Eastern Mediterranean and Grrek Isles
Sep 23rd, 2013, 02:40 PM
#21
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Epidaurus is famous for its amphitheatre and Mycenae was a mountain fortress. Although both are not too far form Corinth, time was a constraint and we really wanted to spend a fair bit of time at Corinth. We were at Athens a few years ago and we had our fair share of time at Plaka, Acropolis, the museums, churches, Delphi, just to name a few. There are so many "ancient ruins" in and around the Mediterranean that one can spend months and not seeing everything. We have originally wanted to add Mycenae to our itinerary but that would add about 4 hours and that's time we didn't have. If we head back to the area again, Mycenae and Epidavros would be on the list, along with the temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion (especially if we can be there during the sunset).
Sep 24th, 2013, 08:11 PM
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Next stop was Katakolon, a place that we had not visited previously. Our impression of Katakolon? Not much. It was a blur. As we got off the ship, we hopped into our pre-arranged ride and headed straight to Olympia and spent almost all the time around there. To be honest, I won't recognize Katakolon even if you show me a picture.
We arrived at the ancient Olympia ruin before the "crowd" showed up as there were 3 ships docked there that day. The ancient Olmypia site was where the ancient Olympic Games were born and hosted, dating back to at least 8th century BC.
I thought the ancient ruin was mostly unrestored but the guide said otherwise. As a matter of fact, the excavation of the "Ancient olympia archeological site" started originally in 1875, funded by the German government. They located the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Paeonius, the Hermes of Praxiteles and most of the finds are in display at the The Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
I am not sure how they managed to figure some of these things out but they identified some of the buildings as the Gymnasium (training facility for pentathlon), the Palaestra (boxing and wrestling), the Leonidaion (guest house) etc. A total of 23 major "structures" were identified at the site.
The temple of Zeus was barely recognizable at the archeological site. The only thing that was visible was the foundation, stumps of some columns and that's about it. However, the sculptural composition from the pediments from the temple of Zeus are in display in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia are truly spectacular. I wish I can show you pictures so you can see the vivid details, but I am sure you can google it.
I was amazed by the size of the "stadium" and we were told that it can hosue 45,000 spectators around the the running track, which is 600 foot (not feet but was measured by foot, no pun intended) long and 80 foot wide. Modern measurement is equivalent to 212.5 meters by 28.5 meters. There is even a finish line that is still visible as it was made with a line of stones and the track itself was dirt.
Although we spent 2 hours at the ancient ruin itself, there really wasn't much to look at, or hold our interest except for the guide who explained in detail what the pile of rubble was (the building and what it was for) and made it semi-interesting. She pointed out where the "Olympic flame" was "lit", where the "heroes" (winner) were honored. You are either the winner (first place) or loser, there was no honor placing second, third or beyond.
The buildings that were still sort of not in a pile of rubble was the Byzantine Church that was built on the ruins of the workshop of Pheidias. The church was built around the 6th century AD.
The Leonidaion would be impressive if you can image what it would looked like back then. The foundation and the digitized artist rendering of what it would have looked like is very impressive. The digital artist rendering would be everywhere for every building and you can see the entire scaled model at the museum.
Now that we have been to the archeological site, other than a couple places, it doesn't hold much interest for us. On the other hand, the Archaeological Museum was very interesting. They call themselves one of the most important museums in Greece, spefically the artiafcts and the age of the artifacts there. Mind you, almost every museum in Greece called itself one of the most important museums in Greece.
The main hall (room 5) is where the two monumental pediments from the temple of Zeus was displayed. You really have to be there in person to appreciate it. Along with the statue of Nike (yes, Nike the shoes) in room 4 and the statute of Hermes (room 8) is worth the price of admission to see it in person. Not that there is anything wrong with the rest of the displays which included bronze and terracotta, statues and artifacts from the archeological site and items collected from a nearby cemetery where athletes and officials were buried.
All these took up more than the entire morning and we took a quick lunch before heading off to our next stop, "Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of antiquity" (hoenstly, that's the official name of the museum).
There are lots of information on the ancient Olympics if you are inetrested in the Olympic games itselves. Other than the games being held at Olympia, there are other Games held in Delphi, Isthmia and Nemea etc. It also speaks of the "sacred truce" of the games where people can freely travel between warring cities, the "naked" game and the exclusion of female from the games. There is a very interesting story how the "naked" games come about but it was rather long and I will save the story for some other time.
It also spoke of the various competitions such as sprinting while carrying a heavy shield, javelin, wrestling, foot race, horse races etc; everything that have to do with fighting in a battle, the winner would be the prototype super hero warrior of teh day.
The ancient Olympic games lasted almost 1000 years, where it was abandoned in 393 AD. When the ancient ruin was rediscoverd, it rekindled the spirit and the modern Olympic game was born from it.
The only advise I have is if you are not interested in the Olympic games at all, don't go there. After the stop at Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of antiquity, we spent some time shopping at modern Olympia. The town was small with one main street. The streets were empty. There were hardly any tourist around. We bought some replica terracotta and head back to the ship, just in time for dinner.
We arrived at the ancient Olympia ruin before the "crowd" showed up as there were 3 ships docked there that day. The ancient Olmypia site was where the ancient Olympic Games were born and hosted, dating back to at least 8th century BC.
I thought the ancient ruin was mostly unrestored but the guide said otherwise. As a matter of fact, the excavation of the "Ancient olympia archeological site" started originally in 1875, funded by the German government. They located the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Paeonius, the Hermes of Praxiteles and most of the finds are in display at the The Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
I am not sure how they managed to figure some of these things out but they identified some of the buildings as the Gymnasium (training facility for pentathlon), the Palaestra (boxing and wrestling), the Leonidaion (guest house) etc. A total of 23 major "structures" were identified at the site.
