Perfect Portofino

Well it’s been a couple of days since I’ve had the chance to sit down and write an entry, and you can take that as a sign of how busy we’ve been keeping ourselves.

On Wednesday morning we were up early had a quick breakfast and then assembled as usual in the theatre of the ship before heading out in groups for our chosen tours in Rome. Gary, Barb, Patricia and I opted for the rail trip from the port in Civitavecchia to the City, about an hour away. This turned out to be an efficient way to do it. We jumped on a bus for the 5 minute trip to the rail siding where a private train was waiting for us. Our tour group even had our own car on the train. Once on the train we were off and pretty soon we were travelling at speeds faster than the cars on the adjacent highway.

The train took us to a station just a few blocks from St. Peter’s Square where we hoped to tour the Basilica. Oops! When we got there the entire Square was closed to the public for some kind of service (we never did find out what the occasion was) that was being presided over by the Pope. But we were assured the Square would reopen at 1:30 p.m. We know we had to meet our guide again just after 4:00 for the trip back to Civitavecchia so we restructured our day accordingly. In the next several hours we walked to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, had a quick pizza lunch at a sidewalk café, then headed to the “wedding cake”, the massive white marble monument dedicated to the founder of modern Italy, Emmanuel II. We had hoped to also get a walk around the Forum and by the Circus Maximus, but we were starting to get worried about time and didn’t want to miss out on St. Peter’s.

So off we headed back to where we started. We arrived shortly after 2:00 and true enough the Square was open. But by then one of the longest lineups I’ve ever seen had formed starting at the front door and then winding completely around the square. It was started and ended at the same place! There was no way we were going to get into the Basilica that afternoon. So we opted for Plan B: we’d walk the several blocks back and around St. Peter’s and visit the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. So off we trekked.

Once we made it to the entrance we figured we had about 90 minutes to see everything and then take the 30 minute hike back to meeting point. We asked the ticket seller “Is it possible to see the museum in 60 minutes?” “Not a chance … two to two and a half hours minimum.” We were heartbroken. We felt especially bad for Patricia who’d never visited the Vatican before.

So we were down to Plan C. We walked back to the meeting place, found a bar, and ordered beers to fill the final hour. We were dog tired by the time we got back on the train, and most of us were snoozing before we left the station.

Yesterday was Patricia’s birthday (happy birthday Pat!), and we woke with the ship docking in Livorno, the closest port to Pisa and Florence. We’d been doing a lot of walking this past week, and so we opted for a Florence only tour which included a couple of hours of free time thinking we could use what we expected to be a more relaxed pace.

This time the 90-minute trip from the port to the city was by bus. Patricia was hoping to tackle Florence’s reputation for great leather products with some appropriate purchases, so that became the overall mission for the day. We spent 2 ½ hours seeing the highlights of Florence by walking tour, then had lunch on our own (Barb, Gary, Karen and Jim). Then we were off to area recommended as the best place to get quality leather for reasonable prices. Again our itinerary worked against us. By the time we made it to the area, located across the Ponto Vecchio, all the shops were closed, presumably for lunch. So we were left with checking out all of the leather ships along the return route to our tour meeting spot. Unfortunately Patricia wasn’t happy with either the quality, selection or pricing at any of the dozen or so shops we visited so although she picked up a couple of items, we left Florence with the big prize: a new purse.

We returned to the ship about 6:30 and raced to our room to shower and change as we had a 7:00 dinner reservation at Prime 7, in our opinion the best restaurant on the ship, and they don’t hold reservations beyond 15 minutes. We had a wonderful dinner but I was caught up short when the staff presented a cake and sang happy birthday to a couple at another table. We all applauded politely. Ten minutes later they repeated the performance for Patricia and to my utter delight not only did our table of 8 applaud loudly and happily, so did folks we knew at several other tables. Patricia was delighted, and so was I.

This morning we dropped anchor in Portofino harbor. We were tendered into the town and with another guided tour wound up walking a very similar route to the same one Lauren and I walked last June. The weather couldn’t be better today. We wrapped up the tour of Portofino with a dish of gelato and fruit (a very popular dish here called “pastiugo”) then borded the ferry for Santa Margherita. I was here last June (with Lauren and Mrs. Pegolo), so really wasn’t keen for more walking. Instead I’m sitting at a café enjoying a mezzolitro di vino bianco, just across the park from where Lauren, Mrs. P. and I waited for our bus departure last summer. Great memories, and a great time to catch up on the blog.

