Going LIVE on Nieuw Statendam roundtrip Rome ⛲🛵Oct 26-Nov 9: Planes Trains Vespas & Ships w/GOT!!

[Haljo1935]

Good morning, Split! Very busy port - 2 what I think are ferries (need to research) passing in opposite directions. 4 more have gone by while I'm typing this...

Very cloudy, but not actively raining; hard to get a good picture. These are from our balcony.

TV forecast is rain, 63° and 61% humidity. That's the lowest humidity we've had and I'll gladly accept it, but would like the rain to hold off - we have walking tours in Split and Trigor; Split is GOT. Trigor is about 30 min west of Split.

Breakfast is in our cabin this morning. We meet the independent guide and rest of our small group (8 total) at 8:15. Here's hoping for a dry, informative, beautiful day!!

[Haljo1935]

The kiwis 🥝 have been huge this cruise. I don't eat them, but think they're pretty and add a nice pop of color to my fruit plate. But, seriously, they are noticeably large.

The sliced watermelon 🍉 is really good, but as mentioned previously, the cubed melon is a bit mushy, so I only eat it from room service. I eat a lot of watermelon, but I think they could serve smaller portions. Even for 2 people, this is a lot. The strawberries are noticeably absent as they've already been consumed. 🤭

Lunch yesterday was in Pinnacle Grill. I thought I posted these, but don't see them, so apologies if this is a duplicate. Also, the dessert pictures are MIA - chocolate brownie topped w/coffee gelato & carmel popcorn crunch for DH and strawberry 🍓 pavlova for me. They were very pretty, hoping the pictures reappear 🥴 

Any yellow glow is reflection from the water glasses - sun alternated between very bright and hiding behind the clouds. 

DH likes the PG butter - he eats both the garlic and the red pepper. I don't eat butter, but tried the red pepper as it looks sort of like pimento cheese.

I had the PG burger - that's why I was there!! Lunch in PG is what sea day special. I don't eat the bun, but don't ask for them to omit it as the sauce is just the right amount for the lettuce & tomatoes, which I eat on the side. Starter was the beefsteak tomatoes & basil. Normally I would say they were fabulous, but after all the local tomatoes, they're only really good.🤔

DH had beef tenderloin w/blue cheese, asparagus and scalloped potatoes. And🍷 Starter was crabcakes. He had coffee w/his brownie.

BettyAnn (CD) says the ship has been cleared so we're good to go ashore. Also said the HOHO will not run, so those planning to use it to get around town will need to go to Plan B.

[Haljo1935]

The day is back on track - missing dessert pictures have been found!!

 

Brownie topped w/coffee gelato and carmel popcorn crunch. 

Strawberry 🍓 pavlova. 

TV weather forecast has been updated - 57°, 77% humidity, thunderstorms/light rain and light winds. In addition to the rain jacket, I will take an umbrella. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Haljo1935
Additional comment

[Haljo1935]

Split and Trogir were very pretty. We started the day with big, dark clouds, but luckily the rain was light. Then rain again middle of the day as we drove back from Trogir to Split; once that cleared, we had beautiful blue skies for the Split tour. Parts of Old Town Trogir were slightly flooded so we took some detours on our walking tour.

This was an independent tour through Viator we booked last minute when Olympia was canceled; we found our tourmates here on CC roll call 😉.  It included walking tours of both Split and Trogir. In Split, we would see some GOT locations. Because it was a private, small group tour, it could be flexible and somewhat tailored to our requests. Our guide, Marija, decided she would take us to Trogir first because the skies looked clearer there. It was a good call!

The ticket said the meeting point was in Old Town Trogir at the Golden Gate. But Marija met us right at the gate just feet from the ship, closer even than the taxis, so we didn't have to walk very far in the rain.🌧️ Thank you, Marija!😊

Marija is a Split native, a teacher with a masters in history and development with a passion for research, so she is well equipped to lead a tour here.

In Trogir, we started at the entrance to the old Town. We saw several cathedrals and the equivalent of City Hall, among other incredible buildings. 

After some free time (40 min) to explore on our own, we met back up w/Marija for the drive back to Split. She asked if we wanted free time in Trogir or if we wanted to go back to Split and spend more time there. We decided to have some time in Trogir. During that time, I got a terrific blood orange gelato. I chose a cup, but cones were also an option.

DH had an Americano.

These cuties guarded the register at the shop 🤭

It had a very nice selection of pastries, cakes and other baked items.

Had pretty heavy rain and some rainbows 🌈 on the drive back to Split. Marija said this was the most rain they'd had in 5 years. Cannot locate my rainbow picture, but if I find it, I'll post it later.

The weather cleared up to give us a beautiful afternoon for the tour of Split.

 

We saw 2 sphinx - 1 was approx 3800 years old (it was already over 1800 yo when the cathedral it guards was completed in 305AD). Marija says the other smaller one is about 1500 years younger. These, as the other artifacts, are not under protection or roped off, allowing you to touch them. It's pretty incredible. I'm sure, eventually they will realize that needs to change for the sake of preservation, but it's surreal to touch something thousands of years old.

Our guide, Marija. 

