The Death of Another Blog

Hi all, The time has come to say goodbye to this blog site.  The name was cumbersome and it started midway through my blogging history.  Never fear, however, I've a NEW blog that includes all the previous blogs and a few late posts that will be arriving eventually.  That site is now live:  allisonswanderlust.travel.blog And …

Day 12: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

DUBAI It was an easy disembarkation this morning, slightly marred by having to deal with a greedy taxi driver.  He wouldn’t put on the meter, trying to bargain on an inflated flat rate to my hotel.  I knew it was illegal for him to do this so I argued behind, even at one point getting out …

Day 11: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

DUBAI Ah, the best laid plans.  I had thought to take a ferry from the old town along the coast to the Dubai Marina, virtually the other end of Dubai.  Walk around there for a bit, checking out some of the big hotels, boats, waterfront, etc, then take the metro back as it’s elevated and runs …

Day 10: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

DOHA, QATAR I think Doha might just be my favorite stop on this cruise.  A free shuttle took me thru the industrial port to the main road, which was the corniche that extended all along the harbor of Doha.  All that I wished to see was on the corniche and within walking distance so off …

Day 9: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

BAHRAIN  Bahrain is an island.  Who knew?  Actually, it’s an archipelago of 33 islands joined to Saudi Arabia by a causeway.  I guess I should have zoomed in more when I was checking out Google.  I did read up on it on TripAdvisor and it seemed not an easy place to see on one’s own so …

Day 8: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

AT SEAA very slow news day. We have 564 nautical miles to cruise through the Persian Gulf to our next port, Bahrain, so we have a full day and night at sea. Many passengers took advantage of the opportunity for a lie in, the decks were empty this morning when I went up for my …

Day 5: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

KHASAB, OMAN I signed up for a ship’s tour here in Khasab, it seemed a simple way to see a bit of the countryside.  My tour was “City Tour of Bukha & Khasab”, luckily an English language tour.  Khasab is known as home of the “Omani fjords”, as the area is surrounded by deep bays and …

Day 7: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

MUSCAT DAY 2 Yesterday was a long tour day into the rocky interior of Oman.  Today I wanted an easy, unscheduled exploration of waterfront Muscat.  I had thought to walk the corniche as far as I could manage but I met Lawrence from Romania at breakfast and he planned to take the local bus again …

Day 6: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

MUSCAT My 2nd stop in Oman, and from the boat it looks gorgeous.  We’re here for 2 days so I booked a tour for Day One, and Day Two I’ll spend wandering.  I’m lead to believe it’s slightly walkable here, with a lovely corniche that goes for miles along the harbor so I’ll check that …

Day 4: MSC Lirica Arabian Cruise

SIR BANI YAS ISLAND A very peaceful day today.  The ship anchored off a private island, Sir Bani Yas, which is part beach resort, part private wild animal safari park.  As I had no interest in either I spent a quiet day onboard.  I walked a few laps on the upper deck.  Had some coffee.  Walked …