Venice, Italy

Our final port is Venice.  We docked earlier than the Captain expected so we didn't see the sail in.  Once we docked, a dense fog rolled in so we didn't hurry off the boat.

These ports are so large to handle many cruise ships and getting through the terminal and to a street is a long, arduous process.  The guide books and shipboard information may say it's a short walk, but it took us over 30 minutes to reach the People Mover.  We took that to the Piazzale Roma.

From there, we got on a vaporetto (think city bus on the water).  We rode all the way up the Grand Canal to the other end of the line, the San Marco stop.  The view just cannot be described.  We've all seen pictures of a portion of the buildings but to see them on both sides of the canal with the intricate details and color was just absolutely stunning.  Then it was just a couple blocks to the heart of St. Mark's Square.

We decided to pick a cafe in the square and have some coffee/tea.  It was the most overpriced drinks, 26 Euros or $30, but it was the perfect place to absorb the ambiance of the square---priceless.

After 12 days and about 1600 nautical miles, we must pack for the journey home.  We have learned so much on this trip, such as:  Montenegro is between Greece and Croatia, Slovenia has an 80% income tax rate, and the elevator dings once when it is going up and twice going down.

Thanks for traveling with us.

Koper, Slovenia

Now, where were we?  Oh, if it's Sunday it must be Slovenia.  We were very impressed with this small town. Getting off the boat, the people were so friendly and helpful.  The group of taxi drivers were not hassling every tourist walking by and they had a free elevator that went up to the main area of town.

Since it was Sunday and we were the only ship in town, the streets were quiet and empty.  We just walked a bit and peeked in a couple of local churches.

Split, Croatia

Our third port in Croatia was Spkit.  As we got off the ship we were bombarded with taxi drivers wanting to take us on a three hour tour....(that didn't work out so well for Gilligan, now did it).  We could see the city center, but just seemed too far to walk so we were final able to get a taxi to drive us for 20 Euros.  Horribly expensive for less than a half mile, but worth it.  The trip back was only 10 Euro.

The city is dominated by a palace built by Diocletian at the end of the third century.  The city is not built around the palace but rather through it.  What was once perhaps the main entry hall is now a street with shops and restaurants.  We stopped and had some delicious gelato watching the tourists roam.  There was a four man a cappella group singing under an open dome creating amazing sound quality.

Dam ship life

The days on the dam ship can be as busy or as laid back as you like.  We try to get moving early enough to have breakfast in the Pinnacle Restaurant, which is a perk of our suite, but the serving hours are relatively short so we don't always make it.  Other choices are limited goodies in the Neptune Lounge (also a perk) or the general buffet with a huge variety of options.

During the day, there are always dam fitness classes, dam lectures, dam trivia contests, etc.  Seems Holland America attracts an older crowd, we've not seen any dam drinking or damlimbo contests.  We have only seen about five dam kids on board and they seem to be in whichever pool we are near.  There seems to always be a meeting of the Friends of Bill W (international code for AA?) at the same time, and far away from happy hour on the deck.  Later in the evening there is also an LGBT and a Singles meetup, in different bars.  I guess if you are LGBT and single, you would have to make a choice.

Afternoon tea is at three and for us, it is the perfect time for finger sandwiches, scones and a sweet dessert.  Most days we've made it our midday meal.

We choose to eat dinner at the late seating (8:15pm) at a table for eight.  This time, four of our table mates have not shown up but Bobbie from Baltimore and Carol from Portland have been great companions and we often are in the dining room past ten.  Our two servers are very friendly and one of them performs magic tricks.  He even brought back our favorite childhood dogs back from the beyond to spend a few days with us but we have to send them back tonight.

The casino usually opens about thirty minutes out of port so we are mesmerized and drawn in by the flashing lights after dinner.  Haven't made it to see the show on the Mainstage once.  Those shows vary between musical revues, magicians, and comedians.  There is a dueling piano act that plays most evenings next to the casino and we've enjoyed them.

So you see, our days fill up quickly and, oh, then there is the spa....

