Review of Azamara Journey Adriatic Wonders cruise October 6, 2022

[Host Jazzbeau]

01 Introduction

 

This is a blog and review of the Jazzbeaux Adriatic Wonders cruise on Azamara Journey from October 6 to 18, 2022.

 

We flew from JFK to Venice on Delta, spent a night in Padua, then cruised from Ravenna to Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro [& Bosnia-Hercegovina], and Greece, and took a private tour to Delphi and Meteora before flying back from Athens.

 

During the trip, Jazzbelle kept detailed notes and I [Jazzbeau] took lots of pictures.  After returning home, I revised the notes to remove names [to protect the guilty, as they say…] and put it in my voice to avoid confusion.  Jazzbelle became ‘DW’ in internet parlance [‘Dear Wife’].

 

Planning for this trip was both easy and complicated.  Easy because Azamara’s promotion for this cruise provided a huge amount of OnBoard Credit (OBC) so we were forced to take Azamara shore excursions in every port.  Complicated because the cruise originally started in Venice; then when Venice banned cruise ships it took Azamara quite a while to figure out where they could go, so I made alternate plans for Venice (hope springs eternal), Trieste, and finally Padua & Ravenna.

 

The combination of so many countries and some very small ports required an unusually large number of travel books even for background planning.  I used Rick Steves Venice (2019) for Padua & Ravenna; Rick Steves Croatia & Slovenia (2020) for most of the ports; Rick Steves Scandinavian & Mediterranean Cruise Ports (2019) for Corfu; and Rick Steves Greece (2020) for Delphi [Rick doesn’t cover Meteora]; as well as Trip Advisor [www.tripadvisor.com] and, of course, Cruise Critic [www.cruisecritic.com].

 

What follows is a day-by-day account of the trip, with a selection of pictures, followed by a Conclusion with our review of Azamara Journey.

 

Enjoy!

 

And if you found this blog directly, here’s a link to all our other travel blogs: jazzbeauxblogs.wordpress.com

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

02 Tuesday October 4, 2022 – On the Road Again

 

Weather was far from pleasant—dreary, chilly at 50, rainy.

 

The limo picked us up at 3:00 and the car was loaded and we were on the road by 3:10.

 

Unfortunately, the driver seemed to have some sort of upper respiratory infection (he claimed it was his reaction to the AC) as he coughed, cleared his throat, sniffled for over an hour as he drove us to JFK in heavy traffic.  DW put on her mask, but I didn’t have one easily available so I just worried the whole time.

 

Upon arriving at the airport, DW went through her large bag and unearthed Zicam.  We both took the first dose, masked up and headed for baggage check.  [It was ok – we didn’t get sick.  But a good story has to include some drama…]

 

Baggage checked quickly, and we breezed through security too.  We walked down to the Centurion Lounge and grabbed our usual table for two.  We had some of the chicken shawarma and arugula/raspberry salad and apple crumb cake.  I also tried some of the creamy orecchiette.  We left in plenty of time to walk to our departure gate and made it there about five minutes before they called our group for boarding.  We were flying a Delta 767-300 (ship #1603).  Although the pilot pulled away from the gate on time, we did not get airborne until 40 minutes later.

 

But that was the least of our complaints.  It was a noisy plane.  It creaked, it moaned.  We couldn’t hear one another talk.  The seat did minimal reclining and DW could not get her foot rest to retract.  The worst was that there were electrical issues.  The cabin lights flickered on and off, as did the overhead reading lights.  Try reading the WSJ with that.  Moreover, the video system didn’t work and the flight tracker never booted, so there was nothing to watch or listen to for the first 6 hours!

 

We were not thrilled with the food either.  Instead of a small bag of pretzels, we were offered a surprise: cheese with chives.  The sous vide chicken was tender and it was surrounded by grilled ratatouille, capers, stewed tomatoes.  There was no rice or potato accompaniment.  There was a chick pea salad.  And a small container of caramel speculoos ice cream.  Different but very nice.  Breakfast was sort of an Egg McMuffin—soggy muffin with hard-cooked fried egg and cheese.

 

Happy to report there were no screaming toddlers this time!

 

I tried sleeping without much success.  DW read that day’s paper with great difficulty because of the erratic lighting and did several Sudoku puzzles.  Getting drowsy, she was finally able to catch a couple of hours of shuteye.

 

Not Delta’s best effort.

 

On the up side, we viewed and took photos of rosy fingered dawn and landed in Venice smoothly and on time.

 

Rosy-fingered Dawn illumines the ...

 

Mountains approaching Venice

 

View from airplane approaching Venice

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

03 Wednesday October 5, 2022 – Padua (Padova), Italy

 

We got through Passport Control without a hitch and our luggage was among the first off the carousel.  Our driver was waiting for us and we had a most comfortable 40 minute ride in his Audi wagon to the Majestic Toscanelli hotel in Padua.  We were there just after 10:30 and our room was ready 45 minutes later.  We got our act together and took no time for a nap (sigh!).  Weather was partly cloudy and in the low 70s.

 

We headed out and walked to the Giardini dell’Arena where we entered the Musei Civici Eremitani to pick up our reserved Biglietto Unico/Urbs Picta Card (UPC), a 48-hour combo ticket that included unlimited tram rides and free admission to all the sights we wanted to see.

 

We started with that museum [DW had to check her handbag] and saw icons and other period oil portraits before we went up to the Pinacoteca for the Giotto crucifix, a large Franciscan cross.  We got down on our knees to get a better perspective and a fuller 3D effect.  Gratefully, we helped each other to get back up!  In one of the rooms, DW picked a chair and slept for 15 minutes.  Much needed!

 

We toddled over to our timed entry to the Scrovegni Chapel.  It was built in the very early 1300s out of guilt by the younger Scrovegni who was trying to buy his father’s way into heaven.  Pop was a usurer, and the Church refused him a Christian burial.

 

Wallpapered with Giotto’s beautifully preserved cycle of nearly 40 frescoes, the chapel holds scenes depicting the lives of Jesus and Mary.  To protect the chapel from excessive humidity, only 25 people are allowed in the chapel at a time.  Every 20 minutes a new group is admitted.  The time flies and before you know it an alarm sounds for your time to exit.

 

After retrieving DW’s purse we left the garden and boarded a crowded, smelly tram.  We only had three stops to go before our next destination: the Basilica of St. Anthony where the beloved Franciscan saint is buried.  He died at age 36.  He was a strong speaker and was known for his miracles.  The huge church is constructed in a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles with Byzantine-type domes.  There is a special shrine inside where St. Anthony is entombed, a museum, side altars, and cloisters.  [After the difficulty in getting my lost camera back from the Seine river cruise in the spring, I felt I owed St. Anthony big time so I was grateful to be able to thank him in person!]

 

Back to the tram and we reversed our direction for two stops.  It was much less crowded.  We got off near the University of Padua and saw the Caffè Pedrocchi from the outside (there was a red barrier across the entrance).  We meandered down the street and found Gnam Gnam, a gelateria biologica.  We couldn’t resist and each got medium cups [really too big for DW – the gelato was piled high up above the top of the small cup!] caffè flavor for DW and caramel cream for me.  We sat at a table on the piazza and indulged.

 

All that sugar and caffèine gave DW a needed boost and off we went to the Palazzo della Ragione where we climbed a long flight of stairs to the second level to view the great hall (265’ by 90’) decorated originally with Giotto frescoes which a fire destroyed and later renovated with those of artists from the 15th century.  There are 333 depicting the signs of the zodiac, labors of the month, 12 apostles, favorite saints.  The biggest thing in this big hall is the giant wooden horse.  There is also a Foucault pendulum and the Stone of Shame for debtors [which St. Anthony devised as a compassionate alternative to the death penalty, although the punishment did include exile from the city-state].

 

We were planning to finish up our day with a quick visit to the Duomo’s baptistery.  As we didn’t see the entrance, we wandered into the Duomo itself [which Rick Steves had labeled ‘skippable’ – it turned out to be DW’s favorite spot after Gnam Gnam (only kidding)].

 

We walked in and a worker was just finished washing and waxing the huge marble floor in this bright, light temple of God.  This is our kind of church with simpler décor and light to see it and less distraction from the focal point of the altar.  We were drawn to the sanctuary.  The altar is a huge rectangular slab of white marble resting on the reclining bodies of several angels.

 

A man was checking the lectionary for the daily readings and sensed our interest.  He began telling us of the history of the newer statuary, which was installed around 20 years ago.  He pointed to the very modern life-size crucifix hanging behind the altar: a combination of death and resurrection.  DW asked if he was the deacon.  “No, I am the parish priest.”  She apologized and inquired about Mass times.  He then directed us to the Baptistery entrance/ticket office.  We made it there in time to sign up for the last tour at 5:30.  We had plenty of time to browse through the books for sale and to sit and relax a bit.  The tour was thorough and lasted about 40 minutes.  More frescoes!

 

We decided to return to the Duomo for the 6:30 Mass.  There were 15 of us in attendance and the celebrants were ourpriest and another younger one.

 

We then walked to a restaurant to make a reservation for later that evening.  The fellow in charge basically told us, “It’s now or never.”  We opted for now.  I had a baby octopus chopped salad and DW a green one.  Then I had baby squid tagliatelle and DW a non-red lasagnetta with prosciutto and broccoli.  A very nice dinner.

 

Back to the hotel [following DW’s sense of direction].  Time to rest after a very full day!

 

We both slept well and were surprised when the alarm went off in the morning.

 

01 Padova – Caffe Pedrocchi

 

02 Padova – Risorgimento Museum

 

03 Padova – Giotto Crucifix

 

04 Padova – Scrovegni Chapel

 

05 Padova – Scrovegni Chapel – Last Supper

 

06 Padova – Scrovegni Chapel – Last Judgment

 

07 Padova – Basilica of St. Anthony – St. Anthony's Tomb

 

08 Padova – Basilica of St. Anthony – Chapel of St. James

 

09 Padova – Basilica of St. Anthony – Chapel of Reliquaries

 

10 Padova – Palazzo della Ragione

 

11 Padova – Palazzo della Ragione

 

12 Padova – Palazzo della Ragione – Stone of Shame

 

13 Padova – Palazzo della Ragione – Loggia

 

14 Padova – Duomo

 

15 Padova – Duomo

 

16 Padova – Duomo

 

17 Padova – Duomo

 

18 Padova – Duomo

 

19 Padova – Baptistery

 

20 Padova – Baptistery

 

21 Padova – Baptistery

 

22 Padova – Baptistery

 

23 Padova – Baptistery

[Host Jazzbeau]

04 Thursday October 6, 2022 – Ravenna, Italy and Embarkation

 

Our buffet breakfast up on the mezzanine was included in our room rate.  We got our suitcases repacked (we had cross packed for the flight), checked out at 11 and got into our hired car, a Mercedes van [not as luxurious as the Mercedes vehicles we are used to in the US].  He navigated through the narrow old town streets of Padua and soon we were on the highway.  DW took the two hour ride as an opportunity to nap.  I surfed on my phone [thanks to T-Mobile’s free international data].

 

We arrived in Ravenna just before 1:30 and got priority treatment as suite passengers.  By 1:45 we were boarding Azamara Journey and taken to our small muster drill.  [The non-suite passengers who had arrived before us were right on our heels.]

 

We then made our way to our suite (7114) and its large veranda with a table and four chairs, an ottoman chair and two big cushioned lounge chairs.  We had had this same layout when we did our Costa Rica cruise on the Quest.  So spacious and well appointed!

 

This is a true suite, with a large separate bedroom with so much closet and drawer space that we never even opened some of them!  Upon entering the suite, there is a large living room with sofa bed and a dining area with round table and 4 arm chairs, more closets and cabinets, a stocked mini fridge (no extra charges) and fresh cut flowers (Gerbera daisies) on the table.

