Dreaming Dalmatian

by Mary Jo

Continuing our dream cruise on the luxury yacht Wenchly Winds, we're heading to the Dalmatian Coast, a place I've yearned to visit for years. 

Just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, the coast was heavily Romanized during the Roman empire while the mountainous interior stayed wild, independent, and Balkan.  The scenery is said to be spectacular, and the old cities likewise. 

We’d call in Venice, La Serenissima, of course, then sail south.  Ports of call would include places like the island fortress at Hvar.

 We'd visit Dubrovnik, once a maritime city-state to rival Venice itself. (Left)

And certainly we must stop at Korcula, which is only a few miles from the Greek island of Corfu. (Picture below)

From Sarande in Albania, we'd be able to visit the Roman ruins in Butrint:   

Then we'd head to the Greek Islands and Crete, since Andrea/Cara has requested that we dally there. 

But there are plenty more Greek Isles to see as we wander where the wind takes us.  Certainly we can't miss Santorini, the island formed from the remains of an ancient volcano which might have been the model for Atlantis.

So many islands, so little time!  But eventually we'll head to the Antipodes where we'll collect Wench Anne in Melbourne and sail on to the Whitsunday Islands off Queensland. 

I've always found islands rather magical and intriguing.  What about you?  What are your favorite islands?  Have you visited your favorites yet, or do they lie in the future?

Mary Jo

Comments

[Anne Gracie]

Mary Jo, this is so wonderful, there's no way I'll wait until you get here to join the cruise. I'll fly to Venice and join it there.

One of my most wonderful memories is sailing from Crete, then on to Athens, through the narrow walls of Corinth, and then we sailed into Venice at dawn. Pure magic.

I was a child when I first fell in love with an island, an imaginary one called Kirrin Island, created by Enid Blyton in the Famous Five stories. So many other places I've visited first through books and the imagination and my first time in Corfu was one of these, a kind of pilgrimage to Gerald Durrell's 'My Family and Other Animals' , so I can I put in a request to stop at Corfu as well as Korcula, please?

I've visited many of the Greek isles, all beautiful and each with its different flavor. Several times there was no official ferry (this was a long time ago) and I traveled on small local boats piled high with mandarines and sea sponges and various produce. I've never eaten such sweet mandarines as I ate there.

[Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe]

I've been fortunate to live on islands half my life, although Long Island where I grew up was not especially romantic, LOL.

When my husband and I were first married, we lived on Thompson's Island in Boston Harbor, at a boarding school that was accessible only by the school's launch. I had water views from my kitchen window, and could watch planes land at Logan from the football field. Our dog used to bark at them and "chase" them as they descended. Then later we lived on Islesboro, a jewel in Penobscot Bay that's attracted the very rich and famous over the years (alas, we are neither).If you missed the ferry to get there, you were out of luck. There's definitely an "island mentality" among some residents--people talk about going to the mainland as "going to America," or "going to the real world."

I think islands are wonderful settings for books, because their isolation can help the plot along (I just finished writing one), but at this point I'm happy to visit and not to live. :)

[Sherrie Holmes]

Here in the Pacific NW, I live in the Puget (PEW-jet) Sound area, so we're surrounded by water and islands galore. I know what Maggie means by "island mentality." Islanders do have their own way of looking at things. I'm sure it's that way the world over. I think Islanders sometimes believe they are special, perhaps a cut above the ordinary man. *g*

I'm loving this cruise so far! Lots of fun places in the sun.

[maryjoputney]

From MJP:

Anne, I'm so glad you're joining us in Venice! You've certainly had your share of adventures in the eastern Mediterranean--love your description of the local ferries piled high with produce. *g*

Most certainly we shall stop at Corfu, an island I discovered through Mary Stewart's THIS ROUGH MAGIC. She did several novels set in Greece or the Greek Isles. I read them when young (over and over), and they made me yearn for Greece magic.

Maggie, you may not be rich and famous yet, but with books coming out from two publishers this year, you're working on it. *g*

Sherrie, living on an island makes it really easy to separate the world into "us" and "them." *g*

Before we leave the Mediterranean, I certainly want to visit Corsica. Interesting how many of our dream islands have books connected to them. But perhaps not surprising.

Mary Jo

[Susan/DC]

Some friends of ours who live in Chicago visited on Christmas day. They were on their way to Rio and had to change planes. Rather than spend the 10-hour layover at Dulles (definitely high on my list of Places I do Not want to be on Christmas), they spent the day with us. Among the things we talked about were places we'd been and places we wanted to go. For them, one of the most magical trips they'd ever taken was exactly the trip Anne describes. Visiting the Croatian coast, Dubrovnik, and the Adriatic islands immediately moved to near the top of my list of dream vacations. Thank you, Anne, for providing even more incentive -- the pictures definitely make me lust after a Mediterranean cruise.

[Linda Banche]

Beautiful pictures. And that theater has stadium seating! I'll bet those theater goers were able to see everything easily.

says Linda, who's short and has a hard time seeing over the people in front of her

[NinaP]

Wow, Mary Jo! You've got me off my comfy deck chair and my nose out of the fantasy world. Ya know, someday (before we're all too old to enjoy it) we should actually DO a "world wind" trip like this. Believe it or not, I know a guy who just bought a working cruise ship. (DH helped him find funding)

[maryjoputney]

From MJP:

Susan/DC, in the last few years a lot more cruise lines have started touring the eastern Mediterranean, which means prices are coming down. Worth thinking about!

Linda, I'm also short,so I REALLY like stadium seating. I think the Greeks invented it. They liked their plays!

Nina, you actually know someone with a working cruise ship? Hmmmmmmm...!!!

Mary Jo

[Andrea Penrose]

A perfect itinerary! That part of the world is so fascinating—a perfect combination of history and spectacular scenery.

Islands really do have a special allure, don't they? There's something about being a little world all to one's own.

Once we cruise through Greece, down past the Whitsunday Islands in Australia, and loop back through the Hawaiian archipelago, I vote we head up to the Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides as a grand finale. (Everyone gets a private stateroom of course for meeting those pesky writing deadlines!)

[maryjoputney]

From MJP:

Cara/Andrea--certainly we must visit all the wild islands on the fringes of Britain and Ireland! And though they more civilized, I'd favor visiting the British Virgins in the Caribbean and the Channels Isles. Nicola might want us to stop in at Spitzbergen north of Norway. I don't think I've ever heard of an island I -didn't- want to visit. *g*

Don't forget that besides a private state room, we need wifi through the ship so we can stay in touch!

Mary Jo

[Patricia Barraclough]

This trip is getting better every day. There are so many great places to visit once you get into the Mediterranean and explore every offshoot.