Cradle of Civilization - Rotterdam 10/17/09

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Dear Friends,

We are frequently asked about where we have been and where we are going. As I write this, we are getting ready for a fantastic cruise adventure. October will take us to several Greek ports of call, followed by visits to Antalya and Iskendurun along Turkey’s Turquoise coast, before arriving in Israel for a two day visit.

Following our tours of the Holy Land, we will complete our Mediterranean journey with ports of call in Egypt, Malta, Sicily, Naples and the Eternal City of Rome.

We wish you were with us because that would be the best way to check our whereabouts. But if that is not possible, we invite you to access this forum to share our adventures and enjoy our travels through our eyes.
We hope you will consider joining us on one of our future voyages, and that you will either call or email us with any questions or comments that you may have.

Until then, we hope that you continue reading about our adventures and our travels as much as we enjoy experiencing the different cultures, history and geography of the places we are visiting.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Until then, we wish you good health and much happiness.

Sincerely,

Jay W. Silberman :)
Cruise Consultants Company

[cruisetour]

We have been planning and waiting for this cruisetour program for more than a year, and today is the day that it all starts. It was a quick ride to the airport despite heavy traffic for that time in the morning. I gave out the oatmeal/raison cookies I had purchased for our clients as we waited for the call to board our flight. Including Mary Pat and myself, there are 18 of us traveling together on this flight. One couple will be on a different flight because by the time they made their reservation, our flights were sold out. Although we were originally hada better schedule when we made our flight reservations, the current schedule calls for us to leave San Antonio at 8am for a flight to Atlanta, changing planes for a continuing flight to New York’s Kennedy airport, and then changing again for an afternoon/evening flight to Athens, Greece with a scheduled arrival of 9am. We had concerns that we would miss a flight because the time did not seem adequate to get to departure gates of the ongoing flights, but that was a worry for nothing, as we had no problems making our connections. Our flight to Atlanta was smooth and on time; the only negative was that the visibility was so poor that we could not see the ground until we were almost on the runway. Shortly after takeoff, lunch was served. Our final flight left John F. Kennedy airport at 3:30pm, on time, and headed across the “pond”. We all changed our watches to reflect the full eight hour differential between San Antonio and Athens, Greece.

After a lovely in-flight dinner and a couple of movies, one of which (“My Life in Ruins”) was perfect for this flight because of the scenery depicting the Greek archeological sites, I drifted asleep and slept through the rest of the evening. I woke up as the hostesses were serving breakfast. I ate heartily before taking a morning walk around the plane to visit our clients, and then returned to my seat as the pilot announced that we were starting our descent toward the Athens international airport. After landing at Athens Spata Airport at 9am, we went through immigration and customs procedures before meeting our welcome greeter and transferring to our Athens hotel, the Royal Olympic. Everyone had a nice room, and most had a lovely view overlooking the Temple of Olympia & Zeus. Since we had slept for much of the flight, we were rested and decided to visit the newly opened Acropolis Museum this afternoon. Opened to the public in June 2009, the current admission charge was only 1 euro per person. That charge will increase to 12 Euros effective January 1, 2010. It is a spectacular museum and houses all of the sculptures, and archeological finds that had previously been displayed or stored in the museum at the top of the Athens acropolis. The building stands on top of other archeological digs that can be seen through glass on the first floor of the new museum. After touring the building, we joined up with several of our clients to walk through Plaka (the old town). During our walk, rain started coming down in buckets so we stepped into the first taverna we saw for a lunch of Greek salad, moussaka, and Greek pizza until the downpour stopped. Afterwards, we went to the parliament to see the changing of the guard before returning to our hotel for a much needed nap. This nap actually made us even more tired so that we opted to skip dinner and slept through the evening, and until 6am the following morning.

