Today was the end of the first leg of our back-to-back cruises. Many of our newfound friends departed for home, though there are 180 passengers continuing on. We left the ship about 10:00am, took a cab to the Sagrada Famila. Cloudy, some drizzle, some light rain. We walked around the exterior trying to make sense of this mad structure.  No luck! I think I need to buy a book.

We took another cab to the Picasso museum, went only as far as the gift shop. Too long a line at the ticket booth. On down the street to a very nice little restaurant for tapas and wine, a bit of a wander, and back to the ship. A good day, but less rain, more sun, would have been nice!

After a relaxing sea day, we had an intense long interesting day on Malta. We joined six others and guide Mario for a very thorough visit to many areas of the island. Narrow streets, open countryside, fishing villages, cathedrals, The Blue Grotto, a Maltese Falcon… A good day! And we were back aboard with ten minutes to spare.

(For those just coming aboard this blog, Day xx in the title refers to the number of days since we began our current epic trip, first to Spain, then around the Med and Adriatic seas, and soon onward across the Atlantic to Buenos Aires.)

Following our long long day trip to Mostar yesterday, today was a day to leisurely explore the walled city of Dubrovnik. The day was cool but warm enough, some clouds and light rain late afternoon, but a nice day all in all. We took about two hours to walk around the wall, had a nice lunch in an alleyway off the Main Street, wandered some, looked at shops, bought a fish (a small sculpture, not an actual fish!), and took the shuttle back to our ship…

We were pleased to join an all-day excursion arranged by a fellow cruiser: from Dubrovnik Croatia to Mostar in the neighboring country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with a stop along the way in the ancient walled city of Ston, once the world’s premier producer of salt. In Mostar we had a guided walk which included the lively street market and, of course, the Old Bridge.
 

A pleasant small town, quite lively on a Saturday morning, many families out walking with young children, teenage girls roaming the shops along the main drag. The old area we were in was almost entirely a pedestrian zone, traffic free was nice. We did a wander around the town and adjacent park, then had a late lunch at a very nice restaurant near the Sea Organ. [Must be heard to be believed. A series of underwater pipes fill and empty with normal wave action. As the sea water comes and goes, air in the pipes is pushed in or pulled out through various air vents. Interesting sounds are created. Like magic!]

... a few images from around the town…

The old city of Kotor has many stone block buildings, narrow alleyways, the requisite places of worship. Nice enough, but not a place I am enthusiastically planning to revisit. There were several trips on offer involving a drive to the interior for waterfalls and other natural scenery, but we didn’t have enough time. My previous post included some of my cat images from the day; below are a few more images of the town itself.

Today we spent in the lovely old city of Kotor, Montenegro. Fascinating place with a complex history. And many cats. More on the city later. But first, some images of the cats…

Oh. One dog also. Tired looking dog. You can imagine what his day is like, one of the few dogs in a city overrun by cats!

A beautiful day in Naples hosted by our friend Gianfranco. He met us near the port and led us on a grand walking tour of mostly the old city. A lunch stop at his favorite restaurant, a glass of wine at a small bar near the port in the late afternoon, many interesting sights along the way. This was Gianfranco’s birthday; next year we’ll be back for a day on my birthday.