By Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com
Where to begin in choosing highlights from a tour of 10 exotic ports in four countries in Central Europe (and briefly into Asia)?
In this instance, no better place than at the end. That would be the gourmet dinner at a rooftop restaurant in Athens with the sun setting and the Greek Parthenon looming in the background.
That was one of many indelible mental images from a whirlwind spin through the Adriatic Sea, Greek Isles and all the way to the Turkish capital of Istanbul aboard the Norwegian Viva in May 2024.
The itinerary began with the Italian ports of Trieste (now the starting point for many cruises because large cruise ships have been banned from Venice ) and Ravenna, two stops in Croatia (Split and Dubrovnik), Greek isles of Corfu and Santorini, Turkish ports of Kusadasi and Istanbul, and returning to the Greece Isles at Mykonos before ending in Athens. (More about the stops below).
The Library of Celsus is the most impressive structure in the ruined ancient city of Ephesus, once a major center of learning in the Roman empire. Curiously, an underground tunnel connected the library to a brothel directly across the marble street and adjacent to a public latrine. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)Mind-expanding voyage into the past
It was a kaleidoscopic cultural experience that provided an intriguing glimpse of people and places far from home, showed we had much in common and made us want to know more about them.
This was particularly eye-opening as we visited some of the oldest and most iconic sites in recorded history.
In Turkey, we prowled streets of the sprawling ruined city of Ephesus, which was founded in the 10th century BC and was significant in the Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires as well as early Christianity.
At Ravenna, Italy, we saw stunning Byzantine mosaics in 1,500-year-old churches, and in Istanbul witnessed similar scenes in the famed Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.
On the final day I made the steep climb to the Acropolis in Athens, where the historical significance is simply overwhelming.
At almost every port we were inundated with historical information. Couldn’t help thinking, hope there’s not going to be a test on this.
Photo gallery (clockwise from top left): Singers in the old city of Split, Croatia; Croatian folk dancers in Dubrovnik; a retired imam running a shop in Sirince, Turkey; guard at the port of Kusadasik, Turkey; a priest in Corfu, Greece; Peter Jelenic, jewelry designer and store owner in Split, Croatia.
Local pride evident in every country
It was enlightening to see places that not only span centuries but millennia – there were former palaces now being used as shopping centers. But what impressed us most was the friendliness of the people in every country we visited.
There was the retired imam manning his daughter’s store in the quaint Turkish town of Şirince. When my wife told him that her father was born in Istanbul, his face lit up and he declared, “You’re my sister!”
All of our tour guides were knowledgeable and took pride in telling about the various places we visited that were so foreign to us but they call home. But there was a lot of curiosity about us as well.
When a shopkeeper near the port of Kusadasi found out we were from South Florida he wanted to talk basketball.
“I believe you have a team there,” he said, alluding to the Miami Heat, then added, “I hope to visit your country one day and see an NBA game and go to a jazz club.”
In the Old Town of Corfu, you could buy jerseys of a number of NBA stars, past and present, as well as a pink No. 10 Inter Miami jersey of Lionel Messi.
Multiple stops across four countries
Here is an overview of the ports. Follow the links for more details on what each had to offer.
Trieste, Italy
Trieste images (clockwise from top left): Palazzo Lloyd Triestino building; students gathering in the main square; the grand canal; statue of Neptune. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
This is the new Venice, at least as a starting or ending port for many cruises since Venice banned the larger cruise ships (over 25,000 gross tonnage) in 2021. Situated about 100 miles (land route) from Venice in northeastern Italy close to Slovenia, Trieste turned out to be the unexpected gem of our trip. It’s a beautiful, walkable city with Parisian-style sidewalk cafes and elegant Austrian-Hungarian architecture. Its impressive central piazza may fall short of Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, but it’s much less crowded. Trieste has its own grand canal lined with outdoor restaurants, which abound throughout the city.
More on Italy: Trieste a delight as cruise port alternative to Venice
Ravenna, Italy
Ravenna images: (two from left) Religious mosaics at the Basilica of San Vitale; (far mosaics in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
Once the capital of the Western Roman and Byzantine empires, this ancient city is significant as a tourist destination due to the superb mosaics in churches that date to the 5th and 6th centuries. Composed of tiny chips of marble and glass, the mosaics tell stories of religious history in intricate detail. The colors are brilliant and the workmanship mind-boggling. We saw two of the most prominent displays – eight of them in Ravenna are UNESCO World Heritage sites – on a walking tour with a scholarly guide and one other couple that proved to be an enlightening stroll back in time. The city is also know for the tomb of the poet Dante Alighieri, which we visited.
