2024 - My Mediterranean Odsesey

It is so wonderful to report that we finally turned a corner, literally and figuratively, on our days in Nice.  Whatever bug it was that took us down seems to have now worked its way through our systems and we are doing so much better.  Whew! For my last couple of days in Nice, in spite of the weather, I did manage to get to a store near the old harbour which sells a wide variety of items - tablecloths, tea towels, etc. - in Provence fabrics.  I wished I'd had more energy to explore the shop and the two guys who run it were super.  I treated myself to a couple of tablecloths.  I then walked past the big war memorial on my way around the point back to the Old Town where I stopped for lunch at Bollengers in Cours Saleya for a crepe.  It was nice to be feeling a bit more normal. Sunday, we left our apartment, and hopefully the less than perfect time we'd had in Nice, and picked up a rental car at the airport.  There was an "orange weather" alert and, at t...

Well, it is now Thursday and I have been here since Saturday evening.  To say, I am not having the kind of time I expected to have here would be the world's biggest understatement!  Somewhere along the journey here - not convinced it was from the ship but certainly somewhere - it seems I picked up what is probably the Norwalk virus.  I have never been so ill in my life - it has been ugly and violent - and I have left the flat only twice since Sunday evening when all this started: once, two days ago for lunch when I thought I was doing better; and then, today, to run some errands.  So sorry, there are no pictures of fun times, no funny anecdotes of adventures; and, no updates on new wonderful places I've discovered here.  The really bad news is that now both Jeff and Jo are sick too - and, while they are both being gracious, it is, of course, my fault albeit entirely unintentional that this happened!   I have my fingers crossed that by the weekend, when...

Well, yesterday was a bit of an adventure - not in a good way.  My flights from Venice to Rome and then from Rome to Nice were both delayed; the first one so much so that I missed my connection and had to sit in Rome airport for four extra hours.  This was all after having to disembark from the ship at 7 am so, by the time I finally arrived at Cote d'Azur airport, it was 5 hours later than I'd planned to get there and I was very tired.  That was the frustrating part.  The great part was seeing the friendly face of my friend, Elaine, who lives in Nice, meeting me with her son, Louis, in tow.  It was so much nicer than finding a taxi to get me to the apartment.  Then, as we pulled up, there was Jeffrey hanging out the window giving me a big welcoming wave!  All that plus I am back in one of my favourite spots. After I settled in a bit, we went down to the restaurant that is directly below the apartment.  Like so many restaurants in Nice, it is Itali...

I spent the last several days hunkered in my cabin getting over whatever "thing" I had.  Last evening, for the first time in four days, I went to the main dining room for dinner and it was great to be socializing again.  I really hadn't wanted to be around people until then.  Thankfully, two of the ports I missed (Split and Hvar) were ones I already were familiar with.  I have fond memories of the 4 days I spent in Hvar in 2019 when the sky was blue and the water a crystal turquoise.  Yesterday was a very grey day there - the sky and the water - so I wasn't even tempted to get off the ship.  Unfortunately, I missed Sibenik but I didn't have much choice as I sure didn't feel up for seeing it. Today, we are in Pula, our last port of call.  Pula, a seafront city on the tip of Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula, is known for its protected harbor, beach-lined coast and Roman ruins.  Settled in the prehistoric era and valued for its strategic location, Pula ha...