Adriatic Cruise – Corfu, Greece

For our last day on the Adriatic coast, we decided to take another excursion tour.  This was the last day of the last cruise for the season, and as we approached, our tour guide was saying goodbye to all the Thomson crew members that she knew.  This lady was awesome, a classic Greek mom.  She had a bossy attitude with a genuine kindness that she showed everywhere we went.  She was older than us, probably in her 60’s, and kept referring to the group as her children, even though the average age of the tourists were probably higher than hers.  “Come my children, follow me,” she would often say.  She was agitated by a competing French tour group and went off on their guide in French, so that the other tourists would know what she was saying about him.  Classic! 

She could talk about Greece and Corfu for hours and she knew incredible amounts of detail about various parts of the island.  She first took us to a monastery and showed us around the beautiful grounds.
Girls in traditional costumes greeted us at the monestary:

Inside the church, where plenty of incense was burning:

One of the many monastery cats strolling the patio:

Tile and vines at the monestary:

A monastery cat enjoying the veranda:


After the monestary, we went to one of the beaches nearby and she gave us some time to stroll leisurely along the beach coves and we even skipped some stones off the calm, clear water.
Paleokastritsa Beach:

Us on the beach:

Back on the bus had us driving through small towns and villages along the mountainous terrain Corfu.  One of the towns had its road blocked for a parade and monument dedication.  Turns out, we were there on a national holiday, “No Day,” commemorating the day that Greece said no to Italian dictator Mussolini, who wanted occupy them in order to gain a military advantage during the Second World War.  We got out of the bus and saw a band perform, dedications read, and wreaths laid at the monument in the town center.
Wreathes laid at the local war memorial in celebration of "No Day":

After we got back on the bus, we went to the highest point of Corfu and stopped at a café for some baklava -  delicious.  The view from the café was breathtaking.  On our return journey to Corfu Town, we stopped at a lookout and got a nice view of the some islands and the local airport where we would be taking off from later that night.  When we returned to the ship, we bummed around for a few more hours before boarding the bus to the airport for our flight back to England. 
View of Corfu island from Bella Vista:

Local islands:

They cruise was a success!  The service of Thomson employees was superb; they made our vacation amazing.  After arriving back at Luton Airport, we made the drive home and got to see our Cooper once again.  I think we’ll go on another cruise sometime before we leave England, maybe to the Fjords of Norway… we’ll see!

~Blake

Adriatic Cruise – Dubrovnik, Croatia

There just wasn’t enough time in the day to experience all that Dubrovnik has to offer.  We had to prioritize our list of recommended stops and find the most efficient way to seem them.  That, of course, meant that I had to get us lost within minutes of departing the bus, just outside the old city walls. 
Finding our way, but enjoying the view:

After a slight detour, and a long debate over which way was the “right” way, we climbed the steep, rocky slopes of Fort Lovrijenac.  The fort had a sense of emptiness, a sort of eerie feeling like there had been battles fought there and many lives lost.  Turns out it was just used as a concert venue and the season had probably just ended, so it was indeed very empty.
Blake inside the fort:

Canon guarding the city from potential threats by sea:

View of Dubrovnik from the fort:

Then we found our way back to the city gates and entered the Old Town.  Immediately we were stunned by the immense beauty around us.  Ancient architecture, glossy stone streets, and even battle wounds adorned the city.  We began by strolling through the streets and seeing all the buildings and sites from the outsides and reading all their details in our guidebook.  We walked along the harbor and noted how adorable the stray cats seemed to be.  They enjoy hanging out by the fishermen, hoping to snag some scraps.  From the age and size of the cats, they seem to be doing just fine.
The city's giant fountain has provided water since the Middle Ages:

St. Blaise's Church (patron saint of Dubrovnik):

City harbor:

Blake gets chummy with a local:

We took the “wall tour” which was an hour long hike along the top of the city walls.  This gave Lindsay the opportunity to photograph the whole city from pretty much every angle.  The orange tiles on the roofs of the buildings were mostly new, replacing those damaged in the recent conflict in the country.
Us along the top of the wall:

View of the main street from the wall:

Looking back at Fort Lovrijenac from the wall:

Orange rooftops of the Old Town viewed from the highest point on the wall:

That hike wore us out.  We stopped for gelato on the Stradun (main street) before heading back towards the city bus to take us back the ship.  Truly the "Pearl of the Adriatic", Dubrovnik was everything we’d hoped it would be! Magnificent!

