A Windstar Cruise
Classic Italy
& The Dalmatian
Coast
September 21 – 29
Wind Surf at the dock in Venice
As mentioned, the cruise started in Venice and then proceeded to Rovinj, Croatia: Split, Croatia: Dubrovnik, Croatia: Korcula, Croatia: Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy: Sorrento, Italy and finally ending in Civitavecchia/Rome, Italy. A map of the cruise might make it easier to visualize.
Map of our Wind Star cruise
Sept 20: Arrival in
Venice
Our flight arrived at the Venice airport around 10:15 AM, about 45 minutes late. We had a hotel for that night before boarding the ship the next day, so I had arranged airport to hotel transfers. Both the hotel and the transfers were done through Windstar. When we got to the Venice airport and completed Customs and Immigration processing and got our bags, we did not see any sign of someone there to pick us up for the transfer. We looked for a “Windstar” sign from the baggage claim until exiting the terminal building to the transportation area. There were plenty of signs for other companies, but not Windstar. After looking around for 15 – 20 minutes we finally just got a taxi to take us into Venice. Of course, in Venice, a “land taxi” cannot take you to a hotel because all the roads are actually canals and you need a “water taxi”. The taxi driver described what we needed to do when he dropped us off at the central transportation area and we got a water taxi ticket and onto the proper boat.
View from water taxi/bus
From a Google Maps map I had printed, just in case, I knew what stop to get off the crowded boat with our roller suitcases and carry bags. Then we took a little walk. All we had to go on was that Google Map and it was not very clear, but thankfully I had marked the location of the hotel on the map. I still say that we did not get lost, but perhaps the hotel did get misplaced.
Wandering in Venice: canals instead of streets!
We were looking for the Bonvecchiati Hotel and, after about 30 minutes of wandering with our luggage, we found it, only to be told that no, our reservations were not for that hotel but the Palace Bonvecchiati Hotel! The staff was very nice though, and one of them took the time to escort us the 5 minutes to the proper hotel that was only a couple of blocks away. The hotel was very modern inside and comfortable and probably the nicest hotel we stayed in during the trip. After our travels and a bit of an adventure, we rested for a couple of hours before heading out again.
Armed with a better local map, we headed out onto the sidewalks and canals of Venice. One note said that the famous Rinaldi Bridge over the Grand Canal was only about a 5 minute walk from the hotel, so that seemed like a good easy first objective. We only made one or two slightly wrong turns so it only took us about 10 minutes to get to the bridge, but we were sightseeing.
Famous Rinaldi bridge over the Grand Canal
Susan among the crowd on the Rinaldi bridge
We walked up and over the bridge, taking in the sights of Venice and the Grand Canal.
Always lots of boat traffic on the Grand Canal under the bridge
While not jam-packed, the area around the bridge seemed fairly busy and crowded to me, but local people we talked to later said that it was really not at all busy compared to in more typical (pre-COVID) days. It was interesting to watch the various kinds of boats going up and down the Grand Canal and all the small side canals.
After looking around for a while we headed back to the hotel. Since we had not had anything to eat since a slightly late breakfast on the plane, we decided that an early dinner was appropriate. There was a restaurant close to the entrance to the hotel and the host standing on the sidewalk was very convincing that we needed to eat at his restaurant. The dinner was very good and our first of many pasta meals for the next few weeks. Across the walkway from our outside table was a store that sold all kinds of masks: from the simple to very elaborate.
Colorful display of masks in store window
It was still early after dinner so we decided to be brave and see if we could walk to San Marco Square: it should only be a 5 minute walk. This time, no problem! We’re starting to get used to using the map and finding our way around.
Main part of San Marco Square
We wandered around the square, looking at the buildings and the ornate Basilica San Marco.
The sun was still shining on part of Basilica San Marco.
There were people dining at the sidewalk restaurants and, of course, a few tourists wandering around. When we walked over to the waterfront there were numerous gondolas just sitting there, bobbing in the small waves in the lagoon.
