Mediterranean & Adriatic Sojourn Cruise review (4/20-5/11/2024) with Classical Greek 4 day pre-cruise extension)

[kctwinmommy]

I did my general review of our Viking cruise already, but wanted to have this title, so when people are looking for it, they can find this. This will take me some time to get through for sure. We did the 4 day Classical Greece extension before our cruise and then 22 days on the Viking Mars, going from Athens to Barcelona. I'll start with the extension first, and then try to do each day.

 

We flew from Chicago to Atlanta, had a 90 minute layover, then Atlanta to Athens, landing at around 10:30 the next morning. The flight was good, we were fortunate to upgrade our seats to the Delta One pods! We got through security, grabbed our bags, and the shuttle driver was there to take all 3 couples to the hotel. We had ours changed several months ago and we were put up at the Intercontinental. While the hotel was nice, large breakfast buffet, it's in a poor location. There is nothing to do or see around the area, not even restaurants. Our guide, Anastasia, recommended a little family owned place nearby, so most people from the cruise ended up there. It was a cute little place, and they were so friendly.

 

(4/17) The first full day we left at 7:30 a.m. to head out to Mycenae, Corinth Canal, and Epidaurus. We met our tour guide, Paris, on the bus. He was great and with us for all 3 tour days. Traffic was a little busy this day due to a public transportation strike, so lots of people driving themselves. About 1/2 way to Mycenae we did a stop at the Corinth Canal. There's a little cafe here, with a small shop. Next stop was at Mycenae with Agamemnon's tomb, really cool to see these things they built hundreds of years ago. Again, as we were reminded, it's all about math! We walked through the remaining ruins. Paris took the group up to the Lion's gate, then let us explore on our own, as people had different comfort levels. It was so neat to see all the technology that existed here.

We did a lunch stop near here at a local restaurant, so that was a nice break. After lunch we had another 45 minute drive to Epidaurus and the theater there. Paris explained a lot about how it was used, the major events that would take place, how people would travel from all over to attend things there. The theater is 2,500 years old. Once he explained things, he again gave us a little time to walk around, those of us who wanted to, climbed to the top of the theater.

 

(4/18) Second full day was out to Delphi. This is about a 2 hour bus ride, with a stop along the way to use the bathroom, get a snack, etc... We found that on a lot of longer bus tours, they often scheduled stops like this, there are a lot of little stops along highways for busses to use. It was so pretty to drive through the mountains in this area, such a change from Athens. We drove through the town of Arachova. Super narrow streets, but these busses do it!

At Delphi we started at the museum, seeing many of the artifacts. I love that they really allow you to get fairly up close with these pieces too, you can truly see the work. Then we headed over to the ruins. Again, Paris gave us all the main information at the bottom, then allowed those of us who wanted to climb to the top head off on our own. We did have lunch on this day as well, but I didn't put it in my journal as to when and where. LOL!

 

(4/19) This was our free day. Anastasia was in the lobby to help give people direction and tips in the morning, as needed. Us, and another couple we met, took a taxi into the downtown area to go to the National Archaeological Museum. We got there right about when they opened, and there were already long lines of school kids. We bought our tickets and went in. There's a LOT to see here, and honestly, it's a little back & forth with the layout, so we didn't even see everything. After a few hours, we wanted to get to the changing of the guard, so we did left. We saw the guard changing, then walked through the gardens there. After that, we headed towards the Plaka district, with a stop at the Hotel Electra rooftop for a little lunch and cocktails. It was totally empty, and beautiful views of the Acropolis! We did some more walking around, seeing various sights, churches, etc... before finally heading back to the hotel by around 5 p.m.

 

(4/20) Embarkation & Acropolis Day. We had to have our luggage outside our room at 6:30 a.m., the staff collected it, then we had to go down at 7:30 to make sure it was all there. We got on the bus by 8 to head to the Acropolis. Your luggage is put on that same bus, so in case something comes up, you do have your things with you still. There was some light rain that morning, I was worried it was going to wash us out. But, we got lucky! The rain slowed to a light spit/mist, and gave us awesome skies, plus a beautiful rainbow! The walk up is tricky, very slick at times, especially with the rain, and it gets busy - fast! We were there right when they opened as a group. By the time we were coming back down, they had the whole area roped into 2 sections (one up, one down) and the line was all the way to the bottom. After Paris gave us his tour, we had a little time to take more pictures and all meet up at the bottom. We then went into the museum, guided by Paris to the highlights, with again, about 30-40 minutes on our own. It's sad to see major pieces missing in their museum because other countries have refused to return those items. They were told by a certain other country that they didn't have a proper facility, so hopefully, now they will get these things back. Finally, onto the busses to head to the ship.

 

Embarkation the easiest I've ever been through! The staff took our luggage, to get it to our rooms and we went to check in. We did the pre-check online, and they didn't ask for much. Because we were on 3 legs of a 4 leg cruise, each leg is considered it's own segment. This means we only got our excursion tickets for the first week. We headed to the pool deck, got some lunch at the grill, then they announced around 1 that our rooms were ready. Headed down to our room (DV4 cabin) to unpack. Met our room steward who was great, although she left after a week (she had her 2 months off!). We found the small magnetic hooks handy to hang our hats, my little crossbody, and such. Had a nice dinner in the restaurant. Came back to find our bed turned down and the steward had put bookmarks into our books, instead of the pieces of paper we had. LOL!

 

The only issues we had with this part would be the location of the hotel, but at least it was a nice room/property. I also found that at dinners, getting a soda for me to drink took a really long time. They were quick with the wine bottles, but it would take 10-15 minutes, and I would have to ask a 2nd or 3rd time.

 

Corinth Canal

 

The burial chambers

 

Epidaurus theater

 

 

Delphi museum

 

Arachova

 

 

National Archaeological museum

 

Changing of the guard

 

Hadrian's library (we just walked past it, didn't buy tickets to tour it)

 

Dramatic storm clouds!

 

Giving us this beautiful rainbow!

 

 

 

Inside Agamemnon's tomb, the beehive that they built! Paris pointed out that piece of stone above the door, it's ONE large piece!

 

The outside of the Acropolis museum

 

Our cabin (4027)

 

The fridge, our stewards would take out the things we didn't want, and add extras of things we did want.

 

With our new friends at the Hotel Electra

Edited May 16 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

(4/21) - Katakolon (Olympia) - I won't lie, we weren't expecting to enjoy this tour as much as we did! I guess we thought it was going to be a little less than what it was. It was a great start to the actual cruise for us, having a good day on our first stop. I will say, that we truly enjoyed almost every port we stopped in, except probably two (I'll share those as they come up). 😉 

 

So, we did the included tour for this - Ancient Olympia (4 hours). This is when we discovered that the start time for included tours, when there's a lot and they're close together, is a little fuzzy. We had a ticket for 1:15 and our friends had 1:00. We just walked down with them, as this was our first tour and we didn't know how it would work. We didn't ask, just checked in with the Viking crew, showed them our tickets, and they put us on the same bus group together. Now, I would imagine that if we had a 3:30 instead of the 1:15 being so close to theirs, that wouldn't have happened. They seem to know how many people are going and there was always at least 4-8 empty seats on every bus tour we did.

