Spetses ... an island in GREECE

Greece

Pireaus is the  port city ajacent to Athens - and also the ferry port for Greek islands near and far.

Hydra

The swift but diesel-smelling ferry to the Saronic Island is a short walk around the port from our berth near the Piraeus Terminal.  This ferry stops for a few minutes each at Hermione, Poros, Hydra, and Spetses.  Very quickly the gangway clatters off, a handful or a dozen passengers file off, the onloading passengers make a hasty embarkation, the gangway is stowed and the ferry surges away again. For sure, no time for lolly-gagging, but happily, the crews did take an extra minute to assist a handicapped woman.

Passengers hasten toward the gangway

under the watchful eye of port security

Four minutes later the ferry departs Hydra. 

Spetses

Villa Marina Guest House where every room has
a small patio or balcony

Swimming off the point along the pedestrian walkway

Ahh... the many blues of the water.

Always, there are rocks to pick select and to carry home. 

In the town of Spetses there are no vehicles .... except
for scooters and 4-wheelers, riden by locals and tourists
alike.  With trepedation we rented a 4 wheeler for the day - and with both hilarity and caution, enjoyed venturing
forth in town and out along the coastal roads.  (My speedometer
never exceeded 12 mph)

In Spetses there are Orthodox Chapels tucked here and there "on every corner"

Who knew:  The cats of Spetses - on the beach, on walls, on the garden walks - all look related to my Likewise at home.  In Virginia she is very distinctive in appearance; apparently all her 'cousins' and look-alikes are there in Spetses.

Always, here and there and everywhere, the cats ...

Athens

The Erecthium on the Acropolis 

The obligatory visit to the Acropolis - a delightful experience shared with 10,000 +/- others at the same time. It is always inspiring but the crowds in the mornings were challenging.  Some found that visits in the afternoon were better.  That said, the new Acropolis Museum is fabulous at any time of the day!

CROATIA - a fascinating diversion

Suddenly we were headed to Croatia:  due to social unrest in Turkey, at the direction of University of Virginia, the MV Odyssey was diverted from visiting Turkey and re-directed to Croatia. 

DUBROVNIK

Bright sun rising with crystal-brilliant air as the MV Odyssey entered the port of Dubrovnik.  Apparently they expect clear sunshine 200+ days a year.  Beautiful.

 First day in DUBROVNIK I led a Semester at Sea Field Lab with my Drawing I class. 

For a Drawing class on SAS my goal is to visit together an interesting site where they will do together  the kinds of drawing opportunities they will experience independently in all the rest of the countries on the voyage:  draw landscapes or vistas; draw architecture or architectural details, draw plazas or markets or other public spaces; draw ‘special’ objects, be they sacred or historical.  For 8+ hours we visited the Maritime Museum, the Aquarium, the Franciscan Monestary, the Dubrovnik Synagogue.  After a lovely restaurant lunch we ambled the stone streets and the public plazas of Dubrovnik and, exhausted, walked and drew on the ancient fortress walls surrounding the Old Town.  Whew!

The aquarium is located in the foundations of the Maritime Museum
which is in the ancient fortress. 

Stunning vistas and views in every direction from the City Walls.

a peek in to a barbershop

the Synagogue 

Students drawing in the Franciscan Monestary

Second day in Croatia Louise and I got a rental car and headed north toward Zadar, first on the stunning seaside road of the Dalmatian Coast and then inland to A-1, the high-speed highway with few cars, all going waaaaaaaayyy faster than I dared.  

Along the highway there are tunnels with grassy overpasses - tunnels for bears and wolves to cross over the highway.  Notice the explanatory road signs.

Inside the Zadar Airbnb

Booking Airbnb on line is fairly easy. Actually finding the places in the towns proves to be difficult!  Owners send directions in awkward English assuming that we have either/or/and cell phones and GPS.  Not!

