JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

And now…back to that nearly 2-week long trip Patty and I took along the Adriatic.

The trip centered around a nine-day cruise on the Viking line, but most members of our traveling group tacked one or more days on at the front end, Venice, and the tail end, Athens.

We generally cruised at night, docked in the morning and had several hours on shore at each stop along our journey. Viking offered a variety of shore excursions, some of which were included in the basic cruise fee and some of which were extra. Patty and I stuck with the included excursions, which usually lasted two to three hours and allowed a few more hours for individual exploration.

Just to get you oriented, here’s a map of the Adriatic, showing our starting and ending points and the countries in between.

Here’s a photo of our ship, the Viking Star, which carried about 950 passengers and about half as many staff members. (I never saw so many employees smile so much and be so unfailingly cheerful. Viking has trained them well and must be paying them well.)

Here’s a group photo, which a member of our party set up on board the ship and asked someone in the bar to take. Patty and I are second from the top. (We know all of these people from our former church, Saint Andrew Christian Church, Olathe.)

One of the most scenic places where we stopped was Dubrovnik, which is at the southern tip of Croatia, just north of Montenegro. In 1991, after the break-up of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik was besieged by Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers of the Yugoslav People’s Army and suffered significant damage from shelling. After repairs and restoration in the 1990s and early 2000s, Dubrovnik emerged as a top tourist destination.

With that, here we go…

From below, a section of the towering, old walls that encircled the city

Another view of the walls, this one from a spot along the top. (It was an arduous ascent for several of us, including me, with one replaced knee and the other one needing to be replaced.)

But here we are, happy and on high.

Looking down on “Main Street”

Red rooftops

An inlet

Part of the city outside the smaller, enclosed city

The entryway to the old city

Here’s one I’ll let you try to figure out.

One of those capricious shots I’m fond of — and always looking for

Jodi Dinkins, one of our traveling party, in her new hat…

And with that, today’s installment of “Cruisin’ 2018” is a wrap.