Trip Report from Positano, Venice, Santorini, Athens, Split, Dubrovnik
Jun 29th, 2004, 08:08 AM
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Trip Report from Positano, Venice, Santorini, Athens, Split, Dubrovnik
Hi Everyone! THIS REPLACES MY REPORT "POSTING FROM SANTORINI" SO SOME OF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ MOST OF THIS. It is gone, so I copied it from my Word file. My daughter called the wedding in Positano "a dream wedding," and I will let her post a report about that. The Sirenuse did put us in an upper floor room that was very nice, but it was a little noisy because it was above the bar. No problem with the windows shut, but you couldn't open them at night and listen to the sea because of the music from below. We had room 84. Our daughter was supposed to have an upper floor room and did not get it. She was on the second floor, which also had a very nice room, just slightly smaller than ours, but with a great view, but it was the laundry floor and she said it was noisy in the morning. She had 47. All in all, they were both great rooms with the Positano view and I would stay in either one again. I had forgotten how wonderful the breakfast is there and the food at the restaurant was excellent this time. The service is perfect. They helped us ship the wedding dress home too! We also took the hotel boat the morning of our first day and it was a relaxing way to spend a few hours because we were so tired. The wedding dinner at the Murat was very good and we had the rehersal dinner at the Covo dei Saraceni which was good too, but some did not think it was as good as the Murat and I agree. The Cardinal from Positano was there from the Vatican and there was a huge celebration with fireworks and singing which we enjoyed from the terrace of the Saraceni. As we walked back to our hotel, we were handed a big piece of cake from the celebration. One of the wedding guests talked to someone from San Antonio that is also a fodorite while in Positano, but I don't know who she is. Maybe she will post and let us know.
After 5 days in Positano, we spent 3 days in Venice. Here we had a great treat! In 2002 we bought Tumi luggage and about a year later we got a card that allowed us to upgrade our Starwood membership to gold because of our luggage purchase. I also got an AXP Starwood card before I left for the Starwood points. We did not reserve a canal view room, but a room for 428 Eur. We got a room with a rack rate of 1080 Eur because of our Starwood connection. They actually gave us a double upgrade because they had the room available. I think it was the gold membership, not the card that did it. WOW! We stayed at the Europa and our room looked directly across to the Salute. We could lay in our heavenly bed and look directly at it - unbelievable - it was so special. I am a Starwood fan forever now. We had very good service there. We had dinner at da Fiore again and it was mostly good. The risotto with shrimp was delicious, but the tuna appetizer I had seemed to have no flavor whatsoever. It was served like sushi, but just tasted like toast and something cold and wet. The cream brulee was excellent as was the chocolate dessert. We had lunch at the Danieli roof top because we got caught in the rain and it was close by. The food was great, (I had heard that it wasn't) but way overpriced. Lunch was more expensive than dinner at da Fiore, but at least we had a nice view and stayed out of the rain for a while. Those were our only elaborate meals. We found a great sandwich shop close to St. Mark's that had tuna sandwiches for 1.50 Eur and we ate there at least 3 times. I am trying to find the receipt so I can post the name of it. We went to Burano and I found it charming. We had lunch there at the black cat, "gato nero." The food there was simple but very good. We were going to go to Torcello, but were running out of time, so we went on to Murano where we bought a glass fish by one of the masters (if you can believe it.) We are supposed to get the papers with the fish. Since this was not our first trip to Venice, we did not go to many specific tourist sights. We went to mass at St. Mark's which is a great way to see the Cathedral. The lights were on and it was more beautiful than I remembered. We went into the Salute, walked around a lot, rode the vaparettos around a lot. We had terrible drinks at Harry's bar and wonderful chocolate ice cream on the terrace of the Europa. I bought way too much glass. I am a glass collector. I bought a very unusual piece at Pauly's supposedly by another master. It doesn't really matter to me as long as I love it. We had two good days and one rainy day in Venice. It is a special place rain or not.
