A Dream Voyage

by Mary Jo

I've been locked in mortal combat with the holidays, and the holidays are winning, so I'm invoking the Wenchly prerogative of buffing up an older post to enjoy again.  

Starting on Monday, Christmas Day, we'll start our annual “Christmastide” celebration of the holidays.  That is, the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas which run from Christmas Day to January 5th, the eve of Epiphany. 

So every day of Christmastide, a Wench will post a short little blog just for fun, as a gift to our readers.  This post was originally an entry in our Christmastide series, and it's fun to revisit: a virtual voyage on the luxury yacht Wenchly Winds, which would be a romantic sailing ship like this one, the Colombian training barque Gloria, and isn't she beautiful? 

We Wenches like day dreaming about getting together for a magical vacation, and sailing ships and islands figure strongly in in our fantasies! There will be cabins enough for all the Wenches, and any of you who would like to join us in a fantasy cruise in good company.

I'd like to stop in Malta, the island at the heart of the Mediterranean, the island once considered the middle of the world.  I first became really aware of the island when I read Dorothy Dunnett’s The Disorderly Knights in her marvelous Lymond Chronicles series.  Much of the story takes place there, and the knights of the title are the Knights of Malta, an order of fighting monks created to protect pilgrims during the period of the Crusades. 

Malta is a fascinating crossroads of the Mediterranean, with layers and layers of history and an unusual language descended from the ancient Phoenician traders.  The island intrigued me so that I made it the home of the hero of my last Guardian novel, A Distant Magic.  Nikolai is a combination of Maltese, African, and maybe Russian.  (His mother wasn’t really sure.)  He made a fine dark hero and wizard.

Where would you choose to travel on a fantasy cruise to anywhere you'd like to go?  Our Aussie Wench, Anne Gracie, has suggested the Whitsunday Islands, a group off Queensland, and totally tropical gorgeous. 

So many beautiful, unique islands!  Wench Nicola recently blogged about visiting Madeira, a lovely island off Africa. 

For those who like the mysterious north. I recently wrote a blog of our North Atlantic cruise called Islands of Ice and Fire.  I loved this beautiful little garden in the Faroes, complete with a turf roofed cottage and a view of the sea.

So if you'd like to escape from the holiday busyness, where would you like to go on our Wenchly dream cruise?  It's a magical ship, capable of gliding from one hemisphere to another, so there is no need to be practical! 

 Dreaming something leads to achieving those dreams in real life.  I'd love to hear where you'd like to go!

 Mary Jo, who grew up dreaming of travel to exotic place--and lo! has done quite a bit of that!

 

 

by Mary Jo

I've been locked in mortal combat with the holidays, and the holidays are winning, so I'm invoking the Wenchly prerogative of buffing up an older post to enjoy again.  

Starting on Monday, Christmas Day, we'll start our annual “Christmastide” celebration of the holidays.  That is, the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas which run from Christmas Day to January 5th, the eve of Epiphany. 

So every day of Christmastide, a Wench will post a short little blog just for fun, as a gift to our readers.  This post was originally an entry in our Christmastide series, and it's fun to revisit: a virtual voyage on the luxury yacht Wenchly Winds, which would be a romantic sailing ship like this one, the Colombian training barque Gloria, and isn't she beautiful? 

We Wenches like day dreaming about getting together for a magical vacation, and sailing ships and islands figure strongly in in our fantasies! There will be cabins enough for all the Wenches, and any of you who would like to join us in a fantasy cruise in good company.

I'd like to stop in Malta, the island at the heart of the Mediterranean, the island once considered the middle of the world.  I first became really aware of the island when I read Dorothy Dunnett’s The Disorderly Knights in her marvelous Lymond Chronicles series.  Much of the story takes place there, and the knights of the title are the Knights of Malta, an order of fighting monks created to protect pilgrims during the period of the Crusades. 