The temple of Zeus was barely recognizable at the archeological site. The only thing that was visible was the foundation, stumps of some columns and that's about it. However, the sculptural composition from the pediments from the temple of Zeus are in display in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia are truly spectacular. I wish I can show you pictures so you can see the vivid details, but I am sure you can google it.
I was amazed by the size of the "stadium" and we were told that it can hosue 45,000 spectators around the the running track, which is 600 foot (not feet but was measured by foot, no pun intended) long and 80 foot wide. Modern measurement is equivalent to 212.5 meters by 28.5 meters. There is even a finish line that is still visible as it was made with a line of stones and the track itself was dirt.
Although we spent 2 hours at the ancient ruin itself, there really wasn't much to look at, or hold our interest except for the guide who explained in detail what the pile of rubble was (the building and what it was for) and made it semi-interesting. She pointed out where the "Olympic flame" was "lit", where the "heroes" (winner) were honored. You are either the winner (first place) or loser, there was no honor placing second, third or beyond.
The buildings that were still sort of not in a pile of rubble was the Byzantine Church that was built on the ruins of the workshop of Pheidias. The church was built around the 6th century AD.
The Leonidaion would be impressive if you can image what it would looked like back then. The foundation and the digitized artist rendering of what it would have looked like is very impressive. The digital artist rendering would be everywhere for every building and you can see the entire scaled model at the museum.
Now that we have been to the archeological site, other than a couple places, it doesn't hold much interest for us. On the other hand, the Archaeological Museum was very interesting. They call themselves one of the most important museums in Greece, spefically the artiafcts and the age of the artifacts there. Mind you, almost every museum in Greece called itself one of the most important museums in Greece.
The main hall (room 5) is where the two monumental pediments from the temple of Zeus was displayed. You really have to be there in person to appreciate it. Along with the statue of Nike (yes, Nike the shoes) in room 4 and the statute of Hermes (room 8) is worth the price of admission to see it in person. Not that there is anything wrong with the rest of the displays which included bronze and terracotta, statues and artifacts from the archeological site and items collected from a nearby cemetery where athletes and officials were buried.
All these took up more than the entire morning and we took a quick lunch before heading off to our next stop, "Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of antiquity" (hoenstly, that's the official name of the museum).
There are lots of information on the ancient Olympics if you are inetrested in the Olympic games itselves. Other than the games being held at Olympia, there are other Games held in Delphi, Isthmia and Nemea etc. It also speaks of the "sacred truce" of the games where people can freely travel between warring cities, the "naked" game and the exclusion of female from the games. There is a very interesting story how the "naked" games come about but it was rather long and I will save the story for some other time.
It also spoke of the various competitions such as sprinting while carrying a heavy shield, javelin, wrestling, foot race, horse races etc; everything that have to do with fighting in a battle, the winner would be the prototype super hero warrior of teh day.
The ancient Olympic games lasted almost 1000 years, where it was abandoned in 393 AD. When the ancient ruin was rediscoverd, it rekindled the spirit and the modern Olympic game was born from it.
The only advise I have is if you are not interested in the Olympic games at all, don't go there. After the stop at Museum of the History of the Olympic Games of antiquity, we spent some time shopping at modern Olympia. The town was small with one main street. The streets were empty. There were hardly any tourist around. We bought some replica terracotta and head back to the ship, just in time for dinner.
Sep 25th, 2013, 11:55 AM
#25
Hi Eschew,
Wonderful report and quite informative.
I am taking a cruise next month with a very similar itinerary. Did you book excursions in advance? through the cruise line? privately? How did you get to Delos?
Thanks,
ahotpoet
Wonderful report and quite informative.
I am taking a cruise next month with a very similar itinerary. Did you book excursions in advance? through the cruise line? privately? How did you get to Delos?
Thanks,
ahotpoet
Sep 25th, 2013, 06:52 PM
#26
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Hi ahotpoet, absolutely book the excursions in advance, as soon as you have confirmed your cruise. Soon after we booked our cruise, we start booking tours and excursions even before making our final payment. The earlier you book, the more choices you have.
The boat dock (ferry) to Delos is at the old port. Other than boats to Delos, nothing else is there at the old port. The cruise port is at the new port, which is by the city.
Below is a link to information for Delos, including transportation, admission etc. The boat ride over could be very choppy, so pick the biggest boat if you have a choice.
http://www.mykonosexclusive.com/en/delos
You can explore Delos on your own. The admission is 5 euros per person and there is a gift shop right at the gate and they had Delos guide books for sale. They ran out of the English ones the day we were there but luckily, I had my own.
I would like to suggest hiring a local guide. Without a guide, you won't know what you are looking at. Excursion form the cruise line is an option as they will get you to Delos with their private charter, meaning you just walk from the cruise ship to the charter boat and return to same place. The ship's excursion groups are typically 30 people to a group so they are quite large.
Going off on your own will give you maximum time. Most guided tours are half days only meaning only 3 to 4 hours and you won't be able to go too far i.e. to the top of Kymthos and the Kymthos cave etc.
I studied Greek Mythology during my University years so I am somewhat familair with the history and "stories" but I still rely heavily on the guide book to find things and undersatnd what I am looking at. The guide book I have is relatively easy to follow.
