Adriatic Cruise – Croatia and Slovenia

 

We are sailing on a small cruise ship – Windstar’s Wind Spirit with 2 other couples.  The cruise is called the Adriatic Icons and Venetian Treasures.  As we are visiting the different ports I come to understand why the Veneitan Treasures part – most if not all of these towns were under Veneitan rule at one time.  We will visit:  Rovijn, Zadar, Hvar, Dubrovnik and Korcula Croatia and Piran Slovenia with one day at sea too.  We are big fans of Windstar cruises and have sailed on several of their ships before including the Wind Spirit in French Polynesia (Tahiti) in November 2021.

Italian Alps

 

When the door of our plane opens at the Venice airport we are immediately hit with heat; something we had not felt in quite a while.  We went from mid 60 degree, cloudy weather to mid 90s sunny; what a change!  We wandered around the airport for a bit before we found the car rental lot (naturally on top of a parking garage), got our vehicle for the next week and reminded ourselves to drive on the right-hand side of the road.  And off we go.  We are heading for a shopping mall – we need another outfit or 2 each geared to 90-degree weather.  True to form when you need clothing nothing seems right, but in the end we each get something and then the adventure starts.  We are heading north of Venice to a small town in the  Veneto region which is a wine region specializing in sparkling wine.  Did I say small?  We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast called Villa Toderini and yes there is a fancy house associated with it, but that’s not where the rooms are; we are in a newer building.  The website has some directions, but we find ourselves circling around this small town when suddenly I see a sign for it and we turn.  Still not sure we are in the correct place till I notice the door says Agritourism on it.  We are warmly greeted and shown our room for the next 2 nights.  Room is nice and is actually 2 stories with a twin bed and a chest of drawers up the stairs. 

Castle Hotels - Abbey Glen, Ashford, Lough Rynn

Abbey Glen

We have booked a one-night package stay at a castle hotel in Clifden which is near the western coast. When we get there our room is not ready yet and we are hungry, we check out the bar area and enjoy a midafternoon light snack.  We figure we need food in us because our package starts with a history of the castle presentation with free prosecco at 6:30pm.  Before we get there, we wonder if this really is an old castle - yes, it is.  While we are here, we debate if there are any additions to the original buildings and decide we don't want to know.  Our room is on the second floor right next to the main staircase, so I am pretty sure we were in the original building. 

Westport - Wild Atlantic Way

 This is our next stop after our first castle stay in Abbey Glen.  Our route here starts with a scenic drive on the upper sky road leaving the town of Clifden.  It is another one lane road, but oh the views it gave us were fantastic and my favorites.  I have decided I prefer a landscape with a gentle drop off into the sea versus the steep cliffs although that is what you hear about in write ups for Ireland.  We are still following the "Wild Atlantic Way" road signs and we do stop at one of the scenic viewpoints.  It was quite pretty, and we were there probably a half hour or more.  We would have stayed longer but had to get to our next spot-sigh.  I liked how you could see so many small islands.  The tide was out so you also saw some beach areas.  On our way to this spot we had seen a group of people windsurfing and a couple of small boats.  At our spot is a local horse who is happy to have the people around him.

Galway - Wild Atlantic Coast

We have been looking forward to this portion of our trip as our daughter is joining us for a few days.  She flew into Dublin and explored that city before catching the train out to Galway where we picked her up.  That first afternoon, we had a wonderful meal at Kai Restaurant and spent some time exploring Galway including the Spanish Arch and the Latin Quarter.  We start to walk along the seapint promenade to Salthill and its promenade but it is too windy and cold for us so cut the walk short. Then off to a very nice AirBnB in Kinvara about 30 minutes from Galway.  

Limerack

 

Our next stop was a small town just outside of Limerick called Bunratty as in the castle Bunratty.  On our way to Bunratty we stopped in Ennis at the ruins of a friary and then in Limerick to see King John's Castle.

Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Skellig

 

Skellig Michael - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Skellig Michael is a pair of Islands 7.2 miles off shore.  Greater Skellig is known for the Gaelic monastery built between the 6th and 7th century.  In our travels, we have been amazed at the great lengths monks will go to seek isolation. (Check out our post for the Meteora Monastery for another example.