Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik has experienced  a huge surge in tourism since Game of Thrones  was filmed here.  Even though it's only early  May the city was very  crowded.  It was also quite hot. I'd hate to think what it's like in August.   There were already 2 much larger cruise ships docked, so Silver Spirit  had to drop anchor a little way off and  we were taken ashore by tender.

I was booked on the Game of Thrones  discovery tour. Which was a 4 hour walking tour taking in the most famous of the filming locations. It was labeled  was being the highest level of activity for any of the excursions and we were told people  had to have a good level  of fitness to do it.  Denise went on a different  excursion  that involved a wine tasting  outside the city.    

I'm  not  a raving Game of Thrones fan, but I thought this tour might include some spots that were a bit different  and wasn't just a walk around the walls.  As it happens  I was correct  as our first stop  was at a fort outside the city.  

There were a LOT of steps to get up to the top of the fort, but once up there we had a great view of the city walls.

After that it was down into the city where we saw various filming spots for famous scenes like the walk of shame.  

Today's fascinating  fact is that the first season of Game of Thrones was filmed  in Malta,  but HBO were thrown out of Malta due to  them  causing some damage  to a famous area called the azure window during the filming of the Dothraki wedding scene.  The mayor of Dubrovnik  told HBO that they could  come and  film the rest of the series in Dubrovnik for free. It was a risky decision  but it certainly  paid off for Dubrovnik in the long term with the huge increase in tourism. 

Finally, we went up on the walls for some good views out over the city and a selection of other filming locations  that were at some of the towers up on the walls.  

After all that I was exhausted and had lost count of the number of steps  I'd been  up and down for  the last 4 hours. I spent a short time shopping in the town by myself before heading back to the ship on the tender.  Denise was still not back, as after the coach had dropped  her off in town at the end of her tour she'd decided to walk around the  walls by herself.   When she did return  we had an early dinner and went straight  to bed. 

What I really  need is a day off but we have another  long tour booked  for  tomorrow  in Bari.  I thought these cruise holidays  were supposed to be  relaxing...

Split, Croatia

I've been to Croatia before on a Danube cruise, but the places we visited  (like Vukovar) had been largely  destroyed  during the Croatian war of Independence in the early  1990s.  While I was there I asked the guide what was the best place to  visit  in Croatia  if I was to  come again and surprisingly he said Split rather than Dubrovnik.  I'll  be  visiting  both on this cruise,  so we shall see.

Fascinating fact of the day. Split and  Dubrovnik are both on the Dalmatian  coast - and  yes, it is where the Dalmatian  dogs come  from. They were bred in this area thousands of years ago and  spread to the rest of the world from here. 

We were booked on the UNESCO World Heritage tour, which included  both the old town of Trogir and the historical  areas of Split.

We started in Trogir,  where we visited the 13th century Cathedral  of St Lawrence. 

The old town area is still mapped out in the original  pattern of the Roman town although the town was almost completely  destroyed by  the Saracens in the 12th century,  so most of the buildings are medieval.   We had some  free time in Trogir  so Denise and I  went and had a radler in a nice pub in one of the medieval squares.

After this, it was back to Split, where we visited  Diocletian's Palace (a very nice retirement  home for the former Roman emperor).

We also visited the  old town  area  which looked rather  Venetian.  Not surprising really  as Split was part of the Venetian  empire  at one time, with the Doge also having the  title  of Duke of  Dalmatia.

It was a long day touring the area and we didn't get back to the ship until  nearly  7pm. So it was dinner  followed by an after  dinner  drink in the piano bar  before heading  to  bed.

All aboard Silver Spirit

This morning  we checked out of our hotel  in Venice  and took a water taxi to the port terminal at Maratima.  There seemed  to have been  a bit of confusion  as although the check in was at Maratima, the ship was docked at the other port near Venice  (Fusina). So after checking  in we were loaded onto buses for a 30 minute drive over to the ship.

