Experiencing art at sea: An enriching experience
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I have lectured on art and architectural history and culture on luxury cruises for nearly 20 years. Cruise audiences compliment me and often comment that they wish I was their professor when they were at university. I believe that the relaxed nature of cruising and the time devoted to enjoyment is why the learning experience at sea is enriching and like none other. In addition to my work on the HISTORY channel, Discovery, and Netflix discussing art and artifacts, I have presented talks on luxury cruise ships and intimate yachts, on board cruise ships during lazy sea days, during guided tours and land excursions, in museums and on location at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 57 countries. I shared my expertise in art and art history with thousands and have been personally rewarded ten-fold.
Information about ports of call, world history, and diverse cultures comes in waves like the sea itself. The relaxed nature of cruising prompts self-reflection and self-discovery. These experiences showed me that cruisers enjoy the exchange of ideas and are equally excited by active ports and remote outposts. I have met cruisers who were changed by a cruise. It is most exhilarating when I return to a port that I previously visited having discovered something totally new. I've seen this happen to seasoned cruise guests and to today's much younger generation of cruisers too. Generations of travelers are selecting cruises as their choice for big family vacations as well as intimate trips to reconnect with partners or friends. Autumn is among the best season to travel in many parts of the world when crowds are small and the weather is not too hot, not too cold.
The cruise enrichment experience is unique both educationally and emotionally. It is at once exhilarating, calming, and eye-opening. Cruisers explore new sites and consider new perspectives at sea. They glean information in many ways onboard and ashore.
It makes little difference to cruisers if I am speaking from the navigational bridge over the public address system entering the Grand Canal in Venice which isn't permitted today or in whispered tones at the Vatican museum on a private tour with only a young couple who are experiencing their first visit to the Mediterranean traveling on a small luxury yacht. The result is the same: experiencing art and architecture this way is both an educational and emotional experience.
For example, I have shared the art history of the amphitheater at Ephesus in Turkey, Alaska's native totem poles and the shipbuilding methods of the Vikings with cruisers who wanted to learn about and embrace the diversity of our world, and its many cultures.
Telling the stories of those who came before us is fascinating and fun. Couple that with a new vacation trip and friends or family in tow and you have the making for a flood of new memories and insight into how others lived and prospered.
My Penn State art history degree and my curious nature (which my mother often described as "nosey") have allowed me to question the legends of the Maori people of New Zealand, the natural wonders of Iceland, and the structural wonders of Brunelleschi's groundbreaking Duomo in Florence, Italy. Frightfully, I ran back to the ship with minutes to spare after staring too long at Michelangelo's Brugges Madonna in Belgium which was rescued by the World War II Monuments Men. I researched, lectured, and visited pilgrimage sites of the Knights Templar in the Middle East and Europe as they related to my work on the HISTORY channel's #1 show The Curse of Oak Island, which documents the longest treasure hunt on record. I'll never forgot my reactions when I stood in front of the Rembrandt paintings at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia (tears!), the locks of the Panama Canal or the long-in-coming completion, just this year, of Gaudi's masterpiece La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. To love art and architecture is to visit the places where these items were made and to understand the culture from which they were made. There is nothing like being there. For making lifelong memories, cruising the world's oceans is unmatched and the educational discourse that accompanies such trips remains truly spectacular.
Ph.D. art and antiques appraiser, YouTube host with 125 million views on her channel www.YouTube.com/DrLoriV , and award-winning media personality, Dr. Lori Verderame presents Antiques Appraisal Comedy Tour to live audiences nationwide. She appears on Netflix, History channel, Drew Barrymore Show, Discovery, CBS, ABC, BBC, NPR. Visit www.DrLoriV.com or call (888) 431-1010.