On the Road - by Bob Van Leer

Nonstop Flight to Rome 5/20/1996 On Italia Airline on May 19,1996

Staying In Downtown Small Hotel
By Bob Van Leer

(ROME, Italy, May 20, 1996) - We had just got comfortably seated in an outdoor cafe under an awning when a rain hit in full force. We were at a small cafe near the Victor Emmanuel monument in downtown Rome. Our party of five arrived in Rome the day before. Betty and I were accompanied by our youngest daughter, Sally Shuey, and her husband, Dave, and their three-year-old son, Jordan.

The Roman Ruins 5/21/1996 Easy to Find

Some Of Infrastructure Still In Use
By Bob Van Leer

(ROME, Italy, May 21, 1996) - A Roman ruin is never very far away in Rome, and some of the infrastructure the Romans built is still in use more than 1500 years later. Rome is an old city, we were told 2760 years old. It has a population of about 4 million. Myself, Betty, daughter Sally Shuey and husband Dave, and their three-year-old son, Jordan, are in Italy to take a cruise. We did a little shopping and generally wandered around downtown Rome this morning. Yesterday's rain was long gone and the day was beautiful.

Boarding at Geneva 5/22/1996 We Board Ship At Genoa, Italy

Beef From Argentina, Not Britain
By Bob Van Leer

(GENOA, Italy, May 22, 1996) - Our cruise ship, Eugenio Costa, left Genoa at 5:00 p.m. today sailing south to Naples. Most of today was spent getting from Rome to Genoa to board the ship. We left our hotel, the Medici, at about 9:00 a.m. Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 12:35 p.m., but DaVinci airport is a long drive from downtown Rome and we didn't want to miss the plane. In decent conditions it is a half hour-45 minute drive. The flight is only about 50 minutes aboard another Al Italia jet plane. The weather was hazy, but not enough so that we couldn't get a good view of the Italian coast on the way north.

Pompeii 5/23/1996 Died of a Rain of Ash During Three Days in 79 A.D.

City Preserved At That Point In Time
By Bob Van Leer

(NAPLES, Italy, May 23, 1996) - A trip to Pompeii was the highlight of our stay in Naples. We arrived at Naples at 1:00 p.m. after an overnight trip of 336 nautical miles. Naples is a city of 1.5 million, the third largest in Italy, with another 2 million in its suburbs. It is a major port city and dates its origin to 600 B. C. Shortly after tying up to the dock (we backed in), many of us assembled for a tour of Pompeii. One bus won't do because of the multiplicity of languages.

Mt. Etna, Sicily 5/24/1996 Is Largest Active Volcano In Europe

Eruptions Expected Every Five Years
By Bob Van Leer

(CATANIA, Sicily, May 24, 1996) - Mt. Etna dominates this region not only by its height (3300 meters) but by its frequent eruptions. It is Europe's largest active volcano and eruptions are expected on the average of every five years. The last was 1992 and the volcano is always smoking. We took a tour up Mt. Etna to the 2000 meter level. The last dozen miles of the road was built through a lava slide of 1983. That eruption took out miles of road and a number of houses

A Day At Sea 5/25/1996 A Day To Layback

Cruising From Sicily To Egypt
By Bob Van Leer

(AT SEA, May 25, 1996) - Today was a day to lay back and relax. Our cruise ship, the Eugenio Costa, is plodding along at a steady 21 knots per hour on the 821 nautical mile trip from Catania, Sicily, to Alexandria, Egypt. Plotted on a map, our course is a straight line between the two cities. I expected the Mediterranean to be busier, but we haven't seen another ship since we left Catania. 

Egypt in a Day 5/26/2007 Visit to Pyramids Highlights Day

Tut's Tomb Relics At Egyptian Museum
By Bob Van Leer

(PORT SAID, Egypt, May 26, 1960 - Egypt is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and one of the most interesting to visit. We spent a whirlwind day visiting some of the highlights of the country, including the pyramids, sphinx and the wonders of Tut's tomb.

Jerusalem 5/27/1996 A Holy Site for Three of World's Religions

Election Posters Dominate Israeli Landscape
By Bob Van Leer

(ASHDOD, Israel, May 27, 1996) - Israel is having an election in two days and the countryside is blooming with election posters and plastic campaign banners. No surface is safe. Banners are strung from trees in the forests. The battle of the signs is so intense that one Israeli is charged with shooting another Israeli in the leg for putting his candidate's posters over the other fellow's posters.

Cyprus 5/28/1996 Divided by "Green Line" Separating Greeks and Turks---

United Nations Keeping Peace Since 1963
By Bob Van Leer

(LIMASSOL, Cyprus, May 28, 1996) - Cyprus is one of a number of intractable international problems. The United Nations (UN) has stationed a peacekeeping force on Cyprus since 1963 and is no closer to a permanent solution now than it was then. In a sense the UN has some success to show, the Greek and Turk communities on Cyprus are separated and not shooting at one another. But the fundamental issues between the two communities appear no closer to solution than in 1963.

Rhodes 5/29/1996 More Peaceful Place

Doesn't Have Tensions Of Cyprus
By Bob Van Leer

(RHODES, Greece, May 29, 1996) - Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands, in the Aegean Sea, and only about six miles from Turkey, but without the tensions that mar Cyprus. The population of 78,000 on the island is more than 90% Greek and no one disputes this island is part of Greece. It is considerably smaller than Cyprus and time has passed it by as being any influence in the area.