This is our last day on the ship. Tomorrow we disembark in Monte Carlo, bus to Nice, then begin the long series of plane rides back to Vancouver (via Frankfurt and Calgary).
So it’s a packing day this afternoon, but hopefully some poolside time as well …

Amazing Amalfi

Yesterday began as a disappointment.

As we dropped anchor in the harbor at Taormini, Sicily, the winds were blowing at a very breezy 10 knots. But as we gathered an hour later for our disembarkation and our chosen tours (we had picked “Wine Roads of Sicily”), the winds had gusted up to 65 knots. The problem for us, of course, was that we were not docking at Taromini which meant everyone was to be tendered ashore on the smaller boats that also double as the ship’s life rafts. After about an hour, the captain decided that the conditions were not improving and that as a result he was cancelling the Taormini port of call.

This was really unfortunate, as even from the ship the town looked to be a fascinating place to visit. Other passengers who’d been before told us they had been looking forward to this stop because it was a such a beautiful and peaceful town. I imagined all the folks on shore who depend on the cruiseships for their income: tour guides, bus drivers, restaurants and shops. Nobody would be paid that day.

But the day was not a complete loss.

About 30 minutes after we had set sail it was announced that we’d be heading to another side of the island and docking at Messina. Many of the tours were not going to be available, but they were clearly scrambling to put together some options for a day that would be cut considerably short. We would not be arriving in Messina until after 1:00, and would be taking a berth that was being vacated by another cruise ship.

The sail to Messina was an adventure itself. The skies were mostly sunny, but there were some low clouds. But the winds remained very strong. At one point, as we turned into the Messina Strait, tables, chairs, linens, blankets and even I dare say some of the passengers were tossed around as the breeze swept across the pool deck.

We docked as re-scheduled at about 1:15, and disembarked. We had early dinner reservations at one of the premium restaurants on the ship, so rather than risk missing the reservations we opted to forego one of the reorganized tours (they were typically 4.5 to 5 hours long) and simply headed out for our own exploration of the town.
Messina was a busy place, and is something of a significant shipping port. But I would have to say it was unremarkable from a tourism perspective. We (eight of us) made our way to the one recommended destination, the Duomo (major church), but beyond that wandered somewhat aimlessly looking for a decent sidewalk café to stop for wine, a snack, and some people-watching. But even that proved a challenge. We were to late for the lunch hour, and too early for dinner, so the best we saw was a number of cafés preparing to open. We finally spotted an interesting shop that sold cheeses, salamis, and bought some interesting samples of each before finally finding of out-of the way café that sold us a bottle each of red and which wine. It wasn’t the most scenic of visits, but the company was delightful as always.

We returned to the ship and readied for the dinner we had been anticipating for several days. Unfortunately that too turned out to be a bit disappointing. So not a highlight day for us.

This morning we dropped anchor at Amalfi. The winds were but slight breezes all day, though the temperature was very cool. It didn’t help that we saw very little sunshine, and that at one point there were a few drops of rain here and there. Once ashore in Amalfi we immediately transferred to another boat and began the 60-minute ride up the coast to Positano.

Seeing the Amalfi region for the first time from the sea was very interesting. I gained a completely different appreciation for how the hundreds of homes, hotels and churches have each been designed to take advantage of whatever perch of land was available to support it. I had been through the area before by bus tour, and by necessity the views are restricted to the sightlines from the road (“highway” would be a real stretch for most of the route).

We spent about an hour in Positano, took a bit of a walk to the main square of the town to get a sense of layout, then with Gary as our guide jumped on a small walk way that took us down to the beach area. A glass of wine and a Panini later it was back on the boat for the return trip to Amalfi.

We had a brief guided walking tour that took us up through narrow winding steps to the main square and followed that with a visit to the local cathedral. It was interesting to see a church that was initially designed and built to be a reflection of the economic and political power that Amalfi once held, yet when finished Amalfi’s position and population decline was already in evidence. As a result a wall was built down the middle of the church in order to reduce it’s internal size. The other have fell into disuse, and was only recently restored with a new roof and turned into a museum. It was a beautiful Church nonetheless.

With the guided tour done we did our own exploring for another half hour, but by then Jim and decided to head back to the ship for a late lunch and siesta, leaving Gary and the ladies to check out the shopping. We never did see the sun …

It’s all Greek to me

It’s just after 4:00 p.m. and I’m foregoing the usual cocktail hour to write these few lines.  In fact after sitting poolside for a couple of hours this afternoon I finally laced up my runners and headed to the gym so I’m feeling quite proud of myself at this moment.  Of course all those feelings will vanish in a heartbeat once I’ve had a shower and we gather for the pre-dinner lounge gathering!

