As with all the Greek islands we are visiting, Seadream anchors in the bay and we go into the island by tender. Fiskardo was very pretty with lots of colourful shrubs and flowers.
After a visit to the supermarket I sought out a suitably shady place for a drink while watching the comings and goings in the small harbour.
As a change from the wonderful champagne I was enjoying so much on board, I decided to try a Red Russian. This was Vodka with Cassis.
My Red Russian
After some very pleasant time in Fiskardo I decided to return to Seadream. The problem was that I hadn’t paid enough attention to where I’d alighted. Fortunately, it wasn’t a big harbour and with the help of a couple of helpful lads we spotted a tender coming from the yacht and pin pointed where it pulled up. It had already left again by the time I got there and could see a Seadream flag flying to affirm it was indeed the correct tender. I didn’t have to wait too long before it returned.
On the days when Seadream II was anchored in the harbour there was plenty of entertainment on board. A large slide was erected from Deck three.
There was always a chance to top up your tan and waiters were on hand to supply iced water, Champagne or any drink of your choice.
After the adrenaline rush of my boat ride in Kotor I decided today was one for taking it easy. I treated myself to a leisurely morning with breakfast in my cabin. All my favourite fruits are available so I am enjoying my breakfast very much.
my breakfast in my room.
I was toying with going with the tender into Duress, but the bleak look of the port and the fact that people were returning very quickly persuaded me that staying put was a better option.
The Port of Durres in Albania
as it was such a lovely evening, if rather hot, it was decided that passengers should dine in the Topside Deck Restaurant. The warm breeze offered perfect conditions for comfortable dining. I had been invited by Nick, the future cruises manager, to dine with him and other passengers. We were allocated a table at the back of deck Five, where the topside restaurant is located. It was perfect for the breeze .
There was a remarkable sunset that evening, the heat haze creating an orange glow.
I hadn’t met any of the guests before, so it was a nice way of mingling.
Tomorrow we are heading for Fiskardo in Greece. We were instructed to put our watches an hour ahead at 2am. As I was hoping to be sound asleep by that time I did mine on retiring.
In my previous post I wrote about the first part of my trip from Kotor. After enjoying Our Lady of the Rocks we sped off to a big cave where submarines hid away from the enemy. The entrance was well camouflaged. And it was really long.
Following on from this we stopped to look at a World War II prison camp. Apparently it has now been turned into a luxury hotel.
From there it was full steam ahead to the blue cave where some of the passengers were going swimming. It was an amazing blue and even the ceiling had this vivid blue colour. The passengers swimming made the most of the beautiful clear, warm water, it were restricted to twenty minutes swimming..
As the next trip was at 3.00pm the driver was keen to get back so off we went at full throttle. I really enjoyed my adventure, but was thrown as to wear to exit
Sea Dream II is classed as a yacht. The Crewe are wonderful,; nothing is too much trouble. The Captain is Norwegian and the others from a wide variety of places. There are currently 103 passengers on board, so it is a quite intimate number. Sea Dream has staterooms rather than cabins. They are very roomy and well equipped.
my bathroom
my stateroom
We set sail from Dubrovnik and after unpacking and hanging up the majority of my clothes I went upstairs to explore what was on offer. Champagne is included in the overall cost so I’ve been making the most of that. The first dinner was great and I started to meet fellow guests.
We were advised by the activities manager to get up early the following morning and admire the scenery as we sailed into Kotor in Montenegro, so that was what I planned to do.
Sailing into Kotor
28th July, 2024.
As advised, I arose early, dressed and made my way to the top deck. Kotor is in Montenegro . I was struck by how hilly it is, limiting habitation to a narrow strip around the bay. It was quite mesmerising watching the sun gradually ascend from behind the hills.
Approaching Kotor in Montenegro in the early morning.
The pilot boat guided us into our docking spot in the Old Port.
I had booked myself on a three hour tour on a speed boat. It was taking in four touristic places, which involved going at great speed in between. I certainly enjoyed the adrenaline rush!!!
Our first stop was at Our Lady of the Rocks. The legend has it that a sailor found an icon of OurLady in the rocks. There after it protected him from being shipwrecked She became the protector of seamen. It was decided to build a chapel in her honour on the spot where her image was found My guide told me they sank 106 ships to build an artificial island. Then the chapel was built on top. All in all it took two centuries to complete.
As with most legends others become part of it. There are a number of icons and beautiful art works inside. The most valuable is a work of embroidery, which took 25 years to complete. It is about a woman who waited 25 years for her husband to return. She embroidered with extremely fine silks and threads of her own hair, hence as with the passage of time her hair became grey and the characters in the embroidery have grey hair. It is very beautiful.
