by Jim Bellomo | Sep 17, 2022 | Photography
I overheard an interesting discussion about Crotone, Italy. If you are unfamiliar with Crotone, it is located on the sole of the Italian Boot. It’s the red dot on the right.
It is a sleepy little Italian town that really isn’t really anything special until you look at it in a different way. On a bus back from a later excursion (I think it was in Messina), I overheard other passengers talking. One lady said, “That Crotone was the most boring port ever!” But another gentleman piped up with, “To me, it was the BEST port on this cruise. It was the real Italy. A small town. No tourist shops, no crowds (Viking Sky was the only ship there), a town square you could walk to, parks everywhere, winding streets with cars parked at crazy angles and then trying to drive up those NARROW streets.” And I guess I have to agree with him. The town itself took a little climbing to get into, and it had its share of ruins, but mostly, it was just a tiny, real Italian town.
How tiny? Viking didn’t even do any city tours there. The included tour was a walking tour of the village without guides. But all through the city, there were members of the community who would tell you about some feature of their town or their history and send you on to the next person. It was great meeting those locals. They were excited that we were there to hear about Crotone. So, all in all, it was a pretty great day. Viking did provide a free shuttle service that you could take up to the top of the village, but Kathleen wanted to save all her walking for the next day when we would be in Messina and going to see Taormina and Mount Etna, so she told me to go walk to my heart’s content. And that’s what I did.
Here are the photos I took of the seaside village of Crotone, a truly lovely place. 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…
A panoramic stitch shot from the ship of Crotone
To get there I just walked all the way down to that building in the upper right and crossed into the park
But not before I shot a pic of Viking Sky
Now I have crossed the street to the seafront promenade.
Found a ancient church on my way up
And cute cat that could not have cared less about me.
Finally the castle I had seen from the ship.
Inside the castle
Looking back at the ship from the castle
Other parts of the castle
A view of the village from the castle
The old cannon
From the highest ramparts
These held the cannons
Looking down on the back streets of the town.
Now a walk into town isn’t as crowded.
Loved this winding stairs and streets
Just a sleepy Italian town
With great captures for me
These tracks had great angles
The buildings were sometimes colorful.
Kathleen found that Vico is Way. So this is purgatory way.
A beautiful church façade
These next few pictures are for my two best buddies, Mike and Bob.
Mike because he loves to shoot in churches…
And Bob because he won’t even go in one.
Here you go guys! Enjoy.
Standing in the town square looking west
And east
And north
Your typical Italian business man hard at work.
A beautiful façade
Another church, just up the hill
And some more shots for Mike and Bob
Roman ruins
Inside that gate
Just up the street, another church.
Back outside.
And back down the street
Love this nonna off to market.
Lots of great places to shoot
Not sure what this is, any guesses.
I loved this verandah
Steps back down to the park and ship
The ship from the castle
This sure looks like Oregon Grape to me but it can’t be. Can it?
That was our (kind of my) day in Crotone. We finished up with dinner in the World Cafe at Nanci’s table again and then off to bed. Between Kathleen’s food poisoning and getting worn out from our days touring, we have spent most evenings in our stateroom. Viking has excellent television choices, but since we were onboard Viking, we decided we had to rewatch the entire Downton Abbey series. We just finished season 3 last night (Naples), so I am not sure we will make it. Viking does have shows, and they put them on television, both live and recorded. We watched a few for a couple of minutes (one was a Beatles tribute), and they were pretty bad. If we wanted a show, we would have sailed Royal Caribbean. The Mama Mia we saw on Allure of the Seas in 2019 was Broadway-worthy. On this ship, it’s all about travel.
As I write this, a new group of people are coming on board. This is actually not a three-week cruise but a series of four one-week cruises, one after the other, and we are on three of them. Our new buddies Corky and Larry have been on since Istanbul, so they are starting their fourth week while we start our third. A great deal of the people on board got off today in Rome, so it was very quiet until around noon, when the new folks who are doing a one-week cruise to Barcelona with us got on. We have never carried over like this before, but this day was great. Most of the carry-over people are in Rome, so that we could do laundry, I could take photos of the interior of the ship that I will share in a future post, and we could just rest. We are about to head down to the spa to try out the thalassotherapy pool and the rest of the relaxation stuff down there. Got to go. Next up for you are Messina, Taormina and Mount Etna. Not sure how soon I will get to that as we leave early tomorrow for an entire day in Cinque Terra.
