Crotone, Calabria

 Another beautiful sunny day, about 20C. It was windy again overnight, so some rocking. This is a beautiful area in the "ball of the foot" of Italy. It's not nearly so well know as most other parts of the country. Smaller towns and mainly agricultural. There are olives and wine grapes, also clementines, citrons and bergamots. The sea is a deep blue and there are lots of lovely beaches. There are a number of oil platforms visible off-shore.

Karen and I did another Azamara Shore excursion. This one first took us on a winding road along the coast to an archeological site dating from when the Greeks were here, called Capo Colonna. There isn't much of it left, but it's a beautiful setting on the ocean, and surrounded by trees and wildflowers. Then back to the bus for a drive inland, and through an area of farms, vineyards and olive orchards. Also many wind farms. Our main stop was at a winery and restaurant where the owner produced wine, olive oil, and buffalo mozzarella cheese. After showing us around the winery we had an extended wine tasting with 1 white, 1 rose and 2 red wines accompanied with, bread, olive oil, olives, buffalo mozzarella, 3 kinds of bruschetta, and 2 types of salami. We finished off with a mini cannoli. Naturally by this time we were all very relaxed and our guide had a hard time getting us back on the bus for the ride back to the ship. I noticed a few people napping on the way!

Karen and I certainly didn't need lunch, so after a quick check on the guys we went ashore to have a look at Castello CarloV, right across from the port. We couldn't get inside, but it was interesting walking around the walls. It's Good Friday today, so the town is pretty quiet. Back to the ship for a shower and a change before the Azamara Circle cocktail party.













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