Santorini, It has been years since my first trip to Greece and when we first arrived, I thought that I had made a mistake. Santorini looked to be a disappointment. Then we got to our hotel and saw the view of the caldera and everything changed. It is an awesome sight! We stayed at The Tsitouras Collection, in the House of Nureyev in Firostefani. We were right next to Sun Rocks. We had a large terrace where we had breakfast each morning. While it was exclusively for our use, it certainly wasn?t private. You could see it from everywhere. Breakfast was huge and it was included in the room price, so we ate a lot and skipped lunch all but one day. They offer just about anything you want. We settled on smoked cheese & ham, cheese toast w/ham, pastries, fruit plate w/ yogurt, coffee and cappuccino & orange juice. They also offer Greek cheese with tomato and olives, eggs any way, juices, chocolate, etc. They also serve breakfast any time of the day you want. The rooms were very nice, we only ate breakfast at the hotel, but the service was the best we have ever had at any luxury hotel. The staff just seemed to hang around waiting for us to call. The first night someone walked us into the village of Firostefani to be sure we could find a restaurant. We ate the first night at Vanilia because the other restaurant was full. At Vanilia I had my best Greek salad and good pasta, but not great. The next night we ate at Aktaion or Acteon (modern version) in Firostefani. We were told it is the oldest Greek restaurant in Firostefani. It was wonderful. I had grilled pork with a sauce of sundried tomatoes and cheese and my husband had chicken with shrimps. Then I had lemon pie and he had Santorinian cake. Both were very good, so good we went back the next night and had meatballs, the special of the day, and it was great too!
Day 3 we took a boat trip around the islands and swam in the warm waters. Everywhere else the water was very, very cold. It was a nice 4 hour cruise with just the two of us and the captain, but I thought it was really too expensive, not a great deal, even though we enjoyed it.
Day 4 we rented a car and went to Akrotiri. I guess I have seen too many ruins, so I didn?t really think it was worth the trouble. Then we drove to Oia, which is as charming as everyone says it is. We ate at Oia Café. The owner of Ambrosia owns this restaurant and since Ambrosia was closed for lunch, he sent us there. The food was good, and the price seemed good and they served a lot of it, but it was nothing special. The staff at our hotel recommends 1800 in Oia, but it only opens for dinner. We walked by and it looked very nice. Since we had lunch in Oia, we dropped by Aktaion for salad and wine about 11:00 pm and they didn?t seem to mind that we weren?t ordering a meal since we had become regulars now.
It is embarrassing to admit it, but we didn?t really find Fira until the 4th night! We didn?t go anywhere the first day, walked along the road to the square the second day and never ventured further. We had decided we were going to mostly just rest in Santorini, so we were commited to only one or two outings a day. The third day we took the boat trip and and finally on the 4th evening, we decided to take the rock walkway into Fira. Imagine our surprise to see the fabulous views, all the restaurants and shops! This is when we realized how beautiful Santorini is. Fira was all lit up and trailing down just like Positano. Everyone always talks about the caldera and the sunsets, and we had that from our room, so I wasn?t looking for or expecting the beauty of Fira.
Day 5 we walked to Fira again, visited the historical museum, went to the Post Office to mail our book purchases, had lunch overlooking the caldera, then ended up renting a car again because it was cheaper than a taxi and we wanted to go out to the Akron Art Center and look at reproductions of ancient Greek wall paintings.
I really loved where we stayed. I might have liked to have the Fira view, but not the crowds or noise and it was an easy walk except in the hot sun. We ate at Aktaion again on our last night because it was just so good, we didn?t want to go anywhere else. It is casual and you can get a great meal for two with wine, beer and dessert for around 50 Eur.
Judy, the staff at the hotel was very friendly. I forgot to mention that they have cold drinks, water, sodas, beer, wine, and hard liquor in your room complimentary. If we ran out of the brand we liked, we just asked for it to be replaced. That was very nice. They also had high speed internet in the room, but it was hard to keep it connected. Some things could be improved like the robes, which were very scratchy and the shower runs hot and cold. It is either scalding hot or ice cold, so taking a shower wasn?t all that pleasant. We also encountered some bad sewer smells here, but I don?t think it is just our hotel. The day we arrived, you could smell sewer from the balcony and the last night in our room, the smell was so strong, my husband got up and ran the shower. I think this is a problem in Santorini.
For those of you interested in Sun Rocks, it looked to be very nice, with nice terraces and great views. The folks in Firostefani were so friendly. We kept walking by an ice cream shop asking for coffee ice cream and finally the manager just called us in and gave us some free cookies because he never did get the coffee ice cream.
