Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

July 2019 Leggi altro

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Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
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Giorno 15
martedì 30 luglio 2019 13:00
⛅ 28 °C
Altitudine: 14 m
Montenegro Gurdić 42.42333, 18.7716742°25’24” N 18°46’18” E
Kortor, Montenegro, part 2
30 luglio 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Next it was off to look at the mosaics of a dug up dwelling (our guide thinks it's more likely to have been a hospital) near Kortor. The mosaic floors are original and date back at least to Roman times.

Then we wandered through a quaint church area and back to the van.

Final stop and where we all said farewells, was near the port and the Old Town made up of a walled town with medieval buildings. It's now full of shops, restaurants, boutique hotels and a few residents. We walked back to the ship at about 4pm.

We splurged tonight and bought dinner. Our meals are prepaid, but for a fancy dinner it's extra. It was US$24 each, but wow was it yummy. Heavenly steaks, seafood and dessert. Sooo good!

Robin decided to have one night in the casino so I went to a show in the theatre and saw Michael Bacala, an awesome violinist. When I got back to the casino Robin was breaking even. BUT he beat the bank! and ultimately turned US$200 into US$740, so that will pay our ship bill off nicely.Leggi altro
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Giorno 16
mercoledì 31 luglio 2019
⛅ 30 °C
Altitudine: 4 m
Grecia Corfu Road 39.62741, 19.9207439°37’39” N 19°55’15” E
Corfu, Greece
31 luglio 2019, Grecia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Easy day with nothing booked but a return bus from ship to city. Headed out at 9.30am. In hindsight, the €15 each return bus wasn't necessary. We only used it one way and at the port there was a local bus for €1.50 each one way - oh well, live and learn lol.

Lovely day starting with a visit to the Old Fort from the 15th century. Then a wander through town with its beautiful old buildings, then around the waterfront to the free shuttle back to the shop. Of course there was a quick beer at the marina to cool down and admire all the gorgeous boats.

Back on board by 2.30pm and chilling on our deck for a few hours. Dinner in the dining lounge and then hit the sack.Leggi altro
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Giorno 17
giovedì 1 agosto 2019
⛅ 30 °C
Altitudine: 5 m
Grecia Venetian Harbour 35.51833, 24.0233335°31’6” N 24°1’24” E
Chania, Crete, Greece
1 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Late start today. Shipped docked at 12pm. Last night we did a quiz show after dinner with Elvis and Jeanne. We've done something with them the last couple of nights after dinner in the dining room. Last night it was a 70s music trivia. We did pretty good (thanks to Elvis), but didn't win.

Scorcher today. Was mid 30s but felt like 40!

We had a guided tour at 12.30pm for four hours starting with a drop off at the waterfront. Beautiful place. Old buildings, restaurants, sail boars, lighthouse and a stunning pier. We wandered for a bit then indulged in a beer (of course) and a seafood platter. At the end of the meal the waiter gave us a tiny carafe of "raki", a wine brandy. Wow, blew our heads off. Was more like vodka than brandy.

Next stop was a lookout over Chania then off to a monastery of nuns. It was very quaint and small. But was a privilege to be allowed into their monastery. They gave us water and Loukoumi (Greek turkish delight). So nice.

Overall, Chania is a bit of a sad little place with a lot of poverty and in need of a big clean up. But it's small and the pier area is amazing.

Then it was back to the ship by 4.30pm. We chilled by the pool with a couple of cocktails. Quiet night. Dinner in the casual dining area then a movie in our room.Leggi altro
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Giorno 18
venerdì 2 agosto 2019 08:30
☀️ 26 °C
Altitudine: Livello del mare
Grecia Syros Ferry Port 37.46503, 25.3212937°27’54” N 25°19’17” E
Mykanos, Greece, part 1
2 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Okay, Mykanos is my new favourite place so far. It's very rustic but sooo beautiful. Every building is white with various ocean coloured or red shutters and doors.

Had a tour that started at 8.30am for four hours. Drove up into the hills and to another monastery. This time it homed monks, of which there is currently one only, lol. Very serene.

