This morning, we woke up in Albania! We explored new scenery, foods, and culture as we immersed ourselves in the cobblestone streets of Krujë. Intricately patterned, handmade items like rugs, slippers, and pashminas lined the storefronts on the street. We walked up and into the Skanderbeg Castle and the museum, where we learned about Albania’s hero, George Kastrioti a.k.a. Skanderbeg. After a fascinating journey through the history of Krujë, we scurried to lunch during the beginning of what would be a very wet rest of our afternoon. Determined to learn and explore, we quickly adapted with umbrellas and “leapfrogged” under awnings. Lunch at the Bardhi Restaurant was delightful. We enjoyed traditional foods paired with traditional Albanian music and dancing. The bus ride home to Sea Cloud was quiet with bellies full, but a few troopers amongst us took to exploring some of Durrës to close out a successful first day in Albania.
9/23/2024
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Sea Cloud
Hvar, Croatia
On the last day of our voyage, we spent the morning on the lovely island of Hvar, known for its fragrant fields of lavender and rosemary. Our walking tour started with the Franciscan monastery, featuring a centuries-old cypress tree and a 17th-century painting of the Last Supper attributed to Matteo Ponzoni. We continued on to tour one of the oldest community theaters in Europe (dating to 1612), the Hvar Arsenal (instrumental in building and repairing Venetian ships), and the town’s stone buildings which often feature the winged lion of St. Mark. This afternoon, after a lunch featuring the famous Sea Cloud pasta wheel, we enjoyed a lecture by cultural specialist Zrinka Šapro on the history of Croatia, focusing on the 20th century. Hearing about the rule of Josip Broz Tito and the wars of the 1990s from someone with personal experience was a particularly fitting conclusion to our tour of this region so rich in history. Our final evening aboard included a cocktail hour and the guest slide show on the lido deck, followed by the captain’s farewell dinner in Sea Cloud’s elegant dining room, after which we bid our travel companions and newfound friends a fond farewell.