Hi everyone: I would have written sooner, but this first cruise on the ship was busier than expected!
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When our ship left Barcelona two
days ago, the Solstice had officially begun it's 6-week repositioning to
Australia. As we leave Europe, I'm thankful I was able to revisit two of
my favorite cities (Venice and Dubrovnik) and also to see one new one: Kotor,
Montenegro.
Venice, Italy (overnight): I first visited this mystical city 2 years
ago, but only briefly. This time, I was able to venture inside St.
Mark's Basilica and go up the Campanile beside it in St. Mark's Square.
The Basilica's gilded byzantine mosaics covering the interior of the domes were
impressive but I was most intrigued by the four gilded bronze horses above the
main entrance. The originals, which are
more than 2,000 years old, are displayed inside. Their detailing is incredible and they were
originally displayed in the Hippodrome in Istanbul, Turkey, which I have also
visited. They are pictured below, along
with a panoramic photo of the Grand Canal from observation deck of the 300 ft
Campanile next to St. Marks.
That
evening, I went for drinks with
Rasmus, one of the barbershop singers on-board who is part of the 2012
world champion group, Ringmasters (seriously, check them out online). In a
series of small world experiences, he ran into some people from Stockholm, and
I met two college guys from my hometown of Milwaukee who were studying in
England and Madrid, respectively, and happened to be in Venice. We also met a group of university students
from Denmark studying architecture, which made for a really fun night at the
pubs.
Kotor, Montenegro was much more visually stunning that I
ever expected. I spent the afternoon climbing
up the mountainside to the Castle of St. John, perched 1000 ft above the walled
city of Kotor. The views were stunning
and thankfully there was a guy selling bottled water at the top of the
trail! The “sail away” through the
fjords of Kotor was equally impressive.
In reminded me of both the Chilean Fjords of South America (but smaller
and without snow) and the fjords of Stockholm (but bigger). My favorite pictures are below.
Finally, we visited Dubrovnik, Croatia, which is arguably
the best-preserved walled city in the world.
If you ever visit, make sure to “walk the walls” which are about 5 km
long and give you great views of both the harbor and the city. I’d been there numerous times, but had yet to
take the cable-car to the hilltop above the city. The views of Dubrovnik and the neighboring
town of Cavtat were fantastic.
Up next: our ship will be in Egypt for 4 days, and then
visit Jordan (the home of Petra!) before spending 6 days at sea heading to
Dubai. Needless to say, I’m extremely
excited for what will certainly be a memorable experience in these places. :-)
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| The view above Dubrovnik, Croatia |
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| The view above Dubrovnik, Croatia |
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| 1000ft above Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Sail away- Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Sail away- Kotor, Montenegro |
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| The four gilded horses inside St. Marks Basilica |
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| Panoramic view of the Grand Canal in Venice (from the top of the Campanile) |