 

It was a beautiful bus ride out to the site. We had a great guide, Saskia, who explained a lot of things about the area and country. She talked about her family. She was interesting too, because she was Dutch and she had moved to Greece about 10-15 years ago. So she still counted in Dutch, but obviously spoke Greek. We heard about the way Greeks raise families, which had heard on our days with our pre-extension guide Paris too. Very close families, add onto the houses to keep the family together. It was funny, they both made references to the move "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." She told us about Spyros Skouras, who was from the town she lives in. He immigrated to the US and became President of 20th Century Fox studios, he was also responsible for signed Marilyn Monroe! The busses park a short walk from the sight entrance, often leaving and coming back when it's time to go. This, we discovered, was extremely common in Europe. They have strict idling laws, so busses often can't stay in the spot, or if they do, they aren't allowed to stay running.

 

The site of Olympia was pretty busy, lots of groups all over. But, the guides are usually pretty good about moving their own group around, so that you're not crowded on top of each other. Saskia explained a lot about the different events that took place, where the various buildings were located, etc... You have to remember, a lot of things are gone. She showed us the spot where they had just lit the Olympic flame barely a week earlier. Everyone expected it was this more grand stage area, but nope! Some simple rocks, very small.

 

Of course, the highlight is getting a chance to run on the actual field where they help the original games. My husband did it, twice! LOL! He was happy to drop 10 seconds from his first to second attempt. He even took a photo on one of the pedestals in anticipation of his participation.

 

After we spent about 90 minutes or so giving us the tour, she gave us some free time on our own. Now, I admit, we were a little goofy in not going into the museum during that free time. She mentioned it on our way passing it, for a bathroom break before starting the tour, but yeah, not sure what we were thinking. We instead walked into the little town. It was a good thing though, I picked up a really, super soft sweatshirt that would come in super handy over the next cool days we had. My husband also picked up a bottle of Limoncello!

 

I would absolutely recommend this tour! As I said, I don't know what we were expecting, but it was so much better than that.

 

A statue that was outside the museum

 

The Gymnasium

 

 

The Palaestra

 

 

The Palaestra

 

She explained how when they were building the sight, the stone and materials used included shells from the sea.

 

Zeus's column

 

My husband, celebrating/reenacting his impending race in the Olympics! LOL!

 

The Stadium where the first games were held. Just a simple 200M race, that was it. They were strict on cheating and did actually test samples to ensure a clean race. Those who were found to have cheated were branded as such, with a their names being published outside the games.

 

 

Just amazing to think of what it was like a few thousand years ago!

 

The sight where they lit the flame, just a week prior to our arrival.

 

The Phillippeion

 

The Palaestra again, beautiful purple flowers!

 

 

A map of the sight.

Edited May 17 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

Here is my husband's 2nd attempt at the race dropping about 10 seconds from his first. He is proud of his 2nd place finish, behind the 20 year old young man that raced him, LOL!! He would often tell others of his days as an Olympic runner on the rest of our trip. 🙄 🤣

[kctwinmommy]

4/22 - Corfu - We did the included Old Town Walking Tour this day. It started with a short ride through the town, heading up the hills a bit. We did a stop above the little airport in town, and saw the nunnery that is there. It was the Monastery of Panagia Vlaheran. Really neat little stop with a beautiful view. She explained how the steps out to the monastery is how they used to get out there. On our drive, our guide was also explaining how WWII affected the area, and that the Germans (apparently the other term for them gets starred out on CC) eventually came for the Jews in the area, taking them away, with most not returning. It's always so sad to hear these stories across Europe.

 

Our tour lasted maybe 90 minutes or so, including the drive and some walking through town. In the Old Town area, she pointed out some sights that people might want to see. She also explained where we could pick up a shuttle bus back to the ship, or how we could walk back if we wanted (we opted for this route, just keep the water on your right!). Once we were done with our tour, most people went off on their own instead of taking the bus back with the guide.

At this point, we also realized that we needed to get some rain gear. We had somewhat overpacked and mispacked. It's hard to plan for an entire month. Plus, I feel as though my hopeful, wishful thinking of a warm Mediterranean cruise doesn't mean it will actually happen. But, we knew we were going to have rain at least another few times, so off we went. We were walking by several stores, and my husband saw one advertising Crocs, so he thought he'd ask. Well, after several minutes of him not coming out, I went in and realized he'd found the Helly Hansen rain jackets. Yes, the same ones they sell on the ship (but they didn't have his size onboard). Soo.... a few Euros later 🙄 off we left each with a new rain jacket. But the woman was really nice and helpful getting us fitted.

 

We hit a few more little shops, my husband sampled the various liquors along the way. He eventually got a bottle of Limoncello for on the ship, and a smaller bottle of the Kumquat liquor to bring home. They're very generous with their samples, so give it a try!

 

Then we headed over to the Old Fortress. It's €6 for admission, but neat to walk around and climb up to the top. It's a bit of a climb, but you can take your time. It wasn't crowded at all. The Germans used this to detain the Jews in Corfu before transporting them out of the city. Out of about 1800 deported, only around 120 returned after WWII. There's a little cafe on the property, although we didn't stop. You can also see the Church of Agios Georgios, where the late Prince Phillip was baptized. I didn't realize he was born here, although he didn't spend much time here.

 

We grabbed a little lunch, nothing special and not that good. Our mistake for just grabbing a table and not paying attention to the menus. There are a lot of little sidewalk cafes, and they run together, so sometimes we didn't realize there were different places.

 

After walking around and getting tired, we decided to do the 1.5ish mile walk back to the ship. You pretty much just keep walking along the water, keeping it on your right. It's not a difficult walk, just basic sidewalks and a few stops along the way to look at some of the ships.

 

Overall, a cute town, several things to see and easy to do things on your own here.

 

The Old Fortress

 

The Old Fortress

 

Looking down the promenade, there's a bunch of different cafes along here

 

 

Along the streets of Corfu

 

 

The tower inside the Old Fortress

 

 

Looking into the city, the fortress was actually separate from the town

 

On the fortress property

 

Beautiful water below

 

 

Love all the steps, you could photograph these for days!

 

These old buildings fascinate me, with all the wear & tear on the walls, but still standing.

 

This little kitty found the perfect sleeping spot. It was a little cool that day, overcast at times. But the scooter seat, being black, had absorbed all the heat and was a nice, warm place to sleep.

 

My husband brings a collapsible fishing rod with him whenever we travel. He also makes sure to research the fishing laws in each country. He never catches anything, but he gives it a shot.

 

Overlooking the monastery, with the rocks they used to use to walk out there.

 

In front of the Saint George's church at the Old Fortress.

