World Cruise heading through the med towards Israel

Friday 17th January 
14 degrees with strong winds. Walked during the morning, then headed in for a couple of talks, lunched in the restaurant, then another talk. Before we new it, it was time for the gold & platinum captains party. More drinks. Then into the restaurant for dinner. Another table. This time upstairs , with two lovely ladies from America. One from Los Angeles , the other from Denver. The lady from Denver shared the love of fly fishing. Her husband was a semi pro trout fisherman, who was getting over breast cancer.
It was a day of rushing about. Mainly due to being involved with interesting people, and forgetting the time.
Rushed to the cinema to see Peanuts Falcon, a story about a Down syndrome boy who wanted to be a wrestler. Absolutely charming, but rather odd.

Saturday 18th January
Warmer today as we travel between Turkey, Egypt and Israel. Up early again to get our Israel visa stamped. Quite a smooth process, only took ten minutes of waiting. Then it was walking for twenty minutes. We were told about Ti Chi classes, that started at 9am,so we shot off down to investigate.
Brilliant.Vowed to continue, as it de-stresses and enables you to stretch your body to make it more supple. Similar to yoga, but better for me.
Then after 30 minutes, it was a rush to see two lectures, followed by ballroom lessons. 

Then more walking, lunch and then a deckchair to write the diary before heading back into my book. 
Security has been put to level 2, 3 is the highest. Water canons have been fitted around the ship and security staff are positioned to report all vessels within a mile of the ship. They are constantly scanning the seas with their binoculars and reporting up to the bridge.
From all accounts we are going to meet up with the royal naval task force, but we will not be having an escort at present. Watch this space.

Decided against going into the restaurant, and ate in the King Court instead. Far more choice, and you can graze, taking small amounts from the overwhelming array of delights on offer.
At seven we headed into the theatre to watch the show. It was the QM2 orchestra backing a pianist, singer, come comedian. Quite good, but he had seen better days. Couples all around us chattering throughout the performance, so irritating and rude. But we have found this a lot, both in the theatre and the cinema. I have come to the decision that old people are so used to watching tv by themselves at home, interjecting during the programmes that it becomes second nature. 

After that we went into one of the lounges and read.

Sunday 19th January
Haifa, Israel, cool overcast, some heavy rain 14 degrees.
Walked a little, then headed in for breakfast. Chatted with friends we had made whilst walking. Then at ten, we headed out into the town. Security was very evident, we had to go through quite a few levels before we eventually managed to get out of the docks. Not surprising, considering what is going on in the world at present.

Must say l was shocked by the state of Haifa, it was like walking through a third world country. Would have expected it to be smarter. Concrete monstrosities were built all over the place with precarious additions. And they all looked as if they were about to fall down, or just degrade into dust. There had been quite a lot of rain and the roads were swimming in water, possibly due to the amount of rubbish around that must block the sewer system, if they have a sewer system that is. The other shocking sight were the amount of gun toting plain cloths people walking around with guns. Not just handguns, but well used sub machine guns loosely hung from their shoulder.

Headed towards the Babi gardens, but unfortunately they were closed, so we headed up the hill along Stella Maris to the church and convent of the same name. Took us about 35 minutes to climb, only to find that the convent, cable car and The Elijah cave was also shut for the day. But the views were magnificent and the walk had done us good. Returned down the steep hill, then meandered through the back street, with their wonderful aromatic spice smells and into the commercial side of town. Once again it was like a scene from downtown Beirut during the troubles. 
Back to the ship and once again through the gauntlet of security. Back home, our little, or not so little oasis of calm and serenity.
Showered and changed, and removed our wet cloths. It had been fairly dry, although overcast for the majority of the day. But the final mile back to the ship,the heavens opened up.
Light dinner, or should l say it was supposed to be. Initially we saw delicate portions of slow cooked belly pork. But by the time we managed to get into the restaurant, it had changed to roast leg of lamb. Delightful, full of taste. Just with some roast vegetables. Absolutely gorgeous.
Then, before we new it, it was SHOW time.
A group of Israeli folk dancers, with a traditional singer. She was great, and the dance group were excellent. Although after the first two dances, they became rather repetitive. After seven, it was time to finish. They were blessed with enthusiasm.

Bed and reading.


Monday 20th January 
Overcast with the odd spot of sunshine. After two laps around the deck the heavens opened and it poured down.
Up early and collected coffee and muffins and took them down to Judith who was still in bed. Most people had left very early for their trip to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. It was like the Marie Celeste. So quiet, it was amazing. Yet it was a day of fasting, a five two day, a careful eating day, so we didn’t really benefit from the lack of people.


Headed out into the shopping district, which seemed more attractive today. Possibly due to the occasional sun brightening the place up. Although you still had to tread carefully through the flooded walkways.
Found the underground funicular, the only underground metro in Israel. A fascinating piece of engineering. Shot to the top of the hill for under 2 dollars (5.90 shekels). 
As yesterday, all the transport systems, visitor attractions, hotels and shopping centres had security guards at the entrance points to check your bags and scan you for metallic objects.

Judith managed to have a necklace made and bought another two from this lovely shop. The owner came from Russia and was in her seventh heaven making jewellery. So passionate about her trade.
We emerged from the centre and walked along the Louis Promenade with its view over the port of Haifa, and ultimately The Baha’i Gardens. The highlight of our visit.
Headed downhill, stopping at various viewing points until we found a small central section of the garden that was open. Although the shrine had just closed. What a surprise. But the gardens were truly marvellous.

Then the climb down with a group of unruly Israeli school children. Reminded me of my misspent youth. 
The heavens opened, and we were pleased to get back to ship and get changed.
Nevertheless, it had been an enjoyable day. Last night we had given up on Haifa and had thought we would catch the train to Tel Aviv . It was only just over an hour away, and trains ran every 30 minutes. But the sun had fortunately kept us here in Haifa.
Popped into the restaurant for a light lunch, then it was into the Corinthian lounge to read. Martin turned up, so that was put on the back burner for over an hour. Then it was time to walk round the deck. Only ten miles in total today.
Showered and got ready for dinner, with a nice glass of wine and a few nibbles to get us into the right spirit.
Light dinner of sushi with a fresh green salad. We had eaten a minute steak for lunch, so we couldn’t justify a slice of the lovely red, roast lamb that was on offer. Such self control. For once.
Coffee and reading in the lounge, followed by a night at the movies. Give the theatre a miss this evening.

At 10.30pm we head East towards Egypt and the transit of the Suez Canal. Really looking forward to seeing such a feat of engineering.