Venice by night and cliff-jumping off a Croatian fort

After enjoying a visual feast in Turkey, we were on route back to Venice. The ship stopped in at Split (Croatia) on the way so we could all have a quick look. While it was nice enough and had plenty of history to soak up, a quick look was definitely enough for us on this visit because, like many a marauding 'barbarian' sailing this route before us, we had our sights set on Venice.

Old, tall tower in Split, Croatia

Sure, this was our third visit in as many months, but we were still looking forward to this one. Our first visit was as part of a bus tour and was just our second stop in Europe - back then we were still getting the hang of things and were a bit under the weather. The second time we were on a rush to board our ship and settle in. This time would be different. This time we knew our way around (kind of). This time we already had our Venetian masks, tourist t-shirts, and knew where the good pizza was located. This time we were ready for Venice.

We splashed out (pun intended) and bought 24 hour passes for the Vaperetto (a boat that serves as public transport because there are no buses). This meant we could cruise the canals as frequently as we wished. First up, we went to the famous Island of Murano which is known for its glass blowing. We wandered around admiring the very beautiful and very expensive glass creations - from vases and chandeliers, to glass animals and abstract sculptures, we delighted in the vibrant colours and the craftsmen's skill. We were also very careful not to touch anything - not even to satisfy our curiosity and check the price (see 'What happens on tour' post for how we learnt that particular lesson.) As we caught the Vaperetto back towards St Mark's square we passed another walled island which appeared uninhabited and a little out of place. We soon realised we were actually passing the dead centre of Venice - more commonly known as Venice's graveyard. (That wasn't the worst joke in the world, it was just a tribute. And it goes out to you Dad!)

Doges Palace

Next on our list was the Doge's* palace, which was fascinating. Like many a prisoner before us we crossed the 'bridge of sighs' from the palace into the prison. Unlike those many prisoners, we were able to cross back again from the prison to the palace. In case you haven't heard of this bridge, it is an elevated and enclosed walkway across a canal between the palace and the prison. There are little windows through which you can see parts of Venice. It was called the bridge of sighs because for many prisoners it was the last time they would see Venice and apparently it invoked a common response among convicted Venetian criminals that went something like this, *sigh... The palace itself was quite fascinating and included a number of items that caught my eye, including some old maps of Europe and other parts of the world that were painted from a completely different angle. It's not like they were simply upside down, or at 90 degrees, some were at all kinds of angles or stopped at some odd places. It was a quirky little reminder that there are many different perspectives on the world - both throughout history and in our current times.

After refreshing ourselves back on the ship, we decided to explore Venice by night. One of the couples we had met and become friends with on the ship gave us a handy little tip. An American travel writer by the name of Rick Steves has written a series of free self-guided tours for lots of different places in Europe. We downloaded them via an app on our iPads. They included places we had already visited including Ephesus and the Acropolis. We downloaded the audio guides anyway, figuring both places were still fresh in our memories so we could relive the experience with the extra information.

Anyway, he also has a guide for Venice. And it uses the Vaperetto public transport system... It is also precise enough to tell you which number Vaperetto to board. It's a good thing too, because we were originally on the wrong one - who knew that there were multiple bus routes down the same canal?? So as we floated down the canal, we had Rick Steves as our own personal travel guide telling us all about the places we were passing. It was fantastic, free, and we highly recommend it!

We disembarked our canal 'bus' in the grand canal just outside St Mark's square. As we strolled across one of the many bridges under the Venetian moonlight we encountered that familiar Italian sight - a gypsy selling something. It seems that the hot item in Venice was a laser pointer that also allowed you to scatter the laser beam into lots of smaller ones with different patterns. Instantly, Amanda was captivated... apparently, it was like carrying around your own portable disco light show...? But I couldn't see it.

Pulling ourselves away, we wandered into St Mark's square. It seemed that as the sun set, the throngs of tourists had left Venice for the day. The restaurants had to work harder to attract clientele. Many years ago one entrepreneurial restauranteur decided to combine those three great Italian passions - good food, good wine, and good music. He built a mini stage outside his restaurant and furnished it with ample seating for visiting tourists so they could enjoy their food while being serenaded.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for us tourists, his competitors recognised a good idea when they heard one and so they also built stages and hosted musical performances each night. The result - the original 'battle of the bands'. It also means St Mark's square is the perfect place for a romantic evening that delights the senses. Of course, if you want to eat, drink, or even sit down, it may be your hip pocket that feels it the most. But standing is free. With an abundance of food on the ship, we simply wandered around St Mark's listening to the different musical ensembles performing. We also discovered that if you walk to the middle of the square you can stand in just the right position so you can hear three or more bands at once. If you take a step in the direction of any one band all the others fade out and you can only hear that one. If you want to change songs, just take a step in the other direction. You don't need an iPod here.

