Post-OAT, Christmas in NJ

20-25 December 2009
So I spent the following days being entertained by a 9 and 12 year old grand-nephew who introduced me to WII and their latest electronic wish lists. Discovered my nephew Leon has become a gourmet cook and went with his family to "The Manor" for dinner where the 12 yo devoured 51 lobster claws at the buffet- he's 5'9" and weighs 114. Baggage services finally answered their phone on Tuesday the 22nd and located my bags in Cincinnati. Since most of the family remaining in NJ made it up for Christmas eve I could rate it as a successful holiday, and almost hated to leave for the airport at 10am on Dec 25th in the midst of Christmas festivities. BUT- the saga continues. Delta flight had a delayed departure because of scalding water in lavatory which put us in late in Detroit which has the longest terminal (1.3 miles I was told) in the USA- so when I got to the gate the plane was still there but they had just closed the gate and a helpful agent tried unsuccessfully to get me on "because of security issues" I later found out that there was a bomb attempt on a NW/Delta flight just before we had arrived from Amssterdam. I was left behind and re-booked for a flight 2 hours later. When I pulled the rental car into the driveway at 10 pm I was almost surprised to see the house intact. (well mostly- a pressed board bookcase in the basement which has soaked up some water during a leak a year ago sort of collapsed on one side from the weight) Being 6 days late getting home is a new one for me.

JFK to Newark to Milford, New Jersey

20 December 2009- Sunday

Fortunately, I was one of the first to be at the door at 6 am for the first cab to JFK (for $35) as they were short of drivers. Roads were passable and almost waved off at the departures gate by a guy who said there would be no Delta flights until 2pm which is what I had been ticketed for. Entered a new world when I went in to find myself the only Anglo among 60 some people lined up at a counter with 3 agents of varying ethnicity. An hour trek to the counter without incident and bags checked for the flight to Cincinnati by way of Atlanta and proceeded to security solo- not another passenger in sight. Went to a window to see snow plows working- a few commuter jets and a bright sunny day. About noon they announced cancellation of the flight and report to gate 11 for re-ticketing. Since I was again 25th in a long line I used my cell phone to call Delta Skymiles for help- a 45 minute hold with funky music and I was told the earliest flight was the 24th if I could get to Westchester. Unacceptable. So next flight was Christmas day from Newark NJ by way of Detroit and I grabbed it. Went to retrieve my baggage and was told it was unavailable as they did not have the personnel to download any flights and none of the 3 Jamaican ladies had ant idea when that could happen. (Somewhere along the line the New York City area left the USA and has become a polyglot mess that must be a real shocker to foreign visitors- because even I have trouble understanding them) Called my nephew in Tinton Falls for a ride up to Milford where I had planned to spend Christmas anyway and took the shuttle over to Newark. Was met successfully and transferred to Milford. (what did people do before cell phones?) First order was a pharmacy where they accepted my DEA number to wqrite scripts. A 5-day supply of meds ($80 dollars- so I wonder what it costs the Air Force for the 90 day supply I get) and toiletries. Then a visit to Wal Mart to buy clothing (Sweat suit, 6 pack of socks, T shirts and shorts). Informed by the lady of the house that there was a dress code at the Manor and so another trip for shirt, jacket and slacks plus dress shoes and socks. Leon let me borrow one of his ties. All the uninteneded consequence of canceled flights.

Cairo to USA

19 December 2009- Saturday

After a relatively benign flight from Cairo to JFK I arrived just as the east coast storm hit. After customs I tried to transfer my bags and found all flights had been canceled out of JFK- went and re-booked (along with hundreds of others) and was scheduled out the next day- a Sunday the 20th at 2 pm. Was also fortunate to run into a GCT representative who gave me the name of a motel on Long Island was rooms were being scarfed up fast- so an 89 dollar cab drive (a rip off by a Pakisitani) to a Hampton Inn and a 189 dollar room set me up for the night

