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Day 3
Our fourth Wedding Anniversary. Has it been four years already? I will write more on that later. But, the day began pretty much the same way as Day 1 in Key West. We turned on the TV as soon as we woke up to see if we had docked. We saw that the ship was not exactly close to land, there was still some distance. So we thought we might get to see the actual docking, and thought of racing to Deck 9, when we noticed the speed was 0km/h. Strange. We went upstairs for coffee and we saw that ship was anchored where it was.
Turns out Georgetown of Cayman Islands was surrounded by too shallow waters to be able to let a big ship in. And apparently we were supposed to take a smaller boat to reach the shore. This might be a good time to talk about how the ship crew kept track of its passengers. Each of us are given a Sail Card, which has multi purpose use. One is it lets people in and out of the ship. Two, we scan it when we get off the ship and we scan again when we get into the ship. That way they keep track of everyone on the ship. And of course, the director said on the first orientation that the ship might not wait for those that are not on the ship on time. Its not quite all that fun to get stranded in an unknown island with not much of our belongings. The third purpose is, it can also be used as a credit card in shops and restaurants in the ship, and you are directly billed to the credit card on file for the room.
Moving on, Cayman Islands is under UK and we had to get our UK visas. The policies were not too clear, about cruise members, but we still had our documents anyway. The only hassle was we were going to be wet most of the day and it was risky to carry our passport and other important documents. DH suggested not taking any of the documents with us, saying they might not check as they know we are cruise passengers. But I insisted we take them just in case something happens.
Seriously vacationing with important documents on you is such a pain. More so when you are surrounded by water most times. We got off the ship, on to a boat which was somehow attached to the entrance of the ship. The boat was making rounds picking and dropping passengers from the ship. As the boat moved away from the ship towards the land, we got to see our ship up close, just how huge it was!
Nobody asked for our visas or passports as we went on land. We had to find our excursion group. There were Cruise Line helpers all around the port helping us, it was all really made easy. We got on our bus and were on our way. The people of Cayman Islands, I was surprised to note, very much resembled South Indians. Our van driver was showing us the important buildings in the town as we drove to Stringray City, one of the popular attractions of Cayman Islands. The driver's accent was a bit tough to understand. The country looked well developed than I expected, may be because it is still under UK thats why. Plus it was hot, super hot.
We were dropped by the shore, where we got into a catamaran, which took us to the actual SandBar, right in the middle of the Sea! Of course as we were sailing deep into the sea away from land, my mind had to conjure up all kinds of mishaps that could happen. If the boat overturned and our documents got wet, we would not be allowed into the courntry again. If one of us dropped a wet suit near the document, if it got wet, I would never be able to forgive. As I applied loads and loads of sun tan on myself and got ready for the sand bar, I pulled myself together. If that were to happen let it happen, I am not going to waste my vacation time worrying about the What Ifs. Peace reigned. I kept the bag in the middle very protected from the splashing water, as the catamaran cruised to the sand bar.
Here is a short story on the Sting Ray Sand Bar for those who are interested. Long story short, the sting rays voluntarily come to this place, right in the middle of the sea, albeit a shallow, because early fishermen used to come here and clean their catch, the water was calmer, and throw the useless in the water, providing the much needed food for the sting ray. SO as soon as we reached this place and 'parked' we saw little black things under water, the water was sooo transparent, swimming towards the catamaran. It was a welcoming site. The sting rays knew we would feed them so they came. The point to note is they are not captive or anything, we are seeing them in their own habitat, which is kinda grass itching aint it?
We dressed down to our swimsuits. There was snorkel gear available too, but I opted out. I didnt want my hair wet. :--P So the initial group that stepped into the water, were the brave ones. I heard a lot of shrieking and screaming. DH stood still after getting down, wary of the creatures swimming underneath. I took my time to apply my sun tan lotion yet again. I took some pictures from the boat of DH and of the sting rays. Nope. I couldnt muster the courage to get down just as yet. DH kept calling me. Those dark creatures swimming underneath, scared the hell out of me. Of course they arent dangerous. The worst they could do is apparently give a hickey, as they try to suck through their mouth.
It was some time before I slowly stepped down into the soft sand, into the water. Water was till your chest, not much. I waded towards DH, and held on to him, as sting rays of different sizes swam past me. We were warned to walk dragging our feet so we dont step on a resting sting ray and agitate it. There were these so called 'guides' who caught a sting ray each and were holding it for us tourists to touch and feel. They told us how it eats and all that general information about the fish itself. I did touch it. It was weird.
Then the guide told us how we can kiss it. I wouldnt have done it if I hadnt seen the others do it, even kids. I stood in the small line that was formed waiting to kiss the stingray and get picture taken. DH ran to the catamaran to get our camera. As it was my turn I told the guide that I was scared. In reply, he said," Dont be scared, you just sailed with a boat full of humans the scariest and most dangerous creatures on earth!!" :--) If you think of it, it is indeed true. Most animals would only hurt for two things, their safety and their offsprings, or for food. Its only man that hurts, animals, just because, and for pleasure too.
Anyhoo, the guide held the sting ray still while I took my mouth close to the front part of the sting ray. And guess what it did something like pouting lips, as it touched my face! That was the kiss! It was sooo cute. All my fear of it vanished and I wanted to spend some more time with it.
Now the guide showed us how we can hold it if we extend our arms and support the two sides of the fish. I tried too. It was soo funny. I would just hold it and it would swim away, it would just stay put. Me and DH took a picture with it, as I tried to hold it in my arms. Its just too cute for words. An experience one of a kind.
Soon it was time to get on the catamaran and head back. We dried ourselves, made sure our documents were safe for the millionth time, applied sun tan lotion, and waited to be taken ashore. The guides accepted dollars are tips. In fact everywhere we went even though native currency was not dollars, they were accepted nevertheless.
Out next stop was the Turle Farm. It was not so interesting, except that we got to hold the turtles too. I felt sorry for the turtles, being picked up and looked at and dropped back so many times a day as tourists came in and out. I almost made a story for them, like Finding Nemo or Madagascar. But DH convinced me that they are having a good life with regular food and shelter, if left in the wild not all of these would have survived.
Soon we were done with the farm went out to where the van was by the shore. Sadly that was all we saw of the beautiful beaches of Cayman Islands. Our next stop was a place called Hell, which was sooo not worth its salt. There was a small post office from where you could mail your friends, saying you were mailing from Hell.
We got talking to the var driver and he said he great great grand parents were from India, Bhopal and had migrated to Cayman Islands long long time ago! DH joked saying Europeans explored the world after they found the ship, but namma oors had probably long before then only started sailing on planks into the sea and settled whereever they could. Its really amazing how civilization works, how people migrate from one place to another, how people even inhibit islands like these, and hawaii, and tahiti, splat in the middle of the ocean. They must have had some guts to take up the venture of sailing into the unknown.
