Touring Croatia and Greece - We Visit Split, Dubrovnik and Corfu

During the night our ship cruised the short distance from Trieste to Vienna so the passengers would have a day to spend sightseeing.

Diocletian's Palace

We again awoke to foggy conditions, though not as bad as the previous day. We wanted to go back and tour St. Mark’s Square and Basilica, but this time with a guide to learn the details, and we also wanted to see Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs.

Palace bell tower

We had scheduled Viking’s included walking tour which started at 1000, but found that we would only have 2.5 hours ashore because of an early 1430 departure. We didn’t think that we had the time to do everything, and given the lousy weather, we opted to stay aboard, explore the ship, and get our refund for the missed gondola ride that we had booked for the night before.

Cruising through the night we arose in Split, Croatia (HR).

Diocleatian Palace remains

Split, one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic, was built around a palace erected for the Roman Emperor Diocletian as a retirement haven. What’s left of this sprawling complex has been incorporated into modern Split. It is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia (a coastal region where Dalmatian dogs come from).

Chapel entrance at the palace

Throughout its history the city and surrounding regions was conquered and ruled by many different empires and armies, but finally declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 after the Croatian War of Independence.

We found Split to be absolutely beautiful with the emerald-green and aquamarine waters of the surrounding Split Channel and the contrasting white walls surrounding the Diocletian palace and the terra cotta red roofs found on all the buildings. ^th century AD, the complex forms about one-half of the city’s old town and city center of Split. About half of the complex was for Diocletian’s personal use with the other half used to house a military garrison. The palace has undergone few changes throughout the centuries, but retains its importance today because of the degree of preservation as the world’s most complete remains of a Roman palace.

Having fun on the Cetina River!

It was a view suitable for a postcard! Split enjoys a subtropical or Mediterranean climate, and we were thrilled that a warmer, sunny day awaited us for our tour. We boarded a bus that took us to Diocletian’s palace for the walking portion of our tour. Built in the 4

After viewing the palace grounds, we boarded our buses and headed out for the second part of our tour—a boat ride on the Cetina River, a recreational area popular for rafting, kayaking, and canoeing.

Beautiful Cetina landscape

Arriving at the town of Omiŝ where the ride would begin, we were jolted by two unexpected revelations: a stiff northerly Bura wind that produced a wind chill near freezing; and 18-foot open bowrider boats to transport us. Upon seeing the boats coming to pick us up, everyone immediately began commenting on the totally different image they had when they booked this tour.

Living it up with the Croats!

There seemed to be a little resentment that Viking could have provided a little more information about the tour. To make matters worse, Capt. Larry was seated at the very front of the boat, and when we got up to cruising speed directly into the wind, bow spray was blown his way. The ride was through a mountain gorge carved over time by the river, and while the surrounding mountains were quite beautiful, the winter vegetation was rather drab.

Overlooking Dubrovnik

The boat ride took us upstream about 6 miles to the restaurant Kaśtil Salnica, a delightful place on the water where we would be treated to a snack of wine, goat cheese, olives, and some of the best prosciutto we have ever tasted and for which the region is renowned. We were also serenaded by a guitarist and accordionist playing and singing Croatian or Slavic folk songs and sometimes joined by the local patrons.

A church in Old City

We boarded our buses and returned to the ship where we spent the rest of the day.

Overnight we sailed south to Dubrovnik, HR, another Croatian city in the Dalmatia region at the country’s very southern tip, and the one-time capital of the Republic of Ragusa. It is theorized that Dubrovnik was founded in the 8^th century by Greek sailors. Games of Thrones.

Another Old City Church

Over the centuries, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Austrian empires ruled over the region until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. With a current population of around 42,000 residents, the city is divided into two sectors: the Old City contained within the 1.2 miles of the famed walls (about 1,000 residents); and the remainder that resided outside the walls.

St. Blaise, Patron Saint of Dubrovnik

The walls have been a popular filming site for the fictional city of King’s Landing in the HBO television series,

Our shore excursion for this port of call was the included tour of the Old City. With the ship docked a fair distance from Dubrovnik proper, we boarded a bus that took us high up to a promontory point where we could overlook the city and surrounding landscape. We admired the view, took some pictures, and then rode to the Old City.

Croatian flag

We learned that Dubrovnik is very close to the border of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, two countries that the Croatians have little trust in due to territorial claims and post-war skirmishes.

Bell tower & sundial

At the Old City we followed our guide through one of two entrance gates. Inside were very old landmarks and streets of highly polished limestone—and churches too numerous to remember. Mary Magdalene with SS Raphael, Blaise and Tobias, glimpsed a panorama of Old Dubrovnik in the 17th-century Assumption of the Virgin, and saw several other remarkable paintings. The museum also contained over 20,000 manuscripts produced by the monks.

