54 Days on the Moon

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Now back on the bus to NIn.

 

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At the salt works. The water in the previous post was of the evaporation ponds and in one photo a sluice gate that lets ocean water into the ponds. Previously it was all manual labour. Still labor intensive but a truck now brings the salt in at harvest rather than using man powered trolleys.

A shop with all sorts of salt.






And the description of the process.

 

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The last of the salt works.



Now off to the Royal vineyards.

 

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So why Royal vineyards. Well in 1066 the Croatian King donated the land to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Mary in Zadar. The nuns started a vineyard. The Vineyard was confiscated by the Government in the 1950s due to "land reform". It wa returned to the nuns by the new government 20 years ago. They decided to lease it and a private investor now hasa 99 year lease and has planted 300,000 vines. Mainly 3 Croatian grapes Posic,Plavac and Crljenak (zinfandel_.
Meet. Feel. Explore - Zadar Tourist Board












We tasted 3 wines. First the rose which won a major award in Japan and is predominantly exported there. Then the Plavac (white) and the red Posip. As well we were served cold smoked tuna which was very nice and a renowned sheep cheese from a near by island.

 

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Their wines. The red

But they did have an upmarket bottle in the shop.


The Rose.


And the white.


I would have loved to try this.


The inside tasting room.




As an Australian it is intriguing to see lantana as a pot plant. Declared a noxious weed here.


And a way of Croatian cooking under cover. The lamb is apparently great cooked by this method.


An interesting decoration using empty wine bottles.

 

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Where we had our tasting.





There were a few groups of locals having a Sunday lunch. Their platters looked really good. And what a place for a long Sunday lunch with great views.




A chapel just outside the vineyard gates.


Now views from the bus on the way back to the Moon.


Quite a few groups of runners.

 

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Cruising out of Zadar in the late afternoon.



A good view of the old town.

 

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The last of Zadar.


A pre dinner drink in the Panorama Lounge before dinner at Atlantide.Some of our favourites.


The last of the sunset.

 

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The day's menu.

And the red wine.


For starters Mrsdrron had the crab salad and I the Tsar cut Baltic salmon from the main menu.


Then I had the wild mushroom salad.


For mains Mrsdrron had the lamb cutlets and I the New York strip steak All the dishes were good.

 

[drron]

Monday and we are in the new cruise port of Ravenna. Not yet complete bur RCL is spending a lot on improving this port. Due to be completed some time next year. Some of the RCL's larger ships are already using this as a transit stop instead of Fusina.
Saw these strange things built on the sea wall.


Turns out they are for fishing particularly for sardines. There is a net suspended from the projections on each side. Beside the port is a beach. A couple of hardy souls were swimming. It seems that they expect big crowds in summer.




Three dredges operating full time during our stay.


Out to sea and I presume oil platforms.








And on the other side of the main channel a marina.

 

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The main channel is where the cargo ships go. It stretches several Kms all the way to Ravenna.



Off on the magnificent Ravenna tour.




You get some idea of the size of the facility in that last photo. Now we passed at least 10Km of industry mainly petrochemical facilities.

 

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But finally arrive in Ravenna.

 

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First the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia which we went into first. A bit of a snafu as 2 independent travellers pushed their way into our group so were counted by the fierce lady on the entrance who was not going to let the last 2 in. Took a while for it to be sorted.



Magnificent inside although a little squeezy.

 

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Back out into the open air.

 

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Now we walked over to the Basilica.













Once again just stunning inside.

 

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Amazing to think this building was completed in 547.

 

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