Cruising Again - Ireland and England - 2019

 

Temple Bar - Dublin, Ireland - 2022

AFTER ANOTHER year of no cruising in 2018, we got back into the swing of things with a "British Isles" Cruise in June of 2019. I retired from my career as a transactional attorney in March of that year (and though I really enjoyed what I did, I have never looked back). I moved permanently to Florida and have been a Florida resident ever since. In 2018, we had done some traveling in the U.S. (partly with our group from the Caribbean Cruises of prior years). But after a year off, we were ready to go again. And we did. Twice. 😁

Guiness Storehouse - Dublin, Ireland

WE FLEW into Dublin, the starting point of our cruise, 3 days early. We spent 2 nights in a hotel right in the middle of the Temple Bar District. What a great spot. Just out the door of the hotel and things were "happening" in almost any direction you walked. A block to the north took us to The River Liffey (which bisects Dublin from west to east, to the Dublin Seaport (and cruise terminal), and the famous Ha'Penny Bridge. As one might expect from Dublin, there are pubs lining the river on both sides. Just a few short city blocks to the east, is world-renowned Trinity College (which houses, among other things, the famous Book of Kells). A slightly longer walk to the south brings you to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which may be one of the prettiest churches in Europe, with its Gothic architecture and colorful flowered landscaping. And just a bit further: The Guiness Storehouse brewery facility. And interspersed around and between, you find ancient churches, distilleries, and of course: more pubs. 😋

Ha'Penny Bridge - Dublin, Ireland

THERE WAS plenty to do in the city, and we did a few tours, and a couple of our own pub crawls. But we also ventured out of the city. We had been to Dublin for a few days during our trip in 2014 and had already gotten to know the city some. So, for some variety, we visited a couple castles outside town, and went to the seaside vacation/fishing village of Howth, on the northeastern arm of Dublin Bay, where we had lunch at one of Dublin's 2 or 3 touted "best" fish and chips pubs: Wright's Fish & Chips. Of course, we had fish and chips - and beer. They were good. Not having had fish and chips anywhere else in Europe, I couldn't opine on whether they were "the best."

Howth, Ireland - 2021

SOMETIMES CRUISE itineraries are set up a bit oddly. Usually the longer (10 plus day) cruises will have at least one overnight stop, usually at a place patrons may want to spend some time. Most of the time, they count the origination city and sometimes the termination city as cruise stops. I have always thought that seemed a bit disingenuous as I would be willing to bet that the majority of cruise passengers come in the night before or day of, and leave the day of, or the morning after. But it is the way things are. This time, it was doubly interesting. We boarded the ship during the day on June 14. But the ship didn't leave until late afternoon on the 15th, leaving a full day on shore still left. Later in the cruise we would stop at LeHav're, France, arriving very early in the morning, overnighting in port, and not departing until midnight the following day. We had never had such a long stay in port, but it allowed us to spend a day and 1/2 in Paris. I will surely cover Paris in detail in a later post.

Pearse Lyon Distillery - Dublin, Ireland

WE MADE the best of the Dublin "overnight," returning to the city and touring a very nice, small distillery housed in an old Anglican Church. Interestingly, the Pearse Lyons distillery was founded by an American who came back to Ireland to distill his small batch Irish Whiskey ("Whisky," in Scotland). While we were there, we discovered that this distillery was also making gin - and in particular, a gin I had taken a liking to. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find here in Florida.

Pearse - Lyon Distillery - Dublin, Ireland

WE LEFT Dublin late in the afternoon, for the short sail north to Belfast. Our cruise intelligence informed us that there was a very good Northern Ireland tour by a company called Black Cab Tours. Our 2014 trip to Northern Ireland was short and specifically only to visit a church (where King Brian Boru was buried). We didn't really see Belfast, other than a drive-by. Nor did we see any of the rest of Northern Ireland. We wanted to do that this trip. This meant we would spend very minimal time in Belfast. But the sites were worth it.

Dublin Port

BEFORE LEAVING Belfast City, we stopped at the site where the cruise ship, Titanic was built, and launched. We were able to get out and walk around the facility. The building housed huge pumps and an indoor reservoir. The actual dry dock pictured here was difficult to capture well with the camera I was carrying at the time. If I get back, I will have a much wider-angle lens for a better shot of its vastness. But still. History. We would follow the progress of the Titanic's tragic voyage a couple stops later, as the Titanic's first stop after being put to sea was our second Irish port of call, Cobh.

Titanic Dry Dock - Belfast, Ireland

WHILE WE were there, our driver mentioned that he did double duty as a private driver for some of the actors in "Game of Thrones." It just happened that many of the scenes for the series was shot in the old shipyard area immediately adjacent to the Titanic facility. It also just happened that he had a pass to drive into the lot. Much of it was fenced off as it was mockups for scenes currently in production. But it was kind of cool to see it anyway.

Game of Thrones Set - Belfast, Ireland

AFTER THAT, we headed to the very north, to County Antrim, to The Giant's Causeway, with a planned stop at the world's oldest working distillery, Bushmills. But on the way, we detoured through another recently famous spot, The Dark Hedges. Planted in 1715 by James Stuart, to serve as a dramatic entrance to his home, Gracehill, the large, old Beech Trees create a very moody tunnel over the road, which has become a popular tourist destination. It probably gained its widespread notoriety after it was used as "The Kings Road," in the Game of Thrones series. It has also been used in at least one of the Transformer movies. It is a cool scene.