If you are not comfortable wandering off and wanted to hear a good story (as told by the guide), a private guide is the way to go. But if there is only the 2 of you, then a private guide would be expensive, and all of a sudden, the cruise ship organized excursion becomes very affordbale. What I find is a private guide is affroable and makes sense when you have 4 to 6 people in your group. 8 to 10 would be my max as you lose the benefits of a priavte guide when the numbers go up.
What other ports are you stopping and when do you leave? What cruise line? I have 3 more ports to report and they are Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Venice.
Knowing my "work" schedule, I would probably post Corfu tomorrow (Thursday) night, Dubrovnik on Sunday night and Venice probably may ended up a 2 part post for mid week next week and a summary and ship feature on the weekend.
The boat dock (ferry) to Delos is at the old port. Other than boats to Delos, nothing else is there at the old port. The cruise port is at the new port, which is by the city.
Below is a link to information for Delos, including transportation, admission etc. The boat ride over could be very choppy, so pick the biggest boat if you have a choice.
http://www.mykonosexclusive.com/en/delos
You can explore Delos on your own. The admission is 5 euros per person and there is a gift shop right at the gate and they had Delos guide books for sale. They ran out of the English ones the day we were there but luckily, I had my own.
I would like to suggest hiring a local guide. Without a guide, you won't know what you are looking at. Excursion form the cruise line is an option as they will get you to Delos with their private charter, meaning you just walk from the cruise ship to the charter boat and return to same place. The ship's excursion groups are typically 30 people to a group so they are quite large.
Going off on your own will give you maximum time. Most guided tours are half days only meaning only 3 to 4 hours and you won't be able to go too far i.e. to the top of Kymthos and the Kymthos cave etc.
I studied Greek Mythology during my University years so I am somewhat familair with the history and "stories" but I still rely heavily on the guide book to find things and undersatnd what I am looking at. The guide book I have is relatively easy to follow.
If you are not comfortable wandering off and wanted to hear a good story (as told by the guide), a private guide is the way to go. But if there is only the 2 of you, then a private guide would be expensive, and all of a sudden, the cruise ship organized excursion becomes very affordbale. What I find is a private guide is affroable and makes sense when you have 4 to 6 people in your group. 8 to 10 would be my max as you lose the benefits of a priavte guide when the numbers go up.
What other ports are you stopping and when do you leave? What cruise line? I have 3 more ports to report and they are Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Venice.
Knowing my "work" schedule, I would probably post Corfu tomorrow (Thursday) night, Dubrovnik on Sunday night and Venice probably may ended up a 2 part post for mid week next week and a summary and ship feature on the weekend.
Sep 27th, 2013, 06:59 AM
#27
Thank you, Eschew for your very informative answer. I am going on the Oct 19 sailing of the Silhouette that ends up in Venice. I have been to Mykonos many times and used to live there in the early 70's and never went to Delos. Can you imagine that? Like living in NY and not going to the Statue of Liberty. I was last there in 2008 and barely recognized the place. They say you can't go home again.
What guidebook did you use for Delos?
What guidebook did you use for Delos?
Sep 29th, 2013, 09:42 AM
#28
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Best laid plan never works! At any rate ...
Ahotpoet ... the name of the book is "Delos - Mykonos: a guide to its Archaeology and history". ISBN 960-86237-1-5. I bought it a few years back, it was a 1998 edition. The author was Konstantinos Tsakos. He also penned a few otehr Greek archaeology guide including Delphi, Mycenae, Corinth, Acropolis etc.
Ahotpoet ... the name of the book is "Delos - Mykonos: a guide to its Archaeology and history". ISBN 960-86237-1-5. I bought it a few years back, it was a 1998 edition. The author was Konstantinos Tsakos. He also penned a few otehr Greek archaeology guide including Delphi, Mycenae, Corinth, Acropolis etc.
Sep 29th, 2013, 10:11 AM
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At Corfu, the first place that we visited was Achilleon, built in the 1890's as a summer palace for Empress Elizabeth of Austria. I think the palace was called "Achillion" because the Empress adored Achilles. The palace was eventually sold to Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II.
There is a huge bronze (?) Achilles statue in full hoplite uniform as the guardian of the palace facing the sea in the garden. There is also a marble Archilles statue, in pain with an arrow through his archilles heel, elsewhere in the vast garden.
There are plenty of statues through the whole palaces, including the Three Graces and the Nine Muses.
There are lots of articafcts in display from the Empress and Kaiser Wilhelm. The building is quite lovely and lavish, but very mdoest in comaprison to the extragance of the Russian Summer Palace at St. Petersburg. The Achilleon would be a must stop for Corfu.
Next stop was the old fortress and the old town. Interesting enough but nothing spetacular. We walked around the main street and the narrow side streets, sat and relaxed at an outdoor cafe, and spent some relaxed time people watching.
Here is a little known "odditiy" about souvenir from Corfu. The "Liquer from Corfu" is a "Koum-Quat" liqueur.
Koum-Quat (Kumquat) is a southern Chinese citrus fruit that looks like a mini orange, think 1/4 size of the Christmas Japanese Mandarin oranges. Not sure how it got to Corfu, and why it thrived and became a local specialty. I don't recall ever seeing Chiense made Koum-Quot liqueur in China.
There are many nice beaches in Corfu but beaches were not our list of things to do there.
There is a huge bronze (?) Achilles statue in full hoplite uniform as the guardian of the palace facing the sea in the garden. There is also a marble Archilles statue, in pain with an arrow through his archilles heel, elsewhere in the vast garden.
There are plenty of statues through the whole palaces, including the Three Graces and the Nine Muses.
