We started the week with a full day at sea. After four straight days of ports, it was nice to have a day to rest and do some laundry. I got too much sun on our day in Athens, so I was also glad to be able to stay out of the rays for a bit. We also really enjoyed access to the workout facilities, especially the weights and the walking track on the top deck.
Our port for Tuesday was Bar, Montenegro. On our original itinerary, our stop was to be Kotor, just up the coast a bit. We heard that the bay there was stunning, but the cruise excursions that were headed to Kotor from Bar felt too expensive. Instead, we hopped off the ship first thing and walked to a local car rental agency. We picked up a little Hyundai and set off for Kotor. The scenery was nice along the coast, even though we were in traffic and some construction slow-down. But Kortor was worth it! A gorgeous old town on one arm of a bay surrounded by enormous mountains and cliffs. We hiked up the steep path to the ruins of the fortress. Then it was time to have a snack and pick up our car. We decided to take the scenic route back to the ship and we got our money’s worth – it was VERY scenic. We took the oh-so-steep switchback route up above town, the view becoming more dramatic with every one of the 16 turns. The road was too narrow for two-way traffic, especially when there was a big truck or a tour bus in the mix. It was exciting to meet up with oncoming cars! We then took an even more remote road through the back country. We could see one way over the Bay of Kotor and the other way to the other side and the sea. It was a really fun day.
It was going to be hard to beat our day in Montenegro and our next stop, Corfu, was our last in Greece, so we weren’t expecting anything too different from previous ports. But Corfu is just lovely and we had a relaxing day walking around town and we had a delicious lunch off-the-beaten path. The island is green and beautiful and a quieter day was just what we needed after our mad dash through Montenegro.
Our last cruise port was Messina, Sicily. There was really only one thing we really wanted to do for that stop – visit Mt. Etna. We were on the tour bus for a big chunk of the day, but it was worth it. We learned a lot about volcanoes and the tectonic plates that are driving the volcanic activity of Italy.we got to walk around on the volcanic rock and around an old crater. It was so cool! We had some time in the city of Catania, which we used to run to a little restaurant for a very tasty lunch of pasta and seafood. And we had a delightful cake made with a sweetened ricotta filling and coated in nuts.
We ended our cruise with another sea day and then we arrived early in Barcelona. We disembarked and then made our way (slowly) to the train station to pick up a rental car. We are now roadtripping around Spain, but I think I will save all those details for the next blog. Have a great week!
Back to MO
Just a quick post this week. We hunkered down in Ohio/West Virginia and took refuge from the cold. We did lots of cozy things with the grandkids. We took a trip to the library to play and choose a big pile of books. Huck is a little reader now, so it’s fun to find stories that he can read. We spent A LOT of time reading those books–at the library, on the couch, and in a blanket fort. We also did crafts and built lots of Lego. We went with the kids to the children’s museum for a special STEAM class and then hours of play and building after that. We also took the older two out for a special lunch date. It was a great week! We are now back in St. Louis and excited to spend time with the other grandkids! Have a good week!
Back to the Fun
We slowed down a bit this week, but there was some birthday fun and I have details on our trip through the Mississippi Delta and on to Ohio. This is a long post, covering almost three weeks of a busy road trip, so if you just want the bullet points, read the first bit. For the down and dirty details, read on.
From the Big Easy to Music City
Hi! This is just a quick check in from the road. We spent the week on the move. We started in New Orleans, then we drove up through the Mississippi Delta on the Blues Highway. We stopped at lots of smaller places along the way to visit museums and check out the history of the blues and our country. Then we cut across to Alabama to visit Muscle Shoals to tour the recording studio and to see the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Then from there it was north to Nashville, Tennessee. We are here to visit a friend (Adam Overacker) and to enjoy some more music. See you next week from an old classic, Marietta, Ohio. Hopefully I’ll have time this next week to fill in the details from a very eventful road trip! Enjoy your week!
Because of the few days Ron worked in Barcelona we missed the farmers’ market. Hope you have a chance for a visit there–we have been told it is one of the very best!
Hi, Martha! We were only in Barcelona long enough to pick up a car this time, but we did visit the market when we visited in 2019. It is busy and beautiful!