Split, Croatia and Athens, Greece

We returned to Croatia, this time to the seaside port of Split. The town is ancient, including Diocletians Palace, which of course is walled and has an old town attached. We decided to take the Hop On/Hop Off bus from the pier so that we could get an overview of the surrounding area. This is obviously a small country that is still recovering from war but it is not oppressive! The promenade along the waterfront is very clean and modern and refreshing. It was ANOTHER very hot day and we pooped out quite early.

We arrived at the port of Piraeus, Greece and we boarded our tour bus for our full day in Athens. Our first stop was at Cape Sounion at the southernmost point outside of Athens, where we visited the Temple of Poseidon overlooking the Aegean Sea. Many ships still pay homage to Poseidon by blasting their ship%u219s horns as they pass. We then had a buffet lunch in a very nice hotel before continuing on to Athens proper. The Acropolis is very, very impressive, jutting up in the center of the city. We passed the Hadrians Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus before reaching the foot of the Acropolis. On look and I knew that I could not walk it%u226so Jack set off without me with camera in hand. It was again very hot and I enjoyed sitting in the shade people watching! Jack returned about 45 minutes later, exhausted and soaking wet! We got to view much more of Athens by air conditioned bus before we returned to the ship.

Today is Thursday, July 17th and it is catch up day! This cruise has been so port intensive that we have had so little time to review our photos and get them sent. Venice is definitely unique! It is everything you hear about...ancient buildings, water roads and Venetians (not Italians!). We had a wonderful time getting used to traveling around by vaporetto (water bus). Of course, the second day there was a transit strike (almost a weekly occurrence in Europe) but we managed to get on a private vaporetto that was running from the pier! The smaller boats, called water taxi's, are very expensive... what we would consider Limo's. We were constantly amazed at the water traffic (Jack called them "bumper boats") between the Cruise liners, the commercial boats, the vaporettos, the water taxi's, the Gondola's (even more expensive than a Limo) and the local people with boats, it is a VERY congested waterway...and the only way to get around unless you want to walk. About walking...every street, or should I say, every small strip of walkway along a canal, is cobbled and uneven and there are hundreds of little bridges that get you from one canal to the next...each bridge having steps up and down! This is not a City for tender toes! We visited the famous Piazza of San Marco, where we took a tour called the Secret Itineraries of Doge's Palace. We found this very interesting and it was off the beaten tract. We also had made reservations to visit St Marks Basilica during the one hour each day that the lights were on! There's no denying that the catholic church is worth its weight in gold! The crowds were truly incredible and we were always happy to get on our vaporetto back to "home sweet ship"! We have spent a number of wonderful "sail aways" on our balcony drinking champagne and wine with our new friends.

Katakolon, Greece %u213 Corfu, Greece - Dubrovnik, Croatia

We arrived in Katakolon on another beautiful and very hot morning. We ate early and headed off with the herding stampede toward the buses for our 25 mile ride to Olympia. I was reluctant about making a pilgrimage to the %u21Cstone field%u21D, but was happy to find that this was a very interesting place. Our guide was very good and we were able to realize how ancient Olympia actually was. The first 6 pictures are of temples, some archeologists at work on an ancient flooring, some columns lying as they fell from and earthquake thousands of years ago, and finally the Olympic torch caldron where the flame starts each Olympic year. We also visited the air conditioned Museum and looked over some very unique artifacts found at the sight. After returning to Katakolon, we walked in the town for a while before returning to %u21CHome Sweet Ship%u21D for a cooling rest!

We were now heading up the Ionioan Sea toward Venice and our next stop, Corfu Town on the Greek Island of Kerkira. We had originally made arrangements to rent a car here for the day, but we decided to pass on the car and head out for the shuttle bus into town on our own. It was again a beautiful day, and VERY HOT, so we stopped at any place that had A/C. The streets were very narrow and filled with shops. We finally had to stop at a caf? for a cold drink before we headed back to our floating resort.

Now we are in the Adriatic Sea and our port of call is Dubrovnik, Croatia. This is a narrow slice of land buffered between the sea and Bosnia/Herzegovina. We are warned not to travel close to the boarder and not to explore outside of the beaten path, as there are many, many landmines in the hills around the city, which was heavily damaged from the recent wars. It is a very beautiful place, and of course, it was very, very hot. We were smart enough to catch the first tender to shore and the first shuttle to town and when we entered the ancient walled city, it was very quiet and not too hot. The initial climb up to the top of the wall was thrilling, about 80 feet up a very narrow stone staircase along a very steep wall. Good thing it was %u21Cfirst thing in the morning%u21D! The views were incredible and we walked half way before we called it quits! Soaking wet and pooped, we eventually headed back to the shuttle and tender and then fell onto the bed for the rest of the afternoon!

As I%u219ve mentioned, the weather has been great but very hot and we are very tired by the end of the day. We have %u21CAnytime Dining%u21D so we can go to the Dining Room anytime between 5:15 and 9:00pm or if we want, we can go to the Lido for snacks and light dining anytime. The entertainment has been THE BEST EVER. The Show Group is more than terrific and all of the other evening entertainment has also been wonderful. The ship considers the second half our cruise a whole new cruise, so we had to redo the Life boat drill, etc. The shows are also repeating, but they are so good that we really don%u219t mind seeing them again. Last night we shared our Mini Dessert & Champagne treat with our friends Charlene, Jerry, Judy and Abe. We all sipped wine and nibbled chocolate coated strawberries and cakes on our large balcony, as we departed from Athens%u226more on that later!

