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I recently sat down with Martin Ford, the affable and accomplished Passenger Services Director aboard the Emerald Princess. Martin has served on cruise ships for 29 years, including aboard the original “Love Boat,” and has helped launch seven new ships for Princess. Here is an edited version of our interview:

Commodore Dave: Hi Martin. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Martin Ford:   I live with my wife Louise in the southwest of England, but I’m originally from London. We have two delightful girls, aged 12 and nine. We live in a village called Blagdon Hill just outside Taunton. 

CD: How did you get into the cruise business?

MF: I did a degree in hotel catering and management early on when I left school.  My father owned hotels and pubs in England and that gave me a major interest in being involved in the hospitality industry.  He was also with P&O Cruises before the war, so he sort of guided me into working on cruise ships.  Dad always said that time at sea is a great way to see the world. I first went to sea when I was about 23 and started at the bottom as Junior Assistant Purser.

CD:  Can you tell me about some of the ships you have worked on?

MF:  My first ship was the Canberra.  When P&O bought Princess Cruises, I went to the Pacific Princess, and have been with Princess ever since.  I’ve sailed on many great ships and have had the honour of bringing out seven new ships for the company. 

CD:  Did you sail on the Pacific Princess during the filming of the “Love Boat” television series?

MF:  Yes, during the original series and then on the Sun Princess when they filmed the short-lived comeback series. We used to have the whole cast on board taking up a great part of the ship for about 14 days.  During that time, they would capture all the scenes they required of the exterior and the public areas for the entire year, and the rest was done in the studio. There were about 150 cast members and crew, which is significant for a ship like the Pacific Princess that only held about 600 passengers. 

CD: Did you meet any celebrities on board?

MF:  Yes. I met the whole crew of the “Love Boat” including Gavin McLeod (Captain Stubing), and a number of guest stars including Henry Winkler (The Fonz). I also met famous people on other ships. I remember meeting Cary Grant and his wife on the Sea Princess.  The man was very charismatic and truly an icon. We made him an honorary member of the wardroom.  I also met one of my superheroes, Steve McQueen, on the Pacific Princess.   He used to go to Mexico for his alternative cancer treatments and then cruise with us. We also had Richard Nixon’s Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, on board.  He was in the dog house at that point, having fallen from grace.

CD:   I guess the “Love Boat” TV series did a lot to promote cruise vacations?

MF:   Yes.  The Love Boat series was phenomenal.  It did tremendous things for cruising in general.

CD:  What are your most memorable experiences on a cruise ship as a passenger services director?

MF:  The exciting thing for me was bringing out seven new ships.  I spent several months in St. Lazare, France to help finalize completion of the Coral Princess and Island Princess.  The same for Golden, Star, Crown and Emerald in Fincantieri, Italy. And Sapphire in Japan.   Being there a couple of months before the ship goes into service was a fascinating experience, particularly in Japan.  The people in Japan have an unbelievable work ethic.

CD:  Why do they send officers to the building of a ship?

MF:  I suppose what we do is start the handing over process from the shipyard.  Our job is to ensure the quality of the ship is acceptable and sign off that we have taken over for Princess.  It’s building the crew also. It’s like a family and when you take a ship into service it’s very exciting.  All ships are like a new birth, and that child is different every time.  Sometimes they go into service immediately, and sometimes they even leave the shipyard early and add another cruise.

CD:  Is a maiden cruise more exciting than normal?

MF:  It’s hugely exciting. Also a lot of hard work as you have the expectation to meet past standards. And a lot of the maiden voyage passengers are very seasoned cruisers that know our product well.  The same applies to repositioning cruises. This cruise has over 2,000 members of the Captain’s Circle (the Princess repeat cruisers club), many of whom have done 50 – 60 cruises. They are great supporters of the product and also great critics, in a positive way.

CD:  I’ve noticed in recent years that many cruise lines have gone from doing a purely trans-Atlantic crossing to including some interesting ports along the way.

MF:  The idea is to make the itinerary as attractive as possible.  In reality the ports of call are a huge bonus to making the cruise a success, in all areas of the product.  A purely trans-Atlantic cruise would have limited appeal these days.  By throwing in some nice ports at the beginning, it increases the market appeal of a trans-Atlantic cruise.

CD:  Would you advise your children to take a career at sea, as you have done?

