October 4 - Triluke Bay and Sali, Croatia

After a smooth sail last evening we arrived this morning in Triluke Bay, Croatia.  To get here we sailed through some kind of Croatian National Park area.  All around us are little islands which look to be mostly uninhabited.  Around 8:30 AM we assumed our position and the ship began tender operations.  We’re not sure if we’re anchored or just using thrusters to stay in position.

After breakfast we took a boat to the little town of Sali.  It’s Sunday and except for a couple of cafes everything is closed.  It looks like this place is a little fishing village and perhaps a summer vacation spot.  There’s a little harbor and leading from there is a pleasant walking path around the coast.  We walked about 3 miles looking at the rugged  shoreline and the clear water below.  There wasn’t much else to see or do here so we headed back to the ship.

The little harbor of Sali

The path around the point - a very pleasant walk

The Odyssey - the opening at the stern is the marina

Back on the Odyssey they had deployed the marina at the stern of the ship.  They have a bunch of water toys available including  some kayaks and little zodiacs with souped-up engines.  As I sit here there’s someone making figure eights in a zodiac and three young women being towed on a banana tube.  Unfortunately my camera battery decided to die so I can’t get photos.

Later this afternoon we have a private tour of the galley (we need to see where all the wonderful food is coming from) , followed by the Captain’s Welcome party and our first formal night.

Unfortunately it looks like some clouds have settled in above us.  Hopefully they won’t bring us rain tomorrow when we’ll be in Dubrovnik.

It’s later and I put a new battery in the camera and managed to get down to the marina and get a few photos.  The next time they have one of these days we may have to try taking a ride!  It looked like fun.

The Marina and some of its toys

The galley tour was very interesting.  This chef was more informative than previous ones.  This ship has on board 440 passengers and 325 crew members.  In the first ten days of the cruise the galley will use 4000 pounds of oranges to make fresh-squeezed juice.  The juicer  handles 400 oranges at a time.  The chef and galley staff work 4 months and then take 2 months off.  I can understand why since they work 7 days per week and  room service is available 24 hours a day so there’s always somebody cooking.  So far I can report that the food has been great.

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day

October 3 - Time to Say Goodbye

It’s a much nicer morning today.  That figures since we’re leaving Venice today.  The sun is trying to break through and the gondolas are out in full force.  The side canal next to our hotel evidently leads to a major boarding place for gondolas, or as Al has named it, Gondola Central.  Some of the singers on them are remarkably good and it’s pleasant sitting on our little balcony listening to them as we wait until time for our water taxi pick-up.

At breakfast up in the rooftop room this morning there was a very inquisitive fat gull that perched on the ledge outside one window looking in on the diners.  He seemed to watch everything carefully and I had the feeling he was thinking “Where’s mine?”

After breakfast we walked out on the adjoining 7^th floor terrace.  The fat gull flew to the railing and gave a raucous cry to let us know he didn’t like that we hadn’t shared with him.  The views from up there looking across the red-tiled rooftops of Venice were interesting.  It puts the city in a different perspective.

In the distance across the tiled rooftops we could see some the tops of some cruise ships down at the terminal.  We clearly won’t be alone in port today.

Our water taxi came promptly and whisked us off to the cruise terminal.  We were fortunate because the drop-off point was right next to the Seabourn Odyssey.  Within moments our luggage was checked and we made the short walk to the ship.  Cabins aren’t ready until 2 PM on Seabourn so we had a nice lunch at the Colonnade Restaurant at the stern of the ship.  There are tables outside and it was pleasant out there watching the water traffic as we ate.  There were 8 ships in port today.

Around 5 PM we sailed out the Giudecca Channel and passed by the Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace.  There were huge crowds ashore watching the afternoon’s ship parade.  Sailing out of Venice is really one of the most spectacular sights we’ve ever seen.  Once we’d passed the main sights, we went down to our cabin and enjoyed the view as we made our way past Lido and out into the Adriatic.

The Captain said we should have smooth seas as we make our way to our first stop, Triluke Bay in Croatia.

