At last turning my attention to this memorable week almost two months later. I’ll cover the hlghlights of each day.
August 22: Embarkation Day!
1) Our assigned boarding time was 4:00 PM, but with nothing to do, we took a chance that we could go aboard earlier. The taxi drove us along the highway past Montjuic and its terraced cemetery. From where we were, it looked like terrace after terrace of paved walls; much as I love cemeteries, I’m glad I took a pass on this one.
1a) We arrived to a cruise terminal that seemed almost empty, quite a surprise after my previous, more actively peopled experiences. Even more surprising, after all the rigorous preparation of COVID documents, we were asked for none of it. I was both relieved and disappointed.
2) Our little cabin on deck 6 couldn’t have been more immaculate, or more perfect with its balcony.
Drinks before dinner. Neck scarf from the Alhambra.
3) Beforehand I had made sure we had been assigned to the second seating for dinner. We were shown to a table for two (I had hoped to get in with a party of gentlemen at a larger table, c’est tant pis), which ended up being right next to a similar table for a single lady traveling alone. Our excellent dinner passed with a triangular conversation — but neither Carl nor I had taken this cruise to entertain the ladies. On the way out I requested we be changed.
4) After dinner we went up to the top deck where there was a sort of informal dance party going on. From up there we could watch the ship navigating the intricacies of the harbor, and then out to sea.
August 23: Gala Night I
The salon!
1) Room service brought us a sumptuous breakfast (ordered the night before), and then I was off to the spa for a haircut. It had been a month since the last one, and I wanted to look completely sharp that night in my new black tie. The stylist was an absolute delight and we had a good chat while she made me look fabulous.
2) If I do say so myself, Carl and I both looked absolutely splendid in our dinner clothes.
3) Our new dinner table was on the other side of the dining room right next to the window. We felt very protected from spinsters in need of conversation.
August 24: Villefranche
Villefranche!
1) The Riviera! Villefranche looked beautiful in the dawn! We were taken ashore by tender on this very hot day and spent a bit of time in the port office or lobby or whatever it was looking at maps and Carl asked people questions in his meticulous French.
2) We stumbled upon the sweet little local cathedral, and then I was the Model of Patience no little time as we navigated around the Citadelle (Villefranche’s very old fort) to where Carl was sure he remembered an area of cute shops, etc. “But there’s a shopping area right here on the map,” I said, pointing in the opposite direction. Long story short, he eventually confessed that he had gotten turned around, I was very forgiving, and he treated me to a nice snack at a waterfront place, and then lunch at the waterfront place next to it a bit later.
The Cocteau Chapel from the outside.
3) The big surprise in Villefranche was this tee-tiny chapel decorated by Jean Cocteau, the Chapelle Saint Pierre, who knew? Sadly photographs were not permitted inside, but that little space was so intimate, spare, and charming.
August 25: Rome!
1) The evening before, on a whim, we managed to get two of the last places on the organized trip into Rome from Civitavecchia (the port), and thank goodness we did. Navigating the train station would have been insane! Plus that, we would never have found out that the Colosseum doesn’t sell tickets on site until we got there, which would have ruined our day. The professional guide educated us, and steered our group to a tourist bureau/office/cafeteria/gift shop near the Vatican where a very courteous lady managed after a great deal of effort to score us two tickets. I called her “la principessa di gentillezza” in gratitude, and she stood up and bowed at that.
I forget which Pile of Grandeur this is.
2) We walked everywhere in Rome for just about the next six hours, starting — unexpectedly for me — with the Vatican, which just happened to be right there. We just walked and walked and walked and walked — from the Vatican to the Colosseum via the Pantheon (which we didn’t enter, the line was too long), and then through the Forum and out again, and down the banks of the Tiber back to the Vatican.
The fountain outside the Pantheon.
2a) But what we saw! Piles of grandeur at almost every turn, and a few tempting menswear stores there wasn’t time to explore. I am really going to have to return to Rome at some point, for both grandeur and menswear, but in a cooler season.
A Great Big Ol’ Pile o’ Grandeur this!