To answer the question about the photographer, he was very nice, but he had promised to check out Positano in February since he had never been there and he didn't. He admitted the day of the wedding was his first visit. We should have photos very soon and I will let you know.
I am using my laptop, so sometimes I get a ? instead of an ' - sorry.
After 5 days in Positano, we spent 3 days in Venice. Here we had a great treat! In 2002 we bought Tumi luggage and about a year later we got a card that allowed us to upgrade our Starwood membership to gold because of our luggage purchase. I also got an AXP Starwood card before I left for the Starwood points. We did not reserve a canal view room, but a room for 428 Eur. We got a room with a rack rate of 1080 Eur because of our Starwood connection. They actually gave us a double upgrade because they had the room available. I think it was the gold membership, not the card that did it. WOW! We stayed at the Europa and our room looked directly across to the Salute. We could lay in our heavenly bed and look directly at it - unbelievable - it was so special. I am a Starwood fan forever now. We had very good service there. We had dinner at da Fiore again and it was mostly good. The risotto with shrimp was delicious, but the tuna appetizer I had seemed to have no flavor whatsoever. It was served like sushi, but just tasted like toast and something cold and wet. The cream brulee was excellent as was the chocolate dessert. We had lunch at the Danieli roof top because we got caught in the rain and it was close by. The food was great, (I had heard that it wasn't) but way overpriced. Lunch was more expensive than dinner at da Fiore, but at least we had a nice view and stayed out of the rain for a while. Those were our only elaborate meals. We found a great sandwich shop close to St. Mark's that had tuna sandwiches for 1.50 Eur and we ate there at least 3 times. I am trying to find the receipt so I can post the name of it. We went to Burano and I found it charming. We had lunch there at the black cat, "gato nero." The food there was simple but very good. We were going to go to Torcello, but were running out of time, so we went on to Murano where we bought a glass fish by one of the masters (if you can believe it.) We are supposed to get the papers with the fish. Since this was not our first trip to Venice, we did not go to many specific tourist sights. We went to mass at St. Mark's which is a great way to see the Cathedral. The lights were on and it was more beautiful than I remembered. We went into the Salute, walked around a lot, rode the vaparettos around a lot. We had terrible drinks at Harry's bar and wonderful chocolate ice cream on the terrace of the Europa. I bought way too much glass. I am a glass collector. I bought a very unusual piece at Pauly's supposedly by another master. It doesn't really matter to me as long as I love it. We had two good days and one rainy day in Venice. It is a special place rain or not.
Santorini, It has been years since my first trip to Greece and when we first arrived, I thought that I had made a mistake. Santorini looked to be a disappointment. Then we got to our hotel and saw the view of the caldera and everything changed. It is an awesome sight! We stayed at The Tsitouras Collection, in the House of Nureyev in Firostefani. We were right next to Sun Rocks. We had a large terrace where we had breakfast each morning. While it was exclusively for our use, it certainly wasn?t private. You could see it from everywhere. Breakfast was huge and it was included in the room price, so we ate a lot and skipped lunch all but one day. They offer just about anything you want. We settled on smoked cheese & ham, cheese toast w/ham, pastries, fruit plate w/ yogurt, coffee and cappuccino & orange juice. They also offer Greek cheese with tomato and olives, eggs any way, juices, chocolate, etc. They also serve breakfast any time of the day you want. The rooms were very nice, we only ate breakfast at the hotel, but the service was the best we have ever had at any luxury hotel. The staff just seemed to hang around waiting for us to call. The first night someone walked us into the village of Firostefani to be sure we could find a restaurant. We ate the first night at Vanilia because the other restaurant was full. At Vanilia I had my best Greek salad and good pasta, but not great. The next night we ate at Aktaion or Acteon (modern version) in Firostefani. We were told it is the oldest Greek restaurant in Firostefani. It was wonderful. I had grilled pork with a sauce of sundried tomatoes and cheese and my husband had chicken with shrimps. Then I had lemon pie and he had Santorinian cake. Both were very good, so good we went back the next night and had meatballs, the special of the day, and it was great too!
