2000 years. It seemed like a well-oiled, closely knit, highly sophisticated group of people. The quality of the brick and stone work is wonderful. It came complete with theaters, arenas, markets, and government buildings. Finding the bodies in their last moments of agony is a little disconcerting. But what a gift to the future they gave in their untimely end. It has taken 100 years to clean most of the 60 feet of ash and other volcanic debris away from what is left of the city. It’s so much more than we expected. The rest of our day we drove the Amalphi coast. Here we find the most unbelievable collection of homes and businesses somehow clinging to the face of 500 foot limestone cliffs. One of the hallmarks of this area is their creation of villages in miniature along the roadside rock faces by the local people. This would be a bed and breakfast paradise. The area has been the subject matter for paintings and photography for years. We had lunch and did some shopping amidst Positano’s honeycomb of narrow street switchbacks. Sue was trying to keep her trinket buying to a minimum but she has been picking up the pace lately. I guess taxes will be going up when she gets home.
Day at sea: Church--choir--port lecture--passenger talent show--looking at pictures and writing fill this day.
Monday April 20: Sorrento doesn’t have a deep water dock so we have to take the tenders to shore. Haven’t had to do that since Easter Island. We wind our way up the hillsides of this lemon tree loaded coast to Pompeii. This was a city of 20,000 that perished as a result of Mt .Vesuvius blowing its top in 79 AD. Walking the streets is like being put into a time capsule and turning the dial back 2000 years. It seemed like a well-oiled, closely knit, highly sophisticated group of people. The quality of the brick and stone work is wonderful. It came complete with theaters, arenas, markets, and government buildings. Finding the bodies in their last moments of agony is a little disconcerting. But what a gift to the future they gave in their untimely end. It has taken 100 years to clean most of the 60 feet of ash and other volcanic debris away from what is left of the city. It’s so much more than we expected. The rest of our day we drove the Amalphi coast. Here we find the most unbelievable collection of homes and businesses somehow clinging to the face of 500 foot limestone cliffs. One of the hallmarks of this area is their creation of villages in miniature along the roadside rock faces by the local people. This would be a bed and breakfast paradise. The area has been the subject matter for paintings and photography for years. We had lunch and did some shopping amidst Positano’s honeycomb of narrow street switchbacks. Sue was trying to keep her trinket buying to a minimum but she has been picking up the pace lately. I guess taxes will be going up when she gets home.
The wonderful history of Athens
Friday April 17
Day at sea. Doing laundry, catching up on things and recovery the hallmarks of the day. Sailing the Mediterranean is new. Weather is very windy and cooler. We can tell we are getting closer to home.
Saturday April 18
Athens Greece: I didn’t realize how many islands are off the coast of Greece. We are in the homeland of democracy. The harbor here is very quaint, full of sailboats and coves. Our bus takes us on a journey weaving thru typical narrow European streets. The first stop is a very large football field looking sports arena. It first took shape about 400 BC, and was updated with all marble seating around 100 AD. Updated the last time in 1896 for the beginning of the modern Olympics. It holds 70,000 and was used for some events in the 1996 Athens games. Next was climbing the Acropolis to see what’s left of the Parthenon and other structures. They were all in pretty good shape until the wars with the Turks in the 1600’s. They actually had a powerful cannon of sorts that laid waste to most of it. From the top of the hill where the complex is situated a view of all Athens is visible. The entire Parthenon is locked in a web of steel scaffolding as work continues puting this huge puzzle back together. Looters and wars have taken their toll but considering it’s been around since 437BC it’s a small miracle. The collection of artifacts in their National Museum is one of the best in the world. The guide gave us high tech headphones to hear her stories unencumbered by any ambient tourist noise. We are now seeing sculpting of the human body in marble taken to a pinnacle of mastery that time has shown us nothing better. The end of the day was a leisurely stroll through a neat old market place where we bought something cool for Jill and Ginger[If you’re reading this you can have it!} We also got to do some people watching and coffee drinking.
Day at sea. Doing laundry, catching up on things and recovery the hallmarks of the day. Sailing the Mediterranean is new. Weather is very windy and cooler. We can tell we are getting closer to home.
