Ocean Princess week 2, 26-2nd November.

First stop is Crete, where we tootle around on the little train, then walk a bit. 

It's a tender port as there's no room at the pier for big ships like ours. 

We don't need to revisit Ephesis in Turkey, so spend our port day at a Haman being scrubbed and massaged, then stock up on Turkish delight and other odds and ends at the bazaar. 

Santorini was a favourite place on our G&T tour, so it's good to return. Having gone up and down by cable car and donkey last time we opt to walk all 560 steps. A long way but lots of stops make it easy. 

At Cephalonia we join a tour that takes us up and over the hills to a rowboat ride on an underground lake

then to a beautiful little bay for coffee

Last stop is Itea in Greece, but we've had enough of ancient ruins so it's another easy day wandering the town and relaxing on the boat. It's an American ship and Halloween, so lots of decorations and a few costumes. 

 

Stromboli is smoking as we pass, think that the village at it's base would be a scary place to live. 

 

Goodbye to Ocean Princess, it's been a wonderful 2 weeks. We've done spin and stretch classes, taken a few tours, climbed miles of stairs and eaten and drunk just a little bit more than necessary. Also seen many shows and met lots of lovely people. 

Ocean Princess week 1, 19-26 October

We board this beautiful ship in Venice. It "only" holds 650 passengers, so is relatively cosy, but still has 10 decks of stairs for daily exercises. 

We soon find a woman Kay attended choir with in Bendigo, friends of Ian's sailing mates and people who have a Torquay holiday house!

Our first night is at sea, then there's

Split, Croatia where we walk around the old town and hear beautiful singing

 and see happily-posing-for-tourists  centurions 

In Kotor, Montenegro we join another couple for a taxi tour and go around twisty roads to a beach and fortress. The wind is blowing and the waves are pounding 

Next is Corfu, Greece where Kay celebrates her 60th birthday, woohoo :-))

The day starts just after midnight with flowers which Ian has bought and arranged to be snuck into the room while we're at a show

There's presents before breakfast 

and balloons and a card outside our cabin, then a bus tour of Corfu which starts with tastings of cumquat liqueur, limoncello and ouzo (at 10am...) and continues with coffee overlooking a heart shaped bay

A yummy end is a cake delivered to the dinner table and new mates to share it with

Unfortunately the slightly dodgy weather turns really bad, and the captain makes a decision to go straight to Athens, as it's too dangerous to dock at the planned Katakolon and Mykonos.  There's a bit of rock and rolling, and the dining room is not as full for the 2 nights, but it's not so bad. Just lots of wind and rain from the tail end of the cyclone that hits Bermuda  and England

The bonus is a $300 credit per room, so we are more than happy with that compensation and book a "Greek Night" ashore in Athens. Lots of singing, dancing and plate smashing masked for great entertainment. 

Lake Garda Italy 11-19 October

Lake Garda is the Gold Coast of Northern Italy, with Gardaland, Movieland and others to amuse the German and Italians staying at the many huge hotels and campgrounds. This is the last week of the season for our timeshare resort, so 2 of the 3 pools are slimy and there's only a few people around. But the give us cut price bike hire and it's great to spread out in our 2 bedroom apartment. It's about 3km to ride for morning coffee and internet. 

We gate crash a bike ride for 50 year olds and get a guided tour of the area

Visit beautiful old cities

and fortresses with moats.

We ride along rivers,

 the morning-misty lake,

  

and past vineyards and olive groves. 

 

It's 20 minutes by bus to Verona where  we stand on Juliet's balcony 

and admire costumes, film clips and those immortal words 

Unfortunately there's nothing on at the enormous arena, so we just have to imagine how wonderful an opera or concert would be. 

 We by wine by the soft drink bottle for €2.20 litre, and direct from the winery for quite a bit more. Both tast great. 

And more

We taste LOTS on a food and wine tour

After 5 wines it takes a lot of concentration to dunk the biscotti in the liqueur before eating...

cross Canal Grande on a traghetto

 

eat biscotti senza glutine with our cappucc (kids are screened for coeliac disease at age 6 and receive subsidised food till 18)

and admire amazing chocolate creations

We visit some of the sights

Ponte di Rialto 

 

Ponti dei Sospiri

Basilica di San Marco

And a wonderful music performance 

Venice

It's all very faded and crumbling but so beautiful. We walk and get lost and find canali, campi, calli (canals, squares, and back streets). Everywhere are bars and eating places, and the further away from the sights the cheaper they get. 

Yes that says coffee €13 at St Marks Square...

The gondoliers duck under the bridges at high tide

 

Water does indeed lap the buildings

and when the tide is high you get wet feet, wear waders or use the duckboards

Money is delivered by boat

and rubbish removed