Ravenna

Ravenna is an extraordinary little city. Though this city may not be big or famous as Naples, Rome, Venice, or even Florence but it is still one of the tourist most preferred destination in Europe. Apart from its beauty and hospitality, it boasts of 8 UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as other important cultural monuments.

Moreover, there are ancient cultures and histories which have been traced to Ravenna; after all, this amazing little city was the capital for three times of three different empires: the kingdom of Theodoric, the Western Roman Empire, the king of the Goth, and of the Byzantine Empire in Europe.

Additionally, Ravenna is a city of canals and has seaports that are connected to the sea by a canal. You will be left breathless by the old architectures along the old canals as well as in the old city center. There are hundreds of places you can explore in Ravenna such as the winding narrow streets and alleys that are dotted with cafes, and shops and great old architectures.

Our first glimpse of the port was through a beautiful sunrise. There is a breakwater and a special spot for mooring sailing boats. There were hundreds of them. We also saw a gathering of  wind surfers, also hundreds of them. The sun was shining and it was getting warmer already.

We found Ravenna to be all they said it would be. We took our time getting off of the ship because we did not have an excursion and we could go whenever we were ready. We thought we had waited until the crowd had cleared but we had not. This port is HUGE and the city supplies a shuttle to take you into the center of town. We arrived at the pick up point and waited in a long line. WE spent 20 minutes and got on bus three.

The drive through the port from the cruise terminal into town center was almost 25 minutes long. There were so many twists and turns that I don't believe you could have found your way even if you knew North South East and West which Ken reminds me that I don't know. The area was very industrialized with many refineries and the like.

WE arrived at a square with a large statue honoring the fallen. The area was bright and open and we with the help of the bus driver and fellow passengers and a very basic map that the actual town square was just a couple of blocks straight ahead.

The city is beautiful and clean . Buds are beginning to swell on the trees. People are out enjoying the spring air but dressed in a few layers. It is cool, not cold but definitely jacket weather.

We easily find the square and soon found a small souvenir shop where I could purchase a decoration for the tree with my newly acquired Euros. This represents the amazing mosaics that were created in this part of the world.

 This is market day so there are dozens of vendors selling mainly food stuffs, cheeses and meats for the most part. One vendor had licorice candy and I made certain to look the other way. One of the candies I find impossible to resist is Licorice Allsorts. My cruise free of weight gain may have come to a screaming halt otherwise. This is basically a pedestrian mall so we were not dodging traffic. We could enjoy the people with no fear of being run over by a car but fear of bicycles was another matter.

We walked further looking for the Basilica Di San Vitale . We walked and followed signs on the side of buildings and made our way to the Basilica. Because we were not on an excursion it was necessary to get into a line to purchase a ticket to enter the grounds and the church. We opted not to spend our precious time in a line up. We were able to get pictures from the outside which will give you an idea of how grand it was.

When outside at the rear of the church we saw another church and we went inside. It was beautiful and I was struck by the solemnity of it. The feeling there was what I expected there to be at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

We needed to find a WC by now and again signs on the sides of buildings lead the way. There are few public washrooms and the one we did find had a charge of half a Euro to use it. We both used it at the same time because we had only one half Euro coin. It was roomy and clean

We made our way back to the square and we had a real Italian Pizza. I must say that I prefer the pizza from Ocean Park in Abbotsford. But sitting in an open air cafe and enjoying the people watching was an experience I never ever thought I would have. We shared a pizza, I had a coke and Ken had a Heineken.

Next we began our return trip to the pick up point . Along the way we saw what looked like a medieval church and we were so correct. The door was open and we stepped inside and were amazed by the beauty of this gem. Sorry but I did not get the name of this beauty.

 We enjoyed 2 of these beautiful structures. I am sure this will be 2 of many before this cruise is over.

The wait for a bus was not long and so we boarded the second bus for the return to the port.  We were surprised that a lot of the scenery was different because many of the streets in the area are one way so we got new views. By the time we got back to the ship it was almost four o'clock. Our dinner time is at five o'clock so we decided to skip dinner. We had eaten pizza not that long ago, we were not hungry and we were TIRED. A nap was the choice.  This is the last day of segment 3 of this cruise so the list of excursions for segment 4 were available. I picked them up. By now it is seven o'clock so we made our way to the theatre for the Folkloric show. Tonight featured a trio of young men who were very talented musicians and singers.

Back in the cabin I checked over our booked excursions with the idea of making certain that we had booked wisely. I concluded that our eight excursions were doable and that the days we had not booked should remain unscheduled. We can go off on our own if we want to but if we are tired we need not go. There are 17 days on this cruise before we begin to cross the Atlantic, only 3 are sea days  so there will be times when we need to take it easy. So we have not booked for places we have already visited.

Ken caught up on his e-mail and soon it was ten o'clock and having walked 8000 steps today we were ready to call it a night. 

Tomorrow we are still in Ravenna but it is day one of segment 4. I can't believe we have been at sea for more than 70 days  and we will be home in 39 days.