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We met the members of our group, including the couple who had arrived after us yesterday, at breakfast. We now numbered 20 people, all of whom were ready to start our holy land adventure. We checked out of the hotel and boarded our coach for our tour of Athens, starting with the Olympic Stadium built for the 1st modern Olympic games, followed by Hadrians Arch, the Temple of Olympia & Zeus, and then the sights of the acropolis, including the Propylaria, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon, and the Erechteion; after which we drove to Piraeus where we had a wonderful seaside luncheon before arriving at the pier and boarding our ship, the MS Rotterdam at 3pm. We tried to meet with the beverage manager about our cocktail party, and shipboard events, but never did find him. After lifeboat drill, we checked with the front desk to confirm that all was in order for our group to leave the ship in Haifa for our overnight tour in Jerusalem, and met with the maitre d’ to confirm our dining arrangements. We have 6 clients at early seating, and the other 14 at two late seating tables. The restaurant manager granted us the privilege to sit at either of the two tables so no one would feel left out. After dinner, we collapsed and went directly to bed rather than attending the evening entertainment. The ship left Piraeus several hours later than expected but it did not affect any of the shipwide activities or our going to bed early.

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Our ship docked in Rhodes at 10am. We had gathered our group at 9:45am and as soon as the ship was cleared, we disembarked and met our coach and guide for our tour. We had a 45 minute drive along the east coast of the island to Lindos, the most beautiful village on the island. Lindos has been declared a monument for preservation and the while homes along with the blue of the Aegean makes a beautiful sight from the acropolis there, sacred to the goddess Athena Lyndia.

No one opted to ride the donkey to the top. Everybody walked both ways. At the highest point is the temple of Athena Lyndia (4th century BC), along with the remains of a Byzantine church and the fortifications of the knights of St. John. From the top, we were able to look down on St. Paul’s Bay, where it is said that the apostle first set foot on the island in the year 52 AD. After retracing our steps down the mountain, shopping as we went, we drove to a pretty spot for lunch, and then drove to Rhodes town for a view of the city from the summit of Monte Smith Hill, the highest point above the town. From there, we drove to the medieval town of the knights, with its high walls, deep moats, and narrow cobbled streets to visit the grand masters” palace. The palace was restored in 1940, during the Italian period of the island. There is a plaque giving credit to Mussolini and the fascist government for the work done. From here, we walked through the city and also visited the synagogue before returning to our ship at 5pm. We left Rhodes an hour later, and headed for the turquoise coast of Turkey.

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Our ship arrived at Antalya at 8am, and we were among the first to disembark. Our driver and guide were waiting for us. Our coach was not full sized like the ones we had in Greece, but it is adequate for our group. Today, we visited the ancient sites of Perge and Aspendos. The region, known in antiquity as Pamphylia, was famous for its Greco-Roman monuments. Perge was a city of considerable importance during the Hellenistic period and home to a school of brilliant sculptors who built an oversized Hellenistic and Roman theatre.

The theater at Aspendos was built in the 2nd century and had a capacity of more than 15,000 seats, and has remained intact for 1,800 years while war, earthquakes and time have destroyed all of the surrounding monuments. After visiting these two ancient sites, we returned to Antalya and observed the ancient city walls and ramparts built by the Greeks that still survive. Within the town, we drove past the 13th century Aladdin mosque and Hadrian’s Gate, built in honor of the emperor’s visit there in AD 130. Since we had some additional time, our guide suggested that we visit a company that manufactured Turkish carpets. The shop bought us a lunch of Greek salad and Turkish pizza along with a beverage of our choice before taking us into a showroom and giving us a demonstration of the different carpets that they make as well as to teach us the differences involved in the manufacture of cotton, wool and silk wall hangings and carpets. There were no high pressure sales, and everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. Afterwards, we returned to the pier, arriving there at 3pm, for a 4pm departure.

[cruisetour]

This town’s more popular name is “Alexandretta”, because Alexander the Great visited here while on the way to conquer Egypt. Our ship arrived at 9am, and we were on our coach soon thereafter. Just like yesterday, we are on a minibus, but we did experience problems with our coach today in that it did not have enough power to climb the hills that we were driving over. In fact, during the ascents, the driver had to turn off the air conditioning to get enough power to accelerate up the hill, and even with this additional power, we were overtaken by carts pulled by donkeys and joggers out for a little exercise. We laughed at the incongruity of being lapped by these animal drawn carts and the local “athletes” as we drove along the highway on the way to visit the biblical city of Antioch, featured prominently in early Christianity. Antioch is presently known by the name of Antakya.

