Autumn Cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean! (3)
Autumn Cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean! (3)
Venice - MSC Preziosa - Bari - Katakolon - Izmir - Istanbul - Dubrovnik - post-cruise Venice - Prague - Marianske Lazne - Karlovy Vary.
Part 1 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/105929.html
Part 2 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/105973.html
18.10. Venice 16:30
19.10. Bari 10:00 - 15:00
20.10. Katakolon, Peloponnese / Greece 8:00 - 13:00
21.10. Izmir (Smyrna) / Turkey 8:30 - 15:00
22.10. Istanbul / Turkey 7:30 - 17:00
23.10. Day at sea
24.10. Dubrovnik / Croatia 11:30 - 17:00
25.10. Venice / Italy 8:00
There were no tenders anywhere.
Expenses on this trip, I write prices for two:
flights Frankfurt - Venice - Frankfurt - 280.00 euros
cruise - 2131.00 dollars + tips on board 98.00 euros
onboard bill - almost 800.00 euros
Hotel Dolomiti 2* Venedig - 1 night, 126.00 euros
Hotel A Tribute To Music Residenza Venedig - 4 nights, 300.00 euros
Well, I will write about all other small expenses in passing.
Departure from Venice.
There were 6 cruise liners in the port at the same time. Norwegian Jade, Splendour of the Seas, Queen Victoria, Audaaura, Zenith von Pullmantur Cruises, or should I say Croisi? res de France, which will leave the port after us, and our Preciosa stood nearby.
The boat-pilot is already ready to accompany us. And so we pass through the Giudecca Canal and further along the coast, the islands of Venice...Zenith came out after us, and someone else is already following him. And so we slowly set sail and went along the canals of Venice. Canals, bridges, houses, hotels, churches, cathedrals, bell towers slowly float past...Here is St. Mark's bell tower, and St. Mark's Square, and the Doge's Palace, and the embankment...
Leaving Venice was one of the most memorable moments of this cruise. I dreamed about it, but the reality exceeded all expectations.
The only thing they did a little wrong was that my husband and I were nearby, contemplating everything and taking pictures only from the port side. We had to split up, go alone to the starboard side, then the right side of Venice would be covered. But then we were not up to it. It's just now, looking at the photos, I thought about it.
For the future, I will definitely take this into account, I hope that we will repeat the cruise with the departure from Venice.
Probably, many already know that Bari is the capital of the Puglia region. I read a little about all the cities along the route on the Internet, including Bari. An ancient town in Italy with a population of about 320 thousand people. During the stay, it was planned to inspect only its historical part. The plan was drawn up, the map of the walking route was printed.
Preciosa moored not far from the sea. station, you can walk to it and then to the old town.
We never went to informational meetings with ship guides. Firstly, we never had time for this, secondly, there was always printed information about upcoming excursions in the next port near the recipe, and thirdly, even before the cruise on the MSC website, I look through all the excursions that will be offered during the cruise , well and the prices for them accordingly.
Fourthly, we do not like group excursions, I prefer to plan everything in advance myself, it gives me pleasure, and then there would be no unexpected surprises on the spot.
And the plan for Bari was simple, to see only this city, without any trips, since we had not been there yet.
But in the daily paper the night before they deducted that there is a schuttle bus for 8.50 euros/person. to the city center. We decided to use it. Tickets are bought on the street, after leaving the ship. There is a tent, nearby the stewards from Preciosa offer these buses, bought these tickets and went to the city. The bus arrives at Piazza Giuseppe Massari, walk forward a little and there will be a monument to Niccolo Piccinni La Patria, located at the crossroads with Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, it was our guide when we returned back.
I had to make adjustments to my plan. We walked around the whole area, it is not big, and went to Castello Normanno - Svevo. We decided to go inside the fortress and see what was there and how.
In the 19th century, this castle was used both as a prison and as a barracks ...now it houses a historical museum. ? The entrance costs some money, but the point is not in them, but in the fact that the entrance to the fortress wall was closed, this is what we were going there for: to look at the city from the height of the fortress walls, although they are not so high . Well, since there is no entrance to them, then we will go here when we return to the bus, if there is time left. But there was no time left, and we never returned here. Therefore, this fortress was only partially bypassed from the outside.
