It Never Rains but Pours

 

It happens at all levels: individual,  family,  group,  country - one bad thing after another.  Now it's ,unfortunately, Egypt's turn. The Suez Canal has been blocked by a cargo ship. If this is not enough,  two trains have collided;  collision resulting in many casualties.

(It seems rather strange that all this occurs during the time of the Jewish Passover , the feast of the unleavened bread . 'Pesach' celebrates the freedom of the israelites from slavery, and their exodus from ancient Egypt).

I've never been to the Suez CanaI, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. I have, however, a vague idea of such a canal, since  my visit in the past to a more modest and ancient  one - the  Corinth  Canal (Greece) connecting the Mediterranean with the Aegean Sea.

I remember being totally amazed at the narrow passage through which big ships are supposed to  make their way. Nowadays, modern ships cannot pass through this canal.  I suppose most of the ships using the Corinth Canal are of the touristic kind.

                   

                  me,, on the bridge at the Corinth Canal
        

           see the narrow blue strip of water under the bridge 

I've never really been to Egypt, our big neighboring country, except for one or two trips to the peninsula Sinai's desert, once under israeli occupation as a result of wars in the region.

   

                   me,  and the camel in Dahab, Sinai desert
           

         at Sharm-el-Sheikh, the Red Sea,vis-a-vis the Straits of Tiran
            

Egypt, by the way, is among the countries with an alarming birthrate. Demographics and Pollution are issues which can be successfully solved by those who care for the planet's future, but, except talking, the politicians of the world do nothing pragmatic about that.

All's well that ends well" -  according to the latest news, the Suez Canal crisis is almost solved.

 

Old Corinth and the Corinth Canal

The ancient city of Corinth (NE in the Peloponessus on the Gulf of Corinth) was a rich , influential city. Ancient ruins at Old Corinth include: the temple of Apollo, a roman amphitheater, the marketplace, fountains.

Temple of Apollo at Old Corinth

Between pillars of the Temple of Apollo

Most of ancient Corinth

Has either dissappeared

Or by earthquaqes destroyed

And over the years rebuilt

And in spite of it all, there are still

Temple of Apollo ,5th century built

And remnants of an once rich town

With shops that made her renown

Shop at ancient Corinth

*

The Corinth Canal built in the late 19th century at the very end of the Gulf of Corinth was considered a great technical achievement , a great engineering masterpiece at the time intended to short sea voyage of ships.. It connects mainland Greece (North} with the Peloponnese peninsula (South), the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. Two large bridges one for railway, one for national Road are the land connection while below ships sail slowly from one sea to another, from the Adriatic to the Aegaen.

The canal appears as a blue strip and measures are: length - 6.3 km, width- 21 m, depth- 8m, height of the cliffs flanking it - 63m.

The attractions : one can take an organized cruise on a ship along the canal, or while on the bridge watch the bungy jump or look down and watch the passing ships. All three possibilities are exciting.

People looking down in wonder at the canal

The Corinth narrow ship Canal

Is something far from banal

Cut through solid rock and designed

By greatest of minds at the time

It links two seas and two pieces of land

While sailing, one can touch the cliffs by hand

Corinth Canal and the bridges

On the bridge

Corinth Canal - video