Koper, Slovenia - Day Four

The Viking Star docked in the port of Koper, Slovenia at about 7 am. Koper is the only seaport for the country of Slovenia, which gained its independence from Yugoslavia only in 1991. It is now a member of the European Union.

After breakfast, we joined a walking tour of the old city of Koper, led by a really excellent guide. Sonja had grown up working in the salt harvesting beds which was the principal industry for Koper from ancient times.  It was the salt which attracted the attention of the Venetian merchants and led to a Venetian presence in Koper for 500 years. Several buildings in the town square bear Venetian architectural influences and are adorned with the Lion of St. Mark.

(Fun fact: when the representation of the Lion of St. Mark - representing Venice - is accompanied by an open book, it means peaceful occupation. If the representation is with a closed book, it represents conquest.)

Sonja's tales of helping to harvest the evaporated salt, living conditions under the autocratic rule of first the Germans, then Yugoslavia, changes brought about by the country's independence, and her grandmother's wisdom gave life to what could have been a boring walk-about. We loved it.

We returned to the ship for lunch, then ventured out again to see more of what we missed the first time, including some of the city's parks with citizens enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. It had an almost bucolic, peaceful feel.

After another excellent meal - crab cakes, Beef Wellington and chocolate souffle shared with our friends Jeanne and Leo, we took in the Captain's welcome and returned to our room, grateful for a most enjoyable day.

Tomorrow we visit Zadar, Croatia - another city with strong ties to ancient Venice.  More to come

Venice - Day Three

Our time in Venice is coming to a close.  The major action of the day was to get our luggage (pickup at 7 am) and ourselves (pickup at 10 am) to the Viking Star anchored in the Venice harbor.  As there were over 200 people on the Venice pre-trip extension, this was no small undertaking. 

And, international travel safety is no small thing. Our luggage was scanned before our arrival and placed in our cabin. We had to pass through security lines not unlike those at airports, overseen by Italian police.

But we made it.  We entered the Viking Star (the same ship on which we took our first Viking Homelands cruise) about 11 am, and spent the first couple of hours in our favorite library hang-out, then lunch, then a stroll on the sports deck, and finally into our cabin at 2 pm.  

After unpacking, we attended a briefing on tomorrow's events, took part in a fire drill, and attended the first of the series of enrichment lectures - this one on the history and political importance of Venice, especially in lieu of the effect of Venetian power on other ports in the Adriatic we will be visiting.

Our evening ended with our first delicious meal in the main restaurant - crab souffle, broiled scallops, and "mango-tango" for dessert.

Tomorrow we will dock in Koper, Solvenia, which is the only seaport for this newish nation. We'll be on a walking tour of the old city and can't wait to report what we find.  More to come...

--

John Rollins
JARdigitalworks
201-452-1572

Venice - Day Two

Overnight the skies cleared and today was beautiful. And we made the most of it.

We started with a water taxi ride to the island of Murano to visit one of the famous glass-making studios. After a demonstration and a quick tour of the showrooms, we took a water taxi back to the San Marco plaza.

That was followed by a visit to the palace of the Doges, the government offices of ancient Venice, with it's baroque decorations and elaborate paintings.

Then we bought a day pass for the vaporetti, the city's water buses, and started a trip of the length of the Grand Canal. We stopped to cross the famous Rialto Bridge, get an espresso and, after walking some more, a gelato.

On the way back on the Grand Canal, we stopped to visit the Peggy Guggenheim art museum, with its collection of modern art and sculpture.

By this time we had walked about 6.5 miles, but we finished the day with a delicious meal at a canal-side restaurant near our hotel.  Fantastic!

Tomorrow we transfer to the Viking Star for more Venice adventures. Stay tuned...

Venice - Day One

It's a running joke with us, that where ever we travel rain will find us. And it was true for our first day in Venice.

Our flight landed about 8:30 am and we were transferred to our hotel in an hour. Of course the room wasn't ready at that hour, so we took a short walk but retreated to the hotel as the rain began. 

