Autumn Cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean! (5)
Autumn Cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean! (5)
Venice - MSC Preziosa - Bari - Katakolon - Izmir - Istanbul - Dubrovnik - post-cruise Venice - Prague - Marianske Lazne - Karlovy Vary.
Hotel Dolomiti 2* Venedig, Venice, here: http://www.turpravda.com/it/venecija/Dolomiti_Hotel-h44717-r105836.html
A Tribute To Music Residenza 3*, Venice, here: http://www.turpravda.com/it/venecija/A_Tribute_To_Music_Residenza-h45015-r106451.html
Part 1 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/105929.html
Part 2 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/105973.html
Part 3 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/106060.html
Part 4 here: http://blogs. turpravda. en/hessen/106225.html
7. Dubrovnik.
And the last port of our cruise is the Croatian Dubrovnik. In 2011, we had a sightseeing road trip around Croatia. We stopped in three places: on the Plitvice Lakes, in Istria in Rovinj and in Dubrovnik. In Dubrovnik, we lived for several days in the Babin Kuk area and went to Lapad beach. And from this beach we constantly observed cruise ships entering the port of the city. And now they themselves were looking out from the ship for the familiar beach.
Then I could not even imagine that someday we would also sail to this beloved city on a ship, like those others that we then looked at with envy from the beach.
And now we are entering the port, everything is so familiar: both the bridge we passed over, and the observation platforms up there, from which we once watched the exit of a cruise ship from the port ...and now we ourselves are here on board. Preciosa slowly turns around and moored to the wharf, stern to stern, of the already moored steamer.
In Dubrovnik, we have already seen a lot, and Velika Onofrijeva Fontana, and Square of the Loggia, and Crkva sv. Vlaha and others were on all kinds of observation platforms ...but we didn’t manage to walk along the fortress wall of the old city. Therefore, during the cruise stop, we decided to fill this gap.
We left the ship, got into a taxi, 10.00 euros / car to the old city. The taxi driver brought us not to the main entrance, but to the side entrance, there is not a large information office nearby, currency exchange.
We passed through a small bridge, and now we are in the old city. We went downstairs, walked along Stradun Street, bought entrance tickets to the fortress wall and went up the stairs. The ticket costs 100 kn/person.
The weather, as always, was excellent, there were not so many tourists on the wall, no one interfered with anyone. One could calmly consider everything that was interesting, admire the beautiful sea with amazing, crystal-crystal color water.
We walked along Stradun almost to the central gate and there we began to climb the wall, but this can be done in at least three more places along the way, because bypassing the wall, we met 3 more "checkpoints" where our tickets were checked. There was also an entrance.
The cafe on the rocks itself, not an ordinary place, we wanted to go there when we went down, but as a result we sat down in one of the cafes on the top of the wall and did not reach the cafe on the rocks.
The cafe where we decided to take a break also offered freshly squeezed juices, and pomegranate too. But the taste is completely different from what we experienced in Istanbul. Here it was more sour, maybe the pomegranates were not quite ripe... and the prices were higher.
We continue to walk along the wall, it is impossible to take our eyes off the seascapes, and we stop here and there and admire them for a long time.
We slowly move to the other side of the wall, and before us opens a panorama of a small piece of the sea, the island of Lokrum and the roofs of the old city.
Through the central gate we go out into the city and go to the taxi stop. As if there are markings on the road and "taxi" is written on it, but there is not a single car. We stopped and waited. No one drives up, all the taxis go somewhere past. People come up, stand, leave ...And suddenly one car stops near us ...but it is with passengers ...
and the driver shows us with signs that we must cross the road, that there are all free taxis. And the truth is, how did we not guess to look at the other side.
Once again we were convinced of the goodwill of the Croats. Surprisingly hospitable people, we noted this even on our first two-week trip to beautiful Croatia.
In addition to taxis, the port can be reached by public transport, buses 1a and 1b. Stop right there, in the middle of the road on the "patch".
This last evening there was no new show at Preciosa, the best moments of all past performances were shown.
The night before, questionnaires were brought to the cabin to fill out, how we evaluate the work of the staff. And one more form - last name, first name + cabin number - for the drawing of prizes. This form had to be lowered into a special transparent box installed in front of the entrance to the theater. And at the end of the performance there was a raffle.
The prizes were from the Logo Shop, some child from the front rows was invited to the stage, he pulled the form from this transparent box, and the cruise director read out the last name. The first one to be read was not in the hall, the other two winners were here. We went on stage, received prizes, everyone clapped, everyone was happy and satisfied.
Disembarkation from the ship.
Everything, as in the first cruise. They brought the tags to the cabin, attached them to the suitcases, put them out into the corridor. Early in the morning, they did not even think about vacating the cabin. According to the color of the tags, we leave Preciosa at 10:15, so the alarm was set for 8:30 in the morning. No one woke us up, no one knocked on the cabin. At about 10:00 in the morning we arrived at the theater, it was almost full, we did not look for empty seats, we followed the information on the screen. The information there was constantly updated, so it appeared for us: passengers with such and such a color of tags get ready for the exit.
We got into a moving queue, and in a few minutes we were already at the terminal, where our suitcases were waiting for us.
Then on a free bus to People Mover, we drove one stop to the square. Rome, we reached the ticket office, bought tickets and vaporetto passes, and drove to our second hotel in Venice.
