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John TreasureJohn Treasure
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traveled in 7 countries Read more
  • TravelerEUROPE
    1
    Day 30

    Days 25 - 28

    September 17, 2023, Ionian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Day 25 - In the morning we took a tour of the main square of Split, Croatia. This was followed by a bus tour to Stella Croatica where we toured their organic farm, olive museum, factories, retail store and restaurant. The family was growing figs, olives and grapes and producing olive oil in a separate location. The younger daughter wanted to put a modern twist on the business. She created Stella Croatica. The retail outlet has their award winning olive oil, personal care and lavender products, cakes, tapenades, traditional sweets, liquors etc. We then were shown how to make pesto using collard greens. A lunch of tapenade, the above pesto pasta and cake was included. A fantastic place to visit.

    Day 26 - We docked in Hvar, Croatia and then took a bus to the Hora family farm followed for brunch by a visit to the nearby town of Starigrad. This has been our most disappointing excursion to date. This is a traditional family farm which we found untidy. The brunch was average and the small shop unkempt.

    Day 27 - A car tour of Dubrovnik, Croatia followed by a walking tour of the city. Our guide who is 31 years old was born in the basement of the hospital and spent her first 3 years living in the basement of her home during the war years.

    Day 27 - We had organised a tuk tuk ride around Kotor. Our tour guide said it was one of the 25 most beautiful bays in the world. The driver took us up a higher road so we get a really good view of the bay. At night we went to see the band play. We got there a little early. When they started playing we were the only ones in the caberet lounge so it felt like a private performance.

    Day 28 - At sea for the day.

    Photos 1 - 3 Split tour of old town
    Video 1 - Arriving in Split
    Photo 4 on the way to Stella Croatica
    Photos 5 - 7 - Stella Croatica including pesto making class and lunch
    Photos 8 - 10 Buffet dinner on Azamara cruise ship
    Photo 11 - Brunch at Hora family farm
    Photos 12 - 14 Dubrovnik
    Photo 15 - Azamara Ahmazing evening - a concert featuring traditional dancing and singing in a fortress in Dubrovnik
    Video 2 - Azamara Ahmazing evening
    Photos 16 - 19 - Kotor, Montenagro    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    11
    Day 25

    Days 22, 23 and 24

    September 12, 2023, Adriatic Sea ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Day 22 - Firstly congratulations to our son-in-law Daniel who played his last competitve game of soccer last Saturday in the semi-finals. From playing in Toowoomba to the AIS, youth Roar, Gold Coast United, Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar to finally Brisbane City which he captained. As a little boy Daniel always wanted to play for the Brisbane Roar and he made that dream come true. If I remember correctly he captained the Under 21 Australian team. Despite having his share of injuries he fought his way back. Congratulations Daniel on a fantastic career doing what you loved and now lets watch Leo who loves the game too.

    Day 22 - we caught the train from Verona to Venice and then a taxi to the Azamara cruise ship. Its a magnificent ship with 600 passengers on board. There was no waiting to get on, they seemed to be able to handle the groups as they arrived. We are sailing from Venice to Athens.

    Day 23 - a tuk tuk tour around the new part of the city of Zadar, Croatia. This was followed by a walking tour through the old part of the city. The sphinx (human head and hands and lion body) is believed to be a monument to Giovanni Smirich's wife. Our guide for the walking tour was a very passionate young local who appears to live and breathe the city. He took us into the backyard of his own home to show us the approximately 400 year old well. A highlight of Zadar is the sea organ. It is a set of pipes and whistles set within perforated stone stairs. When the sea pushes air through them wistful sighs can be heard. Its a specutacular place to sit and listen.

    Day 24 - this morning we docked in Sibenik, Croatia. From there we took a bus trip (following the coastline) to Trogir. The bays have beautiful settlements from the sea up the hills. Many families have boats. The main attraction is the Cathedral of St Lawrence, on which work started in 1213. There's quite a lot of olive groves and vineyards in some very stoney country. Trogir is a UNESCO site.

    Photo 1 - Azamara Onward
    Video 1 and Photo 2 - Leaving Venice
    Photo 3 - View from Verandah restaurant arriving in Zadar
    Photo 4 - 1 tuk tuk ride around new Zadar
    Video 2 - Zadar
    Photo 5 - Zadar arts and crafts
    Photo 6- 1 original gate into old Zadar
    Photo 7 - sphinx
    Photo 8 - leaving Zadar - people listening to the sea organ
    Photo - 9 - arriving Sibinek
    Photos - 10, 11 and 12 - Trogir
    Photo 13 - sunset leaving Sibinek    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 20

    Day 19, 20 and 21

    September 7, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Day 19 - A fantastic day spent touring the southern section of Lake Garde at the foot of the Dolomite Mountains. We took a boat built in 1904 for a 4 hour cruise. There's 25 villages around the coastline with olive groves and vineyards on the hills. It is one of the most beautiful places we have seen. The coastline has historical monuments, castles and fortresses. We passed a 135 room immaculately kept villa and a small island with very historical buildings owned by one family. There's 25 000 000 visitors a year to the lake. Not far from Lake Como. Havent seen George and Amal but i believe they are nearby.

