Adriatic Cruise, Part 4

Adriatic Cruise, Part 4.



You should start with Adriatic Cruise Part 1.
http://livingvillage.blogspot.com/2010/10/adriatic-cruise-1_01.html)


19 September 2010; Sunday: Venice
The promised thunderstorm came in the night and there was a bit of pitching and rolling. It woke me up at one point and kept us awake for a while. We came into Venice about 7am, but I wasn’t up to see it

Piazza San Marco already getting crowded

This time, we had decided not to do an excursion so we took the water taxi to Piazza San Marco(it’s a real pity that there’s no vaporetto biglieteria at Santa Marta because this would have meant only one fare, but we couldn’t get tickets before San Marco) and walked for a while looking at shops before taking the vaporetto to Rialto for more shop and an ice cream.

Still the odd quiet corner

Murano Glass - I'm going to have a go at this when I retire

Wonderful windows

Waiting for the vaporetto

Rialto Bridge (with adverts)

On the Canal Grande

Santa Maria della Salute (built in thanks for the ending of the plague)

Queuing for the water taxi

The forecast had been for 20°C but it got much hotter and was unbelievably crowded. We did manage to escape the crowds a bit in some of the less central areas but we were both tired and didn’t want to miss the 3.30pm ‘back on board’ time and we knew it would be a long walk from the water taxi stop to the embarkation point so we came back about half an hour early.

Lifeboat muster

I have to say, I much prefer Venice in the Winter – so long as it doesn’t flood. Lunch was being served until 3.30 so our early arrival meant we could have a cool salad on the Boat Deck. As not many people were back, there was lots of space and plenty of umbrellas. The entertainment was watching the new embarkees doing their lifeboat drill.

Through the Giudecca

Towards the Punta Dogana, San Giorgio Maggiore on the right

We left Venice about 5pm, going back through the lagoon past San Marco, etc. Stunning views, marred a little by the crew’s idea of entertainment for leaving Venice – line dancing to very loud disco music. We all would have preferred something lighter and more classical. We cruised through the Lido and into the Adriatic. Dubrovnik next.

Passing the Punta Dogana

San Marco crowds

20 September 2010; Monday: Dubrovnik

 

Arrival at the Port of Dubrovnik

Today’s excursion was in the afternoon so we had a chance for a lie in. We eventually went out onto the Boat Deck for breakfast but it was so windy it blew the scrambled egg off my fork! We moved into the sheltered part of the deck and it was a bit better but there was a very fine salt spray; not great when you wear glasses. We got lumbered with a very boring couple and couldn’t wait to get away.

Dubrovnik from the Road

We were late getting into harbour so the trips had to be delayed a bit. Gave us a chance to have an early lunch in the restaurant – much more comfortable.

Cavtat Bay

Before Dubrovnik, we went to Cavtat (pron. Savtat). This is an extremely pretty peninsula with a by each side. Not a great deal to do, but the views were great and we enjoyed sitting in the shade with ice creams.

If you were staying in Cavtat, however, you would need to travel around a bit. It was almost like Cittagazze (in His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman)

(Cittàgazze (sometimes abbreviated to Ci'gazze),is a seaside town, reminiscent of those near the Mediterranean, which seems to have Italian roots. Its main features are quaint restaurants, parasols hung over circular tables beneath trailing plants, wide cobbled roads, and ancient architecture. However, it should not necessarily be considered "old-world". There is mention of electric devices such as lights and refrigerators and places such as department stores. Thus, the world appears to be similar in some technological achievements while vastly inferior in others such as modern medicine and transportation.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locations_in_His_Dark_Materials.

Interestingly, I saw pomegranates growing in gardens as we left.

The walls of Dubrovnik

The Gates of Dubrovnik

The Old Fortress

Main Street

Central Square

Main Street (marble pavements like glass - dangerous when wet)

The Old Harbour

Up to the Walls

Dubrovnik old town has some great architecture and the main streets are wide and paved with marble but it lacks character. It almost seems as if it has been scrubbed clean to remove anything that might give it character. We followed the guide around the old town and she was very good but I couldn’t really get interested. I wondered whether the lack of character was due to the restoration after the recent bombings in 1991.

