ExplorerExcursion

Our 50th Anniversary celebration continues with our Explorer Excursion.

We are starting in Bruges, Cruise on the Regent Explorer and a week in Tuscany.

Post #1 – Explorer Excursion - Mykonos, Greece – 10/11/16

September 30 – October 4, 2016 - Brugge (Dutch spelling) / Bruges (French Spelling – they were under the control of Napoleon for many years). We started our vacation with a four day trip to Brugge. We have been there twice, each visit for a day while on a cruise. We fell in love with it and I have always said I would love to spend a few days there; living the culture of the land, walking through the squares, admiring the beautiful buildings, eating Belgium Chocolates and just enjoying Brugge. For my 70^th Birthday (back in March) Mike surprised me with a terrific gift… reservations for a trip to Brugge at the Hotel Van Cleef; a boutique hotel with only 12 rooms including a magnificent patio situated on one of the canals. We decided to add our Brugge stay to the beginning of this vacation… so here goes post #1 now that you know the why and how we got here.

Brugge is a magnificent city filled with Gothic buildings dating back to the 13^th & 14^th Centuries. The buildings are dramatic and beautiful with spires everywhere. Brugge was never bombed during WW II. The story goes (not sure of the validity, but it sounds good) that a German General loved the town and wanted to return after they won the war. So thankfully they lost the war but Brugge was saved. There are lovely cafes in the beautiful squares and chocolate shops everywhere. You can wander around, stop for some moules-frites a/k/a mussels and fries. Fries must be the second national dish of Belgium (chocolate is #1) as everyone walks around with paper cones of “French” fries; they come with every meal and are delicious! The food was wonderful, especially the chocolates.

We went to The Church of Our Lady for Mass and to see Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. It is one of the few Michelangelo statues outside of Italy. During WW II it was confiscated by the Germans and thought lost till it was recovered by a team who searched for the lost artworks taken during the war and returned to the church. If you saw the movie “The Monuments Men”, you watched them finding the lost treasures, one of them being this magnificent statue.

Brugge is considered the Venice of Belgium with a canal system running throughout the city. There are lovely bridges with beautiful buildings on each side of the canal. Of course, Belgium is known for its beer. As many of you know I am not a beer drinker, but as they say… when in Belgium do as the Belgian’s do (or something like that). So we went to a restaurant that had a selection of 400 beers to choose from, even I found a beer… raspberry flavored. I am sure all the guys are now laughing and scoffing at my choice – but I did have a beer and enjoyed it. Mike had a very strong, dark beer with a jester on the bottle and glass, named ZOT (jokester or fool), very appropriate if you drink too many of them.

Brugge is lovely by day but breathtaking by night; we had an awesome trip and then went on to our cruise. Hope you enjoy the pictures, commentary and liked traveling with us… more to come.

Brugge... the Venice of Belgium

Enjoying the Amazing Scenery of Brugge

Michelangelo's Madonna and Child

Amazing Architecture of Brugge

More Architecture of Brugge

Hotel VanCleef - Patio Overlooking the Canal

Enjoying a Beer in Brugge, Belgium

Of course you must have a Windmill in Belgium

Brugge at Night

Post #2 – Explorer Excursion – Crete, Greece – 10/14/16

October 4 – October 6, 2016 – Monaco – We left Brugge and flew to Nice with a transfer to Monaco to board our ship, Regent’s Explorer. It had its maiden voyage in July, our trip is part of the inaugural season, and is being touted as the most Luxurious Ship ever built. It is really amazing with a little over 700 passengers and a crew of almost 500. There are original Picassos on board along with beautiful surroundings and amazing food! They are wonderful at pampering you and we are enjoying every minute of it. This trip is in celebration of our 50^th Anniversary and they have added so many lovely touches to celebrate. Sailing out at night from Monaco is breathtaking with the crescent moon hanging over the buildings.

Our first port of call was Cinque Terra (Five Lands) all set along the sea. Our tour took us beside the coast line viewing all five towns from an excursion boat, stopping in one of the towns… Vernazza. A beautiful little town with winding streets, a small church, local cafes and shops (got a lovely lace blouse there). Additional towns were viewed along the way back to the ship with beautiful panoramic views.

