Venice and Bologna (2024 Europe)

Previous post here.

Our flight landed at the Venice Marco Polo Airport. It was a short walk to the Alilaguna, which is the water bus that you can take into Venice proper. While it did take over an hour to get to our stop (we probably stopped at 5 or 6 locations before our stop), it was a nice tour of Venice from the water. The first bus stop was actually another island (Murano) which was neat to see (I know some people will actually take a water taxi there to explore and eat some food but we didn’t do that so it was nice to see it here). We got off at the St. Mark’s Square stop since our hotel was quite close to that location. Art Biennale (La Biennale d’Arte di Venezia) was happening while we were there. I guess this is a famous art festival that is held here. During our trip we did end up checking out some exhibits (they were scattered through the city).

Our hotel, Al Codega hotel, was tucked inside of a square so at first was a bit confusing trying to find it. It was a cute historic hotel and while the room was small, we didn’t spend much time in it.

After checking in, it was time for dinner so we walked around and had dinner at Osteria del Lovo. D ordered the fish pasta dish which was yum and we shared some polenta with meat and finished with a tiramisu.

The following day after a nice breakfast at the hotel (another hot one), we walked over to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) where we saw Basilica di San Marco, Campanile di San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower). The square was crowded with people taking pictures but also waiting in line for the Basilica and the museum. We had some time to kill before our lunch reservation.

Athens (2024 Europe)

We disembarked at the Port of Piraeus (outside of Athens) on my birthday. We bid farewell to my folks who were flying back to the States while D and I and my sister and her family were staying on for an additional few days to explore Athens. I never really had a big desire to visit Greece but felt this would be a nice opportunity to see one of the oldest named cities in the world and learn more about ancient civilizations. After getting off the boat, we queued up for the taxi line to bring us into Athens and to our hotel.

After about a 45 minute drive (due to some abnormal traffic – I guess we arrived the day after a big holiday) and almost to our hotel, we passed by the Arch of Hadrian and Syntagma Square, where the Old Royal Palace is. This is also where you can see the Presidential guard change every hour at the tomb of the unknown soldier (we weren’t around on a Sunday but I guess they have a bigger guard change then).

We got checked into our hotel (Elia Ermou Hotel), located in a bustling shopping area (Ermou Street) and then walked over to see the guard change (above).

My sister invited us over to check out their vacation rental (about a 5 minute walk from our hotel). They had a nice apartment with multiple bedrooms, living room, kitchen, laundry. We ended up hanging out there quite a few times and also were able to use the laundry. At the end of the cruise, I gave one of my carry on luggages to my folks and D and I both were going to finish our trip traveling minimally (with just a travel backpack each).

We had dinner reservations for later in the day and had some time to kill (again it was quite hot here as well so finding something indoors was a priority). We elected to walk over to the Acropolis museum, but first had lunch nearby.

The Acropolis museum is filled with archaeological artifacts from the surrounding area from Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Athens. It sits over some Roman ruins as well – you can actually go underneath the museum to see some of these ruins. It was neat to see these artifacts up close. On the 3rd floor, you also had a nice view of the Acropolis with the museum’s floor to ceiling windows.

The address of our dinner spot was a little confusing as first it said it was only 1.5 miles from our hotel, but then I searched the address on the restaurant web site and it said it was over 6 miles away. I have never had either the Uber or lyft app before but realized that to get to the restaurant (especially given the heat), we would need to find transportation. I downloaded the Uber app and luckily it wasn’t too expensive. However there was still traffic going on so it was going to take almost an hour to get there (our return trip by contrast took like 20 minutes).

Cruising part 3 (Italy, Greek isles)(2024 Europe)

Continuation from previous post.

We continued south on our cruise and stopped on the island of Sicily at Messina. This sleepy port town didn’t really have too much to do. We planned another half day since it was still scorching hot and gross to be out for the full day. The main attraction is the Campanile del Duomo con Orologio Astronomico
(Astronomical Clock of the Cathedral of Messina). At 12 o’clock noon each day the clock has movement show with its mechanical infrastructure.

We happened to be there while the european professional volleyball was having a tournament – set up just adjacent to the cathedral.

After seeing the church and realizing we had a few hours to kill before noon, we walked through town to La Tradizione Doddis. One thing Sicily is known for is something called a granita with coffee. There are also other more dessert like variations with fruits, almond, mint. In Messina, granita with brioche is a common summer breakfast, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Afterwards we meandered through town checking out the various historic buildings, passing by a monastery. And then we settled back across from the church to watch the noon show.

Cruising part 2 (Naples) (2024 Europe)

Continuation from previous post.

Somehow I missed this port stop when I started on part 3 of the trip so Naples will get its own short post.

I had anticipating and looking forward to this stop because this is where Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan) pizza originated from. This trip for me was an exploration of the various foods of each region. Naples sits near Mount Vesuvius, famous for the eruption that destroyed the city of Pompeii.

Waking up and stepping out onto the balcony, I could tell it was going to be another hot and humid one. The sky was kind of a hazy red-orange.

We had breakfast and then disembarked and started the trek to Galleria Umberto I, which is a public shopping gallery. Prior to walking through, we stopped at Gran Caffè Gambrinus – a historic coffeehouse founded in 1860. On the way there we walked by the Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune) and the Castel Nuovo (“New Castle” or Maschio Angioino).

Cruising part 1 (south of France, Italy) (2024 Europe)

Start of the trip is here.

Our first stop of the cruise was in Cannes where we had to tender from boat to the port. D and I had signed up for an afternoon shore excursion that left us a little short on time exploring Cannes. Luckily there wasn’t too much to see in this beachside town. Known mostly for Cannes Film festival and being a destination for the rich and famous to hang out on yachts, we were there during the Cannes Lion festival and there was a big Amazon House there. We walked along the water briefly and then ventured into the small streets of the town. Initially we wanted to check out the local farmer’s market but it was closed that day.

With time running out we elected to get some lunch. We settled on Astoux et Brun where D had the Sole Meunière and I had the Marmite du Pêcheur (essentially a fish soup with various sea food in it in the style of bouillabaiise). Very delicious.

StewsCat

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