#3068 The Trip: Split, Croatia

 

ussie in Split

For our stop in Split, we decided to buy a Game of Thrones (GoT) themed tour from the ship. The menfolk have watched the series a couple of times through, and I've caught glimpses of it while they watched, just enough to recognize and name some characters like Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Cersei. I also know Peter Dinklage is in it, but I didn't know his character's name. I also know there are dragons in the show. 

When we got out to the busses, there was a guy in a shirt that said "I drink and I know things" and I was thinking, "Okay, sir." Turns out that guy was our guide and that shirt is a GoT shirt with a saying from one of the characters, Tyrion Lannister. I would come to find out that Tyrion is Peter Dinklage's character. Needless to say, our guide, Ivica (Johnny in English), was a GoT dude who was really into it! For the most part, I had no idea what or who he was talking about for several hours, but I had a ton of fun on the tour. Now I am watching GoT and I get what the fuss is about. It's an epic story!

Anyway, here are some GoT related pics. I won't go into details because I don't remember and I don't think the seven of you who read this are really into GoT anyway, so it doesn't matter LOL

We left the city and drove up to the mountains to the town of Klis where this fortress as featured in seasons 4 -6. It was desperately hot, but the views were amazing!

the fortress is up on the hill above the town

had to walk up a large hill to get to the fortress itself

there were gobs of people

the view of Split and the surrounding islands was great

We rode back to the city and went into Diocletian's Palace. It's a pretty big draw in Split, but for our purposes on the GoT tour, we were interested in only a few spaces in the palace, and the main draw was the dragon's dungeon. Apparently, this is where the dragons had to go when they were naughty.

I managed a photo without any people!

From there, we went out of the dungeon to an area that was so incredibly packed with people that I can't even tell you where I was. Ivica did stop to tell us about this sphinx. It is Egyptian from the 15th century BC and was brought to Split by Emperor Diocletian around 297 AD. It's been there for 2000 years! That's just mind-boggling to me. It got cracked in an earthquake, I think he said.

Split's sphinx

there were gobs of people

When the tour was over, we left the palace and walked around the rest of the old town where we saw some incredible Venetian architecture, a giant statue that looked like a wizard but is actually a statue of Gregory of Nin, a Game of Thrones store which actually has an Iron Throne in it, and a Game of Thrones museum. We did not wait in the line for the photo opportunity, but we did go in the store. 

Game of Thrones Museum (we didn't go in)

Venetian architecture in a plaza

more Venetian architecture

Palace gate

statue of Gregory of Nin

We wandered around buying souvenirs, eating gelato, and sweating. (It was really hot!) On our way back to the ship, we walked along the pretty promenade that has palm trees, cafes, and local artisans selling their wares. At the end of that street, we came upon an open air market with lots of shade, so we had to go over there to look around.

flower stalls at the local market

We were quite tired and quite hot, so we headed back to the ship for a late lunch and drinks on the pool deck. 

view of Split from the ship

Overall, I'd say that I like Split, and I would like to go back when there are not four or more cruise ships in port. I would be glad to see more of Diocletian's Palace someday. The Game of Thrones tour was fun! Ivica, the guide, was funny and knowledgeable about the show. He had a few insider stories because his neighbor was an extra, or so he says. It may or may not be true, but it made it more fun. He also had still photos of GoT that he held up in exactly the spots the scenes were filmed. I thought that bit was really cool.

We're coming up on our final port of call, Zadar, Croatia. See you soon!

xo

#3067 The Trip: Kotor, Montenegro

entering the bay of Kotor

 Of all the ports on this cruise, I think MT and I were most interested and excited to go to Kotor, Montenegro. We've seen so many photos and videos of the place on Instagram that we were eager to see it for ourselves. The best part? It did NOT disappoint!

As usual, there were several ships in port that day, and since Kotor's port is very small with only enough room for one ship, we had to anchor about 20 minutes away and get on a smaller boat to get to town. In cruise talk, this is called tendering. The ship arranges for boats to pick us up from the ship and to bring us back. It works perfectly well and we had a good ride into the town. 