From the next port we took a tour of two Tuscan towns – Siena and San Gimignano. Siena is famous for its Palio Horse Races that take place twice during the summer months. The square is transformed from a pedestrian promenade with shops and cafes into a race track with viewing stands erected where the cafes usually stand. Participation in the Palio Races is only for the different neighborhoods of Siena and is extremely competitive with jockeys riding bareback. It is an honor to win for your neighborhood and worth a lot of money for the winning jockey. An interesting fact… the jockey does not have to be on the horse to win the race, as long as the jockey actually fell off the horse (didn’t fake it).

There is a legend of a she-wolf suckling twin human infants, inspired by the fable of the founding of Rome. When Numitor, grandfather of the twins Romulus and Remus, was overthrown by his brother, the usurper ordered the twins to be cast into the Tiber River. They were rescued by a she-wolf who cared for them and there is a statue of it in a square. The Cathedral is breathtaking outside but unfortunately we didn’t have time to go inside, as we were off to San Gimignano next.

It seems like all the towns we visited in Italy are situated either next to a mountain or on top of one… San Gimignano is on top. The ride up was breathtaking with beautiful vistas wherever you looked. The buildings were historic and ancient but the one that attracted Mike the most was housing a Gelato store that won several first place competitions worldwide for the best Gelato. Of course, we had to have some and it was exceptional with almost as many flavors as Baskins Robins. So much for the cultural experience… food always wins!

Monaco as we Sail Away

Moon Shining over the Castle in Monaco

Cake & Champagne in Our Cabin

Rose Petals Surrounding our Loving Swans

A lovely Anniversary Cake at dinner

Grand Staircase - Regent Explorer

Cinque Terra - Riomaggiore

Cinque Terra - Manarola

Cinque Terra - Corniglia

Cinque Terra - Vernazza

Cinque Terra - Monterosso

Church Above One of the Towns

Along the Route from Cinque Terra

Siena - Square where the Palio Horse Races Take Place

Cathedral in Siena

Siena - Statue of the She-Wolf who Suckled Romulus and Remus

Beautiful Scenery From Atop the Town of San Gimignano

Mike's Favorite Attraction in San Gimignano
World's Best Gelato!

Post #3 – Explorer Excursion – Venice, Italy – 10/22/16

Where to start… it seems like forever since I wrote the last post. We have been to so many amazing, historic places and seen so many terrific sights. When I compose the blog I first look at my pictures, decide which ones to use and what to write about… port by port, definitely a difficult but exciting task.

Our next port was Civitavecchia, Italy… the port for Rome which is an hour and a half away. We took a tour with a bit of sightseeing in Rome but mostly the Vatican. I cannot imagine how busy it must be here during the summer months… because it is packed even in October. One of the most exciting things we did was go to Trevi Fountain. When we were here two years ago it was covered in scaffolding without any water to throw your coin in, I was so disappointed. Well, it has been restored in all its splendor and I got to throw my coin… so hopefully back to Rome again sometime. The Vatican is so impressive with its unbelievable art collection but no matter what you see nothing can compare to Michelangelo’s Pieta. The Madonna’s face is so beautiful and real… it looks like her skin would be warm if you were close enough to touch her, truly amazing. St. Peter’s Basilica is so huge, of course the Sistine Chapel is amazing to see (no pictures allowed) and the Swiss Guards in the courtyard are always on duty. It was a long and tiring 10 hour day, wonderful to be back to the ship at the end of a day in Rome.

Next stop was supposed to be Sorrento, but the water was very choppy in the bay of Sorrento and being a tender port the captain decided to dock in Naples instead. We were still able to take our tour to Pompeii with a shorter drive time. We were to Pompeii over 30 years ago and were so disappointed with the lack of progress at the site. We actually think there was less to see this time. Very little, if any, additional restoration was visible to us. It still is an unbelievable site to see, so we took our tour and learned whatever we could. The “Fast Food” counter sits in an area on the main street where someone could stop for something to eat. The frescos that remain still have colors after almost two thousand years. The Erotic art in the Bordello, a sort of a menu of services available… “Oh, I think that looks good” and the rest is history! The part of Pompeii that really struck me the first time I was there and still tugs at my heart is the plaster cast of a man who died holding his hands over his mouth and nose to keep out the noxious fumes from the volcano eruption. He died in that position and the ash covered him creating a cavity as his body decomposed. When they excavated, plaster was poured in the cavity and this cast is on display… chilling.