Saturday April 18
Athens Greece: I didn’t realize how many islands are off the coast of Greece. We are in the homeland of democracy. The harbor here is very quaint, full of sailboats and coves. Our bus takes us on a journey weaving thru typical narrow European streets. The first stop is a very large football field looking sports arena. It first took shape about 400 BC, and was updated with all marble seating around 100 AD. Updated the last time in 1896 for the beginning of the modern Olympics. It holds 70,000 and was used for some events in the 1996 Athens games. Next was climbing the Acropolis to see what’s left of the Parthenon and other structures. They were all in pretty good shape until the wars with the Turks in the 1600’s. They actually had a powerful cannon of sorts that laid waste to most of it. From the top of the hill where the complex is situated a view of all Athens is visible. The entire Parthenon is locked in a web of steel scaffolding as work continues puting this huge puzzle back together. Looters and wars have taken their toll but considering it’s been around since 437BC it’s a small miracle. The collection of artifacts in their National Museum is one of the best in the world. The guide gave us high tech headphones to hear her stories unencumbered by any ambient tourist noise. We are now seeing sculpting of the human body in marble taken to a pinnacle of mastery that time has shown us nothing better. The end of the day was a leisurely stroll through a neat old market place where we bought something cool for Jill and Ginger[If you’re reading this you can have it!} We also got to do some people watching and coffee drinking.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Salalah--one of the wild places
Tuesday April 7
Day at sea . Getting more instruction on Mahjong. Lectures and choir.
Wednesday April 8—“Sa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la”
Salalah Oman--First off Aunt Sue says hi to Andrea and Ben Thanks for tuning in to the trip. This seems like a real foreign country. Men wearing long gowns and little round caps. Women with head coverings sometimes covering everything except their eyes. A land where a man can have 4 wives if he can afford it. Our guide has one wife and says it’s plenty. His dad has two wives. They all got along as much as any family. This is a very prosperous place. The Sultan here is very good to the people. Schools and hospitals and new housing. The people love him very much. He shares the wealth of the oil with everyone, unlike some of the other Arab countries. They have a 3 month monsoon season that makes for a California type of agriculture. Everything and anything grows here. It’s very refreshing to not see litter everywhere. Our bus takes us through desert speckled with camels and new houses. The first stop is a 1000 year old tomb and similar aged cemetery. Next is a excavation site of a 1000 year old seaside settlement. The combination of mountains , coastlines and desert topography is truly enchanting. All the biffys here are squatters, something else you don’t see in Kansas. Oman has been the center for frankincense for over 2000 years. It’s grown commercially and wild in the desert everywhere. Our tour ends with a visit to a replica of a small desert fort and a Smithsonian type high tech museum containing shipping history and ancient artifacts of past civilizations from the area. On balance a country that we could spend more time in.
Thursday April 9
Day at sea--The hijacked American freighter is the talk of the day. I get pictures of American destroyers watching over us and others. Some got a picture of one of the helicopters in recon that are stationed on the destroyers. Also a submarine cruising thru the water. The odds are small but the protection is very visible. We enjoy a Scottish singer and flute player in the evening.
Friday April 10
Day at sea--Second day of our run to the Red Sea and out of harm’s way. Good Friday to you all. Found a ping pong buddy. Working the snot out of each other. As we were entering the narrows leading into the Red sea some fishermen in small power boats came towards the ship. There was no explanation from the bridge so it’s a point of conjecture at this point who they actually were and what they were up to. They were about a dozen boats angling toward the stern of the ship. For whatever reason they all pealed off suddenly and gave up the pursuit. As they used to say on “Laugh In”--Very Interesting.
Saturday April 11
Day at sea--More ping pong and other forms of lollygagging. Nice dinner with Nancy and David from out East.
Sunday April 12
Day at sea-- Happy Easter! Sue has successfully completed another Lent without dessert. I have spent another Lent successfully BS-ing and being nice to as many new people as possible. I hope Egypt is as good as the warm up lecture was. A little dancing and Sue sets the alarm for an early start tomorrow.
Day at sea . Getting more instruction on Mahjong. Lectures and choir.
Wednesday April 8—“Sa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la”
Salalah Oman--First off Aunt Sue says hi to Andrea and Ben Thanks for tuning in to the trip. This seems like a real foreign country. Men wearing long gowns and little round caps. Women with head coverings sometimes covering everything except their eyes. A land where a man can have 4 wives if he can afford it. Our guide has one wife and says it’s plenty. His dad has two wives. They all got along as much as any family. This is a very prosperous place. The Sultan here is very good to the people. Schools and hospitals and new housing. The people love him very much. He shares the wealth of the oil with everyone, unlike some of the other Arab countries. They have a 3 month monsoon season that makes for a California type of agriculture. Everything and anything grows here. It’s very refreshing to not see litter everywhere. Our bus takes us through desert speckled with camels and new houses. The first stop is a 1000 year old tomb and similar aged cemetery. Next is a excavation site of a 1000 year old seaside settlement. The combination of mountains , coastlines and desert topography is truly enchanting. All the biffys here are squatters, something else you don’t see in Kansas. Oman has been the center for frankincense for over 2000 years. It’s grown commercially and wild in the desert everywhere. Our tour ends with a visit to a replica of a small desert fort and a Smithsonian type high tech museum containing shipping history and ancient artifacts of past civilizations from the area. On balance a country that we could spend more time in.