The Dark Hedges Scene - Game of Thrones series - Bushmills, Ireland

A UNESCO world Heritage, site, the story of the causeway is - in my opinion - much interesting than the actual causeway. It is not a particularly photogenic site (but cool to see, climb around on, and generally explore). The Giant's Causeway is a geological wonder. Formed some 50-60 million years ago from volcanic activity, it is a series of some 40,000 octagon-shaped columns. Their formation is unique and fascinating. As it normal for volcanic activity an eruption poured molten basalt over the area at the shore that is now the site. Then, the cooling and drying process somehow created horizontal forces, resulting in the octagon shaping (imaging mud drying). Of course, there is a legend; a story of Gaelic myth that is told of this site. There were two giants, one Irish and the other a Scot who challenged each other to a fight. The legend has it that the Irish giant (Fion MacCumhail) built the cause way across the ocean so that the two of them could meet. There are varying versions of how the story ends. But in researching this, what I found really fascinating is that there is a similar formation in Scotland (Fingal's Cave) nearly 100 miles across the Irish Sea.

The Giant's Causeway - Bushmills, Ireland

THE GIANT's Causeway is only a couple miles from the Old Bushmills Distillery, our next stop. Unsurprisingly, the distillery is in the tiny little (about 1200 inhabitants) village of Bushmills, situated on the Bush River, which eventually empties into the Atlantic. In the early 1800's a mill was built on the Bush River at the site of the village. The village is only 60 miles from Belfast, just over a mile (as the crow flies) to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean on the northern border. Quiet, quaint, and beautiful, the tiny little village has at least 5 churches! On Main Street we found just a few shops, small restaurants, and - important to us that day - an ATM. Northern Ireland, of course, considers itself part of the UK, and at that time, they were using the British Pound for currency (we had Euros, but wanted to pay our guide in pounds). We did stop for a scenic view of the river and the old mill.

Bushmills, Ireland

ONE OF the highlights of this trip (or at least of this stop) was our visit to the Old Bushmills Distillery for a whiskey tasting. Certainly not our first taste of Irish Whiskey, this was our first visit to a Northern Ireland distillery. And one which is very distinguished in the lore of whiskey. Old Bushmills Distillery holds the distinction of being the oldest working distillery in the world. The history is interesting (well, to me anyway 😐). On the bottles, the label notes that Old Bushmills dates back to 1608, the date when the first royal license was granted to distill the liquor in the village. The actual "Old Bushmills" distillery was not founded until later - in 1784 (because of a rebuilding due to a fire, the current distillery has been in active and uninterrupted operation since 1885). Today, Old Bushmills is owned by the U.S. distributor: Proximo.

Old Bushmills Distillery; Bushmills, Ireland

THE DISTILLERY gets about 120,000 visitors each year. While I am throwing numbers around, I found it interesting to note that Bushmills' U.S. "sister city," Louisville, Kentucky, has a population of nearly 630,000 (more than 500 times the size of Bushmills). Think about the impact of 120,000 visitors a year (10 times the population) to the tiny village. We first tasted Irish Whiskey in the Republic of Ireland in 2014 on our land-based trip there. We visited the Kilbeggan Distillery in Westmeath. But prior to that, I had tasted several different whiskeys - at the recommendation of a couple bartenders - over the week. While I found them interesting, I have to say I did not really "warm up" to Irish Whiskey at the time. Old Bushmills has changed my views. In addition to their standard "Bushmills," they have (much like many other distilleries worldwide) branched in recent years into aging in wine, bourbon, and other casks. These are casks that have already been used for their primary products and are re-sold to the distilleries. I liked the "Red" Bush and "Black" Bush varieties - respectively aged in sherry and bourbon casks. Being partial to bourbon as my "brown" liquor of choice, I particularly like the Black Bush, and generally keep a bottle in my cabinet. The tasting was very fun, though and during the conversation, our host noted that they had recently discovered a more than 100-year-old bottle. When I stepped up to the bar to photograph it, the bartender invited me behind the bar, and our host took my camera and made this image. I was crushed that they wouldn't let me hold the 100-year-old bottle (much less even touch it). 😅

For those who may not know this, distilled liquors do not age any further once they are bottled (unlike most wines). Theoretically, if properly stored and airtight, the 100-year-old whiskey should taste the same as the day it was bottled. Of course, environmental factors like temperature, light, and perhaps most critical, air, can change this. But the value of the bottle here is not the aged quality of the whiskey. The value is the fact that it is an intact 100-year bottle. There cannot be many - if any - others like it anywhere.

