Month: May 2017

Well it is finally here, the final full day of our cruise. We really have not been looking forward to this. But first things first, we had a full day and night booked in Barcelona.

And what a damn hot day it was, 28 degrees, clear blue skies, stunning views from the ship.

A quick breakfast to prepare ourselves for the day.

I am not sure if I mentioned this previously, but it worth mentioning again. The lovely staff in the restaurants offer to help the old and infirm carry food and drinks back to their tables. I thought this was very lovely and thoughtful, Jason rightly pointed out it is probably to avoid accident too.

Then they started asking me, often, and this was before my wee Etna experience. WTF!

Feeling a little taken aback. Eventually I said ok, about the 4^th time I was asked. They are just doing their jobs right.

Feeling old.

We had an excursion booked and it sounded great, iconic landmarks of Barcelona, you could be there for weeks and not see them all.

I had a box of stuff I wanted to send from the post office, as we were leaving the ship we were stopped. The chap did not know if we were allowed to take stuff off the ship. So we were delayed by about 20 minutes. Eventually I took the box back to our room and said we would sort it out later.

Apparently 30 seconds after I left to do that we were told it was no problem. Typical – box still not sent!

BUT, this mean we missed our bus, BUT the lovely young man, Bruno Mars (seriously, really, that is his name) had booked us on the next bus, we chatted to him for a wee bit, he had been to NZ and wanted to go back, and finally we made it onto a bus.

The first couple of hours on the bus, off the bus, following the tour sign, listening to the old folk arguing, we opted to bail.

And we went exploring. Instead we walked around 14km seeing all the things we wanted to see, eating what we wanted, it was awesome.

There were a couple of things on my must do list and they mainly revolved around Gaudi. Last time I was here seeing his work was a highlight for me.

Jason thought they were hideous. Absolutely awful. “Was he on heroin” he asked. Never the less the good man humoured me and we went and walked about.

We hiked to the top of the hill where the Gaudi park has been built. It was manic and busy and loads of people. They have put escalators in the middle of the street to cater for the tourists so they don’t have to walk up so many steps, really, yes really. Perhaps some of them could do with walking up the steps, just a thought.

We found a map and started wandering around the park only to find out you now have to pay to see the Gaudi monuments. And, they were booked out until 830 that night. Not happy. Oh well, there were other things from Gaudi we could look at and we did.

As we were wandering the park we discovered some classical musicians playing modern music in one of the monuments. Like a cave, but not, they were awesome. Very clever guys with quite an audience. So we stayed and listed for a bit, put some money in the case, and then continued our walking.

This time we headed down to the Parc Cataluyna. On the way the streets were quiet and on the outer roads they were adhering to siesta time. So shops were closed between 1230 and 400pm. Whilst the shop keepers had a wee nap. This meant walking around was very pleasant.

Then we got back to the main area, ha, ha.

The Parc, in the middle of several busy roads is very pretty, and busy, and hot. The fountains were an interesting shade of snot green. Hmmmm. But the statues were cool.

Into Barcelona’s biggest mall. El Corte Inglis! It was freaking massive. Luckily I knew what I wanted so we did not wander aimlessly.

However, all malls need to learn something. If they had a drop off point for men that contained entertainment and served coffee or beer, they would make a lot more sales. Just saying.

Up to level 3, shoes! I found a stunning pair, and them back outside to the heat.

You cannot go to Barcelona without walking down La Rambla! So we did. The river of people was very all consuming, there was no escaping them.

A very polite young man offered to sell Jason some cannabis, maybe to help him with the shoe shopping, we didn’t stop to enquire though.

By this time we had been walking around for nearly 8 hours and it was time to head back to the ship to start packing and have a swim. We have to start packing and that sucks.

Not happy L

Anyway, Barcelona was lovely, very busy and we didn’t get to see everything. Like most places we have visited we would like to go back to Barcelona, the cruise has been a good taster if you think of it as the tapas of travel.

All bags were packed, the cruise company pick them up from your room at 1000pm, and we went to Red Ginger for our last amazing taste experience.

We were not let down.

Farewell Oceania Cruises Riviera

Like nearly everything on the ship the last day went like clockwork.

We had a very nice breakfast out on the deck overlooking Barcelona. Everyone on the boat was a lot more subdued and quiet compared to when we all got on the boat nearly two weeks prior.

Our bags were down in the terminal waiting for us and all buses were organised to take us to the airport.

As a last jab, some of the people on our bus were late, had trouble getting on, seemed to have lost their bags etc. But eventually we were on our way only 10 minutes later than scheduled ha, ha.