Thursday April 9
Day at sea--The hijacked American freighter is the talk of the day. I get pictures of American destroyers watching over us and others. Some got a picture of one of the helicopters in recon that are stationed on the destroyers. Also a submarine cruising thru the water. The odds are small but the protection is very visible. We enjoy a Scottish singer and flute player in the evening.
Friday April 10
Day at sea--Second day of our run to the Red Sea and out of harm’s way. Good Friday to you all. Found a ping pong buddy. Working the snot out of each other. As we were entering the narrows leading into the Red sea some fishermen in small power boats came towards the ship. There was no explanation from the bridge so it’s a point of conjecture at this point who they actually were and what they were up to. They were about a dozen boats angling toward the stern of the ship. For whatever reason they all pealed off suddenly and gave up the pursuit. As they used to say on “Laugh In”--Very Interesting.
Saturday April 11
Day at sea--More ping pong and other forms of lollygagging. Nice dinner with Nancy and David from out East.
Sunday April 12
Day at sea-- Happy Easter! Sue has successfully completed another Lent without dessert. I have spent another Lent successfully BS-ing and being nice to as many new people as possible. I hope Egypt is as good as the warm up lecture was. A little dancing and Sue sets the alarm for an early start tomorrow.
Dubai--incredible building projects!
Friday April 3
Day at sea .Bonding over a beer with our new friends and neighbors—Chrystahl and Eddie from Germany. Liquor is very expensive on board so we have dried out pretty completely!
Saturday April 4
Day at sea. Sea has been quite calm for weeks now. Working on the tan and staying away from the chow line. We are so happy to see people are reading the blog—today, Andrea and Ben. Wow!
Sunday April 5
A German guide starts us out on our adventure around Dubai. A mountain of gabbroic boulders that are used to ballast the banks of “artificial “real estate in the sea greet us as we leave the dock. The old cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II has been purchased by a Dubai investor group and is tied up by our ship and is going to be turned into a 7 star hotel. We drive thru the city that is bursting with construction projects. Fifteen percent of all the new construction on the planet is here. Our first stop is the Burj Al Arab hotel supposedly the only 7star hotel in the world. After seeing it I can’t imagine anything more grandiose. Rooms can go for $10,000 a night. You will just have to see the pics. to get the idea. We have a nice ethnic brunch on the 24th floor with a great view of the city and bay. Then off to the Palm Jameirah Island. This whole complex is on an artificial island shaped like a palm tree—a huge water-front condo arrangement. Each branch contains back to back condos facing the water. That way every condo on the island has beach front. We take a catamaran ride out around the artificial islands of “the world” and a view of the Atlantis Hotel. The Atlantis is the largest water-themed and entertainment hotel in the world. Buy some trinkets at the dock and spend the rest of the day unwinding from the daze we were put in visiting Dubai. The area is in a temporary slump due to the world-wide turn down; a lot of the projects we saw were on hold. But still very impressive.
Day at sea .Bonding over a beer with our new friends and neighbors—Chrystahl and Eddie from Germany. Liquor is very expensive on board so we have dried out pretty completely!
Saturday April 4
Day at sea. Sea has been quite calm for weeks now. Working on the tan and staying away from the chow line. We are so happy to see people are reading the blog—today, Andrea and Ben. Wow!