Cattedrale di San Sabino or Cattedrale di Bari.
"The Cathedral of San Sabino is the residence of the Archbishop of Bari and is dedicated to Saint Sabino, Bishop of Canosa, whose relics were brought here in the 9th century. The existing building was built between the end of the 12th and 13th centuries on the site of the ruins of a Byzantine cathedral, destroyed in 1156 by order of the king Sicily of William I the Evil.
Subsequently, the material left from the old temple was used in the construction of a new church. The cathedral was consecrated on October 4.1292... "
It is located on Piazza dell' Odegitria, 1. We went inside, looked ...it is not at all like other Italian churches and cathedrals that we have seen before, somehow everything is simple, poor or something ...
Basilica of St. Nicholas (Basilica di San Nicola).
On the way we went to 2 churches: Chiesa San Marco dei Veneziani? , I didn’t write down the name of the other, but naturally I don’t remember from memory.
We also walked around the old town. It struck me how narrow the streets are here. It was a beautiful day, very sunny, but inside the city it was somehow gloomy. We walked through the market square, past the Colonna della Giustizia (Column of Justice), or in other words past the "pillory".
We mainly wanted to visit the Basilica of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. There are not just a lot of people around it and inside, but a lot.
We walked around the temple, and since there were too many people, we didn’t want to take pictures, then went down to the crypt, where the shrine with the relics of St. Nicholas was installed.
If you stand facing the Basilica of St. Nicholas, then on the right, go a little forward, there will be a toilet. The building opposite the Basilica is called the portico (open gallery). Arco Angioino is located in the wall, directly opposite the church that separates the Basilica of St. Nicholas from the Old Town. The arch was built by King Charles of Anjou, hence the name of the arch.
Passed under the arch, and more than once. There is a belief that those who passed under the arch received protection from St. Nicholas. To the right of the Arch, the monument is the monument to St. Nicholas by Tsereteli.
Immediately from the basilica we go out onto the embankment, here the sun blinded us, and the smell of the sea hit our noses, the smell of heavily salted fish. We landed on a bench, exposed our faces to the sun and the sea wind, and we didn’t want to go anywhere else.
This was perhaps the most memorable moment in Bari, because we did not meet such a smell of the sea anywhere else.
After some time we climbed the old wall and walked along it. Then we again went down to the Lungomare Augusto Imperatore embankment and went to the Teatro Margherita. Some kind of holiday was taking place in the city, they stood and stared. And we moved on along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II to the bus stop. And here is our landmark, the Niccolo Piccinni La Patria monument. Almost arrived. But what about in Italy without Italian ice cream? We go to a cafe at the crossroads, everything is as usual, ice cream, coffee, toilet, free Wi-Fi.
And in the evening in our cabin there was a letter that we should come to the reception and hand over our passports. And they returned to us on October 23, when it was a day at sea. Also in the evening they came to the cabin, they were lying along with the daily newspaper.
4. Katakolon
Katakolon was visible from our balcony and the pier, along which we will go to the center. Cunard Queen Elizabeth was already in port.
It is a small village of about 500 people located on the peninsula (or island) of the Peloponnes. Cruise ships stop here so that passengers can explore the historic city of Olympia. That was exactly what our plan was.
You need to be among the first to get off the ship, because the parking lot here is short. To do this quickly and without a queue, we used the tips of our members of the forum, namely: we go down to the atrium on the 5th deck, go through it towards the bow of the ship, go along the corridor past the residential cabins, reach the elevator, and there are already signs here, where is the exit. We go down the stairs to deck 4, there are 5-6 people in line for the exit, and now we are already on the shore. The hint justified itself, they came out very quickly, among the first.
Immediately after leaving the port, there are sellers of trips to Olympia. We didn't go further down the street and bought tickets at the first agency we came across, Dionysios Christou Diplas "DIAS" on the Katakolo - Ilias route. The ticket costs 10.00 euros/person.
