We left Bologna for Florence, full of plans for our cruise to Greece and the Greek Isles, never imagining that it wouldn’t happen.
From Genoa we went on to Bologna whose name means a large smoked sausage of various meats. We were enjoying towns and cities that we had never seen before so our trip was proving to be very interesting.
After the 2 nights in Venice, we began a journey of train rides across Italy to get back to Rome to board our second cruise which was to take us to the Greek Isles.
Sunday morning we rose early and had a delicious breakfast on the outside patio of the Cucina Restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel..
The day after visiting Murano and Burano we disembarked and were taken to the 5-Star JW Marriott Hotel situated on the small Isola Delle Rose Island in the Venetian Lagoon.
Our cruise was coming to an end as we cruised up to Venice from Šibinek.
We were so pleased to be visiting Croatia again, especially as the area we were now visiting was not one we had been to before.
After walking up and down hills in Taormina and Crotone, it was a pleasure to wander on the flat in Bari, the next city that we visited.
Overnight we sailed away from Sicily travelling South and then East around the boot of Italy to the small town of Crotone, another Italian place about which we knew nothing.
At 07:00 we sailed into the harbour at Messina, Sicily with, not a lighthouse at the entrance, but a high Statue of Mary made in gold.