Three World Wonders: Ancient Petra, The Pyramids, and The Boys in Greece and Turkey!

Two wonders of the world, Tall/Dark/Handsome Men

I'm sorry I have neglected my blog for a few stops, but this past week has been a whirlwind of ports and shows...so here is my best update. Since I last wrote, I have visited my first world
wonder, the forbidden city of Petra, Jordan, then off to the pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, then Rhodes, Athens, and Olympia, Greece, and finally, Valletta, Malta.

I really did not know what to expect from Petra, Jordan except that uh, well, it's good old Jordan. WHHHAT??? Jordan?!? WHY AM I IN JORDAN??? But nonetheless, I took a crew tour
from Aqaba to Petra. The bus ride was long and we stopped along the way at a little shop where I bought some dead sea products and a bracelet that looks like it's out of Xena Warrior
Princess. Right on. We drove through the desert, which is truly like nothing I have ever seen. Two camels crossed right in front of our bus which brought me back to my original question:
WHAT AM I DOING IN JORDAN?!? We finally got to Petra and I have to say that it was an incredible day. Mike, Travis, Kristin and I elected to ride horses when we first walked in (mine a
white horse of course in tribute to my brother, Whitey) and it was really cool to finally do some horseback riding. Then we walked about 3 miles through the completely stone carved city,
which looks a lot like how I picture the Grand Canyon. We took some gorgeous photos and found all kinds of interesting ways to pose in the rocks, on top of the rocks, laying across the
rocks, seducing the rocks, etc. We finally got to the Treasury building which was really cool...and you've all seen it, because Indiana Jones was filmed there. As you're walking around, there
are a ton of Jordanian guys on mules, camels, and horses passing you every minute trying to sell you a ride. It makes sense, because to see all of Petra, it's about a 7 mile uphill walk.

I finally convinced my new friend Piers (from Wales) to ride a camel with me. It was so fun!! They are the cutest things and it was definitely something I had to do while in Jordan. I mean,
"when in Jordan...!" It was an awesome day. The only downfall was not being able to visit Eilat, Israel which was literally 10 minutes away (we had a great view of Eilat from the ship), but
apparently we were not allowed to go to Israel since the ship had been in all these Arab ports. So although I didn't go to Israel, I did get to SEE it, so there's that,,,,!

After Jordan, we sailed to Alexandria, Egypt after cruising through the Suez canal. And, oy vey, the pyramids. Now, the pyramids in Cairo are a good three hours from where we docked in
Alexandria. However, someone organized a crew trip, so naturally, I had to sign up to see the pyramids. I was also glad we were leaving Alexandria, since it looked really sketchy as we
were driving by, and one man from the ship got mugged and was taken to the hospital. So....three hours on a bus to see the birthplace of "Let my People Goooo!" Okay. We finally arrive at
the world famous pyramids. I have to say if you'll allow me, I hated them. That's right, I loathe the pyramids and I'm not afraid to admit it. I know that all of the history is amazing, but the area surrounding them is such a
mess. First of all, they allow cars to drive literally right up to them. The sand surrounding the area is filled with debris, and none of the grounds are well-kept. They have built an entire
commercial area just across the street, so you are looking at the Sphinx...but if you turn your head the other way, there is a big KFC and Pizza Hut. That really took away from the whole
"wonder of the world" thing. So in your photograph of The Great Pyramid, you just have to "photoshop" out the pepsi cans on the ground, the white Toyota Four Runners driving next to the
pyramids, and gee, the pyramids sure do smell an awful lot like fried chicken. Oh no wait, that's just KFC. There is no way Cleopatra would be having this. We took a gazillion pictures to say,
"Hey! Look at me! I'm at the pyramids! Wooopadeeeedooooo!", but in actuality, I thought they were a big disappointment. We didn't go in the museum, but I was informed that it was just as
dirty. I'm gonna need for Egypt to get-it-togetha! I was wishing I had a staff that parted the Red Sea to get me back to the ship, because those pyramids were just not doing it for me.