Split, Croatia
Photos from Diocletian’s Palace in the old city of Split, Croatia. (craigslegztravels.com)
The contemporary Riva seafront promenade has the appearance of Fort Lauderdale or downtown West Palm Beach with all the boats, palm trees and sidewalk eateries. But just a block away you enter the Old City built as a retirement palace for the Roman Emperor Diocletian some 1,700 years ago. Wandering the narrow streets we enjoyed the low-key vibe of the shopkeepers, singers harmonizing in the palace vestibule and were intrigued to discover that people still live in apartments within the Old City.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik images (from left): couple doing wedding dance; crowds jam Stradun in ancient walled city; singer after performance in old city; Fort Lovrijenac, used in filming of Game of Thrones. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
The ancient walled city was more intense than its counterpart in Split due to an overflow Sunday crowd. This popular destination has been ranked as the most “over-touristed” in Europe, according to statista.com. “Game of Thrones” fans have contributed to that in recent years, eager to see some of the filming locations which are featured on various guided tours.
We did find a pastoral vibe amid the pandemonium when a Croatian folklore group did a performance of traditional dances, songs and chants outside one of the churches. Despite the overcrowding, Dubrovnik is worth visiting and returning to. The charming Love Stories Museum was a pleasant surprise.
More on Dubrovnik: Crowds a reality but we found ways around them
Corfu, Greece
Corfu, Greece images and video (clockwise from top left): Liston Street grand walkway; shops line streets of old town; jersey of famous athletes for sale in old town; lush vegetation of Corful, the greenest of Greek Isles; street musicians perform in old town. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
We hardly knew ye, Corfu. A very brief stop on the itinerary allowed just enough time to explore the cobblestone streets of old town and stop for a melt-in-your-mouth baklava along scenic Liston Lane. While we enjoyed the World Heritage site at the center of Corfu, it’s a shame we couldn’t have seen more of this lush and lovely island, the greenest of the Greek Isles. Our taxi driver made a strong case why Corfu is the best Greek island to visit; when we told him we were headed next to Santorini, he said pointedly, “Good luck.”
Santorini, Greece
Santorini scenes: Popular photo opp with Three Bells of Fira in background; blue eyes to ward off ‘evil eye’; blue domes dominate view from Oia, where tourists jam the walkways. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
This most popular Greek Island – likely the most photographed – is famous for white-washed houses and blue-domed churches on the steep sides of a volcano. Its beauty and popularity are also its chief drawback. Arriving on one of four cruise ships calling that day, it was quickly apparent what the Corfu taxi driver was talking about. The lines for the cable cars that begin most tours were interminable. Upon reaching the towns of Fira and Oai, there was a lot of competition and jostling for those iconic photo opps. But the guide on our small-group Vexperio tour (booked through Viator) did us a huge favor by taking us by boat to bypass the cable cars, and later showed us a more tranquil side of Santorini with a stop at the picturesque and historic village of Megalochori.
More on Santorini, Mykonos: Greek considers restrictions on cruise ship visit by 2025
Kusadasi, Turkey
Images from Turkey (clockwise from top right): fine-crafted carpets for sale in Kusadasi; whirling dervishes a popular souvenir item; fake designer watches for sale in Kusadasi; face of Medusa on an ancient arch at ruins of Ephesus; statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk over looks Kusadasi. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
An early wake-up call for the NCL-run shore excursion was well worth it as we were the first bus of the day at the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus about 12 miles from Kusadasi. The early arrival ahead of the crowds made it easier to envision when this fabulous archaeological site was was one of the most important cities in the ancient world and the likes of Mark Antony and Cleopatra walked on the marble-stone Arcadian Way lined with grand columns that are now mostly rubble.
Then it was off to the quaint village of Şirince for a wine tasting and perusing local shops, then back to Kusadasi for a demonstration of Turkish carpet weaving and some haggling at the bazaar by the port. Talk about a kaleidoscope of culture all before noon.
Istanbul, Turkey
Images of Istanbul (clockwise from top left): outside the Blue Mosque; upside-down Medusa in the Basilica Cistern; inside Hagia Sophia grand mosque; saffron store in the Grand Bazaar; sign for whirling dervish show. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
Pulling into port of this city of 15 million initially calls to mind San Francisco with ferry boats crisscrossing a bustling bay, a large expansion bridge looming in the distance and the city rising in the surrounding hills. That is until you see the many blue-domed mosques surrounded by minarets. Hearing the call to prayer reverberate from 100 speakers at the Blue Mosque, we were reminded that this is a Muslim country and unlike any place we’ve been.
More than that, it is a city full of energy and beauty, fascinating, mysterious and a bit imposing. We were impressed by the exterior of the Blue Mosque (the line to get inside was hours’ long), the inside of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and the mind-boggling underground Basilica Cistern, which was a setting in James Bond’s “From Russia With Love.” We most enjoyed lamb kabobs for lunch, a too brief venture into the massive Grand Bazaar and a stop for Turkish pistachio baklava on the way back to the ship. This was Fran’s first visit to the city where her father was born, and the feeling was we’d like to return to see more of it.
