Sunny skies, with a tinge of Gray
Hi Temp 91, seriously;
Sunrise 6:17, Sunset 7:46
Even though it was a ‘down day’ we were still up earlly and on to exercising.
We were back in the room when the room service tray arrived and we were soon lounging on our veranda enjoying breakfast and a view of the mega cargo ships across from us. (more on that later)
Shortly after 9:00 we left the ship and wandered into town.
Apparently 9:00 on a Sunday morning is not a real active time in Koper. Most shops were closed and the streets and plazas were largely empty. Maybe it has something to do with us being the only ship in port today.
Of particular interest is the Loggia. These are common in Italy and are places where locals and visitors alike will gather for a cup of coffee and conversation, deal making, and to watch the world pass by. At one point they were common in towns along the Illyrian coast. This one from 1462 is in the Venetian style popular at that time and is the most authentically preserved.
Leaving the plaza we enjoyed the peace and a tranquil walk down twisting medieval lanes.
We found a (working) fountain, guarded by a chain, with ancient turn-styles to approach the water.
While we were shooting photos at the fountain we heard singing and, checking it out, entered an Orthodox church service – standing (Cheryl on the women’s side, me on the men’s side)…
We left when the eucharist was served.
Passing thru the old city gate we turned left (back toward the port – or so we thought) and ended up walking half the perimeter of the old town.
It was a nice walk, not too hot and the main street following the path of the old wall was quiet.
We had just about given up and turned toward where we knew water (and eventually our ship) was when I spotted the giant cranes (Remember our view from breakfast?) and we continued on as we had been, eventually coming to the port, and our ship.
It was just after 11:30 so we went ahead to lunch before returning to the room where I worked on yesterday’s post while Cheryl packed.
I would have been done a lot sooner but (remember those ships across the way?)…
Eventually I finished and started to think about packing.
But first:
Then I packed.
The 6:30 lecture was:
It’s one of those canned slide decks and our resident historian put his own spin on the script.
Basically it all boils down to trade routes and politics.
Venice controlled the spice and silk trade moving into Europe.
Venice was controlled by 110 families (with Roman roots) and those families ran the state like a corporation with the Doge as the CEO.
Remember yesterday’s lecture about the 4th crusade (where the crusaders turned to Venice for help and they ended up sacking Constantinople?
This presenter suggested that taking out Constantinople was the Doge’s plan all along.
Yes, Constantinople was a Christian community.
Yes, they were trading partners.
But the Doge saw the opportunity to take out a middle-man and deal with the Chinese directly.
That’s cold!
Venice’s massive wealth machine continued until Vasco de Gamma sailed around the horn of Africa and made it to India and back. From then on the balance of trading power shifted from Venice to Portugal and Spain and Venice’s fortunes went into decline.
Following the lecture we ducked upstairs for a quick dinner before the 8:00 trivia (Name That Tune). It was especially brutal tonight and we were lucky to guess only one or two. Fortunately one of our team members regularly listens to music from the 60s thru the 80s so as a team we made a decent showing.
Back at the room we got our luggage out in the hall and I settled down to compose this post.
Tomorrow our disembarkation time is 8:30.
They’ll schlep us to Venice and we’ll have a walking tour and lunch before checking in with the rest of the afternoon / evening free.
We’ll see how lost we can get.
(Yes, I have downloaded a Venice map to my phone.)
Till then,
R