Edited May 19 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

4/23 - Kotor, Montenegro - Highlights of Montenegro (optional tour). I'll be honest, when they described this in the port talk, we weren't sure we had picked a good one. It sounded a little underwhelming. We got up a little early to see some of the sail into the bay, it's really beautiful. It reminded us of Norway, with the fjords there. It was overcast and they were calling for some rain during the day. We were certainly glad we bought those rain jackets the day before!

 

We headed to our bus and met our guide, George, who spoke perfect English. He even commented that people don't think he's from there, but he's spent about half of his life living there. He explained how his sister was raised as a child in Montenegro, during the good times (the Yugo being a big deal at the time, as the country was part of Yugoslavia at that time). However, after the war in the early 90's, when the country fell apart and their economy tanked, his parents moved with the 2 kids to Toronto for a better life. This means he spent most of his childhood living in Canada, hence, the perfect English. He also explained the insanely high inflation rate the country had when his parents left, it was like 300 million percent!

 

We headed up the mountains on our bus, it's 25 switchbacks and can be really tight at times. If you're prone to anxiety with this, just keep it in mind. He told us how he's had a few guests in the past really freak out. As we climbed, the view down to the bay was beautiful, even with the overcast day. You'll start taking pictures, only to realize the view just gets better and better. LOL!

 

We got pretty high up and stopped at a little town Njegusi, a small town that makes their own smoked meats, pretty common around this entire area. We had a small meal of some meat and cheese, with local wine (or soda). People had a chance to use the bathroom and stretch their legs. This is where the last king of Montenegro was born.

 

From here, we moved through the Lovcen National Park, so pretty, even with the rain and clouds. There was snow on the ground here too, so pretty high up. It's a nice, scenic drive through the area. We continued on to Cetinje, the former capital city of Montenegro. There's a small museum, King Nikola's palace, the last ruler of the country. He actually did a lot for the country, but was exiled after WWI, with the country becoming Yugoslavia.

 

We were in the rain now, it was a decent rain, not heavy, but steady. Everyone was using umbrellas. The museum was small, but some neat things. George showed us around, pointing out various things. It's a little tight in there, and with the wet umbrellas, it was pretty packed in there. We had a little free time after we were done, but again, the weather put a damper on the town. Not much was going on, a few cafes were open. We walked around to see a few of the sights. I wish the weather had been better, so we could have enjoyed it a bit more. There's a beautiful, little church here, the Castle Church, along with the Cetinje Monastery.

 

We headed back to the bus to start our drive back to Kotor. We came in a slightly different way, to see the resort city of Budva. This is their little riviera type town, and they do get thousands of visitors in the summer months. George explained how the country tried to recover, after the wars and to grow in their independence. They wanted to bring more visitors here, so they convinced the producers of the Bond movie Casino Royale (Daniel Craig version) to set the movie in Montenegro. Even though they didn't film it there, the setting is there. A major hotel in the Budva was behind this pitch, thinking it would help promote the area, and it worked! Many celebrities come to Budva for a getaway.

 

After our return to the port, we walked into the Old Town portion. Again, with the cooler, rainy weather, and our already long day, we didn't do a lot. We would  have loved to have climbed some of the higher points, but instead, we walked along the city walls for a bit. Also grabbed a piece of pizza! This was the first place where they gave me a slice, on a lightweight piece of cardboard, and you can basically fold it in half, walk, and eat it. They don't load their pizzas like we do, much more simple toppings. We got Margherita pizza in almost every port! It's a nice old town area, easy to walk around and to get back to the ship.

 

We did go to the pool deck BBQ that night. They have like 3 different musicians throughout. Some acoustic, a duet, and the band. It does get a little loud at times, but some good food - brats, ribs, pulled pork...

 

 

Sailing into the bay in the morning...

 

At a stop along the way heading up

 

 

Two bays, with the one our ship was in on the right

 

 

Cetinje streets, pretty empty

 

 

Castle Church

 

Budva

 

Kotor Cathedral

 

 

The streets in Kotor weren't really busy either, it was later in the day and the rain had been falling for awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

Another pathway in Old Town

 

Kotor Cathedral

 

 

Stairs in part of the city walls

 

 

Amazing the old walls around the city.

 

 

Clock tower in Kotor

 

Kotor in the evening before sailing out.

Edited May 20 by kctwinmommy

[PasadenaDave]

Thanks for your trip day by day posts.  Two years ago we did Istanbul to Venice so we are reliving our cruise.

 

We had the same guide for Olympia and took the same bus tour in Kotor which we absolutely loved.

[Podgieree]

Thank you SO much for this very detailed trip report. We are cruising from Athens to Barcelona at the end of December and we’re also doing the 4 day pre-cruise in Athens. I’m even more excited (I didn’t think that was possible!) now that I’m looking at your pictures and reading about your experiences. 

[kctwinmommy]

23 hours ago, Podgieree said:

Thank you SO much for this very detailed trip report. We are cruising from Athens to Barcelona at the end of December and we’re also doing the 4 day pre-cruise in Athens. I’m even more excited (I didn’t think that was possible!) now that I’m looking at your pictures and reading about your experiences. 

Yay! I'm so glad! It's funny, my husband was kind of like "Ehh... do we really need that extension." But I did rationalize that it seemed like a good bang for the buck type of thing. After we did it, he was 100% in agreement that it was worth it. He doesn't usually rave about things, but he did about that.

[kctwinmommy]

4/24 - Dubrovnik, Croatia -  Walking tour (included) So for this, we knew we wanted to do things on our own, so we did the included walking tour knowing that it offered the option to stay in the city on our own. Viking had a shuttle bus that ran right from outside the city gate back to the ship, I believe it was every 30 minutes. There were 2 other ships in port that day, so it was busy when we got into the Old Town area.

 

One thing we learned, after being in Croatia, then Montenegro, then Croatia again, they all have their own opinion on the wars that were raged between their countries (as well as Serbia). It's sad to see and hear about how much damage was done in the Old Town area too. Our guide was really good about explaining that history. She talked a bit about how things are now, it's a little tense still, and understandable. It wasn't that long ago for many people still alive.

 

We took some time right outside the walls, overlooking the water, to hear about all this, then headed into the city. She took us around the main highlights within the Old Town, pointing out various sights. There are also signs around the area to explain parts of the town that were damaged by the Balkan Wars of the 90's.

 

After about an hour or so of walking with the guide, we were at the Dominican Monastery, which was nice. But, they were calling for some rain in the afternoon and we wanted to walk the city walls. We peeled off from our tour and headed to find tickets. Now, we did have a hard time finding tickets by the Ploce Gate, which was where we were close to. Instead of wasting more time, we knew they sold tickets by the main gate, the Pile Gate. It is off to the side, it's not obvious. The actual ticket office is truly tucked into a corner, so you might have to ask someone for its location.

 

Once you start, there are 2 points were you can exit. Also, there are a few cafes along the way, in case you need to rest and refresh. Oh, and one other thing they don't tell you, they do a ticket check at one of the points as well. Thankfully, my husband didn't just toss our tickets. We didn't rush, but we didn't take forever either. It took us about 90 minutes to walk the whole thing. That's with stopping for photos of course. Plus, they have the path set up to go only one way, which is the best! There are a few points where it's a little narrow, so that's helpful. There are quite a few stairs as well.

