Dharma & Nita travel blog

12th May – Venice

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Dharmesh

Got the early morning train from Florence to Venice – uneventful and very smooth transfers on these high speed trains.

Reached Venice just after 10am, first task to put our large luggage into storage.
Venice tip for all – In Venice moving around is by Water Taxi’s / Water Buses, travel light where possible – before leaving Florence we packed our Hand luggages with our Venice clothes/toiletries etc so that we did not have to lug around our large luggage. This was the best thing we did, large luggage was put into storage at the train station and by 11am we were waiting for our Water Bus to the Rialto Bridge stop where our Air BNB was just a short walk away .

The water bus was BUSY…. but a fun ride and I am super super glad we only had our carryon Bags. The entire ambience of Venice is so different….and so unique. Short walk from Rialto Bridge stop to our AirBNB,,,, lots of alley ways and it is here you realise how these narrow alleyways confuse the GPS, we had to make numerous turns and u-turns… but finally got to our apartment – and WOW it was. We had direct views of the main canal and of the Rialto bridge…. Pic above is from our living room !!! Pity we were here only for one night.

Time to quickly freshen up and make the most of the day…. it was time to head out and take in Venice… again…. throwback to 1998. Unfortunately luck was not on my side, I was feeling slight feverish/fluish and not 100%…. but we only had one night here…. Loaded myself with CODRAL tablets and Headed out to look around a bit and grab Lunch, found a nice place next to the canal in the side alleyways… much better than being on the main canal which was too too busy

Lunch was good, but post that I was not feeling too well, Nita dragged me back to the room so I could grab an hour or 2 of sleep / rest. And was it the best thing for me, post the nap, I was feeling much much better, another round of tablets and then it was time to head out and make the most of the day we had.

First stop was a quick coffee and then out n about. This place is so magical, every turn revealed something new and opportunity for more pics.

By evening my battery was again running low, Nita and I decided to have an early one and left Meeta n Cheeky to make the most of the night. We opted for a Chinese restaurant – Nita was adament I needed some good hot soup and the Chinese cuisine was the best for that and to our taste. Soup was very nice as was the food, we made our way back to the apartment and rested just admiring the amazing canal and Rialto view that we had from our windows…. just amazing.

Evening & Night view from our Air BnB.

Posted in Italy, Venice | Tagged travel, Italy, Venice | Leave a comment

11th May – Florence – Outlet mall and Wines

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Dharmesh

Relaxed day today with only one item to cover – the famous Florence Outlet Mall.
But first breakfast n coffee at famous Gilli Cafe and try the local Italian Cream Bun – Maritozzo.

No European Breakky is complete without Crossiants, they are so nice here !

Next was to find our way to the Train station where the Outlet Shuttle operates from…. found a cart driver who took us for a few Euros!! Great short ride in a golf cart

Worked our way to the Outlet, not the most amazing place, or maybe it was us not finding anything to buy ;). I picked up a nice Montblanc fountain pen but other than that it was very small shoppings.
Finished off outlet much earlier than anticipated, back at Florence , we headed back to Vivoli for one more round of the world famous affogato… the lines were looooong as expected.

Do not let the long lines at Vivoli discourage you , the wait is worth it , best Affogato in the world!!!

Afternoon coffee fix done, then it was roaming about a bit around Florence streets and getting lost in them. An hour or so into it, we stumbled across a great small Wine nook / place that were also selling pizza slices which looked amazing for an afternoon fix. It was a great stop and we ended up sitting their for over an hour learning about Italian wines and just talking with the locals….

For dinner we needed something other than traditional Italian – opted for Indian to get our tastebuds tingling again. Cheeky mentioned PCB had highly recommended an Indian outlet in Florence, we headed that way – to Crown of India. Maybe we just got there on an off day, the food was not anything super but it did provide us a cuisine we needed.

The highlight here was the beer…. Kamasutra beer!

Some night street walking and then calling an early night, Florence had been great – tomorrow it was off to Venice.

Posted in Florence, Italy | Tagged europe, Florence, Italy, travel | Leave a comment

10th May 2024 – Florence

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Dharmesh

Early morning train to Florence today, bye bye Rome.
It was only a short walk to the Train station from our Hotel – one positive of staying close to train stations !
Finding the right train and Boarding were no issues, Soon enough we were on our way…. trains here are soo good and quick

Reached Florence around midday, found our accommodation, dropped off the luggage and grabbed a quick bite before joining the walking tour. Along the way had to make the MANDATORY Stop over at Vivoli for the world famous Affogato!! Highly highly recommended

For dinner we stumbled across Osteria Pastella, where they cook pasta in a cheese wheel, it was a 45 min wait to get a table but so so worth it! Lovely pasta.
Next we walk around the night tapping on windows for a Wine glass …. apparently it is a thing in Florence… Meeta was guiding us on that one.

