18th June - 22nd June in the Mediterranean

Tuesday 18^th June we passed through the Strait of Tiran and re-entered the Red Sea and then entered the Gulf of Suez travelling very slowly towards the Suez Canal.  The distance we had to travel was not far so we slowed down to less than 10 knots and later that evening we stopped and had to wait until early the next morning.     

Wednesday 19^th June.  At approximately 0330 we approached our anchorage waiting area and waited in convoy until 0700 we commenced our transit into the Suez.  We were out on deck to watch the entry into the canal and strayed out there for about 2 hours and then went to breakfast. 

It is interesting to see the difference with the two sides of the canal, one side is green and lots of towns, the other side is sand and about every 100 metres a soldier standing in the sun with an automatic rifle.

Just before the end of the canal is a bridge that has arms on either side of the canal and it can open up the canal or if the arms are closed it forms a bridge and the traffic and flow across the canal.

The trip was very fast as we did not have any stops and we entered the Mediterranean over 3 hours earlier than expected.  Another lovely day on the ship admiring what is a fantastic engineering achievement which saves days of sailing and fuel for merchant and naval ships.

Distance from Aqaba to Suez Canal 301.3 Nautical Miles, average speed 11.03 knots.

Thursday 20^th June Ashdod, Israel.  Currency – shekel. 

Today is one of the special days that convinced me to do this cruise again, Jerusalem and Bethlehem is our tour for the day.

We had been warned by members of the cruise about the security in both Israel and Palestine and had also been assured that there had never been a problem in the past.

Where to begin, it was like entering the Bible and looking at a lot of the places you have read about.  

The name Jerusalem suggests a place of peace; it has indeed been the pivotal city in the formation of the world’s great religions. 

The central focus of Jerusalem is the Temple Mount where Abraham came to sacrifice his son to God.  

This whole region is revered in Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage and all consider this place holy ground.  Our guide was very proud of the history of his homeland and kept giving us information until we could not absorb any more.   

I took hundreds of pictures and probably will not remember what is what.  OK, what did we see?  

Our first stop was to the Gardens of Gethsemane which is the ancient olive tree garden where Judas betrayed Christ; they say that some of these beautiful old trees were there when the betrayal happened.   While we were there a very old monk was walking in the garden if you shut your eyes you can image Jesus walking in the garden, it was a start to an amazing day of walking through Biblical history.

We walked to Church of Gethsemane which was right next door and while we were there they were holding mass. 

Our next stop was a walk along the path that Jesus walked as he carried the cross and we stopped at the various stations, it was crowded with many shops and pilgrims, the path was made of cobble stones and had become very slippery over the thousands of years and very uneven, you have to walk with care.  

The other thing that surprised me was how hilly the area was, we went up and down hills, it was quite hard work and very hot and a lot of the older people found it hard.

Our next stop on our 3 hour walk was to the Western Wall or as we know it, the Wailing Wall. Our guide gave us a slip of paper where we wrote a prayer and we walked down into the area where people leave messages in the wall for God. 

The section was divided into male and female sections and it was very crowded, we managed to shove our way into the wall and put our paper into a crevice only to watch the next person to push it out onto the ground.  

The paper is taken out every week and buried on one of the sacred hill.  We found out when we were back on the ship that just after we were at the wall, a man was shot by the guards as they thought he was a terrorist, the place was totally locked down.

Fortunately we were then taken back to the bus and we travelled to the Church of Holy Sepulchre which is centuries old church which by long standing tradition marks the historic location of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. The Church of the Sepulchre contains quite a number of chapels and shrines representing the many Christian sects: Greek, Latins, Copts Armenians, Syrians and Ethiopians.

We walked up some winding stairs to see the Chapel of the Cross and then saw the Stone of the Anointing where Jesus’ body was prepared for burial, the people kneeled and kissed the stone and when you touched the stone, your hand spelt of fragrant oil.

Our next stop took us to the room where the Last Supper was held and once again it was incredible to be standing in the room where it all took place, it is hard to be sceptical when you are there.  

The Tomb of King David is also in the same area, the chapel was divided into separate entrances for males and females with a curtain separating the tomb.

By this time we were well and truly ready for lunch as it was after 1300 and we were used to being force fed every 4 hours, we were taken to a Kibbutz where we had a lovely meal of local dishes.

We travelled to Bethlehem after lunch, this meant that we had to leave Israel and cross the border into Palestine, we had to take on board the bus a Palestinian tour guide and we went to visit the grotto where Jesus was born, we also walked around the church that was built on the site.  It was interesting the our Israeli guide was constantly telling us that Palestine and Israel were good friends and that most of the stories about problems wasn’t true!

The trip back across the border back into Israel passed without incident although it could have been a different matter if the border guards were feeling cranky.  We travelled back to the bus by a scenic route and were back on board just in time for final boarding.

What a fantastic day, to be able to walk in the places that so much history had taken place and to realise that this area was the basis for all major religions and you must also ask yourself ‘how could the differences come about’?

Distance from Suez Canal to Ashod 128.1 Nautical Miles, average speed 11.65 knots.

Friday 21^st June found the Sea Princess in the Mediterranean, passing the Islands of Crete and Milos on our way Italy.  

The weather is windy but warm and we are beginning to wonder where the time has gone as we are almost halfway through the cruise.

Saturday June 22^nd – Piraeus, Italy.  Currency – Euro.  

Today when we woke and went up on deck we found ourselves in the seaport of Piraeus which is the gateway to Athens where of course the Acropolis is found.  

I decided that this trip I would go in another direction and travel to see the Temple of Poseidon on the coastline of Cape Sounion.  

The Temple was built in the 5^th Century BC and is dedicated to the God of Sea and it is not hard to imagine what it must have looked like when it was built, the wind was very strong and the poor people must have had a hard time keeping warm though their washing would be dry is minutes.

It is almost impossible to describe the ‘blue’ colour of the sea in the Mediterranean, it is just stunning and I am so taken with the country side and the houses I think I could live here.

We stopped in a carpark and the guide took us to a bridge and when we looked down, we found ourselves looking down at a man-made canal which had been carved through a mountain in the 19^th century to save sailing time.

Lunch was next on the agenda and we went into a local café and bought a giros (like a yaros) and sampled the local wine, I had baklava for sweets and the total bill was 10 euro.

We then went to look at the ancient city of Corinth which was one the wealthiest city in Greece, ancient Corinth was home to a forum that rivalled Rome, there has been a lot of rebuilding done at this site and the Corinth Museum had a huge collection of antiquities and mosaics.  

Gosh it was really hot walking around the area and many people found it too much, me I loved it, though I must admit that I was pleased to get back into the airconditioned van.

All too soon we were back on the ship and settling down at the back of the ship with a cold vodka and tomato juice to watch this beautiful port disappear into the distance.

Distance from Ashod to Piraeus 664.3 Nautical Miles, average speed 19.98 knots.