MF:  Possibly not for their entire career. I’m away about 8 months a year, which can be difficult for a family.  The benefit is that I get to spend quality time 24/7 when I go home for two months at a time.  I justify it by thinking it’s the same as if I was in the armed forces for a career, although of course we have a much nicer situation! And since my family join me at sea from time to time, we get some nice holiday together out of that.  So I would say to anyone contemplating a career at sea to be prepared for the sacrifice, and to be aware that you are leaving the spouse at home for an extended period as a single parent. 

CD: What are your favorite ports of call?

MF:  Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, and all the Society Islands of French Polynesia for their white sandy beaches, turquoise sea and incredible beauty. 

CD: Is there anywhere in the world you would like to visit that that you haven’t travelled to yet on a cruise ship?

MF:  The Maldives, and the Seychelles.  But I’ve been very lucky. I’ve done world cruises, and been to Australia, the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Alaska, South America, and the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. 

After a restful day at sea in the Atlantic, we made landfall in Ponta Delgada on the pretty island of San Miguel, the largest in a chain of nine volcanic islands off the coast of Portugal called the Azores. 

While officially discovered in 1427 by Portuguese Captain Diogo de Silva, this lush archipelago was likely visited by others before him including the Carthaginians, and was possibly home to the legendary island of Atlantis. In fact, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote about a “powerful land beyond the Pillars of Hercules” (the strait of Gibraltar) that was the way to other lands, but sank during a time of earthquakes and floods.

Today, the islands sit on the peaks of volcanic mountains that are among the highest in the world (as measured from the sea bottom).  Like most volcanic islands, the Azores are incredibly fertile and are blessed with a warm and humid climate. With their lush rolling pastures and abundance of hedgerows sharing space with wild flowering hydrangeas, azaleas, and hibiscus, it’s been said that from afar the Azores look like someone took a handful of glimmering emeralds and cast them across a cloth of deep blue velvet.

After leaving Lisbon, it had taken us some 36 hours to reach the Azores, which are located some 750 nautical miles off the coast of Portugal and about one-quarter of the way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. This remote location has resulted in the Azores being a strategic port of call over the centuries, both on the routes to the Americas and the East Indies.  In fact, Christopher Columbus stopped here on his return from his first voyage of discovery in 1493.  More recently, the islands have provided military facilities during both World Wars and for the NATO alliance. 

While the Azores have a rich cultural history based on their predominantly Portuguese and Flemish ancestry, the islands have few significant landmarks that date back more than a few centuries. This is because most of the more elaborate Manueline-style of architecture used before the 17^th century was destroyed by earthquakes, leaving only a few survivors like the 16^th-century Sao Sebastiao church in Ponta Delgada.

What the Azores have in spades, however, is natural beauty, and we decided to see it for ourselves on one of the ship’s bus excursions into the interior of San Miguel. The tour we chose was a visit to the crater lakes, a natural phenomenon of blue and green-coloured lakes in the caldera of an extinct volcano, separated only by a narrow isthmus of lava. 

Once our bus left Ponta Delgada, we climbed high into the island’s interior along narrow country roads surrounded by high hedgerows of plants and flowers on one side, and steep inclines of rolling pastures overhanging the coastline several miles below on the other. After a series of hairpin turns and blind bends, we eventually arrived at a belvedere overlooking the town of “Sete Cidades,” some 550 metres above sea level.

 Legend has it that “Lagoa Azul” (Blue Lake) and “Lagoa Verde” (Green Lake) were formed by two tears of sadness dropped by a blue-eyed princess and her lover, a green-eyed shepherd, during their last meeting after the king had forbidden their romance.  The truth is that the green of Lagoa Verde is the result of a buildup of algae, which has failed to take hold in Lagoa Azul!

The air at sea level back in Ponta Delgada had been balmy and warm, but up here with wisps of low cloud swirling around us it was misty and cool – as is often the case given the high humidity in the islands. As a result, it was difficult for us to make out the different colours of the lakes, and to fully enjoy our marvelous vantage point.  

After a short stop at the belvedere, we boarded our bus for the return drive along the winding mountain road back to the port of Ponta Delgada, with her cobblestone squares and lovely Alentejo-style white buildings. It was now time for lunch, so we walked through the city back to the pier where we found a lovely Portuguese restaurant called A Colmeia Grill and Wine Bar. 

As we sat on the patio enjoying delicious tapas of shrimp, tuna and local sausage in full view of our ship, we realized that this would be the last time we would eat and walk on terra firma for the next five days. We had seen nine fabulous European cities in 13 days, and while the experience had been marvelous, we had no regrets. After all, we were about to spend the better part of a week sleeping late, taking long walks, reading great books, and doing nothing more challenging than drinking martinis and eating three gourmet meals a day as we leisurely crossed the Atlantic!