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9th May – Rome – Vatican City

Posted on August 22, 2026 by Dharmesh

Mostly all about Vatican City today and long long long waits in line.

Whilst it was beautiful and super rich in history, It is not in my interest area and one off is ok, not waiting that long again for this viewing. Summarising the day in pics

Next was Sistine chapels, this is where we waited for over 1.5 hours in the queue….never again

One final night visit of the Colosseum , tomorrow we were off to Florence

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7th May – Rome sights

Posted on June 1, 2026 by Dharmesh

Time to explore a bit of Rome, it was a day of following Meeta – she had planned the itinerary !

First stop Trevi Fountain, got there around 8.30am and it was already busy! Amazing seeing this place again after 26yrs, we were there in Oct ‘1998!

Trevi fountain ticked off, next the Spanish Steps, Meeta our tour guide was leading the way. Getting about on foot is the best way to explore Rome, so many streets with character.

Next was the Colosseum, quick Uber ride and soon we were next to the amazing structure. We had the entry booked for 11:30am, still a good 1.5 hr to spare, slot in a coffee stop and recharge, there was nicely positioned coffee shop overlooking the Colosseum… no better way to enjoy this sight than with a good coffee….a good break before the tour.

Lots of walking and taking in the historic structure.
Finished that and headed out towards Novana where our tour guide had recommended a nice Italian restaurant. Along the way some sights , then the obligatory Aperol that all locals were drinking…. something that neither of our ladies enjoyed, and to be honest, I was disappointed with it as well….. will stick to beers and red wine thanks.

Dinner was amazing, and then it was back to see a bit of the Trevi fountain at night. Trevi at night was amazing with the light shows – definitely worth seeing.

Great finish to the day!

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6th May – End of Cruise – Rome

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Dharmesh

All good things must come to end and this was the end of a FUN FILLED Friends tour. Our cruise had anchored in Athens to mark the end of an Epic 10 nights of touring the Greek and Turkish ports.
Post breakfast, we disembarked smoothly and all outside awaiting our transport to take us to the airport.

Cheeky and I were headed to Rome to commence our Italian mini travels.
Doc, Jaynesh, PCB, Kosh were heading home with a 2 day layover in Doha. As our flights were only a couple of hours apart we all headed back on the same transport.

Arrived at the airport with loads of time, Cheeky, Meeta, Me and Nita said our byes to the others and headed off to our ROME Flight. We had a 4:30pm walking dessert tour booked in Rome, so lucky the flight was on time.

Flight and Transfer to hotel was uneventful, however there always has to be some drama. At our Hotel checkin-in , realised I had booked 2 rooms with only 1 person each !!! Yikes, had not noticed that setting in Agoda – sorted that out which added a bit more time….. cutting it fine to our walking tour.
Managed to make it to our meeting point on the dot at 4:30pm , @ Piazza S. Ignazio.
Met out tour guide, Martina, a lovely local who took the 4 of us around – great to have a private tour!

For those that have not done a walking tour – this is our first and recommended by PCB, it is the best thing ever, nothing like exploring food on foot, and even more fun when the food is desserts ;).

The Dessert tour was not just about desserts and sweets, it was also incorporating the historic monuments, churches, squares and much much more…. lovely time with her.
(there is the lack of detail here as I am writing this blog after 2 years – I now silly me and that is the issue when we get lazy and keep pushing things out, we loose out on so many details, I cannot accurately specify the names of all places, so sharing mostly in pics )

Post the first church, we headed to one of the oldest chocolatier to try some of the best chocolates/pralines…. met the original master chefs or chocolatiers who were still running the place – the nicest persons.
Like anywhere, the first stop of eating had us excited and we all took two chocolates each…. but after just a few small bites, the richness of it was too much and we could only finish half.

Next stop was walk past the Pantheon, and into the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica Church , here lay Saint Catherine, it is a tradition here to write a wish/prayer and lay that on Saint Catherine’s body that is in the church.

Next stop was a cafe – so good to have a coffee and to try some local pastries. Espresso is so nice in Europe and this place delivered!

Bit more walking through alleyways, squares and streets…. walked into Piazza Norvana – place me and Nita visited in 1998!
Next was a savoury stop – at a specialist Pizza / bakery. The pizzas were so yum and the pastries were wow!