Day 3 we took a boat trip around the islands and swam in the warm waters. Everywhere else the water was very, very cold. It was a nice 4 hour cruise with just the two of us and the captain, but I thought it was really too expensive, not a great deal, even though we enjoyed it.
Day 4 we rented a car and went to Akrotiri. I guess I have seen too many ruins, so I didn?t really think it was worth the trouble. Then we drove to Oia, which is as charming as everyone says it is. We ate at Oia Café. The owner of Ambrosia owns this restaurant and since Ambrosia was closed for lunch, he sent us there. The food was good, and the price seemed good and they served a lot of it, but it was nothing special. The staff at our hotel recommends 1800 in Oia, but it only opens for dinner. We walked by and it looked very nice. Since we had lunch in Oia, we dropped by Aktaion for salad and wine about 11:00 pm and they didn?t seem to mind that we weren?t ordering a meal since we had become regulars now.
It is embarrassing to admit it, but we didn?t really find Fira until the 4th night! We didn?t go anywhere the first day, walked along the road to the square the second day and never ventured further. We had decided we were going to mostly just rest in Santorini, so we were commited to only one or two outings a day. The third day we took the boat trip and and finally on the 4th evening, we decided to take the rock walkway into Fira. Imagine our surprise to see the fabulous views, all the restaurants and shops! This is when we realized how beautiful Santorini is. Fira was all lit up and trailing down just like Positano. Everyone always talks about the caldera and the sunsets, and we had that from our room, so I wasn?t looking for or expecting the beauty of Fira.
Day 5 we walked to Fira again, visited the historical museum, went to the Post Office to mail our book purchases, had lunch overlooking the caldera, then ended up renting a car again because it was cheaper than a taxi and we wanted to go out to the Akron Art Center and look at reproductions of ancient Greek wall paintings.
I really loved where we stayed. I might have liked to have the Fira view, but not the crowds or noise and it was an easy walk except in the hot sun. We ate at Aktaion again on our last night because it was just so good, we didn?t want to go anywhere else. It is casual and you can get a great meal for two with wine, beer and dessert for around 50 Eur.
Judy, the staff at the hotel was very friendly. I forgot to mention that they have cold drinks, water, sodas, beer, wine, and hard liquor in your room complimentary. If we ran out of the brand we liked, we just asked for it to be replaced. That was very nice. They also had high speed internet in the room, but it was hard to keep it connected. Some things could be improved like the robes, which were very scratchy and the shower runs hot and cold. It is either scalding hot or ice cold, so taking a shower wasn?t all that pleasant. We also encountered some bad sewer smells here, but I don?t think it is just our hotel. The day we arrived, you could smell sewer from the balcony and the last night in our room, the smell was so strong, my husband got up and ran the shower. I think this is a problem in Santorini.
For those of you interested in Sun Rocks, it looked to be very nice, with nice terraces and great views. The folks in Firostefani were so friendly. We kept walking by an ice cream shop asking for coffee ice cream and finally the manager just called us in and gave us some free cookies because he never did get the coffee ice cream.
To answer the question about the photographer, he was very nice, but he had promised to check out Positano in February since he had never been there and he didn't. He admitted the day of the wedding was his first visit. We should have photos very soon and I will let you know.
I am using my laptop, so sometimes I get a ? instead of an ' - sorry.
Jun 29th, 2004, 08:45 AM
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SPLIT was what I expected. It wasn?t very pretty, but was interesting. We especially liked the way the old palace is lived in and used as a living monument rather than an empty ruin. The Hotel Park was adequate. We had what we needed. The restaurant/garden was peaceful and it was well located to walk to Diocletian?s Palace and the harbor.
