Mother's Day in Venice

Wyona writes:

Sailing into Venice; One can never sail into Venice too many times. Feast your eyes. So many boats and ships and water taxis!

And then the larger buildings appear surrounded by waterways everywhere.

And the only way to move is on foot or on a boat. 

We just left the ship and walked around. Just popped into a church and there was a string concert inside.  We took a pew and sat there; soloists etc. It was magnificent. A Mother's Day to be remembered!

The church itself was just a marvel and then to listen to Bach, Handel and others was a real treat. We made our donation on the way out. The musicians were all ages and all playing abilities. But a concert not to be missed.

Crete, Greece

Crete is a long Island with a mountain range down the middle. We took a bus ride to the top of the mountain where there was an old castle. The first photo is looking over one side of the mountain and the second photo is looking at the other side.

We took a walk through a small village.

The roads go straight up. No curves here.

The mountains are called 'the white mountains' because the mountain tops stay white with snow year round.

And the beaches are sandy and long.

The drive up the mountain is full of pintail curves.

Again here are the white mountains. Almost every spot on the island is terraced  and used for olive orchards or  some kind of garden. The drive was amazing and beautiful.

Love,

Wyona

Mykonos, Greece

Here we have breakfast in our room. A friend sent us chocolate covered strawberries and we happened to have oranges in our room. The donkey purse is from Santorini.

And another day we came back to the room with a ship folded up o our bed so I added the gelato, nuts and cookies. Oh yes, and then a couple of necklaces from Turkey and look at the ear on the donkey.

Mykonos from the ship.

And the ship, Constellation from the boat tender.

 All the buildings in Mykonos are painted with limestone white. It is the law. Even the pathways are painted white between the stones.

No cars, taxis or buses are allowed in Mykonos. Only small vehicles or scooters are allowed on the streets when they are delivering goods to the shops.

Love,

Wyona

Valetta, Malta

This was our first time in Valetta, Malta. The sail in was spectacular. All the buildings, walls and ground are the same limestone color.

 This was such a stunning picturesque view with the waves splashing up unto the walls and buildings. Just breathtaking.

 There is an elevator that goes from sea level to the higher level where the old city is located. The elevator moves quicky up and down.The view from the top is stunningly beautiful. Walking through the city we came upon a giant T-shirt. The people are proud of their team.

St John's Cathedral is an amazing gothic structure with gold trim and frescos covering the walls and ceilings.  The Maltese Cross is in the entryway to the museum and everywhere in the Cathedral. Greg laughed as we were going in because he remembers Doral Pilling's joke which is, (Oh no, Greg is asleep and I cannot remember it...what is the difference between a Maltese cross and a...or what makes a Maltese cross mad...or...I will just wake him up...maybe I remember).  "What makes a Maltese Cross?"
Oh Greg just woke up so here it is. "How do you make a Maltese Cross?"
The answer:  "Poke it in the eyes." Now get your parents to explain it.

You can see the Maltese Cross on the tomb in this picture. The twisted column is copied after some of the columns in the Vatican. There are skulls on either side of the white bust.

The floors are all tombstones of the Saints or heroes of the day. So as you walk through the Cathedral your feet are walking on and covering fabulous inlaid marble tombstones with Latin inscriptions. This was 15 euros well spent to go through the Museum.

Tenerife, Canary Islands

One of our stops on the way from Rio to Barcelona was in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Canary Islands come from the Latin word for dog which is 'canaria'. When the islands were first discovered, the Europeans who discovered the islands found large dogs on the island of Grand Canary.

This was a first for us; seeing a man riding a bike with a parrot on his shoulder. Greg snapped his picture while he was stopped at a light. Great pet to have!

We always love it when we pass by a local market. You can find nuts, dried fruit and olives in abundance.

 Greg is a master at framing a photo before he takes it. This is another view of Tenerife.

The mountains have not changed since 2012. I know this because I took this photo in 2012 when I was in Tenerife with Arta. 

Rome and Gelato

One of the reasons we like to stop in Rome is Rome itself. But another reason is the gelato. Moiya found this gelato shop when I was in Rome with Arta, Dave and Moiya. Now when we go back to Rome, we stay in a hotel near the gelato store.

We hit the gelato shop once on Sunday evening, twice on Monday and twice on Tuesday. We thought about not going the second time on Tuesday but since we left for the ship on Wednesday, we went back a second time.

So many flavours it is hard to choose. Somehow we left the camera back in the room the other days.