Month: April 2013

By Glen Bruels

Corfu, Greece

This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise One of our last stops on the cruise was the Greek island of Corfu, the second largest island in the Ionian Sea.  Corfu really marks the northwestern corner of Greece and, if you look at a map, you will see most of the island is…

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By Glen Bruels

Zooming around Israel

This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise After leaving Egypt, we were ready for a change – something a bit more modern, clean, and hopeful.  Israel clearly fit that bill.  We visited two ports in Israel (Ashdod for Jerusalem and Haifa).  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when we arrived in…

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By Glen Bruels

Cairo and Giza, Egypt

This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise In contrast to the trip to Luxor, our time in Cairo was pretty depressing.  First, you have to realize that Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Middle East at 20 million people.  From the overview, you learned that poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and…

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By Glen Bruels

Petra, Jordan

This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise One of our favorite stops in the Middle East was Petra, the capital city of the ancient Nabataeans, an industrious Arabian people who settled in southern Jordan over 2000 years ago.  Petra sat on the north-south trade route, with caravans bringing goods from the Red…

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By Glen Bruels

Oman (The Sultanate of)

This is part of a series called Seabourn Half-World cruise Okay, let’s start with a test.  How many people actually know where Oman is?  Be truthful!  Well, I didn’t really know either.  Frankly, I’ve always paid more attention to Asia than the Middle East.  But if you look on a map, you will see how…

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