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A Wedding at Sea & a Cruise in the Mediterranean
 THE bride
wore an ivory designer gown from Australia; the groom had lashed out on new
Italian shoes; and the location for the wedding was ‘at sea between Sicily and
Corfu’. Just to complete the international atmosphere, the celebratory ceremony
was conducted by the Ukrainian captain of a 131-metre square-rigger, the
Royal Clipper, with a small group of new friends from Australia, the UK
and the US as guests.
The highly romantic wedding of the two Australian guests at sea
had followed a formal civil ceremony
held the night before
they
had left for the cruise, with just two friends as witnesses and dinner at the local
pub afterwards. By contrast, our Captain presided over a celebration
on Royal Clipper's bridge at sunset, complete with orchids and champagne, then a
special dinner with applause from the ship’s other 200 passengers. It was a
glamorous interlude in a cruise voyage from Civitavecchia, on
Italy’s west coast, through the Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Adriatic seas to
Venice, on Italy’s north-east coast.
Day trips to Mediterranean Islands
Day visits were made to some of the loveliest islands in the world, including
Lipari, in the Aeolian group; and Sicily, where the ancient town and Greek
theatre at Taormina was alive with summer flowers and tourists, with Mt
Etna steaming gently in the background. Decades of British charter flights have
left Corfu a bit rundown, but that island still has some glorious spots.
One is the Achilleon, a villa the Empress Elisabeth of Austria had built
and lived in for many months each year, still an oasis of serenity.
After
Dubrovnik, we called at Korcula, featuring 48 islets in its archipelago.
This is the famous Dalmatian coast, where strong walls had been used to repel
invaders, from the Greeks to the Venetians, not always successfully.
Korcula claims to be the birthplace of Marco Polo, when Venice ruled the
area, but Venice, of course, claims him as its own native-born son. There is no
documented evidence either way, but that does not stop Korcula showing off the
ruins of a house in which he was purported to be born, and using the building
next door as a Marco Polo museum.
The Islands of Croatia
Although plenty of ferries service the coastal towns and islands of Croatia,
sailing from one to the other on the Royal Clipper provided some magic moments. One
of those featured a tiny stone church, with adjacent graveyard, high on one of
the stony hills of the Croatian mainland above its village at water level. The
graveyard is the last resting place of fishermen, so as our glorious ship drew
level with the church, in a fine maritime tradition it gave three mighty bursts
on its horn. Almost at once, the priests at the church answered with a carillon
of bells.
Hvar, the next Croatian island visited by the Royal Clipper, has been listed
among the 10 most beautiful islands in the world. Its eponymous main town had
such a wonderful climate and natural beauty it was named as the Croatian Madeira
of the 19th Century. Today it attracts thousands of tourists every day to its
marinas, lavender fields, good beaches, palaces, huge town square overlooked by
a fortress now used for cultural events and even the first public theatre in
Europe, built in 1612 on top of what was then the town’s arsenal.
Hvar
sparkles in the summer sun, its visitors toast themselves like sea lions on its
rocky sea-ledges, and a visit there is recommended for the treatment of many
chest complaints. There’s also not a lot wrong with the health-inducing
properties of the local beer, Korlovocko, best sipped under the shade of
a massive pine tree in a seafront restaurant while the chef prepares a
cuttlefish risotto.
Rovinj, the final Croatian port on the itinerary, has a distinct Italian
flavour. Many of its streets were laid out by Roman engineers; the town’s market
features handmade cheese, sunflowers, highly-alcoholic grappa with all kinds of
fruit flavourings, strings of peppers and herbs, peaches bursting with summer
sunshine and grapes piled in toppling piles. As well, there are craftsmen
selling wooden toys – "You’re from Australia? Maybe you know my brother in
Melbourne?" – and bizarre candles, dipped into several different coloured layers
of wax, then sliced and twisted to show the stripes of colour.
But after one last dinner on board, and a walk on deck to watch the stars above
the masts, there we were at dawn on the 11th morning, silently steaming into
Venice, sails furled and the magical journey completed.
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