Waking up Tuesday we found ourselves in beautiful, yet cloudy, Dubrovnik, Croatia. The plan for the day was to visit old town (the tourist must for the city) and go to the beach. One peek outside dashed our beach plans. We once again rejected the cruise recommended shuttle and instead opted to walk to old town. It took us about a half hour and was a really pleasant walk until about 10 minutes from the site the skies opened and the rain came down. I whipped out little red, our trusty travel umbrella, and we finally made it there, ducking under eaves during the big downpours. We arrived at the site to see it mobbed with people and buses. Hundreds and hundreds of people! But we happened to notice that the people were getting back on the buses. Thanks anyway!
We entered old town and spent the next hour or two hiding under eaves during the big downpours, ducking into shops and stopping for a croissant to get out of the rain. The rain wasn’t letting up, so we found a pizzeria with a large overhang and sat down for pizza and beer. Revived, warmed slightly and seeing a break in the weather we next headed to the top of the wall. The wall surrounds the old city and has amazing views. Just as we reached the top the skies opened and the downpour began. We retreated into a little alcove with 40 of our closest tourist friends and were treated to a lightening
and hail storm. Chris and I had no intention to spending the afternoon trapped on the wall, so as soon as it turned back into regular rain we were out of there. We bust through the crowd of people only to have someone yell after us, “Lightening rod!” Oh yeah, maybe we shouldn’t use the umbrella. I told Chris we had to run it. I wanted to see it all, just in a quicker fashion. We were honestly the only ones out there. Running manically and laughing like kids we made our way around the wall. We figured that once you’re wet, what’s one more puddle or downpour? We got some amazing photos that on any other day would have included hoards of tourists. It was just Chris and I and the view and the storm. We loved it. Eventually we made our way around, a little disappointed our adventure had ended. 
Afterward we did a tiny bit of shopping and then I made Chris promise me we could take a taxi back. We exited and found traffic at a standstill and the taxi line a mile long. Very well, we’ll walk back. About halfway through our walk the clouds broke up and we were treated to the most beautiful view of Dubrovnik. As we sloshed our way back to the ship we cursed Dubrovnik for being such a tease. We stopped at the grocery store next door for snacks and a local beer and then watched the cruise ship docked next to us depart and the pirate ship set sail as well. Back on board we marveled at how wrinkly our feet were, changed into dry clothes and headed up top to enjoy the departing view. We decided we’d love to return to Dubrovnik, just on a sunnier day.
Our very last port was Corfu, Greece. I refused to do any more walking, and it was overcast, so we rented a car and decided to drive the coast. Except it wasn’t much of a car, more of the golf-cart variety. We had a leisurely drive north along the coast, enjoying the view, and stopped in Sidari for lunch. It’s a cute little beach town, curiously crawling with British tourists. We stopped at a gyro joint for lunch and b
eers and then wandered the little town and the beach for a bit. We took our time heading back, stopping at Dassia beach to cool down. We returned the car and called it a day. Corfu was very pretty, but I don’t think we’d go back. It’s very populated and not the picturesque Greece that you’d expect. We’d love to go back and do some Greek island hoping. You can just tell the whole area is lush with vegetation and crystal blue waters. The ship put on their midnight buffet in the form of a toga party, a first for each of us. I doubt I could talk Chris into wearing a bed sheet for hours anywhere but in Greece, at a cheesy party.
The last two days on board were at sea days. We spent the daytime on deck getting sun, reading, sleeping and watching whatever silly contest they were having at the pool. In the evening we popped in for the entertainment, ate meal after meal, packed and recovered. It really was a lovely way to the end the vacation - refreshed.
We were thrilled with our cruise ship. It’s a class of ships called Radiance, where they sink money into the interior, the furnishings and the details. You could definitely tell they were trying to save money on food or the little extras, but the ship itself was magnificent. Usually the art on ships is gaudy and tacky, but we liked everything we saw there. There were 2500 people on board, but you’d never know it. We never waited for dinner and always found a deck chair. The staff we encountered were polite and helpful and the entertainment was about on par with every other cruise we’d been on – better after a few drinks. It was so lovely having 2 weeks. We frequently forgot what day of the week it was, and preferred it that way. We met lovely people on board. The food was mostly good with a couple items being excellent. Our favorite routine was to have fancy dinner in the dining room but then immediately follow it up with nightly sushi and second dessert in the buffet. We ate a lot of soft serve ice cream and pizzas. Our favorite spot to hang out was the Solarium, an indoor adults-only pool. I’m sure it was also just coincidental that’s where the pizza was served. For activities we had a great time playing mini golf late at night, Chris climbed the rock wall and we attempted ping pong until I hit a ball out the window. We attended the honeymooner’s party and the repeat cruisers party, both with free drinks! We went to the honeymooner’s party expecting to meet the other six or so couples on board. We were quite surprised to see the entire room fill up, well over 50 couples deep. We even won the trivia one night, taking home the grand prize of Royal Caribbean medals, which we wore all night. As with all of our cruises, we found that creating our own entertainment was the most fun. This cruise turned out to be everything I had expected it to be and more.