Our guide today was the same gentleman that was in charge of our tour yesterday. After returning us to our ship in Antalya, he flew here, and stayed overnight in a hotel awaiting our arrival. The route that we were taking to Antioch brought us within 5 miles of the border crossing with Syria. I hoped that we would have time to cross the open border and step onto the sand there so I could add another country to our list of places visited, but we ran out of time and did not get any closer than the crossroad at the 5 mile marker

We first visited the Antakya Archeology museum, home of the richest collection of Roman mosaics in the world. Afterwards, we visited the Grotto of St. Peter the apostle. In 1983, that church was declared a sacred site by the Vatican. We then went to a local restaurant for lunch before driving to the site of the Roman baths and aqueducts in the countryside and from there returned to the ship at 4pm. Our ship left Turkey at 5pm for the overnight voyage to Israel’s port of Haifa.

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Our group gathered to wait for the call to proceed, and while there everyone sang happy birthday to my son, Todd, who was celebrating his 40th birthday today. There was an early morning face to face meeting with Israeli immigration officials to reclaim our passports after which the ship was cleared and our group of 20 disembarked to meet our guide at 8am and start our overnight excursion of Israel. Our first stop was at a point above Haifa where we could look down on the city of Haifa and the Baha’i temple and its magnificent grounds. From here, we drove to Megiddo, the “hill of battles” where archaeologists have uncovered 20 civilizations built one upon the other. It was at this site that King Solomon built his vast stables and good King Josiah died in battle. An interesting fact about this sight is that Megiddo is the location where the final battle of humankind (Armageddon) is supposed to take place. It is the center of the crossroads of civilization. After our visit, we reboarded our coach for the journey to Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, where at noon, we took a private boat ride on the Sea of Galilee to see the museum housing the Genosar Boat, a Galilee fishing boat from approximately the 1st century A.D. preserved in the muddy sediment of the lake floor and revealed in 1986 when the lake receded to record low levels.

At 1:30pm, we arrived at the Tanureen restaurant in Magdala and most of the group enjoyed a St. Peter’s fish lunch. I had chicken. Afterwards, our tour continued to Capernaum, where disciples Peter and Andrew made their homes; we visited the site of the synagogue there where Jesus preached and also the church that was built there just 29 years ago to commemorate the teachings that took place there. Next, we visited the contemporary church at Tabga that celebrates the miracle of the multiplication that is also depicted on the mosaic floor that was moved there from a Byzantine church depicting the two fish and a basket filled with loaves of bread that was sufficient to feed 5,000 believers.

By now, it was getting dark and we drove through the area known as the West Bank and the Judean Hills to Jerusalem. We could see the lights of Jericho on our right while seeing the lights of the Jordanian towns on our left across the Jordan River. We arrived at our hotel, the David Citadel, at 7pm. Most of our group headed to the nearest shopping mall to find some treasures and an Israeli dinner. The weather had turned cool and I should have brought a jacket but did not do so. The hotel was beautiful and ranks as one of the finest properties in Jerusalem. The rooms were spacious and well appointed. It is located across from the Jaffa gate into the old city. I sure did not have any trouble falling asleep after such a busy and interesting day.

[cruisetour]

We were up at 6am and at the fantastic Israeli breakfast at 7am as it opened, leaving for our full day of adventure at 8am. We wanted to be ahead of the horde of tour buses so went first to the Mount of Olives to see its awe inspiring, panoramic view of Jerusalem and the closed golden gate which will be opened for the messiah when he enters the holy city. As we left this site, the coaches were arriving from everywhere making it difficult to even get out of the way and down the mountain to the Church of Gethsemane, one of the most beautiful in Jerusalem, formerly known as the Church of all Nations because 16 countries contributed to its construction. After visiting the church and attached garden, we entered the Old City through the Dung Gate for our walking tour. First on our list was the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism and the only visible remains of the magnificent second temple. From there, we went to Via Dolorosa, and walked the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher dating back to 325 A.D. when Constantine’s mother, Helena, first requisitioned the area for a church. The structure was largely destroyed by the Turks in 1009 A.D., and partially restored in 1048 A.D. The stone decorations adorning the façade date from Crusader times.

