Navigating these pages: In the following itinerary, there are several columns describing the day. Text within [brackets] in the heading line explains the purpose of the link to the corresponding item.

Day(Cruise)

shows the ordinal number of the day of travel, and in parentheses, the day of the cruise. Note that I number the cruise day with 0-origin indexing, whereas the cruise companies use 1-origin indexing. I do this a) because I am a computer scientist, and b) the "first" day usually goes nowhere.

Date [Photos]

Clicking on a link in this column will take you to the corresponding photo album page for the day.

Time

All times are local times, with offset from UTC (if known) in parentheses. Where a range is given, it shows the hours of travel for the day. This can give anomalous timings when travel across time zones is involved. Where a change of time zone is involved, offsets from UTC are given in parentheses. A single UTC offset indicates the local time for the day, and if multiple UTC offsets are given, these indicate the UTC zones travelled. Calendar dates are always local to the starting time zone, trip days are elapsed night times.

Activity [Blog]

What we did that day. This is usually a link to a later part of the page, describing in more detail what we did that day.

Locations [Track]

Where we were that day. Where this is a link, it will take you to the track for the day. These are separate html pages. Not all days were tracked, and these days will have no link to open. Sometimes the voyages and walks are shown separately; others are combined.

Accomodation

Just to show we didn't sleep on the streets.

Notes

Bookings, Maps and various Travel Documents. For privacy reasons, these documents are not loaded to the public server.

Steps

as recorded by my FitBit for the day.

Within the diary entries, the date heading is a link to the photo page (as for the itinerary). The day of the week/ordinal number is a link back to the itinerary, and the day's title is a link to the track (as for the itinerary).

These pages are under construction, and may have anomalous entries. Note that the pages will change over time as I edit in travel progress. Note also that when the document refers to 'John', the author is assumed, unless stated otherwise. Entries in red still require attention. Where an entry is preceded by a © symbol, it means that the entry has not been fully completed.

Items listed under Documents are not publically available. Access to private documents is restricted.

Itinerary

	Maps taken from Intrepid Croatian Coastal Cruising, relates to diary days 14-19, Holland America page, relates to diary days 21-28. Note that this map has been modified to more accurately reflect the actual itinerary of this cruise! Holland America page, relates to diary days 28-49.

Trip Blog

26 May 2024, Sunday (Day 0), Melbourne to Doha

This story should really start last Friday (2 days ago), if not much earlier. We had deliberately chosen 26 May as the start day of our travels, because the choir we both sing in, Monash Chorale, had scheduled a concert for Saturday, 25 May, and we did want to sing in it. The programme was called Dreamtime to Durufle, with songs about Australia and its original inhabitants, through to some modern French composers, notably Maurice Durufle and his Requiem Mass, composed in 1947 (the year of my birth).

You may have heard of Durufle, but I bet you have not sung his Requiem Mass. It is fiendishly difficult, with constant changes of time signature (for example, one line of music has 8:8/7:8/9:8/10:8/4:4, changing each bar! And that's by no means unusual in the entire work!) Add to that the fact that the orchestra and organ accompaniment provide little support for the choral lines, and you begin to get an inkling of the difficulty. I hasten to add that the notes themselves are not that difficult, but you do have to be constantly aware of the rythmn, and without a clear beat coming from the orchestra/organ, it is absolutely essential to watch the conductor!!

Suffice to say that we spent weeks rehearsing, and we were all very stressed by the occasion - to the point that the conductor stopped the choir not once, not twice, but three times in the Kyrie because the choir failed to come in at the correct point! And they were not the only solecisms.

So when the concert finished at 5pm yesterday, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief, and most of us dropped into some sort of stupified zombie-like state for the rest of the weekend.

But not us. We had to finish packing, and we only got the last of the packing done this morning. We had planned to catch the train and bus to the airport, but given the stresses we had had, we decided to catch a taxi to the airport, and I rang Guri, our friendly taxi man, who greeted me like a long lost friend, and said "no problem".

So a pleasant ride to the airport in bright sunshine followed, and we were at the airport pretty well on the dot of noon. No problems checking in, or with security, or with immi/emmi-gration, and we were ensconced in the Business Lounge before 1pm, and enjoying a beer, nibbles, lunch, pudding, and then coffee, before "going to gate" at 15:15, and boarding the plane, not quite straightaway, because they had not actually opened the gates, but it was only a short wait before we were on the plane (a B777-300), enjoying a glass of Duval-LeRoy Rose Prestige Premier Cru France bubbly rose together.

I type this now just as we are about to cross the West Australian coastline into the Indian Ocean just near Exmouth, with less than 10 hours to go! So I am going to sit back and read another chapter on my Kindle of the J.R.Ellis whodunnit The Canal Murders ...

Up to chapter 4. But I did take a break from the book, and watched a movie or two. Or three. In fact all three episodes of Back to The Future, the first of which I had previously seen. but hardly remembered. the second two which I had not seen previously. Still. they whiled away several hours ... a total of 13hr 11min actually.

I'm now typing this in the "business" lounge in Doha Airport. I say "business", because if this was my business, I think I would be going broke very quickly. I am trying to charge my laptop from some of the worst electrical power point interfaces I have ever come across. The power points are situated in the table stands next to the seats in the lounge, but they are in recessed wells that are unmarked, and even recognizing them as power points would challenge most users. It was only because I saw someone else plug into the socket that I eventually recognized it for what it was.

But the problems did not end there. The power socket in question was setup with international travellers in mind, and would take any sort of plug from anywhere in the world. Not sure if you have ever dealt with them, but they have this characteristic that it is fairly essential that you get the plug in the right orientation, as otherwise a) you get no power, or b) even worse, you can get active/neutral/earth swapped around! To make sure I had the right orientation, I had to get down on my hands and knees, switch on the torch on my smartphone, and check what the orientation was. Blah!

But still more problems! I don't quite know what was causing it, but the power kept dropping out after a few minutes, and I'd have to turn the socket off, wait a few seconds, then turn it on again, and maybe the power would be restored. Sometimes it wasn't, and I'd have to repeat the process. This erratic process meant that the laptop stayed at about 77% of full charge, because I was using as much power as I was getting from the socket.

My guess is that the power socket had too much power being drawn from it - or maybe not enough, because although my power supply was dual 100/240vac, the socket was only 110vac, and presumably a mismatch in some way for the power supply. This problem I managed to solve by leaving the laptop shut (and hence drawing little current) while it was being charged. I did manage to get it to charge to 100% this way - which did at least mean that I would have a full charge for the next flight.

But irony of ironies! On the next flight, there was a power socket at the seat, which appears to have enough power capability to keep the laptop at 100% even while I type this. Caloo calay! O frabjous day!

I haven't said much about the other facilities of the "business" lounge. About the best comment I can muster is that I had a shower, which did work, but it was only just luke warm. The food and drinks were also very ordinary.

27 May 2024, Monday (Day 1), Doha to Barcelona

Back on the plane (B787-9) for the Doha to Barcelona leg, I read further on into The Canal Murders, and then had a bit of breakfast (Greek Yoghurt and fruit) before watching Casablanca, in memory of our last (abortive) trip to Europe, Spain, and Morocco. I was sorry that we had not been able to get to Rick's Cafe Americaine when in Casablanca, but I gather it now bears little resemblance to the movie set. Still, nice to see the old Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergmann classic at last. And note, Bogart never says "Play it again, Sam", but he does get a few "Here's looking at you, kid!" lines in.

After 6hr 18min 53sec of flight, we landed in Barcelona. and then proceeded to walk miles through the airport, down endless corridors, no staff in sight, until we came to a row of security guys blocking the corridor. They wanted to see our passports before allowing us through! Then we had to wait 20 mins before the luggage carousel even started, although being business class, our luggage did seem to come out a bit sooner than usual. Then through a straightforward immigration counter, then a non-existent customs inspection, and we were left with the problem of "How do we get into the city and to our hotel?" We tried searching for train options, but the Spanish system was quite inscrutable, and a Spanish Inquisition into why it is such a shit system seems very warranted. So we gave up and caught a taxi - which went straight into a traffic jam! But the driver deftly found an alternative route, so it only took us a half hour for the 12km trip - which does not compare well with Melbourne, incidentally.

At the hotel, we checked in, dropped off our luggage (the room was not ready), and then had a cup of coffee while we collected our thoughts on what to do for the day. After some discussion with the concierge, we bought 2 allday hop-on, hop-off Red Circle bus tickets, and walked to the nearby railway station where we caught the bus. We stayed on it for about 3/4 of the trip, taking lots of photos along the way, until we arrived at La Place de Catalunya, where we saw lots of cafes, and decided to get off and have lunch. John rather liked the look of the Cafe Zurich, but the ordering process was a little inscrutable. There did not seem to enough waiters for the number of tables, and there were no menus.

Barb had to go over to a passing waiter (who was otherwise quite uninterested in us) to ask how to order a beer and a meal. He pointed to the little QR code on the top of the serviette holder. "Scan that and go to the URL, and you will find a menu there" he said. So she sat down, scanned the QR code, but no URL appeared. So I tried. A URL popped up, and we then perused the menu. But there was no way of ordering! No amount of poking, prodding, swiping or swearing elicited any response. So we had to ask the waiter again! "Just tell me what you want" he said. So we did.

I must say that the "sandwiches" and beer arrived very promptly, and we paid him straight away while he waited. That clearly is a technique to deter the eat and scarper tourists, given the otherwise lack of staffing. A routine obviously worked out over time, with the added advantage that the menu is highly dynamic (just edit the web page when something becomes unavailable) and overheads are very minimal.

John had a "big" beer, Barb a "small", called "Estrella Damm", which was quite nice with a hint of lemon. The sandwiches were made with baguettes, shorter than the French ones and about half as long, still quite a decent chunk of bread. John had "Iberian chorizo and cheese", Barb a "Iberian ham and cheese". Both of us pronounced generous last rites when the sandwiches were dead.

We debated whether to board a blue circle or red circle bus when we had finished. The red circle queue was handier, but longer, and it had the advantage that it got us back directly to the railway station where we had caught it, while the blue bus would have involved doing the whole circle back to Place de Catalunya, then changing back to red circle. So we went red.

We sat on the lower deck of the bus, because everyone else headed to the upper deck, and we were not that interested in the remaining sights, which were largely just city streets full of shops and the like. So back to the railway station, and a 5 minute walk back to the hotel, where we more or less crash..

28 May 2024, Tuesday (Day 2),

I have this vague memory of being jolted by Barb several times during the afternoon - or was it evening? - saying, "wake up, if you sleep now you'll only wake up at 3am full of beans". "ugh" I recall was my considered response. Guess what? I woke up at 3am full of beans.

There is a limit to how long I can lie in bed without going to sleep. Barb does not suffer from this, and can often tell me that I snored at 2:15am, 3:42am and 5:09, and I then indulged her in long conversations of "ugh" when she tried to roll me over. So it was that I decided to get up at 5am and make a cup of tea, which Barb somewhat reluctantly shared in, since there was no milk. Barb then read her Kindle, while I typed up this blog.

Down to breakfast just after 07:00 for a quite wonderful breakfast, bookended by two excellent cups of coffee, made by the barista who told us a delightful story of how when he married, his wife was a coffee drinker, but he wasn't. She did a barista course, and he came round to realizing that he did, after all, like coffee, so he did a barista course and now has a job as a barman in this hotel making cups of coffee for appreciative tourists like us.

We finished brufuss (David's word for "breakfast") just after 08:00, and retreated to our room for teeth cleaning and other ablutions, before downloading yesterday's photos and packing up for the day's exploits.

Barb had had a conversation with the hotel receptionist about getting to the Sagrada Familia, and had decided that catching the Metro train to there was the best option. So we walked down to the station, had a little contretemps getting a ticket, but eventually managed with the help of a poor student to extract tickets from the machine. I say "poor student" because he had asked me for some money for a fare, which I routinely turned down. But on receiving his unasked-for help, I changed my mind, and gave him the small change that he needed. We both parted feeling much happier! (I think there is a message there.)

On walking out of the station at Sagrada Familia (that is the name of the station), we were immediately gob-smacked. It is the tallest structure in Barcelona, and very Gothic in concept, if not quite so much in execution. While standing around looking at the facade, we met up with David and Sue. Or rather, they met up with us. While trying to take a picture of the facade which would do its sheer scale justice, I felt a tickle on my arm. Sue was trying to put me off my photo! Hugs all round, and some frantic catch ups on what had been happening over the last few weeks since we had seen them in Melbourne.

We were due to enter the cathedral at 10:30, and we had time to join the relatively short queue and amble in at the appoint time. We definitely had a TARDIS moment, as it seemed that the interior is even more vast than the exterior! Nor was it quite like the cathedrals we have come to know and love. While there were many vertical lines, Gaudi had broken many of the up by using a three-branch trifurcating column that split out to hold up many parts that would normally by done by flying buttresses and vaulted ceilings. I'm not much of an architect (Rachel will confirm), but what Gaudi did with his designs was to turn much of the engineering of the cathedral on its head. creating a wholly new interaction with the spiritual dimension of church worship.

The church is still being built, nearly 100 years after its original conception, and it's safe to say that it would not have progressed this far this rapidly without some of the advances in modern technology. For example, all the new towers are being modelled with 3D printers so that the shape and form of them can be evaluated more easily than just by staring at 2D plans.

We visited the museum, saw the crypt, and left the cathedral after about two hours of jaw-dropping experiences. Two of those experiences stand out for me. Firstly, the sensual and soul enriching sight of the spiral staircases, not hidden away behind walls, but deliberately brought into visibility from the nave, as visual pathways to heaven; and secondly, the light from the rose windows being reflected from the polished marble floors, in a slighly defocussed but still specular way. It really was a church of light!

Then to lunch, in a handy nearby cafe, and a further chance to catch up on each others' doings. Before heading back to home base, we walked to the main street (lookup name?) to look at some of the Gaudi houses, most of which are lived in as private residences to this day. Again, the imaginative treatment by Gaudi generates wonder in any passing glance of the facade. I wondered what they must be like inside, and how pleasant they would be to live in.

We were booked to visit Park Guell at 16:30, and we had to hurry to catch the number 24 bus to get there. It wasn't far, and was within walking distance, but a) we had walked a lot in the morning, b) it was hot, and c) it was very uphill!

Park Guell was designed by Gaudi, and yet again, we were stuck by the imaginately creative park features, like the walkways, the balconies, and even the sitting and contemplating areas. We got a good view of Barcelona from the top, including the impressive skyline of the Sagrada Familia. One particular highlight was a large open space, surrounded by seats all tiled with beautiful bright colours of various motifs.

It was getting late in the day, and we were quite weary, so we caught the bus back to the Metro station (stopping at the Store Cafe for a quick beer or two), and a train back to Barcelona Sants. The Morgans headed off to their hotel, and we to ours, ready to pack up for the morrow's departure to Malaga and Andalucia.

29 May 2024, Wednesday (Day 3), First Class nothing

No time for breakfast in the hotel, but instead finished packing and headed off dragging our APT bags to the station for a 07:00 start. I have to say that the APT bags are a failed experiment. We last used them on our Kimberley tour, when they were provided as part of the package, an effort on APT's part to make packing of the bus's storage space more efficient by having one common size of suitcase. We thought that worked well, and deserved another try, particularly as we had the luggage allowance that would allow us to take a suitcase each. When we went to check our cases, we found however that one had several holes in it. So we organized with the Flemings to boorow one of theirs, as they had just come back from an APT tour. What we didn't know was that APT had changed the design a bit: a) it was a bit shorter, and b) the handle design was different, with a longer handle, and lower attachment point,

a) did not make that much difference to us other than the walking poles were a tighter fit, but b) did make a difference. It caused an instability when being dragged on its wheels, and would quite suddenly go into a fishtailing motion, occasioned by the flexible and longer handle, thereby causing one to stop, realign it, and then keep going. This meant our walk to the station was a bit stop-start, until we realized that when Barb dragged it, it did not fishtail as much. My theory is that my extra height over Barb made it that much more unstable, hence the difference.

With that little workaround, we made better progress to the station, where we met David and Sue and found the platform with our train. But first! We had to go through the whole airport security screening, with all bags being X-rayed, and pockets emptied, belts off, that sort of rigmarole. Then we could board the train.

The RENFE trains were pleasant enough, and we were travelling first class. But it appears that was a "premium first class", the difference being that premium passengers got served meals and coffee, while "ordinary" first class had to go to the cafeteria class to buy meals and coffee. John did try to do this, but the cafeteria car was crammed with second class passengers ("ugh!") who were very reluctant to let me through. Not that that mattered, but when I got to the servery, there was a significant queue, which just got lost in the throngs of plebs drinking beer and talking at the top of their voices. I stood in the queue for a minute or so, and then said "stuff it", and pushed my way out again. "First class" indeed!

We arrived at Madrid on time at 09:30, and in theory had plenty of time to make the 10:30 connection. Sue checked the destination board, but in the confusion of a strange place and the lack of adequate English translation, got the fact that it was local train platform 9, not regional trains platform 9! We should have smelt a rat when our tickets would not let us through the barriers, but we eventually got through by dint of tailgating other passengers. David managed this trick without realizing it, as someone went the opposite way at the same time as he waved his ticket, but the rest of us eventually got a bit maniacal about it all. I did try calling for help on the help voice channel nearby, but the woman responding did not speak English and ignored us!

So we got to platform 9, but there was no sign on the platform saying what the next train would be. We did ask a local "does the train to Malaga go from this platform?" and he said "Si" and nodded his head. But we now think he was just trying to say what we wanted to hear ...

Sue did eventually smell a rat and disappear off to double check, and came rushing back to say it was the wrong platform. So a frantic dash (remember the fishtailing bag?) up and down escalators to get to the right train just in time, plonk ourselves in the "first class" seats, and breathe a hugh sigh of relief.

Things were much less eventful after that, and we sailed through field after field of olive trees, before reaching our destination, Malaga Mario Zambrano. Now I don't know why, but the main station in each city never has just the name of the city, it's "Barcelona Sans", "Madrid Atocha", "Malaga Mario Zambrano", and so on. I must lookup why sometime.

We were met at MMZ by Gary, our host for the next week. He drove us out of Malaga to a little village some 70k away called Mijas, pronounced "Mee-yas", where we had some free time to look around and have a bite to eat. There were some donkey rides for a tour around the town, but we eschewed them, and walked instead. The village is one of the (many) white villages, aka pueblo blanco, because all the buildings are painted white. Originally done to reflect the sun and keep the buildings cool, Mijas is one of those now required by law to have buildings painted white.

called Mollina, pronounced "mo-ee-na", with a population of about 2000. Gary has a large house with 4 double guest bedrooms, all with ensuite, a swimming pool, and TVs all over the place (none of which we had time to watch during our stay). It was quite comfortable, although I found climbing the stairs a bit taxing.

After settingly in, we met the four others in our party: Hamish and Sarah from Sydney; and Cherry and Jenny from London. H and S would have been 15+ years younger than us, J in her 60s, and C about the same age as us. They were a very personable bunch, and we enjoyed sharing a couple of jugs of Sangria that Gary had made, out on the verandah, and catching up on each others life stories.

Then Gary took us and his two guides Alex and Havve (short for Javier, or Xavier) to a restaurant called "D'Vinos", where we had a wonderful meal (sorry, I don't remember exactly what, but I do remember that Alex had a dish called Gambas al Pil-Pil, which looked and smelt wonderful, and I decided that I would have it next time the occasion arose :-)

After that we drove home and collapsed into bed. It had been a long day. Little did we know it, but the next week would be full of long days.

30 May 2024, Thursday (Day 4), Cordoba all over

First day of Andalusia tours! We went down to breakfast at 08:00 to a continental style of breakfast: cereal (we had muesli), yoghurt, fruit, cold meats and cheese, and of course, coffee from a coffee pod machine that was quite unlike any that I had seen previously. And I had a coffee cup that would not quite fit under the spout, so I had to remove the drip trip to get to first base. A long black took two presses of the button, as per normal, but removing the pod was a manual process that entailed juggling the hot pod out of its carrier, which was a tricky operation at the best of times (i.e., when the pod was cold, but that took too long for the next person!) Fortunately, the coffee tasted OK, and we did get used to it after a couple of cycles.

Off at 09:30 in two cars, or rather vans/people movers. Besides the driver, there was room for 7 passengers in 3 rows of seats. We were in fact eight passengers, hence the need for two cars and two drivers: Alex taking Hamish, Sarah, Cherry, and Jenny, while Havve took the four of us. The trip to Cordoba took us less than an hour and a half, and we were in Cordoba just before 11:00.

Alex led us on a walking tour, and explained that Cordoba held an annual competition for the best courtyard. The rules were simple: the house had to be lived in (no offices or commercial properties were eligible), and the plants had to be watered by hand. This was a challenge in some places, as they had plants growing on walls some 3 or 4 metres above ground! But Alex explained how the locals addressed that challenge: they had small tin cans (like soup cans for example) that were attached to long bamboo poles (nice and light), and they dipped the can in water, then lifted it up to the height of the plants, and twisted the pole to pour the water on the plant! We saw several prize winning courtyards all maintained in this manner, all very beautiful. Often the courtyards had artisans working in adjacent rooms, doing very nice leatherwork, filigree jewellery, crafty things, and so on.

Next we looked at riding stables, the home of the Spanish Lippizamer horses used by the Vienna Horse display that we saw some years ago. Not that there were many horses around in the stables when we were there, though!

On to visit the Jewish Quarter, where we saw an old synagogue that had fallen into disrepair, and recently found and restored. On down many narrow lanes filled with flowers, and stalls hawking touristy things like leather goods (for which Cordoba is renowned).

After much walking, we did stop for lunch, which was based on tapas dishes. Did you know that tapas means "lid", and comes from the practice of putting bread over the top of your cup to keep the insects off? Over time, the bread itself became a focus of eating, and hence the name of "lid" was applied to it - or "tapas".

Then on to Mezquita Cathedral, which was actually a cathedral built inside a mosque. When the Catholics "reconquista" Spain, they went around, not necessarily destroying all the Islamic faith edifices, but rather repurposing them. Remember that often the handovers of power were peaceful affairs, done with the blessing (if that is quite the right word?) of the Imams and Califates. So there is a delightful juxtaposition of Islamic architecture alongside Gothic architecture. I appreciated it.

After a suitable enough time to take in that appreciation, we walked across the Roman Bridge to the pickup point where Alex and Havve were to meet us. True to their word, they did! and we bundled in, aided by a bottle of cold water that Alex had bought for us (it was quite hot!), and a can of beer that David had found just before the vans arrived. So much thirst was quenched on the way home.

We had some time before dinner, and while Sarah went for a swim in the pool, Barb and I had a bit of a snooze, before joining Sarah and Hamish around the swimming pool for a bit of a chat.

Dinner was in the town square outside a little restaurant called Meson Mollina, and I had an oxtail flemino (or something like that), which was oxtail meat and vegetables rolled up in proscuitto, coated in breadcrumbs, and deep fried. It was OK, but nothing to write home about, even though I am doing exactly that! (Huh?) Then back to base and bed (it was by now very late, well after 22:00 and past our bedtime). Another early start on the morrow!

31 May 2024, Friday (Day 5), Torcal Pancakes and Malaga Fish

We breakfasted again at the appointed hour of 08:00, and then busied ourselves preparing for the days outing. Gary encouraged us all to do the walk in the morning, around an interest feature called The Torcal of Antequeria. I gather that "Torcal" is Andalusian for "pancakes", and at this stage of our discussion, it was just that cryptic.

It was about an hour's travel to get there, travelling as yesterday, in two cars, the Morgans and Hursts in one car, driven by Havva, and the other 4 in a car driven by Alex. The final part of the trip was all uphill to, as Alex later explained, some 1500m above sea level. There was a fairly substatial Visitor Centre at the top, and we assembled ourselves with our walking poles.

The going was not arduous, but it was very uneven ground, walking over many protruding buried rocks, which did require carefully watching where one put one's feet, a process in which the walking poles were an immense aid, as it meant greater stability and confidence in the walking process. But it did have the disadvantage that to look at the scenery one had to stop and take stock before daring to look up.

And what a view! I don't think my words could do it justice. It is called pancakes in Catalan because the rock stacks look just like stacks of pancakes. And they are everywhere! We did spy an Ibex sunning himself on top of one of the stacks. Boy, was he a big goat! Would not want to argue with him. He did look a bit pleased with himself, being king of the castle.

We finished the walk, which took nearly an hour. The guide says 40 minutes, but we were obviously slow pokes. Anyone younger than us overtook us easily, including several school groups who went past talking at the top of their voices. Not sure how much of the countryside they were appeciating. We stopped at the cafe at the end, and had a well earned iced coffee, followed in John's case by an ice cream. Then we piled back into the cars for the trip to Malaga.

