thefouramigosblog

We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the NH Collection Murano Villas.

After breakfast, we walked to the pier to catch a water taxi to the Original Glass Factory. The hotel features Murano glass figurines in the outdoor seating areas.

The water taxi was free of charge as was the tour of the Original Glass Factory. We waited with a few other people on the pier.

It was a similar boat to yesterday’s.

The demonstration was very interesting. He actually made a horse and a pitcher in only a few minutes.

After the tour, we walked back to our hotel stopping for a cappuccino along the way.

We sat for a while in the shade by a square.

Then we visited San Pietro Martire, a Catholic Church on Murano, with its glass chandeliers.

For dinner, we ate at the Al Canton restaurant next to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Mary and Donato, which dates back to the 7th century but mostly from the 12th century.

It’s very colorful where we sat by the canal and another bridge.

Al Canton is a family business and they only serve what they made today. I had lasagna and Bruce had polenta and potatoes and zucchini.

There were several little water fountains that kept running where you could fill your bottles with water. At the one by the restaurant, a seagull was taking a drink.

Tonight we need to go to bed early so we can spend a full day in Venice tomorrow.

#canal#italy#boats#food#travel#vacation#murano

@Al Canton Restaurant

@cathedral basilica of Saints Mary and Donato

@SanPietro Matire

@Original Glass Factory

@NH Collection Murano Villas

I decided we’d never seen Venice, so we are staying 3 nights on Murano, which is a short water taxi ride to Venice.

We left the ship early in the morning for the 3-hour drive to Venice.

When we arrived in Tronchetto we had to find a water taxi to take us to Murano. We did but it was expensive – 105 Euros. But it was a nice ride.

The water taxi dropped us off at our hotel, NH Collection Murano Villa. At first, our room wasn’t ready but we hung around the lobby and then it was ready. We quickly got ready to go out for a walk and get a bite to eat. Walking out of the hotel, we were right on the canal.

We ate lunch a few doors down. I had pizza and Bruce had pasta.

We took a walk and went into the shops. Most of them were selling the same things. Murano glass or maybe Murano glass. One shopkeeper asked me what I wanted and I said I wasn’t sure, but just looking. He said well he was busy. So I kept looking and he said I had to leave. This was a first for me. Getting thrown out of a store because I wasn’t sure if I was buying. I have to say some of the Italians in the tourist areas are not that friendly. But some are very nice.

Walking along the canal was lovely.

The church and bell tower are across from our hotel.

We went back to the hotel to rest for a while and to clean up. It was really hot outside. Later we headed out for dinner. We had to cross three bridges to get to our restaurant.

There was another bell tower and church where we ate.

I had ravioli for dinner and Bruce had spaghetti with clams.

It was a nice walk back to the hotel now that the sun had set.

Now we are going to bed early so we can explore tomorrow!

#italy#travel#food#watertaxi#murano#glass#church#belltower

@NH Collection Murano Villas

We woke up early to begin our tour in Croatia. We arrived at the Port in Split around 7am.

We traveled by bus with a large group of about 30. Our first stop was the gallery of a famous sculptor, Ivan Mestrovic. He was born in 1900 and was one of the few artists to become wealthy from his art while still alive.

The gallery is in a home he built in the 1920s and he and his family resided there until WWII.

He studied the works of ancient and Renaissance masters. Looking at his artwork, you can almost feel the emotion emanating from his work.

This is his second wife Olga and two of his children. He had missed the birth of his son.

Mestrovic made this sculpture of the Katunaric family who were the first people to believe in his talent.

Some of his other pieces are in the gardens.

Mestrovic even sculpted wood. This was fascinating to me.

After the gallery, we headed to Diocletian’s Palace in the old town. It was built in the third century AD. This is free to enter and is an easy walk from the cruise port. However, the cellar is 8 Euros.

We first visited the cellars which today are used for concerts and fashion shows.

The series Game of Thrones was filmed in the cellars.

Holes in the ceiling were where the occupants threw their garbage.

The palace makes up about half of the old town of Split.

Saint Domnius’ Cathedral, built in 305 CE, is part of the Palace.