 

Afterwards, we grabbed some pizza, again, and of course Gelato, again. LOL! We were able to walk right up and jump on the shuttle bus right before it was ready to leave. We had hoped to do the cable car, if we had time, but it was closed in the afternoon. I read that it can happen depending on weather and winds.

 

This was one of my favorite cities for sure and would love to spend more time here.

 

I guess the Game of Thrones fans know this view.

 

 

Such beautiful views!

 

 

Areas that were damaged

 

 

The Onofrio Fountain, about 600 years old

 

The tree grew through the stone

 

 

The Cathedral of the Assumption of Virgin Mary

 

 

 

 

Inside the  Dominican Monastery

 

 

Vaulted ceilings of the monastery

 

 

Cat on a hot tin roof. LOL!

 

Overlooking Fort Lovrijenac, if we'd had more time we would have gone over there.

 

Walking on the walls

 

 

Another view of the fortress

 

Overlooking Old Town

 

A memorial plaque reminding people to not forget what happened.

 

A map showing areas that were damaged.

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy!!

 

Ugh! Not sure why they rotated this way!!

 

 

Edited May 21 by kctwinmommy

[Podgieree]

3 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

Yay! I'm so glad! It's funny, my husband was kind of like "Ehh... do we really need that extension." But I did rationalize that it seemed like a good bang for the buck type of thing. After we did it, he was 100% in agreement that it was worth it. He doesn't usually rave about things, but he did about that.

That is so great to hear!  We also spending another 3 days in Barcelona at the end of the cruise. I’m sure I’ll have questions for you as the trip gets closer!  We are first time with Viking too. I read your posts about that too. 

[kctwinmommy]

4/25 - Split Croatia - We did the optional Cetina River Cruise and Split Walking Tour. We started with a walking tour in Split, seeing Diocletian's Palace and the old town area. It's really neat, because the palace walls are now all residential areas. People have houses/apartments in all the walls. Our guide was saying that it's not really any more expensive than any other properties in the area. But there are also areas that have artifacts and things to see still.

 

We did about an hour walk through here and she gave us about 20 minutes to walk through the local market that's set up outside. My husband actually got some sugar coated orange and lemon peel, it's a local candy. He actually asked the woman if he could get a mixed bag, and her good sense of humor said yes, she handed him a bag of each and pushed them together! LOL! But, seriously, she said no problem, and took 1/2 from each bag and put them into a new baggie. He said they were good, but sweet. I also was able to pick up a plain white baseball cap, which was good to have later on when I didn't want to wear my fedora hat, it was €10.

 

After leaving Split, we had about a 45 minute bus ride along the coast (beautiful!!). During our drive she explained (again for us) some of the history of Croatia, the wars, and economy. Like we already knew, they rely heavily on tourism, which is why they learn English. Their income isn't the best, but they live good lives. They do have a high income tax too (30-35%). However, if you get good grades, you can go to college for free. Plus, they don't have a homeless population, as the country takes care of people who need help.

 

Once we got to the mouth of the river, we got into 3 boats, about 12 people in each. It was a nice, leisurely trip up the river, about 30 minutes or so. We had a young guy driving our boat, but no commentary or anything. We arrived at the little restaurant and had some meat, cheese, and wine. It had been a water mill in the past, but not anymore. Once lunch was over, the bus came to pick us up and we headed back to Split.

 

The driver headed back to the port, and we walked some to get back into town, they didn't drop us off. We went back through the area we'd been in earlier, in the palace. There's a neat clock tower that we wanted to go up in, so we found the ticket office. Be aware, they were closed when we got there, for their afternoon break. Where in the US we might close around the noon hour for lunch break, places in Europe will have a break closer to 130-2 p.m.

 

We ended up buying the €13 combo ticket to see all 5 of the sights here. This included the bell tower, the baptistry, the mausoleum, the treasury & the cathedral. If you have the time, it's all worth it. The cathedral is regarded as the the oldest Catholic cathedral which remains in use in its original structure, in the entire world. With the mausoleum being the second oldest structure used by any Christian Cathedral. Plus, the view from the top of the bell tower is beautiful.

 

Once again, Croatia is at the top of our list now for favorite countries. I'd love to go back and spend a few days on the coast here.

 

On our walk in the city area, the bell tower.

 

Gorgeous day for our tours. The entrance to the cathedral and bell tower are just to the left, the ticket office is right across from it.

 

 

One of the many cute walkways and alleys.

 

 

You'll find little things like this all over too.

 

 

This is Croatia!! If I showed it to anyone and said it was the Caribbean, nobody would disagree. Just beautiful!

 

 

Riding on the boat up the river. This was a slow ride, nothing strenuous.

 

A wine barrel at the restaurant we had lunch at.

 

An old cross relic, one of many old relics in the baptistry. Some other beautiful pieces in here. It's not a big museum, but worth the time.

 

Cathedral of St. Domnius

 

 

Looking out from the top of the bell tower.

 

 

Our ship in the background there.

 

My husband in the mausoleum.

 

 

After the Diocletian's death, they cut the heads off the Sphinxes out of anger for what he had done, since he brought these statues to the city.

 

 

Gelato, of course!

 

Part of the walls

 

 

A cute city sign for pictures. 😃

Edited May 24 by kctwinmommy

[OneSixtyToOne]

5 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

4/25 - Split Croatia - We did the optional Cetina River Cruise and Split Walking Tour. We started with a walking tour in Split, seeing Diocletian's Palace and the old town area. It's really neat, because the palace walls are now all residential areas. People have houses/apartments in all the walls. Our guide was saying that it's not really any more expensive than any other properties in the area. But there are also areas that have artifacts and things to see still.

 

We did about an hour walk through here and she gave us about 20 minutes to walk through the local market that's set up outside. My husband actually got some sugar coated orange and lemon peel, it's a local candy. He actually asked the woman if he could get a mixed bag, and her good sense of humor said yes, she handed him a bag of each and pushed them together! LOL! But, seriously, she said no problem, and took 1/2 from each bag and put them into a new baggie. He said they were good, but sweet. I also was able to pick up a plain white baseball cap, which was good to have later on when I didn't want to wear my fedora hat, it was €10.

 

After leaving Split, we had about a 45 minute bus ride along the coast (beautiful!!). During our drive she explained (again for us) some of the history of Croatia, the wars, and economy. Like we already knew, they rely heavily on tourism, which is why they learn English. Their income isn't the best, but they live good lives. They do have a high income tax too (30-35%). However, if you get good grades, you can go to college for free. Plus, they don't have a homeless population, as the country takes care of people who need help.

 

Once we got to the mouth of the river, we got into 3 boats, about 12 people in each. It was a nice, leisurely trip up the river, about 30 minutes or so. We had a young guy driving our boat, but no commentary or anything. We arrived at the little restaurant and had some meat, cheese, and wine. It had been a water mill in the past, but not anymore. Once lunch was over, the bus came to pick us up and we headed back to Split.