Me and "my" 100-year-old bottle Bushmills - I'm not sharing 😎 - Old Bushmills Distillery, Bushmills, Northern Ireland

FOR THE golfers among us, Northern Ireland is a pretty estimable golf venue (and destination), boasting several topnotch golf courses, and a few famous PGA tour golfers, including current star, Rory McILroy, David Feherty, Darren Clark, and Graeme McDowell, just to name a few of the more well-known players (more on Rory below). Perhaps the most noted Northern Ireland course is Royal Portrush, just 5 miles west of Bushmills. It happened that The Open (British) was due to be played there just 2 weeks hence. When we left Bushmills, we head briefly west once more, for a stop at Dunluce Castle, a ruin which is now a national monument. The views of the Northern Ireland coastline from the castle were spectacular. But one of the cool things was that we could see Royal Portrush in the distance, being readied for the tournament (note the towers and grandstands already in place).

Royal Portrush, Portrush, Northern Ireland - 2019

BACK IN 2014, one of our day visits was to the famed Cliffs of Moher, on The Republic of Ireland's western coast. They are pretty spectacular, and annual tourism exceeds 1 million a year. It is certainly a "must see" site if visiting Ireland - if at all possible (cruise ships don't get anywhere close to that part of the country, so it would need to be part of an extended visit (e.g., a beginning or termination in Dublin). I cannot more strongly recommend such an extended visit!

Dunluce Castle - Northern Ireland

BUT HAVING extolled the virtues of the west coast of The Republic of Ireland, I must say that the Northern Ireland coastline (mostly north and east) easily rivals anything I saw in The Republic (Cliffs of Moher notwithstanding). They are equally spectacular, as the views from Dunluce Castle and the Rope Bridge overlook illustrate.

Northern Ireland Coast Line

ANOTHER POPULAR tourist attraction in Northern Ireland is the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Once thought to be constructed by salmon fishermen to cross to the tiny island of Carrickarede, the bridge today has been rebuilt and strengthened by its current owner, The National Trust. It may be walked for a fee. Our guide noted that it was mainly a tourist attraction, and that lines (queue) for the short, but perhaps adrenaline generating, fee-based walk is long. He thought the better view was from the overlook. With my 70mm reach, the bridge is a tiny line between mainland and island in the distance.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge; Northern Ireland

WE SPENT the short remainder of our day back in Belfast. While we really didn't see the city, we did a whirlwind drive-around, with the primary objective being to see (and sign) the wall between the "Protestant and Catholic" parts of the city.

Signing The Wall - Belfast, Ireland - 2019

EVEN THOUGH we spent very little time in Belfast City, our driver was from there (born, raised, and remains). Though he was a relatively young man (probably mid-30's), he had seen and experienced - firsthand - the "Troubles" as they were euphemistically called in Ireland (a 30-year period of often violent conflict between the "Protestants" and "Catholics" - I used quotations purposely here - ending just before the turn of the 21st century). For a more in-depth discussion of this period in Northern Ireland's history, stay tuned for an upcoming Blog Post. Before we ended our day, our guide had promised (mostly me and my brother-in-law; at the beginning of our day he had asked us if we were golfers and to our positive reply, he noted that - time permitting - he had a special "treat" for us at the end of the day). Well, it appears that time indeed permitted. 😁 You may recall that I alluded that there would be more on Rory McIlroy. One of the other "famous" golf courses in Northern Ireland is the Holywood Golf Club in the Belfast suburb of Holywood, Northern Ireland. I am not aware of any big PGA tournaments being played there. But what perhaps makes it famous is it is Rory's home course. His father having been a member for years, Rory grew up playing there and his personal golf teach is the teaching pro at Holywood. We had the unbelievable fortune to not only see the course, the pro-shop and Rory's personal trophy room, but the pro actually let us hold Rory's 2014 PGA Championship trophy while he photographed us! A very memorable experience.

Holding Rory's PGA Championship Trophy - Holywood Golf Club - Holywood, Norther Ireland

I LOVED Northern Ireland. I like what very little I saw of Belfast. I vowed to go back one day and spend some time in the city, seeing its history firsthand and "The Troubles" in a more personal perspective. The good news is that we have a cruise booked for May-June of this year that takes us back to Belfast for a day. We are actively looking a excursions now!

Belfast Old City, Northern Ireland

OUR NEXT stop on this cruise would be Liverpool. Stay tuned.

The "Best" Cruise Ship/Line

Disney and Celebrity Cruise Ships

RECENTLY, MY wife sent me a link to an article in a media publication with "Insider" as part of its name. While I found her perspective interesting, I also thought it was very narrow. As I have noted here recently there are some 50 (more or less) cruise lines and 270 ships (more or less) to choose from. This writer, by her own words, is just barely out of high school. Maybe in college. Maybe not. Maybe a veteran cruiser. But probably not (I met a young man - maybe in his late 20's at the time - on a Princess cruise a few years back who had been on around 20 cruises. It was his family vacation and they had taken him on at least one a year for many years). So it is possible. But in my mind not probable. Of course, that doesn't make her any less (or more) eligible to review ships and make recommendations. And that she did. I just don't agree with her. 😑

Carnival Cruise Ships

I DO think it is important, though, to put all of our commentary about cruise ships, cruise lines, and cruising, in context. I met a gentleman on our recent Oceania Cruise who had been on between 60 and 70 cruises with several different cruise lines. I tend to put more stock in his observations than perhaps the ones like the above online opinion piece. I have been on somewhere around 12-15 cruises (so far, on only 3 different lines. That doesn't make me an expert in the industry by any means, and I have been pretty open about my own biases. Heck the title here surely sheds some light on that. 😉