Again, we chose to wander around on our own. MT wanted to hike the city wall up to the fortress, so we figured out where he could buy a ticket for that, and off he went. T and I chose to stay in town and walk on the lower city wall.  Here are some photos from the day:

one of the main squares in the old town

narrow streets

I like this photo

Kotor has kitty-cats everywhere

MT hiked up to that fort high on the mountain

incredible

check out how that wall behind the dock is painted!

gorgeous

The European heat wave of June 2026 did not by-pass Kotor; it was warm. I don't remember being quite as sweaty as I'd been in other places, though. T and I walked along the entire city wall.  T found a "hidden" entrance to the fortress trail that I'd read about, and he did a little exploring while I hung out in what may have been someone's back yard. Here's a pic of the stairs he took:

no thanks

T was gone for maybe 20 minutes. When he came back down, he said the trail got a little scrubby, not maintained, and he didn't want to go further. We went into some souvenir shops to buy our requisite postcards and magnets. I saw this tote bag which I thought was hilarious:

A young woman who came in after me didn't find it quite as funny, but the man she was with laughed out loud. 

It had been a couple of hours, so T and I decided to sit at a cafe by where MT had started the hike so we could see him when he was done. We ordered a couple of pivos (beers) and soaked up the atmosphere.  MT arrived shortly after we got our drinks. He was sweaty, energized, and really happy to have hiked and had such pretty views of this beautiful area. He went off to look for souvenirs. T and I ordered another beer and hung out to wait. 

T and I enjoying a pivo in Kotor

When MT came back, we walked to the main square and into the cathedral. 

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

Inside the cathedral, the most remarkable thing happened. There were a couple of young men of the cloth standing by a collection box. MT put a couple of euros in the box. The men thanked him, then went a few steps over and began to sing. Their voices were so beautiful, and the acoustics in the church were exceptional. It was a wonderful few minutes, an unexpected gift. 

After that, we decided it was time to go back to the ship, but first, MT and I took an ussie near the clock tower. The clock tower was originally built in 1602, but was rebuilt in 1979 because of an earthquake. 

loved Kotor!

Kotor is another place where I didn't get an ussie with the three of us. 

Back on the ship, we assumed our positions at our favorite pool deck table and enjoyed the scenery around us. 

Montenegro

Such a great place! I remember thinking as I was walking around, "I just want to pull our my sketchbook and sketch and paint everything!" What would it be like to stay in Kotor for a few days and just paint and sketch and soak up the cool vibes? I really liked this place, even with the crowds. It felt good there. 

In the next post, we will talk about Split, Croatia and the Game of Thrones tour we took. 

xo

#3066 The Trip: Corfu, Greece

ussie on the HOHO bus in Corfu

The third port of call on the cruise was Corfu, Greece. The island is off the northwest coast of Greece. We decided to mess around Corfu Town on our own rather than go on a tour off the ship. Did we make the right choice? I'll let you know at the end of this post.

First off, the port is kind of far away from the cruise terminal, so the port has busses to take you from the ship to the terminal. Second, the bus pickup area was kind of haphazard so we spent some time running back and forth from where we thought we would get on the bus to where the bus actually stopped, which was different for each bus. It was odd. Third, there were three or four ships in the port that day, so there were hundreds of people trying to get on these busses. Then, when we were able to get on a bus, the cruise terminal was packed. Old Town Corfu isn't that far from the terminal, maybe a 30 minute walk, but it was already blisteringly hot - that Greek sun is no joke - so most people were trying to get tickets for the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus or getting a taxi. We actually got both. MT stood in the line to get the HOHO tickets, then the line for the bus was so long that he got fed up with the whole thing and paid a taxi to drive us five minutes to the Old Town. It wasn't a great start to our time on the island.

Once we got into the town, it was cute and reminded me a bit of Chania, Crete with all the flowering trees and tiny streets and colorful old buildings.

T and MT in Corfu Town

tiny little street

the church tower reminds me of Chania

a street in Corfu Town

There didn't seem like much to see of historical interest. We did go to the main church, which was quite small compared to the churches we'd seen in Italy. I was hoping to get some Greek food, so we ate at a little place that had covered outdoor seating off the street. The server must have thought I was going to pass out from the heat because he sat us directly in the path of a couple of fans so we had some air flow around us. The food was good. You can't beat souvlaki and fries in Greece. Without a doubt, some of the best fries I've ever had have been in Greece. 

After lunch we were going to go see the old or the new fort - there are two big forts and they both look old. There was one close to the old town, but when I put in the directions, it had us going the opposite way, so we decided to get on the HOHO to take us back to the ship. When we got on the bus, though, we decided to just take a ride all around, but no hopping off. 

The bus took us past some buildings and a beach with an airstrip. It took us past both forts.