After leaving the old city, we went to see the Israel Museum that houses a model of Jerusalem as it looked in the time of the second temple and also presents the story of the Dead Sea scrolls. This was not on our original schedule, but I suggested that we visit this museum and the guide agreed as long as we pay the admission fees that was $5 for seniors and $10 for others. Our final stop today was at Yad Vashem and before going through the memorials to the children and the newly revised Holocaust museum, we had lunch in the cafeteria there. We spent several hours going through the museum and after our visit, we reboarded our coach for the 1 ½ hour ride to Ashdod and our ship, arriving there at 7pm. We had dinner in the Lido before returning to our rooms, and collapsing into bed for a well deserved night as our ship left its moorings. Everyone was looking forward to having a day at sea to recuperate and rest our legs from the climbing and walking that we had done during the last two days.

[cruisetour]

We met the 17 members of our group who had signed up for this tour at the usual place at 6:20am and to await the first call to pick up passports. The announcement came very quickly after which we disembarked to find our coach, driver, guide, and also our private guard waiting for us. We had a comfortable full sized coach so everyone had their own seats. Our guard, Abraham, was a solid good looking man in a full tie and suit, the jacket of which covered his 45 caliber pistol and automatic machine gun.

Throughout the day, he was very protective of us and allowed no one to bother us in any way. The crowds melted away in front of him as he announced that “we were his family”. Our guide was terrific; he passed out scarabs, to those of us who knew the answers to his questions, making sure that all of us eventually had received one. It was a three hour ride from Alexandria to Giza, and while we were being driven, he taught us the history, economics, and politics of Egypt. As we approached the area of the pyramids, we could see tens of thousands of people assembling there. It was the day of the annual walk for breast cancer awareness, and the walk culminated at Giza. This was in addition to the normal vendors, police, and other groups of tourists who were arriving simultaneously with the marchers. Once we were off the coach, we were accosted by the vendors who tore our hats off our heads and replaced them with Arab scarves, pressed miniature pyramids into our hands, and requested that we change small bills for larger ones. Whenever it seemed that we were being overly intimidated, there came Abraham to correct the situation. It was interesting to see how well we were being protected. Our guide took those of us who wanted to experience a royal burial chamber inside the great pyramid while the rest of us took photos of the surroundings. After they returned, we drove to the area housing the Sphinx and spent some time there before going to a nearby museum to see the Solar Boat, one of the most amazing Pharaonic discoveries after which it was time for lunch at an interesting restaurant in the area of the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. Then it was time to tour parts of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. We saw the treasures of the tomb of Tutankhamen and the extraordinary Mummies Room that included the mummy of Ramses II.

Our final stop was at a fancy shop that makes papyrus paintings. We saw a demonstration of how papyrus is made, after which many in our group bought some of the artwork. Back on the bus as we were driving back to Alexandria and our ship, our guide passed out gifts to everyone—papyrus paintings featuring a cartouche with our names spelled out in hieroglyphics. This was a nice memory of a beautiful day. We arrived back at the pier just after 9:00pm and most of us went to dinner in the dining room before returning to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.

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Everyone slept late Sunday morning. Luckily, breakfast was being served until 10am so no one had to miss a meal. It appeared that everyone was exhausted from the extensive sightseeing that we had just completed, but no one complained. This has been a very special voyage and none of our clients had ever visited the holy land previously. There have been a lot of memories created during this trip. . Monday featured a 1pm past passenger brunch. Also on Monday afternoon, it was announced that we had an emergency evacuation pending and that the ship was deadheading to a place where we could meet up with a helicopter to take the ill person to a hospital. As a result of our increased speed, the transfer was made at dinner time, and we arrived in Valletta at 2am Tuesday morning, instead of the scheduled 8am arrival.

[cruisetour]

Our ship was already docked in Valletta by the time we awoke. I collected our emails before meeting our group in the lounge at 8:15am and disembarked to meet our guide for our half day tour of Valletta, the capital city of Malta and a UNESCO world heritage site. We boarded a coach for a short ride from the pier to the center of town where we got off and started our 5 hour walking tour at the Upper Barracca Gardens for a panoramic view of the grand harbor and the three historic cities of Senglea, Cospicua and Vittoriosa.