Holland America Cruise Ship

THE WRITER didn't really share how many cruises she has been on. But based on the article, certainly at least 3. She wrote about 3 different lines' newest ships. I found a lot of good - and interesting - information there. It was her ultimate conclusion that troubled me (not hugely, of course. We are talking about cruising here - not world hunger 😎). She opined (based on her observations of just these 3 ships) that she would only be recommending one ship/line for family cruising from now on. There were, for me, some takeaways from her article. First, she is not very experienced. Second, her opinion, for what it's worth, was based on a rather narrow sampling (3 cruises on 3 different ships). Since her recommendation referenced "family" cruising, I immediately wondered how can any consideration of "family" cruising not include at least a mention of the ultimate "family" (at least young family) cruise line: Disney (whether to recommend it or not)? But I also wondered about her personal context. What family, for instance? Based on my "read-between-the-lines" take, she is too young to have anything more than young children. Was that the "family" she is speaking of? Or is it her parents and siblings? That would make a difference to me in how I took her observations (and recommendation) in. In fairness, she did enumerate some criteria for her recommendation. Her preference was for a larger ship with more things to do on board - many of them active things (like water slides, parks, go-karts, shopping and food vendors (which, for lack of a better description, would be of the food court or "fast food" variety).

Norwegian Cruise Lines Ship

THE TRUTH is most of us have a limited scope from which we make our life observations. The point of this post is not to beat up on one person who (legitimately) voiced an opinion. There are many of those (some legitimate and some just frankly, whining and misinformation). I read Facebook group posts daily and boy are there some opinions out there! 😏The point here, is that we need to read with a "filter"(maybe several filters: I am thinking, "B.S. filter," "critical filter," "open-minded filter," "context filter," and "questioning filter"). In fact, I think that is probably how we should process virtually all information we get these days. In addition to all the good information to found, there is an awful lot of misinformation out there and those of us who opine on ships and cruise lines need to do so in the context of our own experience. And we need to "own" that context.

Princess Cruise Ship

AND IT is important to acknowledge the subjective nature of the word "best." Your definition of "best" is likely to be different than mine. Maybe all that we can do when making these choices is to establish our own criteria and see how lines and ships match up to that. What are the things that are important to you. Is it the onboard entertainment? Do you (or your children) want waterslides, go-carts and rock-climbing walls? How important is the pool area to you? Are shows comedians, or music a critical part of the experience? Do you crave ship-sponsored activities, like trivia contests, crafts, on-board lectures? My personal tastes lean toward itineraries that let me see the world, good food, and a nice, traditional cruise ship experience (like dining rooms, and relaxing deck areas). Once you have that in mind, you can begin to do some useful research.

"Traditional" Deck Chairs - Princess Cruises

FOOD IS a big deal. Its funny, because I remember as a very young person, hearing about cruises from friends. They were mostly the warm weather, Caribbean variety, usually take during our school spring break. While I never had the opportunity to go on one, I came away from the accounts with a preconceived idea that cruise ships were just a huge pool and buffet, with big, but not very good food. Of course, that is far from the reality of cruise ships - at least today. Indeed, some are known for their cuisine. Almost all have restaurant choices other than the buffet. And the 24-hour, midnight buffet has really become a thing of the past, anyway.  If the food experience is sufficiently important for you, you need to do some research on those cruise ships that are noted for their good cuisine. I read a comment on a Celebrity FB group page just recently. The comment was about the person's recent experience on another cruise line. She noted that the xxxx's food was "disgusting." It wasn't. I am confident of that. I have cruised the other line. Her comment was hyperbole. Maybe there was something that was "disgusting." But overall, on the entire cruise. C'mon man! In the first place, she was discussing the buffet. And let's face it. Buffets are never going to be the place to get gourmet food, or anything close to the best food aboard a cruise ship. I have had at least one "mediocre food" experience on every cruise I have been on. But they have - for the most part - been isolated incidents. That doesn't make "the food" on a line bad. And sure, part of the whole cruise experience is the food. But not the entire experience. We are on a cruise. We are having fun! And isn't that the reason we cruise?

Pool Deck - Princess Cruise Ship

YOU PROBABLY thought I was going to answer the question posed by the title. Maybe even thought I would for sure say Celebrity. But nope. You see, I don't think there is a "best" cruise line or ship. I do think some will fit your sense of fun better than others. And that, after all, is the reason we cruise: fun. You have to do your homework and choose accordingly. And realize that there is probably more than one suitable cruise line for you, and probably many that just aren't.

Mediterranean 2017 - We Can't Get Enough!

Venice - 2017

WE DIDN'T cruise at all in 2016. But we had so much fun on our 2015 cruise with Paul and Linda that we couldn't stop talking about it - and about a repeat. But this time we would hit a couple of places we definitely missed out on in 2015.

