Day 76 April 27th (Monday)
At sea and it is very rough . It is also quite cool as we need a jacket and the wind is really blowing.

Day 77 April 28th (Tuesday)
I got up about 2:30am and found that we were at anchor waiting in queue for our entry into the Suez Canal. The canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterraean Sea and there are no locks as the two bodies of water are at the same sea level. The canal is 101 miles long and takes approximately 12 hours to go through. Then I went back to bed for awhile only to get up again shortly after 6am. as I wanted to see us entering the canal. Our turn in the queue arrived about 7:15am and we could watch the other ships entering before us. The pilot came on board so it wasn't long after that. We entered at Suez City and sat at the rear of the ship while we ate our breakfast and that way we could see both sides of the canal. The city is very modern. large and a very busy port. We spent the day sitting on our chaise lounge with a couple from Florida and watched the scenery change constantly . Even though there is alot of sand on one side the other side is built up. It also amazed us at the mitlitary presence along both sides of the canal and all the compounds with guards and guns. We were greeted with waves all along the trip.
The canal can handle 110 ships in a 24 hour period and the cost is decided every morning depending on the cost of the U.S. dollar. The captain told us that the cost for our ship was approx $240,000USD. There are 3 bodies of water namely Lake Manzilah, Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes which are used as passing bays because the canal is only wide enough for a single lane of traffic.
Every minute of the trip was interesting and we sat watching the built up side with several cities (some small and some large). We reached Great Bitter Lake about noon and saw all the ships anchored waiting for the convoy going up to finish before they could continue their journey. We didn't reach the Mediterranean until 5pm and I just marvel at this whole experience.
We had to leave early to get ready for our drinks with John & Diana before we all went to dinner . They live near Eric's brother in England so we will meet up with them next week at their home.
It was another very interesting day.

Day 78 April 29th (Wednesday)
Another early morning as we had docked in Alexandria this morning at 7am. Our tour was for 8am and the buses had to leave all together with a tourist police escort to Cairo. Another couple from Florida sat across from us on the bus so we had company all day. The buses were air conditioned and also had a washroom on board which was great.
The buses left at 8:20am for Cairo and the Giza Plateau to see the pyramids. Our guide gave us an excellent history of Alexandria when Alexander the Great founded the city followed by the changes over the next 4500 years. It was interesting to hear how the Arabs finally ended up with the city and changing the religion to Muslim.
We arrived in Cairo about 2 hours and 45 minutes later and just driving to the Giza Plateau was something. We have all seen pictures of the pyramids and the sphynx but to actually see them with your own eyes was amazing .
We went to the Western Plateau afterwards to get a picture of the 3 pyramids in a row. Here you could take a camel ride if you had 10 Euros but none of us had any Euros with us so we didn't get to ride. The Arabs took all the marble off the pyramids to make the domes for their mosques which is a shame. It was also interesting to see how Cairo has built up around these ancient treasures.
From here we went to see the sphynz and no matter what angle you looked at the statue it was impressive. It isn't all gilded like the pictures depict but nevertheless it is impressive.
From here we went to board our cruise boat for our buffet lunch and cruise along the Nile. Unfortunately the food was terribly and the Nile is filthy but we have been on the Nile, another goal acheived.
After lunch we went to see the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali which because of its plainness was beautiful. The four alabaser pillars were all that the mosque needed to match the wood carving and hyerglphics on the ceiling. It was great and yes we had to take our shoes off before we entered .
We then went to see how papyrus paper is made and had a chance to buy anything that we wanted to take home. However nothing stood out and said that it had to go home with us. We went next door to the jewelery store to pick up the cartouches that had been ordered. The only catch was that the chains were more expensive than the cartouch so the chain stayed at the store. When I went outside Eric was getting a shoeshine so I got one as well. Our shoes were really dusty from walking around the pyramids. We then boarded the bus for our journey back to the ship and we arrived back at 8:30pm making it a long day.
We then went to get a bite to eat as the dining room was still open. It was very hot in Cairo but it is cool here.
We set sail at 10pm for Greece.

Day 79 April 30th (Thursday)
We are at sea again today so it is laundry day as we have to pack up. The sea is very rough. We saw Crete after lunch along with other small islands. We exchanged all our addresses and said our good byes as we are all disembarking at different times tomorrow. We are to arrive in Pireaus tomorow about 6am so will talk to you from Greece.