THE BLOG

We hadn’t been with NCL before so took a break with them at the end of March for Sue’s birthday, departing and returning to Barcelona. We tagged on an extra night in Barcelona as we hadn’t been there before and we took the opportunity to use the hop-on hop-off bus to get around. To be fair, we used the bus in a few places to make the most of our time – they’re excellent value and a great way of doing justice to what is really a very short time on shore in any one place. The p

With our adventures in Rome behind us, we were transferred to Civitavecchia where we were due to board the Azamara Journey. It was our first time on this ship – but we had been on the Azamara Quest twice before. It is surprising to find everything exactly in the same place as on the Quest. The Captain is excellent as is his twin brother (for those who have travelled on Azamara Journey before you’ll appreciate the shot I took of them having lunch). Upon arrival at Civitavecchi

Everything that I’d read or seen or been told about Venice was true. It’s a simply stunning place. The arrival into Venice was punctuated by a lovely warm sidelight although I missed the very first rays. We walked for hours through the narrow streets, lovely little shops, architecture, cafes and did I mention the canals…. St Mark’s square came second in terms of people per square metre to the Rialto Bridge but made up for it in terms of grandeur. A short gondola ride through

Arriving in Kotor was wonderful. We were treated to a slow, foggy progression for around 28 miles to the harbour and saw some lovely buildings, great scenery and also reminders of the conflicts this area has seen. Kotor itself is a UNESCO site and beautifully preserved. We didn’t have the energy to walk up to the very top of the walls but nevertheless, we walked our little legs off. In contrast to the well preserved heritage site, the new part of Kotor seemed quite run down i

Moving on from Athens, the next batch I took were from Mykonos and Santorini. We’d been to Santorini before and stayed in Oia but this time, we docked outside of Fira and were tendered in, then took the cable car to the mountain top and had a few hours walk around. We hadn’t been to Mykonos before but it was just stunning, worth a trip back I’d say. In fact, we were considering a home purchase whilst there but as you can see, there was a bit too much work to be done…. #Church