 

The driver headed back to the port, and we walked some to get back into town, they didn't drop us off. We went back through the area we'd been in earlier, in the palace. There's a neat clock tower that we wanted to go up in, so we found the ticket office. Be aware, they were closed when we got there, for their afternoon break. Where in the US we might close around the noon hour for lunch break, places in Europe will have a break closer to 130-2 p.m.

 

We ended up buying the €13 combo ticket to see all 5 of the sights here. This included the bell tower, the baptistry, the mausoleum, the treasury & the cathedral. If you have the time, it's all worth it. The cathedral is regarded as the the oldest Catholic cathedral which remains in use in its original structure, in the entire world. With the mausoleum being the second oldest structure used by any Christian Cathedral. Plus, the view from the top of the bell tower is beautiful.

 

Once again, Croatia is at the top of our list now for favorite countries. I'd love to go back and spend a few days on the coast here.

 

On our walk in the city area, the bell tower.

 

Gorgeous day for our tours. The entrance to the cathedral and bell tower are just to the left, the ticket office is right across from it.

 

 

One of the many cute walkways and alleys.

 

 

You'll find little things like this all over too.

 

 

This is Croatia!! If I showed it to anyone and said it was the Caribbean, nobody would disagree. Just beautiful!

 

 

Riding on the boat up the river. This was a slow ride, nothing strenuous.

 

A wine barrel at the restaurant we had lunch at.

 

An old cross relic, one of many old relics in the baptistry. Some other beautiful pieces in here. It's not a big museum, but worth the time.

 

Cathedral of St. Domnius

 

 

Looking out from the top of the bell tower.

 

 

Our ship in the background there.

 

My husband in the mausoleum.

 

 

After the Diocletian's death, they cut the heads off the Sphinxes out of anger for what he had done, since he brought these statues to the city.

 

 

Gelato, of course!

 

Part of the walls

 

 

A cute city sign for pictures. 😃

Thanks for the great photos. We were in Split last year right before Easter so the Cathedral and tower were closed.
 

Did you rub the Bishop’s toes for good luck?

[kctwinmommy]

@OneSixtyToOne - my husband did. LOL! I thought I snapped a photo, but oops!

[kctwinmommy]

4/26 - Venice (Day 1) - We did the optional St. Mark's basilica and Doge's Palace. As many people know, you don't dock in Venice anymore. We docked in Chioggia, so it's about 90 minutes away by boat. There is no shuttle boat option. As some may know, our cruise was technically 3 legs out of 4. Each leg is really considered it's own cruise, although we booked all 3 legs at one time, under one title, so we didn't know that Viking did this (had multiple segments of cruises available). But, this means we couldn't book any Venice tours until we got on board in Athens. I'm not sure if the people who got on the week before in Istanbul had a chance before us. All I know is that almost everything was sold out by the time we went that afternoon. It was a little confusing and not a lot of options. 

 

Venice also just started the required pass for each person to have. We were given our ticket, and we had to fill out our initials on it, that we gave to the security when we docked at St. Mark's square area. On the ride over, we heard a lot about the history of Venice and the surrounding islands leading up to. It's a nice ride, not too fast, we had to go slow several times due to other boats and such. There's some really neat, colorful houses on the islands heading over. I recommend picking one side of the boat and sticking with it there and back, so you see different things each time.

 

Once we got to Venice, our Viking guide walked us to St. Mark's square, it's about a 10 minute walk. Then she gave us some pointers and sent us on our own. We had about 75 minutes on our own. We were here on a Friday, and the Pope was coming on Sunday to preside over mass in the square, so it was super busy. There were areas already roped off, stacks of chairs all over to set up, etc... We were going to try and go up in the bell tower, but the line was pretty long and there was no guarantee that we'd be done in time for our tour.

 

So, we booked it over to the Rialto Bridge, it's really a zig-zag walk to get there. But we got a few pics, it was packed of course. Then we wanted to get a piece of pizza. Of course, when we weren't looking, it seemed like there was pizza on every corner, then we couldn't find any. We made a mistake with the place we chose, we should have just walked out, but I was hungry. They had pizzas, but it was also a sit down place. We asked if they had slices to go (like all the other places), they did. And then we watched them heat it up in a microwave. 🫣 🙄 Again, we should have just say no to it. It wasn't very good, of course. But oh well... We did get some Gelato to make up for it later on. LOL!

 

After we got back to the square, our Viking guide handed us off to the woman who was going to be our tour guide for the 2 sights we were seeing. First, we went into St. Mark's. It was pretty busy and a lot of groups were inside. Like I said, with the Pope coming, there were things that were being set up and sections that were closed off. We did a basic tour through there. I wish I had known or planned differently, because it's obvious there are tours that go to the top of the basilica too. Again, because this was a stop that couldn't be booked until we were onboard, it was hard to make plans for it.

 

From there we went to the Doge's Palace. We were waiting in line where the groups enter, and we had to wait for quite a long time. In fact, a tour guide with a small group behind us actually went up to find out what was going on. Turns out, some group ahead of us, dumped their backpacks in the lobby, so security had to deal with that and a guide was trying to clear it out. You do have to go through security here and no large bags are allowed. We eventually made it in and started our tour.

 

It actually wasn't that busy inside, which was nice. It was a little later in the afternoon too. Our guide walked us through the courtyard, then into the palace showing us the major things along the way. Our guide was really good, explaining a lot of the history and background. There are so many great pieces of art and amazing ceilings!! Once we were done, she brought us back to the square and our Viking guide walked us back to our boat.

 

Like I said, there is no shuttle boat to go back and forth on your own. They have a head count of how many go and how many are coming back. Anyone doing things outside of the tours must make arrangements with Viking ahead of time so they can make this work for you. We had a nice ride back to the ship. Oh, and this is one place where we HAD to have our passport with us to get back on the ship. Viking announces this, puts it in the Viking Daily, etc... It was the strictest security we went through.

 

Overall, Venice was a little "meh" for us. I've been before, about 30 years ago. I think the massive crowds have really done a number on it. I know people who stay there, outside of the cruise, say it's much better. But it's not high on my list of any place I want to return to.

 

Coming into Venice

 

Us at the Rialto Bridge

 

 

The clock tower

 

 

Inside St. Mark's

 

Part of the altar in St. Mark's

 

 

More of the ceiling inside St. Mark's

 

More ceiling

 

 

The old gondola at Doge's Palace

 

 

Just an unbelievable ceiling inside the palace

 

 

These rooms are massive, holding a lot of people!

 

 

Looking out the window from the Bridge of Sighs

 

The Bridge of Sighs, where the prisoners would take their last walk before hearing their sentence.

 

 

Looking up at the bell tower in the square.

 

 

One of the many, many canals.

 

Some of the colorful houses on the islands leading to Venice

 

I would actually love to spend a little time on these small islands along the way.

