Split, Croatia

Arriving into Port, you see the wonderful mixture of Ancient and modern buildings that make up the second largest city in Croatia.  The beautiful Adriatic sea at its doorstep with the mountains as a backdrop makes a picturesque setting.

My best advice is to organise a private tour with locals to get an in-depth feel and understanding for this city. This way you basically have a one on one with the guide, and you are able to learn a lot more than the superficial history of the place.

We did have a fantastic guide Katija and the driver Igor who understood we wanted to know as much as possible in the limited time we had and wanted more than the standard tourist routes.

Our first destination was the Diocletian's Palace which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. We began the tour labyrinth of Subterranean tunnels of the palace that was built in the 4th Century for Emperor Diocletian. The Palace has quite an interesting history with so many changes through time with so many other countries claiming this port. Exploring the ruins that are mixed in with current buildings gives you a whole new perspective of how cities progress.

If you are into art, especially sculpture head towards the museum of the famous Croation artist Muzejlivana Mestrovica and view his sculptures. My favourite was the one entitled 'Pieta' which he did 2 years after the tragic suicide of his son.

If you want to try some authentic Croatian cuisine, there's a lovely seaside town called Omis that has a nice outdoor restaurant, next to a clear stream called Radmanove Mlinice, although a tad touristy it has good food and I'd recommend the mixed grilled plate, especially the Cevapcici!

And when you finish your delicious local cuisine, do as the locals, find a cool place and take a nap!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is well known as 'The Pearl of the Adriatic' a beautiful gem of a city. A walled city that once rivalled Venice as a maritime trading centre. Walking along the wall, seeing all the architecture and watching the way of life of this bustling tourist city.

There's so much to see in Dubrovnik, and you can spend lots of time just wandering around this beautiful city. Stunning views that can give you a feeling of peace, you can enjoy the hustle and bustle of a busy city, it's a great tourist destination.

        

We decided to get a quick dinner before boarding the ship. The last bus was leaving the centre square at 8:30 pm to return us to the ship, so we headed out for an early dinner. We found this excellent restaurant between the lanes that served regional fare. Enjoying the meal and wine, we realised the time went faster than anticipated. We quickly paid our bill and were just in time for the last bus, but there was no bus to be seen. We looked around and realised that the last bus had left without us. We decided that we need to quickly catch a taxi back to the ship. We joked that we need to take the taxi all the way to the next destination in Split. As we watched ships leaving port, we were fortunate that ours was the last to leave, and as we boarded the ship closed the doors, and the ship prepared to depart. A close one!

Well, it just shows that a good time in a beautiful city makes time fly by. There is always time to enjoy food, wine & friends. Here is another city we need to make a return visit to. Its great to get a taste of the places so you know which you would like to see and explore further.









So much to see in Dubrovnik but even better when shared with friends!

Kotor, Montenegro

Located along one of World’s most beautiful bays is Kotor, a city known for traders and famous sailors.

The Old City of Kotor is typical of the Middle Ages; it is well-preserved urbanisation, built between the 12th and 14th century. Medieval architecture and numerous monuments of cultural heritage have made Kotor a UNESCO listed “World Natural and Historical Heritage Site”.

Through the entire city, the buildings are crisscrossed with narrow streets and squares. One of these squares contains the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon (Sveti Tripun), a monument of Roman culture and one of the most recognisable symbols of the city. It should be on your must-see list.

Unfortunately, it was a short visit here at Kotor, and we got a rain day, but that doesn't stop the sightseeing. The beautiful buildings are great to visit, shopping is good too, value for money here. The cheapest coffee of the trip 2.50 Euro. It didn't take long to tour the township and not being on a tour we just moseyed along and enjoyed the morning.

There are lots of sightseers with Tourism being the prime income source in Kotor. Enjoying the sights, we finally got fed up of the rain and decided to find somewhere for lunch and to enjoy the afternoon indoors.

We found a lovely restaurant that had a good menu, a glass of wine and a fabulous view. A great way to spend a rainy afternoon when on limited time from the ship.

I would like to return here to actually spend some time and discover more of Kotor. It's always good to have places you can return to and know you want to explore more.

Santorini & Paros, Greece

Our next port of call was Paros, we had a short visit so again we opted for the beach. We were taken to Christi Arti, the longest golden beach in Greece, a whopping 750 metres of sand! It's also the national windsurfing competition beach. We were told that the winds are prevalent in July/August and our day was unseasonably calm, therefore no windsurfers and a relaxed day at the beach.

We explored the port on foot, as you do, with it being a rather small town the area to discover was limited.  Other than the church with the 100 doors and its history, the township itself, which is a very quaint fishing village, there's not a huge amount to see. With the temperature sweltering, we chose to enjoy a local meal of saganaki, tzatziki and souvlaki with local wine and passed the afternoon away by the sea, chatting with the locals. You learn a lot more about a place when you chat with the local residents. They tend to tell you what it's like to live in their town and its history from their point of view.
We finished with a leisurely trip back to the ship to relax before dinner at one of the fabulous speciality dining restaurants on board and watched as we set sail for Santorini.

Santorini is as you would see on every travel brochure, picture perfect views. We opted to take the cable car up instead of walking or riding the mules up those long steps in the hot sun. A very wise choice in my book. The town itself has it's good and bad points, very touristy based foods and souvenir sellers everywhere you look.  It took us quite some time actually to find a local, regional Greek taverna, where we could experience the regional food prepared for the locals. Well worth the effort, as we enjoyed the fish, salads cheese and wine of the area.

Views from the top are spectacular and its lovely to sit and enjoy a cold drink taking in the scenery. The town is very picturesque and I particularly wish it was less touristy but understand how their economy is driven.
Still a beautiful place to visit and admire the spectacular views over the sea, the buildings along the cliff and the way of life of the locals.