Suez Canal  November 9

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Well, having spent most of the day in the Suez Canal and then finally coming into the Red Sea the landscape has been rather much more of the same!!! Desert, sand, sand hills, occasional small towns, pilot boats, etc etc.    Since the last time we came through the canal there are definitely more small canals off the main one and more buildings and signs.  One large sign says ‘welcome to Egypt’ and then there’s what looks like a stadium with a grandstand - goodness only knows what they do there!  It would appear to be miles and miles from any town.  Maybe chariot races?  

But it’s been a really nice day, a rest for all of us.  Aside from the gym, walking track, paddle tennis, ping pong, shuffleboard, bocce and pickleball (the latest craze from the US) most of us ate, drank and relaxed!!!!!  G went to a lecture in the morning on Aqaba and the Suez, I caught up on my bookclub book, then we had lunch at Chartruese.  I saw the film ‘Mrs Harris goes to Paris’ in the afternoon, and then there was a Seven Seas Society Member exclusive performance by the Tap Step Brothers followed by a Q & A session with the Explorer Production cast, all this with canapés and cocktails.  Trouble is we’re a tad over canapés and cocktails, who’d have ever thought that!!! 

We shared a table at dinner with two ladies we’ve befriended, June who is 89 and her goddaughter Heidi, from Montana.  Heidi is a writer and film producer.  

This is it for today, nothing more to add really.  Tomorrow for us it’s Aqaba, hope all at home are fit and well.