Italy Intensive Cruise on the Azamara Pursuit
6/16/24 to 7/2/24
Click on the above link buttons that will take you directly to a particular page or area of the review; or you can just click through to the next page at the bottom of each page.
Page 1 – Pre-cruise in Venice, Italy
Page 2 – Embarkation, Ship, Cabin
Page 3 - Entertainment, Activitiess; Ports of Call: Ravenna, Italy; Sibenik, Croatia
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Kotor, Montenegro; Taranto, Italy; Taormina, Sicily
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Palermo, Sicily; Amalfi, Italy; Sorento, Italy
Page 6 - Disembarkation; Post-cruise in Florence, Italy
Kotor, Montenegro
I was thrilled that Kotor was on our itinerary. When here in 2012, we had a great tour, but there was just so much more to see in the area. One of the treats of visiting Kotor is the cruise up the Bay of Kotor. It was mentioned after the previous evening’s show, but there was nothing in the daily paper to tell us to be sure to watch the lovely cruise through the mountains and villages. I was surprised, since the ship normally wants the guests to enjoy this special arrival. Since we weren’t told what time we would enter the bay, I guessed at it but was a few minutes late and missed seeing the fort at the entrance from the front. It worked out OK, since I had to take photos looking back most of the time due to the sun in front of the ship.
The towns seemed much larger than when I passed through 12 years earlier, but the scenery was still lovely.
I saw a couple of tunnels that had what looked like rebar sticking out. White stones were piled on the rebar. It looked like they were there to catch the stones before they fell from the mountain into the water.
There were some nice resorts along the bay. Some even had palm trees.
We then came to an area where most people are looking forward to taking photos of two islands in the middle of the bay. We would visit one of them later.
We continued the ride in, arriving in Kotor around 9:00 AM.
We were thrilled that we were docked, since this was supposed to be a tender port. It allowed us to get off the ship much faster and meet our guide for the day, Petar. I found him through TripAdvisor/Viator (LINK). He was very enthusiastic and anxious to show us everything he could of his part of the world. He did a very good job for us and was just a nice guy.
Peter told us that we would need to go through the tunnel to get to where private guides were allowed to park. We were pleased that the tunnel had escalators.
The first place we were going was to visit the island we saw on the way in, Our Lady of the Rocks. It is an artificial island that was made by seamen who threw ballast stones there; as well as sinking old and seized ships there loaded with rocks. The church has been there for over 500 years. I wanted to visit it during my last visit but ran out of time. I wouldn’t this time, since it was the first item on the itinerary. Petar dropped us off and then walked us to a boat captain for the ride to the island. It was a smooth fast ride. On the way, I was able to get photos of the Lady of the Rocks and St. George Island. It is a natural island with a 12th century monastery and graveyard on it.
We arrived at the end of the island I hadn’t seen before with a lighthouse. When we got off the boat, Cathy and Gail wanted a photo with Sasha, the boat captain.
Heading toward the church was a very different look than I previously saw from the other side. It was a much longer island than I expected. There was also a bust of Frano Alfirević, a Croatian poet.
We got to the front of the church and then went in. It was much prettier than I expected.
At one side of the altar, they had corsages left by brides who had been married at the church.
We then went through the altar to a door leading to a small museum. I should have gone upstairs to see what was there, but I passed due to so many people going up the stairs.
I went back outside and took photos from the other side of the church before heading back to the boat for the return trip.
Sasha arrived right on time and took us back to Perast, where we would walk to the end of town where we would meet up with Petar to continue our tour. Walking through town along the water, we saw some buildings, but we also saw some unusual art pieces. We later asked Petar what they were about. He had no idea either.
It was a pretty view looking back at Perast as we ended the walk.
It had been a hot walk, since there was very little shade along the water. This would also be the hottest day so far with the temperature reaching the 90’s. We were very glad to see Petar waiting for us. Our next destination was the town of Budva. Upon arrival we were impressed with the large walls around the city.
We went through the gate and were in an old medieval town. A very interesting, lovely town with lots to see.
We walked over to a plaza that looked out onto the water, where we could see an island with a beach. Petar said that it is a very popular place. The water looked quite inviting.
We continued exploring the town and came out on the other side from where we entered. It allowed us to see the large brass bell. It has been there since 1963. It was a prop in the movie “The Long Ships” that was partially filmed in Budva.
With it being lunch time, Petar recommended a restaurant with a great view for us to go to. It would take about 20 minutes to get there. When we arrived, we agreed that it was worth the drive. In addition to the view, there was a nice cool breeze that made our meal even better.
On the way back to the ship, Petar wanted to stop for a photo opp. He picked a great one! In addition to the lovely bay, we had a nice view of our ship.
When we got back to Kotor, Petar asked if we wanted to go to the ship or stop short of it so we could go through the market. Since we hadn’t seen Kotor yet, we stopped at the market.
We also had a different view of the Pursuit. Even though it appears that we could just walk across the street to get to the ship from town, we had to go back through the tunnel under the street to get there.
