OUR OWN BED THIS EVENING

It was a long day yesterday with a few problems along the way.  We left Barcelona on time but due to snow in Frankfurt we were delayed getting in.  After arrival we had to clear German Passport Control and go back thru security clearance.  All this took time and we were the last to board our flight.  Along the way we found a new friend in a young Spanish lady who was a little upset with all the goings on and tagged along with us.  We then had to stay at the port until we were deiced and got clearance.  We were pushed out and when the flight deck went to start the jets they would not start, a valve was frozen so there we sat until the mechanic was able to get the valve to operate.  Off we went 2.5 hours late.  Of course we arrived into Chicago late missing our flight.  As we were going thru the USA we had to pick up our luggage ( which did not arrive ) Clear USA immigrations, get a new flight from United Airlines.  This is another story and was not fun.  We got our flight and arrived in Calgary at 11:30, 5 hours late.
We were very glad to see Colin there waiting for us.  Both Ray and I had a good night sleep at Colin's, got up had a visit with Michelle and the kids then off to do some shopping and head for home.
Now we have to collect all our thought so we can finalize the pictures into a little presentation.
HOME SWEET HOME !!!

ARC DE TRIOMPH BARCELONA, SPAIN

Monserrat, Spain

Take a look at our web albums to see pictures of our trip to Monserrat.  As it was raining I did not get too many good pictures.  It was quite a ride up the side of a mountain on a tram railway.  We left about 9:00am to catch the Metro to Espanya station where we caught the RENFE railway to Monserrat, did not get back home till 6pm so it was a busy day.  Well worth the trip to see.  Would have been nice if the fogdid not roll it.
Tomorrow it is time to repack the bags to make sure we are not over weight.  Crossing our fingers that the weather in the eastern USA does not hold us up as we are flying back thru Chicago.  Our connections are not as good as the out bound flight. 

Looking forward to getting home into our own bed.

NOTE

ALL THE PICTURES ARE DISTORTED FOR SOME REASON.  CLICK ON THEM TO GET FULL PICTURE.  WE WILL BE IN BARCELONA TOMORROW IF THE INTERNET IS FASTER I WILL TRY UPLOAD MORE PICS TO THE WEB

VALLETTA MALTA

February 3

Today we arrive in the natural harbor of Valletta Malta. The skies were clear and the temperature was in the mid teens. Malta has been controlled by a number of different factions throughout the ages; one of the most out standing groups were the Knights of Saint John who built walls around the city for protection from invaders. During WWII Malta was controlled by the British. The island was under constant bombing by the Italian and German Air Forces but during this period Malta was never invaded by the enemy. Many of the historic site were destroyed by this bombing. One of the most interesting stories was of a church that had approx 300 people inside for protection when a bomb came thru the dome and buried it self in the floor with out exploding, non of the 300 injured. This church now has a replica of this bomb behind the alter.

Our tour took us around the island so that we could get a panoramic view of this self sustaining island country with countless terraces of scrub rocks and small garden plots. All the buildings are built of stone from the local quarries and the the local people live a laid back life in this idealic place in the Mediterranean.

We arrived back at the ship about an hour before sailing. Most of our time was spent on the bus.

It is now the following day and we are at sea cruising for Barcelona, we will have been on board for 21 day and look forward to 6 days to visit the city. I am going to phone the airline to see if we might get home a little sooner. Though as I sit here on our balcony with the sun shining on us and smooth seas I could change my mind.

CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS

January 31 – February 1

Today is our Cairo overnight trip. We were up early as our time to leave was 6:45 AM, well that was not to be. The Egyptian authorities decided they had to do a health inspection. The ship was advised of this earlier and had arrived about 1:30 in the morning to try getting the inspection done so we would be on time but the port authorities would not let us in until 7:30. It was 12 PM before we got our clearance so we were 6 hours late getting away. We were told that it just about did not happen. That would have been a big disappointment for all aboard as most had made the trip just for Egypt.

Our first day was the 3 hour drive to Cairo, with the first stop at the Museum of the Pharaohs followed by our dinner on the Nile. We then went to the Light Show at the Pyramids. By this time we all needed our nights rest, however the trip was long as Egypt had won the African Foot Ball championship and the natives were out to party (Calgary's Red Mile does not stand a chance against this spectacle ).People were literally dancing in the streets, flags everywhere, horns beeping and massive traffic jams.
We arrived at the Conrad Hotel about midnight, it did not take long to fall a sleep. We had a super room with a view of the Nile too tired to appreciate it but the bed was great.

Our wake up call came at 6:30, breakfast and of and running by 7:30. First stop was the Alabaster Mosque of King Mohamed Ali. Then off to visit Memphis to see the ruins of the temple of Ptah and the fallen stature of King Ramses the 2nd. We then went to oldest cemetery of Sakkara and the Pyramid of King Zoser. It was at this site that we entered a tomb inside of a pyramid followed by going into the tomb of King Zoser. Next it was lunch at a very luxurious restaurant followed the Pyramids of Giza for our ride on camels around the sites. Never have we seen the merchants like they are here. Never look them in the eye or shake your hand, you will never get rid of them. We then went to the Mighty Sphinx for more picture taking and street merchants. Throughout the entire trip, our guide Hany gave us an in-depth commentary of Egyptian history which helped us appreciate the antiquities we saw and made sure that we missed most of the on-slot of street merchants..

EPHESUS AND THE HOME OF THE VERGIN MARY

January 29

We arrived the the port of Izmir, Turkey the 3rd largest port in the country. Our tour today is to visit the House of the Virgin Mary, and the historical city of Ephesus. With the main emphasis in our schooling on Athens Greece we did not expect to see this such impressive sight. This is one of the most outstanding visits of our trip. It was very interesting that Paul and John were both in Ephesus and that John arrived with Mary, died and was buried here, Paul came to preach and was jailed in Ephesus.

The House of the Virgin Mary was interesting but there are those that feel there is no evidence to prove that Mary t ever lived here. The house was destroyed by and earthquake but was rebuilt in the 6th century AD on the same foundation but was modified on the interior to be a small church.

After our visit to Ephesus we stopped at a resort on the Aegean Sea for lunch followed by a stop at a carpet weaving school where we saw some nice carpets. I happened to say I like one particular carpet. That was a mistake as I am sure the wall had ears, we were in for a high pressure sales team. Ray told me that I will never be forgiven. It did take walking out on them to get away.

As we were quite tired after getting back I am typing this on the following day. We have a day at sea on our way to Alexandria, Egypt. We again have rough seas and my stomach is not handling it at well as it should. The forecast is for improved sea conditions and temperatures.