Maria - Passports Overloaded

Venice, Italy 2018

August 12, 2018

Today John and I took a private water taxi to Piazza San Marco and walked around and of course did a little bit of shopping. I love French and Italian brands the most ♥️ We stopped at this nice Trattoria and had some lunch and then walked around some more and decided to have a glass of wine at Hotel Monaco which is on the water with a great view.

August 13, 2018

Today John and I took a water taxi to San Marco Square again and just walked around and got a bite to eat and took the water taxi back to the ship.

August 14, 2018

Today we took the water taxi and walked around for a few hours and got lunch in a nice restaurant and then went back to the ship.

If you would like to see what we ate while we were in Venice, Italy.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

August 11, 2018

This is a side note about our Tour Guide Mato he was one of the best guides we ever had. He showed us all the best Croatia had to offer. His business card is the first picture below. Tell him you want The John & Maria from NY experience. I guarantee you will have a great time!

Today we got a taxi to take us around. The first place he drove us to was a beautiful town called Cavtat we walked around the nature preserve along the water. We also went into the St. Nicholas Church. I highly recommend a visit there and in the future, we will definitely go back and spend a few nights there.

We drove to another area called Konavle and visited this museum called Konavle County Museum in a town called Cilipi which was very nice it has the traditional folklore clothing that the Croatians wore many years ago. We also visited the Zavičajni Muzej Konavala church. We were told that years ago this town was destroyed by the Bosnians in the early 1990’s the only thing they left intact was the church. The only damage to the Church was done inside where they ravaged the Holy Family.

The next stop was another nice town called Molunat which is also another place that is a must to visit. The only problem with that town is that there are no hotels but you can take a taxi and spend the day there at one of the beautiful beaches. We then drove to one end of Croatia where we could see the border of Montenegro where we were yesterday.

We also stopped in this amazing little town with a cool river called Ljuta it’s another must visit!! They have watermills to make cornmeal and they still use them to this day.

The last stop before heading back to the ship was the Fort Imperial Museum. This museum was pretty amazing it has pictures displayed of the towns before and after the war.

August 18, 2018 – Second time

Today we had Mato again our taxi driver from the last time we were in Dubrovnik 8/11/18. He picked us up and took us to our first stop which was a Medieval town called Slano built as far back as the 14th Century. While there we saw the Wall of Ston which is the second largest stone wall in Europe (5.5km) and in that same area was where the salt production is.

We also visited the Prince’s Palace also known as Knezeva Palace or Rector’s Palace in Slano. Afterward, we drove to Bastrena to Mark’s friend’s house which is right on the water and they’re Oyster Farmers. They took us to their Oyster line to get some oysters and then to their fishing basket to pick out our fish and they made us an amazing lunch.

The last stop was in the Old City of Dubrovnik where we walked around for about an hour it’s really cool to walk around the medieval town where the Game of Thrones was filmed. Afterward, we drove back to the ship.

Pictures from our second visit to Dubrovnik

Kotor, Montenegro

August 10, 2018

Today a friend of ours from the ship arranged for someone to pick us up and drive us around. The first stop on the tour was Njegusi where they are famous for making smoked prosciutto ham and cheese. There’s a picture of the smokehouse down below. We were lucky enough to try some and it was delicious. The next stop was a monastery in Centinje which was really nice afterward we drove to Lake Skadar (Skadarsko) and we took a half hour boat tour which was really cool with pretty scenery.

August 19, 2018 – Second time

Today John and I decided to get up early and hike up the mountain to the St. John Fortress. Luckily it was shady pretty much all the way up because it was really hot. Afterward, we just went back on the ship to relax.

If you would like to see what we ate while in Kotor, Montenegro.

August 19, 2018 – Pictures from the second time in Kotor, Montenegro

Corfu, Greece

August 9, 2018

Today John and I rented a car and drove to Achilleion Palace which was built during the years 1889-1891 by the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary Elisabeth. after visiting the Palace we drove back to the port to pick up our friend Evan. We then drove to Paleokastritsa and had lunch and a few drinks and then drove back to the ship.

Capri, Italy

August 7, 2018

Today we took the tender boat to the port and then boarded a ferry boat to Capri. We walked around a bit and had some lunch at this place called Isidoro Restaurant where we ordered the Caprese salad and it was the best Mozzarella we ever had. After lunch, we did some shopping and took the ferry boat back to the ship. Capri is a place that we would like to go back and spend some more time there.

If you would like to see what we ate while we were in Capri, Italy.

Rome, Italy 2018

August 6, 2018

Today we took the shuttle bus to Rome from the port which is about 90 minutes away. We met up with our relatives for lunch with an amazing view of the Pantheon. After lunch we walked around a bit we visited the Trevi Fountain and a few other fountains. Afterward, we took the shuttle bus back to the ship.

August 23, 2018 – Second time

Today we disembarked from the ship and checked into The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. After we settled in we decided to take a walk around Rome and took a taxi to John’s Aunt Giovanina’s house to have lunch with her and her daughter Gloria and granddaughters Laura and Alessandra. We then we to the hotel to relax before we were going back to her house for dinner. We left their house shortly after dinner we had a big day the next day we were flying home which will take about 14 hours.

If you would like to see what we ate while in Rome, Italy.

Gloria, Giovanina, Laura, John, Maria & Alessandra

The Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri Hotel

Florence-Pisa, Italy

August 5, 2018

Today we got a taxi to drive us to Florence also known as Firenze. While there we walked around for about an hour and got it was so hot we decided to grab some gelato at our favorite place called Grom. It’s right around the corner from Piazza Del Duomo and then we drove to Pisa and walked around there for about an hour we went into the La Domenica Cathedral and took some pictures and then headed back to the ship.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

August 4, 2018

Today we took a taxi to Eze Village in France which we absolutely loved. We visited the Chapelle St. John. We lit a candle for my mother in law because she wasn’t feeling well which was special to me since I’ve never lit a candle in a Catholic Church. I was happy to light a candle for her. We also visited The Exotic Garden of Eze. It was really cool they have 100’s of different cactus plants and a little waterfall which was cute.

We will definitely be visiting Eze again in the future and will probably spend about 3 days there. Afterward, we took a taxi back to Monaco to go and check out the famous casino. Inside the casino, there was a maze made out of a deck of cards.

The next stop while there, we grabbed a cab and went up the big rock to the Grand Palace and we were lucky we got there just in time for the changing of the guards. We visited the Saint Nicholas Cathedral of Monaco where Princess Grace Kelly is buried. Afterward, we walked back to the ship.

Cool Venetian Masks on the ship

Cannes, France

August 3, 2018

Today we got a taxi to drive us around the first stop was the old town of Antibes and while we were there we walked around a bit to check it out. The next stop was Nice where we walked through the town and took some pictures. Afterward, our driver took us back to Cannes and sure enough we got ripped off again even after having a final price at the pier he changed the price when he dropped us off by 100 Euros.

Saint Francis of Paola – Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Toulon, France

August 2, 2018

Today we took a taxi and drove to Marseille and visited the Notre Dame De la Garde Cathedral which was beautiful and then we went back to the ship and be careful with the taxi drivers in Toulon because he ripped us off even though they are supposed to have a fixed price.

Mark, Cella, Corey, Belinda, John & Maria

Alphabetic Links of Where We’ve Been