Quite a while ago, Elaine and I decided we needed to use up a Viking Cruise credit (well it was actually decided for us given there was a deadline to use it) so we booked a Mediterranean Cruise for October.
I flew into Venice Italy from Toronto, and Elaine flew in from Scotland. We met on the ship, Elaine arriving first, attending to the room requirements, and of course people watching whilst sipping on a glass of Prosecco (which she was very kind to send me a pic of as I waited for the Viking shuttle at the airport…).
Once on board we got our bearings and headed off to dinner! Overall the trip was very good, weather was excellent and the port stops were good.
Our itinerary: Venice Italy, Piran Slovenia, Zadar Croatia, Dubrovnik Croatia, Kotor Montenegro, Corfu Greece, Olympia Greece, Santorini Greece, and then Athens for a day then home.
Venice was just a port to leave from so I didn’t get to see anything. Piran was a scenic medieval town (aren’t they all in Europe?) set along the Adriatic Sea. This town remains an important producer of salt, with the salt pans having produced the precious mineral since 804 A.D. Go figure.
Zadar was an interesting port, not from a scenic perspective, but the acoustic tubes embedded beneath large marble steps at the sea wall which sing the song of the city with every lashing wave and burst of wind. It was truly incredible and you could sit there for hours listening to the sound and watching the sea.
Dubrovnik Croatia was equally incredible. While I had been there before with Sharon, we didn’t have the opportunity to do a tour. Elaine and I found the tour wonderful and if you get a chance to visit the old city within the walls, you won’t be disappointed. The playwright George Bernard Shaw famously called it “paradise on earth”.
Corfu is an island off the northwestern tip of Greece. It is a beautiful picturesque island, again if I had pictures to prove it….
Olympia Greece was a great tour of the birthplace of the Olympic Games. It was surprising that we were up close and personal with the ruins, even able to sit on old fallen stone.
Santorini Greece is just like the pictures you see in the travel magazines. The white washed walls and vibrant blue domes of the churches didn’t disappoint. The only complaint was the crowds, too many people for our liking.
Athens, our final destination, was a modern city with historical buildings throughout. The Parthenon and the Acropolis to name a couple. We toured the museum which was full of statues and relics. Our tour guide was very good and you could tell she loved talking about the rich history of her city and country. The photo of the statue where I stated it looks like his feet are both resting on the stone pedestal…….well the one foot is actually not, you can (the tour guide showed us) slide a piece of paper under the whole foot. Pretty cool, and very famous.