Panama Canal…Dolphins! and Suez Canal

 

And it begins with the Panama Canal…such a fascinating process to move these beastly ships through canals. The gym was FULL of traffic…except everybody was sitting at the bow of mine and Austin’s “office” watching the process of the going through each lock and dam.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Panama Canal; it is a 48 mile international waterway which allows ships to pass between the Atlantic ocean and the Pacific Ocean saving close to 8,000 miles. It also takes about fifteen hours to move through the canal through its three sets of locks!

Want to know more information about the Panama Canal?

And then along the way…there were some beautiful dolphins riding along with us….see for yourself!

 

Suez Canal…is an artificial waterway in Egypt extending from Port Said to Suez and connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. WHOA! Really?

The canal separates the African continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans.

Want to read more?

 Suez Canal Facts

Jerusalem, Israel...

Happy by Choice is the theme of this entry.

Having such an opportunity to go to Jerusalem, Israel...this trip was not planned and on the cruise ship world cruise itinerary. As some of you know there was some danger on the waters off of Egypt...I don't know full details, I just know it was too dangerous for the ship to pull into a few different ports in Egypt. So instead of going to all of the places in Egypt...we went into Israel and one of my personal training guests didn't want to go on the trip to Jerusalem, perhaps because of the possible danger that was occurring there. From what we learned prior to all of the commotion of what was happening in Egypt...I guess there were bombings that were happening in Israel as well...but I thought, this is such an amazing opportunity and I am going to take this free ticket to explore Jerusalem!
 ...And so I did. ;)

SO happy I did, because Jerusalem was stunning. I not only had a delightful time by myself...but I connected with my dear friend Julia, who was a guest on the Grand World Voyage...a very marvelous guest she was. We had a couple hour bus ride into Jerusalem from Ashdod, Israel....and Julia and I were having such a lovely time getting to know each other and goofing around and just exchanging travel stories.

While we were in Jerusalem...the air was crisp and there was so much around us...so many things I witnessed while I was raised in the catholic religion...I had never imagined I would actually see Jerusalem for myself in person! Wow.

This here is the Mount of Olives...stunning scenery.

 We also viewed the Hortvs Gethsemani...which I learned is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where Jesus and his disciples prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.

Once we viewed those places...we were off to many more sights...and I must say I'm not very educated on where we went but I will do my best to describe and explain all we saw. We next went to the Wailing wall...It is 57 meters tall, or 187 feet, built of thick, corroded limestone, and is close to 500 meters in length, though most of it is engulfed in other structures. It is described as a "Place of Weeping" This is probably one of the most powerful of places we visited....walking on the right side, the women's side, just observing all of the different cultures and different people who were participating in the occurrences with the wall...I just watched. I stood and watched some people praying, some people weeping, some people would put a note or a prayer piece of paper into the wall holes and some would kiss the wall. I observed one woman in particular..she was praying or wailing in a different language I didn't know what she was saying...she had a book which I presume was her bible...she, too, kissed the wall and slipped a note into one of the many corroded holes and then she walked backwards praying here way out of the space.


The energy was so high there was so many feelings I felt...it was very overwhelming but very interesting to be an outside observer.

The little town of Bethlehem is behind these kids and Julia:)

Jordan...Petra..Wonder of the World!

 

Aqaba, Jordan...First thing get off the ship and hop on a bus where we traveled a couple hours to PETRA....for those of you who are unfamiliar with Petra it is featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...and I couldn't help but to think of that theme song as we were riding all the way there! Dun dun dun dun...giddy up horsie. We stopped at a few different places on the way there as you see Brianna and I embracing each other...as well as Violeta and I. 

Feel the love in Jordan

 

On the drive there it was so fascinating...seeing camels in the road and on the side of the street...or as I would just call it dust...or rocked-filled road.

