Zadar Croatia: We docked at Zadar, known as the “oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia.” A shuttle bus took us northward from the dock in the vicinity of the Roman Forum. We headed directly to the water’s edge to see the Greeting to the Sun and the Sea Organ. The Greeting to the Sun was a circular array of solar panels and lights. At night, it puts on a captivating light show. The Sea Organ plays music generated by the sea waves which force air through tubes under the steps and produces various harmonic tones to the rhythm of the sea. A long, curved seating area borders the area that is made of white marble with black wooden inserts and resembles a piano keyboard. It was such a nice place to sit for a spell, relax and listen to sounds of the sea.
We traversed from there to St. Donatus, a 9th-century pre-Romanesque Church. It was built in part from the rubble of the Roman forum. Obvious fragments of marble slabs, columns, carved relief figures could be seen from the foundation up the supporting walls of its early circular design. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the inner space and the sunlight radiating from the three surrounding apses to its center. The upper gallery provided even more interesting patterns of light which splashed off the white marble arches and radial wooden roof above.
We walked from St. Donatus over to the 12th-century St. Anastasia Cathedral where I spotted a family wearing VR Goggles and turning their heads and craning their necks in various directions. I can’t imagine what they were seeing but it certainly couldn’t have been as fascinating as the reality that stood a few inches beyond the lenses of the goofy head gear. Anyway, in stark contrast to St. Donatus, St. Anastasia contained a rich and refined interior of mixed marble with intricately carved relief panels, statuary and dramatic paintings. From the massive pipe organ at the entrance, past the polished marble baptismal font through the nave to the shiny golden candelabras at the altar, you are flanked with lavish religious and artistic creations.
We continued our trek to the far side of the forum area to the Sea Gate and back to the Terracotta Ristorante for an entertaining and delicious dish of fettuccini. The pasta was hand tossed at our table in an urn of cheese that was set alight with brandy to soften it. We added a glass of wine to our main course and chatted with the owner and a very nice couple seated across from us. It was a wonderful ending to our last destination in Croatia.

Ravenna Italy: Our ship anchored at our final cruise port in Ravenna. We were impressed and relieved by the orderly disembarkment from the Constellation. Our taxi arrived shortly after assembling at the port parking pick-up area. It was early in the day so we dropped our bags at the Santa Maria Fortis B&B located at the center of town. We made tracks to the Arian Baptistery but found we needed to purchase tickets to visit multiple sites in the area. We picked up tickets near the San Vitale Basilica and got in line with droves of school children on field trips. We entered the Mausoleum of Galla Placida to view the incredible mosaics for a scheduled 10 minute time period. The mosaics sparkled in the dimly lit mausoleum and pictures couldn’t capture the dazzling effect of the gold against the deep blue tiles. We exited and trapsed over to the flying buttresses of the San Vitale Basilica. The vast interior revealed yet another astounding example of early Byzantine mosaics decorating the apses. The mosaics framed frescoes added in the 18th century. Unique, book-matched marble veneers were applied to the bases of the arches. It was hard to absorb all there was before us. The Church of Saint Mary Maggiore was on the same site so we peered inside for a few minutes. It was a pretty church but tour brains were on visual overload at this point. We left the basilica and retraced our steps to the piazza Kennedy and grabbed some cokes at the Kennedy Cafe. Refreshed, we headed back to the Arian Baptistery to be greeted by more kids on a field trip. The Baptistry contained impressive mosaics similar to those in the Mausoleum of Galla Placida and I’m glad we purchased tickets for entry. We took a break from sight seeing and sat down at the Ca de Ven Restaurant. It had a cool vaulted interior with decoratively painted ceilings. Towards the rear was a large wooden structure that had tables at the bottom, a row of wine barrels above them and a balcony at the top. The service was just shy of rude but the food was OK. We left there on our final leg of the day to the burial place of Dante Alighieri. We entered the courtyard of his burial place but didn’t actually see his tomb. The Basilica of Saint Francis was right around the corner so we stepped inside. It had a relative simple and unadorned interior as one might expect. People were gathered at the crypt entrance under the altar. I joined them and was surprised to discover the crypt was flooded with crystal clear water and stocked with goldfish. We went back to the Santa Maria Fortis B&B, got our bags lugged up to our room and rested a bit before having dinner at the Trattoria Rustica.
The next day, we got breakfast and hired a cab to the Locauto car rental and headed off in our Opel Mokka to revisit the Gangale family at the Castello Delle Serre di Rapolano after 16 years. I’ve added my Castello Delle Serre remarks to the “Accommodations and Dining” picture gallery but will end here with notes of our visit from the castle to the Castello di Brolio. Per Antonio’s knowledgeable advice, we toured to the Castello di Brolio in the Chianti region. The castle has origins dating back to the Middle Ages and is perched atop the hills of the Chianti Classico region. It was quite impressive with panoramic views of the valleys below. The price of admission included a wine tasting at the Ricasoli winery. We sampled a young and mature Chianti at the winery and had a light lunch across the street at the Agribar Brolio. After lunch, we drove down a local road lined with the longest stretch of mature cypress trees I’ve ever seen and continued back to the castle to kick back before dinner.