Edited May 26 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

4/27 & 28 - Chioggia port. For the 2nd day we were docked in Chioggia (Venice), we decided to head into Chioggia on our own. Our friends had been in town the day before, they said it was pretty easy to just walk around on your own. We headed over in the afternoon. It's a cute little town, there was a nice market set up as well.

 

We did take the little shuttle bus from the ship that drops you off right outside the port gates. Then it's an easy walk right into town. When you start walking, you get to the first canal, and it was pretty empty. Then we kept walking further and that's where the stuff was all going on. We just basically walked up and down the different streets, crossing over the canals and such.

 

Now, we were feeling a little tired that day, and thought it was just being 2 weeks of on the go. However, the next morning we both felt a little more under the weather. We had plenty of meds in our room, fluids, etc... and just stayed in our cabin. I actually slept from around noon until almost 6 a.m. the next day. I had a horrible migraine, I think the start of a head cold, but I managed to keep it at bay. We both had been using Zicam to help us. My husband did end up with a little cough (it was worse at night, but that only affect me  my sleeping), and meds seemed to help him. Plus, he was not the only one on the ship, that's for sure.

 

We had actually planned to do an included excursion to Venice that day. However, this is where we found 1 problem with Viking. We had changed excursions a few days earlier, so we could do the optional one the day before in Venice, and then have this included one for this day. When we went to cancel this one (we tried doing this on Saturday actually), they told us it was cancelled. So, there was definitely some confusion on our bookings. Yes, at the end of the day, it was fine since we were planning to cancel it, but had we not been, I wouldn't have been too happy.

 

Again, this Sunday that we were down and out, it seemed a lot of people were hanging out that day. Because the Pope was in Venice, a lot of people decided not to go on excursions because so many things were blocked off. We also commented that we see Chioggia growing with what they will offer. If ships continue to dock there, instead of Venice, then they'll start adding more excursions there I'm sure. But as it is, it's a cute town.

 

A wreath left at the memorial

 

 

Crossing over one of the many canals here. They call it a Little Venice

 

Inside on of the cathedrals

 

They have their own famous bridge here too. The Vigo Bridge

 

 

Some of the various buildings around town...

 

 

 

Us over the canal

 

Porthole looking out to the canal

 

A cute sign

 

Canal

 

Italian flag and we saw the EU flag on a lot of the buildings around too.

Edited May 26 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

4/29 - Sibinek - Falconry & Krka National Park (optional)

 

So, after having that migraine and feeling crummy all night, then getting about 16 hours of sleep, I managed to get out of bed and into the shower. Some more meds and that, helped me get back on my feet. And I was so grateful as this was one of the top things I wanted to do on our cruise. In fact, it was the #1 excursion on our list when we were booking.

 

Now, this excursion could be booked from Sibinek or Split, but coming from Split, it's more than 2 hours longer because it's a much longer drive to get to the area. I would recommend taking this from Sibinek if you're able to. The whole trip was just about 5 hours. We also were in 2 groups on small busses this time, so about 12-14 people on each bus.

 

On our drive to the center, our guide (really good) was telling us about things in Croatia. Again, we've certainly heard plenty of history and such, but she had different things to tell us. She was explaining how they recently had elections, but nobody got the 50% needed to win, so there was going to be a run-off. She also said there were a lot of people running. She works in tourism, obviously, but she also works for Booking.com making arrangements for a lot of Americans coming to the area. It was funny too, because she did say that Americans like to push and ask for a supervisor, to get what they want. But it doesn't work like that, she does what she can and a supervisor isn't going to give them something they can't.

 

She was also talking about the politics here. She said she has never declared a political party here. Without that, she could never work in a government job. In fact, you need to know someone, or your name/family needs to be known, to have most of those jobs. She also mentioned she has thoughts on American politics, which she shared only because several of us asked, she didn't just volunteer it. However (and this isn't meant for any arguments here), she said many of them are concerned because the war in Ukraine is only 500 km. away, and the war in Israeli isn't that much further. She said that our current president isn't doing enough and that many of them would like to see Trump in office to really brings things to an end. Again, please don't take my post and run off on a tangent with it ~ she was just sharing her opinion and many of her friends/family members.

 

We got to the falconry center first. It's very small and I now know why I couldn't find any independent tours here. It's kind of an off the beaten path type place. The gentleman who gave us the presentation has worked here for many years and works with all the birds. I asked how many they keep here and he said as few as possible, they're goal is always to rehab and return to the wild. Part of the reason is because if people think "Oh, oops, I hurt a bird, but the center will just take care of them and keep them forever," then people will be even more careless about their actions related to these birds.

 

He started with an owl, so beautiful. Learned quite a bit about them as well. Then he brought out one of the hawks. One woman in the group went up first to feed the hawk a small chick. He asked for another and I went up. Now, my mistake, but I didn't hold the chick tight enough, so the hawk actually grabbed it from my hand and flew off with it. Kinda sucked for me, but it showed what these birds do and how they are still a wild animal. He had to wait for it to finish eating, and it took a little time, before he could get it to return.

I highly recommend volunteering if you can. And if not, you'll get a little free time to walk around. All the birds they do keep here (about 6-8) are tethered to areas in the back and you can walk around. These are all birds that aren't safe to return to the wild anymore. If he has a bird out on his hand, definitely ask to take a picture with it.

 

We left here and headed over to Krka Park. We were here on a Monday and it was still pretty busy. Our guide opted to have us walk the trails in a somewhat opposite direction because it was going to get warmer that day. This would put us in the shady area for the back half of our walk. There are a few sets of stairs to go up and down, so be aware. It's about an hour or so hike/walk along the trails. We saw the couple of historical houses/museums they have at the beginning as well. Plus, about half way through, there was a cafe that we stopped at to have an included lunch (prosciutto & cheese, and local beer). There are also a few little local vendors at one point where you can buy some little local products and have some samples.

 

Our guide kept us moving, but not rushed, plenty of time to stop for photos. I mean, we had a woman, on the younger side (for being a Viking cruise) who had injured her foot the week before (they had just gotten on the ship 2 days earlier), and she was in a walking boot. She said she was in pain, no doubt, but she was still able to walk the entire thing. I would definitely bring walking sticks if you like them and use them.

 

The entire park was a really nice walk. There were a lot of people there, but not super crowded. Many people bring their dogs to walk. They also bring picnic lunches to stop along the way and have a nice break.

 

Once we were done, we headed back to Sibinek. She had the bus drop her, and anyone who wanted to, off in the main city. I was tired by then, still getting back on my feet, so I went back to the ship. My husband got off and walked around town for a little bit.

 

That evening we had our appointment with the travel booking guy on board. We already knew what we wanted, so he just pulled it all up to show us room options. We're doing the W. Indies in 2025, with the $25 deposit for now and then out final payment isn't due until April, 2025. We earned discounts on that cruise, plus the $100/person OBC for our current cruise. This is also why we didn't pay our gratuities up front, because this $200 went towards that.

