Day 4, Bari

Our next port of call was Bari in Italy's Puglia region. We were docked here from 7 am to 2 pm. One of my plasma propulsion colleagues works at the local university so I was originally thinking about meeting up with him, but given the tight schedule, it just did not make sense. So instead mom and I did another day of sightseeing. Here we went on a tour we found being offered at the port. The tour first took us to the old town on an open "train" bus. Most of the city is relatively modern, but it retains a small old town with intertwining narrow alleyways. We got dropped off just outside this section, by Castello Normanno-Svevo (Norman-Swabian Castle). The castle was either closed or we just did not have the time, but for some reason we did not get in there and instead just wondered through the town following the tour guide. We were first treated to a freshly prepared focaccia. We eventually found ourselves at the Basilica San Nicola, where the tour also concluded. We then had some more time to wonder around before needing to head back to the ship. My absolute highlight from this visit was getting to try an octopus sandwich. These seem to be a local specialty. To this day, it remains as the most memorable delicacies from this entire trip.

Day 5, Trieste / Venice

The following morning we arrived in Trieste, located at the northern terminus of the Adriatic sea. This is basically the beauty of cruise travel. You go to sleep in one city only to wake up in another one. The cruise ship towered over the buildings putting in perspective just how massive these ships are - and we were only on a ship that would be considered mid-size by modern standards. Our port time was 9 am to 7pm. While Trieste is surely a lovely city to visit on its own, I imagine that most cruisers opted for an excursion. There were essentially two options: Ljubljana in Slovenia and Venice in Italy. We opted for the latter.

I have been to Venice before, but my mom has not (this trip was in fact her first time to Italy). This was the only excursion that we booked directly with the cruise line, due to the extensive distance. Venice is about 2 hours by bus from Trieste. The reasoning is that if something were to happen, there is at least a chance the cruise ship will wait for delayed passengers coming on a ship-organized tour. If you are on your own and miss the all-aboard time, too bad. It's up to you find a way to rejoin the ship. After the long ride, the bus dropped us off at a port on the land side (called Marghera) where we had to wait for a small boat to ferry us to the Venice islands. Once in Venice, we were on our own (this excursion only included the transport). We started off with a delicious lunch and then just wandered around across the many bridges and through narrow alleyways.

Being middle of the summer, and also having arrived with bunch of other cruise ship passengers, Venice was quite packed. However, and this is true just about everywhere in Europe during the summer season, the tourists seem to congregate along the main thoroughfares. A slight diversion into an alleyway, and you find yourself in a desolate space with perhaps just the occasional local passing by. However, of course, San Marco's square was not one of these desolate places. The line for the cathedral was long but I figured we still had the time to make it inside before needing to head back to the meeting point to catch the boat to the bus. Luckily for us, we were properly dressed since we saw multiple other want-to-be visitors get pulled out of the line for wearing shorts which apparently were a no-no. My persistent dislike of shorts has paid off!

I came to find out later that Trieste is a port where many passengers join the cruise. MSC Splendida essentially completes this round trip itinerary (with small variations) for months on end. We boarded in Istanbul, which was popular with Russian-speaking tourists. Bari is another popular port to board, this time for the Italians. Then finally, Trieste is a convenient port for tourists from Central Europe including from Slovakia. We ran into a Slovak family towards the end of the cruise and they started their journey here.

Day 6, At Sea

The next day was spent at sea. I don't quite remember anymore what I did, but it likely involved trying to sort through the photos taken over the prior days. As I came to appreciate, this cruise was not at all a relaxing environment! Every day (well almost) you find yourself in a new town with new things to see - and photograph. When you get back on the ship, it's time for dinner and the theater show, and possibly a quick visit to a late night club. Then rinse-and-repeat the next day. There is hardly any down time to go over your pictures - except for the sea days. I really learned to appreciate them. Besides sorting the photos, I also work a bit on my upcoming textbook (which as of this writing is finally published!). In the evening, we again went to see the show, which was again very enjoyable.

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