Strolling the main street:

Happy tourists!:

~Blake

Adriatic Cruise – Split, Croatia

Our stop in Split was heavily guided by Rick Steves and his guide to Croatia.  We made our schedule of the day based on his recommendations for places to visit. 
Split coastline from the pier:

First, we walked along the shore-line towards Diocletian's Palace.  This “retirement home” for the Roman Emperor was built at the turn of the 4^th century and was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia.  Since the time of the Romans, the palace has been used for various reasons, and to this day, many people live and own businesses inside of the Palace walls.  We started in the Catacombs beneath the palaces, and then toured various locations on the ground levels, to include the three palace gates. 
Palace catacombs:

Upper-palace peristyle:

Upper-palace ruins:

Palace 'golden' gate:

After that, we walked the perimeter and saw lots of shops and markets in the area.  We had lunch at a fantastic pizzeria recommended by Rick and ended our day strolling the promenade on the shore.  Diocletian knew that Split was going to be a star shining bright on the Dalmatia coast, with or without the Romans, and it led the way for a good Croatian port call for us.
Huge sculpture near the palace, by famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic:

Harbor-side promenade:

Us on the promenade:

~Blake

Adriatic Cruise – Venice, Italy

Our second visit to Venice started very wet.  Steady rain fell as we disembarked the ship and walked to the shuttle train that took us from the port area to the Piazzale Roma (where we boarded our bus to the airport on our last visit).  We crossed various canals – stopping occasionally to photograph the art, architecture, and scenery – as we followed our map towards Campo San Polo, where we checked to see if our favorite restaurant, Birraria La Corta, would be open for lunch. 
Crossing a quiet canal:

Chiesa di San Moise:

Modern art exhibition:

After checking the opening times for lunch, we walked through the city, took a gondola across the Grand Canal, and made our way to Piazza San Marco.  When we arrived, we were surprised to see the “acqua alta”, the seasonal flooding that affects Venice at this time of year.  After crossing the water on raised wooden walkways, we strolled through the Correr Museum, viewing artifacts that have been preserved and learning more of the history of Venice.
Flooding and raised walkways in Piazza San Marco:

Correr Museum:

Then, with the flood tide receding, we splashed across the square and entered the Doge’s Palace, an immense structure that was connected to St Mark’s Basilica.  We saw beautiful apartments and meeting rooms where the elite of Venice once gathered and held daily business.  Around every corner was magnificent architecture that, thanks to Rick Steves and his guide book, we were able to find the name of and a brief description of its significance.
Entrance of the Doge's Palace:

Doge's Palace courtyard:

Ancient "tetrarchs" statue, which the Venetian Empire looted from Constantinople:

Us in the Doge's Palace:

We made our way back across the Rialto Bridge and towards the restaurant for lunch.  We enjoyed two orders of lasagna, followed by fresh specialty gelato, before we had to go back to the ship for the evening.  Venice was once again a joy to visit.  The rain stopped about halfway through the day, making for a pleasant afternoon.  The temperature was near perfect, a major difference from the August heat that we experienced prior.  No matter the weather, Venice was still a highlight of our time in Italy.
The Rialto Bridge and Grand Canal:

Enjoying our amazing lasagna!:

~Blake

Adriatic Cruise – Day at Sea & Slovenia

On our journey north towards Slovenia, Lindsay and I were able to relax and enjoy an entire day at sea.  We were entertained with live shows, great movies, and board games.  We dined and lounged on the deck at our leisure.  We enjoyed every minute of it.
Relaxing on the cruise deck:

The cruise performers after an excellent show:

Lindz with a towel penguin, one of several towel animals we found in our cabin during the cruise:

For our visit to Slovenia, we decided to take another guided tour to two of the tourist attractions near the port of Koper.  As our bus climbed the mountain roads away from Koper, we got a wonderful view of the nearby Italian city of Trieste.  Further inland, we even got to see some snow in the mountains of Slovenia.  Our first stop of the day was to the beautiful Postojna Caves.  Rich with history and ageless beauty, these caves had stunning features around every corner.  Our cave tour began with a train ride that seemed like more of a roller coaster than a people mover, which took us deep into the cave where we began our walking tour.  Our guide satisfied our natural intrigue of the caves with all sorts of interesting information.  Never had I seen such vast openings in caves.  Now I can see what drew the dwarves of Middle Earth to these massive wonders.
Slovenian countryside:

Our tour group moving through the winding caverns:

"Concert Hall" - a huge cavern with great acoustics:

After the caves, our bus continued along the mountainous region to a castle that was nested into the mouth of another cave.  Predjama Castle was naturally fortified by sheer cliffs and a narrow path that led to the entrance.  Enemies who tried to lay siege to the castle failed because of a secret passage through the caves that allow food and provisions to make their way to the people inside the castle. 
The castle with the cave behind:

Us at Predjama Castle:

After the tour, we had a lovely lunch at a seaside restaurant.  People there loved to listen to our “American” English as they were used to it from movies and TV shows.  Slovenians seem to be a very happy people who enjoy the cultural influence of their northern neighbors, Italy and Austria.  Our visit was an unexpected delight!

~Blake