Sunday April 5
A German guide starts us out on our adventure around Dubai. A mountain of gabbroic boulders that are used to ballast the banks of “artificial “real estate in the sea greet us as we leave the dock. The old cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II has been purchased by a Dubai investor group and is tied up by our ship and is going to be turned into a 7 star hotel. We drive thru the city that is bursting with construction projects. Fifteen percent of all the new construction on the planet is here. Our first stop is the Burj Al Arab hotel supposedly the only 7star hotel in the world. After seeing it I can’t imagine anything more grandiose. Rooms can go for $10,000 a night. You will just have to see the pics. to get the idea. We have a nice ethnic brunch on the 24th floor with a great view of the city and bay. Then off to the Palm Jameirah Island. This whole complex is on an artificial island shaped like a palm tree—a huge water-front condo arrangement. Each branch contains back to back condos facing the water. That way every condo on the island has beach front. We take a catamaran ride out around the artificial islands of “the world” and a view of the Atlantis Hotel. The Atlantis is the largest water-themed and entertainment hotel in the world. Buy some trinkets at the dock and spend the rest of the day unwinding from the daze we were put in visiting Dubai. The area is in a temporary slump due to the world-wide turn down; a lot of the projects we saw were on hold. But still very impressive.
Monday, April 6, 2009
India: A place of contrasts
Tuesday March 31
Day at sea: Bumming around the ship. The weather is hot and humid. The pool feels good!
Wednesday, April 1
Mumbai, India : Our 15 hour shore excursion starts at 5:30 AM. The bus takes us through some of the most ramshackle slums to date. Made a very unsettling start for the day. There are enough of us on the tour that a private chartered jet is being used. Our customs processing divides the men and women into separate lines. We all get the wand treatment. The wanding for the women is done in private and only by women. Our destination is the Taj Mahal which is located in Agra a two hour flight NE from Mumbai. After a nice ethnic lunch we are off to fight the hoards of hawkers that line the streets that we have to walk down to get to the Taj. Again security is very tight getting in. Shoes have to be covered and no video inside the tomb. Even inside, lots of people want to take pictures of you in different settings for a price. Once we got to the shrine it’s like a white marble football field. Its grandeur seems out of place and from a better time in India when the crush of overpopulation hadn’t manifested itself yet. A lot of the Indian populace was there decked out in their very colorful best. Another running of the gauntlet back to the bus and a trip to the Agra Fort. This was the residence of the mughal that built the Taj. In my view this was the most impressive stop. It was like the biggest castle from a medieval fairytale. Complete with moat and drawbridge. The interior was like a small city. It housed 5000 concubines the mughal took care of plus his wife who had 17 children and died with the last one in childbirth. A hurried trip thru Mumbai after our return flight revealed the masses of people, bikes, motor bikes and cars in the twilight slowly pulsing their way home or just getting out after the heat of the day. It was a day of many emotions.
April 2
Day at sea: Sue went to a very ethnic English meal at noon. They offered bangers and mash (mashed potatoes and sausage), cottage pie (beef stew with cheese and baked with mashed spuds on top—my choice—yum!), ploughman’s lunch (a deli type sandwich) and fish and chips. Found mahjong on the computer but it’s just a matching game.
Day at sea: Bumming around the ship. The weather is hot and humid. The pool feels good!
Wednesday, April 1
Mumbai, India : Our 15 hour shore excursion starts at 5:30 AM. The bus takes us through some of the most ramshackle slums to date. Made a very unsettling start for the day. There are enough of us on the tour that a private chartered jet is being used. Our customs processing divides the men and women into separate lines. We all get the wand treatment. The wanding for the women is done in private and only by women. Our destination is the Taj Mahal which is located in Agra a two hour flight NE from Mumbai. After a nice ethnic lunch we are off to fight the hoards of hawkers that line the streets that we have to walk down to get to the Taj. Again security is very tight getting in. Shoes have to be covered and no video inside the tomb. Even inside, lots of people want to take pictures of you in different settings for a price. Once we got to the shrine it’s like a white marble football field. Its grandeur seems out of place and from a better time in India when the crush of overpopulation hadn’t manifested itself yet. A lot of the Indian populace was there decked out in their very colorful best. Another running of the gauntlet back to the bus and a trip to the Agra Fort. This was the residence of the mughal that built the Taj. In my view this was the most impressive stop. It was like the biggest castle from a medieval fairytale. Complete with moat and drawbridge. The interior was like a small city. It housed 5000 concubines the mughal took care of plus his wife who had 17 children and died with the last one in childbirth. A hurried trip thru Mumbai after our return flight revealed the masses of people, bikes, motor bikes and cars in the twilight slowly pulsing their way home or just getting out after the heat of the day. It was a day of many emotions.
April 2
Day at sea: Sue went to a very ethnic English meal at noon. They offered bangers and mash (mashed potatoes and sausage), cottage pie (beef stew with cheese and baked with mashed spuds on top—my choice—yum!), ploughman’s lunch (a deli type sandwich) and fish and chips. Found mahjong on the computer but it’s just a matching game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)