Parting with the ship was somehow not sad. The cruise was wonderful, we were very, very satisfied, got a lot of impressions from new places ...but the vacation is not over yet, the journey continues.
Hotel A Tribute To Music Residenza, Venice
http://www. booking. com/hotel/it/atributetomusicvenice. de.html? sid=838c013478f552... "
On the square Rome Piazzale Roma we went to the box office for tickets. For some reason, the queue was incredibly long. Leaving my husband standing in it, I went to the information office, which is literally next door. There was almost no one there, except for a guy with a girl, they, like me, came there for a map of the city and not only. After they received a lot of different waste paper, they began to ask about tickets.
The girl at the counter began to explain to them what types of tickets are available. After a short discussion, they chose something and left. And I thought, what a beauty, here you can buy all travel cards without a queue. Pointing to the brochure with tickets, I explained to the girl what I needed, bought tickets, took a map of the city and, pleased with myself, went out into the street. During this time, the husband, of course, moved up in line, but it was still far from the window with the cashier. Now it is known for the future that tickets can also be bought in the inform. the Bureau.
About tickets. We were in Venice for 5 days. Our hotel was located in the center, so on the first day we bought only one-time tickets for 7.00 euros / person. , and for future days travel cards: for 3 days for 40.00 euros / person. Well, on the last day we also bought one-time tickets for 7.00 euros in order to get from the hotel to the square. Rome.
Prices can be found here: http://www. veneziaunica. it/it/ecommerce/products/pack/biglietti-turistici-actv
Vaporetto scheme: http://www. actv. it/sites/default/files/Mappa_linee_agosto_2013_100x70web%202. pdf
Vaporetto schedule: http://www. actv. it/sites/default/files/orari%20nav%2011%20nov%202013_low%281%29. pdf
At home, I planned to get to the hotel by vaporetto 4.1 along the Giudecca canal to the Arsenale stop, it would be faster, and when we arrived at the pier for some reason I immediately wanted to take a ride along the Grand Canal, so instead of 4.1 we took vaporetto number 1 and swam. They put the suitcases somewhere in the salon, right next to the stairs to the right, and they themselves went out to the bow of the boat, I settled down very well there, since there were empty seats, and in general there were not very many people. The husband with the camera moved freely around the boat, from one side to the other.
Canals, bridges, houses, hotels, churches and bridges again...that's Venice.
While everything was being examined and photographed, we had already arrived at the right stop. We have already been in Venice, but a long time ago, and now she was considered as an old friend and at the same time discovering new places.
From the Arsenale stop, you need to walk a little towards Pl.
San Marco, through one bridge, and here, on the embankment, among the numerous cafes and shops, there will be an inconspicuous entrance to this hotel. The building outside, of course, is all shabby and shabby, however, like many others, but inside the hotel everything is pretty decent.
1. Location
The hotel is located in the Castello area, right on the waterfront, almost in the very center. That's how I chose, not far from the center, not far from different berths. Arranged everything, it could not have been better.
I originally had another hotel booked, but constantly browsing the booking. com, I suddenly saw this hotel for sale for 300.00 euros for 4 nights with a non-cancellable reservation. It was 4 days before departure, and without hesitation for a long time I booked this hotel, and then canceled the previous one. The entire amount was deducted from the credit card on the day of booking, and at the hotel, at the time of checkout, they paid an additional tourist tax of 20.00 euros for two for 4 nights.
If it is planned to visit a city with its sights, then I prefer a hotel in the center or as close as possible to it, so that you can always come to relax, or lay out purchases, or just drink tea. The location of this hotel met all of our requirements.
Appearance, of course, leaves much to be desired. If you face the hotel, then on the left there will be red umbrellas of the gift shop. If you take a walk there in advance in the maps. google, then it will not be difficult to find later. We go through the door, not a big corridor, there is a large glass door in front of us, it is almost always closed, but there is a bell nearby, we call, they open it for us, and now we are already at the hotel. The reception is open 24 hours, so the keys to the front door are not issued, we call every time you need to enter the hotel.
2. Our number.
Each room has its own name. The room, of course, is small, but there were simply no others when booking.
And the windows overlooked the courtyard. When the other rooms were being cleaned, the doors were open, I looked in there: quite spacious, there were triple rooms with a sea view.
Basic room, but it did not have a wardrobe. Instead, right behind the door there is a bar with hangers. A little out of the ordinary. The main thing that we hung there were jackets, in everything else we lived, as they say from a suitcase. If there is no closet, then there are no even the most elementary shelves, which means you can’t put anything anywhere.
There is a small fridge, kettle and tea and coffee set, which was replenished every morning when there was cleaning.
The internet worked great, no hiccups. In the bathroom, too, everything is normal, almost no remarks. I am almost writing because the shower gel in the dispenser was not replenished. As it ended, they didn’t replenish it anymore, and every morning I forgot to remind about it on the recipe.
The most important thing that I feared the most was, of course, mosquitoes.
The pastries were not very bad, but the juices were not very pleasant, there was a feeling that they were diluted with water.
There was a Russian-speaking lady in the buffet, she was glad to chat with us in her native language, because she has been living in Italy for quite a long time.
Well, in general terms about the hotel and everything. In order to stay for a few days, 2-3 nights, it is quite suitable.