Yesterday was an incredible day.  We boarded a bus that immediately began an impossible to imagine climb from sea level to nearly 1000 meters on some of the scariest switchback along a road that, for the most part was barely wide enough to accommodate the bus.  In fact on at least one turn the bus turned a corner so tight that he had to back up  and to complete a “k-turn”.  Of course this was all about the vistas over the city, the water and the various islands, and they were certainly amazing.  The road was apparently built by the Austrians who had captured the city but needed a way over the mountains to conquer the rest of Montenegro.  It took the better part of a century to complete.  The good news is that today it’s paved and pretty well maintained, though it would be difficult imagining them every widening it to the point where it could accommodate lots of traffic.

After about 90 minutes we arrived at the town of Cetigne, once the political centre of Montenegro.  We were told that at one point there were 13 different embassies.  Of course that all changed when the country was occupied during the second world war, and then “liberated” by the Communists who assembled the various Baltic states under one federation called Yugoslavia.  Patricia and I baled on the museum visit (we were told later we didn’t miss much) and wandered the streets for a bit before settling in for a beer at a sidewalk café.

Then it was back on the bus for a trip through the Budva Riviera, a busy city filled with hotels and very expensive condos for international tourists.  The beaches were long and wide though we only sampled them from the bus.

Finally we got back to Kotor for a guided walk around the old walled city.  The walls climb right up and around the surrounding mountain, and any future return visit will have to include a climb to the top of the wall.

This morning we dropped anchor in a bay off the Island of Corfu, one of 6 cruiseships to arrive today.  As a result we could only leave the ship by tender and that took considerably longer than planned.  Nevertheless the planned tour for the day went off, and we headed by bus to the Monastery of the Virgin built atop a high hill overlooking the Paleokastritsa Bay.  The monastery is still occupied by a small group of 8 monks, and as this was Sunday our tour coincided with their liturgy for the day. We were allowed into the small chapel to visit while the service was underway and it was a bit surprising to me.  The priest was fully vested but barely visible through a small doorway.  The monks sang their respective parts, but they were in a section at the front between the room with the priest and the main aisle with ran perpendicular across the chapel (we entered on one side, and then left on the other.  Then behind the aisle, at the back half of the church, something of a congretation, about a dozen people sat.  The priest was the only one in vestments, as the other monks several looking like they were in their late 20s, were all in street clothes.

After boarding our bus we continued up the mountain and wound up at the Golden Fox Café.  It was a bar built on several levels, the lowest of which featured an open air sitting area, a beautiful swimming pool, and spectacular views of the sea, the town and even the monastery we had just left.  We were entertained by a group of local musicians and dancers who played some familiar Greek music.  And of course we were served our choice of ouzo or wine (not very tasty) and a snack of various traditional Greek cuisine items.

Finally we headed back to the town for a tour of the city, which was not nearly as dramatic as our last two stops.  We were back aboard the Mariner by 1:00 which left time for shopping (Patricia, Gary and Barb) or lunch/pool time (Jim, Karen and me!).

The weather continues to cooperate.  Lots of sunshine and warm without being too hot.  It’s a great holiday so far.

Koffee in Kotor

Patricia, "scoping out" Dubrovnik, Croatia

It’s early morning on Saturday, and after a quick shower I’ve headed to the coffee bar one deck below ours to catch up on the blog and to watch the scenery go by as we approach the port of Kotor in Montenegro.

Yesterday we spent the day at the very beautiful port of Dubrovnik. Unusual for this itinerary, we didn’t actually dock until noon. We had an interesting tour organized in that we jumped on a bus and headed out about 40 minutes from Dubrovnik to visit what is essentially a family-run cruiseship hosting business. As each busload arrived at the repurposed farm we were greeted by men in traditional Croatian dress playing music on a guitar, mandolin and accordion, and singing. Then we were each provided a dried fig to taste along with a “welcome drink” which consisted of a herb-induced grappa … very strong, and a reminder of the liquor my father-in-law would occasionally try to get me to drink.

After the welcome was done we were seated in a room that housed an old olive press used when the farm was dedicated to more traditional pursuits. Then we were served a light lunch, cheese, chicken, smoked ham, bread, and of course wine.