Alex did lose his way going into Malaga, but he did recover well, and were it not for us tracking him, we probably would not have noticed. He headed for a restaurant at the seaside, touted by Alex as having an excellent BBQ - which it had, we could see it on the edge of the beach, and when I went over to inspect it, boy was it putting out some heat! There were sardines being toasted by the fire, and they looked delicious, so when I went back to the table, I recommended them to everyone. When they came, they were indeed delicious, and the highlight of the food - even in the context of fish, octopus, calamari, and the like.

The lunch itself was fun, and full of chatter about the rocks of the morning - and the weather, which was just perfect. Warm, bordering on hot, but not unbearably so. All too soon we were bundled back into the cars, and after carefully extricating ourselves from the tight carparks, headed off the do some more sightseeing of Malaga.

We (David, Sue, Barb, John) elected to visit the cathedral, and after paying the entry fee (! for a church! I must speak to Warren about the tourist prospects for Glen Waverley Uniting), wandered around the interior. In true catholic style, there were more chapels than one could poke a stick at, all dedicated to saints we had never heard of, and all decorated in what Barb described as "gilt, but with no guilt"

My camera batteries had all gone flat, so we thought it was a good time for a beer. So we dropped into the "El Pimpi" bar, and relaxed a bit with a beer. Apparently it was the bar that Pablo Picasso frequented. Then we wandered back to the "pyramid", which was a glass pyramid sheltering some old roman ruins underneath the pavement. That was the meeting place with Alex and Havve, so we were soon ensconced in the vans and on our way back to Mollina.

Dinner was at another local cafe, La Casa, and the food was as usual, very good. Barb had a salad caprese, John had Gambas al Pil-Pil, which was prawns in a garlic sauce, and it was fantastic! Barb walked back to the villa with the others, while I had a lift back with Gary, as we both were suffering from hip pain. End of Day.

01 Jun 2024, Saturday (Day 6), Granada will Live Again

Off to an earlier start this morning because of the long day planned. We headed east towards Granada, arriving there about 10:30. We stopped in a city laneway, alighted the people movers, waited while Alea and Havva went and parked the cars (somewhere?) Alex then took us on a walking tour of the city, starting with the Bib Rhumba, now a town square, but in earlier days a bull fighting ring using "primitive" bull fighting techniques, as Alex explained, which did not have toreadors or matadors, but just whomever was brave enough to chase the bulls!

Then on through many little back alleys to the cathedral, which we did not visit ("just ABC"), but rather to look at (no time to go in) the Chapel Royal (of which more later), the Palace of the Madrasa (an Ottoman school, now part of the university), and plenty of reminders about the Reconquista (when the Catholics took over Granada from the Ottomans) and Ferdinand and Isabella, who reigned from 1492 to 1508, and who made a huge impact on Spanish life.

We took stock in the Bib Ronda, which was an old bull ring, but now a town market square. Today it was full of blow-up jumping castles and the like, including a grossly oversized "foosball" table, where the batting spikes were life-sized dummies of people. How it all operated, we did not hang around long enough to see, but it was all very impressive, and there were hordes of people. We even saw a woman selling helium ballons in the shape of various cartoon characters - a "Bluey" and a "Peppa Pig" caught our eyes!

We had a coffee at a small cafe at the side of Bib Ronda, and Barb had a churros, which I think she regretted almost from the first bite, as it wqas deep fried, and that always gives her indigestion. But we walked that off as we dived into more little laneways and side streets, admiring the history and the Ottoman influences on most of the architecture.

Then a light lunch together before going our separate ways, as we wanted to see the Chapel Royal. It was built by King Ferninand and Queen Isabella (of Christopher Columbus fame), quite beautiful, and full of "f" and "y" symbols (being the first letters of Ferdinand and Ysabella in Spanish). Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside, even so, we were getting a bit fed up with Catholic symbolism everywhere in your face, so we did not linger there long. But long enough that it was then time to reconvene back at Bib Ronda, so we walked back to the square, and had a small beer to fill the few remaining minutes of time, and the few remaining spaces in our stomachs.

Remet with our tour party, we returned to the cars and proceeded to the Alhambra and its beautiful formal gardens. We had to be a bit careful with the time, as we had tickets for the Nagrim Palace, and Gary told us not to be late, as they could refuse admission if you were too late. But we made it on time, and were gobsmacked by all the wonderful plasterwork in true Moorish style. Here we could take photos.

We found a delightful little courtyard where we could sit and just relax for a while, and spent some 15 minutes or so taking in the atmosphere and spiritual enrichment before we felt we the need for more gastronomic stimulation, and went looking for ice creams before attempting to leave. However! the guard at the gate said we could not leave while eating ice creams, so we had to sit down to finish them before we could indeed leave the gardens.

Back to the cars for a long drive to a small restaurant where John had Gamba al Pil-Pil again, and then quickly hurried into a small theatre where we were treated to an hour's flamenco singing and dancing. Boy, would my mother have loved it! I did manage to take a movie or two of the action.

02 Jun 2024, Sunday (Day 7), Bathing with Bulls

Slightly later start this morning, partly due to yesterday's marathon. We left just before 10:00 for the hour and a half trip to Ronda, digressing just before reaching Ronda for an hour's exploration of Setenil, a little "white village" of Andalucia. It was swarming with tourists!

We did a lap of the lower levels of the village. It quite literally hangs on the side of a gorge, all the way from the banks of the small creek that runs though the town, up to the tops of the cliffs. We were not into climbing the cliffs. At the lower levels, the cliffs overhang the streets, which are little more than a car's width, and crawling with cars and tourists, so you can imagine the chaos!

We followed one "street" all the way to its end, with fewer cars and fewer people as we got to the end. We found a huge great cavern, with two garages cut into the rock, both closed with doors which looked like they had not been open for some time. No matter really, as it was not clear how a car could be manouvered into them without a 20-point turn! I took 5 photos of them, partly because the light was not very good, but mainly because I was trying to use the wrong setting on my camera!

After that we retired to a small cafe built in the side of the rock, and ordered two coffees, which we drank while watching the passing parade of people, broken by a car trying to get past every 2 minutes or so!! Then it was time to report back to the cars to continue our journey to Ronda.

We got to Ronda shortly, and by 12:30 we had parked the cars and made our way to the town/city centre, and a nearby park, from which the view was quite gobsmacking. We had planned to visit Ronda in 2020, but COVID had other ideas, so we didn't. But we saw the hotel we would have stayed in, and as the tourist brochure pictures showed, it was perched on the edge of a cliff. Mind you, most of the town was perched on the edge of a cliff. From the park one could look straight down over the cliff edge to the valley 97 metres below! There was a small ravine in the cliff edge which apparently has a local nickname which in spanish is a low word for female genitalia, because of its shape! Legend has it though, that the real reason it has that name is because the first person to go and look over the edge there said "Oh F**k! (but in Spanish), and the name stuck.

After that we had some free time, so Barb and I decided to visit the Arabian Baths, which were at the bottom of the cliffs, so hence a lot of steps down, down, down, just like the prices at Coles. The baths had an interesting history, and were built in the Ottoman era, partly because Ronda was a pilgrimage destinations, some many pilgrims would come passing by, and had to "cleanse" themselves before they could enter the mosques. It was quite elaborate, and used some Roman features such as hypocausts to heat the place. We watched a 10 minute video which was all CGI representations of life in that era, and that explained many of the features and customs of the baths. Quite fascinating.

Then of course we had to climb up again to the top of the cliffs. We had spotted a restaurant just near the top of the path, which had been recommended by Ziggy, so the thought of a refreshing drink and some lunch egged us on up the slopes. It was Don Miguel's, and we were given an excellent table, right on the edge of the ravine, looking down towards the baths and with some welcome shade. We odered a bottle of local Rose, which came chilled, together with gazpacho soup, chorizo in red wine (John), and scallops in green sauce (Barb). Coffe to follow, while we gazed at the impressive view before and lingered over the quite sublime experience.

Then we went to the local Plaza del Toros (bull ring), sat in the stands, wandered through the museum full of bull-fighting paraphanalia and pictures and stories about the famous bull fighters who had fought bulls there. Then we went out into the ring itself to experience the blazing sun and the glare from the sandy arena and white buildings all around (several cunningly built so that they could see over the top of the stands, and hence get a free seat at the bull fights!)

With bull-fighting under our belts, we felt an ice cream to be in order, so Barb had a mango and lemon, while John had a mandarine and lemon. Quite refreshing. Then back on the bus to return back to Mollina Villa.

For dinner, we were left to our own devices, so Davis, Sue, Barb and I headed back to the D'vin restaurant we had visited on our first night. Ha ha! We forgot that Spaniards eat late, and the kitchen did not open until 20:15, so we just had to drink beer until it did. Such an effort. The waitress was not too crash hot on English (but still better than our Spanish), and we had some fun as we tried to communicate about our orders. She solved the problem by bringing out her Google translate app, and we managed (with some hilarity) to communicate via that. Barb had a "warm" salad, and John had those yummy "Gambas al Pip-Pil" again. Fire breathing garlic dragons just are not in it.

After coffee, we all walked back to the Villa, and retirement.

03 Jun 2024, Monday (Day 8), Orange (beer) in Seville

Last day of the tour group! We set off just after 09:30. and drove directly to Seville, taking about an hour and a half. We parked the vans in the municipal car park under a park (Park LookitUp?), and headed towards a posh hotel, Hotel Alfonso 13th (yes, that is its name!) How posh? E900 pp/night, that's how posh. A quick look around, and then headed for the toilets after a long drive. As Barb commented, "you'd think that for E900/night they could refill the soap dispensers".

Then we walked on towards the Plaza de Espana (Spanish does not seem to elide the 'e' from 'de' before a vowel, I have noticed.) The PdE is a large folly built in the 1920s for an exposition that never happened because of the Great Depression, and the failure of the venture sent the city into bankrupcy. Still. it is a nice edifice, with a little tiled palour set aside for each of the 52 provinces of Spain, and a tiled representation of the women of each capital city of the relevevant province.

We wandered around there, taking a few photos of cities that we had been to, to the sounds of a flamenco dancer performing for the masses, before heading off to the next part of the city, which I think was the Judaic quarter. One thing that can be said about Spain is the extent of multimonotheotic cultures that it brings together, firstly with the Jews, then the Muslims, and finally the Christians (read Catholics). The Jews, being the original ones, probably got the worst of the deal, because, as Tom Lehrer said, "everybody hates the Jews". Interestingly, the Catholics call the final ousting of the Islamic faith the "reconquistas", or re-conquering of the Islamites, even though the Arabs left reasonably peaceably, and with some graciousness even. As one guide pointed out, Catholic heroes remembered as statues all wear soldiers' garb, whereas the Arab heroes are portrayed as scholars and clerics.

A few more such tourist features followed. One memorable one is the Street of Death, so called because of a Romeo and Juliet style love story led to the betrayal and matyrdom of a bunch of Jews, which the Juliet of the story took very much to heart and blamed herself for the betrayal (it was her father, really), and committed suicide. Her head was removed and stuck on a pole at the end of the street to remind all Jews in the district of their ultimate destiny.

We reached the square in front of the cathedral, where we were told to be back by 14:20 for our tour of the cathedral, and in the meantime to find some lunch, which we did at a cafe called Tomate, and had a few tapas, viz: cold soup with egg and tuna, spinach and chick peas; Iberian pork with whisky sauce; and anchovies. We idled the time away, and then returned to the cathedral square in time for the visit. The entry was very confusing, as no sooner were we through the gate than we were confronted with a line queueing up out the cathedral door. John went exploring to discover that this was the line to climb the tower, and that if you wanted to see the cathedral itself, one could go straight in. David, Sue and Barb all wanted to climb the tower, which turned out to be a big mistake.

The tower did not have stairs, but rather a long spiral ramp, built so that peoeple (nobles? clergy?) could ride horses to the top. Why they would want to do that was a bit beyond me, unless it was to avoid the hordes of tourists. I elected to explore the cathedral, and arranged to meet the three others at a later time. But the three others found that every man and his dog, and wife, was also set on walking up the ramps. The problem there was that the ramps were also the way of coming down, and it was just chaos finding one's way through the masses of people. To cap it all, when they got to the top, part of it was blocked off, further adding to the chaos, with the end result that they just did not get to see any view at all! And then they had to come down again through all the masses (and I don't mean religious services!)

John meanwhile was happily sitting and contemplating his navel, the meaning of birth, the meaning of life, and the meaning of death, while looking at all the statues of the saints who had already gone through this philosophical rigour. At that point my reverie was interrupted by the other three returning, and being catholicked out, we moved on to see the Alcatraz ... no, that's not right, I mean the Alcazar. John being rather zombified by his pensive ecclesiasma, elected to find the cafe, buy a beer, and sit and study the gardens and the passing parade of people, while Barb zoomed off around and about to see as much as she could.

Barb eventually returned and joined me in a beer - she perhaps had earned it more than I, but we both managed to while away an hour or so before it was time to return to the square and meet up with all the others, return to the cars, and head off back for the 90 minutes drive to Mollina and a 22:00 arrival - both totally buggered, and missing dinner because of the hour.

04 Jun 2024, Tuesday (Day 9), Highway to Heaven - but not yet!

More leisurely start, at least for some. Others had to be away at 07:30 to catch a train to Malaga, and from there on to the airport to catch flights to their respective destinations, Hamish and Sarah to Poole, while Cherry and Jenny were heading back to London. Meanwhile we slowly got ourselves ready for a 09:15 start, heading off to Caminito del Rey, which is about of a third of the way back to Malaga. It is a old hydro power scheme to light Malaga, but over the years the reservoirs have moved to irrigation supplies, the power station has become a pumped storage system, and the access path a tourist attraction.

Why a tourist attraction? Because it is a track originally cut into the sheer cliffs to allow workers to access the hydro works. Nobody died in that process, but after the works were finished, and the track fell into disuse, it became popular with climbers, several of whom did fall into the canyon, including one who survived a fall of 80m because he landed on his back, and the backpack he was wearing broke the fall sufficiently that he survived!

You will have to look at the photos to get the full impact of the spectacle. I will relate one further story to give you somewhat of an idea. Barb said before the trip that there were three things she was apprehensive about: a) heights, b) open grill walkways, and c) suspension bridges. You guessed it, she got all three!

We had a very chatty and informative guide, Antonio, who not only explained the history of the place, but also the flora and fauna along the way. We saw vultures, and we saw poisonous plants. Some like the poisonous juniper looks very like ordinary juniper, so don't put them in your gin.

One highlight of the trip was to see a train travelling along the other side of the ravine. I was so excited I did not get a chance to take a photo, but Sue was quick on the draw and took one for me. I should explain that to avoid excess weight, I left my big Nikon camera behind, and just used my iPhone. That was a mixed blessing, as while lighter, it did not have any straps or ties, and holding it to take a photo meant gripping it in a hand of iron lest it fall over the side, or in a necromantic hallucination seeing it drop on the decking beneath, bounce once or twice, and then sliding sideways between the decking planks to drop 80m to the rocks and water below ...

It took us about two and a half hours to do the actual Caminito del Rey, and then add to that the extra 20 minutes walking to the start, and walking from the finish, and it was over 3 hours of foot slogging - so we were pretty knackered by the time we returned to civilisation and a drink of cold water. We were met by Gary, who then drove us back to Cafe de Mirador for lunch. We sat on a table overlooking another beautiful valley, and had a wonderful salad with lots of fruit, cheese, vegetables, which we all shared, followed by Gazpacho Soup (John) and a huge paella, notionally for 2, but which we all shared and still could not finish!

Then back to Mollina - early for a change! - arriving at 16:30 for a quick cool down, and an even quicker dip in the swimming pool, which was VERY cooling, before relaxing poolside with a glass of beer and a chance to type up the events of the day - up to here.

We decided to visit the restaurant in the town square that we visited several days ago, so we bundled back in the van and drove up there. It was a very pleasant evening, the weather was again perfect, and we again enjoyed the local produce. John had Iberian pork "chorrascco", meaning barbequed, while Barb had duck magret. Both were most delicious. David and John even had a dessert, John a caramel cake, which even Gary could not understand the name of, while David had a croissant stuffed with fruit, a dish somewhat disparaged as a way of dealing with stale croissants, but which David said was pretty yummy nevertheless. Then back to the villa, to start getting organized for the morrow - a potentially long day.

05 Jun 2024, Wednesday (Day 10), Trains, Planes and Automobiles

We finished our packing with all the last minute things and had breakfast, and were ready on time for an 08:30 departure. Gary droove us to the station Antequerra San Ana, where we said our goodbyes and then did the security thingy. Spain is very keen on railway security, and all passengers have to have their luggage screened. Both Barb and John's carry on bags triggered an alert, but on rescanning, mine was OK, but Barb had to open hers up for a manual search (which was OK).

The train was a bit late, but David had calculated where our carriage would stop, and did it to an accuracy of less than 0.5m! So straight into our carriage and we settled in for the two and a half hour plus trip. After finishing as much of this blog that my memory would allow (bad news to get behind in your orders, as the butcher said after sitting on his mincing machine), I borrowed Barb's Kindle and started reading fill in name here, and got to Chapter 4 by the time we reached Madrid. The train to the airport was included in the fare from Antequero, and there was no problem transferring, unlike our last time in Madrid!

The airport was a bit of a brothel. Maybe it is something to do with Madrid? There were few signs in English, and the layout of the place was very confusing. Our plan was to have lunch at the airport, but all we could find in eating plaves was Hungry Jack's! Barb managed to find two croissants with Iberian ham and cheese, which sort of met the hunger half way, but wasn't quite what we were after - and there was no way we were going to eat burgers and chips, I must add! I went back to buy coffees, and the electronic ordering station came up with pictures of tall glasses of various kinds of coffee. I ordered what I thought were two glasses of machiato, E2.50 each, but when I collected them, they were tiny paper cups of what looked like short blacks! Talk about false advertising!

The plane boarded at 15:30, and we were on time pushing back at 16:00. Nearly exactly two and a half hours of flying (2:29:41 to be exact) got us to Dubrovnik, and me to chapter 7 of my book. Once clear of the paperwork, we found our driver, Bozo (pronounced Bo-zjo) who took us on a longer drive than expected from the airport to our Apartment Ventula. Dubrovnik is built on a very narrow strip of land between sea and mountains, and the foothills start immediately one walks of the beach - if there is a beach. Hence when the airport was built, it had to be built miles away to find any vacant land large enough for a runway. Even then, planes coming in to land have to do a fairly sharp turn coming in from the sea to avoid some mountainous foothills. Quite exciting!

A further consequence of this geography is that if you walk in any direction except parallel to the coast, you have to climb stairs. Our apartment was only 60 stairs down from the road, but it took the four of us several goes up and down to carry all our luggage to the apartment. And once we were there. we still had to go up several flights of stairs, as the apartment was on the second floor! The was no one there to greet us, and we had no key, so some frantic phone calls to the agent, and we got the code to the key safe, and were able to finally get in.

We got ourselves organized and then had a cup of tea. David and Sue did not want to go out for dinner, but just bought a few things from the supermarket. We, on the other hand, not having had lunch, decided to see what we could find, so we walked down the 150 steps to the next road, and while surveying the landscape from there, saw a restaurant down on the beach below us. So a further 100 steps down to the restaurant, where we had a delightful meal of a shared "Dalmatian Platter", which consisted of prosciutto (very good), an octopus and sardine salad (also good), and several different cheeses and bread. Al rounded off with two glasses of a local rose. There was a singer accompanying himself on a guitar, which made the atmosphere quite romantic.

We had advice not to go back the way we had come, because the alternative at the other end of the restaurant was much better lit (it was by now quite dark), and it had a few gentle slopes and fewer steps, so it was easier. But we still had to negotiate the 150 steps from the road to the apartment! As you can imagine, after all that lot, it was indeed time for bed.

06 Jun 2024, Thursday (Day 11), We were Game to sit in the Throne

We were awake early, but slow to get moving. David ever so slightly beat me to putting on the kettle for a cup of tea. which we then all enjoyed, followed by a breakfast of muesli and banana, vittles purchased by David and Sue the previous evening. The girls did a load of washing, before we all set off for the town (and down the 150 steps).

The first cafe we came to was open, and John angled for a cup of coffee, but D & S were not interested. "I've just had a cup of tea" said Sue. "So have I", I retorted, but that did not sway her, so the Morgans tootled off, while B & J stayed to relax with a cup of what cheers you up.

After the coffee we strolled on towards the town, passing through the Gate of Plóce into the actual walled city itself. Needless to say, the place was full of old stone walled buildings, such as the Dominican Monastery (which wasn't open, and indeed had a beautiful entrance stairway covered in scaffolding. I took a photo of the part we could see, but could not do it justice,

We eventually came to the harbour, now called the "Old Port", sounding a bit like it was some delectable alcoholic beverage, but instead of alcohol it was just full of boats, all mainly pleasure craft (I think I did see one fishing boat, but it was under repair), with constant tooting three times to signal reversing out of a temporay mooring to disgorge one lot of sightseers, and engorge a new lot.

We stopped a a tourist cafe called Poklisar for a beer, but once the beer was finished, we decided it was lunchtime anyway, so John ordered a cerviche, and Barb a charcuterie platter, both of which were very enjoyable.

Then more meandering, looking at the various buildings, checking out the (catholic) cathedral (well, you know what they are like inside), and of course, an ice cream shop, as it was about 30 degrees and very sunny. Barb wanted to see the Rector's Palace, and we discovered that for E35/person we could see both the Rector's Palace and the City Walls for the one ticket, when we were expecting to pay E35 just for the walls on the morrow. The ticket was good for 24 hours, so provided we started our walk the next morning before 13:30 (the current time), we were good for both. So Rector's Palace we did. One particular room had lots of old manuscripts on display, sort of Magna Carta like documents of treaties, contracts, declarations, etc., dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, and later.

From there we walked up the main street of Dubrovnik, called Stradun, very wide with no cars and lots of people! Of particular interest were all the very narrow side alleys coming off Stradun at right angles, with most involving long flights of stairs. They were quite photogenic, so lots of photos there! On one such side alley, we spotted a "Game of Thrones" shop, so we went up to have a squizzie. We bought Beth a GoT T-shirt, and for that we got the privilege to sit in the facsimile GoT throne in the shop - appropriately recorded in pixellated electrons for posterity.

Then we headed back towards our apartment - stopping for another beer at a shady plaza overlooking the old port. 150 stairs later, back at Apartment Ventula, we found D & S had already returned, so what did we do? We had a cup of tea!

Time for a bit of a snooze then before being woken by D & S closing the front door on their way out. They had left a message that they were on their way to the Konoba Pjatamea restaurant, a nearby establishment that we had identified this morning as a likely destination for dinner. So we followed a few minutes behind them at met up at said establishment for dinner. The usual beers, followed by white bait (John), and greek salad (Barb), and much discussion about the day's activities.

07 Jun 2024, Friday (Day 12), Walking the Walls - A Game of Thrones?

The notion was to make an early start so as to beat the daytime heat, but the best we could do was to get away a bit after 09:00. John then buggered up proceedings by getting to the bottom of the 150 steps, going to take a photo of the lovely panorama, only to discover that he had left the SD card back in the computer, after downloading yesterday's photos. So back up the 150 steps, collect said SD card, and then down the steps again. Barb waited for me at the Lazaretti Restaurant, and had ordered the coffees, but the Morgans could not wait.

We finished the coffees, most welcome, then down to the City Walls entry point. So began a long sequence of climbing and descending stairs! Mind you, the view was very worth it, and we took lots of photos. We did climb to the top of the top tower, a bit of a grunt, but we are hardly likely to get another opportunity. Well maybe. We do come back to Dubrovnik on the cruise. Who knows?

There were several cafes/bars on the route - most of them pretty full due to the rather hot weather (29 was the forecast temperature for Dubrovnik). We resisted the temptation, preferring to reward ourselves once we had completed the circuit. The whole lap took one and three quarters of an hour, and at the end Barb and I retired to the Poklisar Cafe that we ate in yesterday, and had a bottle of sparkling water first to quench our thirst, followed by two iced coffees to savour the moment. We debated what to do next: Barb was keen to return home, while John wanted to make the most of a lunch opportunity without having to traverse those 150 step twice more.

John won - he had a steak tartare and a local dark beer called Tomislav, which he reckoned was the best beer he has had in Dubrovnik so far. The steak tartare was pretty good, too. Then back to the apartment to cool down and catch up on all the missing things like this blog, the thousands of photos, email, etc., etc.

