Crossing the Pond second time around

So we are half way across the Atlantic, crossing from Europe to North America.

So far the weather has been good, and no rough seas to speak of, today it changed a bit and things are a little rocky.

Not to much else to say, just another 2.5 days at sea before we find dry land again.

Taking a dip in the Dead Sea

The second part of my tour that went to Masada went to the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is located at the lowest point below sea level at -1,237ft.

And it is also the saltiest body of water in the world, at 33.7% salt.

People who swim in the Dead Sea can float in just a few inches of water. And many people go to the sea for the health benefits that the minerals in the water provide.

I went swimming in the sea for a while, and it was really fun. And very interesting to see what different ways you can float.

floating the dead sea

The bottom of the sea is made up of salt that precipitates out of the water and feels like sand on the bottom. Some areas have large salt formations, and at the south part of the sea there are large reclamation pools that are used to harvest the minerals for export.

The weather was great when we were there, sunny, and warm, but not to hot, and the water not cold.

I was lucky to get on this tour. The day was great, and it was a very unique and interesting experience.

To the top of Masada

Masada is a former palace and stronghold built by Herod the Great.

The site was built upon a tall mesa near the Dead Sea, its cliffs are between 100-400m high above the floor of the surrounding area. Making it a very strong defensive point.

The palace included large baths, private residences for Herod, and huge storerooms for food, and supplies, and large cisterns for water and a very smart system of canals to collect rainwater from surrounding areas.

To get to the top of the site, there are two was to go. Similar to Santorini you can take the long hike, or you can take to cable car. We took the cable car.

When we got to the top we saw remains of the palace and administrative areas, as well as the roman baths.

What makes this site important and famous was that it was the last stronghold of the Jewish people after the revolt against the Romans in Jerusalem.

Many people fled to the site after the Romans retook Jerusalem.

Soon after they took up residence in Masada the Romans began a siege of the site.

Because it was well supplied and in a very strong defensive position it was able to resist the Romans for 3 years.

The Romans built a encircling and began a siege of Masada.

Remains of the many Roman legionaries camps can be seen all around the site.

Because Masada was so well supplied the siege took longer then the Romans expected, and their eventual solution to end the siege was an interesting one.

They decided to build a ramp up to the top of the cliffs.

The ramp was built of earth, and rose about 400ft from to the walls of Masada. When it was completed the Romans were able to break down the walls using a battering ram.

When the Romans entered Masada, they found almost everyone dead, with the exception of only a few woman and children who hid in the water cisterns.

The defenders chose to kill themselves and their families then face slavery as prisoners of the Romans.

Masada was a very amazing site, with a lot of very interesting history, and awesome views of the surrounding areas.

Tour to Acre

Last week I did a tour to Acre, which is a old city near Haifa.

Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. With people living there since around 1500BC.

It was also a major Crusader port, and their capital after they were driven out of Jerusalem.

The town was divided into many parts with each country that sent crusaders having a piece of the port.

And there were large forts to house the Knights and trading houses that are still intact today.

There are also a large network of tunnels underneath the city that were used to smuggle goods into the city to avoid import taxes.

This was an interesting tour to an area with lots of history.

Tour to Jerusalem

So we have arrived in the Holy Land.

I did a tour the first day to Jerusalem.

Home to holy sites to some of the big religions of the world, Jerusalem is a city with a long history.

Our tour guide

The city has been controlled by many different peoples in its time, and is currently part of Israel.

One our tour we went to the Israel Museum, which holds the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not all of them are displayed at one time, they rotate them out every few months.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside.

The dome that holds the dead sea scrolls.

After that we visited the old town of Jerusalem. We were able to see the Dome of the Rock, a mosque who's dome is painted with real gold.

Also we visited the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, which is the remains of the second temple of built by Herod the Great. It is a site of prayer for Jews, and there is a tradition of placing notes into the cracks of the wall.

It was a interesting day in Jerusalem. And very long. As it was a long way from where we docked to the city.

Lycian Tombs, and Marmaris highlights

Last week I went on a tour in Marmaris to the Lycian Tombs, and the surrounding area.

The Lycian's carved tombs into the cliff side all over the area of now Turkey. They look similar to what I think the ruins of Petra would be except smaller.

The area we went to had about 10 large tombs in one spot as well as some small opening cut into the cliff. The size would vary depending on how rich the person was.

We also went to an area that had ruins of of a old greek town.

We also saw a type of crab, called the blue crab, its claws have a large blue streak on them, we were able to buy crabs that they bbq for us, they were very tasty.

There are also large turtles that live in the river, and use the beach for laying their eggs which are protected by the government.

Then we went to the beach for a short swim. The water was a bit cold, as it was mid October, but still not to bad.

After that we went to lunch, and then back to the ship.

Basilica Cistern

The basilica cistern is one of many cisterns built by the Romans underneath the city of Istanbul.

This is the best and largest of them, and is located near the Hagia Sofia.

Built around 500ad the structure consists of over 336 10 meter high columns, and was capable of holding 80,000 cubic meters of water.

After the Turks took control of the city they fell out of use, and were unknown for hundreds of years until rediscovered.

They are currently a lesser known site then the many very famous ones about ground, but should not be missed as they were quite amazing.

