REFLECTIONS of a magnificent trip.

by Nancy Kivlen

Well here we are at the end of the trip, just one more day on the ship and then we arrive in Barcelona to start our long journey home to San Diego and Los Angeles.

All of us have thoroughly enjoyed the trip: the sights, cities, countries, and the cruise. We all got along great and traveled well together. In spite of all the food consumption, we've managed to average over 10,000 steps per day something I've been adamant about doing ever since we arrived.

After the Amazing day on the Amalfi Coast, we sailed in two days later to Kotor, Montenegro. Originally I thought I would be able to add this country onto my 'quest list' to achieve 100 countries, but turns out that I was in Montenegro 40 years ago when it was part of the former Yugoslavia, to the town of Herceg Novia. However, Montenegro was a new sight for me.

We followed the advice of Cruise Critic and wondered outside the port only to find many tours and drivers available. We settled on one (forgot his name, a long one with no vowels) but he was a very friendly chap that spoke English well. He was a child of the sixties, not unlike the rest of us. He loved the Doors, Janis Joplin, the Stones, and CSNY. He spoke fondly of Tito, the former dictator of Yugoslavia and told us how Tito managed to balance politics as the leader of the only Socialist country in the eastern bloc at that time. Tito was friends with both President Carter and the Russians, making Yugoslavia unique.

He drove us out of Kotor, high into the mountains surrounding this beautiful Montenegran town to Budva and Saint Stephen's island, all along the adriatic coast. He told us how both the Rolling Stones and Madonna came to Budva and played concerts there staying on the now private island of St Stephen's.

We walked around Budva then on our return to Kotor, we took a mountain road around this lovely walled city.

Altogether the tour was 4 hours and cost about 30 euro ($40) per person, much less than the $100 per person the ship's shore excursion was offering. Plus we had the experience of a local guide who both entertained and taught us about the history of this place.

The next afternoon we landed in Venice, a sight to behold arriving by ship. I had only come to Venice by train, so floating past San Marco square on a gorgeous sunny day with Andre Bocelli operas playing in the background was magical.

I have been to Venice more times than I can count on both hands, but the last time I was here was in the 80's, so in many ways it was like seeing it for the first time since it had been so long.

We took a water taxi to San Marco square, now a UNESCO world heritage site. We marveled at it's vastness. "C'mon, the whole point of Venice is to get lost" I told my travelmates. And off we went losing ourselves in the alleys and canals of this fifteenth century city.

We took a gondola ride, wandered over the Rialto Bridge along the Grand Canal, went past thousands of churches and Doges Palace.

The ship overnighted in Venice, so we had dinner in one of the quaint Italian restaurants located near a canal on a small side street.

The next morning the weather had changed, it was a cool sixty degrees and cloudy. We decided to do the longer one hour walk from the port to San Marco square which gave us a great overview of life in Venice as students and workers came and went.

We enjoyed the shopping and back at San Marco square we got a taste of Venice during 'high tide', when the square fills up with water and you have to walk along wooden planks set up in order to avoid getting your feet and trousers drenched by the canal water.

We headed back to the ship via water taxi, the waves were rough and the taxi was slow getting us to the port just a few minutes before the ship took off.

Tonight we had a magnificent meal (fillet mignon) at the Tuscan Grille restaurant on the ship. No amount of steps can make up for the food we are consuming. Too rich and abundant, the hell with counting calories, there's no point.

After a rocky, windy night on the ship, we arrived in the beautiful port of Dubrovnik, Croatia on a cool, sunny, windy day. Perfect picture taking weather. I had been here before in the 70's but didn't remember much, plus it had changed so much since the war in the 90's where so much of Croatia and Dubrovnik was bombed by the Serbs.

We spent the day leisurely walking around the Old Town, a magnificent medieval, walled city where they film the TV show 'Game of Thrones'.

We meandered along the old wall in a park on the outskirts of Dubrovnik's old city where we got magnificent view of the Dalmation Coastline on the Adriatic Sea.

The pigeons once again found their way to Maggie who now believes she must have been a statue for them in a former life. Lynne thinks she's the original "Pigeon Lady" from the 'Game of Thrones'.

Either way, they seem to "love" her.

The departure from Dubrovnik by ship at Sunset was beautiful.

Now we are enjoying our two final days at sea on our way back to Barcelona where we will catch a flight to London and then onto each of our home cities.

The whole experience of this journey has been exciting, an adventure for sure. For me it's been a reflection of a look back at places where I've been, that haven't changed much and where I still want to go.

For Maggie, she has seen more of Europe than she ever has before giving her a taste of what she wants to do in the future. "I want to come back to Italy and just stay there" she has told me on several occasions throughout this trip.

For our friends Lynne & Ana, it has been the highlight of their lives, to visit and see places they have only dreamed about. To taste food and experience places that are so vastly different than southern California.

For me, I could live here. I think I have lived here many lives before. I don't know why, but I have always felt more at home in Europe than in the states. I cannot choose one country over another that I enjoyed more or less, each one offers a different, unique experience and a reminder of past existences and wonderful travel experiences I had in my youth.

It's been a great and wonderful ride. As always, I won't say "Goodbye" to Europe, I'll say "See you later."

Til next time, I'm signing out.