The rest of that travel post

This is part two of a series about my recent vacation. For part one, start here.

Post Venice, we had a scheduled day at sea, which was the opportunity for rest, Chuck Season 3, relaxation, Scrabble in the Crow’s Nest, the formal dinner, and a show to finish it off. All in all a very relaxing day.







Little did we know, we would need it as the next string of days were all full of lengthy excursions that, while entirely worth it, would drain our energy. It began in Greece, with Olympia, the site of the original Olympics. We had a bit of a bus ride to get up to the site from the port for our ship. The site is kind of cool but really relies on your ability to construct imaginary buildings from the rocks that are laying on the ground. It’s cool to think these are 2500 year old ruins but it can be hard to see beyond the rocks. The first picture is actually ruins from a settlement prior to the establishment as the site of the Olympic Games but it seems to be little more than the outline of a house. I don’t want to sound terribly pessimistic about all of this as I would definitely suggest a visit but it lacks the overwhelming reality of other comparable sites from that era.

After a night on board the ship, we sailed to Corfu, an island city off the northwest coast of Greece. Its site to see was a fort built on a hill that rises above the city and water. It is mostly unused, save a few parts that have modern buildings with things going on in them and a church. There was a lot of unused space but it is easy to see how defensible the position was, rising above its surroundings in all directions. In our infinite wisdom, we took on the hike without water resources and found ourselves quite dehydrated. After a water recharge, we walked leisurely walk through the shopping areas of the city getting souvenirs and gifts on our way back to the boat

The trip overnight brought us to the port of Kotor, Montenegro, beginning my shameless love affair with the small infant nation. The first experience that impressed me was looking out the window to see a large mountain towering over us.

Now I show you this photo so you can get some perspective. The mountains loom large but I had no idea how big they really were. I wish I could show you the progression as we drove up a switchback road along the side of the mountain. It’s one of those “we’re still going?” sort of experiences. Apparently, this road was the most difficult project in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it shows. But once you get to the top…..

It’s soooo worth it! When we finally made the summit of the road, we had a couple of kilometers into a small community to sample some local food, smoked ham and cheese :D. It was quite tasty.

After snacks we continued on our way, seeing more or the interior of the country. We saw the home of Montenegran Royalty during their time as an independent kingdom. After a highway trip, and a short tour of the tourist town of Budva, we returned to Kotor to see the old city. While the city itself is much like the walled cities of the region on its own, the setting makes it infinitely more Lord of the Rings. The walls actually extend up the side of the mountain to a fort part of the way up, although we didn’t have time to go.

Once we were back on the ship, and we began to cast off, we were told to stay on the decks to watch the sail out. We were so glad we did as the country’s majesty didn’t end at the port. We hadn’t realized during the night that when we came into the port we had traveled through a series of channels to a very well protected body of water, but on the way out we saw it all. There were also two islands, one man-made and one natural, that held a monastery on one and a convent on the other. We sailed between them and the shore trading horn blasts for church bells before orienting ourselves so we could pass through a very narrow channel that was the access point to the bay. No matter which way you looked it was absolutely beautiful and looked like something out of a fairy tale. Believe me when I say I have about 200 pictures I would love to post here, but I just don’t have the means.

That night was the World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands, and as we were on a boat based in Rotterdam, it was quite the festive atmosphere. They decked out the theatre and we watched the game on the big screen.

Overnight we docked in Split, Croatia, although our excursion took us immediately out of the city to a national park an hour or so away. There is a series of waterfalls on a river that forms quite the experience. The really unique thing there is the area immediately upriver of the main falls where the water lacks a defined channel or path, so it meanders through the woods forming pools and little ponds all over the place. It's almost as if you're walking through a perpetually flooded forest. People living here had learned to use this as an advantage and built mills along the river, creating a community next to the falls. It was even the site of one of the first hydroelectric dams, and the nearby city was one of the first to be electrified world wide. At the base of the falls is a massive community meeting and swimming point.

After the park, we traveled to a small town for some lunch before heading into the coastal city of Sibenik to see the church in the old city. It was apparently important for the advancement of structural designs although I was quite tired and less interested at that point.
The bus ride/nap back to Split was enjoyable and we boarded the ship on the second to last boat from land. The evening was the second formal dinner of the trip and so I got to wear my suit one more time, which is good since I hadn’t used it since arriving in Tanzania.

The following day was a stop in Trieste, Italy. Originally, the ship was supposed to head to Ravenna but a few days into the cruise we received a letter from the captain saying they had discovered World War II munitions in the bay, so we were changing ports. Quite understandably, in my opinion. However, Katie and I decided we weren’t interested in walking aimlessly around the city for an hour or two and chose to stay aboard. We were also kicked out of Trieste early as there was some event taking place right below the ship on the shore and they wanted us gone before it began. So we sailed back to Venice and arrived by 6 pm. That night, we spent an extra $20 to eat in the fancy restaurant on the ship. Our meal consisted of a massive steak (mine a 20+ oz Porterhouse!) and sides. It was a fine dinner indeed considering it only cost $20 extra and it was definitely a very expensive meal anywhere in the US.

I failed to take many additional pictures once we returned to Venice, although we did little that was terribly exciting. After making our way to the hotel near the airport, we stored our stuff and caught a bus into the city. We found a nice restaurant for lunch and sat watching one of the many small streets in the city. We walked around for a little longer and then returned to the bus. By the way, I found the opposite side of the city to Piazza San Marco much more enjoyable as the crowds were not overwhelming and the atmosphere was essentially the same. The bus was super cheap and with only a little extra walking, you could still see all of Venice you want, but something for next time I suppose!

The next morning, I had to catch an early ride to the airport while Katie waited until noon. The return flight was relatively uneventful although much much longer than I would have liked. I spent an extra day in Dar before returning to site, which was a much needed recharging opportunity. The bus trip went relatively well as I arrived by 7:30 in the evening. Now I’ve been at site for about 2 weeks and things have been going well. School is getting going and we’re making progress. Hopefully I’ll have things to say for that soon as well!