The afternoon was spent in lazy fashion, checking future itineraries, reading email, and the occasional book/Kindle, that sort of thing. Barb was feeling rather sorry for herself, as her gout had flared up again, and it was too soon to take another course of anti-gout medicine. The action came around 17:00 when David proposed that he go out and buy some beers. Barb was not going to be in that, so it was 3 beers only, and in no time he had returned (he is the fittest when it comes to running up and down stairs!) with 3 beers and a block of Camembert - in which Barb did indulge, for, as she said, she hadn't had any lunch.

Beers and cheese naturally led to thoughts of dinner, and there was much discussion about what to do. The bottom line was that Barb would be unable to negotiate any significant walking, and even the nearest restaurant was about 300 steps down (and up again, later) so that was ruled out. We evntually decided that David and John would walk to the nearest pizza place and return with a pizza. Which we did, except that we had trouble finding the place. We thought it was on the high road, so we went up the Ulich Suncat and along to the cable car, but no pizza shop was evident. David, on reconsulting his map, decided it was on the low road, so we walked down the nearest Ulich (laneway, or rather, flight of stairs) and found the pizzaria.

Some debate over what size and what flavour we should buy, and settled on a Quatro Stagione, 19". And then waited for 20+ minutes. When it appeared, a) it didn't appear to be 19" but rather just 12", and b) it was much cheaper than expected. Well that settled that debate!

David and I then trudged back along the low road, and up the Ulich Suncat 151 step, and the 4 of us sat down to eat pizza. After that, there was really nothing else to do but to go to bed?

08 Jun 2024, Saturday (Day 13), Srd and Gruz

What they said

Zdravo and welcome to Croatia. Lovely Dubrovnik features the terracotta rooves, ancient cliff-forged walls and crystal coasts that many people associate with Dalmatia. Your adventure begins this evening at 5 pm, when you will be welcomed aboard the Aurora and introduced to your crew and fellow travellers. Enjoy a drink and get to know each other before your first dinner on the ship this evening. Later, perhaps relax with a glass of wine on the deck and take in the incredible sight of waves lapping at rugged cliffs.

What we did

It was a slightly fractured day, as we had to have our luggage all packed up and ready to leave by 10:00, but nowhere to take it. Sue had organized with the owner that we could leave it in the apartment, all stacked up and ready to go, and out of the way of the cleaner, who was due in at 10:00. This we did manage, and as David/Sue and John/Barb were going separate ways, we left first, leaving D/S behind with the one remaining key to lock up.

We had decided to go up the cable car, and see what was there, while D&S were going to see some sewing exhibition. It was only a short walk to the cable car, and we bought round trip tickets, E27 each, somewhat expensive we thought, but it turned out to be well worth the money, and better than yesterday's E35 each for walking round the Dubrovnik walls, and a lot less effort, I have to say!

The view from the top was excellent, and it was a brilliant, sunny, clear day, so we spent the first hour just wandering around, admiring the views, taking photos, admiring the view, taking photos, ... until coffee time, just after 11:00. So we settled down at the cafe at the top of Srd Hill (yes, that is its name!), and ordered two coffees. We were told that we had an hour and a half to drink them, and then we must leave! Presumably they get a lot of people ordering a drink, and then hanging around just taking up seats for such a rule to be in place. Anyway, once we had finished the coffees in about half the alloted time, we thought we might as well stay for lunch.

John ordered a Dalmatian Triple, which was octopus, prawns and sardines in roughly equal amounts, while Barb had her usual salad. She was still suffering from her attack of gout, so she did not drink anything other than water (well, OK, and coffee), while John lashed out on a Vaskokolsk (check spelling) dark beer, which he said was yummy, and much better than the pale and wan beers he had been having. Barb had her usual salad, and we played taste for taste.

We finished that almost within the alloted hour and a half, and decided that we could make our way down the cable car again. That meant we were back at the apartment at about 13:15, some 15 mins before the agreed meeting time. As we did not have the one spare key, we had to sit on the stairs until the Morgans returned, and then we had the delightful task of lugging the luggage back up the steps to the road. Only 60+ steps, but it was still a struggle, and my heart rate climbed along with every step I climbed, reaching 98 after the 60 steps. OK, so that was only 30 more than my resting rate, so it would be more accurate to say that my heart rate went up with every 2 steps I climbed, but then again, we did have to go up and down twice to carry all the bags, so one cannot make too many assertions about the heart rate per step modulus. And then there's the actual weight being moved to take into account ... need I go on?

All this was over by 13:45, so the girls decided that as the supermercado was just across the road, ice creams would be in order. So that was a bit of a time killer and heart rate restorer, but the taxi did not turn up for another half hour. At least we had some shade to hide in.

An elderly taxi driver turned up in a people mover van, just like the ones we had used in Andalusia, and it was a short distance but longer time trip to the port where Aurora was docked, 5 boats out in a 5 boat sandwich! We were met by an Interpid guide called Ziggy, who was very hlepful, and explained (as we had guessed) that the boat was not ready for embarking just yet, but there were some shops just a couple of hundred metres along the road if we wanted to go and kill time there. He offered to mind our luggage for us while we did this, and so we followed his instructions, and found a cafe-bar where he said, and ordered beers for the blokes, and sparking waters for the sheilas.

A happy and relaxing hour or so there, then we returned to the wharf to find that we could now follow our luggage on board, and settle down in comfort. Gradually the number of people on board increased, until at 17:00 we were all formally welcomed on board, the bar was opened, and we sat around drinking and talking with fellow passengers until 18:30, when we were given a (rather informal) safety drill, and a toast in Croatian cherry brandy, before filing into the dining room for dinner of marinated vegetable, chicken breasts and an interesting fruit salady thing all coated in a sweet meringue foam. It was hard actually carrying on a conversation in the dining room, though, as it was a "live" acoustic environment, and with 30 people all taking simultaneously, it was very hard to hear even one's next door neighbour! But there was an enthusiastic spirit, and people seemed happy enough to at least have made it on board.

09 Jun 2024, Sunday (Day 14), Of Korcula like this place

What they said

After breakfast set sail for Korcula, the birthplace of Marco Polo, with lunch on board and if time permits, a quick swim stop en route. In the afternoon, embark on an orientation walk before enjoying an evening to explore at your own pace. If you're hungry, your leader can assist with dinner recommendations.

10 Jun 2024, Monday (Day 15), I - I - I Nicholas!

What they said

Depart for Opuzen, enjoying breakfast on board and a mid-morning swim stop in beautiful clear turquoise waters near the small island of Badija, then continue to Opuzen. Enjoy lunch onboard and then in the afternoon jump into small wooden boats for a leisurely cruise through the surrounding wetlands (with local snacks and music on board). Arrive at a beautiful local restaurant overlooking the river for Peka veal and other local dishes. Board the boats to return to Opuzen. You may want to venture out to one of the friendly bars around the town square to meet the locals over a beer or two.

What we did

We left Korcula at 06:45, and immediately headed into so fairly strong winds, about 40kph I would guess. Put it this way, there were lots of white caps, and the boat was heeling over at an angle that made it difficuly just walking around on deck. We breakfasted at 07:30 and were the first passengers to do so, starting with the cup of tea that we could not make in our cabin.

Around 08:15, Ziggy interrupted breakfast to say that there was a change of plan. Rather than head to Badija, where the wind would make docking difficult, they had elected to head for Trpanj, which was to be tomorrow night's destination,

So it was that we docked in Trpanj, made somewhat unusual by the fact that we moored directly alongside the wharf, rather than 3 or 4 boats out. At 11:00 we gathered in a group and headed off for a "coastal walk", a rather pretty and tranquil (ie., no tourists!) walk around the peninsula upon which the town is built, The weather had cleared somewhat, the sun was shining, and the wind had died down quite a bit, so it was quite a bit more pleasant than expected. We elected to climb the 290 steps (puff, puff) to St Rocco's church, set high on a hill overlooking the town of Trpanj, with quite good views of the surrounding countryside.

Then a few short steps down the hill a bit to another church, this one dedicated to St Nicholas. So John had to sing the short dedication of St Nicholas from Benjamin's eponymous operetta to the group. which was well received. Then down the hill to cancel out the 290 steps back to sea level, the ship, and the town shops. We did see a pharmacy as we entered the town, and as we need some more sunscreen, decided to check it out. It was closed until 13:30, but a woman put her head around the door, and explained, first in Croatian, and then in English that she was in fact open, but there were too many people in the shop. Not that we could see a single solitary soul behind her, but not wishing to be grumpy, we just thanked her and left.

We had time for a beer before reboarding the boat for lunch, which was a 3 course affair of a risotto, grilled tuna (perhaps a little too grilled), and a birthday cheesecake. That was followed by a talk from Ziggy about the history of Croatia. It seems that being a peoples that otherwise kept to themselves, they got trampled on by all the powers of Europe: Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Turks, Germans, Serbs - pretty well everyone around. The worst (at least in Ziggy's perception) was the War of the Homelands in 1991-95, which will still be fairly fresh in most people's memories. There was widespread famine and suffering, and it was really only through the efforts of the UN and subsequently the European Union that established peace and rebuilt the place.

The afternoon was spent in quiet reading and writing, and just enjoying the Adriatic environment.

Because of the change of plan, we could not do the wetlands dinner, but went instead to a small farm a few kilometres out from Trpanj. It had an attached restaurant, dealing mainly in local produce. Indeed, we could see most of the produce growing just metres away from our tables, in a very bucolic environment. We were given a choice of aperitif, ranging from "strong" to "sweet" and a few in-betweens. I chose the strong, which was a whisky-like distillation, not at all unpleasant, but something which I savoured rather than skolled straight down (as some people did!)

Then followed another 3 course meal, of cold meats and cheeses, pickles, salami, veal and chicken cooked in Peka (as originally promised), followed by 2 different cakes. There was plenty of local red and white wine, beer, juice and soft drink, all served up by charming hosts, and we had a great deal of trouble reminding ourselves that this was all organized in a hurry, on the day, due to our change in plans. Pretty bloody impressive!

Then back on the busses for a return to the boat, and bed, because of an early start tomorrow.

11 Jun 2024, Tuesday (Day 16), We went Mostar the way

What they said

An early start this morning to make our way to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina by minibus. Take a guided walk through the town, visiting a local coffee shop where you will see how the Bosnian coffee is made and have a taste of it, afterwards enjoy some free time to explore the town and have lunch at your leisure. Return to Opuzen in the early afternoon and sail to Trpanj. Upon arrival transfer to Matusko winery for a tasting and enjoy the beautiful grounds of the vineyard, before returning to the ship. Tonight, enjoy dinner onboard the Aurora.

What we did

Out of bed at 05:30 this morning in order to make breakfast at 06:00 and on the bus at 07:00. A long trip to Mostar, involving 2 stops for border control, one for leaving Croatia, and one for entering Bosnia-Herzogovina, then another one for bladder control. Each stop was at least half an hour long, including the second as well all had to dismount the bus, and present our passports individually to the border control official, who just scanned the passport, then handed it back. I think he might have looked at the photo and checked my identity, but I'm not sure. He did have trouble scanning my passport, but I think that was equipment limitations, not any nefarious reason. But 30 times that time wasting step did amount to some delay, particularly when you add time spent waiting around before and after hand.

Bladder control was slightly more interesting. Ziggy had asked that we get off the bus "only if we need to go", but 27 people got off, leaving just 3 of us remaining on the bus! So given the usual limitations of insufficient female facilities, that was another time consuming stop!

We arrived at Mostar a bit after 10:00, and admired the "old town" center. The street we were next to was the demarcation line between the Croats and the Bosnians in the 1991-1995 civil war, and the wall of the shop next to where we were assembling was pock-marked with bullet holes. It was quite weird seeing such war reminders in what otherwise would like like a normal (old) city street. Of course, a lot of what we were seeing had been restored with EU help, and I suspect the bullet holes had not been repaired quite deliberately as a reminder/memorial to the bloody-thirsty nature of the war.

We met up with our guide, Sreddar (?), who proved to be very entertaining. He had to earn his keep, as no sooner than when he started his exposition, it started raining, and indeed got heavier and heavier as we progressed through the next few stages of the tour. About the 4th stop was at a small souvenir shop that had a bucket of umbrellas out the front, so half the tour party (including Sreddar) stopped to buy an umbrella!

One of the hazards imposed by the rain was the fact that the pathways, made of round river pebbles set in mortar became quite slippery when wet. Ziggy had warned us about these, and had suggested that we wear some "appropriate" footwear, so I had my hiking boots on, which proved to be much more secure than the sneakers I would have otherwise have worn. But it did mean that progress was slow, not only for our own sakes, but because of all the people going in the opposite direction, equally slowly.

We managed to reach a small cafe without major trauma, where we were able to sit down and (slightly) dry ourselves while a woman from the cafe demonstrated Bosnian coffee making. She explained that while it was similar to Turkish coffee, it was only boiled once, not many times, and there was a slightly different order to when the coffee grounds were introduced and how. We all were given a cup, but some people didn't drink coffee and gave theirs away. I was one of the lucky recipients of a second cup, as I had widely proclaimed how much I liked the first! Along with the coffee, we also were given a very nice slice of Turkish Delight, the proper stuff, not the rubbery stuff one gets from most confectionery makers.

We checked out the iconic bridges of Mostar, made world famous by the destruction of the "old bridge" in 1993 by the Croats (of all people!), and restored/repaired in 2004 by the EU. (Interesting, the opening ceremony was attended by the future King Charles III.) We discovered that the "small" bridge was in fact a miniature version of the "big" bridge, made as a trial run for the big bridge. The architect was a brave soul, as he knew that if he failed (i.e., if the bridge fell down), he would be executed by the ruling Ottoman sultan, who was funding the project. This was bad enough in the case of the small bridge, but when it came to the large bridge, he just disappeared from the face of the earth. Apparently he was so scared that the bridge would fall down that he just escaped into obscurity, and nothing more is known of his fate. But one can hardly blame him for its ultimate fate at the hands of the Croats some 1000 years later!

But the real excitement at the big bridge was a group of 20-something youths, all dressed in swimwear, and standing on the outside of the railings of the bridge. There was a rumour that one of them was going to jump into the river, and they certainly posed for several diving poses, before withdrawing from the pose and climbing back over the railing. The height of the bridge was about 40m, so it was a fairly impressive drop. Sreddar explained that to be allowed to jump, candidates had to do a test of their suitability and fitness and prove their ability by diving off a 20m tower built a little downstream.

Then another rumour went around that they had not raised enough money, and would jump if people put enough money in the hats being passed around. I promised a Euro after the jump, and the collector seemed happy with that. True to their promise, a bloke did perform the jump, much to the pleasure and appreciation from the large crowd who had gathered to watch. I did take a couple of photos, but mistimed them to the point of getting the bloke at the top of his dive, and then as a splash after he had entered the water (feet first). Barb did better, and managed to secure a movie of the whole jump. I found the collector (or did he find me?) and put 2 Euro in, as it was quite an impressive feet first.

Then we crossed the bridge itself, and Sreddar explained a bit more about the local history of the area. What was impressive about that was the way in which all Jews, Christians and Muslims alike got along with each other, and operrated in synergetic fashion to create a thriving community. All the more puzzling as to why it all broke down in 1991.

Then to a cafeteria that Sreddar had recommended, hanging on the side of the river gorge, and called Laberinth, where we joined with a few others from our tour group to have lunch. Barb and I shared a dish called Dalmation Mix, a collection of meatball/dolmade/stuffed cabbage rolls, and quite tasty. Then back to the bullet pock-marked house to rejoin the other tour groups, reboard the bus, and head off back to the ship.

The trip back was similar enough to the forward trip, except that we did stop at a lookout overlooking the new bridge from the peninsula to the mainland. This was built with the help of Chinese money, and avoids the need for peninsula peopla commuting to the mainland to have to enter and leave Bosnia-Herzogovina, with all the attended delays. Sort of a no-brainer, apart from the money involved! It is an impressive bridge with 5 cable-stayed spans, and a length of 2.5 kms - but only single lane in each direction.

We got back to the ship at about 16:00, in time for a quick spruce up before jumping on a bus and slightly retracing our steps back to a winery called Matushka for a wine tasting. We had an extensive tour of the cellar, which were quite impressive, given that the winery was only established in 1998. We tasted 4 wines: a light white, called posip (pronounced "po-ship"), a medium light red, also for immediate drinking, called Plavac, a delightful medium bodied red called "Dingac" (pronoun ced "Din-gash"), with a chocolate finish that both John and Barb liked very much - so much so, that we even bought a bottle of it to take home to the kids.

The last wine that we tasted was also quite different, being a sweet white, very much a "pudding wine", called "Prosek", and quite untrue to its name "sek", being not dry at all. Very pleasant, but the uniqueness of the Dingac swayed us to buying that in preference. We will have to transport it back home very carefully.

Dinner was called "The Captain's Dinner", moved forward from the planned last night of the tour to avoid the last minutes rushes of disembarkation. We had a 4 course dinner this time: 3 different fish dishes, followed by a hazlenut cake. We sat at a table with Paul and Ziggy, and it was most interesting to hear about their lives. Ziggy is mad keen on soccer (they call it "football"), and is spending 11 hours travelling after the trip to get back to his home town of Osijek, right in the top corner of Croatia, so that he can watch the Euro 2024 football championships, and in particular the first match involving Croatia.

Dinner was followed by a quiz, with all the questions being aboit Croatia and the things that Ziggy had told us along the way. We only had 6 players in our team, as Paul and Ziggy (quite reasonably) disqualified themselves from playing. But we still won! Well, it was actually on a countback, as one of the questions was worth 2 points, but we were only awarded 1 by the neighbouring team marking our paper. The prize was a bottle of the Dingac wine, the same as the one we had bought.

A fun night, after what had been a long day.

12 Jun 2024, Wednesday (Day 17), Extracting the Essentials

What they said

Sail into Jelsa on the island of Hvar and take a private transfer to a local farm for some local produce tasting, then drive to Hvar town. Explore on a walk with your leader before continuing on to Starigrad in the evening.

What we did

We left Trpanj almost on the dot of 07:00 and motored off under cloudy skies. I had a discussion with Ziggy about the weather, and he was optimistic: "Hvar has the most sunshine hours of any place in Croatia" he said, "the wind will spring up and blow the clouds away." He was right! By 10:00 we stopped for a swimming opportunity, and as we swum, it got sunnier and sunnier. Barb, Sue and David all fronted up while I was dealing with emails, and said "we are all going for a dip right now, want to come?", to which I replied "maybe"and added a rider about wanting to finish all the outstanding emails. Off they went.

I did finish the emails, and went and got changed. Then to the back of the boat, where I saw the group swimming a short way off from the boat. Splash! In I jumped, deeming it the best way to deal with any thermal gradients there may be on entering the water. Didn't seem like much, I thought, and swam over to the group. "Where's David?" I asked, not seeing him anywhere around. "Oh, he dipped his toe in and chickened out" came the answer. So I was lured into the water under false pretences, thinking that they would all rubbish me if I didn't go in, but one of the ring leaders did not have the gumption to carry out his promise.

It was actually quite pleasant swimming around for a while. When I went to get out, the canoe came back after someone else had been paddling it, so I asked if I could take it out. It was an inflatable canoe, and unused as I was to entering an inflatable, especially from the back of a boat, I actually ended up sitting behind the seat! So the canoe was not well balanced, and to keep it in balance I found it easier to lie down and paddle it from a reclining position! Not the most efficient position, I must say.

10 minutes of inefficient paddling was enough, and I towed Barb back to the boat where she was helped aboard by others. When it came my turn to be helped up, we rapidly realized that I was too far gone in terms of balance, and the easiest exit was simply to capsize! Which I did, and then was able to swim to the ladder and haul myself out again. All good fun, and a few laughs along the way.

Time enough after swimming to dry down and get ready for lunch at 13:00. Lunch was the usual 3 course meal: annulotti-style pasta with mushroom and cheese sauce; chicken roulade with vegies; and a semifreddo for dessert. There was not much time after lunch before we arrived at Jelsa (pronounced "Yell-sa") just a dot or two before 14:00, and we were told to be ready for our next bus trip at 14:30. That bus took us to a lavender farm, where we were shown how the farmer and his wife extracted "essential oils" from lavender, rosemary and other flowers. All this was done by a woman (Stefana was her name) who had only recently learnt English, and she did it with great aplomb and confidence. We wre offered wine and nibbles (orange peel in sugar, biscuits and semi-dried figs) while listening, together with little phials of the oils being passed around for the olefactory experience, and it was an absorbing time! I did try taking photos of the swallows flying all around, but they were a bit too quick for me.

Then back on the bus for a trip to Hvar, the main town on the island of Hvar, and very much a rich man's playground. There were more yachts than you could poke a stick at in the harbour, and restaurants, bars, (up-market) souvenir shops, and general well-to-do-ness around the place. We had a walking tour led by another capable lady called Tania who showed us all the main historic attractions around, including a statue to Ivan Vucetic, who is regarded as the father of fingerprinting, and help solve the first murder to be exposed by fingerprinting.

Free time after that, when David and Barb decided to climb to the fort on the top of the adjacent hill - but John and Sue declined. So we went and had a beer first, and then David and Barb left on their mission, while John and Sue stayed chatting and finished their drinks. After that they went for a walk along the yacht alley, and admired/googled at/drooled/envied over all the cats/yachts/launches/you-name-it-it's-expensive boats in the harbour. Then back to the bus station where we met up with D and B again, boarded the bus, and returned to Jelsa.

In Jelsa we decided to buy a few bottles of beer, a couple of slides of pizza, and eat dinner on the foreshore in front of the Aurora (dinner was not provided tonight). It was very pleasant, and we followed that up with some gelati all round before retiring to our cabins.

13 Jun 2024, Thursday (Day 18), Crack shot on the camera

What they said

Spend the morning sailing, arriving in Split in the early afternoon. You will meet a local guide who will take you on a walk around Split, then the afternoon is yours to enjoy some free time to explore the beautiful lane ways and squares of the old city.

Sailing times between Hvar and Split are approximately 5.5hrs, depending on the conditions.

What we did

Bit of a kerfuffle leaving Jelsa this morning, as we were parked in nose first behind 2 boats, so they had to leave first - but they didn't! So they had to move out of the way - but they didn't! So there was a bit of shunting required a) to clear the harbour, and b) to turn around. b) was made a bit harder by the fact that there was yet another boat in the way, so it was a good quarter of an hour before we were out of the harbour and on our way.

Breakfast at 07:30, then motoring until about 10:00 when we stopped for a swim stop. I spent most of that timw wrestling with the computer trying to download photos from 4 separate sources: my camera; my phone; Barb's camera; and Barb's phone. Each of them somehow got in the way of the others, and the computer bogged down to the point where I just had to reboot it to make sense of what was happening. All very challenging, especially as I was trying to do it in broad dayight, which meant keeping track of where the cursor had gone was a bit challenging!

I took a break from all that, and went for a swim. I found a pair of flippers which fitted me, so I went swimming with those, and had fun towing Barb around with the extra power! David was even convinced to enter the water, but not for long, and I did not manage to get a photo of him in the water.

Swim stop over at 12:30, and a short wait until lunch at 13:00, Then more motoring, this time towards Split, our final destination on this trip. At Split we went on a tour of Diocletian's Palace, run by a guide called Tania who was quite fun. The first stage of the tour was the ground level of the palace, which was effectively a basement for the rest of the palace higher up (so the emperor could see everyone). Because they had no council garbage trucks to come round and empty the rubbish bins, what they did was bore holes from the upper levels into the ground floor basement area, and tip all their rubbish down them. So when the archaeologists came in, they found an absolute goldmine of archaeological trinkets, which gave the old archies a huge insight in life in Diocletian times.

Higher up, we were mesmerized by the architecture. Diocletian apparently raided egypt because he like the stone columns they used for building there, and brought them all back to Croatia to help build his palace. (I don't think the Egyptians have asked for them back since?) We also heard some beautiful Croatian singing from a quartet of blokes, singing about how much this bloke in the song loved his mother, and how broken hearted he was when she died.

One of the things that did change the temple somewhat was when the Christians came along. Diocletian was the last of the "heathen" Roman Emperors (he was followed by Constantine), and he was not averse to feeding them to the lions and burning them at the stake. So the Christian era saw a lot of "refacement" (I can't really say "defacement") of the palace artifacts, with crosses being put up in strategic places, and various items being removed (since restored). The one thing we did not get to see was Diocletian's mausoleum, which had a huge portrait of Dio-baby himself painted on the ceiling. The Christian response was to turn the mausoleum into a church (Di-Di would have hated that!) and leave the painting there, so that the painting would have to look down on all the Christian goings-on for the rest of eternity! I love that!

Although we did not get to see the church, we made a note that that is what we shall go and see when we return to Split later on this trip - on the Oosterdam.