Anyhoo. We were back by the port, and we had a couple of hours before the ship set sail. We shopped a bit for some authentic Run cake of the Caribbean, bought some for friends at work and ourselves. We were hungry as it was past lunch time, so we just decided to go to the ship for lunch. We got in the boats to the ship pretty easily, nobody checked our documents. So much for spending on getting the Visa and so much for worrying about getting it on time and so much for carrying it with us and making sure it was safe!
Evening we went to the gym, that was good, and then spent more time on the deck, lazing under the sun, people watching. Both of us dressed up for dinner. This day and the day before too, there were several portait photographers who had put their set up to take pictures of the passengers. Since it was our anniversary we decided to take some portraits done as memento of the occasion. It was fun, we just had to go take pictures, and then they would put the pictures on display and you can buy them if you wanted to. Actually there were photographers taking pictures in several places, like went we get off the ship to any place, or while dining.
Then we headed for dinner, which was sumptuous as usual, Italian this time around. Our waiters got to know our choices better, our green tea at the end of dinner, and the melting chocolate for dessert on most days. I was sleepy as usual, sooner than usual and we retired for the day content and happy. We were officially in the second half of the trip.
PS1: I know, pictures arent that great, we were too busy having fun :--)
Day 1
Saw us waking up and immediately staying still to see if the ship was rocking. As in was it moving or was it docked already. We couldnt feel a thing. Remember the TV channel on international flights that show you where you are flying, how long to the destination, the plane speed, outside temperature, etc etc? Well there was a channel on TV in our room too, that had something similar! So early in the morning we turned on the TV to that channel, just like I did many years ago on that plane as I woke up from an uncomfortable slumber. Yes, we were docked at Key West. Apparently right by downtown, close to everything. What would have been a 4hr drive from Ft Lauderdale actually took 12 hours by ship. :--) How fascinating.
We went to Lido Deck, that is deck 9. Our room was on Deck 6. Key west okay. It was my second visit. Our first stop on the cruise. We had breakfast and left the ship pretty early around 7:45. Since our tour director recommended this one trolly tour so much, we went for it, and that was the worst decision we made. The guide was talking about the patio designs of homes in Key West! What the? Seriously, I slept towards the end of the tour. That was the first and only mistake we did on the cruise.
It was hot, as is expected of Florida. The last time we were in FL, one evening at the beach and both of us were tanned, (read burned). And I sooo didnt want that to happen this time. So we carried not one but three tubes of sunscreen lotions. So with that applied, we rented bikes and biked around Key West. We went to the Southern Most Point in Continental US and took customary pictures.
We went back to the ship for lunch. That was the cool thing about Key West. We had lunch on Lido Deck. The heat was already taking a toll on us. We felt sleepy. We did take a short nap before heading back to shore with all our swimming gear.
We walked to a close by beach and had some fun time in the water. DH was trying to swim in the beach, splashing water all around himself. So I told him to stay away from me. There is this thrill, of watching the wave come by and jump with the wave, feel that fleeting moment of zero gravity as the wave keeps you afloat and washes you ashore. You have to jump at the right moment. Else you are screwed. And yes time flies when you are in the beach. Time passes by wave after wave, some laughs, lot of sun, some salty water on your lips, some hurting pebbles under your feet.
DH was looking at me with his back to the waves, as I warned him of any oncoming wave and he would jump. Since I was standing a few feet away from him, the same wave would reach me a microsecond later after it reached him. So this time, I warned him of an oncoming huge wave, and as he jumped, it was implusive, like my body involuntarily without thinking copied what it saw, I also jumped. So when I finished jumping and landed, that was when the wave reached me. I was under water for a split second, my eyes with contacts lens wet with salt water, burning, as I felt like I was drowning. That marked the end of our sojourn with the light blue Florida waters, we called it a day and headed back to the ship. I came to the room and instantly saw a tan on me, this inspite of having applied loads and loads of suntan. Tch tch.
Nothing like a nap after time at the beach. Sleep engulfs you into this dreamless land, where all cares, worries seem to float far away. Bliss!
Day ended with sumptuous dinner, dont remember what we ate. I do remember the dessert. Oh the melting chocolate cake was totally out of the world. Imagine, hot chocolate still warm and liquidy, top it with a scoop of vanilla icecream, the combination of hot chocolate with the cold icecream, played with your taste palattes, taking you to ecstasy.
We spent the rest of the evening at the theater watching some show which was too R rated for my taste.
Day 2
This day was Fun day at Sea. We thought we should take this day to explore the ship more in depth. But me being who I am, over enthusiastic, signed up for two classes at the Gym. Ya dont ask. We spent some time working out and attended the sessions, and lo! it was afternoon already. Btw did I tell you about the spa? Oh my God. I have never been to a Spa, ok, and I promise I will never ever dump money on something so lavish and unnecessary as the Spa. Cleanse your face, massage your body, remove wrinkles, remove cellulite, whiten your teeth, it was unending and priced exhorbitantly.
We played miniGolf on the top of the ship. Golf in the middle of the sea! Oh wait, even running on the threadmill was weird when doing in the middle of the sea. Since it was Sea day everyone was on the Lido deck on the beach chairs, laying down, soaking in the sun, reading or sleeping. At this point, people watching is the most fun thing to do. We watched the kids at the swimming pool, making their own movie, making friends at short times. We watched the youngsters scantily clad, running here and there, with something or the other to eat in their hand. We watched the middle aged folks, also scantily clad, which was a tad irritating to the eyes,reading some book, or just lying there. Some show was going on at the Seaside Theater.
There was some silly contest on the hairiest man on the ship. It ws funny to say the least, as the contestants came dancing and showing off their, well, hairy chest to everyone. The things people do when they are on vacation! :--)
We did try to go to the front of the ship, the tip of the deck to try the Titanic pose :--P We did some research on the layout of the ship and decided the tip should be on deck 4 and went all the way to the forward, till we hit dead end, aka Crew Only from a point. Total bummer it was. I mean they should let the tip of the ship accessible to the cruisers no?
By evening we began to get ready for the Captains Dinner. Our first formal night on the ship. Both of us were all decked up, and went to the International Lounge. Everybody was amazingly dressed. I was surprised when some ladies said I looked good :--P Its not everyday I get to hear that unless I am wearing Indian clothes.
So the Lounge had free drinks as much as anyone wanted, everything on the Captain of the ship :--) Unfortunately neither of us drink alcohol, so we had some delicious fruit punch. There was some nice music going on by some troup and people started getting on the stage, almost hiding the singers and started dancing. Again, people watching - good sport on a cruise. Some romantic couples cuddled close together dancing to the tune, some old couples dancing like they were brushing their teeth, especially the men, while the women were trying to ellicit some romance out of the proximity.
The Cruise director was being funny as usual and he introduced some of the big heads of the ship. Most importantly the Captain of the ship. It was super cool to see him. He made the most obvious joke. "If I am here, who is driving/navigating the ship?" We took some pictures of the crew and shook hands with them too.
