Petra, the Rose Coloured city in Jordan

Petra (Arabic: ٱلْبَتْرَاء‎, romanized: Al-Batrāʾ; Ancient Greek: Πέτρα, "Stone"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies on the slope of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.^[3] Petra is believed to have been settled as early as 9,000 BC, and it was possibly established in the 4th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub.^[4]

The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. The earliest historical reference to Petra was an unsuccessful attackon the city ordered by Antigonus I in 312 BC and recorded by various Greek historians. The Nabataeans were, unlike their enemies, accustomed to living in the barren deserts, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater, agriculture and stone carving. Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its famous Khazneh structure – believed to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV – was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants.^[5]

Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire in the first century BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in 363 destroyed many structures. In the Byzantine era several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown to the world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.^[6]

The city is accessed through a 1.2-kilometre-long (0.75 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.^[7] It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".^[8] In 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted as one of the New7Wonders of the World. Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 1 million in 2010; but there followed a slump due to the political instability generated by the Arab Spring affecting countries surrounding Jordan.^[9] However, tourist numbers increased subsequently. About 800,000 tourists visited the site in 2018.

That's taken from Wikipedia. So you have some background information.

Brian visited Petra in 2016 while we did a tour through Israel with " Shalom Israel Tours". I decided to stay on the beach in Eilat and snorkel the coast. It is very famous for fantastic snorkelling and it's true, amazing live coral and big parrot fish I saw. But Brian did a very long day trip to Petra that time. Now this time, I had an other chance to see Petra, on this cruise. While we were in the Port of Aqaba, Jordan, we did a day trip to Jordan. The bus took about 2 hours, maybe a bit more, to get to Petra. Luckily it stopped on time for a toilet stop, and visit a souvenir shop on the way. It had a beautiful view of the valley where we were heading.

Once we arrived, we drove through a bustling town( Petra) and were heading for the entry of the old Petra.

Well, hard to bring to words when you enter Petra on horseback,( yes I rode an Arab horse till the bottom of the hill) ( for a fee) and then we walked through the narrow gorge till the opening where you see the " Treasury" type temple looking facade.

Just emotional when you see it appear and then the rest of the whole place. To know my mother rode here in 1963 on a horse with a guide way back with the view of the amphi theatre.

Me and Brian at the same spot my mother was 56 yers ago

My mother in 1963 in Petra

view of the valley

The modern city of Petra

entrance to the ancient city of Petra

on horseback entering Petra.

the Treasury becomes visible.

Me in front of the " Treasury" in 2019

Fred, Christine, Brian and me reading the KK advertiser.

Brian riding a horse too

My mother in front of the " Treasury" in 1963

Cyprus and Israel

The rest of the cruise was visiting the following countries:
Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy( Venice) and then we did 4 days extra and visited Zadar in Croatia and Kotor again in Montenegro) and Ravenna in Italy to do a bus trip to tiny country of San Marino.

Once we came out of the Suez Canal, a cold wind hit us . We stood at the front of the ship, and all this time while we had sailed through the Suez canal it had been hot, 30 C. Suddenly the cold wind from Europe hit us. It was quite a shock.

We arrived in Cyprus. It was cold and rainy. We had to have our raincoats on. The bus took us to a couple of villages. The first village was high in the mountains, showed us people's embroidery work, lace table cloth etc.
Second village was the village where the church of Lazaret is.  They believe Lazaret came to Cyprus after he had been raised from the dead by Jesus.

Limasol

Cyprus country

The church where Lazaret was buried

Inside the church altar

Cyprus country side.

Interesting church. The weather improved somewhat.

Back at the ship a lot of people started coughing. I think some people caught a cold after that cold wind had hit us all.

We caught a cold/cough as well. When we watched some evening shows, you could hear half the people coughing. One way to spread the disease.
After Cyprus, the weather turned to a storm, so the visit to Athens had to change to take a different route to Katakolon, and avoid that section where the storm was .Up to 4 metres high waves. I took sea sickness tablets. It worked.

In Katakolon, we went by bus to the original Olympic games venue.   After that we went to a family owned vineyard and olive press. We tasted all the different olive oils and then . had a fantastic lunch and Greek music and dances provided by the family. It was quite emotional as it was a surprise and secondly it was 40 yers exactly since I was last in Greece.

After that great afternoon we went back to the ship by bus and embarked the ship. Every time we went back tot he ship, it felt like we were coming " home" and our cabin became our home and safe place. I highly recommend a cruise. It's so good to wake up each morning a see a different country. It is always so exciting to see the new scenery where you've arrived.
I remember, ( I must have skipped this bit) arriving in Eilat, Israel, and seeing the port where we were berthed, in the distance I could see the hotel where Brian and I stayed in 2016.  The weather was horrible this year. The worse rains and flash flooding of the road, so we could not go to Masada, only tot he Dead Sea. And that was freezing. Very unfortunate for Fred and Christine as they had not seen Masada before.

But anyway, I did a little bit of shopping in the little shopping centre that was there after the swim in the Dead Sea . Bought some nice leggings and a great Israel T-Shirt. And some dead sea minerals lotion.