But one of the best parts of the trip is the people we've gotten to know over these 12 days.  This cruise has a wide variety of nationalities and languages.  There's Carol Ann and Donny from Nova Scotia (there cabin is next to ours and was flooded also) then there is Marnie from Canada, and Bob and his wife from outside of Vancouver, and Jay who smokes pot, and Joe from Florida, and Janice and Don from Oklahoma.....I could go on and on. It it has really been enjoyable talking with so many different people.

Korcula, Croatia

Today (seriously, I don't know what day it is...after yesterday and before tomorrow), we decided to skip going ashore.  We had seen three walled cities in a row and didn't think this one would be much different.  We needed a rest day so we stayed on board, roamed the decks, ate, drank and napped.

I did get some lovely pictures of the town at the point of the peninsula, but you can't see them. You'll have to wait for the hardback version to be published.  Thanks, Peggy, in advance for offering.

Kotor, Montenegro

Kotor is nestled on a deep inlet of the Adriatic Sea.  It was settled in 168 B.C. during ancient Roman times.  The walled Old Town was just a few steps from the port.  Yes, another walled city with no cars, curved streets filled with shops and cafes.

We browsed a bit, had refreshments at a cafe and returned to the ship.

Looking forward to the sail away this afternoon to get the full view of the bay.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

We docked in Dubrovnik Wednesday.  The new pier/cruise port is a few miles from the city so we took a bus to get to the Pile Gate of the walled city.  There are no cars within the walls so we just meandered around the winding, cobblestone streets.  Shops and small cafes are everywhere.

I went up a million stairs to "walk the wall."  I had to pay for the torture. It is a bit over a mile long with stairs going up, stairs going down, flat areas and thankfully, places to sit and buy water.  The views were truly amazing. All of the buildings in the Old Town have the same adobe-type tiled roofs and all the walls were the same light stone.  Too bad you can't see the photos.

After catching the bus back to the ship, we ended up napping through afternoon tea.  Shocking, I know.  Tonight was the night we chose to go to the specialty restaurant on board.  Our table mates in the main dining room were going to join us so we had them over to our suite for some champagne and appetizers before dinner.  The meal was very, very good, so good, in fact, we were too exhausted to wait for the ship to leave port and the casino to open.

The ship left port about 10:30pm....off to another country.

Corfu, Greece

Today we are docked in Corfu, Greece.  After a leisurely breakfast, we left the ship to explore.  This port had a shuttle to take us to the terminal and from there, we took a short taxi ride to Old Town.

This area is sandwiched between the Old Fortress and the New Fortress, and seemed to be a winding web of narrow, cobbled streets filled with shops, cafes and small churches.  We had picked up a map from the Tourist Information kiosk but it seemed like the street names on the map did not match the street names on the corners --  or it was all Greek to us !  (I had to find a way to work that in to the conversation.)

We wandered for a while and had a drink at a sidewalk cafe, before heading back to the ship.  The weather has warmed up today, probably about 75.  Trying to stay on deck to enjoy as much as possible since we don't know what temps we will get moving north.

Now we should squeeze in a nap...there is tea at three, trivia at four, the casino should open as soon as we pull out of port...and then there are the fifteen drinks per day included in our package.  Oh the trials of vacation....

Ionean Sea

I know you can see this picture....blue seas to the left, blue seas to the right. there, you have it!

Today is, I think, our only full day at sea. The time changed over night and now we are on Greek time!!

We ended up sleeping through breakfast and between a massage, lunch and the blackjack tournament, it's been busy. Now time for a nap before dressing for the gala dinner.

By the way, Mother was the top qualifier in the tournament and finished third!  She did great!

Malta, part two

Where did we leave off?  Oh, WE HAVE A ROOM!!.  Very nice to wake up on Sunday all settles into our suite.  This morning the ship moved to anchor off the shore of another island in the Maltese archipelago, Gozo.  After the rush cleared, we boarded a tender to take us to shore.  Check back on the New Zealand 2015 trip if you need a refresher on the tendering process.  The bay was pretty choppy so you had to wait for the tender to make it through a wave or two to get the rhythm to know when to pray and jump aboard.

We only stayed in the port for an hour of so.  It was a small fishing village and didn't feel the need to take a bus or taxi further inland.  Spent the afternoon relaxing/reading/napping.

Today the ship is celebrating King's Day, a national holiday in Holland.  Everyone is wearing orange and they are serving orange margaritas, mimosas, orange Fanta soda and anything else orange they can find.