Later we went to the restaurant for dinner. I think this was the day that they got us our cake for our Anniversary, although technically it was the next day. And I think it was this day that DH, wanting to be strict with his food choices, ordered a plate of fruit, a plate of boiled veggies, and baked potato with white rice! I dont know what DH was thinking. I tried out most of the spa options which were low calorie food, mostly fish and such. The funny part was when one of the overseeing managers came to DH and asked him if he was finding everything ok and that he should not be eating baked potato and white rice for dinner on a cruise!! That was enough embarassment for DH! :--) It was sooo funny. The things is we could order how many ever entrees we want, how many ever times. Its unlimited food. Its like they find ways to make you fatter and fatter and fatter.
So with that episode, we went on to the deck yet again, to enjoy the sail, the silent night, darkness all around except for the lights on the ship. It was strange albeit super. No one had trouble taking pictures of us, we were so nicely dressed. Its not often we get to see DH in a suit. And its not often I get dressed up, being the tomboy that I am.
I was sleepy early after dinner and we called it a night, after watching some movie on TV. Oh and this day they had my much awaited towel pet :--) I just checked my pictures, it was a snake. :--D I took a picture with the towel snake, little knowing... oh, thats a different post. :--)
PS: Do wait for the next post for the more interesting parts. :--)
All pictures have either us or the people on the ship, so no pictures yet.
Prelude
Do you remember the first time you boarded an airplane? I am not asking those rich kids that did so when they were too young to even realize they were on a plane, but the middle class folks like me, who boarded a plane at the ripe age of 21. I do, like it was yesterday. I remember struggling to put the seat belt, and to push the seat further down to make myself comfortable. I remember staring at the big wing of Lufthansa, as I sat by the window, travelling all alone to an unknown country several thousand miles away. I remember watching my German neighbours eat some strange looking food with a fork and knife and trying to ape them. I remember walking into the tiny space called the washroom, amazed at how self sufficient it was. I remember trying to decipher the safety instructions the air host was spitting out, with utmost concentration, my life depended on it. I remember following two seventeen year olds who were also enroute to Chicago, to get to the gate at the stopover in Frankfurt. Oh and I remember being awed, mouth gaping, heart beating fast, as the plane took off. Take offs and landings were the most interesting of the whole plane journey, a few years after, I never missed a take off or landing no matter how tired I was. A tiny excitement at being alone in this whole wide world, masked by the giant fear.
I can hear you go, bah, enough drama already! :--)
Well, having been in the US for so long now, I thought I had seen it all, experienced it all. Will I ever have the feeling of trying something brand new, the adrenaline rush at being some place brand new, the curiosity in trying to know how things work?
Until we decided to go on a Cruise.
It was our fourth wedding anniversay last month. [I had a whole post planned which didnt materialize] I had some money I got as an award at work which expired this year. So we decided to club it and go on a Cruise. I was not so excited about the Cruise as I was about the places we would visit while on the Cruise. DH is a sucker for ships, because his Dad works at a port.
As I mentioned earlier, it was crazy hectic the couple of weeks before we were off, and the day finally dawned when we finally took off. We were to fly to Fort Lauderdale the night before, and we were supposed to board the Cruise the next day around noon.
We were finally all set at the airport with laptops and movies and headphones and snacks, when the news comes. Flight to Houston which was our stopover was delayed by 3 hours due to weather. Wats up with weather issues in Spring time, that too in Texas of all places? The problem with coast to coast flights are, if we miss something, its bound to be an overnight hurdle, due to the time difference.
Leaving out the gory details, we were this close to missing the cruise itself, thanks to the weather. We called up the airlines, the cruise lines and every other possible line, to see if we can somehow make it without further issues.
After all the hungama and bye byes at work, it sure would have sucked to go back to work. Believe me, we were very close to that happening.
Finally our flight took off to Houston and reached with 20mins to spare to catch the connecting flight. Houston saw us running from one terminal to another to catch the connecting flight. Now our only concern was that our luggage should make it safe and sound. I saw the whole Europe episode threatening to repeat itself. But atleast we would make it to the cruise. So what if we wore the same couple of clothes all week long, no?
But thank God, really, thank you God, I prayed fervently to God all through the flights, everything was fine, and we were in Fort Lauderdale the night before with plenty of time to spare to board the cruise the next day.
We had in a hurry cancelled our hotel reservations too, as we were not sure if we would make it on time. So we had to make another reservation, thanks to iPhone, while on the flight.
Day 0
Bright and sunny. Breakfast at the hotel, and we took the shuttle to Port Everglades. Once we were dropped some workers at the port look our luggage right away. I have a phobia of losing luggage. You would too if you spent the vacation of your life in Europe, your honeymoon, with three pairs of clothes. Turns out the whole darn area was for one ship only. About 3300 passengers. 3300!! We learnt later, there were about 1200 crew members onboard. So almost a mini city in motion, the ship was. We had tagged our luggage with our stateroom numbers, so we can expect it to be delivered in our rooms later in the afternoon.
We stood in a long line of security and boarding. We were one of the very few Indians around. We saw the ship from land and it look sooooooo huge!! Sometimes we had trouble distinguishing the ship from buildings around. It looked magnificent and majestic. And of course we were reminded of Titanice as we boarded the ship finally on to Deck 3.
Entering the ship was not like entering a ship at all. It was like entering a jazzy hotel in Las Vegas. Colorful dancing lights, lively decor, nope, not what I expected on a ship.
Our rooms were not ready, and we were directed to Deck 9, which was open deck with pool and seaside theater and bar and buffet. Lunch was being served already! I dont know where to begin with the food. There was just everything possible to eat available. We settled down with chicken tandoor and naan with some papad and hummus, and corn.
The cruise director, had a session on some rules and regulations in one of the theaters and we attended that, being first time novice cruisers. There was an emergency drill too. We had to take our life jackets from our rooms and assemble at Deck 4 where the life boats were located. Thankfully they had life boats for all the people on board the ship. So no one will have to be left behind in case of a Titanic like situation :--P Oh, and our luggage was delivered to our rooms, no issues.
Then it was time to stand on Deck 9, watching the other ships sail by, wait for our turn. The ship started moving slow as a turtle, we didnt even realize it was moving until a while after. And we took off! We waved strongly at the folks at the beach by the shore, and they waved back. Oh how many times have we looked longingly at the Cruise ships in San Francisco ports, wondering when we will ever be on a ship! It sure was a dream come true!
We had 8PM dinner seating. So we managed to squeeze in some time to take a look at the Spa and Gym on Deck 11. Gym was well equipped, I was happy.
Dinner was okay. In fact they had an Indian entree which was decent. Our waiters were from Indonesia, we were to build a nice rapport with them in the next few days.
Every crew member on the ship was super friendly. We met a bunch of Indians working in the buffets and restaurants. Everyone was friendly. The crowd was a cool crowd. There were dances going on, competitions going on, anniversaries being celebrated, birthdays being celebrated.
