Venice
We were pleased with our family-run hotel, the Hesperia, which is situated near the Jewish Ghetto and walking distance to just about everything.
Venice was packed due to the upcoming holiday weekend of All Saint’s / All Soul’s Days. Don’t try to go to the lagoon islands on Sunday, especially holiday weekends! Queues were terrible. Evidently the bridge from Mestre to Piazzale Roma was closed due to too many tourists.
We started from the train station area with a 24 hour vaporetto pass. This took us to Murano, the glass island which was cute with lots of purchasing opportunities! We had a quick and perfectly adequate slice of pizza at a small snack bar upstairs near the Spar supermarket.
Then the marathon queue for the ferry to Burano. We had never been to this lace-making island before and it is lovely with colourful houses. It is quite a bit further from Venice than Murano.
We had intended to continue to Torcello but we ran out of energy and daylight was going. Next time!
One evening, we enjoyed a wine and ciccheti tour with Francesca of Urban Adventures. The other participants were mostly from the Cruise Critic roll call for our upcoming cruise. A bit of a guided walk, a traghetto trip across the Grand Canal (the cheap version of a gondola ride – just 2 euros), and five wine bars with snacks and wine in each one. We started with bubbly white (prosecco) and ended with more red wine and snack plus vin santo (sweet dessert wine) and tiramisu. Frances was slightly tiddly after an enjoyable evening!
We spent one day in Padua / Padova. Our train (4 euros each) took 26 minutes. Padova is a lively and ancient university town. Galileo taught there for 18 years. Arcaded streets, lively markets and lots of activity!
We had booked tickets online to see Giotto’s masterpiece, the Scrovegni chapel which is strictly timed with a holding room for each group before entering to balance the temperature. You don’t get much time in the magnificent chapel lavishly painted with bible stories but worthwhile. The last judgement scene is particularly harrowing.
We were glad to see the old anatomy theatre at the university. William Harvey – circulation of the blood and Fallopius discovered all our reproductive bits were graduates. And the author of the first anatomical textbook.
They only had 30 tickets but we were in luck – we got the last two. The anatomy theatre allowed 200 to watch but their view higher up couldn’t have been great by candlelight! We also saw the cattedra (chair) of Galileo, built by students as a sort of pulpit so more could attend his lectures. BTW the tour was in Italian with a short recap in English!
We are still a bit off-kilter with meals because of jet lag. At the market, we had tramezzini which are sandwiches on white bread at a small place in the market. We tried and liked Aperol with prosecco (bitter orange flavour).
For dinner, we decided to pick up food at the mini supermarket in the Padova train station – wine, prosciutto crudo from Parma, cheese for a hotel room picnic. We like picnics, outside or inside!
Koper, Slovenia
We docked in Koper and joined a group of four others to go to see a huge cave system – Skocjan caves. Alas, no photos allowed but it was huge. Lots of ramping walkways and 500 stairs through a high cavern with rushing river and another that was vast.
Then on to a quick lunch at a small place nearby which has the best prosciutto, according to our guide. She called ahead and they had wonderful hunks of bread, air-dried prosciutto, cheese, black olives and rustic red wine. Lovely quick lunch in a small local cafe we would never have found on our own!
We went to see Predjama castle, built into the mouth of a cave. We opted not to tour but heard the history and greatly admired it.
Last stop was the seaside town of Piran with its Venetian style architecture, twisty medieval streets. It was formerly ruled by Venice, hence the style.
Coming back through security, we bumped into the chef, Jacques Pepin. I gushed a bit because I do indeed love his cooking philosophy. Told him so. He said to tell his wife – she’s right there. I did! Jacques is an honoured guest this trip, celebrating his 80th birthday.
Zadar, Croatia
We took a ship’s tour to Split to see the old town of Split and Diocletian’s palace. We got four free tours each from the cruise line and this is the first.
We were among about 200 opting for this specific excursion to Split, which is about 2 hours from the ship. Apart from the abysmal rain, it was wonderful!
Diocletian was born nearby and built this retirement palace for himself. And the remains still stand today, a cardo (Roman street), his mausoleum transformed into a church and a temple changed into a baptistery. The whole has been incorporated into the old city – apartments etc. Very atmospheric.
Just adjacent to this is another maze of streets and some squares. Architecture here is a combination of Venetian and Austro-Hungarian and Napoleonic. Lovely seaside promenade too but we had to imagine the crowds of strollers and kids – the weather was not conducive to this. But really we are at the tail end of the season. If you are ever able to visit Split, take the opportunity.
We were given some free time and we opted for cappuccinos, and toilets and a dry place! First we swapped a five euro note at a bureau de change for kunas, the local currency. Evidently the shops are usually fussy about taking foreign currency and we didn’t want to charge coffee. (I guess we could have though.)