The ramparts of the historic Castelo de Sao Jorge rose from the early morning mist as the Emerald Princess sailed up the Tagus River from the Atlantic Ocean into the port of Lisbon.   

Founded by the Phoenicians around 1200 B.C., Lisbon has been ruled by a number of invaders over the centuries, including the Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors. In 714 A.D., the Moors occupied “Lissibona” and over the next 400 years enriched the city by erecting beautiful mosques, cultural institutions and public buildings. When Lisbon was retaken by Portugal’s Afonso Henriques in 1147, the Christians began blending European styles of design with the city’s existing Moorish architecture.

Unfortunately, many of these beautiful buildings were destroyed during the great earthquake of 1755, when two-thirds of Lisbon was reduced to a pile of rubble. However, the disaster provided city planners with a clean canvas, and they created a magnificent new landscape of grand squares, beautiful palaces and elegant Manueline-style gothic churches that today rivals any city in Europe.

We began our walking tour in one of those grand squares, the Praca do Comercio, which is located near the river in the lower business district of Baixa. One of three main neighbourhoods (bairros) in the city centre along with the Bairro Alta and the Alfama, the Baixa is a series of long avenues lined with shops, bakeries, and restaurants that run for about 10 blocks from the Praca do Comercio straight up to Rossio Square.  

If you like pastry, it’s impossible to walk past the windows of the local bakeries that are filled with sinful but delicious treats like Portuguese custard tarts. We bought a package of six tarts (5 Euros) to share with our waiters back on the ship, but they were so good they were finished before dinner!

Eventually, we made our way up Rua Augusta to Rossio Square, which is surrounded by pretty buildings including the Teatro Nacional de Dona Maria II, and a series of 18^th-century shops and hotels. The square is lined with traditional mosaic pavement, and is graced with two baroque fountains and a large statue honouring Dom Pedro IV.  

At this point, we had to make a choice between taking the Ascensor de Santa Justa up to the Bairro Alta to the west, or taking the tram up the steep slope to the Castelo Sao Jorge to our east. Made of iron and decorated with filigree, the neo-gothic Santa Justa elevator connects the lower district of Baixa with the higher Bairro Alto some 32 metres above. It also provides a stunning view of Rossio Square, the earthquake induced ruins of the 14th-century Carmo Church, and the historic Castelo Sao Jorge. However, we decided to skip the elevator in favour of a tram ride up to the castle, and a return walk through the fabled Alfama district.

Perched high above Lisbon, the hilltop fortress of Sao Jorge was built by the Visigoths in the 5^th century, enlarged by the Moors some 400 years later, and supplemented with new additions by the Christians beginning in the 12^th century. The medieval-looking castle has three distinctive parts: the old castle, the Citadel and the Alcacova Palace, which was home to the Portuguese monarchy until King Manuel built a new palace by the Tagus River in the 16^th century. 

The views from the castle’s ramparts are amazing, and provide a panoramic vista of the entire city stretching from the grand squares of the Baixa, to the red-tiled roofs of the Moorish quarter of Mouraria, to the narrow, sloping alleyways of the Alfama, and to the great Tagus River at the foot of Lisbon where our ship was moored. Within the castle’s walls, there are several statues, including one honouring Martim Moniz, the nobleman who sacrificed himself by jamming his body in Lisbon’s gates during a siege so that Christian forces could gain entry to the walled city.  

After touring the castle, we walked down a series of winding alleys to the nearby belvederes of Portas do Sol and Santa Luzia where we had a beer and enjoyed the marvelous vistas, including spectacular views of the churches of Santa Engracia and Sao Vicente de Fora. The Santa Luzia Belvedere is next to a small garden which backs onto the tiny Church of Sao Bras, where there’s a beautiful blue and white mosaic portrait depicting the Praca do Comercio before the earthquake of 1755.   

We were starting to get hungry, so we decided to walk down the hill through the winding streets of the Alfama and back to the Baxia for lunch. Lisbon’s medieval quarter of the Alfama was the lone neighbourhood to survive the great earthquake, and it still has houses from the 15^th century (the only ones remaining in the city), winding alleys, endless flights of stairs, and authentic taverns with fado music (the national ballad-style singing of Portugal).  

