The Joys of Retirement Production Company

We arrived midday, via train from Venice, and just walked a bit to get out bearings. Here are some city views, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace, Piazza d. Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio, Duomo, and city scenes. This dramatic storm added excitement. The view is from our hotel, just before the rain started. More pics will be posted at our gallery https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Florence

We have a couple museum visits and a day trip to Tuscany planned for this week, but left some free time to stop the great leather and jewelry shops!

The rain cooled the city so we got put early to visit the Duomo and Baptistry. Photos at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/The-Duomo-and-Bapistry

Today we visited Murano and Burano, the venetian craft islands and enjoyed watching a glass demonstration and shopping, of course. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Murano-for-glass-Burano-for-lace

We visited the cathedral and museum today.   The mosaic covered inside is incredibly decorated,  but without a lot of sunlight appeared dark.  Gold leaf was baked onto the glass to make the background gold! The museum has remnants of some older mosaics we could view up closed as well as the original bronze horses, which could be as old as 2100 years. Enjoy our photos at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/St-Marks-Basilica–VENICE

Venice, at last! Yesterday was trying! I tweeked my back on the way to the airport. Our flight from Split was delayed, so we missed our connector and didn’t arrive until very late in Venice, almost 10 and the water bus takes over an hour and half from there with many spots along the way. But just before midnight, we arrived at our hotel. Today we visited the Piazza San Marco and got our bearings, then skipped the line at the Doges Palace. Photos will be posted at our smugmug photo gallery

These are the latest galleries. Tomorrow we will visit St Mark’s Basilica so you can see that tomorrow

Tomorrow we fly to Venice! We walked a bit on the Riva and visited the fresh market again. On to our next adventure

We did a bus trip to Krka National Park and the Coastal resort town of Primosten today. See more of our photos at https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/KRKA-National-Park-and-Primosten

We took a boat trip to Trogir today to visit this small island town. I’ve posted pictures at our smugmug. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Trogir

We had a fabulous dinner tonight, with a couple traditional Croatian dishes Pasticada with gnocchi and octopus under the Bell. This is octopus with onions and potatoes, cooked slowly for a couple hours under a dome. We were told by 1 of our drivers, if we could ever find a restaurant that does it, to order it! And he was right, it was the most tender, delicious octopus we have had so far! Delicious! The pasticada was too, a very tender beef dish with homemade gnocchi! And to top it off we found an authentic true Gelato store! We will be back there I KNOW!

A highlight of our evening, as we walked back along the Riva, We stumbled onto this delightful tradition. Older folks come sit along the Riva and sing traditional Croatian folk songs! They told was a little of that tradition. They don’t necessarily know each other, not really friends, they just stop and join the singers as they walk by! Enjoy a snippet!

We have also added a few new scenes from Split as we walked to dinner in the old town. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Split

We took leave of Dubrovnik and took the ferry to Split, to the north. We walked the old city and Diocletian’s palace today! Enjoy our tour pics. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Split

We had a lovely lunch with a gorgeous view today

We took the cable car to the Panorama restaurant for the view, the breeze, and lunch! Well worth the trip! An added history lesson was the museum of their war for the Homeland in 1992. Pictures is the beauty and the suffering are at our smug mug account

https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Dubrovnik-from-above

During the war for the Homeland in 1991 the forces of Bosnia and Montenegro had to capture the Fort on top of Mt Srd, at the location of the top of the cable car today. After capturing that position, they bombarded Dubrovnik and sieged it for 9 months. The museum here was very interesting, but sad. Below is the siege line

The best parts of staying a week in places like Dubrovnik are the chances to have a bit of a routine, to not have to rush to see all the sights in a day, and to do small side trips! Today we visited Cavtat, a small Coastal village 20 our so miles worth of Dubrovnik, by boat an hour away. It was cooler on the water and in the what town. Enjoy some of our photos. https://susandemaggio.smugmug.com/Caveat-day-trip

Yesterday we took the boat to Lokrum Island, the park directly across the bay from our lodgings. It was a pretty hot day for such a hike, but Emmett made it to the top…. I cheered him on from the shade halfway up!