Three hours later and one more world wonder down, we were back to the ship and sailing to Greece! Our first stop was the charming town of Rhodes. It was
absolutely beautiful and luckily, my parents have a driver that they met almost 15 years ago on their trip to Greece, and I sent him an email to see if he was available to take me and some
friends around for the day. He ended up picking a group of us up right at the gangway and it turned out to be one of the best days of the entire trip. He took us EVERYWHERE, and it was such
a nice change to be in the Mediterranean....in a nice, clean, and safe city as opposed to India and the Middle East. (and parts of Asia) Anyway, Themis took us to remote roadways that NO
other cars were on and when the police tried to stop him from driving through the castle roads, he spoke in Greek but uttered the words "V.I.P." and the cops let him proceed. We all felt like
movie stars. It was also really nice to have someone taking us around who felt like family since he knew my parents!! He insisted that if we wanted really good Greek food, he would take us
to a nearby village so we didn't "have to pay tourist prices" and insisted that we would have the best gyros ever. He drove for about 20 minutes and we ended up in this little residential
area, and he told us to wait in the car while he went in to get us the food. He came back out with gyros and fries for all of us--and they were to die for!! We headed over to Lyndos, which is
about a 45 minute drive from Rhodes and houses The Acropolis at Lyndos and some gorgeous scenery. Themis stopped twice along the side of the road, the first time to climb a tree and
pick us the BEST oranges we ever tasted, and the second time to pick spices from the ground for us to smell. He was THE BEST!! He took us to all the best picture spots before dropping us
at the main market right next to the port for some last minute shopping before we sailed off. I fell in love with the little market/cafe area of Rhodes. It was filled with coffee shops, leather stores,
souvenir shops, and charming little restaurants....and it was fun just getting lost and walking down the narrow streets. I also fell in love with about 700 tall, dark, handsome Greek men along
the way. What a day!!

Next was Kusadasi, Turkey....another gorgeous city!! There was yet another market right across from the port that had amazing fake bags and sunglasses, and a ton of leather stuff. We were
used to paying Asia prices, so it was definitely a big culture shock to have to start paying more than 5 bucks for ANYTHING. Of course that didn't stop me from buying more bags and
sunglasses, and luckily, we will be going back to Kusadasi next month !! As Mike and I were shopping around, we met the most gorgeous boy, Tayfun (pronounced Typhoon), who we asked
where we could get some yummy Turkish food. He LEFT the jewelry store he was working at, and walked us a few blocks down to this little restaurant, then ordered for us!! Well, he spoke
english perfectly, and he was stunning, so Mike and I being, well, MIKE AND I naturally asked him to stick around for lunch. He was adorable and it turned out to be a great lunch. I still
think that the people you meet in each city really define a place for you. With all the places we have been, the things I remember most are the people we have met.

I still have Athens, Sardinia, Italy, and Malaga, Spain to update on, but I think this entry is long enough. I am really looking forward to getting back to Ft. Lauderdale this week to see my fam
for a few hours!!!! Plus it has been 5 months since I have been in AMERICA! Crazy. Although I am very excited to get back over to the Mediterranean in May and go back to Athens,
Kusadasi, and Rhodes...and visit Marseille and Nice, France, plus Dubrovnik, Sicily, Rome, & Venice!

On a performance note, I want to inform that I opened my second brand new cabaret a couple nights ago, entitled 'I Enjoy Being a Girl' and was more of a "story" show than my first cabaret.
It turned out pretty well and the set list included: I enjoy being a girl, Diamonds are a girl's best friend, Material Girl, Where the Boys Are, Will He Like Me?, Take Back Your Mink, Mein Herr,
Tell me on a Sunday, my chocolate parody, Don't Rain on My Parade, Listen to my heart, and Gold. The storyline turned out to be really beautiful and a lot of the material hit very close to
home, so it was amazing to be able to perform some of these songs with the 9 piece orchestra. Hopefully, I will get another shot at this show next week! Ryan and I also put together a
cabaret called 'It Takes Two' and did a slew of musical theatre duets including 'Anything you can do I can do better,' 'Last Night of the World,' 'A Little Fall of Rain,' 'Sue Me,' 'All I Ask of You'
'Sing,' 'Wheels of a Dream' and 'Summer Nights/ You're the one that I want.' It also came out really cute and was really fun to perform. We have been performing a lot more on this last
segment of the world cruise since the CEO has been onboard. We did a James Bond night where I dressed up like a Bond girl and sang 'Goldfinger,' and last night we had a Beatles show
and I sang 'I Saw Her Standing There' and my favorite, 'In My Life.' This month has flown by and I can hardly believe we only have a little over a month left of our contract here!

All my love to my friends and fam back home who have been reading my blogs! Sorry this one took a while, but I will have more soon on my day in Athens and time in Malaga! Miss you all!

xoxoxoxo,
Ashley

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