During the national “Saints’ Days” celebrations in Portugal, the Alfama becomes a massive street festival where locals put up decorations and set up stalls to sell wine and grilled sardines. However, while the area’s heritage may stem from Muslim aristocracy, the Alfama today is one of Lisbon’s poorer districts and can be a dangerous place to visit at night.  

After our long walk down from Castelo Sao Jorge, we returned to the Baxia for lunch at Joao do Grao at 222 rua Correeiros, not far from Rossio Square. Gail ordered the Pork and Clams Alentejana, while I had the grilled whole sea bass with green beans and boiled potatoes. The food and bottle of Portuguese red wine were delicious, and so was the price at under $50 Euros. 

It was now time to return to our ship, so we returned to the Praca do Comercio and caught a taxi back to the pier (10 Euros). As we travelled along the waterfront on our way back to the Emerald Princess, we looked back at the Castelo Sao Jorge and the beautiful city that rests beneath it.

In the Golden Age of Lisbon when Portuguese navigators had pioneered the exploration of Asia, Africa and South America at the end of the 16^th-century, this city had grown to be among the grandest in Europe. After spending a day wandering through her historic castle, grand squares, gothic churches and charming neighbourhoods, we were convinced that Lisbon had once again reclaimed her former glory.

During a recent day at sea on our cruise, I had the privilege of interviewing Neil Chandler, the charming and witty Cruise Director of the Emerald Princess. Here is an edited version of our discussion:

Commodore Dave: Hi Neil. Can you tell us how you got into the entertainment business?

Neil Chandler: I trained as an entertainer from as far back as I can remember. My parents owned a bar, and I would sneak downstairs in the early hours to play the piano.  I can’t play the piano to this day, but I’d think I was entertaining to the people in the pub. And I would steal my father’s clothes and dress up as a clown and go into in the pub garden.  We don’t own that pub anymore. I don’t know why people didn’t want to come back to it!

CD: When did you decide you wanted to be an entertainer?

NC: I always knew I wanted to become an entertainer.  My degree is in performance studies. I did my training in London.  And then I went into nursing for a short time. My mum was a nurse. I had just finished doing a show in Germany and had spent all my money and came back to the UK.  My mum said come and work with me as a nurses’ auxiliary (or orderly) so I could pay my credit card bills.  I loved it.  I spent just three years as a nurse and was starting my nursing degree, but I also worked three nights a week singing in hotels.  Then I got fed up with that and went back to entertaining mainstream in a touring show that started in London and moved around the south of England. And then I told my agent I wanted to take a break for a while, and he suggested I take a break working for Princess Cruises. I thought that sounded good, but let me tell you I’ve never worked so hard in my life!

CD:  Can you tell us a little about your background?

NC:  I was born in the Isle of Wight in the South of England, which is a big tourist destination.  It’s a very English seaside town, and it used to have theatres on the ends of piers, and celebrity names would perform there.  I grew up watching these great British stage and TV performers. Then as I grew older, I started working behind the scenes of these events, standing in the wings of these theaters, hearing people laughing constantly at every show, eight shows a week. I recall listening to wonderful comedians like Bobby Davro & Jethro. They were masters of their craft, and I thought ‘that’s what I want to be’.  

CD:  Are you married?

NC:  I am married – actually got married three months ago!  I met my wife on the Grand Princess in 2003 and we worked together for a while.  Then she left the company to work in London’s West End. She’s a dancer.  We try not to spend more than 5 weeks apart, for our own sanity. It’s easy to become very consumed by this life and you have to remember that this is just a job.  Lynne joins me every five weeks, which keeps our marriage together.  It helps that she understands the life, having done it for a while. 

CD:  What and when was your first job at Princess?

NC: I joined as a Junior Assistant Cruise Director in 2001.

CD:  You moved up the ladder very quickly.

NC:  I did. I had a lot of theatre management experience. I had performance experience. But I had no ship experience, hence why I started at the bottom of the ladder, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I worked with excellent people all of the time and I was part of three inaugural casts.  By doing that you get to work a lot with shore side management and I guess they saw the potential in me, and I was lucky to move up.  The company grew very quickly.  A couple of years ago we brought out three new ships in a five-month period and needed top jobs to be filled. So I was lucky.

CD:  How important is a sense of humour to your job?  You seem to have an ability to make everything funny, including the public address announcements!

NC:  Very important. If I can brighten somebody’s day, that’s worthwhile.  If one person comes up to me and says that was funny, then it’s worthwhile because announcements are boring and you need to put something into them to ensure people will listen… if they are waiting for the quip at the end, they are listening to the whole announcement.  And it brightens my day too.

