October 25th-27th
Sea Day/Istanbul/Istanbul
The 25th was a sea day, nothing big to report back about there.
The 26th was day 1 of the Istanbul overnight. Unfortunately, looking outside this morning when I was ready to set out, I was greeted by a rather large storm and rain like I haven’t seen since…well…the tornado, ha. So it was raining and the first half of the day was sacrificed to waiting for any hint of the storm passing. The band had blown off their plans to go out, but by about 3:00, I was done raining and set out with a friend from the spa. We were determined to see the Blue Mosque today, rain or shine, and after we suited up for what was sure to be nothing short of multiple hours of monsoon, we set out for a long walk to the mosque.
The roads were slightly disorganized that day due to a large marathon that was scheduled for the morning, whether it happened or not is beyond me, but it seemed like a better idea to walk than to fight with a cab in traffic and then get totally ripped off. So we walked in the downpour, neither of us in appropriate rain-battling clothing, and made our way down the pier, over the bridge and through the city, humorously trying to avoid the large puddles (as if it made a different in the long run…)
We arrived at the Blue Mosque a while later, wet from the knees down, and after removing our shoes entered to observe a ceremony they were holding there. The Blue Mosque is very significant to Istanbul, the largest mosque in the city (I think), and a lot of other things your favorite free internet encyclopedia would do a better job of explaining than me. Well we went in, observed for a while standing in our wet socks, and then slid our soaked shoes back on and left. There are few things less comfortable than cold wet socks going into cold wet shoes as you walk out into a cold wet Istanbul, but hey, it’s my last time in Istanbul and it was going to take a lot more than rain to keep me from laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
At that point we were getting hungry and found a small, local restaurant to sit down at. We ordered Chicken Shish and a “Spicy Meat Pide”, or basically Turkey’s take on pizza, both of which were great. After we finished our meals and Apple Tea, we again stepped out into the storm, which had now amplified, the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do at night.
At this point it was after 6pm and extremely dark outside, making navigating back to the ship just that much more fun. And as I mentioned, the storm got worse…much worse. This was when we forgot about dodging deep puddles, we were more worried about the fast moving streams that had appeared during dinner. I’ve never seen so much water moving so fast on city streets before. I seems as if Istanbul doesn’t have an underground drainage system and all the rain is directed down hill via gutters carved into the streets. I’m sure this works just great on usual days, but on down pours the gutters serve as nothing more but another obstacle to twist an ankle in. Regardless, we pressed on, determined to make it back to the ship without the aid of a taxi. And surprising enough, without a single slip or fall, we eventually returned to the pier…sure it looked (and felt) like we waded though a kiddy pool, but we were back.
I had a couple shows that night that kept me on board till midnight. I was planning on getting off the ship the next morning to check out a Turkish bath, but after talking to all my friends and trying to sell the idea, just like last time, no one was interested. I was bummed out and didn’t go out that night…part because I was still thinking of waking up early, part because I wanted to read more about Turkish baths, and part because I was just disappointed. Well…what cha gonna do? I’ll probably be back again sometime and will find at least one person who would rather appreciate traditional culture then go out late on a Sunday night.
I woke up late on the 27th…I decided I wasn’t going to spend the money on a Turkish Bath to sit there by myself. Instead I got off the ship for about an hour to try to walk to Asia. Yeah, that’s right, walk to Asia. Well, unfortunately it turned out to be as formidable as it sounds - I didn’t make it. There is a bridge however that spans the river separating European Turkey from Asian Turkey, and it’s visible from the ship, it just turns out that an hour wasn’t enough time to make it there and back. So instead I had a brisk walk in my still wet gym shoes and said goodbye to the city.
