**Trip of a Lifetime Review - Italy and Rhapsody of the Seas 9.16.2016**

[exbiologist]

Great stuff, neat itinerary. Love the food photos too

[nickjuly]

Love your review and all the photos. You have a beautiful smile. Makes me feel good thinking about cruising alone as my daughter is 17 so eventually will just be me going. Appreciate all your time putting the review together.

[JudyA01]

Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us.

 

Great review and photos.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Virtopia]

Happy Happy!!!

 

Love the shirt!

 

Thanks! I had a lot of people assume I was American which was slightly irritating. I have nothing against the US, but I'm proud of where I'm from so this shirt had to come out :D

[Virtopia]

Sorry for the delay, but let's get back to it, shall we?

 

I woke up to the last day of the cruise … booooo! Today was Zadar, Croatia. I didn’t have any specific plans for this port and we arrived in port at 10am, so I took my time getting up, did a bit more packing and then went to breakfast before getting off the ship. I had purchased the round trip transfer and the line to get on the transfer buses was long, so I stayed in the Windjammer for awhile until it cleared out and left the ship around 11:30am.

 

The transfer from the port took about 10 minutes. We were let off right near the sea organs. It’s interesting as it’s considered a musical instrument – when the waves crash against it, it makes a very nice melody. While I was there, I found my friends and we walked through the port for the rest of the day. It’s a beautiful town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

This was the only port where money had to be exchanged. Croatia’s currency is the Kuna. They advised us that some tourist places would take it and only give back kuna as change but some places would outright refuse. There were money exchange places all around – I believe 1 euro equaled about 7 kuna – but I didn’t feel exchanging money. Luckily for me, I was still able to enjoy my time spent in port due to my friends. We walked around for a bit of time, picked up some souvenirs and then went to a pastry shop for a snack. I also tasted a hot rum punch ... it was interesting, but tasty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't get enough of these cobblestone streets and alleyways!

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

My current phone screensaver - love this picture!

[Virtopia]

After walking around for a bit more, we headed back to the transfer and back to the ship. I still had some packing I wanted to do and didn’t want to leave it for later on in the evening, so after a bit of lunch, I went to do that. Afterwards, I got ready for dinner. I had plans to go to the dining room for my last night, but once again, opted for the Windjammer (they really impressed me this sailing) and spending time chatting to some memorable crew members. Unfortunately, I didn’t see my friends that night, but luckily we’ve already been in touch since being home. This night was so special to me – I finished a book that related to my life so much and it was fitting that it ended the last night of the cruise.

 

The sun rays of Zadar make me happy

 

 

 

This is a fitting picture for the last night of a cruise

[Virtopia]

I spent some time out on deck 5 before picking up my free picture and walking around the ship one last time. I had to go to bed early as I needed to do express walk off to catch my train to Milan in the morning.

 

Here are some random ship pictures taken throughout the cruise.

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

I'll end off here for the night. The review will be done by this weekend - Milan, Switzerland and Lake Como still left to go! Thanks again for all the nice comments and here's a teaser pic of what's to come ...

 

[critterchick]

I've just finished reading your trip report - fabulous! We love Rhapsody and have visited a few of the ports you did, but thank you for showing me how beautiful Greece is - we enjoyed Corfu but now I want to see more.

Once we were done walking around, we made our way to the tender line that was starting to get long. I got a prime seat for the journey back to the ship and got some great pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh, we will be on Le Lyrial for our Antarctica trip in January! Pretty girl!

Edited October 15, 2016 by critterchick

[aussielozzie18]

Stunning photos!

[Roofire]

Great commentary and pictures. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us all. :)

[dorts]

Hi...Zadar is one of my ports next year and it looks so lovely...you mentioned a transfer to the sea organ from the ship...how much was this?

 

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[Sammy Sailor]

Fabulous Review!!! Doing similar cruise in 1 year. I commend your independence, traveling alone. You made it sound so easy and carefree :)

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review, and nice photos.

[Virtopia]

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments. A month ago today I was just starting the cruise ... oh how I wish I was back there!

 

Let's continue, shall we?

 

I woke up bright and early on this day … the cruise may be over, but I still had a few stops to make before heading home. I had purchased my Italy train rides in the summer and this was the one I was most worried about. After I booked it, I realized I probably didn’t give myself enough time. The ship was scheduled to get back into Venice at 6:45am and my train to Milan was leaving Mestre train station at 8:32am. Now, depending on how the fast the ship cleared customs and the amount of people walking off, it would’ve been pretty easy to miss this train … but let me tell you how it went.

 

I left my cabin at about 7am when I heard the captain’s announcement that the ship had cleared customs. Since I was on deck 3, I dragged my stuff up to deck 4 … only then to be told anyone with heavier luggage would have to leave down on deck 1. Ok, no problem. Once I scanned off the Rhapsody for the last time (a tear almost fell!), I was literally in a taxi within 10 minutes. Yes, you read that right. Myself, along with the other walk offs, just dragged our stuff through an empty terminal until we got to a taxi stand. I quickly booked a ride to Mestre train station (35 euros … ouch!) and was there by 7:40am. Crisis averted.

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

My train came on time and I had spoiled myself with a first class ticket. It was just over 2 hours to Milan, so I spent it sleeping, writing and reading. I arrived around 11am and man, is the Milan train station a beauty. If I wasn’t so busy trying to keep my overweight luggage upright, I would’ve taken much more pictures than I did. After being turned around a bit, I found my hotel, Hotel Garda, which was a 3 minute walk from the train station. It was too early for check in, but I was able to unload my stuff and then in quick succession, I bought a City Sightseeing pass for the day. I also went back and took some pictures of the train station. This place is a prime people watching spot.

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

Milan, simply put, is a gorgeous city. Once I got on the bus and got a prime seat at the top, I couldn’t stop looking from side to side, making sure I didn’t miss anything. Of course, this is known as the fashion mecca of Italy and you could tell simply by the people walking on the street. These are just random gorgeous buildings.

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

Then, out of nowhere, we turn the corner and the main monument I wanted to see in Milan is in front of me … the Milan cathedral! I hopped off the bus quickly and began snapping from different spots. I can't even begin to describe the grandness so I won't try. From there, I made my way to it's neighbour, Galleria Victtorio Emanuele II, which is one of the world’s oldest shopping malls. Granted, I couldn't afford much in here, but I could’ve stayed here all day, it was just that beautiful … I know I’ve said that about pretty much everything, but I couldn’t help myself. I was also able to see La Scala, the opera house. This area of Milan is just magnificent.

 

What is that I see???

 

 

Wowzers!

 

 

[Virtopia]

 

 

 

 

 

[Virtopia]

This appeared to be a popular spot for wedding photos and it was a Monday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow to finish off the review, which includes the rest of my day in Milan, my hotel and my day in Lugano, Switzerland and Lake Como. I'll also give a quick summary of my thoughts on the entire trip (spoiler alert: I had the time of my life!)

 

Thanks for following along!

[Virtopia]