Disembarking in Rome June 16/15
We got off  the ship earlier than planned, so about 8:15 am and went outside to wait for our prepaid shuttle. We wait and waited and waited. After calling the office of the limo company, found they were on their way only to wait and wait and wait some more. Then some more calls found that the driver was waiting outside the port. Oh yes now we remember that you have to change busses to go to boat so it’s the same in reverse. We did finally connect …… At 10:15. 

After arriving at our hotel for the next 3 nights…the “Yes” hotel ….very near the Termini station, we trek off to see the Coloseum.  Jim has a tour there and heads off on his own.  Marion, Joyce, Jeanette, Pamela and myself have a walking ” food” tour.  We run into Margrit, Gerry & Janet at the Coloseum and Shirley has gone back to the hotel to rest.

We met our guide for the evening,”Alex”, in an area not in the regular touristy areas…… Not far from the Tiber River.  It was a lovely walk along the tree lined river bank on our way there.  Alex had been to Victoria when he worked and lived in Seattle for about 3 years……so spoke perfect English.  Our guide was a part time actor appearing in Gangs of New York amongst others but has since quit.  Now he translates books from English to Italian and vice versa as well as does tours.

Where we met him in the square Piazza Mattei, there is a “fountain of the turtle” built in the 15th century, that means “make haste but do it slowly”.  After one course of dinner we got an unexpected tour and history lesson.  Each course was followed by another walking tour and more history.  

We started out in the Jewish ghetto area built in the 1550’s.  There were 7 gates. In 1871 the Jews were freed from ghetto by the king of Italy.They had been held captive for 3 centurys.  They were “free” until Mussolini descriminated against them but it was the Germans that took them away to Auschwitz.  8000 had lived here at the time, October 1943…they took 2091 (all that they could find) but only 12 survived the death camp.

In 1903 Jewish synagogue was built.  It is the only square dome in Rome.  In 1982 it was attacked by terrorists.  We saw police presence on the street…….still.  
Pavements are 1700-1800 year old cobblestones. Parts of building structures are from hundreds years bc and added to as the Tiber flooded.  There are no skyscrapers in Rome because nothing can be higher than the dome at St. Peter’s.

We were shown the Flori de Campo, which is regular marketplace by day …..and a lovely street that we definitely wanted to check out another day…..for shopping.   Things seemed waaaaay cheaper here than the designer shops near the Spanish Steps.  In interesting thing……in one place that we ate at, there was a glass covered hole in the floor that you could see what was left of a Roman bath.  Very cool!

Everywhere you look in Rome it seems that they are digging up and restoring the ancient buildings.  Different than here where everywhere you look they are digging up roads and then trying fix things…….that are probably less than 50 years old.

We were all so full of food after this tour was over but also so more informed as to the history of this smallish section of Rome.  That was more than we expected. 

Rome 

2nd day……hop on, hop off bus

It was the longest lasting empire dynasty in history

We started at Termini station completed 1950…..Extremely huge with shops and banks etc. 

Rome began in 750 BC on Palatine Hill, Etruscans then Romans to 3rd century AD. When Christianity was accepted. At the height of empire there was 1 million people. The roman empire ending in 476AD.

 2nd stop Santa Maggiore church.. Picture with obelisk in front.

Coloseum former name was Flavian Amphitheatre built in 80AD., it would hold 50,000 spectators. Gladiators were condemned slaves and prisoners. Survivors became heroes. Constantine arch was built in 315AD when Constantine converted to Christianity. Circus Maximus was 500 x150 ft with 2 sets of ruts where chariots would race.. Would hold up to 300,000 in bleachers on each side. 

Sorry to say that the Trevi Fountain was waterless.  That as well as other ancient sites including the Coloseum, are being repaired and restored to past granduer.

Wedding Cake War Memorial

Circus Maximus

Trevi Fountain waterless

Jim and Shirley at Spanish Steps

St Peter’s dome was started in 15th century, the chief architect being Michaelangelo but was not completed until 1626.  He was 72 why he started that project.  The church was built on the spot of St. Peter’s death.  He died a martyr and was buried in 64AD.