/There and back again. We waited another 5-10 minutes for a full bus to pick up, then the escort led us to the landing site, the bus was already at the ready.
Drive about 33 km, the landscapes along the way are not expressive, somehow I don’t remember anything special, except for the children on the roads offering their services in washing cars and piles of garbage in bags. No, the rubbish wasn't lying around in an ugly way, but its heaps were of such size as if it hadn't been taken out for a month.
So, we arrived, the bus drove straight to the stairs leading to this archaeological park. The lady who met us entered the bus, said some information in languages we did not understand, then wrote the numbers on a large sheet of paper: 11:45, well, of course, this is the departure time.
The park is not right next to the stop, you still have to walk to it. First there will be a museum, we pass by, go further, here is the entrance, you need to buy a ticket at a kiosk, 9.00 euros / person.
My husband got in line, and I went to take pictures of the surroundings. After 5-7 minutes, the line did not advance a single meter. And in front of the ticket office, Italians are crowding, well, as usual, screaming, noise ...one buys a ticket, departs, two new ones come up, and so on without end and edge. Well, I think we'll be here until the "donkey Easter".
I had to be a little smart. I went, casually attached myself to them, after 5 minutes, while they were vigorously discussing something and counting money, I quickly put my money in the window to the cashier. Having received the cherished tickets, I smiled at these Italians, who looked at me in bewilderment, but did not stop talking, and retired to my husband. I don’t know how long we would have stood in this queue if we had stood “honestly”, time was already very limited.
Well, here is the park itself. The Temple of Zeus and other historical buildings once stood here.
On the way back from the park, we bought a book in Russian, there are many different ones in souvenir shops. It also comes with a disc. The book is so good: in the past and present with reconstructions, from it you can determine what we saw, and what these ruins are called, and how they looked before. For example, the round Philippeion building, or the temple of Hera, or the terrace of treasures. In the same zone, the nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus rises. Nymphaeum was once a large monumental fountain in which the waters of a huge aqueduct were collected.
Then we went to the stadium. And everywhere around are ruins and stones, stones and ruins...
Olympia didn’t make a strong impression on us, the trip was kind of for show, it wasn’t particularly interesting for us there, but photos from the series “me and a palm tree” were taken.
Time is running out, it's time to return to the bus, we arrived 10 minutes before departure.
At the place where the landing was, there was no bus, there were two employees of this company and the driver of our bus with signs with the number "2", this is our flight number. The bus stood a little on the sidelines, well, it was impossible to get lost or not to find it.
That's why I don't like such group trips, because the people you meet are so optional. 11:45 we sit on the bus, people are pulling up, 11:55 people continue to pull themselves up, 12:05 everything seems to be. But the greeters and the driver continue to stand with signs on the street, everyone is looking out for someone. I'm starting to worry. At 12:30 we have everything "on board", but we still need to get there. Different thoughts in my head, will the steamer wait for those who are late or not? One thing reassures us that we are not alone here from Preciosa, 20-25 people must wait.
12:15 we are still standing. The nerves failed in two men (probably, their wives sent them to the driver).
They got off the bus, talked about something with the driver, he spoke with his other colleagues, got on the bus, and we finally drove off.
He dropped us off closer to the port, and almost everyone from the bus trotted towards the ship, including us. After a while, I noticed that both in front of us and behind us, the people were walking quite slowly. We stopped, caught our breath, it became clear that they would not sail away without us ...then we decided to take a little picture.
And when we got closer, we saw huge queues for landing.
Apparently here, apart from Olympia Park, there is nothing else to see, so the bulk of tourists go there, and they all return at about the same time, otherwise how can such queues for landing be explained. Although in Catalon itself I still saw a tourist train.
There is also a local Duty Free here, on the pier, they came in, looked, got out ...
We didn’t want to stand in the heat in such a queue at all, so we sat here in the shade “on the mound” near the store until all the queues passed. When there were literally 15-20 last passengers left, a taxi came right to the gangway, a couple of seniors of Chinese origin got out of it, it was 12:55. They managed, however, I don’t know if we were waiting for them or not ...
For the first time in the entire cruise, we left the port not too late.