 

For our eating pleasure there was a tray of assorted cheeses and crackers plus one of fresh cut fruit, along with Perrier Jouet champagne chilling in a bucket.  Our cabin attendant brought our luggage and introduced himself as Mark.

 

Later our butler Aman came by.  He asked us to choose liquor from a menu, but I said that I only drink gin and neither of the house brands appealed.  He asked what I like and I said “Hendrick’s.”  The next day I had a full liter of Hendrick’s in the suite!

 

We went to lunch up on deck 9 at the Windows Café buffet.  We each had a mini quiche and a phyllo wrapped small rollup of Feta cheese.  I also had a small roast beef sandwich with horseradish and DW went for Greek salad and roasted veggies.  She had Baklava for dessert while I had a tiny French custard tart with mango and kiwi.

 

I tried making reservations for the Chef’s Tables but they were already all closed out.  [Note to self:  sign up for the Chef’s Table before having lunch!]  When I signed up for the Connoisseurs Wine Pacakge I mentioned it to the head sommelier, Silas.  Later Silas called to say that he had managed to get us into the Chef’s French Table for tomorrow night.  Go, Silas!

 

We unpacked and DW pressed several items of clothing which had creased in the journey across the pond.  Then it was time to head to the Drawing Room [formerly called the Library] on deck 10 for a Cruise Critic meet & greet.  Perhaps a dozen people showed up.  Too bad as Azamara provided champagne and canapés.  One of the couples who did show happened to sit next to us at dinner.  And another chatted with us later after the evening show.

 

Before going to Discoveries (main DR) for dinner, we stopped at the Shore Excursions desk to check on a new tour.  We talked it over and I went back and asked if we could substitute it for a cave tour we had previously booked.  [DW doesn’t like caves, and this one mentioned slippery steps going down into it.]  The helpful Shorex representative suggested waiting to cancel the original tour until they got enough people to make sure the new tour would run.

 

For dinner we both ordered the Grigliata Mista (mixed grill of scallops, shrimp, calamari and white fish with Portuguese potato).  Very nice and light!  DW had a mixed green salad (and even though she requested no onions, there they were) and I had escargots.  For dessert, DW had the dark chocolate ganache with raspberry (yummy but rich) and I had Crostata Ricotta e Visciole (cherry and ricotta cheesecake).

 

We hustled off to the show: A Night at the (Italian) Opera with David Righeschi and Maria Salvani.  A full hour of arias and a couple of sing alongs.  [We later learned that they are Azamara crowd favorites and are often brought on to cruises out of Venice.]

 

DW walked a mile and a half in the corridor.

[Host Jazzbeau]

05 Friday October 7, 2022 – Ravenna, Italy

 

Foggy, but it burned off by 9:00.

 

DW had breakfast in Windows.  I had blueberry pancakes in Aqualina [a specialty restaurant, available to suite guests for breakfast – quiet and with a higher-end menu even at breakfast].

 

We caught the 10:30 free shuttle bus into Ravenna.  Took 20 minutes.

 

I had the day all planned and timed since some of our admission tickets were for certain slots.

 

Two days ago we had tracked down the frescoes of Padua.  Today it was the mosaics of Ravenna.

 

Not realizing how close we were, we walked past the turnoff to the Arian Baptistery.  Just as well since an entire class of high school age kids were there and crammed into the small octagonal building.  Built during the reign of the Goths (c. 526), it marks the center of their Arian-heresy Christian faith.  The mosaic-covered dome shows Christ standing waist-deep in the River Jordan, being baptized by John the B. as the dove of the Holy Spirit descends.  The muscular man on the left personifies the River Jordan.  The mosaic stresses Christ’s human rather than divine nature.  [The Arians denied that Jesus was fully divine.]

 

We walked through the Piazza del Popolo, a square that has City Hall and police headquarters plus sidewalk cafes and shops.  It was being set up for an evening show featuring a comedian.

 

We had tickets for the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia with the oldest – and, to many, the most precious – mosaics in Ravenna.  95% are original, dating from the late Roman period.  It was designed to be the burial place of the daughter, sister and mother of emperors but that never happened.  It was likely used later by Christian leaders but the three sarcophagi stand empty today.

 

The dome is filled with mosaic stars along with the signs of the evangelists. Because the floor was raised about four feet over the years, the mosaics are closer to eye level than originally and you can really appreciate the beauty and richness of the designs.  It is almost like looking at the texture of a beautifully designed Oriental carpet.

 

Next door was the Basilica di San Vitale whose 1400 year old sanctuary is covered with lavish mosaics: gold and glass chips the size of a fingernail.  The message conveyed by them is: “This sense of peace and stability was brought to you by your emperor and God.” 

 

We made our way several blocks away to the Neonian Baptistery or the Baptistery of the Orthodox.  This octagonal space dates from around 400AD.  Here the mosaic in the dome over the immersion font depicts JB baptizing Christ with a small personification of River Jordan looking on.  It is a mature, fully developed Christ.  And He is clearly divine.

 

We then went next door to the Archiepiscopal Museum which contains the 6th century Chapel of Sant’Andrea with a mosaic showing Christ as a religious warrior, stepping triumphantly on a lion and a snake and carrying the cross as if it were a weapon.  There are other rich mosaics plus two frescoes.  In the next room is a Byzantine ivory throne decorated with intricate scenes from the life of Christ.

 

Unfortunately, the Duomo was closed for lunch/siesta for several hours in the early afternoon.  And we couldn’t find the Giardino Rasponi that Rick Steves says has a great view of the cathedral.  [But with so many great sights in this city, they weren’t missed.]

 

As DW was starving, we made our way back thanks to my map reading skills to the Piazza del Popolo and down a side street to Papilla Gelato for lunch.  I had pistachio and DW caffè.  Yum!  Satisfying!  [Gelato makes a perfect lunch:  rich, creamy, satisfying, and takes no time at all!]

 

Now onto Dante’s Tomb where his bones are actually buried.  They got bounced around and hidden for a time in a grassy mound nearby – so that the Florentines couldn’t claim them, once they decided they shouldn’t have exiled the famous author for his political beliefs!

 

Our next site was the Basilica di San Francesco where the highlight is the flooded mosaic-covered crypt below the main altar.  Today’s water table is about 3 feet above the Roman crypt’s floor level—so there’s a pond with goldfish over the 5th century mosaics (someone has to insert a 1 Euro coin to turn on the light).  The interior is simple and Franciscan.  The altar features a 4th century Christian sarcophagus with Jesus in the center surrounded by the 12 apostles.

 

The final stop was at the Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, an austere 6th century church with a typical early Christian basilica floor plan. The overly Baroque altar from 1000 years later seem out of place.  The highlight of the church is the mosaics along both sides of the long nave.  The left side is a procession of haloed virgins, each bringing gifts to the Madonna and the Christ Child with the three wise men at the head of the queue.  Opposite, Christ is on His throne with four angels, awaiting a solemn procession of 26 martyrs.  At the far end on each side were images of Arian kings and figures that were replaced by mosaic curtains after Justinian brought Ravenna back into orthodoxy.

 

A full day of sightseeing!  We caught the 4:00 shuttle back to the ship and arrived by 4:30.

 

Big night!  Chef’s French Table!  Six courses with special wine pairings.  (1) Lobster salad with green asparagus parfait & Bacardi caviar [accompanied by Domaines Barons de Rothschild Reserve Speciale, Bordeaux, 2020];  (2) Beef consommé with caramelized onions and baguette toast [Michel Redde, Pouilly-Fumé, Loire, 2019];  (3) Quenelle de Volaille (chicken jus, crayfish, morel mushroom, crème de volaille) [Bouchard Pere & Fils, Pinot Noir, Pommard, 2016]; (intermezzo) Pomegranate Rose Wine Granite (palate cleanser); (4) Fillet of Mediterranean Sea bass [Laboure-Roi, Pouilly-Fuissé, Cote d’Or, 2021] or  Filet of Beef Aux Herbes de Province [Chateau Mont Redon, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone, 2016]; (5) Selection of Cheeses [Taylor Fladgate Tawny 10 yr. old Port, Douro Valley, Portugal]; (6) Fondant au Citron (meringue, raspberry mousse & red cherry crème glacée) [Chateau Pineau du Rey, Sauternes, Bordeaux, 2012].

 

01 Ravenna – Arian Baptistery

 

02 Ravenna – Arian Baptistery

 

03 Ravenna – Piazza del Popolo

 

04 Ravenna – Galla Placidia

 

05 Ravenna – Galla Placidia – Alabaster Window

 

06 Ravenna – Galla Placidia

 

07 Ravenna – Galla Placidia – Good Shepherd

 

08 Ravenna – Galla Placidia

 

09 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

10 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

11 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

12 Ravenna – San Vitale – Justinian

 

13 Ravenna – San Vitale – Theodora

 

14 Ravenna – San Vitale – Labyrinth

 

15 Ravenna – San Vitale – Ceiling

 

16 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

17 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

18 Ravenna – San Vitale

 

19 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery

 

20 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery

 

21 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery

 

22 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery – Porphyry

 

23 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery – Prophets

 

24 Ravenna – Neonian Baptistery

 

25 Ravenna – Archiepiscopal Museum – Christ as Warrior

 

26 Ravenna – Archiepiscopal Museum

 

27 Ravenna – Archiepiscopal Museum

 

28 Ravenna – Archiepiscopal Museum – Byzantine Ivory Throne

 

29 Ravenna – Duomo

 

30 Ravenna – Tomb of Dante

 

31 Ravenna – Hanging Fence

 

32 Ravenna – Mound (Hiding Place)

 

33 Ravenna – Basilica di San Francesco

 

34 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

 

35 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

 

36 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Civi Classis

 

37 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Virgins

 

38 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Three Wise Men & Mary

 

39 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Jesus on Throne

 

40 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Martyrs

 

41 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Palatium

 

42 Ravenna – Sant'Apollinare Nuovo – Arian hand

[Host Jazzbeau]

06 Saturday October 8, 2022 – Koper, Slovenia for Lake Bled

 

All four Azamara ships gathered in the harbor of Koper, Slovenia – waiting for pilot boats to get them into the docks to be lined up one after the other.  Journey, Quest, Pursuit, Onward.  [They had originally all been scheduled to dock at 8 am, but there weren’t enough pilots!  The delay gave Azamara marketing the opportunity to get some great drone photos.]

 

DW ate breakfast in Windows.  I went to Aqualina for the best Eggs Benedict.

 

We met in the Cabaret Lounge for our bus tour to Lake Bled.  Because of road work, it took almost three hours to get there.  We took a traditional wooden pletna boat from the shore of the lake over to a small island with a church reached by climbing almost 100 steps.  [Hard enough for us, but at weddings the groom is expected to carry his bribe all the way up!  Shows great trust on the bride’s part…]

 

Then we returned to shore and our buses to go to lunch at an outdoor café.  Fixed menu of tossed salad, chicken broth with thin noodles, grilled chicken pieces with potatoes and mixed veggies and the famous local delicacy, Slovenian cream cake [it will never replace the Swedish dessert called Kladkaka].

 

We got to walk some around the lake but had to be back on our bus at 4:00.  On the drive to the restaurant we had seen some strange patterns of floats in the quiet end of the lake – only when we got to the head of the lake did the patterns resolve and show these were rowing lanes for the world famous Lake Bled rowing centre!

 

We were back to Journey by 6:30 in plenty of time to get to our 8:00 dinner reservation in Prime Cut, the steak-focused specialty restaurant.  We had a great waitress, Shinapa from Thailand.  DW ordered a mixed salad, Steak Diane, Brussels sprouts, steamed broccoli, coconut gelato and praline gelato.  I got Korean fried chicken, bleu cheese soufflé, rack of lamb, sautéed mushrooms, orange crème brûlée, praline gelato.