High on my hit list of exciting voyages is going through the Corinth Canal. This was something my late husband was keen for me to do. I originally booked with Fred Olsen, but COVID then a land slide in the canal and finally the sale of Fred Olsen’s smallest boat put paid to this. Around a year ago I received an email from them offering the opportunity to do a similar itinerary with Sea Dream Yacht Club. It was more expensive than my original itinerary;, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. My itinerary included two days stay in Dubrovnik where I boarded Sea Dream II.
Thursday 25th July
I flew from Manchester airport to Dubrovnik airport after a very early start. I was greeted by my taxi driver, who took me to a hotel, not in Dubrovnik itself, but 22 kilometres away at the opposite end of the bay. When I found I could easily get to Dubrovnik by water taxi, my misgivings were allayed. Cavtat has the most beautiful crystal clear water and the hotel was excellent.
Across the road is a bar and restaurant. In the early evening the cicadas begin to sing. The water is so clear you can see the stones on the bottom. A section is roped off with buoys where people can swim safely without fear of intrusion by boats. I found it an incredibly relaxing place to sit and chill.
Cavtat near Dubrovnik
Thursday 26th July
At noon on this day I had booked a walking tour through the Old Town. I booked tickets for the river taxi at 10am, allowing myself sufficient time to find the meeting time with my guide. Although we were 20 metres apart the rendezvous was somewhat fraught, but we eventually made contact. Our guide was excellent with a rich wealth of knowledge about the history of Dubrovnik. He was also quite an actor and the situation for young girls who had been taken advantage of and fallen pregnant were able to leave there babies without anyone knowing. There was even a system to reclaim them after a number of years had elapsed.
I noticed a number a number of similarities between Dubrovnik and Venetian political systems, so wasn’t surprised to learn that the Venetians occupied Dubrovnik as part of their history. The buildings in Dubrovnik Old Town are magnificent. The Old Town is amazingly clean. The tour was very worthwhile, but it was very hot and crowded, so immediately after the end of the tour I caught my river taxi back to Cavtat.
our guide.in Dubrovnik
clean streets with gutters to take the excess water.
When I arrived in Amalfi after my bus ride it was, as one might expect, heaving with traffic and people. I was struck by how colourful it was, due to the abundance of enormous lemons and oranges. It also has quite remarkable architecture. Being a small port it was awash with small boats. You can get a boat to some of the other villages that are nestled in bays along the coast.
As I had a packed lunch I decided to eat it watching the movements of the boats. After this I did a bit of exploring of Amalfi. One of the dominating features was the number of steps up to the cathedral. As my knees were telling me they’d done enough steps I had to content myself with admiring it from below.
I wandered on through the bustle of people and couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer numbers of gelateria, ice cream parlours. It seems to be a very big part of Italian culture. Here it is dominated by lemons, lemon sorbet and Limoncello. I had eaten a sorbet at the entrance to the piazza as they seemed to be working hard for business.
As with many towns along this coast, Amalfi is built into the rocks. Ships drop anchor off the coast and people can take guided tours.
After my meanderings I felt like a glass of wine and soon found a bar selling Lacryma Christi Bianca. I found this quite delicious. The rest of my group arrived from their descent and we eventually made our way back to Bomerano by bus.
We set off quite early from Bomerano. This first part consisted of road, and very many descending steps of various depths. I quickly realised my boots and worn out orthotics were not assisting me at all. The compensating factor was the amazing scenery.
We left the continuous man made steps and found ourselves more in the countryside, where Teresa, our leader pointed out varieties of wild orchids and garlic.
The terrain became very uneven and I found it hard to keep my footing. I was also starting to find the uphill sections tiring, not helped by the recent chest infection. The efforts were rewarded by stunning views.
We eventually came to a restaurant perched on the cliffs and my group leader, Teresa advised me against doing the next section, which was even more challenging. Disappointed as I was I could see the sense in this, especially as I had the opportunity to catch a bus to Amalfi, our ultimate destination
,
The vies from here were typically spectacular.
The innkeeper gave me a lift to the town centre, which was surprisingly busy
After a little wait the bus to Amalfi arrived. One can only marvel at the skill of these drivers as they spin on a sixpence around each hairpin bend.
After some clever negotiating by the driver we arrived in Amalfi.
I have been trying to do these walk for four years, having booked in 2019, but COVID and health prevented this and the New Zealand companion I had booked with became too nervous about the potential fallout from Putin, so I rebooked to go by myself in May 2024.