This is the best photo I have of the ship right now, and it's a long way away.  So I might come back and  swap it out for a better one later. (And no, it's not the one in the foreground)

Silver Spirit has a capacity of just under  600 guests and 9 passenger decks (deck 3 to deck 11).   Despite the small number  of passengers  it has a lot of facilities, including  7 restaurants,  3 lounge bars, a pool, 3 hot tubs and a library.  All suites have balconies.

The suites are big by the standards of most cruise ships  I've been on and come with a walk-in closet and the bathroom  has a big bathtub  as well as a shower. 

The only thing I'm not so keen on is the art work in the room...

Venice day 2

This morning we took a water taxi out to Murano to see some glass blowing

Then we had a look around their upstairs  showroom where the items were well out of our price range.  We ended up buying a couple of the less pricey  items  downstairs. 

Then it was back to St Mark’s Square in a water taxi  supplied by the glass factory.  With the  prices they charge  they can afford to  supply free taxis.

We had lunch in a Cafe just off the Square where we had some lovely limoncello spritzers. Then we did some shopping.  I haven't even  started  the cruise  yet  and I've already  bought so much stuff I'm worried  about fitting it all in my case. Then it was back to the hotel  for a rest.

Later in the afternoon  we headed back to  St Mark’s Square to cross the last item off our Venice bucket list.  We had an ice-cream in one of the cafes in the Square.  The price was astronomical but so was the size of the sundae. We even  had musicians  serenading us as we ate.

Despite the fact that half the ice cream seemed to have ended up on my t-shirt I was still so full I couldn't face any dinner.   The hotel  has a rooftop  terrace so we decided to  go up there for a drink. But it was getting dark  by the time  we  got up there and we ended up in the downstairs  bar instead. 

Tomorrow  we board the Silver Spirit to begin our Adriatic  cruise. 

Venice day 1

We didn't have anything  pre-booked for our time in Venice, just a short bucket list of things we  wanted to see.  Number  1 on that list was St Mark’s.   Our hotel  is very close to St Mark’s  Square so we walked over and had coffee  in a small café just off the Square. 

After that we made our way over to the Basilica.  It's a beautiful  building  with ornate  floors and ceilings. 

After  touring the basilica we walked around the side of the Doge's palace to get a good  view of the bridge of sighs and out over the lagoon. 

Then we decided  to go and see the Rialto  bridge.  There are signs everywhere,  so we followed them.  I think they took us the long way round, but we got to see lots of very interesting shops.

It had been a  cloudy morning  but the sun came out on our way to the Rialto so we stopped  in a small cafe near the bridge for lunch.  

By this time we were exhausted  so it was back to the hotel for a few hours  rest before our evening meal.  We were booked into  a restaurant at 7pm.  We had a couple  of hours going spare and another item on the bucket list was to have a drink at the Hotel  Danieli,  which is the poshest hotel  in Venice, just next door to the  Doge's palace. 

Our evening meal was at the Cantina Canaletto, where we had an outside table.  Denise had the most amazing  fish soup. I wish I'd taken a photo of it.

Arriving in Venice

Up at 5am  this morning  to get on the road to  Heathrow.  The plane to Venice  was nearly 2 hours late taking off.  Landed about 4pm and took a water taxi to the hotel.  Amazing to be sailing along the Grand Canal in a water taxi when just days ago I was at the Wallace  Collection  looking at Canaletto's paintings of it. 

The hotel is beautiful. 

And  there was a  complimentary bottle of prosecco waiting for us. After drinking that and unpacking, we headed out to find a nice restaurant  for an evening meal.  The concierge  recommended  a place called  La Scala that was nearby. We threaded our way along  the  side of a canal and down a tiny little  passage (so Venetian!) to get there. Had the most amazing meal - the waiter fileted  our fish at the table. Not only that  but he fileted  it with a spoon!   Amazing  start to our time in Venice. 

Lots of rain and lots of pubs

Unforunately, the 3 days I spent in Wiltshire  were rather damp. But it was great to connect with old friends and I had some outstanding  pub meals at:

The Neels Arms in Grittleton 

The  Horse and Groom  in Charlton