More walking through a maze of streets before we arrived at our Fav of the entire ROME stay – Roscioli , this is a bakery & cafe and had 2 other locations for sitdown eating.
Here we tried the Roman version of CREAM BUNs, called MARITOZZO. Nice one, not as sweet – Nita loved the balance and reduced sweetness of these.
Cream buns done, more walking through back streets showing us some hidden gems for eating, honestly so good to have some local knowledge!

Next stop was another savoury / pizza cafe, however this time she got us to try some pasta/gnocchi – was so so good and another local fav which I cannot remember the name know , but it was so yummm! With so much food, we had to tell the man to only give us one portion and we would make quarters out of it….we just wanted to taste it, no more space for eating 😉

Walked back the way we had come through and made our way to the final stop – a Gelato place, great way to end it.

This had been the best method to quickly see some key sights of Rome and take it all in like a local on foot…. you truly get to experience a place on foot, highly recommend walking tour’s in cities.

We called it a night, did not need dinner and it was time to get some rest before the next couple of Days of Rome exploration.

Posted in Athens, Greece, Italy, Rome | Tagged europe, food, Italy, Rome, travel | Leave a comment

5th May – Cruise Day 10 – Santorini

Posted on May 24, 2026 by Dharmesh

The anticipated stop of the entire cruise – Santorini. We all were so looking forward to this stop – bring on the town with the blue domes!

Apparently ALL passengers thought like us and had got up early to queue for the tenders to get on the mainland. Slow progress and we finally all got on a tender, welcomed by a crisp cold morning!

View was amazing as we headed to the Old Port of Scala. FIRA on top of the steep and very high cliffs. Two ways to get to the top, cable car or on Donkeys, we opted for the first one. Unfortunately there are no other transport down from the Old Port to the top.

No queue to cable car !!, we beat the crowds who were yet to arrive on the other tenders.
The view from the top was amazing of the Santorini skyline.

Doc had prebooked a Taxi to take us around the island, now to make our way to that. A couple of calls , we found the location and also realised that things start slooooooowwwly here, Taxi was still 1 hour away.
Well make the most of it and walk around the place… and ofcourse take more pics.
Being this early, most of the stores were closed , couple of coffee places open but nothing much to do other than walk about.
**TIP** It is not essential to prebook taxi’s for large groups (depending on seasons), there were so many taxi agents there ready to arrange a people mover on the spot. Not for this time, but next time maybe.

We were soon in our tour / taxi, touring the island, first stop was a viewing area showing a panaromic view of the white city! The view was stunning…. our first close glimpse of FIRA and the blue domes – just wow!

Back into the car for FIRA, was not too far. The driver dropped us off and also explained where the pickup point would be and we simply had to call him when we were ready to go. Now to explore Fira, everyone was to follow Meeta, she had done a ton of research on which key sights were there, 3 bells, the blue domes and stuff…. I am no expert at this stuff so not going to BS that, rather we all just followed Meeta and were awed by what we saw.
What we had not realised was how busy this white city could get so early on, already people were there.

Had stopped for a coffee break , getting a place to fit in 12 was also a challenge. We did manage a cafe with great views and not soo bad coffee break.

Post that we drove to Oia where there was more walking and lots of crowds, getting a bit crazy, we then headed back to Fira town where we could get the cable back – allowing all of us another 2-3 hours before we were to head back to the ship. All decided to do our own things to make the most of the time and browse the numerous nooks and small shops.
Nita & I roamed a few blocks ,all these walking was taking a toll on me plus the lack of a good meal was tiring or rather I was HANGRY ;( – earlier on we had a snack with the group but was super light.
Found a great spot with amazing views to the ocean, could see our Ship in the waters below us.
Grabbed a much needed coffees with a club sandwich…..

Was a much needed break, time to make a way back to the ship, first to the Gondola / Cable car – big queue however it was moving at a steady rate, informed the gang to not be too late, queue was going to add another 30 mins minimum. Standing in the queue I picked up a nice pair of Greek Isl themed Socks – just then Cheeky came by and he got the same.

Cheeky , Meeta, Nita and I were on the cable car, and soon after on the ship.
Had to try our new socks…

Whilst awaiting the others to arrive, Nita and I reviewed the Portraits that we taken on the prior day at sea. A few good one, but this one with Doc and Tina was special.

Everyone was back on, and we all met at our usual – Martini Bar.
The ship sounded its horn as it made it way out of Santorini, we all headed out to the balconies to see off Santorini. It was a great stop, however I would recommend staying overnight if possible – there is much to do and a day trip usually results in clashing with peak hours of tourists- the evenings would be so much more peaceful and an opportunity to take in the island. Still it was a great stop and a bucket list item ticked off.

