May 17, 2007. We are anchored off of this small island located close to the island of Sicily. There is no other cruise ship here. This island is close enough that there is a regular hydrofoil passenger ferry connections from Scicily to here. The weather has taken a turn for the worse. Overcast and some rain, but it looks more threatening this afternoon. We didn’t have to stay up late for a show since there was a 7:00 one last…
Wednesday May 16th. Today as I sit in the ship’s computer room looking out the window I see cargo containers stacked up and cement elevator storage containers with large industrial cranes. This is not a pretty harbor and the city looks very industrial. There are some 360,000 people here with a high population density. This place and the surrounding area has been destroyed by earthquakes over the centuries. In fact, this city has been buried in lava at least seven…
How could I have forgotten a very significant fact about Malta in my last report? Let me add it now. This is the island the great St. Paul was shipwrecked on. Paul had been arrested and after being held prisoner for some two years exercised his right to be tried in Rome. He had left Alexandra by ship as a prisoner. After proceeding a distance on the voyage, and against Paul’s advice the captain decided not to wait out the…
While we were waiting in Egypt at a restaurant, a man carrying a prayer rug under his arm and laid on the ground, took his shoes off and began the prayer required five times a day by Muslims. Alternately standing with arms positioned, he would knee and touch his forehead to the ground. It reminded me of an article I had just read in the International Herald Tribune by Professor of History Leor Halevi at Texas A & M University…
Tuesday May 15th. I am sitting in the ship computer room looking out a window directly at the walled city of Valletta in Malta. There are two large domes of cathedrals and the twin towers of another one directly past the high stone walls and the palm trees along it. Several cruise ships are tied along piers in the harbor. We went to town taking the bus as recommended by the people here. The cost was one Euro and it…
Harry Bernstein is a published author whose first book "The Invisible Wall" has been published by Random house is receiving excellent reviews. The book, about his early childhood in a poverty stricken street where Jews and Christians were strictly divided, was rejected by a number of publishing houses before being accepted by Random House. So what’s so unusual about this? Well, Harry is 96 years old! Harry says "I’m more of an expert on failure then I am success." (For…
The May 2007 AARP Bulletin reports that FEEMA stockpiled some 8000 new manufactured homes in Hope, Arkansas to be used for the homeless in connection with Hurricane Katrina. When a tornado hit the Arkansas town of Dumas in February it left over 150 people homeless. Since the FEEMA manufactured homes were only 126 miles from Dumas, the officials asked for housing assistance, but FEEMA refused. Why? Well, because President Bush hadn’t declared the town a federal disaster area. Under bureaucratic…
Monday May 14, 2007. We are at sea traveling from Greece to Malta. The ocean is like a lake, thank goodness. Our last stop was at a Greek island at the port of Fiskardko where we anchored. The beautiful small town is located on the water with small fishing boats along a walk way that runs around the harbor and villiage. Shops and outdoor restaurants line the walk. Only small ships like ours would fit here. The island was devastated…
Saturday May 12, 2007. Greetings from Itea, Greece where the weather is warm, but not really hot and the seas are calm. This is the location of the Delphi and we are at the Port of Itea where there is a small town, but no reason to go there. We have had an incredible trip through the Corinth Canal to get here. The first attempt to dig this canal as a short cut, was begun by Nero in 67 AD…
We have arrived at the port of Piraeus, located about thirty minutes from Athens itself. The weather is pleasant and the seas were calm. Of course Athens is the place of the Panathenian Stadium built in 329 BC. It was the venue for the first Olympic games of 1896. The Acropolis is here some 230 feet above the city and is probably the most famous attraction in Athens. Athens was also the site of the 2004 Olympics and one sees…
