Kotor, Montenegro

 

We left Ft Lauderdale,  Florida on April, 11 on the Celebrity Equinox.  Both on the water and on the land we’ve have really nice weather.  There’s only been a few hours of slightly bumpy seas, a little rain and temperatures that have been pleasant.  

We woke up this morning thinking that today might be our first real weather washout.  Not only was it raining hard, but there was also frequent thunder and lightning.  This was really disappointing because sailing into Kotor is absolutely incredible.   

Sailing in under the clouds!

Kotor is a small town that has a population of around 15,000.  It is located in the Bay of Kotor, a narrow bay where shear limestone cliffs and mountains several thousand feet high drop practically straight down to meet the water.  

We’re not “cat people”, but this was a nice photo op.  Kotor has hundreds of feral cats around the old city.  

We had been here once before years ago on a day trip from Dubrovnik.  It’s amazing to see any way you arrive, but it’s especially dramatic arriving by water.  It’s easy to see why Kotor has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

Ready for the weather!

Thankfully a few hours after we arrived the rain let up enough that we were able to get off the ship and spend a few hours walking around inside the walls of the old town.  Today’s story is probably better told in pictures than words!

767 blogs published and I don’t think I’ve ever had a picture of a cat…..now two in one blog!

Split & Trogir, Croatia

Trogir, Croatia, a small island around 30 minutes from Split.

Split was the first of two ports of call from the last cruise that are repeats.  The second is Corfu, Greece, which is a few days away.   Going back to Split is never a bad thing.  It’s a place we could enjoy visiting over and over again.

Sunrise arrival for our second visit to Split on this adventure!

Our first visit was on a Sunday, and it was very overcast with a little light rain occasionally.  On this second visit, it was blue skies and sunshine.  It also happened to be a national holiday known as Statehood Day. On May 30, 1990 the people of Croatia elected their first democratically elected multi-party parliament, which paved the way for them to declare independence from Yugoslavia a little over a year later.   I would imagine their Independence Day (June 25) is a much bigger celebration, but the waterfront promenade was quite busy and festively decorated with Croatian flags flying proudly.

We had some shipboard credit that we needed to use so we booked an excursion that seemed like a good one for us.  It included a short (30 minute) drive to the small island town of Trogir (pop. 13,000). There was a walking tour around the town’s historic city center.  We’re not real keen on walking tours but the tour guide was good and it was less than an hour long. 

Trogir is connected to the mainland by two bridges.  This is near the older, smaller bridge.  A new, multi-lane bridge has recently been added.

The entrance to Trogir’s cathedral is said to be the grandest in the whole country. 

The church tower took close to 300 years to complete due to the turbulent times.  It has three different styles of architecture.  Venetian, Roman and Gothic.

The entrance into the old walled city of Trogir.  The gates were locked at night in the olden days for security reasons.  Our guide told us that the area on the right was a covered area where those that didn’t make it back inside before the gates closed could sleep.  Thoughtful!

A nice promenade along the outside wall

Laundry Day!

After the tour we had a few hours of free time at a very nice local beach.  We had packed our bathing suits and the crystal clear water looked tempting, but it was too cold for a couple of Florida natives.  We found a nice table in the shade where we sat and contentedly stared at the water until it was time to split back to Split.  

The beach was pebbles not sand.  We were told there are very few sand beaches in Croatia.  If the water is as clear as this beach, who cares!

A nice place to spend some time 

It was a long port visit so we still had time to grab a bite to eat on the ship after our tour ended.  Then we headed out to stroll the busy waterfront.   We got back just in time for what has become a ritual, our sunset sailaway Scrabble game.   I actually won a game last week!  

Koper, Slovenia

Howdy from Slovenia!  The land in the very back is Trieste, Italy.  We were told there is a tower in Piran where you are standing in Slovenia and can see both Italy and Croatia.

 When we left Ravenna the captain pointed the ship in a northeastern direction, back towards Trieste, where we were the previous day. With a little research we figured out just how close to Trieste we would be when we reached Koper, Slovenia.   We were within walking distance!   Yes it would be a four hour walk, but it was walkable and by car you could get from Koper to Trieste in about 20 minutes.  We’re not exactly sure why the itinerary was set up this way, but we were sure happy to have time in Trieste, Ravenna and Koper.  

Slovenia is a small country, with a population of around 2 million people. Koper’s metropolitan population is around 50,000, which makes it Slovenia’s fifth largest city.  Koper is the countries largest coastal city and has a busy port that accommodates both commercial and cruise ships (around 80 cruise ships this year).  In 2017 Koper was named the European Destination of Excellence for Cultural Tourism.  Historically tourism has accounted for around 20% of their economy and as word spreads this percentage continues to increase.  One of Slovenia’s biggest challenges right now is that their unemployment is less than 2%, so many jobs are going unfilled, especially in the tourism sector.   