They have been fitted with walkways to get around inside them, as there is still a few feet of water inside, and quite a lot of fish. Not sure what they eat, but some were quite large.

Also of interest are 2 Medusa heads that are located near the back of the cistern. One is upside down, and the other is on its side. It isn't known where they came from, or exactly why they are not right side up. But one idea is that it takes away the power of the statue.

A was able to get some really great pictures inside, using a starry night mode, as its quite dark inside.

Turkish Bath

photo courtesy of http://roymarvelous.com

On a tour in Bodrom I went to a Turkish Bath.

Traditional bath would have a person wearing just a towel, but here we wore bathing suits.

A funny comment from a guest was that on this tour we were going to be seeing a different kind of ancient ruins.

The baths are made up of a few separate rooms. The first being a kind of steam room/ sauna. That includes a large heated marble slab that you lie on. The idea is to get a sweat going that allows toxins to be expelled.

After that is a slightly less warm room, where you are scrubbed down to remove dead skin from the body.

After that they cover you in soap suds and give a combo massage and cleaning.

And of course to make the experience authentic its all done by a large hairy Turkish man. Or if your a female, then it's a large hairy Turkish woman.

At the bath we were at they offered other spa services like pedicure, manicure, hair and regular massages.

I opted for a 10 minute massage that was good for my bad shoulder/neck which I usually go to a chiropractor for, but this did the trick.

Overall the trip to a Turkish Bath was invigorating and a worthwhile experience.

Island of Delos

The island of Delos is a short ferry ride from Mykonos. And it is said to be the birthplace of Apollo.

We got to the island and according to the tour guide it hadn't rained in the area since May, but today it was raining like crazy.

When the ferry arrived there was a big downpour that caught the people first off the ship in a big wind and rainstorm.

But it soon tapered off, and for the first part of the tour, the weather was nice.

The island has extensive excavations all over the island, but we only saw the major areas.

One of the main sites are the lions of Delos, which are in decent shape after all these years.

That cant be said for all the island. As I witnessed when a large piece of marble fell over near us, but thankfully nobody was hurt.

Near the end of the tour the rain started again and we were all thankful to get back on the ferry. One thing was that the tour ended in the town on Mykonos not near the ship dock which is a bit further away. As I walked back to the shuttle bus area, the rain was getting worse, and rivers of water were pouring down the streets.

It was an interesting day, but I hope the rain can stay away next week.

ATV's in santorini

image courtesy of http://roymarvelous.com/ a fellow ITV manager and blogger

Last week in Santorini a few of us rented ATV's

We were able to get a good deal as it is near the end of the season. So we each got one for 15euros.

My original plan was to go to Oia, a town in the north of the island. But we ended up heading south, with a friend who has been to the island the least amount of times leading the way.

The area we stopped for lunch was an area I had been to before but it was still nice.

After that we heading out and just drove without much of a direction of plan, a little while later we saw a sign pointing to a ancient town at the top of a long hill. There were many swichbacks and it was a narrow road that was used by taxi's and other ATV's that were coming down, but thankfully no close calls or anything like that.

The top of the hill gave great views over a lot of the island. And it was somewhere I haven't been on my favorite island. So well worth the drive.

After that we headed back to the main town as it was getting close to the time we had to get the tender back to the ship.

But there is always time for a Gyro from Lucky's.

While there we saw a sign for a Park-our competition in town that was starting in a few minutes.

It was a short walk away and was quite busy when we got there, but we were able to see a few people doing some really cool tricks jumping off and between the roofs of the santorini houses.

After that it was back to the ship. Another great day in Santorini.

Corinth Canal

In Athens I did a tour to Ancient Corinth, and the Corinth Canal.

The Corinth Canal was built in 1881-1893 by the same people who did the Suez canal.

The canal is 4 km long, and at one point cuts through cliffs 300ft tall.

There were earlier attempts to build a canal in 7th century BC, by the then ruler of the city of Corinth. Who abandoned the idea in favor of a overland road.

Then in 67AD, the Roman Emperor Nero began work on the canal, but only about 1/10 of the distance was dug before it was abandoned.

The current canal is to small for a cruise ship our size to pass through, although some smaller cruise ships still use it.

In WW2 the Germans when retreating from Greece used explosives to block the canal.

Sailing through the canal takes about 20 minutes, and gives some interesting views.

Also there is a place that you can bungee jump from one of the bridges.

We saw a group getting ready to jump, but they did not while we were sailing past.

Lindos, Rhodes

I went on my first tour of the contract.

The tour went to Lindos, a town on the island of Rhodes.

At the site is the ruins of the old Acropolis of Lindos, and also the walls, of the castle of the Knights St. John

To get up to the top of the hill was a big of a hike, and the rocks, having been walked on for hundreds of years were pretty slippery.

There isn't much left of the temple, as recently as 1999 there was more of the original but it was damaged by attempted restoration by the Italians. It has now been rebuilt using new materials. But built similar to the old temple.

Also a lot of the relics were removed in the first excavation in 1900-1914, and they were split between the Danish who did the excavation, and the Turks who owned the island at the time.

It was good to get out of the main town and see something different.

And a good way to start my tours for this contract.

Below are a few pics from the old town in Rhodes