Saturday May 4th, 2024
After a pleasant flight from London Gatwick to Naples with EasyJet I was caught up in chaos at Naples Airport and took an hour to clear Passport Control, by which time my transport to the Hotel Due Torri in Bomerano had left. I phoned the hotel and a taxi was dispatched for me.
What immediately struck me was how much Mt Vesuvius dominates the skyline of both Naples and Salerno. As I learned on my visit to Vesuvius, there was once just one peak, but due to the eruptions a second peak has formed. Upon arrival at the hotel I was greeted by my group leader and the hotel pool was very inviting.
Hotel Due Torri
An evening tour of Bomerano
After unpacking we met Teresa for a tour of Bomerano. It is easy to see why Bomerano is such a good location for embarking on a number of walks as it well located for both ascending up a mountain and descending down to the coast. One needs to be sufficiently fit and have good knees. The light on this evening walk was truly beautiful and afforded great views from the various view points.
After the briefing and walk we returned for dinner in the elegant dining room of Hotel Due Torri
En route to our first seaside destination, Trouville, we stopped at the village of Pont L’Eveque. Here there is a crossing over the River Toucques, which was destroyed by the allied bombing, during the second World War. My first visit was to the church, which looked very imposing from the bridge.
Church in Pont L’Eveque
The church had very large buttresses, which reminded me of some of the large cathedrals I had seen in other parts of France. Inside the stained glass windows were most unusually soft, pastel colours and rather contemporary in design .
One street escaped the ravages of war and the street is a wonderful example of the old Normandy half timbered architecture.
As we had limited time in Pont L’Eveque, we were soon on the road again and heading for the Normandy coast and the town of Trouville. Across the bridge from this is Deauville, but as there was difficulty in taking the coach there, it was decided to make Trouville the drop off stop. We had the choice of eating a leisurely lunch here or a very early dinner in Honfleur. i chose the former and joined two other fellow travellers for a fish meal. We walked past the fresh fish stalls displaying fresh oysters and muscles. There was a nice restaurant across the road, so we took a table here and perused the menu. I decided to have the mussels as a starter. They are not something I would normally choose, but I knew they’d be good here, so I ordered mussels for starters in memory of my late husband, Brian, who adored them, and my French friend Francoise, who had lived in Cabourg, just a few miles away. She had cooked them for me. I had delicious Cod for main course.
After our lovely lunch we went our separate ways. I had intended to go across the bridge to Deauville, but realised there wasn’t enough time, so I headed back to the coach pick up point, I realised I had enough time to walk along the wooden pier to the light house.
Lighthouse at Trouville
To the right the beach stretches out into the distance.
Back on the coach we set off for Honfleur i’d been there once before with my friend Francoise. It is part of the Seine estuary and has a beautiful little basin, with the most wonderful, multi-coloured, historic houses. Some people were going exploring, but all I wanted to do was sit outside a bar/restaurant in the sun and soak up the atmosphere
To my right was a charming carousel
Honfleur
After enjoying my relaxing time I decided to find somewhere for a light meal and found a suitable place further down and was presented with a beautiful salad.
After my time spent in Giverny it was time to return to the coach and drive on to our next destination, a cider farm, called ”Le Verger de Giverny”. This was a surprise, organised for us by Justin, our tour guide. We were greeted by a very genial host and sat down to watch a video about the production of cider on the farm
Justin had told us that the business of attracting visitors had grown from a very small affair to a much larger enterprise. The video explained that three different types of apples were used and mixed together to give the distinctive flavour. These included the main medium tasting apple, a sweet apple, and a bitter apple, Most of the apple picking and sorting was done by robots, followed by the pressing. The cider was left to age in barrels, which also added to the flavour. Following the video we passed through a room with very large stainless steel vats holding huge quantities of cider. Following these the cider was aged in barrels, which also contributed to the flavour.
After the explanation on production we were directed to a different area, where there were tables and chairs and a very inviting looking piece of Normandy Apple Tart.
After taking our seats we were offered a variety of apple based drinks. The first of these was a plain apple juice, which I declined and instead accepted the cider, which was delicious. The third drink was the very strong ”Calvados”, which at 46% was not for the faint hearted . The apple tart was also delicious. You were able to buy direct from the producer, who also offered honey. I purchased three bottles of cider and a small tub of honey.
After our exciting and varied day it was back to Lisieux on the coach. We had a lovely view of the Seine, crossing the river at Vernon Chris had explained to us that people who lived in Lisieux were referred to as Lexiers A number of businesses start with Lex and the restaurant we ate at this evening was Lexus.. Looking out of my hotel room window I could see that the weather had changed and the night sky was very stormy with the beautiful lit church looking proud against the stormy sky. A dramatic end to a magnificent day
