That was the famous Grand Market/Spice Market of Istanbul, Turkey! Istanbul has a population of over 15 million! So, we opted to hire a driver and see what we could accomplish on our planned lay over between Zagreb and Singapore! So take a look at some of the sights of this extremely crowded metropolitan city!
Here’s the famous “Blue Mosque”, where the women pray in an area in the back of the mosque, as the men are allowed in to the main prayer area:
Here’s a look at night!
We are in Hvar, Croatia! This spot certainly has ‘curb appeal’!! It has been a wonderful week with great ‘mates’ on board! We have spent hours swimming in the Adriatic and hopping from island to island to see the sights…:)!
Saturday we will end the week on the Croatian Cruise and head for Istanbul then on to Singapore!! We will soon ….hopefully…be re-connecting with the Rickmer’s Shanghai in Singapore to begin the Asian side of the ‘journey’!!
However, first, we have to celebrate Bud’s 66th BD! We will be in Zagreb, Croatia for his big day:)!
So, we were trying to have a lovely dinner but a few of the ‘mates’ got in on the act:)!!!
Seriously, these islands were beautiful…with excellent weather, blue skies, and enchanting nights along the island promenades!!
The “Captain’s Dinner”was certainly a fun event. Yes, this was our main entree with a cucumber sail and all!!
Check out our Croatian Cruise Captain surrounded by some of our passengers and Dom our steward! He has been sailing the Adriatic waters for over 30 years. His father was a Captain and all FIVE of his brothers are sea captains!!
Here is a glimpse of some more fun of the day as we visited the very small island of Sipan, Croatia!
Imagine one morning opening your shutter to this surprise!
Over 1.2 million people visit Dubrovnik in a sixth month period! It is an amazing destination for many cruise ship lines. Last week 18,000 people toured the small city in just one day!!!
A wall was built around the ‘Old City’ to protect it from siege. This city has sustained attacks as frequently as twenty years ago.
Hopefully,you will be able to share in some of the beauty of this fortress city on the Adriatic….
Of course…..more weddings….almost every hour! Here is a bride and groom strolling by on a ‘Monday afternoon’:)!
At our very first stop on the beautiful Croatian Cruise, in the city of Makarska, we went immediately to try and find a Saturday night Mass. Instead we relived “The Wedding Crashers”:)!
Look at the wonderful traditional marriage celebration we stumbled upon and Bud….trying to “Wedding Crash”!
Here’s a look at the ships!
The last picture is our ship the ‘Ocean’ being ‘towed’….all more excitement for the memoirs!! All ended well, as we made it safely to port!!
We have arrived safely in the second largest city of Croatia….Split! Croatia is a beautiful country which currently uses the ‘kuna’ for its currency and is slated to change to the euro next year! Here is a quick look at this city which has areas dating back to B.C. Tomorrow we will leave on a Croatian Cruise which will take us to many of the beautiful surrounding islands!!
I am just lucky that I got Bud back on the train to catch the ferry to Croatia! He fell in love with the entire fishing experience of Cesenatico, Italy. As Bud calls it….this was, again, the ‘real deal’! Weathered fishing boats lined the canal. You could watch firsthand the hard work of the fishermen as they prepared their daily catch to be iced and then transported on to Spain to be served fresh in restaurants within 48 hours!! We rode bikes for hours along the canals and followed the old shipping tugs to their docks to watched the thousands of ‘Alici fish’ being prepared for a future entree:)!
On to our next destination which is an overnight ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia:)!
We had to make our way back for another visit to Padova, Italy, as this is the home of our beloved St. Anthony of Padua!! He is clearly a family favorite and here you see his Basilica. This stop of our journey really brought back memories of bringing our children here years ago!!
However, all of you who know Bud would fully realize that it was now time to head to the little fishing villages of northern Italy! We rode an Italian local bus until we reached the ‘end of the line’ in Chioggia, Italy. The hard working fishermen of this village daily cast their nets directly into the beautiful Adriatic Sea.
Best put on your ‘cappello’ to watch this video! We certainly do NOT want you to experience any sea gull ‘remains’:)!
This was….as Bud always says..the ‘real deal’!
Then ‘the rains came’…almost four inches in ONE hour!!
Now we are back on the Italian trains and headed through Bologna and Rimini on to our next tiny fishing village at the ‘end of the line’:)!
Merci beaucoup to Mdm Borkovich from St. Joseph Central Catholic, Fremont, Ohio!!! Thanks to her tenacious spirit in creating a classroom of excitement for the French language during my high school years at SJCC; I have finally had the opportunity to really experience firsthand her inspiring love of the French culture!
The architecture of “The City of Lights” is beyond description!!! I pray my photos may somehow capture a small essence of this part of our journey…
Spartan Spirit and Flat Stanley, our traveling buddies, LOVED Paris!!
We had the wonderful opportunity to experience “Friday Night at the Louvre”!
These two just didn’t seem quite as excited as we did about the Mona Lisa:)!
Of course you have to eat….so I ordered a salad which the French menu said included tomato and egg…..
Take a look at the French version:)!
After our lunch ‘treat’ on to the spectacular Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris! Here take a look:
Paris at night….no wonder they also say that it is “The City of Romance”…..
Join us on a Saturday night cruise on the Seine…
Au Revoir…we are off to northern Italy!
Oxleys' Adventures 