VENICE, ITALY

Today.

We spent the day walking and eating...a nice way to take in the sights.
No matter how many times you've seen VENICE in the movies or on TV, the real thing is more beautiful then you ever could imagine...

CANALS THROUGHOUT THE CITY LINK TO THE GRANDE CANAL

A JUGGLER IN THE SQUARE

REAL ITALIAN PIZZA

TASTED GREAT!

IT WAS PLEASURE SHARING OUR 2016 WORLD CRUISE EXPERIENCE

51 PORTS 

31 COUNTRIES

6 CONTINENTS

115 DAYS

Should you have any comments or questionsI would be glad to hear from you...

VENICE, ITALY  (day 115)

I was unable to post day 115 on the day we arrived in VENICE, and so I  am posting 115 on 116...

VENICE  is most certainly the way to end WORLD CRUISE on a real high! VENICE is the most beautiful city in the world! It is also the most siren city in the world. The architecture is an exotic mix Byzantine, Gothic, & Renaissance styles. The visual impact is unique, everything is set up to be viewed from the water, there are 117 different islands crisscrossed by 150 canals. The grandness of the old buildings is unspoiled by modern development & there are no cars to create noise or pollution. Venice is facing a challenge. The city is 2 meters above sea level & it was originally built on marshy islands that were drawn together by wooden pylons, today this foundations have become petrified & they still exist.  The city itself is said to be sinking 2 meters a year while the sea level is said to be rising 2 meters a year? The government is developing systems to control the rising water levels that will hopefully deal with this...???

"Massimo Cacciari, a philosopher and a former mayor of the city, once said Venice shouldn't actually have been possible. It was, he said, "a completely unlikely, entirely artificial city" and, at the same time, "a technical masterpiece, the purest expression of our capabilities, our mental potential."

ENTERING THE LAGOON THAT WILL TAKE US TO OUR BERTH

The Silver Whisper is a 25 ton vessel, and we cruised up the lagoon very slowly as to not create much of a wake.  Apparently the city is working on banning 45 ton vessels, large cruise ships, from entering the Lagoon since they create to much of a wake.

15th  CENTURY CLOCK TOWER.

The architect had his eyes poked out so that the tower could not be built again.

WHEN WE DISEMBARKED AROUND 3PM WE ONLY HAD TIME FOR A SHORT WALK UP 

THE STREET ALONGSIDE THE LAGOON

CHIESA DI  MARIA DEL ROSARIO

One of the churches that we passed on our short walk.

MANY, MANY, OF THE BUILDINGS WERE DECORATED WITH SCULPTURES

This one especially attracted our attention because it has a 2 headed dragon in it. 

WE WERE INVITED BY SILVER SEAS TO AN EXCLUSIVE COMPLEMENTARY  MASKED BALL  WORLD CRUISE EVENT

WE BOARDED MOTOR LAUNCHES, & WENT DOWN THE GRAND CANAL TO 
THE PALAZZO PISANI LORETTA 

ThE GRAND CANAL

Weaves its way through the center of VENICE for about 2 miles

JESTERS THAT GREETED US AS WE ENTERED THE PALAZZO

A VIOLIN QUARTET SERENADED US 

THE BAR WAS OPEN in the magnificent entrance foyer

THE MAIN DINNING ROOM

OUR TABLE

ALL OF THE CEILINGS WERE PAINTED IN THE 13TH CENTURY & ARE CONTINUOUSLY BEING CLEANED AND RESTORED

CHANDELIER OVER OUR TABLE

There are 100 candles in the Palazzo that are lit and extinguished every night & replaced every 3 days

A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

Our AUSSIE friends Col & Goodie

TO BE COMPLETED...next page

DUBROVNIK, CROATIA (day 114)

DUBROVNIK,  UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the worlds most beautiful fortified cities. It is known as the "Pearl of the Adriatic" with its wonderful array of Baroque architecture, historic Gothic, churches, terra-cotta roofs & gleaming marble streets. It is one of the most unspoiled coastlines in Europe. Tourism is very important economy of the country, but mostly it has made its fortune through maritime trade. Throughout history the people have suffered many atrocities, the most recent of which was in 1991 when DUBROVNIK was attacked by Serbian forces.
Today DUBROVNIK is a Parliamentary Democracy and as a country they are very optimistic about their future.

THE OLD TOWN IS SURROUNDED COMPLETELY BY 

THE CITY WALLS

MOST OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION TOOK PLACE DURING THE 13th CENTURY

THE WALLS & TOWERS WERE REINFORCED WITH ADDITIONAL TOWERS & BASTIONS OVER THE FOLLOWING 400 YEARS 

On  average the walls are 80 feet high and up to 10 feet thick on the seaward side, 20 feet thick on the inland side, the city has a perfectly preserved Medieval atmosphere.

