PatriciaM11

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

We took Rome at your Liesure...it was raining terribly and windy that day so we were not able to actually get around well. It was also a holy day and we wish we would have been told that we wouldn't be able to see some of the sites at the vatican because they were closed. The day went too fast.

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

This was a quaint port town. Wish we would have taken the excursion to the Temple of Zeus...I heard it was good. We did take a little train that took us only a few blocks out to the other side of the island for a look at the sea from there...nothing too great.

Ashdod, Israel

This was nice, but also a long trip. The tour guide was very informative about the Christian sights, even though he reminded us two or three times that he was Jewish and didn't regard Jesus to be a Messiah...nevertheless, I think most people were Christian and that is why they took the tour. He was a little cocky. He also took us to "his" store for shopping.

Port Said, Egypt

We just departed from this port after our excursion. People selling stuff and approaching you all the way to the ship....

Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt

The trip to Cairo and back were about three hours each. Be prepared to be aggressively approached by people selling items...it was stressful at the Pyramids because we were bombarded with locals wanting to take our picture and everything you can imagine...they are quite bothersome and made the trip hardly worth it. The day was way too long and there was only a short time at the sites, mainly pyramids. We had a fairly nice lunch on a boat, which took us down the Nile not very far.... Also, they took us to a Mosque....I wasn't interested in that at all and then to shopping at a store of their choice...all the buses went to one store...that guy made a fortune off the tourists and the excursions must get a cut. The store did have a good selection, however. Be prepared to see trash everywhere in Egypt...all along the streets and highways. Just think they could take that and recycle it...clean up the city and make some money too.

Rhodes, Greece

A very cute and quaint place.

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

Athens is great; however, we hadn't booked an excursion, so we were bombarded by taxi drivers who wanted to take us on a tour. Our taxi driver took us to a couple of places that were not far apart...he waited, but he was only going to spend about 3 or four hours...we paid him 140 E (two couples) and he also wasted our time by taking us by his friend's shop. He seemed too controlling and had only his idea of what he was going to do for us. Would have been better to have taken a taxi into the Plaka ourselves and then one back to the ship, even though it would have cost us almost the same...ie. 30 E each way, but we could have stayed longer. The Plaka is the area surrounding the Acropolis site and has cute shops and restaurants...I know this because I had visited there previously.