Wednesday 1 July - Dubrovnik
Goes without saying that it was yet another beautiful day. What I omitted to mention in my last post was how calm the Adriatic was and more surprisingly, the number of oil/gas rigs there were on both the Italian & Croatian sides.
Both Heather & Margie missed dinner last night and Vivian is still not the best, so could have been an "old boys night" at our table😊. Mark is still not right and Ash was looking forward to retreating to his stateroom, so we did not have to feel at all guilty in having yet another early night.
We docked just on 9.00 and were off the ship pretty well straight away. Once again I shunned the ship's $20 each transfer and changed $US50 into local currency - Kuna. Just over 300k. Established which local bus we needed to get into town, but then had a brainwave that we probably needed tickets before boarding, as I only had 100 & 200 notes plus a handful of coin. This was the right thing to do and was achieved before the bus rolled in. It was 12k each to get to the Old City. Being a local bus, we (& other tourists) experienced the lack of interest, courtesy or consideration by the locals. I would have to say that they were the rudest people we've come across. Let me make it clear that I am talking about the bus passengers, not people in general, who we found helpful and thoughtful. Anyway it is only about 5km to the Old Town and we were dropped off just outside the wall.
We bravely headed off into the city, which even at that time was pretty full of tour groups (there were a couple of other cruise ships in, although we did beat the Princess organised tours! Really quaint and interesting, but quite commercial in many ways. The little side streets were interesting, particularly the ones heading up to the wall. We visited the oldest pharmacy in Europe (still trading) and the museum with prescription books etc dating back to the 1500s. There is evidence of the Serbian/Croatian war, particularly with one hole caused by a rocket on 16 December 1998 (?) framed along with the exit hole on the other side - also noted. By now Vivian was looking for a loo and after quite an excursion, found one at the cost of 5k. It was semi automated and it was only later that Vivian had the intricacies of modern, self cleaning loos explained!! - including the self sanitisation of the seat (doesn't pay to play with the buttons while seated).
We thought that we'd climb and circumnavigate the city wall, but that a coffee would be a good way to start. Found a lovely sidewalk one up one of the alleyways. Good coffee at a reasonable price. As we were leaving we told our waiter of our plans and he dissuaded us, in favour of the cable car to the top of the hill (400 metres high). Turns out that he was right and we enjoyed the trip up and the extensive views. Have to agree (& others later commented) that it is far too hot at midday to attempt the walk, which is between 1 & 2 hours to circumnavigate. We congratulated ourselves and decided to have lunch at the same cafe as before, as a thank you. After putting aside the return bus fare, we had just enough for a beer & a pizza to share. Was a magnificent pizza!
The return journey simply confirmed my earlier opinion of bus travellers in Dubrovnik. So here we are, back in the cabin (stateroom), with Vivian having as rest. She has started the antibiotics, so fingers crossed. The problem is that passengers are going out and about with their coughs etc. reinfecting the recovering ones. While the theatres are the worst, I understand that bridge is highly infectious!!!!!!! No bridge today however as it is a port day. Tomorrow is a break, with a day at sea before we start the second part of our intensive Mediterranean cruise sector.
Thursday 2nd
Cloudless morning as we continue to sail down the east coast of Italy. Had a latish breakfast as Vivian was unwell last night - some dodgy pork? and I still have the cough. So currently sitting in the sun, with nothing to see but the endless sea. About lunchtime we entered the Messina Strait between Italy & Sicily, for which we needed a pilot for the short transit. Did I mention that Captain Kent disembarked in Venice and we have a new Italian captain until Peru! Entirely unrelated comment.
Later in the afternoon we sailed close by an active volcanic island, which is fully inhabited. I think that they are relying on the fact that recent lava flows have been on the northern slopes and that they are safe on the other sides. Captain advised that it is quite impressive to sail by at night, with the glowing lava. Next port is Civitavecchia for our Rome visit. Still only 5 at dinner as Margie is still unwell, but Heather made it back.
Friday 3rd
Rome again. Took the private train to St Peter's station (Vatican). Quite an epic journey. Took a bus from ship side for about a kilometre to the train. Boarded our carriage (knee to knee), went for about 10 minutes and ended up at the train station, just a short distance from the ship. Other people from the ship boarded and we got set to take off to Rome. Well Italian rail system is erratic to say the least and as we were not part of the main train network, we remained sidelined for 15 minutes. Our guide (thankfully) lost his microphone system, so it was a fairly peaceful into Rome.