We next walked through a courtyard and came upon the sphinx guarding the Temple of Jupiter.

The temple is an ancient Roman temple built between 295 and 305 AD.

In the courtyard was a statue created by Ivan Mestrovic.

Bruce and I stopped for a coffee before heading to the bus. Our next stop was for lunch in the Croatian countryside.

There was some pretty countryside during our journey.

At the restaurant, we had prosciutto and cheese, salad, special bread, and a chicken and veal dish. We listened to music.

After a delicious lunch, we walked along the river.

And then headed back to the ship!

It was a very nice tour from Elite Travel with Yvona as our guide.

Tomorrow is up early and off the ship! We are heading to Venice!

#tour#travel#cruise#ship#sculptor#gallery#split

@elite travel

@radmanove mlinice

@ivan mestrovic

@diocletians palace

@saint domnius cathedral

I don’t usually like to do ship tours, but this was one of the best days. We arrived in Santorini, a tender port, at 7am, with a beautiful view from our balcony.

Although it was an early start – we met at 7:45 am- it was well worth it. We had a small group of 15 which made it very nice. The group was a great group of people.

We climbed aboard a Classic Wooden Sailing Yacht in Santorini. La Maia Grande has an overall length of 32.5 m. The yacht’s builder is Psarros Shipyard from Greece, which launched La Maia in 1956. The superyacht has a beam of 6.15 m, a draught of 3.2 m and a volume of 71 GT.

Two years ago she came to Santorini as a tourist boat and is now owned by X-Ray Kilo. Our cruise director was Eugene and the entire team was great!

Santorini is a small, circular archipelago made up of five main volcanic islands surrounding a central caldera, along with a few smaller surrounding islets.

Our first stop was at some hot springs which we had to swim to! We put mud on our bodies and actually, the sulfur and minerals kind of made my suit turn brown.

On the shore, we could see a couple of goats climbing! I think that will be it for wildlife!

Sailing in the caldera means sailing in the area around Santorini and other islands. Volcanic eruptions caused the bottom to fall out, so to speak, and now the depths of the Aegean can be over 11,000 feet.

This area is basically the crater of the volcano. Many beautiful mountains surround the caldera. This is a lighthouse atop the mountain.

It was so beautiful and awe-inspiring, especially being on this very special vessel.

We could see villages at the top of the mountains.

And incredible rock formations.

If you are ever in Santorini, I would highly recommend this tour. We stopped at three places to swim.

The water was quite chilly but once in, it was lovely, especially because it was hot outside. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom. Look how clear my feet are.

While we were sailing, a dense fog formed, which I thought would turn to rain. But it seemed as quickly as the fog came, it left.

We had a delicious Greek lunch prepared by the chef on board.

You can see the blue domes that Greece is known for on top of Oia.

And all the little white churches are called St. Nicholas because he is the patron saint of sailors.

It was such a fun and fabulous day!

#sailing#excursion#cruise#greece#hotsprings#volcano#caldera

@xraykilo

@lamaiagrande

@santorini

I know that when I cruise, I should want to get off at every port. However, today we are in Athens and we have been here before.

The temperature is in the high 90s so we decided to just enjoy a less crowded ship.

The gym was empty or nearly empty today which was great. No waiting for any machine. I have a workout designed by ChatGPT which really helps.

The buffet area was half empty and we were able to get a window seat with no problem!

We are relaxing in the Solarium now, where no children are allowed.

After a nice dinner, we watched as the ship sailed away from the port!

Tomorrow we have an early day for Santorini!

#relaxation#cruising#portsofcall#greece

Today, our first full day, we arrived in Montenegro. I usually don’t book tours, but because tendering here is difficult, I decided to book one at the last minute.

We sat on our balcony as we approached Montenegro.

We sailed down the coast of Montenegro. Such a breathtaking landscape.

Our tour today took us to the little island and church of Our Lady of the Rocks.

The island was man-made many centuries ago by putting rocks into sunken ships. Legend says that two sailors discovered an icon of the Virgin Mary on the rocks in 1452. Over the next centuries, the island was created with the church as it now stands in the 1600s.

It was renovated in 1722 after an earthquake adding the domed presbytery and bell tower.