Okay I'm not going to lie...to get into the zone of writing this I had to put the Indiana Jones Theme Song on blast hahaha. NOW I can concentrate. So once we finally arrived at Petra it really was hectic...there were thousands of people here to witness this Wonder of the world. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded if Harrison Ford were there with me as I hopped on my horse and explored the inner views before we went through Petra. Brianna and my horse man sufficed instead of Mr.Ford. Continuing on on our horses...which I'm not sure we were exactly supposed to veer from the group to get our official Petra tour...Oh well, I'm happy we did it...I hadn't been on a horse in probably over 13 years maybe? It definitely was quite the experience and the views we were able to witness were stunning and so rare.

After Brianna and I were completed exploring with our horses and owners we zoomed down to enter Petra itself. Like I stated before there were thousands of people and most of those people were all in separate groups but I don't always do well with organized groups...I like to explore off on my own all while trusting and listening to my intuition. What I did was just kind of wander through the gates of the men guarding...and just sort of join every group and get a taste of what everyone was speaking about and explaining the history and story of Petra to all of the visitors. I still definitely gained a phenomenal experience to explore every group and go as fast or as slow as I pleased...and that way I was able to run into multiple people I knew, and that I didn't know! Ha ;)

 

 Well I'll let your eyes explore what I was blessed to witness....

Johnny Depp?!

I was trying to be serious....

And then I like to hike to the top and receive this view!

And then there's a couple more photos I want to add to this compilation...my dear friend Aristotle and I went to explore Aqaba after I arrived back from Petra...He and I wandered around Aqaba and had a nice dinner...and just enjoyed each others company for the rest of the evening...

Kusadasi...Turkish Coffee?

Kuşadası Turkey....What a beautiful sight to pull into bright and early in the morning. That was probably one of the biggest highlights working on the ship...being able to witness the stunning sunrises first thing in the morning.

Once we pulled into Turkey after a nice hard workout...I ventured off the ship to a very uncommonly known coffee shop...Starbucks...I yanked the free internet and contacted some loved ones from home for a bit before I met up with Brianna. One of the unfortunate things on the ship is the cost of internet access or phone access...it costs a bit to actually try to contact people from home so I took advantage of free internet access off of the ship.

 The popular thing that was buzzing all around the ship before pulling into Turkey was the Turkish Bath...unfortunately I was unable to participate in this experience. What occurs in the experience you ask? Well...basically from what I've gathered, it is similar to a steam room/sauna where you can either go full nude or with your bathing suit on and somebody washes your body as well as receive a massage. Turkish baths are a method of cleansing the body and relaxation.

Instead of getting the Turkish bath experience....I ran into a lovely gentleman who helped me first time the turkish bath and as they didn't take visa cards I figured it wasn't meant for me to get a slippery relaxing rubdown.








So instead I went to this lovely restaurant/bar with this gentleman and his friend ended up owning it and treated us to a cappuccino for me and a beer for him...as well as this beautiful fruit platter. It was really such a pleasant experience spending time with some of the local Turkish men. 

Oh my goodness and one thing I forgot to mention...the title of this entry...Turkish coffee??
AHHH. Strongest most intense type of coffee, EVER. I think maybe you could compare it to something like a 'depth charge' here in the states. Anyhow...Brianna and I ordered one at Starbucks that was paid for by our dear friend, Raddy, may he Rest In Peace.
It was very potent...and I had that as well as a latte so I was wired for the rest of the time. But we let the turkish coffee sit for a bit, for it was scorching hot...we let it sit, and then I went to swish it around a bit (like it were a glass of red wine, haha) well then i took a sip and about spit it right in Brianna's face...Ahhh all the coffee grounds were at the bottom or something, it was not a nice experience. Happy I experienced it though. Ha!

Here is the luxury and oh so elegant cruise ship I was placed on. Ms Amsterdam with Holland America Line. I wandered off the ship further and went for a nice refreshing, cleansing walk and this was a nice view of the ship I needed to capture.


I would love to come back to Turkey and explore more into it and possibly go to Ephesus...which was quite the hot spot to travel to I hear. XO Cheers & Love.