We chose Celebrity for the 2017 Cruise

THE 2015 trip was probably a little unfair to Paul and Linda. We had the Princess credit, and it was due to expire, so we kind of steered things to Princess and their itinerary. Not that I think our friends minded. Pretty sure they loved the cruise. But we had also been talking up our Celebrity experiences. There were definitely some things I liked better there. As it turns out, they ultimately agreed (in fairness, there were probably a couple aspects of the Princess cruise we liked better - "perfect" is only a goal 😍). So, for the third time in 6 years, we planned another Mediterranean Cruise - again with our friends.

Palacio Ducale from St. Mark's Rooftop - Venice 2017

WE CHOSE the agenda a bit differently this time. On our first Mediterranean Cruise in 2013, my wife and I had cruised out of Venice. By 2016, Venice had had enough of the disturbance to their waterways and were no longer allowing the large cruise lines to dock there. Paul and Linda hadn't been to Venice and wanted to go there. And we wanted them to see it. We also wanted them to experience a Celebrity Ship. We will go to Venice any time we can (I have been there 3 times and my wife, 4 times and we are ready to go back again)! We found a Celebrity Cruise that originated and ended in Civitavecchia (nearest port to Rome). Wanting to spend some time in Venice, we decided to fly to Marco Polo Airport in Venice and spend 3-4 days in a VRBO there. It was our first experience with a VRBO, but we were very pleased with it. It was in a perfect location, just a few steps off the main canal, but back on a smaller, quieter canal.

We did a self-guided "food" crawl on one of Venice's back streets, known for its small food bars

MUCH LIKE in 2013, we toured the Palacio Ducale (Doge's Palace), including the "Secret Itineraries" tour of the back passageways, jail, and other "inner workings," and heard the story of Casanova. We toured the Palace, with its incredible artwork. Our guide, Frederica was really good (we would use her again, with similar appreciation in October 2022). That tour also included entrance ("skip the line") into St. Mark's Cathedral, and a 1-hour canal tour by water taxi. We had done an essentially similar tour in 2013, and we did it again in 2022. Never boring and something new every time!

Rooftops of Venice from the Jail in Palacio Ducale

WE DID a couple food-oriented walking tours, and a tour of the Jewish Quarter. We found our own pub/chichetta tour (for those who may not know, Italy's equivalent to Tapas) along a quiet back canal one night. And we found some wonderful little out-of-the-way restaurants. The food? Fantastic. Paul and Linda found their way early one morning back to St. Mark's and attended the early mass there. They said it was an experience of a lifetime! By the time we had to leave for Rome, we somewhat reluctantly, boarded a train for Rome and then Civitavecchia, eventually to board our ship, The Celebrity Reflection.

SOUND FAMILIAR? As I alluded to in a couple prior posts, this would now be our 3rd Cruise on the Reflection. We have been on it one more time since then. It is one of our favorite ships. I think Paul and Linda liked it, too. I know we spent a lot of time (especially Paul and me) on the Sunset Bar on the stern of the top deck.

Sunset Bar - Celebrity Reflection

FROM CIVITAVECCHIA, our first port of call was Messina, Sicily. My only memory of this area was from 2013, when we limped through the Straits of Messina on our way back to Naples on our aborted Princess Cruise. I remember it being a dramatic sight to be able to see Mainland Italy on one side and Sicily on the other. In reality, it is 2 miles wide at its most narrow point - a lot further than it seems. But in clear weather, it looks much closer, particularly as you cruise through the narrow part.

Messina, Sicily

THIS WAS our first visit to Sicily. We had scheduled a driving tour of Messina, the volcano at Mt. Etna, and the villages of Taormina and Savoca (known its "The Godfather" scene Francis Ford Coppola). Messina was "just o.k." in my view (though we would get another, more intimate view of the city in 2022). It is a modest sized city, with a nice classical church and piazza, whose perhaps most notable feature is its rather famous animated "clock." We did get up above the city and made some nice shots down. Like all seaside towns, there is a nice waterfront recreational presence.

Messina, Sicily

ETNA WAS - again - in my view, just kind of "eh." It looked to me an awful lot like the strip mines in the western U.S. We didn't travel up to the volcano, and our stop there was fairly brief.

Mt. Etna - Sicily

SAVOCA, HOWEVER, was impressive. The high up on a mountain, the little village was quaint, and the views pretty spectacular. We walked around for a short time, shopped for chocolate, and just window-shopped. I made some nice images of the views.

Savoca, Sicily

IN ONE small cafe, there was a bit of commotion and we wandered over to see what was going on. They were shooting some kind of advertisement or "Godfather-themed" promotional piece (maybe for "Messina" Beer?), and I had the unique opportunity to snap a quick photo of the model and setup. 😀

Photo shoot in Savoca, Sicily - 2017

Coppola "statue" - Savoca, Sicily - 2017

TURNS OUT that the "cafe" was actually Bar Vitelli, the famed bar setting in The Godfather. Inside, it was appropriately decorated.