THE DRIVE DOWN TO DUBROVNIK was great. We flew into Split and got Miro to drive us to Dubrovnik. He is very nice. He picked us up right on time and we stopped and had lunch at Café Roko in Podgora, another great recommendation. It was great to enjoy the scenery while Miro drove us. Everyone talks about how beautiful it is, but you really have to see the color of that blue water to know. It took us about 5 ? hrs., but we had a great lunch in Podgora and stopped again at one of Miro?s favorite places for a drink. At Café Roko we had grilled pork and salad which was very, very good. We didn?t have anything for dinner but Ice Cream. Podgora and Brela looked to be places I might like to stay too. I loved all the small villages along the coastline and there were many I would like to stay at, but I couldn?t get all their names. Markaska looked beautiful too. I am so glad we drove down the coastline so I could see some of the villages since we plan to stay in Dubrovnik. I will report on Dubrovnik soon. Take care, WT
THE DRIVE DOWN TO DUBROVNIK was great. We flew into Split and got Miro to drive us to Dubrovnik. He is very nice. He picked us up right on time and we stopped and had lunch at Café Roko in Podgora, another great recommendation. It was great to enjoy the scenery while Miro drove us. Everyone talks about how beautiful it is, but you really have to see the color of that blue water to know. It took us about 5 ? hrs., but we had a great lunch in Podgora and stopped again at one of Miro?s favorite places for a drink. At Café Roko we had grilled pork and salad which was very, very good. We didn?t have anything for dinner but Ice Cream. Podgora and Brela looked to be places I might like to stay too. I loved all the small villages along the coastline and there were many I would like to stay at, but I couldn?t get all their names. Markaska looked beautiful too. I am so glad we drove down the coastline so I could see some of the villages since we plan to stay in Dubrovnik. I will report on Dubrovnik soon. Take care, WT
Jul 1st, 2004, 02:46 PM
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So glad you had a good trip! It sounds like you found some great spots in Santorini- I wrote down your restaurant choices for our trip (in just 2 days!!). I have never really gone into Fira, having always stayed in Oia, so we will definitely have to check that out this time. Welcome back, and I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip.
Jul 3rd, 2004, 01:14 AM
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I forgot to mention a funny thing that happened at the Split airport. There was a taxi driver that seemed to know one English word, HOWDY! He just kept saying HOWDY to all the arriving passengers at the airport. I guess some Texans have been going to Split. I also misspelled Makarska, sorry.
DUBROVNIK is very beautiful and unique. Just as everyone before me has said, the Stradum does glow which makes it unique. I think the gleaming white streets make it seem cleaner than other town centers too.
We arrived at the Pucic and I wasn?t altogether happy. Our room was very small. The bathroom is very nice, but the bedroom is tiny. We booked the executive deluxe which was supposed to be bigger. I went down to the desk and told the staff that it was too small and he didn?t seem to care, simply said that it was a large room and that they had a suite, but it cost a lot more. I didn?t care for his attitude and assured him it wasn?t a large room and left. I considered trying to find another hotel the next day, not because of the room, but because I took an immediate dislike to the guy at the desk. However, the next morning there was a very nice person at the desk and we had a wonderful breakfast where again, you can just about order anything you want and can have breakfast at any time you want. The staff in the dining room was very nice too. Once I made sure we still had our boat charter through the hotel, I decided I would stay. As it turned out, everyone else is very nice, although I haven?t warmed up to the night desk guy, definitely 2nd string.
Our first night we simply walked around old town. The next day we walked the wall at noon. OMG, it is so hot here, much hotter than I expected. It feels hotter than Athens. It took us about 1 ? hrs. We used the audio guide and I think it was worth it. After walking the wall in the heat of the day, and having pizza and salad at Baracuda Pizza, which was very good, we stayed in until almost dark. Then we walked around exploring more of old town. We had dinner at the Pucic Palace in the Royal Café out front. We had beef steak which was excellent. The next day we had a boat charter from 8:30 until 5:00. We partly sailed (no wind) and partly motored to Lopud where we spent a while swimming. The water was fine and actually warm closer to the beach, and very clean. The beach is nice and sandy and there are some nudists at the beach. After this refreshing swim, we sailed around Lopud to the town side. It looks to be a very quiet place. Although it was beautiful too, my spouse said he would have gone crazy staying there because it was just too small. I like places like this because I love to just lay about reading and relaxing, but he has to have something to do and he doesn?t like beach sand, so I guess I am glad we didn?t stay there. We sailed by several of the other islands and ending up having a late lunch in a beautiful little village on the mainland, Zaton Veliki at a restaurant called Ankora. This is a great spot, not far from Dubrovnik. We watched children playing and swimming in the clearest blue water while we ate lunch. The food was OK, but we had the mixed grill and the meats were a little dry. I would definitely eat there again, but I would order seafood which I understand is there specialty. It is a small, lovely spot and if I were going to stay outside of Dubrovnik, I would consider staying here, but I didn?t really see any hotels there. It is right across from the island of Kolocep. Since we had the big lunch, we had ice cream for dinner again, then we checked out the Pucic?s wine bar, but since we weren?t eating dinner, we only wanted wine by the glass which is unfortunately limited so we just had coffee and left. We found a jazz place called Troubadours and a bar called Hemingway?s that has what looks to be comfortable wicker furniture and footstools. The next day we got up and went to the Aquarium which was interesting to me because it had a lot of the fish you normally see on the menus and they bring the seawater right in from the ocean. Otherwise, it was very limited. Then we went to the Maritime Museum which I thought was interesting. The have an original manuscript from Henry II of France assuring the Republic of Dubrovnik that their ships would not be pillaged. What interested me about it was the signature, which simply read ?henry? in lower case. We also visited some churches and the Rector?s Palace which I did not find all that interesting, except for the architecture of the building.
