Historical Site

Our Time in Venice, Italy

Posted on January 5, 2024 by 2btravel

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

As is usual on Viking cruises, they try to sell you on another cruise while you’re on the current one, offering special incentives to do so. My friends and I have a system for selecting our international vacations: whoever has a birthday ending in a 5 or 0 gets to pick the destination. That covers six out of every 10 years, so it works for us. 2025 is my choice and I’d had my eye on Viking’s Passage to Eastern Europe river cruise which runs between Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania. When we checked with the on-board travel consultant we learned that we could book this cruise for just $25 down and it didn’t have to be paid off until six months before the sailing. That was huge for me as normally the cruises have to be paid off in 2-3 months. So we went ahead and booked this cruise for $25 and that gave us 18 months to pay. When we added in our past-traveler discounts and our on-board booking discounts, that took another $600 off the price. Plus we got shipboard credit for our current cruise and additional shipboard credit for the one we’d just booked. Want to join us? Click on the link at the top of the page for more info.

Since we’d had an overnight port of call in Venice on our previous Mediterranean cruise back in 2008, our original plan was to skip the included tour and just wander around ourselves. That was something we’d really enjoyed doing the first time around. But now we had shipboard credit to spend. We could have stuck to the plan and used the credits to cover crew tips and some small purchases but where’s the fun in that? Instead we used it to book The Island and the Abbey tour, which took us to the island of Murano and then to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore as we’d not visited either of time in our previous time in the area. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Italy, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Cruise, Europe, Italy, Murano, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Venice, Viking | Leave a comment

Our Time in Zadar, Croatia

Posted on January 4, 2024 by 2btravel

A Curveball

Our only major curveball of the trip happened on Thursday, when we were due to stop in Split, Croatia, a place I’d heard quite a bit about but had never visited. But that plan changed with an announcement on Wednesday evening.

Our final port of call was Venice, or more accurately, Chioggia, which is still part of the greater Venice Lagoon. For many years Venice has been prone to flooding due in part to the fact that many of the buildings are constructed on “land” that is supported by pilings and those pilings have naturally settled into the seabed as the centuries progressed. To combat this a project called MOSE (or in English, Moses – because it parts the sea) was implemented which installed rows of mobile sea gates on the floor of the lagoon. This prevents flooding during high tides and any time the sea level becomes a danger to the city.

Due to an impending acqua alta high tide and compounded by recent rains in the area, the MOSE barriers were going to be raised earlier than planned. If we stopped in Split, the ship would not have time to reach the lagoon before the barriers rose.

At this point I was expecting that we’d just sail straight for Venice though if I’d thought about it I’d have realized there might be issues like if there was a dock available for us, etc. But two days instead of one in Venice wouldn’t be all bad. But Viking had something else in mind. We sailed past Split and instead docked in Zadar, Croatia, which is about an hour-and-a-half (by car) further north on the Croatian coast.

We’d signed up for the included walking tour of Split and paid for an excursion to Ancient Salona & Medieval Trogir but, of course, those were now no longer options. Instead we used the credit from the optional tour for one called Picturesque Zadar Hinterland that was only offered in the morning. Unfortunately it returned us to the ship too late for the only afternoon included walking tour so we just did a quick spin in the Old Town by ourselves.

Picturesque Zadar Hinterland

Novigrad

Our first stop was a scenic overlook of the town of Novigrad where we could clearly see the remains of the castle that once stood atop the hill.

Novigrad as viewed from the Overlook

Continue reading →

Categories: Croatia, Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Croatia, Novigrad, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking, Zadar | Leave a comment

Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro

Posted on January 2, 2024 by 2btravel

On the Tuesday of our cruise we checked off a new country, Montenegro. The country’s name comes from the Venetians mangling the Serbian words “Crna Gora” for “black mountain”. The mountain in question is Mount Lovćen which was covered in dense evergreen forests. Over the centuries this area has been controlled by the Illyrians, the Slavs, the Serbs, the Venetians, the Ottomans, an independent country, occupied by Austria-Hungary during WWI, part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia then after WWII one of the republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the smaller Federal Republic of Yugoslavia along with Serbia and finally regaining its independence in 2006. Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Historical Site, Montenegro, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: Europe, Historical Site, Montenegro, Tours, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Our Time in Corfu, Greece

Posted on December 30, 2023 by 2btravel

An Unexpected Twist

After we returned from our shore excursion in Ancient Olympia we were informed that one of our shore excursions for the following day had been canceled. Our excursion was to take us about an hour away to hike Mt. Pantokrator and then to visit Old Peritheia, Corfu’s oldest village that was once a hideaway from pirates. We had been proactively booked on the afternoon included tour, which was Panoramic Corfu & Old Town Walking Tour. While we hated to miss seeing cool sites, our feet were actually not all that upset. We heard it had rained in the area the day before we arrived and can only speculate that it made the conditions unsafe for the hike. As someone who was injured last year when an excursion took place in the rain instead of being canceled, I was fine with the way it was handled.

