Zadar, Croatia

Last evening we attended a theatre performance by Juliette Primrose, a New Zealand violinist who played with Michael Flatley (Riverdance) and has an amazing repertoire. 

Juliette Primrose

An overnight sail brought us to the interesting port of Zadar, an area of the Adriatic Coast that has been conquered many times over. It has an fascinating history, from the Neolithic era, through the Romans and beyond. 

Our crew took a taxi from the port to the walls of old city to explore. After a leisurely walk through shiny cobblestone streets we made it to the ocean walkway and the sea organ, which is a construction of stairs that sounds like an organ playing with the motion of the water trapping air under the stairs. Beside the sea organ is a huge sun energy storage structure. This provides an amazing solar powered light show at night which we won't see this time but did see on our previous visit.

Sea organ and sun energy storage

We checked out old church ruins and then so the teens weren't too bored went into the Museum of Illusions. 

We managed to find a shaded grassy park to walk through and rest from the heat. On the way back to meet the Uber the kids were thrilled to come across a candy store. The gummy bears were the size of Doug's hand!

Also included in the pictures is grandmas attempt at a selfie with Ciaran. Got lots of laughs from the gang.

It was a very hot walk but good to explore together.

Explorers

Norma and Ciaran

Gianna and Ciaran

Catholic church

This afternoon we set sail for Split, Croatia. Don't say it. Don't! Yep, we really are splitting for Split . . .

Dubrovnik and Beyond

 This  afternoon we left the picturesque city of Dubrovnik and set sail toward Zadar, Croatia. We spent the day lounging about in the ship while the rest of the family members were more energetic and explored more of the area (keep in mind we have been here before).

Dubrovnik shore

It is interesting to watch other ships pass by coming and going out of the harbour. A particularly interesting navy vessel passed by with some very bored seamen, probably wishing they were aboard our ship.

Navy ship

Bored Seamen

We participated in a couple of trivial pursuit games today. Norma and I came in second by ourselves in the morning and with the rest of the family (especially Stefanie, see below photos for the family crew) we won the afternoon session.

Trivia champions

Trivia prizes

Stef, Bruce and Paula

Steve, Ciaran and Gianna

In Dubrovnik, Croatia

After a leisurely sail from Trieste we docked in Dubrovnik at 0800. We then went on our first cruise excursion. This involved a bus ride to the walled city of Ston from Dubrovnik via a cable stayed bridge. Norma immediately recognized it as a route we had travelled by motorcycle in 2017. Many of the little villages we passed through also looked familiar to her. Doug was busy as motorcycle pilot and tended to miss a lot that wasn't in front, on the roadway.

As well as being known for it's salt production, the city of Ston is famous for its fortification wall, built in the 1300s. Norma toughed out the very high humidity and temperatures to walk a steep part of it along with the guide and 7 other people on the tour. Doug and three others chose to skip the walk. Thankfully Doug was waiting at the end with cold water!

Ston umbrellas

The Ston wall

Tour guide

After that we went via boat to an oyster farm where we had a tour and sampled delicious fresh oysters  and mussels with wine!

Oyster culture demo

                        The last part of the tour involved a seafood lunch in a 600 year old restaurant.

                          An entertaining and delicious day. Norma even tried  a raw oyster! She says the first                                and most likely the last for her! Note from Doug: they were delicious. . .

Ston from the water

                                          

Slowly Sailing to Dubrovnik

Today we have a day at sea. No shore walks or excursions as we make out way toward the Croatian coast. Last evening we attended Jeff Green's enjoyable comedy show in the theatre. After that we went to a dance/sing-a-long featuring ABBA music. The teens in our group had a great time. They both have met several other young people and meet up with them at every opportunity. 

Waiting for the comedy show to begin

Today we wandered about the ship checking out the various functions and services available. Since we have been on several cruises before it is interesting to compare and contrast the cruise lines and the ships we have been on. The Celebrity Constellation's lay out is quite similar to the Viking Sea  we were on a year or so ago. We will have more comments later on in the cruise.

Casino

Buffet

Feature wall

Art show

The Grand Staircase - found in all cruise ships?

There is a phone app which allows us to be in contact with the other family members on the ship allowing us to locate them and easily meet for meals, functions, etc. In the old days we had a walkie-talkie to serve that purpose!

So as we float along the Adriatic at an almost walking speed we save a lot of money in port dockage fees which we understand are very expensive. The waters are calm today.

Trieste, Italy

While still sort of recovering from the trip to Venice we sailed to Trieste overnight. We disembarked this morning for a walk around town and to do a bit of shopping. We were met by Italian WWI hero - Nazario Sauro. Google him for a sad story. 

The Port of Trieste seems much less touristy than most of the cruise ship ports we have been at in the past. It seem to have it's own work to do. Its history is very interesting, having been a political football bouncing from country to country during the 20th century.

On the way out Norma took an interesting photo showing a strange anchored vessel near the Trieste marina, its sail masts framing The Temple of Mother Mary on the hill above Trieste.

                                                                          Nazario Sauro              

                                                                    Port of Trieste

Treiste Theatre

Strange ship with temple in background

Somewhere in the Adriatic Ocean

After 17 hours plane and bus travel we finally boarded the Celebrity Constellation near Venice, Italy at 4:30 pm local time. Tonight we are off to Trieste!

As we view  the sun going down through sleep deprived eyes we take comfort in the fact that this ship has many lifeboats available should we manage to run afoul of a drilling rig or some other obstruction.