 

DW walked.

 

01 Azamara Ships in Koper

 

 

02 Lake Bled – Bled Castle

 

 

03 Lake Bled – Bled Castle

 

 

04 Lake Bled – Bled Castle

 

 

05 Lake Bled - Bled Island

 

 

06 Lake Bled - Bled Island

 

 

07 Lake Bled - Pletna

 

 

08 Lake Bled - Bled Island

 

 

09 Jazzbeaux at Lake Bled

 

 

10 Lake Bled

 

 

11 Lake Bled – Rowing Lanes

Edited January 3, 2023 by Host Jazzbeau
added picture of 4 ships

[Host Jazzbeau]

07 Sunday October 9, 2022 – Pula, Croatia for Rovinj

 

Early morning!  We were both eating breakfast in Windows before 7 am, because we had to gather in the Cabaret Lounge by 8:15 for our guided tour of Rovinj, Croatia.  We were fortunate to have favorable weather again.

 

Journey had to anchor out in the harbor and we had a short, smooth tender ride to Pula’s port.  Our guide, Karla, met us as we disembarked and led us to our coach for a 30-45 minute ride to Rovinj.  Of course, DW napped [she gets her best sleep time on buses].

 

During the ride, Karla told us that Istria is the biggest peninsula in Croatia and that it actually had been part of Italy till the end of WWII.  That is why many signs are in Croatian and Italian and many residents are bilingual.  Pula is the biggest town in Istria with a population of 60,000 and Rovinj has 25,000.  [DW didn’t sleep all that deeply this time, or she wouldn’t have remembered all that!]

 

As we rode along, Karla pointed out how rocky the countryside is, which makes it impossible to grow grains – but it does not inhibit the cultivation of olive trees and grape vines.  We passed small huts fashioned with rocks and built in the style of dry walls.  They are called kazuni.  The winters produce little snow but lots of wind.

 

The bus got us as far into the town as he was allowed and we walked a total of two miles throughout Rovinj’s tangled streets and bustling squares.  Farmers’ markets were in full swing and other merchants were selling their wares.  Outdoor cafes dominated the space in the public areas.

 

Recessed between buildings was the town gate aka the Barbi Arch.  One of the nearby buildings is the oldest hotel in town, the Adriatic, which has been updated recently.

 

Karla led us past the square and towards the water to see a batana, a small, flat bottom wooden boat still used by local fisherman.  These small wooden sailing vessels have been masterfully built by Rovinj craftsman for decades.  They are integral to local life and present a fascinating look at the fishing heritage passed down from generation to generation.  We also visited the eco-museum dedicated to these batanas.  It is the only museum in the Mediterranean devoted to fishing boats.  They got their name from the sound of the waves slapping the walls of the village.

 

We continued walking uphill on worn and highly polished cobblestones between colorful buildings [it reminded DW of Bermuda and the bright pastels].

 

We stopped to look out and down at the Adriatic.  Near shore, it was so clear you could see the rocks in the bottom and farther out it was a beautiful aquamarine.

 

We got to the top where the towering steeple of the Church of St. Eufemia (she was a martyr) dominates all other architecture.  This is where we left the tour group to attend 10:30 Mass and then stayed a bit to explore the interior of the church before a baptism was to take place.  On top of the steeple is a large statue of the saint which was designed as a weather vane.  [She wouldn’t bow to Ares, but she knows which way the wind blows!]

 

Interesting sidebar: we needed to avail ourselves of a WC before Mass and there was one right below the church.  There was an attendant to whom we tried to give two .50 Euro coins.  He refused and requested, “One Euro.”  He was adamant about not taking the half Euros, and he finally explained that the bank would not accept them from him.  It seems that even though Croatia is part of the EU, they still use krona, that is, until January 1, 2023 when they will switch to the Euro [coincidentally the date this blog is finally ready for publication!].  I finally gave him a 20 Euro note and he made change.  [Ironically, we had made an effort to obtain .50 Euro coins because we thought it would be an imposition to expect change from a 20!]  Anyway, what a relief it was when he finally took our money!

 

After Mass, we carefully made our way down those smooth cobblestones and were at the meeting place (Tito Square) before noon.  We waited and waited and no one else showed up.

 

DW went searching for familiar faces among the café crowd and found two women she recognized.  One agreed that we were to meet at noon, but the other said 12:30.  It turned out that Karla had decided to give everyone some extra free time.  We all gathered and returned to the bus, passing a modern looking memorial to locals who had died in WWII.

 

Back in time before Windows closed, we went to the buffet for lunch and we both tried some of the Indian masala chicken dish

 

.  DW also had some chicken and Greek salad plus caramel gelato.  I got some lamb stew and orange sorbet.

 

Then we took the tender back to Pula to explore on our own for 90 minutes [it was our private tender, as no one else was going back on shore at that time!]  Our first and major stop was the 2000 year old Roman Amphitheater, an elliptical stadium that seated thousands for gladiator and animal fights and today hosts concerts with Andrea Bocelli or the Foo Fighters [hopefully not on the same night…] – but no one whose music would cause dangerous vibrations to the ancient columns.  At the end of our visit, we went subterranean for an exhibit of pieces of columns, capitals and hundreds of amphora.

 

Leaving there, we walked along one of the main streets and saw a bronze model of the city in a park, a huge anchor across the street and the source of a spring of fresh water.  We saw the outside of the cathedral (which had closed for the day) and walked through the Roman Forum.

 

We searched in vain for the Rimski Mosaic, asking numerous people all giving different locations [everybody knew about it, but nobody knew exactly where it was! – ‘shoemaker’s children’!]

 

But we did find the Arch of Sergius and Café Uliks with the bronze sculpture of James Joyce sitting among the outdoor guests.  We walked along the remains of the town wall past the Twin Gates, and then we hustled back to catch the 5:00 tender which we watched pull away from the dock minutes before the scheduled time.

 

DW was relieved to see two Azamara employees still standing there who asked if we were from cabin 7114.  Then he said to sit and rest.  The last tender was on its way.  It came and we, the employees and their gear were all loaded and underway by 5:15.  Once again, the Jazzbeaux were the last two passengers to board their ship!  [We did it on Viking in Belfast and Dublin in 2018.]

 

We dined in Aqualina, the Italian specialty restaurant.  DW had radicchio salad and it came without dressing.  She beckoned the back waiter and he brought some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  She also had lobster tail on squid ink linguine with bits of tomato, calamari and shrimp; there was no noticeable sauce.  For dessert, she had the flourless chocolate cake and chamomile tea.  I had lobster ravioli, bronzino with shellfish risotto, and chocolate covered mousse log and a ball of berry gelato.  Our waiter Dave brought us both tiramisu as a special treat.

 

01 Rovinj – Balbi Arch

 

02 Rovinj – Tito Square

 

03 Rovinj – Tito Square

 

04 Rovinj

 

05 Rovinj – Batana Boat Museum

 

06 Rovinj

 

07 Rovinj – St. Euphemia

 

08 Rovinj

 

09 Rovinj

 

10 Rovinj – Yugoslav Era Monument

 

11 Pula – Town Model

 

12 Pula – Amphitheater

 

13 Pula – Amphitheater

 

14 Pula – Amphitheater

 

15 Pula – Amphitheater – Amphorae

 

16 Pula – Anchor Monument

 

17 Pula – Arch of Sergius

 

18 Pula – Cafe Uliks (James Joyce)

 

19 Pula – Temple of Augustus

 

20 Pula – Town Hall

 

21 Pula – Town Wall

 

 

22 Pula – Twin Gates

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

08 Monday October 10, 2022 – Zadar, Croatia for Krka National Park

 

Another mild day but early again.  We docked in Zadar.

 

We met our tour guide at the bus and at 8:30 we drove an hour and a quarter through the hinterlands of Sibenik to one of Croatia’s most picturesque natural treasures, Krka National Park.   Spanning 35,000 acres, this preserved territory is a wonderland of cascading waterfalls, verdant vegetation and plummeting gorges.

 

Cut through by the Krka River, which rushes through a canyon more than 650’ deep, the park lures any outdoor enthusiast.  The largest waterfall is Skradinski Buk.  We saw waterfalls, the rushing river and its ducks and blue heron seeking refuge on tiny islands in the water.  Carp were abundant but not the promised trout.  We went into old mills to see how they worked.  Our guide gave us free time to explore or grab a snack.  I needed something to raise my blood sugar, so I got a jam crêpe filled with banana slices.  It helped.

 

We regrouped and climbed almost 200 steps to get back to the bus level.  [Good thing I had that crêpe!]

 

It was almost 2:00 when we got back to Journey so DW hurried up to Windows for some octopus salad, vegetable curry and grilled chicken.  Then she caved to Baklava and a scoop of caffè gelato.

 

I had taken a short nap before we headed out on our own to explore Zadar.

 

Luckily we were docked in an ideal spot, People’s Square, the home of Greeting to the Sun (a circle of glass that captures the daylight through solar cells and emits it at night to produce a spectacular light show) and the Sea Organ (a structure that transforms waves into mournful melodies through a system of pipes and whistles.  [The joys of being on a small ship!]

 

We moved along and cut left away from the water to visit what once was the round Church of St. Donatus (originally Byzantine in design dating from the 9th century).  Once inside, you would never guess it had been a worship space.  Now it seems to be set up for performances.  We laughed a lot as we looked at the red plastic chairs for the audience: most had numbers, but many had the same number (duplicate and triplicate) and there was no logic to the arrangement.

 

We left there and across the way was a Roman forum in front of the (closed) St. Mary’s Church, which houses the portrait of St. Anastasia for whom the Cathedral was named.  We did get inside the cathedral.  It was well maintained.  In fact, it seemed to be recently cleaned and painted.  The main basilica is fairly simple in design; the side altars are more ornate.  One has the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament; another was in honor of St. Anastasia with a small marble sarcophagus dating from the 9th century with relics of the saint.

 

We meandered around the streets, being attracted by an arch that might have been a city gate and then by a small chapel which turned out to be Our Lady of Good Health.

 

Back to the ship and another dinner in Aqualina with April as our waiter.  She was tops.  DW ordered scallops wrapped in prosciutto and topped with calamari, radicchio salad again (this time it had more figs and walnuts and lots of Gorgonzola dressing), and eggplant parm.  I had the lobster ravioli again and the special which was a delicious but unusual lamb ‘stew’: very flavorful but the lamb was in the form of three rib chops [not complaining: very high end ‘stew’!]

 

We didn’t think we had time for dessert because April and I thought the show started at 9:15.  [DW thought 9:30 and that’s when it did begin – always trust your wife!]  That gave DW a chance to look at the shops, but nothing tempted and it was all too $$$.  [Did I pick the right spouse, or what???]

 

The show On Broadway was presented by four excellent singers and two dancers.  We were shocked at the small turnout in the audience.

 

DW went up to Windows to make a cup of tea, but everything was draped in white covers and it looked as if the staff was doing a little exterminating.

 

We finished off some berries DW had saved from breakfast [since we had rushed out of Aqualina without dessert].

 

DW walked some.

