Star Clipper

Reporters: Adrian and Janet Schirrman

How good does this look?

Janet and I had a wonderful time away in Europe in October last year.  The highlight of our trip was a week on a fully rigged clipper sailing ship - the Star Clipper.  It was a great experience - the ship is only 115 metres in length and takes about 160 guests.  Our cruise started in Civitavecchia (port of Rome) and then sailed south with stops down at the Lipari Islands just of the coast of Sicily, Medina / Taormina in Sicily, and then up the Amalfi coast with stops at Amalfi, Sorrento / Capri and Ponza Island before returning to Civitavecchia.  As shown in the attached photos, the fully rigged Star Clipper is spectacular and it’s quite an event when the sails are raised - all to the musical accompaniment of Vangenis’ ‘Conquest of Paradise’ - very stirring!  Our cabin accommodation was very good, meals were excellent and we met many interesting people from all over the world.
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Prior to our Star Clipper cruise, we spent a week in France.  We started in Lyon for a few days and enjoyed exploring the many sights there.  We then caught a train north to Beaune in the Burgundy wine region where we met up with our Canadian friends.  It is a beautiful part of France - Beaune is a lovely town and it is surrounded by numerous vineyards.  Lots of good company, food and wine was enjoyed!

​After our Star Clipper cruise, we went to Portugal and spent a few days in each of Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon.  We hadn’t been to Portugal before and we found each city had lots to see and do.  Porto is particularly lovely and included a tour along the Duoro Valley.  Coimbra is the university town of Portugal - the university is great and the ancient library there is really special - looks like something right out of Harry Potter!  Lisbon is a large sprawling city with many sights to explore and lots of walking in between.