So we circle around searching for the visual clues, the non-existent street names and building numbers.  In Zadar I ‘paused’ the car illegally while Louise stood on the sidewalk at the appointed meeting hour looking searchingly around … and sure enough Fruno appeared to show us to our abode (and to give us tips on restaurants, coffee shops, groceries, etc.)

Those purple towels drying off the bright yellow balcony
 - that's  one side of the Airbnb

Toothache in Zadar:  Unfortunately, during the night Louise developed a mean and painful toothache … or was it an acute sinus infection, who knew???? Next day, after morning coffee we went to the central Tourist Information in the center of Zadar.  The first young woman there hastily suggested that they call an Ambulance! Oh no!  The second young woman asserted “No, no, you need to go to the public walk-in Clinic” which we did – an easy 12 minute walk with kind assistance from a gentle Croatian woman who ascertained that we needed directions.  We rang the waiting room bell and within 2 minutes Louise was taken in, within 12 more minutes she was out again, smiling, with prescription in hand.  Twenty minutes later Louise’s prescription was filled, the whole process having taken less than 1 ½ hours.  One can only reflect and compare this experience with the same in the US, oh my.

(Happily, for now, the “toothache” is abated.)

Louise fills a modern day prescription in an apothecaryfrom centuries ago

So, while Louise was healing with antibiotics, Judy was enjoying 

the UNBELIEVABLE Croatian ice cream.  Wow. 

In Zadar, architect Nikola Basic has created two installation pieces along the pedestrian walkway beside the sea. Tourists and local gather there nightly in appreciation of these artworks:   

~ the Sea Organ is an experimental musical instrument  which produces musical sounds by lapping seawater in pipes located under the series of stairs along the water’s edge.  Haunting, lovely, and mysterious. 

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~ the Sun Salutation installation gathers solar energy daily and lights itself from sun-down to sun-up in random yet rhythmic patterns of light and color….. Magical.

This Croatian hipster is an eager jewelry sales clerk

Stret cleaning in the Old Town of Zadar 

GLASS:  a visit to the Museum of Ancient Glass in Zadar highlights the ancient beauty and functionality of glass-making from early and pre-recorded history. 

TROGIR

Driving our way back toward the south, next we experiences a sunny day in Trogir.

With evidence of Greek inhabitation as early as the 3^rd century BC, followed by the Romans, then 9th – 12^th/13th  century Croatian prosperity, again followed by Venetian and later, the Hapsburg Empire dominance, and finally subsumed in the former Yugoslavia, this little sea-faring city exhibits quite the history! 

A rather complete listing graphically
of what is and is not allowed in the cathedral.

13th century carved cathedral portal

Today the old city’s maze of stone walkways, fortress, churches, and cathedral are the delight of visitors by land and by small cruise ships. The Romanesque-Gothic Church of St. Lawrence Cathedral built in the 13^th century has a carved portal exhibiting the first nudes in sacred architecture of the region of Croatia – Adam and Eve, of course. 

 SPLIT

Split is a big and busy industrial and commercial city – gritty and complicated. Driving into the old center city involved circling, peering, and hoping for signs and guide marks. 

Again!  Finding the Airbnb was tricky! This time we were looking for “a red board by a green awning 

and a blue gate”. Low and behold …

And then there is Diocletian’s Palace. Wow !

Diocletian's Palace:  several city blocks of Roman ruins (built as a retirement palace for Emperor Diocletian in 295-305 AD) mingled in medieval structures (13^th – 15^th centuries) with “modern” buildings nestled in between. 

Frogyland around the corner from Diocletian’s mausoleum.  Multi-karat jewelry stores with pornographic key chains for sale at nearby vendors. Five star dining to street food.  Along the marinas with both yachts and ferrys, this contemporary city of Split is vibrant and interesting.  

Out of the cathedral which was actually the mausoleum for Diocletian
first came lovey vocal harmonies then men with flags and flares .....?

..... and as the smoke cleared we could see the bride and groom.