Mister Brisbane: Italian connection
Nearly 50 years after an Italian superstar visited, a supership is calling Brisbane home.
This post was going to begin with my memories of an Italian visitor to Brisbane back in the 1970s. Instead serendipity dictates that I can write about something else heading our way from Italy with love.
Breaking news from the travel world has it that the Costa Luminosa will join the Carnival fleet in September and will start guest operations as Carnival Luminosa in November, with sailings from Brisbane’s new cruise terminal.
According to a Carnival media release, Carnival Luminosa will operate seasonally from October until April from Brisbane, then reposition to Seattle, where it will sail Alaska itineraries from May to September, before returning to Brisbane.
Luminosa is a sister ship to the four other popular Spirit class ships that already sail for Carnival. Entering service in 2009, the ship accommodates up to 2,826 guests and 1,050 crew at 92,720 gross tons.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, says: “Our Spirit class ships are very popular with our guests and Luminosa will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment.
“And equally important, this will allow Carnival to finally start our highly anticipated itineraries from Brisbane, so we'll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under.”
Now, back to my original post …
As an aside on my post about Toombul, I mentioned the time Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida came to Brisbane and opened the Lutwyche shopping centre. It seems such an incongruous thing that I doubted my own memory of actually witnessing this as a child.
Well, I’m pleased to say that Ms Lollobrigida — known for such films as Solomon and Sheba, Beautiful but Dangerous, Trapeze, Never So Few, Bread Love and Dreams, and Fanfan la Tulipe — did indeed visit Queensland at the relevant time, so my recollections are probably correct. (Something else I didn’t realise at the time was that the famous “Sex siren” was the same age as my mother.)
A friend searched some newspaper archives for me and discovered that Ms Lollobrigida also visited Rockhampton, which I can imagine was about as far away from Rome, in every possible sense, as one could get back in 1975. In March of that year, she was the star attraction at Callaghan Park racetrack.
It was part of a tour of Australia to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis on behalf of the Australian Association of Apex Clubs. A race held in her honour, the 1300-metre Gina Lollobrigida Sprint was won by Burgundy, ridden by Pam O’Neill.
Have you had a celebrity encounter in an incongruous part of Brisbane or elsewhere? I’d love to hear your story. Leave a comment or send an email.
BIG THINGS
On a recent drive out towards the Port of Brisbane, I couldn’t help but see this rather impressive mountain of shipping containers. It’s not exactly a tourist attraction, but I stopped and took a picture anyway. It got me thinking: what human-made thing that wasn’t supposed to be a work of art, or in any way at all remarkable, has stopped you in your tracks?
Oh, and on the subject of the Port of Brisbane, the Coral Princess has been spending a few days at the new cruise ship terminal on the other side of the river. Why? It’s all here in my other newsletter, BRRAAS.COM.
FREE COFFEE
“They” (whoever they may be) say nothing in life is free. Well, McDonald’s is proving “them” wrong by setting up the McCafé coffee van in central Brisbane to dole out samples of its new Australiano coffee blend. It will be at King George Square on June 25 from 7am to 1pm, and the Queens Street Mall on June 26 from 8am to 2pm.
Meanwhile, here’s something for our civic leaders to consider: “talking” rubbish bins that say sexy stuff to you when you do the right thing.