10.20.22 - 11.3.22 Celebrity Silhouette Transatlantic

 10/20/22

Today's the day!! We checked out of our Portsmouth hotel at 11 AM and caught the 11:23 AM train to Southhampton. It was only a fifty minute trip. A quick six minute taxi ride once at the station and then we arrived at our accommodations for the next two weeks. We are onboard the Celebrity Silhouette which is a transatlantic sailing to Miami. Stops in Lisbon, Madeira and Tenerife (Canary Islands) before seven sea days to "cross the pond".

We were able to have lunch in the main dining room. I started with a delicious chicken Caesar salad and had Moroccan short ribs for my main. Both really good. The short ribs had some great ginger flavor. And the couscous had raisins for some sweetness.

Now we finally get to unpack everything we have in our luggage. We haven't really had accommodations so far where we either needed to do that or even had the space. Now we do!! Also getting some laundry ready for pickup. And someone else gets to do it this time.

After spending time in eight countries over the last four weeks, it is time to settle down a bit. At least until we get to Lisbon in three days for a city tour. I've averaged 55,000 steps a week for the last four weeks. Might be time to relax for a few days.

10.18.22 - 10.20.22 Portsmouth, England

 10/18/22

Today we left the apartment at 7:30 and arrived at Dubrovnik airport about 8:15. It was too early to check in for our flight so we had Americanos. These had airport pricing of 20 Kuna - more than double what they were at Biker's Caffe. I did learn that many bars will include "caffe" (with the double "f" spelling). I didn't think it meant anything special. But it actually means that in addition to cocktails and beer, they also can make specialty coffee drinks.

10.15.22 - 10.18.22 Dubrovnik

 10/15/22 

We left the motor yacht this morning and checked into our apartment for the next three nights. I went to the small supermarket. Only about a ten minute walk - of course that doesn't factor in all the steps. I walked up and down them. Very reasonable prices. Two bottles of local red wine, a loaf of freshly baked bread, coffee, two kinds of meats, two kinds of cheese, two bags of potato chips. All for $240 KUNA (about $30 USD).

10.8.22 - 10.15.22 Katarina Yacht Cruise along the coast of Croatia

 

10.8.22

 The day started well with a sack breakfast from the hotel and our private transfer was a Tesla.

Landed 10:00 am.

Quick passport control

Luggage arriving at 10:15 am

In car at 10:35 am

Arrived at marina Katarina Line office 11:11 am in the Split harbor.

Royal Caribbean, Regent and the Viking Sea are docked here.

We checked in at the office and dropped our bags. We found a nice restaurant, Lvxor,  in the walled city for octopus, risotto, meats, and Greek salad plus local draft beer. It was so nice. Lvxor is famous for cushions on the steps, but they also have a sidewalk cafe around the corner.

9.29.22 - 10.8.22 Amsterdam, Viking Venus, Bergen to Oslo train

 9/29/22 

This morning the ship arrived at our final port in Amsterdam. Such beautiful weather!! We disembarked at 8AM and took a quick 15 minute ride to our Hotel Esthera.

We dropped off our luggage, had a coffee and then took a leisurely 30 minutes walk to the Van Gogh Museum. They have the largest collection of his works. Over 200 paintings. We had a private tour and learned so many things.

9.19.22 - 9.29.22 Zurich and Viking Gersemi

 9/202/23 

We took off on time. Business Class on Swiss Air was very good. The seat / bed was very comfortable. Service was great. Food was okay.

We landed on time and got our luggage. It is such a scenic landing. Our luggage was sitting waiting for us since we picked the slowest immigration line. Transfer was waiting.

Hotel Wellenberg lived up to the hype so far. It's in Zurich's historic section. I took Jennifer Majors' advice and had delicious fondue for lunch.

9/21/22 

9.3.22 Disney Fantasy

 We couldn't resist a reduced rate sailing on the Disney Fantasy. We were both very curious that it would like as adults. The evening meals were much better than we remembered and we really enjoyed the experience at both specialty restaurants.