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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | DECEMBER 2024 19 the cruise. I took a four-hour tour through the rural forested area, visiting some great restaurants. Leaving Greece, the ship entered the waters that surround the country of Croatia. Croatia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy and ranks highly in the Human Development Index. Service, industrial sectors, and agriculture dominate the economy. Tourism is a significant source of revenue for the country, with nearly 20 million tourist arrivals as of 2019. I found Dubrovnik fascinating. The town is filled with red roof buildings. The patchwork of roofs has been greatly inf luenced by the bombing damage inf licted during the Homeland War of 1991 and 1992. In all, 382 residential structures and 29 public buildings were damaged. This represented 86 percent of the area within the city walls. The old or medieval town is surrounded by mighty walls that can be transited on foot. We were also scheduled to stop in the town of Split, but the weather was stormy and the captain elected to remain at sea. The second massive disappointment of the cruise. The Norwegian Gem is not the most up-to-date ship in this cruise line but was still certainly pleasant. The food in the main dining room was slightly disappointing — the French Onion soup was thin and had few onions, but the specialty restaurants were very good, almost exceptional. Le Bistro served delicious food; cream of mushroom was superb, the beef tenderloin with Perigord sauce was very tasteful, and the poached pear couldn't be beat. The final port of the cruise was Trieste, Italy. The ship was originally scheduled to dock in Venice, but this city banned cruise ships from its lagoon shortly before the cruise departed. We elected to investigate the town, traveling to Miramare Castle and Park. The extravagant 19th-century Miramare Castle (Castello di Miramare) is set on the Grignano promontory above the Gulf of Trieste and has beautiful interiors and 54 acres of grounds and botanical gardens. Home to the Habsburg family until the 20th century, this sumptuous noble residence offers a fascinating glimpse into royal life. We left the ship the next day and took the train to Venice. We elected not to stay on the island but in the mainland town of Mestre. Mestre is connected to Venice proper by a 3,850 m (2.39 miles) long railway and road bridge over the lagoon called Ponte della Libertà (Freedom Bridge). There are fantastic sights to see in Venice but, once again, the place was overrun by tourists. The main plaza, St. Mark's Square, was so packed that it was difficult to move. Also, the only way to travel is by water taxi and they were totally disorganized. From Venice, we took the high speed train to Florence. Florence is a city that you must visit at least once. Some of the highlights we observed were the Galleria dell'Accademia which houses Michaelangelo's famous sculpture of David, the Gallerie Degli Uffizi, the art museum that houses over 4,000 artworks, including Renaissance masterpieces and sculptures, highlighted by pieces like the Birth of Venus, and Duomo – Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the historical cathedral with awe-inspiring architecture and intricate stained glass. The Piazza del Duomo includes an awesome bapistry which we also visited. Our final stop was Rome, the eternal city. The most impressive buildings in Rome are in Vatican City, a separate country embedded within the city of Rome. The St. Peter's Basilica, or 'Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano' is the spiritual center of the Catholic Church and residence of the pope. The enormous basilica, located in the independent state of Vatican City and next to St. Peter's Square, was built on what is believed to be the grave of Peter. In the Vatican Museum you can visit 54 richly-decorated rooms and view these art treasures of the Catholic church. The highlight for many visitors is likely to be the famous Sistine Chapel. We chose not to visit the Colosseum but did spend a day at the Galleria and Villa Borghese, the largest and most beautiful park in Rome. The end of my month abroad was the Air Canada f light from Rome's major airport, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino to Toronto. The f light from Toronto to LAX didn't get in until 10 pm, so I spent the night at an airport hotel. To get home, or at least close to it, I chose the Flyaway to Union Station and the trains to San Bernardino and Redlands. The train beat the drive time by over an hour. This is an approach to LAX that I highly recommend. I'm glad that I visited the places I did, but the trip overall was disappointing. The disappointments of the cruise were substantial and the excessive number of tourists really detracted from the historic sights. The overcrowding is so pervasive that European nations are attempting to restrict the number of daily tourists and are imposing entrance fees. Continued from the previous page

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