In September, Landry & Kling and Silversea Cruises sponsored an Educational Seminar at Sea for a select group of clients aboard the
Silver Whisper from Barcelona to Lisbon. The seven night cruise visited Malaga, Cadiz, and Vigo in Spain as well as Oporto and Lisbon in Portugal. Allied Europe sponsored 3 days of custom excursions ashore, giving all of us a delicious taste of this up and coming cruise area.
Joyce Landry & Jo Kling are seen on the left with Captain Mino Pontillo.
Another highlight was a presentation by our guest Corbin Ball, international speaker, consultant and writer, and founder of the most comprehensive web site about technology in the meeting and events industry: www.corbinball.com. He spoke on Top Technology Trends Transforming the Events Industry.
Malaga, our first port of call, was a pleasant surprise to all of us. A fantastic port located on Spain’s Costa del Sol, it is a perfect stop to get a taste of the Spanish Riviera. Malaga itself offers a combination of historical, cultural and gastronomical activities. Home of Pablo Picasso, you can visit his original birthplace as well as a museum totally dedicated to his works. The charming old town is filled with narrow streets with boutique shops, cafes, and of course, Tapas bars. From here we also visited Puerto Banus (think Monaco harbor in Spain), an upscale marina with designer shops and very attractive restaurants. Malaga also offers the opportunity to visit Marbella and Granada - two other jewels in Spain’s treasure chest.
Cadiz is a picturesque town with striking sea views. From here we visited one of Spain’s most traditional and historical cities – Seville. Home of everything Spanish (including flamenco.) Seville is an amazing city – the main attractions are the old town or Barrio de Santa Cruz and the Gothic Cathedral. Santa Cruz, once the Jewish Quarter, is made up of twisting medieval streets and is the most picturesque part of the city. Seville is the spiritual home of flamenco, and several clubs in the Santa Cruz district present performances.
Vigo, with inlets reaching far into the countryside, was perhaps most surprising. There’s quite a seafaring tradition here, based heavily on mussel farming from the many “bateas”, or floating docks in the middle of the estuary. You can take an active hands-on excursion with a tasty reward of fresh mussels in white wine at the end, but we opted instead to visit Santiago de Compostela, for centuries the final stop of many Christian pilgrimages across northern Spain.
Oporto, an attractive Portuguese city on the Douro River, is a processing and aging center for Port wine with a variety of visitor attractions – including its picturesque houses – restored with historic accuracy by the government to maintain its charm. Our experience at the Sandman Port winery (with their dramatic black-caped spokesman) was especially fun!
