Cruising on the Oceania cruise ship Sirena, 11th September to 22nd September 2017.
We took a flight from London Heathrow to Venice where we boarded our Oceania cruise ship, the Sirena. Our first time on this ship, though we have previously cruised on her sister ship, the Regatta. The ships are identical in layout, so there was no excuse for getting lost on board! This was the first time we had had a room with a balcony. It was worth paying that bit extra so that we had the full benefit of seeing the iconic harbours and coastlines we would be visiting.
Days 1 and 2. Our first visit to Venice. A wonderful experience – so much to do! I guess we trod the well-worn tourist route; St Marks Square, St Mark’s Basilica, The Doge’s Palace, The Gallerie Dell’ Academia (art gallery) and the obligatory gondola ride along the maze of canals. The stand-out experience for me was the Doge’s Palace, rooms and ceilings heavily encrusted with gold, and over the Doge’s throne, Tintoretto’s masterpiece, Paradise, the largest oil painting in the world, 22 metres by seven metres. Christ and Mary are surrounded by a heavenly host of 500 saints.
Day 3. Zadar, Croatia was our next port of call. This was our first time in Croatia, and we both thought that Zadar was a beautiful and tranquil town, with a mix of ancient buildings and cobblestone streets leading to a fairly contemporary shopping area. We were told by a friend who had visited previously to look out for the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun, two artistic creations by the architect Nikola Bašić. The former harnesses the power of the wind and the sea to make some beautiful and haunting music, while the latter collects the sun’s energy during the day to create a spectacular light show at night. We couldn’t really miss either given they were no more than about 20 metres from where our ship was berthed. We spent the rest of the day looking around the old town, taking in the sights and smells of the Old Town Market, visiting the 9th century Church of St Donatus and finishing off by having a few relaxing beers/wines. I’d quite like to visit Zadar again one day, because I don’t think we had sufficient time to take in all of the sights.
Day 4. Kotor, Montenegro was our next port of call. We marvelled at the beauty of the Bay of Kotor as we approached the town, listed as a UNESCO World Natural and Historical Heritage Site. Kotor town is navigated through old, narrow streets, filled with bars, restaurants, small shops, antique monuments, churches and picturesque buildings. Having done a bit of prior research, we decided we’d start the day with a hike up the city walls to St John’s fortress. It was well worth the effort (which was considerable) with wonderful views of the old town and the bay opening up before us. Apart from which, it helped shed a few calories from our previous days’ indulgences! However, the effort only served to stoke our appetite for lunch, which was an enormous sea-food platter, consumed el fresco at one of the many romantic restaurants in the old town.
Day 5. Corfu, Greece. We did the obligatory (but lazy) tourist sightseeing from a pretend train that looped around the town and a short way up the coast. The rest of the day was taken up with eating and shopping, with an inordinate amount of time spent looking for cherry-flavour cigars for my father. He’s purchased these on the many times he has visited Corfu, but we couldn’t find any, and finally settled on some vanilla flavoured cigars. Overall, I’m not sure we really took to Corfu. The city’s old town is quaint, and (apparently) on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but it seemed very anglicised, and I’m sure there were more Brits there than locals. Even the majority of the restaurant and bar owners seemed to be English, judging by the broad Lancashire accents we heard. Close your eyes and you might think you were in Blackpool – but hotter! I don’t think we’ll hurry to go back.
Day 6. Taormina, Sicily. The ship was at anchor, so a tender service was in operation to get us ashore. Then a taxi to get to the top of the cliff where the town was situated. Just about everything and anything of interest was on the Coros Umberto 1, a lovely pedestrian street lined with multicoloured 15th and 16th century mansions and shops. We headed initially for the Teatro Greco, an ancient Greek theatre built in the 3rd century BC. However, we found that all access roads to the Teatro Greco were blocked by swathes of police, with a pretty heavy security operation in evidence throughout the town. We learnt this was because the Dalai Lama was visiting the Teatro Greco, and in fact a little later we caught a glimpse of him leaving the Teatro in a back limousine. I’m not sure whether he noticed us though, given he didn’t wave!
Day 7. Sorrento, Italy. It was obvious as we approached the harbour from the Bay of Naples, if you want to visit Sorrento, you’d have to travel vertically! It’s perched at the top of a cliff. There is a mini-bus or a lift that takes visitors to the top. You could walk up as well, but not sure what state you’d be in when you got to the top! Anyway, we didn’t have to make the ascent because we had booked an excursion to visit Pompei, which is about 17 miles from Sorento. As we all know, Pompei was all but destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, covering the city of 20,000 inhabitants in more than 20ft of ash. Words cannot really describe the experience – so check out the photos!