We took a walk on the deck yet again after it was dark. A gentle rocking of the ship, with the wind blowing on our faces. It was super exciting.
We were very much looking forward to having a fun time.
PS: I was looking for a nalla neram to start writing this. But realized it will never come. So if I flunk my final exam on Wednesday you know why.
Hopefully I can write all parts of the vacation. Lets see.
Day 3 (Contd)
I was a little sad as we drove into Denver. No more snow! :--( Denver was less colder than Aspen, and was on flat lands, although the elevation is about a mile, hence the name, Mile High City. It was ages that I had experienced the frozen nose tip, frozen toes and frozen fingers. It was ages since I had worn three layers of clothes. It was kinda nice, reminded me a lot of good old days in Madison. That doesnt mean I like cold weather, I used to, but California has spoilt me, and it is nice to visit for a few days. And since there were no snow storms or heavy winds and it was perfectly sunny, I really enjoyed it. Which brings me to another conversation we had with a skiing couple we met. We said where we were from, and they said," The only thing I think of about the place is, its too warm!!" We smiled cordially in response. But, what the heck!! So we analyzed something during lunch. There are two kinds of people, one kind is like this skiing couple, they have been living in cold places and like cold weather, and like winter sports. The other kind has always lived in sunny california, especially the south, by the beach, or in Florida, that cannot take less than 60F weather. They like all the summery sports and those by the beach, the sailing, diving, etc. Guess what, we talked to one such person last winter when we were in Miami, and he said," Wow, that place is cold!!" Perspectives!! And we are in the hanging in the middle kind. Like to put our legs anywhere and everywhere.
Anyway coming back to the story, we stayed in JWMarriott in Cherry Creek which we realized was the upscale side of the town. After going round the block looking for a decent parking, we realized there was only Valet parking. The moment we stopped our car, the guy came to open the car doors for us! That was the moment I started feeling like royalty. ;--) We had stayed in JWMarriott last year same time in Miami Downtown as well. That was much bigger a hotel, and much more royalty. ;--) It was all Sirs and Madams for us which felt good. Of course it also meant we shoud behave properly. When me and DH are together, we behave like nutcases. Especially me. Especially on vacations when nobody around knows us. ;--P There will be an example later in the post at the airport. Thats a good reason why I was quite flustered when we bumped into a friend in Reno during Thanksgiving. Thats the reason why we never get to make friends on our vacations, because we are in our own worlds. No, please dont entertain cheap thoughts.
So anyway, we checked in to our hotel, freshened up and immediately went to the Concierge Lounge for some free gourmet snacks. We sat by the window looking at the city and the mountains, sipping tea, and eating. We didnt have any plan for the evening, we decided to hit the Mall. Which is very unusual of us to do on a holiday trust me. I was pulling DH's leg saying he never got me any gift for Christmas. We were at this handbag shop, Coach. And I was looking at some bags, as my current one is badly in need of replacement. I found this really cute one, multicolored, liked it and put on a paavam face to coax DH into buying it for me. DH laughed and agreed. I was still in a dilemma, when I found the tag. It was a whopping $150!! My dilemma was over ;--) But DH wanted to buy that bag for me! How cute! He pulled me with the bag saying, "Its okay, you dont generally spend too much on such things, its my christmas gift for you, lets buy it"!I was shocked, both with happiness, that DH would do that for me, and because he was ready to do it! I vehemently shook my head. Its insane to pay so much for a bag I would carry to work everyday. Finally we came out of the store empty handed.
We had dinner at Macaroni Grill and went back to the hotel for dessert. There was free dessert in the Conceirge Lounge. I didnt eat anything of course, but DH got a few brownies and gave a longing look at the other delicacies, that he didnt eat. See, thats what happens, I heard recently from someone, when there is ability there is no opportunity, and when there is opportunity there is no ability!!
Day 4
We set out to Colorado Springs to visit Garden of the Gods. We were going down south from Denver, and it wasnt too great a drive. It was a decent place to visit. We went on a short hike around between the rocks, watched the rock climbers. DH immediately wanted to try rock climbing. The place had a number of red rocks standing almost vertically in contrast to the rest of the surrounding areas. These had apparently taken many many years to form. We had lunch at the visitor center, debating if we should go on a bigger hike in the afternoon. We droppped the idea, somehow the hotel seemed more enticing. It was a short day, we started driving back to Denver, I slept while DH drove. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the room, watching TV, browsing the internet, just relaxing, as many would say. We went to the Concierge Lounge, again hoping there would be something to eat, although it was time for evening snacks. The guy there, apologized, I dont know why, and said snacks will be available at half past five. I had a totally vazhiyara look as I looked all around and picked a handful of crunchy tasty snacks they had and some fruits. After a lot of deliberation on what to do for New Years Eve, we decided to keep it quiet. We went to an Indian Restaurant, had masala dosas and vadais. Nothing like Indian food. We came back to the hotel and called it a night. DH thinks we still need to have atleast two more quiet New Years Eve to make up for the one gala night we had last year, in Miami, eating gourmet Indian meal of five courses, on the famed South Beach, for a helfty sum.
Day 5
You know they had a weighing scale in the room? That was not a good idea, totally spoit my vacation. :--P I am kidding of course. There is absolutely nothing interesting to do in Denver! It was a big mistake we didnt stay in Aspen for longer. After debating about a Zoo, or a place called Red Rocks, literally it was Eenie Meenie Mini Moe that saw driving towards Red Rocks Park. Oh and also the recommendation by the hotel desk, who said, RedRocks gives a wonderful panoramic view of Denver from up high. Now who really wants to see the panoramic view of Denver? This place seemed to be much bigger than Garden of the Gods, with much bigger rocks. There was an amphitheater in the middle, where I guess some famous shows have taken place. We got the map of the park and directions for a hike, and set off. This day was the only day that the Sun hid behind the clouds refusing to come out. Till then everyday was bright and sunny.
The trail was damp and a little icy. We had our own kind of fun, walking and laughing. There were supposed to rattlesnakes and mountain lions around the trail. I was praying and hoping we dont sight any, only to realize along the trail that DH was hoping to sight atleast something! I saw some foot prints of animals on the damp ground, and was dumbstruck. "DH, see those foot prints? Do you think there really are mountain lions prowling around?" "I really hope so. We can get to see one then.. But I really think those are of dogs, that people walk on the trail." Phew!! I really thought believed myself for sometime, and walked with my heart on my sleeves, until I saw a family walk along with their dog. See, I really want to do all these interesting dangerous hikes, I dont have the guts, seriously, if not for DH, I would have not even ventured into the hike.