October 2 - Burano or Bust

We awoke to another cloudy and cool day.  After a great breakfast up in the rooftop restaurant we headed out for a vaporetto ride to Burano.  We decided to avoid going to the other island of Murano, famed for its glassblowers, because each time we’ve been there we’ve wound up buying something and we really don’t need any more glass sculptures.

So after getting a map from the front desk with a nice blue line showing the way to the vaporetto step at Fondamento Nuove, we set out and I promptly got us lost.  I will use as excuses that there are no straight streets in Venice and streets do change names along the way.  (Maybe I was a little to blame too.)  After asking for directions from a few Venetians, we finally made it to the right place, bought our 24 hour vaporetto passes (one of the best buys for a visitor here) and caught a boat to Burano.  It was packed!  There’s only one line that goes to that island and we had half the Chinese visitors to Venice on board with us, packed in like sardines.

A nice local lady was sitting in the seat next to us and after the boat had stopped in Murano first she told us something , in Italian of course, which we thought meant that we wanted the second stop in Burano.  So we sat and watched the throng of people get off and sailed away.  The boat made another stop at some other place called Torcello and then began its trip back to Venice.  We stopped again in Burano where hordes of people were waiting to board,.  The skies looked like they were ready to open.  We made the decision that the best course of action was to be round-trippers.  We could see the famed multi-colored houses along the little canal and the very leaning church tower.  The upshot is we sort of saw Burano.

Maybe a little hard to see, but the tower has a distinct angle

What an assortment of colors on the houses! Imagine the way it would look on a sunny day.

Back in Venice proper we switched to a different vaporetto line, our goal being to get to a restaurant we’ve enjoyed in years past for lunch.  It turned out our boat didn’t go where we wanted so we got off near San Marco and walked.  Along the way we passed the Bridge of Sighs near the Doge’s Palace and I gave a little sigh because my feet are feeling the miles we’ve walked in the last few days.

We found our restaurant, a little place called the Osteria del Barababao.  The food and the wine were as good as we remembered.   The last time we went to this restaurant our waiter told Al that he had a twin living in Venice. Apparently he knew a professor who was Al’s double. 

A little house wine at the Osteria del Barababao (the Devil's Inn)

After a nice lunch we wandered our way back to our hotel in a pretty good rain shower.  Venice in the rain is not for the faint-hearted because of the umbrellas.  The little streets are so narrow that you have to keep a sharp eye out for menacing umbrella tips which might come your way.  On the plus side though where else can you walk along and see shops which sell nothing but gloves or yarn?  It’s absolutely fascinating and charming and each time we have visited here we’ve seen something new. 

A yarn shop. Interestingly, one store window was yarn and the other was ladies' underwear

A glove shop. I wish I needed some.

Tonight we’re trying the hotel’s restaurant.  They have a lovely enclosed terrace with patio heaters to take off the chill right on the Grand Canal looking across at Santa Maria Salute.

Tomorrow it’s off to the Odyssey.  Hopefully the weather gods will be kinder in the upcoming days.

October 1 - A Room with a View in Venezia

 Well, here we are back in Venice. Al and I haven’t been here in three years and guess what?  It hasn’t changed except that some buildings undergoing restorations no longer have scaffolds and nets around them and now others do.

Our flight here was great but the weatherman had some problems with his forecast. It was supposed to be sunny and around 70°; instead it’s overcast, breezy and actually a little chilly.  If this keeps up, the locals will be breaking out their fur coats.

We picked a new place to stay this trip.  We’re at the Bauer Il Palazzo, which is in a great location right on the Grand Canal and just steps away from Piazza San Marco.  I first stayed here with my parents when I was a little kid.  I remembered it as being grand and it still is.  Our room overlooks the hotel’s bar and restaurant terrace and a small side canal but we have a pretty good view of the Grand Canal too.

After unloading our stuff we headed out for a little walk.  We did what one has to do in Venice – wander.  It’s difficult to get truly lost but so much fun to meander down little streets away from the main tourist areas.  Along these alleyways we can get a glimpse of Venetian life with the laundry hanging out windows, flower boxes with blooms cascading down the sides, and doors punctuated with door-knockers, which are sometimes whimsical and sometimes terrifying.

