Live and Solo: Dustin's European Adventure (Explorer May 8)

[DandDM]

Good morning!  We are docking in Dubrovnik Croatia righ now. Foggy and wet when I woke up, but clearing up now. 

having a quick bite in the windjammer, it is very busy….food was fine. Kept to the basics. 
 

 

docked now and weather seems to be improving. Temperature 61 currently and will only warm up a few degrees today. Rain expected to continue. 
 

[DandDM]

Yesterday was pretty quiet: food, wine and shows (and a good book). Will post a recap in my room in I have time before the tour. 

[DandDM]

Went to the first ice show of the day "Spirits of the Seasons". Great as always! I got to Studio B ten minutes early and while the area at the end of the rink was full, the sides were pretty empty. By the time the show started, nearly every seat was full and folks were standing up top. So my recommendation is to get there just a little early!

 

Some photos to follow. They got a couple kids from the audience to push around in little sleds, and appreciated the balance to ride a bike on the ice!

[Coralc]

14 minutes ago, DandDM said:

Good morning!  We are docking in Dubrovnik Croatia righ now. Foggy and wet when I woke up, but clearing up now. 
docked now and weather seems to be improving. Temperature 61 currently and will only warm up a few degrees today. Rain expected to continue. 
 

 

Dubrovnik has UFO's or UAP's. 😃 <jk> Beautiful town and great photo! ☺️

[DandDM]

Pretty uneventful afternoon. Although the temperature technically got warmer (high of 67), clouds rolled in and it felt cooler. I bundled up on my balcony with some wine and a book and settled in.

 

For sake of time (have 30 minutes to get ready for tour); jumping ahead to the evening show. It was a Beatles tribute. Was expected a full show, this was more of a concert. Beatles were before my time, but I'm guessing it was authentic?  Couple of photos

 

 

[DandDM]

Dinner at Izumi. With the UDP you get to choose one small plate, two large plates and a dessert. 

 

All meals include edamame and miso soup (both were very tasty):

 

Small plate was vegetable fried rice; I ate it before the photo 😞

 

Drink was Spicy Okinawa (and it was spicy!)

 

 

My favorite of the evening: Seared Tuna Tataki rolls 

The assorted Sashimi. Slice size was generous, but flavor was not great; don't think the fish was very fresh...

 

 

Dessert was light but a classic: Green Tea Ice Cream

[DandDM]

11 minutes ago, Coralc said:

 

Dubrovnik has UFO's or UAP's. 😃 <jk> Beautiful town and great photo! ☺️

Haha!  Took the photo from inside the windjammer 🙂

[DandDM]

16 hours ago, StanleyandGus said:

How very odd that they went on a European cruise!  I would have left too.

Agree!  Doing a ship tour today (Dalmatian coastline and wine tasting) and when queue up in theater to check in, the same guys were right in front of me!  Luckily, they had a different tour. 
 

 

5 hours ago, frosty52 said:

Just found this today and got all caught up.  

 

Thanks for doing this report (I'm loving it).  It has not only brought up great memories but a desire to get back to Europe, specifically Italy.  There is still so much to see and do there. 

 

 

 

 

Glad you are enjoying!

 

 

2 hours ago, az4ship said:

Loving your review and I traveled solo last year and it was out of my comfort zone but worth it.

thanks! 

[DandDM]

Just got back from a great tour, despite the elements. Finished up at a brewpub at the port. 

 

 

Will post more about the tour later, but found this in my room…what is it?? Crab? Frog? Offspring of the two?

 

[Kathscof]

14 minutes ago, DandDM said:

Just got back from a great tour, despite the elements. Finished up at a brewpub at the port. 

 

 

Will post more about the tour later, but found this in my room…what is it?? Crab? Frog? Offspring of the two?

 

I vote frog, as the legs are curled under, making it look like he is sitting on the hind legs 🙂  

[DandDM]

4 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

I vote frog, as the legs are curled under, making it look like he is sitting on the hind legs 🙂  

It's a really 'buff' frog with those wide shoulders!🙂

[Kathscof]

1 minute ago, DandDM said:

It's a really 'buff' frog with those wide shoulders!🙂

HAHA well, I am thinking of the ones that they used to have in Splash Mountain at Disney 😄 at least a foot tall and maybe 1.5 feet wide hahahaha

[DandDM]

I've got the memory card inserted into my laptop and door wedged open with a shoe, so will do my best to report on today!

 

Did a ship tour; I don't do these a lot and can't specifically remember why I chose this (it was months ago).  Think it was a combination of a good black Friday deal on something that looked fun.  I was questioning this when I arrived at the meeting place (palace theater) at 8:20 for a 8:30 tour where we didn't get up to leave until after 9AM. Did get a chance to meet some of my tour mates before. Ended up being a great tour!

 

It was pouring down rain when we got outside and quickly boarded a coach. The tour guide had a lot to say about the local area while we drove along to the coast, but we really couldn't see much and I fell asleep.

 

First stop was Vina Vukas.  A very old vineyard on the Napolean highway, high up in the mountains. Learned that while Croatia was under communist rule, all grapes had to be sold to the state. only in the last 31 years (within a few days of when I graduated from high school) have they been free to make their own wine!  We started with grappa (distilled wine) which seemed an odd choice to start with, then went to a white and two reds. Not sure if it was the grappa that braced my palate, but the three wines came off extremely dry. I did not enjoy.

 

Not the photo of the little vine plant. They will grow to bush size in the summer but are little plants; per the guide, the small plants produce more potent grapes.