CD:  What’s been your funniest moment at sea?

NC:  We were filming the morning TV show (called “Wakey, Wakey”) that we do on the ship, and a passenger walked straight into the studio.  Oblivious to the fact that we were filming, she looked straight at the camera and asked us if it was the location of a certain ‘meeting.’ It was priceless comedy and if we could have kept it in the show, we would have. 

CD: What’s been your worst moment at sea?

NC: It was my very first Christmas as cruise director 4 years ago on the Sapphire Princess.  We were just starting the Captain’s Christmas party and the microphones wouldn’t work – not a big deal.  But then we found out there was a fault in the fibre-optic system and nothing worked.  No announcements, no mikes in the theatres, no music on the TV, no music anywhere on the ship.  So from Christmas day evening for three days the ship was silent!  To make announcements we had to use the bridge emergency system.  I had acts performing acapella, and we had to run the main show in the theatre through a portable P/A system which was a disaster.  And this was my first Christmas as cruise director!  In fairness, we pulled ourselves back from that in the end. We still found ways to make it fun.

CD:  Any favorite ports of call?

NC:  Puerto Vallarta in Mexico.  Every place I have been is beautiful. I can’t single one out over the others, but there is something about Puerto Vallarta. I would live there if I could. I feel very relaxed and at home there. Maybe I lived there in a previous life or something!

CD: Where haven’t you been as a port of call that you would like to?

NC:  I really would like to cruise to Hong Kong and Chinese ports.  I would also like to see Vietnam and Antarctica.  I have photographs from a friend who was cruising Antarctica and it looks phenomenal.

CD:  If you had been cast on the Love Boat, which character would you have wanted to play?

NC:  I would have to say Julie, the cruise director, or Doc.  I think Doc had some great story lines.  He seemed to pop up into some rather bizarre situations.  He had some wonderful lines and great scenes.  Character wise I thought he was a lot of fun.

CD:  What would you like to do after being a Cruise Director?

NC:  Theatre management or customer service.  To be head of customer service in a large organization would be a challenge.  My passion for customer service is now where my heart is.  I strive for excellence in everything. I can’t abide substandard.  There are many situations I encounter on vacation where substandard seems to be the norm. I would like to work in an airport terminal and be customer service manager.  That would be a great challenge!

 We arrived in the historic port of Cadiz some 36 hours after sailing from Barcelona along the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Located on the southwest coast of Spain, Cadiz is the Western world’s oldest continuously inhabited city, and was once its richest and most important port. In fact, during Spain’s Golden Age, thousands of ships sailed from here for the New World (including those on the second and third voyages of Christopher Columbus), and many returned laden with gold and silver that helped enrich the King’s coffers and temporarily build the region’s prosperity.

Today, while Cadiz is still a busy port, its beaches, stone walls, old churches and narrow streets make the city an inviting place to visit. It’s also the gateway to the spectacular cities of Spain’s Andalusia region, including the glorious city of Seville to the north.

The capital of Andalusia, Seville is an intoxicating mixture of cultures and architecture that date back 2,000 years and include Roman, Greek, Moorish and Christian influences. The North African Moors conquered Spain in 711 A.D., and began blending Roman architectural techniques with their own to build great cities like Cordoba, Granada and Seville in the southern region of Andalusia. When the Spanish recaptured Andalusia between the 13th and 15th centuries, they began blending the existing Moorish style with more classical European designs to create an architectural combination known as “Mudejar” that is uniquely beautiful and distinctly Andalusian.

Since we had visited Cadiz before, we decided to take the ship’s two-hour bus transfer to Seville ($69) and spend the day touring the city on our own. The bus dropped us off at the Plaza de Jerez, and armed with rain jackets and umbrellas to deal with the light rain, we set off on foot up the Avenida Constitucion to the magnificent Cathedral of Seville.

The immense Cathedral is the largest Gothic-style building in the world, and the third largest Christian church after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London. Built in the 15^th century, the cathedral sits on the site of the former 12^th-century Grand Mosque of Seville, most of which was torn down to accommodate the new church.

All that remains of the original mosque is the beautiful minaret, which along with its twins in Marrakesh and Ragat, are the oldest surviving Almohad minarets in the world. When the cathedral was finished, a Renaissance- style belfry, a stone crowning and a weather vane were added to the top of minaret to give it the look of a bell tower. Since the Spanish word for a weather vane with a figure on it is giralda, the people of Seville started to refer to the 103-metre high (322 feet) tower as “La Giralda.”