The ships horn just sounded, indicating Captain Mark is pulling anchor to get us to our next destination on Tuesday.  I believe that means the casino should open soon.....um, gotta run....

Malta, part one

We sailed into the port city of Valletta, Malta, Saturday morning at sunrise.  The entire city seems to be made of sandstone and they say the colors are amazing when the sun hits it.  Well, today I know the sun rose somewhere, but it was cloudy here.  It was still a beautiful sight.

We were a bit unsure of the transportation options so I checked with the port "expert" and he said it was a short walk to the terminal and the hop on-hop off bus was right there.  Wrong...it had to have been over a quarter of a mile to the terminal and further than that to the bus.  But we made it and headed off into the countryside.

We decided to get off the bus at the walled town of Mdina (em-DEE-na.). This town is often called the Silent City because only the residents can bring cars within the walls.  It was truly spectacular!  You enter via a stone bridge that seems to have once spanned a moat, and enter this entire city covered in this beige sandstone-looking material.  I could be marble or something else, I didn't ask.  The streetsa are maybe 12-20 feet wide and it probably covers about one square mile.  All of the buildings have a flat facade and rise about three stories.  We were told the people who actually lived there were either very rich or of novel lineage.

Normally, you can hire a horse drawn carriage to tour the area, but today happened to be the annual medical festival so they had people in costume and period games and decorations.  Think Renaissance Faire.

We strolled through town and found a little cafe with a patio to relax with a beverage and a snack.  Mother is trying different specialty coffees to see what she likes.  She had a cappuccino the other day and today she tried a latte.  I'm thinking she should try a mocha next.

Malta, for being a relatively small group of islands has a wide range of attractions.  On the bus tour we saw fields, vineyards, and a modern coastal resort area with casinos and nightlife.  Elsewhere on the islands are ruins that are over 5,000 years old. No, that is not a typo.  I find that so incredible that there are things still around from approximately 3150 BC.  I wonder if someone will find my iPhone in the year 7017 and be equally amazed.

The big news today is, as of 10:00pm today, WE ARE IN OUR REAL ROOM !!!!!  It is really nice to unpack and have some room to relax. I guess we were spoiled on the last cruise and now we expect this size space.  Please keep your fingers crossed that we have no other problems.  There was rumor tonight of some cabins without water and I think that would put us over the edge. (Or further over the edge?)

Messina, Sicily

Today (Friday) we docked in Messina, Sicily, literally right in town.  We chose a bus tour which took us about an hour and a half through some beautifully quaint small towns towards Mt. Etna. It was clear enough to get a glimpse of the volcano in the distance with the smoke pouring out.  At some village, we stopped for cake and cookies and then proceeded to the area where the lava stopped before destroying the town.  They erected a statue (there seem to be statues everywhere commemorating everything) to Maria SS Della Provvidenza.  She is credited with saving the town.  We were able to walk through the lava flow which was clearly cooled into rocks and dust.  I can't remember when this happened, but it was long enough ago for it to be legendary and build a statue.

Have you ever been on a cruise excursion?  Let me tell you how it works....you start on the ship by gathering in the showroom at a designated time to get a lovely colored sticker that must be worn at all times.  Then you wait.  When your number is called, the herd ambles off the ship.  Then you board a bus with your number on it. Yesterday we were "pink 5."  At the destination, you file off the bus, ooh and aah at the point of interest and reboard the bus for the trip back to the ship.

Dinner was nice. We were still missing four of our table-mates but have enjoyed getting to know the two ladies that are there.  We weren't pulling out of port until 9:30pm so we chose to skip the casino and go back to our closet, er cabin, early.  Our original suite is still wet.  I check on it every couple of hours and am pestering the concierge constantly. As of Saturday morning, only about a third of the cabin is still wet. Here's hoping we can get in there soon....

m.s. Westerdam

After a full 12 hours of sleep in Rome (do ya think it had been a long week??) we had a car pick us up from the hotel to drive us to the post city of Civitavecchia (chee-vi-ta-VECK-ia) and boarded the Holland America ship, the m.s. westerdam.  As we were boarding, we noticed large groups of men getting off the boat.  That seemed quite unusual, as it's more likely to see groups of women traveling together.  Keep reading for an explaination...Upon reaching our cabin, we found a dehumidifier and a carpet blower.  The carpet was drenched.  There obviously been a problem they were trying to resolve.