You Talking to Me? - Bar Vitelli - Savoca, Sicily - 2017

NEXT UP was Malta, another place we had never been to. I am sure I am being unfair, but I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if I never visited it again. 😐 In fairness, we didn't book any kind of tour there - which is kind of unusual for us. But on the other hand, my research didn't uncover any particularly noteworthy items, either. In the end, we opted for the "Hop on - hop off" Bus. In the past we had some good luck with this approach. In Dublin, it gave us a great overview of the city. We later used it in Paris with the same good result. But a word of warning, here. It is not always so good. The Malta bus was an excruciatingly long ride, with only a few spots of interest - which were mostly of the drive-by variety. My takeway is that Malta might be a nice place for a beach or boating-based vacation. But not really for anything else that we could see. I have actually studiously avoided future cruises with Malta as a stop.

Valleta, Malta is where most of Celebrity's Fleet is "Flagged"

IT IS not that Malta doesn't have some interesting history. Our port was Valleta, its capitol. It is noteworthy that most of Celebrities fleet are flagged in Malta. Because of its position in the Mediterranean, Malta has historically been a strategic naval base, used by the ancient Phoenicians, forward to nearly modern day. Inhabited since about 5900 B.C., there are most certainly ruins to be visited. During WWII, the island was an important Allied airbase, and as such, was besieged by the AXIS powers. Malta gained its independence in 1964, but the final withdrawal of British troops did not occur until 1979. Malta joined the European Union in 2004. Still, from my perspective, the most interesting part of the stop was the harbor and the walled Fort Ricasoli with its pier light as you enter the harbor.

Fort Ricasoli - Valetta, Malta

IT SEEMS to me that the curious person might also ask, does Malta have any relationship to the famed Maltese Falcon? Sort of. It turns out that a faction of the Knights Hospitallier once controlled Malta (the Knights of Malta), and the fictional statuette, in the story, was a tribute to the Knights Hospitallier. No gold encrusted statue. Not in Malta. Not anywhere. 😉

Valleta, Malta Harbor

OUR NEXT destination was the vacation island of Mykonos, Greece. But first, we would have a sea day - our first since embarking from Civitavecchia. We enjoyed spectacular weather during this cruise - actually quite warm for September in the Mediterranean. We mostly wore shorts and t-shirts or golf shirts both on board and on shore. We also got a chance to get to know the ship better, though in reality, that meant getting to know the bar staff at the Sunset bar most afternoons. 😊 Three of the four of us have a "regular" summertime drink - gin and tonic, so we "trained" the staff to make them "our way." 😇 At one point, I didn't think Paul's drinks were sufficient, so I asked one of our faves - Punto - to bring him an extra-large G&T.

Special Order Drink for Paul - Celebrity Reflection - 2017

MYKONOS HOLDS some memories for us. First, it is a very photogenic spot, with lots of color. There are the iconic whitewashed buildings with colorful blue and purple trim, and lots and lots of flowers. The streets are a faux cobblestone which are nicely kept. There are some great shops and restaurants. There is a bank of very old windmills. And there are Greek fishing boats on the waterfront - also colorful. I had a blast walking around with my camera on our visit there back in 2013. But it also marked the halfway point, and the rather untimely ending of our anticipated multiple stop cruise in the Mediterranean. We hoped that wasn't going to become a "thing." 😅 

Mykonos Waterfront Beach

OF COURSE it didn't. We had a great day. I paid more attention to the beach and waterfront this time, and I found a new perspective on the windmills. We ended our time there with a nice lunch at one of the (undoubtedly touristic) Greek restaurants on the beach, before catching our tender back to the ship.

Mykonos Windmills

OUR CRUISE had several Greek Isle destinations on the itinerary, and I was looking forward to this part of the cruise immensely. I was particularly excited about Santorini, which would be the last of the islands we would visit. Following Mykonos, we sailed for Rhodes. One of the largest of the Greek Islands (surpassed perhaps only by Crete), the main port is on the northeastern tip of the island, at the ancient walled city of Rhodes. Having seen a number of old ruins, we opted for a slightly different adventure here. It appeared to us that much of Rhodes is undeveloped, and hilly.

Bumpy Rhodes - off road vehicle

OUR RIDE for the day was a converted military small transport vehicle with extra high suspension and 4-wheel drive. But the interior was surprisingly comfortable and air conditions. True to the name, however, much of our tour was a "bumpy ride." The tour company had secured permission to drive a couple old military roads with their vehicles. Because of this, we didn't encounter any other vehicles during our several hour adventure. We took the unimproved roads (in some cases driving through what appear to be total washouts) to the highest point in Rhodes, where the view was pretty impressive.

View from the Top - Rhodes

HONEY IS a major product of Rhodes, and we passed numerous hives along the way. George, our guide, explained that the theory of placing the hives (in what appeared to us to be a random spacing) was to take advantage of the different herbal and plant influences. Up high, there were evergreen trees. Lower down, a selection of different flowers were available. The other major product is olives, and there were also hives interspersed among the olive plantations. We took a break at a visitor center somewhere up in the hills, and had a nice bagged lunch George brought us. We then spent a few minutes in the highlight of the visitor center, a honey-tasting area. There might have been 50 different varieties of honey, as well as several varieties of olive oil. Pretty cool. You really could taste the differences in the honey, based on where it was collected.

