The serene way to see Europe’s jewels
IT’S 10am and I am buttering a toasted muffin and pouring a second cup of coffee as I sit on my veranda and contemplate the approaching town of Porto Venere in the Liguria region of Italy.
Jason, our butler, has laid out a white tablecloth on which he’s placed eggs, bacon, fresh fruit and muesli. He has already cleaned my husband’s shoes.
We have been on Crystal Serenity for less than 24 hours but have totally ‘chilled’ already. Three hours later, we are sitting on the quayside of Porto Venere, eating seafood linguine and sipping white wine, having built up an appetite by clambering up to the 13th Century Church of San Pietro and to Lord Byron’s Grotto.
Next day there was the chance to take a stroll around Monaco and get up close to the enormous super-yachts that were in abundance.
My vow to eat sparingly every other day at sea had already gone out of the porthole. Stuffed to the gills after an evening at speciality restaurant Prego, we went to the Galaxy Lounge for the Curtain Call show, billed as ‘the best seat to the best songs from blockbuster musicals in one remarkable production’. It was fun and the cast was really good.
Our leisurely sail around the Med continued with Barcelona. We went up La Rambla, the tree-lined pedestrian boulevard, and then visited the astonishing Sagrada Familia Basilica, the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi’s most ambitious work, still unfinished more than 100 years after work started.
In 1868, Mark Twain wrote of Gibraltar: ‘It is suggestive of a “gob” of mud on the end of a shingle.’ My husband also considers it a dump but I think that’s unfair. Gib has its charms – there are some quaint areas, plus a new, glamorous marina, Ocean Village, that rivals Marbella or even Monaco. The main shopping street is a tad tatty, but I bought a splendid large tablecloth in a side road. And sailing away from the Rock should definitely not be missed, preferably with a cocktail in hand.
And so to Lisbon in Portugal and a different ocean. Lisbon has a Med climate but is on the Atlantic. We’d been told not to miss the market in Praca da Figueira. There were unusual things perfect for Christmas presents, so I shopped and then we visited the district of Rua Augusta to take a look at the Praca do Comercio, otherwise known as Palace Square as it was the location of the Royal Ribeira Palace until it was destroyed by a huge earthquake in 1755. Then we took a hairy taxi ride to the Castelo de Sao Jorge sitting atop the highest hill, which gave us another stunning view of the medieval maze that is the Alfama area.
Porto (or Oporto), Portugal’s second-biggest city, was my favourite port of call. The river setting, the grand churches, the winding ancient streets and courtyards filled with geraniums combined into one memorable spectacle. And how could we go to Porto and not sample some port? The latter part of the cruise was all about wine as the next city was Bordeaux.
The ship entered the mouth of the Gironde and we sailed past some of the world’s finest vineyards and most famous chateaux. Ashore, we sat in Bordeaux’s main square eating a fine lunch and admiring the architecture of this beautiful French city.
Getting this snapshot of lovely European places without having to pack and unpack is what it’s all about. Factor in the superb food, the faultless service and Crystal Serenity is well named – we were uber-serene as we disembarked in Southampton.