Next we went to the far side of Mykanos for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea. Yah! Finally got to swim in the Mediterranean sea! Omg, it was amazing; clear blue water, cold, deep and so full of salt we could just float. Could have stayed there all day.Leggi altro
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Giorno 18
venerdì 2 agosto 2019 13:00
☀️ 28 °C
Altitudine: Livello del mare
Grecia Órmos Toúrlos 37.46473, 25.3218237°27’53” N 25°19’19” E
Mykanos, Greece, part 2
2 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
After our wonderful swim, we traveled back across the island to the town centre. We tripped around with the guide through the streets, including Little Vienna. The rest of the tour group left on the bus but we stayed longer.

Time for lunch! We had a marvelous timber plank filled with tzatziki, chicken/capsicum skewers, Greek salad and bread. Yummy!

We carried on around to the water taxi, hopped on and headed back to the ship.

It's our last day on board before we disembark tomorrow in Athens. Kind of sad to leave the ship as it almost feels like home now. But we've still got three days in Greece before flying to London.Leggi altro
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You are sure creating wonderful memories. Loving the blog. Love from us both.
02/08/19Risposta
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Giorno 19
sabato 3 agosto 2019
☀️ 35 °C
Altitudine: 70 m
Grecia Mouseio 37.98833, 23.7316737°59’18” N 23°43’54” E
Athens, Greece, day 1
3 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
Off the ship by 8am and at the Meliá Athens by 8.30am. Obviously we couldn't check in so after a wee wait we wandered up to the Museum of Archaeology. Very impressive place. We spent over fours hours there! The oldest artifacts were three millennium BC (!) and the most recent were 100 AD, Roman times. Incredible!

We got into our room, which is very average. Then we tried to find somewhere to eat, but so many places only serve drinks so it was back to the hotel rooftop bar/pool for food and wine. We've got an amazing view of the acropolis from the pool.

So far Athens is surprising. Its obvious that the economy is still struggling; everything is heavily taxed and therefore quite expensive. Unemployment is very high and the streets are dirty with heaps of places shutdown and padlocked. And the graffiti is terrible. It's a bit sad.

We've booked two days of touring before heading to London on Tuesday morning.Leggi altro
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Giorno 20
domenica 4 agosto 2019
☀️ 29 °C
Altitudine: 540 m
Grecia Archeologic museum 38.48, 22.538°28’48” N 22°30’0” E
Athens, Greece, day 2
4 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Early'ish start. In the foya for an 8am pick-up. We did an eleven hour tour to Delphi; five hour round trip. 2,000 metres above sea level, Delphi is a roman achaeological site dating back to the 7th century BC and where Apollo resided and had his temple. This is also where the precursor to the Olympic Games was held every four years. There's so much more history, but I don't have the room here. Fascinating mythological stories too.

Great site with incredible ruins but very steep, and especially hard in 36c heat.

After that we stopped for lunch at 2pm for traditional Greek food, then we stopped for 20 minutes in a tiny mountain town called Arachova, which is a huge ski town in winter.

Driving back, again, we saw evidence of the economic crisis 11 years ago. There were sooo many abandoned commercial business in the rural areas and in Athens. Once we got into central Athens, the homeless were setting up on many of the streets and the rubbish was bad again.

Finally got back at 7pm.Leggi altro
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Giorno 21
lunedì 5 agosto 2019 08:00
⛅ 26 °C
Altitudine: 70 m
Grecia Panathinaikon stadium 37.97, 23.7437°58’12” N 23°44’24” E
Athens, Greece, day 3, part 1
5 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Another tour today. 8am pick up for a half day city tour, including a guided tour of the Acropolis and the museum.

Drove around Athens for one and a half hours visiting the Olympic stadium and seeing various buildings and statues. Was really interesting.

We then got to the Acropolis and with our guide headed to the top! Was a much much easier walk than yesterday's hike to Delphi.

The ruins are super spectacular. And of course the Parthenon was incredible to see. Massive! There are still people working on the repairs every day. It was build in 432BC.

However, the crowds were ridiculous. The staff were hearding everyone up like sheep but it worked well. Once we were at the top we were free to wander around. It was spectacular.Leggi altro
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Giorno 21
lunedì 5 agosto 2019 13:00
⛅ 30 °C
Altitudine: 86 m
Grecia Odeon of Herodes Atticus 37.97, 23.72537°58’12” N 23°43’30” E
Athens, Greece, day 3, part 2
5 agosto 2019, Grecia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
After our visit to the Acropolis, we headed down to meet the tour group and headed to (another) museum. Three museums in three days. I'm happy, but Robin was a bit over them. This museum and Delphi were specific to the area, but the National Archaeological Museum covered all of Greece.

