Several generations ago, wealthy families "took the tour"--often a summer-long leisurely excursion through the cultural capitals of Europe. The goal, if there was one, was to experience the sophisticated culture of the Old World and, perhaps, illuminate the minds of the younger family members.
In today's world, we've taken our son on European tours. And fittingly enough for the age of Nintendo and megahertz, our trips took us to more centers of culture in a shorter time that those who did it generations ago.
Our European tours have been on cruise ships. And last summer, our latest was a Mediterranean cruise with our 20-year-old son, Jonathan on the 2,600-passenger, 109,000-ton Grand Princess, at that time the largest cruise ship in the world. On this cruise we visited Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Athens, Venice, Monte Carlo and Istanbul. And while our son might have rebelled at the though of a long land tour of many of these places, the cruise schedule offered a great mix of culture and shore excursions, tempered by the luxury resort atmosphere of the ship.
We started our tour in Barcelona, a cosmopolitan city famous for its lively
Las Ramblas, a boulevard lined with restaurants, clubs, markets and
shops that seems to never close. Barcelona also was the home of Picasso, Miro and Dali, whose works are showcased in several museums in town. But the highlight of our visit was the works of surrealist architect Antonio Gaudi y Coronet. His buildings, listed by UNESCO was world trust properties, have rooflines with scales like giant reptiles; balconies sculpted to look like masks; and oddly shaped doorways and windows. The most celebrated of his works is the Temple Expiatrio de la Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family), a towering cathedral that, though uncompleted, is Europe's largest church.
After an overnight stay in Barcelona, we took a city tour and then board
the Grand Princess. Despite the ship's size and number of cabins, the
boarding was a quick and smooth process.
The Grand Princess boasts a number of "firsts," including the first wedding chapel at sea, a lap pool with a current, the first Southwestern restaurant afloat, and a virtual-reality center.
The three-story main atrium area has a circular staircase and a piano player or a small band playing at the bottom level. There are two main theaters, so if you don't like the Broadway-style shows or musical offerings you can opt for the hypnotist, the magician, or the acrobats.
The staterooms on the Princess were fairly spacious. Our cabin had a balcony (710 have the balconies). And balconies are usually wonderful, but the ones on the Grand Princess are tiered and lacked privacy. We could look down at the balcony below, as the folks above us could look down on us.
Our itinerary mixed nouveau attractions with the more classic wonders of Florence, Athens and Rome. We visited Prince Rainier's palace in Monaco and then took a cabin to a beach north of the port for a swim in the principality's crystal blue water.
The next day, we docked at Livorno and got on a bus, our overnight bags
in hand, for a two-day trip to Pisa, Florence and Rome, where we would
spend the night. The stop in Pisa was brief, with just enough time to take pictures of the famous Leaning Tower, before we rolled on to Florence and a walking tour of its Renaissance attractions. After a wonderful lunch in a cafe hidden on a side street a few blocks from the major attractions, we had a few hours to wander and to shop on our own.
The drive south to Rome took several hours, time enough for most of us to catch up on our sleep. After checking into a hotel a few miles from the center of the eternal city, we were bused to a riverfront restaurant on the banks of the Tiber River, a place that had the looks of a "tourist trap." Despite its appearance, we enjoyed a wonderful five-course meal, with each course separated by a live opera performance by six singers. The opera was wonderful, the meal delicious and the evening long, though worth every minute. After the dinner, we took a nightime tour of the major monuments of Rome, and stopped and walked to the Trevi Fountain, which was crowded with tourists and locals. The lighted marble and gushing waters were a marvelous sight.
Our second day in Rome was taken up with a visit to Vatican City, for
a tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's
Basilica. After the morning and afternoon of touring, we boarded the bus again for the ride south to Naples, where we rejoined our ship.
The next port of call was Venice, another overnight stay where we enjoyed a nighttime ride on a gondola on the Venetian canals and a walking tour of this remarkable city by the sea. Our son loved it because he found vendors selling soccer banners of the top European football clubs.
After Venice and a day at sea came Athens, where the shore options took passengers to the Acropolis, the Plaka and other wonderful museums and sights. We had visited Athens before, and by this time we were a bit burned out. So we spent the day on the ship, enjoying the swimming pool and the relative quiet while our fellow passengers toured ashore.
Our final stops were in Turkey. The first was Kusadasi, a resort town where the major attraction is inland--Ephesus, perhaps the finest archeological ruin from the Greco-Roman era, where we saw the grand facade of the Prytaneion, or city hall, whose four 30-foot-high columns are covered with inscriptions in Latin and the dramatic Library of Celsus, which has an 80-foot-high facade. Latin inscriptions attesting to the glory of one caesar or another decorate many stones in the walls. Beyond the ancient shopping district is a 25,000-seat amphitheater, where the Apostle Paul preached here against the idol-makers, according to Acts, and was shouted down by the silversmith Demetrius, who saw Paul's preaching as a threat to his livelihood. The marble road leading to the amphitheater is the fabled Arcadian Way, where Anthony and Cleopatra once rode on their way to ancient Ephesus.
Our last major stop was another legendary city--Istanbul, from which where the Sultans ruled much of the Mediterranean for centuries.
The top attraction here was the Topkapi Palace, but no less impressive was Hagia Sofia, a huge rust-red building just outside the Imperial Gate of Topkapi. Erected in 548 A.D. as Saint Sophia by the Emperor Justinian, and it was the greatest church in Christendom--and the largest building in the world until St. Peter's was constructed in Rome-- until 1453, when Constantinople (the Byzantine name for Istanbul) was conquered by Mehmet II. Today the building is a mosque (though it still retains the Christian mosaics and stained-glass windows).
We have visited those places in the past, so this time we took an offbeat tour that took us into the 2,000-year-old Roman cisterns, the underground caverns where the ancient rulers stored thousands of gallons of water for the city. It sounds like an odd place to tour, but these magnificent underground structures were beautiful and fascinating.
* * *
The Grand Princess sails the Mediterranean June through early
October 2000, and the Caribbean in the winter. For more information on sailing dates, itineraries and cruise fares, see a travel agent. For a brochure or more information, you can contact Princess
Cruises at 800/PRINCESS or visit the Web site at www.princess.com.
(c) 2000 Larry Fox and Barbara Radin Fox