The trip to the airport was very quick, Sunday morning so not a lot of traffic.

We were flying with Vueling, who I had never heard of, so was a bit nervous. But the check in went amazingly well. Very fast, friendly, and efficient! YES!

We had a wander through duty free and I bought a watch to replace the one I broke when I fell. 100 euros so not extravagant but I like it. They could not resize it at the airport, this is an important factor for later, so don’t forget it.

They gave us another 20% off so I felt the need to get an 11 euro bottle of vodka, Smirnoff – platic bottle, very practical really. And a nice bottle of perfume which I had been umming and ahhing about, but with 20% off I could hardly say no!

Then we were delayed, delayed by nearly 2 hours, didn’t they know they were eating into our time in Paris. On the upside it gave me lots of time to catch up on writing this blog 🙂

Then onto Paris.

The flight was great, very quick, they were trying to make up time.

PARIS. PARIS. PARIS.

Coming into Marseille was not the prettiest of harbours, as Marseille was the central port for many years. But the sunrise was stunning and well worth getting out of bed and crossing the three meters to our balcony 🙂

The excursion today includes a ride out to the Jardins du Château Val Joanis gardens which belong to the Château Val Joanis winery, located west of the town of Pertuis in the Vaucluse area of France. This was only 45 minutes outside of Marseille through very pretty scenery and, as we have come to expect, excellent commentary provided by the very knowledgeable guide.

Today’s guide, Ester, also came with an excellent sense of humour and shoe buying information. We became very close, obviously.

Once we arrived at the chateau Ester gave us a tour of the gardens which were very cool. They had been around for a long time and were used quite frequently for weddings. There was a wedding the day before and one due that afternoon. You will see photos of Lulu in the wedding archway.

The day was another stunner with the high due to hit around 28 degrees, and it did. But in the shade of the trees and in the cool of the wine cellar it was very easy to cope.

Now, what about Jason I hear you ask. Well, he was very good and seemed OK with the fact that this excursion was all about me.

After the tour of the gardens and the cellar it was time to start the wine tasting, OH the hardship! Jason decided not to ask for a beer and instead embraced the whole wine tasting experience. In fact when we were back on the boat he picked up the bottle of hand sanitiser, tipped it on its side, and states “this is clearly a young bottle, as you can see the green around the edges” oh dear god! Ha, ha.

Anyway, we started off with a white blend in the garden with some olive oil, bread, and olive tapenade. Delicious. We both finished a couple of glasses and the wine dude noted we are obviously drinkers oops.

We then moved into the chateau for lunch which consisted of three courses and matching wine. Jason was on a roll. The food was lovely, the company enjoyable, and the wine delicious. A quick visit to the wine shop and then onto Aix-en-Provence for the next phase.

Ester talked us through the history of the town, and pointed out areas of interest. We had 2 hours on our own to do as we wanted, so we walked and I shopped. I certainly made up for Rome and managed to purchase three pairs of beautiful shoes. If the service had been better the shoe collateral would have been greater. Probably a good thing it wasn’t.

It was great to be back in Aix and I thought of you Nancy and the fun we had there.

Back on the bus with the oldies and then back to the ship. We didn’t have time to get into Marseille itself so we went for a swim and hung out before dinner.

Its hard to imagine we actually had room for food after that lunch and wine, and cheese, and stuff, but we managed it.

We had met a lovely Kiwi couple in passing and had arranged to go to dinner together at the Grand Dining Room. The name is actually deceiving as it is not as flash as the specialty restaurants but still very nice.

What was going to be an early to bed, turned out to be filled with wine, great conversation, and lovely food. Late night.

Happy days.

But sad days as we are nearing the end of our cruise. We have really enjoyed our time and are a little worried how we will cope when we have to fend for ourselves! I guess we will soon find out.

Tomorrow we are in Barcelona. Its been a long time since I visited that place. Bring it on.

We were meant to sail into Monte Carlo but due to the Monaco Grand Prix, a huge number of cruise ships, our cruise decided that Villefranche-sur-Mer. Or the poor man’s Monte Carlo. It is very beautiful and there is definitely a lot of Italian influence.

It was very beautiful sailing into Villefranche, a little hint of Cinque-Terre and Amalfi with the buildings squished into the mountains surrounding the city, but not quite as stunning.

The water was crystal clear and an amazing blue which is where the region gets Cote d’Azur name from.