After the tour of the palace, Paul led a group of us up Mount Marjan to see the view. He encouraged us by saying that we need only go halfway up, as there was a cafe there where we could stop and have a beer. This appealed to John, who wasn't walking well, and Barb who decided not to leave John alone to get up to mischief, so the four of us, along with two others from the boat, Deb and Don from Peggy's Cove, walked up the long ramps and steps to reach the cafe. David and Sue wanted to go on to the top, so we let them, while the remaining four bought a few beers and sat and chatted in the meantime. It was still quite a nice view from the cafe, even though only halfway up the hill, just like Jack and Jill.

We wandered down the hill, and decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants that Paul had recommended. They only had a table out the back in the "garden", but it was a lovely setting and much nicer that being out the front or inside. We were joined not only by Deb and Don, but also by Doreen and Dawn (who took the video of my little choral dedication to St Nicholas). I had shrimp soup, and then Barb and I shared a thing called "gregada", which was a potato and fish stew, and very nice. The staff were very good, and we had no problem leaving them a generous tip.

On the way back to the boat I stopped to take a photo of the Venetian Arcade, but then disaster struck! As I turned to follow the others, I had the camera in my hand and the shoulder strap just dangling. As I walked away, the shoulder strap caught around a bollard, and snatched the camera out of my hand, and bang! it fell on the concrete. Bits of the camera sprang out, the flash and the battery. Once I had carefully picked up the pieces and put them back, there was no response from the on/off button. A closer inspection revealed that the main lens (not the filter) had cracked from one side to the other. That was pretty terminal. (:-(

What can I say? I was devastated. The thought of another 4 weeks without my camera was just too much. Yes, I have my smartphone which takes photos (and reasonable ones at that), but it just does not have all the features that my Nikon had. Sob.

A sombre retracing of steps to the boat, diverting only to buy some ice-creams, and for Barb to extract some Euro cash from the ATM. Then to bed, and dreaming about what might have been ...

14 Jun 2024, Friday (Day 19), Fruitless in Split

What they said

After a leisurely breakfast on board, head out with some more time to explore the Split’s old city. After lunch, return to the boat ready to take your private bus transfer to Krka National Park. Here you will board a smaller boat for some cruising and exploring within the park. The park spans two thirds of the Krka River, and some 142 square kilometres. You visit some of the gorgeous waterfalls for which this park is renowned. Afterwards, return by bus to Split, in time for a captain's dinner for your evening repast.

What we did

The first task of the day (after breakfast) was to see if anything could be bone about John's camera. We had sussed out that there was a Nikon specialist withing walking distance of the boat, and Ziggy's recommendation was a camera store called Chipoteka, a bit further away. We headed out first to the Nikon place, called the Yellow Store.

I was not too hard to find (in fact, dead easy as it turned out), and the staff there were very helpful. There was some discussion about whether the camera could be repaired - basically replacing the lens - but it would have to be sent to Zagreb, and as we explained, we were leaving Split on the morrow. They showed me a current Nikon model, the Z-50. It was very compact, light and easy to hold - BUT it had no GPS, which I had decided was a fairly essential feature. It was also E1100, pushing it out of contention really. They had no models with GPS built in. We siad we would think about it over a cup of coffee, and the bloke kindly directed us to a good coffee shop, a few mins walk up the road.

Over coffee we mulled over the options. It became fairly clear that, although it was a nice camera, it did not really fit the bill, and paying much the same price as a new P900 without all the features, was not quite the way ahead for me, even as a stop-gap measure. As a backstop, I tried ringing the store that Ziggy had recommended, but the did not answer, so we abandoned the plan to walk on to there, but retraced our steps to Yellow Store, apologised to the salesman that we had to decline his offer, and walked on to what we thought might be a third option.

That was a "Microelectronics" store, that on its web page said that it also stocked "cameras", so we tried to find it. The web page said that it was located in Diocletian's Palace, and we did manage to pull it up on Google Maps. But remember that Diocletian's Palace was full of narrow streets with 3-story houses along each side. Once you were in the middle of that, the GPS signal got very vague, and we found ourselves walking around in circles trying to pin it down. We eventually gave up after passing the same spots at least three times, with nothin remotely resembling a "microelectronics" shop! So back to the boat, quite fruitless in our searches.

There was an after excursion organized for us, so at 12:30 (and no lunch) we climbed aboard a bus and set off on aa 90min trip to the Krka National Park. The Krka Park straddled the Krka River, and the site we were visiting boasted numerous waterfalls, too numerous to count! It was the site of one of the world's first hydroelectricity power stations, designed and built by Nikola Telsa (and you have all now heard of him, haven't you?) He was one of my idols as a boy, and I even built a Tesla coil named after him, which was supposed to generate high voltage electricity, but I never quite got it working. (One of my earliest failures.)

Back to the waterfalls. Thet were set in a luxurious forest, and a boardwalk traversed the waterfalls from one side of the river to the other. Most waterfalls were little more than a metre, and there were many such small cascades, as well as a couple of 10m or so larger ones. The board walk took us about 2 hours to complete, although as Ziggy pointed out, if you walked the board walk at normal speed, one would do the whole circuit in 20 minutes! It was that absorbing, and there was pleanty to see. Two things made an impression: a) the number of trout in the waters, just quietly swimming against the current and staying in the one spot, and b) the very brigh blue dragon flies that were just everywhere! They were hard to photograph (especially without a proper camera :-( ), but we did our best.

We reached the 16:30 meeting point a minute or two past 4pm, and sat and enjoyed some overpriced icecreams, while waiting for the others to arrive. At 16:30, we all climbed aboard a small pleasure cruiser, and motored off down the Krka River. 40 minutes later we were in Skradin, where we met the bus for the return trip to the Split wharf.

90 minutes later, we were back at the boat around 18:30, with time enough to start packing, before having a beer before the special "Croation BBQ" that Ziggy had promised. It was actually cooked by Ivan the chef, and presented to us as a buffet, so we did not get to see exactly how Croatians cook their BBQs. No matter, the food was enjoyable, even if a trifle overdone! It was gastronomically assisted along by the six of us enjoying the bottle of Dingac (Ding-gash) that we had won at the quiz three nights ago (11 Jun).

So that in a real sense our last meal together. Ziggy and Paul were off home later in the evening (Ziggy was facing an 11 hour journey home to be there in time to watch Croatia play Spain in the European Soccer Championships), and most of us had erratic plans for disembarking. So we said many goodbyes, and some of us purchased one last glass to drink to those farewells. Then off to finish packing, and bed.

15 Jun 2024, Saturday (Day 20), We split Spilt

What they said

Your small ship adventure cruise along the Dalmatian coast ends after breakfast this morning. Should you require a transfer to Split international airport, please enquire with your Travel Consultant prior to travel or your Tour Leader during your trip.

What we did

A slightly sombre mood at breakfast this morning as most of us reconciled to the fact that this was our last occasion together, and there a few belated goodbyes, and a few partings that went unsaid. We discovered via Sue that Paul was disappointed not to have said goodbye to us, and we were also disappointed to have missed him. (BTW, Croatia lost 0-3 to Spain, so Ziggy will be very disappointed.)

We finished our last minute packing, and lugged our luggage off the boat and across the road to the bus terminal. We had planned to catch the 08:30 bus, but we were there just in time to see the 08:00 bus depart, a few minutes late! Oh well, it was either wait in Split or wait at the airport, so we just climbed on the 08:30 bus as soon as it pulled up, only a few minutes after the 08:00 bus left, and sat there and waited, watching the Saturday morning turnover of boat passengers. Apparently all the cruise boats start and end tours on Saturdays, so you can imagine the chaos. Next to us there were 9 boats "stacked", i.e., moored alongside each other and tied up together. Imagine being on the last boat and having to lug luggage through 8 other boats just to get ashore!

The trip on the bus to the airport took 40 minutes, I guess not too bad considering that the Spilt airport is on the other side of a large bay, and considering the Saturday morning traffic, which was fairly fierce. But we were at the airport in plenty of time, and had checked in and went through security with no problems, other than Barb having to be patted down because her hip replacement triggered the metal detector.

Boarding was only a few minutes late at 12:10, and we settled down for the 53:06 minute flight to Rome. Well not Rome actually, Fiumicino, which is some 30 kilometres from Rome. As we did not actually want to go to Rome, but rather, Civitavecchia (which is 65 kilometres to the north), we considered our options. The trains were on strike, so that option was ruled out. Busses might have been an option, but seemed to require a good deal more work than just hopping on, hopping off. When thinking about all this, a taxi driver came up touting, and said he would be happy to drive us to Civitavecchia, E200. It was an expensive, but far better option. The taxi was electric and semi-autonomous, which I could tell from the fact that the driver kept taking his hands off the wheel. He was no slouch, either, and regularly nudged, often from the wrong side, the 130 kph speed limit on the autostrade. So we were in C. in 46 minutes, feeling cool and refreshed.

But not entirely relaxed. Although we had the address of the apartment (Gallery Suites, Viale Guido Baccelli 28), we could not see it anywhere. Only a few houses had numbers, and it was not clear how the houses were numbered. The taxi driver did not know the area either, and was struggling, even with a knowledge of Italian! He did eventually ask someone, who was forthcoming, just as we had rung up and managed to speak to the agent! Entry was very high tech - one sent a text message to a given number, and you had to type the message exactly right. The first message was "Open Gallery Suites" with which we had no problem, but the second was "Open Gallery Suite 3" which didn't work. After some unsuccessful attempts, Barb said "try it without the space before the 3" - which did work. Hmmm. It was not an instruction, it was a password.

The suites were very modern. Things like the window shutters opened with a touch of a button. All push button modern living. We set ourselves up, and got connected with the internet. Barb managed to find the restaurant where we had dined 5 years ago, after John had looked up the name of it on our previous blog ( Il Defino), and booked a table for dinner at 19:30. Then we had a cup of tea.

So it was that we walked down to the restaurant, with many memories invoked of our previous visit, and found said restaurant. It did not seemed to have changed, except that the outside area seemed to have expanded somewhat. However! When we said we had a booking for 19:30, they could not find a record of it, and compounded that with the statement that they were ully booked and had no room!

I'm not sure if they were just bullshitting, or whether they were dinkum or what, but persistence on our part paid off. I pointed out that we had made a special effort to come back to the restaurant after 5 years because of the good service we had received then, and it would be a pity if they were to spoil that memory. That did seem to change their attitude a bit, and they started to make a bit more effort. They did find a table for us on the outside, which we did not mind at all, because it was a most pleasant evening weather wise, and we had a good view of the coast.

John had an octopus salad (with lots of octopus), followed by a mixed seafood grill, while Barb hadcaponata and spaghetti alla vongole (which is what she had last time!), all washed down with a bottle of Italian pinot grigio. We still had room for desset: a peanut butter caramel semi-freddo, and a mille foglie with berries. Yum!

Then the walk back up the hill to the apartment, and bed.

16 Jun 2024, Sunday (Day 21), embarking Oosterdam: a mixed berry outcome

Slept pretty well last night, in what would be the most comfortable bed we have had so far on this trip. We were up in plenty of time for breakfast, which was probably the most unusual breakfast we have had so far on this trip. It was notionally a "continental" breakfast, i.e., no hot egg and sausage or anything like that. Admittedly it did have orange juice, yoghurt, cereal (only cornflakes), and cold meat (only ham). But what made it most unusual was the option of three choices of cake: two forms of mixed berries tart, and an apple pie. John had a bit of a surprise too. We ordered coffee, Barb a cappuccino, John an americano (long black), which we had assumed would come from an elaborate pod machine in the corner. Barb's arrived as expected, but when John's came, it was instant coffee! Urks. I tipped it out, and asked why it could not be pod also. The waitress apologised, and said something along the lines of "it wasn't big enough", meaning that the machine would spit out an espresso, but only a short one shot at that. I showed her how to get a bit more out of it, and she heated some water to make it "longer". So eventually John was happy, and it did make the mixed berries tarts taste better.

We had 2 hours to kill after breakfast so we spent some time getting some internetty things done. John rang David on Messenger, and we had a brief chat with Tabitha and Jemima (mainly the former) before hanging up. 5 Fran Court is in the throes of changing ISP, and there were some issues to resolve. Then a half hour before 10, we repacked everything, and carted the lot downstairs to await the taxi, which we were sharing with 4 young americans to the docks. They were going on the Royal Carribean (a bit lost, perhaps) to Greece, and were quite excited about it - I think it was the first cruise for 2 of them.

We dropped them off, and then we were dropped a bit further along the wharf as the Oosterdam (I am glad we did not try to walk the length of the wharf as we did 5 years ago!) We encountered no problems with our out-of-course embarkation half way through its cruise, and Carlotta, one of the purser staff. helped us through the formalities. The only slight problem was that Barb's photo was not registered on file (John's was), so Carlotta took a new one for Barb.

Some time was spent in unpacking all our belongings for the first time on this trip, as we had plenty of space to put things, and lots of time over the next week to access them. One of Barb's first tasks was to sort out all the dirty washing and get that away ASAP, as we had just about run out of clean clothes! That is the best thing about being a 5-star Mariner: free laundry!

A short break for coffee, which became a long break for coffee, and then back to sorting out the cabin until lunch time (about 12:15), so we went up to the Lido Deck, where Barb had a salad, and John had fish curry, and we polished it off with our favourite Holland American pudding: Bread and Butter Pudding!

Then we checked out the gym, which does seem to be much better equipped than previous HAL gyms that we have used. John noted with approval that all the resistance machines were marked in both pounds and kilos, so no annoying conversions and mental arithmetic. Then back to the cabin for more work (this blog). Annoyingly, we don't seem to have any internet, so you, dear readers, will just have to wait until the next port of call.

We decided to have a cup of tea, a little bit late, at 16:30, and went up to the Lido deck. Barb wanted to go to the talk on Messina and what to do while there, while John wanted to wander aimlessly. Since the talk was at 17:00, Barb's pathway was well defined, but John thought that as we were due to leave Civitavecchia at 17:00, he would just wander around aimlessly, as planned. Occasionally he took a photograph, but was then seized with nostalgic pains about the broken camera.

So then a two-birds-with-one-stone solution hit him. Dodging the first bird by virtue of the ship clearing the harbour and having no more photos to take, he decided to go to "Guest Services" on the Main Deck (deck 1) and sort out the dinner arrangements. For our boarding passes said "Open seating", while the smartphone app said "Fixed seating", which is what we thought we had asked for, and as it was a "dressy" dinner (aka formal dinner), we thought it important to know.

That's when the second bird fell and hit him. The queue for Guest Services was 6 people long. Not a problem at first, because there were 4 servers at the counter. But here's the rub. As each server finished dealing with a customer, they up and left. Just like that. A bit like the "Farewell Symphony" by Haydn, but without the music. So down to 3 in the queue in front of me, only 1 server, and each query took over 5 minutes to process. So 35 minutes later I made it to the front of the queue just as Barb arrived to tell me that I had to collect my passport, as it was required tomorrow. But I did not have my ticket with me.

What to do? I could run back to my cabin (up 5 flights of stairs) and retrieve the ticket, or we could bluster our way through on Barb's ticket and say that we only got the one ticket for 2 passports. Fortunately, the latter approach worked. Not sure if the bloke was convinced by my story, or whether he was just humouring us, but he did come clean with both passports!

Oh, and by the way, he sent a message to the Maitre d' to say that two cranky geriatrics would front up for dinner at 8pm, and would he humour them to avoid further unpleasantness?

At 18:15 we went for a beer. The big problem was which bar to drink in? I know, I know, it's a first world problem, but a problem nevertheless. We settled the debate by deciding to go to the nearest bar - which happened to be the Lido Pool Bar. There we met Elwood, who was quite helpful and steered John through the various beers (but only Lagunitas IPA met his requirements) and Barb through the various cocktails. She settled on a Mojito, but has lined up several alternatives to try in future behind that one.

We dressed for dinner (such as we could), and fronted up at the dining room on deck 2 at 20:00 as per our timings in the past to sort out whether we were open seating, as per our boarding cards, or fixed seating, as per our request and as flagged in the Navigator app. The first thing we discovered was that if we were fixed seating we should be on deck 3, so a steward escorted us up to deck 3 and consulted at length with the manager. Yes, we did have a fixed table, but no, it was table 81, a table for 2, and we wanted 6 or more. There was such a table with space for us, but ! as the sitting had started at 19:30, it was deemed appropriate to stay at 81, as the guests at the 6-table had already started eating. But we were introduced to them, and they did seem a nice bunch. More on the morrow!

17 Jun 2024, Monday (Day 22), Messing around in Messina

Although we woke early just before 06:00, we zombie out until there was a a knock on the door to signify 07:00 and the arrival of our morning tea. Aha! One of the luxuries of room service. We finished that by about 08:00, but decided not to go to breakfast yet, as we were about to pass Stromboli, and we had been promised "scenic cruising" and the opportunity to go out on the bow deck of the ship for a better view.

So down to deck 4, where there was a queue forming, as the crew had not yet open the bow deck doors. But once that happened, the queue spilled out, and we all took up positions on the railings of the deck. Stromboli was still a ways off, but it soon drew closer. Taking photos was a bit difficult, as it was looking into the sun, and taking photos without a viewfinder in broad daylight was somewhat difficult. But it was possible to make out some fumeroles, and there was a clear trail of recent lava flows down the side of the cone, and the occasional burst of steam as it reached the sea level.

As the ship edged around the island, the sun became less of a problem, and we were able to make out more details of the island. Two things stood out: the houses built around the base of the cone (urks!); and the clear tell-tale signs of lava slips down the cone sides - fortunately slightly away from the houses, but neverthelss there were universal opinions being expressed about how no one on the ship was inverested in investing in real estate on that island!

Eventually we moved away from the island, and Barb and I went down to the dining room to have breakfast. We had a 4-place table all to ourselves, and ordered a European Cold Plate (Barb) and Kippered Herring (John). But when John's eventually arrived, it had the potato and eggs, but no herring! We made a bit of a fuss, and the waiter apologised and said "it is coming, sir" - but I had just about finished the eggs when the herring did eventually appear!

A short while after breakfast it was then time for the ship to traverse The Straits of Messina, which are quite naroow, and reknown for strong currents and whirlpools. We did not see any of the latter, but there was certainly evidence of the former. An hour and a quarter after traversing the straits, we had docked in Messina, and we went ashore, firstly to find the Tourist Office and get a map, and secondly to find a canaletto shop and taste the gourmet item for which Messina is famous.

Then with the aid of the map, we set off on a walking tour. First stop was the Church of the Annunziata del Catalani which we went into to inspect. It was a small to medium size church, built in a Byzantine style with lots of polychrome brickwork, it was somewhat understated in decorations and gilt, and quite unlike most of the churches we have seen in Croatia.

The next stop was Il Duomo, in stark contrast to the Annunziata, very Gothic in style, very high ceiling, long nave, and more statues of saints than one could poke a stick at. The ceiling in particular was quite ornate, and, as for the altar piece(s), well! The huge suspended crucifix suspended over the altar like some vast Sword of Damocles smacked my gob most comprehensively.

But the real thing that grabbed my attention was the next stop, the associated Bell Tower. It was built fairly recently, in 1933, after the original ancient astronomical clock, already partially destroyed over the ages, was rendered into rubble in the 1908 earthquake, which destroyed much of Messina. For E5 each, we could climb all 6 levels of the tower, and each level had some working part of the astronomical clock, which had bells to mark the quarter hours, chariots to mark the days of the week, an orrery to show the position of the planets, a huge ball to show the phases of the moon, a perpetual calendar to show the date and time, and of course, various figurines who popped out of their hidey holes to signal various events. I won't go through them all, but one which took my fancy is an angel handing a letter to the Madonna to mark the respect paid by the city's ambassadors on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, who, as legend has it, received that letter from Madonna herself, granting a benediction to the city. Copy that for far reaching fairy tales!

We stopped after that little effort of climbing the 250+ steps of the tower to celebrate with a beer in the square overlooking the Bell Tower and Il Duomo, and then pressed on with the walking tour. But that was a bit of an anticlimax after the Bell Tower, and most of the places of interest were no open anyway. So we truncated the walk and returned to the ship about 16:00, and zoomed straight to the Lido for a cup of tea or two.

Then some afternoon resting until dinner time, at 19:30, when we joined our new table, table number 59, and met our new dinner colleagues Don and Bonnie from Calgary, and Bob and Lynda from New Jersey. After a few formal "where are you from?" sort of questions, we settled into a fairly relaxed discussion about life, the universe, and grandchildren. They seemed to be "our sort" of people.

So dinner progressed fairly well, except that John had ordered French Onion Soup, as it is a mainstay of Holland America dinners. But they must have put more glue into the cheese, because everytime I picked up a spoonful, there would be long strings of cheese that refused to separate from the mother lode, occasioning some light hearted comment amongst those present about the need for scissors and the like to sever the cheese-ties in the soup. I managed reasonably well with deft use of a fork, but even then, the cheese stuck to the fork like a new born baby echnida impaled on its mother.

The others all expressed a wish to leave at 21:00 to see the show, and as it was a British comedian (Martin Beaumont), we allowed ourselves to be persuaded to follow them. And it was quite funny! Even Barb found herself laughing out loud, and that is quite a feat. I shall repeat one joke that brought the house down: "I recently tried this new drug Viagra, But when I swallowed it, it stuck in my throat. An hour later, I found I had a stiff neck."

It was 22:00 when he finished, and I found myself thinking "gosh, where did that hour go?", he was that good. So we retired to bed and Viagra sleep.

18 Jun 2024, Tuesday (Day 23),

Was plnning on sleeping in a bit this morning, as we had all day in Valetta, and no set timetable to follow. However, at 07:00 when the morning tea came, I looked out the window to see ancient stone walls passing by. Now it is not often one wakes up to see ancient stone walls passing by, but I roused Barb and we admired the view while we drank our tea, and watched as the ship was berthed in the harbour.

At 07:30 the ship was cleared to go ashore, so we went and had breakfast, and while eating, saw several hop-on-hop-off busses go past. So we put that idea on the plan, finished breakfast, collected our things, and set off ashore. Now it is a known fact that harbour authorities are seized by jealousy that they cannot go on cruises, so they make life hell as much as possible for those who can. Accordingly, they make the exit for passengers as far away as possible from the ship's gangplank, and that exit in turn as far away as possible from the destination you want to go to, in this case, the bus stop. The irony of this machiavellian plan was that the bus stop was opposite the gangway, but the other side of a big stone wall. There was a gate just handy, but it was vehicles only, with armed guards watching it. So we walked 300m in one direction to get to the foot traffic gate, and then 300m back again on the other side of the wall, to get to the bus stop! How's that for a gotcha!

The hop-on-hop-off bus was the most uncomfortable bus ride ever. We were on the top (roofless) deck, as is the want with HoHo busses, and the sun was beating down mercilessly, the roads were very rough (a legacy of British road making skills, I believe), and it was almost impossible to take photos on my smartphone replacement for my sadly missed Nikon Coolpix P900 camera with GPS and room for a pony, as every bump made one's finger slide off the shutter button when you wanted to take a photo, and slide onto it when you didn't want to take a photo. So I think I have ended up with lots of photos of floors, hats, wiring, sky, fences, poles, you name it, everything you don't want photos of.

Add to that the fact that for E25 each, we bought tickets that we were told were good for all routes, and when we said that we wanted to do the red route, we were told, "ah, yes, that ticket will be valid". This was reinforced when we boarded the bus, and they swapped our yellow tickets for red ones. Once we found some seats, John found that his guide earphones did not work in his designated socket, so he had to change seats to a seat on the other side of the bus from Barb. "Aha", he said, "at least we can take photos of everything regardless of what side it is on", thus avoiding the age-old saga of deciding which side of the bus to sit on.

But it became obvious as we progress along the route, listening to commentary that in no way matched the things we were seeing, that something was wrong. When we got to Mosta, we found that that was not on the red route at all, but rather the blue route. Not to worry, we thought, there'll be interesting sights on the blue route too. But not long after we arrived at Mdina, the old capital of Malta. We stopped there a while, and lots of people got on and off, so we took the opportunity to move from the upper sunny deck to the lower shady deck, and not get quite so cooked.

We were chatting casually with the people sitting in front of us, and they agreed that the route information was very confusing. "And did you know that this bus is now a yellow bus?" they told us. At that point I lost all interest in Malta, and just wanted to get back to the ship and have a beer. This is where the bus company screwed up. The yellow bus did exactly that!

Back at the ship, we drank several glasses of water and lemonade to cool down and then had lunch at the Lido Pool Dive-In - with a beer, of course!

A little bit of post-prandial relaxation, then at 16:00 Barb decided to go exploring by herself, and went to look at Valletta, while John caught up with his diary and a few ancillary things. He had a brief chat with Nathan about some problems he was having, and we both agreed that there was not much that could be done about it while on board ship. This means, dear readers, that you will not be able to read this exciting blog until I get back to Melbourne!

