Set atop a rocky peninsula with the Vivari Channel acting as a virtual moat, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrint never fails to delight every one of your senses. The monuments are set among dense groves of pine, eucalyptus, bay laurel, and Judas trees, surrounded by a combination of fertile pastureland, olive and tangerine groves, and marshes. The wet spring ensured there were blankets of red poppies, wild carrot, buttercups, purple mallow, and periwinkle and pink convolvulus under the trees and peeking out between the stones of the crumbled walls. Our visit included stops at the Greco-Roman theater and agora, the Byzantine basilica and baptistery the city walls and the Venetian fortress above the city. The morning ended with a visit to Lekuris Castle above Sarande with a 360˚ view of the surrounding countryside and coast. In the late afternoon, having moved 20 kilometers up the coast to Porto Palermo, we dropped anchor in the bay and went ashore to explore and have drinks atop a small castle built in 1804 by Ali Pasha, the colorful Ottoman governor who ruled the country for 40 years.
9/22/2022
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Sea Cloud
Hvar, Croatia
It’s hard to believe it is the last day of our magical cruise along the Dalmatian Coast. A visit to the beautiful island of Hvar, the “lavender capital” of Croatia, was the perfect way to end our voyage. Sea Cloud slipped through the narrow channel between the Pakleni Islands and dropped anchor just in front of the old Venetian harbor of the town of Hvar. We tendered into the pier for an early morning walking tour of this delightful town full of Venetian-inspired Renaissance palaces with pointed trefoil windows and ground-floor loggias. Cafes, bars, and lavender stands lined one side of the quay, while yachts and catamaran ferries from the Split jostled for position on the other. Our guides took us along the seawall and out to the Franciscan Monastery to see their little physic garden with its 500-year-old cypress tree and the impressive 16th century painting of the “Last Supper” that dominates the monk’s refectory. This magnificent work was done by a Venetian artist of the school of Paolo Veronese. The artist was shipwrecked on the island and nursed back to health in the monastery. We wound our way back to the main square, then climbed up through the narrow Porta Maestra that was once the main entrance to the fortified section of the town. We stopped in front of the small Benedictine convent, where five cloistered nuns still make lace from the fibers of the agave plant. After a visit to the basilica of St. Stephens on the main square, some of us fanned out on our own to explore the alleyways leading up to the Venetian fortress that protects the city, while others chose to buy a few lavender products or just sit and enjoy a cool drink in one of the many bars along the quay. All too soon, the tenders arrived to shuttle us back to the ship so we could partake in the famous “parmesan wheel” pasta feast on the Lido Deck. As we moved away from Hvar, the captain had the sailors go aloft for one last afternoon under sail.