 

01 Krka National Park – model

 

02 Krka National Park

 

03 Krka National Park

 

04 Krka National Park

 

05 Krka National Park

 

06 Krka National Park

 

07 Krka National Park

 

08 Krka National Park – Skradinski Buk

 

09 Krka National Park – Skradinski Buk

 

10 Krka National Park – Skradinski Buk

 

11 Krka National Park

 

12 Krka National Park - old power station

 

13 Azamara Journey in Zadar

 

14 Zadar – Greeting to the Sun

 

15 Zadar – St. Mary's

 

16 Zadar – St. Mary's

 

17 Zadar – St. Mary's

 

18 Zadar – Archeological Museum

 

19 Zadar – Roman Forum

 

20 Zadar – Roman Forum

 

21 Zadar – St. Donatus

 

22 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

23 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

24 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

25 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

26 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

27 Zadar – St. Anastasia

 

28 Zadar

 

29 Zadar – St. Chrysogonus

 

30 Zadar – Gate of St. Chrysogonus

 

31 Zadar – Our Lady of Health

 

32 Zadar – Our Lady of Health

 

33 Zadar – Our Lady of Health

 

34 Zadar – Mali Arsenal

 

35 Zadar – Greeting to the Sun

[Host Jazzbeau]

09 Tuesday October 11, 2022 – Hvar, Croatia

 

We met the rest of our small tour group (only 13) at 9:00 to tender into Hvar.

 

Hvar is the port of Dalmatia and also the name of the island.  There are 1,250 islands in Croatia but only 50 are inhabited.

 

But there are 600,000 olive trees.  That’s a LOT of oil!

 

Vineyards are also in abundance and do well on the slopes.  The fact that it reaches 50 Celsius at times is not a deterrent but a boon, because the dry heat kills off anything that would harm the vines.

 

We got off the tender, met up with our guide Dayana, and strolled through St. Stephen’s Square to the bus station where a full-sized coach awaited us.  Stop signs didn’t seem to phase our driver and he made good time getting us to the Hora Estate family farm about 20 minutes out in the country.

 

The bus dropped us at the edge of the property and we meandered along fields of olive trees and lavender bushes to the entrance where we were welcomed by Ivan, a big bear of a man.  He brought out a tray of shot glasses with homemade lavender-infused grappa.  It’s like drinking airplane fuel.  One sip was more than enough.

 

We hung around and chatted and took pictures.  A large black dog lay by the kitchen door, unimpressed by our presence.  Soon we were invited to sit down at two long tables on a roof-covered patio to enjoy a family style brunch and their own wine.  Everything had been raised or prepared onsite.  There was a basket of cut up chunks of focaccia-type bread and four spreads: honey, jam, lumpy cream cheese and tuna.  [They also own a fish processing plant.]  There was a huge omelet-type dish of egg, pancetta and cheese.  Salad greens (but no dressing, despite all the olive oil!).  There was also a charcuterie tray on the table, with tasty meat and cheese [and anchovies that no one tried].  In addition to the very nice wines, there was a carafe of still water and coffee was offered at the end.

 

After we ate, we walked to the area where they dry kilos of lavender to press into oil and to use for grappa.  They also had a gift shop.

 

Back on the bus we had a five minute ride into Stari Grad where we walked around with Dayana.  She sang us an a capella ballad, Mariana, under an arch with great acoustics.  We walked on the Lower Street and the Middle Street where there is a break in the old stone pavement and asphalt now covers the Rimski Mosaic, which was discovered when sewer work was being done.  [We didn’t find the RM yesterday in Zadar, but today we saw pictures of it and walked above it in Hvar. They paved over it to protect it, because it is too firmly affixed to be removed for preservation.]  Dayana led us to the Promenade at the water’s edge where she set us free for 20 minutes to explore.

 

We regrouped and returned to our bus and eventually to Hvar town.  We had a number of places we had hoped to see there but every one of them was closed: St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Benedictine Monastery and Lace Museum, the Franciscan Monastery (St. Mary’s Church), the town theatre/arsenal building…

 

We did get to visit a small park at the water’s edge where there is a bust of native Ivan Vučetić, who pioneered the science of fingerprinting in the 1890s.  Embedded in the pavement nearby is a giant fingerprint.  Nearby is the Loggia with its arches and short tower, all that remains of a 15th century palace for the Rector who ruled the island as a representative of Venice.  [Hvar was an important outpost of the Venetian Republic during the 16th and 17th centuries.  Ships could stop here on their way from Venice to the Mediterranean.]

 

We took the tender back to the ship and it was not the smooth sail we had on the way in.  Once onboard we freshened up and headed to deck 9 to the Patio for a bite to eat.  DW had a huge salad and a frozen strawberry yogurt with chocolate sprinkles.  I had the special Croatian burger and a strawberry yogurt.  Back to our suite where naps were in order.

 

Before dinner we went to the Living Room on deck 10 for some jazz performed by the ship’s band.  [They were very good, and they did a nice job when someone requested Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train.]

 

Then we went to Windows Café for the Indian buffet.  Although the choices were many and tasty, there wasn’t one that was really spicy.  For dessert, DW had a scoop of Caffè crunch gelato and I had a variety of pastries.

 

[This is the one and only thing I will say that Celebrity does better.  We could always count on the Celebrity buffet having Indian choices at lunch, and at least one was reasonably spicy.  On a featured Indian Night, I expect no less.  Not the entire buffet, but at least one (appropriately labeled).]

 

DW walked some hall laps before we went down for the 9:30 show in the Cabaret Lounge.  It featured a comedy/magic act with Kristian Gray.  Talented, funny, extremely entertaining.

 

Weather was mild again today.  Hooray!

 

01 Hora Estate

 

02 Hora Estate

 

03 Hora Estate

 

04 Hora Estate – Kažun

 

05 Stari Grad Town

 

06 Stari Grad Town

 

07 Stari Grad Town

 

08 Stari Grad – St. John

 

09 Stari Grad Town

 

10 Stari Grad – St. Stephen

 

11 Stari Grad Town

 

12 Stari Grad Town

 

13 Stari Grad Town

 

14 Stari Grad Town

 

15 Stari Grad Town

 

16 Stari Grad Town

 

17 Hvar (by Azamara)

 

18 Hvar town (by Azamara)

 

19 Hvar – St. Stephen's Square

 

20 Hvar – St. Stephen's Cathedral

 

21 Hvar – St. Stephen's Cathedral

 

22 Hvar – St. Stephen's Cathedral

 

23 Hvar – Loggia (by Azamara)

 

24 Hvar – Ivan Vučetić (the fingerprint man)

 

25 Hvar – Fingerprint

 

26 Hvar – Fingerprint

 

27 Hvar

 

28 Hvar – Arsenal

 

29 Hvar – Franciscan Monastery

 

30 Hvar – Franciscan Monastery

 

31 Hvar – Franciscan Monastery

 

32 Hvar – Franciscan Monastery

 

33 Hvar – Fisherman Statue

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 Wednesday October 12, 2022 – Dubrovnik, Croatia for Mostar

 

We anchored near Dubrovnik and tendered into the old town.  We continued to have good weather.

 

We had explored Dubrovnik thoroughly on a previous visit, so this time we opted for an all-day tour to Mostar, Bosnia.  It was originally billed as 11 1/2 hours, then they changed the description to 12 hours – but in the end it was a over-long 13 hours!

 

Only 12 other passengers joined us [including Hilary, who knew me as Host Jazzbeau on Cruise Critic].  Our guide was Mladen and our driver, Marto.

 

We walked past St. Dominic’s Church to meet our full-size coach.  We were happy to have all that space considering how many hours we would be on it.

 

We had excellent views of Dubrovnik (which Mladen pronounced without the V) and the sea as Marto followed twisting, narrow roadways heading out of town.  He was aware of construction, etc. ahead and did his best to avoid those spots.

 

We had our passports checked at the border, first by Croatian authorities and then by Bosnian.  And again on the return trip, but none caused too much of a delay.

 

Our first stop was a technical one, i.e. a potty/snack stop for 25 minutes.  We had been warned that toilet facilities might not be up to U.S. standards but that was not the case.  This place had clean and plentiful WCs plus a large size grocery next door with all kinds of snacks and drinks for sale.  [And it was a good thing that we stocked up on some snacks.]

 

On the road again, we followed the path of the Neretva River.

 

We learned some facts including the formation of Bosnia-Herzegovina at the end of the civil war in the 1990s.  Bosnia is more mountainous and has a cooler climate and Herzegovina is the lowlands with forests and a more Mediterranean climate where they can grove olives and grapes for wine.  They have the rocky soil that grape vines love, and Herzegovina is known for its red wine.

 

Sarajevo is the capital with 250,000 people and Mostar has 100,000.  Muslims comprise 50%, Catholics 20% (Croats) and 30% are Orthodox (Serbs).  The Ottoman invasion centuries ago brought Muslim overlords and they promised land, etc. to anyone who converted to Islam, so now the Muslims are ethnically similar to the Christians.  The main industry nowadays is tourism.

 

Our first sight was Pocitelj, a small historic village in the hills, lying on the banks of the Neretva.  It was built in a natural karst amphitheater during the Middle Ages and is on the list of UNESCO heritage sites.  It was also the site of old hanswhich were inns/hostels for travelers.  If they wanted a bath then they needed to pay to go to the hamman.  We had about a half hour to wander up and through the town.  The only thing of note to see was a mosque which most of us explored from the outside rather than remove our shoes, cover our heads and pay an admission fee.  Many vendors all hawking the same items lined the walkway.  One of our passengers borrowed 20 Euros from us to buy a purse for herself as she had spent every last dollar purchasing ‘cashmere’ wraps.  [She paid me back the next time I saw her.  You get a high class of people on Azamara!]

 

Marto drove on to Mostar.  (Most means bridge, and the mostar is keeper of the bridge.)  The bridge that we went to see was Stari Most (Old Bridge), a magnificent stone monument spanning the Neretva River.  Originally built in 1566 according to the plans of Hayruddin, the great Turkish builder of the 16th century, it has a large stone arch and has been entered in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.  It survived WWII and *** tanks rumbling across it, but was targeted by the Croats in 1993.  It was rebuilt and inaugurated in 2004 with much fanfare as a sign of recovery and reconciliation.  It is very slippery to walk across the well-polished stones.

 

Before we got to the bridge, we had lunch.  We began with two phyllo rollups—one with cheese stuffing and one with spinach and cheese.  Then we had a tossed salad with lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  The waiter brought each of us a plate filled with food: two long sausages, three stubby ones, chopped onions, French fries, and a huge grilled chicken cutlet.  [Too much to eat!]  And for dessert, a dense Baklava.  [But there’s always room for dessert…]

 

We then met our local guide, Jasmina, who led us across Stari Most and into the Old Town.  Unfortunately for us, it lost its charm because of the blight of the street vendors who seemed to hawk the same wares at the same prices—Pashminas, ‘cashmere’ scarves, ‘silk’ scarves, table linens, Turkish coffee sets, ‘handmade’ copper crafts…

 

These vendors had shops plus outdoor stalls lining both sides of the narrow cobblestone lanes.  There was no break until we finally left the Old Town and then there were just fewer of them.  One also had to watch out for young Gypsy children who were trained to beg and rob.

 

We visited the Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque.  This is what one might call a progressive mosque.  Bosnian Muslims are less strict.  Women need not wear the traditional garb nor pray separately from the men.  These Muslims drink alcohol, wear makeup…  And many do not go to the mosque to pray.

 

We also went to the Bišćević Turkish House.  Dating from 1635 it mixed Oriental style with Mediterranean features.  It gave us a glimpse of life and culture there almost 400 years ago.

 

Jasmina set us free after an hour and a quarter and we had to regroup at our bus in 30 minutes.  We took our time walking back through old town and over Stari Most taking more photos.  Our goal was to visit the Franciscan Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.  However, all the doors were locked and the Tower employee told us it didn’t open till 6:00 for Mass.  We returned to the bus, and as we passed the front of the church 15 minutes later the front door was now wide open!

 

We had almost an hour ride to our last site, Kravice Waterfalls.  Here the river drops into a horseshoe-shaped canyon. The falls are from 26-28 meters high, with a lake below the falls of 120 meters in radius.  There hadn’t been much rain lately so the falls did not have their usual impressive volume.  It was a good hike back up to our bus.

 

[It was either too late in the day or too late in the season, so the little train was not running.  In fact both snack/gift shops, at the top parking lot and down at the lake level, were also closed.  Luckily the WCs were still available before our three hour drive back to Dubrovnik!]