There are lots of articafcts in display from the Empress and Kaiser Wilhelm. The building is quite lovely and lavish, but very mdoest in comaprison to the extragance of the Russian Summer Palace at St. Petersburg. The Achilleon would be a must stop for Corfu.
Next stop was the old fortress and the old town. Interesting enough but nothing spetacular. We walked around the main street and the narrow side streets, sat and relaxed at an outdoor cafe, and spent some relaxed time people watching.
Here is a little known "odditiy" about souvenir from Corfu. The "Liquer from Corfu" is a "Koum-Quat" liqueur.
Koum-Quat (Kumquat) is a southern Chinese citrus fruit that looks like a mini orange, think 1/4 size of the Christmas Japanese Mandarin oranges. Not sure how it got to Corfu, and why it thrived and became a local specialty. I don't recall ever seeing Chiense made Koum-Quot liqueur in China.
There are many nice beaches in Corfu but beaches were not our list of things to do there.
Sep 29th, 2013, 08:43 PM
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Larry, thanks. Sometimes it is just useless information.
Example: Empress Elizabeth was very conscious of her "beauty" (and yes, her photo shows that she is quite a looker) and was horrified of "over-size". She was so fixated at her size that she somehow managed to reduce her waist to 16 inches in circumference at one point; it still measured only around 18 inches when at her death (age 60) when she was assissianted. I Wonder what she would have said to Queen Victoria when they met.
Did you know that Kaiser Wilhelm II has a deformed left arm which is 6 inches shorter than his right arm? He tried to concealed it by always holding a pair of gloves on his left hand (making it looks longer) or had his left arm on the hilt of his sword.
Next up, Dubrovnik.
Example: Empress Elizabeth was very conscious of her "beauty" (and yes, her photo shows that she is quite a looker) and was horrified of "over-size". She was so fixated at her size that she somehow managed to reduce her waist to 16 inches in circumference at one point; it still measured only around 18 inches when at her death (age 60) when she was assissianted. I Wonder what she would have said to Queen Victoria when they met.
Did you know that Kaiser Wilhelm II has a deformed left arm which is 6 inches shorter than his right arm? He tried to concealed it by always holding a pair of gloves on his left hand (making it looks longer) or had his left arm on the hilt of his sword.
Next up, Dubrovnik.
Oct 5th, 2013, 10:37 PM
#33
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Sorry about the delay in completing this TR, but I promise I'll have this finsihed one of these days.
Dubrovnik is a surprising place. The outside view of the old walled city was charming, just like the story book. We entered into the old town via the Pile gate early in the morning and the place was quite crowd already.
The big Onofrio´s Fountain was the first stop and is quite a gathering place. This is also a great place to start if you wish to climb the city wall. The city walls woudl be the top attraction.
And I am not sure who is right but there are many cities lay claim to the first pharmacy in Europe. Dubrovnik claimed that they introdcued medical service in 1301, and had the first pharmacy in 1317, which is still operating to this day.
The Sponza Palace was originally built in the 1500s as a customs house, and is one of the few buildings to survived the 1667 earthquake. It was also used as the mint, the treasury and a bank in various times. It is now an archive and houses a collection of manuscripts, among other things. The building is decorated with many carved scultures and ornaments.
If you ever get lost in the old town (Placa Stradun), all you need to do is to look for the Bell Tower and you will find your bearing. On top of the tower are copies of the Zelenci soldier bronze statues which strike the bell every hour. (The originals is in Sponza Palace.)
The Rector's Palace would also be a must stop at the old town. It was the seat of the power for 400 years during the Republic period (1400s - 1800s). It is by the Town Hall with the Church of St. Blaise on one side and the Cathedral on the other side. The Rector's Place had seen major damages many times through the years includng a fire in the 1435, a gunpowder explosion in 1463, two earthquakes (1520 and 1667), it is almost like you name the disaster, and it would have happened there. As a result, the place had seen many rebuilts and reconsctructions. it is an amazing mixture of different architectural style within the same complex.
The Rector's palace is now a museum and it showcased the history of Dubrovnik with many period furniture, portraits, coats of arms, and many artifacts such as old coins and the original keys of the city gates.
We spent half a day wandering around the old walled city and ended at the old city harbour and took the ferry to Cavtat, a small resort town not too far away.
It was one of those little known fact that Cavtat was origianlly a Greek town built during the 4th century BC and was called Epidauros. It is a peaceful and quiet little place with many restaurants and some of the most exclusive hotels and resorts.
We stopped in the Racic family mausoleum and cemetery on the hill, St. Nicholas' church, the Franciscan Monastery and our Lady of the Snows. It is interesting to note that the restaurant next to the Lady of the Snows was playing jazz music in English.
Cavtat is on a peninsula and there is a walkway that you can walk around the whole place. It took about an hour or so to do the complete loop. If you don't want to do the whole loop, start on the western side (starting from the church our Lady of the Snows), go to the tip of the peninsula and return.
As a side bar, many of the rich and famous must liked to visit Catvat as there were many supersized yachts docked at Catvat while we were there, and each easily worth millions. One yacht was aptly named "Lucky Me".
Dubrovnik is a surprising place. The outside view of the old walled city was charming, just like the story book. We entered into the old town via the Pile gate early in the morning and the place was quite crowd already.
The big Onofrio´s Fountain was the first stop and is quite a gathering place. This is also a great place to start if you wish to climb the city wall. The city walls woudl be the top attraction.