The rest of the day is just time at sea working on these posts and other computer stuff till my first show at 7:15. Thanks for reading and seeya soon!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sea Day/Athens
October 23rd-24th
Sea Day/Athens
The 23rd was the usual Sea Day. Ron was allowed to play the show at night and the night previous to it, so I guess the doctor thinks he’s well enough again. Who knows, it’s just seems odd to me that something that was just a serious medical concern has basically evaporated away in a day, slightly odd…
We were in Athens the next day. The last time I was here I was on the Queen Victoria and I visited the Navigator who was in port with us…I never thought I’d be returning so soon on the ship I had just visited. Anyway, we had boat drill in the morning, so that took some time, and then I hung out on the ship for a while afterward. We weren’t leaving the port till 11pm, so I wasn’t in any rush to get off. Instead, I waited till 4 when I could rent a bike from the crew office and set out to see the port city of Piraeus and make my way towards Athens.
The bike journey was interesting to say the least. First, I went by myself. I couldn’t talk any of my friends into renting a bike with me, not that I really care, but it’s a different experience when you go exploring on a bike on your own. Second, they were running out of bikes to rent and I got stuck with the last available “SunKruiser”…yeah, that sounds exploration friendly doesn’t it? Well, the SunKruiser is a fat tired beach style bike with three gears and the braking system in which you stop by attempting to peddle in reverse, not exactly big-city appropriate. But, it did have a large cushy seat making my inevitable biking difficulties as comfortable as humanly possible. So off I set on my SunKruiser, riding along the docks looking for an exit to the port, and riding in a way as not to look like a 60 year old man making his way to the beach. Then came the first car I had to avoid and the first curb I had to get over. Let’s say the later proved more deadly than the former. If I trying to ride over a curb at anything other than a 90 degree angle I was destined to fail…and I therefore dismounted my beach bike, lifted it over the curb, and continued on riding portraying some innate desire to be a senior citizen. This continued the entire ride and got less painful as I got more adept at dulling my sensitivity to public opinion.
Piraeus is fairly hilly, another obstacle standing between me and an enjoyable bike ride on a less than enjoyable bike (though supremely comfortable). Some hills I managed, others I narrowly dodged passing cars, and still more I just had to walk, where as the descents were cautiously negotiated using a braking system I left behind after my tenth birthday. That aside, the streets were generally busy, the sidewalks were too narrow and cluttered for bikes, and Greek driving practices made for an unusual challenge – but I was determined for a decent outing.
Many hills, narrow roads, and near death experiences later, I came across the top of some fortification the city was build on, from which I could see most of Athens and the sea, a nice stopping point. So there I sat for a while at the edge of this 80 foot wall (death wish?) looking out over the harbor enjoying the view I worked so hard to achieve. I had decided that this would be as far as I wanted to risk biking, and after an extended observation period, I decided to turn around and find my way back to the ship.
The ride back was similar to the ride there, the same challenge of cars, curbs, and riding faster than the bike was ever meant to ride (which produced an unfavorable hissing sound somewhere in the mechanism). I did almost manage to hit two pedestrians and get run over by a moped, but I did indeed arrive back to the port without a scratch. Wanting to spend maybe a little more time on the comfortable seat, I rode around the port for a while for a yet to be seen “leisurely” bike ride. I took out my camera and took some pictures and videos of the ship and port area, the usual things, till I ran into another potential situation…
Greece seems to have a thing for dogs and these cities are packed with stray dogs. I have no idea where they come from or where they go, but it doesn’t matter where you go, there are random dogs. One of these dogs thought it’d be a good idea to play with the biker on the SunKruiser. So here I am with my camera when a light colored dog starts chasing me. At first I’m not to worried, he’s far enough behind and I’m getting a laugh out of filming him. But in a matter of moments he’s at my ankles with a look in his eyes of either “I’m gonna bite you because you’re in my area” or “I’m gonna bite you because it’ll be fun”. Either way, I have a not-so-cuddly canine ready to knock me from my SunKruiser. Well, I turn the camera off, and unable to put the camera back in my pocket out of a fear of sacrificing speed, I pin it against the handle bar and do my best to outrun this dog with one available hand (and not the one that works the three oh-so-useful gears). A couple minutes later after a few sprints and turns and being inches from the dog, The SunKruiser and I had won the battle. The dog had eventually given up and I was free to catch my breath and finally put my camera away. I got on the ship soon after.
