Monfalcone Italy

We had a nice cruise to Monfalcone . Left at 10.00 hr arrived at 17.15.

First thing we saw from way back was a large cruise ship. As we got closer we realized it was a new ship being build for Princess Cruises, the "majestic Princess" She was only started last year ( June 2015) And it is scheduled to be ready to cruise sometime next year (2017) We were amazed how much was achieved in less than a year. The interesting part is that the "Eurodam" we saw in Venice was build by the same shipyard.
It is obvious that Italy, and particularly Monfalcone has a major ship building industry.

 

 

 May 20 and we have the boat ready to be moved along side whenever the transport vessel arrives. So we went for a drive and ended up in Slovinia. It is not far from Monfalcone so we had a nice view of the Slovanian country side. 

 

Porec to Venice

Being we made real good time coming from Preveza, and Tom and Dan had to leave from Venice on the 18th we made a side trip to Venice. we docked in the same marine "st Elena Marina"where we were last year.

 Going for a walk to the "fish" market

 Everything is nice and green this time of the year

The Italian navy had a large old sailing vessel docked close to St Marco square.

 When we came back with the "water bus" we saw a Holland America cruise ship the Eurodam come into Venice with two tug's guiding the ship to port. One on the front, and one on the back.

    Back from the fish market with 2 1/2 kg of mussels, and a bunch of shrimp. Remco prepared an awesome dish of "spaghetti and shrimp. Yum yum!!!

   Time to say good "farewell" to Dan and Tom.
And Remco and I went on to Monfalcone our end destination.

Porec

We arrived in Porec on May 15th. The crew asked around for recommendations for a good restaurant and we came up with a good one.
What made it even better was that the waitress came from the same village in Macedonia as Tom's mother. What is the chances of that!?!?

  Also we met 4 young ladies from Austria who were studying in Slovenia. One of the four had a birthday and they went to Porec to celebrate. They came by the boat and off course the crew made small talk with them. Next thing you know they were on the boat.
The girl who,s birthday it was wanted to go on a boat so she was delighted to be aboard.

   The girl in the captain's chair is the one who celebrated her birthday.

Dinner in Rovinj

Remco,s treat. A delicious, and by far the most elegant fine dinning meal so far.

Losinj and Rovinj

It has been a few days since the last time I posted something on the blog. Reason being my computer is goofing off!!!
However today I have reasonable luck so will post a few pictures.

In Losinj we docked on the town wall, and no sooner tied up and the local restaurant owner came to show us his menu. Dan had made our dinner in the slow cooker on the way over, but we could not resist ordering some delicious calamari for appetizers, delivered right to the boat.

  Next stop "Rovinj"
We docked in the marina right next to wonderful people from Austria. Three couples, and three kids. They wanted to see the boat, and Dan offered them a little "rakia" left in the boat from way back (good to get rid of it) and they in turn come back with a bottle of wine from Austria.
Rovinj in the back ground.

The three kids on the front of Le reve.

On to Skradin

On our way up the Krka river we stopped at one of the many mussel farms to get some fresh mussels.

 Dino and Tomas are making a deal for some mussels.

The deal is done, the money changes hands, and everyone is happy.

Might as well pick up some oysters while we are at it and Remco is good at "shucking" them.

 I know what you are thinking, but don't worry, Dan is just doing his stretching exercises.



below:
While the captain is having a snooze the crew is gone to see the "Krka water falls"

Korcula / Hvar

Tom is having a rest on the upper deck on our way to Hvar.

A view from on top of the Hvar fortress.




 Happy hour on the top deck while at a mooring ball in Hvar.

Dino preparing home made spaghetti sauce.
 A beautiful meal on board.  

From Dubrovnik to Korcula

Docked in the marina in Korkula.

Preparing a Cevapi meal in Korcula over a charcoal fire.

Mlini

In Mlini we went to the Nikolai's restaurant, the "Marinaro" They had a lamb on the spit, but we asked if they would prepare a meal "under the bell" for us.

This is the traditional way to cook food in Croatia under the "bell" It is the best way  to cook food by far.

 Lamb, and octopus just simply does not come any better than from "under the bell".

Dubrovnik/Srebrena

We docked again in Srebrena, a small town next to Mlini where we met Andy and Christie and the boys last year.

It is an area hit hard by the 1991/1992 war had a lot of damage. the improvements made are impressive, however some of the last construction was the installation of a large drain which made for a lot of rubbish right in front of the boat.
    

between Corfu and Dubrovnik

Friday May 6th we left Corfu at 08.00 hour to set out on a 197nm cruise to Dubrovnik. We cruised at 1900 rpm averaging just over 8 kn. Usually we cruise at 14/1500 RPM, but because we have to burn off some extra fuel for the transport we ran a little faster. Turns out the engine performs as good, or better at that speed.
The seas were reasonable quiet just that we experienced some swell, which was not particularly pleasant for all of the crew.
 We managed to reach Dubrovnik just after 08.00 hour the next morning.

Getting to Corfu

 

We departed Preveza on the 5th of May and our first stop was Corfu. We anchored out, and took the dingy into Govia marina and than the bus to the old city.

 

Once again we met someone we knew from previous visits. Had a coffee and desert and than he insisted to treat us and we all got a snaps. 

The crew and "mr pony tail" in Preveza.

The crew and the man with the pony tail!!, a restaurant owner who we have come to know over the last few years in Preveza.
The crew from left to right, Dan Tsandalis, the restaurand owner,  Remco Faber, and Tom Ristova. I put the names of the crew from "left to right" because I would not want to suggest that any particular one was asked first to be crew, a subject they have been scrapping over!!!

We had dinner in Mr pony tail's restaurant, and everyone agreed that the "moussaka" was the best we had ever tasted.  

A view from the town dock of Preveza at Cleopatra marina where Le reve was kept for the last 4 years.

 Dan is helping out with his Greek knowledge when it comes to asking for directions. You can see he has a lot of "Greek" in him, as he is using his hands a lot when talking Greek!!!

Leaving Cleopatra for the last time.

May 3de 2016 and Le reve was launched for the last time in Cleopatra marina in Preveza.

Dan is making acquaintance with the travel lift  operator, and practicing  his Greek language knowledge.