Once we reached the end of the trail, we headed to the airport. DH had incorrectly thought our return flight was at 2PM when it actually was at 6PM. Hence this day was not actually planned. We finally boarded the flight, after a female asked DH if I was under 18. :--( There was a women on Oxygen sitting on the third seat. we heard one of the airhost tell her that because she has the oxygen he will find someone to swap seats at the window. I was stumped. I love window seats. Period. DH also likes window seats. In fact when we were back in college that was the binding factor that helped our friendship grow. We always picked window seats in the same cabin facing each other. Now whenever we travel DH has to give up the window of course, to me, and sit in the not-much-coveted middle seat. This time actually DH, to annoy me, picked two seats, with his name on the window and mine in the middle seat. He kept pulling my leg saying, we have to sit according to the seating assignments. ;--) But of course, we know how it ends. So anyway back to the story. After hearing the hostess, I immediately told DH, " I am not going to agree to switch seats if asked" with a pout. A few minutes later, he asked me. All my resolutions came flying to my mind, much to my consternation. I have to be accomodative, I have to be adjusting. Sigh! I gave up my window seat.
One thing I loved about this holiday was we still had three more days off before getting back to work. One day was spent getting back to routine. One day was spent by me cooking, while DH and my brother spent playing some invasive war game on Wii. I have found a new love for cooking. I am not sure when it will vanish so I am making the best use of it. We had a movie night, I slept as usual of course, I cant stay past my bed time :--P, and DH and brother watched some gripping episodes of 24.
It was not so good getting back to work after such a wonderful time. Things have been pretty busy since Monday. So much so I keep wishing for December 2009 to come already!
Looks like I am done with blogging for the whole year. :--)
I call it Holiday 2008 because I guess this is one real holiday we have had since last year, not counting the small trips we made, not counting the Israel trip, and not counting the trips with family. And I havent written a travelogue in a long time, so you have to bear with it.
Aspen was our choice of vacation, simply because we ran out of other places to visit in Winter. (I would be happy to listen to some choices you guys have to give for a vacation). Apart from the day trips to Tahoe, and the remnants of snow in Alaska in peak Summer, we really had not seen real snow, or been in wintery places for awhile since Europe way back in 2005. And skiing was something both me and DH want to get better at, so Aspen it was. Aspen is considered skiiers' heaven, with Rocky mountains and over 100 inches of average annual snowfall.
Day 0
The two hour flight journey was not too bad, except for the fact that Frontier did not even give us peanuts. But thanks to our parents visit and their preparedness in our trips, we had packed snacks to munch on flight, Sev and Tangerines, and evenpuliodharai in a tiffin box. We landed in Denver at around 2PM. Had lunch at the airport, rented our car, and were on our way to Aspen at around 3:30PM. As I have said many times, I am never enthusiastic about driving at night. More so since I saw Fargo. Snow/ice, night, Nissan Altima, winding mountainous roads, DH at the wheels, and me beside him - not a good combination. :--) It got dark at around 5PM and thats when we entered the mountains and the roads became icy. We didnt have snow chains, since weather prediction was not too bad. As we drove towards Aspen, the road was white and grainy, with ice and snow. We drove past many ski resorts, some beautifully decorated towns like Vail. It was about 8PM, when we reached our hotel. It was freezing cold as we stepped out of the car. For a moment I wondered what the heck were we thinking, deciding to vacation in this cold cold place. ;--)
Day 1
We got up leisurely, as we didnt have much planned for the day. We stayed about 30miles from Aspen, it was very very expensive to stay in Aspen, as we booked out hotel a bit too late. We had a good breakfast at the hotel and drove towards Aspen. It was a beautiful day. We got a little lucky, it had just snowed the previous days, so there was fresh snow everywhere, and it was very sunny. There were homes on the mountains, which looked really picturesque. What a view they must be getting from their windows! The sky was clear, with clouds here and there, the low lying mountains were on all sides on the horizon, the road went right into them. It was too late to ski that day so we went snow-shoeing. It is nothing but walking in snow. ;--) We decided against snow mobiling, as we had already done it once, and it might not give us time to soak in the beauty around us, as manuvering the vehicle would have consumed all our attention.
The road we took, called Maroon Creek Drive, was straight out of a picture, white road, with bare trees on the side, speckled with snow chunks, I have a name for them, snow-flowers ;--), (that is the picture I put on my previous post), with a creek flowing along side the road, as is expected of any snow covered mountain region. It ended at a stables, with wild sheep and horses.
We had a small incident. We parked our car by the stables to enquire about snow-shoeing, we parked on the side of the road over a patch of dried snow. When we tried to take the car out, it was stuck, with the front wheel just rotating on it own, when accelerated without budging out of its place. A truck driver saw us struggling, and helped us. Him and myself, pushed the car from the front, while DH accelerated in reverse, until the car was out of the bad patch of snow. How strong does one have to be to push a car?!
We started walking, err, snow-shoeing ;--). It was cold but sunny as I said earlier. We walked for a couple of hours, met a bunch of skiiers, more snow-shoers, dog walkers, snow mobilers. I was clicking away to glory, everything around me seemed click-worthy. DH wanted to walk in the snow. I pointed to him exactly how deep he legs will have to go in before he could stop, and he immediately dropped the idea. Snow can be really misleading, one can never know how deep the actual ground is. It was crystal white snow, pure and untampered with, glistening in the sunlight. It was beautiful. We walked towards Pyramid Peak, one of the tallest peaks in Aspen. It was oru kallil two mangoes, nice views, plus workout for the day. ;--)
We drove into Aspen town for lunch. I liked the little town immediately. The homes looked pretty with the sloping roofs, with white sparkling snow on them, surrounded by pine trees, also speckled with snow. We were recommended a Pizza place for lunch, which lived to its name.
We went snow tubing or sledding post lunch. Initially I wasnt too excited about it, as only kids were doing it. But later I was like what the heck I can either do it now or never and went for it. It was actually fun. You go to the top of a slope and sit on a sled, in this case a round plastic plate like thing, and force yourself over the slope, until the slope speeds your downward journey. I should say I did enjoy this little adventure. There was always a hazard of bumping into other people, young and old alike. It was very funny, to watch little accidents, where people fell off their wagon halfway through the ride, or bumped into another. You get the idea. I had my share of bumps. Little kids, 2 3 yr olds were having a lot of fun. Some wagons were able to hold upto five little kids, it was a lot of fun to watch them roll down the hill, with the kids screaming. The walk uphill, after every run was good workout. I have to add I was reminded of Calvin on his tobboggan zipping through trees with Hobbes. :--)
It got dark by 5PM, and so we were in our room by then. We watched Aegan that night. When did Nayanthara get so thin? Or is it my eyes?
Day 2
It was skiing day. We woke up early to have as much sunlight as possible to ski. But unfortunately everyone thought the same looks like, it took us over an hour to get our ski gears and head to the lifts. It was a beautiful day just as the prediction said, 20F, no wind, sunny, and clear skies. I actually started sweating a little with all the ski wear, and all the sun. This time I got a little better with my turns, and DH too was good with his turns. I am scared of speed, I am always trying to slow down. But I never thought I would be where I am currently with skiing when I skiied the first time seven years ago. I am asssured that I am leftie. My left leg dominated my right, so right turns are easier for me to make than left turns. My parents must have forced me to write with my right hand. We skiied till the lifts stopped, with a quick break for lunch. The temperature change was sooo apparent once the sun started going down! Made us wonder how much impact Mr Sun has from soo far away on our little planet and on us. We wanted to spend some time of the evening in Aspen, having read so much about nightlife in Aspen. Both me and DH being party poopers, with little interest in gourmet food and absolutely no interest in western music shows, Aspen had nothing much else to offer. We chose an Italian Restaurant where we had salad and soup and brushcetta. Before that we went to an Espresso place to have Coffee and cookie. Roamed around in the bitter cold weather, in the quaint little town that Aspen was, soaking in the rich culture.
