Cruising the Adriatic to Dubrovnik 

I have to start by telling you that this ship (Norwegian Star) is about as American as you can get.  Everyone/staff speaks English, the ATM gives you dollars and the menus dropped right out of the US of A.  I am not good with organized group trips, structured tour, and cafeteria food.  Surprisingly, I have enjoyed our sojourn.  It certainly makes getting to all the places along this sea easier to visit.  Jen (my niece from Cleveland) and I have a nice stateroom and balcony–we like watching docking and disembarking the ports.

Dubrovnik was our first stop.  We took the bus from the ship to the “old city”.  The main attraction is the wall that surrounds the old city.  It is magnificent.  We walked it (I did most of it)– takes about 1 1/2 hours but there are restaurants along the way serving beer and fresh squeezed fruit and pomegranate juice.  The old city was overflowing with tourists.  I can’t imagine what it is like during the summer months.  We stopped and viewed a Dali exhibit.  Very nice day and then back to our boat:

The first day on the boat we signed up for the spa package which lets us have access to the spa hot tubs, sauna, steam room and the relaxation areas.  It was the best thing we could have done.  The spa gives out robes so we can come and go with our bathing suit and there is never more than a few people in the spa.  Jen and I lounge around and watch the wake of our ship.  Jen brought facial masks from Sephora so we really are having a great/rejuvenating experience.

The toes on my right foot were cramped by the first pair of boots I wore.  I changed to Nike black air tennis shoes but those toes still hurt.  On the ship, I have had acupuncture.  The toes do feel better and I’m hoping that three treatments will help.  This cruise has had a wellness theme for us.

I can’t forget to share with you how strange it feels to not be alone with myself.  I was traveling for six weeks before Nino and Donnatella and then Mady and Jen.  I think meals are the only times that I yearned to be with someone.  I could really enjoy visiting all the new places and I treated it like a job– sort of.  I would plan my agenda and mostly stick with it.  Europe is truly amazing with great sights and really good food.

The food on the cruise is OK.  We have made arrangements to go to three restaurants and they have been somewhat better.  The nicest thing about the restaurants is that they are quiet.