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 17, 2022 | Photography
Since I have some time today while we are docked for Rome, I will try and do a couple of posts covering the next two places on the cruise. So watch for another one later in the day.
The day after our restful time in Sibenik, we arrived in Bari, Italy—a port I was really looking forward to. We both felt great so off we went on a shore excursion labeled “Alberobello, the Trulli Village.” Alberobello is about an hour away by motor coach (a fancy term for bus). The ride was a good one and the walk from where the bus parked to where the village started.
A trullo is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut so more than one is trulli. The village of Alberobello is the home of a whole bunch of trullo/trulli and they are very cool. Our day consisted of a bus ride from Bari to Alberobello, a walk tour of Alberobello followed by a visit to a nearby conference-type place where they fed us appetizers and some wine. Kathleen tried the food but I just wasn’t up to it. The food didn’t look that good and there was plenty of good calories to waste my caloric intake with onboard. After about an hour it was back on the ship and on our way home.
Below are the photos I took that day. Hope you like them. 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…
The harbor in Bari
And a little more
Then off to Alberobello!
The village is very white and clean
Our tour guide Donatello. He was excellent.
The town square
Small streets branched off the square
And smaller streets branched off of those.
The trullo are small homes.
The newer ones have brick walls but a roof of stacked rock.
Very interesting.
They are capped in different ways
It seemed like every pinnacle was different.
The old trullo were totally…
stacked stones.
Even a huge church with a stacked stone roof.
Street performers were everywhere.
Most of the trulli are shops now. Very few are living spaces.
Loved this on the outside of one that was a living space.
We must have been near an Italian Air Force base as these fighter jets flew over all day.
Such a typical Italian Noni.
Back in downtown and then off to…
Our meeting place that had these almost ready to bloom cactus flowers
One, single trullo you could go into.
The ceiling from the inside.
Cutouts for food prep…
Cooking and to let light in.
Interesting
Other trullo nearby.
This is the outside of the trulli we were able to go into.
Old walls built around the facility
Beautiful grounds.
I hope you enjoyed your photographic journey to Alberobello. Come back later (or watch your inbox) for Crotone, Italy.
You may have the universe if I may have Italy.  —Giuseppe Verdi
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 15, 2022 | Photography
Our final morning in Venice was due to end fairly early. We needed to find our own way back to the ship. If we had known where we were docking before we left home, I would have arranged transportation before we even left the USA. But since they decided at the last minute to switch from Fusina to Chioggia, I had to scramble. And I scrambled to no avail. I was on my phone trying to book us a van back to the ship for a reasonable price for quite a while. What we finally decided to do was just get a cab and have them drive us around.
Speaking of them driving us back to the ship, we had new friends we met on board who had originally planned a train trip from Venice to Tuscany with a private tour at the other end but the Viking Customer Service people told them that taxis were not allowed to enter the port at Chioggia. So when we got our cab, we were a little worried if we would be let into the port or have to walk quite a distance to get in. More about that later. I am getting ahead of myself.
Let’s go back to the early morning…you know before the sun came up. I was up and heading out with my camera in hand. Yesterday I made my way to Piazza San Marco via the Rialto bridge. Today I wanted to cross the Rialto again, but this time, I wanted to get back to the Accademia bridge, which is at the very beginning of the Grand Canal. When we came to Venice for the first time, way back in 2002, we stayed at the Galleria Hotel right next to that bridge. The bridge is the only wooden bridge across the Grand Canal, so I really wanted a couple of more shots from that area. It also provides a great place to shoot the beautiful Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. So here are the pics from that morning. I hope you like them. 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…
Early morning and looking for some great artificial light
Looking into Campo San Polo
I took two shots here because I loved what I was shooting but not sure whether to leave in the closeup stuff on the left.
As my friends know, I consider an early morning shot I took in New Orleans the best photo I have ever taken. I think this one is in that same vein.