Decorative columns in Old City

Outside we viewed the old French fort and finished our tour at the Old Pharmacy (photos not allowed) in the Little Brothers monastery; built in 1317 it is the third oldest pharmacy in Europe and the oldest still in operation. The pharmacy was important in serving the people during the siege in 1991.

Old City building

With a little free time, we perused some shops for souvenirs before returning to the ship.

Most of the buildings had been rebuilt from a devastating earthquake in 1667, and more recently from shelling during the 1991 Croatian War of Independence. The architectural style is primarily Renaissance or Gothic-Renaissance, having been rebuilt from Byzantine and Venetian influences.

Monastery well

Various shops line the main streets with residential areas farther removed from the central business area. It would be rather difficult to live in the Old City as no cars are allowed and all goods have to be brought through one of the two gates and carted to each residence. We viewed St. Blaise’s church, the patron saint of Dubrovnik and several other churches, as well as a couple of governmental buildings. Touring an art museum inside the Dominican Monastery, we were treated to Titian’s

Back onboard we got ready to go to our first specialty restaurant, the Chef’s Table.

Old Pharmacy entrance

We were anticipating a really great gourmet meal, but unfortunately this was not to be. The restaurant features a single menu each night and the name of our menu was ‘The Spice Trail.’ The food featured eastern spices such as cardamom, coriander, cumin, and ginger—spices not common to our North American palates—and the food from each course were so infused with these spices (especially the coriander) that it was overpowering to such a degree that it was practically inedible. Even Capt. Larry, who will eat just about anything, sent a lot of food back. And it wasn’t just us. The couple next to us complained and we saw several other diners send food back. And to top it off, not liking the food exasperated the wait staff who obliquely implied that there was something wrong with our taste buds. In fact, the gentleman next to us was asked if there was anything else they could bring, ‘like steak fries.’

Scenic Corfu

We found this behavior insulting. Our waitress, apparently frustrated with Jane, ignored us during the dessert course, and we had to ask a server for coffee halfway through the course. Upon leaving, we told the manager that we wanted to cancel our Christmas Eve reservations over his protests (but no apologies!). We can only imagine how they could screw up turkey and dressing! We ran into some new pre-cruise friends, Pam and Kit Kelley, and had a drink before going to the evening entertainment, ‘The Rat Pack.’

Corfu's Old Fortress

The show was really great and the singers quite talented.

We sailed overnight to Corfu, Greece, arriving around 0900. Located in the Ionian Sea, Corfu is the second largest of Greece’s Ionian Islands, and is an island-municipality with a population around 32,000. As with other places in this region, Corfu was ruled by different empires throughout its history, but the Venetian and British rule produced the greatest influence.

The Asian Museum

The Venetians fortified Corfu to provide a barrier against an invasion of Venice by the Ottoman Empire, and four times did Corfu repel the Turks. Because of the long period that Corfu was under Venetian rule, Corfu today retains a great deal of Italian language and customs. The city of Corfu is divided into the Old Town, a UNESCO Heritage Site, and the rest of Corfu outside of Old Town.

We chose the included walking tour to sightsee Corfu. Since most of the passengers chose this tour, they are assigned to groups that go out at different to keep everything manageable. We were the second to the last group to leave at 1300, so we spent the morning tying up loose ends, working on the blog, and relaxing.

St. Spiridon's tower

Leaving at 1230, we were able to immediately board our bus and leave shortly after boarding. Arriving at Old Town, we began our tour by viewing the Old Fortress. First built around the 6^th century during Byzantine rule, the citadel at one time housed the entire population of Corfu. The fort was later modified and reinforced by the Venetians. Passing through some garden areas, we stopped at the Asian Museum which our guide told us contained the largest collection of Asian artifacts in all of Greece. Moving through market areas, we arrived at the Church of St. Spyridon, the patron saint of Corfu.

Albanian mountains in background

This saint’s miracles are said to have saved the island four times and his popularity among the people explains why almost every other male on the island is named Spiros. We were stunned by the beauty of the church and the treasures it contained (including the patron saint’s remains). Next we walked through the Esplanade, a huge, open parade ground and park near the Old Fortress.

Santa dries his suit!

Sidewalk cafes spill out to provide patrons a place to drink coffee, socialize, and gossip. This area is central to the life of the town and serves to host celebrations, games, and concerts.

This concluded our tour and our guide left us with a little over an hour of free time. Jane had spotted some embroidered linens she wanted to further check out. Kumquats are a major crop of Corfu, and Capt. Larry spotted a shop that featured kumquat products. The owner allowed us to sample the kumquat liqueurs and candies. We ended up purchasing two different kinds of liqueurs (one made from the flowers of the kumquat tree), some candy, a bottle

Back on board

Ouzo from the island of Lesbos (the best according to the owner) for the room. Jane couldn’t find any linens that she liked. With time to spare, we returned to the church and sat to admire the artwork and treasures (no photos please). We returned to the location where we were to meet our guide and bus, but another shuttle bus arrived so we hopped that and returned to the ship.