Barb returned at 18:15, we went for a beer and cocktail in the Lido Pool Bar, and as we knew that none of our new dinner colleagues would be dining in the dining room tonight, we elected to have dinner in the Lido, before retiring for the night.

Problems as of Today

Several things will need attention, actually, upon our return. Here is a list of them, in case I forget any. (PS. The need for the subjunctive mood in the last sentence is wishful thinking. The tense should indeed be future imperative.)

1. 5TB backup disk unreadable
2. Broken Camera
3. no ajh.co at all (need new IP address)
4. Cannot login to albens
5. smartphone camera playing up
6. electronic devices not charging properly
7. Firefox does not download gpx files correctly
8. Falcon does not work on emails
9. Scorptec bullshitting
10. Origin Energy bullshitting

19 Jun 2024, Wednesday (Day 24), Ouch! Make no (broken) bones about it!

Dining room for breakfast: Barb had Eggs Benedict Dungeness, and John had Buckwheat pancakes. Then for a walk around the old town. We headed for the lift to the upper level of the town: E1.00, seemed cheap in the scheme of things here!

Once in the upper level, we were guided a little by Barb's experience last night, and meandered a bit to fill in some of the holes that she missed. An early stop was a cafe for a proper cup of coffee. A highlight was the number of small laneways coming off the main pedestrian street, made so much more pleasant by the exclusion of private motor cars. One still had to deal with delivery trucks, but they were generally more patient anyway. We explored some of the laneways, which seemed to be just as busy (pro rata the width) and with just as many shops.

We passed St John's Cathedral (actually a "co-cathedral", but we never found out what that actually meant), but two things discouraged us from going in: a) one had to pay, and b) the queue was miles long. Several hours of more meandering, before we headed back to the ship, calling in at a cafe just at the top of the lift for a quick beer, much cheaper than on the ship.

Having descended the lift, and walking back through much heavier traffic, John managed to catch his foot on a wheelchair, and crashed to the ground. The wheelchair had just baulked because of the traffic, and as it stopped, it swung slightly into John's lane of traffic. John's foot caught the now-lane-transgressing front wheel of the wheelchair, and that is what brought him down. Entirely an accident.

Fortunately nothing broke, either inside or outside John's body. But there were quite a few painful bits, especially around his left arm, which took most of the brunt of the fall. The bursitis on his left elbow was particularly bruised, and was in pain for days afterwards.

Made it back to the ship and had lunch in the Lido. Then rested for the afternoon until 16:00 when the ship was due to leave. For some special reason, I know not what, we received a 7 gun salute minus 1 gun as we departed, from the cannonade that we saw in the old town.

Since we are now that much closed to God, we went to the Crow's Nest for a pre-dinner drink. Barb had a Mai-Tai, which she decided she did not like, while John had a Lagustina IPA, which he did.

Dinner with the full table complement tonight, as we started to get to know each other better.

The clocks go back an hour tonight. I think it is because Tunisia is not on daylight saving, as the rest of Europe is. Otherwise it is the same time zone (UTC+1)

20 Jun 2024, Thursday (Day 25), La Goulette archipeligo

We had not booked any excursions for today, and the plan was to treat it much as a sea day and stay on board all day. One look out the window after we had arrived was enough to confirm that plan. Nothing but industrial sites for miles around, so even if we had permission to get off we would not have. One needed either a special pass or a shore excursion for that, and having neither, we were happy with our decision.

For that reason, we booked breakfast in our cabin at a later hour (the clocks were set back anyway), and slobbed around. But in spite of the hedonistic approach, we decided that we would in future prefer to eat in the dining room - it is so much nicer!

John was moving somewhat more freely with a good night's sleep, and Barb's hypothesis was that the anti-inflammatories that he took may well have spurred on the recovery. What ever, we did a session at the gym, and found the various machines easy to use. The fact that the weights were all graduated in pounds did not deter us, since the kilogram equivalents were also shown - the only real difference was that the quanta were in pounds, so the kilogram values were only approximate, and did not match up with our usual values.

We had lunch in the Lido, and then relaxed in the arvo. So much so that we decided to watch a movie A Man called Otto, which was a heart-warming story about a Grumpy Old Man befriended by new neighbours, who gradually wear him down to the point where he becomes quite relaxed with the world.

Dinner in the dining room at table 59. John had steak tartare, pork cordon bleau, and Tompouce, which was basically a vanilla slice. Then bed.

21 Jun 2024, Friday (Day 26), All at sea today

Summer solstice, and the longest day! A very lazy day, as it was a sea day and no port to go ashore at. We breakfasted in the Lido, as the dining room was shut for breakfast, and only serving brunch from 09:30-12:00. Did a bit of blogging until lunch time, when we went to the Lido Dive-in and had a Dive-In Dog, and a Freestyle Burger. Neither of us had beer, as John was planning on going to the European Beer Tasting at 13:00, and Barb was planning to do the wine tasting at 14:00. First a trip to the gym, though.

However, when John went to the Pinnacle Bar, where the beer tasting was supposed to be, he was the only person there, apart from the bartender. On asking the same what time it was supposed to start, he said now, but if we don't get at least 4 people by 13:10, it will be cancelled. So I waited to 13:10, the bartender called it off, but he did offer me one free beer from the tasting selection as compensation. The choices were Stella Artois, Lagunitas IPA, and a beer I had never heard of. I plonked for the one I knew and liked, the IPA, and sat there drinking it all by myself, as the bartender shut the bar and disappeared!

So then I went down to the dining room where the wine tasting was to happen, and waited for Barb, who expressed some surprised when she saw me. We joined the queue for the WT, and met the Cellar Master, a bloke called Phillippe from Chile. He knew his stuff, and went through carefully explaining the process of tastins a wine. He was easy to listen to, and I did learn a few new things. The wines we had were: (to start), a French Champagne, a Spanish white whose grape variety I had never heard of (and to my shame, did not write it down), a Northern Italian pinot grigio white (which just happened to be the wine Barb ordered for dinner last night!), a Southern Italian rose, and a Chilean red (cabernet sauvignon). Of the four, my preference was for the pinot grigio, with the red a close second.

Then in the afternoon we decided to watch another movie in our cabin. We selected "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", an adventure film in the true Indiana Jones style. Great fun, with an action scene every 2 minutes throughout the entire 2.5 hours of the film. (We did have an interval half way through, so that John could take his afternoon pill!)

By the time that IJ&DialOfDestiny finished, it was time to think of dinner. So we had a shower, and changed for dinner, in plenty of time to get down to the dining room, where we met with Don and Bonnie, and then joined shortly by Bob and Lynda. The usual happy chatting about the day's events, and family doings and the like. It was an early night, as the others went to the show (starting at 21:00), but we just retired for the night.

22 Jun 2024, Saturday (Day 27), Have we been here before?

Morning tea came at 08:00 this morning, as it was another put clocks forward night, and we did not want to disrupt our diurnal rythmn. Then down to the dining room for breakfast where we met an interesting couple at the next table. Unfortunately, we did not get their names! But they were from Adelaide, and it so happened that he was born in Piraeus, our next port of call tomorrow! She was a primary school teacher, so we had a very chatty time talking about education in general, and in the specific, our children. They were good company!

Then to the Crow's Nest for a proper cup of coffee, which did take a while to finish, as we had probably OD'ed on coffee at breakfast! While we were consuming the coffee, we got very close to Nafplio(n), and indeed arrived there early. Why the "n" in parentheses? Well it is spelt that way in the Holland America literature, but all the signs we saw when we did get ashore elided the "n". So take your pick.

I mentioned that we arrived early. When we went to join the queue for tender tickets (the port was not big enough to berth the ship), the queue was a mile long. I went and asked one of the staff "Don't 5-star mariners get priority?". "Indeed you do" was the response, "just go down to deck 1 and show your boarding pass and they will let you staright on". So we jumped the queue, and boarded the tender straight away. A short tender ride to the wharf, and we set off on a somewhat untargeted walk, prefering just to see where our feet would lead us.

We decided against climbing to the fort. We did it on our lst visit, so there was nothing to prove, really. Instead we went into the Church of the Holy Virgin, a very orthodox church, with lots of icons, and we watched as many people came up to the icons, crossed themselves, and kissed the icon!! Hmmm. Not my idea of salvation.

Next to the Church of the HV was a cafe, with a shady outdoor area, so we stopped and ordered a beer. John had a "big" one, and Barb a "small" one, both Fischer beers, of which I had not previously partaken. OK, I guess, nothing to . I'll stop there. You know what I was going to say.

Then a bit of a walk to explore the rest of the town, along a road and then down to the water's edge. We did try to walk to the end of the road, but it was fenced off, so we had to drop down to the water's edge earlier than expected, and then walked along the esplanade. It gradually filled up with cafes, and as we read all the menus, we experienced a strange longing to eat something, so we stopped at a placed that had on its menu at the entrance "mussels" and "imam byaldi" (in Greek). So we went in. But when we got the menu in English, both of those items had disappeared. So we asked. They were not available, and we were a bit disappointed. "Not to worry", we were told, "we shall make them for you". So they russelled up the two dishes, and we enjoyed them by the seaside with the fresh air and a gentle sea breeze blowing. Quite idyllic.

We had been worrying about the changeover and move to a new cabin tomorrow. But on asking at Guest Services (we had not received any particular information about the changeover), we were told "Just pack your valuables and loose items, leave your bags on the bed, and we will move them and the contents of your wardrobe". Fingers crossed!

Dinner with the 59'ers, then packing all those valuables and loose items, and finally, bed.

23 Jun 2024, Sunday (Day 28), Changing Identities

When we woke up there was no morning tea, as we did not get "A Delicious Start" to our day breakfast menu, which, as explained in previous travel diaries, we always use on board cruises, as we have no "teamkfac" facilities. So we headed straight to the Lido, had our cups of tea, and then started on breakfast. John had his usual cold meats and smoked salmon, Barb had the same, and then John finished off with a jalapena and olive omelette.

Back to the "old" room of 6011 at about 09:15 to find a letter there, obviuosly written yesterday, telling us that we should collect our new keys from Guest Services before 09:00! Accompanying the letter was an envelope containing two new keycards! I think the right hand was not talking to the left hand.

One of the things the letter did say was that we could leave all our hanging stuff in the wardrobe, and just pack everything else up in the suitcase, and leave them on the bed. Housekeeping staff would then move them to the new room. Given that we had the keys, John went to check out the new room, and met our new room steward, Raymond, who is an enthusiastic and cheery fellow. He was apologetic that the new room was not yet ready, but showed John in anyway. Just then Barb turned up - she had locked herself out of the old room, because she had packed her old key in one of the bags still sitting in the room!

Well, that was easily fixed, so we set off on our exploration of Piraeus, only to get stopped at the gangway because Barb's new card did not have her photo attached. Now if you check back to the 16th when we board, you will note that Barb had her photo taken then, so we were quite puzzled. But the security guy told us to go back to Guest Services and get another photo taken, and all should be well. So we did.

Amazingly, the queue at Guest Services was non-existent, and so Barb's phot was soon taken, and added to the file. Back to the gangway, a little anxiously, because we had both been scanned off the ship, Barb once, unsuccessfully, but John twice, both successful. So were there two John's off the ship and one Barb still on. Or were we both still on?

Fortunately, the latter, and both new cards behaved as they should. We had some trouble working out where to go though. We planned to walk across to the marina from which we departed in 2017, the Zea Marina just to see if the boat we sailed in, the MV Galileo was berthed there. We had to ask someone, and the usual port rules applied: we had to walk several hundred metres just to get out of the port authority area, and then several hundred metres back in the direction we had just come from just to jump the fence and cover the 100m or so from the terminal.

So a walk started witha bonus 1000 steps, but then the going got tougher. the direct route we had planned got steeper, and quite hilly - in fact, several ups and downs. Add to that the fact that the footpath was in fact a car parking lot, car hosing down lot, 100s of steps going up and down at 45 degree angles, huge holes in the pavement, huge steps whenever the pavement reached a road, and tables and chairs spread out across the pavement because the local cafe thought that was a good idea. It was slow and arduous going, and we had to keep crossing the road just to stay on the shady side because of all the turns we had to make. Yikes! It took us nearlt 2 hours to make it to the Zea Marina, and then we had to walk almost completely around it because the berth we were interested in was on the extreme end of the far side!

Well that was too much for us, and we stopped a half way round at a cafe (as we had done in 2017, that time towing suitcases as well) and had a bottle of sparking water and a "cappucino freddo" or iced coffee to buck us up. That did do what was intended and with water levels suitably topped up and drained (just like a grease and oil change really?) ploughed on the remaining third of a circle round the marina to find - no Galileo! Ah well, we tried.

So with a bit of elation at having succeeded in the mission, but disappointed at not be fruitfaul in the mission, we set off back. John with his why ways worked out a route that was not only shorter, but flatter, and with proper footpaths as well, (isn't he smart?) which we followed in under an hour and a half back to the ship. (Well, if you are so smart, why didn't you go that way in the first place?)

We did not even need to stop for a pick me up on the way back -probably because the thought of a cold beer in the lido deck may have picked up our pace a bit. We downed 2 glasses of lemonade and one glass of beer before even thinking of lunch, and then John had another glass of beer with lunch (an anchovy salad), and two more glasses of lemonade after lunch. It was thirsty work - our FitBits said we had walked 12.5 kilometres in 30 degree heat.

Agter lunch we sort of did some unpacking, lay on the bed, did a bit more unpacking, more laying, more unpacking, that sort of thing, until it was time to go to the Mariners' Cocktail Hour, just before dinner, where we met up with Don and Bonnie from our dinner table, and two people they knew, John and Sherry from California.

Dinner was just the four of us, John, Barb, Bonnie, Don, as Bob and Lynda were off with the fairies Pinnacle Grill. Somehow being just the four us us made us open up a bit more, but we related some of the funnier parts of travelling that we had experienced - and the stressful parts, too. Don suggested that we book into the Pinnacle Grill ourselves as a foursome (that will teach Bob and Lynda to go off without us!), so we went via the PG, and it was a done deal. 28 June we are booked for.

Then, after a marathon effort to get today's exploits written in diaries and tapped into the computers, Barb and John plonked into bed, buggered. (individually, mind.)

24 Jun 2024, Monday (Day 29), A Colossus of a Beer in Rhodes

Down to the dining room for breakfast, and ate without company today. Barb had a "Big American Breakfast" and said it was boring, while John changed his mind at the last minute and had a Bagel with Lox. I think John got the better deal.

About 10:15 we went ashore, not long after the ship was cleared for going ashore, and there were instant crowds everywhere. Not all HAL people, as I think there was a ferry loading at the same time. We found our way to The Gate of the Virgin Mary, and entered the Old Town.

Well, we spent the next two and a half hours following the old wall of the city around in a clockwise direction from the BVM gate. It was not a straightforward path, as while it started as a nice wide paved street, is soon degenerated into a narrow paved street, and then a narrow cobbled street - but never became a dirt track, thankfully.

One thing we were not thankful for was all the locals zooming around on the noisy motorbikes. Don't the know that this is a tourist town, and that scaring the bejesus out of the tourists is a good way of making sure they never come back? Maybe that's what they want. It is certainly not what all the touts standing outside the mutifarious cafes want. They would be quickly out of a job were it not for the hordes of tourists walking past. Clearly having and maintaining a viable tourist industry requires careful consideration - usually from both sides!

So saying, we came upon an interesting pathway/street/motorcycle alleyway that had flying buttresses from the wall on one side, to the houses on the other. I whipped out my camera (which was doubling as our GPS map position indicator and tracker) to take a photo, when I noticed a gateway leading to a large sheltered area under a huge fig tree. It was a courtyard setup as (guess what?) cafe, doing a roaring trade thanks to its delightful atmosphere under the tree. So we diverted.

There was a woman at the edge of the seating area who was clearly the tout for the place. She seemed to do nothing other than to wave at the passing traffic, and upon them showing an interest, she would point to a vacant table, and then resume waving. The real work was done by (I suspect) her husband, who was running everywhere, taking orders, and then bring the said orders to the table. He was in fact much more personable, and he bantered with me over my pronounciation of "diplos ellenikos" (double Greek coffee).

It was a most relaxing place. Barb had another cappuccino freddi (or is it freddo? anyway, no frogs in it), and we sat there for nearly three quarters of an hour drinking our coffees and watching two little girls, slightly younger than Tabitha, playing together under the fig tree. Clearly they were strangers, but to see them joining together in play was quite encouraging.

Whilst the spot was very enjoyable and inertia-filling, we had to move on, so we paid the bill and got going again on our circumnavigation of Rhodes. The second half of the morning was more difficult than the first in terms of following the wall. Most of the roads we could follow were not parallel to the walls, but rather were at 90 degrees to them, so we were reduced to looking at the walls at the end of the streets. There seemed little point in walking the length of the street just to get a close up view of the wall, and then retrace our steps back along the street!

Such an arrangement quickly led to abandonment of the "follow the wall" algorithm, and we chose instead streets that just looked more interesting. Time was also running out for the battery in my iPhone, so the algorithm slowly morphed into "chose a street that gets us closer to the ship". So the last part of our walk bore little resemblance to the walls of the city!

Although there were several features on the points of interest maps that we had encountered, we basically ran out of time and battery to follow them up. So ultimately, our path turned into a bee line for the ship, where we plugged in the iPhone and had lunch in the Lido. A beer was of course a welcome component of that lunch.

Suitably recharged personas, but not iPhone batteries, we set off in the afternoon, this time with the iPad, 100% charged, but slightly more bulky to carry around (remember that the iPhone was standing in for my camera - fortunately the iPad could also take photos, and plot our track, so it was a suitable, if bulky, replacement.

Not that that mattered much. Following the walls was even less of an option than the latter part of the morning. So the plan to "walk the walls" was abandoned completely, and we just meandered. We did get to see the Grand Master's Palace (where the Knights of Rhodes lived), although we did not pay to go inside the residences part. We also walked the length of the Ippotoon (transliteration from the Greek?) which had lots of interesting auberges along its length.

Then past some ancient ruins (my map only shows the names in Greek, and it is too complicated to translate). We suit a nice suit of armour, so we did take a photo of that for David. But then ...

... we came across a small square surrounded by cafe/bars, so we had to stop. John ordered a large beer, and it was LARGE! A 1 litre mug of ice-cold beer. It was all I could do to lift it and drink from it, a task which I decided was better done with two hands in the interests of beer safety. Barb had a smaller beer, which would have been called large in any other context. We sat there watching the passing parade, and trying to keep pace with each other, centimetre by centimetre on the height of beer in our respective glasses/mugs/jugs.

Then it was time to head back to the ship again. Barb went to the information centre on Ephesus tomorrow, and came back saying that our original plans were not going to work. We thought we would be able to walk to the ruins of Ephesus, but it turns out that they are 50 kms away! So we hightailed it to the shore excursions place, and got 2 of the last 4 places on the bus to the ruins! Cost over $US300, but we did both want to see Ephesus!

Dinner with Les Six. It took some negotiating to sort out the transfer of our wine package from cabin 6011 to 8029, but we eventually got it sorted. Then bed.

25 Jun 2024, Tuesday (Day 30), In the steps of Apostle Paul

We discovered that the reason we were always sitting by ourselves when we went to breakfast in the dining room was that we did not say that we were prepared to share a table. Once upon a time, they did ask when you came in, but now they don't, and you have to specifically say. So we did, and we ended up sharing a table with Katia and Kevin, from Adelaide! Needless to say, we had a bit to talk about.

Our shore excursion was to leave at 09:15, so we assembled in the World Stage theatre some 20mins prior. We were on bus 22, with a guide called Betul (but she said "call me Betty, it is easier for you to pronounce"). She was very good, and had studied history at university (with a Masters in biblical history), so she was very well qualified, and she articulated well. Indeed she looked after us, in her own words "as a mother", making sure we stood in the shade whenever we stopped to inspect some artifact.

The bus trip took 30 minutes to get us from Kusadasi, the port, to Ephesus itself, which is only a ruin of a place now. I had thought it would be a bit the other targets of Paul's Epistles, with a surving city (like Corinth, for example), but it was laid low in some earthquake (262 C.E.), and never rebuilt. But enough of it survives, and as it was left in ruins, the sands of time gradually buried it, leaving some wonderful treasures for the archaeologists to uncover. That work is still going on, and as Betty said, if you come back in 10 years time, it will look quite different.

There were many fascinating reminders of those New Testament times, such as the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, and the Library of Celsus (beautiful!), but the hightlight was undoubtedly the Terrace Houses. These have only recently been uncovered, and have been given expensive conservation attention, thanks to the Greek Government and the European Union. They are all undercover in a huge tiered steel and polymer shed, with an elevated walkway through each house that allows one to look into even intimate details in the house, such as the beautiful mosaics, the colourful wall frescoes, and even the drainage channels in the latrines. (There was no such notion of privacy, all members of the household could sit and chat while going about their daily motions!)

There was a huge amphitheatre which could seat 4000, but we did not go in (or sing in it). Betty told us that amphitheatres were usually the first things excavated, as they were usually the most obvious ruin, and they would tell a lot about the size and importance of the city itself, and its people.

On our way out we paused at the WCs (with privacy). Barb hung her camera on the hook on the back of the cubicle door, and then forgot it as she went out. It was not until she was back on the bus that she realized what she had done, and so made a frantic dash back to find it. That was made more complex by the fact that she had exited the ruins area, and could not get back in, until she found Betty, who organized an emergency pass for her. Fortunately when she got back to the WCs, there was the camera on the concierge's table, so she grabbed it and ran back to the bus, leaving the concierge bewailing the fact that she did not leave a tip - not that she had any money on her person, anyway! Phew! Dodged a bullet there.

The bus then took us to the little town of Sirince (pronounced Si-rin-jay), which means "pretty" in Greek. Well, it may have been pretty at one stage in its life, but now it is very much a tourist town, with bucket loads of street stall, and spruikers and touts everywhere. Our first stop was for a short wine tasting, of local fruit wines. We tasted pomegranate, peach, black mulberry and (sour) cherries. We like the pomegranate one best, and bought a bottle of that.

Next stop was lunch, at an open air restaurant high on a hill with sweeping views. We were fed well: starters of mezze; then cicken soup; meat patties, chicken, pearl barley and capsicum; and a dessert of what seemed to be (we were not told) pureed figs. Then back on the bus to Kusadasi, where we were shown into a showroom of carpets. I was just interested to see what they were like, but Barb insisted that she was not going to buy any. But whether it was the showmen, the raki she was offered to drink, or the carpet itself, she softened to the point that when we both saw a carpet we liked, Barb was prepared to buy it. It will be packed up and shipped to Fran Court, and the purchase was guranteed by Holland America, so we did feel slightly more relaxed at the integrity of the purchase, if not the price!

Then back on the ship. I wore shorts to dinner, but was told that they were "not acceptable", so I had to go back to the cabin to change. All of us were at dinner, and we swapped stories about the day's activities. After dinner, we watched a movie called "Carmen", which had nothing to do with Bizet's opera. It was a heartwarming story of a single woman, housekeeper to her brother priest, but cast out by the catholic church when her brother died. It was set in Malta, and we did recognize some of the scenery in the film.

26 Jun 2024, Wednesday (Day 31), Cruising The Dardenelles

A sea day today - only 3 on this cruise, so we made the most of it. First up was a Mariners' event, involving the presentation of awards for not getting the shits against Holland American for the longest times. There were bronze and silver awards, but no gold or platinum. There was one couple who had already achieved the platinum level and they were given an honourable mention. However, she looked like she was not all that full bottle, and had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair. They took off as soon as they had shaken hands with the captain!

Then another wine tasting, again with Felipe from Chile, who gave a very similar spiel to the one we had already heard, but this time with 4 different wines, 2 whites, 2 reds. None of them really stood out for me.

Then to Don and Bonnie's Neptune Suite to drink champange and talk so more! Bob and Lynda joined us, as we sailed through the Dardenelles until we reached the new (4 years old) suspension bridge across the Bosphorus, when we joined the thronhs on the front deck at deck 4. Apparently it is now the longest suspension bridge in the world, being over 2.5 kms long! Took quite a few photos of it, as it is a very elegant bridge. The wind was pretty strong, and I had trouble holding the phone still while taken photos.

Back in the cabin until dinner time, at table 59 with all present. We all aslo trouped off to the show afterwards to see Pantheon, a trio of young men singing (in 3 part harmony) a collection of well known hits. Barb and I particularly like their arrangements of several Simon and Garfunkel hits.

Straight to bed after. We have an early 08:15 tour start in the morning!