The bus ride there and back was a bit long, but we did have the benefit of a tour guide who talked a lot about the history of the region. She spent a fair amount of time trying to explain life under the communist regime (Tito), and then about the regional war and collapse of Yugoslavia. It was quite shocking to think that we were driving through an area where houses were destroyed by artillery and the rural population was forced to flee and take shelter in Dubrovnik. The city was under siege for 8 months, unable to access drinking water, power or food. Given the proximity of these countries, which are now divided along religious and ethnic lines, it’s a wonder that after little more than a dozen years there is an emerging sense of regional peace and collaboration. Our tour guide obviously still felt the wounds of the conflict, but was continually reinforcing the message that things are better today, and soon Croatia would be a member EU.

On returning from the farm, we did a walking tour of the old walled city of Dubrovnik. It was a fascinating place, with a number of buildings dating back to the 14th century. Here again there were plenty of reminders of the conflict, with even an official map of the town depicting locations where the hundreds of artillery shells struck the city and what type of damage was done (roof destroyed by direct hit, roof destroyed by shrapnel, building burned down, etc.). The city itself bordered on one side by the sea, and surrounded by mountains from which the attacking armies lobbed the shells that landed in the city. It must have been terrifying for the local population and for those who had come to the city seeking its protection.

After our walking tour, we made our way to a bar called Buzo perched in the rocks just outside the city wall. Buzo was highly recommended by daughter Sarah who had visited this same location a bit less that a year ago. It was the lease obvious location for a bar in the city, yet everyone we asked about it, from the folks manning to tour desk on the ship, to the tour guide seemed to know about it and even recommended the local beer (Ossyouscho ???). And we were not disappointed. Barb, Gary, Jim, Karen, Patricia and I settled in for some spectacular views, enjoyed the local drinks (the beer was terrific, the white wine not so much), and relaxed while watching the sun slowly settle in the late afternoon sky.

Finally, at about 7:00, we made our way back to the shuttle bus for the ship, deciding to have dinner outside in the deck at the rear of the ship, on deck 11. It was a wonderful evening, and before we realized it at 10:30 the ship was pulling away from the dock while we were still enjoying after dinner wines.

It’s now 7:30 a.m. and we’re getting ready to dock in Kotor. It’s looking like another sunny day.

I’ve been taking plenty of pictures, but the time it takes to upload using the ship’s internet is painful, particularly as it’s costing a fair amount of cash to do so. I also had some technical problems uploading the movie I did yesterday, so will likely wait until I can access a land-based system before attempting it again. Stay tuned …

We made it!

It was a very long day of travel, with 10 hours on the plane to Frankfurt, 4 hours in an overcrowded Lufthansa lounge, and a fairly quick 1 hour flight to Venice, a bus ride, and then finally water taxi to our hotel. After quickly checking in at the Hilton Molino Stucky, a modern hotel built within a very old and abandoned flour mill, and without even stopping at our room, we went straight to the rooftop bar to meet up with friends Barb and Gary from Surrey, and Jim and Karen from Winnipeg. It was great reconnecting with old friends.

Although part of Venice, the Hilton is located on an island called Giudecca and so a trip into the city for dinner that night or for the compulsory walking tour to Piazza San Marco the following morning by necessity required travel by boat. The hotel provided a courtesy shuttle but it runs only every ½ hour, and water taxis can be expensive (I heard people were charged everywhere between 80 and 110 euros. Venice was not as crowded as I’ve seen it before, but it was a busy place nonetheless, particularly near the major attractions like the Rialto Bridge.

We learned that the week before the city was utterly paralyzed as a result of the Pope’s visit and the open air mass held in St. Mark’s. Apparently all boat traffic in the city was halted for the time of his visit (which apparently included a papal tour on one of the famous Venetian gondolas). Given virtually everything and everybody in Venice travels by boat, it must have been chaos indeed.

We transferred from the hotel to the Mariner on Wednesday afternoon. The ship is beautiful and a bit smaller that the cruise ships on which I’ve travelled before. There is capacity for only 700 passengers, but the staterooms are double in size compared to the standard Princess or Royal Caribbean ship. After two nights aboard, we’ve been so busy I still have yet to fully explore what all it has to offer.

