October 28, 2022
Today we entered the Suez canal. It was 5 am when we started moving into the canal. Ships are grouped together and move as a convoy from each end and pass when the canal widens at the Great Bitter Lake. The 120 miles takes 10 -12 hours. Completed in 1869, the canal cuts about 5500 miles off of the journey from the Red Sea to London. That’s about 10 days of ship travel.
One of the photos shows a swing bridge that connects a rail line to the other side. A matching bridge on the other side and connects in the middle. The deck you see is next to the gym. The treadmills have the same view.
One of the things I remember about this area were the numerous biting houseflies. That really kept us from sitting outside for too long.
We have kept the same group for the past few days in group trivia. We had some laughs talking about the complainers aboard. Jose said he met a woman that complained about the lack of variety in food. Hard to believe. Day 18 and I haven’t had the same thing for dinner yet. I mentioned miss muffins from breakfast and Jose said she is probably lonely and is seeking attention. It isn’t working for her as I see her sitting alone everyday. I think her travel partner gave up.
We tried the music trivia and had a perfect score. Short cuts from pop tunes of the 1950s. Name the tune and artist. The guitar solo from Rock Around the Clock. Piece of cake. Tammy-Debbie Reynolds, Volare-Dean Martin, Mack the Knife-Bobby Darin. Much too easy.
General knowledge trivia didn’t go as well. We did get the largest country in South America. We missed the country that the pretzel was invented in. No, Germany isn’t it.
Egypt changed its mind about passports. We need to have them when we leave the ship and had to pick them up. Normally the ship holds on to them.
Our tour tomorrow was booked through Viator. They contacted me today through WhatsApp. Pickup time at 8:45 am. They did confirm they will have us back by all aboard time of 4:30.
4 busy port days ahead. Snorkeling in Egypt, snorkeling in Jordan, golf in Jordan, sightseeing in Safaga, Egypt.…