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Croatia 3 May 18 - 31
Meet new crew Richard & Johanne, both yachtmaster-qualified with many additional skills. This recently-married British couple love to travel and are spending part of their first year with us. So here we go…
Our plans of five days to prepare The Prize in Murter, Croatia were extended a week due to various issues. The marina had put her in the water and hit the neighbor’s boat, creating a large gouge. Also, they had not completed work on the bottom. So out of the water she had to go; not the way we had planned our first ‘cruise’. The gouge was repaired, but the most time-consuming issue was getting a box (with oven and thruster switch) through customs. After seven weeks it arrived May 27, the oven was installed the next day, we planned departure on May 29. But the weather, which had been so perfect since arrival, brought strong winds the day the oven arrived.
So, rather than a slow cruise north to meet Lee’s sister Lynn and husband Don in Venice, we left May 30, stopping in Pula to fuel (with a tiny bit of sightseeing), visit Croatian Customs, and sleep. |
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Gulf of Venice May 31 - Jun 5
Cruising around Venice is a magical trip. The Prize was too large to cruise through the Grand Canal and too small to dock in the parallel canal (Giudecca), so we berthed in nearby Cavallino, a ferry boat away.
Lynn and Don joined us in Cavallino. We made a day trip to Venice via ferry, immediately had a wonderful lunch, looked in many shops, took an extended boat ride on the Grand Canal, got lost in the streets (as most do in Venice), and had dinner before the late ferry ride home.
The next day we took the ferry to Murano, home of the famous glass. Again we had a wonderful lunch on a canal where a DHL boat passed delivering packages. We ‘admired’ the street art and did a bit of shopping which resulted in large, unplanned purchases.
Before leaving, we just had to cruise around Venice in The Prize. It was rough water, as usual, but incredibly easy and provided many photo opportunities, including the one above with St. Mark’s Square in the background. Venice is a unique place to experience. |
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Gulf of Trieste Jun 5 - 7
Trieste was a nice surprise with beautiful architecture, Roman ruins, and lots of good shops, although our timing didn’t allow much of that; they were closed when we were ready to buy.
We chose to berth in nearby Muggia because it had a nicer marina. However, it meant a ferry ride to Trieste, where we started the celebration of Lynn & Don’s 38th anniversary.
Near Trieste is Miramare Castle, built by Archduke Maximillan of Hapsburg (brother of Austrian Emperor) and his wife Charlotte of Belgium. They didn’t get to enjoy it much since it wasn’t finished until after his departure in 1864 for Mexico where he was assassinated in 1867 after being named Emperor. Charlotte went insane, lived to age 87, believing she was Empress of Mexico and that Max would return.
The next day we had an interesting walking tour of Trieste and a walk around Muggia, also an ancient and quaint town. This was followed by a wonderful meal by Richard and Johanne when we all got decked out in The Prize shirts, ala picture above; see the crew in the gallery of pictures. |