To celebrate my 60^th birthday (and Cathy’s 63^rd), we rebooked a Viking ocean cruise that we had originally scheduled in 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid. Brock, Denise, Tom, and Nancy join us this time. We planned to meet the Viking Star ocean cruise ship near Venice, Italy, travel down the Adriatic Sea to Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and then a few stops in Greece and then a brief post-cruise stay on the small Greek Island, Hydra, before coming home.

Brock is based in Arizona, so the five of us left Bath early on April 7 for the Logan Park and Ride. After driving through a fast-moving blizzard I navigated to the Chelsea Park and Ride, instead of our reservation at the Revere Park and Ride, it was a great start to our vacation (we made our plane in plenty of time).

Wednesday April 8

We flew overnight, arrived in Venice, cleared customs, and made it to our hotel by 10 am. The Arlecchino Hotel is conveniently located near Piazzale Roma where cars and buses terminate in Venice. Fortunately, our rooms were ready, so we showered and freshened up before our Venice walkabout.

Day 1 was an exhausting 19,000 step day exploring Venice. Cathy and I visited Venice in 1992 while we were dating, one of the highlights of that trip was a hunt for a spiral staircase we saw on a postcard. It took us hours to find it before google maps, with google maps it was still hard to find, but we finally did find it again. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo was built as a residence in the 15^th century. This time we were able to walk up the stairs for a rooftop view of Venice.

We hiked across Venice to Piazza San Marco for restorative beverages, passed by the Bridge of Sighs, and unfurled a Hearts of Pine scarf for a photo on one of Venice’s bridges because we were missing the home opener back in Maine. The rest of the group retired around 7pm but I stayed out a little longer looking for another sketch.

Thursday April 9

After breakfast, and a hat shop purchase for me, we hired a taxi to take us to the port of Fusina to meet our Viking ship. The obvious difference between this ocean ship and the river boats we have been on is the size, 900 passengers vs 190 passengers. What the ocean ship lacks in “intimacy” it makes up in diversity. There are more places to relax, eat, drink, and socialize. The state rooms are similar, and most have balconies.  Although the balconies were great, we don’t end up hanging out in our rooms much.

Aboard the ship there were two specialty restaurants that required reservations. The first night we celebrated my birthday at the Chef’s Table, which was Asian inspired. Tonight’s birthday dinner was Asian inspired. It was very good but don’t ask me what we ate because I’m not sure.

Friday April 10

Celebrating my 60^th in Slovenia turned out to be a great idea. After docking in Koper, an hour long bus ride delivered us to Predjama Castle, the largest castle in the work built into a cave. The original castle was built in the 13^th century and over time became the seat of the Knight Erasmus of Lueg. It was an amazing structure built into a cave with secret passageways and a clever water collection system.

We then toured the Postojna Cave, which is either the largest or second largest cave system in Europe. It was created by the Pivka River and is 24 km long. Beyond description, the photos do not do it justice, we started on a small train for 20 minutes and then walked for about an hour before taking the train back, marveling at stalactites and stalagmites and amazed at the size of this cave.

Back on-board Brock and I enjoyed an interesting history talk on the Venetian empire by the ship’s historian, Dr Lorrie Wenzel. Every night there were presentations by guest lecturers or historians, as well as musical entertainment. We found our happy place at “The Restaurant,” one of the other nice, non-buffet. We met a waiter, Thanh, from Vietnam, who quickly became our favorite and the host makes sure to seat us at his table the entire cruise.

Viking then left a birthday cake and bottle of champagne in our room. Happy 60!

Saturday April 11

We began Saturday with a walking tour of Zadar, Croatia. Croatia has been ruled by many nations, but it is now independent. This small city has 18 churches, as well as Roman ruins. Unfortunately, much of it was bombed by the allies in WWII.

The Sea Organ was quiet in the morning, which is a musical instrument powered by the waves. I forgot to walk by in the afternoon so I did not hear it, although everyone else thought it sounded like whales. After we toured the city we found a nice lunch spot, and while I walked around finding some sketches the rest boarded the ship to enjoy a relaxing afternoon of ship amenities.

Sunday April 12

A short bus ride from our port took us to the 12^th-century medieval streets of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Passing through the Pile Gate, one of the few entrances through this walled city, one can eastly picture themselves back in time wandering through the narrow alleys with stone-walled buildings. Sadley, this beautiful city was bombarded in 1991 by the Yougoslav People’s Army during the Siege of Dubrovnik. Many buildings were destroyed and most were affected by the bombings. Other than different color clay roofs, it’s hard to notice old from new.

It was a beautiful weather day, and after the tour we paid 40€ to circumnavigate the city wall. Well worth it, the views from the wall surrounding the city were incredible. We also climbed the opposite hillside to the Lovrjenac Fortress for more spectacular views.

After a few more sketches and the short bus ride everyone was back on board for dinks and dinner.

Monday April 13

We docked at one of the Adriatic’s best-preserved medieval Old Town’s of Kotor, Montenegro, with a very large mountain range in the background. After touring the city and maritime museum, Tom and I hiked up to the Church of Our Lady of Health for better views of the town.

