Blog

Although the Tagus River or 25 de Abril Bridge is no longer one of the world’s true leviathans when compared to more modern engineering feats it is, never-the-less, a truly iconic structure that will be amongst your abiding memories of a cruise to Lisbon. Indeed, the approach by cruise ship into the heart of Lisbon is one of cruising’s grand arrivals and few capital cities can compete with the spectacle afforded by a transit along the Tagus to Lisbon.

Aside from sailing under and docking close to the magnificent Tagus River Bridge, you’ll also cruise right past the Belem Tower, one of Lisbon’s original medieval fortifications and the very spot where many explorers set sail to what to them was, indeed, a new world. Slightly further along the Tagus you’ll glide past the statue that commemorates one of Europe’s greatest sailors and explorers, Henry the Navigator.

Try and think of the most iconic piece of equipment on a ship - it simply has to be the ship’s wheel, doesn’t it? You might consider the anchor, you might even spare a thought for a porthole or maybe the ship’s crest or the flag it’s flying but, when all’s said and done, if there’s one thing that defines a ship, it has to be the ship’s wheel.

You might not immediately know what a Trireme is but, chances are, you’ll probably recognise one. Think of the classic film ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ and you’re pretty much there already: the Argos, the ship that takes Jason and his crew on their many adventures, is a Trireme. And, although Jason’s quest to find the Golden Fleece is part of the rich heritage of Greek myth, the Trireme was a real vessel and the state-of-the-art war machine of the Ancient Greeks. In fact, without the Trireme, they’d have lost their battle for supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Welcome to our new series, ‘Around The World In 80 Iconic Items’. As the name suggests, we’ll be travelling around the world not simply by country or ports of call, but via a series of iconic items. To start the series we thought we’d begin with the Vespa scooter that, perhaps, more than any other vehicle, epitomises chic, city living in Italy and a love of La Dolce Vita.
Subsequently, we’ll be looking at all sorts of intriguing items from across the globe, items that have profoundly influenced the way we live today.