Constanta, Romania

Constanta is a important shipping port in Europe and has the potential to become the second largest after Rotterdam. Currently there is a lot of money being spent in the old town fixing up the streets and building exteriors.  The area will be beautiful when completed.

During the communist regime the wounderful buildings in the old town were taken from the owners and have been inhabited by gypsies and poor people.  It has been a difficult task removing people from the historic buildings and returning the buildings to the original owners.  The government has built apartment to relocate people.  The new apartments' cost as little as 3 Euro per month with subsidized utilities.

In Ovidiu Plaza you will find the Museum of Archeology which has a very interesting display that was discovered in 1962 during construction in this area.  The pieces discovered are from when the Roman era.

Fertility Snake

There is also an excellent collection of gold coins and an interesting glass vessel collection.

Baby drinking cup made from blown glass.

In the Roman Mosaics Museum you will find more than 2,000 square meters
 of mosaic from the 4th century.  This was the major trading area for the Romans as the sea came up to this area and good were traded in this area.  This is the largest area that I have seen of a continuous mosaic.  This are was covered during an earthquake so was only discovered in the 60's and is therefore in fairly good shape.

Up the street is the Folk Art Museum.  They have an excellent collection of costumes from the different areas in Romania.  The dress is very similar to the designs from the Ukraine.  Most of the embroidery is raised and either satin stitch, cross stitch or braid sewn in patterns.  I found it very interesting to see embroidered vests made of leather with the inside still having the fur attached.  I can't imagine how hard it is to embroider detailed designs on white leather.



St. Peter and St. Paul's Orthodox Cathedral

 After the visit of the Constanta highlights we were off for tasting.  Romania has very good wine but does not export a lot to Canada.  We could see that in the fields people were picking red grapes and loading them into wooden wagons.  We did not get to see an actual winery during this tour but were located in the middle of a vineyard.  After the wine tasting we saw some traditional dancing.  The steps are very basic for these folk dances.

Romanian folk dance.

Nessebur, Bulgaria

St. John the Baptist Church

Nessebur old town became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 because of it rich history.  The town  located on the Black Sea was originally Thracian and became Greek in the 6th century BC.  The Romans and the Byzantines both settled in Nessebur for a period of time.  The first Bulgarian Empire started in 812.  The Bulgarians and the Byzantines lived together in the area until the Crusaders conquered the area in 1366.   During this time remarkable churches were built.

The town was captured by the Turks in 1453 and the start of its decline.  During the 19th century the half stone and half wooden houses were built.  This style of construction is typical of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.  The stone construction allowed for the storage of produce and other food supplies as this area of the house was cooler.  The wooden area was used as the living quarters.  If you look at the picture you will notice that the wooden area extends out over the street below to give the family a larger living area.


The cobblestones in the old town are actual rocks which makes walking challenging.  Nessebur is one of the main seaside resort areas for Bulgaria.  Many of the newer hotels are owned and cater to  Russians or Germans seeking the sunny coast.  Unfortunately the day we visited was one of their few rainy days.  We have noticed a lot of fairly large jelly fish from the ship and am not sure if we would swim in the sea.

These barrels are made of Bulgarian Oak.
The first barrel holds 7232 liters of wine.

This area is also a very well known for it wine production.  They do not produce a large quantity of wine but a new plant has just opened and signed a contract to provide a large quantity of wine We started with a Chardonnay that was light and not heavy oaked.  They use large Bulgarian oak barrels that have been used multiply times therefore the oak presence is minimal.  We tried a Sauvignon Blanc, a dry rose made from Cabernet Sauvignon, a dry Muskat, Merlot and Pinot Noir.  Elaine purchased a bottle of the Pinot Noir for 5 Euros and we enjoyed this on the cruise.

Trabzon, Turkey

This remote Turkish port is along the north coast of Turkey on the black sea.  Not too many cruise ships come into this port so when we arrived we were the talk of the town.

We went to the Sumela Monastery which is 28 miles from the cruise port.  This monastery is located high up on the side  of the mountain.  The monastery was started in the 6th century.




Sumela Monastery

It took about three hours of walking to reach the monastery from the end of the switchback road which we rode up to the top in mini vans from the main entrance.


Interior Buildings of Monastery

Paintings in the interior of the monastery.

 Returning to Trabzon the tour visited  Gulbahar Hatun Mosque. 

We also visited Atatuk Country Home and gardens.

Sinop, Turkey

We were tired of tours when we arrived in Sinop. The town is very close to the port so we decided to tour the town on our own.

From the pier we had a great picture of the M/S Riviera an Oceania Cruise ship.