Let me know which crop you like better.
I kept on walking.
and walking
and walking
Just as the blue hour ended, I got to Rialto and crossed
Before I continued my quest for the Academia
I took a few shots from the Rialto
As the sun was coming up.
And other, minor canals on the way
I love taking these. They are like nothing else iin the world.
I discovered this placque celebrating the first woman to ever graduate from a university. Had to post it to honor her.
I also found the ugliest building in all of Venice. Just plunked into a pretty Campo. Of course it was a government building.
See, even the statue thinks the building is ugly.
But the churches nearby were classic
I saw this COLORFUL children’s shoe store with VERY clean windows and had to shoot it.
Finally, Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
A most photogenic church
See what I mean? I shot all these from the Accademia Bridge
The Hotel Galleria where we stayed in 2002. We would have stayed there on this visit but they had no AC.
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute again.
Back on the Number 1 Vaporetto heading to St. Stae
Lots of great places still to shoot
This was a long golden hour.
And I was happy with the result.
The Rialto Bridge from the canal’s surface.
Adornment on the Rialto
The love of my life on our balcony upon my return.
When we went to breakfast we walked through Campo San Polo and saw old Italians with their old dogs.
This one is Nona with dog.
And a final Venice photo to cap the morning.
After breakfast, we grabbed our luggage and hit the good old Vaporetto #1 and headed up the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma, where we hopped off and headed to the taxi line and found a driver willing to go to Chioggia. We also asked him if he would be able to get into the port. He wasn’t sure but said he would get us as close as possible. That was good enough for us. He also quoted us 150 euros for the ride. Whew! But we had to get back. And unlike our favorite Lyft/Uber rides, this would have a meter running, so we had to sweat that out as well.
He headed out, and we drove for almost an hour. The meter ran up, and when we finally got there, it was 147 Euro. This man knew his pricing. And could he get into the port to drop us off? Let’s just say when we got out of his cab; we were inside the port and less than 10 feet from the terminal. From the time we got out of his cab, we were in our staterooms on the ship in less than seven minutes.
We grabbed a mid-afternoon dunch (dunch = dinner and lunch—or linner—take your choice ?) and just collapsed in our stateroom for the evening. Those three days in Venice took a lot out of us.
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 14, 2022 | Food Experiences, Photography
After a great night on a great bed (I still find Viking beds pretty hard, but I am getting used to them) at our Venice B&B, I was up for the entire reason for us making the additional travel investment in staying two nights in the city when we had a perfectly fine place to stay back on the ship—my pre-dawn photo walk in a city I love. (Nothing like getting an entire paragraph in one long sentence ?).
I woke up around 5;45 and checked my Photo Pills app on my phone. If you have never heard of Photo Pills, it is an iPhone (I am betting it is on android as well) app that tells me all I need to know about the light conditions where I am. For instance, as I write this, we are in Crotone, Italy (way down at the underside of the tip of the boot that is Italy) and when I opened Photo Pills this morning, here’s what I see.
First, it tells me the extent of my daylight; then, I get all the important times for photography, from Astronomical twilight to Day time. I know that I will get the best photos (if the weather cooperates—which it did on Day 2 in Venice) between 6:05 and 7:30 or so. So I made sure that I was up and out, camera in hand, no later than 5:30. In Venice, some of your best pictures are of artificial lights (doorways, streetlights, shop windows) before the sun even starts to come up. And to me, early morning are so much better than late night because there are a lot fewer people to get in the way. One or two people in a shot to set a mood is one thing but a whole bunch of people in different bright colors, looking everywhere, is not something I am after in a city like Venice.
My first few photos were in the dark. I did that on purpose. And a lot of Venice photography is vertical. That’s because a lot of Venice is tiny streets that lead to more open squares (called Campos). Those tiny streets make for great vertical photographs. They also make it easy to get lost…very lost. But in Venice, getting lost is the whole point. I just wandered. I could always see a sign nearby that pointed to a place where I recognized. For instance, from where we were staying, I knew that I had to cross a bridge over the Grand Canal someplace to get to Piazza San Marco (where I wanted to go), so I just kept following every sign that said, “Per Rialto” (to the Rialto Bridge). Sometimes I would find myself in an amazing little street that would give me one amazing photo I would love. Other times, those streets were just ways to get to where I wanted to go. If you go to Venice, get lost. That’s what you are supposed to do.