Sorry it's not in the best focus, but you get the idea.

Eventually we did find our way to St. Mark’s Square and we decided to try something we’d never done before in our several trips here.  We decided to have a drink in Harry’s Bar.  This is a legendary watering hole made famous by patrons like Ernest Hemingway who had his own table in a corner.  The founder of Harry’s told a story of one day in 1935 when his waiters served lunch simultaneously to the kings of Spain, Greece and Yugoslavia and the queen of the Netherlands.  Over the decades authors, composers, movie stars and celebrities of all sorts have been regular customers.  What is incredible about that is that the place is plain and almost nondescript both inside and outside.  Oh, and the drinks are incredibly expensive and not especially good.  We found it interesting just to watch the steady stream of people coming in, some just looked around and left.  Two women in particular caught our attention.  They were dressed, how shall I say it tastefully, like two “working girls,” one in the tightest pants I have ever seen and the other in a micro-mini Grecian dress.  Al couldn’t help himself; he had to take a picture of them.  Our waiter told us that they were two regulars of the place.  They just added a little local color.

Anyway, after trying the Bellinis and soaking in the artistic atmosphere, we wandered our way back to our hotel.  Tonight we’re going to a restaurant we stumbled upon several trips ago.  It turns out the restaurant is close to the Bauer which is good because we’re still not fully on European time and we’re bushed again.  But tomorrow is another day.

September 30 - Heathrow

We had a very nice flight on British Airways in one of their A380's.  Talk about a huge plane!  There were two jetways to board passengers, one for the upper deck and one for the lower, and I think there were somewhere around 600 people on the flight.  We were able to use miles to get first class seats.  They are quite comfortable but not as nice as those on Emirates last year.  Unfortunately I didn't sleep at all and Al only got an hour or so of fitful sleep.  British border control was awful.  We were in a Fast Track line that barely inched along.  I wish I could have taken a photo because we were about the only ones without our smartphones in hand busily texting and typing.  It was kind of comical really since there were big signs saying no cell phones and no photos.

We decided to spend the night here at Heathrow because the connection time to the flight to Venice was kind of tight.  It was a wise decision! I doubt we would have made it today.  We had thought we'd take advantage of the layover to go into London for a few hours.  After finally checking in and getting cleaned up we found we really needed a nap.  Getting older can be tough in many ways.  So, we are spending the afternoon chilling out in the hotel lounge.  There will be other days to see more of London.

Tomorrow morning we'll have a very early wake-up call and we'll be off to Venezia!  No photos today.  I'll try to do better in the future.

We've been here before

Well, after an uneventful drive up from home, we're sitting in the Dulles lobby waiting for the check-in counters to open. Naturally we're very early. I had the car pick us up with a little  extra time because one never knows how I-95 traffic will be.  Of course, today it was perfect. Well, thank goodness for electronic toys to keep our minds busy.

Try as I may, I can't seem to get us below four bags.  They are lined up and ready.

I'll write more later after we're checked in and at the lounge.

Two weeks plus a day to go!

It's hard to believe that it's almost time to leave for our next cruise.  We're flying British Airways to Heathrow and then onward to Venice.  We'll spend two nights in Venice to have a chance to get over jet lag.  I do wish someone would figure out a way to beam us across the ocean, a la Star Trek!

Once again we'll be on the Seabourn Odyssey, which is a lovely small ship carrying a maximum of 450 passengers.  I know I'll be absolutely spoiled by the time we reach Fort Lauderdale.

We have a few tours booked but several of the ports look like charming little towns so we may just check them out, find a nice cafe to have lunch, and catch some of the local color.  Here's a map showing our itinerary

We haven't begun to pack; in fact we haven't even made a list of things to take with us.  My efforts lately have been more geared to going through closets and drawers in anticipation of our move when we come home.  I don't know how or why we accumulated so many things!  Oh well, we'll get things packed and if we forget something, we'll improvise.

I'll post again when we're on our way.  I'm a little excited about our flight to London.  We're flying in an Airbus 380, one of those huge double decker planes.  I've seen them in airports but have never been on one.  Truthfully, I've always wondered how something that big gets off the ground.  We shall see.