And I am not sure who is right but there are many cities lay claim to the first pharmacy in Europe. Dubrovnik claimed that they introdcued medical service in 1301, and had the first pharmacy in 1317, which is still operating to this day.
The Sponza Palace was originally built in the 1500s as a customs house, and is one of the few buildings to survived the 1667 earthquake. It was also used as the mint, the treasury and a bank in various times. It is now an archive and houses a collection of manuscripts, among other things. The building is decorated with many carved scultures and ornaments.
If you ever get lost in the old town (Placa Stradun), all you need to do is to look for the Bell Tower and you will find your bearing. On top of the tower are copies of the Zelenci soldier bronze statues which strike the bell every hour. (The originals is in Sponza Palace.)
The Rector's Palace would also be a must stop at the old town. It was the seat of the power for 400 years during the Republic period (1400s - 1800s). It is by the Town Hall with the Church of St. Blaise on one side and the Cathedral on the other side. The Rector's Place had seen major damages many times through the years includng a fire in the 1435, a gunpowder explosion in 1463, two earthquakes (1520 and 1667), it is almost like you name the disaster, and it would have happened there. As a result, the place had seen many rebuilts and reconsctructions. it is an amazing mixture of different architectural style within the same complex.
The Rector's palace is now a museum and it showcased the history of Dubrovnik with many period furniture, portraits, coats of arms, and many artifacts such as old coins and the original keys of the city gates.
We spent half a day wandering around the old walled city and ended at the old city harbour and took the ferry to Cavtat, a small resort town not too far away.
It was one of those little known fact that Cavtat was origianlly a Greek town built during the 4th century BC and was called Epidauros. It is a peaceful and quiet little place with many restaurants and some of the most exclusive hotels and resorts.
We stopped in the Racic family mausoleum and cemetery on the hill, St. Nicholas' church, the Franciscan Monastery and our Lady of the Snows. It is interesting to note that the restaurant next to the Lady of the Snows was playing jazz music in English.
Cavtat is on a peninsula and there is a walkway that you can walk around the whole place. It took about an hour or so to do the complete loop. If you don't want to do the whole loop, start on the western side (starting from the church our Lady of the Snows), go to the tip of the peninsula and return.
As a side bar, many of the rich and famous must liked to visit Catvat as there were many supersized yachts docked at Catvat while we were there, and each easily worth millions. One yacht was aptly named "Lucky Me".
Oct 6th, 2013, 04:48 PM
#34
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Great trip report, we were also going to wait for last minute deals on cruises. I'm really interested how you managed to get the trip on frequent flyer miles, I thought you had to book like 10 months ahead of time. How did you find out that you could fly on frequent flyer miles out of Montreal but not other destinations. We'd be going out of Los Angeles, CA.
Oct 6th, 2013, 09:33 PM
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Our frequent flyer points is with a Star Allaince carrier. We can fly anywhere Star Alliance member airlines flies. The members included United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Air China, Scandinavian and many others. You can google their member list.
It took a bit of work as you have to search through the schedules. We used a search engine such as CheapoAir and find out what flights are available. We then narrow down the flights to Star Alliances members only, get the flight info and then book on line with the points.
We used 2 computers to book online at the same time as I had enough points for only msyelf and DW had enough for herself. We log onto the 2 accounts at the same time and hit "confirm" at the same time to make sure we get the same flights. Not sure what we would do if one was confirmed and the other one didn't. We booked in mid-June for our August flights.
We flew from Montreal on Air Canada to Rome and fly Lufthansa from Venice to Franfurt and then to Houston. We flew United on the domestic portion.
It took a bit of work as you have to search through the schedules. We used a search engine such as CheapoAir and find out what flights are available. We then narrow down the flights to Star Alliances members only, get the flight info and then book on line with the points.
We used 2 computers to book online at the same time as I had enough points for only msyelf and DW had enough for herself. We log onto the 2 accounts at the same time and hit "confirm" at the same time to make sure we get the same flights. Not sure what we would do if one was confirmed and the other one didn't. We booked in mid-June for our August flights.
We flew from Montreal on Air Canada to Rome and fly Lufthansa from Venice to Franfurt and then to Houston. We flew United on the domestic portion.
Oct 13th, 2013, 12:41 AM
#36
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It took a little while but I can finally have time to try to finish this TR.
Venice is a very special place. When the ship approach the city, you MUST get to the top deck and take that bird eye view of the city. We were lucky. Our top deck balcony was on the starboard side so we don;t ahve to fighth with the crowd. From our vantage point, it was like viewing the city in slow motion from a helicoptor, without the engine noise. As a comparison tio the height of the ship, the ship was taller than the tower at San Marcos.
For thsi cruise, Princess advertised Venice as an over night stop, meaning that the ship got in, you go and sight see, you return to the ship to sleep, and you disembark for good the next morning.
Princess automatically charges everyone $15 for an unlimted use water shuttle service to San Marcos for the day. The ticket was delivered to your cabin and put on your bed so you won't nmiss it. You can get your money back if you return your ticket unused, but it will be your responsibility to return it if you do not want to use it.
As soon as we were cleared to disembark, we took the free bus shuttle service from the terminal to the water shuttle service. We got on and 20 minutes later, we landed at San Marocs (okay, it was about 4 blocks away).
We spend the afternoon going through Palazza Ducale (or Doge's Palace). As this is the must stop in Venice, the place was very crowded.
Doge's Palace was the center of the Government for "old" Venice of the glory years. That's where the government of the day met and made decisions, greeted foreign dignitaries, held trials etc.
