I’m starting to get caught up. I’ve managed to post the photos from last summer’s trip to Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Slovenia!

Here’s the link to the photo album:

Europe (2010), HAL Nieuw Amsterdam (Venice Roundtrip)

Our small breakfast arrived by 7:00. After coffee and a muffin, we prepared to go ashore. Because of debris near the pier, we anchored in the bay and had to use the ship’s life boats to reach the town.

We tendered to the shore earlier than expected (8:30 rather than 9:30). The city of Kotor is fairly small, especially the historic city center. We spent a leisurely morning strolling through its narrow streets (the city was controlled by Venice for nearly 400 years… and it shows). We visited a few churches and scrambled partway up the fort’s path to have a panoramic overlook of the city. Being a Sunday morning, both cruise passengers and locals were out in the summer sun, enjoying some relaxation. Overall, there’s not a lot “to do” in Kotor. It’s sort of like a less touristy version of Salzburg set in a Norwegian-like fjord. It provides a pleasant way to while away some time and makes Montenegro seem like a little bit of paradise on earth (which, I presume, the country might just be.)

We traveled back to the ship after noon, and we had lunch at Tamarind. The soup and salad courses were both very good. Unfortunately, the dim sum menu was a bit of a let down. For lunch, the restaurant only features a fixed menu of multiple items in single, bite-sized portion sizes all delivered on one plate. It felt sort of like eating off of an appetizer platter (fine), but it wasn’t very akin to a traditional dim sum experience. It would have ‘worked’ better had the individual items been more (or equally) enjoyable.

Later this afternoon, I attended a cooking class / demonstration in the Culinary Arts Center. It was on the use of spices to build flavor, as featured in tandoori chicken and coriander rice. I thought the sample at the end was surprisingly good. All in all, I like HAL’s Culinary Arts Center and the related programming. It’s enjoyable and actually somewhat enriching, unlike a lot of “edutainment” on cruise ships.

Our sailaway down Kotor Bay was one of the coolest that I’ve ever experienced. Many of the locals, waving white shirts (as seems to be some sort of seagoing tradition), came out to see our departure. The local priests and nuns also ran the church bells, while the Nieuw Amsterdam blew the ship’s horn in response. Numerous smaller vessels escorted us (from a sage distance) and while many people aboard them screamed “Holland” at us (in honor of the World Cup match tonight) — to which we replied with short ‘toots’ of the ship’s horn. All in all, it was a memorable experience.

Dinner tonight was in the Lido. For whatever reason, the main dining room never seems to beckon to us. I also tried the HAL pizza tonight from Slice. It was decent: about what I expected.

The ship’s put on a huge party in the main showroom for tonight’s match. Holland is the clear favorite on the ship, but they had opposite sides of the theatre decorated for each team. HAL also provided a buffet of appetizers and snacks. And, I assume, drink specials. We came back to the cabin to read (though I’m watching the game out of the corner of my eye).

Tomorrow is Croatia!

Here’s a couple of photos of the Bay of Kotor and also one of the Culinary Arts Century:

We have countries to visit!

I’m excited about Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania. I can’t say that I really have well formed expectations. I don’t. However, that’s usually a recipe for travel success (e.g., our first visit to Prague). Most of all, I’m excited about the prospect of spending a week with Libby seeing the world. I think we could give up most “luxuries” in life… but not travel. We’re simply too passionate about it.

In more practical terms, I’m doing the usual “mad dash” to get ready to go. I think we have things largely in order… both for us and for Emerson. But, I expect the remainder of the week and weekend to be utterly hectic.

According to this corner of cyberspace, we seem to still be en route to Minnesota…

That’s a very long trip (since early October)! Actually, I started writing this post in mid-December on another plane flying across the country from Minneapolis to California for a business meeting. And, no, this isn’t that long of a post either.

Anyway, back to the plot line.

We actually had a very nice time in Minnesota during our October visit. I promise that I’ll write about that in the future. For now, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to lately.

What I’ve been up to lately…

I’ve probably been back to the Twin Cities half a dozen times since for business. It’s a busy time in life for me right now. The career is great and exciting, but it’s also somewhat all consuming. That said, I’m not complaining. I’ve had jobs that enabled me to “phone it in” before… and candidly, my interest wanes quickly. No, I’d rather be in the game and running with the ball.

In addition to my work responsibilities, both Libby and I have been focusing a lot on the forthcoming kiddo. I’ve been spending my “free time” on the nursery: painting, adding additional trim, putting furniture together, etc. I have to say, it’s actually all very exciting. D-day (as in delivery day) is quickly approaching… we’re down to 40 days. In many ways, I think this will be “the trip” of a lifetime. We couldn’t be more thrilled, especially as getting here wasn’t exactly easy in our case.

Speaking of travel…

Anyway, back to the subject of the blog at hand: travel.

As readers might recall, we’d booked a cruise aboard the new Niuew Amsterdam while on Holland America in Alaska last summer. The cost was a little high, but the itinerary was pretty good for this inaugural cruise (including San Marino and Montenegro). However, with the high expense of this cruise, I was a little unhappy. So, Libby and I also reserved a space on a Princess cruise of northern Europe (same price, longer, seemingly more countries). Then, we both actually started getting cold feet about leaving the baby. So, we kept the trips booked, but we assumed that we’d probably end up canceling our plans.

This is part of my reason for writing less.

A travel blog is pretty lame when no travel is happening.

Lately, we’ve been reconsidering our position. As I’ve said before, we’re both committed to the idea of traveling together both with and without our child. And, since we have a solid support infrastructure of family at home, there is no practical reason that makes this plan unworkable. We also confirmed with the pediatrician at our pre-natal meeting that this was a sane decision that wouldn’t cause her any short- or long-term harm. So, if the baby is healthy, we’ll take the 7-day HAL cruise out of Venice, Italy.

Why the expensive HAL cruise? First, it’s no longer nearly as expensive (the price dropped 25%). Second, it’s short (we’d be gone for little more than a week – unlike longer trips). Third, I recently learned that there’s an optional excursion from Corfu, Greece to… wait for it… Albania! That’s a total of five new countries in 7 days… at least three of which are fairly exotic/unusual or not conveniently accessible (San Marino, Montenegro, and Albania).

Some resolutions…

Finally, I’m making some New Year’s resolutions (for travel blogging):

1. Strive for at least weekly posts going forward.
2. Post my reviews of both the Eastern Med (last April!) and Alaska (last August!) by the end of January.
3. Post the pictures from the aforementioned cruises too!
4. If I get this far, worry about step #5.