One of my favorite photos: gondolas in front of the lagoon
In both of our visits to Venice (now and during our land tour) it was obvious that the gondolas and gondoliers were very “under-employed”. The gondoliers were actively soliciting people to go for rides but there were few people going for rides. After looking around for a while, we headed back to the hotel (which we found with no problem) and called it a day.
Sept 21: Venice and
boarding the Wind Surf
We were not scheduled to transfer to the Wind Surf until 11:00, so after breakfast at the hotel we again found our way to San Marco Square.
Another view of the square
After wandering the square a little, we walked up (eastward) the waterfront, looking at the buildings and canals. I did not realize that one sight we stopped to look at, the Bridge of Sighs, was relatively famous, but it looked interesting and deserved a photo.
The (in)famous Bridge of sighs
We got in a good morning walk and headed back to the hotel to finish packing our luggage and get ready for the transfer. Normally a water taxi would come to the dock at the hotel, but the tide was too high and the dock was essentially flooded, so we had to walk to a dock along the Grand Canal and board the water taxi there.
Being led to the Wind Surf transfer
We boarded the very nice private water taxi and headed along the Grand Canal at a leisurely pace toward the port area. It took about 15 or 20 minutes to navigate the canals and then into the port where the Wind Surf was docked.
Wind Surf at the dock
We left the water taxi, grabbed our luggage, and headed toward the building where we would complete some paperwork and board the ship. One thing we had to do was take another COVID-19 test. This was a rapid test so it only took about 10 minutes for the results and we were allowed to board the ship. Once onboard, we found our cabin and settled in a bit, then headed for the Veranda restaurant for some lunch. The Veranda is used for breakfast and lunch and is set up for self-service buffet dining. But, in this age of COVID, self-service is not allowed, so ship staff did all the serving. You could request whatever you wanted but the staff had to actually serve the food onto your plate. It was a bit inconvenient for both staff and passengers, but that is the way it was to be.
After lunch we relaxed and explored the ship a bit. We had cruised on the Wind Surf previously in 2018 so it was familiar to us. We were using an “all-inclusive” plan which included most wines and other drinks (as well as tips, internet, and laundry) so we had a glass of wine while we relaxed on deck for a while.
About 6:00 PM we left the dock and headed toward the open sea. I was a bit surprised at the route we took to get there though: right down the main lagoon area and past San Marco Square.
Turning into the main lagoon
As we motored past the main part of Venice, there were many people along the waterfront watching us go by. I’m sure that other, much larger, ships have made this trip in the past, but the Wind Surf is a rather unique ship and probably the first significant size ship to make that journey in over a year.
Passing San Marco Square, from a different perspective
You may be able to get a better feel for how this appeared to us from this video. As we left Venice, the sun was setting behind us. I only wish that the Wind Surf could have raised the sails while passing through the lagoon: now that would have been a sight!
The sun sets over Venice: we’ll be back!
After the sunset and our transition to the open sea we did what turned out to be our usual activities in the evenings. Each evening about 6:30 there was a “port talk” about the port we would be visiting the next day and the excursions and activities available there. The port talk would end about 7:00 when the restaurant, the AmphorA, would open for dinner. The AmphorA is a full-service restaurant, one of three on the ship, with a full menu that changed every day. We recognized some of the crew from our previous cruise on the Wind Surf and we generally got along well with the staff. After dinner we usually relaxed in the main lounge and enjoyed the primary entertainment, the 5-member band “Top Society”.
Top Society: A surprisingly good band
We typically enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine or cognac while listening to the band. Our body clocks were still out-of-sync with the local time, so we called it a night relatively early.
Sept 22: Rovinj, Crotia
The fishing town of Rovinj is on the western coast of a peninsula off of Croatia that juts out into the Adriatic Sea called the Istria peninsula and that was our destination for today.
The Croatian fishing town of Rovinj
After taking the tender (one of the lifeboats) into Rovinj, we loaded into a bus (coach) and took the 60 minute drive to Motovun, a hilltop town that has preserved its medieval ambiance.