After leaving Naples we had our first stop in Greece… the island of Nafplion. We chose a tour that took us to two different ancient ruins. The first was Mycenae Ruins dating back to 1580 BC. The Mycenae people placed their acropolis on the highest hill (good climb up – but then again most of the sites were on top of hills). There is a gate that still stands with carved lions above it indicating the might of the people. The heads are missing but the carved bodies are so impressive considering it was built sometime between 1350 – 1200 BC. Many artifacts were recovered from the Grave Circle. The tombs included gold funeral masks which are not at this site but at the Museum in Athens.

Next stop was the Palamidi Fortress on top of a mountain with amazing views. It was built in the early 1700’s by the Venetians who seem to have been all over this region at that time. There were the typical fortress areas, storerooms, moats and assorted other areas including a chapel. Looking down from the fortress you can view the sea and there is a small island just off shore. That was the executioner’s residence, apparently he was shunned and lived apart from the community. Nice Island retreat if you like being the executioner, guess it was one of the perks of the profession.

Mykonos, Greece was as disappointing as Santorini (visited on last cruise) for the same reason. It is so beautiful looking at it from the sea… white houses with blue shutters, old windmills, and classic Greek Churches but when you walk through the town it is just filled with tourist shops and restaurants. I was looking for an idyllic little town, but it didn’t exist.

Athens… I am sure you have heard about the demonstrations there and we weren’t disappointed. Before we got to our first stop in Athens we witnessed a demonstration… very peaceful with lots of flags and speakers talking about the inequalities of the government (sound familiar?). We took a basic panoramic tour from the cruise ship viewing the first Olympic stadium, Hadrian’s Arch, the Acropolis and other sights. We were than off on our own to climb to the top of The Acropolis and the Parthenon (another good climb working off those cruise ship calories – I can only hope). Of course it is amazing to see but it is covered in scaffolding with cranes over it and a small group of people working on the restoration. The old Temple of the Acropolis has statuary that is very well preserved and Herod Atticus Odeon (theater) is still used today for concerts. We were happy we went off on our own to discover this historic site. We then took The Hop On/Hop Off bus and toured the city with one of the stops being a Roman Agora with ruins from approximately 117 – 138 AD, lots of columns, stone work but I found the storage jars to be very interesting and amazing that they still exist. We really enjoyed Athens and were so glad we decided to see the town on our own.

Next stop the Greek Island of Delos, it was considered a sacred place for the Greeks as two important deities, Apollo and Artemis were born there. It was in constant use from 2,500 BC because it was considered a free port and commerce from all over the world was attracted to the island. There were luxurious homes built there with Mosaic and frescos some of which are still visible. Delos was attacked and looted, eventually abandoned by 69 BC, excavations were started in 1872 and are still underway. We had a great guide who made the area come alive with interesting stories and commentary… another fabulous tour!!!

That is the end of Post #3… so much history with amazing sites.

Trevi Fountain

Michelangelo's Pieta - Face only

St. Peters Basilica

Swiss Guard for the Vatican

McDonalds of Pompeii - Fast Food Counter

Frescos on the Walls of Pompeii

Erotic Art in Bordello in Pompeii

Molded Cast of Person Who Died in Pompeii

Gate to Mycenae with Loins Carved on Top (heads missing)