Prison Gate

Sinop is located on a narrow strip of land.  It is easy to walk from one side to the other.


Walking around town we had the opportunity to see the shops and mingle with the people.  We decided to find the Sinop Fortress Prison which is where the movie Midnight Express was filmed.  The prison is no longer used. 

















The walls of the prison fortress are made up of ruins from Greek and Roman ruins.  In this picture you can see sections of columns cut and used in the base of the wall.

 

Sinop Turkey

Sochi, Russia

Winter Olympics 2014 Sochi Russia

Sochi is in Russia and therefore has restricted entry.  You can get off the ship if you are on an organized tour and the company has filed the correct paper work or if you have a Russian Visa.  Getting through the customs officials is the worst part when visiting Russia.  This takes a long time and you have to sign a temporary visa slip which you need when leaving.



You can tell that Sochi is a popular location for rich Russians to holiday.  There were beautiful yachts in the harbour and private beach clubs along the water.

Water Fall

Sochi was the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics so a lot of money has been put into developing roads and the rail system.  The city was also fixed up to look good for the visitors for the Olympics.


We took a tour that allowed us to get into a national park and walk to a waterfall.  It was great getting off the ship but the waterfall was nothing special.  When choosing a tour don't have high expectations regarding what you are going to see.

What we did notice this time was that there were no undercover police shadowing our tour like we had in the past when touring in Russia.  Maybe things a getting a little less restrictive or because of the Olympics there are more freedoms in this city.

Hiking to the Waterfall

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul what an experience.  We certainly did not do enough planning before we arrived.  Our flight arrived at around 11:30 PM so by the time we were ready to catch the hotel shuttle it was a few minutes after midnight.  By the time we found the stop and sign for the Holiday Inn we discovered that the last shuttle departed at midnight and did not start again until 7 AM.  Next time we book a hotel we will check to see when the shuttle runs. 

Our next plan was to change money so we could take a taxi.  You could not just walk back into the arrivals terminal.  Because of security you had to go through the whole process.  We ended up lining up in the cue to get a taxi.  The driver could not speak English which I had expected so we should him the address of the hotel. 

Holiday Inn Airport Hotel is not close to the airport and is located in an industrial area with a huge freeway on the north side.  The hotel is very new and has a great pool area.  We decided to have breakfast at the hotel since there is nothing around and you can't even walk to the Istanbul Mall because the freeway is between the hotel and mall.

 

When it was time to leave we took the free hotel shuttle to the city centre and got off on the waterfront below the Sophia which is located across the harbour to where our cruise was docked.  I had to check in the morning where the ship was located because it could be a two possible locations.  Thank goodness it was the closer location.  We caught a taxi immediately exiting the van and he drove us to the port entrance.

Our next challenge was getting through the port because I did not have a ticket or boarding card.  We dropped off our luggage and proceeded to check in.  Our timing was excellent there was no bus dropping off passengers so we did not have to line up to get our boarding cards.

We spent the rest of the time exploring the ship.  Getting organized in our room, Bill was in the hot tub and of course eating.  We departed at 8:00 PM which was wonderful as the lights in Istanbul along the Bosphorus River are beautiful and the bridge was sparkling with lights.

Dubrovnik Croatia

Palace Hotel

Dubrovnik was certainly the highlight of our tour.  We stayed at the Palace Hotel on the edge of town.  This resort hotel offered beautiful pools and easy access to the clean, clear Adriatic Sea.  The water temperature was only 25 Celsius but for us it was not that cold.  Every morning we would go for a swim in the sea as other sunbathers would watch from the sun decks.  There is no beach as we think of a sand beach instead you enter the water from cement platforms.



Look how clear the Adriatic Sea is for swimming.

We have really enjoyed the coast along the Adriatic Sea.  There is no tide here and the water on the Croatian side is clean.  It would be wonderful to sail down this coast and stop along the way to swim in the sea or snorkel.

We had a brief tour of old town Dubrovnik and a sunset cruise on a small boat.  It was very nice to see the coast from the sea and sunset was beautiful.

The next day we toured to Kotor in Montenegro.   See blog post for more information.

Old Town Walls at Night from the Harbour

After the tour ended we made our way into the old town of Dubrovnik to stay for two nights.  We did not realize when we booked the apartment that the main street the side streets went up to the walls with steep stairs.  We were so lucky that the apartment we rented was just before the stairs started.  My suitcase would have been horrendous to carry up the narrow steep stairs.

The apartment was very modern and we could have cooked meals if we had wanted.  It was great being in the old town when it started to rain we could run back to our room for shelter.