Like many medieval towns, Motovun sits on top of a hill.
Our guide led us on a walk around the town, through narrow streets and even some walkways under buildings. The cobblestone pavement was uneven and even a bit slippery, making things interesting.
Following the street through a tunnel in Motovun
It seems that every small town has a bell tower that apparently doubled as a watch tower in times of “unfriendly neighbors”.
A typical street with bell tower in distance
This area of Croatia is known for its Truffles, especially the white truffles, and there were multiple stores offering many different truffle products.
Truffle store: Truffles may be more important than tourists.
At the edge of town, we found a well maintained but old graveyard with some graves dating back 500 years as well as relatively recent ones.
A graveyard with both very old and recent graves
After leaving Motovun, we rode to the village of Vrh where we enjoyed a very hearty lunch of local fare with beef, pork, venison, and pasta in a rich gravy. Very good and also filling.
After recovering from lunch, we rode to the town of Draguc where the guide led us to a small and very old church on the edge of town. This church is known for the colorful frescos that cover the entire interior of the small church.
Just a few of the frescos and paintings in the Interior of church
There were men working on restoring some of the structure of the church, so we looked around for a while and then got out of their way. As we heard many times on this trip, our guide said that we were the first tour group to visit this church in over a year and they were glad to see us, even if we did disturb their work.
On returning to the Wind Surf, we relaxed with a glass of wine on the stern deck and then participated in the evening activities: port talk for the next day, dinner, and listening to Top Society with a glass of cognac.
Sept 23: Split,
Croatia
As we approached Split, we saw a rather busy harbor with multiple ferries and other ships. This was the only stop on our cruise that we actually docked, rather than anchoring and tendering people to shore.
Windsurf approaching dock with ferries
Split is another city that has retained much of its medieval charm, featuring the Old Town of Split that is built around a Roman Palace built in the 4th century. Our tour started with a short bus ride from the dock to a small park just outside the Old Town.
SPLIT sign left no question where you were.
Our local guide led us into the old town and through the old buildings and the Cathedral of St Duje that is in the center of the town.
Dark passage that goes under the cathedral.
Entrance to cathedral from middle of Old Town
Inside the Cathedral building was a round stone room that was probably 30 feet high and open at the top to the outside. As I was taking this video of the room I got a rather pleasant surprise and, yes, you will have to watch the video to find out what the surprise was. I will say that it sounded amazing in that space: it must have acted as some kind of sound chamber, enhancing the voices.
After a thorough tour of the Old Town and surrounding gardens, we loaded back into the bus and headed to the island town of Trogir. This is another medieval town, but built on a fairly small island with a fortress on one end. Every medieval town has to have an impressive church and Trogir is no exception. We went into the Cathedral of St Lawrence and wondered at the art, stone sculptures, and woodwork.
Inside the Cathedral of St Lawrence
After touring the cathedral, the guide turned us loose to find our way back to the bus parking.
The fort on the west end of the island Trogir
Boats in canal between island and mainland
We loaded up the bus and headed back toward Split but stopped on the way for some lunch. It was described as the “local specialties (snacks of smoked ham, cheese, and olives)”. It also included good bread and was anything but a “snack”.
Inside the restaurant: notice the cat coming toward us
A couple provided local music entertainment while we enjoyed our “snack”. The resident cat had come to see us during lunch and after we finished and went outside, she was there to greet us again. Of course, Susan could not resist the invitation to pet her a bit.
Susan petting friendly restaurant cat
Once again, we boarded the bus and headed back to the dock and the Wind Surf. We did make another walking trip back into Rovinj’s marketplace in search of a shirt as a local souvenir and then relaxed until the normal evening activities. We had met and made friends with a couple of ladies, Ann and Pat, and we joined them for dinner that evening.
Ann and Pat with Susan
That evening Top Society joined with the other entertainers on board for a special show, “Songs We Wish We Had Written” which was very well done and entertaining.