A lunch at the yacht club was included in our outing – a reasonable three course meal with a glass of local wine. We sat with two Asian couples who didn’t know each other, but it turned out they were all from Toronto. We also found out that big “Asian” group we had seen on the ship were from Toronto too!
Kotor, Montengro
The next day we visited more of the former Yugoslavia, Kotor, Montenegro.
The sail into the Bay of Kotor is amazing! We got up early, as suggested by my sister Liz and we managed to get a photo of the famous church on the rock island.
We had been challenged to do the climb to the top of the mountain – about 1500 stairs. We didn’t do it. Couldn’t do it! But we did hike up another path for an hour or so. Lovely views. But far from the top of the mountain, alas. We had a sign language chat with two ladies who were gathering wild pomegranates. One lady gave us a couple as a present!
Kotor has Venetian style architecture and a medieval core. We visited some churches in the lovely town and wandered back streets. Then we came back for a late lunch and for reading on deck loungers! This was one of our least busy days and we needed it.
Back on board, we bought a cookbook by and from Jacques Pepin and he autographed it for us. And a photo with him too!
Bari, Italy
Another free ship’s tour to the Sassi of Matera. We drove just under an hour and a half from Bari out of Puglia to the region of Basilicata where “the stones of Matera” are located. This world heritage site has been inhabited since the Neolithic period but most of the inhabitants were relocated in1952. The government was trying to create a new “greener” and planned city. But some people stayed and some have moved back to the ancient district. Now though there are some mod cons, like running water and electricity.
We visited an ancient church built early in the Christian era by nuns, with some frescoes (some damaged frescoes by damp!. We were interested to see the twin circles and dot to symbolize a dome – a symbol of ascension (I think) and of heaven in the frescoes.
We also visited a cave dwelling all fitted up the way it used to be, with a stall for the donkey and chickens, more animal room behind, a high matrimonial bed to keep away from the damp and to allow for storage underneath. There were two sideboards that turn into beds by adding hay mattresses and many implements that were necessary for everyday life. Very good recorded explanation in this house.
It was also interesting to see that other houses are built on top of cave dwellings. You can see the chimney in the scraps of gardens.
We were interested in a film location – the rocky outcrop across the tiny river in the Sassi area was used in the last scenes of the Passion of the Christ.
We had time for a bit of shopping before heading back to the ship and we took the guide’s recommendation for artisanal gelato which featured unusual flavours. Frances had a spicy orange ginger and a scoop of marron glacé.
Corfu, Greece
Corfu was very green and mountainous after Bari. There were tall grasses along the roads lower down on the hills, dark green cypress trees along with deciduous trees, especially olives and fruit trees at higher elevations. The roads were very narrow and winding and there were small scattered villages. The views over the water and the coves were very pretty.
We went on a bus tour to Paleokastritsa, Laxones, Acharavi and Corfu Town on the feast day of Saint Spiritou, the patron saint of the island. Evidently in some areas all the men are Spirou and the women Spiroulina with just a nickname to tell them apart. Our tour guide inundated us with info! Like during the marriage ceremony when the woman promises to obey her husband, she steps on his toe!
We were supposed to visit Paleokastritsa but couldn’t get up to it because the road had washed out in a storm recently. But we did see it from a distance. And we saw the goats coming down from the hills.
We visited a monastery with a pretty chapel and bought coffee at an overlook and visited another restaurant with a viewpoint for wine and cheese. And then lunch in a large village restaurant. (Evidently they always eat and drink BEFORE a meal!) We had Greek salad, a large portion of moussaka and then pot roasted veal with spiced tomato sauce and noodles. Too much food! Good table wine included.
Then a walk around Corfu Town, with Venetian-style arcaded architecture. We went into the church but they seemed to be preparing for something so we didn’t linger. Lots of shopping aimed at tourists in this pretty city.
On the ship it was Code Red due to norovirus. Our hands have never been kept so scrupulously clean! Staff is working hard to sanitize everything and some services have altered – no salt and pepper shakers, library closed, and free doctor consultations!
Zante / Zaknythos, Greece
On our second and last day in the Ionian Islands, we took a tour organized by other cruisers through Cruise Critic roll calls. This island also called Zante by the British is another green mountainous island and like Corfu, with pastel houses. Not white! Again the Venetian influence.
We were going on a speedboat trip to see a sea cave but the water was too rough so the price was reduced and we had all land tour.
