"Beware of enterprises that require new clothes." So advises Henry David Thoreau -- advice which I find easy to follow. This enterprise I am about to embark on involves a valid passport, sturdy shoes, maps of Italy, Greece, and Croatia, and a firm conviction that kind strangers will come to my aid, if needed.
For me, the un-charted territory is how to behave on a cruise ship trapped with 1200 strangers, all eager to exhibit wildly care-free enjoyment while maintaining an air of sophisticated indifference. With no prior experience of cruise-ship travel, I approach the departure date with a vague mixture of apprehension and excitement. Why not be excited? I have never been to Croatia or Greece, and will always welcome a chance to re-visit Italy.
However, since there are certain social requirements attached with cruise-ship travelling, such as "formal evenings" I am impelled to disregard Thoreau and purchase what I hope will not humiliate me in front of the other passengers.
I plan to use this blog as my travelogue, updating daily with what I expect will be memorable anecdotes and photographs of this latest adventure.
The journey will involve spending seven days in heavenly Florence, with excursions to nearby Tuscan towns, then train travel to Venice to catch the cruise ship for 12 days sailing through the Adriatic Sea, stopping in Dubrovnik, Corfu, Athens, and Mykonos, sailing across the Aegean Sea, the 'wine-dark sea' of Homer, to Turkey, with a stop in Santorini, then sailing to Naples, and up to Rome. The Eternal City will host us for four days, after which I will reluctantly return home.
I can't wait!
