We are continuing our sail up the coast of Croatia, toward Venice. Our port today is Hvar, an island and city in Croatia.
I got up and went into the dining room with my I-pad. I arrived before the rest of the friends so after I got my food I sat down and started to read. There was no one else in the dining room and the bus boys were not busy. One young man asked if this was the I-pad and when I said yes, we started to play with it a bit, soon I had all four of them around watching and asking questions. We were having a great time and were omly interrupted when other passengers started arriving.
The time to disembark today was 8:00 and all but two of the friends decided that it was just too much too ask of us, so we slept in a bit and went into town later. In order to make up for the lack of a tour guide I provided the friends with my understanding of what we had missed--totally made up of course but delivered in serious guide style. They seemed satisfied with my work.
The city is quite small. It is open to the bay and the main square is right on the bay. They have a beautifully restored church of St. stehens at the end of the square. The business area is about two blocks long and there is not a lot there. They do make lace from agave fibers which I gather is quite difficult and makes the lace very expensive. They also have a number of lavender fields in the area and sell a lot of lavender oil and sachets.
We came back to the boat fairly early and most of us napped or sat on deck for the afternoon.
I met Mrs. Leckie this evening and if Nor is really nice to me I will let him touch the hand that shook the hand.
This has been a great trip but I am glad there is only one day left.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Dubrovnik
This is definitly the second city that we a coming back to in February 2012. (Nor take note) we were old that some dais during the summervthere can be aa many as 10 cruise ships in the bay. That would make for wall to wall people, not to mention the heat. So February is still looking good to me.
We took the tenders into the old port. That is definitely the way to enter the City, especially om a day a gorgeous as this one. There is hardly a cloud in the sky and the air is crisp and glorious!
The old walled city is one of the best preserved walled cities in the world we were told and it is a UNESCO world heritage site. One of the things that must be done is to walk the ramparts! It is gist over one mile but it takes lots of time since you HAVE to stop and take photos about every three steps. The stairs up to the ramparts and the stairs throughout can be quite steep but you never feel very at risk. There were a few places where friend five and I felt our stomaches sink and our thighs twitch but mostly it was just amazing.
Our guide was a charming woman named Anna Maria she gave us a great deal of information about the city and about the recent war. About 70% of the old town was bombed. There are still a few areas where you can see the rubble but most of the city was restored by UNESCO. Dubrovnik has been a world heritage site since 1979. When you are on the ramparts you can see the brighter orange roofs, all of those ar restored buildings.
We visited the Rectors palace which is like the Doges palace but not as big. The rector served for omly one month at a time and then there was another election.
We also visited the synagogue which has been an active synagogue since the 1600s, or perhaps ear lie. The Jewish population was never large in Dubrovnik but now there are only 41 on the city.
There are 45 churches in the city, we visited the Dominican monastery. The Franciscans are at the other end of the city. The couryard is lovely and in the museum we saw the forearm of St. Thomas! There are very few monks left but we did see some of them in the street. The patron sati of the city is St Blaise the saint who takes care of throats, not sure why that is important in deciding who your patron saint is but there you are.
After a break for coffee and pastry and after we walked the ramparts we did a bit of shopping. Our guide told us that tourism is their biggest industry and we were certainly doing our best to make sure that the industry stay strong.
We went down one side street and went into a shop where a young woman was selling handwork that she and her family had done. We couldn't leave without making purchases and I took a photo of herewith the work she had done. She told me that there are 14 women in her family and that they all do the work for the shop. She said her mother can do the work without even looking.
We returned to the ship for a sine and cheese tasting and had on our beds an invitation to join the captain for a cocktail--ain't we cool!
The wine and cheese was very good nothing particularly great but good. Right after the former minister of tourism spoke. She talked about her experiences and life. It was most interesting but she kept it pretty high level, we really never got much of a sense of her.
At 6:45 we all met in the reception area in the reception area and were escorted to the bridge. The captain met us and we had champagne and hors droveres with him. He is a very personable individual and talked to us about the ship and how veery much he enjoy sailing to Antarctica. They even have Zodiaks that they take out on the water so the guests can get closer to the whales. They take naturalists with them to tell the passengers about what they are seeing..hm wonder if we could add that to Venice--probably not.
At dinner the chef was introduced to all of us which added to the fun of the evening.
After dinner we went into the lounge. We realized that it was friend sevens daughters birthdays so we toasted to her. While wecsat there we met an American couple who now live in Venice. He is an artist and his father wrote the book upon which the miniseries Pacific was based.
All in all one of our best days on this trip.