Today I made our first excursion mistake, injuries aside, and I had us booked on the panoramic tour. What this translates to is driving around the towns, with a very knowledgeable guide telling you everything, you can stop and take photos (sometimes), and that is it.

You don’t really get off the bus, you do not explore, you don’t really do anything. Luckily it did not last long and we were able to go exploring in the afternoon.

There was a slight upside, you knew where stuff was.

There was an option to head to Monaco and see the Grand Prix, you have to pay of course, but Jason was not that keen. Aren’t I a good woman to offer.

So, back to the boat for a burger for lunch! A quick regroup, repack the backpack and off we go. We had decided to go for a hike around the peninsula. So we did!

We started off in the Citadelle, it was beautiful. But, it really is an impressive fortress as it took us 20 minutes to find the entrance! Damn!

12kms of little streets, wonderful tracks, hot temperatures and stunning views. We walked from the Citadel in Villefranche-sur-Mer to the lighthouse, and then around to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat port. It was a stunning little place and clearly there was a lot of money docked in the marine. Had a beer and wine to recuperate and then walked back to the citadel.

I have to explain that the route we took when we were walking was constantly around the Mediterranean, beautiful blue water, cooling, refreshing, inviting. I managed to go the whole walk without jumping in. Until the last 1 km. Then I had to go in, fully clothed, and it was awesome.

I am sure you can all imagine the impressed look on Jason’s face, yeah, but I did it anyway and I am sure that it helped heal all my scratches and cuts as they looked way better the next day.

After my quick dip it was time to head back to the ship a little bit damp. Absolutely shattered, what a busy day.

We were using tenders to get between the port and the ship all day, and it went really well. Far better than our experience in Malta.

We chilled in our room for a while, ordered a cheese platter, had some drinks. I didn’t realise you could even do that until someone mentioned the room service. Wish I had figured out the cheese platter a week ago 😀

That night we had no specialty bookings and we missed an invite from some fellow Kiwis to join them for dinner. So we decided to eat at the Terrace Restaurant as they were having a French themed menu. There was not too much French theme, mainly in the entrees and desserts, but the desserts were well worth it!!!!

Jason has a nasty cold at the moment so no extra energy to go dancing or watch a show, like that was going to happen anyway, ha, ha.

So off to bed to prepare for Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. I am so freaking excited for this excursion which is centred around food and wine.

Having never been to Rome, seriously never had the desire, it was one of the must do excursions for us.

The port, like the airport, is 1.5 hours from the city itself. So on the bus and off we go. There are a bunch of pushy old folk on the cruise so that means Jason and I usually squish to the back and have more room but less view. I hate to say it, and I have put off writing this down, the majority of these pushy, loud, rude, and demanding people are Americans.

Nothing like the Americans I know. And I wonder, do cruises attract these type of people, or is it the sense of entitlement that comes from being waited on that causes it. Anyway, we have met some lovely people and I digress.

The bus ride was smooth and painless and we made it into central Rome. It was hot, damn hot. 29 degrees. Not great in the city as we no longer had the lovely sea breeze.

The city was lovelier, cleaner, and less busy than I had been expecting. BUT, the amount of armed police and army was very confronting. Automatic weapons and armored  vehicles everywhere.

Jason asked one of the guards if this was due to the G7 but apparently it is just the norm now. How sad is that.

Our tour guide, lovely girl, took us to the centre, showed us where to eat, where to shop, and where to see. We very promptly got lost, no time for shopping (no shoes, I died a little inside that day ha, ha), but we saw some lovely sites and ate a tasty pizza (not as good as Ravello though).

I think when seeing Rome you need time, time to get lost, time to find yourself again, time to shop, and time to eat. Unfortunately we did not have all that time. We met back up with the tour and then onto the Vatican.

Many of you will be picking yourselves up off the floor, knowing that neither of us are overly religious, or religious at all, in any way, shape, form. BUT, if you are going to see a church St Peter’s Basilica is the one to see!

Before we could get in to see it, we had to queue in 29 degrees, with no shade, for an hour. Who knew I had that sort of patience! I took a lot of photos, ignored a lot of gypsies, and counted a lot of people to pass the time.

Finally, through the metal detector, we made it inside. Wow, freaking wow, amazingly wow. All the paintings are not in fact paintings but are mosaics. When you got close to them you could see the individual pieces, how astounding. The size, the colours, the skill, and the extravagance is something to be seen first hand.

We spent about an hour inside the church, so an hour to get in and an hour inside. Sigh, I hate queues. But, we are both really pleased we did it, the church to see. I sent the obligatory postcard from the Vatican of course ha, ha.

