by Jim Bellomo | Sep 16, 2022 | Photography
After our three days in Venice, we were both totally wiped out so when we arrived in Sibenik, Croatia, at midday on Monday. We both decided that we would pack it in that day. I did take some pics on the way in and on the way out that I will share with you below but first, a couple of things I have really loved on this ship.
First, those of you who know me know I love to walk. At home, I walk a minimum of four miles a day, sometimes more. And yes, I fully realize that I am walking when I do tours, but, to be honest, walking and taking photos is not exercise. So pretty much every morning since we have sailed, I have walked four miles before breakfast. On most ships, I have to walk around a top deck, running track. Never liked those walking tracks; they were too small and had too many people. But Viking Sky has a full circuit walking/jogging track on deck two. It goes completely around the ship with no breaks and is exactly one-quarter of a mile. It’s really wide (except for a few feet at the front of the ship), and very few people use it. In fact, most days, there’s one other runner and me. I was so happy to find a totally wrap-around deck. On modern cruise ships, they are few and far between.
We have also been eating most meals since Venice by ourselves in The World Cafe (buffet). The food is still the best we have had on the ship, and the service is WONDERFUL! On our second day after Venice, we went up and sat at a small table way at the aft (back) of the ship, where there is a wonderful young lady taking care of the tables whose name is Nanci. The first thing she said to us that first night we sat there was, “Would you like to see our wine list?” I almost fell over. Finally, after almost ten nights, someone offered us a wine list. And when asked for suggestions, she looked at what we had selected from the buffet, and she came back with two outstanding glasses of Italian red. Not only that, but when I told her how much I loved the chocolate desserts, she asked if I was going to try them that night. When I came back from getting them, she had brought me a glass of Chianti and told me, “Nothing goes better with chocolate,” and she was right. We have been back to her table every night since. She is wonderful and thoroughly fun to talk to. When we asked her where she was from, she asked me to guess. I told her (because I had heard her say a few words in Italian) I thought she might be Italian. She told us she lives in Italy but is from Guadalajara, Mexico. She is a gem and has really improved our dinners.
Tomorrow night we will miss her because we are joining some new friends for dinner in the dining room. They have a favorite server and promise us we will have a great meal. We shall see.
As I am writing this, we have just finished our day in Naples. Since Sibenik, we have stopped in Bari, Crotone and Messina, so I still have all that to catch you up on. Here are the pics for Sibenik. You may not believe it, but I took every one of them from our stateroom’s verhanda.
Don’t forget, if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please… (I have heard a vicious rumor that a close relative is looking at my pics on a phone. For that, she will have to eat my food again and watch all of them on our TV when we get home?).
The pilot boat arrives. I love pilot boats.
The pilot jumps aboard.
It is a very twisty and turny approach to Sibenik.
Old castles
Beautiful countryside
But we can see the city in the distance.
We saw hikers on the high ground nearby.
And a nice welcoming sign.
Getting waves.
Lots of interesting things to see on both sides of the ship.
Caves
Caves
And more caves
The house at the top of the hill is for sale if you are interested.
Something modern.
And one of the battlements once we were docked.
The views of the city
Including a Duomo
A large church
The gulls almost seem to be part of the marketing.
Looking back at the zig zag..
…that we sailed through and would sail back out of at the end of the day.
Sail-away time.
Some sunset photos
Like this one
Or this one
I liked this silhouette of the captain and the pilot as we sailed out.
Looking back at the city.
And ahead…
And behind again.
Was very happy with my sunset shots.
As you know, I love taking sunrise photos but…
I do love these sunsets.
Tomorrow we will be the port for Rome. Kathleen and I have been there quite a few times before, so we are staying on board. So that means I will do my best to catch up with the four ports between Sibenik and Rome. Lots to share.
You know more of a road by having traveled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world. —William Hazlitt
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 9, 2022 | Photography
Before I start on Dubrovnik, I will provide an update on our situation onboard. Yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, around 4:00, I received a call from the Hotel Director. He had seen my posts on this blog and on Cruise Critic. He asked me if he could come up and see me. I told him I had been thinking about doing that, but I wasn’t sure what to say. But I said I would love to discuss it and I would come down to his office. Suffice it to say; everything has been settled; he is a wonderful person and has assured me that things were taken care of. I believe him, although we still had problems last night in the dining room…for a while. More about that later.
But the big news here is that while Kathleen was locked away in food poisoning prison, I got to do the shore excursion tour I had planned to do. I had already planned to do this one on my own as it was listed as “strenuous” and it was—STRENUOUS!
The tour was called “A Guided Tour of the Top of the Walls in Old Dubrovnik.” What that meant was we climbed to the top of the Old Dubrovnik fortifications (see photo above) and walked all the way around the city. My watch told me that my elevation had changed enough for me to have climbed 37 flights of stairs and the walk itself is around three miles with a ton of ups once you are on top of the wall. Funny that I can’t remember anything going down until we finished the walk and were leaving.
Suffice it to say that the views were amazing, the walk was an awesome place to take pictures and the guide (Nicolina) was the best we have had on the entire trip. We left the ship at 9:45 (I wish we had left earlier so the climb would be a little cooler) and took a coach downtown arriving in about 20 minutes. Lots of one-lane roads make for some really fun traffic. As soon as we were off the bus and in the old city, Nicolina had us climbing the walls. From that point on, I am going to let my pictures do the talking (or viewing), but I do want to say upfront that you may recognize some of the things in the photos because this is where much of Game of Thrones was filmed. Dubrovnik was the stand-in for Westeros. So keep an eye open for things you might recognize if you are a fan of the show. And again, don’t forget, if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
We woke up to our ship pulling in behind a German cruise line’s ship
And next to a really big bridge
In a busy harbor
With lots of boats coming and going
But some peaceful spots as well
We were off to the walls with Nicolina
That’s where we are headed
Up these very steep and slippery stairs
FInally got to the first level
The round thing is a well that still has drinkable water
The rest of these shots are so many views from the walls.
I am not going to caption all of them unless there is something special about that shot.
Just know that we walked and walked and walked.
The fortress across the way. Nice neighbors.
A small bay below the walls
So many kayaks.
Everywhere we went it was laundry day.
People actually live in and next to the walls.
Nicolina leads us onward.
There are restaurants on the wall itself.
More laundry
More views
More laundry
Finally saw someone hanging it.
An actual high school that backs onto the walls.Maybe they need a yearbook?
Lots of boats passing by.
This is so reminscent of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Resorts with water access were all along the walls
Looking back at the walls that we had already walked.
The front of the palace.
Biggest tighty whities we have ever seen.
Boats entering the yacht harbor.
Loved the splash of red here.
The yacht harbor.
Looking down into some pretty spectacular gardens
In the distance is the Dubrovnik version of The Spanish Steps
These balconies were some of the only ones to survive an earthquake in the sixties.
There are cable cars going up the mountain above the city.
This is the highest point on the wall. Of course I had to go up.
Here’s the view from up there
On our way down.
The gardens of the Benedictine Monastery.
Back on the ground
And the spigots on the well look like this. Lots of people filling water bottles.
I think that is where I am going to stop with Dubrovnik. We are about to get to Chioggia, our port for Venice. Just a note that we will be off the ship until Sunday and staying in Venice. We will be back on the ship on Sunday and I will fill you in on our visit to Split, Croatia, as well as on our three days in Venice and our time onboard.
We build too many walls and not enough bridges. —Sir Isaac Newton
