We arrived in Anchorage, Alaska early this afternoon. We had beautiful blue skies and the flight into Anchorage was beautiful! We are 185 miles from Mount McKinley and the skies were so clear we could see it from our hotel. Apparently we are very lucky as the mountain is often under cloud cover. We checked out some Alaskan Brewhouses and got an overview of our land tour itinerary. We are impressed with the beauty of the mountains and are excited to get on th...

We arrived back home to Lake Minnie Belle after a wonderful trip with destinations in Italy, Greece and Croatia. We began our trip with 3 days in Rome before embarking the Crown Princess for our 12 day cruise. Our ports included: Rome, Florence, Naples, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Katakolon, Corfu, Split and Venice. A trip of a lifetime!!

Our cruise ship came into the Venice canal just after sunrise. It was absolutely amazing to come into this narrow and shallow Canal with this huge ship. It towers over the city on the way to the port. Our stateroom was on the 12th deck so we had the perfect spot to view Venice. Venice is one of the most unique cities we have seen. It spans 118 islands with 150 canals and 400 bridges. As soon as we were at port we caught a water shuttle to take us to the hear...

Today our stop is in Split, Croatia. The original settlers here were Dalmatian tribes. The Emperor Diocletian built his retirement palace here and basically the town is built in or around the 8 acres of the Palace. The Croatian style are arches made of limestone. There is a different feel here from the Greek islands we have visited. There was a huge farmers market with literally blocks of fruit, nut and vegetable stands. Then another huge fish market with t...

Corfu is a beautiful Greek Island located in the Ionian Sea. Corfu is more lush and green than the other Greek Islands we visited. Olive Oil is the principle export. The island is also known for the fruit Koum Kouat which is grown here. Most shops were selling the fruit or a liquor. We went to visit the "old town" area which is between two fortresses. The town is filled with churches and we visited several including the church of St. Spyridon, the patron sa...