 

Once there, we caught the last tender back to Journey just in time to greet the female cellist who had been the Destination Celebration performer for the evening.  We missed her and dinner.  The two of us scrounged our saved snacks from the rest stop, some special treats that the Hotel Manager onboard had delivered to our suite while we were gone for the day, and some cookies DW had brought back from the Indian buffet.  It wasn’t gourmet, but we didn’t starve.

 

[But I will never sign up for a 11 1/2 hour shore excursion – that turns into 13 hours.  Nothing is worth that investment of time!]

 

01 Dubrovnik

 

02 Dubrovnik

 

03 Dubrovnik

 

04 Dubrovnik

 

05 Dubrovnik

 

06 Dubrovnik

 

07 Dubrovnik

 

08 Dubrovnik

 

09 Dubrovnik

 

10 Pocitelj

 

11 Pocitelj

 

12 Pocitelj

 

13 Mostar – Franciscan Church

 

14 Mostar – Franciscan Church

 

15 Mostar – Ruin

 

16 Mostar - Orthodox Church

 

17 Mostar – Minaret

 

18 Mostar - Crooked Bridge

 

19 Mostar – Coopersmiths' Street

 

20 Mostar – Stari Most

 

21 Mostar – Stari Most

 

22 Mostar – View from Stari Most

 

23 Mostar – View from Stari Most

 

24 Mostar – Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque

 

25 Mostar – Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque

 

26 Mostar – Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque

 

27 Mostar – view from Mosque

 

28 Mostar – view from Mosque

 

29 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

30 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

31 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

32 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House [not a long Fez in the house...]

 

33 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

34 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

35 Mostar – Bišćević Turkish House

 

36 Mostar

 

37 Mostar – Training Tower

 

38 Mostar

 

39 Mostar

 

40 Mostar – Once & Future Site of Synagogue

 

41 Kravice Waterfalls

 

42 Kravice Waterfalls

 

43 Kravice Waterfalls

[Host Jazzbeau]

11 Thursday October 13, 2022 – Kotor, Montenegro

 

Beautiful sail in to Kotor Bay, a natural fjord (or submerged river canyon?)  Kotor is in the country of Montenegro.  Cloudy, cooler day.

 

There were only six of us with guide Bruna on our tour, plus the captain of our speed boat which zoomed us all around the bay [without benefit of life jackets].

 

We first visited the manmade island of Our Lady of the Rocks and toured inside the church and museum thoroughly, with Bruna pointing out all the paintings  done by one local Michelangelo and silver squares shining on the walls – each in thanksgiving for a special miracle due to OLR.

 

Passing the monastery/cemetery island, we next boated over to Perast where we visited the naval museum.

 

We then had a long boat ride down the bay to a former naval submarine tunnel/cave where we had a private performance/serenade by four men in a semi A Capella group. [Two always strummed guitars.]  They sang a couple of American songs that we knew, Stand by Me and Country Roads, plus their own songs including the ballad Mariana[which DW and I had heard back in Stari Grad, Hvar].  It was a special concert just for this Azamara shore excursion.

 

We backtracked and made our way back up the bay and past OLR as far as we could go in the northwest corner of the bay to a small fishing dock.  We walked up the road where a small van picked us up and took us five minutes away from the coast to the small town of Morinj formerly known for mills that produced olives and grains.  We visited what had been a mill and family house, lovingly remodeled into a world-class tavern, Konoba Catovica Mlini by Lazar Catovic.  As we were quite chilled from our boat ride, we asked to eat inside.  The waiter set it up just for us, closed the windows and turned on the heat.

 

Unexpectedly [because the tour was under-described], we were served a gourmet four course meal with wine pairings for each course.  We started with a plate with four different appetizers and a glass of bubbly: fish pate, shrimp salad, tuna carpaccio, and octopus salad.  There were several homemade breads with olive oil/garlic for dipping.  Next up was a rosé to drink and two pastas: saffron shrimp risotto, and black rice with monkfish, prawn and squid.

 

The main course was a large serving of sea bass aka bronzino with lemon wedges.  The single large fish had been cooked whole and presented to us before the waiter cut it into six portions.  It was accompanied by a Chardonnay.  Last but not least was a dense almond cake and vanilla ice cream plus a dessert wine, perhaps a sherry.

 

The mini bus took us back to the dock but had to take Bruna back to the tavern to retrieve the eyeglasses of one of our group.  While we waited for her we chatted with two young men who were fishing, before boarding the speedboat for the final leg.  The weather was changing for the worse and it was even more uncomfortable out on the water for our return trip to town.  As Bruna led us back, we encountered her family including her dog Max, near the old town walls.

 

Four of us took the short underground passage to the Old Town.  DW and I raced through as we had little time before the last boarding of Journey.  After passing through the main town gate, we saw the Catholic Cathedral of St. Tryphon, saw the outside of the maritime museum of Montenegro, stopped to look at the town well/public faucet called Karampana before we arrived in St. Luke’s Square, where we briefly visited two Serbian Orthodox churches—little St. Luke’s (dating from the 12th century) and the bigger, much newer (1909) St. Nicholas Church.

 

Thanks to my expertise in reading maps we found our way through several narrow streets in the Old Town and wound up back at the Town Gate and soon at the gangway of our ship.  [We were not the last passengers to board this time!]

 

Every time we board, we have to go through Security and have our belongings scanned and ourselves.  [Azamara’s small ships aren’t as cozy and trusting as Noble Caledonia’s even smaller ships, where there was never a security check.]  We returned to our suite for a rest before dinner.  [Even though we thought we’d never eat again after that lunch!]

 

We had another reservation at Prime C, the steakhouse.  DW opted to continue the seafood theme and had lobster bisque [but nothing will ever meet the standard of Poor Boy’s in Bar Harbor], radicchio salad with walnuts and figs and a Gorgonzola dressing, and an appetizer portion of crab/lobster cakes before servings of praline gelato and coconut gelato.  I had Steak Diane and sautéed broccoli and a tiny orange crème brûlée.

 

Then we were off to the show for the evening, Musically Yours.  Once again the six young singers/dancers did a fine job and we were as always surprised and let down when they announced their last number.

 

DW walked before dinner and after dinner.

 

We had to turn the clocks ahead an hour overnight as we were entering Greece.

 

01 Kotor Sail-In

 

02 Kotor Sail-In

 

03 Kotor Sail-In

 

04 Perast

 

05 Perast

 

06 Kotor Sail-In

 

07 "Three Sisters"

 

08 Kotor Sail-In

 

09 Kotor Sail-In

 

10 Kotor Sail-In

 

11 Kotor Sail-In

 

12 Kotor Excursion

 

13 Kotor Excursion

 

14 model of Our Lady of the Rocks

 

15 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

16 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

17 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

18 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

19 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

20 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

21 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

22 Our Lady of the Rocks – icon

 

23 Our Lady of the Rocks – icon cover

 

24 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

25 Our Lady of the Rocks

 

26 model of Saint George Monastery

 

27 Saint George Monastery

 

28 Perast

 

29 Perast

 

30 Perast

 

31 Perast

 

32 Perast – gun slit

 

33 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel

 

34 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel

 

35 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel

 

36 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel concert

 

37 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel

 

38 Kotor Bay submarine tunnel

 

39 Konoba Catovica Mlini restaurant

 

40 Konoba Catovica Mlini restaurant

 

41 Konoba Catovica Mlini restaurant

 

42 Kotor – Town Gate

 

43 Kotor – Bell Tower

 

44 Kotor – St. Tryphon Cathedral

 

45 Kotor – Maritime Museum

 

46 Kotor – Karampana Well

 

47 Kotor – St. Luke's Church

 

48 Kotor – St. Luke's Church

 

49 Kotor – St. Nicholas Church

 

50 Kotor – St. Nicholas Church

 

51 Kotor Bay (by Azamara)

 

52  Kotor Bay (by Azamara)

[Host Jazzbeau]

12 Friday October 14, 2022 – Corfu, Greece

 

Our first crappy day weather-wise as we sailed into Corfu.  Rain most of the day.  We showed up for our tour at 9:45 and walked together to a port shuttle bus which took us to our own HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off) sightseeing bus.  A few people left us at the first stop of Kanoni at the farthest end of the route near the airport. 

 

We had been to Corfu before and the only major site we’d missed was Mon Repos, where Prince Philip was born.  We got off there and walked the long twisty uphill road for 10 minutes to visit the archaeological museum in the mansion.  We noticed that it had started to rain heavily so we made sure to do each room quite thoroughly, but the rain didn’t stop…  So we decided to brave it.  We zipped our Gortex rain jackets up and headed back to the gate/bus stop.  The overhanging trees provided minimal protection and we dodged the rivulets of water running down the drive.

 

There was a HOHO bus with its doors open, so DW hustled ahead and the driver kindly waited for us to board and didn’t even want to see our tickets.  The only seats available were at the back, facing backwards, unless we wanted the open-air upper deck.  We sat there until the last stop at the cruise terminal back in town, and decided to ride the whole loop again in case the rain let up.  It didn’t (but we were able to get better seats) so upon the next return to the cruise terminal we got off, went through security and took the shuttle bus back to the ship.  It was good to get back and shed our wet togs.

 

We put in a request for the Italian Chef’s Table which had been rescheduled from tomorrow to tonight and checked on the new shore excursion for tomorrow [the substitute for the caves].  Yes to both!

 

We went up to Windows Café for lunch and both of us tried the veal/prosciutto lasagna.  I also had the sirloin from the carving station, and DW had miso-glazed salmon with salad, and Baklava.  Then she walked.

 

Quiet afternoon with time for naps and for DW to do Sudoku and this blog.

 

The Italian Chef’s Table started with Prosecco [ginger ale for DW] in the Drawing Room and continued at Aqualina.  [It’s normally done at a special high table at the entrance of Prime C, but they decided to use a larger set-up to accommodate all those on the waiting list.]  We sat with eight people from Philadelphia and a couple from Vancouver, and there was a separate table besides for a group of friends.

 

Silas the sommelier was very solicitous and offered DW non-alcoholic wines.  She tried one, a Muscat, which was okay but she explained to him that she actually prefers water and that would rather chew her calories.  After that he left her alone…

 

There were six courses: (1) Vitello Tonnato: veal carpaccio wrapped with tuna quenelle, crispy capers, arugula, focaccia and parmigiano-reggiano [paired with Fantinel Prosecco, extra dry, Grave, Italy]; (2) Boneless Cacciucco Alla Livornese: a rich broth filled with squid, octopus, sea perch, and clams [Bottega Pinot Grigio, Venezia Giulia, Italy 2018]; (3) Home-made Ravioli with Osso Bucco and Duck Liver with porcini mushroom sauce, toasted almonds and artichoke chips [Frescobaldi Nipozzano Riserva, Chianti Rufina, Italy 2013]; (intermezzo) Granita al meloncello e menta (to cleanse the palate); (4) Grilled Turbot with squid ink pasta, tomato giardiniera, verdure Verdi al limone [Michele Chiarlo, Gavi, Piedmont, Italy 2016] or Duo of Roasted Beef Tenderloin & Beef Cheek with pumpkin polenta, grilled red pepper confit, veal-balsamic reduction [Castello Banfi, Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana, Italy 2017]; (5) Selection of international cheeses with fruit [Taylor Fladgate Tawny 10 yr. old Port, Douro Valley, Portugal]; (6) Amaretto Tiramisu, amaretti cookies with coffee gelatin, raspberry gelato [Amaretto Disaronno, Saronno, Italy].

 

We hurried down to the Cabaret Lounge to catch the cruise director Darren Lynton in concert.  Very entertaining!

 

DW walked.