Back on the bus and “TO THE COLOSSEUM”! This is what Jason had really been looking forward to, and this time he was not disappointed.

First, I have to say, everywhere you looked in Rome there were ruins and relics mixed with the beautiful greenery. We were constantly taking photos, pointing, eyes wide, mouths open. So pretty and amazing to think how old the city is.

Onto the colosseum! Wow, double wow, triple wow. How the hell did they build this, and wouldn’t have been amazing to attend a gladiator match, as I noted to the guide I would have been cheering for the lions! Everything was so huge and beautiful. And crowded, but still, worth every bit of effort to see it. Some reconstruction has occurred so you can get an idea of what the stage and the structure would have looked like and to prevent further deterioration of the remains. A good thing, because if you look up you don’t want one of those suckers falling on you!

We spent time walking through the colosseum before heading back to the bus for the trip back to the ship.

Another super awesome bit of customer service, we arrive back at the boat after this hugely long day, to the staff from the boat handing out fresh, citrus smelling, cooling towels to refresh ourselves upon our return. Seriously, how awesome is that.

A day well worth the effort, in total we were gone for 10 hours, so we were a wee bit tired that night.

However, Jason is addicted to the Asian fusion restaurant Red Ginger, so we went back. Again the food was delicious. We were at a shared table again but nothing like the entertainment we had previously – oh Harvey where are you.

I really enjoyed Rome, which surprised me. I would go back again. Still thinking about the lost shoe opportunities, but these things happen for a reason right, I am sure I will find some shoes somewhere!

We now leave Italy and head to France. And to cheese. And to wine. Goes to sleep with smile on my face 🙂

Jason is embracing the Italian language, essentially if you put and E or O sound at the end he thinks its Italian, ha, ha. The funniest is all words must be food. The local police here are called Carabinieri but Jason now refers to them as the Cabonara! The same is true when looking for Ravello, it has now been renamed to Ravioli. What must the locals think? Actually they have been quite patient if not friendly.

I made Jason get up super early so we could watch the sunrise and the sail into Amalfi. Plus I was really sore so needed to share the misery.

The sunrise was stunning, truly magical. Amalfi is as beautiful as everyone has said. The cliffs are really daunting and the way the buildings perch on the edge of the cliffs, you have to wonder why they built there.

The size of the city and the population is very small, apparently this is because the rest of the city simply slid into the sea. Looking around it is easy to believe.

Every port a local comes on board to hand out maps and advice. This port was no different. Our guide advised us that if we wanted a walk we should go to Ravello, it is beautiful, not so busy and the walk will get our hearts racing.

Before departing it was back to the medical centre where they bandaged up my cuts and put my poor finger in a splint.

Our morning tour was to the emerald grotto. A cave that was discovered by a local fisherman in 1932. The way the water reflects into the cave, from an underwater entry, reflects an emerald green. The cave I also filled with stalagmites and stalactites.

As we could not dock at the port, the boat is too big we had “tenders” taking us to and from shore. Very cool, they also double as life boats, I don’t think I would like to spend too much time in one, they are a wee bit rocky and rolly. There would be vomit ha, ha.

From the tender were transferred onto a boat that would tour around the coast and take us to the cave. On this boat was one of the most unpleasant people I have met on this trip. Older man, loudly complaining that he should have gotten a seat up top and they were all taken, and it was so rude, then he started on the tour guide.

I went down and gave up my seat. Anything to shut the old bastard up. Secretly hoping he would fall in the water. Alas, that did not happen.

The grotto took about 45 minutes, the majority of which was spent lining up, getting into the boat and getting out of the boat. All the same it was beautiful and we enjoyed the experience. The colours were truly magical and the water so clear.

Back to Amalfi. MADNESS. The crowds of people on the streets, the scooters, and the cars all on this narrow lane made it exciting to say the least. We opted out and decided to walk to Ravello.

Well, somehow we got lost and managed to turn a 2 km walk into a 7 km walk that we did not want to, and were advised not to do. The lovely local man told us to take the bus. So we did, and that was quite the experience. It teetered over the cliffs, whipped around corners, and beeped the horn with true zealous enthusiasm. Enough to make you nervous, but what the hell.

No wonder the chap said not to walk the road, there is no bloody room! Scooters, trucks, buses, cars, bikes, all battling for this one narrow, windy, and scary road. You have to love Italy!

We finally made it to Ravello and it was worth it. The views were stunning and it was so quite compared to Amalfi.