With that said, it reasoned that's why the "grand entrance" and the staircase was so "grand" as it was supposed to amde peopel who walked through there awe struck and be amazed t the riches of Venice.
We walked through all the great halls and chambers. There are plenty of art works by famous artists including the three T's (Titian, Tintoretto, and Tiepolo). We also stopped at the prison cells before we head out.
The most famous prisoner at the Doge's Palace was Casanova. (Yes, it is a real person) and somehow, he managed to escape, and his escape is right out of a fairy tale. He climbed onto the prison roof, slide down a drain pipe, slip inside the Palace and walk through the door to Piazza San Marcos and left on a Gondola.
Since we knew we are staying for a few days, we took our time at Doge's Palace. We walked around the district of San Marcos, made our way to the Rialto bridge, had dinner at a side walk cafe at the canal facing the bridge. By the time we got back to the water shuttle service, it started to rain and we made our way back to the ship with no incidence.
We had booked our stay near the Venice airport (Titian Inn) and the hotel offers free shuttle service to and from the airport. The hotel was less than 10 minutes by car and probably 20 to 25 minutes by foot.
We cheated and booked a disembarkation tour through the ship where they will take us on a tour to Moreno Island and drop us off at the airport after the tour, and our luggage would be in the airport waiting for us. It would have saved us $$ for transportation from the port to the hotel.
It didn't quite happened that way as there was not enough passsengers booked on the disembarkation tour and it was cancelled. So an alternate plan needed to be hatched up.
There were many options. Checked the luggage at the cruise terminal for 5 euros, took the people mover to Venice (1 euro per person), go sight seeing, head back to the terminal, pick up the luggae and make our way to the hotel by the airport.
The other option was take our luggage with us on the people mover, check our luggage at Piazza Roma (or Snata Lucia), go sight seeing, pick up the luggage afterward and head to the hotel.
As it turned out, we did the only sensible thing. We took a cab to the hotel after we disembarked. The cost was 50 euros (including tip) and the driver was so happy that he shook our hands, volunteer to take our luggage into the hotel and cannot stop smiling. The whole trip took about 30 minutes.
We arrived at the hotel quite early, it wasn't even 10 am and we expected to leave our luggage at the front desk, go sight seeing and check in later.
To our surprise, the room was ready and we checked in, relax a bit before we headed out to venice. The hotel is a small "boutique" hotel located in a residential area, right across from a farming community. It is also along the bus route (#5), between Piazza Roma and the Airport.
The bus stop was about a block away and we took the #5 bus heading into Venice. We were told the frquency of the bus was somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes but we never have to wait for more than 5 minutes.
The bus ride was about 20 to 25 minuets either way and the ride was uneventful, although it did get crowded on occassions.
After arriving at Piazza Roma, we decided to visit the train station at Santa Lucia. Why? Becasue it was there. We spent the rest of the day going through Cannargio which is not really a big tourist area except for the Jewish Ghetto. We enjoyed our time there as this is where you get to see the real Venice, where the local lived and played, and not the Venice that is choke full of tourist and the high prices associated with it. We ahd dinner at a local cafe, made our way back to Piazza Roma and took the bus back to thotel before dark.
That would be the routine for the duration of our stay at Venice. Breakfast at the hotel (included with the room rate), took the bus to Piazza Roma,w ander around, and took the bus back to the hotel after dark.
We knock off one "district" at a time. Castello was next and Castello was famous for the green public park area at the "end" of Venice called Giardini Pubblici, and the Arsenale which were shipyards during the Renaissance-era and still in use by the Italian Navy.
We went back and spent some time wandering around Piazza San Marco and stopped inside the Basilica. The Basilica was under restoration and parts of the building were covered, inclduing the famous horses.
There are a few things to know about the Basilica. First, the line up to get in is long, but it does move quite quickly. Second, they do enforce the rules of no back packs. There is a "luggage" drop off around the corner about a block away. There is clear signage, so drop off your bag before lining up or else you will end up lining up twice. Third, no pictures allowed inside but we didn't see anyoen enforcing it. Last, but not leaset, the treasury is worth spedning the 3 euros if we want to see some Ventian treasures.
Venice is a very special place. When the ship approach the city, you MUST get to the top deck and take that bird eye view of the city. We were lucky. Our top deck balcony was on the starboard side so we don;t ahve to fighth with the crowd. From our vantage point, it was like viewing the city in slow motion from a helicoptor, without the engine noise. As a comparison tio the height of the ship, the ship was taller than the tower at San Marcos.
For thsi cruise, Princess advertised Venice as an over night stop, meaning that the ship got in, you go and sight see, you return to the ship to sleep, and you disembark for good the next morning.
Princess automatically charges everyone $15 for an unlimted use water shuttle service to San Marcos for the day. The ticket was delivered to your cabin and put on your bed so you won't nmiss it. You can get your money back if you return your ticket unused, but it will be your responsibility to return it if you do not want to use it.
As soon as we were cleared to disembark, we took the free bus shuttle service from the terminal to the water shuttle service. We got on and 20 minutes later, we landed at San Marocs (okay, it was about 4 blocks away).
We spend the afternoon going through Palazza Ducale (or Doge's Palace). As this is the must stop in Venice, the place was very crowded.
Doge's Palace was the center of the Government for "old" Venice of the glory years. That's where the government of the day met and made decisions, greeted foreign dignitaries, held trials etc.
With that said, it reasoned that's why the "grand entrance" and the staircase was so "grand" as it was supposed to amde peopel who walked through there awe struck and be amazed t the riches of Venice.