Since I have a LOT of Venice photos from this walk, I think I will break them up into smaller galleries, like this one that has photos from before it was light at all. 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…
Just leaving our B&B I turned back to take a shot of the light above their door.
These are my in darkness photos.
All light at this point is artificial light.
I am looking for moods here
A little less light and a little less blue in this one.
Looking back, I am very happy with what I got.
And eventually I reached Ponte Rialto.
As the light becomes brighter, you move from twilight to the “Blue Hour.” From the chart above, you can see that the “Blue Hour” really isn’t an entire hour. In fact, today, it was more like 10 minutes. But it always comes before the ever-popular Golden Hour that most people have heard of. During the “Blue Hour,” you get some great shots with lovely blue tint. Come back during the “Golden Hour”, and the entire scene is different. Here is maybe my favorite shot of the Grand Canal during the “Blue Hour.”
After a couple of more shots of and from the bridge, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. Here are my shots from there.
A little less light and a little less blue in this one.
The bridge itself from as far as you can walk on the Canal before you have to turn around.
I made my decision about which way to go next when the first sign I saw after crossing the bridge said, “Per San Marco,” so I was off to Piazza San Marco, and I am so glad I went that way. Besides the light being amazing and the sky turning to fire, I got to see the piazza in all its glory—empty (or almost empty except for three other people and me and one—that’s all—pigeon). Here are my shots with comments. 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…
A smaller side canal on the way to San Marco.
All the water means great chances for reflection shots
The sky was truly starting to change and I was thrilled to see some clouds.
Again, Venice is a vertical city.
The first thing I saw when I entered San Marco was this couple, their wedding photogapher and a single pigeon. That’s all.
At the other end there were some workers taking out the aqua alta walkways near the Campanille
But as you can see as I shoot towards the cathedral, the sky is begining to light up.
The sky made a super background for this Campanille shot.
And this one of the statues on the top of the cathedral
When we were here the last time, this building was covered in scaffolding. This time San Marco was.
Looking back at the piazza, it was truly empty.
And the couple was still shooting.
From the piazza, I headed out to the promenade, where I would get a chance to see the entire sky for the first time. As Secondo said in the film “The Big Night,” it was so good, “I have to kill myself because I knew nothing would be better.” The sky to the east was on fire. And that made the city look awesome in the light. This morning had been a walking, talking photo lesson for me. It made me realize I had never done a post about my best travel photography tips, so I need to do that as soon as we are home. Here’s the next set of shots I got after getting out to the promenade.
See what I mean about the sky being on fire
Looking in the other direction, the light falling on…
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.
Without clouds the light has nothing to reflect off of.
the buildings. Boring!
I walked up and down the promenade to get photo after photo in that incredible light. Hope you like them. 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…
Everything in this gallery is all about the light.
Either the light cast on buildings or the light itself.
Big landscapes or small closeups, they all work in this light.
A huge sailing vessel motored by.
Which made me sigh…
No sails
I mean imagine the shot if this was fully sailed up.
Ran into another wedding photography session. Remember, it is still befor 7:00 am.
And out to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore
And back to the Campanille
By this point in our morning story, it was getting close to 7:45, and I had told Kathleen I would be back at the B&B by 8:30 so we could get breakfast. I thought about walking back, but then I saw that the #1 Vaporetto was almost completely empty, so I jumped on board and found myself a spot in the rear seats where I could continue to shoot photos as we went up the Grand Canal. Here’s what I got between San Zacharia and St Stae.
Just rounding the bend in front of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
And catching this amazing basilica in some gorgeous light.
I love the incredible art on the outside of so many villas facing the Grand Canal
As you can see that buiding featured a lot of artwork
Another view of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
This is the Hotel Galleria, where we stayed on our first trip to Venice in 2002.
Still another look back at Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
Passing the Accademia Bridge. One of only four bridges across the Grand Canal, and the only one made of wood.