Jason found us a great pizzeria, Mimi’s, and we enjoyed pizza, wine, beer, and a rest. Best pizza we have had by far. OMG the flavours.

We found the track back and walked to Amalfi. About halfway down the 10000 steps I realised how thrilled I was that we didn’t find the path and walk up. Ha, ha.

Back in Amalfi you are hit with the chaos immediately. We walked around for another hour before deciding that the quiet of our boat and room was calling us.

No gym today, just wine!

We did, however, have one of the most interesting dinner experiences.

We had a shared table with three other couples, two from USA, and one from Canada. As we drank wine and got to know each other, it became quite apparent that one of the guests at the table would fit in very well in Sicily!

He is in his late 80s, not that you could tell, and had quite the varied life. When we asked what he used to do in Philly, he said “I worked in the railway business… I owned it”. So think 30-40 years ago, domination of the railway, you had your finger in all pies. He sounded just like Christopher Walken (whom he knows personally WTAF), and when he left the table (with his new wife – another story there) we all just looked at each other in awe.

I looked at the other couples and said “am I jumping to conclusions here or…” and they all nodded. Mafia.

How freaking awesome is that. Harvey. I liked him, he made me laugh! But he had a manner about him – would love to hear some of his stories.

To top it off they were both avid Trump supporters and very vocal about it. Everyone at the dinner table were very polite. We said nothing.

Tomorrow, Rome.

Jason was super excited about the tour in Sicily. We were going to Mount Etna to climb on the volcano and see lava! The bus departed early as it was 1.5 hours from Messina to Mount Etna.

On the bus and off we go. The tour guide was fabulous and talked about the history of Sicily, the town of Messina and Mount Etna. She pointed out all the views and ensured we did not miss a thing.

We stopped on the way for photo shoots and the mountain looked clear and sunny. Wahoo.

The expected temperature on the mountain was to be between 4 and 12 degrees. WTF, we had not thought about that. We had packed our little puffer jackets though and figured they would just have to do (we were both wearing shorts of course).

The bus driver was fabulous and had us zipping around the steep streets like formula one cars.

The scenery on the way was very cool. Beautiful beaches on one side and rocky, mountainous terrain on the other. So many craters litter the island, meaning the wine is great!

We arrive at the bottom of the mountain the clouds are moving in. Damn it.

We all get corralled into the gondola which takes us up to the next stop. It is getting a little cold now, and the wind is bitter. Out come the puffer jackets and the wind breakers.

Next step is the 4×4 vans. They can seat about 20 people, are grunty as hell, and tear us up the mountain without an issue. We could do with one at home!

Finally we arrive. We are not allowed to go above 2,800 meters as it is dangerous. This means, no lava flow. Poor Jason.

It was pretty cool though, to be standing on the lava flow that had only occurred three weeks prior. It was still warm. And, when walking past certain areas, it was like a heat pump on your legs. Very fortuitous for those of us wearing shorts. The terrain was like something you would expect on Mars, assumption here, black and red, and desolate. The cloud had well and truly set in so our view was not great.

We walked along the very craggy, and crowded path to the end of the crater. And I mean crowded. There was one thin path and groups of people heading in both directions. Some people from our group decided to turn back.

The edge of the crater was interesting but less than Jason had hoped for. We stayed for a while and headed back along the scoria. Well, it was inevitable, I slipped. I had put my food on a rock that was not stable and down I went. The rocks are not forgiving and I ripped up my hand, messed up my finger, broke my watch and essentially made a mess of myself. I quickly jumped up and walked to the end of track where I nearly passed out.

Finger was not doing well, when I looked down I was surprised to see it was still straight, lots of blood, but still straight. Bonus.

The tour guide, who is so fabulous, was horrified when she found out and out came the hydro peroxide. I forgot how much that sh*t stings! Owwww.

My finger had started to swell by then and I could not get my rings off.

Never mind, it was lunch time, I declined the offer of a doctor and hospital and opted for the pasta and the wine instead. Strictly for medicinal purposes of course. The wine was incredibly tasty, served in one litre bottles.

We did a little souvineer shopping, though I had a free souvineer in the form of injuries, and back on the bus to head home.

The ride home was much more subdued with many of our fellow travellers snoring away happily.

All the time I felt sorry for myself and watched my finger grow.

We had planned to walk around Messina for an hour or so when we got back, but it was straight to the ship doctor for us. As the incident occurred on an excursion everything was covered.

The nurse was lovely and they bandaged me up and it was time to have another medicinal drink.