We entered old town and spent the next hour or two hiding under eaves during the big downpours, ducking into shops and stopping for a croissant to get out of the rain. The rain wasn’t letting up, so we found a pizzeria with a large overhang and sat down for pizza and beer. Revived, warmed slightly and seeing a break in the weather we next headed to the top of the wall. The wall surrounds the old city and has amazing views. Just as we reached the top the skies opened and the downpour began. We retreated into a little alcove with 40 of our closest tourist friends and were treated to a lightening
and hail storm. Chris and I had no intention to spending the afternoon trapped on the wall, so as soon as it turned back into regular rain we were out of there. We bust through the crowd of people only to have someone yell after us, “Lightening rod!” Oh yeah, maybe we shouldn’t use the umbrella. I told Chris we had to run it. I wanted to see it all, just in a quicker fashion. We were honestly the only ones out there. Running manically and laughing like kids we made our way around the wall. We figured that once you’re wet, what’s one more puddle or downpour? We got some amazing photos that on any other day would have included hoards of tourists. It was just Chris and I and the view and the storm. We loved it. Eventually we made our way around, a little disappointed our adventure had ended. 
Afterward we did a tiny bit of shopping and then I made Chris promise me we could take a taxi back. We exited and found traffic at a standstill and the taxi line a mile long. Very well, we’ll walk back. About halfway through our walk the clouds broke up and we were treated to the most beautiful view of Dubrovnik. As we sloshed our way back to the ship we cursed Dubrovnik for being such a tease. We stopped at the grocery store next door for snacks and a local beer and then watched the cruise ship docked next to us depart and the pirate ship set sail as well. Back on board we marveled at how wrinkly our feet were, changed into dry clothes and headed up top to enjoy the departing view. We decided we’d love to return to Dubrovnik, just on a sunnier day.
Our very last port was Corfu, Greece. I refused to do any more walking, and it was overcast, so we rented a car and decided to drive the coast. Except it wasn’t much of a car, more of the golf-cart variety. We had a leisurely drive north along the coast, enjoying the view, and stopped in Sidari for lunch. It’s a cute little beach town, curiously crawling with British tourists. We stopped at a gyro joint for lunch and b
eers and then wandered the little town and the beach for a bit. We took our time heading back, stopping at Dassia beach to cool down. We returned the car and called it a day. Corfu was very pretty, but I don’t think we’d go back. It’s very populated and not the picturesque Greece that you’d expect. We’d love to go back and do some Greek island hoping. You can just tell the whole area is lush with vegetation and crystal blue waters. The ship put on their midnight buffet in the form of a toga party, a first for each of us. I doubt I could talk Chris into wearing a bed sheet for hours anywhere but in Greece, at a cheesy party.
The last two days on board were at sea days. We spent the daytime on deck getting sun, reading, sleeping and watching whatever silly contest they were having at the pool. In the evening we popped in for the entertainment, ate meal after meal, packed and recovered. It really was a lovely way to the end the vacation - refreshed.We were thrilled with our cruise ship. It’s a class of ships called Radiance, where they sink money into the interior, the furnishings and the details. You could definitely tell they were trying to save money on food or the little extras, but the ship itself was magnificent. Usually the art on ships is gaudy and tacky, but we liked everything we saw there. There were 2500 people on board, but you’d never know it. We never waited for dinner and always found a deck chair. The staff we encountered were polite and helpful and the entertainment was about on par with every other cruise we’d been on – better after a few drinks. It was so lovely having 2 weeks. We frequently forgot what day of the week it was, and preferred it that way. We met lovely people on board. The food was mostly good with a couple items being excellent. Our favorite routine was to have fancy dinner in the dining room but then immediately follow it up with nightly sushi and second dessert in the buffet. We ate a lot of soft serve ice cream and pizzas. Our favorite spot to hang out was the Solarium, an indoor adults-only pool. I’m sure it was also just coincidental that’s where the pizza was served. For activities we had a great time playing mini golf late at night, Chris climbed the rock wall and we attempted ping pong until I hit a ball out the window. We attended the honeymooner’s party and the repeat cruisers party, both with free drinks! We went to the honeymooner’s party expecting to meet the other six or so couples on board. We were quite surprised to see the entire room fill up, well over 50 couples deep. We even won the trivia one night, taking home the grand prize of Royal Caribbean medals, which we wore all night. As with all of our cruises, we found that creating our own entertainment was the most fun. This cruise turned out to be everything I had expected it to be and more.
1 comment:
You look sO gorgeous under umbrella!!!
Post a Comment