I hung out onboard for a while, my friends had left early for dinner, and I eventually got off one more time at night with someone for a walk around the city before we sailed. We picked up some really nice pastries and went back to the ship unchallenged by stray dogs.
That about does it for my Greek adventure…maybe slightly exaggerated, but none the less ridiculous. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Athens
The 23rd was the usual Sea Day. Ron was allowed to play the show at night and the night previous to it, so I guess the doctor thinks he’s well enough again. Who knows, it’s just seems odd to me that something that was just a serious medical concern has basically evaporated away in a day, slightly odd…
We were in Athens the next day. The last time I was here I was on the Queen Victoria and I visited the Navigator who was in port with us…I never thought I’d be returning so soon on the ship I had just visited. Anyway, we had boat drill in the morning, so that took some time, and then I hung out on the ship for a while afterward. We weren’t leaving the port till 11pm, so I wasn’t in any rush to get off. Instead, I waited till 4 when I could rent a bike from the crew office and set out to see the port city of Piraeus and make my way towards Athens.
The bike journey was interesting to say the least. First, I went by myself. I couldn’t talk any of my friends into renting a bike with me, not that I really care, but it’s a different experience when you go exploring on a bike on your own. Second, they were running out of bikes to rent and I got stuck with the last available “SunKruiser”…yeah, that sounds exploration friendly doesn’t it? Well, the SunKruiser is a fat tired beach style bike with three gears and the braking system in which you stop by attempting to peddle in reverse, not exactly big-city appropriate. But, it did have a large cushy seat making my inevitable biking difficulties as comfortable as humanly possible. So off I set on my SunKruiser, riding along the docks looking for an exit to the port, and riding in a way as not to look like a 60 year old man making his way to the beach. Then came the first car I had to avoid and the first curb I had to get over. Let’s say the later proved more deadly than the former. If I trying to ride over a curb at anything other than a 90 degree angle I was destined to fail…and I therefore dismounted my beach bike, lifted it over the curb, and continued on riding portraying some innate desire to be a senior citizen. This continued the entire ride and got less painful as I got more adept at dulling my sensitivity to public opinion.
Piraeus is fairly hilly, another obstacle standing between me and an enjoyable bike ride on a less than enjoyable bike (though supremely comfortable). Some hills I managed, others I narrowly dodged passing cars, and still more I just had to walk, where as the descents were cautiously negotiated using a braking system I left behind after my tenth birthday. That aside, the streets were generally busy, the sidewalks were too narrow and cluttered for bikes, and Greek driving practices made for an unusual challenge – but I was determined for a decent outing.
Many hills, narrow roads, and near death experiences later, I came across the top of some fortification the city was build on, from which I could see most of Athens and the sea, a nice stopping point. So there I sat for a while at the edge of this 80 foot wall (death wish?) looking out over the harbor enjoying the view I worked so hard to achieve. I had decided that this would be as far as I wanted to risk biking, and after an extended observation period, I decided to turn around and find my way back to the ship.
The ride back was similar to the ride there, the same challenge of cars, curbs, and riding faster than the bike was ever meant to ride (which produced an unfavorable hissing sound somewhere in the mechanism). I did almost manage to hit two pedestrians and get run over by a moped, but I did indeed arrive back to the port without a scratch. Wanting to spend maybe a little more time on the comfortable seat, I rode around the port for a while for a yet to be seen “leisurely” bike ride. I took out my camera and took some pictures and videos of the ship and port area, the usual things, till I ran into another potential situation…
Greece seems to have a thing for dogs and these cities are packed with stray dogs. I have no idea where they come from or where they go, but it doesn’t matter where you go, there are random dogs. One of these dogs thought it’d be a good idea to play with the biker on the SunKruiser. So here I am with my camera when a light colored dog starts chasing me. At first I’m not to worried, he’s far enough behind and I’m getting a laugh out of filming him. But in a matter of moments he’s at my ankles with a look in his eyes of either “I’m gonna bite you because you’re in my area” or “I’m gonna bite you because it’ll be fun”. Either way, I have a not-so-cuddly canine ready to knock me from my SunKruiser. Well, I turn the camera off, and unable to put the camera back in my pocket out of a fear of sacrificing speed, I pin it against the handle bar and do my best to outrun this dog with one available hand (and not the one that works the three oh-so-useful gears). A couple minutes later after a few sprints and turns and being inches from the dog, The SunKruiser and I had won the battle. The dog had eventually given up and I was free to catch my breath and finally put my camera away. I got on the ship soon after.
