We've been traveling
- balzaccom
- Oct 31, 2025
- 2 min read
One of the huge benefits from my forty years of work in the wine business is that I am now in a position to enjoy some travel around the world. I work with Expedia Cruises to create wine cruises that I then lead--and the last one was a doozy, from Rome to Istanbul.
The cruise went from Rome to Salerno, Palermo, Valletta in Malta, Santorini and Crete, Marmaris, Antalya and Ismir in Turkey, and then ended in Istanbul. We missen one stop, the island of Kos, because of high winds. All this on the Oceania Marina, where I lead three wine tastings (Italian, Greek, and Turkish) and hosted two wine and food pairing dinners, (Italy and Greece.)
I tacked on a week in Istanbul, and then went to Verona and Riva da Garda to speak at a wine conference there, so all told it was five weeks on the road.
Top memories? Too many too count. The art in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome,
The mosaics in Monreale in Sicily, the Co-cathedral and lunch in Valetta,
the arc of volcanic cliffs on Santorini, the museum in Herkalion with its stunning art of ancient Crete,
Visiting Perge in Antalya with my student Berat Tunkay, Ephesus on a private tour of the ruins,
Istanbul for a week! And every little nook and cranny of Verona has its own little charm.
What did I see?
And I can't leave out the gorgeous scenery of Riva da Garda!
More than you can imagine. Here is a link to the photo highlights;
And here are all the photos from the cruise fromRome to Istanbul:
All of the photos from Istanbul
And all the photos from Verona and the Veneto
It's almost a thousand photos in all, so don't say I didn't warn you!
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