We took the tenders into the old port. That is definitely the way to enter the City, especially om a day a gorgeous as this one. There is hardly a cloud in the sky and the air is crisp and glorious!
The old walled city is one of the best preserved walled cities in the world we were told and it is a UNESCO world heritage site. One of the things that must be done is to walk the ramparts! It is gist over one mile but it takes lots of time since you HAVE to stop and take photos about every three steps. The stairs up to the ramparts and the stairs throughout can be quite steep but you never feel very at risk. There were a few places where friend five and I felt our stomaches sink and our thighs twitch but mostly it was just amazing.
Our guide was a charming woman named Anna Maria she gave us a great deal of information about the city and about the recent war. About 70% of the old town was bombed. There are still a few areas where you can see the rubble but most of the city was restored by UNESCO. Dubrovnik has been a world heritage site since 1979. When you are on the ramparts you can see the brighter orange roofs, all of those ar restored buildings.
We visited the Rectors palace which is like the Doges palace but not as big. The rector served for omly one month at a time and then there was another election.
We also visited the synagogue which has been an active synagogue since the 1600s, or perhaps ear lie. The Jewish population was never large in Dubrovnik but now there are only 41 on the city.
There are 45 churches in the city, we visited the Dominican monastery. The Franciscans are at the other end of the city. The couryard is lovely and in the museum we saw the forearm of St. Thomas! There are very few monks left but we did see some of them in the street. The patron sati of the city is St Blaise the saint who takes care of throats, not sure why that is important in deciding who your patron saint is but there you are.
After a break for coffee and pastry and after we walked the ramparts we did a bit of shopping. Our guide told us that tourism is their biggest industry and we were certainly doing our best to make sure that the industry stay strong.
We went down one side street and went into a shop where a young woman was selling handwork that she and her family had done. We couldn't leave without making purchases and I took a photo of herewith the work she had done. She told me that there are 14 women in her family and that they all do the work for the shop. She said her mother can do the work without even looking.
We returned to the ship for a sine and cheese tasting and had on our beds an invitation to join the captain for a cocktail--ain't we cool!
The wine and cheese was very good nothing particularly great but good. Right after the former minister of tourism spoke. She talked about her experiences and life. It was most interesting but she kept it pretty high level, we really never got much of a sense of her.
At 6:45 we all met in the reception area in the reception area and were escorted to the bridge. The captain met us and we had champagne and hors droveres with him. He is a very personable individual and talked to us about the ship and how veery much he enjoy sailing to Antarctica. They even have Zodiaks that they take out on the water so the guests can get closer to the whales. They take naturalists with them to tell the passengers about what they are seeing..hm wonder if we could add that to Venice--probably not.
At dinner the chef was introduced to all of us which added to the fun of the evening.
After dinner we went into the lounge. We realized that it was friend sevens daughters birthdays so we toasted to her. While wecsat there we met an American couple who now live in Venice. He is an artist and his father wrote the book upon which the miniseries Pacific was based.
All in all one of our best days on this trip.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Kotor Montenegro
We started early this morning because we were sailing into Kotor, through an amazing serise of bays and straits. Kotor and the straits ar surrounded by high craggy mountains. As we approached the strait to takevus into the fiord of Kotor, a bank of fog moved in giving us an amazing show of the move,net of the cloud but which hid what was supposed to be beautiful monastery. I guess we will see them as we depart this afternoon. Once were in port the fog burned off and we were treated to the most glorious day we have had so far on this trip.
Kotor is an old walled city with fortifications going up the side of the mountains. Some of the friends hiked up aways others chose coffee in the square.
Montenegro's history like Crostia's is one of invasion and war. They are Russian Orthodox and a smaller part Roman Catholic. Like the other cities we have visited, Kotor is trying to create a tourist trade as the other industries are dying.
After lunch wwe returned to the city andcwondered the streets a bit longer. The chuechescweventered were quite simple, even the one that was supposed to be Baroque had moments of calm. The roof was flat, wooden cross members but did have five paintings hanging on it.
Later in the afternoon the Kotor Acapella choir sang in the theater. It is a group of eight women in tradational costume singing folk songs of the region. They were every good, I understand that they have been awarded World Heritage status.
Dinner and to bed for me. Others did go on for another round but I was really tired.
Kotor is an old walled city with fortifications going up the side of the mountains. Some of the friends hiked up aways others chose coffee in the square.
Montenegro's history like Crostia's is one of invasion and war. They are Russian Orthodox and a smaller part Roman Catholic. Like the other cities we have visited, Kotor is trying to create a tourist trade as the other industries are dying.