We watched the sailing, leaving Messina was such fun. We have met some really lovely people at these send offs. This time we met a lovely couple from NZ. It was quite the coincidence.

Dinner at Red Ginger. We had not eaten there before and it was fabulous Asian fusion with great staff. We really enjoyed ourselves and met some nice people sitting around us.

Off to bed, tomorrow we wake up in Amalfi, super excited about that.

We were so sorry not to catch up with Annabel and Alphonse, next time for sure.

Gozo had given us certain expectations about Malta and how it would be. This time round it was not exactly what we had anticipated.

But, first things first. Breakfast, again, was lovely. What will we do when we are on land and have to organise food for ourselves. We may lose weight – hmm, there’s a good idea, because we sure found some weight on this ship ha, ha.

We had a tour booked in the afternoon so we decided to go and explore the city of Valletta ourselves.

Valletta is only 1 square kilometre, so we opted to walk the circumference and then discover the inner city. There was a religious celebration of sorts going on so a lot of the city was closed and there were all sorts of fireworks, chanting, wailing, and crowds. Very interesting. The city is not as pretty as Gozo but still has a lot of history and the fortifications are stunning.

The centre of Valletta, such as it is, is lively and beautiful. You never get tired of the old buildings and little historic surprises. But you do get sick of all the rubbish that seems to be the norm, so disappointing when the beautiful surroundings are covered in plastic and food wrapping.

There were three cruises all converging on Valletta at the same time, so that made it busy and a little unpleasant in places.

After an a couple of hours of walking, in the beautiful sunshine, we stopped for a quick beer and wine before heading back to the ship, lunch, and then departure on our tour. At least that was the plan. Ho hum.

The shuttle that was running between the boat and the port was meant to depart every 20 minutes. We had allowed over an hour just in case. We missed one by about 90 seconds so picked up some duty free. Jason was thrilled with his 10 euro bottle of run and I restocked on Maltese wine, you know, just in case. And then we waited, and waited, and waited.

For an hour. No lunch, and the hope of even getting on our tour was fading fast.

So, those of you that know Jason well also realise that no lunch is not a good thing… I was beginning to really worry.

Finally the boat turned up, we got on and it waited another 15 minutes before departing. Island time and there is no arguing with island time. We dashed on board, dumped our stuff, got our tickets and made it to the tour.

The tour that was surely put on by candid camera (anyone remember that show, where unsuspecting people were put in ludicrous situations to see how they would react)?

Our guide, clearly in his 90s (Jason and I, when we were talking again) recited “30 and 2 no matter who” and kept an eye out for a defibrillator. Most people could not understand him and those that could wanted him to stop talking.

It is amazing everyone made it back to the boat. Our three city tour included two cities and I seriously wondered if the dude was Woody Allan in disguise.

The first city we visited was called Marsaxlokk, really it was, it’s a fishing village and the fish looked amazing and fresh and yummy. Unfortunately it was also the Sunday market where they sell all sorts of crap, and the crowds were awful. We were left to our own devices and miraculously made it to the bus before it left without us. Unfortunately the tour guide made it too. Ha, ha.

Then onto Birgu where we walked the city and were told about a whole bunch of stuff no one cared about. Ha, ha.

We were informed that each of the individual cities still has the original access through the fortified gates. Very cool.

Anyway, parts of the tour were lovely including the boat ride and commentary around the harbour. Some really stunning views. We had eaten by this stage, as Woody was giving an explanation about a particular building, I had enough time to go into restaurant, order food, have the food cooked, and delivered for takeaway before he was done. Oi!

When we made it back to the boat we were on time to go to the gym, have a swim and dinner before watching the sailing as we departed Malta. We did not depart until 1000pm as we are so close to our next port.

It was so cool seeing all the lights as we left the city.

Ideally visit Malta when there are not so many people, and truly ideally, go to Gozo.

xxx

In order to get from Montenegro to Malta we travelled non-stop day and night.

This was the first time we really felt the ship move. I would not call it rough but it was definitely moving. You could hear the boat creaking and there was no sleeping on your side ha, ha.

So two nights and one full day without any docking. We did wonder what we would do with all the spare time. What spare time?

It was a bit of a sleep in though, lovely, as we did not have any tours to do or time frames to meet.

We even ordered room service for breakfast which was just divine and quiet, even though it does not feel like there are 2200 other people on the boat (1200 passengers and 1000 crew) it can be quite busy when you are used to the life of Bluemountains, Upper Hutt.

