Roma

We only had a day to spend in Rome -- and it was again a beautiful spring day! So we started off with a stop at the Spanish Steps and then continued on to the Trevi Fountain to toss in a coin -- and wish for more time the next time we are here!

Rome on a 3 day weekend was crawling with people, so we saw all of our favorite places from the second level of the Big Red Bus!   We finished up at St. Peter's in time for 5 PM Mass in the Basilica -- what a beautiful way to end the day.

The ship hosted a wonderful dinner that evening at Santo Spirito, a 14th century hospital, just steps away from the Vatican.  We had a great dinner with lots of wine and were entertained by a harp quartet followed by a superb performance by two tenors and a soprano from St. Cecilia Institute of Music!

Capri

After a morning arrival in Naples, George and I were off again.  A short 45 minute hydrofoil to the Isle of Capri and we were in a little bit of paradise.  A harrowing bus ride up to the top of the mountain (Italian bus drivers!) and we arrived at Anacapri (Above Capri) with narrow winding walking streets with plenty of shops!  After a short bus ride back to the midpoint of Capri town, we stopped for more walking, plenty of great views, great shopping and a wonderful lunch.

This stunning view was from the front of this little hotel off the beaten path (here's the website for future reference www.capri.net/en/c/la-scalinatella).   Several golf carts passed us on the walkway with luggage for those staying overnight.  I was only a little bit jealous!

Soo... We really haven't done any pictures of food on our vacation (though we have eaten like royalty),  George and I shared this amazing Italian cheesecake that our waiter insisted we would like!  It was delicious.  Our restaurant was Villa Verde in Capri just a bit past another hotel called Hotel La Palma. Another fabulous day!

Crete

After all of our travels through Southeast Asia and Egypt, it certainly was nice to be welcomed back to Western Civilization in Aghios Nikolaos, Crete.  We enjoyed a wonderful spring day traveling into the mountains and visiting the Lassithi Plateau.

But first on our journey high in the mountains of Crete, we visited the tiny 14th century Monastery of Panayia Kera which had been the home of the icon of Our Lady of Prompt Succor or Our Lady of Perpetual Help many centuries ago. Unfortunately, the legend goes that when Crete was occupied by the Venetians the icon was brought to Italy via a prosperous merchant who died while trying to have it displayed so all could venerate it.  The icon was placed in the care of the Augustinians in Rome and was rediscovered by Pope Pius IX  who took an interest in it, for he had remembered praying before it as a young boy.

We visited the villages of the plateau and enjoyed a wonderful peasant lunch complete with traditional Greek dancing and Raki or Tsipouro, a home-brewed, clear drink similar to ouzo.

Cairo

Did you know that camels aren't really that common to Egypt?  But you find lots of them at the Pyramids... and so here's the classic picture.  George couldn't resist.  He wanted to take a camel ride but the stories of camel drivers taking advantage of tourists once they were on the camel led him to take a more cautionary approach!

Another classic -- we made it to see the Sphinx!  We were very close -- along with a thousand of our closest friends!  Did you know that the city of Giza is built up to within a half mile of the Sphinx and the Pyramids? In fact there is a KFC with a beautiful view! Thank God, the Sahara dessert is on the other side of these great monuments.

After the Pyramids and the Sphinx (and purchasing some papyrus), we had a wonderful lunch at The Minna House.  A wonderful historic palace famous for the opening ceremonies for the Suez Canal in the 1930s.  A beautiful place with rooms with a view of the Pyramids!

Our evening was spent on a dinner cruise up the Nile.  A beautiful waterfront and gorgeous night, we were entertained by the Whirling Dervish pictured above. He spun around for at least 20 minutes.  Back to the Four Seasons with even more beautiful views of the Nile from our balcony, and a well deserved rest!

Luxor

Can you believe it?  We are here in the Valley of the Kings! George and King Tut!  Everything is bigger and more vast than one can imagine.  

Here at the Temple of Ramesses III the hieroglyphics are everywhere... Each image carved into stone so precisely with vibrant colors so many thousands of years ago. Every cartouche conveys so much meaning.

The Nile River was unbelievably blue and right outside our window at the Steigenberger Hotel -- our balcony looked out on this scene with the Valley of the Kings in the background.

With so many pictures of both the Luxor Temple and Temple of Karnack it was impossible to choose -- so here we are at the entrance to Luxor Temple.  

Taj Mahal

A beautiful morning view of the Taj Mahal -- we were up at 5 and at the gates of the Taj at 6AM!  The weather was beautiful, there were very few people and it was soo peaceful.  

The Taj is so beautifully preserved -- make sure that you click on the pictures to get the details. The floral motifs are inlaid gemstones which sparkle in the sunlight.  Inside the Taj (no pictures allowed), the details are remarkable and lit only from the sunlight as it filters in through the elegantly carved marble screens.  Truly a piece of heaven on earth!

