Adventures on the Other Side of the World: Venice, Montenegro and Croatia

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. :-)