We walked around the medieval town enjoying the scenery, especially the view up the mountain. Many people want to walk up the mountain to see the small church, walls and fort. It is a very difficult walk and not something that this old man would consider anymore. I did go up a short way in 2012, but quickly realized that it was not good idea even back then.
We continued our walk through the pretty town. We knew we wouldn’t visit for long due to the heat and that we already had a full day of touring behind us. We checked out the Church of St. Nicholas. It is an Orthodox church with a pretty interior.
We had to cut our exploration short to get out of the heat and cool down, so we went back to the ship. After resting up a bit, I took some more photos from the ship of the area. It is a lovely place.
This was the night that we had our AzAmazing evening onboard. Since the local performers had to board and leave the ship, we didn’t leave port until 10:00 PM. This meant that we could see the illuminations on the mountainside.
Taranto, Italy
The previous day had been our only sea day we would have on the cruise. It was also the only day the seas weren’t relatively flat for the whole cruise. We had very minor movement. This would be the smoothest seas of any cruise I have taken.
I was very excited about visiting the port of Taranto. I had never been to the Puglia region of Italy and there were places I wanted to see. As we approached the port, we passed by small San Paolo Island.
I found a tour on TripAdvisor (LINK) that included a visit to the town of Alberobello. This was a place that I wanted to visit for a long time. I had seen conical roof dwellings called Trulli houses in travel videos and always wanted to see them in person. This particular tour also went to the towns of Martina Franca and Locorotondo. I wasn’t that interested in those towns when I booked the tour, but they looked good. With us visiting three towns, we asked if we could make it a longer tour to spend more time in each place.
When we got off the ship, we walked to the area where private tour groups were waiting for their guests. We met a person from the tour company at the van who introduced us to our van driver Alessio. He would take us to our first stop, the town of Martina Franca, where we would meet our guide for the day, Franca. Having the same name as the town made it easy to remember her name. She was another excellent guide on this vacation.
When we arrived in Martina Franca, there was a large plaza in front of the gate to the city.
In front of the gate was a unique piece of artwork.
We then came to Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s Palace with another interesting statue in front of it. Franca told us that we would come back later to visit the palace after it opened at 10:00 AM.
There was also a fountain that had the emblem of the city on it, a scorpion.
As we walked through the town, we were most impressed with how clean and well maintained the city was. Franca told us that it is a priority for the town. There are rules that require regular whitewashing of surfaces and other maintenance. It is a lovely place to just stroll through.
I liked the musical staff decorations on one street. I hadn’t seen that before.
The beautiful buildings and statues made for a most enjoyable tour of a town we had not originally planned to visit. We were so glad it was on the itinerary.
We came to the Basilica of San Martino that was built in 1747.
The interior was very nice with a lovely altar and beautiful chapels.
We left and walked over to the Doge’s Palace. We were surprised that it was free to enter, after being charged an entry fee at so many other places we had visited. After entering the building, we had to climb a lot of steps to get to the main floor. Franca told us that there was an elevator we could use at the other end of the building on the way down. Once there, it looked like an elegant building. The door was quite impressive.
We came to a long ornately decorated hallway. We would walk down the hallway looking at all the various rooms.
Each room had its own personality, and each one was a photo treat. I have only put in a sampling of all the rooms. There were lots of them. They were all covered in similar types of artwork.
From one of the rooms, there was an open window where we could look down on the lovely streets of Martina Franca.
Alessio picked us up in the van and we headed to the town of Locorotondo. We could see the town on the hill as we approached it.
This is the town where Franca lived. It was another beautifully maintained place that also had restrictions requiring it to remain that way. We loved walking through this lovely quaint town.
Franca wanted us to see the inside of a very tiny building, the Church of San Nicola of Myra.
As we entered, we were surprised to see the beautiful barrel-vaulted roof room. Franca pointed out some of the scenes depicted on the walls and told us about them. The small church was a pleasant surprise.
We continued our walk taking in the beauty of this small town. As with Martina Franca, part of the beauty of both towns was that there weren’t many tourists there. It makes such a difference.
We were hearing music in the background when we came into a plaza where a Maserati hearse was parked. Now that is a beautiful and very special hearse.
Soon the music got closer as the small band with the mourners came out of the church toward the hearse. It was a joyous celebration of life and lovely send off for someone.
Franca walked us over to an area where we had an overlook of the surrounding countryside. I was surprised to see so many of the trulli houses there that we would soon see in Alberobello.
We were so glad that we visited Locorotondo and Martina Franca. It was such a lovely and enjoyable town. I appreciated that the tour company knew that they were must visit places if we were going to Alberobello.
It wasn’t a long drive to Alberobello, a UNESCO World Hertage Site with over 1,500 trullis. These conical roofed dwellings began as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as homes in agricultural areas. They were built with dry stones rather than with mortar. In this way they could be dismantled easily when they heard that the tax collectors were in the area. Rather clever.
When we arrived, Franca took us to an area to see some trulli houses that wasn’t as crowded as the main town. We got to see our first trullo close up. Although trullo is the singular of the name and trulli is plural, tourists normally just use the word trulli when discussing them.
She showed us an overlook where we could look down on a bunch of trulli.
We then walked through the less crowded area we were in looking at the trulli lined streets.