 

The view from our balcony at the Oberoi Amarvillas looked out over the pool and there in the background is the Taj itself.  Out of this world  --- we were so lucky to get to enjoy this beautiful spot for the rest of our morning after that 5 AM wakeup call!

Road to Agra

So here we are on the road to Agra -- the most amazing 4 hours of our trip.  We thought that we would read a book or sleep, but you just couldn't do that -- there was too much happening outside of the window.  Here are a group of Indian women returning from temple.  There must have been 20 of them in the back of this open truck wearing the most beautiful saris. Most of them waved and laughed at us -- we all enjoyed it!

In the meantime, the scene on the other side of the bus was chaotic. A picture is definitely worth a thousand words!... And then there were the camel carts...

Delhi

We arrived in Delhi after a long flight from Cochin.  I had only a few minutes to buy some spices in the airport in Cochin, so these two beautiful girls at the Delhi Oberoi Hotel gave us our first welcome to India.  We had a wonderful dinner here sampling various Indian dishes -- the lamb kabobs were wonderful -- as well as the curry!

Our only stop in Delhi the next morning was Humayun's Tomb -- a beautiful piece of Indian architecture which served as part of the inspiration for the Taj -- just a teaser for our bus trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal. 

Now to face the traffic of Delhi -- It was crazy!  We learned quickly that size and speed are the only factors that count in traveling by car (or bicycle or motorcycle -- or camel).  In most cases, size wins!  Thank God we were on a bus!

Myanmar (Burma)

As the Crystal Serenity cruised up the Irrawaddy River to our destination at Yangon, we passed many fishing villages similar to the one above.   It was as if we had gone back in time.  I had been worried about visiting this place where there has been so much turmoil, but we found the people to be peaceful people who are just trying to eek out a living.  The feeling here is that the US embargo is hurting the people by taking away jobs and making a relatively poor people poorer.  We were unable to use credit cards but very easily spent a few US dollars. This was the first port where we had no cell phone reception.  We were however able to use skype and successfully talked with Alex!

The most famous spot here in Yangon is the Schwedagon Pagoda which is a buddhist temple complex of gorgeous golden domes and teak buildings, all meticulously carved -- 2500 years old and rising 326 feet in the air.   We were able to visit the pagoda on a beautiful, cool (relatively) night, just as the sun was setting, and again the next morning.  Not to be outdone by the reclining Buddha in Bangkok, we also visited the Burmese version...


The streets of Yangon were busy and crowded, a step back into the 1950's. Relatively few cars (most of them from the 1980's), but many buses always filled to bursting with people.

We enjoyed cocktails and a puppet show at the beautiful Strand Hotel. We were treated to a wonderful lunch the next day in the dining room of the Hotel. They rolled out the red carpet for our visit -- 

After the puppet show, we found that the shops in the hotel were full to bursting with mother of pearl jewelry and platters. But I fell in love with this beautiful marionette, which is exquisitely embroidered -- a great purchase on my birthday!

Phuket

So George wanted to ride an elephant!  No 5 star resorts on the beach for him! We had a great time riding these gentle beasts...and then George got a back massage from one of the younger ones.  The older elephants were about 40 years old and have been rescued from the northern mountains of Thailand where they worked carrying lumber ---so George and I were a light load for them on this incredibly hot (90+ degrees) and humid day!  The young elephants (5 - 7 years old) gave us a great show and were extremely appreciative of the bananas we gave them as a reward!

Of course, you can't go to a place in Thailand without visiting the temple -- always the most beautiful and well kept place in the village or city...the archiecture is so unusual and ornate in comparison to the relatively poor conditions of the locals.

Kuala Lumpur

On our only stop in Malaysia, we visited Kuala Lumpur for a day, viewing the architecture and checking out the markets of the city. The architecture is a mix of English Colonial Moorish with grand new skyscrapers with a touch of rainforest.  They are quite proud of the Petronous Towers which were built in the late 1990's...158 stories tall in an octagonal design....much prettier up close than viewing them from afar.   Shopping was an adventure, but not too successful.  Oh, and did I mention, hot and humid....

Singapore

Singapore!  The Raffles Hotel & Singapore Slings... and shopping!  We were on the hunt for a Jim Thompson store on Orchard Road,  and George made it his mission to find it!  Did a bit of damage there, and found quite a few nice things.  There are not a lot of bargains given the sad state of the dollar, but there are stores everywhere!  We did enjoy using the mass transit system (MRT, a lot like BART!) -- a very cool (and cheap) way of getting around in the heat and humidity!

Here we are pictured at Raffles Long Bar having Singapore Slings with friends Jim and Carol -- our bridge partners on the ship.  We had a number of drinks there while on ship tours, but found out as we lingered and the tour left us on our own to drink that they are one of our more expensive luxuries off the ship ($25 per drink!)  We were glad to make it back to our current version of home!