Susan May: 2015 Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey

The map shows the route of our Gate 1 tour of Venice, Dubrovnik, Ephesus, Split and Athens.

Venice, Italy

View from our hotel patio.

There are no cars allowed in Venice. Transportation: water taxi and walking.

455 bridges in Venice

Gondolas are everywhere!

The Doge's Palace was built in Venetian Gothic style and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice and opened as a museum in 1923.

Golden Basilica of San Marco is distinguished by Byzantine artwork on great mosaics
illustrating St. Marco's tales as well as the scenes of the Old and New Testament.

Food

Murano, Italy

Murano, an island to the north of Venice, is famous world wide for the processing of blown glass.

Glass craftsmen moved here from the city because of the danger of fires in the nearby buildings.

On the right, we bought the glass vase held by the artist.

Burano, Italy

Burano, the most scenic island in the Venetian Lagoon, is well known for its colorful houses, its central church with a leaning tower and its hand made lace.

Torcello, Italy

Torcello's cathedral was built in 639 and has a tall 11th century bell tower that dominates the skyline. Inside the cathedral are stunning Byzantine mosaics from the 11th - 13th centuries. One of the most impressive is the depiction of the Last Judgement.

Norwegian Jade - 10 day tour of the Adriatic Ocean

Weather: 70 - 83.

Croatia, Dubrovnik

Situated at the edge of the Adriatic Sea in the very south of Croatia, Dubrovnik is rich in history and natural beauty. Although severely damaged in the attack by the Serbs and Montenegrins in the fall of 1991, Dubrovnik's impressive medieval architecture and its beautiful Mediterranean landscape still remain.

Dubrovnik is well known for it's 15th century walled city, monasteries and tourists.

View from above the walled city.

Athens, Greece

Piraeus is the main port of Athens, the biggest in Greece, and one of the most important in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Acropolis

Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus, a city created by the Ionians in the 11th century B.C. and later expanded by the Romans. Now considered one of the grandest reconstructed sites in the ancient world, the region also hosted the likes of Cleopatra, Mark Antony, the Virgin Mary and John the Apostle.

The Library was built in 117 A.D. It was a monumental tomb for Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, the governor of the province of Asia. The grave of Celsus was beneath the ground floor, across the entrance and there was a statue of Athena over it.

The stadium, holding 13,000 spectators, was built in the time of Emperor Nero in the 1 A.D.

The toilettes were part of the Scholastica Baths and built in the 1 AD. There was a fee to use them.

It is believed that the evangelist St. John had spent his last years in the region around Ephesus and buried in the southern slope of Ayosolug Hill. Three hundred years after the death of St. John, a small chapel was constructed over the grave in the 4th century. The church of St John was changed into a marvelous basilica during the region of Emperor Justinian (527 -565 AD).