Long story short, at 6pm, we had to go to another cabin, two floors down and about half the square footage. There were no other suites available. It was hopefully just for the one night so we refuse to unpack. So now with the luggage and the beds and no room, we have to step into the hall to change our minds.  I continue to check on the room, it's now Friday morning, and am pestering the concierge hourly. They for some reason removed the blower last night and I'm trying to get that replaced so there is a chance we will be able to get in there today.  I'm playing up the "old lady" card and we will negotiate compensation when we finally get back in there.  Just very frustrating because we can't unpack and spent yesterday just wandering the decks.

Thursday's dinner was good.  There were only two others at our table for eight. They are life-long friends from Baltimore and Portland.  Sadly, I can't remember their names right now. Will have to ask again tonight.

We have met quite a few others during our plight. There is a couple in the cabin next to ours with the same issue and there are three people from Oklahoma that we run into in the lounge.

This ship has been in dry dock for two weeks and has had an extensive remodeling.  Sometimes you will go into a lavatory and the faucet is laying on the sink and two hours later it is installed and working. All of the carpet is new and pilling as new carpet does.  We have determined that the groups of men at the dock were some of the remodelers.  Some of our new friends were on the repositioning cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Italy, and they said there were about 3500 workers on board making the upgrades.

We were able to find the casino....I know you were all worried about that.  At least I know where to find Mother...

The internet package seems much more reasonably priced, so I can feel connected and keep you updated on our trials.  Heard that some have had troubles leaving comments, so it's not just you....unless you're the one I blocked because you can't be trusted. ;-)

Just cruised past a small volcano. Here's the picture.....imagine a small mountain coming out of the sea with a flat top and steam rising from the center....got it?

Hotel

Our hotel here in Rome is nestled right next to the Pantheon, as I mentioned before.  A few more details I left out yesterday.  To get to our room, we get an elevator at floor 0, and go up to floor 2.  Now this elevator is quite spacious, it might hold 5 people, if they are really good friends.  Then we walk through an enclosed walkway to, basically, another building.  The elevator there can't hold more than three.  We go up one floor and voila, there we are!

The shower is tiny, I'm saying 3x2 1/2 feet tiny.  I know I'm not real good at estimating size or distance, but trust me, it's small.

And what is it with these hotels eliminating face cloths?  We finally asked for some in Barcelona.  Not here long enough to worry about it, but still a curiosity.

Rome....in a day

After a lazy Tuesday at the hotel in Barcelona, we caught an early flight this morning to Rome.  We booked the tickets through Travelocity on Iberia Airlines, who farms out this flight to Vueling (pronounced well-ing) Airlines. They are very serious about their boarding and on-time statistics.  We got to the gate 15 minutes before departure time (it was at the absolute last gate in the terminal, gate 67) and they already were almost fully boarded. I know the door closed before the scheduled time. Unbeknownst to us, we were in priority class. Picture a Southwest Airlines flight...that's what this plane looked like and they called the first row their premium class. We had leather headrest pillows and didn't have to pay for a croissant and coffee/tea.  It was less than two hours and we landed in Rome.

We checked into our hotel, the Albergo Santa Chianta, and went to find the hop on-hop off bus.  After quite a hike, we boarded the bus and got a two hour tour of the city.  Saw a lot of really, really old buildings. I find it hard to even comprehend that these majestic structures were built thousands of years ago. And the city is built all around them. We are actually staying one block from the Pantheon. We walked through it on our way to get gelato.

Our "old" building and monuments in the US are so often set apart on a large plot with manicured lawns and here the city continues to grow and thrive around and right up to the edges of these amazing examples of history and architecture.

We got off the bus to see the Trevi Fountain. More amazing, detailed sculpture work from, I'm sure, a famous artist.  Then wandering down the cobbled streets, we found a ristorante and stopped for the best pasta and pizza we have ever had on Rome.  I felt obligated to try the Pinot Grigio....it is an Italian variety...and I am in Italy....and in case you are wondering, yes, it was fantastic!!

