I received this email in the early hours of the morning a few days ago from Mr. Devdas Govindjee who is an international cricket match referee. Follow this link to read my exclusive interview with this humble, vivacious and goodhearted soul. Mr. Govindjee accompanied his wife Urmila, on a recent ten day exotic trip aboard the super luxury Celebrity Equinox cruise liner.I made mention to him during one of our online conversations some time back that I am not the type of person who likes traveling by sea. Whilst I do enjoy swimming in a pool, I am terrified of the vast ocean. I must admit though that after reading his email, I thought to my self, " WOWWWW....what a well written email and what an amazing experience. I need to experience this as well." After seeking permission from Mr. Govindjee, I decided to share this email with all my blog readers. I am sure that you will equally enjoy reading his travel experience as much as I have. I would also like to take this opportunity in thanking Mr. Govindjee for sharing his sentimental and priceless pictures with all my blog readers.
The Eastern Mediterranean Sea is dotted with so many incredibly beautiful Islands and the 10 day cruise aboard the majestic Celebrity Equinox gave me the opportunity to have a taste of splendid scenery steeped in rich history and also to gaze in wonder at geographical phenomena which has resulted in some of these places coming into being.
On the 14th we landed in Rome and made our way courtesy of the Celebrity Equinox staff at the airport directly to the port at Civitavecchia which is about over an hour away from the Leonardo da Vinci airport.
During the 10 ensuing days the cruise liner called on the Sicily( Italy), Athens (Greece), Kusadasi (Turkey), Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini (Greece) and finally to Naples in Italy before returning to Rome on the 24th.
To try to convey the spirit and splendour of the places visited in this mail would probably require descriptive skills that I doubt I possess but safe to say that sailing the calm blue eastern Mediterranean is a most soul uplifting experience and each of the ports of call and places visited confirmed my initial impressions that the postcards and travel brochures were certainly in no way exaggerations!
I shall not even attempt to go into too much detail but let me just say that the liner itself had 3000 passangers with a staff of close onto 2000 and that in itself was a daily lesson in what we tend to refer to as "a well oiled machine!"- the staff and the levels of service and devotion to duty in the middle of seemingly nowhere is a lesson of how a business ought to be run- provide a servie to clients and make sure you carry out your specific task- no matter how menial it might be as it all adds up to a complete ultimate experience in the end.
The ship has every imaginable luxury to keep the most discerning passenger satisfied -from a magnificent Equinox theatere that put on high class shows of different varieties twice each evening- gropus of musicians and singers, instrumentalists in diff parts of the ship providing entetnainment, shopping areas of note, a casino, lawn areas on the upper decks,a jogging track, 3 swimming pools and numerous jacuzzis, outstanding Health and Beauty Spa facilities, fully fitted gym with trainers, library, card rooms, internet areas, specialised restaurants for those not wanting to daily eat in the huge buffet areas where food was avialable at most hours, etc etc
Shore excursions are optional when at a port and these are well organised and one chooses a tour from a variety of options- most of the time i chose the 4-5 hour tours with walking and visits to historical sights preferable. Everynoe merely met at the theatre and got numbers to move down to the shore and board the waiting bus to take you to your place of interest and the local tour guide was on hand to control the days activity. Much time was always allowed for one to wander around to get a personal feel of the place before meeting again at the bus at an appointed time.
There were 2 formal evenings of dining when the captain joined in at one of the two sittings for supper- on these evenings everyone dressed up and made a special night of it and naturally filter away to whichever entertainment option appealed to them.
There were two days of the 10 when pure sailing was done with no stopping and these days gave passangers an opportunity to laze around the pool or do shopping or whatever they felt like- it is actually amazing that after ten days you probably still did not get to see a certain part of the ship and one at times never sees the same person twice during the entire cruise.
Of the places visited I loved Santorini with the cable car ride into the top section of the island which provided breathtaking views of the many huge liners docked out in the nearby areas- they cannot dock at the Island so little tender boats ferry the passengers onto the Island - we were bold enough to actually decide to walk down a circuitous route back and competed with tourists on donkeys making their way up or down ( an option I decided not to use!) - the walk was almost 1 hour and one had to be careful as it was over cobbled areas and naturally the donkey debris had to be circumvented!
The visit to the Acropolis and to be there and look at the Parthenon was quite special- as one who lectured History these places only featured in a syllabus and the true immensity of the period comes home only when witnessed personally - the same can be said with the visit to Ephesus in Kusadasi in turkey and then the ruins of Pompeii in Naples!
The blue domes and white structures on the Islands of Mykonos and Santorini leave indelible impressions and the narrow alleys of shopping splendour in places such as Taormina in Sicily become just as unforgettable.