Top Society and other entertainers
Top Society is especially good at sounding like whatever person or group originally recorded a song. After a nice show and some cognac, we headed to our cabin for the night.
Sept. 24:
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik is probably the best known of the places we visited in Croatia and it was obviously ready for visitors. In addition to our Wind Surf anchored out in front of the city, there was also another large cruise ship a ways from the city at the main cruise ship port. We had a much better view of the city from our yacht than the people in the large cruise ship did.
View of Dubrovnik from the Wind Surf
We had signed up for a tour of the Dubrovnik city sight and a ride on the cable car overlooking the city but started with a ride on a tender to the busy little harbor in front of Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik Harbor (tender on right)
Our local guide led us through the old city, past several churches and museums. There were many interesting looking alleys and side streets leading off in all directions.
Main street with steps to wall, which are next to the distant tower
Dubrovnik is known for the numerous cats who live there. Some have collars and are obviously well cared for but all of them looked well fed and healthy.
Cat on sidewalk: not the least concerned about all the people passing by
We made our way the length of the main street and then climbed the steps up to the top of the city wall, where you can walk almost all around the circumference of the old city.
Looking back down at people climbing the steps
The wall is rather high and would certainly have discouraged any attackers. The top of the wall is wide enough for a comfortable walkway.
Part of walkway and buildings
Part of the wall and walkway goes along the rocky shoreline, making for both an effective defensive position and some very pretty scenery.
A small fort protects the entrance to a picturesque bay.
It was quite a walk around the top of the wall, with occasional steps going up or down. As we came around to the eastern part of the city and wall, the Wind Surf came into view, anchored just off an island about a mile from the city.
The Wind Surf is anchored off an island.
Continuing on around the wall, we came to a point overlooking the harbor with its activity, both boats and lots of people.
All the roofs seemed to be red tile.
A short distance further along the wall brought us to the steps to descend back to street level. From here we walked up a pretty good hill to get to the cable car station. We had to walk far enough uphill to get to the station that I was beginning to think we were going to walk all the up the mountain. But we did get to the cable car station and got in line.
One car loaded up while we awaited our turn.
This video shows that we did have a good view of the city and surrounding area as the cable car climbed the cable toward the top. Up at the top there is an observation platform that offers an excellent view of the surrounding area and especially the city of Dubrovnik.
Overlooking the city of Dubrovnik from the observation deck
We took in the view for about a half hour then headed back down to street level for a couple more sights. One sight, that probably means more to many other people than to us, was the place where a key scene in the Game of Thrones series was filmed. Many scenes from the series were filmed in various places in Croatia and the “Cersei Walk of Atonement” was filmed in the old city on these steps.
Looking up the steps where the walk was filmed
The tour ended a little after noon so it was time to head back to the Wind Surf for some lunch. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Veranda restaurant then decided what to do in the afternoon. Susan was good and headed to the exercise room for a Pilates session and other exercise. I decided to head back into Dubrovnik for some more photos without making Susan stand around while I took many more photos than necessary.
One objective I had was to see how many different cats I could get pictures of. The first one I saw was on a rock seat along the harborside. Cats seem to like to get close together, but not too close together and that is what I thought of when I saw this man and a “close but not too close” cat.
Close, but not too close… typical cat
I wandered around for a while, taking photos of interesting (I thought) sights, up alleys and down walkways.
How would you like to live at the top of this alley?
Somehow, an Irish Pub seems a little out of place.
Yes, I did find several more cats, and most of them were surprisingly friendly.
Yes, I did find some cats…
OK, enough cats for a while. I did find an open door to one of the larger churches in the town and took a look inside.
Inside the St. Sebastian church
I walked around the harbor and out onto a jetty that extends into the water where fishermen were trying their luck. Some people were just enjoying the beautiful late September day. There was even an area in front of the city wall where people were swimming and enjoying the sun.
I have to believe the water was chilly, but people were swimming.