Mykonos, Greece
Mykonos views Images from Turkey (clockwise from top right): red-domed church in Old Port; sunset; windmills are scenic and practical on windy island; white-washed houses line hills overlooking port. (Craig Davis, craigslegztravels.com)
This island is known for electric nightlife, beaches, 16th century windmills and some of the most picturesque Greek Isles scenes. With only three hours to explore due to the tedious tendering process from the ship to shore, we spent all of it exploring the old port, which felt like a movie set of a rom-com. Lunch on the waterfront at Rouvera was idyllic with seafood spaghetti and dessert that confirmed our preference for Greek baklava over the Turkish. There appears to be a lot to love about Mykonos and we’d love to return.
Cruises offer a sampling of places rather than an immersive experience
A desire to see more was a common feeling as we progressed from port to port, that we barely scratched the surface of what each place had to offer. And yet we learned a lot about a part of the world that was largely unknown to us.
Think of the modern cruise ship experience as a movable feast. Actually more like tapas — a series of quick bites, considering the limited time allotted in each port.
It is not an immersive experience. Rather a sampling, just enough to determine places worth returning to for further exploration.
We’ve developed an affinity for cruising because of the convenience it lends to traveling. There’s no packing and moving from one hotel to another. In essence, the ship is a hotel that accompanies you. Returning to the ship after each outing ashore feels like going home.
And there is no other way to visit as many notable places over such a vast area – the stop in Kusadasi took us into Asia, which contains the majority of Turkey’s land mass.
Expanding personal horizons is one of the most pleasing benefits of travel. For us it was a reawakening to life far from home on our first venture outside the U.S. and Caribbean region since the COVID pandemic and left us eager for more.
Dinner with view of Acropolis a fitting final act
The climactic dinner of the trip resonated because it came a few hours after I hiked to the Acropolis, the great Greek citadel on the hill above Athens, a complex of monuments built some 2,400 years ago.
There in full view of the Parthenon, a masterpiece of ancient Greek architecture created in homage to the goddess Athena, we were eating fine Mediterranean contemporary cuisine at the Point A restaurant on the rooftop of the Herodion Hotel.
This was the perfect meeting of past and present Greek culture.
We enjoyed the young serving staff as much as the eclectic cuisine and iconic view. One of our servers, 20-something Nick, said it is as pleasant to work in such a setting as to dine there.
He described Point A’s menu as fusion. Certainly, the Lamb Terine main course was a novel blend of presentation and flavor.
But was this meal distinctly better than we found elsewhere? The location was unique and without peer. But there was plenty of competition among cuisines, which impressed us at every stop in Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
Foodie memories (from left): View from Point A rooftop restaurant with Greek Parthenon in background; baklava in Istanbul; Greek salad for lunch in Athens; Gnocchi with shaved black truffle and buratta salad in Split. (craigslegztravels.com)
Food a highlight from each country visited
It began with the gnocchi goulash in the departure port of Trieste, a specialty of that region in northeastern Italy. There was the surprising truffle cream sauce on the pasta for lunch at a waterfront sidewalk cafe in Split, Croatia. The seaside lunch in Mykonos was more picturesque if not as unique as the rooftop in Athens.
That doesn’t even account for standout meals at four specialty restaurants aboard the Viva.
When all was said and done, memories of the meals stuck with us better than all the historical facts, though we appreciated the depth of history that we witnessed.
Can’t wait to plan the next movable feast into distant cultures past and present.
Home at sea on the Norwegian Viva
NCL’s newest ship, which debuted in 2023, is the cruise line’s third that we’ve sailed on. It is distinguished by the roomiest staterooms we’ve experienced on any cruise line, innovative modern and contemporary design, high-quality specialty restaurants and numerous intimate spaces and hideaways throughout the ship.
We are big fans of NCL’s freestyle cruising with flexible dining options after experiencing other cruise lines that had designated times, assigned seating and limited menu options. We don’t mind that many of the restaurants require additional charges. The typical NCL package includes two dinners at specialty restaurants and we paid for two more, and were glad we did. This was our first experience with NCL’s Food Republic – an assortment of international street food items from different counties including Mexico, Germany and Peru and leaning heavily into Asian with Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai plus a sushi bar. It may have been the best meal we’ve ever had aboard ship.
Viva’s traditional buffet restaurant is smaller and more limited than on other NCL ships, but that is offset for us by the Indulge Food Hall featuring food truck-like stations serving global cuisine. You order on touchscreens at your table and wait for the food to be delivered. Others passengers have complained about Viva’s disappointing buffet, and we found breakfast options to be limited on the ship.
Among the entertainment venues is Syd Norman’s Pour House, popular on four other NCL ships. Modeled after legendary rock clubs of the ’70s, Syd’s is cramped and it’s usually difficult to get a seat, but that’s part of the allure. One of the highlights is when the house band performs the entire Fleetwood Mac “Rumours album.” We thought the performance during a 2022 cruise on the Breakaway was terrific, and found that the singers on the Viva were just as talented.
More about the Viva: Legend of Syd Norman’s Pour House alive and rockin’ the NCL Viva
Craigslegz Travel Alien: Bebop added to his resume as a world traveler during the European cruise. See where else Bebop has been by visiting his page at craigslegztravels.com.
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