If you didnt know, many famous figures like Donald Trump have their holiday homes in Aspen. We were supposed to go on a Lifestyle of the Rich or some such tour in Aspen but it got cancelled at the last minute. We drove back to our hotel, in the night, same icy roads, same old "slow-a po DH! paathu po DH! apdi break podadha DH!!". Had a good night's sleep watching Kung Fu Panda, our bodies were aching big time.
Day 3
Our initial plan was to go to Hanging Lake, but a little research told us it was not so safe in the winter. We decided to go to Glenwood Springs Caverns. We had a hard time finding the place itself, because we thought since it was an adventure park we would see it from faraway also. But turns out, the address we got was that of the tram station. We had to take the tram up to the top of Iron Mountain, where the park was. The tram took us over the top of the scenic Glenwood Canyon, with the Colorado River flowing right in between. We went on the Cavern tour. We werent too excited about it, I will spare you of the pictures, as we have been to Mammoth Caves before, which is one of the largest caves in the country. The Guide was a funny one, she kept the kids in the tour entertained. One has to be very creative in the caves. The last part of the tour was the best, she had saved the best for the last. With lights in appropriate places, the different formations lit up beautifully. Another highlight of the tour was exclamation point. The view from the balcony in the middle of the mountain was truly breathtaking and made me exclaim, thus the point did live up to its name. ;--) After the tour we went on the Alpine Roller Coaster Ride, it was truly awesome. What was different about the coaster was, we had the control, we could break or accelerate as we wanted. DH clicked some pics of ourselves which came out really bad. ;--) We had lunch at the Look Out Restuarant which had a great view of the valley down below. But ya, both of us had salads, the story of our lives.
We started driving towards Denver in the afternoon. The scenery was beautiful. While coming we had driven through all the beautiful scenery in the night. The huge walls of red rocks with snow on them, as the road meandered in between, it was heavenly. I wonder how great an artist the guy who created it all should be ;--) So I clicked away to glory. Then it was my turn to drive. All through this time I had not taken charge of the wheels, fear being the only reason. And when I did. Roles changed. ;--) DH was like,"SK Slow-a po, SK, apdi break podadhe, SK romba orama pogadhe" I was like, " Yaaro enna madhiri pesara madhiri irukku" And DH was quick to retort," Yaaro enna madhiri car ottara madhiri irukku" :--))
We reached Denver in the evening around 5PM. The best part of our stay in Denver was our hotel, stay tuned to hear more about it. :--)
(To be Contd.)
This is a good place to stop, although I am more than half way through the trip. I am pressed for time. Hopefully I will be able to finish the travelogue and not leave it incomplete like my last year vacation.
Before I forget most of the details, I would like to log another of my trips in this space.
The holiest place, or may be the second holiest place for Christians, after The Church of Holy Scepulcher, where Jesus was crucified, is the Church of Nativity, where Jesus was born, in Bethlehem.
Me and DH finished half a day of Jerusalem tour and in the afternoon, headed towards Bethlehem (Please refer to map from earlier posts). There is a huge wall being built separating Israel and Palestine. Bethlehem is in Palestine although its only 10 kms from Jerusalem. The guide said, Jerusalem is now a bit safer for tourists only because of the wall, else we all wouldnt be visiting Jerusalem. We were to get off our van near the wall, at the checkpoint, go through the checkpoint, show our passports, and into Palestine. Our guide was not allowed inside Palestine. No Israelis are. Another guide and van, from Palestine was waiting for us to take us to the Church of Nativity.
A sense of sadness crept into me as I saw 'Peace be with you' written on the Palestine walls.
The moment we entered Palestine, we were able to sense the poverty. There were little kids trying to sell soveniors and postcards, brushing by you, begging to buy. The place looked rundown.
I had my own doubts of whether we needed Israeli Visa to get back to the other side. We had a Single Entry Visa you see. And it certainly didnt seem like fun to be stranded in Palestine. I found the guide and the driver to be very friendly, with lot of warm smiles, unlike those in Israel.
The Church was not magnificent, or splendid, it was an old simple brick structure and we had to enter through a very small door, called the Door the Humility. we had to bend ourselves to enter the holy place. The Church itself was Greek Orthodox. Inside it was very well decorated. We had to go underground, to see the place where Jesus was born and the manger were Jesus was kept. Most of the places of significance we saw was under normal land. The whole story flashed in front of my eyes.
We came back up to see the architecture of the Church, which itself was built many hundred years ago, and had its own history. I said my prayers, we took some pictures and headed out. Once outside, we heard some 'pat pat pat pat' sounds from faraway like gunshots. Most of us got scared and asked the Guide what that was. He laughed and told us it wasnt anything serious.
Most of the colleagues at work had scared me saying its not safe to visit Bethlehem. I was scared too, but what the heck, I probably wont be visiting these places ever again in my life, and these are places worth visiting atleast once in a life time. I decided to just wait for DH to visit and go there together, so that even if something happens, it will affect both of us. Yes, till death do us apart. ;--)
We stopped at a Souvenior shop, did some shopping. I felt sorry for anyone I saw there. I have read about Palestinians and how much they are suffering, and how much injustice was done to them. And here they were going about their normal lives. This is also another first time for me. First time to be in a place of so much tension and dispute. I wonder how they are able to take it. Suddenly they are thrown out of their own homes, and are restricted to this little piece of land, not allowed to use the facilities of the country, like they are not allowed to use the Ben Gurion Airport apparently. The other border countries, like Lebanon and Jordan have been helping them looks like, but not enough. I dont know much about politics, so I cant comment. But I do feel sad to know that these people are not able to lead a normal life.
I havent read much about the Kashmir issue, but I suppose its similar there as well, between India and Pakistan.
Till I visited Palestine, I was afraid of going to the Arab areas in Israel. I guess the fear was instilled into me by people around me. That its unsafe. Well, what about people living there, in 'unsafe territory' day in and day out, every day of every year.
We headed back to the checkpoint. On this side of the wall, which I missed seeing when we entered, was a drawing of a hand, with five fingers, with GOD written on the palm, and on each finger tip was written, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist.
I dont know, I guess its complicated. I suppose its the play of the politicians for money, as some said, playing with people's lives.