More Grand Canal views…
on my ride up on Vaporetto #1
The sun kept hitting other buildings and giving me entirely new inspiration.
When I would get boats in my way, I liked the photo better.
Makes it more interesting.
The Rest of the Day
A quick rundown of the rest of the day would start with a walk to Campo San Polo for a very traditional Venitian breakfast of cappuccino and croissants. This may not be traditional for everyone in Venice, but it is exactly what we had for breakfast when we were here before, so it is our tradition ?. And this particular Campo (where we had never ventured before) was a must-see because one of our favorite fictional characters, Commisario Guido Brunetti lives near this Campo and often walks through it in the books. We felt like we knew the place. BTW: If you are going to Venice, try to read at least a few of Dona Leon’s Brunetti series before you go. It will truly improve your trip.
I mean, wouldn’t you take a water bus to get this?
Later that day, we had planned to take a Vaporetto to one of the two major outlying islands, Burano. Our friends Jayesh and Lisa had eaten an amazing late lunch there in July that included a plate of Frito Misto to die for. I am using his photo to show you what we missed. I really wanted that. Lisa said they had some good pasta that Kathleen would like, so we headed to Burano.
But it was not to be. Partly because we didn’t listen (or understand) the person loading and unloading the Vaporetto and partly because things changed a LOT in 20 years. When we were here the first time, we went out to the two big outlying islands on a Vaporetto. First, we stopped at Murano and walked around a sleepy little Italian island town known for its blown glass. Then we jumped right back on the same Vaporetto that took us out to the further island, Burano—where we wanted to go that day.
The first big change was Murano. What had been a sleepy little island town is now a major tourist attraction with chain convention hotels and six different Vaporetto stops. SIX! When we went there before, Murano had ONE stop, and then the same Vaporetto went on to Burano. Not anymore.
When we boarded at Piazzale Roma, we specifically asked numerous times, “Burano?” and every time, we were assured that the water bus was going to Burano. So we get to Murano, and we wait while passengers get off the Vaporetto and others get on. Then we go to the next stop, and the same things happen. We are marveling at how big Murano has become, how commercialized. Then another Murano stop, and another. After six stops on Murano, we are mostly empty, which makes sense because Burano is a small island, and not a lot of people head out that way…at least they didn’t in November 2002.
So imagine our surprise when the Vaporetto starts heading back to Piazzale Roma. I went up and asked the man I had asked when we got on, “Burano?” He laughed at me and said, “You should have changed at Faro (a stop on Murano). No one told us this. No signs said we needed to do this. It had not been this way before, but we guess now it is. So we are more than an hour into this boat ride and have to decide what to do. Do we go back to our hotel, rest up during the heat of the day and try to go out later who do we go right back out to Murano and switch at Faro and take the Vaporetto to Burano? We decide to do the latter. So we go back in, change boats, come back out…and this time we get off at Faro. We have now been on the Vaporetto to and from and to Murano for about 2 hours. When we do get off, a sign points further down the waterfront and says, “Burano Ferry, 50 meters.” We head down that way and can see the boat unloading, so we think, “YEA! We made it!” We should have been able to jump right on…except when we turn the corner to get on, there is a three-boat waiting line standing against a wall we could not see as we walked up. They were standing there in the direct sun, sweating like the proverbial swine waiting for more than 2 hours. We gave up!
Defeated, we walked back to the Vaporetto stop to go back to the main part of Venice, but since we had about a half hour to wait, we grabbed an Aperol Spritz and a panini sandwich (because by then, it was about 3:00 pm and we had breakfast at 8:30 and NOTHING makes you feel better about stupidity than an Aperol Spritz in Venice) and some water as well.
When the next Vaporetto stopped, we made very sure to ask if it was going to Piazelle Roma, where we could catch the #1 back to St. Stae and our hotel. We were told it would. What they neglected to mention was that it would also go the LONG way around and drop us at San Marco, where we could move to the #1. So what coming out had taken us 45 minutes now took us twice that to get back. Suffice it to say that by the time we got back to the St. Stae stop, we almost had to crawl back to the room; we were so tired. And once we got there, we stayed there just to try to recover for our last big day in Venice. And the panini they had brought us was so big, neither of us were hungry for dinner. Watch the next post for my Day 3 photo walk.