Yesterday (Thursday) while still docked in Venice we boarded a small boat and headed to the islands of Murano and Burano. Murano is famous for its glassworks, and after getting a very quick demonstration of glass blowing, we toured a series of showrooms and of course were encouraged by helpful sales staff at every turn to consider investing in some of the exquisite pieces. I successfully resisted all such temptations. After an hour we were back on the boat and headed to Burano, famous for its lace. Patricia and I skipped that demonstration and simply wandered about the village. It was beautiful and quiet. Like Venice there are no vehicles and canals crisscross the island. But what was particularly neat was that all of the houses were painted different colours, many brilliant pastels. After a walk around some of the village we made our way back to the main square and enjoyed what has to be the best cappuccinos I’ve tasted in a long time. Then it was back to Venice and the Mariner for lunch, the compulsory life jacket drill and then departure. It was wonderful watching the Venetian panorama from the back of the ship on one of the open air decks.
I also set up my GoPro on the balcony of our suite and took a series of 900+ photos from just before setting sail until we were out into the Adriatic Sea. Using QuickTime Pro I managed to stitch them together into a time lapse movie:

So it’s now Friday morning, the 13th, and according to the “captain’s log” posted on the television, we just 17 nautical miles from the port of Dubrovnik. This will be a first time visit for me, but daughter Sarah promised that it was a beautiful city. Some say this and Corfu will be the highlights of our entire cruise. Can’t wait to see it …

On our way

It’s amazing how many electronic gadgets I’ve packed up for use over the next couple of weeks. One Blackberry (which won’t be functional after we leave Vancouver until the day we come back), one MacBook Air, one iPad, one Nikon D90 DLSR, and one GoPro HD. Of course all of these come with separate chargers, lenses, flash, attachments, card reader, mouse, etc. And I’m not counting the gear Patricia’s got as well, though she takes a slightly more practical approach: an iPhone, an iPad and a nice compact Casio point-and-shoot camera. So a good chunk of getting ready for the next fourteen hours consisted of loading the iPads with movies/TV episodes and a couple of books, and making sure everything was charged up and ready to go.

But all the packing’s now done and we’ve made it as far as the Air Canada lounge here in Vancouver. Thanks to Patricia’s need to start the vacation as soon as possible we’re here almost 2 hours early … I don’t think I’ve ever been to an airport the early before a flight leaves. You can tell we complement each other quite nicely.

We’re boarding an Air Lufthansa flight for Frankfurt, then we have about a four hour wait for the connector to Venice. Don’t know if I’ll sleep on the plane or not (I usually don’t, even in business class), but I’ve got my gadgets to play with in any event.

The trip as planned

So it’s probably a good idea to outline our upcoming trip.

We (Patricia and I) leave on Monday from Vancouver to Frankfurt, then connect with a flight direct to Venice.  Although flights were included with the package we managed to convince the cruise company (for a fee) to move us over to Air Canada.  My “elite” status gets us a couple of privileges we’ll definitely take advantage of: 3 rather than 1 piece of free checked luggage, pre-boarding (which means we get our fair share of overhead luggage space), and of course access to the Maple Leaf lounges for that all important free pre-flight cocktail!

Once in Venice, we’ll be whisked (so I imagine) by the cruise company from Marco Polo airport over to the Molina Stucky Hilton hotel right on the waterfront in Venice.  The next day we’ll board the Seven Seas Mariner, a luxury cruise ship in the Regent Seven Seas Cruises line.  This is a first for me … though I’ve cruised 9 or 10 times before, they’ve all been on mainstream cruise lines Princess and Royal Caribbean.  Regent is an all-inclusive smaller luxury ship concept.  For example, the balcony staterooms on a Princess ship are typically 115 sq. ft.  By contrast our cabin on the Mariner is 300+ sq ft.

Although Patricia and I will be travelling solo from to Venice, we’ll be joining a larger group, including several friends.  Gary and Barb Miller are good friends from South Surrey, and tour coordinators/hosts Jim and Karen Bell are well-known by me from 2 previous fun-filled cruises through Australia/New Zealand, and last your around the British Isles.  It promises to be a great time.

Once aboard the Mariner we’ll spend an additional night in port, giving us some time to actually visit Vienna.  Although I’ve been many times in the past, this will be a first for Patricia so the day promises to be a good day of renewed exploration.

There’ll be lots of time to talk about the rest of the ports of call in the coming days, but here’s the planned itinerary:

May 13: Dubrovnik, Croatia

May 14: Kotor, Montenegro

May 15: Corfu, Greece

May 16: Taormina (Sicily), Italy

May 17: Amalfi/Positano, Italy

May 18: Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

May 19: Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy

May 20: Portofino, Italy

May 21: Monte Carlo, Monaco

Some ports I’ve visited before, but lots of new stops.  It’s going to be a great cruise!