The soldier at the checkpoint let us into Israel, as we showed our Passports, they didnt check for Visa. Our guide was waiting for us, we were glad to be back, although my heart was definitely heavy. We were stopped by some more Israeli soldiers, one of whom got into the Van and asked us all to show our passports. And then we were back on our way to Jerusalem, then towards Tel Aviv. These places looked so much nicer and richer compared to Palestine.
Thus ended yet another journey into history.
After I was back I read some more about Palestine. And I read this news. A shiver went through my spine.
It does hurt to see so much grief and dispute.At work, as I have said earlier, all Isralis are supposed to spend three years in army after their schooling. and army calls people to work on Reserve Duty, like how in US we get Jury Duty calls. I have seen people take off from work for weeks. But I am not sure what kind of tasks they are given, mostly desk jobs? They are also caught between the safety of Israelis and the humiliation of Palestinians I suppose. I have no words to say.
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On a totally different note, today is a special day. SK's budday. What is special about this budday, I realized only now, is SK turns 28 on the 28th of June. And it happens only once. Or who knows, there may be sequels. ;--P
I enjoyed showing around the places I have come to know in the past month to DH. It really felt like the first time when he was in the US and I was showing him around my little city of Madison, its buildings, my work place, the coffee shop, the Union South, the lakes. This time I showed him the crazy drivers on the road, laughing at how they drive always with atleast a wheel on the white line, never within the lanes, the tallest building of Israel, the hotel which happens to be the third tallest building, the stink in the parking lot of the hotel, the guy at the lot entrance who is now a friend, the lady who brings a dark chocolate every evening to my room and so on and so forth.
I without any mercy, made him get ready for a tour at 7:15 the very next day he landed. He had slept for a couple of hours the whole night, and had, ahem, apparently watched me sleep, on and off. But he didnt complain.
We went to Jerusalem first, I showed him all the interesting places, and explained most of the history to him. He said I was his own personal tour guide. We headed off to Masada near the Dead Sea which is the eastern side of the hill on which Jerusalem was located. This other side, was absolute barren land. The green bushes became scantier as we went farther away from Jerusalem. After a while it was as if we entered a whole different picture. A proper desert. without any sand dunes or fine sand. In this desert live a group of people, the Bedouins. They are a nomadic Arab community, which do not like to live in concrete homes. Their homes were literally, sticks with sheets for walls and ceiling. They have very little necessities and their means of living is raising livestock, sheep, camel and donkeys. Only these people live in the scotching Jordean desert.
I was appalled at the way they lived. I tried to relate it to India, and DH said there are poor people living by the dirty river of Chennai day in and day out.
A little history about the Dead Sea. Dead Sea is formed by a natural rift which is supposedly part of the rift between Africa and Asia. As the two continents separated a small rift formed the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on earth on dry land. 400meters below the sea level.
We crossed the point which was exactly sea level, and there after within 20kms distance we went down 400meters. My ears popped! It was not like going underground, it was just like driving down a mountain slope. Apparently all the extra oxygen in this part below the sea level is good for one's health. Also the harmful rays of the sun cannot reach this place, and hence this place is good to heal skin ailments.
Our first stop was the Ahava factory outlet store. They sold all kinds of cosmetics made from the Dead Sea mud, which is supposed to be packed with mineral salts.
We also saw a couple of Oases, yes, real ones, in the middle of a real desert! A group of palm trees, green in the middle of barren yellow. We also passed by the Caves of Qumran where the original Bible scrolls written many years ago was found intact recently. Long history, no enthu to write. I think we passed through WestBank, not sure, as we did see signs to Jericho, which is in WestBank.
There on we headed to the Masada. It was a fort cum palace built by Kind Herod. Err, just the remains of the fort as it was built over 2000 years ago. It was very very hot. We took a cable car to the top of a cliff where the fort was built. It is history that a group of Jews found refuge from the Romans and hid here, and Romans spent many months trying to destroy the barriers and kill the people in the fort. Long story short, the 1000 people in the Fort didnt want to be killed by the Romans and hence killed themselves. All this history might be interesting for the Amrikans, not for us Indians right.
So we looked around the ruins, the bathhouses, the Palaces, the cisterns to hold water, the ramp the Romans built to break the Fort etc. It was super hot. The Dead Sea was visible far away, looked forlorn, not at all deadly, but sad and mysterious.
It was a relief to get back into the AC in a shop for lunch. My God, I wondered how the Bedouin people live, and how the people lived in this fort so many years ago. It was really really hot, 100 plus F for sure. Which makes me wonder if the overall temperature of the earth was lesser than it is now, what with global warming and all. Imagine, these people were these long robes, fully covering themselves, they must be insane to do that in this hot weather.
DH loved the falafels he had here. After lunch we set off to a Spa near the Dead Sea. So the dead sea is land locked with the inlet being the Jordan River and the only outlet being evaporation. So the concentration of the minerals and salts in the Sea has been increasing for years now. Dead Sea is ten times more saltier than normal sea. And hence it supports no living organisms and hence its name.
We stepped into a Sulphur pool, which was at 100deg, first before entering the Dead Sea, floated for ten minutes. They warned us to take off our Silver ornaments, or gold coated silver ornaments, as sulphur turns silver black.
Then we headed to the Sea itself. It was super hot, impossible to step on land without slippers. DH headed to the swamps to cover himself in mud. Hehe, yes, it was a green-black mud, near the sea, which was supposed to be very good for the skin. The Ahava people make mud masks and other cosmetics out of the Dead Sea mud. I covered myself with the mud as well, and took the customary, dipped in mud pictures. Our guide said that after a few minutes with the mud on and a dip in the dead sea, we will look atleast five years younger.
Dead Sea shore is shared between Israel, West Bank and Jordan. The Sea might have looked beautiful but for the haziness, it was definitely not fog in this weather. The guide said it was hazy because a lot of evaporation was going on. The other side of the Sea is Jordan.
We went into the water. It was muddy, but the mud was supposed to be healthy! It was super exciting to find my legs automatically be lifted up, it was so difficult to sit or stand, but easy to float! It was unbelievable. We floated on the water, DH danced a little, wiggling his body, it is definitely impossible to drown in the Dead Sea. The guide warned us not to try to swim, as if the water gets into the eyes, one might be blind for a few minutes.
We got back to the buildings showered, and had cold icecream for the heat.
I have heard of Dead Sea and read about it before, but I never thought in my life that I would actually see it for real. Not only see it but also experience the increased density of water, causing me all my weight to bob like a cork.
PS: And I just realized with all the fun we had I forgot to click pictures for the blog, there are no pictures without us of the Dead sea up-close! The floating pic is from Wikipedia.
I visited Jerusalem yesterday. It was an intriguing, emotionally exhausting, thought provoking and finally, haunting trip.
I know not many like to read winding tales with minute details of the trip, so I will try to keep it short and precise.