I had not told Susan where I was going so, I thought it about time to head back to the yacht before she started to wonder where I had gone. After all, I had to get ready for tonight’s big event. This was the night for the celebrated on-deck Bar-B-Que. Actually, “Feast” would be a better name for it. There was so much food of all kinds (salads, fruit, shrimp, beef, fish, chicken, pork, veggies, many desserts) that you really don’t know when to stop.
A small sample of the feast
After everyone is served and have full stomachs, the serving tables are cleared out and the line dancing starts. They do the standards like YMCA and Macarena and several others. The crew knows the moves better than the passengers so they take the lead, but all dancers appear to have fun.
Crew and passengers both dance.
It was a beautiful evening and delightful to be outside. The lights of Dubrovnik lit up the harbor with its many-colored lights.
A colorful way to end the evening
Sept 25: Korcula, Croatia
Korcula is another walled medieval town, but much smaller than Dubrovnik and located on an island rather than on the mainland of Croatia. It is separated from the long thin Peljesac peninsular off of Croatia by only a mile wide channel.
Korcula, as seen from the channel between it and the mainland
We had signed up for a wine tasting excursion and really didn’t expect to find many good wines, but were delightfully surprised. We first took the tender into Korcula, then got on another local boat to take us over to the Peljesac peninsular that jutted out from the Croatia mainland. There we got on a bus to take us to the wineries, giving us nice views of the surrounding area on the way.
Looking across the bay toward Korcula and the Wind Surf
The Peljesac peninsular is supposed to be the home of some of the best wine produced in Croatia and we were to visit three wineries. They turned out to be very different but each was interesting in their own way.
Our first stop was at the Grgich winery in the town of Trstenik and it was a modern and imposing structure.
Grgich winery complex
The tasting room was modern and airy and overlooked the Adriatic Sea. We tasted four wines, two whites and two reds, and all were very good. We don’t normally drink wine as early as 9:30 in the morning so perhaps that is why I cannot remember all the wines, but I believe the whites were a Fume Blanc and a local varietal while one of the reds was the ancestral parent of our Zinfindel. After the tasting we got a brief tour of the winery and barrel room.
More wine ready to pour: Note where the Fume Blanc was grown.
Loading up the bus again, we headed to our next stop, the Matusko winery. Here the building was about the opposite of the first winery in that I think it was really a reasonably new facility, but it had been built to look old. The really outstanding feature of this winery was the underground areas, including several barrel rooms, an extensive wine cellar and several meeting and dining rooms.
A small part of the extensive cellar and barrel rooms
In addition to the tasting itself, they provided us with a very generous “snack” of Prosciutto ham, cheeses, olives, and bread. We tasted some normal wines as well as a dessert (sweet) wine and a very nice Port. To my taste, all were very good, but again, this was still before noon.
A few bottles of the Matusko RedBlend
Our last winery was, again, a major change from the previous two fairly large wineries. The Bartolvic family winery was definitely a small family affair. The husband/winemaker greeted us in the small winery and explained their winery and how they grow the grapes (totally organic).
The Bartolvic winemaker/owner in his winery
After an interesting and somewhat passionate talk, he led us to the “dining room” where his mother had prepared a lunch of lentil soup and fresh bread. Simple but delicious.
In the dining room before being served
Along with the very good lunch, we tasted several of their wines and they were at least the match of the larger wineries’ products. This winery is too small to export anything to the USA, but several people bought bottles to take with them.
After lunch we reboarded the bus back to the dock where we took the boat back across the channel to Korcula. It was still early afternoon, so we walked around the town a little. It seemed to be a friendly little town that, like the others, had missed the tourist trade over the past year. We did stop in a small shop and bought a couple of souvenir shirts from a very pleasant and grateful shopkeeper.
Back on the Wind Surf, we relaxed until time to weigh anchor and head out to sea, so I got a couple of photos around the ship while it was not busy.