Somebody overpacked at the Piran Marina!

We didn’t rush off the ship real early but we were off by 9:00.   We explored a bit of the city center, which was very close to where we docked.   We then took a bus to the small (less than 4,000 residents) seaside resort town of Piran.  

The Praetorian Palace was once home for the emperor’s…..in a way it still is, it’s now the town hall. 

New and modern water feature, just steps away from…..

Old and historic!

The journey to Piran was every bit as nice as Piran, which we really enjoyed.  We had several hours there before we headed back to Koper.   Once in Koper, we still had several hours before we were scheduled to leave.  That gave us plenty of time for a nice stroll along a walking and biking path adjacent to the shoreline.  From what I understand the path was built along an old railroad line, similar to the “rails to trails” paths in the US.  

A couple of salty characters in Piran!

Free chocolate samples!

Piran’s  waterfront was filled with cafes and restaurants, all with great views!

We had visited Slovenia for one day many years back on a previous cruise.  We really enjoyed it both then and now, and hopefully we will have a chance to come back again in the future.  

Ravenna, Italy…….

Mural depicting a typical day in Ravenna.  Below it is a sculpture of two of Ravenna’s important historical leaders

From Trieste we cruised at a very slow speed in a southwesterly direction, across the Adriatic Sea to the town of Ravenna, Italy.  It was only 110 miles from Trieste to Ravenna.  We didn’t leave until 8:00 PM and we were docked in Ravenna the next morning shortly after sunrise.   

Quite possibly the orangest sunset we’ve ever seen!

Ravenna is located just over 120 miles from Venice.  It is another Italian port city that has benefited from Venice’s cruise ship ban.  We don’t know how many people went to Venice from Ravenna, but there were ship excursions,  as well as opportunities to get there independently.  We’ve been to Venice a few times.   It’s fascinating to see, but we didn’t feel compelled to revisit it.  What we discovered was that Ravenna was an amazing city, that kept us busy the entire day.

Ravenna’s port is located about a 20 minute bus ride from the city center.  There is a large beach and a small village by the port.  The beach wasn’t exactly the white sandy beach of Anna Maria Island, Florida, but it was wide and long.  Although it wasn’t crowded on a mid-week day when the water was still chilly, it looked like it will be booming in another month.  

The beach was just off the ship.   It was very long and wide.  

Our first stop once we were off the bus was a local coffee house, where two cappuccino’s and a large croissant filled with nutella set us back a whole five dollars…….at that price we already liked Ravenna!

In the 5th century Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.  Over the next few centuries it went through turbulent times, with control of the city changing hands numerous times.  Today Ravenna is a bustling town with a population of 150,000.  There is a large university there.   Rick Steves describes Ravenna as “once powerful, still glorious”.   

Much of Ravenna’s connection to its past lies in the unbelievable mosaics that can be found at several different sites around the town.  The sites we visited included two basilica’s, a mausoleum, a baptistery and a museum.  

There were multiple ticket options, but even the most expensive one that included all five sites was less than $14 each.   We weren’t sure if we would visit them all, but we splurged and went all in with the full ticket.   It was well worth it!  

Admission was inexpensive…..and the bench was free!

The five sites are around the city center and were all within easy walking distance of each other (no more than 10 minutes apart).   The ticket allows one admission to each site.  Due to its small size there is a time reserved to visit the mausoleum and the visit is limited to five minutes.  You can stay in the other four as long as you’d like and you’ll probably stay longer than you imagined.  In addition to the five mosaic sites, Ravenna has plenty to offer, just roaming around the city center. 

A couple of photos from the outside of Basilica do San Vitale

Inside the Basilica do’ San Vitale

The mausoleum of Galla Placidia.  She commissioned the mausoleum for her burial but she died elsewhere and the whereabouts of her remains are unknown.  

A couple of photos from inside the mausoleum 

The museum contains mosaics and some very interesting artifacts from the 5th century. 

Inside the baptistery 

The baptistery itself was originally a Roman bath.  It was converted to a baptistery in the 5th century.  

A couple of photos from the Basilica d S’Apollinaire

Ravenna was the last of our stops in Italy for this adventure.   We didn’t hit all of the more than 63,000 pizzerias in the country, but we did sample (more like devour) pizza in four different cities…..the results are in and the decision of the judges was unanimous:

First Place:   Passions Eterna- Messina, Sicily 

Second Place:  Mr. Dante- Ravenna

Third Place:  Trivio- Rome

Fourth Place: L’Antica-Naples

The Winner!

Yes, the world’s oldest pizzeria finished last in our opinion.  However, it was still good and if you’re in Naples it’s definitely worth a visit.  After all, it’s a slice of history….literally!