Looking Down at Ruins of the Royal Tombs of Mycenae

View from Palamidi Fortress

The Executioner's Island Residence

Classic picture of Mykonos's Church

Windmills of Mykonos

Shoreline of Mykonos with the Beautiful White Buildings

Icon in a Small Church with the Square Reflected in the Glass

Parthenon - Under Reconstruction

Old Temple at the Acropolis

Demonstration in Athens

Herod Atticus Odeon

Storage Jars at the Roman Agora in Athens

Lions Protecting the Town of Delos

The Club of Hercules to Ensure Strength and

Protection from Enemies

Mosaic on the Floor of a Mansion at Delos

Post #4 – Explorer Excursion –Scandicci, Italy – 10/27/16

Ruins, Ruins, and more Ruins… amazing Islands we never heard of with places we didn’t know existed. On the deserted Island of Aghios Nikolaos, Greece we viewed the ruins of the Palace of Knossos. The palace of Knossos was undoubtedly the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture. It was built around 1900 BC. All of the artifacts from this site have been removed to an archaeological museum but reproductions replaced them so you can see the Palace as it was excavated, only one area houses the original wall paintings. Interesting to see, but there is much controversy over the excavator’s, Sir Arthur Evans, methods of restoration… much of the missing areas were replaced with concrete, thus compromising the ruins. An interesting original area… the theater, it had a small flat stone in the seating area with carved holes in it. It was a board game (stone game) used while waiting for the performances or else by bored guests dragged to watch the show by their spouse.

O.K., I told Mike I need to see a real Palace with full walls, furniture and paintings in frames, etc. So, to our surprise the next place was Achillion Palace – Corfu Greece. The Palace was built in the late 1800’s for an Austrian Empress who loved Greek Mythology and named the Palace after Achilles. It was interesting to see with beautiful gardens but much of it needed restoration.

We had a terrific reunion in Corfu, Greece with our friends from Australia… Margaret & Richard. They were on another cruise and their ship was on the same dock as ours (amazing coincidence). We had pre-arranged our meeting and they joined us for Lunch on our ship and we went to Tea with them on their ship. It isn’t often you get to see your Aussie friends meeting up half way around the world, so it was such a special day of reminiscing, laughs and hugs.

Montenegro… home to the Rich and Famous (not us). Budva, Montenegro is the beach town where the celebrities go on vacation during the summer to see and be seen. It is a lovely town to walk through with a beautiful coast line, sandy beach (voted #1 in Europe) and fantastic rock formations. Very enjoyable visit and a place to think about vacationing… off season when the rates are a lot less. The price for some of the upscale hotels is over 1,000 Euros per night in season… but down to 100 Euros per night off season.

Montenegro is reached through the Bay of Kotor, a ria which is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Traveling along the bay from Kotor to the sea is about an hour of the most amazing scenery we have ever seen. A picture is worth a thousand words so I included 4 pictures rather than try to describe the beauty… and to be honest my pictures don’t even do it justice. It was a magical journey with a Mango Daiquiri in my hand on the top deck to get a panoramic view… we are blessed.

Krka National Park - Zadar, Croatia… it is really beautiful with water cascading down beautiful falls. It probably is totally amazing in dry weather, BUT we had pouring rain for the 3 hours we hiked to the top of the water falls and toured the park… soaked to the skin as they say. Back to the ship, hot shower, hot chocolate and a pastry for our hard work!

Our second stop in Croatia took us to two towns, Trogir and Split. As usual there was a great Cathedral, the one in Trogir has fabulous (I am running out of adjectives to describe this amazing trip) stone carvings. The piece of sculpture that was the most interesting to us was on the ceiling of Saint Lawrence Cathedral. There is a sculpture of God protruding from the ceiling and sending his blessings. Glad to have the blessing. We proceeded to a road side restaurant and tavern where we sat next to their lake, had classic bread with prosciutto and cheese, and of course glasses of wine. There were two local musicians serenading us… a pleasant interlude before we were on to Split. We had another terrific guide who walked us through the walled ancient city and castle with beautiful architecture. Wish my mind could remember all the kings, princes, bishops and assorted other dignitaries who built all these castles, fought to protect it, lost it to its enemies and then on to the next “dynasty”. Sailed away looking at a lovely sunset with drink in hand... what a day!

Next stop, Koper Slovenia… home to the famous Lipizzaner Horses. The Lipizzan breed dates back to the 16th century, when it was developed with the support of the Habsburg nobility. We learned about their breeding program to keep the line of horses pure but not compromising the breed. There was no performance that day but we got to sit in the arena and watch them training these amazing horses. They are beautiful animals and so very talented… lovely to see.

That’s it for Blog #4… Italy next time.

