Saturday, 4/30. Athens. Excursion’s first stop was the Acropolis. Though it was crowded, the guide described it as much less than it could have been. We were the only cruise ship in port. She had experienced the crowds with six ships. The guide was intensely interested in teaching us all about Greece, past through present. This was very bad, as it distracted from actually looking at the site. Many, like us, simply wandered away from her lecture. As it was, we didn’t have as much time as I’d have liked. I’ve since concluded that guides act as though it’s the 20th century, before the internet. She delved into subject matter that we can now easily find. We wanted to see stuff. We can learn about it at home. She took at least 30 minutes of our time away from looking.

However, the Acropolis was one of those places that, despite all the hype, exceeds expectations. I had not realized how large it is. Its position on the hilltop is impressive. Distractions aside, I had an exciting visit. In some ways it was the purpose of the entire cruise. Well worth it.

Our shopping stroll resulted in some purchases. Lunch was fun. The server lost our order and the delay resulted in some light joking. I had essentially Mac and cheese, Greek-style. 

This was a changeover day, when hundreds of passengers leave and an equal number come on board. Per routine, they all had to wear masks on day one. A little odd to see.

Sushi for dinner. Almost exclusively. We canceled our Delphi trip for tomorrow. We weren’t able to handle a nine and a half hour excursion, involving mostly a bus ride. I suppose the Oracle of Delphi prophesied our decision.

In keeping with the subject matter, most photos are adjusted the”noir” style.

Friday, 4/29. This stop is all about the original site of the Olympic Games. There were a few passengers who went elsewhere, doubtlessly because they’d been here before.

It’s ruins. There’s no better way to say it. The site was destroyed by command of religious zealots, then by an earthquake. The French discovered the site in the 19th century, but after they appropriated items they found (I.e., stole), Greece kicked them out. Germany, more ethical (or more closely watched), was called in to continue. But all the effors to reconstruct the site hasn’t really yielded a clear image of what it had been. Our tour guide, an archeologist, explained that much of what stands is “fake”. Fortunately for the reconstruction effort there is extensive written testimony of the Games. It’s a fascinating trip back in history, but there really isn’t much to photograph. It tickles the imagination more than the eye.

We returned to the ship and encountered a surprise. The approach to the gangway was lined with hundreds of crew members cheering our return, with wine and music. Our bus was apparently the first one back, so the effect was momentous.

The afternoon at sea was a little cool, leaving me alone in the infinity pool. Its spa didn’t work.

Dinner was preceded by a trip to the sushi bar. I had lamb as my entree. All delicious.

Tomorrow in Athens people leave and others come aboard. I’m told the total number on board will be unchanged (720).

Thursday, 4/28. My 52nd country. A lot to see from the ship. Two large forts fill the eye. Albania is visible in the distance.

Our excursion was to the opposite side of the island, about 40 minutes away. From there we boarded small boats. The area is famous for small caves that the boats enter. They aren’t deep caves, but it’s still an event. The famous one is the “Blue Cave”, where sunlight reflects up through the water under a section of the cave. That was very cool. The driver threw food in the water and suddenly hundreds of fish appeared. I wouldn’t call this a wonder of the world, but it was a good time.

We then took a tour of downtown Corfu. The guide, who impressed me with her ability to put me to sleep during her talk on the bus, was unimpressive during the walk. Her lack of comfortable English was a problem. So too was her willingness to let one or two passengers dominate her with their life stories. Rude. The high point of the city tour was (I suppose) visiting an Orthodox Church that allowed photography. But since it’s general policy that photos not be taken inside Orthodox Churches, I declined on principle.

A lot of well made wooden products. A guitarist playing for Euros. Poorly maintained buildings next to nicely refurbished ones. Orange cocktails. Gelato! Crowds.

A bit of family connection. On Orthodox Easter (last Sunday), it’s a tradition to fling pottery out the upper story windows. Broken chips are collected and dated as mementos. There were still many small chips scattered around today. My mom’s travel log details that in 1986 they were in Corfu on Easter and saw it happen!

We returned to the ship in a shuttle bus. Jammed. Some people standing. So much for Viking’s pledge to maintain social distancing.

Made full use of the spa pool area. Large hot tub, cold water bucket dump, steam room, snow room. Repeat.

Dinner was sensational. Surf and turf. Baked potato. I went up to the World Cafe to find apple pie (found later on the room service menu), but instead Yoriko discovered the sushi bar. Vastly better than what they had seven years ago. We’ll probably make that a stop before the Restaurant tomorrow. 

I’d felt tired all day, so rather than prowl the ship at night, I turned in early.

Tuesday, 4/26. Very pretty coastline as we sailed in. I can only imagine how pretty it was for my parents to do the same in 1985 on a 42 foot ketch. 