After lunch wwe returned to the city andcwondered the streets a bit longer. The chuechescweventered were quite simple, even the one that was supposed to be Baroque had moments of calm. The roof was flat, wooden cross members but did have five paintings hanging on it.
Later in the afternoon the Kotor Acapella choir sang in the theater. It is a group of eight women in tradational costume singing folk songs of the region. They were every good, I understand that they have been awarded World Heritage status.
Dinner and to bed for me. Others did go on for another round but I was really tired.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Kocula
This morning we were sailing and so we all were able to sleep in. I slept until seven which felt like heaven since I didn't have to set the alarm. I went into the lounge again this morning and had the place to myself. I sat and read and drank coffee anfd thouroghly enjoyed myself.
We went into the island village of Korcula around 1:30. We had an absolutely charming guide and thevtown is lovely. It too is all sandstone and hilly but it just feels good. It is a place we need to return to. The sail in was also lovely. The cliffs in the fjord are gree
To about three fourths up and then are shear cliffs of whitevrock. They remind me of the mountains around Les Baux in the South of France (don't I sound terribly world weary?)
Back on the ship was the evening of the Captain's Gala so we all dressed up and had wine and hors d'overes on deck. Then we went in for dinner which was very good, the meat dish was a very tender veal with an excellent gravy.
The boat set sail about ten and we will sail most of the night. There is just one small problem. Our toilet is backed up and I can't seem to get the attention of anyone to fix it. This could be most unpleasant for everyone in the next few hours. I am planning to go ballistic in about 15 minutes if it doesn't either spontaneously repair itself or the plumber doesn't arrive.
We went into the island village of Korcula around 1:30. We had an absolutely charming guide and thevtown is lovely. It too is all sandstone and hilly but it just feels good. It is a place we need to return to. The sail in was also lovely. The cliffs in the fjord are gree
To about three fourths up and then are shear cliffs of whitevrock. They remind me of the mountains around Les Baux in the South of France (don't I sound terribly world weary?)
Back on the ship was the evening of the Captain's Gala so we all dressed up and had wine and hors d'overes on deck. Then we went in for dinner which was very good, the meat dish was a very tender veal with an excellent gravy.
The boat set sail about ten and we will sail most of the night. There is just one small problem. Our toilet is backed up and I can't seem to get the attention of anyone to fix it. This could be most unpleasant for everyone in the next few hours. I am planning to go ballistic in about 15 minutes if it doesn't either spontaneously repair itself or the plumber doesn't arrive.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sibenik and Split Croatia
This morning we embarked on a tour of the ancient town of Sibenik. In order to get there we had to take a tender. A small boat from our boat to the shore. Because the winds were high( 50mph) the had bit if trouble getting the small boat to stay close to the large boat and shore giving rise to a great sow of seamanship.
Croatia is clearly still trying to recover from it's " troubles". There are lots of reallly awful communist era buildings around and many recent ruins. However the tour of the old city was fascinating. It began as so many do with the church. St Jacob it is quite plain by Venice standards and has more the feel of the churches in. Berlin. High ceilings but heavy. The old city is behind the battlements and is all narrow paved alleyways. We came out near an elementary school that was out for lunch. The playground was open tp the square we were passing through and the kids were having a wonderful time chasing one another and giggling and generally being kids.
Next we boarded buses and headed down the coast ot Split. The coast is lovely with pines still running up to the shore. The groind is Frey rocky and our guidecsaid not veer fertile so there are these tiny plots of land all up and down the hills to true to avid erosion so that they can grow somethoongg.. There are vineyards son the hills but many are dying. The guidecsaid in the early 1900s there was a blight in the vines so many vin tars left and went to the US. She claims that one of them took a reisling grape and that it is from Croatia that the reisling comes.
We next stopped at the museum of a Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. His work is wonderful. We all enjoyed the stop very much. He taught ant NotrecDamevat one point and has statues in Grant Park in Chicago. He returned to his country at some point but died on 1962.
We returned to the ship for lunch and bit of wine. After lunch we went into Split to tour the Palace of Diocleation. He was a Roman emperor and is known as the last Emperor to persecute the Christians. The palace was huge covering 3800 square meters. The under levels remain and according to our guide are the same proportions as the upper levels. Over the centuries others built on top of the palace ruins and of course Christians eventually destroyed some to make their churches. The original mausoleum of Diacleatian is now the smallest Cathedral in the world. It is quite lovely and in parts you can still see the original decorations.
