Greece and Adriatic 2024

 We overnighted in Corfu and when we woke and set out for our walk on the promenade deck we found a P&O ship docking next to us and MSC Explora I behind us with a Virgin ship next to it. After breakfast as the ship head off to Sarandë we called Chris, Bernie and Percy to have a chat. We showed Percy the model of the ship which kept him interested until he wanted to make us a coffee (an rock) and hot chocolate (a stick). Once we docked in Sarandë we set off for our excursion that took us to an old ruined castle, a ruined monastery and a stop at a restaurant to have local cheese and snacks with wine or beer and watch some traditional Albanian singing and dancing. Two of the 700,000 bunkers built throughout Albania during the Hoxhaist era (Dictatorship) View from the top of the castle View in other direction from castle Happy tourists on the bus Icons on the screen with murals on the wall behind the screen Church of St Nickolas - Mesopotamia in the grounds of the mostly destroyed ...

When we went outside in the morning we found we were docked next to the huge Norwegian Escape.  We walked into the old town passing the New Fortress and wandering through the maze of streets filled with tourist shops. The new fort built between 1815-63 Plaque of Venetian lion on New fortresses wall The opposite side of the New Fortress After wandering around the town and seeing a cricket match taking place in the green next to all the restaurants we headed to the Old Fortress originally built in the 6th Century. Even though there was a long line we decided to line up for tickets to enter.  Hill within the Old Fortress with lighthouse on top As we entered we saw there was a cafe on the grounds so had a break before continuing our journey. In hindsight this was probably a bad idea as the clouds started to roll in while we were walking up to the lighthouse. We had a great view from the top and could see the ship in the distance and it was raining heavily there. We quickly made ou...

We had a great day in Dubrovnik. Our tour started with a trip up the cable car 🚠 to view the city from above.   Walk of shame steps from Game of thrones  We will update with more details when time permits 

 We docked at our emergency port of Split which is a port we were supposed to visit when we booked our trip but they changed the itinerary. After breakfast we set off walking into the Diocletian Palace. Eastern, silver gate North, Gold gate Underground in Diocletian’s Palace where Daenerys kept her dragons in season 4 of Game of Thrones  We wandered around the old town seeing mosaics from the Roman times and went to the museum in the Diocletian’s cellar. We listened to the acapella choir sing traditional Dalmation tunes Temple of Jupiter that was converted into a church  Shortest and Narrowest street in Europe  One of the many “original” thrones  Ready for Orange night and sail away from Split On the back deck for sail away

When we woke, we decided to put the TV on to look at the bow cam. We noticed we were not in Trieste, But couldn’t work out where we were. We decided to go for a walk around the promenade deck. It was very windy and raining on one side of the ship. As we went inside, the captain made another announcement to say that it had been too dangerous to dock in Trieste. So unfortunately, we were having to have a sea day heading to Hvar.   We spent the day playing canasta and having a few drinks with Veronica and Steven. When the captain made his evening announcement, it had been decided it was too dangerous to port in Hvar because it was a tender port. So the port for the next day was going to be Split instead.  Smokey Boulevardier

 We woke up in Zadar and went up to the top deck to take a look at the port. We met Veronica and Steven in the Lido for breakfast and then walked off the ship catch a shuttle bus into the city.  Sea organ The shuttle bus dropped us off just near the sea organ which was playing a loud tune as the water was quite choppy. Next we walk towards the forum which is the main square that has some Roman ruins. The huge church on the edge of the forum called Saint Donatus has many fallen columns and marble slabs in  foundations. We made it inside before the lady was there to collect the €3.50 fee. It is in quite a state of disrepair. We wondered around the streets and stopped in at the shop to purchase a Croatian flag. We also stopped at a little cafe bar and bought coffee and hot chocolate. We tried to find the Spinx which was the site of a grave but stumbled upon one of the city gates instead. We split up with Steven here and Veronica David and I decided to walk around the city wa...