We had another master cooking class booked for 1000 am, the theme for this one was Roman Holiday! It was fabulous. Again it was run by master chef Kellie Evans, she is great to listen to and very patient. Again Costa, Josephine, and Remy were on hand to ensure everything was ready to go and cleaned up.

The dishes were Rosemary and Garlic grilled Lamb Chops, Bucatini, Carbonara, and Mousse di Ricotta. By the time the class was over there was no need for lunch. And, again, we learnt some very useful hints and tips about cooking. If we had time we would have signed up for another class.

After a wee lie down to aid the digestion it was off to the gym and then pool side. I discovered that they have mojitos even though they are not on the drink list, they don’t do a bad job either. More reading, and lazing about the next think you know its dinner time.

This time we decided on something new. The Grand Dining Room, and sharing a table. This gives you the opportunity to meet new people.

We were seated with a lovely American couple and instantly hit it off. Sharing jokes and stories. It was a great night with lovely food. Whilst the restaurant is not one of our favourites we had a fabulous Serbian waiter who knew lots about NZ and entertained us endlessly.

Another fabulous day with great weather. We have not had rain for over 2 weeks. WAHOO.

Rocked to sleep by the boat, tomorrow, back to Malta. This time we are exploring the main island Malta! Sorry Gozo, we won’t get to see you this time.

Sailing into Montenegro was just awe inspiring. It is actually a fiord, who would have thought. I guess that is why it looks like Milford Sounds on steroids.

Absolutely stunning and littered with beautiful little towns. There is the obligatory graffiti, because some bastards have to, but otherwise it was like something out of a story book.

Montenegro makes NZ look big. Less than 1 million inhabitants and only 4 hours to drive across the country. It stretches from the beautiful seaside city of Kotor all the way up to the mountains where you can go skiing in the winter.

This time our lovely tour guide was Ana.

Our tour included a trip to the seaside resort of Budva and then back to Kotor for a tour and some historical insight.

This place is just magical. The bus ride out to Budva was pretty. The hills are rugged and sparsely covered in trees and bushes. As you drive to Budva there are some pretty sheer cliffs where you look down on some beautiful beaches.

There is a little island called St Nicholas, out in the harbour of Budva. Apparently the island was once inhabited by many deer, but they became hunting victims. No comment.

Budva is being trashed, with new buildings, apparently you don’t really need permits and money will get you the approval and the view you need. So all the quaint houses and buildings are being overshadowed by high rise apartments and hotels. The old town is still safe, but that is probably because it is already built on the edge of nothing, so there is little chance of anything being put up in front of it.

This is the first place that we have really been confronted with begging as well. So it was quite a shock. Probably a warm up for when we are in Paris and other places where it is more common. After a tour with the guide we were left to our own devices, that was fun, little alleyways and stairs, and views. Really pretty. Also a little bit of shopping, I am in the groove now J

We finished up at a hotel and partook in the local wine and beer. You have to keep the economy going!

Next stop, Kotor.

Our bus driver and tour guide whisked us back to Kotor where we were taken around the old town. It was almost completely destroyed in the 20^th century by a large earthquake. It has since been rebuilt in the same fashion and it is hard to tell that it was ever so badly affected. It is quite cool actually, and maybe we can learn something here too, they wanted to keep the history and the special feel that was Kotor so decided to stay with the traditional architecture, with a few strengthening techniques thrown in.

After the tour we walked around the town a little more. Despite being ridiculously small, it really is tiny, it is so easy to get lost. No street names, no grid, no easily identifiable landmarks, just a lot of guessing and back tracking. Quite a bit of fun though!

We went back to the boat for lunch, it was so handy, really just a little walk from the town, where we quickly recouped before heading back into town. We had a hill to climb.

Kotor is surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs and mountains. It is the second best preserved fortification walls in Europe. The fortress is located a fair way up the hill, Castel St. John. There are 1350 steps leading up to the fortress. This seemed like a really good idea at 2 in the afternoon with 25 degree heat. WHAT were we thinking.

Anyway, we had said we would and we did. I thought it would take us a week bit of time, as it is about 1 kilometre straight up. But we did it in 30 minutes then spent the 30 minutes trying to cool down and get our breath back.

I love the entrepreneurism here, there was a chap at the top of the hill selling cold water, coke, and beer. Brilliant.

We walked back down eventually, found a local pub, and had a cold drink. We had earned it, that’s for sure.

Jason says he could live here, for me, its beautiful and I would like to investigate further, but less than 1 million people…

Anyway!

Another wander around the town, then it was back on the boat for a gym session (Jason’s idea) and to prepare for our next sailing. The view leaving Montenegro was just as stunning as the arrival. We stayed up on deck drinking cocktails and watching the world go by.

