Koper, Slovenia

You can see Italy from the shores of this city in Slovenia, and tomorrow we'll be disembarking in one of its premier cities.  Actually, Venice has moved aggressively to curtail the cruise and tourist industry from massive mobs of people to manageable, and to do this we will be docking 1.5 hours away and taking private transportation to our hotel  But for today, we're in another of the relatively sleepy towns of Eastern Europe.

Slovenia is one of the parts of the former Yugoslavia, and if you didn't know that, you'd realize it quickly when the first public square you encounter at the tour's beginning is named for Tito, the former Yugoslavian strongman.  Unlike the others we've seen, though, it was touched by disturbances when Yugoslavia fractured only for about 10 days in the beginning, more civil protests than anything and not like the war that tortured Croatia.

What also made today different from the ones prior was the weather - it was simply spectacular.  There wasn't a cloud in the beautiful blue sky and the morning weather got us to barely 80 degrees by noon.  Walking around and viewing the sites was simply a pleasure.

The major sites in Tito Square were a 15th. century Praetorian Palace made by the occupiers at the time, the Venecians.  Also, we saw a simply beautiful 12th. century cathedral, Mary of the Assumption, which is home to a bell cast in 1333.  It rings throughout the day and we were treated to its wonderful sounds as we walked around the city.  It wasn't as crowded here as in some of the other cities but some of the narrow medieval streets were more than bursting with people.

After a couple hours, the tour was over.  Cheryl and I stopped at
a cafe for a cold drink before returning to the ship for the afternoon.  There, it was bathing suits on and a great hot dog at the Pool Bar and Grill before a quick dip in the nice onboard pool.  Tonight we must have our luggage outside our door by 10 p.m. for collection and then, in the morning, disembarkation.  I've mentioned we're staying a couple extra days in Venice - why come this far and only see the Venice International Airport?  

I've always wanted to see the wonders of Venice, a city built on and in the water.  We're going to get that chance tomorrow and Thursday, and will be back with you tomorrow evening after our first day there.



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