27 Jun 2024, Thursday (Day 32), Chaos in Constantinople

Although we were very conscious in getting to the World Stage by 07:45, a fat lot of good it did us. We had been issued with an individualized "bar code" that ostensibly was to be shown at the immigration point on leaving the ship. But somewhere along the line, someone stuffed up. Apparently, all bar codes were declared invalid, and we had to be issued with new ones. This was made doubly difficult, because many of the shore excursion people had already made their way to the World Stage (ourselves included), while the rest of the passengers were somewhere about the ship!

The first pass at getting the new codes to everyone was to have a big stack of them on the front tables that had been set up, and to call names out individually and ask the person to come forward and collect their code. It was clear after the first half dozen or so that this was going to take forever to get through just the people already in the World Stage, let alone those yet to come on their later shore excursions.

So they changed tack. As tennis player Bill Tilden once said "Always change a losing game, never change a winning game". They got that part right - but not much else! The new strategy was to have one queue for each of the 7 decks, and as they called each tour, people would come to the front, join the queue for their deck, and collect their tickets. But they did not reckoned with the stupidity and greed of most people. As soon as the first tour was called, about half the auditorium got up and went down the front.

But each queue had only enough space for about 4 people, in a tight squeeze. Coping with 40 or more per queue was just not possible in the confined space!! It was bedlam. We just sat in our seats (knowing that our tour had not been called), and waited. And Waited. And waited.

It was an hour before any semblance of order was restored. And then nothing. We waited for another 20 minutes before our tour was called, and we had our codes in a matter of minutes. The chaos was simply because people did not listen, or if they did listen, they ignore the instructions and just charged in. It was never going to work.

So it about 100 minutes from when we arrived to when we got our code and could leave on our tour. Needless to say, many people missed their tour bus, and were dynamically reassigned to some other tour that had some approximation to the original. I don't know. I don't think anybody did. It was one almighty stuff-up.

It was not a good start to the day, and needless to say, there were many angry people. As I said to one of the organizers, "people are much better behaved if the know the reasons for any delay. But you have told us nothing. That is why people are so angry." It was almost a riot, and it was fortunate that no one seemed to have been hurt in the melee.

Off on the tour. The bus took us from the port to the "Old Town" of Istanbul, the site of such attractions as The Blue Mosque, The Church of St Sophia, and Topkapi. We saw all three of them in turn, but Topkapi was definitely the most interesting, because of the eponymous film which we both had seen many years ago in Sydney.

The Blue Mosque is so-called because the walls of the first floor are all covered in blue tiles. It was not as big as the Casablanca Mosque which we saw on our ill-fated March 2020 trip, but it had a lot more history. Of course we all had to take our shoes off, and cover our heads (sun hats were deemed sufficient), but that was no big deal.

But it was quite a deal bigger, when we got to the Church of St Sophia. This building is notable in that it combines a mosque and church in the one building, the mosque on the ground floor, and the church on the first floor. We were only going to look at the church part, but the deal here was that women HAD TO wear a scarf head covering - hats were not allowed - while men could continue to wear a hat. Now in western churches, men are expected to remove any head covering, while women are free to wear whatever they like on their heads. But I went into St Sophia wearing a hat, while Barb had to wear a paper scarf for which she paid E1.00 at the entrance!! I ask you? What cretin thought that one up? A money-grabbing cretin no doubt (and there are lots of them around).

After that, I was less than impressed with St Sophia, and couldn't get to Topkapi soon enough. It was the palace of the ruling Ottoman class during the Ottoman rule, and no expense was spared. The kitchen had 10 chimneys, which is not surprising given that they regularly cooked for 4000 people! We did see the dome of the hall where the Topkapi diamond was kept in the movie, but we did not go in. But we did see the Treasury of Topkapi, and it had an amazing collection of jewellery, weapons, clothing, utensils, furniture, and even thrones. Wow!

In between Sophia and Topkapi we went to lunch in the Four Seasons Hotel. The restaurant is reputed to hold a one-star Michelin rating, but Barb and I did not think it measured up to the one-star Michelin restaurant we dined at in Alsace. It was very nice, but the service was a bit lackadaisical.

After Topkapi, we were bussed to the Grand Bazaar. Grand it was in the sense of being big (over 4000 shops reputed to be under the one roof), and bazaar it was in the sense of being bizarre. Thousands (literally) of shops all selling the same thing: junk. Mostly jewellery, spices, burgers, clothes, souvenirs, postcards, etc., etc.. Nothing I actually wanted to buy.

Correction: we decided a drink would be warranted, and we had seen a restaurant down one of the side alleys. So we went in there. "Sorry" was what we were greeted with, "we only serve food". A bit of searching, and we found a bizarre cafe that did not sell Coca-Cola, but did sell all sorts of Turkish beverages. We settled for (iced) pomegranate tea, and it turned out to be very nice - a bit like the pomegranate wine we bought the other day, sweetish, but with a refreshing pomegranate taste.

Then back to the meeting place, and a long walk downhill to the place where the bus was to pick us up. We had to wait about 15 minutes before it turned up, so John amused himeself by taking photos of the double trams that ran past at very frequent intervals. Once back on the bus, it was a short (distance) ride, but a long (time) ride back to the ship.

We, together with Bob and Lynda, who had accompanied us all day, repaired to the Gallery Bar, and some well-earned beers before a quick shower and then dinner. There was much swapping of stories!

We were all pretty knackered, so we finished dinner early, and retired to our cabins.

28 Jun 2024, Friday (Day 33), Is Stan Bull Sitting?

I think we had decided last night that today was going to be a rest day, as we had felt so tired and wrung out after yesterday's exertions. So we delayed morning tea until 07:30, and about 08:15 we rang Nathan and Lynne, as it was that regular time of the week to contact them. Usual updates on our respective doings, and we had to leave the conversation, as time was running out for breakfast! We were too late for the dining room (it closed at 09:00) so we Lido'ed instead, and then went straight to the gym afterwards.

An hour in the gym, taking things a little easier. Wilfred, the local PT, advised us that if we were feeling sore, we should do half-weights and double-reps, which is the same advice Barb received from her physio after her hip replacement, so we followed that advice. Even so, there were some exercises that pushed me perhaps a little too far.

Then so much needed catch-up on downloading photos and updating blogs. Barb went to the library, and borrowed a book The Queen takes the Train, but she says it has not yet grabbed her full attention. That exercise kept us going until 17:00, broken only by lunch (a light salad each), and afternoon tea (a cup of tea each), as we are planning to go to the Pinnancle Grill tonight, and we want to keep our appetite options open!

Had a cup of tea at 4ish, and idled the time. At 18:45 we had planned to go to the Pinnacle Grill, but when we got there, it was full, and no Bonnie and Don. It was then that I discovered a text from Bonnie to say that they had moved to the Gallery Bar, so we went there and found them. We had a G&T each before dinner.

Dinner in the Pinnacle Grill was excellent. We ordered a bottle of ? from our wine package, and drank that over steak tartare, bleu steak tenderloin and lobster dumpling, and creme brulee (John); ans lobster bisque, bleu steak tenderloin and lobster dumpling, and chocolate souffle (Barb). All of the usual Pinnacle standard. We chatted there with Bob and Lynda, Don and Bonnie until almost 23:00, when we among the last to leave.

29 Jun 2024, Saturday (Day 34), Stepping down at Santorini

Morning tea was delivered early, and actually woke us up. We managed to make it to the dining room for breakfast before they closed (at 09:00), and shared a table with Victor and Karly (from a few days back), and Hazel and Jurgen (from Perth).

Then we went to the World Stage to hear Ian the Cruise Director talk about Greek mythology. He focussed particularly on the story of Daedalus and Icarus, and how that was the inspiration for the longest man-powered flight from Crete to Santorini (where we land today), 115 kilometres and a fraction under 4 hours. Like Icarus, the cyclist Kanellos Kanellopoulos crashed (not from flying too close to the sun, but because of a wind gust), but unlike Icarus he crashed just as he was landing, and survived the crash with only a few bruises!

The other story was of Pheidippides and marathon running, and the modern day equivalent was Maria (surname?) who was a Greek marathon runner, and not only did the run from Marathon to Athens (42.2km) but also emulated the feat of Philippides in running from Athens to Sparta and back, a distance of 240km each way! Ian told this story as an example of how the human spirit can overcome the limitations of the human body.

That talk was followed by the captain giving us an explanation of why we have diverted from Mykanos to Santorini. Basically, using a system of very colourful charts (he said he "learnt to use colours in kindergarten"), he showed how the wind speeds in Mykanos were worse than the wind speeds in Santorini, and hence, for safety reasons. he elected to go to Santorini.

And so it was that after lunch, when we had arrived at Santorini, we caught the tender for a very bumpy ride to the shore, where we immediately made a bee-line for the cable car. Now Santorini is built on a volcanic chaldera, and the town (called variously Thira or Fira, a transliteration ambiguity) is some 300m above sea level, so from the tender, there were only 3 ways to get to the town: a) a cable car, costing E6/person one way, and the fastest way up, b) a 600+ step pathway, definitely the slowest way up, and c) on the back of a mule walking up the same pathway, a slightly more hair raising trip than the other two. We chose a).

We first found the Church of St John, beautifully decorated inside, but very orthodox. Amazingly, there were signs requesting silence inside, and people did actually follow that advice. The view from outside the church was very spectacular.

We went walking along the narrow footpaths (thankfully no cars, but there were motorbikes #$$%^@) and found a delightful like cafe overlooking the view. It was well worth the stop, and we each had a local beer to help enjoy the view.

We tried to find the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it was obvious that the narrow footpaths were too narrow to fit the name on any sign, so it was a complete mystery as to how to find the place. Mr Google did not help, as most of the paths were too narrow to even get a GPS signal! We did find the Church of the Three Bells, but it proved very difficult to get a good photo of it, in spite of the fact that it did have one of those beautiful blue domes.

We stopped at a couple of the many trinket shops along the way, and bought: a milk jug; a glass angel; a placemat; and a small copper helmet of Roman soldier design. We paused at the queue for the cable car down, but the queue was miles long, so we elected to walk down the steps. We had not gone a 100 steps before two blokes in front of us slipped on the cobblestones and went flat on their backs. Fortunately they were not badly hurt, but in one case it was his own silly fault for wearing inappropriate footwear: thongs!

But that did give us some cause for concern, so we stopped for an iced coffee to recharge our energy banks, and allowed ourselves to be arm twisted into ordering 2 baklavas as well. They were humungously delicious! But we discovered to our cost that they were on tourist prices, and the little recharge cost us the equivalent of over $A100!

Anyway, suitably recharged, we continued on downwards, picking our steps carefully. We did have to dodge various mules coming upwards, as the mules seemed to follow the paths that they new, and any humans in the way just had to jump out of the way! Add to that that when the wind blew, it would blow dry mule droppings up into our faces - not entirely an exciting experience! A total of 628 steps later, we reached the wharf, and we able to board a tender straight away, for an even bumpier ride back to the ship.

A quick shower and off to dinner, where we were joined by Don and Bonnie, Bob and Lynda, to discuss the day's events. Then bed.

30 Jun 2024, Sunday (Day 35), Charming in Chania

We had ordered morning tea for 08:00 (it arrived early), and we only just made it to the dining room for breakfast before 09:00. We sat at a table with David and Janice from Okanagan (BC) and enjoyed chatting with them. At 09:30 there was a practice drill for the crew, and all the wait staff left us (by then, we did have our respective breakfasts!) Given our lateness, and the encouragement of no staff, most guest left the dining room, and we were left as the sole occupants of the dining room! (But we did not make off with any of the wine.)

At 11:00 we strolled ashore and caught the shuttle bus to Chania (pronounced kch-ar-nia, as in loch). We were dropped at a little square in the middle of the town, and it was a short walk to the old Venetian port, where we spent some time in 2017. Indeed, the restaurant at which we dined then still existed, as did the lively spruiker bloke, so we gave that restaurant a miss (to see why, read 11 Nov 2017), and settled for a place called Glossitses, where we had a cappuccino freddo and americano. We just relaxed while drinking them, watching the harbour and the many people walking past. It was so relaxing that after an hour of this, we decided to have lunch there as a well.

We shared a cheese pie, and then a thing called Shrimp Sahanaki, which we took to mean "saganaki", but which was mainly prawns in scads of lovely tomatoes, with a bit of feta cheese thrown in. It was lovely, but soon filled at least Barb up, if not John. We lashed out and bought a 500ml "piche" (actually a bottle) of local white wine, called "Vilana". It was a bit rough, but went well with the very sweet local tomatoes.

Once that was finished, we strolled back along the rest of the foreshore to the harbour, and then made our way to where the shuttle bus was waiting for us. Once back on board, more quite time. At 17:00 Barb woke up enough to go to the information session on Olympia, but came back saying that our 2017 tour was much better value, and that the HAL shore excursion was not worth the 34 km bus ride.

The full complement turned up for dinner, but Bonnie did not even get as far as the entree. She complained of feeling a little queasy (the seas were a trifle bouncy), and excused herself. So only the famous (?) five for dinner, tonight.

After dinner we watched Mrs Harris goes to Paris, a fluffy movie about a Cockney cleaning woman who saves up her pennies and takes a trip to Paris to buy a Christian Dior dress. Quite funny in parts, but more of a heart strings tugger than anything else.

01 Jul 2024, Monday (Day 36), Catatonic in Katakolo

We made it to the dining room in reasonable time this morning, and shared a table with Chris and Denise from Manchester, whom we had met earlier in the cruise, but didn't catch their names. Swapped more stories about our time in Manchester.

Katakolo (pronounced Ka-tack-o-lo, sometimes with an "n" on the end) is the nearest port to Olympia, and as you might expect, that was a popular tour excursion, although for reasons explained above, we didn't go. Instead we wander ashore and strolled down the long line of cafes on the waterfront. John spotted a railway line at the end, which boasts one train a day, but only when there are cruise ships in port. But here's the ultimate irony: the train left before our ship docked, and doesn't return until after we leave! So it is absolutely useless for visiting Olympia!!

We picked a cafe at random, and enjoyed a cappuccino (Barb) and a diplos ellenikos, sketos (double greek coffee, no sugar) (John), together with a shared single baklava, very nice and so-o-o-o much cheaper than Santorini.

Then we did some shopping, buying a couple of T-shirts (one for David, one for John), a cheap belt for John (on which the proprietor punched an extra hole, but we found out later that that was still too long!), and of course, a milk jug!

Now it was lunch time, so another random cafe saw us order two Alfa beers, one greek salad, and a plate of stuffed vine leaves (dolmades to you). I have to say, the greek salad was excellent, mainly for the tomatoes which were so sweet and juicy, straight off the vine and a delight to taste.

Then back to the ship. It wasn't a long walk, but we still had a bit of relaxing time before going down to the future cruises desk. We had a bit of a wait before we got to talk to Brenda. We have booked a Pacific crossing for March 2026, and put a names down for a hold on a Neptune Suite. Such extravagance! (twice the price of a regular verandah cabin, but more than twice the size). At dinner tonight we discovered that Bonnie and Don have already booked for that cruise, too! I think Bonnie was quite excited at the thought of having a continuation of our dinner table fraternity!

After dinner we watched My Life in Ruins, a somewhat pointed commentary on the life of a Greek tour guide, and the people she had to deal with. As it was all about touring Greece, we did recognize many of the scenes and scenarios - very immersive!

02 Jul 2024, Tuesday (Day 37), Walking the Strand at Sarande

The morning tea delivery came before we woke up today, which was a first on this trip. There was a rumour that the Lido had raw herrings for breakfast, but when we went looking, no joy. So we just settled for smoked salmon and an eggs benedict - but the cook making them did not know how to make them properly, and made a real hash of it. Still it all tasted OK in the final analysis.

We went ashore about 11:00, and walked along the esplanade, which was all nicely paved. We didn't have any Albanian money, so we refrained from stopping anywhere, other than at a church little church which was quite open, and quite empty of people. It was clearly an orthodox church, but there was not much information about it, so after wandering around and reflecting on the many icons, we left and kept walking the esplanade.

Eventually the niced paved walkway ran out, and we had to walk along the road. Barb had this goal to walk to the headland and back, but it became apparent that the headland was inaccessible, as it appeared to be all privately owned. So we headed back dodging cars as necessary. We did see one a*&(#hole pull over to the wrong side of the road, stop, get out, and get on a motorbike nearby, and just drive off, leaving his big SUV blocking the road. Very quickly there was a huge traffic jam. and when it became apparent that there was nothing we (or anybody else for that matter) could do, we just left, leaving the cars to honk at each other, drive on the wrong side of the road, and even drive on the footpath to escape the mess!! Clearly "les regles sont tres different!" That, or he was Albanian Mafia, probably more likely.

We walked back along the length of the esplanade, and boarded the tender to the ship. Lunch was at the Lido Pool-side, and John had a "Jack Knife" (curry sausage in a roll), while Barb had her favourite "Freestyle" burger (vegetarian mushroom burger). We found Lynda and Bob just finishing lunch and sitting nearby, so we joined them for a while and swapped stories of the day.

Back in the cabin, Barb read for a bit, John wrote up his diary, and then about 16:15 or so we started watching Murder on the Orient Express, starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot. I don't think he was quite as good as David Suchet, but the production was of better quality.

Anyway, we didn't quite have time to finish before we had to go off to our Cellar Master's Dinner. It wasn't quite clear what time it started, as the orginal invitation said 18:30, the reminder note we received said 18:15, and it was down in the Navigator app as 18:00. Since the reminder said we could also cancel until the 30th July (well after we would be disembarking), we did not place much faith in their proof reading, and so thought we should aim for 18:00 just in case.

No, it turned out that 18:15 was the appointed time (!), and we got settled into a table with an aperitif of prosecco and limoncello, very pleasant.

I won't elaborate all the courses here (I might later on once we are back in Melbourne, as we have kept the menu), but suffice for the nonce to say that there were 5 courses, each with its own pairing of wine, and of all these, both Barb and I decided that the red wine Ruffino Modus was a 10 out of 10, and easily the best. I should note that all the wines were Italian, as were all the courses, and the whole thing worked very well. We were quite pleased (and merry) with the outcome!

We chatted with some friendly americans at the next table, who turned out to be very pessimistic about the US elections. They even canvassed us about what it would be like to move to Australia to get away from Trump! It was nice to know that there are indeed some sensible americans.

Back to our cabin to finish off the movie, and then retire.

03 Jul 2024, Wednesday (Day 38), Double Duty in Dubrovnik

Woke up somewhat early as Barb had left the curtains open, and the sun came in with a vengeance! Tea was not until 07:00, so we were grateful that it was a quarter of an hour early.

We docked in Dubrovnik, or rather, Gruz, the port of Dubrovnik, some 5 kms away. This was were we caught the Aurora back on 8 Jun, but it was not in the port today. There was a shuttle bus to the Old Town of Dubrovnik, and it cost $US19.95 per person return. One wonders why HAL did not make it a round $20 and increase their profit margin by 0.001%, but I guess they must have had the interests of their passengers at heart.

We entered the Old Town, planning on walking the walls again, but we were distracted by a sign saying "to the Lovrenjic Fortress", and thought taht since we had not done that when we were here last, we should fill that gap. So we climbed the 176 steps to the entrance, paid E15 each, and were told it would be good for the walls as well. The fort itself was simple, but very interesting, in spite of the fact that we had no guide, either person or printed, and there was little information printed around the place. But we climbed right to the top where there were better views along the coast than there were from the walls of Dubrovnik, so we felt it was worth it.

But when we came to go up the walls in Dubrovnik, we were told it would cost an extra E40 for the two of us. Yes, the fort tickets were good for the walls, but only the first E15 pp, as the tickets for the walls cost E35, and there was an extra E20 each to upgrade the ticket. We got the shits with that, and saved our E40, preferring instead to do a church crawl around the Old Town.

Which we did. But after we had walked up to the cable car (E25 each, so what was the difference? Less steps is the answer!) and caught it to the top of Srd Hill. We went to the restaurant at the top, and got a good table overlooking the view, where we had coffees and cake while relaxing and enjoying the view. Then back down to church crawl.

The churches were all either catholic or orthodow, and it was not always obvious which was which. I think people crossing themselves and then kissing the icons meant it was orthodox, but if they only crossed themselves, and maybe genuflected, then it was catholic. See, you can tell which is which!

Outside the last one, which was orthodox, we found a cafe to our liking, and stopped for a beer and a shared plate of octopus salad - very nice! Then back to the shuttle bus, where to our dismay, the line went down a flight of stairs and around the corner back toward the Lovrenjic fort! So we got in line - but only had to wait about 10 minutes for two busses to come along, and somehow we squeezed into the second bus. The blurb said it was a 6 minute ride, but my timing said closer to 26 minutes, as the traffic was fairly normal - horrendus!

Our usual quiet afternoon, Barb reading, John blogging, and then at 18:00 we went to the Ocean Bar, as we had two tickets for a free cocktail, and as they expire tomorrow, we just had to use them up. But we didn't quite no what to order. The barman said any cocktail to the value of $US11 was covered, abut more than that, and we would pay the difference. So Barb had a Mohito, and John had some penecillin, which is a cocktail made from a blended whisky and a shot of Laphroig - which took a little getting used to, but John decided he liked it by the last mouthful.

Then dinner, and well, you know the rest.

04 Jul 2024, Thursday (Day 39), Hvar up the hvill to the Hvort

Slow start to the day, as we did not order any morning tea today. Talked to Nathan and Lynne for 40 minutes only, as our time zones are now closer together, and we rang that much later. Then to Lido for breakfast.

We were not in a hurry to get going. It was intended to be a lazy day and we were not on any excursions. So we boarded a tender at 10:15 and after a bit of a wait for various commercial craft (mainly ferries) landed at Hvar and walked the length of the wharf, dodging hundreds of tourists landing from the ferry from Split (not quite sure why they get priority over cruise liner tenders!)

The intention was to climb the hill to the old Venetian Fort to admire the view that David and Barb saw when we were here on 12 Jun. It was a tiring climb (at least for old me) but the view was worth it. Then down the hill to the cafe where Sue and I had drinks, only this time it was Barb and I. Then back to the ship.

I do seem to have lost a bit of motivation for taking photos. Not only am I reduced to using my iPhone, but it has also lost some of its mojo. The latest thing is that the face recognision has given up, and so I have to enter the passcode everytime I use the friggin' thing! It is enough to drive one mad (and probably already has.)

Lunch at the Lido Dive In again, and some downtime drinking beers and watching the passing parade of boats, mainly poseurs with lots of money hooning around in their flash speedboats. Occasionally a sailing boat under full sail, but not many.

The more quiet time, this time in our cabin. Watched a movie Notre Dame on Fire. It brought back memories of our 2019 trip, as we were in Holland when the cathedral caught fire, and had seen it intact only a few weeks before that.

Then to the dining room for the last "Les Six", as Bonnie and Don, Lynda and Bob are disembarking tomorrow. So it was sad feelings that we said our goodbyes, hugs and handshakes all round, and left the dining room together for the last time (:-(

05 Jul 2024, Friday (Day 40), Triste in Trieste

Had a bit of a win today over the iPhone: a) I found out how to stop the thing shutting down after 5 minutes (Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Auto-Lock: 'never', and b) the reset face recognition now seems to work. I'm left wondering why this happened, and whether it was something I did, or just the iPhone being bloody-minded.

There were lots of people disembarking today. Of course Bob and Lynda, Bonnie and Don as explained yesterday, but we think we did see Bob and Lynda far away on the dock as they trundled their suitcases towards the train station (they were going to Venice), and I received a delightful message from Bonnie thanking us for our company, and looking forward to meeting up again on the Sydney-Seattle crossing in 2026.

We elected to go ashore at 09:20, just before the ship was scheduled to move a few feet down the wharf (for whatever reason, that was not explained), which would have meant closing the gangways for the duration, so we just avoided that! We somewhat randomly walked around, guided by our GPS map on my iPhone and found a big green space, which we thought was a park, but it turned out to be a military establishment, and all fenced off.

We did find a cafe and stopped for coffees - which were excellent. As I pointed out to Barb, the Italians learnt how to make proper coffee from their relatives in Melbourne, and they learnt in turn from all the coffee afficianados who live in Melbourne. I'm not sure she believed me.

We went to the big square, which unfortunately was fully occupied by chairs all set out for some open-air presentation, so it was difficult to get good pictures of all the buildings surrounding the square. We found the tourist office, and got a map, which we studied over a beer in a nearby cafe, and found a few attractions that we wanted to see. The first of these was a Roman Amphitheatre, which turned out to be not as large as we thought it would be. Then a few churches - all of which shut at 12:30 (we were too late!) and did not re-open until 17:00. Grrrr! We walked the length of the Grand Canal, which was little more that a motor boat parking lot (!), and while looking for the Church of St Nicholas (also shut!), we found the office of Fincantieri, who are the ship-builders who built some of the Holland America ships we have travelled in (Prinsendam, Volendam, Maasdam come to mind).