We have gotten to really enjoy the staff at the Pucic now and are glad we stayed in old town. Their excursions are planned just for the 2 of us which is very nice.
Tomorrow we go to Mijet.
Europhile, Have a wonderful, safe trip. I can't wait to read your report.
DUBROVNIK is very beautiful and unique. Just as everyone before me has said, the Stradum does glow which makes it unique. I think the gleaming white streets make it seem cleaner than other town centers too.
We arrived at the Pucic and I wasn?t altogether happy. Our room was very small. The bathroom is very nice, but the bedroom is tiny. We booked the executive deluxe which was supposed to be bigger. I went down to the desk and told the staff that it was too small and he didn?t seem to care, simply said that it was a large room and that they had a suite, but it cost a lot more. I didn?t care for his attitude and assured him it wasn?t a large room and left. I considered trying to find another hotel the next day, not because of the room, but because I took an immediate dislike to the guy at the desk. However, the next morning there was a very nice person at the desk and we had a wonderful breakfast where again, you can just about order anything you want and can have breakfast at any time you want. The staff in the dining room was very nice too. Once I made sure we still had our boat charter through the hotel, I decided I would stay. As it turned out, everyone else is very nice, although I haven?t warmed up to the night desk guy, definitely 2nd string.
Our first night we simply walked around old town. The next day we walked the wall at noon. OMG, it is so hot here, much hotter than I expected. It feels hotter than Athens. It took us about 1 ? hrs. We used the audio guide and I think it was worth it. After walking the wall in the heat of the day, and having pizza and salad at Baracuda Pizza, which was very good, we stayed in until almost dark. Then we walked around exploring more of old town. We had dinner at the Pucic Palace in the Royal Café out front. We had beef steak which was excellent. The next day we had a boat charter from 8:30 until 5:00. We partly sailed (no wind) and partly motored to Lopud where we spent a while swimming. The water was fine and actually warm closer to the beach, and very clean. The beach is nice and sandy and there are some nudists at the beach. After this refreshing swim, we sailed around Lopud to the town side. It looks to be a very quiet place. Although it was beautiful too, my spouse said he would have gone crazy staying there because it was just too small. I like places like this because I love to just lay about reading and relaxing, but he has to have something to do and he doesn?t like beach sand, so I guess I am glad we didn?t stay there. We sailed by several of the other islands and ending up having a late lunch in a beautiful little village on the mainland, Zaton Veliki at a restaurant called Ankora. This is a great spot, not far from Dubrovnik. We watched children playing and swimming in the clearest blue water while we ate lunch. The food was OK, but we had the mixed grill and the meats were a little dry. I would definitely eat there again, but I would order seafood which I understand is there specialty. It is a small, lovely spot and if I were going to stay outside of Dubrovnik, I would consider staying here, but I didn?t really see any hotels there. It is right across from the island of Kolocep. Since we had the big lunch, we had ice cream for dinner again, then we checked out the Pucic?s wine bar, but since we weren?t eating dinner, we only wanted wine by the glass which is unfortunately limited so we just had coffee and left. We found a jazz place called Troubadours and a bar called Hemingway?s that has what looks to be comfortable wicker furniture and footstools. The next day we got up and went to the Aquarium which was interesting to me because it had a lot of the fish you normally see on the menus and they bring the seawater right in from the ocean. Otherwise, it was very limited. Then we went to the Maritime Museum which I thought was interesting. The have an original manuscript from Henry II of France assuring the Republic of Dubrovnik that their ships would not be pillaged. What interested me about it was the signature, which simply read ?henry? in lower case. We also visited some churches and the Rector?s Palace which I did not find all that interesting, except for the architecture of the building.