We came to one trulli that had a sign on it, “Visit the Ancient Trullo.” We were thrilled to have the opportunity to enter one.
They were so cute and comfortable inside. By putting several of the buildings together, they had a nice size home.
We continued our walk through the neighborhood.
As we were leaving it, Franca pointed out a large trulli on the corner. It is owned by a doctor and the largest one in town.
We walked down to the town’s main square where there was a nice fountain.
Next to the square, we could look down to the trulli town we had seen from above.
We walked down to the town where there were shops, restaurants and even churches.
Franca told us that there was a nice trulli church on top of the hill if we wanted to walk up there. We didn’t. We were fine lower down. With this part of the town being much more crowded with tourists, it didn’t lend itself as well for taking photos. But I did find some less crowded spots.
After seeing as much as we wanted to, we found a small trulli restaurant for lunch. Alessio drove us back to Locorotondo to drop off Franca. We thanked her for the wonderful and most memorable tour. It was our favorite tour of the cruise. We then went back to Taranto to rejoin the ship. We didn’t have enough time to walk into Taranto, plus we walked enough already. I had to settle for a few photos of the city from the ship.
We couldn’t believe how fortunate we were with the weather on this vacation. It hadn't rained and we had mostly pleasant temperatures. This day was much better than in Kotor. We had a high of 84 with 50% humidity. That is low humidity for south Floridians.
Taormina, Sicily
We could see the volcano, Mt. Etna, in the background as we approached our first tender port, Giardini Naxos. We were pleased it was only a 5-minute ride to the tender dock.
It is the closest port to the town of Taormina that we could see midway up the mountain. It is a very pretty area.
All four of us had visited Taormina before, but from different ports. We decided to just go into town, walk around, have lunch and return to the ship. That sounded easy enough, but it turned out not to be. With the ship not having any shuttles up the mountain to Taormina, we decided to just get a taxi when we got off the ship. As we were leaving the secured area, we saw a line of people buying tickets for a hop-on-hop-off bus. Since it would cost 30€ for a taxi each way and 20€ pp for the HOHO, it seemed like a good idea to take the bus, since we could see some of the other towns on the mountain and have a narration during the ride. We purchased our tickets and walked to the line waiting to get on the second bus that had just arrived. It filled up quickly. We asked the agent when the next bus would arrive. She said in an hour and a half. Excuse me, seriously? We couldn’t wait that long. Why did they oversell the tickets? They wouldn’t give refunds because they didn’t know if people purchased with cash or credit cards. We were very frustrated. We thought that perhaps we could catch one of the busses in the city when we were there for the return trip if we took a taxi up the mountain. We then started looking for taxis. We didn’t see any, so we walked back toward the ship where we saw a van in the parking lot. It was a taxi! He drove us up and gave us his card, so we could call him when we wanted to come back down.
We walked a little up the hill from where we were dropped off to get into the main town area. There was a nice lookout area where we could look down the mountain.
I didn’t take a lot of photos in town since I had taken so many of Taormina on my previous two visits. Plus, we couldn’t believe how crowded the place was. It didn’t make for a pleasant visit.
I walked out onto the main square area to get some photos looking down the mountain. It was hard to find space along the railing. This was not enjoyable, plus the temperature was rising.
I hate to complain about Taormina, since it is such a lovely town, but there must have been too many cruise ship tours there that day.
We heard some music playing. Paul and Gail had to dance to it. They are very good dancers, but this was probably not the best dance floor. It didn’t last long, but it was fun.
As we were walking along, we came to a small car in middle of the street that had a marionette stage set up under the hood. Now that is something you don’t see every day.
We did a little more exploring and came to the HOHO bus stop. Now that was a lucky find! We figured we could go back there when we were ready to leave. We decided to find a restaurant with a view for lunch. We searched and finally found one. The food was good too.
It was time to leave the crowds and go back to the ship. We walked back toward the HOHO bus stop. When we got close, we saw a bus heading that way. Paul and I ran toward it. It was at the stop long enough where we caught up to it. Apparently, it was the wrong HOHO bus. We had our fill of trying to use our bus tickets and decided to call our taxi driver. We were in town where there was a sign with a taxi stop number on it. That would make it easy. Nope! When I called our driver, he didn’t know where I was. I told him the name of the plaza we were in, the hotel across the street and the taxi stop number. We just couldn’t communicate. I gave up.
We walked back to where we had seen some other taxis waiting in line a few blocks away. We asked the taxi foreman that was directing all the taxis for a taxi to Giardini Naxos. He told us that all the taxis were going to Messina. That must have been where all the cruise ships were docked. With it being an hour and fifteen-minute taxi ride rather than the 15-minute ride we needed, the drivers wanted to wait for a bigger fare or to return home to where they started the day. We didn’t know how to get back to the ship other than walking. We asked the foreman what we could do. He finally found someone that was willing to take us back. Thank goodness!
When we got back to the ship, others were also complaining about the HOHO bus. Some didn’t get to use it and some that did get on had to take a long ride on the established route before reaching the ship. It is a shame that transportation is such an issue at such a lovely port.
© 2024 ThePreismans.com • All Rights Reserved