Drive
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is about 60Kms only, it took 45mins to reach Jerusalem. It is very near Palestine border, infact they wanted to split Jerusalem into two parts and then somehow they decided to keep the city whole. Lot of police on the highway and lot of security, as Mr Bush was visiting and he was due to go to the airport, fly to Saudi. Israel Museum in Jerusalem was closed as thats where he was having his meeting. Jerusalem is beautifully set on top of mountains. We had to drive between Mt. Judea and Mt. Samaria. The drive was beautiful in its own way. Not lush green or magnificent, but it looked like it had seen a lot, endured a lot, if you know what I mean. We drove past the place where Jesus was supposed to have appeared to two of his disciples after his resurrection. We also drove past the place where Elizabeth, John the Baptist's Mom and Dad had lived. It was mind blowing to think that characters that we read in the Bible, images of whom are in my mind from the Episodes of Biblical stories shown on TV, lived and walked in this place, over 2000 years ago.
Holocaust Museum
The museum was made to look like a concentration camp. I knew what to expect, as I had read about it a lot. I kept my heart hard and went. I held my forte, my emotions for most of the museum. But I broke, when I came to some videos and pictures. Videos that break your heart, that trigger anger towards those who did not treat human beings like human beings. I shed a few tears. 6million Jews were murdered apparently. The guide said not to think of it as just a number. For reference, there are currently 6 million Jews in Israel. Calculate the magnitude. A whole country was murdered. There was a Children's Memorial as well. 1 yr, 2 yr old kids were killed as well, and they were used for medical research. This quote I remember "There were no Children in the camps. only little Jews".
New Jerusalem
We drove past new Jerusalem. It mostly had the parliment house of Israel and all the other important, but uninteresting buildings like Defence Ministry, Foreign Affairs etc. As Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. We drove past the rich neighbourhood of Jerusalem where all the big politicians, actors etc lived. More importantly I was able to observe the homes in Jerusalem. They were different. All the homes are made of stone. And built like in the olden days. All buildings were stone colored, the uniformity is beautiful.
Tomb of david, Room of Last Supper
King David built Jerusalem about 3000 years ago, 900BC. The Star which is the Jewish Symbol and which is in the flag of Israel is the Star of David. This is the only place where there is a Synagogue, a Church and a Mosque in the same building. The ground floor was the tomb, which is a Synagogue, first floor is a church, the room of Last Supper. The actual place where Jesus and his disciples sat and ate the day before Jesus was crucified! The church here is also the first ever Gothic structure built. Gothic structures are characterized by the arches, you see in most churches. I didnt any any magnificent structures, because most of the structures are of historic significance. I saw a group from India, Christian Tamilians on a Bible Tour, aunties in sarees. My parents will also probably do this trip once.
Old Jerusalem Streets
We got out of the bus, and entered the Old Jerusalem through the gates. They have tried to keep Old Jerusalem as old, save the old structures as much as possible. We passed through the Armenian Quarter and went into the Jewish Quarter. Old Jerusalem is split into four Quarters, Armenian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian. In the Jewish Quarter we saw the Cardo (cardio), which means 'heart' of Jerusalem during David's time. the road which was the main road of Jerusalem, was preserved. And yes it is over 2000 years old. It is very easy to get lost in the Old City, as its all tiny streets, what we call 'sandhu's. We also saw remains of the Jerusalem Wall, also built thousands of years ago. We passed the Muslim Quarter and then went to the Christian Quarter. Here we had our Lunch at a local shop. Shawarmas are supposed to be very famous here, I had Falafel in Pita for 25 shekels. The cheapest meal I have had in Israel, if I dont count the times I skipped meals.
Tour group
Let me stop to say a little about the tour group itself. The guide was ok, cannot match our Guide, Luc, in Europe, but still ok. There were two other Indian guys. One guy came and talked to me, the other didnt. I made friends with an Aussie Lady. She was good company. Atleast I was able to talk with her and relate with her. She was quite well travelled, made me want to travel more. There was a Polish guy I made friends with too. He looked very lost, and geeky. Others were from UK, South America, Turkey, Italy and US as far as I knew. Yeah, the friend, wasnt interested in coming, so I went on my own. I thought I would feel like a loser, but surprisingly I quite enjoyed the tour.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
After lunch we set off to the Church of the Sepulchre or the Church of Resurrection. This Church is built on top of the stone on which Jesus was crucified. Again, pullarichifying. Saw various places of significance with respect to the crucifixion. The Church is being fought over between many Christian denominations apparently. Its pathetic. I have to visit this Church again, some other time, without a tour guide to rush us. This is supposed to be the Holiest of places. We could get anything blessed here.
Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa also known as Way of Sorrow is the path taken by Jesus from where he was sentenced, to the Golgotha the rock on which he was crucified. They are the Stations of the Cross. Every Friday before Easter, we pray concentrating on the different Stations in the Church. And now I actually walked the real, stations of the cross! I have no words to describe what went through me. The way is now filled with shops and all, but still. The image that came to my mind is from movies. I have to come here too again.
Western wall
We passed through security to visit the Western Wall. For those who are lazy to click the link to know what it is, here is a gist. So King Solomon son of David, built the First Temple of God 3000 years ago. It was destroyed. And then Herod rebuilt it. That was also destroyed. I dont know how many times it was destroyed but now, there stands a Mosque,called Dome of the Rock, which is actually once converted from a Church. So much for the holiness of the place itself. Of the destroyed Second Temple, which is Holiest of the Holiest place for the Jews, only the Wall remains. The belief is that God resides in that Wall as well. The Guide said it is the Almighty God, not specific to a religion, so anyone can go and pray. There were separate entrances for Men and Women and I had to wear a shawl to cover my arms before entering. I touched the wall and prayed for the well being of everyone. People stick notes in the crevices of the Wall. God reads them apparently. The bottom of the wall, is very old, and then over it for some height was the wall built second time, and then the top was all rebuilt and not so old as the bottom part of the wall.
Mount of Olives
Here on we got into the bus to drive to Mt of Olives. This has much significance in both Jewish and Christian faith. This is where Jesus was praying when he was arrested. I havent been to those places yet. I have to make another trip to Jerusalem. For some more History, the Guide said this, I am not sure how true it is. Adam and Eve when they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, came into this world here, the place where the First Temple was built, and where the Dome of the Rock stands now. So Jews and Christians also looks like believe that God will come to the Valley between the Mt Olives and the Jerusalem, on Judgement Day, and hence the Mt Olives side looking the City of Jerusalem is a Cemetery with lot of Jews buried here.
Last but not the least I saw a real Camel for the first time in my life! I wanted to go on a ride, but I will have to do it another time.
There is so much history, most sites here are Archeological Sites. I was awestruck when I visited the Vatican City, the St Peter's Basilica, but this experience surpasses that. It was a wonderful, thought provoking, one-of-a-kind experience, that I will remember for years to come.
Phew! I thought I will never be able to finish this post. But I did. I left out a lot of details, but atleast I could write this much. I wanted to post lot more pictures but I am losing patience with blogger's picture upload.
Err.. and I just saw the size of the post, it is huggge. A special thanks to those who reach the end. I guess such trips can never be written concisely. Sigh!
