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!