We then went out and through other squares including one where we were able to listen to a quartet singing. We also saw a number more of Mestrovics work including one won we had to rub the big toe of for good luck.
After the tour ended friend two and I went to the third oldest synogogue in Europe. It is om the second floor of a building on the old ghetto. We had to knock and be let in. There was another tour there who were being tod about the Jews in this p zit of the world. We lessened that there are only 80 jews in Split and that they do mot have a rabbi, now ever they ,eet ever Sabath and then have a kosher meal together.
Friend two and I decided to walk back to the ship rather than take the bus. It took us all of five minutes. All the others in the tour group took the bus.
After dinner they had a show in the theater on the 4th deck. There were four women and one male dancer and a singer. They were dressed in harlequin costumes for the most part. One dance had the, wearing all black except for black lit masks on their faces, hands and knees. It was very effective. Anyway it was a lot of fun. Not many of the passengers can stay that late however so the theater was only half full.
Croatia is clearly still trying to recover from it's " troubles". There are lots of reallly awful communist era buildings around and many recent ruins. However the tour of the old city was fascinating. It began as so many do with the church. St Jacob it is quite plain by Venice standards and has more the feel of the churches in. Berlin. High ceilings but heavy. The old city is behind the battlements and is all narrow paved alleyways. We came out near an elementary school that was out for lunch. The playground was open tp the square we were passing through and the kids were having a wonderful time chasing one another and giggling and generally being kids.
Next we boarded buses and headed down the coast ot Split. The coast is lovely with pines still running up to the shore. The groind is Frey rocky and our guidecsaid not veer fertile so there are these tiny plots of land all up and down the hills to true to avid erosion so that they can grow somethoongg.. There are vineyards son the hills but many are dying. The guidecsaid in the early 1900s there was a blight in the vines so many vin tars left and went to the US. She claims that one of them took a reisling grape and that it is from Croatia that the reisling comes.
We next stopped at the museum of a Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. His work is wonderful. We all enjoyed the stop very much. He taught ant NotrecDamevat one point and has statues in Grant Park in Chicago. He returned to his country at some point but died on 1962.
We returned to the ship for lunch and bit of wine. After lunch we went into Split to tour the Palace of Diocleation. He was a Roman emperor and is known as the last Emperor to persecute the Christians. The palace was huge covering 3800 square meters. The under levels remain and according to our guide are the same proportions as the upper levels. Over the centuries others built on top of the palace ruins and of course Christians eventually destroyed some to make their churches. The original mausoleum of Diacleatian is now the smallest Cathedral in the world. It is quite lovely and in parts you can still see the original decorations.
We then went out and through other squares including one where we were able to listen to a quartet singing. We also saw a number more of Mestrovics work including one won we had to rub the big toe of for good luck.
After the tour ended friend two and I went to the third oldest synogogue in Europe. It is om the second floor of a building on the old ghetto. We had to knock and be let in. There was another tour there who were being tod about the Jews in this p zit of the world. We lessened that there are only 80 jews in Split and that they do mot have a rabbi, now ever they ,eet ever Sabath and then have a kosher meal together.
Friend two and I decided to walk back to the ship rather than take the bus. It took us all of five minutes. All the others in the tour group took the bus.
After dinner they had a show in the theater on the 4th deck. There were four women and one male dancer and a singer. They were dressed in harlequin costumes for the most part. One dance had the, wearing all black except for black lit masks on their faces, hands and knees. It was very effective. Anyway it was a lot of fun. Not many of the passengers can stay that late however so the theater was only half full.
Monday, October 18, 2010
More Venice
On our first full day of our Tauck tour we were first raced through the Basilica of St Mark. St Mark is the patron saint of Venice. He replaced St. Theodore who still appears on one of the two columns at the entrance to St Marks square. The other column has the winged lion which represents St Mark. Back to the Basilica, it is covered with mosaics, the illustrate the life if Christ. There are millions of gold leaf squares. In each the gold leaf is encased in glass.
The square was flooded again this morning and even the mosiac floors at the entrance to the basilica was covered. The chichi was at first the private chapel od the Doge but when Napoleon conquoree he opened it to the public. He also built the palace at the end of the square.
We were back at the hotel and prepared for our day on the islands of Burano and Murano. Burano is a fishing island where the famous lace is made. The wIves would wait for their husbands by making lace. They also painted their houses bright colors so that their husbands would be able to find the right home and wife when they came home. The village is charming, it isn't really a village, as it is a part of Venice but it has a village feel.
