50th Anniversary Cruise 

Hard to believe that this summer is almost half over.  This first half has been one non-stop whirlwind of travel, family, friends, and lots and lots of fun!  This is my first week with hardly any planned activities; giving me a chance to do some catching up with things I’ve let slide by.

My last blog entry was about my husband and I getting ready to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  Well, we did just that by taking a Holland America cruise from Venice to Rome.  We started the trip by spending two nights in Venice before we boarded the ship.  We had not been to Venice since 2005, so it was wonderful to be there again.  We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Bonvecchiati, which is just a 2 minute walk from St. Mark’s Square.  It is located on one of the smaller canals leading to the Grand Canal.

One afternoon we made reservations for the rooftop of the 4 story indoor mall.  The reservation allows you to spend 15 minutes on the roof taking pictures of the absolutely amazing 360-degree view.

On our second night in Venice we, as well as many other guests, were taken by private motor-launch onto the Grand Canal, where we motored up to a privately owned 16th-century palace, where we were met by a member of the noble family (she looked exactly like Lauren Bacall).  We entered the courtyard and to our utter amazement the piece of property went back approximately 125 ft.  The garden was so lovely with meandering paths throughout the well-manicured plants and shrubs.

Musicians dressed in Venetian gondola-style clothing played, while waiters in white dinner jackets walked amongst the guests carrying trays of hors de oeuvres.  There was also an open bar and tables with more food.  The guests were dressed in their finery for such an elegant evening which added to the special event.

Before it was time to depart and return to our hotel we got to tour the inside of the palace.  It was 4-stories and all the furnishings were vintage.  The views from every window facing the Grand Canal were extraordinary!  The lady who had met us as we arrived now said goodbye to us as we thanked her and stepped onboard the motor-launch, returning to our hotel.  It was an evening I will fondly remember.

The next day we boarded the Oosterdam to begin the cruise.  It went to ports in Croatia, Albania, Greece, Malta, and Italy. 

On a tour to Olympia, Greece, we visited the site of the first Olympics and saw where the Olympic torch starts its journey.  

We had a delicious lunch in the picturesque seaside town of Chania, Crete on the day of our anniversary.  When we returned to the ship and went in our cabin we were greeted by two towel swans forming a heart sitting on our bed, made by our delightful two cabin stewards, who were quite excited about us celebrating our 50th anniversary.  That night we had dinner reservations at the Pinnacle Grill on the ship.  It was a truly wonderful day and one we will never forget.

The day we were in Palermo, Sicily, we found our way to the largest of the three outdoor markets, where we had been two years ago while on an OAT trip.  We had a yummy lunch of arancini and wine, followed by a cannoli later on.

Our last port before we got to Rome was Naples, Italy.  We had been there several times so this time we took a jet boat over to the Isle of Capri and spent most of the day there.  We had a delicious lunch with a breathtaking view of the harbor far below.  Later the jet boat whisked us back to the ship in time to get ready for the last night of our special 50th anniversary trip.