Rome wasn't built in a day, but we saw as much as we could in the day we had. And now we are settled in for the night watching Happy Days in Italian.  Tomorrow we are off again....stay tuned.

The wedding!!!

The main purpose of our trip....Kendra and Dave's wedding!!  The beautiful ceremony was presided over by Kendra's friend from kindergarten, Sarah Williams.  She did an amazing job with personal stories and appropriate quotes. The wedding itself was on a lovely patio at the hotel, overlooking the Mediterranean.  The reception was at a patio facility a few steps away.

These kids (I know, they are all adults, but they are still my kids) have an absolutely amazing group of friends. About 40 of their closest friends made the trip and they were all such great people (see, I didn't call them kids again) You could tell they are are such good friends and get along fabulously!  I really feel like, in addition to a son-in-law, I've gained 38 new kids!  Then there were about 11 of the 55-and-over crowd in attendance.

The wedding started around 6 and the DJ played until about midnight.  Even some of the "senior" group were seen on the dance floor showing the kids how to really dance.  Rumor has it some of them went to the clubs after that, but we haven't seen them yet today.  Lol

I would love to include pictures, but I still haven't got that working....suffice it to say, the bride wore a white long dress with lace details.  Her pearl bracelet was given to her by her Grandma Brick, who received it from her grandmother back in 1958.  The groom wore a light grey suit and tie...can you see it?

Congratulations to Kendra and Dave Kennedy, my favorite daughter and favorite son!

Barcelona....day 2

After a quiet breakfast at the hotel, we found the Hop on-hop off bus and went on a two hour tour of the city. Today is St. George's day in Spain. Sort of like our Valentine's Day. The men give the women one rose, and the women give the men (or perfectly acceptable to exchange between friends) a book. There's a long story behind the tradition, but suffice it to say it's a HUGE festive day and people are out everywhere.  

I don't know how I can explain the masses upon masses of people gathered on the streets.  We were on the top of a double decker bus and I was getting claustrophobic just looking down.

Then our own mob of thirty-one gathered at the Restaurante Salamanca for a welcome lunch hosted on by the Kennedys.  Lunch lasted about four hours and they just kept bring out platter after platter of food and too many bottles of wine to count.  Amazing food, mostly seafood and paella.  Since neither Mother nor I eat seafood, they brought us a half of a cow, each. At least it seemed that big!!

We then walked around that area a bit and I was able to walk on the beach and step into the Mediterranean Sea.  The water felt refreshing but not even the hardiest of souls were all the way in the water.

We had quite a time finding cabs to get back to the hotel, so when the kids flagged down one, we jumped at the chance to be the first ones in.  Age has it's privileges.  We are now back at the hotel, waiting for the others, on soft chairs with a glass of cava (Spanish champagne) so if it takes them a while to get back....

Barcelona....

The plane ride was uneventful, just like I like them!  We saved about two hours in line at customs by getting a wheelchair.  It looked like the walk and the wait were long and would certainly been difficult. We took a short cab ride to the Hotel Mirimar in Barcelona.  It's a beautiful, small, boutique hotel with lovely Mediterranean views....AND the wireless is free and strong!!

But,  it seems that I still can't figure out how to include a picture in these posts, so here's what I would have shown....imagine a fountain on a wide walkway and beyond it the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the port area of the city with cruise ships off in the distance.  Can you see it?  I'm pretty sure it looks better here than you can imagine.

Miami...

Found Mother in the Miami airport. She had already picked up two men. Can't leave her alone for a minute!!  We have an hour to relax in the Admirals Club before the next leg of our trip....I'll keep ya posted.

And so it begins....again

We are off on another adventure.  This time we are meeting in Miami. Diana just sent this picture as she waits for the ride to the airport. I was going to do the same until I sat down to write this and found out that the app I was going to use is no longer supported by iOS.   Be warned, the first few days of this blog will be sketchy as I try to remember how this all works.

This is really day one of nineteen. You will have to stay tuned if you don't already know the purpose or destinations of this trip.

So....pictures arent going to work right now  hopefully I will get better at this by Monday.  Stay tuned!

Test

Testing....1....2....3....testing....is this thing on??  Going live again in ten days....