The Vatican Museum…..Michaelangelo was not a painter but a sculptor and so had to learn as he went. Lived 89 yrs.  In it there are 200,000 pieces of art.  Sistine chapel took  him 4 yrs  to do, 1508-1512.  The are 500 characters but no animals and no landscape. He was annoyed and left the job but 5 years later he came back.  That was when he did the Last Judgement with 700 characters.

Floors are recycled ancient marble from Greece and other colonies.  The tapestries are amazing too…..totally three dimensional as are the the paintings in the ceilings.  It looks as if they are done in relief but are all in fact all flat.

Fresco is painting with wet plaster that after 8 hours cannot be corrected so you had better not make any mistakes.

Raphael in competion with Michaelangelo, Raphael had helpers, M. did it all by himself.

St Peters  dome is 45 metres in diameter and 9 stories high.  The 180 m long 1506 to 1608 to build.  185 m or 550 feet high dome, the nave being by186 meters long.  It is the 2nd longest in world after St Pauls in London

Michaelangelo was 21 years old when he completes the Pieta …….amazing! All of the sculptures are absolutely incredible.

M. took over building the dome after Rafael died at 39… It is make in mosaic.  The lettering around the inside of the dome only is 2 xs our guide’s height.

4 columns in the centre under the dome, are wood covered in bronze

There are 25/30,000 visitors per day but on Wednesdays 150,000.  Thank goodness we were not there that day.

The traffic jam was horrendous with motorcycle being the absolute fastest way to get around…..but scary!

Its raining today. Whats with that! We are supposed to be going to see the beaches, one, Poetto Beach which is 8 miles long We will be seeing those as well as other things and places. Cagliari has a 370,000 population ……..built on 7 hills.

City hall built in 1907 is a beautiful building made of limestone that was damaged during 2nd world war but it has now been restored.

We stopped at another view point mount Pinto, to take pictures all the way around.. Salt ponds where we are to see flamingos as well as old part of city. Very nice.

Beautiful purple acacia trees and bougavillia…quite a modern city, clean and well taken care of.

Salt mines were closed in 1960/70s.  Did not really get a chance to get a good look at the flamingos.  The bus did not stop…….no one was impressed.

In the north there miniature white donkeys….too far away….didn’t see them but we’re told of them.

3rd largest producer of cork after Spain and Portugal.

1324… Pisans built the fortress against Arabs…..most of these pictures are of that area.  Take note of the door that drops down….the one with the spikes.

Tower built in 1305.

What a comedy of errors it was bring this ship into port this am. First the ship had to sort of parallel park. Then these little tugs were stringing up ropes and trying to pull this big ship to dock….back and forth. Oh my! I would have thought this ship could have used its bow thrusters but then maybe the harbour was not deep enough if that could be a reason or not. For the second time recently I saw the “meeting of the waters” ….Sicilian style this time, when the bottom mud got churned up.
I am not on an organized tour today so Janet, Jeanette and I decide to find something from outside the ship that would take us to Erice. Janet tried to make a deal with some independent drivers in the parking lot. We lost out on that but found that we could get something from inside the terminal that included the bus ride, the cable car and a pastry there and back for 20 Euros. We ended up getting the last 3 tickets. Phew!!!

Apparently they couldn’t run the cable car until 10:15 cuz there had been a fire up there. We will see.  You can see it in the pictures.

Well it was another 3/4 hour before they opened the gates to the cable cars. That leaves it a little short at the top since we have to be back by 1 to catch it back down in time for the bus back to the pier. Finally! There are around 50 cars. I know because i forgot to keep checking after 47. Anyway……the cars continued on and on to the top, 571 metres. It is another great example of a town that is built high up a hill for protection. There are indications that it was first inhabited around 5000BC but that the city was built around the 12 th century AD. Now there are very few people living there, most of which are in their 80’s & 90’s. 

