Mediterranean Adventure: Venice, Italy

I received very good advice from one of the passengers on the ship who said that she had arrived to Venice by air, and by rail, but that arriving to Venice by water was a unique experience and to make sure that I was awake for sail in.  I took her advice, even though I had to wake up at 6am! I was very happy I did, it was a gorgeous sail in, especially with the sun rising, and just catching my first glimpse of the city.

We were in Venice over night, so had lots of time to explore! We took a water bus down the grand canal to St. Mark's square, and just wandered around. We also had a great recommendation for a small restaurant for an authentic dinner, which was amazing!  The second day, I had to make my way to the train station in Venice and start my journey home...

Sail in to Venice

Gondola man!

Grand Canal

Mediterranean Adventure: Kotor, Montenegro!

While I was planning for my trip, this port was one of the ones that I was the most excited for. I had seen beautiful pictures on the internet, and knew that it was the southernmost fjord in Europe. This port did not disappoint! When we arrived in Kotor, we climbed to the top of a fortress (over 1000 steps!) and met two men who lived high up in the mountains who gave us some sort of red berry juice and fresh mountain water.  Later, we toured around the old town and had a delicious 'family style' lunch of calamari, pizza and tomatoes/mozzarella/olives to snack on. The sail out of Kotor was also phenomenal and I took about a zillion pictures!

The red flag at the top is the fortress we climbed to

Sail away

Sailing past all the little villages

Mediterranean Adventure: Sicily: Lipari & Siracusa!

After the hectic pace of trying to see the sights of Rome and Pisa, the two towns in Sicily: Lipari and Siracusa, were a nice change of pace.  Lipari was a tender port, and we ended up getting in late, so we only had time for a quick beer and walk around the little town. It was a beautiful port, with lots of old buildings and a church at the top of a hill that I took lots of pictures from.

Sicily, especially, Siracusa, is apparently home to the Italian dessert, Cannoli. I will remember this vacation by my complete overconsumption of said dessert. Siracusa was a very nice little town. We were there on a Sunday and ended up discovering a farmer's market with delicious cheese, bread, olives, etc. After snacking on our first cannolli of the day, we got a little bit lost and ended up taking a taxi back to the ship. After lunch, I discovered the more picturesque area of town.

CANNOLI!

Siracusa old town (view from ship)

Siracusa (note the ship poking its nose into the street!)

Mediterranean Adventure: Pisa & Rome, Italy!

The first port we went to in Italy was La Spezia, which was only about an hour away from Pisa. We were able to take the train to the Pisa station and walk through the historical streets directly to the tower. I was surprised because at the end of an unassuming street with restaurants and shops, we were immediately at the base of the tower. I was expecting to see it looming in the distance. It was a beautiful day, and we stopped for the traditional tourist 'holding up the tower' pictures, before returning to La Spezia for a quick Pizza lunch, and back to the ship.

The next Italian port was Civitavecchia, which is about an hour's train ride from Rome! It cost us 9 euro, return trip and included our metro transfers! We took the train to Rome Termini, and took the subway two stops to Colosseo. Again, when we exited the subway, the Colosseum was right there! We spent the full day walking around Rome and were able to see the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, St. Peter's Basilica (from a distance) and many other piazzas.  We managed to find time for a mid-morning cappuccino break (apparently a faux pas in Italy) and a late pizza lunch.

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Colosseum

Mediterranean Adventure: Cartagena & Mahon, Spain

View of Cartagena from the ship. The square building at the top of the hill is the fortress we climbed to

View from the back of the ship -- my fave.

Beautiful sunset (even I think so!)


The first two ports we went to were Cartagena and Mahon, Spain. The ship was able to dock very close to the centre of both of these towns. Both were very old towns with lots of character.

In Cartagena, Beth and I wandered around the marble streets and stopped for cappuccino and a croissant.  We also found our way to the top of an old fortress with awesome views of the town.

In Mahon, we wandered around with a pack of crew from the ship. We found a cute little farmer's market and stopped for some strange crepes and sparkling water.  Apparently there were also beautiful beaches, but we didn't end up making it that far!

Mediterranean Adventure, Stop 1: Casablanca, Morocco

 Hassan II Mosque -- beautiful, right on the water, but basically surrounded by the ghetto.

 This is the street my hotel was on. (The blue vertical sign on the right side is my hotel.)

 Beach beside the mosque -- the first time I saw the ocean, even though Casablanca is right on the water. There were big buildings/walls/construction in the way everywhere else.

On March 31st, I left cold and snowy Ontario, on route to Casablanca, Morocco (with a brief stop over in Fiumicino, Italy). I arrived at about 10:30 am to hot and muggy Casablanca. My hotel picked me up and took me from the airport to the hotel, which was amazing -- especially because it seems like there are no traffic rules in Casablanca and finding your way is really tricky!  My overall impression of Casablanca is that it's hot hot hot! and verrry humid all the time! It is also very busy and streets are not linear and very difficult to navigate! I was also very conscious of my safety at all times, especially since I was traveling alone. It was an eye opening experience for sure, but not at the top of my list of places to return to!

New Blog!

I decided to make a blog, since it seems that I am traveling a lot, and I'm really bad at keeping in contact with people at home. Hopefully I'll be able to upload photos and updates as I go!