Our stay in Venice passed quickly enough and we were excited to join the rest of the group onboard the Emerald Azzura that was docked in the Giudecca canal, at San Basilio, a port for smaller ships. The folks onboard called the Azzura a luxury yacht, in fact for us it was just a small cruise ship. The passengers numbered 87.

Venice at night from our hotel window

The Azzura

We arrived and got to our cabin which was well organized, not very big, but with a sense of space, and high ceilings. There was a sail away reception and it was special for Canada day, July 1, complete with flags and champagne, and we met up with our friends from the previous Globe cruise, Tara and her son, Ben, the Kirschmanns, and Fran and Dietmar Niemetz. Dinner was excellent with perfectly done Lamb, carpaccio to start and wines of course. We went to bed early and I got up to swim in the extremely pretty pool, but discovered that it was for very very short people. I really couldn’t do lengths, and I am very adept at small pools, but this was was so shallow I bumped my stomach on the bottom. Hmm, but it was pretty with great views.

The pool in the evening

We book the Globe and Mail cruises because we like the morning and evening forums with the publisher and journalists. The paper is in the lounge in a very large brilliant format, so if you can peruse it before the start of the meeting at 7:30am, you get an idea of the discussion topics. There is a second forum in the late afternoon as well. I love sitting up front and absorbing the discussions, occasionally offering my own questions. Reminds me of school. After the morning session, we visit the breakfast buffet and then head off to our chosen excursion, and with us that usually involves food or wine. We were still in Italy and visited the fabulous Castello di Spessa, dating back to the Roman Ages, where once Casanova visited as well as Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. There was a charming location outdoors for cooking demonstrations. The area is in the Friuli wine region and naturally we tasted some wonderful offerings, including a nice prosecco to start. The chef , Giuliano, made a tomato carpaccio with sheep ricotta, olive oil and herbs, and apples in raspberry juice. There was also an unusual zucchini flower filled with carbonara flavoured cream, bacon and crispy onions. Everything was simply delicious.

Castello di Spessa cooking class outdoors

Philip Crawley and Robert Fife in discussion

Back to the ship for a riveting discussion with Robert Fife about Chinese intervention in Canadian elections. If you look him up on the link I have provided you will see that MacLeans Magazine called him one of the 50 most powerful people in Canada. We then went for a swim/wade and I got into a conversation with one of the guests who opined how impressed he was with the Publisher of the Globe, Philip Crawley, as he was 79 and still had amazing faculties, expressing himself brilliantly. Charles was sitting very quietly by the side of the pool and was waiting for my response. I didn’t disappoint him when I said that I too was 79, and my memory, language and other attributes were still pretty good for an old lady. Then I broke into gales of laughter, as did he. Near the end of the trip we hugged.

relaxing by the pool

The next day I had chosen a trip to Pag Island with a visit and tasting at the Grigora cheese factory. The town of Pag is in North Dalmatia and famous for its hard cheese. We also visited a lace making little museum there. We all donned pristine overcoats and hairnets to tour the factory. We did not look beautiful, not even close, but we did not affect the sterile environment either. We ate a very light but tasty lunch of cheese, and some wine. It was good that it was light as we had a chef’s dinner that evening on the ship. The menu was unique to say the least: stingray salad, grain porridge soured milk, nettled cultured butter and herbs, ( this one didn’t read well , but tasted delicious), scorpion fish with young potatoes and heirloom tomatoes, and milk braised lamb, with sea fennel and water parsnip oil. You get the idea. Actually it seemed strange on the printed menu, but was very tasty. Croatian wines accompanied.

Lace place below

the cooks at Pag with the wood oven in the background

and the cheese factory

Charles looking special; I left my picture out.

That day we also heard Mark MacKinnon , the extraordinary correspondent, who I notice now is reporting from the west bank in Israel. Nerves of steel I figure, but what a good presenter. He was not only perceptive, but touching. I love those talks. Why we choose these particular ships and tour. We looked forward to our Falcon Centre visit the next day. Years before on a cycling trip, we went to a Falcon Centre where the birds were on display performing with their trainers. This was definitely different in Sibenik. We were met on arrival by a fascinating man carrying a bird of prey on his gloved hand. He was very welcoming, quite bossy and delighted us with his sense of humour. He was also mesmerizing and the presentation of his birds included some of us. The owl was particularly interesting. the eyes do not move, only the head, and we learned that you cannot pet these birds as the oil on their feathers would be removed. These birds have fantastic hearing and find their prey with their ears. It was fun to hold his birds, and even to lean in for a semi cuddle. His 45 minute lecture was informative, fun and unique.