The AmphorA dining room when it is not busy
It was early enough to enjoy the sights as made our way around and through the several islands on the way to the Adriatic Sea.
Seaside village below some major mountains
It was another very pleasant evening with a very pretty moon and some special evening entertainment as several of the other entertainers joined with Top Society to put on a show and even some of the crew’s officers joined in.
partial, but pretty, moon
Sept 26: At Sea (Croatia – Sicily)
Days at sea with no port call are typically quiet on the Wind Surf. The crew offers some special activities to entertain the passengers like cooking lessons, ships tours, and the like. We observed one of these offerings, a towel folding demonstration to show how the crew make the various animals out of towels that they leave on your bed. I was going to watch and pay attention and remember how to make some of these creations but, when it was over, I had no idea how to even start.
Hidayat, a cabin attendant, demonstrates creation of a towel animal.
Shortly after noon, the “Hotel Manager” offered to take photos of anyone at the bow of the yacht, either in a normal pose or “Titanic Style”. We tried several poses but I think a somewhat normal one worked best for us.
On the very bow of the Wind Surf
We would need a negative CORONA-19 test in order to enter Italy the next day, so all passengers had to go to the main lounge during the day and take a rapid test. I don’t know of any positive test results and, no, I did not take any photos of the testing.
In the afternoon the yacht’s sommelier offered a wine tasting in the AmphorA dining room. We tasted five wines with accompanying ham and cheeses. He did a good job of demonstrating how much different foods affect the taste of the wine.
Wine tasting with accompaniments
By this time several of the crew, especially the dining room staff, were getting to know us pretty well and goofed around almost as much as we did.
They were all having a good time.
At least on this trip we didn’t have people at an adjoining table ask us to quiet down as we were too noisy (meaning that we were having too much fun).
After dinner the Top Society group put on a special show of ABBA songs, providing more information and history about ABBA than I had ever heard. It was entertaining and even a little educational.
Top Society doing ABBA
Sept 27: Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy
Today we would be visiting two towns via a small tour bus, Castelmola and Taormina. Castelmola is a small town well up on a mountain and with a small fort at the very top of the mountain that we walked to from the bus parking area. The main attraction here is the views it offered, including of the volcano, Mount Etna. Unfortunately, it was very hazy this day so we could not see the distant mountains very well and I had to make extensive use of the “haze filter” in my photo editor in order to make Etna reasonably visible.
Basic view of Mount Etna from Castelmola
One thing to keep in mind during our excursions in Italy from the Wind Surf is that they would be conducted as what was called “Bubble Tours”. Our group would be like in a bubble from which we could not wander. This is because of the COVID restrictions and anyone not on a Wind Surf provided tour could not even go ashore. While on the tour we had to stay with the group and tour guide, so there would be no wandering around on our own and no shopping or independent sight-seeing.
Another view of Mount Etna
There were actually nice views in all directions: looking north up the coast shows a rather rugged coastline. We were about 30 miles south of Messina, on the northeast point of Sicily.
After having a good look around, we headed down the mountain to Taormina, a large town (or small city) largely from Medieval times, but with some older Roman structures. Most of the main part of the town is limited to pedestrian traffic only, so our bus driver let us out and we started walking.
Overlooking the bay: Notice anything unusual? Look closely.
Apparently, there was a car club having a gathering this day so we saw a lot of this specific kind of classic car. Car buffs should be able to identify the car type in the photo above.
We entered the town through one of the city gates: no powered vehicles beyond this gate… well, except for special occasions, as we found out later.
City gate into Taromina
Taromin is a bit of a photographer’s delight; there were photos waiting every direction you turned. The main street through Taromina is about a mile long with interesting shops and alleys all along the way.
Main street of Taromina
All along the streets the little balconies were decorated with sculptures and lots of flowering plants, making for a very bright and colorful appearance.
Notice all the plants and flowers.
One exception to the “no vehicles” is the apparent custom of having brides ride to their wedding in a very small and very colorful car. While we were walking, one such car came past us with a bride inside and then we came upon an example on display for photos.