Rhodes, Greece

AS WE descended back down to sea level, it became apparent that Rhodes has a very robust seaside and pleasure boating culture, as well as its share of Mediterranean beaches. One of the places George took us was a viewpoint from which we could see pretty much a panoramic scene of the Rodes coastline. He said he always wanted to do a panoramic shot here. I did one, but somehow, in the crush of things, we lost our contact information for him. So, if you happen upon this, George, this one's for you. 😎

Panorama of the Rhodes Coastline

GEORGE DROPPED us off at the entrance to the Castle/walled city, rather than take us all the way back to the cruise port (just on the other side of the Castle), so we could walk through the ancient castle, and at the end, do some souvenir-shopping. As we entered the castle, we could see our Celebrity Reflection in the near distance - a comforting feeling as the day on shore neared its end. We did have the most nervous moment of our cruising career so far, (we would beat that in 2023). Some of our group got caught up in souvenir shopping and we were supposed to meet a pre-planned spot. We ended up having to go back and search for them, as we almost ran out of time before we were due back on the ship. Fortunately we found them and we all "hot-footed" back to the ship, where they had closed of the main gate where we had left that morning! Again, fortunately, after some momentary panic, we realized there was another entrance to the port area just down the street. We made it back with at least 5 minutes to spare. 😅

Ancient City of Rhodes

AS A photographer, Santorini was on my dream list (as I suspect is true of nearly any photographer who has ever seen photos of it. A crescent-shaped, volcanic caldera, equidistant between Crete to its south and mainland Greece to its north, it sits smack in the middle of the Mediterranean (Southern Aegean) Sea. Consisting mainly of volcanic rock, Santorini (from St. Irene) juts high above the sea. The majority of development and inhabitants reside at the top and along the hillsides near the top. Getting there from the deepwater harbor is a journey. For the general populace there are 3 ways: you can walk (not for the faint of heart), you can take the funicular (most do - but be prepared for a wait on days when cruise ships come into the harbor), or you can ride the donkey train. But please don't! We watched those poor animals being what we felt were mistreated. What a horrible existence they serve. From my point of view there is absolutely nothing "romantic" about it.

Santorini, Greece from the Sea

SANTORINI IS the Greek Isle you see the iconic images of whitewashed churches with the bright blue roofs; usually from a high point of view. And the views are there! There are one or two spots where popular shots seem to have been taken from. But my pre-cruise research suggested that they were difficult (maybe even confusing) to find. I made it my mission to find the spot above the iconic blue-domed church with the ocean in the background. I printed my directions (found after a long search on line) and brought them along with me. Our guide (George again - but not the same George), met us at the top of the funicular. I showed him the photo, and he said, I am going to take you right there! It turns out that, as well as being a guide, George is a professional photographer. This worked in my personal favor, because he knew the spots for good photographs.

Santorini Scenes

MOST OF the scenes above are the "usual" iconic Santorini Scenes George took us to a few of his personal favorites, that he suggested we would be unlikely to find online. Everywhere we looked, it was basically a spectacular view, with the traditional, colorful, and immaculately maintained Greek architecture.

Santorini, Greece

WE THINK "George" must be a good name for a Greek guide. We had "Georges" two days in a row (Rhodes and Santorini). The two of them were among the (if not "the") best and most fun tour guides we have had over the years. Both were originally from Athens. Neither had great things to say about Athens. Your typical "big, dirty, crowded city" type complaints. We actually liked Athens, but maybe we just saw the "theater" view we were "supposed" to see? Anyway, both Georges had big personalities, and strong (apparently conservative) opinions, laced with very active senses of humor. Perhaps our "Santorini George's" T-shirt illustrates his personality.

Our Santorini Guide: George

ONE OF the things we really enjoy when traveling abroad is getting to sample the local foods and drinks. Europe, we have learned, is a somewhat wine-centric culture. Even though not our go-to beverage, we have found the wines throughout Europe (and recently in South Africa) to be consistently good. Rick Steves advises that when traveling in Europe just order the "house" wine. Generally, the small, local restaurants have their wines supplied from local vineyards and it is generally very good. We have found that to be true. But it is important - I think - to emphasize that this is in local (non-touristic) venues. The world has become a tourism culture, by and large. And with that comes the tourist trade. That is not what we seek out, whenever possible. We prefer locally owned restaurants. We told George that at the outset. He was good with that, as long as we were willing to do a later lunch. No issues with that for us.

Santorini, Greece

AND WAS the wait ever worth it! He took us to a family-owned restaurant (he obviously knew the owners). On the "back" (eastern) side of the Caldera, the land flattens out at sea level and there are numerous olive plantations and some wineries in that area. There is also a long enough strip along the beach for an airport runway. The restaurant was down there, right on the black sand beach. The food was incredible. Particularly the seafood. Unfortunately, we were so intent on eating that I didn't get any good photos of the place.

Santorini, Greece

I TESTED the Rick Steves theory that afternoon. For context, Santorini wines are unique. The volcanic soils have interesting mineral content that may well contribute to the character of the wines - especially the reds. But the rock is so hard that it is difficult to cultivate, and the grapes grown for wine production are more like shrubs than traditional grape vines. I thought they produced some excellent wine (but who am I to judge? 😑). Anyway, at our restaurant, I ordered one of their house wines. The owner came over and kind of sheepishly told me they had a much better wine selection, including some great French and even American wines and that their house wines were just "o.k." He was almost embarrassed over them. But we insisted and got a carafe of locally produced red wine. It was really good! So I am going to stick with Rick's advice. At least for now.