    Day 20 - we caught the train from Lake Garde to Verona where 3 of Shakespeare's plays are set. For dinner we went down into the main square. It was very busy as the opera was on in the Arena. The arena holds 22 000 people.

    Day 21 - Today we decided to do the red and blue hop-on and hop-off bus routes around Verona.

    Back to Venice tomorrow to start our 101 cruise with Azamara from Venice to Athens.

    Photo 1 and 2 and Video 1 - Boat trip of Lake Garde
    Photo 3 - planting on bridge
    Video 2 and Photo 4 - Square and Arena in Verona
    Photo 5 - wisteria
    Photos 6 - 9 - photos from our hop- on, hop-off bus tours around Verona    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 18

    Day 17 and 18

    September 5, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Arrived in Desenzano, Lake Garde yesterday by train. This lake is quite close to lake Como. We have a lovely hotel room with a big balcony over-looking the lake. This morning we met an Australian businessman with lots of local knowledge. He advised we take the ferry to Sirmione, a small town with lovely shops on the lake. This part of the trip is a bit of r and r for us after the Italy bus tour.

    Photo 1 - view from our room
    Video 1 - arriving Sirmione
    Photos 2 and 3 - Sirmione - the healthy lemon drink before the gelato
    Video 2 - arriving back in Desenzano    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 16

    Day 12

    September 3, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We left Florence and travelled to San Gimignano which is a hilltop medieval town 25 miles from Florence. It's called the region's Glamour Girl. Some of the towers were built as a refuge against attackers, others to show how noble the family was. Our tour guide told us Gelateria Dondoli had won best gelato in the world twice. We were given a free voucher to allow us to sample. Some unusal flavours: mango, coconut and sticky rice and rasperries and Tuscan rosemary. It has one main street (mall, no cars) with shops that sell quality leather goods, shoes, ceramics, clothing and some take home food items etc. A good selection of cafes and restaurants.

    Video - 1 over-looking Florence
    Photos - 1 and 2 - the entrance to San Gimignano main street
    Photo - 3 - one of the side streets    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    2
    Day 15

    Day 14, 15 and 16

    September 2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Day 14 - We travelled from Florence to Venice. On route we stopped for lunch at FIC, an Italian Food Theme Park dedicated to agri-food and gastronomy. In short it's an 8 hectare Italian/Sicilian delicatessen with pavilions displaying how foods are made eg mozzarella, cooking classes and restaurants.

    That night we had the magical Venice tour. From the hotel we took a water taxi to St Marks square (the biggest public square in Venice) where we split up into small groups for dinner. One of the ladies was almost too scared to get in the taxi as it bounced around the edge of the canal. Its quite choppy with all the activity. In the end she took her shoes off and eventually made it. The taxi travelled up the Grand Canal past a lot of palaces. We then all met up in a bar where an orchestra was playing. It was very relaxing sitting there watching the passing parade and listening to the music which was not all classical.

    Day 15- Venice - we both took a day off the tour due to head colds. At least we had a lovely room in the Hilton Hotel on a canal edge to rest up in.

    Day 16 - Venice - took the water taxi for about half an hour to the Murano Island hand-blown glass factory. This was a highlight so far. A guy with good English gave us a tour of the factory. There were 3 tradespeople working on a piece of jewellery, a clam shell and a drinking glass. All of these products start from fine sand. The colours come from metals like magnesium and cobalt being added. There was a large retail outlet with many decorative pieces, glassware and jewellery. John liked a horse - price 15 000 euros - roughly $22 000. It's still in the shop. We then went over to St Marks Square. As this was the last night of the tour a celebratory dinner was held on the canal about 400 metres from the hotel before everyone headed off. We had a fantastic tour guide (Filippo) who we will be giving the highest rating to.

    Photos 1 - 3 - FIC - Italian Food Theme Park
    Photo 4 - View of our hotel in Venice
    Video 1 - Water taxi through the Grand Canal
    Photo 5 - Murano Island - glass blowing a drinking glass
    Video 2 - St Mark's Basilica
    Photo 6 - St Mark's Basilica
    Photos 7 to 10 - Venice canals
    Photo 11 - moving trucks
    Photo 12 - Last night celebratory farewell dinner    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 14

    Day 13

    September 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Off to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa Cathedral and Baptisery. The tower was built over a 199 year period. It began to sink during construction of the second floor due to soft ground which could not support its weight. It is 57 m high and has a of lean of 4 degrees.