The evening we had booked dinner in the specialty restaurant @ Le Petit Chef, I would highly recommend this one for the interactive experience , it is on most Celebrity Cruises and involves 3D animation – projecting a story of the dish being made onto dining table and plate, very cool experience and as the animation of the dish being made finishes, the real dish appears at that very moment – very nicely done !

We ended up at the Martini Bar post dinner, chatting away and reliving the past few days of pure fun!
Our last night on the ship, tomorrow we disembark in Athens and the group splits in smaller units.

Posted in Cruise, Greece, Greece & Turkey, Santorini | Tagged Cruise, europe, Greece, Santorini, travel | Leave a comment

4th May – Cruise Day 9 – Mykonos

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Dharmesh

I wish I had written this blog earlier and not 20 months later. Mykonos was the most amazing stop of the cruise for both Nita and I. It was so picturesque and just so cute!

Perfect weather – clear blue skies and great weather. Again self exploration rather than a tour.
Bus took us from the Cruise Port to a drop off zone near the town. From there Doc, PCB and Kosh headed off on the Quad bikes to explore the island. Me, Cheeky and Jaynesh decided to go the town on foot instead and skip wider island exploration.
OMG Mykonos is just so amazingly pretty …. would have loved to stay here overnight , well something for next time.
Instead of lots of descriptions and text, the pics would do the job ….

Coffee time…

Back on the ship, was a great day and we wish we can be back here to spend a few nights…. something for next time.
Tonight dinner was booked at the LePetite specialty restaurant, high recommend this for all on Celebrity Cruises. Very interactive dinning experience and food was actually good.

Posted in Cruise, Greece & Turkey, Mykonos | Leave a comment

3rd May – Cruise Day 8 – Rhodes

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Dharmesh

(…20 months late, finally getting around to trying to get back into completing this trip ….. pics may have to come to my rescue)

Today’s was Rhodes today, another self tour we had planned.
Were not expecting much from Rhodes, the tour pics all just showed ruins ….. and I for one am not a history fanatic.

We were docked by around 7am or just before, and plan was to disembark around 9:15am.
First impressions, it was chilly and so fresh, we could see the old castle type structure next to the waters which were crystal clear!! Something about Greek waterways …. amazingly pristine.

Meeta had done some research around Rhodes, which was more than any one else, easy decision, she got to lead us around Rhodes ! (as this blog is being done a year past the holiday, I will summarise it mostly with pics )

Turned out the place was not too bad afterall….. great walkways and small nooks at differemt places. The Clock tower was nice little stop. Great place to hydrate on Greek Beer!

Time to grab a bite in the central markets of Rhodes. At the Hippocrates Square, a bustling area with tons on Shops, food outlets and Rooftop bars. Found one with enough space for the 12. Amazing food , unfortunately no pics as we were all too HANGRY and could not wait ;).

Meeta guided us to other sights and unfortunately doing this blog after almost years is not ideal…cannot remember the names of places, so pics will have to be it.

Posted in Cruise, Greece & Turkey, Rhodes | Leave a comment

2nd May – Cruise Day 7 – Kusadasi

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Dharmesh

Today we were docked at Kusadasi, a beach resort town on Turkey’s western Aegean coast.
The weather was perfect, clear day with pleasant temps. This is a famous port for visiting the Ephesus ruins, something that most of us were not too keen on, except for PCB.
The rest of us decided to just explore Kusadasi port area and shop – this place is well known for its leather – we got great Leather jackets here. Afternoon was a session booked for all at a local Hamam for the traditional Turkish massage.

Shopping and Lunch done, next to the Turkish Hamam for our scheduled massage. PCB caught up with us there. The hamam was a very steamy stone walled confined rooms, did make a few of us nervous including me…. I am claustrophobic and the hamam with all that steam and small confined rooms was intimidating. All the ladies except for Nita, Seema and Yogita skipped it. I was in that skipping group but peer pressure got the better of me, and I am glad the guys forced me!!
Was a great experience – girls and boys were in separate rooms. PCB, Jaynesh, Doc and me were waiting in a small steam room, all in our towels. A single middle aged Turkish masseuse was going to look after the boys, he called me out first on the hot stone table. A few bones cracking and loads of soap form. Very firm massage which at times felt like me being used as a boxing bag….. overall a great experience but left shaken! Massage done , then it was time to wait for the oil massage to follow. Oil massage was …… oily!! This was in another room with multiple beds separated by low curtains and was a good relaxing massage.
Got that finished and walking to the shower, noticed Yogita also lying on another massage resting bed looking at me and laughing…. I was in my towel only and for people who know me, do not have a waxed body. This was then the joke of day, Yogita had witnessed a gorilla !!

It was a super interesting experience and turned out to be a lot of fun – highly recommended