 

[Something to note: because of the nasty weather and the reluctance of passengers to leave the ship, CD Darren did a great job putting together last minute entertainment opportunities including musical performances, the entertainment performers letting their hair down and sharing what it was like to have their jobs, the showing of a movie and having popcorn available to nibble on while watching.]

 

1 Corfu – Mon Repos

 

2 Corfu – Mon Repos

 

3 Corfu – Mon Repos

 

4 Corfu – view from Mon Repos

[Host Jazzbeau]

13 Saturday October 15, 2022 – Argostoli, Greece

 

We are in Argostoli on the island of Cephalonia [or Kefalonia] in Greece.

 

Beautiful weather—clear skies, sunny, 72.

 

We were up and out early with 14 other passengers for a bus tour of Cephalonia’s Northern Villages to see the landscapes and traditional villages where the big earthquake hit in 1953.  Although 95% homes were destroyed, many miraculously survived.

 

The first stop was the village of Assos where the empty shells of some of those hit remain and are for sale.  Odds are that the owners are no longer living as it was 69 years ago, but to track down the family heirs and get them to agree to sell can be problematic.  However, our guide Katarina did point out numerous homes that had been bought and undergone reconstruction in keeping with the neoclassical style.  The exterior stucco might be painted in beige, yellow, pink, salmon…

 

There are only 28 year round residents in Assos.  Others shutter up their homes and return to their primary residences elsewhere once the long summer is over.  There was a bakery open, a tavern and a mini grocery store.  And it is more than an hour’s drive over winding mountain roads to get there from the capital, Argostoli.  I can’t imagine living in such a remote spot.

 

We continued our bus ride to a somewhat bigger village, Fiskardo, where we descended about 50 stairs to the seaside.  Tables at a local taverna were set and waiting for us.  We were brought a plate of Tzatziki with cucumber slices on the side, a basket of sliced bread, a plate of Kalamata olives.  Then we each got a large meatball and a zucchini cake and a yogurt with berries for dessert.

 

There was a small bottle of Ouzo on the table which none of us touched.  We were also served bottled water.  We had time to walk up and down the wharf which was dotted with other eateries and shops.  Good sized sail and motor boats were docked nearby.  Pretty flowers were in evidence:  bougainvillea, hibiscus, morning glory plus cactus.

 

We had ample time there before we headed back up the steps to our coach.  Alex made two photo stops (one overlooking Myrtos Beach with aquamarine water) on the return trip and we were back at Journey around 2:15.

 

Once onboard we discovered that the forward elevators were being serviced.

 

DW went up to the Patio for a salad.

 

We thought there would be Mass at the Catholic Church of St. Nicholas at 7:00.  I arranged for a taxi through Guest Relations.  We got there early, only to find no evening Mass listed on the schedule posted at the entrance – but the doors were wide open and welcoming at this tiny church, which might have seated 50 people.  It was not set up for Mass, but we stayed to pray and shortly after 7 one of the sanctuary doors opened.  In walked a man in jeans and knit shirt.  He looked at us and I asked if there would be Mass.  He replied, “If you like.”  He hustled into the sacristy, set up the altar and ambo, ran up to the choir loft for the Mass readings in English, unlocked the tabernacle, vested in green and started Mass for the two of us!  He invited us to do the readings and I went up.  Then Father read the gospel and gave an extemporaneous homily (in very good English).  Another man came in around the time of the consecration.

 

After Mass, I went into the sacristy with our donation and thanked the priest.  He explained the he had been told the tourist season was over, but decided to check to see if by chance anyone  was in the church.  He asked if we would return the next week.  I explained we were on a cruise ship.

 

The big event tonight, postponed from last night because of the rain, was White Night!  An outdoor ship-wide party on the pool deck replete with buffet and dancing.  All are encouraged to wear white, even if your cabin bathrobe.  But whatever you wear, just come and have a good time.  Unfortunately, we missed it as we didn’t get back to the ship until after 8, as we walked back after Mass.  [There were no cabs in sight but it was a lovely evening for a passeggiata.]

 

I ran up and managed to get us a bowl with three hot Crepes Suzettes.  Yum!  We had those before going down to Discoveries to choose from their limited dinner menu.  [Dessert first, why not???]

 

We both had the scallop/risotto/bacon appetizer, which included two medium scallops.  Then DW tried the vegetarian dish, which was heavily seasoned cauliflower with cubes of butternut squash and tofu.  No thanks!   She had a scoop of strawberry gelato to make it a meal.  I had a second appetizer: cold salmon marinated in beet juice, which I liked.  I went with pistachio pudding [British for cake] for dessert.

 

DW walked.

 

Some background information provided by Katarina:

 

Cephalonia is the biggest and tallest of the Ionian islands but Corfu has more people.  There are 365 villages.  Those living in the mountains are often goatherds.  And on the lowlands, sailors.  So there are the goats and the boats!  They are not fisherman as there are few fish naturally.  We did see many fish farms (for sea bass and sea bream).  Wine is another source of income.  They claim to make the best Feta cheese as it is 70% goat milk and 30% sheep.  They are also proud of their honey and citrus fruit.

 

Very rocky soil dominates and they have built dry wall terraces on the mountainsides.  The goats love the terrain and they are evident as you go along.

 

01 Assos

 

02 Assos

 

03 Assos

 

04 Assos

 

05 Assos

 

06 Assos

 

07 Assos

 

08 Assos

 

09 Assos

 

10 Assos

 

11 Assos

 

12 Assos

 

13 Fiskardo

 

14 Fiskardo

 

15 view of Assos

 

16 view of Assos

 

17 view of Assos

 

18 view of Myrtos Beach

 

19 view of Myrtos Beach

 

20 Argostoli

 

21 Argostoli

[Host Jazzbeau]

14 Sunday October 16, 2022 – Zakynthos, Greece

 

We anchored off the island of Zakynthos.  Beautiful day but rough water greeted the tenders.

 

Lots of staff including the Hotel Manager and our Captain were on hand to help each us board the rocking boat.  It was a bumpy ride to the dock but it eased once we rounded the breakwater.  Our buses were waiting and Demi was our guide.

 

We drove past the only three buildings not affected by the 1953 earthquake: a school, the National Bank, and St. Denis Church which is the size of a cathedral and the largest on the island.  [This is not the French Saint-Denis.  This St. Denis was a local man, and is known as the saint of forgiveness as he forgave the murderer of his brother and even helped him get away to avoid more bloodshed.  Years later, that man returned and became a monk.]

 

This island has over 7,000 flower species.  There were also sheep grazing below as we drove along.

 

We continued across the island to the dramatic sea cliffs of Kampi.  Below lay the beautiful blue Mediterranean at its deepest point.  At the edge of this beautiful vista was a tavern where we had a Greek lunch—at 10:30 in the morning!

 

The waiter served white wine or an Ouzo drink.  When DW asked for water, he told her it was a bar item.  So she finished the bottle she had brought with her...

 

The meal included a piece of brown bread saturated in strong-tasting olive oil, a small stuffed grape leaf, a tiny meatball, a tasty chunk of sausage, a slice of cucumber, Tzatziki sauce, and a phyllo pocket with feta.

 

All of a sudden very loud Greek music blared from speakers and a man and woman dressed in black began dancing.  They did a couple of dances before inviting the diners to join them.

 

At the top of the mountain on which this tavern was situated was a large white cement Shiza cross in memory of those who lost their lives in the Greek Civil War.  We did not have enough time to hike up to it to see it more closely.

 

We got back on the bus and drove to the Bohali scenic viewpoint to take in the sweeping perspectives of Zakynthos town below.

 

We then visited the most famous church on the island, Agia Mavra.  [The sign outside reads Sts. Timothee and Mavra.  They were a married couple who were martyred.]  It is the safekeeper of a Black Madonna said to be of miraculous origins.  The church suffered major damage in a fire and is slowly being restored.  It is filled with icons and religious figures.  It has a separate bell tower out in the courtyard.

 

We took the tender back to Journey, bouncing up and down over the waves.  We congratulated our very young driver for such an expert job of bringing us back safely and docking so professionally.

 

DW went up to Windows for a green salad, fresh fruit and a small piece of Baklava before doing a final load of dark wash.  Good timing – only a few people were in the Guest Laundry.

 

DW walked.

 

Naps!

 

We went to Discoveries for dinner.  I had Coquilles Saint-Jacques and DW a very small arugula salad on two triangles of bread.  As it was Indonesian night (up in Windows anyway), we both chose the special on the Discoveries menu: Rendang Daging, a gingery thin-sliced beef on Jasmine rice.  Very tasty but a huge portion of meat.  DW opted not to eat it all to save room for two scoops of coffee crunch gelato with chocolate sauce, and I tried a Philippino cake with one scoop on the side.  I didn’t enjoy the cake, but I did like the yummy homemade butterscotch sauce on the side and the gelato.

 

We then went to the 9:30 show featuring assistant cruise director, Grace O’Donnell Clancy.  [We never detected any hint of a brogue.  She sounds like a Brit!]  We stayed to hear her sing a couple of ballads, but slipped out during her rendition of an Amy Winehouse number whose lyrics we couldn’t decipher.

 

We filled out our midcruise evaluation [better late than never] and DW turned it in and walked some more.

 

It was a relief going to bed and knowing that tomorrow was the one day we didn’t have to set the alarm to get up for a shore excursion.  A sea day!

 

01 view from Kampi (by Azamara)

 

02 view from Kampi (by Azamara)

 

03 Michalis Tavern, Kampi

 

04 Michalis Tavern, Kampi

 

05 Michalis Tavern, Kampi

 

06 Michalis Tavern, Kampi

 

07 Agia Mavra church

 

08 Agia Mavra church

 

09 Agia Mavra church

 

10 Agia Mavra church

 

11 Agia Mavra church

 

12 Agia Mavra church

 

13 Agia Mavra church

 

14 Agia Mavra church

 

15 Agia Mavra church

 

16 Bohali Church

 

17 Zakynthos from Bohali viewpoint

[Host Jazzbeau]

15 Monday October 17, 2022 – Sea Day

 

We had clear weather and a smooth sail early in the day.  DW got up at 9 and I never stirred.  She hustled up to Windows for her cereal and then walked the jogging track till the wind was just too strong.  She stopped in the Drawing Room to pick up some Sudoku puzzles for the flight home.

 

We went down to the Jazz Brunch in Discoveries around 11.  There were all kinds of foods and chef stations but much of it was already cooked and waiting to be served.  DW’s poached eggs were perfectly cooked, but when???  They were ice cold when she got them...  Waffles hadn’t seen the iron for awhile and were in a covered dish.  A nice concept but not for the discriminating diner.  [We had enjoyed the brunch much more on our earlier Azamara cruises.]

 

DW stopped by to see what the selfie scavenger hunt was about, as she had really enjoyed the art scavenger hunt on Oceania in January.  Contestants received a list of 15 or more settings in which to take a selfie and report back with as many as possible in less than 15 minutes.  No thanks!  One of the two couples participating asked her twice to be in their selfies.

 

Instead DW went to ship photographer Kanstantsin’s class on Smartphone Photography.  It lasted almost an hour and was very informative.

 

DW zoomed up to Windows for fresh fruit.

 

I worked on the gazillion [~1,000] photos I had already taken.

 

No naps today!

 

Big rolling waves so we were feeling it at the very back end of the ship.

 

We did most of our big packing before dinner, to which we went early: 7:00 in Discoveries.  DW had mixed greens salad, salmon/scallops and cherry tomato risotto.  I had fresh mushroom and brie strudel, Greek lamb chops [yum!] with scalloped potatoes and baby zucchini.  We both had Tahitian vanilla crème brûlée for dessert.  I also tried cherry Amarini gelato, but I didn’t like it [too granular].

