travel | Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less)

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Venice to Turkey 05

Day 05, Board the Norwegian Viva

We get up early and go for a walk in search of our shuttle location to take us to the ship. Once found, we patronize one of many Patisseries that line the streets and have coffee and pastries.

Then it’s back to the hotel to pick up our luggage to go to the bus stop. We have been told to be there at 9:20 AM promptly. The bus arrives at 9:45 AM. So much for promptness. There was a line of people ahead of us when we arrived at 9:10. But the good thing is we put our luggage on last which means we are first off.

Our boarding time is noon and we get to the ship at 10:30. But we are third in line and security is ready for us at 10:45. We check our bags and wait in a 20 minute line to check onto the ship. Formalities taken care of, we board the ship. Our stateroom is not ready, so, with heavy backpacks on, we start touring the ship. Elevator up to deck 17, stairs to 18, walk around, find the main buffet, arcades and race track, yes, race track! Down to deck 7 and inquire about details at the front desk. Whew!

Back to the buffet for a snack to offset our plans to visit a bar. Looking out over the harbor, the compression effect of my telephoto lens makes the docked boats look interesting.

Then to the front theater where we sign up for one of our paid dinners. Interesting space, the theater is just one big open room! Wonder what it’s like to see a show in here? Now to a bar for a glass of wine. We study the things to do on and off the ship, get events into our calendars and go back to the theater to book another dinner. A salesman sees me with a glass of wine and successfully gets us to book a wine tasting.

One thing we don’t care for (we learned this on Royal Caribbean) is that even complimentary restaurants and events must be booked in advance because the ship is so big. We walk around the ship more and stumble across the Welcome Aboard Party by the pool!

We try to go to our stateroom to deposit our backpacks and find it is still not yet available. So we lug our stuff up to what turns out to be the whiskey bar. They have whiskey and wine. I sit with our bags and Elee walks to the ‘Local Bar’ for a rum drink. She returns with her drink and a small pretzel snack and we are immediately informed by a waitress that food is strictly forbidden in this bar. WHAT? Unheard of! A snack prohibited in a bar? I guess we have learned what bar to not patronize on this cruise! So I note to self to include this in our review of the ship.

Elee walks back to the other bar to enjoy her snack and I hold down the fort. I don’t know how long to wait to find our room available so I sit and relax. Elee returns and we relax together. When our room is finally ready, we are impressed with the size of it!

At dinner, we have fabulous food between seafood for Elee and New York Strip Steak for me which tastes and looks more like Filet Mignon. We meet and chat with several people from Australia. After dinner I get a glass of wine and go back to the stateroom for the evening.

Venice to Turkey 01

Day 01, 02 & 03, Travel Days!

Our good friend Tony takes us to the airport for an overnight flight. We’re starting out here at LAX, on the largest airliner I’ve ever been in my life! There are two full tiers of people. Two sets of staircases to access the upper tier, one in the front of the plane and one in back! There are also two jetways attached to the plane! It is also our first time on Lufthansa Airlines. A lot of firsts already.

We get settled in our seats and await takeoff which is one of the smoothest ever! Then we are handed menus on the plane! When the food comes, it has metal utensils and acrylic drinking glasses! Well, you can’t have everything!

10.5 hours in the air for the first leg to Munchen (Munich), Germany. I take a sleeping pill and manage several hours sleep. When I awake, breakfast of eggs and spinach are served. Landing in Munich to change from Lufthansa to Dolomiti Air is uneventful. We first have to go through immigration control and convince the guards that we will promise to leave and go home in a month! We ride a bus and load the plane on the tarmac.

It is now Day 02. The one hour flight goes by fast and we land in Turin, Italy. We retrieve our luggage and our friend Scott is there to pick us up. He is driving a tiny rental car and it’s cramped but not uncomfortable. Less than an hour later we are stopping at a local winery where Scott knows the proprietor and our wine tasting has begun. We get to Scott and Manuela’s house at the base of a church and we see why they drive such a tiny car. The roads are tight and the corners are many! We have arrived in Chiaverano, Italy, about an hour north of Turin!

Scott and Manuela take us to a favorite restaurant where we indulge in seafood and pasta. Back at their house, we taste grappa and other aperitifs before turning in for the night. They have allotted an entire apartment on the downstairs level to us!

Florida 2026, Days 09-18

Touring Florida and visiting people!

After disembarking the ship, we pick up a rental car and visit a shipmate friend from our 2 Round The World Cruises! Hey ‘E-Less Ann’!

Then it’s off towards Naples to visit Elee’s college roommate and her husband! Hey Ellen & Bob! They gave us a tour of the area!

After a couple days we head north to visit with Elee’s cousin on Anna Maria Island near Sarasota. Unfortunately, Karen was marooned up north due to the heavy snowstorms up north so John was a fantastic host who showed us around for a couple days! We also visited Brother in Law John and his partner Andrea who were both gracious enough to let us use their house! Thanks!