The lace is beautiful and quite expensive, despite that fact, I did feel that some members of my family needed a lace top. I can hardly wait to see them in them.
Murano is also a charming place. It is still home to the making of Murano glass and some is quite lovely and expensive. While I did feel somevhad to come home, I have to admit that lovely as some of it is and how incredible the artistry is, I was quite able to leave most of it there.
We were now water taxied to our ship. The La Boreal. Our tour is about half of the folk on the ship. We had a lifeboat exercise where we had to put on our life vests and head to our gathering point. Then off to dinner. The dinig room is large and was very noisy, on top of which they served lamb as the meat entry. Hopefully tomorrows dinner will be more to my liking.
Tomorrow Croatia!
The square was flooded again this morning and even the mosiac floors at the entrance to the basilica was covered. The chichi was at first the private chapel od the Doge but when Napoleon conquoree he opened it to the public. He also built the palace at the end of the square.
We were back at the hotel and prepared for our day on the islands of Burano and Murano. Burano is a fishing island where the famous lace is made. The wIves would wait for their husbands by making lace. They also painted their houses bright colors so that their husbands would be able to find the right home and wife when they came home. The village is charming, it isn't really a village, as it is a part of Venice but it has a village feel.
The lace is beautiful and quite expensive, despite that fact, I did feel that some members of my family needed a lace top. I can hardly wait to see them in them.
Murano is also a charming place. It is still home to the making of Murano glass and some is quite lovely and expensive. While I did feel somevhad to come home, I have to admit that lovely as some of it is and how incredible the artistry is, I was quite able to leave most of it there.
We were now water taxied to our ship. The La Boreal. Our tour is about half of the folk on the ship. We had a lifeboat exercise where we had to put on our life vests and head to our gathering point. Then off to dinner. The dinig room is large and was very noisy, on top of which they served lamb as the meat entry. Hopefully tomorrows dinner will be more to my liking.
Tomorrow Croatia!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Venice
We began with a tour of the Doges Palace. It is raining and the tide is high. They have put out raised walkways because the water from the lagoon is splashing on to the streets. The doges palace is a complex of government offices and three rooms in which the doge would live. There are frescos by Titan, Tinteretto and Veronese. Including the largest canvas in the world a painting by Tinteretto which is in the Senate chambers. I domt think it is called the senate but that was as close as i could come to the description. The doge was an elected position and all the nobels, 2000 of them, were charged with the governing of the city.
Because it is Sunday we must wait until tomorrow to see St. Marks church. It was originally the chapel of the doge and housed the relics of St Mark because the men who rescued them preferred to give them to the doge rather than the church. They came in handy at one point when the pope thought he would excommunicate the entire city and the doge used his considerable political power and the relics to persuade the pope to lift the ban.
We walked across the bridge of sighs. The guide explained that the covering is all advertising for the commercial sponsors of the restoration of portions of the city. Seems to me they are the replacement for the rich noblemen who insisted that they be portrayed in the buildings they built or sponsored. The good thing about our sponsors is that their pictures won't stay up the completion of the restoration.
The guide told us that the city is built on thousands of pillions. The church across from the hotel has over one million pillions supporting it. As she said a forest of trees under the water.
After the tour, friend seven and I struck out on a shopping and touring expedition. We wandered around a nimbler of new streets and ducked into lots of fun shops. When we were finally to hungry to go any further we dropped off our purchases and went to a cafe to eat and people watch.
Tonight we forage in the rooms for dinner.
Nor and I are definitely going to have to come back here!
Because it is Sunday we must wait until tomorrow to see St. Marks church. It was originally the chapel of the doge and housed the relics of St Mark because the men who rescued them preferred to give them to the doge rather than the church. They came in handy at one point when the pope thought he would excommunicate the entire city and the doge used his considerable political power and the relics to persuade the pope to lift the ban.
We walked across the bridge of sighs. The guide explained that the covering is all advertising for the commercial sponsors of the restoration of portions of the city. Seems to me they are the replacement for the rich noblemen who insisted that they be portrayed in the buildings they built or sponsored. The good thing about our sponsors is that their pictures won't stay up the completion of the restoration.
The guide told us that the city is built on thousands of pillions. The church across from the hotel has over one million pillions supporting it. As she said a forest of trees under the water.
After the tour, friend seven and I struck out on a shopping and touring expedition. We wandered around a nimbler of new streets and ducked into lots of fun shops. When we were finally to hungry to go any further we dropped off our purchases and went to a cafe to eat and people watch.
Tonight we forage in the rooms for dinner.
Nor and I are definitely going to have to come back here!
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