Then back to the ship, and a brief lunch at the Lido Pool-side, before retiring to the cabin for some necessary updates to this diary, and uploading the new versions to my server. We started watching I am Fine, about a woman who lost her business partner, but who reappears as an alien in human form ostensibly to study her as an example of human life, and discovers what emotions are. It wasn't a brilliant movie, even though the plot had some possibilities, but I don't think the script was quite up to it.

We didn't quite finish it before it was time for the 3/4/5 star mariner drinky-poos on the Lido deck. We chatted with Anne-Marie and Paul from Winchester until it was time for dinner. At table 59 we were joined by a couple, Jenn and Greg from Austin, Texas, who had lived in Tecoma (just south of Seattle), and so we could swap stories about Seattle with them. Greg told us of a somewhat horrifying incident where he missed his footing getting off the tender, and his leg went down the gap between boat and wharf! Fortunately he was able to stop the rest of himself from going down told, but he has grazed and bruised his leg so much that he went to the doctor and had it dressed. Sasmara told us that another couple would be joining us tomorrow night, to restore the six at the table, but unfortunately, we won't be there as we have a Pinnacle booking.

Finished watching I am Fine, and then started watching The Italian Job (new version), but fell asleep before it finished!

06 Jul 2024, Saturday (Day 41), Not so Badder in Zadar

Back to the morning tea rourine this morning, and the earlier than planned start. It was ordered for 07:00, but arrived at 06:30! So we did make the dining room on time, where we shared a table with Ajay and Carol from Dorset, and joined by Sherry from Chicago,

We had to go via the Guest Services before going walkabout, as our keys were misbehaving in the cabin door lock. It turned out that the keys weren't wrong, it was the lock, and the woman at the GS desk said that she would get a locksmith to fix it while we were out (they did).

Ashore, where we caught a free (!) shuttle bus to the old town. The bus dropped us at the "Sea Organ", a very cunning device that uses wave motion to blow air through various flute-pipes, thus giving a very organ-like sound as the waves moved in and out. It was very melodic, but a little hard to hear properly because of all the philistines around us who kept talking over the top of it and drowning it out!

We had picked up a map from the tourist office, and the map showed 16 churches in the old town, all within walking distance. So we decided to do another church crawl, and planned a route that would take them all in. But first a trip to the loo, which was a total failure, as it was pay, and a turnstile operated by a single 1 Euro coin - which we did not have, and no change given or available! Why can't the city fathers (for they must be male) realise that such petty mindedness leaves a strong sense of smell displeasure with the place, that will be remembered for a verry lang time!

So it was coffee in the old Roman agora first, then the facilities in the cafe, then a climb up the bell tower of our first church, the Cathedral of Saint Anastasia, which, as it was the tallest building in the old town, gave a magnificent view of the old town and its surroundings. We were at the top when 12noon ticked over, so we were treated to all the bells going off. Fortunately we were not in the belfry itself, but the viewing platform just outside, so we did not get the full force of the "big ben" effect. Nevertheless, quite impressive!

Once down the tower, we set off to tick off all the churches on our list. BUT! And it was a big "but". All the churches close at 12:30, and do not reopen until 17:00. So we could only admire the exteriors of the various churches that we came across. Except for St Nicholas, to whom I shall get later.

We did find ourselves walking along the city walls, almost by accident, as we went up some steps to get a better view of the harbour, and then kept walking along a well-made path (unlike Rhodes). We came to the city market, and tried to descend the walls, but the first set of steps we tried led to a locked door, so we had to climb back up again! The second set got us to the destination, but even that was a bit funny, as it came out in the back of a restaurant!

The market was just packing up (it was by now well after 12), and so mooched on. The next landmark was the 5 wells, which we detoured from our route to see - but apart from 5 round brick thingies with a pulley on top, there was not much to see, as they were all sealed up. Since the market, we had been thinking about lunch, and of course being a tourist town, we soon came upon a restaurant called "Skoblar" (which sounds more like a programming language than a restaurant), nestled in the corner of another town square. It caught our fancy, and we had lunch there in the shape of an "Adriatic Plate" (prawns, marinated red mullet, calamari, proscuitto tuna, and a fish pate) which we shared, along with a dark beer for John.

After lunch we continued our church crawl, reinforcing what we already knew - all Croatian churches shut for the afternoon. Except for two. Well, the first was not really surprising. The Church of Stomorica was a ruin, nestled in its own small enclave admidst the hundreds of cafes litering the esplanade. It was very open, open to the world and the weather. Its walls were only shoulder height, and Barbara went down into it to get a closer look. It could not have been more that 4 metres across the apse, and the nave was only 2m wide. The apse was in an interesting shape, being a six-segment clover leaf pattern. It could not have held more than about 6 worshippers at a time!

But there was one other church that stood out. Or rather, did not stand out. We could not find it. It was clearly marked on the map, but the only build that we could find seemed to be apartments, or offices. It was part of a street block of houses, so we dismissed it. But as we walked around, still searching for a church, we saw a spire, small and well hidden amongst the houses of equal height. But a spire it was. So I did the thing of walking around the block with my right hand touching the wall at all times, looking for some more subtle entrance perhaps.

We found it! It was an office entrance, but the name on the front had St Nicholas in it. It had to be it. Its full name was the St Nicholas Centre for Education and Presentation, International Centre for Underwater Archaeology (in Greek). While we peering through the gate, and holding cameras up above the top of the gate to get a photo, a woman came out and asked if we wanted to go in. We jumped at the opportunity!

And what an opportunity it was. The church had been converted into a museum, but was not quite ready for opening to the public, and the woman just happened to be one of the researchers doing some work there. She let us wander around the museum, and we were quite gobsmacked at what they had to show. Furst there was a video showing the researchers at work, diving on wrecks off the Croatian coast. Then there were displays on several levels of all the artifacts recovered along with stories about their history, all in Croatian and English! We must have spent about three quarters of an hour wandering around, admiring not only the artifacts but also the tasteful repurposing of the church building itself. We thanked the woman most profusely on our way out. It was an absolute highlight to the day!

Back on board, we tried to finish watching The Italian Job, but it was rudely interrupted some 15 minutes before the end by a breakdown in the movies on demand system. I rang Guest Services, and they said there was some problem with the satellite service, and if we waited an hour or so, it would be fixed. No matter, we had to get ready for our Pinnacle dinner night anyway.

The Pinnacle dinner was all we expected it to be. Very attentive service, without being too obsequious, with dishes turning up just when one wanted them. I started a new wine package, as we had just finished our previous one started on the Rome-Athens leg, and we chose a Bordeaux red, Chateau a Trois Tours, which was true to its reputation. John had steak tartare; filet mignon bleu; and creme brulee (boring, isn't he?), while Barb had iceberg lettuce and gorgonzola; filet mignon bleu; and chocolate souffle (perhaps not so boring). A great evening!

PS. We did manage to finish watching The Italian Job.

07 Jul 2024, Sunday (Day 42), Twice Fruitless in Split

Split was very quiet when we arrived - there was almost no traffic in the harbour, only a fraction of the number of boats when we were here last. After breakfast, we made an early start (for us!), as we had planned to climb all the way to the top of Mount Marjan, the 178 metre hill that overlooks the city. We only got half way up it (and in reality, not even that!) when we were here last time, so we had set it as a goal.

We tackled the ascent the same way as before, with deceptively gentle sloping paths that gradually became steeper, then burst into steps every metre, with still slopey bits in between each step, and getting steeper and steeper. We did have to pause part of the way up to catch our breath, but we made it to the cafe with only the one stop.

The cafe was fairly quiet, it being only 10:30 or so, and we order two latte coffees to perk us up a bit more, before setting off on a really steep slope-only path (no steps), that just kept on going. The is some interesting psychology at work here - sloping paths with no steps feel easier to walk that slopey paths with steps, even at 1m+ intervals and what appears to be the same overall grade. Whether is it just psychological, or whether there is some leg muscle tiredness that creeps in to exacerbate the walking, I'm not sure. Probably David Morgan knows.

We got to a delightful little church dedicated to St Nicholas, so we stopped and inspected it. It was not open, but there was a small window in the door through which one could take a photo, not that there was much to see in the way of furnishings inside.

But the church also signalled a welcome levelling out of the gradient, and we were able to walk in a much more relaxed fashion for the next few hundred metres or so. Then we came to a fork. The flat track continued on, while the path to the right immediately resumed the steep unstepped path that we had trod before. Recognizing that the flat track continued on to the end of the peninsula, while the steep track ascended to the peak of the hill, we chose the latter. Puff, puff.

Eventually we came to a road and thought that this must be the end. But no! Round the corner we saw a huge long flight of steps, with a sign at the bottom that was in Croatian, but the meaning was clear: 314 steps to the top! Fortunately (?) this path had flights of 6-8 steps, then a flat section for about 2 metres, then the next group of steps. Halfway up, some thoughtful person had provided a park bench to rest and recuperate, so we did.

Then another choice point. We met a fire trail that clearly also went to the top, but at a more leaisurely climb. And it had great views out towards the harbour, whereas the stairs were hidden behind trees. So up the fire trail, which was gravel, so slightly slower walking, but less slopey.

Our perserverance paid off. We made it to the top, and enjoyed the view in all directions. There was even a toilet at the top, so relief was manifold. We must have stayed there about half an hour, taking photos in every direction, and admiring the views yet again.

Then down those 314 steps again. At the end, we chose not to go down the steep slope bit, but to follow the road instead, which was reasonably flat, and led to playgrounds, picnic areas, and a cafe - which we did not go in, as it looked a little run down, and there was no one there anyway. But there the road ended.

And the slopey slopes with steps every metre took over, but this time they demanded much more attention as they were cobbled with slippery polished river pebbles, laid irregularly, so one had to watch every step of the way! Arggh! If we had know this, we would have gone back via the original up path!

But we reached the half-way up cafe without mishap, and ordered beers: John a Tomislav dark ale, Barb a 1L bottle of sparkling water just so she could refill her empty sweat glands and bladder. This time the cafe was almost full! Beverages drunk, we went down to the sea level by another set of stairs! If I had to sum up Croatia in two words, they would be steps and consonants. Just as Norway hit the jackpot with fjords, so Croatia got all of God's oversupply of steps and consonants. When I get back to Oz, I think I shall start a charity that collects and ships surplus vowels to Croatia, so that the people there can start pronouncing words again.

One other goal that we had set ourselves for the return visit to Split was to go back to Diocletian's Palave, to check out the story that the portrait of Diocletian still exists on the ceiling of his mausoleum, now a Christian church. Well I can tell you it is hooey - the ceiling is just rendered stucco all over, and not even a trace of a missing whisker hanging from the side. We had been had. Had I to express it in words, I would say I had had being had, even though we had had to pay E8 for having had the "had had" experience. but we had no opportunity to argue. Very disappointing.

The last item on the plan was next. Just outside the entrance to Diocletian's Palace is "L'Amore per il Gelatia", and because we had had some delicious "dark chocolate and orange" on our previous visit, we just had to have another. Molto bene!

Back to the ship to rest our weary legs and enjoy a cup of tea in the Lido. We were the only ones at dinner in the evening, as Jenn and Greg had gone to the Pinnacle. We finished off the last of our Rodney Strong pinot noir, and left the remaining Trois Tours from the Pinnacle last night for tomorrow.

08 Jul 2024, Monday (Day 43), A Gloater in Kotor is disbanded

Awoke this morning to a very slow smooth sailing into Kotor, at the end of a long channel, which, if we were in Norway or New Zealand, would be called a fjord, but I don't know what it is called in Montenegrian. Probably the same as in Croatian, but as I don't know that either, I haven't a clue.

There were picturesque little villages along the faux fjord, and as the water was almost mirror-smooth, beautiful reflections as well. We reached the dockside a bit after 07:00, and by 07:30 we were docked at Kotor. At 08:00 we were given the all clear to go ashore, but as we were not yet dressed or had breakfast, we did not.

But after breakfast (with two people from Paterson Lakes), we got ourselves organized (as soon as John had downloaded all his tracks of the journey so far), and did go ashore. We collected a map from the Tourist Office, found a cafe, ordered coffees and studied the map. Kotor, at least the old town, is not very big, being quite well defined by the city walls, and with about 14 churches in an area of not much more that 2 square kilometres (my estimate). We managed to visit (i.e., enter) 6 of these churches, the biggest of which is the Cathedral of St Tryphon, but the one I liked the most was the Church of St Nicholas (which was nearly as big). They were a mixture, mainly Roman Catholic, but a few orthodox ones.

While traversing the narrow streets and dodging thousands of tourists (who always want to walk on the wrong side of the footpath), John spotted a milk jug in a shop, just as he was walking past. Now Barb had been dodging into shops all this trip, looking for milk jugs, but we had come to the conclusion that as Croations/Albanians/Greeks/Turks and Montenegrins all drank their coffees black, no one had any use for small milk jugs. But here were several! Barb chose one carefully (it had a picture of the Church of St Nicholas on it), and walked out of the shop gloating about her find. Until I pointed out it was actually my find, so I was entitled to gloat as well.

We had a beer and lunch at the Pronto Pizza in the square next to St Tryphon's, while admiring the church front. Barb paid E4 to go in, and said it was E4 well spent. We chatted with guests at the next table, including a couple from Estonia *been there!) and London (there too!). All very friendly, but you won't like the place if you can't stand lots of tourists!

Then back to the ship to recover. It was not a strenous day, but after yesterday we were feeling a little stiff in the legs, so we thought we should not overdo it. The couple from London however, had just climbed to St John's Fort, a distance of 1400 steps straight up! We were impressed.

We did start watching a movie, Mrs Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams as the title character. Had us laughing in several places, but we did not have enough time to watch it all today. Maybe tomorrow?

We did also have a visit from the plumber. John had tried to switch the bath tap from bath to shower, and the tap gizmo which does the switching just fell off, and could not be put back again in a way that would make it work. One could have a bath, but not a shower, as there was no way of switching it from one t'other. So a call was made to maintenance, and a plumber came late afternoon, and simply replaced the whole tap fitting. So at least we can have a shower tomorrow morning!

We had cocktails before dinner in the Ocean Bar: Barb a Pina Colada, and John a Penecillin. Not normally a fan of cocktails, I have to say that the taste of Penecillin is growing on me (just like a petri dish), but not sure that I will take to them in the longer term. Oh, and by the way: on the way to the Ocean Bar, my watch band finally let go. It had been looking dodgy for a few days, and it went the way of all my previous Fitbit watch bands - the latching part simply broke off. A very poor engineering design. Fortunately I was able to catch it before it fell down the gap between the lift and the deck, but it might as well have gone down the gurgler. There is no way I can use it as a watch anymore, at least until I get home again.

Dinner again was by ourselves - I am afraid that table 59 has very much fallen away since the departure of Bonnie and Don, Lynda and Bob. We are indeed missing their company.

09 Jul 2024, Tuesday (Day 44), Diplos Agioli!

Clocks went forward this morning - bit silly really, since we are in Greece (Corfu) for only the day, and then tomorrow thay have to be set back again. So although my phone changes automatically, I have not bothered to change the time zone on this computer, since the change will be undone tomorrow. Easier to just leave it as it is.

But a consequence was that they tea tray delivery caught us both unawares; John because he was out on the verandah, and did not hear the knocking, and Barb, because she was ... well, otherwise occupied, and was not in a position to respond. But 'twas sorted out expeditiously, and we had our usual cups of tea and (now) croissants.

But it was too late for dining room breakfast, so we ate in the Lido, and then readied ourselves to go ashore. Getting into town was complicated - first we had to catch a shuttle bus from the dock to the port, then a pay bus from the port to the town. The "dock" is where you get off the ship, the "port" is where you go through security (only they don't bother), and the "town" is where the shops, cafes, churches, and all the other interesting (?) things are.

As usual, our first stop in the town was to find a cafe, order some coffees, and study the map. The waiter was quite impressed when I said "diplos ellenikos, sketos", raised his eyebrows and said (in English) "really? Greek coffee, no sugar?" Yep! And when he brought it, it was really strong! But no problem. Barb struggled a little with hers, even though it was an iced cappuccino, as she said the coffee part was also very strong, and had to keep mixing it to stop the coffee separating out!

We did our usual thing of checking out the churches and taking photos of them, except for the Church of St SomeoneOrOther?? check? which had imported the woman from the Sistine Chapel, who sole role in life was to go around saying "no photo" to anyone who dared take a lens cap off. Saw lots and lots of icons, not surprising really, given the number of catholics and orthodox Xians around. Still cannot get over kissing the icons one after another.

We walked as far as the Old Fortress - Corfu is greedy, and has two fortresses, appropriately and unimaginatively called the Old Fortress and the New Fortress. But we can't be too critical, because these two between them repelled the Ottoman Turks in 1791, and Corfu remained in British hands right up until after WWI. But given that the Old Fortress wanted E15 each to enter, we declined their generous offer, and walked on.

Until we came to another cafe, perched on the Corfu sea walls (another factor in sending the Turks on their way) with a lovely view out over the Ionean Sea, So a beer each, and a sharing of quintissential Greek food: Cheese Saganaki, Battered Zucchini slices, deep fried Tomatoes, and Octopus Salad. Oh, and of course, the beer was Mythos. It was idyllic!

We then wandered back to the bus pickup point, where a bus was waiting, but we had to wait 10 minutes before it was ready, or full, I wasn't sure which. We had to pay E2 each for this trip. Back to the port, where we swapped busses to the free(!) shuttle bus from the port to the dock. Don't you just love these bureaucratic ephemera? There are probably half a dozen people whose sole job in life is to work out how to move 2000 people from docks to town, using the maximum resources, taking the longest time, and inconveniencing the most people.

But it did not stop there. There are at ten times that many bureaucrats working on how to do the same thing when it comes to security. We had to line up to go through security, and like airports, when everyone gets off the bus together, it is chaos for 20 minutes while things get sorted out. I really threw a spanner in the works when I threw my half-strapless watch in the odds and ends tray to go through the X-ray machine - but it did not come out the other side in the tray! In fact, it did not come out the other side at all. So I just stood my ground, and said "I am not moving until that watch is found!" No idea what happened to it, but I suspect the odds and ends tray got jostled somehow in the machine, and the watch jumped out. It was eventually found, on the ground, underneath the machine. But it just goes to show that they must have had extra staff on the job to come up with that little delay!

We watched the rest of the Mrs Doubtfire movie that we started yesterday, and then went to dinner, where again, we were the only people at table 59. :-( After dinner, being gluttons, not so much for food, as for punishment, we watched another movie: Ocean's Thirteen, another one in the "Ocean's" series, and getting sillier all the time. Mercifully, we fell asleep in the boring bits.

10 Jul 2024, Wednesday (Day 45), A Sea Scene seen again - but not timeless!

We were expecting the clocks to be put back one hour, but that did not happen. It is scheduled for tomorrow! A guess the powers that be decided a sea day was lazy enough, and we didn't need the extra hour's sleep. Tea came at 07:15, instead of the appointed 07:30, but as we were expecting it to be early, we were not caught napping.

And breakfast did not close until 09:30, so we were able to be late and still get there on time. The rest of the day was spent in a very desultory fashion, without having to stir ourselves unduly. On the way back from the dining room, we stopped at the shops to buy some more deoderant, as the one that we brought was running perilously dry. While Barb was doing that, John decided to look at what watches they had in store (without being swayed by the very expensive genuine watches, as opposed to the genuine fake watches we saw in Istanbul!) He found a cheapie: an iTOUCH SPORT 3 which seemed to have all the necessary functions, so he bought that: was $US70, reduced to $US47, and much cheaper than the FitBit, which has not travelled well in its many guises.

Having done that, we had to hurry to get to the Mariners Morning Drinky-Poos, where they gave away medals to mark people's dedication to spending the kids' inheritance. We had an extensive chat with a very nice woman called Lesley, who was a professional photographer (from Palm Desert), so we did have a lot to talk about.

John then had some frustrating time getting his new watch to work, mainly because of the very unreliable wifi in our cabin. He eventually got it to work by going back to the shop, getting some advice from the saleswoman, and using the full strength wifi in the ship's public areas. It still took 9 minutes to download the application. By dinner time, he did have it working!

And speaking of dinner, we were alone again at table 59. I think the couple (what were their names again?) have abandoned us. Must be something we said? John had two appetisers, for obvious reasons: steak tartare and Dutch pea soup, for it was a Dutch Dinner evening. Then early retiremant without grumpy old men.

PS. This is the first time since Barcelona that I have had this diary up-to-date! Must try and improve on that record.

11 Jul 2024, Thursday (Day 46), Dino and Dina

We were greeted with a view of Taormina that made us realize what the cruise director had been saying all along. The only way from where the tenders docked to the town of Taormina was by car, taxi or bus. It was a) a long way, and b) very uphill, about 650 metres.

We changed a E50 note to smaller denominations, expecting to be able to catch a bus, with reputed fare of 2 or 3 euros. But in the queue to board the tender, we met two people from Melbourne, Florida, and quickly struck up a lively conversation with them: Dina and her dad, Dino. Dino was a first generation American, born of Sardinian (long first 'i') parents, and they were disembarking in Sardinia to visit Dino's homeland. He had had extensive heart surgery, and he was wanting to see 'home' while he could. Dina's daughter was to join them in Sardinia.

So with all that family sharing, Dina suggested that we share a taxi from the wharf up to Taormina. We thought that a good idea, and when we found a taxi, he said he could take 8, so we rustled up 4 others, one couple and 2 young girls, and had a very lively time in the taxi. Firstly it turned out that Dina went to the same college as one of the girls, and not only that, but did the same degree (English Literature), so there was great excitement at that connection. But then there was some chance remark (I think by the tacxi driver, Carmelo) about the move The Godfather, and it turned out that everyone in the taxi, except us, had not only seen the movie, but raved about it. Carmelo even had the theme music on a CD on the car stereo! So everyone (except us) started calling out catch phrases from the movie, and laughing their heads off (we could join in that).

And Carmelo had a great sense of humour. For example, when the road got twisted, windy and hilly, he said "Don't worry, I know this road so well, I can drive it with my eyes closed!" to which we all responded "PLEASE DON'T!" He was good value, particularly as he charged the lot of us E60 for the trip, which worked out at E7.50 each, so we all felt quite happy with that.

He dropped us at the top of the hill, right outside the Taormina city gate, from which we all went our separate ways. Barb and John just meandered along the main street, taking in the interesting views down the many small side streets, which was often too generous a title, as many of them were little more than laneways, or flights of stairs, oftem with tables and chairs belonging to some cafe or other strew down the side of the laneway. Many had enticing views across the bay at the end of them.

We dropped into a few churches along the way, but there was not much too them, and a certain sameness about the interior decorations. We stopped at a cafe along the way, the "Wunderbar" cafe, and ordered coffees and a cannolo. The coffees were bene, but the cannolo was molto bene!

We eventually reached the end of the main street, where we saw signs pointing to the Amphitheatre. So we had to do that. It was up a bit of a hill, and the queue for tickets was a bit long and in the sun, so we did get a bit hot. Just as well we put the sun screen on, eh? But patience rewarded, we entered the amphitheatre and were quite gobsmacked. It was as large as any of the biggest ones we had seen (Epidarus, Ephesus). We spent an hour or so wandering around, sitting in the seats, looking at the views, visiting the museum and displays. I even had a slight win in that in the museum there was free charging for smartphones, and as my phone/camera had gone flat, I charged it up to 10% and squeaked a few more photos in.

On our way out, we ran into Dina, who asked us if the amphitheatre was worth visiting. We told her "definitely", but she was hesitant because she had left Dino sitting on a park bench at the end of town. So we said we would go and find him, and keep him company, while she had a look at the amphitheatre.

We found Dino exactly where Dina said he would be, and quickly struck up a conversation with him about his life, our lives, and many things in common (like children and grandchildren). Either Dina did not take too long in the amphitheatre, or our conversation with Dino was too absorbing, because it did not seem long before Dina was back.

There happened to be a taxi at the other end of the park, so Dina (who can speak Italian) went to check if he could take us back to the ship. "Andiamo" came the shouted reply, so we bustled ourselves into the taxi for a slightly less hair-raising ride down the hill. The driver even stopped at one spot for us to take photos of "isola bella" (beautiful island), which was very considerate of him. He even charged us the same amount for the return journey (E7.50 each) as the other driver had.

Back on the ship we had a Lido Poolside lunch with beer. We did have to wait 30 minutes for our order,as everyone else hadhad the same idea! Then some quiet time in the afternoon for a Nannanap and email clearing, before it was time for dinner.

Guess what! Our missing friends Jenn and Greg were at dinner too. Apparently Greg has had some trouble with his leg that he injured earlier (see 5 Jul), and that he limited their travels. But we had an enjoyable conversation otherwise, and look forward to seeing them tomorrow. It was a "dressy" night, which meant special menus and various options. John was brave and elected to have escargots, but he wasn't that thrilled, as two of them had bits of shell still in them!