A colorful little bridal car
As proof that not all Roman ruins have been found, there was a current excavation going on behind a church. Apparently, when work was started to expand the church, the workers uncovered what appears to be a small theater, probably from Roman times.
Current site of a small Roman theater
We noticed a strange figure with a face and three legs on several walls and the guide explained that this was the Trinacria, a symbol of Sicily that is on the flag of Sicily.
An example of the Trinacria symbol
One of the major “attractions” of Taromina is the rather large Roman theater on the edge of town overlooking the ocean, the bay, and even Mount Etna.
Busy street with sign to the Ancient Theater
The theater is still used for many major events and the day we were there workers were setting up for a major concert that night. There were multiple shelters, additional chairs, musical instruments, amplifiers, large speakers and racks of lighting overlooking the stage. While interesting to see, it rather destroyed the idea of seeing the theater as it was intended to be seen.
You can see a lot of the equipment for the upcoming show.
You could see Mount Etna looming in the distance behind the stage.
The theater does date back to Roman times and some of the construction techniques are similar to those used to build the more famous Rome Colosseum. This theater was impressive to me, especially considering the location, high up on the side/top of a mountain with rather precarious footing.
This gives an idea of the size of the theater.
Many of the shops along the streets were both colorful and interesting and sometimes puzzling.
A colorful display of fresh fruit, candy, pasta, juice and ???
I’m not sure if the figures were for sale or to just get attention for the candy.
On the way back toward the city gate we passed a church where there appeared to be a wedding in progress. But, looking closer, it was probably just a staged photo shoot. It provided a bit of romance anyway.
Wedding or fashion photo shoot?
After the tour we headed back to the yacht and relaxed for a while before a couple of somewhat interesting events that evening.
As I mentioned earlier, Taromina is about 30 miles south of Messina and the strait of Messina where Sicily comes within a couple of miles of the toe of Italy. We got to the straight just a little before sunset and it was interesting to watch as we approached the narrow strait. I was expecting to see a fair amount of ship traffic through the strait, but, as you can see in this video, we were the only ship in sight.
The toe of Italy on the right, NE point of Sicily on the left
In the nightly port talk, we had been told that we would be passing an active volcano at about 9:00 PM and if we were lucky, we might see an eruption. The Volcano, called Stromboli (yes, the same name as we sometimes use for an Italian baked cheese and cold cut turnover) only erupts visibly for a few seconds at a time. We were watching for an eruption and saw the brief display then after about 5 minutes, another red display in the distance. We watched three eruption displays and, since it was getting cool on the deck, headed inside for the night.
The entertainment for the evening was a Wind Star regular: the crew talent show. Some of the performers were good, some were really good, some were just funny, and everyone enjoyed the show.
Sept 28: Sorrento, Italy
We would have this view from the Sorrento harbor several times.
Although Sorrento is a beautiful seaside town, we again could not wander around and do any sight-seeing on our own. In this case, though, it would be OK because we would be visiting Sorrento again in a few days on our land tour. We had decided to be a bit “academic” in our choice of excursion for today and were going to see Herculaneum, a city that was covered by volcanic mud from the same eruption of Mt Vesuvius as also doomed Pompeii. Herculaneum is smaller than Pompeii but better preserved because, whereas the hot ash that descended onto Pompeii burned and destroyed most of the city and contents, the volcanic mud that flowed over Herculaneum actually preserved many of its features. A visit to Pompeii is a standard part of our land tour in a few days, so it made sense to visit Herculaneum on this visit to Sorrento. After taking the tender from the Wind Surf to Sorrento, we loaded onto a bus for the ride toward Naples and to Herculaneum.
Sorrento bay with the Wind Surf
As we got close to Herculaneum we made one stop at a cameo factory.
A short-tailed cat was the first to greet us as we got off the bus.
