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Having had our fill of green salad and fresh fruits that afternoon Anne and I settled in and prepared for our next stop, Israel. We had long looked forward to visiting Israel and our short one day stopover would give us some insight into what the country was like so we could better plan our trip there. It would be a short sail from Port Said to the port city of Ashdod, where we would begin our one day journey through Israel. |
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| Following dinner that night the ship's entertainment would be a contest for the best costume. Geoff and I had both purchased Egyptian galabayas to bring home and use as Halloween costumes. We decided that we'd both dress up and enter the contest. Having never been on a cruise before, we (at least I) were certainly naive as to what to expect. |
 Dinner on board the Atlas with some of our fellow travelers through Egypt |
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 Me dressed in costume |
First, don't trust someone else when they tell you they are going to do it too! Geoff backed out at the last minute saying he didn't feel well leaving me to go it alone. Second, you quickly learn that there are people who have obviously done this before. The winner that night was a man who came out dressed in a tuxedo and, to the tune of The Stripper, he striped down to a Superman costume. He'd obviously done this before and came prepared. I know I didn't see a Superman costume for sale anywhere in Egypt! | ||||||||||||||||||
| The ship arrived in the port city of Ashdod and docked while we were sleeping. When we awoke we prepared to disembark and join one of the day tours in Israel. Before leaving the ship our tour guide gave a brief speech telling us where we would go and what we would see, and what to be watchful of. They made sure you knew not to accept any packages from anyone and bring them onto the bus. A startling reminder that this region of the world is not as safe as we would like or are accustomed to. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Anne and I had never considered Israel as a vacation destination in part because of the turmoil in the region. Our reasoning being why vacation in a country that seems to always be on the verge of war with innocent people being killed or maimed for life on a regular basis. It's just not worth the price you might have to pay for such a visit. The fact is we found ourselves with the opportunity to spend a day in Israel and see many of the country's tourists highlights, and we took it. It was a fascinating day and we saw many wonderful things during our short drive through Israel. We disembarked in Asdod, southern Israel, and would travel by bus to the old cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, then onto Tel Aviv and Haifa. While we were touring Israel the ship would sail from Asdod to Haifa where we would board later that evening. It was such a quick trip through Israel I didn't get to take many pictures, but here are a few to enjoy. | |||||||||||||||||||
 Outskirts of Jerusalem |
 Jerusalem and the ruins |
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| Israel is an amazing land. It's history is absolutely wonderful and there is much to see, to much for our short visit. Most of it, as you might imagine, is religious in nature, and no matter what faith you are they are all represented here. Our first stop would be in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. From Bethlehem we would travel to Jerusalem where we would have lunch and visit more historical sites. I don't recall the names of the places we visited exactly so I won't caption the photographs (fearing I might caption them incorrectly). Enjoy the pictures |
 Entering a church |
 Inside the church |
 The Church Courtyard |
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Continue to the next page to experience the old city of Jerusalem ... |
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