I hung out onboard for a while, my friends had left early for dinner, and I eventually got off one more time at night with someone for a walk around the city before we sailed. We picked up some really nice pastries and went back to the ship unchallenged by stray dogs.
That about does it for my Greek adventure…maybe slightly exaggerated, but none the less ridiculous. Thanks for reading!
Cagliari
Oct 22nd
Cagliari, Sardinia (sort of)
Today was meant to be spent in Cagliari but the weather had other plans. From what I gather, pulling into the port this morning was nothing spectacular, some wind and storm clouds passing overhead. There was some sort of storm passing through the city but not one that seemed unusual or raised any sort of alarm and we began to dock as planned. At this time I was laying in bed, half awake, waiting for the boat drill announcement that was scheduled for today. Then I hear the code words indicating heavy winds at the gangway, something I thought was part of the drill, and went back to sleep to wait for the next set of code words which would mean I start my portion of the drill. Those words never came, instead, an announcement came on saying that all tours and shuttles have been cancelled, we snapped a line do to sudden high winds, and that we’ll be leaving the port. Now I’ve heard of skipping ports due to weather related issues, but hearing that we broke a line from high winds in Sardinia just didn’t seem quite right, but regardless, we were leaving. I got out of bed and headed upstairs to the mess to get some food and try to figure out what was going on and see what was so bad that we were leaving the port. Well, turns out we’d just been in a Tornado!!
Yeah, not kidding, just as we had docked and put down the gangways, a tornado formed on the pier and then rammed into the side of the ship. The tents set up on the pier had been blown out of sight, a tour bus had been spun around and flipped on it’s side breaking all its windows, some tanker had been blown across the pier, scrap metal broke partitions on the 9th and 10th decks, and the ship had literally been pushed off the pier by breaking through a line. Wow. Luckily no one had gotten off the ship yet or we’d have had a major problem on our hands, but believe me when I say this tornado came out of nowhere, totally unexpected. The ships security cameras were actually able to catch it on tape and they’ve been running the footage on the TV system all day. It clearly shows tents flying, the bus getting flipped, the tanker being thrown, and the ship getting pushed away, dropping our gangways into the water. It’s really quite unbelievable. In his 50+ years of experience, our captain had said he’s never seen anything like it.
To my knowledge, only one person was injured, and that was the bus driver who was in the bus when it got flipped. He’s supposedly in the hospital in stable condition, so hopefully he’ll make a full recovery. But again, thankfully this happened before any passengers were cleared to go ashore, had it happened 30 minutes later, we’d have had an entirely different situation.
However, due to this renegade tornado, Ron wasn’t able to get off the ship and to a hospital as planned, meaning he has to stay aboard till Athens. I really hope this doesn’t complicate things further for him.