Back on the ship, we had an evening 'snack' and found some more entertainment. The was also another masquerade ball (well, we were in Venice). So we donned our masks, went to a ball, and made some more friends. While there we got chatting with some more of the crew - particularly the entertainers and 'lifestyle' crew. I happened to ask them what they do for fun on their days off. The response - 'depends on the port, tomorrow in Dubrovnik some of us are going cliff jumping if you want to come'.

I wasn't expecting that. But by breakfast the next day, Amanda and I were both curious enough to go. Just when we'd talked ourselves into it, we then got separated from the crew on the buses into town. So, instead of going cliff jumping we did what everyone else seemed to be doing - paid a a couple of Euros to walk onto the old city wall that encloses the original city. On the Mediterranean side it is built on top of a cliff for extra protection against would-be raiders. It really is very impressive and definitely worth doing.

About half way around the wall we saw some young people standing on a rocky ledge on the cliff. We looked closer and realised it was some of the crew. So we scurried to the next exit from the wall and weaved our way through the streets of historic Dubrovnik - it is like a rabbit warren and incredible that we were actually able to find our way!

We got there just in time to see one of the singers, Chris, dive head first from about 16-17 metres up. The other three 'jumpers' went from a slightly lower ledge about 13-14 metres high. It might not sound like much but when your standing there contemplating jumping, you realise just how high it is. Unfortunately, it's a bit late then because everyone is watching. But it was a glorious sunny day, the Mediterranean was an inviting clear blue colour, and we could see that there were no submerged rocks where we were jumping. So we took the plunge! Never thought I'd be doing that on this trip.

Amanda crossing the line of no return

One of the guys who jumped also ran the tech workshop on the ship and taught people how to use Microsoft office and how to manage their photo libraries. In the following days, a number of passengers showed him photos of 'these people jumping into the Mediterranean'... A couple of days later we walked into one of the lounge areas where Chris had just started a set. He stopped singing, looked at us, and confessed, 'my head's still a bit sore' - and that's why the rest of us went feet first.

All of us crazy jumping folk

Our next stop was Santorini again. Having being there about a week earlier and thoroughly enjoying the walk high up on the cliff through the blue and white villages, we decided instead to swim at the base of the cliff and enjoy the colour of the ocean and dramatic scenery.

Now the thing about Santorini is that there is no beach there. The ships actually drift in the middle of a former volcano, so it's a long way down... They can't drop anchor. They just float around on a very deep lagoon. If you climb the mountain and hire a car you can get to a volcanic beach (code for black pebbles/sand) on the other side of the island where you can swim, but we weren't sold on this option - it sounded like a lot of effort to swim at an ugly beach. The lagoon side, however, held out more hope. Once we reached the shore (really some rocks and a concrete ledge) we walked up and down the 50m area looking for somewhere to swim. We eventually found two other people swimming just off one of the rocky ledges, right in front of the 'no swimming' sign.

White buildings on top of the cliffs

As there were no reasons given for not swimming, we decided to take a dip anyway. We carefully negotiated the rocks and occasional rolling wave and enjoyed the water. I stayed fairly close to the edge of the water, but Amanda swam/floated further towards the lagoon to keep away from the rough rocks. Then our conversation turned towards what sort of animals would live in a deep water lagoon. Then to presumptions that I would fight it off... I can still remember the look on Amanda's face as the realisation dawned on her that whatever creatures lived in the lagoon would get to her first... it's been a while since I've seen anyone swim that fast... or that frantically.

Amanda: I've watched 'River Monsters' and I don't want to feature in an 'Ocean Monsters' sequel!

So we left that former volcano in the lagoon at Santorini and made our way for another volcano in Sicily. We'll tell you that story next time as we relax our way through Sicily, Naples, and the west coast of Italy on route to Barcelona.

J.