Oct 17 - Limassol

Today we took a tour from Limassol, Cyprus, to Kourion and Kolossi – it was absolutely boiling, so Tracy darted from shade to shadow, to avoid the burning sun.

Kourion is an ancient site, which boasts a large Roman mansion with lots of high quality mosaics, and a large Graeco-Roman theatre which seats 5,000, and has some amazing views across the coast and the sea, which forms its backdrop.

While we were exploring the site, I found an old Roman column, which, now that I've been going to the gym again, I was able to lift above my head with ease. OK – it was a stage prop, a plastic column that was left over from a performance, and even then, I struggled to get it off the ground.

Next we moved onto the Crusader castle at Kolossi – Cyprus was the place the Crusaders moved onto after being thrown out of Acre and the Holy Land. Only the central tower of the castle survives, but it's still an impressive reminder of those turbulent times.

After this, we had a bit of spare time in Limassol itself – a glamorous combination of mainly touristy shops (selling Santa hats already!) and traffic-clogged streets.

October 16 – Acre

Today we docked in Haifa, Israel, so we decided to take a train trip to the historic Crusader port of Acre (or Akko, as it's now known). The train station is right outside the port gates, so this was one of the easier trips we could make.

After a half an hour train ride, we ended up in Akko new town, and attempted to find our way into old Akko. Tracy asked the security guard at the station who seemed shocked that we'd want to walk there – "take a taxi, because it's a 15 minute walk". It was hot, but not that hot, so we ignored this advice and started to walk in the general direction. We asked another woman if we were going the right way, and she said, "take autobusi" over and over again.

Ignoring this advice, we met another girl who spoke English, and asked her whether we should go straight on or go left – "yes", was the confusing answer. "But which one?", I asked. "There are many ways to Akko", she replied mysteriously. "But which is the right way?", I tried again. Still she persisted in sounding like she wanted to be helpful, but in fact, being of no help at all, "you can go this way, or you can go that way, but you will end up in Akko".

As all roads appeared to lead to Akko, we eventually found our way to the enormous medieval walls that enclose the old town. The city's a really intriguing mix of Christian crusader churches, Arab markets and mosques, and Jewish synagogues, all set in a maze of atmospheric historic alleyways. We walked around the sea walls, and then through a secret tunnel dug out by the Knights Templar, that runs underneath much of the old town. As you crouch your way through the narrow tunnel, with channels of water running both sides, it wasn't too difficult to imagine the days of the Crusading Knights and their struggles to claim the Holy Land for Christendom.

We then visited the huge Citadel built a thousand years ago by the Knights of St John, with its enormous Gothic halls, refectory and hospital to care for sick pilgrims on their way down to Jerusalem.

As the Jewish Sabbath was due to start at sunset today (Friday), the last train back left at 2pm (to make sure that the train workers can be back home in time for Sabbath), so we caught the train with lots of gun-toting soldiers returning home for the weekend.

After lunch onboard, we attempted to explore Haifa, which was a fairly thankless task, given that pretty much everything was by now shut for Sabbath. It was boiling and humid, and as Haifa is built up the side of the very steep Mount Carmel, without buses or the Cable Car, it was virtually impossible to get to the interesting bits of town, so we gave up quickly, before we passed out from heat exhaustion.

Oct 15 - Tel Aviv

The biggest adventure of today was to negotiate the formidable Israeli Immigration Authorities. These people had definitely not been to charm school.....

We were docked in the industrial port of Ashdod which is nowhere near the town's train station, so if you're doing things on your own, you have to get a bus to the edge of the port, and then get a taxi to the station. Further complications to the journey are added by the fact that Israeli train timetables read from right to left, and the Hebrew script is indecipherable to Westerners. However, the train system is very modern and efficient, so we were whizzed in air-conditioned comfort to a hot and humid Tel Aviv in 45 minutes.

Getting the train, you feel like you could be in any European country, except that here in Israel, pretty much everyone is a reservist in the army, so there's loads of people in uniform walking around with machine guns slung disconcertingly over their shoulders.

In a country where most of the cities have thousands of years of history, TA is little more than 100 years old, and most of the city has been built pretty quickly, to accomodate the huge numbers of Jewish settlers arriving over the course of the 20th century. So, you see an array of 1920s bauhaus architecture, unnattractive 50s concrete blocks, and gleaming skyscrapers.

It's a very busy and bustling place in a beautiful location on the Med with clean white sandy beaches - put this city anywhere else in Europe and it would be a huge resort.

