Here are the topics for this edition: Democrats, Round 1; notes from abroad; finally, the Big Game.

Democrats, round 1.  In his column, "Game Over," Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post columnist, scored it a firm Hillary victory. His view of the candidates: "[Hillary's] up against three ciphers and one endearing, gesticulating, slightly unmoored old man [Bernie Sanders]. If Biden was ever thinking of getting into the race, he’d be crazy to do so now. It’s over." (Biden did, in fact, opt out.) On Wednesday, The Donald could not resist adding his two cent's worth, referring to Sanders as a "socialist, slash communist." Apparently, the latter term remains the ultimate pejorative in Trump's circles.

Fall comes to the city. Even though the mercury hovers in the mid-70s, the lower nightime temperatures are turning the leaves. Soon the ash trees on the nearby DTC Parkway will burst forth in their annual dazzling display.

"Notes from abroad" It is always interesting to travel when the political pot is boiling. In June 1967, I happened to be in Rome on the day the Arab − Israeli "Six-day" war began; there was no need to be bilingual, the banner headlines in Italian were easily understood and the Paris-based English language edition of the International Herald Tribune spelled out the details. Of course, today the news in English is much more readily available (unavoidable), though the "views" from abroad are often different from what one reads/hears back in the states.
     What follows are short notes/thoughts from a cruise south from Venice through the Adriatic then north through the eastern Mediterranean, ending in Rome.

Venice. Flying in (window seat, please) you can see the city of islands and canals fronting on the mainland. Our excellent VRBO apartment was reached by a vaporeto, a mid-size passenger boat, an integral part of the Venetian transportation system. (Faster, pricier speed boats are available.) We were met at the appropriate dock by the mother of our host and led along the canal, "up and over" several bridges crossing side canals along the way. Local restaurants abound on the side streets, one provided our first meal.
     We then wandered the canal sidewalks heading for the central tourist attractions: the Grand Canal, St. Mark's cathedral, and its plaza. Along the way we haggled with a gondolier and took a 20 minute ride to see, in the words of the Credence Clear Water classic, "the good side of the city."
     St. Mark's is not to be missed, nearly as grand as St. Peter's. Hats are a good idea given the pigeon flocks. In 1967, I was strafed by a pigeon that, thankfully, miss my delicious gelato cone.

Rovinj, Croatia. Very old city, steep picturesque side streets, one of the smaller cities along the Adriatic coast.

Split, Croatia. A more major tourist destination. Anja has several Swedish friends who come for several weeks each winter. The palace is the main attraction with the babel of varied languages, especially German and Chinese. Hidden courtyards and their gardens lay around every corner of the palace's interior.
     Historical aside: one has to wonder how Germans are still viewed by the Croatians given the brutal treatment handed out during WW II.

Dubrovnik, Croatia. Center of the conflict between the Serbs and Croats. A major map in the city center pinpoints where each of the more than one thousand bombs fell during the siege of 1990-1991. Myriad of churches, one in the renaissance style, the remainder being baroque. The old city wall is a major attraction.

Kotor, Montenegro. Very picturesque, situated at the end of a long fjord-like mountain valley with cliffs rising 2,000 - 3.000 feet from the water. Multiple churches of all faiths except Muslim and, it being Sunday, there was much bell-ringing.

Girardini Naxos, Italy. Otherwise known as Messina. Mt. Etna towers over the countryside, today a small plume of smoke rises above the volcanic cone. A Windstar-hosted event at the GambinO winery, located at the top of a very high ridge, 3,000+ feet above the valley. The owners say it sits at the upper limit for grape growing zone. Sailing away (to Capri) numerous small towns hug the cliffs all along the shoreline.

Capri, Italy. The only cloudy day thus far, though the skies cleared in the afternoon; also the only port where local tenders must be used, not those of the ship, a union concession, no doubt. A popular tourist attraction with a long history of celebrity guests. We rode the funicular railway to the upper city. Ours was the only cruise ship in town, though there were plenty of tourists who had ferried out from the mainland. It was pleasant to watch our ship swing on its anchor 1/2 mile off shore.

Rome. What can one say other than to begin with the age-old adage, The Eternal City. Tourists -- religious and all others -- mean the city is always thronged, just sometimes more so. Tourist attractions by the hundreds, so there is always reasons to return. Two such "must sees," the Trevino Foundation and Spanish Steps, are undergoing reconstruction. The Sistine Chapel is spectacular, having been  restored/cleaned not long ago and with new modern less-damaging lighting in place. Again, a nice centrally located VRBO apartment.

Broncos vs Packers. While we traveling the ship's TV system showed the NFL game played in London's venerable Wembley Stadium. Just what America needs to export: sports violence. Anyway, we arrived back in time for the contest of titans, game of unbeatens. The town was abuzz on Monday celebrating the home town victory.

Thank you for reading. I hope the interlude between blogs was good in your "neck of the woods."