Tag: vacation

The Great Wall of …..Croatia (and also Touring Italy on a Windstar Cruise)

I have decided that early May is the best time to cruise in Europe–that’s my opinion anyway. The weather can still be a little cool and rainy, flowers are blooming, most other cruise lines have not yet arrived, and the crowds are minimal. This was our second cruise with Windstar and again it was superb.
Here are some of the highlights and my favorite photos.

Quiet deck early morning on Windstar

 

Amalfi Coast

 

Syrenbus, pleasure on wheels!


The old City of Dubrovnik, Croatia– you can walk around the top of the walled city. It costs about $25 per person and was worth it. Not good if you don’t like the heights and it can be a pretty strenuous walk with lots of stairs.

View from the wall walkway in Dubrovnik

 

Parade in Dubrovnik

 

Waterfront walkway in Split, Croatia

 

Restaurant in Rovinj, Croatia

Venice was busy, hot, and humid. I didn’t like it as much as I liked the other ports in Croata, Sicily, and Amalfi.  When I look at the picture below I realize this is not very crowded, it could be worse.

St Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy

 

Wonder how your luggage gets to your hotel?

 

Restaurant window, Venice, Italy

 

Vacation-Packing Day High!

Image
For me, packing for vacation is an adrenalin high. How else can you explain that euphoria right before LEAVING TOWN. The long-awaited escape is tomorrow morning and I’m dancing around the house with my I-pod loud — fuel for my gathering and cleaning frenzy.

  • Washing, drying, ironing, and folding.
  • Eating all the perishables out of the fridge (munching on celery and yogurt as I write).
  • Constructing piles–shoes, hat, and umbrella. Then there’s the carry-on pile of electronics, magazines, pretzels and candy.
  • Load the Kindle with books and movies, and the I-pod with new music and podcasts (my latest binge). And get those babies plugged in and charged.
  • Oh yeah, pharmaceuticals, I’ve learned my lesson. In the past buying Sudafed in Argentina and China has not been an easy thing to do.
  • Drag the suitcases in from the garage. This needs to be orchestrated just right, Lupey (dog) needs to be outside when this takes place. The sight of luggage coming down the hall causes some anxiety.
  • Now she’s in the car and we’ll be off to the “country club”, she prefers the sound of that to the word kennel.
  • And at the end of the day I will change the voice mail message on my phone, and I’ll set up the email responder to say—“I will be away from the office……”