We met up with our friends who live in TA, so we had an insider's guide to the city. They took us to Jaffa (reputedly the oldest port in the world), where we had a lovely humous lunch in an Arab restaurant, and we explored the old town, which was full of brides in huge white dresses having their wedding photos done (apparantly Thursday is the day Israelis get married).

A lovely day of catching up, exploring and eating - the perfect combination.

Oct 14 - Port Said

After yesterday's gruelling trip to Cairo, we had a more relaxed day in Port Said, Egypt.

The town sits at the mouth of the Suez Canal, and was only built when the Canal opened in 1869. All day long, we were passed by huge oil tankers and enormous containers ships bringing goods from East to West.

Apparently this is the wealthiest city in Egypt, and it certainly doesn't have the same chaotic atmosphere as Alexandria or Cairo, and there doesn't seem to be the same level of poverty on the streets.

That said, it's still a fairly run-down place, as most of the once-grand colonial buildings seem to be slowly falling apart. However it's one of the few places I've been to in Egypt where you don't have to run the gauntlet of over-eager stall holders and pushy hawkers, so overall it's a less exhausting place to visit.

Tomorrow, we venture to Israel - it will be interesting to compare and contrast.

Oct 13 - Cairo

Another early start for the long journey from Alexandria to Cairo.

Parts of Alexandria always look like a bomb's just hit it, but today the rubbish on the streets looked even worse (the same was true of Cairo as well). I asked the guide what was happening, and she explained that Swine Flu was to blame. Swine Flu?

It appears that it's not only the West who's in the grip of Swine Flu hysteria. Apparently, as soon as news of the epidemic got out, Egypt decided to slaughter all the pigs in the country - all 2 million of them. This left the country with a severe waste disposal problem, because it seems that most of the country's rubbish was fed to the pigs, who promptly recycled it.

This extreme reaction must have been caused by loads of deaths, I asked. No - there's been 3 recorded deaths.

Anyway, we got to the Pyramids, which are still mind-blowingly awesome, in spite of the persistent hawkers, annoying camel men, and dodgy conmen who frequent the whole Giza plateau. Ignoring the constant shouts of, "H:ey! Where you from!", Jon ploughed through the crowds to find a quieter perspective on the Pyramids. You drop your guard for a second, and you're being led by your arm for a ride on a mangy moth-eaten camel. "You English? Lovely jubbly!", ad nauseam.

Next we went to the Sphinx, and for the first time in many visits, it wasn't covered in scaffolding, so it looked pretty magnificent, in spite of being around 5,000 years old. It looks on inscrutably as the ever-expanding city of Cairo (population approaching 20 million and rising) sprawls ever closer, and those icons of 21st century culture, a KFC and Pizza Hut stand opposite it.

We moved on to the Nile for a felucca trip and lunch. It was very tasty even though everyone looked very suspiciously at it, given that we were all warned about the quality of food in Egypt.

Next we braved the manic Cairo traffic and went to the Gayer-Anderson museum - a fascinating collection of traditional furniture and artefacts in a beautiful 18th century house, before visiting the exquisite Ibn Touloum mosque. This is one of the oldest mosques in Cairo, and is a welcome haven of peace in one of the most chaotic and noisy cities on the planet.

Everyone looked pretty exhausted, and we scarcely had the energy to explore the incredibly busy bazaar properly - this place is such a melée of people and noise, it was not the retail therapy people needed, but it was still a fascinating insight into Cairo streetlife.

Unsurprisingly, the noise of snoring on the journey back to Alexandria soon drowned out the hooting traffic.

Oct 12 - Sailing to Egypt

A beautifully warm and calm day at sea - it seems a world away from the cold and drizzle we left behind in London.

As this is the only sea day for the next week, workaholic Jon gave 2 more lectures today - Egypt in the morning and Israel in the evening. Both were well attended, and even though Jon inevitably had to talk about the thorny subjects of religion and politics in his Israel lecture, he seems to have negotiated that potential minefield safely.

A long day tomorrow on the 2 and a half hour trip to Cairo from Alexandria.

Oct 11th - Sailing from Athens

We got up at the crack of dawn to fly from London to Athens, to begin our 2 and half month journey around the Mediterranean, before heading across the Atlantic for Miami in December.

Piraeus was its usual chaotic self with lazy stray dogs strolling nonchalantly through the manic traffic. Embarakation was as smooth as ever, and even though this was our first time on the Azamara Journey, it still felt like a home from home, because it's an exact copy of the Quest, where we spent 3 months in the Far East earlier this year - we even have the same cabin!

On arrival at the ship, Jon was thrown straight into the fray, with a lecture on Athens, and in spite of having only just left Athens, he still had a decent audience - the passengers on this cruise have clearly come to explore the region, rather than just enjoy the sun.