 

 

[DandDM]

Next we stopped at the small town of Ston. Our stop was very short as we were behind schedule, which wasn't a big deal because of the poor weather. My first stop was a little cafe for an espresso to wake up!

 

 

Interesting history for this town - they never had an army, but had salt. So they used the salt workers as defenders and built walls. When they wanted to expand, they used the salt money to buy neighboring properties.  A few photos below of the town, including the wall, the castle, and a cat that tried to attack me when I took its photo!

 

There is a marathon that happens here each September where you can run the walls.

Edited May 11, 2023 by DandDM
posted too soon

[JessyCruises]

What is distilled wine?  I have never heard of that before.  Off to google I go... LOL

[DandDM]

On the other end of Ston, we stopped for lunch at the Vila Koruma. Inside they had fish tanks holding the catch of the day. Not sure if you could pick you dinner (we didn't get to) but there were certainly pulling the fish out of the tank to serve. 

 

One of the workers (maybe the owner?) took great delight to terrify the guests with live lobsters. Some people liked them and took photos, but a few, including a lady near me, had a minor meltdown when confronted with the live crustaceans.

 

Lunch was good; a pasta with shrimp and an octopus and mussel paella. 

I really enjoyed the food but got myself in a little trouble. The lady sitting across from me uncovered a strange thing in her rice. It was a pouch, light pink in color with white spots, maybe half an inch in size. She refused to eat it, but based on the octopus in the food, I assumed it was related to that and offered to try it. That was a mistake. When I bit in, it burst, letting out a very strong salty/brining mixture and then the middle was crunchy. I spit it out, primarily because of the surprise of the crunch.  No idea what I tried to eat, and not sure that I want to know. 

 

The table was set with pitchers of tasty white wine, and a few glasses of that washed away the taste...

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by DandDM

[DandDM]

Final stop was an old olive oil farm on the hillside. The owner walked us through how olive oil used to be produced, including a horse that powered the press.  I'm going to try and post a video of that...never did this before so will see how it turns out!

[DandDM]

Wow, that was a lot of work for a three second video!  

 

After hearing the history (which was actually pretty cool), we had another meal and red wine. Photos below.  Also included in the photo is some of the 260 year old equipment used in the trade.

 

Don't see it in the photos, but there were pitchers of red wine on the tables for us.

[DandDM]

Because of the weather, pictures were hard to capture from the bus.  I'll attach a few from the day below.  From what I understand, Croatia is usually a very sunny country, we just got an off day, but it was still wonderful!

 

After the tour, a few of us went to a local brewery; finishing up a great day! They had four beers on tap, including a very pleasant IPA. I think this was an earlier photo...

 

Have dinner coming up soon..not sure if I'll be hungry again, but will give it a try! 

 

Cheers,

[juanrod]

It all looks so good, we have Greek cruise booked next year on explorer which might stop at this stop it keeps flipping between Olympia and this stop depending on what day I look at the itinerary.  Loving all your updates and pics @DandDM

[DandDM]

37 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

What is distilled wine?  I have never heard of that before.  Off to google I go... LOL

Technically it is brandy, but apparently in this part of the world, they call it Grappa! they use the grapes or wine as the base for their alcohol, like grain for vodka or wheat and barley for whiskey. 

 

Maybe someone else has more info, what I'm learning for this report is being heard, after which I drink it and take a photo, and then I try to explain!  🙂

[DandDM]

5 minutes ago, juanrod said:

It all looks so good, we have Greek cruise booked next year on explorer which might stop at this stop it keeps flipping between Olympia and this stop depending on what day I look at the itinerary.  Loving all your updates and pics @DandDM

Thanks! I don't think you'll go wrong with either stop

[DandDM]

View from my cabin. Very peaceful. 

[DandDM]

Hesitating to post this as I'm trying to keep the thread positive, but this has been eating at me.

 

As I reported earlier, I brought a small container of my wife's ashes. After a great opportunity in Rome, I spread some in Naples, then the rest in the Mediterranean as we passed under the south of Italy. Both places my wife and I loved, but neither situation was remarkable. Didn't see a reason to keep any as the territory covered on the rest of the trip was new.

 

Then today I visited the Olive farm that has been operating for 260 years. All the food we ate was harvested there and the place was lovely. Gardens with a view of the seas, taken care of for generations.  My wife, Dee Dee, would have loved it! This was the perfect place to leave a part of her...but I had none left. Feeling really poor about my choices; guilty that I didn't try harder to find a better home for those ashes. 

 

Have had this post sitting on my computer for a while.  Still not sure if I will post.  But I did realize that the ashes were just a trigger for my general grief.  

 

I guess when it comes to it, my real struggle with the solo cruise is not eating alone, or trying to meet new people on excursion or going to shows alone...its the pain of not enjoying it with my wife.

 

Writing this has made me feel better; I've been through enough to know I'll handle this as well. Sorry for the downer, but I've been sharing a lot and figure I'll also show the warts.

[4Nathan]

Do not worry about not leaving any of Dee Dee’s ashes at the Olive farm because she was there with you! Those we love are forever a part of us, always near us and only a heartbeat away. Sit on your balcony, close your eyes and know she is close.  Feel her love in the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze touching your face.  The best way we can honour our precious loved ones that have passed is to live life every day to the fullest.  And you are doing that for Dee Dee on this cruise.  She is with you and so very proud of you.  Thank you for sharing ALL of this journey with us.

Edited May 11, 2023 by 4Nathan
Typo