Malta is a fascinating crossroads of the Mediterranean, with layers and layers of history and an unusual language descended from the ancient Phoenician traders.  The island intrigued me so that I made it the home of the hero of my last Guardian novel, A Distant Magic.  Nikolai is a combination of Maltese, African, and maybe Russian.  (His mother wasn’t really sure.)  He made a fine dark hero and wizard.

Where would you choose to travel on a fantasy cruise to anywhere you'd like to go?  Our Aussie Wench, Anne Gracie, has suggested the Whitsunday Islands, a group off Queensland, and totally tropical gorgeous. 

So many beautiful, unique islands!  Wench Nicola recently blogged about visiting Madeira, a lovely island off Africa. 

For those who like the mysterious north. I recently wrote a blog of our North Atlantic cruise called Islands of Ice and Fire.  I loved this beautiful little garden in the Faroes, complete with a turf roofed cottage and a view of the sea.

So if you'd like to escape from the holiday busyness, where would you like to go on our Wenchly dream cruise?  It's a magical ship, capable of gliding from one hemisphere to another, so there is no need to be practical! 

 Dreaming something leads to achieving those dreams in real life.  I'd love to hear where you'd like to go!

 Mary Jo, who grew up dreaming of travel to exotic place--and lo! has done quite a bit of that!

 

Comments

[whitsunday tour]

great site thanks for sharing with us

[Patricia Franzino]

I'd like to see the Seychelles. The islands look so beautiful and exotic. To float around them with excursions to take a closer look would intrigue me.

[Kareni]

I'd like to sail around the Greek Isles (since we're dreaming, clearly seasickness is not an issue); the incredible blue of the water always looks so inviting in pictures that I've seen.

I hope, Mary Jo, that you and the holidays will come to an amicable settlement.

[Quantum]

I'm getting a bit bored with earth bound travel and have always found the future more exciting than the past, so with space tourism almost a commercial possibility I would like to book my passage to the moon and other planets of the solar system. To break the world high-jump record in the low gravity of the moon and check out the far side for green cheese. To fly through the rings of Saturn and stroll on the surface of Mars .... Ah beautiful dreams!

Merry Christmas to all Wenches and readers. 😊

[Mary M.]

I'd love to travel anywhere and everywhere on a sail-driven ship, whether a British trading vessel back in the Regency day, a Boston-based whaler with Ahab, or a Chinese junk in Imperial times--but only in my dreams. In truth, I'm a creature of comfort. So far my best real sailing experience has been a sunset cruise on the Mekong River, private boat with our own steward, plenty of wine and nibbles, peace and beauty shared with a couple of good friends. That's enough for me. Ah, but those dreams ...

[Beth Elliott]

As it's a magical journey, there would be no fanatics and no wars to stop me travelling the Silk Road from east to west, on horseback and maybe camel, in a traditional caravan.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Patricia, you're right, the Seychelles would be a perfect destination for the WENCHLY WINDS! I've heard they're gorgeous.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Kareni, the Greek Isles are amazing, though I only saw Santorini. I'd love to cruise there. As for the holidays--by the time I get any cards out, the holiday being celebrated will be New Year's or possibly Groundhog Day. *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

May I join you, Quantum? I was addicted to SF as a kid and read many stories of the "first landing on the moon" variety. But I never read one where the landing was shown on live TV, which is how it happened in real life!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Mary M., I think you've just won the exotic cruise stakes! I wish I'd been there with you.

[Karin]

I'd like the ship to stop off in Bali! Although the Whitsunday Islands look beautiful too, and I'd never heard of them before.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Karin, by all means let us stop in Bali! It's an ancient culture with temples and wonderful layers of history from what I know, while the Whitsunday Islands are a national park and I presume largely untouched and beautiful. Both very find destinations in different ways.

[Mary M.]

Mary Jo, you would absolutely love this. We were staying in Luang Prabang, Laos, which was so laid back I could have spent a month there. Highly recommended!