As we’re flying home, I thought that I’d share some photos from the last few days of the cruise and our time in Cinque Terre, Italy.  It’s been an amazing vacation that I’m so thankful that we were able to do!  As we’re leaving, we’re already planning for our next WindStar Cruise!!

Here are the last few stops from the cruise!

Our visit to Split, Croatia started with a beautiful view of the port at breakfast.

The city was really pretty too!

Our tour took us to a “village” in the mountains where artisans made foods, olive oil and soaps.  We got to do a little olive oil tasting with homemade bread!

The village had a fantastic garden full of flowers, herbs and vegetables that they use in their products!

After our visit to the artisan village, we headed back into Split to the Palace of Diocletian.  It was originally built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian around 300 BC.  Some of the original walls still remain.

The “basement” in the palace has been excavated and was mostly intact under the city.  The columns and arched ceilings were pretty amazing!

This is the entrance to the mausoleum for the Emperor.

This was looking back at one of the entrances to the palace.  The lower “tunnel” would have been the basement and the upper area had a vestibule through the arch where guests would have been welcomed.

This was one of the entrances to the palace.

The streets were narrow walkways between houses and shops that lead to large “town squares”.

This was the main entrance to the palace.

This was one of the towers that were a part of the walls around the palace.

Our next stop was Rovinj, Croatia.

Our tour took us to Pula, Croatia where we walked through a Roman Colosseum that was build around 26 BC to 68 AD.

The walls were incredibly well preserved!

The colosseum was huge!  I don’t think it was quite as big as the colosseum in Rome, but it was similar in size!

A view from inside the colosseum.  The main floor was made from wood originally but it’s since been replaced with concrete and gravel.

Check out the beautiful architecture on those arches!

The seating section to the right used to have an upper deck as well.

Our tour of the area ended with a walk around the town of Pula and then a bus ride to another olive oil tasting.

We sampled a couple of olive oils with some yummy treats!

Our final stop for the cruise was in Venice, Italy.  We were only there for a few hours but enjoyed some of the sites too!

Since our ship was smaller, we were able to cruise through the “Grand Canal” in Venice and we got an early view of the sites.

Love all of the bridges!

We dropped our bags at the train station in Venice and then walked into the city.

The narrow “streets” are so pretty!

One of they busy waterways in the heart of the city.

We made it to St. Mark’s Square and snapped a few photos there.

Rows and rows of tables and chairs all set up for lunch on the square!

This was the water view as we headed out of St. Mark’s Square to the water taxi for our journey back to the train station.

The water taxi was an awesome way to see more of the city AND get back to the train station quickly!

Love the architecture on the houses and buildings in Venice!

The next few hours were spent on trains traveling across Italy to the west side to Cinque Terre.  It’s a group of five little towns on the “Italian Riviera” and the scenery is spectacular!

We stayed in a house in Vernazza and it had an awesome little beach with a bunch of restaurants and shops near the waterfront.

Love all of those boats on the beach!

We rented a house that was WAY up on the hill (99 steps up the hill to be exact!!).  Once we got our bags inside and stopped huffing and puffing…this was our view!

I could definitely get used to this!!

We also visited some of the other small towns around the area.  This is Levanto and we loved it!

Not nearly so busy and a little more flat.

We were watching the rain clouds hanging over the mountains right above the town, but the weather in the town was sunny and warm.

The beaches and hills around the town were stunning!

After visiting Levanto, our next adventure was to Riomaggiore.  The hills were steep but the water was stunning!

Lots of cute little shops and restaurants to visit.

The steep road lead right down to the waters edge.

Love view of the city over the water!

The water is SO blue!  It’s amazing!

We also visited Corniglia the same day!  It had an even bigger hill that we walked up to see the pretty little town!

Lots of great spots to stop and take pictures on the way up!

There were vineyards all along the way!

One of the views from the top of the hill.

Love the cool houses, such neat architecture and great colors!

One of the prettiest little stairways and houses in the town!

And the views of the coast were stunning from above too!

Caught one of the boats cruising by as we looked over the water.

We also headed to Manarola that evening (three towns in one day!) and it didn’t disappoint!

We headed up this cute street and did a little shopping and a little sightseeing.

We saw this cute little place from the street below…and we ended up eating dinner there!

The view of the city and ocean from the “top” of the town.

We found this pretty waterfall that actually ran under the main street down to the ocean.

The main street as you approached the ocean.

More of that pretty blue water!

Our view from the little restaurant above town (yep, we walked back up that street again!) as the sun was setting.

On our final day, we headed out to Monterosso.

It’s a really cool little town that on both sides of a mountain and it’s connected by a tunnel.

The beaches are much more “beach” friendly so there were a lot of chairs and umbrellas out.

Such beautiful blue water!!

This is the “other side” of the town.  Much more of an ocean breeze on this side and a cool old castle too!

Nice beaches on this side of the town too!

Back to reality today.  Thanks for letting me take you along with us, hope that you enjoyed the photos!!

April 24-May 15 Host Code: CW2DSAHZ

Use this host code when you order $50 or greater and receive a free gift from me!  If your order is over $150, please do not use this code, but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift is your choice of any item valued up to $10.00 in the 2024-2025 Annual Catalog!  See my Rewards page for full details.

Orders of $50+ placed through my online store also get my card class tutorials for the month!  You can see the details on my Rewards page.

***Make sure that you can see my name on the final checkout page listed as your Demonstrator when you order so that you know that you’re ordering with me and you’ll get my rewards!

---

Looking For The Best Deal On Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies??  Purchase The Starter Kit And Get A Great Ordering Bonus!!

Online Exclusives From Stampin’ Up! – New Items Available Now!

Stampin’ Up! has some Online Exclusive items that are available to order now!!  You won’t find these products in any catalog, they’ll only be listed in the online store.

The Online Exclusive product releases will continue throughout the year so there will be new products to shop from, in addition to new catalogs!

Click here to head over to the online store to see what’s available in the Online Exclusives now!

---

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator.  Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions.  Happy Stamping!

• Visit my online store here.  Or scan the QR code below to go right to my online store via mobile device:

• Shop the Clearance Rack here.
• Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Running Shoe Rewards Program – My online customer thank you program!
• Interested in purchasing a Starter Kit so that you can save at least 20% on every order that you place?  Check out the details here.
• In addition to my online store, also take PayPal payments for orders – Check my Rewards page for more information.
• I offer gift certificates for Stampin’ Up! merchandise too!  Click on my Gift Certificates page for more information.
• Follow me on: