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Our cruise itinerary
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We flew to Venice, Italy for a few days before we were to board the NCL Jade for a 7-day cruise to the Greek Islands.
We also visited the islands of Murano and Burano while in Venice. We got water taxi passes for the days we were there and used the system quite a bit.
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| Burano |
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| Burano |
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| Waiting for the water taxi! |
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| Heading out to Murano |
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| Lots of Murano glass to buy |
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| Our hotel in Venice - Hotel Olimpia |
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| Venice Canal |
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We saw many of these during our
time in Venice! |
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| A great pizza for lunch! |
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| Spaghetti and Clams for Dinner! |
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| and a little wine! |
After spending a few very warm days in Venice, we walked over to the Venice Port to meet the Jade. The Jade would be our home away from home for the next 7 days. Just before we left home, we got the call from NCL, asking if we would like to upgrade to the Owners' Suite. Of course, we jumped at that opportunity!!
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| The Jade docked at the Port of Venice |
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| The door to our suite! It was the only cabin on deck 15. |
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| This is how Deb does sailaway! |
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| Living Room in the Suite |
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The bedroom! The bedding was just so comfy!!
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View of one of two private balconies
that came with our suite. |
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| Pool view from our suite....early on Day 1! |
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| Pool on a Sea Day! |
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| Chris NOT napping on the second balcony!! |
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| Chocolate Buffet |
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Chocolate covered strawberries
at the Chocolate Buffet |
Our first port was Corfu, Greece.
We met up with our private guide, Demetrius. We had a 4-hour tour of Corfu in an air-conditioned Mercedes!
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| Chris and Demetrius |
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| Chris enjoying the view of Corfu. |
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| Chris and Demetrius examining an olive crusher |
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Some of the people of Corfu still use donkeys
as a form of transportation.
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Our next port of call was Mykonos. We opted to rent a car for the day and see Mykonos on our own!
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Deb finally got to drive a Smart Car!
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| Mykonos |
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Mykonos Beach in Town
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| Another beach in Mykonos |
We read about a restaurant, Kicki's, that is located under a giant olive tree. It took us a little while to find it, but eventually we did.
There is no sign, phone, or electricity! Kiki's is perched above the beach and hidden behind the trees that surround it. Meat and fish are grilled on a charcoal barbecue and served in a shady courtyard with a great view of the ocean.
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We started off with wonderful
salads!
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Grill where our pork chop and chicken were being cooked!
That is Deb in the background in the orange shirt!
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And at the end of every great meal,
comes the check! |
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| This is one of many windwills we saw during our day in Mykonos! |
Our next port was Santorini.
Our first view of Santorini.
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We wandered around the town of Oia
taking in the sights.
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| Wouldn't it be great to have this pool? |
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We decided to stop and have lunch at
one of the local restaurants.
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Now that is a great salad!
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| Stuffed grapeleaves. |
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| And of course, the check! Looks Greek to us!! |
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Returning to the ship, you could take
one of these donkeys down the hill, or....
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Take the cable car,,,which we did!
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| We saw a beautiful sunset before we left Santorni. |
Our last port of call was Katakolon, Greece.
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We had nothing planned for this stop,
so we just wandered around the town.
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| The Jade docked at Katakolon |
The Jade returned to the Port of Venice, and we began the third part of our trip...driving a rental car from Venice to Chianti.
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| Back to Venice |
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Chris got to finally drive a Fiat!
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Our drive was pretty uneventful as we took the Autostrade to get to Greve quickly. We stayed at the same agritourismo as before, but this time, we were able to get the standalone apartment, Chiara.
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We made use of the grill on our patio
several evenings! |
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Chris answering the door!
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We really enjoyed hanging out on the patio!
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One of the reasons we wanted to return to Greve was to attend the Annual Chianti Classico Wine Festival. This visit worked out just right, we spent a great day tasting wines from all over Chianti.
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Chris checking out the olive oil
at the Wine Festival |
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Even the Fiats came to the
Wine Festival!
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A little fog in the Chianti valley
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The vineyards were beautiful this time
of the year! |
We spent the week exploring the Chianti region and doing a lot of eating!
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| Market day in Panzano |
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| Lunch in Volterra |
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We love the doors in Italy!
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and the narrow walkways!!
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After spending 8 days in Geve, we drove to the Florence airport to drop off the Fiat. We then spent 3 days in Florence at the Hotel David. We shopped, explored, and ate some more!!
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There are so many interesting
things to see! |
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| The Ponte Vecchio in the evening. |
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| Chris at the Love Locks on the Ponte Vecchio |
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One of our favorite restaurants in Fieosole...
up on a hill from Florence. |
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| And Deb loves to shop in Florence!! |
Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and return home! Our flight home was easy, but once we got to the parking lot at the airport.....
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You guessed it...
the dreaded dead battery! |
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But it wasn't long before we
were on I-95 heading for home! |
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