Gondola above Old Town

The next days were spent walking the town walls and going up the gondola.  Dubrovnik has almost all be rebuilt since the Serb/Croatia war  that started in 1991.  The Serbs destroyed the city even though in was designated a UNESCO Heritage Site.  There has been a lot of money put into rebuilding this area and it is a huge tourist site with over 9,000 visitors a day during the tourist season in the summer.

In a year the old town gets about 900,000 visitors.  This happens because there are often two or three cruise ships visiting during the summer.

Once the cruise passengers leave the town is magical at night with oil lamps burning and the soft lighting on the buildings.  What a magical experience and one I am glad we did not miss.



Old Town Dubrovnik at Night from the top of the Gondola

What a wonderful trip through Croatia with Insight Tours.  We were well taken care of and stayed in top hotels through out the 15 days.  We met wounderful people and had great experience that will always be remembered.



Good bye Croatia



Kotor in Montenegro

Montenegro is a small country just south of Croatia.  We took a day trip into the country to see the fiord and the town of Kotor.    At the narrowest part of the fiord they would put a chain across the water that would prevent travel up the fiord and help to protect the town of Kotor.  The grey on the map in the country of Montenegro with Croatia on the left and Albania on the right.  Bosnia boarders Montenegro on the north.  Montenegro was part of Yugoslavia.

The drive around the fiord takes about 45 minutes to get to Kotor depending on the amount of traffic.  If you do not want to drive around you can take a vehicle ferry across to save you the time.  On the bus tour we drove to Kotor and then took the ferry back.

The old town of Kotor is an interesting area with a protected harbour area.  The walled city is well kept and easy to find your way around.  Their are several entrances into the old town.  The clock is an excellent landmark to find your way around the town.

We had a great tour here and spent time walking around the marina before returning to the coach for our drive back to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Korcula Island

We took the ferry back to the mainland and drove down to the peninsula of Peljesac.

This area is known for their wine production.  The best wine in Croatia comes from the valley between two mountain ranges on this peninsula.  From the port we took a ferry to the island of Korcula pronounced Kor CHOO la. 

 



Korcula claims that Marco Polo comes from this town.  They can not prove that he did live on Korcula but they are establishing a museum to honor his discoveries.  The old town has many narrow streets and is set up to catch the winds to allow for ventilation.  The main street runs through the centre of town with side streets branching off in both directions like the bones of a fish.  Like most of the old towns there are lots of stairs and cobblestones made from the limestone.

Island of Brac

The island of Brac was accessible by car ferry.  Brac is famous for the stone masons school.  Here students learn to work with the limestone from the area to create beautiful sculptures, windows and other items.  Students from this school can get jobs throughout Europe as their skills are exceptional.

Working the Stone

You can see the fossils in the limestone


We had two nights on Brac at the Hotel Bluesun, Elaphusa.  This area was great to walk along the promenade into town and go for a swim off the pebble beach.  Bill managed to get into the water but the pebbles and slope of the spit was very challenging.  It was great relaxing around the pool for a day.

The beach is made up of small pebbles.

Postojna Caves in Solvenia

On our way to Opatija we took a small detour into Solvenia to see the Postojna Caves.  We have seen these caves before.  You take a small train 2km into the cave system and then walk around the largest cavern.  I enjoyed this experience and was able to capture a few pictures this time.

Split

As we drive down the Dalmatian Coast it is remarkable how many islands are in the Adriatic Sea.  The water here is so clear and there does not appear to be polluted.  I can hardly wait to swim in the  salt water.  The bus trip was long but the views were beautiful.

Our stop in Split allowed us to see the Diocletian Palace which was built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian where season four of the Game of Thrones was being filmed.  This palace was built above the water so the structure in the basement area is identical to what was on the second floor.  During the middle ages people took over the palace and concerted the palace into private apartments so the second floor is no longer like it was during the Roman period. The streets are narrow with smooth limestone blocks.  Easy to walk on when dry but slippery when wet.

At Split we stayed in the Hotel President.  Then off the next day to start island hopping.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

On our way to the lakes we came across the area where the Serb/Croatian fighting took place during the 1990's.  When Croatia claimed independence this created a chain of events where both groups became persecuted.  You could still see houses that had been attacked and destroyed during this time.  Serb's are starting to return to this area to reclaim their land but the process is very slow.  We stopped at an outdoor museum for a look at the types of vehicles that were used during the war.

The lakes area a wonderful natural area that have developed over time because of the calcium deposits.  This summer has be very wet so amount of water all over Croatia is very high.  The hotel we stayed in was built during the communism time period so was very basic but the location in the national park was perfect.

The steps are created by the build up of calcium carbonate on the moss like vegetation.