After touring the Cathedral, we walked across the Plaza Triunfo to the imposing walls of the Reales Acazares and into the main grounds of the fortress through the “Door of the Lion.” Built by the Arabs as the city’s main fortification, the Acazares are a collection of buildings and structures from over the centuries. They include the original 9^th century walls and several patios from the Moorish period, and later additions like the 14^th century façade of King Don Pedro’s Palace from the Christian era, and represent the best example of the Mudejar style in Seville.

We then took a stroll through the picturesque Barrio de Santa Cruz, originally the Jewish district dating back to the 15^th century and today one of Seville’s most charming quarters.  With its delightful twisting narrow alleyways, shady palm and orange trees, period lamps, tiled street signs, and delicate wrought-iron balconies, gates and flower boxes, the Barrio de Santa Cruz is a genuine feast for the eyes. It’s also home to a number of pretty squares, gated patios and old landmarks, including the Convent of San Jose, the House of Murillo and the Hospital of the Venerable Priests.

After touring the barrio, we stopped for lunch at one of its many delightful restaurants that are tucked away on small alleys just a few blocks from the Cathedral.  We were among the first to arrive, but the tiny tapas bar was soon filled with the sound of local residents chatting away in Spanish,  and the aroma of home-made Andalusian tapas including prawns with garlic, chorizo sausage, grilled octopus, ham croquettes, sardines and potato tortilla. In our fractured Spanish, we ordered several platefuls of tapas and a nice bottle of house red to wash it down with.

It was now time to leave Seville for our return trip to Cadiz.  Perhaps the wine with lunch had helped, but we had certainly become intoxicated with the beautiful architecture, art and culture of this majestic city on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.  As some great Spanish artist once said back in the 16th century, “Qui non ha visto Sevilla non ha visto maravilla.” Or as we now understood even without the translation, “He who has not see Seville has not seen a marvel.”

The early morning light began to flood the graceful Gothic spires and narrow streets of Barcelona’s old quarter as the Emerald Princess gently slipped into its berth. We had arrived in the glorious capital of Spain’s Catalan region, a city overflowing with inspiring art, architecture and history from both the medieval and modern eras.

Catalonia united with the Kingdom of Aragon in the 12^th century, and became part of Spain in 1469 with the marriage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. But while Catalans are part of Spain, their treasured city of Barcelona is decidedly different, especially when it comes to culture and style.

Since Barcelona is an excellent city for walking, we decided to see as much as we could on foot before taking the HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off) tourist bus to sights that were further afield. The bus offers three different routes around the city and stops at 44 different attractions – a great value for only 20 Euros.

We began by walking along a wide, tree-lined avenue called “Las Ramblas,” which French writer Victor Hugo once called “the most beautiful street in the world.” Las Ramblas is a lively pedestrian-only promenade filled with street performers, human statues, artists, cafes, newspaper stands, flower shops and cages of singing birds.  It starts near the cruise ship docks, runs straight up to the chic shopping area of Placa de Catalunya, and contains several landmarks including the Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house and Antoni Gaudi’s “modernista” apartment building known as Palau Guell.

About half way up Las Ramblas we took a right turn into the heart of the city’s old Gothic quarter. The “Barri Gotic” is a warren of weathered, narrow streets and old buildings from Barcelona’s golden era of growth between the 13^th to 15^th centuries. While there are several grand buildings to see including the 600 year-old Catedral de Barcelona and the medieval palace of the Placa del Rei, it’s just as much fun to get lost while you wander through cobblestoned alleys looking up at gothic spires, ancient towers and stone gargoyles.

Since all this walking had made us hungry, we decided to stop for lunch on the patio of “Taller de Tapas,” a small restaurant west of Las Ramblas on Rambla Catalunya. We ordered a variety of delicious tapas including sizzling prawns with garlic and chili, roast Galician ham with smoked paprika, and grilled farmhouse foie-gras sausage with white beans, all washed down with a wonderful bottle of Rioja red wine. 

With appetites satisfied, we boarded the HOHO tourist bus at Placa de Catalunya and got off a few stops later at the Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera (the stone quarry). The Case Mila is one of the magnificent private residences that Barcelona’s elite decided to build in the exclusive L’Eixample area of the city near the beginning of the 20^th century. Designed by Antoni Gaudi, the granite building is arguably one of the most refined examples of his “modernista” style, with intricate iron balconies, chimneys and ventilation shafts that look like aliens (including one with glass champagne bottles), and a spectacular inner courtyard. 