 

We stopped to see Konstantsin about the photo thumb drive we had purchased.  He said he’d deliver it to our cabin [he did].  We bumped into Elizabeth and David and chatted a bit and then we headed for Four on the Floor, the third show by the singers/dancers.  Featured Motown, Beatles, Abba plus some more modern groups like U2, Queen…  Well done!

 

Then we began chatting with Hil & John and offered them our bottle of Hendrick’s gin, as they were staying onboard for another 10 days for the Greek islands.  We passed the Den where Darren Lynton was performing.  Packed!  He sounded great but we had to pass on it.  Up to our suite, gave Hil & John the tour and the gin and we finished packing.  Got our bags out into the corridor by 10:40 [deadline of 11] and Mark whisked them away.

 

To bed early!  Before midnight.

 

But DW was awake for an hour in the wee hours listening to the clanging and banging beneath us.

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 Tuesday October 18, 2022 – Piraeus for Delphi (& Meteora)

 

Azamara Journey made it to our last port, Piraeus (for Athens).  Breakfast in Windows at 6.  Ugh!  [I’m not sure if Aqualina was open for suite guests on this last day, but they never open that early.]

 

Our driver, Terry from CATTaxi, was waiting for us at 7:45 once we gathered our luggage.  Off we went for a full day, driving hours into the mountains eventually to reach Meteora and the monasteries situated atop hard-to-reach pinnacles.

 

We began by plodding through Athens rush hour traffic.  As DW remembered from an earlier trip, graffiti was everywhere.  Cars plodded along, courteously never changing lanes, while motorcycles disregarded the laws and sped by us on the right.  Police set up roadblocks to slow down and ticket those drivers who chose to use the emergency lane unlawfully.

 

We passed a building where Fage yogurt is made and learned that their other local factories have closed and there is now one large one in the U.S. to supply the demand.

 

We passed solar farms and wind turbines but Terry gave us an earful about the contracts offered to farmers to use their land for solar power, which were then cancelled once they’d made the investments.  A mess!

 

And that the windmills in Greece are secondhand old technology from Germany.  [Terry is not a fan of the Greek government, but he holds both parties in equal contempt.]

 

Our first stop was a photo op overlooking Arachova.  Then we came to Delphi, considered the religious center of the ancient Greek world and the seat of the Pythia, the greatest oracle.  Located on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus, the ruins of the Sanctuary of Apollo overlook the timeless beauty of the ancient landscape.

 

People from all over Greece would travel to ask advice from the Pythia (using the priests as intermediaries who interpreted her ecstatic moaning).  In fact, at some of the most important moments in history her words had a great effect on the course of events.  Delphi was a place that attracted those in power with its gymnasium and sports arena for athletic events and its theatre for the arts.  Much of the theatre is still intact.  Delphi is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

 

We met our own private tour guide, Theodore, who proceeded to show us around for the next two hours.  We spent the first half in the museum which houses the famous Delphic Charioteer, a bronze statue (almost fully intact) dating from the 5th century BC.

 

Outside we walked the original grounds of the Sanctuary of Apollo, containing the ruins built into the steep hillside.  It was challenging to walk up the steep terrain on slippery marble paths to view what remains of the Temple of Apollo, the reconstructed Athenian Treasury, the Theatre…

 

We bid Theodore farewell and returned to our Mercedes minivan where Terry awaited and was eager to take us to a couple of nearby photo ops—the gymnasium (used for athletic training but also for general education and enrichment), the ‘oldest hot tub in the world’, and the three columns of the rare round Sanctuary of Athena.  We declined his offer to drink from the natural springs on the roadside.

 

We drove through Arachova, one of the most popular places near Athens for skiing in the winter.

 

We then went down steep winding roads to get a better look and a chance to take photos at the nearby port of Itea.

 

Back up and over as we headed to Thermopylae where the battle of that name was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas.  The battle lasted 3 days with the Greeks winning the first two.  But then, betrayed by one of their own countrymen, the Persians got the better of them.  We visited the museum dedicated to this aspect of their history for a short 3D film and to see the monument featuring Leonidas.

 

[continued on next post]

 

01 Arachova

 

02 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

03 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

04 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

05 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

06 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

07 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

08 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

09 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

10 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

11 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

12 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

13 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

14 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

15 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

16 Delphi Archaeological Museum

 

17 Delphi

 

18 Delphi

 

19 Delphi

 

20 Delphi

 

21 Delphi

 

22 Delphi

 

23 Delphi – Omphalos

 

24 Delphi

 

25 Delphi

 

26 Delphi - inscriptions

 

27 Delphi

 

28 Delphi

 

29 Delphi

 

30 Delphi

 

31 Delphi

 

32 Delphi

 

33 Jazzbeaux at Delphi

 

34 Delphi (by Azamara)

 

35 Delphi (by Azamara)

 

36 Delphi – Gymnasium

 

37 Delphi – Temple of Athena Pronaia

 

38 Delphi – Temple of Athena Pronaia

 

39 Delphi – view of Itea

 

40 Delphi - Aqueduct

 

41 Leonidas Monument, Thermopylae

[Host Jazzbeau]

17 Wednesday October 18, 2022 – Meteora (day 1)

 

[continued from previous post]

 

At last we were on our way to our ultimate destination for the day, Meteora.  We were pretty hungry and it was well into the afternoon, so Terry stopped at a roadside rest café where we bought a ham and cheese sub.  Mostly sub, very little filling but we shared it and it helped tide us over.

 

We finally arrived in Meteora with its narrow, winding streets and strange vertical rock formations which are relatively bare of vegetation.  They loom up as sandstone and conglomerate pillars.

 

Terry took us to our hotel to check in.  Doupiani House (in the little village of Kastraki) put us in the Pyrgos Adrachti junior suite with a panoramic Meteora view.  Once we dropped off our luggage and checked out our accommodations for the night, we were back in the van and heading up the mountains to catch a glimpse of the monasteries.  The cliff top monasteries are a marvelous sight.  These nearly inaccessible retreats were built there as monks settled in.

 

Meteora, meaning ‘suspended in air’, is famous for its monasteries perched atop vertical peaks – but few know that before their construction in the 14th century, hermit monks first climbed these soaring stones to settle in the caves and hollows of the rocks as early as the 9th century.  As hermits, they lived a life of solitude and isolation but legend has it they would climb down on Sundays for Mass, held at Doupiani.  By the 12th century, Meteora was home to a thriving ascetic community.  They retreated here for refuge from the Turkish invasion.

 

More than 20 monasteries of all sizes were constructed.  With no steps and little access to the rest of the world, the monastic communities in Meteora flourished.  To come and go, monks used to descend by way of a net hitched over a hook, hoisted up and down by a rope, or retractable ladders.

 

Today there are fewer monasteries in operation and access has improved.  Some have staircases, ramps, hiking paths and a few have primitive cable cars to haul building materials or the occasional elderly, infirm monk.  There are very few monks still in residence.

 

Terry drove us to a scenic overlook to catch the awaited sunset but the sun dropped down behind the mountains and very little color appeared in the distant sky.  He tried driving us to different vistas but to no avail. [The last few shots have color enhanced by shooting through the tinted van windows!]

 

Next stop was a taverna not far from our lodgings.  The two of us shared a Greek salad, moussaka and lamb chops.  Homemade cake with ice cream was complimentary.

 

We returned to our suite and slept well.

 

01 Meteora

 

02 Meteora

 

03 Meteora

 

04 Meteora

 

05 Meteora

 

06 Meteora

 

07 Meteora

 

08 Meteora

 

09 Meteora

 

10 Meteora

 

11 Meteora

 

12 Meteora

 

13 Meteora

 

14 Meteora

 

15 Meteora

 

16 Meteora

 

17 Meteora

 

18 Meteora

 

19 Meteora

 

20 Meteora

 

21 Meteora

 

22 Meteora

 

23 Meteora

 

24 Meteora

 

25 Meteora

 

26 Meteora

 

27 Meteora

 

28 Meteora

 

29 Meteora

 

30 Meteora

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 Wednesday October 19, 2022 – Meteora (day 2)

 

A hot breakfast (which we selected when checking in) was delivered at 7:45 and we ate well to get ready for the morning’s tour.  After packing up, Terry picked us up and said he’d reserved two monasteries for visiting that morning with our private guide, Harry.

 

The first was a small one, Agios Stefanos, easily reached and housing 30 nuns many of whom have advanced degrees and work in the surrounding community.  Much of our visit was spent in the church where the guide pointed out icons and frescoes the likes of which we were sure to see in any of the other monasteries.  [no pictures allowed in church, so these are from the internet]

 

We moved onto the largest of the monasteries, Great Meteoron.  In the early days, you could only access this retreat by net, or a pulley and ladder system.

 

We had to descend 100 steps, traverse a short causeway and then climb 200 stairs to the entrance where (once again) DW had to don a midcalf wraparound skirt to cover her knees (pants and leggings did not suffice).  Harry led us to the hall outside the church, pointing out the now sealed wall of the former church, and a large slab of wood and a suspended three prong piece of metal – both used to summon the monks from their work for prayer and meals.  [Now there are only 4 monks in this sprawling edifice, who rely on employees – paid by our entrance fees – to help take care of this extensive physical plant.]

 

We entered the church which was much larger than the one at Agios Stefanos – but despite its frescoes being 500 years old, they were very much the same representations as the 30 year old ones at Agios Stefanos.

 

The vistas from Great Meteoron were breathtaking.

 

Unfortunately, one could not use that term in the same sense when describing their WCs.  Turkish toilets!  Yuck!  [Well, they take your breath away, but not in a good way…]

 

Harry bid us farewell, as he had other clients who were to meet him there.  We did the 200 down and 100 up to regroup with Terry.

 

Terry showed us some abandoned hermit caves, and the cave of Agios Georgios Mandilas (with the bright scarves) – which has an interesting story attached.  It seems that many years ago a Turkish couple was living in the village.  One day the husband was chopping trees in a forest sacred to Saint George and one fell on him, injuring him so severely that it appeared he was at the gates of death.

 

Seeing the distress of the woman, the local villagers urged her to pray to St. George for a miracle (it was after all St. George’s Day), and so, desperate to save her beloved husband and even though she was a Muslim, the woman removed her headscarf and offered it to St. George in prayer.  The husband was cured and in gratitude his wife carried veils to this cave every year on St. George’s Day.  

 

The local villagers continue the tradition to this day: every year on St. George’s Day, the young men from the village climb to the cave of Agios Georgios Mandilas to collect the scarves that were brought up as offerings the previous year and replace them with new ones.  

 

Terry then took us to the Theopetra Prehistoric Cave Museum, which has human footprints dated to 115,000-130,000 years ago.  We were able to look at the exhibits but the cave was not accessible as safety work was underway.

 

Next stop was a steep stone bridge built in 1527.  It has one buttress [no doubt added to support one side] and some steel brackets opposite that to help out.  But it is still intact and usable – unlike the Tappan Zee Bridge that only lasted 52 years…

 

We were back on the road by 12:30 and we didn’t stop for lunch till after 4 [this is the one weakness in CATTaxi’s otherwise excellent itineraries].  We took the opportunity of the long drive to catnap and nibble a bit on the odds-and-ends snacks we had left.

 

Finally we stopped at a seaside café in Kamena Vourla (means ‘burned plant’).  Again we shared Greek salad and bread.  I had squid and DW octopus.  We walked the main drag for a short time and then Terry insisted we try a special dessert, Loukonmades, which are tiny oddly shaped donuts covered with honey and cinnamon.  Yummy!

 

Another couple of hours brought us the Sofitel Athens Airport hotel.  We had a spacious room and it felt good to get out of the van after so many hours.  We relaxed awhile as we were still full from our late lunch.