 

We went to the trivia that night (which I do wish they offered more than once/week). The questions are very basic, just general trivia. We ended up in a tie and then won it on the tiebreaker (How many countries are there in the world?) And the reason I came within 3 for my answer is because I'd been reading travel articles over the past several months, and there were a few about people completing their goal of traveling to all the countries in the world after Covid precautions have ended. We got a glass of champagne. 😃 

 

Me, up with the guy who took care of the birds.

 

 

Beautiful owl

 

One of the hawks

 

 

The falls at Krka

 

 

Just a gorgeous day for us!

 

And it's surprisingly peaceful along the way, a lot of nature.

 

It was fun watching the frogs, even if my husband made fun of me. LOL!

 

Yep, bird on my head!

 

Looking down from the falls.

 

Us in front of the falls

Edited May 29 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

4/30 - Bari - The optional Castellana Caves & Polignano a Mare excursion.

 

This was another optional excursion, starting with a bus ride to the caves. It was maybe 30 minutes or so. The bus actually dropped us off about a block or two away, as the entrance to the caves is kind of a smaller, residential street. As usual, the street had a lot of uneven and old cobblestones.

 

Now, when we got here, it was busy already. It was actually filled with kid groups on field trips. We had been told that our entrance time to the caves was set, so we needed to be ready. However, some people needed to use the bathroom. So, they had to head downstairs for this, only to find out they needed coins. A few people had to come back up to get some from someone and by the time they went back down, there were a LOT of kids down there. We almost had one person miss the tour because it was taking so long.

 

Eventually our group headed down the stairs to enter into the caves. The initial entrance area is the one spot you can take pictures. I'm honestly not sure why they say no pictures in the rest of it. We had a guide from the sight with our group, but I didn't even know she was with us until about 10 minutes after we started. She would use a flashlight to point things out that our guide was talking about. And, she would stop people from taking photos.

 

It gets a little tight in a few spots, and very slippery. We had a woman, who had just had knee surgery, fall early on. She was going to go back up, but then decided to keep on going. This is one tour that I would say people need to be realistic on their abilities and limitations. Several people were using walking sticks and they were still slipping. They did add some sort of rougher, non-slip type material in certain areas, but it's not 100% non-slip.

 

The other unfortunate thing was the number of kids and their chaperones not really keeping better control. They time the entrances so that groups are spread out with some space, to keep people safe. However, the kids were constantly rushing ahead, and right on top of our group. And yes, I get it, they're kids, but they were so loud at times it was hard to hear our guides.

 

Even still, the caves were pretty neat. She talked about the history and such and how they're still exploring areas of it. Looking back, I'm not sure that this is an excursion I'd totally recommend. Again, it was nice, but nothing super exciting. Oh, the one good part was they do have an elevator to exit the caves, so you don't have to climb the stairs to get out. LOL!

 

After we left there, we headed over to Polignano a Mare. We didn't really know much about this city, but just so cute. I really wish we'd had more time here instead. The big bus parked in a larger parking lot, then our group used 2 smaller, shuttle busses to get into the city. Our guide gave us some tips and directions, then gave up about 80 minutes on our own. The town was pretty busy, lots going on, so off we went. We wanted to grab some pizza, ended up with little panzarotti that was amazing! Then walked over to the coast to see the views, also amazing. But we didn't have enough time to really explore or walk around the older area.

 

I would probably consider other options for Bari instead of this excursion. The town was really nice and it would have been better to spend time here. But the caves weren't that exciting. Oh yes, and the town is popular because the man who wrote the song Volare, Domenico Modugno, was born here.

 

The main entrance into the caves

 

 

Part of the initial entrance, with the sunlight coming in

 

They call this the camel, for obvious reasons. I had to sneak this, and a few other, pictures. As did many others in our group. 😉

 

 

Neat little street in Polignano a Mare

 

 

The statue of Domenico Modugno, many people were taking photos with it.

 

Us 😃 

 

 

There was this beautiful view down by the sea.

 

 

 

 

We didn't get time to head down there, but it was pretty popular this day.

Edited June 1 by kctwinmommy

[kctwinmommy]

5/1 - Crotone - Crotone on your own - and this was a very accurate description. This is a very much "on your own" tour. And it was our least favorite for sure. We happened to be here on May Day as well, which meant that a lot of things were closed and the town was very quiet.

 

We had a short bus ride (in fact we walked back when we were done, it was quite easy) to get into town. Once we got there, they gave us a map and 3 tickets for each person. The map was to guide you along a route to see different "performers" at various sights.

 

The first stop was at a church where he was giving some history. This is when we realized what this was going to be like. It was totally on your own, at your own pace, so you might come in the middle of their "performance" or the end, or anything in between. This first stop was also when we used our first ticket, for a slushy type drink. They had a lemon one, and a red, maybe strawberry (?) one. We did go inside the church for a bit, but were being respectful. As it was May Day, so there were residents coming in to leave small offerings such as flowers.

 

After we had enough there, we walked on to the next stop. We ran into our friends here, they had left on an earlier tour group. They told us about the museum that we got to, it wasn't much at all. It was a bunch of artifacts, pottery pieces, statues, etc... and 95% of it was written in only Italian. At this point, I was done with museums and such, just not interested. You use your 2nd ticket here. It's also limited in the number of people at one time due to its size.

 

We continued on with our friends and walked through the lower area of the castle that's there. There's a walkway that goes through the ground floor area. In this spot, there were 2 more actors giving little speeches (role playing basically) about their characters. Now, the man who was portraying Pythagoras was pretty good, had a nice sense of humor, so he was at least entertaining.

 

From here we came out of the castle and into a pretty garden area, it overlooked the port where our ship was docked. There was a nice little band playing, they were good. This is also where we used our 3rd ticket. They gave us a small, pastry type item (figs, raisins, etc...). I didn't eat it, but people said it was pretty good. We hung out here for a little while.

 

Afterwards, most people were heading back to the ship. We decided to walk around a little more. However, like I said, everything was pretty much closed and there were very few people out and about. We wandered up the road, heading up to the castle entrance. There were a few people at the entrance who were volunteers working at the sight. It was €2 to go in. There's not a lot to walk around, but we spent about 45 minutes there, and it offers nice views.

 

We decided there wasn't much left to do, so headed back to the ship. We actually heard another passenger complaining to the cruise director that getting back to the ship wasn't very clear. Especially for some of the less mobile passengers. The town is small, yes, but very winding and confusing. We got lost, then found, then lost, then on our way. LOL! But not a big deal for us. But for some passengers, this wasn't what they expected. It was definitely not what I would expect from Viking.

 

I would definitely NOT recommend this tour, I would totally look at taking an optional tour to do something else in this area.

 

The cathedral in Piazza Duomo

 

 

With our friends in the garden

 

We were laughing at the car just parked at the front door.

 

Beautiful flowers growing up the walls outside the castle

 

Looking out at the city from the Charles V Castle

 

Overlooking our ship in the port

 

 

Every little street and path was pretty much empty like this.

 

 

A WWI monument for the town. It listed what I assume were all the casualties from the town.