Once in Rome we were taken about 1 kilometre to St Peter's square, which was to be our meeting place. It was the Catholic souvenir shop, which our guide promoted along with HOHO buses, but did allow access to free toilets. Once free of our guide, crossed over the square and got a taxi to Borghese Gallery, which is set in extensive grounds, well above the Spanish Steps. Our entry time was 11.00, so we sat in the shade in the park area until due time. With hindsight (always great), we should not have attempted to go here, and the experience was underwhelming (particularly after the Vatican & Duces Palace. On leaving, we elected to walk to the Spanish Steps - which of course were further away than the map showed. It is now just after noon (mad dogs ...........). Steps were crowded, mainly with young people and "funny" smoke. Consumed water and headed off for the Pantheon.
Last time we were here with Lynne & Ivan we missed it as we stopped at the first church we saw. This time we did the extra 3 or 4 blocks and were rewarded with a magnificent sight. It was awe inspiring and very busy. We retreated back the way we had come and called into a little restaurant, where we once again had pizza & a cold drink. With even more hindsight, we are closer to 70 than 17 and the temperature was up to 40 degrees in most places, we should have admitted defeat, but the Tiber was only a couple more blocks away, away...
Cutting a long story short, we got back to the Vatican, which was packed as some pilgrimage was taking place, and we got back to the train and the ship. Vivian suffered badly with the heat, dehydration and everything else. She collapsed into bed. We had a little room service and were asleep pretty well straight away. Unfortunately we have an early start tomorrow!
Saturday 4th
Room service breakfast on the deck again and downstairs for assembly just after 7.00. A side comment, I don't know how people on coach tours around the country survive doing this every day. All very orderly and we were soon on our bus on the way to Cinque Terre. We grabbed good seats at the front of the bus and it was great to see the country side on the way up. Our guide, Francesca, was normally a guide for Florence, but there were about 250 of us in 5 buses, so needed extra staff. I think that a world cruise is different to a normal Mediterranean cruise, as the majority have already done the major attractions and are looking for something a bit different.
We picked up a local guide when we reached Genoa and proceeded to the Cinque Terre. The bus dropped us off at Manarola and we walked down to the water..,as did everyone else from the other 4 buses. Filled in time with an ice cream - Vivian had a cherry one with real cherries. I had ..........chocolate! Anyway we shortly all boarded a boat to take us past the other villages to Monterosso (last village).
We were particularly surprised with Monterrosso, as it is more a resort village than a traditional one, like Manarola. Anyway, we assembled in the heat (another day of 35+), got taken to the Church, then to the wine tasting. The latter was most unspectacular, as it involved queuing up, get a glass of 2 sip size, move on, not allowed to sit here, leave. I would have thought that the establishment offering this would have tried to encourage visitors to stay for lunch, but no.
So we moved on and I spied a pharmacy sign, the green cross they all use in Europe and apart from the time and date it also confirmed a midday temperature of 36. More interesting was the electronic sign listing all their services - including veterinarian. Oh dear. But a most delightful pharmacist ( no other staff) was able to help with cream for Vivian's heat rash & some extra strength cough medicine for me. Back to air conditioned comfort of a restaurant and a great pizza again. Vivian ordered a latte and it came as components - exporesso, hot milk and hot water. It was soo good that we both had another at the end of our meal. Knowing how hot it was outside, we managed to stretch it out of almost 2 hours when we were due to gather again.
Our guide (remember she is new to this area) has us all gathered at the train platform, where we are going back 1 village to Vernazza. We were the first group assembled - - - on the wrong platform☺. A mad dash under the tracks and fortunately the train waited for us ( what did I say earlier?). Off at the next stop and another shopping opportunity for almost an hour and back to the train station. This time we are on the right platform and we have just 2 stops until we all get off.
Sounds simple, but at the first stop, which was back at Monterosso, the doors to our carriage refuse to stay closed. Much ado by train staff and of course the train won't go with doors open. Eventually the doors are disabled and we are on our way. However the 100 odd passengers in our carriage (it was a double decker) have to make our way into the next carriage and we got stuck by the auto closing internal doors. It was all hilarious and much joking going on.
Ah, back to our bus and 1.5 hours to Livorno. More fun to be had on our way back to the motorway - the roads are pretty narrow with tight bends. Well we are heading up in our big bus and cars are coming down when suddenly here we are! The looks on the faces of the drivers and passengers was worth all the long day. Needless to say, we all made it back in one piece and the day was probably the best excursion we've had this trip. Although it was open sitting at dinner, we were the only ones and the Italian couple (actually they are Australian of some 60 years), who normally dine alone at an adjoining table sat with us. Pleased to say that Vivian is feeling much better today. A nice way to leave Italy, as tomorrow we are in France.
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