Britannia, launched in 1893, that his dying wish was that she
follow him to the grave. Thus, on July 10, 1936, Britannia
was sunk in St. Catherine's Deep near the Isle of Wight.)
Eleonora is a vessel, if not to die for, then to dream about,
and more important, to dream in. Her interior presents a
charmingly sequestered space in which to experience the
high seas. One imagines falling asleep in one of the four
cabins, reclining upon satin pillows, peeping out a porthole,
or perhaps sitting at the writing desk, penning a memoir while
Eleonora is underway. The interior is so consummately cozy,
that somehow I imagine making a voyage on the Eleonora
in cold climes, sailing, perhaps, from New York to the Straits
of Oresund in Denmark, stopping for an overland pilgrimage
to Rungstedlund, residence of author Karen Blixen, now a
museum in her honor. The food on board would be based
upon Blixen's story, Babette's Feast, which is to say, it is to be
classic French cuisine:Quails in puff pastry, Blinis Demidof a
l'Oobleck, Soupe a la
tortue a la Louisianne,
Plentiful bottles of Pol
Roger champagne.
Eleonora's
cabins,
living
room
and
dining room are
paneled lavishly in
mahogany and fitted
out with replicas of
the finest furniture
HYLAND