From here, we walked to St. John’s Co-cathedral, Malta’s greatest treasure that includes the famous painting by Caravaggio, “the beheading of St. John” and a bronze sculpture of Moses holding the tablets of the law, created in 1567, which stands to the right of the co-cathedral altar. After leaving the cathedral, we stopped for a cake and coffee break at the famous café Cordina, which was established in 1837 and moved to Valletta in 1944 by Mr. Cesare Cordina. The premises have a long and interesting history and inside the beautiful décor is highlighted by a unique vaulted ceiling embellished with paintings by the renowned Maltese painter Giuseppe Cali. These paintings symbolize the previous rulers of Malta and the diverse eras in Malta’s history. The Cordina family recently commissioned 2 final paintings which represent the Independence attained by Malta in 1964 and the birth of the republic in 1974. From here, we proceeded to the Grand Master’s Palace, which currently houses the Maltese Parliament and the offices of the President of Malta. In this building, we visited the State Rooms and the Tapestry Chamber, as well as a series of small panels portraying scenes from the Genesis, including Noah’s Ark that are painted on a ship’s bridge attached to the rear wall of the Grand Master’s hall. We also visited the Manoel Theater, built in 1732 by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, and designed to provide “honest entertainment” to the public. Today, the Manoel is considered by locals and visitors to Malta as a magnificent jewel, existing humbly in the very centre of Valletta and its plain exterior belies the majesty that is found inside.

Our final stop for today was “Jews’ Sally Gate” near Fort St. Elmo, in the area where the 19th century Jewish community lived in Valletta. The gate is in the fortifications at the foot of old Bakery Street and is probably no named for its proximity to the old ghetto and synagogue. After this point of interest, we returned to our coach that returned us to our ship at 1:30pm for lunch. Back on board, we found out that the ship had instituted a “red alert” because of a number of gastrointestinal problems that has arisen among the passengers, and all food items are now behind protective glass. No one is allowed to reach for food other than ship employees who are gloved and using utensils. After lunch, I returned to our room to send emails to the office in response to last night’s reports.

[cruisetour]

Our ship left its dock in Valletta at 7am and cruised to Gozo, dropping anchor off the island at 10am. After a leisurely morning, we met our group in the lounge at 12:50pm where the hotel manager joined us at 1pm to lead us to the tender landing so that we could board one for the ride to shore and our half day tour of Gozo and the island of Calypso.

After boarding our coach, we drove to Xaghra to visit Calypso’s Cave. Situated on a craggy bluff overlooking the Mediterranean, the fertile Ramla valley and the red sands of Ramla Bay, this cave is assumed to be the one referred to by Homer in “the Odyssey” where Calypso, the beautiful nymph, kept Odysseus as a “prisoner of love” for seven years. From here, we visited the Ggantija Prehistoric Temples, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Maltese archipelago. The origins of Ggantija date back to 3600-3200 B.C. The complex is made up of two temples surrounded by a massive common boundary wall. One of the temples is the oldest stone structure in the world, predating Stonehenge and the Great Giza Pyramids fy hundreds of years. Next, we transferred to Dwejra to see the Azure Window, Fungus Rock and the Inland sea before proceeding to the island’s capital city of Victoria, named after Queen Victoria to commemorate her silver jubilee in 1897; however, many locals still call the city by its original name, “Rabat” –translated into English, this word is defined as “city”. In this place, we visited the Citadel, which has been designated a UNESCO Urban Conservation Area by UNESCO, and St. Mary’s Cathedral, a baroque structure in the form of the Latin cross and built entirely from the local limestone to the design of Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa. The Citadel was an impregnable strategic point that dates back to the late medieval era, and which was re-fortified by the Knights of the order of St. John as protection for the island’s inhabitants. For many centuries, pirates and corsairs used Gozo’s small harbors for shelter while they raided the island in search of fresh produce and water. Often, they kidnapped the local inhabitants as well to sell as slaves in order to save themselves and their families from such a terrifying fate. The locals, on discovering the enemy had landed, would flee to the highest point at the center of the island to protect themselves. We had a short time to shop in the market before reboarding our coach to drive back to the tender landing and catching the last boat back to our ship at 5:30pm. The Rotterdam lifted its anchor at 6pm and started the voyage to our next port of call, Messina, Sicily.