We walked through all the great halls and chambers. There are plenty of art works by famous artists including the three T's (Titian, Tintoretto, and Tiepolo). We also stopped at the prison cells before we head out.
The most famous prisoner at the Doge's Palace was Casanova. (Yes, it is a real person) and somehow, he managed to escape, and his escape is right out of a fairy tale. He climbed onto the prison roof, slide down a drain pipe, slip inside the Palace and walk through the door to Piazza San Marcos and left on a Gondola.
Since we knew we are staying for a few days, we took our time at Doge's Palace. We walked around the district of San Marcos, made our way to the Rialto bridge, had dinner at a side walk cafe at the canal facing the bridge. By the time we got back to the water shuttle service, it started to rain and we made our way back to the ship with no incidence.
We had booked our stay near the Venice airport (Titian Inn) and the hotel offers free shuttle service to and from the airport. The hotel was less than 10 minutes by car and probably 20 to 25 minutes by foot.
We cheated and booked a disembarkation tour through the ship where they will take us on a tour to Moreno Island and drop us off at the airport after the tour, and our luggage would be in the airport waiting for us. It would have saved us $$ for transportation from the port to the hotel.
It didn't quite happened that way as there was not enough passsengers booked on the disembarkation tour and it was cancelled. So an alternate plan needed to be hatched up.
There were many options. Checked the luggage at the cruise terminal for 5 euros, took the people mover to Venice (1 euro per person), go sight seeing, head back to the terminal, pick up the luggae and make our way to the hotel by the airport.
The other option was take our luggage with us on the people mover, check our luggage at Piazza Roma (or Snata Lucia), go sight seeing, pick up the luggage afterward and head to the hotel.
As it turned out, we did the only sensible thing. We took a cab to the hotel after we disembarked. The cost was 50 euros (including tip) and the driver was so happy that he shook our hands, volunteer to take our luggage into the hotel and cannot stop smiling. The whole trip took about 30 minutes.
We arrived at the hotel quite early, it wasn't even 10 am and we expected to leave our luggage at the front desk, go sight seeing and check in later.
To our surprise, the room was ready and we checked in, relax a bit before we headed out to venice. The hotel is a small "boutique" hotel located in a residential area, right across from a farming community. It is also along the bus route (#5), between Piazza Roma and the Airport.
The bus stop was about a block away and we took the #5 bus heading into Venice. We were told the frquency of the bus was somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes but we never have to wait for more than 5 minutes.
The bus ride was about 20 to 25 minuets either way and the ride was uneventful, although it did get crowded on occassions.
After arriving at Piazza Roma, we decided to visit the train station at Santa Lucia. Why? Becasue it was there. We spent the rest of the day going through Cannargio which is not really a big tourist area except for the Jewish Ghetto. We enjoyed our time there as this is where you get to see the real Venice, where the local lived and played, and not the Venice that is choke full of tourist and the high prices associated with it. We ahd dinner at a local cafe, made our way back to Piazza Roma and took the bus back to thotel before dark.
That would be the routine for the duration of our stay at Venice. Breakfast at the hotel (included with the room rate), took the bus to Piazza Roma,w ander around, and took the bus back to the hotel after dark.
We knock off one "district" at a time. Castello was next and Castello was famous for the green public park area at the "end" of Venice called Giardini Pubblici, and the Arsenale which were shipyards during the Renaissance-era and still in use by the Italian Navy.
We went back and spent some time wandering around Piazza San Marco and stopped inside the Basilica. The Basilica was under restoration and parts of the building were covered, inclduing the famous horses.
There are a few things to know about the Basilica. First, the line up to get in is long, but it does move quite quickly. Second, they do enforce the rules of no back packs. There is a "luggage" drop off around the corner about a block away. There is clear signage, so drop off your bag before lining up or else you will end up lining up twice. Third, no pictures allowed inside but we didn't see anyoen enforcing it. Last, but not leaset, the treasury is worth spedning the 3 euros if we want to see some Ventian treasures.
Oct 13th, 2013, 01:21 AM
#37
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The spent the next few days around Santa Croce, San Polo and spent the last day at Dorsoduro. We tried to spilt our time evenly between tourist areas and non tourist area. At no point did we feel not safe in the non tourist area. And coem to think of it, we hardly notice any police presence in Venice, which could be a good or a bad thing depedning on points of view.
If you enjoy music, Interpreti Veneziani would be an important stop. They play Vivaldi's Four Seasons almost daily.
St. Mary of the Friars and Santa Maria dei Miracoli would be two of the many churches we visited. We were told there were 149 churches in Venice, although some were no longer active.
There are also many museums and shops in Venice. We managed to visit two different Da Vinci exhibits while we were there. One was a feature exhibits at the Accademia galleries and we stumbled into "Il Genio di Leonardo da Vinci Museo", which was formerly an old church. I bought a Homer Simpson Vitruvian Man t-sheet there.
The 2 exhibits are quite different. One feature scaled models of Da Vinci's inventions (The Genius of Da Vinci Museum) and the other featured drawings and original manuscripts (Accademia).
One of the more interesting exhibit was Simon Ma's "ink" at Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello. It was something that is very hard to describe. Imagine modern art in a Renaissance building, and at places, east meets west. As it is part of the Venice Biennale exhibits, it should be closing sometime this year. This woudl be our highlite of Venice.
Having a good map is a necessity to navigate through Venice. We got lost many time and we found our way many times. The streets are not labeled and the numbers on the houses are not in sequence.
We mainly used the various Piazzas and churches as our reference points along with the Grand canal.