Then we were off to Orlando where we stayed at a Hilton (That we would never stay at again!) in the Disney World area. We did get a great deal on the room in exchange for attending a 2 hour Vacation Presentation (thinkTimeshare). Of course we were told there would be no pressure, LOL. But the presenters, sales persons, closers & check-out people were all clearly angry when we turned them down!

Our room in the hotel was next to a vertical shaft that went all the way to the very noisy Lobby where the sound carried to every room! We did have a view overlooking parts of Disney World and the Lazy River that belonged to the hotel. We did spend a couple hours prior to the presentation relaxing in the Lazy River!

Next, we were off to “The Villages” to visit another shipmate friend from our Round The World Cruises, Ron and his girlfriend Linda! It was fun catching up Guys! They took us to an outdoor Country Concert. It seems that The Villages has entertainment happening somewhere almost every night so it doesn’t matter which night you want to go out! There is always something happening!

On our way back to Orlando that evening, we even were able to pull over to watch a launch from Cape Canaveral! This was probably the most disappointing shot with the new iPhone 17 as the phone wouldn’t focus well on the rocket flames!

The next morning we check out of our hotel at 11 AM. Our flight doesn’t take off until 9 PM so we take a leisurely drive back to Fort Lauderdale. We find the Riverwalk and spend a couple hours there.

There will be an upcoming post for something we also did in Sarasota, but was a separate side trip. See you again soon!

Florida 2026, Day 07

Day 7, Porto Plata, Dominican Republic

At breakfast in the main restaurant this morning, we meet Amanda and Chelsea and have fun travel conversations. Amanda is a Consultant and Chelsea is an RN. Walking back to our stateroom, I come across the marker in Central Park that marks the center of the ship!

The gangplank opens at 10 AM. We get off and walk the mile of docks and shops to get into the city of Porto Plata, Dominican Republic. Walking around the city reveals interesting sights and streets. It doesn’t appear safe to wander far from the tourist attractions. We have been told the same from people who know this area.

About a mile of walking brings us to the “Umbrella Street”, with a canopy of colorful umbrellas.

Next we find the “Pink Street”, ‘Paseo de Dona Blanca’ where every wall and doorway is pink.

We walk around a large plaza, inquiring about restaurants that serve Conch, having never tried this. All kinds of tourist activities are happening. A ‘cool’ ice cream store grabs my camera’s eye! Caribbean music plays from a small band in the square.

We come across a Cathedral and my camera drags me over for a couple shots. There is no tourist fee to enter this one.

We are told of a restaurant that serves Conch. After much searching, we find it and get seated. Then we are informed that they don’t have conch today. Bummer. So we search some more to no avail.

Back to the ship it is, but not before stopping for a couple of rum drinks to cool the body and soul! A fun pair of bartenders helps keep us entertained! We even find a shuttle that takes us the last mile of docks to our ship!

Back on the ship, we don swim suits and relax in a hot tub. With muscles relaxed, I dry off and walk to the back of the ship to watch us leave port. I find some empty chairs at the back of the ship and sit back. Not knowing what time we will depart, I actually fall asleep for an hour or so. The ship horns wake me as they announce our departure. I wait for the ship to turn around but it never does. The ship is too big to turn around in the harbor! This is the first time I have witnessed a ship back all the way out the channel into the open ocean before it turns around and gets underway.

Back in our cabin, we prepare for dinner in the main dining room.

Florida 2026, Day 06

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Day 4 on the ship)

We get up and actually have a leisurely breakfast in the buffet (the main restaurant was packed). The gangplank opens a few minutes before 10 AM. We manage to make it off the ship around 10:15.

It’s already quite warm but not unbearable. We’re in the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. We head through the streets of Old Town and work our way up the hill to the Old Fort. The buildings are colorful as we walk. The Fort as we approach, reminds us of the Old Fort in Cartagena, Columbia. Stone and mortar with similar design elements. We even poke our heads into a church on the way up!

Great views from the top of San Juan. The Fort is similar to many South American Forts. Stone, brick and mortar.

We continue through the quaint streets and come across a couple churches which even the local police don’t know the names of! We look inside but don’t opt to actually go in and pay the tithe.

We bump into Austin and Olivia from our ship (lovers in the Pub!) at Las Palomas Park (Pigeon Park) where a pigeon lands on my shoulder and it takes quite a bit of shaking to convince it to fly away!

It is very warm today so, on the way back to the ship, we stop at a local restaurant and imbibe in a cold margarita. Back on the ship, we change and head for a cool water pool. The ships horn informs us that we are departing and I grab my cell phone (the only camera I am traveling with) and get some shots of San Juan as we depart. Back to our cabin to relax before dinner. A new folded towel animal greets us!

Dinner in the main restaurant tonight is very good. After dinner we go to a “Name that Lyric” game show, lots of laughs. Then to an Elton John tribute. We watch the “Rising Tide Bar descend and later rise.