Our next stop was La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s monumental and still unfinished cathedral, which is easily Barcelona’s most remarkable structure. Started in 1882, the Gothic-inspired design features four soaring bell towers, which rise from the Façade of the Nativity. The façade resembles a wall of molten wax filled with detailed figurines of the Holy Family celebrating the birth of Christ.

We were beginning to run short of time when we left the cathedral, so we decided to stay on the bus for last hour of its route and take in the sights from the top deck of our coach.  While we only managed glimpses of the some of the remaining landmarks like Park Guell and the Placa d’Espana, we had still seen enough to be totally captivated by Barcelona’s unique beauty, culture and style.  

The warm October sun was shining brightly as we arrived in the French port of Cannes, home to one of the biggest film festivals in the world, and a venerable playground for the rich and famous.

However, much to my wife’s chagrin, we hadn’t come here to rub shoulders with stars like Tom Cruise and Brat Pitt, or to stroll along the sparkling Boulevard de la Croisette in search of diamonds and designer fashions. Instead, we had chosen to explore the nearby medieval village of Saint-Paul de Vence further along the coast to the east. (My credit card was grateful!)

If getting somewhere is half the fun, then the bus trip through Cannes – which is known as the “crown jewel of the French Riviera” — was an excursion in itself.  As we watched from the windows of our coach, we rolled past street after street lined with exclusive boutiques, spreading palm trees, trendy bistros and swanky casinos. And despite the onset of fall, the city’s toney yacht clubs were still packed with beautiful people and their gigantic yachts. Even in off season, this place puts a capital “C” in the word “Chic!”

Eventually, our bus climbed into the interior and we caught a glimpse of the French Riviera’s other jewel – the magnificent village of Saint-Paul de Vence. Perched on a rocky outcrop some 180 metres above sea level, Saint-Paul is framed by the foothills of the Alps and surrounded by thick medieval walls. The streets of village are so narrow and hilly that it can be explored only on foot, so our coach dropped us off near the Chapel of Sainte-Claire and we entered the town through an opening in its fortified walls known as the Porte de Vence.

We learned that Saint-Paul dates back to the Iron Age (circa 1000 BC), and has had to defend itself from various foes over the centuries, including the Saracens in the 10^th century. This eventually resulted in the construction of a castle, of which only the dungeons remain, and a wide, enclosing fortified wall. 

Today, the medieval town is mainly a colony for artists and a haven for tourists, who are drawn to Saint-Paul by its beautiful location, wonderful Provencal sunlight, and splendid views of the surrounding countryside. A rabbit warren of narrow, twisting cobblestone streets, pictureseque archways and stone staircases, the town provides fabulous views from the ramparts.  Restaurants, cafes, art galleries, boutiques and modern statuary mix easily with medieval masonry and stone artifacts. 

After strolling through town, we stumbled upon the Grande Fountaine in a square near the Courtine St. Anne, where there’s an old public fountain and wash house built in 1850. Above the square, there’s also a quaint bistro, where we stopped to admire the view, sip a cappuccino and share a croissant au chocolat.

We wandered further into the labyrinth of narrow streets and eventually found the Museum of Saint-Paul, which opened in 1964 and contains works by some of the famous artists who have lived here, including Picasso, Rodin, and Chagall.  Then we walked down to the museum of local history, which has a wonderful exhibit by local photographer Jacques Gomot. He has captured on film many of the famous international stars who have lived in or visited Saint-Paul, including Roger Moore, Tony Curtis, Sophia Loren and Paul Newman. 

We had now been in Saint-Paul for two hours, and it was time to find our bus for the return trip to the ship. As we left through the Port de Vence, we paused for a moment to reflect on why so many artists and celebrities had been drawn to this tiny village over the years when the excitement of Cannes was just 45 minutes down the coast.  

We decided the answer could be found in the peace and tranquility of strolling through a medieval village filled with history and art that seemed far removed from the hustle and bustle of modern Cannes.  Perhaps the Latin motto inscribed on Saint-Paul’s bell tower says it best: “hora est iam de sommo suggere,” which translates as “The hours invite us to dream.”

After sailing overnight from Rome along the northwest coast of Italy, we arrived in the port of Livorno, which serves as the gateway for the magnificent Tuscan cities of Pisa and Florence.