PILE GATE THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE OLD CITY

ONE OF THE TWO GATES IN THE TOWN WALLS

THE 15th CENTURY STONE ARCH HAS A STATUE OF ST. BLAISE 

THE CITY'S  PATRON SAINT

CHURCH OF ST SAVIOR

BELL TOWER AT ONE END OF THE MAIN STREET PLACA

The bells ring every 1/2 hour on the minute.

ONE OF MANY OTHER OLD CHURCHES & STATUES IN THE CITY

ALL OF THE NARROW STREETS ON THE INLAND SIDE OF THE MAIN STREET HAVE STEEP  STONE STAIRWAYS GOING UP TO APARTMENTS

INSIDE STAIRWAY LEADING UP TO SOMEONE'S HOME

                                               

SIDE STREET ON THE SEAWARD SIDE OF THE CITY

There are many outdoor cafes and restaurants throughout the city.

VIEW OF THE TERRA-COTTA ROOFS FROM THE TOP OF A STAIRWAY

TORA IN A TINY 15th CENTURY SYNAGOGUE THE 2nd OLDEST IN EUROPE

This SYNAGOGUE bears testament to the once thriving Jewish community in DUBROVNIK, made up largely of Jews that were expelled from Spain & Italy during the medieval period. 

TODAY THERE ARE 45 JEWS LEFT IN DUBROVNIK

The Temple serves as a museum and the jewish people that live in the city have to travel to Prague to attend religious services.

YELLOW RIBBON & BADGE

Before, during, and after WW II the Jews were persecuted in DUBROVNIK 

the same as they were persecuted in the rest of Europe .

The Ark were the TORAS were kept

I FOUND THE CEINGS IN THE TEMPLE TO BE INTERESTING

WOODY POINTING OUT 1 OF THE CANNONS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN USED TO DEFEND THE CITY

BANJE BEACH, HAS VIEWS ACROSS THE SEA TO THE TINY ISLAND OF LOKRUM

Just a short distance from the Ploca gate it has a curving stretch of golden sand. 

Tomorrow VENICE our last port..

KOTOR, MONTENAGRO (day113)

Listed as a World Heritage site, KOTOR is a small atmospheric, unique, romantic old town. The people are Orthodox Christian & its ties are to Serbia. In the middle ages KOTOR was SERBIA'S chief port. Later it spent time controlled by Venice, Austria, & France.  Since 1916 KOTOR has had 8 names. At one time it was a part of Yugoslavia then in 2002 it became Serbia & Montenegro  and finally Montenegro regained its sovereignty in 2006. Montenegro's Currency is the EURO, even though it does not belong to the European Union yet. Montenegro's GDP is about $15,000.00 per annum & it has a way to go before it can enter the EU, however, the Euro gives the country stability.  It is fast becoming a celebrities destination, tourism is the hope for the countries future.

SUNRISE SAILING INTO KOTOR AT 6:00 THIS MORNING

KOTOR IS KNOWN AS THE MEDITERRANEAN FJIORD

THE HARBOR IN KOTOR

WE ARE APART OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINGENT  WHO SET OFF THIS MORNING TO WALK 5 MILES UP A SERIES OF SERPENTINES  TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN OVERLOOKING KOTOR AND THEN LUNCH & 5 MILES BACK DOWN  

DAPHNE TREES IN FULL BLOOM EVERYWHERE

THE AIR WAS FILLED WITH THE SCENT

The best way that I can describe it is that it smelled like Honeysuckle

THE BEGINNING OF THE COBBLED PATH

WOODY TRAVERSING UP THE MOUNTAIN

Notice the serpentine paths behind him.

We had to walk single file.

A BULL WHO LOOKED AT US QUESTIONINGLY AS WE WENT BY

 A COW & A DONKEY ALONG THE WAY

 A DOG THAT BARKED AT US AS WE WALKED BY

WE ALSO PASSED A HERD OF MOUNTAIN GOATS ALONG THE WAY

ST JOHN'S FORTRESS ON THE HILL BEHIND KOTOR 853 FT. ABOVE SEA LEVEL
The Fortress is about 1/4 of the way up the mountain

LUNCH AT THE TOP

WE MADE IT

THE MAIN TOWN GATE

ALSO KNOWN AS THE SEA GATE BECAUSE OF ITS POSITION ON THE COAST WHICH ACCESSES THE OLD TOWN

THE CLOCK TOWER

BUILT IN THE 17 th CENTURY AND CONSIDERED A SYMBOL OF KOTOR

STANDS DIRECTLY OPPOSITE THE MAIN GATE

THE TOWN SQUARE

LOCATED JUST INSIDE THE MAIN GATE

A LATGE BUSY PLACE WITH LOTS OF SHOPS AND OPEN AIR CAFES

Throughout history KOTOR has been in the path many strong earthquakes. They did a very expensive rebuild of the town in 1979 & its looks perfect in every way, beautiful. Interesting is that once the town was reestablished the RUSSIANS & the BRITS bought up70% of the real estate. Will they ever recoup their investment?

KOTOR has many charms it is small and you can see the town in about 1/2 day...