Whilst the economic woes of the World is a cause for concern and the people at our ports of call are not oblivious to the hard times that could be around every corner- they rely on tourists and in some cases a not too long tourist season- efforts are doubled to secure a living and my mind now goes back to my chats with some of the staff on board the liner- young girls from Rumania or Serbia at the serving points or clearing the tables all the time and cabin attendants from Sri Lanka the West Indies and Malaysia- singers from Sweden and the USA, and croupiers in the Casino from SA! All work long hours with a few half days off per week! some told me that they would be back home at the end of the cruise to spend 6 weeks with family before being sent to a new liner for the next assignment!
A guest relations lady on the liner from Germany spoke 6 languages and completed her tourism degree and she spent one of her half days off by coming into Naples and doing the same excursion to Pompeii as us.
Hopefully my facebook pics will bring some of these images to life and the big problem is to decide which of the over 600 pics I should use!
Now it is back to home soil and no rest as I prepare to leave for Namibia on Tues- better get this mind into cricket mode quickly.
Trust that this at least provided a small idea of a special 10 days that I have been blessed to experience-
Do hope that you have been well and look forward to getting some news and views in return.
dev
Mykonos- picturesque white painted villages, hundreds of little churches, windmills and golden sandy beaches of the Cyclades.
From Santorini the magniificence of the Celebrity Equinox is clearly seen. A 600 plus climb down from Fira connects to the landing area of Skala.
six cable cars going up crossed at this precise point by six going down - Fira to the Skala. Taken as we climbed slowly down to the bottom -took the cable car up to Fira.
Santorini- just too beautiful and romantic an Island. Spectacular views all round.
No wonder it is considered to be one of the most beautiful of all the Greek Islands- with views such as this! Two major cruiseliners and other vessels made for this stunning postcard shot! — at Santorini.
Through the Straits of Messina in Sicily as the Celebrity Equinox docks at our 1st port of call out of Rome.Sun 15 Sept 2012
Sicily is the largest of the Mediterranean Islands about 320 kms long and 210 kms wide situated off the toe of the Italian "boot" and separated from the mainland by the Strait of Messina. The active Mt Etna forms the highest point of Sicily.
About 50 kms from Messina is the beautiful little town of Taormina perched on high cliffs between Catatania and Messina. It has a medieval atmosphere despite it's Greek and Roman past.
Through cobblestone streets one gets to the Greek Theatre- Wonderful sights from here of the surrounds .Taormina village is full of medieval charm and character.
Views of the surrounding areas in Taormina. Next stop after a day at sea will be Athens in Greece.
From the Acropolis- Athens- a city steeped in History- during the golden ages of Greek culture names such as Aeschylus,Sophocles, Euripides as well as Aristophanes, Socrates and Plato influenced the Western World not to mention Herodotus and Hippocrates in other spheres.
One oif the great wonders of thw world, the Acropolis actually consists of four ancient buildings- the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, Nike and the Erechtheion & the Propylaea. Built during the 5th century BC
Just below the Acropolis Hill is located the Dionysos and the Odeon Theatres. Amphitheatres reconstructed and hosts Athens Festival performances in Summer
The Turkish flag flutters as the Celebrity Equinox sails into harbour at Kusadasi. Note the buses waiting to take the tourists from different cruise liners to the resepctive shore excursions.
Ephesus is the showpiece of Agegean archaeology. The ruins seen are that of the city established by one of the generals ofd Alexander the Great -Lyssimachos.
Ephesus. Kusadasi Turkey
As the cruise liner docks- the first sight of the medieval walled city of Rhodes.
Rhodes is the 4th largest of the Greek Isles. The Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem fortified the city protecting it for Turkish invaders.
Rhodes offers much along it's cobbled stoned pathways for tourists- there are network of pedestrian streets and ancient alleyweays and is home to souvenir shops, gold smiths and small cafes.
The Mosque of Suleyman is an early 19th century structure that stands on the site of the original mosque built in 1522. Non of the mosques on the island are now in use and are closed to the public
time for a breather after visiting the hospital of the Knights, the Palace of the Knights of St john, & The Byzantine, the Temple of Aphrodite
From the harbour a view of the city of Naples which is the capital of the Campania Region. A 2800 year old rich history.
Buried by the volcanic eruptions of 79AD - the ruins of Pompeii give a fascinating insight into the advanced mode of living and trading during that era.
Mount Vesuvius, an active Volcano is seen in the background in the this pic from Pompeii
The ruins of Pompeii.
A street sign in Pompeii- well not much has changed- no neon lights or red lights flashing- just a simple symbol carved into the building- can you see it?
The vast and impressive Pompeii.
