April 9 - 10Mumbai - The city was much more cosmopolitan than we were prepared for. We participated in an enjoyable tour, made even more so by the local tour guide we had. Mumbai is much neater than what we were expecting based upon our February 2004 trip to India in search of tigers and a visit to the Taj Mahal (photos here).
April 13thSalalah, Oman - White limestone, sand and hot temperatures were the order of our day in Salalah. The area was pristine, I don't think we saw one piece of trash anywhere during our tour of the area. Camels wander about freely.
April 19thAqaba, Jordan - Most of the other passengers participated in day trips to Petra and Wadi Rum. In April 20 we were at Petra as part of an extended visit to Jordan (photos here) and the day was extremely hot so we opted not to venture into the desert in open vehicles. Instead we took advantage of a shuttle bus into Aqaba and had an enjoyable walk about town. People were extremely friendly, which is what we remembered from our previous visit to Jordan. Other than a bit of camel dung on the walks and roads, the area was neat and clean.
April 21st Suez Canal - This would be our first time traveling through the Suez Canal and we were not sure what to expect. Having been through the Panama Canal on five occasions, we thought this experience would be a bit boring. In fact in many ways we found it much more interesting. There was much more activity along the shores. Armed soldiers were stationed every 200 meters along the length of the canal. We passed by several small settlements. Segments of floating bridges for the military were stacked up along much of the canal on the western shore.
April 22-23Israel 22nd Tour from Ashdod - This was our first visit to Israel and we signed up for 10 hour tours from each of the two ports we visited. On the first day from Ashod we visited the following sights. We quickly found out how little we know about this area of the World. For every one thing I learned I ended up with more questions than answers, so I will not even start to comment on the politics or history of Israel. Following are links to information on each of the sites we visited. We are scheduled to return again next year. Jerusalem Mount of Olives Garden of Gethsemane Church of All Nations Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
In answer to a question we have often been asked, at no time did we feel uncomfortable while in Israel. Everyone we met and talked to were very friendly and helpful. Israel is a beautiful and clean country!
April 25thRhodes, Greece - We had been in Rhodes on at least one previous trip, and Eleanor remembered the short cut into this walled city. We enjoyed walking and window shopping.
April 26thKusadasi, Turkey - Our previous visit to Ephesus was in 2007 via a Windstar cruise of the Greek Isles and Turkey. On that trip we docked in Izmir, and that is where we traveled to Ephesus from. We did stop in Kusadasi, but for some reason we can not remember, did not get off the ship. This is a LINK to the photos I took during that daytime visit to Ephesus.
We discovered that Kusadasi has a vibrant and fun shopping district which we wandered through during the day. As participants of the full World Cruise we were invited to a special dinner served at the Library in Ephesus that evening which was followed by a concert. It was truly a very special evening that not many visitors are fortunate enough to experience.
We stopped in Corfu in September 2012 during a cruise on the Seabourn Odyssey. I did take a couple of PHOTOS during that visit.
I was suffering from an allergy attack and decided to stay on board during our stop in Corfu on this cruise. Eleanor did participate in a tour to Mon Repos Palace and Gardens, the birth place of Prince Philip. Eleanor took a few photos during the tour.
Dreary, overcast, and rain created us for our arrival to Dubrovnik. We took the shuttle bus to the old walled city and enjoyed strolling along the streets. Lucky for us the rain held off for several hours. This was our third visit to this city which has become a major tourist location. Our first visit was in 2008 with Windstar and then in 2012 on the Seabourn Odyssey. Here is a LINK to photos of our previous visits. Following is the link to the photos from this visit.
The sun came out for what turned out to be a port we really enjoyed. Our itinerary indicated we would be anchored in Triluke Bay for the day. It did not mention the tiny fishing village of Sali on the island of Dugi Otok which we were able to get to via the tenders. The village was very clean and quiet. A great place to relax and get away "from it all"!
We were pleasantly surprised. Impress your friends and ask them if they would like to join you for a short break and fly over to Dugi Otok and get a room in Sali!!
May 1st Venice, Italy
Alas it was time to leave the Sojourn and return home. Disembarkment went very smoothly, We were transferred to the airport via private limo and had a direct flight to JFK on Delta Airlines. We were back home after leaving for Florida four and a half months earlier.