 Some of these are from the House of Dionysus,probably belonging to a ruling roman in the 2nd century AD.  What looks like carpets are actually mosaics.  Each one tells a story.   The other pictures are predominantly of the Tomb of the Kings…. From the 4th century BC.   Of course there is one picture of me and one of Tony the Tiger.  Havent seen one if those for years.                     

Limassol, Cyprus… In south of Cyprus 9:30 and its already 26 C. Janet, Joyce, Marion, Jeanette and myself are going to Pafos as well as another place today. I notice that Janus is on the dock. Janus is the resident artist’s interpretation of something or other I think a God. It shows up in different places every day.   They drive on the left here because the British influence who were here until 1960 when the country gained independence. Traveling to a plantation, passed british military base to birth place of Aphrodite and then to Pafos, the home to Dionysus. There is castle here built in 13th century by the Crusaders. We visit the Tombs of the Kings (it looks like houses of that period).   One can ski on Cyprus from Jan. to March. 180,000 live in Limassol.  It is the main port. Carnivale, is the 2nd largest in world after Brazil.. Greek Orthodox Christians live in the south, Turks in north where Muslims live. Inhabitants from the Greek side need passports to go to Turkish side.   It is called the Island of cats…stray cats were introduced to get rid of snakes. Citrus trees grow in previous swamps as in Israel. Commandaria name of sweet dessert wine that they make here. Ancient city built by Greeks to island of Aphrodite. In 12 century BC. In Greek, hypocrisy….named for masks of actors, athlete means hard work and gymnastics means nude……all makes sense huh? 340 days of sunshine a year. Eucalyptus and acacia trees were brought by British. After giving independence, the Brits kept the base. Before Brits were the Ottomans…… for 300 years. Cyprus means copper. Total population is 800,000. The Turks in the south lost their homes when all the Turkish Cypriots moved to north. In 1974, 200,000 Greeks were chased out of the North by the Turks ……to the south. Nicosia is divided city. Petra Tou Romoui …. Alektora….Home of Aphrodite comes from name of foam. Volcano god (Vulcan) married Aphrodite (means love) but the love of her life was Adonis. Pafos will be the “Cultural City of Europe in 2017 by UNESCO. In 9000 BC peoples came from Caanan to Cyprus.  From first century BC to 3rd. century AD, narcissus Mosaics in house of Dionysus Tomb of kings from 3bc to 3 ad Scarfogus Doric columns+ tri..,. I have someone following my blog by the name of gramma2010. Would you please let me know who you are? So many pictures of Cyprus are on my phone 

Aphrodites Rock

Jeanette, Joyce, Janet & Marion

 Jerusalem is down a third of country from the top.
As we look out to the pier from the ship we can see an armed Israeli soldier. This is a reminder that this is country more or less under siege.

As we head south we pass beaches and settlements to our left and right. Minarets are our first clue, mostly on our left, that those are Palestinian towns. The cities themselves are quite mishmashy….not laid out in any sort of order.

Along the way we see “big gun” monuments or left overs from previous battles.

Lots of big infrastructure being built on the outskirts of Jerusalem. We pass by a extremely large Mormon tabernacle (they are absolutely not allowed to preach or recruit), the Gethsemane Basilica at the foot of the Mount of Olives and the golden onion shaped domes (not sure or can’t remember the name of it) of some other religious house. In the distance we see the Dome of the Rock. Humongous!

We entered Jerusalem at the Dung Gate. It is the lowest. First we walked to the Wailing Wall. People are sticking notes in the cracks in the wall and praying.  The day before some of the gals had said that people were wailing (of course it was the Sabbath.  That may explain the difference).  As we walk along the Via Dolorosa (too fast to buy anything from the vendors. We were annoyed that we couldn’t support the local economy), we pass the 7(?) stations, one place where Jesus is said to have leaned against the wall (it is indented from so many people over the centuries leaning against it as well). From there to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is built over top of the rock where Jesus’ cross was installed (it’s encased in glass), the slab on which his body was placed, etc. then it was time to go for a beautiful buffet lunch at the Olive Tree Hotel, the crappy souvenir shop and head in back to the ship. Too short of a time to take it all in. We barely scratched the surface. We had gone through the Christian, Jewish and Muslim sections but did not go in any of the other religious places of worship.