    We then moved onto Farroria il Poggio a hilltop winery, olive grove, shop and restaurant. They grow 7 varieties of grapes to make wine. They also make olive oil and balsamic vinegar. All our lunches and dinners have included red and white wines. No beer for John and no bourbon for Shelley. Looking forward to getting on cruise to catch up.

    Photo 1 - the tower
    Photo 2 and 3 - inside Pisa Cathedral    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 13

    Day 10 and 11

    August 31, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Day 10 - we went to the ruins of Pompei which is a UNESCO world
    heritage site and did a guided tour. Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The city and its residents were burried in 20 ft of pumice and ash containing gases. There was no lava in the eruption. We only completed one-sixth of the site in a couple of hours.

    Photo 1 - fairly tough walking conditions
    Photo 2 - Town Square
    Photo 3 - acheologists have used the voids to construct plastic moulds to recreate the exact location and position people died in
    Photo 4 - bakery

    Day 11 - Our group travelled to Florence where we completed a guided city walk. There seems to be a lot of churches and statues here. At the end of the walking tour we visited the Accademia Museum where the Statue of David resides.

    Photo 5 - Basilica of Santa Croce - burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo and many others
    Photo 6 - Duomo of Firenze - 3rd biggest church in the world. It took over 140 years to complete.
    Photo 7 - Fountain of Neptune
    Photo 8 - Statue of David. This is a very popular chap. There are over
    7 000 pre-booked tickets to see him per day. He is 13 ft high and carved from a single block of marble.

    Day 11 night - the group took the bus to Parrcheggio Restaurant on top of a hill outside Florence for a 6 course meal. The road was very steep and narrow. Several times the manual bus had to reverse to get around corners. I was feeling scared on the trip and wanted to get out and walk the last 50 metres.

    Photo 9 - restaurant front
    Photo 10 - outside restaurant
    Photo 11 - zucchini risotto made by the chef in front of us as was a grape cake which was part of dessert.

    Video 1 - Pompei City Ruins    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    1
    Day 10

    Day 8 and 9

    August 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    On day 8 we took the train from Naples to Rome and checked into our hotel. That night with our tour group of 31 and our guide we went to a dinner party hosted by a fantastic Italian family. She cooked a beautiful 4 course meal for us and this was followed by karaoke. Its hard to put into words how much fun this night was and what great hosts they were.

    Day 9 - (Rome) We took a tour through St Peters Basilica, followed by a bus trip around the sites of Rome. There was a walking tour of more sites in the early afternoon. Late afternoon we toured the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed in the chapel). Dinner was in the Vatican Museum. All tours today were guided.
    Photo 1 - High speed train from Naples to Rome. This train travelled up to 170 km/h.

    Photo 2 Dinner at a private residence
    Video 1 - Dinner at private residence
    Photos 3 - 7 St Peter's Basilica
    Video 2 - St Peter's Basilica
    Photo 8 - Vatican garden
    Photo 9 - Vatican Museum - dates not boobs
    Photo 10 - Dinner in the Vatican Museum    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 8

    Day 5, 6 and 7

    August 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    This is our third night in Positano. That was one of my 3 bucket list places. It is very busy here. There's
    4 000 locals and 12 000 visitors a day. We can't work out how some people get to their houses, all built into the cliff faces. Many young people visiting. They need to do what Dubai did and move sand from Australia to these beaches. People are sitting on towels on rock. It looks so uncomfortable. There's 3 beaches at Positano covered in umbrellas. They are like sardines. Had some lovely Italian meals are the the gelato is amazing. Lots of shops and restaurants for the tourists. The internal road around the town is very narrow, with buses very close to the buildings. The easiest way to get around is on a scooter.
    Photo (1) Positano Beach - after we arrived we had lunch over-looking this beach. (2) the view from our accommodation (3) the view from the bar on the top of our accommodation
    (4) the launching of the luggage on the flying fox down to our rooms (5) some delicious Italian pasta (6) early morning view from our room (7) sometimes one vehicle can't pass another vehicle on the opposite side of the road (8) video leaving for Capri
    (9) arriving in Capri where we sat down and bought a water and soft drink. We were asked to leave this restaurant as you are unable to sit there and drink bottled water. Maybe we needed to buy another drink that wasn't water and or food. So we moved off and bought drinks and food elsewhere.
    Beautiful weather on the water both days.    Read more

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