The staff of the Palazzo del Corallo “Corals & Cameos Factory Showroom” provided a nice look at how the cameos are produced from seashells in a very manual and artistic manner and, of course, offered our group an opportunity to purchase a wide range of cameos and other jewelry.
Some of the larger and more ornate cameos.
After a couple of people did make purchases, we loaded back into the bus and headed toward Herculaneum. We unloaded at the entrance to Herculaneum and got through the ticket process after a little confusion with trying to show our vaccination cards.
An overview of Herculaneum gives you an idea of its size.
From a distance, many of the buildings looked like they could have been built relatively few years ago, but were, of course, almost 2000 years old. We walked down a long descending tunnel to enter the site across the bridge you can see at the lower left of the photo above. From that bridge you can see some of the actual skeletons that were uncovered at the site.
Look closely and you can see the bones from several skeletons.
The part of the city above actually was a waterfront at the time of the eruption in 79 AD but the waterfront is now about two miles away and probably at least 100 feet lower. The material from the eruption (and other smaller ones) has helped to raise the level of the land, but the major factor is that the seismic activity thousands of feet underground has pushed the surface higher, and continues to do so.
Building interiors had many frescos, other artwork, and mosaics.
Whereas Pompeii was largely a commercial center with relatively little decorative artwork, Herculaneum was primarily a community of homes belonging to the wealthy citizens, so the homes were richly decorated.
This is actually a mosaic in the middle of a fresco in a house.
In most of these homes, the entry and lower floor was for greeting visitors and entertaining while the sleeping quarters were on the second floor. Of course, in most of the homes, the wooden beams had decayed and the upper floors were not often intact.
The entry and first floor of a very wealthy family
Of course, the public baths were a major feature of these ancient cities. They were decorated with artwork much like the wealthy homes. Water was heated in separate “boiler rooms” by slaves and piped into the baths.
One of the pools where the heated water provided a warm bath.
And, of course, whenever you looked at the horizon, you would see the towering Mt Vesuvius. We wondered just what the people who lived in the immediate area thought when they looked at the volcano.
Mt Vesuvius from the bus as we passed by
We would have another, slightly different view of the volcano in just a few days. Back in the bus we headed back to Sorrento and then the tender back to the Wind Surf with no time to explore the town
A view of Sorrento from the Wind Surf
That evening, before dinner, there was a farewell reception in the lounge with many of the crew brought up on stage.
Captain Broomhall brought many of the crew onto the stage.
After the reception we headed into the dining room and I had to get a photo with Susan and some of the restaurant staff we had gotten to know.
Susan with some of our friends in the AmphorA dining room
We had actually recognized several of the crew from our previous cruise on the Wind Surf about three years ago in the Caribbean and we expect to be seeing them again on another cruise about three weeks from when I am writing this. For example, we had seen Merrick, the Maitre’d and dining room manager, on a previous cruise and (spoiler alert) would again three months later.
We relaxed again, listening to Top Society (and purchasing a CD of their songs they offered) while enjoying our last cognacs.
Sept 29: Civitavecchia, Italy and on to Rome
As we got up this morning, we were pulling into the port of Civitavecchia which is a little over an hour’s drive from Rome. It was a large port and there were at least seven large (much larger than the Wind Surf) cruise ships docked in the port, but very little activity. All the other ships were effectively in “storage” and awaiting the day when they could resume cruising.
Some of the other cruise ships that were in storage
There was a bit of confusion and delay disembarking the ship because the ramp where the luggage was supposed to be taken off the ship had some kind of problem, and no one was getting off the ship. We were supposed to meet a private transfer for the ride into Rome and didn’t want to miss the ride. We finally walked down the aisle to where the luggage was temporarily stored about 50 feet from our cabin, found our bags, and rolled them to the people gangway and off the ship. Some of the ship’s crew looked at us a little funny but no one objected. Once off the ship we found the transportation area and a coordinator there escorted us to our very nice sedan for the ride into Rome.
To continue with the land tour part of our trip, close this part of the report and then select the “Collette Land Tour” link.