Eventually we had to go inside and get ready for another dinner. There is a reason we are doing so much walking and going to the gym!

This time our reservation was with Toscana – an Italian restaurant. The food was amazing (again) and we managed to pace ourselves to make it through to dessert.

Off to bed after another busy day. The next day we stay at sea as we travel around to Malta. That means two nights and two days at sea and no ports.

What will we do…

As I mentioned before, we went to bed and woke up in Croatia. It was awesome, no flights, no border control, no hassle, no bags, no packing, no unpacking, just arriving. And it was another stunning day at around 25 degrees. We are finally getting the summer we never had!

Being the highly organised person that I am, we had another cruise supplied excursion booked. This time we were doing something a little more us, canoeing down the Cetina river.

The canoeing started about 30 minutes drive out of Split. The tour guide, a lovely young woman and highly entertaining, talked us through the history of Croatia and some highlights on the way out to meet the canoeing dudes. It is very rocky terrain, not overly green, apparently not a lot of rain had come that winter. So, good for grapes then, says I!

Whilst Split is one of the more beautiful cities in Croatia there is an issue with employment. During the tourism months it is not such an issue but during the off season it can be very difficult to find employment so many leave. This is a problem that we heard much about in Cinque Terre too.

We arrive at our destination next to a beautiful river. The water comes down from the mountains and is an amazing green colour, crystal clear to the bottom. This, of course, means it is cold.

We have to suit up, only swimsuits required, don’t take sunglasses or cameras because you will probably fall out – HOLD THE PHONE, no one mentioned that in the brochure. Too late now, we are committed.

So, we are all dressed up in these very flattering wet suits (said no one, ever). I had a great deal of trouble getting the girls into the wetsuit jacket and doing it up. It was like some sort of binding tradition. In the end the chap told me to put the jacket under the wetsuit. At least I could do it up then, but the girls were not happy.

They talked us through how to paddle, stop, turn, how not to panic (because being told not to panic always helps right). And then we were told we could play in the water for a while whilst they go the boats ready. I didn’t have to be told twice, I was in and swimming. Hell, it wasn’t that cold, kind of like the sea in Wellington in summer. Not warm, but you won’t die of hypothermia ha, ha.

Then it was time to get the paddles and get moving. I should note now that Jason can’t really swim, and is also not a fan of white water. Too late, we were there.

For the next 3.5 hours we traveled down this beautiful river, there were ducks, dragonflies, birds, and snakes. Lovely! The guides were wonderful and knew there sh!t. No one fell out and whilst there were a few mini incidents, crashes and going backwards etc, all in all we did a great job and really enjoyed ourselves. DAMN it was hard work.

Jason did an awesome job of steering us down the river. I yelled instructions and paddled like mad when I realised he just could not hear me. But we made it in the end. Who needs communication to succeed – not us evidently? We could have drowned – well not really.

The bus took us back to Split and we were all a lot more subdued. There may have been a few people snoring, I know I was ready for sleep.

But, with only a day in port, we could not waste any time. We got dropped off by the old town and our tour guide went above and beyond and took us through the Diocletian Palace which contains the old city. Jason and I climbed the clock tower (cause we hadn’t done enough that day), any Health and Safety department would have had a meltdown with the lack of barriers between you and the drop to the concrete below, but the view was lovely J there were a few people who got half way and decided no, f*ck that, and went back down.

We spent another hour wandering around, bought some local wine, and finally found some food – we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was now 230pm. If you hadn’t noticed this whole trip has revolved around food, so going without is a bit of a shock to the system. We found a lady with enough English and with our excellent sign language we had one of the best sandwiches we had ever eaten.

Then back to the ship.

If you are travelling to Croatia, stay and enjoy the location, the people, the food, and the wine. We will be back.

The cruise offers on board experiences you can book such as art and cooking classes. I had us booked on a cooking class, just what you need after a really tiring day.

The chef, Kellie Evans, took us through four dishes in two hours. We did not just stand there and watch we actually had to do the cooking (BUT NOT THE DISHES). Two of the dishes were shell fish so I could not eat them, but Jason was happy J and very full.

It was great! And delicious! And well worth the effort of staying awake.

All of that made for a very long day. But wow, it was fantastic. We are really loving this cruise experience so far. Everyone continues to be friendly and there is always something to do.

A quick dinner at the buffet, too full and too tired to bother with the specialty restaurants, then off to bed. This time we wake up in Montenegro!