26 - 28 June

Tuesday 26 June 0700  Adriatic Sea   We have travelled 5849.7 Nm   from Dubai and we have to travel 31.1 Nm to our next Port of Dubrovnik.  Heading 88.2 Temperature on desk is 25.5 degrees. Speeding 19.8 knots.  Wind speed 19.5 knots across the deck.

Dubrovnik – Croatia.  Currency – Croatian kuna

Dubrovnik is a picturesque coastal town which has been settled since 639 BC and at its peak the city was one of the most commercial powers in the world.

In the 13^th century the city was fully enclosed by a mile and a half of walls some of which are still in good condition and many tourists walk over them.  They are called the European ‘China Walls”.  

My trip today is one that I have been looking forward to, a trip to the oyster farm. 

We drove around the Dalmatian Coast which was absolutely stunning with beautiful beaches and winding mountainous roads.

We stopped off in Ston which is a small town which has grown around the salt pans which supplied salt throughout the past centuries.

Our next stop was Mali Ston where we boarded a motorboat to travel to owner’s oyster farm.  They use both the old method of wooden structures and growing the oysters along wire and the current method of hanging a rope from a plastic container and just leaving them to float by themselves.  While we were waiting for the helper who was in a smaller boat collect the oysters from the water, we were introduced to the local drink which was a clear liquid of 48% proof and similar to all the other local clear spirits.

The oysters were smaller and a much lighter than the ones in Aussie, they were lovely and salty and delicious.  I must admit that I had quite a few and we then went ashore to lunch which was a mixture of local seafood and was listed as snack but certainly much more than that. One thing that has happened during the last few stops is the provision of wine as well as water on the table at meal times.  The local red is very light and not a dark colour and the white is quite fruity, they keep replenishing the bottle.  In the wall that was on the outside of the oyster hotel was a number of caper bushes growing, I must admit that I really hadn’t thought a lot about the little capers that I enjoy with my smoked salmon came from.

We stopped at the oldest Arboretum with over 300 species of exotic and decorative trees and shrubs with that date back to the Renaissance time over 500 years ago.  In the Arboretum there was an old olive press in the back of the old cottage.

The weather had been lovely once again although a number of the people on the bus were finding the constant heat hard to take.

We were safely back aboard the ship in time to attend another ‘sail-a-way’ party.  

Wednesday 27 June 0700  Adriatic Sea   

We have travelled Nm   from Dubai and we have to travel 331.1 Nm to our next Port of Naples.  Heading 221.4 Temperature on desk is 25.9 degrees. Speeding 17.5 knots.  Wind speed 17.5 knots across the deck.

Thursday 28 June 0700     Naples – Italy              Currency – Euro

Boy, did I make a mistake here.  I arranged to go on a tour with a passenger, Maria ages ago to go to the Amalfi Coast and it wasn’t until I was talking to people that I realised this was the stop to see Pompeii, yes the city that was buried under lava all those years ago in 79 AD. Bother.  Oh well, I guess I will have to come back again.

I really enjoyed the beautiful coastline and we visited the towns of Positano, Amalfi, Ravello and Sorento.  I bought a handmade Cameo from the factory in Ravello, it is something I have always wanted and am thrilled with it.

We had a typical Italian lunch in a restaurant right up on top of mountain top overlooking Positano.  Lots of antipasto, pasta, sweet cakes and of course red wine made up the men.  It seems to be a conspiracy of everyone to try to make me put on heaps of kilos.  I am trying to keep them in check by walking up and down the stairs and walking the length of my hallway at least ten times a day.

We travelled back to Sorento and was allowed an hour to look around the town and I sat in a restaurant and had a really cold beer and then we boarded a ferry which took us to the ferry stop which was just up the pier from the ship. 

There are two volcanoes in this area, Mt Vesuvius which still has steam rising from the rocks along the rim and the second one, I can remember its name but it is still active.  I should write things down as I go!!

Once again a beautiful town and a lovely day, it is like living a dream every day.  We are now on our way to Civitavecchia which is the port we are staying in for our visit to Rome.