During dinner, the ship passed Stromboli (pronounced Strom-bollee apparently), and it was producing some lava flows. As it was nearly night time, the red glow of the lava could be seen quite clearly, and the captain slowed the ship right down so we could all get a good look at it.

12 Jul 2024, Friday (Day 47), Herculaneum

An early start today, as we had booked for an excursion to Herculaneum, which we had not seen previously (and I'm not sure just how much it was open anyway). We booked morning tea for 06:45, and of course it came early, though not quite as early as some, being only 7 minutes early. Belted through tea, went for a quick breakfast in the Lido, and we were in the World Stage by 08:15 ready for our call at 08:30.

John had a slight contretemps at the bus loading, because as usual, there were signs everywhere getting off the ship, but as soon as we got near the busses, the signs all disappeared. There were busses in all directions, and I walked in front of what was a stationary bus to see what bus numbers there were behind it. As I crossed in front of the bus, the bus driver honked me, and then took off! Gave me the fright of my life! And then I got flak for walking in front of the bus. There were NO guides to tell me where to walk, NO signs saying which busses were where, and a general lack of organization all round.

This continued when our tour guide informed us that there was one person too many on our bus. Given the number of times we had to show our tickets, either everyone on the bus was a valid passenger, or (more likely) HAL organisers got their numbers wrong. There was quite a bit of discussion between the HAL organizer and the two guides involved, but it was eventually resolved by moving the last two people to board our bus onto the other bus. Shades of the incompetency we had seen at work in Istanbul!

The tour of Herculaneum itself was very interesting. The village (it is not nearly as big as Pompeii) is set about 10km south east of Naples, and was buried under 25 metres of lava flow from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. This makes it quite a different proposition for archaeological research compared to Pompeii, which being further from the cone of Vesuvius got buried in ash only (which obviously makes it easier to dig). So the process of removing 25m of lava has been slow and painstaking. It also makes a big difference in what gets preserved, because anything flammable was consumed in the heat of the molten lava.

Except bones. It was very poingnant, as the warehouses at the sea port were the last refuges of people fleeing the eruption, and so the warehouses were just full of human bones, lying where they have been excavated, and some with skulls contorted in horror at what was overwhelming them.

Nothing quite so graphic awaited us in the rest of the tour, which was far more in the conventional mold of an archaeological dig. Many frescoes amnd mosaics were preserved, and most houses still had quite intact stonework. In all we spent about 2 hours wandering the streets and houses, and taking lots of photos.

Then back to the ship, where it was nearly lunch time. We drank several glasses of lemon cordial to re-hydrate (it was well into the 30s and quite humid in the dig). Then some food. In the afternoon we variously read, snoozed and John watched the movie Oppenheimer, which had two parts a) the political and engineering problems in building the bomb, and b) the kangaroo court that Oppenheimer was subjected to after the war ended. Bloody Yanks! "Land of the Free" indeed! What they did to Oppenheimer was really a precursor to Trump. Probably what he means by "Make America Great Again"!

Then dinner, by ourselves again. A quiet night, in which we finished the Frescobaldi Remole, leaving one more bottle on our package to drink all of it tomorrow night! Good timing, John and Barb!

13 Jul 2024, Saturday (Day 48), Obla Di, Obla Da, Life falls in a heap, blah!

We are getting the hang of this room service thing! This morning we wanted tea at 07:00, so we ordered it for 07:15. It arrived 5 minutes early, at 06:55! Getting better. Well it will be the last one, as they don't do room service on disembarkation days, so that will be the high point of room service on-time deliveries!

Breakfast in the dining room by ourselves. John had buckwheat pancakes, but they forgot the bacon. Barb had an omelette. After breakfast, we readied ourselves to go ashore. The process, according to Mr Ian-voice-in-the-ceiling, was to catch a shuttle bus to the port terminal, then a public bus from the terminal to the town centre. This bus, according to Ian, would cost E1.50 each. What he DID NOT say was that it ran every 45 minutes! Now my quick mental calculation says that to move 2000 people in a 50-person bus every 45 minutes would take 30 hours. Now clearly, not every one of the 2000 people would want to go into the town, but even if only half of them did, that is still 15 hours! I think HAL did not think that through carefully enough.

Our experience bore that out. We encountered few people who just gave up when they saw the schemozzle that was forming. We gave up, too. On our way back to the ship we saw the 09:30 bus arrive, and it was just mobbed! Clearly not all those in the "queue" were going to get on. I have not spoken to anyone who experienced that process yet, but I bet there were a few angry souls.

Back on board, our cabin was being cleaned, so we retired to the Crow's Nest for coffees. We did actually have one in the port terminal while we were trying (unsuccessfully) to make sense of what was going on, but this one was slightly more relaxed and drawn out. We watched several MOBY ferries leave while enjoying our coffee, and it was while watching them that I realized that the ferry line name is a play on the town's name: Olbia, pronounced "O-bee-a", with a silent "l". These punny Italians!

It being our last full day on board, our attention turned to packing for the morrow. Then it turned away again, and I spent the next hour catching up on email, while Barb tried to understand a bit more about Olbia. Here's what the port profile said:

Visit Rome's legendary colosseum. Shop Monaco's glamourous boutiques. Sample succulent tapas in Barcelona. Walk the mediaeval walls that guard Dubrovnik's charms. Unwind under a canopy of stars.

Then lunch, in the Lido. We had our last Bread and Butter Pudding, this time with dragon fruit ice cream. Yum, Yum! Then back to cabin to think some more about packing. And doing it, this time! We didn't finish before dinner, but we broke the back of it. A few things to tidy up after dinner, and we had the big cases out in the hallway ready for collection by the baggage people.

Dinner itself was quiet, although we did have to work on drinking the whole bottle of wine left on the package! Again, just the two of us at the last hurrah of table 59.

14 Jul 2024, Sunday (Day 49), The wheels are falling off this trip!

No tea this morning. but we woke early (06:30) anyway, and found that we were just about docked at Civitavecchia. We got dressed and headed to the dining room for one last time. It was the shortened menu because of disembarkation, and most of the alternatives were boring. John had muesli (too runny), and Barb had 1 pancake (rather than the 3-stack), and said that that was just right. We only had one cup of coffee, as we were pretty sick of the awful American filtered stuff.

Then to the Crow's Nest for some proper coffee! There were a few coffee diehards there all ready, awaiting their call to disembark. As 5-star mariners, we could choose to disembark at any time up until 09:00, and as our train did not leave until 13:30, we elected to use up as much of that waiting time as we could on the ship.

09:00 came, and so we trundled our carry-ons into carry-off mode, and down the gangway (Barb told me off for using the term "gangplank", as that is what pirates use :-). We found our bigs bags in the terminal ("terminal" is too generous a term, I think. More of a huge Nissan hut, really). Fought our way through the throng milling at the exit. Now I understand that there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty around finding busses, taxis, cars, rickshaws and bicycles, but why people have to actually stand in the exit doorway while these issues are sorted out, I do not understand. Surely it is not too hard to take a couple of steps more away from the door, and then stand and contemplate? Hmmm? Trouble is, as I have said many times, the trouble with common sense is that it isn't.

We got free of that mess, and started the long walk towards the railway station. Our plan here was to walk to a cafe, have coffee and a pee, sit for 40 minutes, then walk to the next cafe and repeat. Trouble with that plan was that there were no cafes in the first half of the journey because it was all along the lo-o-ong wharf. And our bags were proving very difficult to handle. Two nice young Norwegian chappies came past, saw our difficulties, and offered to help. So nice! We gratefully accepted their offer, and they carried the big bags, while John trundled the carry-offs.

We had a very friendly chat with them as we walked: us to them about our wonderful experiences in Norway, them to us about where they should go in Australia when they reached there! We got to the fort, where there were some seats in the shade, so we released them from their generous assistance, wished them good fortune in their travels, and then sat and recovered ourselves (not in glory, I might add!)

While seated there and reflecting upon progress so far, a couple walked by and stopped to wish us good day. We got talking - they had themselves come off the Oosterdam, but as they were staying on for the next voyage, were not encumbered by luggage. Turns out they were from Tasmania, with a large property somewhere off the beaten track. They jollied us along a bit, so our spirits were lifted by both Norwegians and Tasmanians.

Although that did lift our spirits, they were somewhat dashed again by the discovery that one of the wheels on John's carry-off had been carried off in a frenzy of poorly maintained asphalt paths. Probably the potholes had been caused by a history of 10-axled trucks bumping over them. The wheel had shattered, leaving the hub to bear the brunt, and it had been worn flat by not being able to turn properly. While the castor was still there, there was nothing for it to cast about on, and since it had been shortened considerably by its lengthy brush with the erratic asphalt, it didn't have a leg to stand on.

Poo. We pressed on, since there was a cafe that had come into sight. I discovered that by orienting the carry-off with its back wheels forward, and holding the handle upright, the bag would travel reasonably well on three wheels. At least we made it to the number 1 cafe, where we plonked ourselves down, and ordered two "cappucino freddi", or iced coffees. They were very welcome! Even more welcome was the chance to sit in the shade for another 40 minutes!

We bumped on, one of us on 4 wheels, one on 3, two on 2 wheels, and the rest of us on 2 legs. Our next stop was on a seat overlooking the water. There was a bloke sitting there, and when we asked him if he would mind us sharing some of the shade, he got up and walked away! We might have to change our deodorant again. Nearby there was some exercise equipment. Now I don't quite know what possessed us, but we just had to try out the various machines. A squat machine (how low can you go?), a calf extension machine, a rowing machine, and a bicep curl machine. Half a dozen reps was enough on each to prove that we still had some get up and go left, so we got up and went.

Then cafe number 2 hove into view. This time we ordered "granita del caffe", which turned out to be crushed ice with an espresso poured over the top. It was very nice, although Barb complained that it was a"bit strong". But then, she doesn't drink espresso. We finished those, and then ordered lunch. It was by now 11:45, and peckishness had surfaced. We had due panini, John a proscuitto e formaggio, and Barb a vegetarian one. Both we judged to be very nice, especially as they cost about E10 each.

We had by now killed almost all the 4 hours between 9am and 1pm, so we crossed the road to the railway station. We had to climb up a set of stairs with our luggage, but two young guys offered to carry our bags for us (no, they were not Norwegian - English, I think), so once again we were blown away by random acts of kindness.

The station was hot, with a few sheltered area from the sun. As we were in car 2, we computed that we should head towards the Rome end of the station, near the front end of the train, on the assumption that cars were numbered from the up end, i.e. the Rome end. While sitting all alone in the shelter shed, a woman came up, sat down next to us, and lit up a cigarette. After saying, "Madame, you stink" we got up and left, and went to the next shelter shed.

The train was running 5 minutes late, and as luck would have it. the train on the adjacent platform running to Pisa was running 20 minutes late, due in at 13:15. So both trains arrived almost simultaneously! Thousands of people got off the Pisa train, and that was when we discovered that car 2 was at the down end of our train, so we had to fight our way through throngs of people all just standing around getting in the way (waiting for the lift of course that took two people and their luggage at a time, ha, ha!) Twice in one day! I ask you? What did we do to deserve this? I managed to get on to car 2, and then tried to fight my way back through hordes of people now going the wrong way, so as to help Barb. Fortunately, some kind soul helped her and her luggage on to the train, just as it started to pull out. Shades of Elinor at Yass Junction! Like her, it was the railway's fault, for not keeping a better eye out for struggling passengers, and in this case, not rescheduling one of the two trains well in advance of time. They had 20 minutes to do a Monsieur Hulot and get all the Pisa passengers across to a different platform!

Once on the Rome train, we then had to shoo the two passengers who had occupied our seats. One of them had sat there because his reserved seat was occupied by someone else. Huh? Why didn't he shoo them away? I suspect he was bullshitting, and was really a second class passenger that thought he could self-upgrade. If that were the case, I wish he would just self-immolate. More selfish behaviour from the stupid 50% of the world's population?

At last we could relax. At least until we reached Rome. We sat in our seats until most of the carriage emptied. More fool us. When we got up to go, a train attendent told us to go to the next carriage and exit there (which would have taken us even further from the front of the train, and the platform exit, remember). "Stuff that" I said, "these bags are heavy". "Well you will just have to wait" she replied. So we stood in the carriage vestibute until they had wheeled out three (3!) wheelchairs, and lifted them down to the platform. Bah! Just goes to show, that waiting for the selfish people to get off first is an excellent reason to be selfish, too.

I should have gone to the loo on the train, but instead waited until we arrived in Rome, where the loos were on a lower level. So down I went. Wrong again! The loos at Roma Terminii were pay loos, E1 each. I had a E2 coin, but there was no change. I went back up to Barb, who didn't have a E1 either. But that was when I discovered an E1 coin hiding in a corner of my wallet, so down again to spend a (hundred) pennies, and then we were ready to find a taxi.

The plan was orginally to catch the Metro to Espagna, right next to where we were staying, but the thought of dragging uncooperative baggage and wheel-less carry-offs on the train, along with memories of being pick-pocketed in Athens in preciously the same conditions, meant another change of plan. So we found and hired a taxi.

We found out later that the standard fare from Terminii to Spanish Steps was E50, even though the taxi meter said E40. The driver said it was E50, and since all we had was a E50 note, he pocketed that and said "Grazie", and drove off. Sort of like pick-pocketing, only he didn't get the credit cards, so it was a win, really.

A little bit of difficulty find the actual place, but it was only because it wasn't well sign posted. It was only 3 doors away from where the driver had dropped us. We went through the process of buzzing the receptionist, who buzzed the door back in replied, and we went up in a cute little lift that just fitted 2 tired people, 2 cranky floppy suitcases, 1 well behaved carry-on bag with 4 wheels, and 1 cranky carry-off bag with 3 wheels. I think the lift struggled a bit with that load.

Soon we were safely ensconced in a tiny, but well-appointed room with working air conditioning. Did I tell you that the forecast for Rome today was 46*C? No? Well, it was bloody hot outside, so you can understand the bit about "tired", and the other bit about "cranky", and the fact that we instantly consumed a 750ml bottle of cold water, and then collapsed on the bed.

It would be almost appropriate to end today's diary on that note. But no, we did eventually arouse ourselves, and booked (through the concierge) a table for two at Toto's, a nearby restaurant, for dinner at 19:30 (same time as table 59, note!) Toto's has a reputation for good Italian food, and its reputation was very accurate. We had tuna and octopus, in complementary serialisation. If that sounds cryptic, let me explain. Barb had raw tuna as a starter, and then grilled octopus as a main. John had octopus salad as a starter, and the red tuna takati as a main. (We followed that up with a shared creme brulee, very smooth, with a subtle citrus flavour.) All four main dishes were beautifully fresh, very tasty, and generous serves. We loved it. But pity about the service. Bit like the ship, except you can probably drop the "fresh","tasty" adjectives. The ship's creme brulee was not in the running.

Barb says I was asleep in 5 minutes after I put my head on the pillow. She took a little longer.

15 Jul 2024, Monday (Day 50), Nothing Doing!

A very quiet day. The only reason we set foot outside Les Diamants was to have breakfast, lunch and dinner, Let me tell you the gory details.

For breakfast we went to Ginger in Via Borgognona, one of the streets on the opposite side of the square (Piazza Spagna). We had proscuitto e melone (John), and Iberian pork meat (!) and mango (Barb). The proscuitto and melon was excellent, and Barb said the Iberian pork meat was a bit too salty, but that was offset by the sweetness of the mango. We had coffee too: Americano (John) and cappuccino (Barb). All up it cost E58, about $A100, probably the most expensive breakfast we have had for some time! Back to Les Diamants for rest and relaxation.

For lunch, we walked about 10 metres to the left of the front door, to Mrs Babington's Tea Rooms. We had two plates of sandwiches, which were rather disappointing as only the smoked salmon ones had any real flavour. The rest were so non-descript that putting flavours to them would be a bit hit-and-miss. That was somewhat offset by the "afternoon" blend of tea we had, with a "slightly smokey flavour" and very pleasant. It went well with the slice of apple cake that we shared. E75, quite expensive really. Back to Les Diamants for rest and relaxation.

For dinner, we did walk a bit further afield. All the way to Piazza del S. Apollinari, the new location of Gusto. We went with the express intention of having a pizza, but when we looked at the menu, pizza was off. Barb did try to book online, but it did not seem to have got through. They took us in anyway. There were several tour groups having an end-of-tour dinner together, so to start with, the place was pretty noisy. But they left about 2/3 of the way through our dinner, so it did calm down a bit. John had steak tartare as entree, and the special of the evening, raw tuna on puttenesca fresh tonnarelli for mains. Barb had salad caprese with burrata, and then carbonara with a penne-like pasta. We finished off with a "piccolo" cannolo each, not as good as the Taomina one, but better than the Messina one. That was E102.50. Back to Les Diamants via a visit to the banks of the Tiber, just so we can say we saw it.

16 Jul 2024, Tuesday (Day 51), A walk in the park

We set off on the dot of 09:00 this morning, firstly to see the Spanish Steps without hordes of people on them. It was reasonably quiet, and the outside temperature was still in the 20s, We took a few photos, but neither of us could remember climbing them last time we were here. Doubtless it less of an effort then if we did do them, so maybe that's why we don't remember it.

Then we headed off to the north-west, past the French National Academy (with no sign of any quatorze Juillet fun and games!) and on to the Giardini di Villa Borghese. It was very pleasant (in the shade), and the first cafe we came to (that was open), we stopped and had breakfast, two panini and coffees. We had one that was a meat-loaf sort of thing, with lettuce and tomato, and the other was similar, but chicken with lettuce and tomato. The chicken was a bit dry, and we both prefered the meat loaf, but heaven knows what was in it!

Then we walked on, first past a small lake, then a larger lake with boats for hire and lots of willing young patrons. This we walked around, admiring all the geese and turtles living in the lake. As we headed off down the Via del Aranciera, we came across cafe number 2, so a short digression for some cool drinks and re-hydration, before taking a circuitous route back to the Spanish Steps.

The Church Trinita dei Monti was now open, so we went in. It was rather nice, as catholic churches go, and had several paintings "in the mannerisms of Michelangelo", which I quite liked. There was also a beautiful plaster cast of The Deposition (aka The Pieta, the removal of Christ's body from the cross) by Wilhelm Achtermann, which brings a lump to my throat just thinking about it. The original of this work was placed in the Munster Cathedral, but it was destroyed in the second world war.

After spending many minutes in Trinita dei Monti, and recognizing that the church seemed to be filling up, we decided to leave. We had noticed a couple of cafes across the road, so we went and checked them out. The first one did not have any beer on its menu, so we went to the second one, which not only had beer, but also the added advantage of a formaggio e salumi per due E25 (cheese and cold meats for two) which was just what the two of us felt like. John tackled the beer - a whole litre of it, while Barb had a 750ml bottle of agua con gas!

Then down the Spanish Steps and back to Les Diamants for a quiet afternoon writing diaries, and having cups of tea.

In the evening we decided to splurge out, and go to a more up-market restaurant. So we headed off towards the Piazza Popolo to the Ad Hoc restaurant, which came with good reviews on the Les Diamants eating out guide, and we were also fascinated by the description that "There are three different tasting menus: of land; sea; and truffle; and nourished is the proposal of the wines." Even after eating there, I'm not sure just what is meant by that phrase.

We elected not to do the degustation menus, whether land, sea or truffle, but were were treated to the sight and smell of the biggest truffle I have ever seen. I don't know just what the density of truffle is, but they were at least 400ml in volume, and I guess worth hundreds of euros. David might know, he is the expert truffle eater in our house.

We settled for a la carte: John had a trio of steak tartar, each with its own sauce: yogurt and mint; rosemary and vinegar; and eggplant mayonnaise, while Barb had stuffed zucchini flowers. Then for mains we both had the catch of the day: amberjack fish, served in a jacket of potato rosti with spinach and a tempura spinach leaf. For dessert, John had a tiramisu with a chocolate buket full of whipped cream - "death by chocolate", he called it. Barb had a coconut and chocolate thingy, called a cocolatissimo (sp?), which she said was more coconut than chocolate, but still very nice.

It is hard to mention all the other little things that we were plied with: prosecco on arrival, various amuse bouches, petite fours (although there were actually five of them, and we could not eat them all, we were too full). All with a glass of a Tuscany sangiovese rose, very delightful. It was a delightful evening, excellent food, excellent service, and enough food to put us on the heavy side of satisfied!

We walked back by taking a diversion through the Piazza Popolo, as Barb wanted to see it. There is an obelisk in the centre of the square, and the hieroglyphics on it were used to make a copy that now stands in front of the Trinita dei Monti, at the top of the Spanish Steps - towards which we headed, and Les Diamants, and bed.

17 Jul 2024, Wednesday (Day 52), Tight Streets and Open Skies

Another slow start to the day, since nothing was to happen before midday. There was even some debate about whether to have breakfast, but given that we had everything packed by 10am, we elected to go for a coffee at a local cafe recommended by the receptionist. John ended up on a chair on the end of the table that stuck out into the street (there were no kerbs), and every time a delivery truck went past, he had to breathe in and sit up straight to avoid having his shirt scraped off his back.

That used up an hour of our waiting time, so we sort of just twiddled our thumbs until 11:45, when we lugged the luggage downstairs to the front door, and waited until Bruno showed up with his taxi.

Which he did, promptly at 12noon, and we set off. But first we had to negotiate all these back streets, with pedestrians, planter boxes, and wouldn't you know it, cafes with tables all protruding into the drive space of the street. I reckon we took the paint off some of the things we passed!

Once on the autostrade things sped up a bit, and we were at the airport within the hour - when another problem struck! The receptionist had organized the taxi OK, but had not passed on the message that we wanted to pay by credit card - in spite of the fact that in our earlier discussion with him, I thought we had made it quite clear, in taking a more expensive but reliable taxi company, that we would have to use a credit card. But that got overlooked, and so poor Bruno had to hang around while Barb went and found an ATM within the airport.

The usual airport annoyances before we found the Business Lounge. One thing that I found puzzling was the fact that the small bottle of olive oil that we received last night was picked up by the X-ray, and I had to open up my carry-on bag for them to inspect it, which they did very suspiciously. I did offer to open it up and give them a taste, thinking that that would appeal to Italians, but they only viewed me more suspiciously! But they did eventually allow it through.

We had some lunch in the lounge before boarding the plane. Of course, not long after take-off (which was about 16:30) we were served dinner. We both had a very nice tuna tataki, shades of the restaurant on Sunday night, but not quite as good - although the service was much better than on that occasion!

John decided with the 18 hours of flight, he could set out to watch almost every episode of Star Wars, apart from the 2 original episodes, which of course, were not in sequence. I had time to watch episode 1 and most of episode 2 - OK, but not what I'd call brilliant movie making, in spite of the adulation that the genre engenders!

We landed in Doha, and spent 30 minutes in a bus getting from the aircraft to the terminal! We began to feel that we were being driven to Melbourne, rather than flying, it took so long. Our layover in Doha was also intermidably long as well - some 4.5 hours. Not so much the length, as the time of day: we arrived at 21:35 (Rome time), and left at 02:05, well past our bedtime!

18 Jul 2024, Thursday (Day 53), Doha to Melbourne

We duly trotted off at 02:00 from the Business Lounge to get to the Gate Lounge, for boarding at 02:25, but they were running late, and even with priority boarding, we did not get on until 02:55 and settled into seats 1K and 2J (one behind the other). It was a little more cramped than the first flight (this was a Boeing 777), same facilities, just less room to squeeze them into.

We could have had another dinner (!), but Barb had nothing, and John settled for a cheese plate and a glass of wine. Then sit back and relax. John watched the next 3 Star Wars movies (episodes 3,6,7). All much of a muchness, I have to say, but they passed the time - all 13 hours of it. Most of that time the seatbelt signs were lit, as it was the most bumpy, most continuous turbulence I have ever experienced. The wine in my wine glass was nearly sloshing over the sides, and it was only 1/4 full!

Not all of 13 hours were movies. They only took up 9 hours of that, the rest spent reading and eating. Breakfast (I hate to think what actual hour it was, somewhere around 4pm Melbourne time I suspect) was shakshuka eggs in quite a different style from that which I've normally had in Melbourne - very arabic. But otherwise quite tasty - I'd have it again.

We landed at 22:36, nearly an hour ahead of schedule. But the baggage handlers at Melbourne must have been on a work-to-rule schedule, as the luggage took some 40 minutes after we got to the carousel, through immigration and all that palaver, and then of course another 15-20 minutes through customs. So it was after 1am that we finally found Guri and cab waiting for us in the taxi wait zone. A relaxing ride home, and we we in bed by 02:15, z-z-z-z...

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