http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Granddaddy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Granddaddy en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:50:52 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:50:52 +0000 Yesterday morning we docked in Southampton England at around 7 A.M. and by late morning we had transferred to the Queen Mary2 a ship we like as much as the Queen Victoria although it is a couple of years older. Here is an interactive website for the Queen Mary 2 Tour the Queen Mary 2 Both ships are really quite spectacular. This morning early 7 A.M. we were notified that we had turned bac http://www.travelblog.org/Oceans-and-Seas/Atlantic/blog-392719.html Easy pin location and our next to last stop on the Queen Victoria. We got off the ship here and Granny Lynne took me to a lovely waterfront restaurant to celebrate my birthday. The celebration was a week early but we will be on the Queen Mary in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when my birthday arrives. Since she was paying I had a wonderful cold lobster salad and some nice Spanish wine. The http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-391649.html The capital of Italy and another beautiful city built amidst the ruins of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire lasted 400 years. At its height there was a saying All roads lead to Rome and it was true. This morning Granny Lynne and I went into Rome with a car and driver and went to the Vatican the world headquarters of the Catholic Church. We had been there before but the Sistine Chapel was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-391038.html No pin problem here. Athens the capital of Greece is at least 3000 years old and widely referred to as the cradle of western civilization.We had a lovely private tour of the city and I have included a couple of photos the first is of the Parthenon on the Acropolis one of the most famous landmarks in the world. This photo was taken from a pretty outdoor restaurant where we had coffee with o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-390252.html HAPPY EASTERNot sure you can find a place for a pin on your map for this stop. Our daily program describes Mykonos as follows ldquoA Greek Island and a mass tourist destination renowned for its cosmopolitan character and its intense nightlife.rdquo We arrived here at noon and are leaving tonight at 7 P.M. We have to use the ship's tenders here the weather is cool and windy and the sea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Mykonos/blog-389967.html Should not be any problem to find Istanbul for a pin. We had a private tour with driver and a wonderful Englishspeaking guide named Attila. We have been here before but Granny Lynne had a ldquoflu bugrdquo then and she didn't get to see the famous Blue Mosque so that was our first stop. Then we did another Mosque the Hippodrome and the palace. Mosques are churches of the Islamic religi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-389962.html Can you find a place for a pin This is a pretty Turkish coastal city with lots of hotels and resorts which are frequented by European vacationers. It is best known for the nearby GreekRoman city of Ephesus a city built originally by Alexander the Great before the birth of Christ and rebuilt after earthquakes by the Romans in 67 hundred A.D. Nearby is where supposedly the Virgin Mary lived a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/Kusadasi/blog-389370.html Yesterday we were in Alexandria the capital of Egypt when the Greeks and then the Romans ruled Egypt. This is Cleopatra territory. It is the second largest city in Egypt after Cairo. I went on a lengthy bus trip to El Alamein the site of one of the great battles of WWII. Granny Lynne went shopping in the local stalls at the pier but as usual she didn't buy anything. Only picture is of QV http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Mediterranean/Alexandria/blog-388788.html Today we are going through the Suez Canal which connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Google it and see what it looks like from the air. It is 101 miles long and at its narrowest less than 400 yards wide. Traffic is one way and in convoys. Each day early in the morning two convoys depart north to south and one departs south to north Us today. Unlike the Panama Canal there are no http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Mediterranean/Port-Said/blog-388478.html Aqaba Jordan. The principal reason for stopping here is to get off and ride a bus for 2 and a half hours to see Petra. Petra is a fantastic underground city carved out of stone. There is no way to describe it you have to go and see it for yourself. For now the best thing to do is Google it and look at the photographs. Do not ever miss the opportunity to see Petra one of the seven wonders http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Aqaba/blog-388181.html SomaliaPirates THE PICTURE TO THE RIGHT IS NOT ONE THAT I TOOK I COPIED IT FROM THE INTERNET SO YOU COULD SEE WHAT THE PIRATES LOOK LIKEYes if you look at the Spot Tracker you will see that we are very very close to the coast of Somalia where today's modern pirates live and ply their trade of hijacking ships and holding them and their crews and cargos hostage for ransom. Are we scared http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Somalia/Somaliland/blog-386818.html Up until a few years ago it was called Bombay like so many Asian cities which have changed their names in recent years. With an estimated population of 13000000 it is the largest city in India. We have been here twice before and have stayed or dined at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels where the terrorists attacked last year. Accordingly we haven't felt any sort of strong urge to go ashore t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-384963.html Another place for a pin but not much else. Today it is called Kochi so you will have to look for it on the map under both names. It is on the west coast of India. We have been here before so we did not get off the ship. You can see from the picture of where we are docked that it is not exactly a posh place. However this is a city where you can find snake charmers with their little basket http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-384689.html Phuket is a Thailand resort city on the coast and derives most of its commerce from tourism. Hopefully you can find it on the World Map for a pin. We are anchored off shore and using the ships tenders to go ashore. We were here for two days in 2001 so we are staying on board. Besides that today is the first rainy day in any port since we left Los Angeles. There was a tsunami tidal wave her http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-383985.html Yesterday Monday we were in Bangkok. Actually we docked in the port city of Laem Chagang about an hour and a half drive from Bangkok. We were picked up by a private car and driver with an English speaking guide Chat who took us to Bangkok for a city tour including the king's Grand Palace and the spectacularTemple of the Emerald Buddha. The highway to Bangkok and back was an 8 lane inter http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-382664.html Yesterday Friday the 13th we were in Nha Trang Vietnam which is on the south central coast of Vietnam. You may have trouble finding it on the map as it is a small coastal resort city of about 300000 people. Nice hotels and beaches but not much else. Today Saturday we are docked at Phu My. It is a service port for Ho Chi Minh CitySaigon on the Saigon River and is about 70 miles from Sai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-382043.html Today is Thursday March 12th for us and we are at sea on our way to Vietnam. It is still Wednesday evening for you in Columbus and Naples. Yesterday we were in Hong Kong China. It is one of the largest container ports in the world and we were docked in the middle of the container activity. See the photos. I went downtown for an hour or so to look around but Granny Lynne stayed on board as we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-381147.html You need to find a really big pin for Shanghai There are twenty million yes I said 20000000 people living in the greater Shanghai area. It is the largest city in China and one of the largest cities in the world. It is growing by leaps and bounds. In the last 5 years alone its size has almost doubled. The picture of the skyscrapers on the new side of the Yangtz river illustrates the g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-380262.html We are in Pusan Busan South Korea this morning. I was last in Pusan 55 years ago as a lieutenant in the US Army. I cannot describe the changes. This morning I don't recognize a thing. The water in the harbor is the only thing I can see that I remember. When I was here in 1953 and 1954 the tallest building was about 3 stories high and most of the vehicles on the roadsstreets were US Army jee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Busan/blog-379661.html It is 600 P.M. Thursday here in Japan as we leave Nagasaki and head overnight for Busan South Korea. Please note that when you look on your map for Busan it may be spelled Pusan. More to come about Pusan tomorrow. We are now 14 hours ahead of you so it is 400 in the morning on Thursday for the MartinDoolittles and Sarah Merriwether.Nagasaki is the Japanese city on which the US dropped http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Nagasaki/Nagasaki/blog-379142.html