Alexandria- El Alamein- Cairo

18 December 2009- Friday

Alexandria

17 December 2009- Thursday

Alexandria

16 December 2009- Wednesday

Cairo to Alexandria

15 December 2009- Tuesday

Cairo

14 December 2009- Monday

Cairo

13 December 2009- Sunday

Luxor

12 December 2009- Saturday

Luxor

11 December 2009- Friday

Cairo to Luxor

10 December 2009- Thursday

Port Said to Cairo

9 December 2009- Wednesday

Tranist the Suez Canal

8 December 2009- Tuesday

Cruising the Red Sea

7 December 2009- Monday

Hurgada, Egypt - on the Red Sea

6 December 2009- Sunday

Duba, Saudi Arabia

5 December 2009- Saturday

Sinai- Sharm el Sheikh

4 December 2009- Friday

Sinai- St Catherine's Monastery

3 December 2009- Thursday

Petra to Aqaba and board Arethusa

2 December 2009- Wednesday

Amman to Petra via King's Highway

1 December 2009- Tuesday

Amman, Jerash and Aljun

30 November 2009- Monday

Today is the optional tour of Jerash and the Saladin castle called Aljoon. Again an hour bus ride and now I realize that a lot of Jordan is mountainous , We arrive at Jerash an old Roman city sitting right in the heart of the new town and enter by the South gate after we pass through the Arch of Hadrian, (he really got around considering he;s got a wall in England named after him.) Didn’t realize we were in for a 3 mile hike but the ruins are extensive example of a 30,000 population city with 2 arenas, a circular town plaza where the main roads of the town cross. On the main road was a beautiful Nympheum- water fountain and stair leading to main temple on the highest point- the temple of Artemis (Diana the huntress).

Had a nice lunch followed by a shorter tour of a Muslim crusader era castle manned by one of Saladin's relatives to lookout over the valley to guard the caravan and Muslim pilgrims route to Mecca. (guide quick to differentiate the magnanimous nature of Saladin to the perfidy of the French commander). Anyway, more of the famous stairs with no banisters. Pretty exhausted by dinner.

Amman, Dead Sea and Bethany

29 November 2009 Sunday

Breakfast on the lower floor with 4 floors of balconies above with hanging plants – the hanging gardens of Babylon. Then load on yellow bus and head for the city tour starting with the Citadel the highest of the 7 hills on which Aman ws originally bilt- now city incorporates 22 hills and most of the buildings rbuilt or white stone so the name "white city". The Citadel occupied from the stone age onward with Greco-Roman ruins, a Byzantine palace and a Ummayid mosque- Then we visit the national archeologic museum- small, but examples of all the eras. There’s also a beautiful viww of the city and we overlook a Roman amohitheater. They are reconstructing the path that lead from the citadel Temple of Hercules to the theater- which is our next stop- two free museums in the area showed hadicrafts and history and then we are off to see ‘Mount Nebo' as the local guide, Jafar, feeds us some food from the market. It’s about an hour drive through very hilly country on the King's highway present from the time of Moses. Cool and windy on the mountain andd low visibility makes for poor viewing of the Promised Land, but Jericho visible but not Jerusalem. Also the Church with it’s fine mosaics is under restoration – so after visiting the monuments left by John Paul II it’s back on the bus. Then it’s down to a Dead Sea restauraaant where I had esophegeal spasm and skipped the mud bath or floating in the Dead sea (10x saltier than Sakt Lake and 100x the ocean) Took the optional tour to Bethany on the Jordan where recent archeology established approximate location of Jesus’s baptismal site walked down to the very narrow grey Jordan River and looked over to Isreal-which had erected a large terraced white sereies of building to commemorate the spot or just make the Arabs look cheesy- on the Jordan side there is a nice new Orthodox church which was closed

