Author Archives: clayrooks

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Throughout the Muslim world it is Ramadan. Strict observance of the holy month is one of the five pillars of Islam. “Good Muslims” do not eat or drink during sunlight hours, refrain from smoking and alcohol, dress modestly and attend … Continue reading →

More so than in other ports, in Istanbul Paul and I tried our best to become temporary locals. Bathing—After our adventure in Bulgaria, we needed a good bath. Going to a hamam (bath house) on a regular basis is one … Continue reading →

In Bulgaria, we visited several places dotting the coast of the Black Sea.  With the port city of Varna as our home-base, Paul and I traveled to Balchik for its fabulous botanical garden and sand beach, Nessebar for its old city … Continue reading →

Occasionally, when we are about to sail passed something amazing, an announcement will be made over the intercom, “Everyone grab your cameras and head outside!” The smoking volcano in the middle of the ocean that we saw a few weeks … Continue reading →

For what seemed like a lifetime our bus meandered from the port city of Piraeus through the dense Greecian mountainscape and swaths of flat farmland covered with olive and pistachio trees until we arrived at Meteora. Meteora means “suspended by … Continue reading →

To be honest, Croatia hadn’t been on my radar before this summer. It was never on my must-see list of countries to visit and I didn’t know much about it. To my surprise, it has been the highlight of the … Continue reading →

Each evening we depart from a country, the Semester at Sea community is invited to gather together for a port reflection and discussion. After spending time in numerous cities in Italy this week: Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Pompei, Civitavecchia, Rome and … Continue reading →

Sometime in the spring we received news that our stop in Egypt would be cancelled and replaced by Bulgaria. I was pretty disappointed as Egypt was the port I most anticipated, but things change and changes whether we can see … Continue reading →

A stream of people flow down La Rambla, meandering around human statues and vendors selling caricatures, flamenco show tickets, flowers and bunnies Tongue- twisted we try to use our Spanish with locals who speak only Catalan and get English in … Continue reading →