Thursday, July 3rd

Messina, Sicily and Nafplion, Greece

On Tuesday arrived in Sicily, met with our new friends Charlene & Jerry of Naples, Florida, and were off on our private tour of Mt Etna and Taormina. Our driver/guide was Giovonni and we all hit it off wonderfully! We drove to Mt Etna, which is currently in a slow state of eruption. There was a thunderstorm on the mountain, higher up, which added to the desolate and eerie atmosphere! You can see where the last big eruption, in 2001, covered a house. Next, Giovanni took us through Cantania, another large town in northern Sicily, before we headed off for the mountains and Taormina. Giovanni literally took us to the gate of the ancient Sicilian town and told us how to reach him at the lower end (thank God!!). We strolled through the town and finally reached the Ancient Greek/Roman Theatre, built in the 3rd century BC. After a few more photo-friendly spots, Giovanni drove us back to our ship, arriving almost at the gangway! We had a wonderful day!

On Wednesday we arrived in Nafplion, Greece. This is a beautiful little town on the coast of the Ionian Sea. We tendered and arrived directly in front of the town. We boarded our bus, destined for ancient Greek ruins of the Peloponnese city of Mycenae. It was a very interesting ride through the countryside. The ruins were impressive, but too much for me to climb much of (it was very hot!). Jack did climb most of the way, but found it very rocky and slippery from wear. After returning to town we visited the Palamidi Castle, perched high above the town. The views were great. We had the choice of returning to the lower town by bus or walking down the stairs to town, all 999 of them. This was a no-brainer! We walked briefly through town before boarding the tender back to "Home Sweet Ship!"

Sunday, June 29th

Today was our 3rd port in 3 days...if it's Sunday it must be Rome! After leaving Barcelona, we sailed across the way to Monte Carlo. We've been here before so we decided to just stay in town and visit the Oceanographic Museum, which was directed by Jacques Cousteau for more than 30 years. It was a wonderful place to visit and the displays were terrific. It was a very hot day and we walked quite a long way, so we were really pooped by the time we got back to our digs! Speaking of digs, we the third room in on the balcony in the middle of the picture. Monte Carlo is very beautiful at night and our view was perfect as we left port at 11pm. The next port was Livorno, where we were up at the crack of dawn for our trip to the Cinque Terre. This consists of 5 small towns clinging to the cliffs above the Mediterranean, all connected by a walkway carved into the cliffs. We were on a bus to the small town of Manarola where we toured the town and then started out on the "via dell'amore" to the next town, Riomaggiore. Again we toured the town and then boarded a boat to the last town, Vernazza, where we toured and then had time for lunch. We had a great meal with Judy and Abe, including a bottle of Prosecco (?). Now on to the train and finally back to the bus for our transfer back to the ship! This was a "walk intense" day and our legs felt like they'd fall off. We fell into the bed and slept the sleep of the dead! Today we were up a tad later. I loaded myself with Tylenol and we headed for the bus again.. this time to the Etruscan countryside of Tuscany outside of Rome. We visited the 6th to the 1st century BC tombs of Tarquinia, the Etruscan burial ground. Next we visited the Palazzo Vitelleschi, an Archeological Museum containing great displays from ancient tombs. We had a wonderful lunch in a local restaurant, then we stopped at Lake Bolsena and a couple of other small towns including Tuscania, before heading back to the ship. I could not walk through the last town, as my body gave up! I waited on a bench while everyone else walked on! We were more than pooped when we returned to our digs tonight! How do people live on so many cliffs and hills??? We have a 1:00pm arrival tomorrow in Messina (Sicily) and we are looking forward to sleeping in!

Yesterday we visited Montserrat, about 60 miles from Barcelona. This is a place where many make a pilgrimage to. There is a very old small basilica with a convent and monastery built into the walls of these very interesting mountains. As with most catholic sites, there is all kinds of money makers%u226admission to the mountain, a cog rail to the top of the mountain, gift shops, hotels and rooms for the pilgrims, cafeteria%u219s and candle stands. As you can see from the pictures, the views from the top are great, however, it was cloudy and smoggy. We returned to Barcelona in time to clean up and meet with some new friends for dinner. We ate at a well-known Tapas restaurant located in one of the two huge markets in the city. It was wonderful; we ordered a bunch of things and then we tried some of each. Of course, we drank Cava, it is almost of cheap as coke! Today we packed up and headed off to %u21Cel porto%u21D to board our ship. Our room is wonderful with a large balcony facing directly to the aft of the ship. We will have a wonderful view of where we have been! Below are several pictures of Montserrat, also several pictures of Barcelona the city and then some pictures of our room. Nothing humorous happened today, but were were concerned about our luggage being delivered to our room soo late! We could see large carts of luggage on the dock, sitting in the full hot sun, and we worried that our bags were there.. and they were. Our worry was that the bottle of Cava, that we hide in our bag, would explode from the heat and soak our clothes! All%u219s well that ends well!