Having the opportunity to visit Dubrovnik, Croatia was only due to the necessity of the ship finding another port of call when strikes in Athens prevented us from stopping when all public forms of transportation were shut down.
Excuse the dates on the photos. My error. Will remove them for next batch of photos.
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| This Windstar small cruise ship enhanced the view as we made our way into the harbor. |
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| Dubrovnik Croatia, a beautiful shoreline. |
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| There’s Tom, happy as a clam as we make our way in a lifeboat to the shore of Dubrovnik Croatia. |
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| The shoreline as we approached. |
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| The walled city of Dubrovnik. |
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| Another city following a design restriction presenting a similar style to the newer homes and structures. |
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| Both new and old Dubrovnik were beautiful. |
We couldn’t be more thrilled to have visited Dubrovnik today, an enchanting walled city, filled with rich history and charm that is difficult to describe.
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| No more than a few feet from the tender, we were greeted with the charm of this historical city. |
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| The artwork depicting the treasures of the city were in abundance. |
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| The narrow passageways led to one interesting view after another. |
To think we may not have seen this city, this country simply further proves how much this world has to offer as we make our way on our relentless journey of discovery and wonder. We can’t wipe the smiles off of our faces.
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| Many of the narrow streets had stairways leading to more narrow streets. |
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| Every possible space was devoted to enhancing the productivity of the city. |
With no available tenders, our ship, the Norwegian Spirit, decided to use its own lifeboats to transport us from the harbor to the shore. Gee, we hope it’s the only time we’ll see the inside of a lifeboat!
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| Yep! Lots of cruise ship tourists. It would be ideal to visit this city in the off season. |
Tomorrow, we’ll be nearing the end of this cruise, as the ship sails soon toward Venice, Italy. Also, our bags will be packed, awaiting pickup outside of our cabin door by tomorrow, Saturday, at 11:00 pm while we keep our digital equipment in our possession along with clothing and toiletries to disembark on Sunday.
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| Sorry, no time to edit out stranger’s heads. |
Taking a cab to the airport to pick up our rental car, we will begin the four hour drive to our new residence in Lucca in the Tuscany region. Today, we printed our rental car confirmation, directions and a map to the property and a list of all of the foods I can and cannot eat, in Italian, to be used when we dine while in Italy.
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Could it be more enticing?
 With no room in our luggage, buying anything was out of the question, but nonetheless tempting with the wide array of handcrafted items at every turn.
 This parrot was sitting atop a woman’s head.  Twice, we stopped for beverages, once by ourselves and a second time when joining our new friends, Nicole and Gerry.  .Tom enjoyed the local beer.Not a big soda drinker it was the only beverage available without sugar. Ice wasn’t available, not unusual as we’ve found in many countries.
 Another view of the square as we worked our way back to the lifeboat.  The architecture continued to be impressive.  At the pier as we were boarding the lifeboat for our return to the ship.
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Looking forward to “settling down” for the next few months while we tour Italy a day or two each week, sharing the details and photos of our outings and, of course, the minutiae of our daily lives, living in a country where we don’t speak the language as we learn the culture and embrace the local customs and lifestyle.
We’ll be back tomorrow from Venice!