Well, the tiny town of Korčula (say KOR-chu-la) on a narrow island of the same name in the Adriatic was the surprise sleeper hit of the cruise. We loved it! While it is the off season, and we were visiting on a quiet Sunday morning, we spent a wonderful day and early afternoon wandering the tiny pedestrian streets (more like alleys) between the town wall and fortresses. And then when we got tired of climbing the irregular stone steps (which seems to be happening earlier each day), we walked back down to the waterfront and followed along the street that hugs it, basically encircling the town. This one was like something out of a fairy tale.
We were up very early this morning (because we had crashed so early last night) and were in the Panorama Buffet for breakfast well before 7am. By 8am the Pacific Princess had arrived and tender operations had begun, and while I was still correcting typos and publishing last night's post, G was antsy to just tender over to the village to see what there was to see. I waved goodbye and set about doing blog work from the library on Deck 10. By 9am I was back in the cabin and packed up for the day when G burst in and said it was the sleepiest little town he'd ever seen, with more cats than people, but that Mass was being held in St. Mark's Cathedral starting at 10am. By 9:30am we were huffing up the endless stone steps to the highest point in the village which is where the cathedral is located.
We had a few minutes to walk along the main pedestrian street of the old town (Stari Grad), called (really) the Street of the Korčulan Statute of 1214. The street's long and complicated name honors a statute written in 1214, the oldest written law in Central Europe, with regulations about how to do things in everyday life: building a house, maintaining the city walls, protecting nature, etc. While Korčula was founded by the Greeks, it spent most of its history under control of the Venetians, and it's apparent in the naming of the cathedral and the number of winged lions (the symbol of Venice) icons everywhere.
This was another time when it was nice to be a 'worshipper' instead of just a tourist. Tourist were being turned away at the door of the cathedral until after Mass was complete, but we worshippers were welcomed inside. Still, to be honest, I wasn't entirely certain until Mass started whether St. Mark's Cathedral was Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox. As we entered, we saw a huge blue construction tarp covering the back of the altar area. G turned to me, his fount of knowledge for all things Catholic (cough, cough) and asked if that was a religious thing. Um, no, except for the day between Good Friday afternoon and Easter Sunday morning, but I've never see them cover most of the sacristy and never with a blue construction tarp. After Mass, we could peek behind it to see that it really was a renovation zone.
St. Mark's Cathedral
As is usually the case, I recognized only four words (Amen, alleluia, hosanna and Cristo) but after 12 years of Catholic education (Mass three days a week for odd-numbered grades and twice a week for even-numbered grades, bobby pin a tissue to your head if you forgot to bring a chapel veil), I could sit, stand and kneel in my sleep (and that's how I did it much of the time). Still, when the church bells rang and rang during the Consecration (the holiest part of the Mass) I got chills. I've heard that's how things used to be done in the US, but that was before my time.
When I walked up for communion I did a double take...there was an alcove off the main cathedral with side altars that were gorgeous. And afterward we stuck around and took lots of photos before the other tourists had entered. It was possible to climb to the top of the bell tower for 20 Kunas (no Euros) but I saw no takers today. I think we are all stair-climbed out right now.
A side altar
Another side altar
Still not the main altar...
Yet another side altar...
...and another
And finally the main altar behind the blue tarp
The day was mild but never sunny, which was a shame, because this was truly as picturesque a place as exists. The alleys off of the 1214 street to the left ran straight to the sea to allow the refreshing northwesterly Maestral winds into town. But off to the right, they curved, to keep out the southeasterly Jugo winds. Both straight and curved, looking up or down, made for lots of photo ops. Lots. ;-)
Church of St. Mark
G remarked on how everything was just perfect. No rot, no decay, no dirt.
I totally agree ;-)
Honestly, I'm trying to cut some of my favorites and I just cannot. Bear with me, please...
Love the bike! It's like this town has a stylist!!
Notice the straight street versus the curving ones
The main gate to the Old Town of Korčula (the tenders came in on the opposite side)
The winged lion of St. Mark- proof that Korčula was once under Venetian rule
By 2pm, I was in need of food and bathroom (not in that order) and the last tender of the day was at 3pm, so we returned to the ship and had a light lunch in the Panorama Buffet. At 3pm, I had two whole hours to do whatever I wanted, and that is something that has been in short supply lately. It almost felt like a partial sea day. G chose to hold down a hot tub and I should have worked out but was too lazy to do that today. Instead I returned to the cabin and gave myself a manicure and got my clothing and jewelry ready for the evening (it was the second formal night of the cruise) and read Rick Steve's Croatia and Slovenia guidebook about tomorrow's port (Koper, Slovenia, and it doesn't sound too exciting after the string of hits we've enjoyed lately).
We went to dinner a little early; we had a big evening planned and our next door tablemates (a table for six) also showed up right on time and waiters Marco and Taofik were stars and had all eight of us fed and ready to leave the dining room by 6:50pm, no small feat on lobster and baked Alaska parade night. The Captains Circle party was held tonight and we were escorted into the Cabaret Lounge just before 7pm and all of our favorite drinks were ready for us. We were honored to be this cruise's second most traveled passengers (#1 had 1016 days, #2 had 870 days and #3 had 677 days). This also gave us all front row seats for tonight's entertainer, Peter Howarth, lead singer with the Hollies and he was outstanding. We have enjoyed some great entertainment this cruise...and one ventriloquist. ;-)
Captain JP reminded us that we were in charge of each day's weather, and it hasn't been stellar. But G and I know better; after all the rain we encountered on our first cruise, overcast days are far preferable to rainy ones. Sure, a bit more sun would be nice, but, as we walked around (and through) Korčula today and saw all the closed cafes with stacked tables for outdoor seating, it was apparent that this is one very busy place in the height of summer. As it was, the only people we saw beyond a few locals were our fellow cruisers, and because of the size of the Pacific Princess we knew most of them. No, we'll visit in November and take our chances with weather. These towns are just too charming to imagine them overrun with tourists.