We visited a small general store with a private museum showing the living conditions of yesteryear. We also saw the wine press and the olive oil press plus some other agricultural equipment. Evidently families have a limited number of their own trees, not necessarily right by their house. They bring the olives to a manufacturer and pay the company 10% or so of the oil as fee. They carefully watch that they only get oil from their own olives! They make their own year’s supply of oil.
We did see harvesting – people spread big nets on the ground and the olives drop onto this cloth.
We visited a small market with local crafts and food – honey, oil, etc. where we tasted their tasty air-dried cheese and visited a small church and monastery when their patron saint (Denis in English) used to live.
We had lunch at a village taverna – a mezedes plate that was very tasty. A dolmades, meat ball, cheese, etc. Then some Greek entertainment- fairly generic Greek like the theme from Never on Sunday and then some local music. Fun though!
Surprisingly we didn’t see many sea views, but the very best was shipwreck cove but the wreck only dates from 1980 or so. The sea though was a truly amazing colour.
Back in the town, we were offered an opportunity to visit there, but we opted instead to go back to the ship. The town is relatively new, built after earthquakes and it isn’t particularly picturesque.
Back on board, we attended an excellent Q and A session with chef Jacques Pepin. I even asked a question – about international food styles he likes.
Valletta, Malta
We sailed into the glorious Grand Harbour in the early afternoon. Earlier in the day, we had enjoyed Jacques Pepin’s cooking demo.
Richard and I have spent quite a bit of time in Malta, on cruises plus a week-long visit some years ago. We were docked across from Valletta in the Grand Harbour. The cruise port offered free port boat shuttle across to Valletta. We took the 1 euro elevator up to Baraka Gardens and the city.
Since we had seen a lot of the city, we opted to visited Casa Roca Piccola, a 16th century palace of a Maltese noble family. The palace was interesting and has been in the same two families for centuries. We also visited the cistern in the garden that was used as an air raid shelter during WW2.
We found that Valleta was even more beautiful than ever and there seems to have been work done on heritage buildings.
Catania, Italy
We left late on a ship’s tour because the ship took a long time to clear with the authorities. Our last “free” tour.
We drove around Catania to Mount Etna through villages. As we got closer the bus driver sounded his horn to alert oncoming drivers. Our only close call was a carbinieri (police) car!
We stopped at a small town Linguaglossa. (Used to be “grossa” ) to see the large church and have a canola. The church had a Christmas crib (prescipe) and a highly painted cart used in processions.
We visited Gambino winery for a tour of the works and then wine tasting. The grapes are grown at the highest possible altitude on the slopes of Etna, about 900 metres. As you can imagine the vines are grown on terraces. The building had a wonderful terrace with a view of the Strait of Messina, Taormina and Giardini Naxos. And of course, Mount Etna. It was showery but it produced lovely rainbows!
We were treated to a wine tasting with food – four cheeses and other tidbits including some wonderful mushrooms. We tasted four wines – a white, rose, and two reds. Nice wine and nice location. We bought a bottle to take back to the ship.
We drove back through the hills and then the city of Catania. Our guide, Nuncio, pointed out the highlights – the ancient university, which predates Columbus, the opera house, and botanical gardens. Overall a very good day. And a long-lasting rainbow above Catania.
Our last cruise day, Naples, Italy
We have spent time in Naples before, including almost a week in 2003.
http://tansymews.com/Naples_2003/Naples_2003.html
We have also visited the major archaeological sights, Pompeii and Herculaneum. This time we decided to visit Villa Poppea Oplontis at Torre Annunciata.
We walked to Porto Nolana, the commuter train station, for the Circumvesuvianavtrain. It is cheap – just 2,60 euros each way. (There is a tram to the station but we walked the 15 or 20 minutes and we didn’t notice any trams!)
We thoroughly enjoyed the villa (it had belonged to the wife of Nero and is one of the most significant monumental evidence of Pompei suburbs (quoting the guide pamphlet!). It was a grand and luxurious residential complex. And yes, it was covered by the eruption of 79 AD.
We loved the wall paintings especially the plants and small birds and many other interesting details such as part of a hypocaust (underfloor heating), a lavatory with running water (dry now), and a kitchen. There used to be a huge pool as well. A very complete spa!
After spending about 1.5 hours there, we walked the short distance back to the train station. While waiting we had quick cheap espresso coffee standing at the counter. We took the next train back to Naples, this time getting off in Garibaldi for a late lunch of pizza with buffalo mozzarella opposite the famous Antica di Michele at plain old Michele’s. Even at 2:30, there was a queue outside the restaurant for the famous one!
Arrival in Rome ?We took the train to Rome from Civitavecchia and made our way to our accommodation in Rome.
We had booked a small apartment in Trastevere, Rome through Cross-Pollinate for two and a half weeks. See our separate report.