3) We took a chance that our tickets would let us into the Colosseum just a bit earlier, but nothing doing. We got to the head of the line, and found out that the QR codes are time sensitive. We passed the time buying bottles of water and looking for slivers of shade among the international bouillabaise of tourists.
3a) Touring the Colosseum and the Forum was a thrill and a privilege. Both of us were thinking about Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever, of course, but also the Forum’s technical marvels. That feeling of Oh my God, I’m here in this place!
4) Yes, we walked along the Tiber on the way back, shady, much quieter than I expected. We’d see a ruin of some sort next to an auto body shop. After a gelato at the shop where we got our tickets, we got a bit lost en route back to the train station, but eventually made it there — both of us absolutely bushed.
Great Big Tumultuous Pile of Grandeur.
4a) I might have fallen asleep on the 45-minute train ride back to Civitavecchia. Then changing clothes for dinner, I discovered I had developed bits of heat rash on my thighs and the tops of my feet. A small price to pay!
August 26: Pompeii!
1) Neither Carl nor I had ever been to Pompeii, and early on we signed up for the group excursion there. It turned out to be organized on, um, Italian lines: confusion and delays, mostly because about 25% of the group needed to move at a slower pace.
1a) This is your periodic reminder that Europe does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In the fish market.
2) Once all that got sorted out, Pompeii was most interesting. I had no idea they were still picking up from an earthquake 50 years before, which was a warning sign about the volcanic eruption! We saw quite a few bakeries, and I was impressed by the murals/frescos/whatever in the fish market, but I would have enjoyed seeing some of the villas. I would certainly love to return for a more extensive expedition.
A Pompeiian bakery.
3) Back on board, we headed to afternoon tea, in the ballroom, “not for the first time since the journey began.” On my 2019 crossing, I remembered a stampede of people crowding outside the doors until 3 PM, practically hip-checking each other out of the way to get a good table. None of that here! We generally got a table by a window, and it’s a treat to be there at the beginning for the parade of waiters entering from the kitchen bearing teapots and trays of scones, sandwiches, and sweets. A guitarist entertained each day.
At tea. More sandwiches, please.
4) In the evening it was beautiful to sit on our little balcony as we steamed out of the Bay of Naples.
August 27: Gala Night II, Masquerade
1) For this second night, Carl had brought a beautiful mask from home, while I bought a simple black one on board. With my peacock waistcoat from Walter’s of Oxford, I added peacock blue socks and clipped a pair of Gramma’s two-tone blue rhinestone earrings to my new opera pumps. It was a masquerade night, so it was important to be creative!
1a) Those opera pumps — they’re exquisite, but I should’ve ordered a half size larger and waited the five weeks needed, regardless of the risk I wouldn’t get them. Not that anyone will be calling me Aunt Pittypat with my size 13 canoes! My solution was to put a boot sock over the shoe trees before treeing them; by the time of our first gala, I could get through the first half of the night without agony.
2) We went up to the Commander’s Lounge in the bow where I had a pre-dinner drink, both of us looking stunning.
August 28: Palma de Mallorca
1) We were among the first off the ship to see Mallorca. In retrospect, that was not a great idea. Sunday mornings the shops weren’t open yet, and we couldn’t go into the cathedral during Mass. But we walked about a bit, and I noticed the similarities to Barcelona.
Very like Barcelona.
2) We were back on the ship in time for lunch, which neither of us expected. But it was a beautiful lunch at a window table in the stern! And it was a great day to nap, promenade, and pack.
Bizarre graffiti in Palma de Mallorca.
August 29: Return to Barcelona
The dawn of disembarkation.
1) We had an early breakfast in the dining room. Daddy needs his coffee.
2) One of the positive changes brought about by COVID was that we were able to disembark directly from our cabin — we didn’t have to assemble in one of the public spaces first. Before we knew it we were off the ship, collected all our luggage, and got a taxi immediately!
3) Thus ended a fantastic week aboard a sumptuous and comfortable ship, seeing all new-to-me places with the best company.