I was in this city just eight weeks ago. Our excursion began with a great boat ride along the coastline, ending in the ancient Dubrovnik harbor. The guide was excellent. Incredibly, her talk was very different than the one I’d heard before. She brought an entirely new angle to the city. Whereas the previous guide spoke at length about the 1992 siege, this time the conversation was about the city’s commercial history.

Afterwards I retraced my steps to the Buza Bar, but unfortunately they only dealt in the local currency. We had lunch at the first place we found after that. Excellent! It was at the top of the famous “Walk of Shame” steps. Everyone was told to take a photo to impress those friends of theirs who were Game of Thrones fanatics.

At one point during our walk, I heard a familiar voice. Confused, I turned and saw the trainee Trip Leader from my visit in March! We said hi, but as he was conducting a tour we couldn’t say more.  

Wine tasted. Bought another t-shirt for the grandson. An incredible number of shops were open that had been closed in March. Stores dedicated entirely to Game of Throne merchandise came out of the woodwork. 

We returned to the ship to rest. Yoriko did laundry. Had another great dinner. Competed in a trivia game. 

Monday, 4/25. Ship pulled into Split on a beautiful day. The dock was minutes away from the old city on foot.

Our excursion began with a rapid hour in the Roman Palace of Emperor Diocletian, the longest occupied Roman construction. It’s been built up over the centuries into a mish-mash of apartments, churches, shops, etc. It’s a fascinating area, but not a very beautiful one. Roman under gothic, under Renaissance, etc. Full of history. Even though we were there early, the place was crowded.

(Split is the site of many Game of Thrones scenes. A ridiculous number of stores dedicated to the show.)

Our next stop was to an olive oil factory, where we got a lecture on the difference kinds of oil. We learned that most “virgin” olive oil is mostly lamp oil-grade, with a touch of actual virgin oil. There is no such thing as cheap 100% virgin olive oil. We had a tasting sample to illustrate the difference. It was an excellent education.  We then spent 45 minutes in their store, filled with not only olive oil but also creams, soaps, jellies, salts, etc. Yoriko purchased a variety.

Returning to the town I found a great wine shop and bought two bottles of local wine, which is not available in the USA. I look forward to drinking it back home.  

Sunday, 4/24. Visited San Marino, my 52nd country. I’d never have made it but for the ship not getting to Venice. All in all, we’d rather have had another day there, but lemons, lemonade.

Tour guide talked about the area’s history, though I wasn’t able to follow it much for all the distractions.  The road was not very smooth and had a high number of circles and stop lights. It was disappointing that we never stopped for photo opportunities on our approach to the mountain-top country’s towers and walls. The view from above was fantastic, but the real visual thrills were of the top, not from it.

Many, many souvenirs shops. Imitation weapons are a big thing. As the morning progressed it became extremely crowded, being Sunday. We were happy to have arrived early.

Rain fell as we returned to the ship. The fifty yard walk from the security tent to the ship was wet. As we came aboard I noticed a bin full of umbrellas. Putting them in the security tent would have been helpful. A little failure on Viking’s part.

Tea time was great. A wide assortment of teas. I also had some sparkling wine. Tiny cakes and sandwiches. Nice and restful. Almost everyone was properly dressed. No bathrobes.

We visited the spa pool again. I think we may have begun a tradition. I was able to use the snow room. Yoriko stepped in and immediately stepped back out. 

For dinner I had an entree as an appetizer (lobster and scallops over noodles). For an entree I had beef wellington. Shared a table with a couple of very interesting retired college professors. 

The ship got underway! We’re doing what cruises are supposed to do.  It was a good day.

Saturday, 4/23. My little printer paid dividends last night when I printed a photo of the bartender. In return for a 50 cent picture, he gave me a free glass of wine.

Sunshine greeted us the morning! It would have been a nice day in Venice, followed by a late bus drive to the ship. Sadly, no. Viking has its program and won’t be distracted. We boarded the boat at 9:30AM. But they exceeded my expectations by providing a water-borne commentary of Venice Harbor. Very interesting. Entertaining pieces of history. Got some great photos of other boats.

After that, the transfer turned painful.  We landed at the airport (which has an incredible boat terminal), had a 25 minute potty stop delay, a 20 minute walk to the buses, then a 2.5 hour drive to the ship. None of it was exciting. But getting onto the ship afterwards was easy.

After our spit in the tube, we had the run of the ship, masks on. Tomorrow masks are optional. 

We went into the spa pool. Surprisingly, Yoriko had not done it on our prior Viking cruise. She loved it! The pail of cold water was refreshing for her. 

Dinner was excellent. I had filet mignon. I questioned the sommelier’s wine recommendation (primotivo) and I was correct. Had an alternative (South African Cab) that worked much better. Chocolate ice cream and port was a nice desert. Now I’m in the night club, typing and drinking (slowly).