 

Close up of the angel and soldier

Edited June 4 by kctwinmommy

[Sleep7]

👋Hi kctwinmommy!

I haven't looked on the Viking Ocean board for a while so I am just now seeing your wonderful review.  Great pix and great commentary.. thanks for taking us along with you!👏

[kctwinmommy]

@Sleep7 - thank you! I hope it helps someone at least. I know people are often asking about excursions and what it's like. I tried to keep track of things, like bus times and any difficulties, as that's commonly asked. I did keep a journal that I wrote in as well, so I could remember things. LOL!

[kctwinmommy]

5/2 - Sicily - On Top of Mt. Etna (optional tour)

 

I was really looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint. Other than my slightly poor planning clothes wise, but oh well, LOL! We started with our guide Nunzia and he was great. I could tell he was going to be a good guide and he totally was. He was engaging and funny, which helps when you have a longer bus ride.

 

The ride to get to the tour was about an hour and 45 minutes. He talked a lot about the history of Sicily, the whole Mafia thing, and about when the French took over in the area. At the time, the Sicilians had a word (chicherey ~ sp?) that if they asked a suspected Frenchman to say, they just couldn't pronounce it properly. This was how a Sicilian could identify their enemy. Our guide also had a slight disdain for the French. LOL! But all in good fun. 😉 It was interesting though because a woman on our tour said the same thing is true with Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainians have a word that the Russians can't pronounce properly.

 

On our drive, we did have a quick 10 minute stop at a station on the side of the highway. We've discovered this is very common throughout our trip, to have these large gas stations that the buses can easily pull off in. It gives a quick bathroom break, as well as if anyone needs a little drink or snack. This was also a chance to see Mt. Etna from a distance to get some photos.

 

As we headed up the mountain, which is a lot of those back & forth roads, he explained more about the volcano. The entire area up this mountain is a refuge area, with several shops and cafes, along with tour operators. There are 4 craters that are still able to be active. There are also about 300 lateral craters. These are ones that open, blow something out, then seal shut. They don't reopen. Mother Nature finds it easier to blow open a new hole on the mountain when it's erupting. The material that seals the holes shut is so much stronger than the normal mountain area.

 

Once we hit the main tourist area, we had a little time to shop and use the bathroom again. Some people opted to purchase some clothing items here (sweatshirts, jackets), but they also rent jackets too. As well as socks and shoes, which was kind of neat. Nunzia got our tickets for the trip up, which is in stages. It was pretty busy this day, so it was a little chaotic. He was trying to keep our group together, and some people thought we were trying to cut, but we were trying to explain that we were a group with a leader. It's a lot of people eventually trying to funnel into one line.

 

We got into a cable car, it holds 6 people. It's a really neat, although a little teeth clenching for some, ride up the mountain. It takes about 10 minutes, although we also had to stop for a minute or two. Once you get to this next level, you transfer to these large, rugged 4x4 trucks! They hold about 20 people and they take you to the top. It's a pretty rough interior, so be prepared, it's not a cushy ride. The drive up is also about 10-15 minutes.

 

The interesting thing about the trip up is how many people we saw walking/hiking all over. There aren't exact paths our routes, so people were kind of random. I did wonder how they confirm that everyone is off the mountain at the end of the day. I was also surprised at the variety of outfits I saw. Yes, I wish I had worn slightly warmer pants, I still had quite a bit for my upper half. We saw women walking with large purses, like ones I'd usually carry to go to the mall. And people in very simple shoes.

 

Once we got to the top, it was time to hike! We had a guide from the site join our group and he gave us some of the details about the top. We were very lucky as it was a sunny day so we got to see the top. Even with the clouds that were floating by us. It was very chilly up there, well, let's be real, it was cold! We did about a 20 minute hike uphill to get to one of the ridges, then went back. We had a few people who didn't want to walk, so they were able to get back on one of the trucks and head back to that middle level. So you don't need to be in a specific one, it's basically like a shuttle truck service. Nunzia just asked that they wait at that level for the rest of us.

 

My husband wanted to walk up and around another ridge, but our guide said no. He kind of wishes he'd just gone instead of asking. But oh well. It truly was like being on Mars, or at least what I'd imagine it to be like. It was just amazing to be up there, 9,000 feet above sea level.

 

One piece of advice, that he didn't tell us in the beginning, keep your ticket with you! They will scan it at each point. When you get on the cable car going up, the truck to go up, and then again when you get on the cable car to go back down. At that point, the machine actually just keeps your ticket (it's a self-scan turnstile). So don't throw it away!

 

Once we got back to the main refuge area, we had some time on our own. Most of us went to the same little restaurant to grab some lunch. It's another place, like others we've been to, that seem to offer a bunch of different things. Some things they have in the case to heat up, others they make in the kitchen. We once again, had some pizza!

 

On the ride back he played a video that showed about Mt. Etna's eruptions, the way it occurred, and some of the ways they're trying to prevent lava flow for in the future. Everyone was tired, so it was good to have some mostly quiet time, not him talking and such.

 

I would absolutely recommend this excursion, if you're physically capable. Be realistic about it too, it is demanding. A lot of walking, climbing, and being on uncomfortable things.

 

 

Us on Mars, I mean Mt. Etna

 

 

One of the craters

 

 

Yep, I was cold. LOL! I was grateful for the sunshine at least.

 

 

Looking down the mountain

 

 

Riding up in the cable car, and yes, they will sway a little bit.

 

 

The very top peak

 

 

That's what the trucks look like (the bigger one)

 

 

A couple of videos on what it sounded like at the top!

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:08 PM by kctwinmommy

[FetaCheese]

@kctwinmommy

Very much enjoying your writing style, and your detailed descriptions.  Thanks.

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

@kctwinmommy

Very much enjoying your writing style, and your detailed descriptions.  Thanks.

Thanks! I don't have the most creative or funniest of storytelling skills (my husband is much better at that! LOL!), but I tried to keep it detailed and with information that I think will help others. 🥰

[Adventurers-SC]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:55 PM, kctwinmommy said:

Now, this excursion could be booked from Sibinek or Split, but coming from Split, it's more than 2 hours longer because it's a much longer drive to get to the area. I would recommend taking this from Sibinek if you're able to.

Wow, thank you so much for this info!  We are boarding Jupiter in Istanbul in just over two weeks, and are following this route to Rome. For some reason, we booked the Krka Waterfalls excursion from Split (a 2 hour round trip away) and the Split tour out of Sibenik (the same two hour round trip in the opposite direction).  I was able to rebook Krka out of Sibenik ( a short drive) and Split Walking tour (a walk from the dock), this saving a lot of bus time, yet really seeing the same sights. Unless, of course, the long bus ride is bucket list don’t miss spectacular 😉  

[kctwinmommy]

@Adventurers-SC - That's great! Glad it helped! In Split we did a walking tour, then went out to the Cetina River for a nice little ride on the water. While the view along the sea is pretty, it's not necessary. We loved walking around in Split too, we did some on our own after coming back from our tour. Diocletian's Palace is just so neat, the way it's used for current living arrangements.