One otehr place of note: the fish market. You have to be there early to experience it. That's all I can say.
All in all, it was a good few days in Venice, sore feet aside.
If you enjoy music, Interpreti Veneziani would be an important stop. They play Vivaldi's Four Seasons almost daily.
St. Mary of the Friars and Santa Maria dei Miracoli would be two of the many churches we visited. We were told there were 149 churches in Venice, although some were no longer active.
There are also many museums and shops in Venice. We managed to visit two different Da Vinci exhibits while we were there. One was a feature exhibits at the Accademia galleries and we stumbled into "Il Genio di Leonardo da Vinci Museo", which was formerly an old church. I bought a Homer Simpson Vitruvian Man t-sheet there.
The 2 exhibits are quite different. One feature scaled models of Da Vinci's inventions (The Genius of Da Vinci Museum) and the other featured drawings and original manuscripts (Accademia).
One of the more interesting exhibit was Simon Ma's "ink" at Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello. It was something that is very hard to describe. Imagine modern art in a Renaissance building, and at places, east meets west. As it is part of the Venice Biennale exhibits, it should be closing sometime this year. This woudl be our highlite of Venice.
Having a good map is a necessity to navigate through Venice. We got lost many time and we found our way many times. The streets are not labeled and the numbers on the houses are not in sequence.
We mainly used the various Piazzas and churches as our reference points along with the Grand canal.
One otehr place of note: the fish market. You have to be there early to experience it. That's all I can say.
All in all, it was a good few days in Venice, sore feet aside.
Oct 13th, 2013, 01:40 AM
#38
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Finally, soemthing about the ship, Ruby Princess. The ship was 5 years old and was refitted this year. We were on this ship back in its inaugural cruise. We didn't notice much change or difference, which is a good thing as it was quite good the way it was. The lay out made sense and all the Princess Grnad class ships lay out in simiar fashion so you feel like you've been there and have a sense of familiarity and comfort that you don't get when you get on a strange ship. Onthe other hand, some may liek teh different look and feel of ships and may find the simiar set up boring.
The entertainment on baord was somewhere between okay and good. The production shows are the same as what we have seen on our cruise to Alaska barely 3 months ago. We wouldn't expect any changes in the production shows as they typically would last a full year, and the same shows throughout the fleet.
The comedians were interestinge enough as was the hynotist. The various bands and venues were okay. They had the usual string quartet and the paino player. Nothing that really stood out, but nothing that screamed "aweful".
For us, the shp was simply a floating hotel and the main attractions were the ports.
One last thing. remember at the start of the TR, I mentioned how effortless to pass through immigrations and customs in Rome. They didn't even stamped our passport.
When we left Venice and landed in Frankfurt, the German immigration gave us a hard time and keep asking us how long were we in Europe.
It took us a while to figure it out. What happened was we were in Italy a few years ago and our passport were stamped back then and he couldn't find anything recent so he figured that we stayed in Europe all this time and is now heading home now ...
I explained that the immigration at Rome airport did not stamp our passport and he keep saying they should have and I keep telling him that they didn't. I am not sure what we showed him to finally convince him but it was 15 minutes later before he let us thorugh his kiosk.
The entertainment on baord was somewhere between okay and good. The production shows are the same as what we have seen on our cruise to Alaska barely 3 months ago. We wouldn't expect any changes in the production shows as they typically would last a full year, and the same shows throughout the fleet.
The comedians were interestinge enough as was the hynotist. The various bands and venues were okay. They had the usual string quartet and the paino player. Nothing that really stood out, but nothing that screamed "aweful".
For us, the shp was simply a floating hotel and the main attractions were the ports.
One last thing. remember at the start of the TR, I mentioned how effortless to pass through immigrations and customs in Rome. They didn't even stamped our passport.
When we left Venice and landed in Frankfurt, the German immigration gave us a hard time and keep asking us how long were we in Europe.
It took us a while to figure it out. What happened was we were in Italy a few years ago and our passport were stamped back then and he couldn't find anything recent so he figured that we stayed in Europe all this time and is now heading home now ...
I explained that the immigration at Rome airport did not stamp our passport and he keep saying they should have and I keep telling him that they didn't. I am not sure what we showed him to finally convince him but it was 15 minutes later before he let us thorugh his kiosk.
Oct 13th, 2013, 01:50 AM
#39
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Epilogue:
I don't always post trip reports. But when I post a trip report, I take my time posting it, on sections and enjoyed doing it.
For me, writing a TR, I will have to think back on what we did, where we visited, what was good, what was bad, what worked, what didn't. I have to re-lived the whole experience, or going on the same vacation again in my mind, looking at pictures to refresh my memory, which in the grand scheme of thinsg is a very good thing.
The other reason of writing a TR, of coruse, is to share information and our experience. My TR is not meant to be a review.
I read other people's TR and gained knowledge and pleasure from them. And if you enjoyed my TR and gain knowledge or pleasure, please feel free to comment.
I don't always post trip reports. But when I post a trip report, I take my time posting it, on sections and enjoyed doing it.
For me, writing a TR, I will have to think back on what we did, where we visited, what was good, what was bad, what worked, what didn't. I have to re-lived the whole experience, or going on the same vacation again in my mind, looking at pictures to refresh my memory, which in the grand scheme of thinsg is a very good thing.
The other reason of writing a TR, of coruse, is to share information and our experience. My TR is not meant to be a review.
I read other people's TR and gained knowledge and pleasure from them. And if you enjoyed my TR and gain knowledge or pleasure, please feel free to comment.
