Adriatic Voyage 2016

June 9, 2016
Once again I was headed for the Adriatic Sea, this time aboard the Island Sky. After landing at Venice airport mid morning I took a water taxi to my hotel, the Westin. After getting settled in I took a little spin around Venice to reacquaint myself with the city as it had been since Lisa's 16 Birthday since I'd been there!

 

 

I was looking forward to meeting both my passengers and our study leaders for the tour. This time we were so lucky to have Andrew Moore, President of the AIA (Archaeological Institute of America), Michael McCormick, Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History at Harvard University and Gail Lapidus, a senior fellow emerita at the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

We embarked the Island Sky the next day with no more than the usual amount of confusion with luggage, but the rain! Oh my, did it rain on many of our guests as they made their way to the port.

Sunday June 12: Our first port of call was Pula, Croatia.
We visited the imposing amphitheater (27BC-AD68):

 

Bathrooms we in short supply at the Amphitheater!

...the triumphal Arch of the Sergii (29-27 BC)...

After a busy morning we went by motorcoach to a mountain village, Montovun,  featuring truffles!

Monday June 13: Our next port of call was Hvar and Split
It was a little rainy, but that didn't dampen the spirits of our intrepid travelers. To get to Hvar we went by zodiac. Nicky and Dana

Nicky and Dana (Asst. Cruise Dir. and Tour Manager)

Me and Blake (Stanford Tour Manager)

Hvar

Split - walking towards Diocletian's Palace

Our guide explaining inside Diocletian's Palace that where we were standing was completely filled with sewage from the city above for hundreds of years before it was excavated!

Faces in the ceiling

In the afternoon we took a coach out to explore the archaeological site at Salona 

 

Tuesday June 14 - Otranto, Italy

 11th Century Baroque Cathedral known as the Skull Cathedral of Otranto. 800 citizens were massacred here for refusing to renounce their faith to the Ottomans in August of 1480.

Followed by a tour and meal at a nearby farm.

 We were entertained by the regional music known as tarantella - a very quick moving beat with a tremendous amount of spinning and dancing!

 Here a woman makes orecchiette, pasta in the shape of "small ears."

Wednesday, June 15 Butrint, Abania

My first visit to Albania, and hopefully not my last. We toured a UNESCO World Heritage site that held extensive ruins.

Temple of Asclepius

4th Century Theater

Roman Baths

Roman high school

Thursday, June 16  - Kotor, Montenegro

Cruising the dramatic Bay of Kotor in the early morning is one of my most favorite things about this tour!

And on the way our chef prepared a delicious BBQ Buffet lunch up on the Lido deck!

 Friday June 17 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Always a fun and easy city to tour, Dubrovnik had a special surprise this time. Andrew McCormick arranged for a special tour of a recently opened medieval foundry that has been excavated right under a school inside the city walls.

 Many artifacts were on display in the underground foundry museum.

 Easy walking around Dubrovnik to shop and see the sites.

 After dinner we were entertained by the noted LIndjo Croatian folkloric ensemble.

All too soon it was time to depart and head back home.  

Thanks again to 

 Nicky and Jannie my Island Sky -