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Cutting Through FOG in FIORDS of Kotor, Montenegro…..Imprisoned in Venice…. Escape to Vienna!!

We had to cut through some thick morning fog as we approached the port of Kotor, Montenegro- and you can see the ‘hole’ in the fog that the boat left as it cut through.  Another picture showing how small the HUGE cruise ship looked with the HUMONGOUS mountains in the background (view is from the tender boat as we went to shore.)  On land in Kotor, there is a shot of Ilea on the cobblestones of an alleyway….  You wouldn’t know it from the picture, but Ilea is about to become imprisoned!  She had developed some ‘digestive problems’ .   We both decided on Friday, that she probably should just check with the ship’s doctor to see if they had any Immodium like products to have as backup- but just going to the NURSES STATION- without us ever seeing any doctor, or having any tests done- they started filling out a CDC (Center for Disease Control) form.  As soon as I saw that, I immediately attempted to extract ourselves from the office, claiming that Ilea felt much better suddenly.  They would not let us leave the office (SECURITY WAS CALLED, and an armed woman showed up.)  Sooo- here is the situation: do NOT EVER EVEN MENTION that you have any  digestive upset to the medical office on board a cruise ship!  Because- without even being examined, you will BE QUARANTINED TO YOUR ROOM and unable to go out of it to do ANYTHING!  No shore excursions, no formal dining – NOTHING!   So Ilea missed out on Venice…. THAT REALLY SUCKED!

The pictures of Venice include the incredibly packed St Marks Square… way too many people there; and in addition, a shot of one of the quiet EMPTY alleyways that only Bill got to walk through (while Ilea was stuck in the cabin…..)

We did finally break Ilea out of the cruise ship at the end of the trip (ALTHOUGH- as we left, and they scanned her sea-card, it set off all sorts of embarrassing alarms…. b/c she was not supposed to leave ship during the cruise…. BUT , DUH, they can not keep you on AFTER the cruise!)  So, off to Vienna, Austria by bus & train.  Pictures of Vienna show the famous St Stephan cathedral, along with a closeup of a couple of its scary gargoyles. Also there is an awesome CLOCK that has a parade of 12 different statues to indicate the different hours…  There is a sculpture of an apparent problem with a toilet paper shortage in ancient days: you can see the angel is clearly RATIONING toilet paper (AngelSoft brand?)…  In addition, there is a sign in a park warning NOT to feed the pigeons because if you do they’ll turn in to RATS!!!!! AND you will get fined 36 euros!!!!!    Then there is the issue of cleaning up after your dog- b/c if you don’t, you get fined 36 euros (~$50) .. that dog sign asks if “THIS YOUR SAUSAGE? (according to my translator…) then it warns you to take a bag, have the crap in hand, or get fined!  And they have cute miniature pineapples….. OH- and anytime you get coffee in Vienna, they will AUTOMATICALLY serve it with a glass of water to wash out the strong taste perhaps….