Instead of going back to our hotel in the bus we decided to walk back through the Plaka District. It's a cobblestoned village-like area with local crafts, stores, tavernas. Very pretty.

We chilled out at the pool for a few hours and headed back to Plaka for dinner at a traditional Greek restaurant. Super popular place and great food. We had dinner at Pamet Tsipouro.Leggi altro
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Giorno 22
martedì 6 agosto 2019
⛅ 22 °C
Altitudine: 22 m
Inghilterra Kensington Square Garden 51.49667, -0.1951°29’48” N 0°11’24” W
From Athens to London
6 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Flew to London on a 3.30pm flight. Spent the morning cruising the hotel - late up, late brekky - checked out at 12pm, checked into our flight and spent a couple of hours in the British Airways lounge. We were bumped up to business when we made the booking - something about putting us on the wrong flight and changing us, blah blah. Small plane, just with an extra seat between us and better food.

Arrived at our Hotel, Park City Grand Plaza in Kensington, at about 7pm.

First thing we did? Find the closest corner pub! Had to be done. We went to the Builders Arms, just 6 mins walk.

Day over.Leggi altro
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Giorno 23
mercoledì 7 agosto 2019 08:00
⛅ 17 °C
Altitudine: 30 m
Inghilterra Kensington 51.49567, -0.1892551°29’44” N 0°11’21” W
London, day 1, part 1
7 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Our first day in London. No plans so we headed to London Tower on the underground train. The underground was easy to work out; just like Bangkok only with more lines. Tip: you no longer need an Oyster card, it's the same price to tap in and out using your credit card and it's cheaper than buying a ticket. Used same method for the river taxi.

Spent four hours at Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. It's huge! The queues were a pain, but it is high season.Leggi altro
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Giorno 23
mercoledì 7 agosto 2019 14:00
⛅ 21 °C
Altitudine: 23 m
Inghilterra Benjamin Franklin House 51.50667, -0.12551°30’24” N 0°7’30” W
London, day 1, part 2
7 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Time for some lunch so we crossed London Bridge for lunch at the Dean Swift pub. Then we jumped on a water taxi to Trafalgar Square (and London Eye). Next it was a visit to the National Gallery, which was pretty awesome.

Topped off the day with a delicious curry dinner at Memories of India, Kensington.Leggi altro
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Giorno 24
giovedì 8 agosto 2019 09:00
⛅ 18 °C
Altitudine: 19 m
Inghilterra Kensington Palace Green 51.505, -0.1866751°30’18” N 0°11’12” W
London, day 2, part 1
8 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Massive day again. Our feet are really starting to suffer after weeks of pounding the pavements.

Hit the Underground again and headed to Kensington Palace. We did a self guided tour of the rooms used by Victoria and Albert, previously by Elizabeth I. It was fantastic! They even had actors playing Victoria and Elizabeth talking to visitors as if it were the mid-1800s.

A third of Kensington is dedicated to a museum and the rest is the residence of Kate, William and also Beatrice. I wonder if any of them were looking out their window watching us?Leggi altro
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Giorno 24
giovedì 8 agosto 2019 13:00
⛅ 22 °C
Altitudine: 30 m
Inghilterra Kensington 51.49564, -0.1892451°29’44” N 0°11’21” W
London, day 2, part 2
8 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Next up, tubed it to Buckingham Palace. Couldn't go in but spent 15 minutes taking pics, lol. We tried to get tickets on a tour, but it was fully booked out days ahead. We hd a delicious but expensive lunch at The Running Horse in Mayfair. Took in the sights of Oxford St, but the crowds were too much so we left pretty quickly.

Then we tubed it to see Westminster Abbey, Parliament House and Big Ben. Unfortunately, Big Ben was wrapped in scaffolding (apparently since May 2017!) for repairs. Beautiful buildings.

At 7.30pm we had tickets to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Oh wow, stupendous! It makes me want to do a show every night.. but that won't be happening and Robin couldn't handle that much singing and dancing.Leggi altro
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Giorno 25
venerdì 9 agosto 2019
⛅ 23 °C
Altitudine: 38 m
Inghilterra University of London 51.52, -0.1283351°31’12” N 0°7’42” W
London, day 3
9 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Bit of a chill day today. Our feet are hurting 😔. Headed out at 10am to the British Museum. Big queues, but moved quickly.

Amazing museum, but it was a bit of deja vu... I think this is museum four. We skipped Greek and Roman bits, but did all the rest. After three hours we were out. Maybe because we're getting into home mode, but we're both feeling a bit fatigued.

We got back to the hotel and watched tv; haven't done that in ages.

Robin booked us into an Italian restaurant (Locanda Ottoemezzo) for dinner. We're getting real familiar with the area and even gave a couple from Plymouth directions, lol.

Early start tomorrow. Got a guided tour to Windsor Palace and Stonehenge. We'll be tubing to Victoria Coach Station by 7.30am...Leggi altro
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Giorno 26
sabato 10 agosto 2019 06:45
⛅ 16 °C
Altitudine: 39 m
Inghilterra Windsor Castle 51.48333, -0.60551°28’60” N 0°36’18” W
London, day 4, part 1
10 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Today was THE earliest start so far. No brekkie, out the door at 6.45am! On the tube heading for the Victoria Coach Centre. We managed to get tickets a couple of days ago for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and a walking tour of Oxford City. Our guide Sacha was brilliant. She's studied anthropology at Oxford and knows everything.

We left London by bus at 8am. Got to Windsor Castle at 8.45 and waited in line for it to open at 9.30am. We were one of the first in so, as advised, we went straight to the state apartments where early Kings, Queens and guests lived or stayed. Then it was a wander around the grounds. This is the queen's normal residence but her and Phillip are in Scotland for the summer.

At 11am we saw the changing of the guard - very good stuff. Back on the bus at 11.15 and off to Stonehenge.Leggi altro
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Giorno 26
sabato 10 agosto 2019 12:00
⛅ 18 °C
Altitudine: 87 m
Inghilterra Stonehenge 51.17833, -1.8266751°10’42” N 1°49’36” W
London, day 4, part 2
10 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Stonehenge has a very mysterious past. Building of it started 5,000 years ago and was finished 4,000 years ago. Before the stones were placed it was a burial site. Not a lot is known about it as it predates history and its purpose can only be speculated. Fascinating!

We only had just over an hour but it was enough, especially with 60 knot winds and squally rain. Not great, but we got a few pics.

Back on the bus at 2.10pm and off to Oxford City for a walking tour, lunch and free time.Leggi altro
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All so wonderful. Love Mum.
10/08/19Risposta
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Giorno 26
sabato 10 agosto 2019 15:45
⛅ 19 °C
Altitudine: 67 m
Inghilterra Saint John's College, Oxford 51.755, -1.2566751°45’18” N 1°15’24” W
London, day 4, part 3
10 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Hour and a half and we were in Oxford City. A stunning city. We did a walking tour of some of the Oxford University buildings (didn't go in any as a lot of it is closed for the summer break). Stunning place! We could have spent the day there. The buildings and beautiful old trees were breathtaking.

We left the group to have lunch (at 5pm! Lol).

Some of the Harry Potter film sets were based on the buildings and halls of Oxford. The cemetery scene was filmed in a tiny cemetery in Central Oxford. Very cool.

It was a cold blustery day in Briton. We were drenched at Stonehenge and blown dry, then wet and redried again in Oxford.

Last day of our month long holiday tomorrow 😔.Leggi altro
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Giorno 27
domenica 11 agosto 2019
⛅ 20 °C
Altitudine: 26 m
Inghilterra Greater London 51.5, -0.1633351°30’0” N 0°9’48” W
London - Bangkok
11 agosto 2019, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Heading home! A happy/sad time. Flight wasn't until 8.45pm so we checked out at 11am and walked to Harrods to see what all the hype is. Harrods has got great "stuff", but it's all highend "stuff". Bit rich for us. The gift shop was really good though. So instead we found our last pub and indulged in our last London beers.

On our way back we found another museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum. Even though we'd seen more than enough museums, we just had to pop in for a looksee.

Good flight home, apart from nearly two hours queueing at Etihad checkin counter. Then after all that queueing we got the worst seats; all the way at the back of the plane and in the two middle seats of four. Oh well, that's life. Nice people on either side of us.

We got back to Lily House at 9.30pm on Monday. Yah!

Now we count down to our move back to NZ...Leggi altro
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Fine del viaggio
11 agosto 2019