Matera

 An incredible city!





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Chioggia

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  We continued north in the Adriatic this morning. It started out rather hazy, but cleared up as we neared the coast of Italy. Because Cruise ships are now barred from Venice, they are choosing other ports. Azamara is using Chioggia as an alternative. It's a town about a 45 minute drive south of Venice. We found it a very charming city, with canals and bridges like Venice, but with-out the crowds or prices. The cruise dock and terminal are quite small, and only the smaller cruise ships can dock here. We arrived just before 1pm (arrival times are governed by the tide). The Venice lagoon is quite a large area with 3 entry points. Chioggia is by the southern entry. All 3 are now protected by a tidal floodgate system (MOSE) which is activated at high tides to prevent flooding. It works, but is now causing some environmental issues. Karen, Aaron and I walked through the town to a marina where we met the small boat for our tour of Chioggia by Bosetti Tours. Our young guide was very passi...
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Bay of Kotor

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  I had heard that the approach into Kotor Montenegro is not to be missed, and I would agree! This morning the seas were very calm, and the skies slightly overcast. Slightly cooler than the past couple of days but very pleasant.  We arrived at the mouth of Kotor bay just before 11am, so had a nice relaxed morning. Most people including us watched the passing scenery from the pool deck, while the guest lecturer gave commentary. Although it looks like a fjord, it's really a river valley that sunk. The limestone mountains are steep, and small villages line the sides. The bay is almost 30 km long, very windy, and quite narrow in several places.  Most of the small towns are summer resorts, and there are some beautiful looking hotels and homes. We passed the entrance to an old submarine pen from Tito's time. There are lots of small boats cruising the waters, and also ferries that provide transportation from one side to the other. It's Easter Sunday, and we can hear the church b...
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Arles

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  The Viking Hermod was underway from Avignon to Arles when we woke up this morning. We both had a good sleep, and were ready for breakfast by 7:30am. It was lovely to eat breakfast and watch the riverbank slipping by. We arrived in Arles just after 9am, and disembarked through the Ama Kristina that we were docked beside. It's a lovely morning, mainly clear skies and about 13C. About 3 days ago the Mistral wind was blowing, winds up 90km. I'm glad we missed that! For our included walking tour of Arles this morning, we were separated into groups of around 30 people. We had an excellent guide for our 3 hour tour focusing on Roman Arles and Vincent Van Gogh. It's about a 15 minute walk along the river to get to the downtown area. There are many places that Van Gogh painted, and often there will be a copy of the painting at that spot. It's a very pretty small town with lots of winding streets full of restaurants, shops and hotels. Tourism is the main industry here. The Roma...
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