“It was the attack that shocked the world. In 1991 Dubrovnik was a UNESCO "protected" World Heritage Site, a designation that was supposed to save it from the war just boiling up in former Yugoslavia. It didn't. Dubrovnik was left practically undefended by Croatian forces as, frankly, no one thought the Yugoslav forces would dare to attack such an important cultural monument with negligible military value. In fact, Serbian-Montenegrin forces wished to seize Dubrovnik from Croatia and annex it to Serbian-Montenegrin control." http://www.croatiatraveller.com/southern_dalmatia/Dubrovnik/bombing.html

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSXXcViVc3U&has_verified=1”

After walking around Cavtat and Dubrovnik in the heat, I was getting tired, so we retired to a bar had a drink, paid in kuna and watched the world go by for a while. While we waited for the bus back to the boat, the French sang La Marseillaise (Il n’ya rien a dire!). We got back on board and set sail immediately. Villages on the way to Cavtat: Mlini and Plat. (I can see where Terry Pratchett gets his Uberwald and Borogravia names from).

Next stop: Corfu

Adriatic Cruise, Part 3.

(You should start with Adriatic Cruise Part 1.
http://livingvillage.blogspot.com/2010/10/adriatic-cruise-1_01.html)

18 September 2010; Saturday: Split (Croatia)

Split was another of those visits where we could have walked across the road from the Harbour straight into the Old Town inside Diocletian's Palace. However, this time, the excursion gave real added value - trouble is, you can never be sure unless you've done extensive research beforehand.

Our tug for Split (I like tugs)

Anyway, we took the tour again and were taken to a sculpture galley on a hill above the town. This was a beautiful modernist building, holiday home of the sculptor Igor Mestrovic and is now filled with his sculptures; bronzes, stone carvings and panels and some wood carvings.

The house itself overlooked the bay with the best views in the city. This was one of the occasions when, had we not taken the excursion, we would not have visited Mestrovic’s house or seen the sculptures and would certainly have missed out on a great experience. It’s a very difficult choice to make when you don’t have enough information.


The sculptures seemed to fall into 2 categories, or 2 periods of his life. The first was very classical, representational and almost brutally realist and the second a more stylised almost art deco style. They were stunning and one in particular made a great impression on Marea.

Alabaster panel: Madonna

Caryatid in traditional Croatian dress

The dining room

Bronze panel

Bronze of Mestrovic's wife

Stylised alabaster panel

This is the bronze that impressed Marea

Wood panel

Orient Queen in Split Harbour

We then went down to the old city inside Diocletian’s Palace walls. We followed the tour for a while but went our own way after visiting the cathedral and temple of Apollo.

Split 'promenade' the harbour's on the right and Diocletian's Palace on the left (behind the parasols)

Entering through the basement

There was such a lot to see but we also found time to sit in a café and have a drink. From the harbour, you enter the palace through the basement area where there are shops and stalls. Marea bought a couple of pairs of silver earrings for about £25 and we also bought a replica of the Mestrovic statue that had so impressed Marea earlier.

The Forum

Inside the Cathedral

Photography is forbidden inside the Cathedral but no-one took any notice. I have to say I do not understand why they make these rules when the art inside is supposed to belong either to God or to the whole world. If they charged a small fee, say 1euro, to take photos, they could spend the proceeds on conserving their appalling paintings which have never been cleaned in centuries.

The Temple of Apollo

Forum Cafe

I rather enjoyed the fact that this sort of trading, stalls and cafés must have taken place here since the time of the Romans.

We ended with a beer and iced coffee in a pavement café, then walked back to the boat (which, by now had moored in a previously occupied berth) for lunch on the open Boat Deck in very high winds but it was still very hot.

As we sailed, it was beginning to cloud over and, before long, the sun had gone. Still warm enough to sit out with a G+T, though. There’s a thunderstorm on the way during the night.

Tomorrow: Venezia!