drron29

First the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia which we went into first. A bit of a snafu as 2 independent travellers pushed their way into our group so were counted by the fierce lady on the entrance who was not going to let the last 2 in. Took a while for it to be sorted. Magnificent inside although a little squeezy.

Yes Wayan,Sheiba and Sanu. Not my fault this time as Rojaan took that photo.

But finally arrive in Ravenna.

The main channel is where the crgo ships go. It stretches several Kms all the way to Ravenna. Off on the magnificent Ravenna tour. You get some idea of the size of the facility in that last photo. Now we passed at least 10Km of industry mainly petrochemical facilities.

I went to the Miramare castle, the old church and Roman ruins on the hill. Then a wander around the old town. I left the excursion then and had lunch. I did enjoy it.

Monday and we are in the new cruise port of Ravenna. Not yet complete bur RCL is spending a lot on improving this port. Due to be completed some time next year. Some of the RCL's larger ships are already using this as a transit stop instead of Fusina. Saw these strange things built on the sea wall. Turns out they are for fishing particularly for sardines. There is a net suspended from the projections on each side. Beside the port is a beach. A couple of hardy souls were swimming. It seems that they expect big crowds in summer. Three dredges operating full time during our stay. Out to sea and I presume oil platforms. And on the other side of the main channel a marina.

The day's menu. And the red wine. For starters Rojaan had the crab salad and I the Tsar cut Baltic salmon from the main menu. Then I had the wild mushroom salad. For mains Rojaan had the lamb cutlets and I the New York strip steak All the dishes weregood.

The last of Zadar. A pre dinner drink in the Panorama Lounge before dinner at Atlantide.Some of our favourites. The last of the sunset.

Cruising out of Zadar in the late afternoon. A good view of the old town.

Where we had our tasting. There were a few groups of locals having a Sunday lunch. Their platters looked really good. And what a place for a long Sunday lunch with great views. A chapel just outside the vineyard gates. Now views from the bus on the way back to the Moon. Quite a few groups of runners.

Their wines. The red But they did have an upmarket bottle in the shop. The Rose. And the white. I would have loved to try this. The inside tasting room. As an Australian it is intriguing to see lantana as a pot plant. Declared a noxious weed here. And a way of Croatian cooking under cover. The lamb is apparently great cooked by this method. An interesting decoration using empty wine bottles.

Lirio I didn't really get the fellows name but as he said his brother was a Minister in the Croation Minister In tracked down Sime Erlic as the minister for Regional Devekopment who was educated in Zadar and his brother is Ante Erlic who is a licenced tour guide and his photo definitely looks like our guide. https://zadarguides.com/en/guides/ante-erlic/71

So why Royal vineyards. Well in 1066 the Croatian King donated the land to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Mary in Zadar. The nuns started a vineyard. The Vineyard was confiscated by the Government in the 1950s due to "land reform". It wa returned to the nuns by the new government 20 years ago. They decided to lease it and a private investor now hasa 99 year lease and has planted 300,000 vines. Mainly 3 Croatian grapes Posic,Plavac and Crljenak (zinfandel_. https://zadar.travel/news/royal-vineyards-a-story-that-lasts-for-nine-centuries We tasted 3 wines. First the rose which won a major award in Japan and is predominantly exported there. Then the Plavac (white) and the red Posip. As well we were served cold smoked tuna which was very nice and a renowned sheep cheese from a near by island.

The last of the salt works. Now off to the Royal vineyards.

At the salt works. The water in the previous post was of the evaporation ponds and in one photo a sluice gate that lets ocean water into the ponds. Previously it was all manual labour. Still labor intensive but a truck now brings the salt in at harvest rather than using man powered trolleys. A shop with all sorts of salt. And the description of the process.

Now back on the bus to NIn.

Basically the promenade was empty. Our guide thought we should see these holes. Together with this They form a wonderful msound and light show with all the energy from nature. see here- https://www.zadar.hr/en/experience/history-culture/sea-organ-sun-salutation The music was beautiful but unfortunately you would have to wait until sunset for the light show.n If you want to hear and see the show there are plenty of uploads to You Tube. Back to he walk.

Groups of runners everywhere.

So in the main square there were not only Roman ruins and churches but that day an International Charity run day. So the old town was really crowded. Talking to other groups their guide used this as an excuse to cut short the tour saying there were road closures plus the promenade was being used for the run. Not our guide there was a lot more that he wanted to show us. Besides it was still 3 hours until the run started.

A market.

The old well. Off on our tour.

We had a great young guide who obviously wanted to promote Croatia. His brother is a Minister in the Croatian Government in charge of tourism investments. The family own the cafe seen in this and previous posts. So unlike the other groups there was an easy access to restrooms. As well it was a Sunday so there were services at all the churches. However our guide had a chat with the priest of his church and we were allowed a quick look. He then took us down the street to his families home and told us it's history as far as it's known. Thought to have been built for a prominent Venetian family but now subdivided. And the family home. They live upstairs. Then through to the courtyard.

A little of the original wall. And a Roman column. More remnants of Roman times.