New Fortress (opened in 1572)

Old Fortress (opened in 1545)

From where we were in Old Town, it really would not have been a long walk to the Old Fortress, and even closer to the New Fortress, although there is a steep hill to go to that one. We were kind of disappointed that we didn't just wait for the HOHO in the morning because we definitely would have gone to one of these fortresses. 

view of Corfu Town from the cruise terminal

Probably the best thing we could have done was to take a beach day on Corfu. It was so bloody hot, and the beaches looked so wonderful. Missed opportunity. Certainly not the first or the last mistake of this trip. Still, I enjoyed being in Corfu Town, having Greek food, and wandering around the little streets.

Next time I will write about our day in Kotor, Montenegro. It was definitely a highlight of the cruise! Until then, I'll leave you with this pretty sunset pic I took from the balcony of my stateroom.

sunset off the coast of Albania

#3065 The Trip: Catania, Siciliy

 

view of Mount Etna from the cruise ship

The second port of call on the cruise was Catania, Sicily. Sicily is an Italian island off the southeast coast, right at the toe of the boot. Our time in port was kind of short; we arrived at 7am and had to be back on board by 3:30pm. We decided to spend our day walking around the city on our own. I looked up a walking guide and created a walk for us to see the things we though sounded interesting on Google maps. Lizzie usually handles this aspect of travels, but since she wasn't with us, I figured I'd give it a try. She makes it seem easy. My walk wasn't the most efficient, but it was fine. 

It's a quick walk from the port into the city. Our first stop was to see the Cathedral of Catania, Basilica Cattedrale di Sant'Agata. We didn't go inside. 

Cathedral

The Cathedral is in Piazza del Duomo (of course) and is in the heart of this older part of the city. There's a cool obelisk with an elephant, and that white building on the right is City Hall.

Piazza del Duomo

There are fountains and fancy baroque buildings. My initial thoughts about the city on the walk from the ship to this piazza is that Catania is a little gritty. It doesn't have the historical magnificence and grandeur of Rome or the beauty and charm of Florence, but Catania has something that made me want to go a little deeper. Maybe it's Mount Etna looming over the city. Maybe it was the overcast sky giving the whole town a vibe. Maybe it was all the stories you read and movies you see about Sicily. It is Italy, but feels different from Italy at the same time. There have been many other influences at play on this island. 

Directly off the piazza when we turned a corner, there was a fresh fish market in full swing. It didn't smell like fish because all the products had been swimming earlier that morning. It was really cool to see it. I kinda wish we could have found our way down to the market just to look around a bit more, but we didn't. 

fish market

Just up ahead and around another corner, we came upon streets where umbrellas provided shade. It was unexpected and made MT and I feel delighted.

ussie with umbrellas

T was maybe a little less excited.

T didn't like the umbrellas?

I realized just now that I didn't take an ussie of the three of us in Catania. Bummer.

The next thing we saw was Castello Ursino. This 13th century castle/fortress is huge, and at some point had a museum in it, but now it's just sitting there. The neighborhood all around it is decrepit and kinda sad-looking. Even the little piazza in front of it is all dried up and unwelcoming. It was puzzling.

Castello Ursino

From the castle, we went back to Piazza del Duomo and made our way into a chapel across the street from the cathedral. There was rooftop access for views of the city and Mount Etna. MT is a sucker for a view, so we paid 10 euros each to climb up a bunch of stairs. There was a sub-roof where I decided to end my climb because I couldn't handle the tiny spiral staircase to the very top.

I wasn't interested in climbing up the spiral column of steps

my view of the rooftops of Catania and Mount Etna

It was hot in Catania that day, and I was glad to find a bit of shade where I could gaze at the volcano. Did you know that shortly after we got home, Mount Etna started erupting? The airport in Catania was closed because of heavy ash and the volcano has been active for a couple of months now. Glad it was quiet while we were there.

Our last stop of the day was not what I thought it would be, but it was interesting. We walked up a long hill and found this:

San Nicolo l'Arena

This is the Church of Saint Nicholas the Arena, and is the largest church on the island of Sicily. The neoclassical facade is unfinished, leaving it looking kinda strange. It is absolutely massive.

MT looks so small!

The church is part of a monastery that is attached to it, and there is a dome that you can walk up in order to have an excellent view. We didn't go to the monastery or the dome because it was getting late and we had to get back to the ship, plus, I was plumb tuckered out from the walking and the heat, so we headed back down the hills to the port.

My initial impression of Catania is the same as my final impression of the city. The vibe goes from charming to gritty one street to the next. 

That takes care of our day in Catania. Next we will leave Italy for awhile as we make our way around the boot of the country into the Ionian Sea and Corfu, Greece.

xo