Athens Street Art

SINCE ALL four of us had seen Athens' classic sights on our 2015 cruise (and my wife and I had done them previously in 2013), we took a different tack this trip. My wife, the finder of fun shore activities, found a walking food tour, which started in the center city, and took us to several different parts of the city, and a kind of day-in-the life food experience. We took a taxi from the port and met our guide and 6 other participants in the city. From there, we walked through the ritzy shopping district, and to a coffee shop, where we had Greek coffee and pastries.  It was interesting to hear the "spin" on Greek vs. Turkish coffee (among other things). I have had both. I love a nice espresso (as long as I have something sweet along with it 😋), and also enjoy a true cafe americano, and variations. I am not sure I can tell the difference, but both the Greeks and Turks do it right.

Athens Coffee Shop

WE WALKED through a downtown produce market, which reminded me of the many such markets we see throughout Europe. My takeaway from about 10 years of travel in Europe leads me to the conclusion that they generally eat more healthily than we do here in the U.S. While they do have prepared foods, they are much less commonplace, and it is more prevalent to see people buying fresh food almost daily and preparing fresh meals. We also note that the concept of "leftovers," is somewhat of an anathema to many Europeans. They what they need to consume fresh and rarely save anything. Likewise, a request for a "take-out" box for your leftover food in a restaurant is usually met with a rather disdainful look. But to the point of the image below, did I mention that they produce olives in Greece? 😉

Athens Produce Market

WE HAD a common "Greek" lunch of souvlaki; spent some time in a candy shop where we tasted a popular Greek marshmallow/toffee-like confection called mastiha, sampled some olive oils, and finished with a hearty Greek meal of moussaka. Now I love moussaka and this was perhaps the best I have ever had. But the thing is, in the space of 3-4 hours, we had been walking and eating (with a heavy emphasis on the eating part). We were all so full, we really couldn't eat it. But oh, was it good.

The Amalfi Coast

BACK ON the ship, we had another at sea day, as we sailed all the way back down around the Italian Peninsula and back up through the Straits of Messina, to Naples. After the breakdown in 2013, and our anticipation of having a great Amalfi Coast tour with our chosen Rome In Limo company, as some know, that didn't happen. Our next best was a taxi ride up to Amalfi and back from the crippled cruise ship in Naples. Still better than not seeing it at all. But we were especially anticipating the visit this time. This cliff-laden stretch of the southern Mediterranean coast of Italy is a not-to-miss sight. I have a friend who spend a week there one year in the small town of Ravello. I envy him that.

Amalfi Coast, Italy

ON THIS day, there was good news and bad news. Our guide and driver was very friendly and informative. But the number of people was a magnitude more. When we visited in 2013, there were people, to be sure. But the numbers on this occasion were almost too much. This was especially true in the towns of Amalfi and Positano. It made seeing it more difficult and photography almost impossible.

Ravello, Italy

BUT THERE was one place I wanted to see that we had not made it to in 2013: Ravello. High at the top of the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean at the very center of the Amalfi Coast, this beautiful, quiet little town is unlike the more touristy Positano and Amalfi. Our guide smartly decided to take us there first, and to take the upper mountain road, which doesn't have the spectacular views, but is much less traveled and much quicker. We would get there before most of the other tourists. We did, and what an amazing spot. Peaceful. Pretty. Scenic.

Ravello, Italy

FROM RAVELLO, we worked our way back, stopping first at Amalfi, and then Positano. Amalfi is the historical center of the coast for which it is named. The road passes the town, which is to the east. The main entrance is marked by a grandiose archway. The town, like every town on the Amalfi Coast, is basically nestled into the mountainside. The panoramic view below - expropriated from Wikipedia - perhaps best gives the feel for the place.

Panoramic View of Amalfi from the Pier - Courtesy of Wikipedia

TO THE west is the harbor, waterfront, and beach. Beaches in this part of the world are way different from the soft, white, sandy beaches we are accustomed to in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The sand here is "black," and granular. But that doesn't stop beach-visitors.

Beach - Amalfi, Italy

IT WAS too bad the coast was so crowded (this was actually a weekend day, which probably made it worse), because walking into the main piazza in Amalfi is pretty eye-opening. The central feature is the very ornate church, which is center-stage, and quite beautiful, with a wonderful set of stairs up to the main doors.

Amalfi - Amalfi Coast, Italy

IN KEEPING with our view on food discussed earlier, we spoke with our guide early on about our preference to find a nice, locally owned restaurant for our lunch. Like the other guides, he suggested a rather late lunch after we had braved the crowds. Once again, this turned out to be good advice. He knew a place (of course 😁). Once again, we dined nearly exclusively, with an incredible cliff view of the coast and very good food.

View of Positano from our Restaurant on the Amalfi Coast

SADLY, THIS was our final day of the cruise. All good cruises must come to an end. But we will have many great memories of our travels, the sights we saw, and the time we spent with our great friends, Paul and Linda. And we will look forward to the next adventure!