We have gotten to really enjoy the staff at the Pucic now and are glad we stayed in old town. Their excursions are planned just for the 2 of us which is very nice.
Tomorrow we go to Mijet.
Europhile, Have a wonderful, safe trip. I can't wait to read your report.
Jul 7th, 2004, 09:04 AM
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MIJET. The trip to Mijet was fairly easy because our hotel arranged a driver to take us to the Catamaran. We had about an 1 1/2 hr. trip to Mijet and got off at the stop for the National Park. We then took the park minibus to a boat which took us to the Monastary. There really isn't much to see there, but the water is so clear and beautiful. We had a good lunch, but then were just sort of stranded there. We should have worn our swimsuits and taken towels or rented a car for the day because I really wanted to see more of Mijet, not just the park and that is really all we saw. Even though we had to change transportation several times, it was a very lazy day. If I were going to do it again, I would stay on Mijet for one or two nights and rent a car or scooter. It is a great place just to swim and relax. I do wish our hotel had given us more information about our excursion there, because I would have definitely arranged for transportation to get around, but I loved the fact that we weren't with a large group. The catamaran left Dubrovnik around 9:00 - 9:30 and we re-boarded in Mijet around 6:00.
The highlight of our trip to Dubrovnik was an afternoon spent with Miro and his family. They were kind enough to spend an afternoon with us and we feel so priviledged to have gotten to know this wonderful family. We plan to keep in touch.
We had great food in Dubrovnik. We ate at Baracuda Pizza three times and both restaurants at the Pucic which were excellent.
The flights on Croatia Air were great with very nice Airbus 319's both ways.
ROME. We stayed at the Eden and got upgraded because of our American Express Platinum Card to a room overlooking Borgese Gardens. We only had one full day, so we went to the Borgese Gallery in the morning and Nero's House in the afternoon. The first English speaking guide for Nero's is at 3:20. We ate at a steak place called El Buca I think (if anyone wants to know I will look it up) and the Eden our last night. Both were excellent, the Eden being very expensive. The staff at the Eden was excellent.
My sincere thanks to all of you that helped me plan this trip! WT
The highlight of our trip to Dubrovnik was an afternoon spent with Miro and his family. They were kind enough to spend an afternoon with us and we feel so priviledged to have gotten to know this wonderful family. We plan to keep in touch.
We had great food in Dubrovnik. We ate at Baracuda Pizza three times and both restaurants at the Pucic which were excellent.
The flights on Croatia Air were great with very nice Airbus 319's both ways.
ROME. We stayed at the Eden and got upgraded because of our American Express Platinum Card to a room overlooking Borgese Gardens. We only had one full day, so we went to the Borgese Gallery in the morning and Nero's House in the afternoon. The first English speaking guide for Nero's is at 3:20. We ate at a steak place called El Buca I think (if anyone wants to know I will look it up) and the Eden our last night. Both were excellent, the Eden being very expensive. The staff at the Eden was excellent.
My sincere thanks to all of you that helped me plan this trip! WT
Jul 7th, 2004, 04:40 PM
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Pawleys, When we arrived, I think we were the only guests at Tsitouras. The staff just seemed to hang around and wait for us to want something. The service was incredible and of course, there was the VIEW!
Jul 7th, 2004, 06:13 PM
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Hi WT. I enjoyed your report. Have you noticed how many Croatia threads have been popping up recently? I know you are glad that you went.
I am also happy to hear that you used Miro as a driver. He is a dear. Let's not keep him to ourselves; if anyone is looking for a driver in or around Dubrovnik his email is miro-taxi at hi.htnet.hr
I am also happy to hear that you used Miro as a driver. He is a dear. Let's not keep him to ourselves; if anyone is looking for a driver in or around Dubrovnik his email is miro-taxi at hi.htnet.hr
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