There were lots of organized shore excursions for us to choose from, including a half-day trip to Pisa for $69, a three-quarter day visit to the Tuscan countryside and Chianti wine region for $99, and a full-day guided tour of the highlights of Florence for $179. Since we enjoy exploring on our own, we chose the “Florence on Your Own” bus transfer for just $59 – a good value for the 100 km drive to one of the most treasured cities in Europe.

After a 90-minute drive, we arrived in the “Renaissance City” and began our walking tour at the 14th-century Church of Santa Croce (Holy Cross). The elaborate façade of the church features beautiful green, white and rose-coloured marble, and inside the walls are lined with the tombs of famous local citizens like Michelangelo, Lanzi, Machiavelli, Rossini and Galileo. There’s also a statue and monument to Dante, but since he was exiled from Florence and died in Ravenna, he is buried there (although I’m sure the locals would now take him back).

From the Piazza Santa Croce, we walked west along narrow cobbled-stoned alleys to the Church of Orsanmichele on Via Calzaiuoli in the centre of the old city. However, we weren’t here just to see the marvelous interiors of the church, which include the famous “Tabernacle” by Andrea di Cione.

For day-trippers to Florence, there’s a bigger attraction next door to the church – a ticket office that sells pre-purchased ducats for “advance reservation” admission to the city’s biggest museums. These include the Academy of Fine Arts, where Michelangelo’s original statue of David resides, and the Uffizi Gallery, one of the world’s most renowned museums with examples of nearly every important Renaissance period artist. It used to be that long line-ups waiting to get into these museums made them impossible to see for anyone not on a guided tour or without an advance reservation ticket.  However, tickets can now be purchased in advance online at www.firenzemusei.it or by visiting the special ticket office. 

After getting our tickets for the 1:45 pm entrance to the Uffizi Gallery (14 Euro per person), we walked north along Via Calzaiuoli to the Piazza del Duomo and the Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiori. Built in the 14th century, the spectacular cathedral features a huge dome that used a revolutionary design by the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi, which was later copied for use at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The roof of the Duomo is supported by gothic vaulting, and its interior is adorned with a fresco of the “Last Supper” and magnificent stained glass. Outside is Giotto’s gothic Campanile (or Bell Tower), which stands 85 meters high and has a staircase with 416 steps. Together with the dome, they provide a stunning focal point for the Florentine skyline.

Next, we crossed the street into the Piazza Giovanni where we found one of the oldest buildings in Florence — the splendid Romanesque-style Baptistery. Built somewhere around the 11th century on the site of a former Roman palace, the Baptistery boasts an inner dome decorated with beautiful mosaics and one of the most famous sets of doors in the world.

Designed by sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti and completed in 1452 after 27 years of work, the two doors feature 10 scenes from the Old Testament in gilded bronze, each one of them a stunning example of Renaissance sculpture. Michelangelo was a great admirer of the doors, and years later remarked: “They are so beautiful that they would grace the entrance to Paradise.”  They’ve been called the “Gates of Paradise” since.

It was now time for some refreshments and light lunch, so we walked west to the nearby Piazza della Repubblica for some great Tuscan wine and delicious wild boar pasta. In order to build the piazza in 1895, the Old Florence Market had to be torn down and its demise is commemorated above the huge arch overlooking the square. Today, the Piazza is a popular gathering spot for both Florentines and tourists alike because of its many open-air cafes.

 After lunch, we made our way past the 14th-century Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria, where there’s a monument to Cosimo di Medici, the Fountain of Neptune, and copies of Michelangelo’s “David” and Donatello’s “Florentine Lion.” In addition, the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery is just off the south side of the square.

Completed in 1585 as an administrative building for the ruling Medici family of Florence, the Uffizi is now a marvelous museum that houses more than 3,000 pieces of art. These include Renaissance masterpieces like Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Paolo Uccello’s “The battle of San Romano” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Annuciation.”

We could have spent all afternoon in the Uffizi, but since it was nearly time to return to our bus, we slipped next door for a last-minute visit to the Ponte Vecchio. The oldest span across Florence’s Arno River, the beautiful Ponte Vecchio was built in 1345 and features small jewelry shops that overhang the bridge. Above the shops sits the “Vasarian Corridor,” which the Medici’s used to walk from their offices at the Uffizi to their home at the “Pitti Palace” on the other side of the Arno.
It was now 4:00 p.m. and time for the drive back to Livorno. Despite spending a whole day walking around Florence, we had sampled just a small part of the great cultural treasures she had to offer. As we boarded our bus we thought, “If there is a more beautiful city in Europe than Florence, we have yet to visit it.”  

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