A Cruise Experience
We left Piraeus Port in Athens on Tuesday night aboard the ship, ‘Celebrity Constellation’ on a ’12 Night Israel and Mediterranean Cruise’ taking us across four countries: Greece, Malta, Israel and Italy. My wife and I are using the tickets won at a raffle in March 2016 which I wrote about in my column, “A Cruise Holiday and the Shocking Drama”, at the time.
Although the tickets for what was then a Caribbean Cruise lapsed in November last year, when the promoter, Mrs Uloma Egbuna--the Managing Director of Tour Brokers International Nigeria (TBI), whose pioneering efforts in leisure travels were at the time rewarded with a partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line--offered us the opportunity of a pilgrimage cruise this year, my wife would not allow me to let it pass. Besides, although I was in Israel in 2002 in reportorial capacity, I have never undertaken a Christian pilgrimage.
This luxury adventure on the Mediterranean Sea will help to put that right because some of the places where we will visit include Mount Carmel, Mount of the Beatitudes, site of the Sermon on the Mount as well as the ancient synagogue where Jesus preached and the house of Simon Peter. Going by the itinerary, we will also tour the grand fortress built by King Herod when the zealots were fighting the Romans, take a dip in the Dead Sea and float at the lowest point on earth. We will also be going to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, enter the city of Jerusalem and walk through the Four Quarters (Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian) to witness the major landmarks of 400 years of dramatic history, including the Rock, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Yesterday, we had a full day stopover at the Island of Mykonos where we were regaled with several Greek mythical tales and before the tour ends next week Sunday 12th November in Rome where will we finally disembark from the ship, we are also going to gain insight into the luxurious lifestyle of Malta’s nobility as we explore some of their most iconic landmarks. In all, this promises to be a good holiday for me and my wife, away from the seemingly invincible Abuja rodents that have, for several months now, prevented our president from accessing his office!