Ottoman Empire clear cut everything so trees to speak of except the eucalyptus.  
1882-87… The Zionist started farming first with grapes then made wineries.

There used to be swamps along coast but now there are lots of citrus grown in  what were previously swamps.  They had been drained to the sea. 

7 crops for millennium: grapes, olives, citrus, wheat, 

5% is solar power. Also use recycled waste water… 15% gas 

White chalk then limestone from inland is used for construction. 

8,000,000 population total; 3.5 million in Tel Aviv metropolitan area; 1 mill. In Jerusalem area…although it is the largest city

There are 1.6 million non Jewish in Israel.

65% of water comes from aquifer springs

Chicken farm beside road where we stopped for a bathroom break. Omg was it stinky! It uses solar power & recycled water. Most farming use recycled water. That’s conservation for you!

Walled cities on east of route 6 are Palestinian. The wall (the green line) was built in 1949 when the British gave up their control of the area to Israel. In 1967 Israel took the West Bank from Jordan in a battle that was started by Jordan. In the West Bank there are different areas of control. On the map of Israel the brown colour indicates that it is under full Palestinian ( Arab) control and that you need permission to enter. The wall and fence indicates is under full Palestinian control. The yellow areas on the map is under shared control and the white are Jewish settlements behind the green line.

Palestinians lost jobs in Israel when Palestinian authority took over. They were replaced by foreign workers. Their loss, their choice. The area that the “Palestinians” lived in was previous Jordanian territory but were generally nomads. The name Palestinian is a new invention. It is not a race of people or nationality. The “Palestinians” never had a country.  They are all just Arabs.  Anything to cause trouble (did I say that out loud).

Occupied territories of Jordan became occupied Palestinian territory in ’67. The border with Jordan is 700 km long.

LPR (licence plate recognition) 

  cameras on overpasses ……$6 for private car or $25 for a bus the entire 100 miles. It was built privately for profit. That is one way to get roads and such built.

 In 1982 Jerusalem was united. The Jewish side previously was the west, Muslim was east.

The Dead Sea is 1500′ below sea level and rises to 2000′ above at Jerusalem a …..climb total of 3500 feet in 6 miles. A pretty long and steep hill.

This Is the first time we have had to use show our passports in any if the ports we have been to or will be going to. To get a visitors permit the Israeli border guards want to see you face to face before stamping a card to enter the country. Security is pretty steep. No walking from the ship into town.
Here are some of the notes I took:
One can drive from one end of Israel to other in 6.5 hrs

Egypt signed a peace agreement in 1979. Jordan also signed peace agreement because they wanted access to Mediterranean for shipping.

Haifa with Mt. Carmel in back…green …300,000 people

Oil refinery not nuclear even if it looks like it.

When Iraq was sending scud missiles toward Israel…Haifa actually, all of them ended up in the Mediterranean except one. It landed in the middle of a shopping mall in the middle of the night when no one was around and…..it didn’t explode. It other places, surface to air missiles took down many others throughout the country. It’s hard to imagine being shot at from across the river and further.

Past Menache Mt. Park

30% dessert in Israel is irrigated. They have the most advanced irrigation systems in world. Desalination plants.  Water is very expensive.

10% reduction income tax, mortgage, yadda, yadda to encourage Israelis to move inland.

They are self sufficient in natural gas.

Tel Megiddo, an archaeological site from 7000 yrs to 3000 yrs ago in the fields of Armageddon…a place where 30 cities had been built one on top of each other.

Lots of Eucalyptus trees were planted to suck up swamps. They were brought from Australia. They did not work because their roots go laterally. But….Quinine is made from eucalyptus trees and used in the battle with malaria which was a problem because of the swamps and Mosquitos.