After I get caught up, I'll post some of the misc pictures I took. There is so much to see.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Haljo1935
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[Haljo1935]

Sunset in Split as seen from our balcony. If you zoom in, you can see the sailboats. Well, if I upload the correct pictures you can. 🫣

[oakridger]

I'm enjoying the details and all the architecture pictures!  I have had the experience that some of my most memorable guides have all been teachers!  

 

~Nancy

 

 

[Haljo1935]

Sunrise over Bari (Puglia) Italy.

 

TV forecast is 76° w/45% humidity. 

Watched the team take out & tie off our lines.

Is that line supposed to have so much slack? 🤔

When we got back from breakfast all is right w/the world - all 4 lines are taught. 🤭

No excursion planned; we are taking the HAL shuttle to town and just explore.

BettyAnn presented the following maps during her port talk; 1 shows estimated distances and public transport costs, she's pointing at our berth #10:

Apologies the pictures from our visit to Bari are so "rough" - I wanted to get them posted & have not cropped most of them.

 

We walked to the castle Svevo - line was very long so we chose not to tour; cost for adults was 8eu.

We walked around downtown Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Eroi Del Mare where the shuttle dropped us off, 

eventually making our way to Old Town. Lots of interesting buildings, but also a lot of new construction.

We walked through the local green market,

listened to music on one of the side streets leading to the market,

stepped inside what we thought was a church, but there is a poster for a museum inside, so I'm not really sure. As I go through my pictures, I'll see if I captured the name from the outside, but I don't think I did. This church/museum was down a narrow side street; not in the square.

Ate pizza at a local pizzeria.

 

Menu:

Unique artwork w/a number identifies the tables; we were #1.

#2 behind us had colorful art.

The bruschetta was as expected - fantastic!

DH had the spicy salami (what we'd call pepperoni) and a red beer.

I had ham and a Sprite.

I passed on the complimentary lemonciello,  DH drank his but I think he wished he hadn't.

The leftovers rode the shuttle back with us and are now parked on the table in our cabin. We're thinking leftover pizza & wine 🍷 on our balcony sounds like a great dinner option.

Weather was perfect - mostly sunny, wispy clouds & breeze just when we needed them, no rain. We certainly could have spent more time exploring and would love to return. I'll post more of the photos later.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Haljo1935
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[SUESEABE]

 

Yeah! I love that your husband has his Pittsburgh Steelers shirt on. Go Steelers! 😉

[Haljo1935]

14 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

 

Yeah! I love that your husband has his Pittsburgh Steelers shirt on. Go Steelers! 😉

Thanks - I'll let him know you noticed 🤭 It sure brings him a lot of comments, lol. He is not even from that area, just a die hard fan! He's having a tough couple years now that "his guy" has retired. 

[Nodakboiler]

Glad your PG lunch was complete- Oosterdam has no coffee gelato for our 26 day cruise- that’s one of our highlights of the PG lunch!

[Haljo1935]

22 minutes ago, Nodakboiler said:

Glad your PG lunch was complete- Oosterdam has no coffee gelato for our 26 day cruise- that’s one of our highlights of the PG lunch!

Oh, no!! The horror! I hesitate to tell you how yummy it was.🫣

Tomorrow we will have Sea Day Brunch in MDR, so we will not subject you to another round of PG torture 😉

[Haljo1935]

Tomorrow is our final Sea Day. That means Sea Day Brunch in the MDR.

Also means it's time for a little Chocolate Surprise.

[Haljo1935]

The art inside the church is an exhibit called Bibart 2023; it will be in 3 places - it opened yesterday in Bari.

The church is Chiesa di San Gaetano Ex Convento dei Teatini dating 1774 - 1776.

Here's another picture from the exhibit; apologies if it's a duplicate. 😪 Not knowing what it was, I didn't walk all the way inside, so I know I missed a lot, but what I saw was just beautiful. 

[Haljo1935]

Update on the castle we did not tour - the entry line was so long because on the 1st Sunday of the month (which today was) visitors get in free!!

[Banditswife]

enjoying your review, thank you for posting

[Haljo1935]

Misc photos of magnificent buildings around Bari. Because we were just walking around, not on a tour or doing a mapped walking tour, and because we haven't researched them yet, we don't have the names of any of the buildings. I have a thing for doors and windows, so you'll probably see a few, lol.

 

There's no order here - I'm just uploading some of the pictures I took.

Here's a statue in the middle of the street and the inscription on the base.

Here's a cute planter sitting in a shop doorway; no idea what the shop was selling.

And some artwork on the side of a building. It was behind a construction fence.

This unique clock caught our attention - close-up shot of the clock plus a pic of the building it is on. Based on the timestamp of the picture, it seems to have the correct time.

DH needed cigars; being Sunday, all the tobacco stores are closed and the only place to buy tobacco products are from the 24-hour vending machines. They did not have cigars, but you can buy Camels and Chesterfields, lol. Zoom in - top left of the bottom picture.

This building has an interesting corner on it. It is a concave course rather than a square corner. Notice it is like that at street level and the base is "car high." I wonder why?