A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.  —Arthur Symons
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 11, 2022 | Food Experiences, Photography
Well, it could be worse; I could have made a banana joke. We are back from our three days in Venice, and now I can resume our story.
When I last wrote, it was Thursday, and we were in Split, Croatia. It is a truly beautiful walled city. Those Romans certainly knew how to build. We had a great time on Kathleen’s first day out after her time in food poisoning jail.
We both got off the ship and had a nice walk around the center of the old town. Of course, I took a lot of photos. You can see all my Split photos below. But before I post them, I want to mention our day onboard. We had a great room service breakfast (because Kathleen was still in food poisoning jail). But right after breakfast, the doctor called her and set her free, and we were off to see Split.
That evening we decided to give The Restaurant dining room another chance. We were given an excellent table in the far aft of the dining room where we could see the wake of the ship. It’s like the best place to eat in the place. But again, our service was sporadic. At the start of the meal, things went as usual. Not offered a wine list, one bread basket for six people until we finally got more. Then I made the mistake of saying I liked the breadsticks, and all of a sudden, we had three baskets of nothing but breadsticks. We asked for more “regular” bread, but that never did show up. We asked for more butter, but that didn’t show up either. But when my brother asked for olive oil and vinegar, it appeared in less than five minutes. They went all the way to the buffet to get it. Do you see what I mean about sporadic? It just went from good to bad service and back again all evening.
We got our appetizers in a hurry, and then the entrées took a while, followed by dessert a few moments later. I should add that the desserts were excellent, but not so much the entrées. The prime rib I had was close to raw, even though I had asked for medium rare. Since I had seen people at the tables near us getting it before we ordered, I specifically asked for much closer to medium. But that was not to happen. And a number of people at the table ordered the lobster thermidor because they saw the HUGE lobster tails coming to the tables nearby. But when they got theirs, they found a huge lobster shell with about three tablespoons of Thermidor in it. Once again, the dining room kind of failed us. They provided an adequate meal, but as my brother pointed out on our last, if this were a restaurant we went to at home, we would probably not go back.
The same cannot be said for the buffet. We love pretty much everything we have had from that venue. It has been amazing. This is very unusual for us because we can’t remember a previous cruise when we have eaten dinner in the buffet more than once or twice in a cruise, and then only when we were returning late from a shore excursion. This buffet is the epitome of class. You never have a second when your glass gets less than full, or they are whisking away your dirty plates. Just a fabulous experience.
We also tried Mamsen’s, which is a great little Scandanavian snack bar (but so much better than a snack bar). We have had breakfast there twice. They make extraordinary, ultra-thin Norwegian waffles that come with yogurt, berries, and some very interesting Norwegian cheese. Put it all together; it is wonderful.
I went there for lunch a few days later and had a superb open-face smoked salmon sandwich. It was truly delicious. Kathleen had open-faced roast beef that she liked just as much.
Enough about food, here are the Split photos (below). Come back tomorrow for my Venice pics and report. My pre-dawn photo walk around Venice was everything I was hoping for and more! 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…
Sailing into Split with a gorgeous sunrise.
I love the light on side of the cathedral.
I wonder how much this shipping line had to pay to use these cartoon characters on their ships.
Is this the UGLIEST yacht/boat you have ever seen.
Heading into downtown Split on the promenade. They had a lot of VERY welcome benches.
Outside the walls of the city.
One way into the old town is through this underground tunnel.
Very cool down there
And you can come out of there into a square dominated by this clock tower.
Which is guarded by these…
two…dragons?
And a sphinx.
The square is a very busy place
In many of these ancient cities…
you see guys like this dressed as Roman (or Greek) soldiers to pose with tourists. I liked the smile on this guy’s face.
Once you walk though the city, you come on to this tower and statue just outside the gates.
This guy is pretty fearsome looking.
The back gate of the city.
Another shot of the tower.
The side gate of the city. Much easier to get out of.
Kathleen doing the Split
