April 27, 2018 – Algiers, Algeria

Known as “Alger la Blanche” for its white buildings gleaming on the Mediterranean, Algiers is a heady mix of ancient and modern. Today’s bustling city hugs the shore and boasts many gracious French accents from colonial days such as the Grand Poste and generous wide boulevards and gardens. Districts from the city’s pre-colonial Ottoman past rise from the coast upon the slopes of the hillside beyond. The city’s pinnacle of historic splendor, Algiers’s Casbah, crowns this hilltop. It is North Africa through and through, a maze of stone warrens offering an ideal setting to pause for mint tea and kebabs.

This was an interesting port, but did not live up to its billing. If you were not on a tour, you could not get off of the ship. We took the included tour, which took us for a drive around the city, with one stop at the Martyrs Memorial.

Since our tour was not till the afternoon, we spent most of the day just relaxing. From what we could see from the ship, it was not well kept up, but the architecture was interesting.

Today we were in a caravan with a police escort. The company line was this was because they did not have a lot of tourists, so when they have them they treat them as heads of states and take them in a convoy. On the way to the monument, we saw some tile work on some of the structures.

Our photo stop was at the 302-foot-high Martyrs Monument. It is dedicated to the heroes of Algeria’s 1954–1962 War of Independence, and is in the shape of three giant, stylized palm leaves sheltering an eternal flame at the base (which was out at the time we were there, so not that eternal). The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. At the edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier, each representing a stage of Algeria's struggle.

Its location in the city’s heights offers commanding views of the Casbah and Bay of Algiers. It is difficult to really see how beautiful the view was from a camera shot.

From here we just rode around the city seeing the city streets and what was going on.

We are there on Friday. This is a very Muslim country and Friday is the beginning of their weekend, our Saturday. The have a special service from 12-2 on Fridays where the Iman will give a lecture at the mosque. Everyone needs to attend. Then they go out and celebrate Friday like we would. Here is part of that celebration.

And then it was back to the ship. Last night after we had gone to have a drink and were coming back to our room a very interesting thing happened. We walked into the room and all of a sudden, we started heeling over. Our captain had made a very sharp turn. We looked out on the balcony and there is a small fishing boat flashing his lights. It turns out he had laid nets in the shipping land and got in front of us to make us move from his nets. Those that were in the café and dining room said it was a big mess as all the plates and glasses broke on the floor. I am sure the bar was a mess also.

Tomorrow we are in Cartagena, Spain. We have been there before and it is a wonderful town.