London to Rome we go
01 Jun 2018
As the first-prize winner for the Probus National Photographic Competition, Jenny Kohlhagen had a lot to look forward to when embarking on her winning cruise – delights from London to Rome and everything in between.
As Paul Kelly famously crooned, From little things, big things grow. And so it was when a few members of our local Probus Club decided the weather was just perfect for a morning of kayaking on the creek in the Cullendulla Creek Nature Reserve. I took along my little Nikon Coolpix waterproof camera – kayaking on the waters at Batemans Bay was no place for my DSLR camera – and took a few photos.
One photo in particular captured the magic of the morning – a glorious sunshiney day with a bright blue sky, crystal clear water in a pristine environment and friends having fun while trying to not run their kayaks into each other! That was the photo that was entered in the Probus photo competition, epitomising the theme of ‘40 Years of Fun and Fellowship’; the photo that won first prize.
And what a fantastic prize! It really was a ‘Grand Voyage’ from London to Rome aboard the MV Aegean Odyssey. Thanks to the amazing generosity of both Cruise Traveller and Voyages to Antiquity, who sponsored the PSPL photography competition, we enjoyed a fascinating journey taking in various ports of call and almost daily land-based excursions along the coastlines of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Eighteen ports in 30 days, with multiple-night stays at some.
The staff on the ship were so obliging and couldn’t do enough for the passengers and the trip ran smoothly from beginning to end, with staff on hand to offer assistance and information from the moment we cleared customs at Heathrow.
Guide me please.
The guided tours began the day after we arrived in London, departing each day from our perfectly located hotel – just over the road from the Tower of London. We enjoyed three half-day tours of London, taking in a quick glimpse of the icons of London, Greenwich and a morning at the British Museum.
The benefits of small-ship cruising became obvious, especially with all passengers having to clear security to re-board the ship after every day excursion. How glad we were to be on a ship with only a few hundred passengers, rather than the thousands on the massive cruise ship further down the docks. Our ship was also able to navigate up the estuaries and rivers where the larger cruise ships could not, and dock closer to town centres due to its smaller size, enabling us, on many occasions, to walk into town.
The highlights.
Cruise highlights? Definitely the on-board lectures providing a greater understanding of the history of the areas we visited, and of the history of Europe. These informative and, at times, very amusing lectures were a definite ‘must do’ on the daily itineraries for all on board. An absolute 12 out of 10. Our excursions were so much more enjoyable for having that background information before we set out.
A variety of guided tours were offered at each port of call, or you could choose to explore the area solo, with special transfer buses running to and from the centre of town.
Ports of call.
Hugging the coastline as we progressed southward, our first port of call was Honfleur, then St Malo, Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, La Coruna, Lisbon, on to O’Porto, Cadiz, Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Sete, Marseille, Monaco, Genoa, Portofino, Livorno and finally on to Rome. From each port we explored coastal and inland cities, villages, historical sites and the countryside.
We were treated to a lengthy, early evening tour of the Alhambra Palace at Grenada – cooler, wonderful light for photography and devoid of tourists. What an absolute delight.
From exploring the very old Roman city of Barcino located under the Bacelona Museum to seeing the stunning new civic buildings in Valencia, it really was a trip through the ages. We also heard fascinating tales of local people commemorated in the cities we visited – jump on Google and check out the amazing story of Maria Pita, the first woman in Spain to be awarded a military pension in her own right.
Architectural delights abounded, for example the Tower of Hercules at La Coruna, a 1900-year-old structure built by the Romans and still functioning.
The lovely French holiday spot, the Isle de Re, just off the coast from La Rochelle was a delightful surprise. The wine producing region of Bordeaux and the chateaux region around Vouvray, accessed from the port of Nantes, were stunning.
Portugal, with its numerous eucalypt plantations, was still suffering many bushfires, but we were able to visit Guimaraes, with a lovely UNESCO heritage-listed medieval old-town centre, where they happened to be holding markets that day as well as hosting a wedding in the village church. And the fresh produce market in Aix-en-Provence was a treat not to be missed. It was definitely not your average supermarket fare.
We wandered around the beautiful Italian villages of St Margherita and Portofino; spent hours soaking up the artworks in the awe-inspiring Uffizi Gallery in Florence and marveled at the architecture of the Colosseum in Rome.
Homeward bound, we reflected on our newfound knowledge of Europe, new friends made on the cruise, and what has to be one of the best photography competition prizes in Australia. ••
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