Friday, 4/22. Many Photos today.

Typically fantastic breakfast. Better than most. Massive number of pastries. Somehow the bacon was better than usual. 

We were tested on time. The nurse did a brain swab. Pushed it in further than it’s ever been pushed. Painful. But negative! That’s all that matters.

Rain. Rain and wind. After walking to the boat dock, we bailed and returned to the hotel. We signed up for an afternoon glass factory group tour. I slept the sleep of the dead. We considered going to Second Breakfast, since it was open until 11. 

By the time the tour began the rain had stopped, as did most of the wind. The tour was fine, though as expected we spent much more time in the showroom than in the factory.  I could have watched them make glass all day. The way they throw around molten glass was very impressive. Interesting, a Russian gas embargo is projected to have a very large impact on glass making. Already, 120% increases in gas prices. (Gas is used to fire the burners.) All the glass was beautiful and priced that way. We bought a wine stopper. I was stonrgly tempt to buy something very pretty, but unneeded. A fine tour. Fun boat ride too. We were dropped off at San Marcos piers to continue our walk around Venice.

I could truly walk the alleys of Venice and eat nothing, enter nothing, buy nothing and have a great time. Though I was mostly walking somewhere specific (Google Maps is my friend), I tried to keep off the main paths. The canals were as advertised. I learned that to get from one location to another required that one pay attention to where the bridges were.

Quick observations:

• No bikes! Nothing with wheels. Heaven.
• Looking up was frequently rewarded with an interesting view. Statues are a common thing. 
• More smokers than expected. 
• No beggars.
• No stray cats.
• All dogs are well mannered and well groomed.

Yoriko had Sardines, Venetian style, I had spaghetti at Baci & Pasta. We had outstanding pastries at Bar Pasticceria Ballarin. We had excellent pizza at a hole in the wall place.

Visited the Liberia Acqua Alta Book Store. Indescribable. Must be seen to be believed. Climb  a staircase on books, among other things.

Tried some night photography with good results.

Thursday, 4/21. 50ish year-old put his legs on the back of my seatback to rest. Kept shaking my seat. I finally turned back to him, explained what he was doing to me. He didn’t care, but fortunately his wife did. It stopped.

For reasons I’ve communicated to CruiseCritic readers, Viking and Marriott provided just awful services. I’m extremely angry with them both. For example, I’ve had free wifi at a camping site in the Yukon Terrritory. Marriott wants 25 Euro per day unless I join their club. And we’re paying approximately $600 per day!

The Marriott is a 20 minute water taxi to Venice. After checkin, we climbed aboard to get an early start. The touristy part of Venice was similar to Shibuya’s rush hour crosswalks. I navigated us to less crowded areas and we began to enjoy it.  A carnival mask making shop was very nice. Tried to stop at a wine testing place that was sadly too popular. (Yogi Bera’s excellent comment rang through my head the whole time: “No one goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”)

Found a promising small restaurant. Marvelous scallops in potato sauce, bruschetta, and three whole fishes, including a tuna not much larger than a large sardine. Not my thing, but I didn’t expect it to be. Yoriko enjoyed it.

Today was just a taste. We’ve in the city all day tomorrow. However, 100% rain is forecast.

Wednesday, 4/20. Seventeen days. Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey. This cruise was long in coming. Originally booked to be a Russian River Cruise in April, 2020. Then it became this cruise, set for April, 2021. Here it is at last. We’ll be on the Viking Sky. This ship had an exciting 2019 when it lost its generators off the coast of Norway. It was a near thing. We were on her identical sister ship in 2015 for my first post retirement cruise.

We won’t have to wear a mask on this cruise, which is sort of a good news/bad news situation. I fully intend to wear one in certain circumstances, such as in elevators. Yoriko will probably wear one all the time. We need to spit into a test tube every morning.

We booked a two-day pre-cruise extension so we arrive in Venice two days early. This is fortunate, since the Sky isn’t docking in Venice, or even across the bay in Fusina. The harbor is closed temporarily for a “pending Environment Study”, whatever that is.  We have all day Friday to visit Venice. On Saturday we’ll be transported 90 miles (three hours?) south to Ravenna. New excursion options await. I feel bad for those who arrive on embarkation day in Venice, then have to endure the drive. Viking has compensated by offering some on board credit and a discount for a future cruise.

Anyway, we have done our two boosters, VERIFLY, Antigen test, EU locator documentation, and Lufthansa paperwork. We have our boarding passes! The flights are relatively painless; Lufthansa still has a mask policy, which is actually our preference.

Since I was 14 (no joke, I remember the moment), my retirement plans were to travel. The pandemic threw a huge wrench into those dreams. But this will be my third (our second) post pandemic adventure. I’m back on track!