Inside the church is a marble altar.

The Church has 68 Baroque-style paintings on the walls and ceiling.

The majority of the paintings were done in the late 17th century by Tripp Kokolja, a famous Baroque master born in Perast. 

A museum is attached to the church with armaments such as swords and guns.

Outside the church, we found a canon!

After we left the island we stopped in the village of Perast which was right across from the island.

We stopped to have an ice cream before we headed back to our ship.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging at the pool drinking virgin pina coladas.

#cruise#ship#montenegro#tour#vacation#perast

@ourladyoftherocks

Just a short bit about Ravenna. It’s a charming town that now serves as a cruise port for many international cruise lines. Several years ago Venice no longer allowed large ships in the port.

The main town of Ravenna is historic and very quaint.

Ravenna is known for its beautiful 5th- and 6th-century mosaics. It was also the capital city during three different eras.

It is a bikeable town with many cafes. In fact, our dinner last night was the least expensive since we began this latest journey.

Although it has been serving as a cruise port for over five years, it has not lost its charm and is far less touristy than other cities such as Verona or Venice.

We arrived at our ship today and from our balcony, we could see the beaches along the coast.

We are on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, which brings back fond memories of when we sailed with my sister, Linda, and brother-in-law from Seattle, Washington to Sydney, Australia.

Now for an interesting 7-day trip traveling the Adriatic.

#ravenna#adriatic#cruise#vacation#ship#port#

@royal Caribbean

It was a disappointing morning. It was raining so hard that it made no sense to go traipsing about in it. So we slept in and then spent a few hours at the train station.

The train was fairly empty from Verona to Bologna. We had plenty of space to put our suitcases.

When we got off in Bologna we hit our first snag. Bruce went looking for a restroom and when he wasn’t back in 40 minutes I called him. He was lost and I had all the suitcases. It turned out I was waiting at platform 3, but there were platforms 3 West and 3 East.

We made it to our platform and our train was delayed. A train came in and it said Milano. This other American couple was trying to get to Ravenna. We got on the train. They didn’t. It was the right train.

We caught a taxi to what I thought was a hotel. It wasn’t. It’s an airb&b. We had to walk around the block to our flat.

It was time for dinner so we went out in search of food. It’s a pretty little town!

I had tortellini and a side of grilled veggies and Bruce had a cheeseburger.

We walked a little after dinner and found an ice cream place!

Then headed back to our flat. We are pretty tired.

#trains#italy#travel#food#trainstations#ravenna#bologna#adventure

Well, we had an action-packed eight days in Germany and are now heading to Verona, Italy for one night.

For the life of me, I don’t know why Europeans like lunch meat for breakfast. But it’s very popular here.

We started out this journey at a 5-star in Frankfurt, a 4-star in Munich, and now a 3-star in Verona. Lets hope it’s not too disappointing.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Right now we are having breakfast at the hotel. As part of the Hotel Collection I get $100 to spend on food or drinks at the hotel. I chose a final breakfast.

Now we are sitting in the train station waiting for our train to Verona. What I have found in train stations is there is very little seating for the amount of people.

The train trip from Munich to Verona is considered one of the most scenic in Europe.

Unfortunately, there are many barriers that prevent great viewing.

Now we are going through Austria. The Austrian Alps are all around us.

The countryside is spectacular although it’s overcast.

The train went through the Brenner Pass which has great significance in history. It was used by the Roman Empire and later was used as an escape route for fleeing Nazis. It is the border between Austria and Italy.

Now we’ve entered Italy with the Italian Alps.

There are vineyards and tiered agriculture throughout the countryside.

I think this is a monastery at the top of the mountain.

We passed by the Southern Limestone Alps in Italy.

We finally arrived in Verona and walked to our hotel. It was a little bit difficult wheeling our suitcases but we made it. Now to explore Verona.

It was raining so we actually didn’t do much. We found a lovely restaurant across from the arena and had dinner.

I had canneloni and Bruce had lasagna.

Verona looks like a very nice place to visit. I hope it’s not raining in the morning so I can see more of it.

#traintravel#travel#germany#italy#alps#verona