But that meant we now had a significant amount of shipboard credit to spend. We decided to make the best of it by getting massages in the Nordic Spa. We were able to schedule them for first thing in the morning, giving ourselves plenty of time before our afternoon tour. It was a very welcome treat after all the walking we’d done in Athens over the prior few days. The tour was scheduled to last 5.5 hours so our credit was enough to cover a one-hour massage and a little bit of the tip.

Exploring on our own

It was about a 200-yard walk from our ship to the Cruise Terminal. We didn’t notice it at the time but there are actually buses that run between the cruise terminal and the ships, so if that’s too far for you to walk, just wait for one of these free shuttles. Once you reach the cruise terminal you’ll exit through the building and then you can catch one of Viking’s shuttles into downtown. Unfortunately we didn’t pay attention that these shuttles were available so we just set out walking. There is not much in the immediate area of the cruise terminal other than a small row of shops across the street. But we just followed the trickle of people both from our ship and the giant one docked next to us and headed east along the coast road.

Port in Corfu

Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Corfu, Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by 2btravel

Our ship departed Athens at 6 PM on Saturday evening and it took us the rest of the night and all of Sunday morning to reach our first port of call, Katakolon, Greece as we had to sail around the Greek peninsula.

The included tour at this port was called Ancient Olympia and there were optional tours that included not only Ancient Olympia but a visit to the Magna Grecia olive estate, another where you can learn Greek folk dancing and a Flavors of the Greek Countryside tour. We stuck with the included tour but because we were in the cheaper staterooms we had to settle for the last tour of the day, which didn’t leave until 2:15 PM.

Port of Katakolo(n)

That wasn’t all bad. In Katakolon, the dock is not far at all from a tourist area with several restaurants and loads of souvenir shops. So after our ship docked at 12:30 PM we had time to go into this area and get our souvenirs purchased before the tour. I find it interesting that Viking refers to the port as Katakolon when all the local signage (and even Wikipedia) refer to the port name without the final N. From what I can see online the names appear to refer to the same place, it just seems odd!

Town of Katakolon as viewed from our ship

Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Ancient Olympia, Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Olympics, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)

Posted on December 23, 2023 by 2btravel

After having lunch at the Acropolis Museum we spent the afternoon at three other sites that were close to the Acropolis.

Roman Agora

The Roman Agora, or marketplace, was built around 27-17 BC using funds donated by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, known as Octavian, the founder of the Roman empire to fulfill a promise made by Julius Caesar in 51 BC. While the area has not been fully excavated it’s easy to see it followed a common basic layout of a large open plaza surrounded by colonnades on three sides.

Roman Agora

Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Agora, Ancient Agora, Athens, Europe, Greece, Hadrian, Hadrian's Library, Historical Site, Roman Agora, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)

Posted on December 22, 2023 by 2btravel

It had been 16 years since my only visit to Athens and my friend had never been. As we were trying to figure out what we wanted to see, I stumbled upon the Earth Trekkers site and their post “2 Days in Athens: The Perfect Itinerary for your First Visit“. That post not only gave us a good idea of highlights to hit but it also introduced us to the combo ticket that gets you into 7 sites for just €30. Those seven sites are:

The Acropolis
Ancient Agora (Archaeological site and Museum)
Roman Agora
Hadrian’s Library
Kerameikos
Temple of Olympian Zeus (called Olympieion on the ticket)
Aristotle’s Lyceum

That’s quite a bargain once you add up the admission prices of all these sites. We recommend buying your combo ticket online in advance.

We hit the first four sites plus the Acropolis Museum the first day and sites 5 and 6 plus the Panathenaic Stadium on the second day. We didn’t make it to Aristotle’s Lyceum but after walking 27,000 steps the first day and another 20,000 steps the second day we were OK with that as we were exhausted.

Monument of the Unknown Soldier

Our day started quite early as our timed ticket for the Acropolis gave us entry at 8 AM. So we left our hotel about 7:20 to give ourselves plenty of time for the walk and to get lost. Our path took us by the Monument of the Unknown Soldier which is on the road that travels over the Syntagma Square Metro station. We weren’t there for the changing of the guard but the two soldiers were marching back and forth under the watchful eye of their superior. We paused for just a few moments and realized it was a great time to be able to get photos without any other people around.

Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Greece, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Acropolis, Athens, Caryatids, Europe, Greece, Parthenon, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Leave a comment

Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq

Posted on March 28, 2023 by 2btravel

Return to International Travel – Introduction
Review: SWISS A340-300 ORD-ZRH and Marhaba Lounge ZRH
Lodging Review: Sina Villa Medici, Florence, Italy
Our Time In Florence, Part 1
Our Time In Florence, Part 2
Lodging Review: Park Hyatt Vendome, Paris, France
Our Time In Paris, Part 1 (Louvre, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc, Eiffel Tower)
Our Time In Paris, Part 2 (Versailles)
Our Time In Paris, Part 3 (Catacombs, Musee d’Orsay)
Viking Kari and an Afternoon in Montmartre
Our Time in La Roche-Guyon and Vernon/Giverny
Our Time on the Normandy Beaches
Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq
Lodging Review: Renaissance Republique, Paris, France
Review: Air France A350 CDG-ORD

Les Andelys

Our next port of call was the town of Les Andelys. This quaint town was founded in the 6th century and its church has parts that date to the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. I recall touring it but apparently did not take photographs. I would have enjoyed touring the town more but with my knee situation I slowly walked with the group to the chateau.

Château Gaillard was the primary attraction for this stop. It was a medieval castle and its ruins now overlook the town.

Chateau from the town

Continue reading →

Categories: Attraction Review, Cruises, Europe, France, Historical Site, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: Attraction Review, France, Historical Site, Napoleon, River Cruise, Tours, Trip Report, Viking | Leave a comment

Our Time In Paris, Part 2 (Versailles)

Posted on March 24, 2023 by 2btravel

Versailles

While our Viking cruise offered a paid half-day excursion to Versailles, we decided to do it on our own before the cruise even began. It was cheaper and we could explore at our leisure…and there is a LOT to explore! We bought tickets online ahead of time a few days in advance. Since the tickets are timed, this allowed us to get a morning time to tour the palace and then we had the rest of the day to explore the grounds and the Trianons. Had we waited to buy tickets on-site we would have toured the palace later in the day. Based on our experience I would advise touring the palace either first thing or last thing. The grounds are massive and you will spend a lot of time walking. There are several different ticket options and the one we bought included the palace, the grounds, the Trianons as well as an official guide book. I don’t know if there are other places to get this guide book but we went into the bookstore to get ours. The staff was not familiar with this book but after asking around we were given a book that costs €20 so we thought that was rather a good deal.

Chateau de Versailles

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Categories: Attraction Review, Europe, France, Historical Site, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site | Tags: Attraction Review, Europe, France, Historical Site, Paris, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Versailles | Leave a comment

Our Time In Paris, Part 1 (Louvre, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc, Eiffel Tower)

Posted on March 23, 2023 by 2btravel

I’d never been to Paris so all the usual tourist stuff was on my list. I’d also heard the reputation of Parisians to be unwelcoming of those who don’t even try to speak French so I worked my way through all of my French I and a couple of disks of my French II CDs before departing. I realize we were in the touristy areas but I found folks very welcoming and friendly and was glad to see that this particular generalization was not true.

We arrived in Paris on a Saturday evening and wouldn’t be boarding our Viking longship until Wednesday so we had 3 full days plus some time on our own on Saturday evening and on Wednesday. While Viking offered a paid excursion to Versailles, we decided we’d rather do it on our own. We also noticed that there was no time allocated to visit the Louvre, which was also high on our list. To ensure we got to visit, we pre-purchased timed tickets to the Louvre for Monday (it’s closed on Tuesdays) and Versailles, which is closed on Mondays. As it turned out, I believe that was a wise choice for the Louvre but not quite as necessary for Versailles, though we went in October when it was not quite as busy as it would be during the summer.

On Sunday, our first full day in the city, we took the hop-on/hop-off bus and got a lay of the land, found some gems we weren’t aware of and basically just explored around parts of the city. Continue reading →

Categories: Attraction Review, Europe, France, Historical Site, Trip Report | Tags: Arc de Triomphe, Attraction Review, Eiffel Tower, France, Historical Site, Louvre, Paris, Sainte-Chappelle, Trip Report | Leave a comment

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Historical Site

Our Time in Venice, Italy

Our Time in Zadar, Croatia

A Curveball

Picturesque Zadar Hinterland

Novigrad

Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro

Our Time in Corfu, Greece

An Unexpected Twist

Exploring on our own

Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)

Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)

Roman Agora

Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)

Monument of the Unknown Soldier

Our Time in Les Andelys and Le Pecq

Les Andelys

Our Time In Paris, Part 2 (Versailles)

Versailles

Our Time In Paris, Part 1 (Louvre, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc, Eiffel Tower)

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