All signage and documents are in Hebrew, Arabic ( both are official language) …..and English

Saul was the first king…he lost battle to Philistines then David rescued the Jews. Sorry missed the rest of the info.

Huge kibbutz!

Fish pools..lots of springs. Very hot…105 f. In shade in July and August

Everything grows here and multiple crops per year. It doesn’t look like it where there is no irrigation. It is just barren.

Mt. Gilboah no trees on the other side of Jordan River 

In ’67 Jordan lost the West Bank, the only fertile section in Jordan….where the Palestinians claiming as their own now.

After 90/97peace agreement, Jordan started to cultivate and learned from Israel.. Narrow strip on other side of river Jordan now feeds all of Jordan.

Qumran….. Dead sea scrolls found in hillside caves…pictures. The story goes that a shepherd boy was missing one of his flock and went looking for it. In one of the caves in the barren and I mean totally barren hills, he found the scrolls.

Half billion gallons of water from Sea of Galilee for yrs and yrs have been taken out, … the lack of rain runoff and snow means less water in Jordan river which in turn means less to the Dead Sea.  They have a problem.

Jericho is under Palestinian control ….oasis in dessert..mountain of temptation antennae

Tamarisk of the desert survive in salt and no water 

We drove by the En Gedi research facility nature reserve where the endangered Ibex roam freely. There was quite a large herd there. They are quite small antelope with curly horns.

 In 25 yrs the Dead Sea has receded from road we were driving on to an incredibly low level. The level drops 1 metre per year. Because the water is receding so much, there are a huge number of sink holes developing every year along its shores. They are hoping that where they have built the hotels for the tourists and where we went in swimming (yes you really do float. You can sit in it like you are in a recliner) that another sink hole doesn’t show up and swallow up the hotels.

Water in Dead Sea is 15 times saltier than waters in oceans

It is 429 metres below sea level

It was 36 C when we left Dead Sea 

Masada is 450 m. above sea level so it’s 879 metres from Masada to the Dead Sea ……..a long way down!!!

The story of Masada is really something. There were 970 jews in Masada. 10,000 romans hammered away at them for several months but it was after the Romans filled in the gully on the back side with the use of their own men and their  

 Jewish captives totalling 15,000, that they could get a battering ram up higher and breached the walls. When the Romans entered Masada they found plenty of food and water (the Jews had devised a method of getting plenty of water so they weren’t dying of hunger and thirst) and that all had committed suicide to avoid being held prisoners and slaves to the Romans.

Tristan name of black bird with yellow on wing

I am home but have not completed my stories.  The wifi on the ship and in Rome was not ideal never mind the fact that we were always so busy that I didn’t have the time to do it all.

Gythion, Greece ……..on the Peloponnese…….a word/place I hadn’t heard of since high school.  It is the original port for Sparta….remember your high school history?.. This was another day that we had to catch a tender to shore.  No tour planned here.  It’s a smallish town about 5000 people.  Not sure when it was first inhabited but most building are from the last 2 centuries.  There is a derelict theatre built in the 1st century.  One thing that is so pretty is seeing all the fish boats lined up around the harbour with the buildings going up the side of the hill.  First thing we noticed when walking along the dock was that they had octopus’ hanging up…..to dry I guess.  We walked along the shore and onto a little peninsula to reach the lighthouse.  Along the way someone pointed out that the fire hydrant had numerous large snails climbing up it…..in search of water???  The word is that Gythion is known for its many beautiful beaches but none were apparent to us.  We found one (not a very good one that was somewhat rocky) and took our first swim in the Mediterranean.  It is so amazing the crystal clearness of the water (not what you would expect) and ……smooth as glass, until we were swimming for a while.  Then for some strange reason, the waves started to pound in???  Was it the result of an earthquake?  This whole area is an earthquake zone.  The town has numerous cafes along the harbour so stopped for a bite on our way back too the ship.  A funny thing someone pointed out…..there was a Greek man working……painting.