July 21-25, 2024 We sailed from Spain up to Ireland, and had to break out the light sweaters and rain jackets since Ireland was experiencing one of its rainiest and coolest summers in many years. We took the local train (literally located next to the port) from Cobh (where the …
July 17-19, 2024 John and I loved Lisbon and its surrounding area when we visited in November 2021. In July 2024 it’s still lovely – but a lot more crowded. We did a Guruwalk this time, so learned a little more about the history – especially about some of the …
July 13-16, 2024 Moroccan Dirhams – 10dhs=$1 Malaga’s seaside rises up into a first class shopping avenue covered by canvas sails to protect shoppers from the southern Spanish sun (and the occasional episode of “liquid sun”). It’s a beautiful town with large beaches in the city, but be prepared to …
July 8-11, 2024 Mallorca, one of the Balearic islands, sits in the Eastern Mediterranean and “belongs” to Spain. Like much of the Med, the island changed ownership over the centuries – the Phoenicians, The Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Moors and finally the Spanish. The Serenade docked near its …
July 4-7, 2024 Corsica is technically part of France, although it spent over 500 years as part of the Kingdom of Genoa. As such, even though their most famous son, Napoleon, was Emperor of France, they do not consider themselves French. The Maison du Bonaparte, the home where Napoleon was …
June 30-July 3, 2024 After we left Sicily, we sailed past the island of Stromboli – which has an active volcano. My own phone photo camera could not get a pic – but pro Matty had the right stuff! (From the ship you could see the flames spouting in the …
June 26-29, 2024 We sailed from Dubrovnik to its close neighbor – Montenegro. Although both are European countries, crossing the border by land can be a challenge since there remains a fair amount of animosity between the countries lingering from the breakup of Yugoslavia and the subsequent war in the …
June 23-25, 2024 Zadar sits on the northern coast of Croatia, and the only one of the three John and I had not visited in 2021. Since we’d spent about three weeks in Split in 2021, and with so many consecutive port days, I made a semi-sea day for myself. …
June 21-22, 2024 After WWII, the northeastern corner of Italy – the little section that covers the north and northeastern portion of the Adriatic Sea became the Free Territory of Trieste. The region was claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia, so in 1947, to avoid more fighting, the UN formally …
June 19-20, 2024 The arrival in Ravenna, Italy also heralded the end of our semi-private yachting experience . Throughout the Africa segments only 700-800 passengers wandered the Serenade – a ship capable of carrying 2200. For the next several weeks, we will be completely full. Before dealing with this, John …