Palace of Knossos - Aghios Nikolaos, Greece

Palace of Knossos - Original Wall Paintings

Aghios Nikolaos, Greece

Game Board Carved in the Stone in the Theater

Palace of Knossos - Aghios Nikolaos, Greece

Sunrise over Corfu, Greece

Achillion Palace - Corfu, Greece

Achillion Palace - Grand Entrance Hall - Corfu, Greece

Beautiful Cheval Mirror

- Oh, Who Is That Lovely Couple Reflected In the Mirror?

Achillion Palace - Corfu, Greece

Our Australian Friends - Margaret & Richard

Meeting in Corfu, Greece

Budva, Montenegro - Vacation Spot to the "Rich & Famous"

Budva, Montenegro - Lovely Street Scene

Beautiful Rock Formation at the Coast of Budva, Montenegro

Budva Beach Voted #1 Beach in Europe

Kotor, Montenegro - Interesting Sign… Bet You Read it Also!

Scenery - Bay of Kotor, Montenegro #1

Scenery - Bay of Kotor, Montenegro #2

Scenery - Bay of Kotor, Montenegro #3

Scenery - Bay of Kotor, Montenegro #4

Final Lighthouse Leaving Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

Krka National Park - Zadar, Croatia

Whirlpool -Krka National Park - Zadar, Croatia

Falls With Grist Mill - Krka National Park - Zadar, Croatia

God Appearing s from the Ceiling in St. Lawrence Cathedral

for a Blessing - Trogir, Croatia

Serenading us in Croatia

Fantastic Architecture… So Let's Hang Out Our Laundry

Split, Croatia

Red & White Sails in the Sunset - Split, Croatia

Training Lipizzaner Horses - Koper, Slovenia

End of 4th post

Post #5 – Explorer Excursion –Jackson, NJ– 11/3/16

Our last port on the ship was Venice, Italy. Oh, what a lovely city. We started out with a walking tour and then went on to spend the afternoon walking through Venice on a beautiful sunny day. We walked over the bridges, stared at the beautiful buildings, looked in store windows, purchased a Venetian mask, marveled at the architecture and just soaked in the essence of Venice. Well, we were really “soaked” in Venice when we decided to have a light lunch in St. Mark’s Square. I know you are saying “Tourist Trap” and yes it was but I was overcome with the romance of the city. We were especially taken as we walked in the square and there was a combo playing music at the café and guess what… they were playing our wedding song, “More”. So thus we paid 11 Euros for a bottle of coke… let’s just say it was the experience that counted. All in all, it was a great day and we had to get back to the ship before 5:00 PM as we were leaving for a Gondola Ride as part of our Regent Tour. We had asked our morning tour guide how to get back to the ship and we got instructions along with this quote from her (make sure you use an Italian accent when reading), “ It’s just-a short-a walk-a to the pier-a””. Well an hour after taking a water shuttle, people mover (monorail) and then “Just-a short-a walk-a to the pier-a - (NOT a short walk!), we were back at the ship in time to leave for the tour. The Gondola ride was magical as Regent contracted an accordion player and opera singer on every other Gondola… we were fortunate to have them on our boat. They sang the classic Italian Favorites as the city came to life under the lights and we left Venice with a very happy smile on our faces.

We disembarked the cruise ship the next morning, picked up the rental car and were on to our next adventure… a Villa in Tuscany. We have never done anything like that so we were not sure what it would be like… well it totally exceeded our expectations. The pictures will say more than my words… it was lovely with the most amazing views from the Loggia (covered back porch). We spent the week hanging out at the villa or taking day trips to surrounding Tuscan towns. We had good lunches out and then wine, cheese, olives and bread for dinner at the Villa or I made pasta for dinner. One night we had Chef Valentino come in and prepare dinner for us… all I can say is “YUM, YUM, and YUMMY. It was a wonderful experience after I got over the voice echoing in my head, my mother saying “help clean up”… NO, that was part of Valentino’s job and he did it well. The owner of the Villa, Francesco, was amazingly helpful telling us about places to go and how to get there, etc., etc., etc. One of the evenings, after a day out sightseeing, we had a fire blazing in the fireplace, glasses of wine in our hands and we had the scariest experience… AN EARTHQUAKE. The 4.2 quake was centered 20 miles south of us, the groaning/roaring noise and the house shaking was so frightening. We went outside away from the building and stayed out for about an hour… nothing else occurred so we acted like the Italians and preceded back into the house to drink our wine. Thankfully nothing happened and there were no repercussions from this quake… only a few extra heart beats for us. I guess we can say it was part of the Tuscany experience.