The Venetians built the town walls in 1420. The narrow streets and red roofs were quite charming, but the giant mountains and fjord surrounding the town wall take your breath away. I sketched a few buildings around town and met everyone back on board.

Tuesday April 14

The seas were a little rough overnight, not terrible but noticeable.  A short bus ride from port took us to Corfu, Greece. The Venetians also shaped this city, which has one of Europe’s largest public squares. We walked down a promenade, once reserved for aristocrats, built by Napolean.

We found a nice restaurant just off the main drag and sampled Ouzo for the first time. It would become a tradition on this trip and by the time we left Greece our taste buds began to believe it was not that bad. Many of the narrow streets had some nice shops and the women went shopping while Tom and I toured the fortress and climbed up to the lighthouse.  Brock went back to the ship to work as he has a big deadline.

Wednesday April 15

The small port of Katakalom, Greece, was once an industrial port, but now hosts cruise ships and passengers destined for Olympia. About an hour from port, we visited the birthplace of the Olympics. Starting in 776 BC every 4 years the Olympics were held here until AD 393. Winners of events would be given cheesecake and an oak laurel wreath. The losers would sometimes be killed when they arrived home.

The Olumpic ruins were fun to explore. A mostly a religious festival, the only monument dedicated to a human was the Philippeon temple, dedicated to Alexander the Great. The Temple of Hera is where the torch for the modern games is now lit. The Temple of Zeus, a doric column temple, built to honor the King of Gods, one time housed the ivory and gold statue of Zeus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Thursday April 16

We celebrated Cathy’s birthday in Santorini, Greece, among the wind and clouds. At one time these white cave houses built onto the cliffs were homes for the poor. Not today, though, these cave homes are now expensive.

We started at the northern tip of the island in Oia, and after snacking on Greek donuts, we toured the capital town of Fira for more cave homes, blue-roofed churches, and shopping. We took a steep cable car down the mountain for our tender to the ship.

We celebrated Cathy’s birthday at Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant on board. We were so full of dessert that Viking left us 2 bottles of champagne instead of birthday cake.

Friday April 17

The destination of the Viking Star ship was the port of Piraeus, about 10 km from the center of Athens. We took a bus for our walking tour of the old district of Plaka, at the foot of the Acropolis. We had lunch on the famous and picturesque steps in Plaka; more Ouzo please. We then hiked up to the Acropolis to tour the ancient ruins. We entered through Propyla and were rewarded with our first view of the Parthenon. We could see down to the Temple of Dionysis amphitheater and found an overlook to all of Athens. I sketched the Erechtheum Temple before leaving the Acropolis. Denise and Brock went back to the ship while Tom, Nancy, Cathy, and I searched for an extra bag to carry our souvenirs.

Our last dinner on the ship was with our favorite waiter, Thanh, who we considered taking home with us. We ended the evening with a nightcap and more laughter.

Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19

They kicked us out! Sadly, we disembarked the Viking Star, and although Brock needed to leave for work back in the US, the rest of us ferried to the Greek Island, Hydra. We found a taxi that could take the five of us, and we kept his contact information so we could schedule other trips with him when we were back in Athens. Securing transportation took a lot of stress out of traveling the city.

A 90 minute ferry on Alpha Line took us to the beautiful port of Hydra, a city that does not allow cars, nor could they fit in the narrow streets and alleys. To move goods and materials around they use donkeys. The town is, of course, built on the sides of the surrounding hills.

There are steps in this town, and a lot of them. Our VRBO was perfect, 3 bedrooms, stocked kitchen, beautiful patio and decks, and convenient to the port and shops with only a few steps. We spent a couple of nights here exploring the town, walking along the water’s edge road, and finding fun restaurants and restorative beverages. Sketches were easy to find here. We split up at times; Cathy was in the middle of rehearsals for “Over the River” so she had to study lines while I enjoyed roaming and finding places to sit and sketch the architecture.

On the way to one of our best dinners during vacation, I lead us to Leonard Cohen’s former home, tucked away and up many steps. After a few wrong turns I got a picture in front of his house where he wrote some of his best music. It’s still a private house in the Cohen family, so we were discreet. Our dinner at Omilos Restaurant might have been my favorite meal of the trip, grouper in an olive oil, butter, and lemon sauce.

Monday April 20

We took a late morning ferry back to Athens, where our taxi driver, Mr Kostas, was waiting for us to take us to our Air BnB in the Plaka district. It was another convenient, albeit quirky, apartment with a patio overlooking the Acropolis.

We had a very fun lunch at the Pandrosou Garden Restaurant where our bartender befriended Tom and fed us more Ouzo. We explored some more and I helped Tom and Nancy each buy a hat. We also found an art store where we bought some street art.

We snacked, played some cards and pigs, and retired for the evening. Our taxi was waiting for us in the morning to take us to the airport. The flight home was long, but at least it was direct to Logan. It was an easy transfer to our car and then that dreaded drive home to bed.

It was an enjoyable and memorable vacation with lots of laughs and great friends. We are going to greatly miss the weather, but I think all of us were ready to come home.