Mark MacKinnon with Philip Crawley at one of our talks

Annie, a guest on board, and our host with friend

entrance to the Falcon Centre

owl cuddle sort of

At the morning talk we discussed our Prime Minister and why he just doesn’t quit and let someone else lead the Liberal Party. Many of us are not happy with the opposition leader Pierre Poilievre One conclusion is that Trudeau surrounds himself with ‘yes’ men and really doesn’t have a clue about his popularity with the voters. It was a lively discussion and I enjoyed taking part in it. That day we chose to go to a cooking demonstration in Hvar. The place was rustic and charming with a wood burning oven. We sampled appetizers, wine and then the mani course of lamb cooked in that oven, with potatoes and vegetables from the field. A nice light lunch, not. Lots of wine too, and as the meal took a very long time to cook we may have drunk more than intended. It was all very good and great converstaion with others at our table on a large porch outdoors. I of course had no appetite for dinner, but managed to stay up and play trivia with some of the guests. I suffered for that meal. I had a Menieres attack with massive vertigo and was up much of the night. So I will repeat what I wrote about this annoying disease from my previous blog: Now you may not have heard about Menières, so I will tell you about my summer experience with my crazy disease which includes bouts of extreme dizziness. I have had it for fifteen years, but this August it loomed big with massive bouts of vertigo. I visualized lots of cancelled events, and trips, and much time in bed. I did spend some time in bed, and of course cancelled many activities. Because I like to try to always make things positive, I searched on google for more up to date info, as I really hadn’t checked it out for many years. I found a doctor here in Toronto who specializes in ear and balance. I am under his care now, and already taking a new medecine, new for me that is, and will try other alternatives. I am telling you this because you may be experiencing some maladies, or just aches and pains, and a reduction of activities. Never give up. Keep searching for options. This getting older, is not for the ‘faint of heart’. Latest note; my new medecine is working and I am learning to manage possible attacks. Fingers crossed!

At any rate although I missed the morning talk with Eric Reguly. I made it to a walking tour of Split. The old town was totally charming. Afternoon was spent at the pool area, and no alcohol. It is so easy to get used to drinking on this ship as it is available, and included in the price of the voyage. As I am not a big drinker, it can hit me if i overdo. At any rate, we went to a marvellous dinner at a restaurant in the town, called Bokeria. We were invited to sit with Tara O’Brady and her son, Ben. Tara had worked with the kitchen to provide us with a fantastic menu that included carpaccio of swordfish and other goodies. I have lost the menu and the one online is in Croatian. It was all good, but the funniest was the lineup next door at the ice cream parlour, a great long winding thing. Must be super delicious.

gorgeous happening restaurant

the wonderful Tara

The next day I cancelled our cooking class in Korkula for obvious reasons, well obvious to me. I was full and needed a food break. We were also soon to depart the ship and a little packing was in order. We had dinner with our friends, the Kirchmanns, whose son-in-law was celebrating his birthday. It was a jolly final evening.

views of Dubrovnik

our guide, her family and her cat

beautiful tour guide

beautiful Dubrovnik

Now there was an optional two day trip to Dubrovnik for passengers if they chose this. We had previously been to that charming city, and had planned to fly out to Paris, stay overnight at the airport, and head home to Canada. We had the day to fill so I booked a private tour guide from Tours by Locals, which we like to use. We can always learn something and this tour exceeded our expectations. We had to find a place to stash our luggage and I found a company called Radical Storage which seemed to be near the ship so we decided to walk to it, dragging our bags behind us. Charles loves using his GPS when walking, I often like to get directions from a local. We found the place which was indeed across the street from the terminal, after walking the long way around. Google disappointed us, but our tour guide, Romana, and her brother were waiting for us nearby. It cost 13 euros for storage. Nothing.

and some favourite views

visiting with the Captain

Our day was spent high up in the hills with spectacular views, along with some major walking in the town, and I had booked a fish restaurant Fish Restaurant Proto for a late lunch which was fantastic. We sampled Croatian oysters from the Adriatic, I had scampi and Charles the grilled Octopus. We had booked Romana’s brother to pick us up after lunch, stop and get our luggage and take us to the airport. The flight was on a local airline and the plane quite small. Check in was an adventure, but we made it to Paris and then had another adventure in our taxi trying to find the Pullman Hotel. After our long day met a check in person who had quite an attitude and insisted we had booked two rooms. Fortunately, I had the email from my reservation. We settled in our quirky small room, and the next day after an excellent breakfast buffet headed back to Canada with many memories and pictures. We are blessed. Oscar enjoyed his stay at Aisha’s home, but he cuddled us and I think he missed us as much as we did him.

Until the next time,

Riki