In the afternoon, after getting the room,   we decided to put on the rain gear and head out. The hotel provides a launch to the San Marco plaza. 

Once-over there we wandered, taking in all the ancient beauty of the plaza, and window shopping at the high end stores. Topping off the afternoon with gelato, we returned by the hotel launch to begin planning for tomorrow.  More to come...

The journey begins...

With our bags packed, our trip to Venice and points South on the Adriatic sea is underway.

We'll be boarding United flight 140 from the Newark airport for an eight hour flight, arriving in Venice about 9:30 a m. Sunday morning. 

Our plan is to start sightseeing as soon as we get to our hotel. We'll have a lot more to report tomorrow. And we're glad to have you along... 

Viking Australia Cruise - December 15

As we entered the harbor of Newcastle, Australia, we were greeted with a cannon salute from Fort Scratchley, a custom apparently to welcome cruise ships making their first docking.

The cruise ship port is rather in its infancy, with a tent serving as the point of disembarkation and security arranged with temporary fencing.  But it worked.

We arrived late in the morning, so it wasn't until after lunch that our included tour was ready. Our driver-guide made sure that we learned a few facts about Newcastle as he made his way through the Saturday traffic.  Newcastle was founded in the 19th century after coal was discovered in the area.  At first it was a penal colony, with the convicts sent from England put to work in the mines. Thus coal became its first export, but now that commodity has been supplanted with grain and aluminum.

The city is a modest size, built up on the hills surrounding the harbor.  Prominently visible is Christchurch Cathedral, surrounded by parks and other civic buildings. Many of the older buildings are being renovated as is the whole waterfront, enhanced by a new light rail system.

Newcastle is proud of its beaches, and were shown two of the best - Merewether and Nobbys. One of the features of the beaches, beside the beautiful sand and waves, is ocean baths - sections of the ocean enclosed in barriers to make swimming safer even as the waves crash around. (The photo was taken at Merewether Beach.)

We visited Fort Scratchley, built in the early 20th century to protect the city and coastline from an anticipated invasion from Russia which never took place.  During World War II, a Japanese submarine surfaced and began shelling the city.  Guns from Fort Scratchley returned fire and the submarine retreated.

Tonight we sail for Sydney, Australia.  We will see only a glimpse of the harbor as we will disembark at 7:30 a.m. for a trip to the airport.  We will fly to Houston and then Newark, arriving home (weather permitting) on Sunday evening.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip with us.  You can see all the entries (in reverse order) at <https://jarchronicles.blogspot.com>

Viking Australia Cruise - December 14

Today we are at sea, on the way to Newcastle, Australia which will be our last stop before we disembark in Sydney early Sunday morning.

Our daily routine has been pretty consistent: up early, breakfast in the World Cafe (they have a homemade muesli which is great), checking the morning schedule.  We skipped the early lecture in favor of taking a walk on the jogging path. Later as we sat in the library, we spotted a small school of dolphins, leap-frogging in front of the bow!

The afternoon lecture by the Resident Astronomer on meteorites, comets and asteroids and the levels of threat they pose to earth.  Of greatest concern of course is the asteroids; he emphasized the importance of the work by astronomers in identifying the ones that might come near or collide with the earth, and the work that is being done to develop a way to intercept a future asteroid on a collision course.

The Viking Orion has an app for our phones which we've found useful in keeping track of our excursions and things like our onboard account.  There is a second related app which we chose to use this afternoon: a self-guided tour of the artwork which is to be found all over the ship.  Matching a number with the app generates a description of the artist and the subject of the work.  It was a pleasant diversion for a quiet afternoon.

This evening we had our second visit to the Chefs Table restaurant.  It was another fabulous meal, a five-courses inspired by China's Cantonese and Hualyang cuisine. The photo is Jan enjoying the hot and sour soup. Each course is small but absolutely delicious. And as a happy coincidence, a couple from White Plains, NY, a DKG sister of Jan's and her husband, were seated again next to us. Good conversation ensued.

The evening was completed with the Captain's Farewell. Just one more day and our journey will be over.  Still, more to come...