Day 8. Civitavecchia for Rome. Ah, yes, Rome, “the Eternal City”, capital of Italy and the Catholic Church. Except we never actually got there. We decided against booking an organised tour from the excursions desk on board, since it entailed a 5-hour bus journey there and back from Civitavecchia, with barely 2 hours in Rome. There is the option of taking a train under our own steam (excuse pun), which might have reduced the travel time, but it all seemed a lot of effort for just a few hours in Rome, so we decided to have a relaxing day in Civitavecchia (but not much to see), and the promise to ourselves that we would arrange to visit Rome on a short-break deal, sometime in 2018.
Day 9. Monte Carlo, Monaco. Literally “Mount Charles”, a 0.76 square mile pixel on the global map, but with a reputation that far exceeds its physical size, and home for the rich and famous. One good thing about its small size is that it’s a fairly easy walk to get to most places. Our first stop was the Prince’s Palace, which overlooks the magnificent harbour with it’s many super-yachts (one of which was Lionheart, owned by Sir Philip and Lady Green of BHS notoriety – boooo!) . We watched the changing of the guard, splendidly dressed in the white uniforms, which takes place daily at precisely 11.55am. We then visited the Cathedral of Monaco (St Nicholas Cathedral), which houses the royal family (Grimaldi’s) tombs, including Princess Grace’s tomb, which was easy to spot given the amount of flowers that had been laid on it. Clearly a pilgrimage for many people who remember her as the film star Grace Kelly. We couldn’t leave Monaco without visiting the Monte Carlo Casino, which is the main source of funding for the principality. We didn’t enter the inner salons where the high-rollers congregate (and which require a fee just for visiting), but satisfied ourselves with the ornate and imposing entrance hall. Overall, a pretty city, and opportunity (?) to mingle with the rich and over-indulged!
Day 10. Cannes, France. Not a lot to say about Cannes. We enjoyed a pleasant lunch, and stroll down the Promenade de la Croisette. It was also an opportunity to buy souvenirs for friends and family back home, who might want to flash their Cannes – branded T-shirts and other paraphernalia.
Day 11. Palamos, Spain. Not too say about Palomos either. A clean and pleasant town with a nice beach and promenade. We visited the local fish, fruit and vegetable markets and then had a relaxing lunch and much sangria at one of the beach-front restaurants. There really wasn’t sufficient time to do any detailed exploring.
Day 12-13. Barcelona, Spain. This was our last stop before flying home to Blighty. We had arranged a 2-day stay at the Acta BCN 40, which suited our main criteria for being clean, inexpensive and fairly central. It was less than a 10-minute walk to Las Ramblas, and close to many lively bars and restaurants. We’ve been to Barcelona a few times and done most of the usual ‘touristy’ things, but we’d never been inside Antoni Gaudí’s iconic Sagrada Familia, so that was our priority for our first day. Unfortunately, tickets were fully booked for the whole weekend, so massive disappointment. This means, of course, we are going to have to visit Barcelona again, but next time I’ll make sure we’ve booked tickets well in advance. The remainder of our time was spent shopping (shoes for me), eating (can’t leave Barcelona without having at least one paella) and drinking (sangria by the litre). We could have made this more of a cultural expedition, but Lynda and I were both pretty exhausted from the hectic cruise schedule, plus we found we had to keep dodging the many Catalonia independence rallies that were taking place in various parts of the city. However, we did pause our shopping expedition to enjoy the rag-time jazz on offer from the New Orleans Ragamuffins, who were busking in the Passeig de Gracia shopping area. I was impressed enough to buy their CD, in anticipation that one day they might be famous!
Overall, a wonderful holiday, with many beautiful towns, cities and sights explored on the way. My favourite places, and ones that I must visit again one day were, Venice, Kotor and Taormina. The photos will be a lasting memory.
From | To | Nautical Miles |
Venice, Italy | Zadar, Croatia | 150 |
Zadar, Croatia | Kotor, Montenegro | 255 |
Kotor, Montenagro | Corfu, Greece | 192 |
Corfu Greece | Taormina (Sicily), Italy | 272 |
Taormina (Sicily), Italy | Sorrento, Italy | 205 |
Sorrento, Italy | Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy | 160 |
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy | Monte Carlo, Monaco | 220 |
Monte Carlo, Monaco | Cannes, France | 71 |
Cannes, France | Palamos, Spain | 214 |
Palamos, Spain | Barcelona, Spain | 66 |
TOTAL DISTANCE FOR CRUISE – NAUTICAL MILES | 1805 |
The Map
Photos:
More photos on Flickr