Sunday is definitely laundry day in Bari - saw a lot of laundry; seems every street had several occupied lines.

We saw quite a few of these planter boxes.

Fresh roasted nuts.

Fresh made pasta for sale everywhere. We didn't buy any as we didn't know if they would let us bring it back on the ship since it's not in a sealed bag. I'm sure it's very good. I think there's a church by the pasta cart on the right.

There are not many colorful doors; most blend in, so these really stood out.

I bought a magnet from a shop on a side street. It was the only shop open; a man & woman were out front painting miniature landscapes. This is a picture of something in the shop he had made, kind of like a diorama, but front view. It is a typical street in Bari.

Here's the magnet I got along w/the ones from Dubrovnik and Corfu. Sokraki is the small mountain town we visited during our 4x4 excursion in Corfu.

Want to own a place in Bari? This one is for sale.

Lots of churches - some are obvious w/crosses prominently adorning the walls, others are more discreet and down side streets, like the one by the pasta cart.

This large church has a cross on every column.

Some other buildings and architectural features.

 

I tried to zoom in on the amazingly 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Haljo1935
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[Haljo1935]

8 hours ago, Banditswife said:

enjoying your review, thank you for posting

Glad you're here and enjoying.  I'm behind on posting, but promise I will eventually get caught up.🫣

[Haljo1935]

Sunset last night over Bari as seen from our balcony.

[Haljo1935]

Sunrise this morning, well slightly after sunrise - I missed sunrise so here's the best I could get.

There is land to the left, a ship in the distance directly behind us and another ship off to the right in the distance. 

[Haljo1935]

I could probably go on forever with Bari pictures, but if I do, I won't get back to the other ports. So I will leave you with some pictures of the castle that I missed.

We think maybe the grassy area was originally the moat

and the city park. "G" Maps directed us to it when we searched for public toilet. We had been using the ones at cafes, etc, but this time the timing didn't work. But in a way it did - a woman was cleaning them when we arrived 😏 

Entrance we used, the opposite side did not have a fence

Yellow wall portion houses the restrooms

[Haljo1935]

Last night was the Orange Party & Bar Hop. We are party poopers and did not go.

It was also NFL 🏈game night on the big screen Lido poolside. We are not fans of either team that was playing, so we didn't go. Based on the number of empty chairs / available chairs, there are 4 Tampa Bay and/or Houston fans onboard🫣 The roof was open and it was a beautiful night.

I took the pool picture when I went to Gelato for post pizza & salad dessert. I got mint chocolate chip; it was good, but did not meet the level of what we'd been enjoying on port days.🥴

Freeze squeezed smoothies & juice are also available at Gelato, as well as milkshakes.

Tonight is Chocolate Surprise 

 

Being the party poopers we are, we'll likely skip the Chocolate Surprise and have already canceled our spots at the premium wine tasting.

Why is that sideways and why will it not let me fix it?🙄

[Haljo1935]

Time for Sea Day Brunch. Pretty good turnout at 10:30am; that's an hour into serving time (9:30-12:30). No waiting though - we were led right away to a great table by the window.

 

In the distance, we see 2 ships.

DH is having steak & egg skillet.

I ordered Scandinavian potato cakes hold the gravlax. It had to go back - the eggs were way too runny (ordered hard fried). I seldom return food, but that was beyond what I could handle. 2nd time was much better.

The yogurt parfait was very good - lots of fruit in there. Does anyone else notice the logo is in the wrong position, lol.

Bloody Mary's were popular  - there were 3 on that tray before he delivered ours 🫣

Menu:

Food was served hot and tasted good, but service was unacceptably slow. I took and edited pics and did this post while waiting for them to bring a refill of coffee and clear our dishes. This is why DH prefers the Lido - he does not like to wait.

I think his patience is gone and we will not wait much longer, so you may not see the berry fruit crumble.🤔

And just like that, crumble is here...

Edited November 6, 2023 by Haljo1935
Additional comment

[Haljo1935]

Greeted by clean laundry and the "tv repairman." He showed me a short orange cable that he replaced and voila tv is once again working.

So I'm able to show you our current location enroute to Messina Sicily

and today's forecast.

As well as tomorrow's forecast

Laundry put away and now I'm enjoying the best seat in the house before heading out to find something of interest to do.

Since I seem to have a decent connection and the weather out here is soooooo nice, I may stay on the balcony and get caught up a little on the posts I owe y'all. 

[Iamthesea]

Continuing to enjoy your reviews.  Two questions about this latest post.  

 

1. Is there a cost for the drinks, during the brunch, if you have the beverage package?

2. Always wondered if tipping is needed when a repairman fixes something that you have requested to be fixed in the stateroom.  We had the closet light batteries replaced on our last cruise.  I thought about giving a tip of thanks, but the repairman left in a hurry.

[BetsyS.]

Thanks for the brunch menu. I'll have a Bloody Mary (or 2), ham and cheese Monte Cristo sandwich with French fries, wild berry crisp with ice cream and coffee.😊

      Thanks for taking the time on your vacation to post reports and pictures of 

beautiful scenery, food and crew members. I'm glad your weather is nice.