Arrival in Jordan- Egypt Air via Cairo

28 November 2009- Saturday

Have slept better on other flights, but an 11 am landing in Cairo left me a little groggy. The 5 hour layover didn’t help- so plenty of time for a slice of pizza and tea- $10 in Egypt. Flight to Amman full and I noted a lot of Grand circle and OAT baggage tags. Arrived in Amman about 6pm and sure enough a rep from OAT was at the gate and then the mess began. I have to reach back to my enlisted days in the fifties to come up with a descriptive word- Clusterf—k! The gentleman separated the large group of Grand circle (about 50) to one side a smaller group of about 15 OAT to the other side and then sent me to the visa desk to buy a visa. I told him as part of an OAT tripI would be getting a group visa- no he insisted I was to get my own visa for 10 Jordanian Dinar- but sine I had no Jordanian money I had to go to the money changer and get dinar. While I was in line for my visa- photographed but no finger prints- the OAT grup left the area, And somehow I got melded with the GCT group at the baggage carousel- where I quickly found my bag but no sight of the OAT group- Finally a porter who was xraying all bags entering Jordan took me outside the customs area and threw my bag on the OAT baggage cart. My late arrival prompted some questions from my fellow travelers as to why I haad to get an individual visa and I asked if they were on the Suez cruise as well- Oh no, they were on another tour but my bags were now being loaded onto their bus so I had to out and retrieve them. I finally ran into the original OAT rep who sad I was to stay in the airport and he’d send someone for me- Then everyone disappeared. Several minutes later a van pulled up and I had my private transport to Lharsa Hotel where I met one of the tour guides, Ahmed. He said the other guide, Mohamed, had gone to the airport to pick up the rest of the Suez group who were coming in on Air France from Paris. (Air France is a mileage partner with Delta- so I could have gotten a bunch of Skymiles) Short briefing before dinner at 8.30pm then to bed in my Motel 6 room with a very busy4 lane highway outside and the floodlights streaming into the room (thin drapes)- so begins my mid east trip.

RED SEA CRUISE - DEPARTURE

26 November 2009- Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank goodness Thanksgiving came on a the day before I set off for the Middle East- plans were to finish packing and set up stuff for Christmas, however, had a slight interruption when Brandon MS1 from OSU stopped in on the way to visit his Grandpa for the holiday. So, break for lunch at 11:40 and head for the Green where all the streets are deserted and none of the restaurants open…that’s after passing a Friendly’s which was also closed. But Mimi’s, my usual breakfast place, was open and a few people were straggling in. Pleasant surprise was that they had only one item on the menu – turkey and fixings and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for desert. So, Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday 27 November 2009

Left for Cincinnati airport at about 10 am with Thomas at the helm. Expected delays because I-75 is being widened for most o the way to Cincinnati. Made good time and got through the city with very little traffic and made it to the airport in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Unloading was easy and check-in counter open for medallion customers ( I've really enjoyed being in that club.) Bags checked all the way to Amman, Jordan and then find that security has been moved from the basement to the ticketing floor. It’s not any more efficient and the tray lines are shorter but it wasn't crowded so pretty quick to get through. Did notice a heavy odor of ozone in the area- must be all the new wiring- but it was almost noxious. Full flight to JFK but medallion status came through with upgrade to emergency exit row with lots of leg room. The hike from the Delta terminal a mess as usual- Delta had taken over two terminals and poor signage makes it difficult to navigate but sky train to terminal 4 ok and Egypt Air right next to entrance. First clue about this flight was I walked right up to the counter (not the usual lines) and got my boarding passes for both Cairo and Amman flights. Enough time for a pizza slice and tea for $7.19 and to the gate where everyone boarded at once. Why? Because plane half empty but that allowed me a row of 3 seats all to myself. A liitle unsettling when a picture of a mosque came on the screen as we were pushing back form the gate and there was a prayer (I presume) in Arabic. Don't forget this is the airline that a pilot dived into the Atlantic some years ago. Quick meal and Bose noise suppression headphones and eye covers and an Ambien ready for undisturbed flight- but I neglected to protect my olfactory sense- which was assaulted throughout the night by the meconium factory across the isle at the bulkhead. They always put babies up there and a grandma and daughter had a little boy that I figured would scream all night but he never made a peep because he was being fed constantly by or the other- hence the meconium factory.