One of our day trips took us to Lucca, an older town where the original city wall (curved around a circular plaza) became the residences of the townspeople when they built their homes and shops on the inside portion of the wall and thus the town was formed. It has beautiful churches on the outside but some of them are closed and crumbling as nobody uses them any longer.

About 10 minutes from the villa there was train service to Florence, just a twenty minute ride on the train. In Florence we visited the Duomo, Baptistery and museum of Santa Maria Del Fiore. Incredibly beautiful architecture with white, green and pink marble shining in the sunlight. Many of the sculptures on the buildings have been removed, replaced by copies and the originals are in the museum to protect them from the elements. Definitely worth the trip to the museum. One of the interesting points was a circular white spot on the square. The spot is the location where the top of the church landed in the square when it was hit by lightning… a long way down! We took a tour and then walked the city on our own viewing the shops, buildings, Ponte Vecchio Bridge and wonderful Plazas. We spent part of the afternoon at the Uffizi Gallery (former home of the Medici Family) and walked through the galleries with unbelievable art… Di Vinci’s, Michelangelo’s and so many other artists but I was totally taken by the faces painted by Botticelli. They have a huge collection of his paintings… the colors are so brilliant and the faces lifelike. It was an exhausting but exhilarating day.

The next town from the villa was Montalupo, known for its ceramics… a lovely museum with beautiful pieces of ceramics dating back to the 8^th century. There are lots of ceramic stores and of course there was a very large Giraffe vase that was definitely too large to take home, so I settled for a lovely small blue floral plate.

Mike is our research person using the internet, he scopes out places to visit before we go on our vacation. He found this terrific off-the-beaten-track Sculpture Garden outside of Siena - Parco Sculpture Del Chianti. It has the same type of layout as the Grounds for Sculpture in NJ, only in a more rural setting. It has a walk through garden path, sculptures along the way with audio on an IPod. A lovely way to spend the morning on the way to Siena. We decided to go back to Siena as we only had a half day there while on the cruise and we felt there was a lot more to see… and there was! St. Dominick’s Church has the relic of Saint Catherine of Siena and it is unbelievable to see… her face is preserved so you can see her features – almost scary. The Duomo of Siena is so impressive, I would rate it even better than Florence’s Duomo with a strong Moorish influence, amazing paintings and beautiful mosaic scenes on the floors made from huge marble pieces of different colors (not the tiny mosaic stones you are used to seeing). Siena is built on a mountain side… so lots of trekking uphill and then downhill to get back to the car.

On our last day of sightseeing we went to the town of Vinci – Home of Leonardo da Vinci. A small town with an impressive museum of his inventions and the home he was born in. He really was a genius who developed machinery in so many areas, one of which I never knew… fabric weaving. Da Vinci had plans for a bronze horse he designed and never had the sculpture made. An American aviator, Charles Dent was determined to have it made, so he raised the funds to have it cast and it now sits in the center of the square in Vinci. There was beautiful Tuscan scenery along the way with groups of people picking olives. It was back to the Villa for our last drink on the Loggia, dinner in Montalupo and to bed as we got up at 2:00 AM for a three hour drive to Rome for our return home trip.

We had a smooth trip home, got home at about 4:00 PM (NJ time), took a nap for two hours, showered and were off to a Halloween Costume Party. I had everything prepared before we left but now there was the addition of a mask from Venice to complete my devilish costume, of course the angel was just perfect as is. It was lots of fun and kept us awake so we sort-of reset our sleeping pattern.

We had an amazing vacation and loved the entire journey… we were blessed to be healthy the entire trip. We are glad you traveled with us via the Blog and hope you enjoyed the pictures and commentary. Until the next trip….

Classic Venice, Italy

An 11 Euro Bottle of Coke in St. Marks Square

Venice, Italy

Venetian Mask of St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

Beautiful Building on The Grand Canal - Venice, Italy

Sunset - Venice, Italy