Thursday, May 2nd
NOTE: As a reminder, to see April postings just go to "archive" on right side of blog and click on the month.
Position at noon today.
Tomorrow we will be docking at Aqaba, Jordan's only coastal city. As such it is a very important commercial seaport for the country. Heavy machinery assembly plants nearby result in the export of this machinery. With a population of just over 100,000, Aqaba is best know for its many beach resorts and luxury hotels. The warm waters of the Red Sea result in abundant marine life and the coral reefs attract scuba divers from all over the world.
We will be doing a 10 hour tour north to the see the ruins at Petra, Jordan. It will be a long day and following that the next day we have another tour of over 11 hours (I hope as we are on waitlist for that tour). So let me tell you a little about Petra today. The bus ride up to Petra is over 2 hours each way. Petra is an ancient Nabataean city built over 300 years BC but has remained lost for almost 12 centuries. It is referenced in two books of the Bible: Kings and Chronicles. A Swiss explorer rediscovered it in 1812. It's massive tombs were carved out of the red sandstone rocks of the mountain and had a water conduit system which which made the ancient city an oasis. It was a natural fortress due to its entrance. You have to go down a long, curving, natural path 16 feet wide with rock sides of 650 feet in height. This is called the "Sig". This served the Nebataeans as a means of protection but the Romans later used it to collect water. There are also 2000 year old terracotta pipes that made up part of the vast water system used by the city of Petra. The passage will eventually lead us to the incredible "Treasury" (Khazneh). This red facade was used in the final scenes of the movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades". Don't worry I will have photos of all I am talking about in a separate posting. We will also be seeing an 8,000 seat Roman amphitheater that was carved out of the rock around the time of Jesus Christ. It was built see they could have view of all the tombs. The tombs I am referring to are the "Royal Tombs" which are considered to be the most impressive burial site in Petra. This should give you a little background info about what we will be seeing tomorrow and what my photos will be including. Folks who have been to Petra in the past say it is incredible.
Last night we had a wonderful beef Wellington dinner with Allison and Joe, our Galveston friends. The production show after dinner was fantastic. I really wish you could all see it also. So now Rebecca is fighting a cold and I am trying not to catch it. Bad timing as we have a stretch of 10 to 13 hour a day tours coming up. This morning we went to Sandra Bowern's wonderful lecture entitled, "The Story of the Suez Canal". I have to admit I knew nothing about the Suez Canal but Sandra fixed that this morning. We will be transiting the canal next Tuesday so more about it then. Another nice day here in the Red Sea. Sunny and only 79F at noon time.
This evening we are dining with Crina, our assistant food and beverage manager. We have also invited our friends from Vancouver, Donna and Roland. They were also with us on our South America cruise last year. Crina is from Romania so we asked her to make a Romanian dish for us tonight called "mamaliga". It is basically polenta with butter, sour cream, and cream cheese added tableside. Fat gram city but delicious!! It will be served as our appetizer course.
NOTE: As a reminder, to see April postings just go to "archive" on right side of blog and click on the month.
Tomorrow we will be docking at Aqaba, Jordan's only coastal city. As such it is a very important commercial seaport for the country. Heavy machinery assembly plants nearby result in the export of this machinery. With a population of just over 100,000, Aqaba is best know for its many beach resorts and luxury hotels. The warm waters of the Red Sea result in abundant marine life and the coral reefs attract scuba divers from all over the world.
We will be doing a 10 hour tour north to the see the ruins at Petra, Jordan. It will be a long day and following that the next day we have another tour of over 11 hours (I hope as we are on waitlist for that tour). So let me tell you a little about Petra today. The bus ride up to Petra is over 2 hours each way. Petra is an ancient Nabataean city built over 300 years BC but has remained lost for almost 12 centuries. It is referenced in two books of the Bible: Kings and Chronicles. A Swiss explorer rediscovered it in 1812. It's massive tombs were carved out of the red sandstone rocks of the mountain and had a water conduit system which which made the ancient city an oasis. It was a natural fortress due to its entrance. You have to go down a long, curving, natural path 16 feet wide with rock sides of 650 feet in height. This is called the "Sig". This served the Nebataeans as a means of protection but the Romans later used it to collect water. There are also 2000 year old terracotta pipes that made up part of the vast water system used by the city of Petra. The passage will eventually lead us to the incredible "Treasury" (Khazneh). This red facade was used in the final scenes of the movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades". Don't worry I will have photos of all I am talking about in a separate posting. We will also be seeing an 8,000 seat Roman amphitheater that was carved out of the rock around the time of Jesus Christ. It was built see they could have view of all the tombs. The tombs I am referring to are the "Royal Tombs" which are considered to be the most impressive burial site in Petra. This should give you a little background info about what we will be seeing tomorrow and what my photos will be including. Folks who have been to Petra in the past say it is incredible.
Last night we had a wonderful beef Wellington dinner with Allison and Joe, our Galveston friends. The production show after dinner was fantastic. I really wish you could all see it also. So now Rebecca is fighting a cold and I am trying not to catch it. Bad timing as we have a stretch of 10 to 13 hour a day tours coming up. This morning we went to Sandra Bowern's wonderful lecture entitled, "The Story of the Suez Canal". I have to admit I knew nothing about the Suez Canal but Sandra fixed that this morning. We will be transiting the canal next Tuesday so more about it then. Another nice day here in the Red Sea. Sunny and only 79F at noon time.
This evening we are dining with Crina, our assistant food and beverage manager. We have also invited our friends from Vancouver, Donna and Roland. They were also with us on our South America cruise last year. Crina is from Romania so we asked her to make a Romanian dish for us tonight called "mamaliga". It is basically polenta with butter, sour cream, and cream cheese added tableside. Fat gram city but delicious!! It will be served as our appetizer course.
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