 

Between 9:30 and 10 we toddled down to the hotel restaurant, Mesoghaia, and were seated.  It took a while to get our food, but it was worth it.  Best moussaka ever!  We shared one order, but it was just right.  Because we have used Sofitel at Heathrow a couple of times this past year, I received a coupon for free wine with dinner.  [And that was just right too!]

 

The hotel was directly across the street from the Departures/Arrivals terminal so we decided to scout it out for our flight the next day.

 

We got a good night’s sleep.

 

01 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

02 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

03 Meteora – Agios Stefanos dome

 

04 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

05 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

06 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

07 Meteora – Agios Stefanos

 

08 Meteora – view from Agios Stefanos

 

09 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

10 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

11 Meteora – view from Great Meteoron

 

12 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

13 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

14 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

15 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

16 Meteora – Great Meteoron - wooden gong

 

17 Meteora – Great Meteoron – bells

 

18 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

19 Meteora – Great Meteoron – modern icons (left)

 

20 Meteora – Great Meteoron – modern icons (middle)

 

21 Meteora – Great Meteoron – modern icons (right)

 

22 Meteora – Great Meteoron – old kitchen

 

23 Meteora – Great Meteoron

 

24 Meteora – view from Great Meteoron

 

25 Meteora – view from Great Meteoron

 

26 Meteora – view from Great Meteoron

 

27 Meteora – view from Great Meteoron

 

28 Meteora – abandoned hermit caves

 

29 Meteora – cave of Agios Georgios Mandilas

 

30 Theopetra Prehistoric Cave Museum

 

31 Theopetra Prehistoric Cave Museum

 

32 Stone Bridge from 1527

 

33 Stone Bridge from 1527

 

34 Stone Bridge from 1527

 

35 Stone Bridge from 1527

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 Thursday October 20, 2022 – Flyin’ Home

 

We went down to Mesoghaia for the breakfast buffet [included in our room fee].

 

We checked out around 12:30 [they had given us an extension] and bumped into four people from California whom we’d met on our cruise.  We then went to the terminal, checked our bags and spent a long time on line for Passport Control and Security, so we skipped the lounge and continued straight to the gate.

 

As we waited to board, at least 20 people were assisted on in wheelchairs (seemingly all unrelated).  It was a long flight (we were on the plane for at least 11 and a half hours) but arrived at JFK on time.  The food was better on this Delta flight than when we came over.  We had a moist chicken thigh with ratatouille and a fennel salad with radish slices and asparagus.  Dessert was caramel ice cream.  Snacks and treats were dispensed several times mid-flight as were beverages.

 

[This was an A330-300, which is a newer and much better plane than the 767-300 from the first flight.  Boeing has really shot themselves in the foot with several recent engineering snafus [MAX, 787, lack of any new models even in the design phase…].  I remember not too long ago when I preferred any Boeing aircraft to any other manufacturer – early Airbus, Lockheed.  No longer: I’ll take an Airbus over a Boeing any day!]

 

Unfortunately, too many drinks were given to three older unrelated chaps across the aisle as the middle guy got into a heated disagreement with the woman in front of him.  A flight attendant settled them down, but a few hours later the middle dude seemed to be harassing the woman in front again and three FAs came to resolve it.  The main FA asked the middle guy for ID.  He gave up his boarding pass which showed he was not occupying his originally assigned seat in coach.  She led him back to it.  [No more free drinks for you…]  Quiet at last!

 

I dozed for a while.  DW never could; she watched a movie and a half.

 

About an hour before NY, we were given spicy Asian chicken wraps.  Very good, but very zingy!  An orange mousse helped cool things off a bit.

 

Deplaning went smoothly, as did Global Entry and baggage claim.

 

We had to wait a few minutes outside for our limo driver, but the ride home was smooth and we were glad to see our own bed!

[Host Jazzbeau]

20 Conclusion

 

This was our third Azamara cruise, and despite the changes wrought by Covid and the new ownership of the cruise line we felt that it was just as enjoyable as the previous two.

 

The CW Owner’s Suite is our favorite accommodation from any of our 30 plus cruises, and we really enjoy the amenities that it brings, especially specialty dining at no cost.  We missed the Best of the Best Dinner that has been offered to the 10 top suites, but we understand that this was a Covid measure and it is now coming back.

 

We also missed the AzAmazing Evening, another Covid casualty, which is also coming back.  [The onboard Destination Celebration was a temporary replacement, but it loses the ambience of a local cultural or historic backdrop.]  This is one of Azamara’s unique features – and as with most things on Azamara it is offered to everyone.  Thankfully the White Night was back to its true from, even if we (for our own reasons) missed most of it.  These are two of the entertainment highlights on Azamara.

 

Another example of Azamara’s inclusiveness is the included wine and liquor offerings, which do a lot to enhance meeting and hanging out with new friends – but the included wine selection was not up to previous Azamara standards (nor was the wine list for the expensive Ultimate package) and they really need to work on this.  Thankfully the wine cellar still contains many desireable bottles, and both the Chef’s Table wine pairings and the bottles I was able to buy through the Connoisseur Wine Package were fully up to snuff.

 

Itineraries – Azamara makes the most of its small ships to go places other cruise lines can't, and the late nights and overnights allow us to really experience those places (without tourist hordes).  I seek out the ‘country intensive’ itineraries on Azamara – like this one (Adriatic Wonders – the best of all the Adriatic itineraries Azamara has done, especially with the change from Venice to Ravenna and the addition of a 12th day!).

 

Shore Excursions – Because of the $1,000 OBC promotion plus other sources of OBC we had a ton to use up, and that pushed us to do Azamara shore excursions exclusively for the first time.  The shore excursions in general were very good.  The biggest weakness was that they were under-described [as opposed to other cruise lines that promise more than they deliver!].

 

Lake Bled & Island (KR01) suggested we could buy some Slovenian cream cake – but actually included a full lunch with the cake as dessert.  Rovinj on Foot (V4L3) included an unannounced music performance.  Kotor by Boat with A Capella Performance (KVS2) didn't communicate that the lunch at a tavern was really a 4-course fish tasting menu at one of the top rated restaurants in the area.

 

On the other hand, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Mystical Places (DUS2) was much too long – originally billed as 11 1/2 hours, it actually took 13 – for too little payoff [the Mostar bridge is historically important but not really that impressive, especially this late in the year when the daredevil divers have ended their season].  And it was scheduled on the same day as the Destination Celebration – as our tender arrived back at the ship the cellist was already leaving after her second performance.  If we had known all this, we would not have taken this excursion.

 

Food – We enjoyed the food in all venues on board.  The specialty restaurants (Prime C and Aqualina) are very good, but the menus are limited and only the daily special changes.  As a result we were happy to dine in each twice, but weren’t lured back a third time.  The Chef’s Table presentations on this cruise were better than ever, but they are still looking for a third menu to equal the French and Italian ones [earlier cruises had California, which didn’t appeal to us; this cruise had a Middle East menu advertised but it was quickly cancelled for lack of interest].

 

We appreciated Azamara’s flexibility in scheduling second evenings of both the French and Italian Chef’s Tables to accommodate all those who were interested, as the original sittings sold out within the first hour on embarkation day.  But maybe it would be even better if you could buy these packages online before the cruise, so they could judge interest and add capacity beforehand.

 

Shops – One thing Azamara is not is a shopper’s heaven.  The shops are small, and since our last cruise the management has changed and they now stock only very overpriced stuff that had zero appeal to us – and apparently to most people, judging by how empty the shops were throughout the cruise.  With all the OBC that was floating around this cruise, Azamara missed a great opportunity by not having the kind of merchandise their clientele wants.

 

Entertainment – Between the small size of the stages and the small passenger count you aren’t going to find mega-resort-ship type entertainment on any small ship – but you can get up close and personnel with more intimate productions, and Azamara has done very well within these limitations.

 

On earlier cruises we felt the singing was a weak point rescued partially by the great dance teams.  This time the singers were the strong point and the dancing was weak [thankfully they didn’t try to recreate the dance-focused show Danzare from the old days!]  But overall we were quite happy with the production shows, and with the guest entertainers – especially the very talented Cruise Director Darren in his own shows.

 

If you aren’t already aware of this: Azamara doesn’t have Casinos or Art Auctions any more.  This, by the way, is a strength!  They also don’t have intrusive photographers following you around and posing in stupid pirate costumes – another strength.

 

But the one photographer onboard was spread too thin – we bought the Thumb Drive of photos to get a professional’s take on the itinerary, but of course he could only go on one shore excursion in each port so he often skipped what we saw entirely.  The photos posted on this blog are almost entirely mine – you’ll spot the few that are his by the over-saturated colors.

 

All Covid protocols had been relaxed by the beginning of this cruise, but with a little personal caution (we wore masks on the buses during excursions – and only then) we came home healthy.

 

Shout-outs – Our Butler Aman was wonderful – anything we asked he made happen.  Cabin attendant Mark was very thorough and unobtrusive.  April, Karen and Shinata were excellent servers in the specialty restaurants.  Sommelier Silas was the best sommelier I have ever dealt with – his pairings on the tasting menus were spot on, and he worked with me to get the most out of the Connoisseur Wine Package.  Cruise Director Darren is a new star for Azamara (right up there with our favorite, Russ Grieve, who has moved on to Silversea).

 

Summary – Azamara remains one of our favorite cruise lines, and the strengths on this cruise far outweighed the few misses.  And yet – several times during the cruise one of us would say to the other “There’s nothing to complain about, but I miss Noble Caledonia!”  Noble sails even smaller ships (around 100 passengers) and the feeling of “Welcome Home” is even stronger every time we come on board.

 

The other cruise line on our short list is Oceania – which really lives up to its slogan ‘the finest cuisine at sea’ but doesn’t match the intensive itineraries of both Azamara and Noble.

 

Still, having three cruise lines that we really like and feel confident in booking again and again – it’s a great life!

  

CATTaxi – I will also put in a short review of our post-cruise tour company, CATTaxi of Athens.  I booked this package very far ahead, and they were willing to commit to keeping the then-published prices for a year ahead.  This has been an unprecedented year of inflation, especially for fuel prices in Europe, but they never complained nor did they seem to cut any corners on our trip.

 

I worked with them in planning the trip and we made some alternations to their website itinerary to suit our preferences.  Despite the long-in-advance booking and it being for only 2 people CATTaxi upgraded us to a large Mercedes van which easily held our luggage.  We were able to choose the hotel we wanted in Meteora, and they upgraded us to a junior suite with great views.  Our guide Terry kept adding little things to make the trip better, and was a joy to work with.

 

If you need a cruise pickup or an extended excursion in the Athens area, I highly recommend CATTAxi.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Sorry that it took so long to get this blog finished and posted.  But I got it done before our next great adventure, which begins in a few weeks:  Patagonian Frontiers plus Iguazu Falls with Odysseys-Unlimited (including the Patagonia Explorer cruise on Stella Australis).

[Host Jazzbeau]

@andrcan and @takemewithyou – thanks for spotting the typo.  Too many cruise lines, too many restaurant names!  Fixed.

 

And thanks to Hilary for reminding me to add the photo of the 4 Azamara ships in Koper.

[kimberlydrzymala]

Thanks so much for posting this incredible review. We are taking our first trip on Azamara in May and we are traveling on Journey and staying in the same suite you stayed in. Even more excited now than before! 

 

[SummmerInKefalonia]

One of the best and most detailed reviews I have ever seen on this forum!

Very helpful for someone who wants to do a similar cruise!

Greetings from Argostoli, Kefalonia! I hope you had a great time here! 🙂

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

One of the best and most detailed reviews I have ever seen on this forum!

Very helpful for someone who wants to do a similar cruise!

Greetings from Argostoli, Kefalonia! I hope you had a great time here! 🙂

Yes we did.  We are so glad we got to see this side of Greece and the Ionian Islands, which are so much greener than the islands in the Aegean.  And thanks for your help in planning it.