Thursday, March 25, 2010
We enjoyed another wonderful evening on the ship last night.
We dined at Silk Road with Japanese Guest Relations Officer Keiko Osugi and her husband Lecturer Rex Ziak. This was the first time we dined with the two of them and we had a very enjoyable time. We shared so many great stories with each other. They are both terrific and very interesting people and we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with the two of them. As usual, dinner was outstanding as we feasted on sushi, sashimi (for Keith), a wonderful entrée, vegetables and fruit for dessert and green tea for Keith and decaffeinated coffee for Anne Marie. We also had wonderful service with waiter Alberto taking care of us. Alberto knows us so well and what we like to order that he could probably order the entire meal including how much and what type of sushi and sashimi we want. He does pre-order a few of our favorite items ahead of time. We ended up staying at Silk Road for two and one-half hours and we could have talked all night. We hope to get together again before the end of this adventure.
Since we finished dinner so late we were unable to make it to the 7:45 PM show. We ended up sitting with one of the officers and enjoying a nice long conversation and it was a wonderful way to cap a delightful evening on board the ship.
As we had an early shore excursion today, Anne Marie did not workout in the morning but Keith did. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine very early in the morning and enjoyed another great workout to begin this glorious day. There were no other guests working out until the last fifteen or so minuets of Keith’s workout. Keith stopped off at the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room for the two of us.
We both enjoyed a nice breakfast in our room, which was delivered and set up by the person on the night room service crew who assists the butlers when they are off duty. Breakfast arrived at the designated hour of 6:00 AM. The member of the night room service team also brought the box lunch that we had ordered with the butler which had all of the items that the butler had ordered for us.
We arrived at Aqaba on schedule this morning. Aqaba is the waterway to the Red Sea. The commercial port of Aqaba is the only outlet to the Hashimate Kingdom of Jordan and is situated at the top of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Today, we took a private tour of The Rose City of Petra with friends Bob and Glo that we booked through Crystal Cruises. The same tour operator is used for this tour as the one who provides the group tours. We first visited Petra in 2007 and decided that it would be nice to visit this historical city once again.
As part of the tour we were driven in a vehicle between the port and the city and once we arrived to Petra a private guide who escorted us all around this historical site met us. While lunch was included with this tour we opted to bring food prepared on the ship so we would not waste time eating lunch at a local restaurant. The drive to and from Petra was about two hours in each direction. There is a point in the drive where one can see Israel. A good part of the drive is through baron areas where you will see some locals tending the land and living in areas where life looks like it dates back to an era many years ago.
Petra is a 2,000-year-old concealed city. It represents the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious people who dominated the trade routes of ancient Arabia, levying tolls and sheltering caravan laden with Indian spices, African ivory and animal hides.
There is so much to take in at this historical site. Petra’s most famous site is the Treasury or the Khazneh. The impressive façade was actually carved directly from a sheet of rock. It also features so many other areas to see including soaring temples, elaborate royal tombs and a 3,000-seat theatre. Petra was selected as one of the wonders of the world and of course is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We had a wonderful day in Petra and a wonderful time-sharing this memory with our friends Bob and Glo. For those of you who have not been to Petra if your travels ever take you to this area of the world we highly recommend visiting Petra. For us, it is very special.
We will post more about our day tomorrow along with many pictures.
This evening we will dine at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with Bob and Glo and will post about that tomorrow and share more thoughts about Petra as well.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY……
“Change brings freshness.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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