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Mary and I boarded the boat, Nieuw Amsterdam, in Venice - not ship but boat for those in the know nautically. we arrived in Venice on a midnight flight from Prague via Barcelona (don't know who booked such a terrible itinerary but I'll never use them again!) stayed at a very clean, convenient and reasonably priced B & B; $75 is unheard of in Venice! Casa Gaia if you're interested, http://www.casagaia-venezia.com/dynalay.asp?PAGINA=5 checked in on the ship, oops! boat and then took a vaporetto to have a look at remarkable Venice for about 8 hours, not time enough for in-depth but a good cursory visit. one thing of note: noticeably fewer pigeons in Piazza San Marco ... and that's great! the next day we came to Dubrovnik Croatia. before the war in 1991, Dubrovnik was the only city with its ancient walls still intact completely around the city. now the damage from the war is repaired and the city wall is whole again; perhaps you can see in the picture below the difference in the red tiled roofs how the new roofs are brighter red. but the damage physically and emotionally men wreak on their fellow man is truly monstrous! on a lighter note: Dubrovnik is among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world and among the 10 best places in the world for a fairytale proposal on Valentine's Day! no proposal for me but then it wasn't February 14 either! guess there's always next year ... anyone? Agrostoli and Corfu: the miss-ables come along on the next 2 consecutive days. I say "miss-able" because even now as I write less than 2 weeks after I was there I can't remember anything distinguishable about them! these pictures are the best I could do, you decide: (though Agrostoli did have the biggest cactus I've ever seen, see below right, reaches the 2nd story roof!) and that pretty much sums up those 2 Greek islands: mis-able! Santorini just squeaks by the miss-able category. I'd seen such beautiful pictures of Santorini but the in-person look didn't live up to the images or perhaps I wasn't on the picturesque part of the island. a LOT of shops with lots of lovely jewelry. I bought a gold charm to add to the charms from other places I've visited, a charmingly charmed charm depicting the Parthenon which will keep Santorini in my memory. Santorini is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldara (pictured below) formed by the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. Etc etc ... if you're really interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini so I leave you for now with the red, white and blue flying on Greek Santorini ... see you at sea.
10 Comments
Karen Woosley
9/23/2012 08:09:56 am
Love your pictures and blogging
Clyde
9/23/2012 09:20:15 am
Very nice. Who took the photographs...just kidding, :).
Lynn Dell
9/23/2012 09:57:23 am
It is a wonder our paths didn't cross as we were in Croatia as well. I agree totally about Santorini - pretty but not much there except a lot of people and shops.
Vonell Huitt
9/23/2012 10:39:27 am
Great for relaxation, you make retirement a blast!
Mary
9/23/2012 08:13:32 pm
Your photos really capture the magic of th Mediterranean.
Sally Coletto
9/24/2012 12:26:34 am
Shirley, I love your blog. Keep those pictures coming. Sally
Karen Stevens
9/26/2012 11:48:23 pm
So glad we met on the "boat". It was a fun trip and I totally agree with you about Santorini...I was disappointed as well. 9/27/2012 02:53:17 am
Wow, that's a helluva big "boat," Shirley! Dubrovnik is on my list; sorry Santorini didn't live up to expectations. Getting excited about my departure for Italy on 18 Oct. C u in Firenze!
Lublin
9/27/2012 01:11:14 pm
Beautiful pictures. It must be nice place to visit :): Leave a Reply. |