The remainder of the day was simply a sea day. Last minute activities were planned, maintenance people were rushing to get things cleaned up on the sundeck where broken glass had claimed the pool, and the band got to sleep in as we prematurely sailed to Greece. Another reason I love this job! Hopefully the rest of the cruise will go smoothly, we’ll avoid random natural disasters, and I’ll fly home safe and sound to a city where I won’t wake up to the wicked witch flying around outside my window. Thanks
Cagliari, Sardinia (sort of)
Today was meant to be spent in Cagliari but the weather had other plans. From what I gather, pulling into the port this morning was nothing spectacular, some wind and storm clouds passing overhead. There was some sort of storm passing through the city but not one that seemed unusual or raised any sort of alarm and we began to dock as planned. At this time I was laying in bed, half awake, waiting for the boat drill announcement that was scheduled for today. Then I hear the code words indicating heavy winds at the gangway, something I thought was part of the drill, and went back to sleep to wait for the next set of code words which would mean I start my portion of the drill. Those words never came, instead, an announcement came on saying that all tours and shuttles have been cancelled, we snapped a line do to sudden high winds, and that we’ll be leaving the port. Now I’ve heard of skipping ports due to weather related issues, but hearing that we broke a line from high winds in Sardinia just didn’t seem quite right, but regardless, we were leaving. I got out of bed and headed upstairs to the mess to get some food and try to figure out what was going on and see what was so bad that we were leaving the port. Well, turns out we’d just been in a Tornado!!
Yeah, not kidding, just as we had docked and put down the gangways, a tornado formed on the pier and then rammed into the side of the ship. The tents set up on the pier had been blown out of sight, a tour bus had been spun around and flipped on it’s side breaking all its windows, some tanker had been blown across the pier, scrap metal broke partitions on the 9th and 10th decks, and the ship had literally been pushed off the pier by breaking through a line. Wow. Luckily no one had gotten off the ship yet or we’d have had a major problem on our hands, but believe me when I say this tornado came out of nowhere, totally unexpected. The ships security cameras were actually able to catch it on tape and they’ve been running the footage on the TV system all day. It clearly shows tents flying, the bus getting flipped, the tanker being thrown, and the ship getting pushed away, dropping our gangways into the water. It’s really quite unbelievable. In his 50+ years of experience, our captain had said he’s never seen anything like it.
To my knowledge, only one person was injured, and that was the bus driver who was in the bus when it got flipped. He’s supposedly in the hospital in stable condition, so hopefully he’ll make a full recovery. But again, thankfully this happened before any passengers were cleared to go ashore, had it happened 30 minutes later, we’d have had an entirely different situation.
However, due to this renegade tornado, Ron wasn’t able to get off the ship and to a hospital as planned, meaning he has to stay aboard till Athens. I really hope this doesn’t complicate things further for him.
The remainder of the day was simply a sea day. Last minute activities were planned, maintenance people were rushing to get things cleaned up on the sundeck where broken glass had claimed the pool, and the band got to sleep in as we prematurely sailed to Greece. Another reason I love this job! Hopefully the rest of the cruise will go smoothly, we’ll avoid random natural disasters, and I’ll fly home safe and sound to a city where I won’t wake up to the wicked witch flying around outside my window. Thanks
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Palma de Mallorca
October 21st,
Palma de Mallorca
Mallorca is a Spanish island south of Barcelona and very beautiful. I spent the day walking around with George and Juan. We just did some general exploring, which ended with George and I hiking up a hill to a castle over looking the city. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, more fit for June than October, and one more chance to see a port I’ve not yet visited.
Back on the ship and situation was developing. Turns out Ron, the drummer and my good friend from my first contract here, is having intestinal issues and is to be sent off the ship at the next port for medical attention. He says he feels OK aside from a strange stomach feeling, but the other symptoms are serious enough to cause some concern. He’ll be leaving the ship tomorrow in Sardinia, hopefully to return the same day, but more likely to join up with us again in a week or so, who knows. But Ron is a great friend of mine whom I’d hate to see anything happen to so keep him in your prayers and let’s hope for the best.
Due to the situation, the show for tonight had to be changed to something that doesn’t use a drummer and the captain’s cocktail jazz set we always play was done without him. It’ll be interesting to see how we get around this problem if the condition keeps him off the ship for an extended time.
That aside, I’m back to spending my evenings playing chess with George while having wine and cheese. Another reason why it’s fun to be back! Thanks
Palma de Mallorca
Mallorca is a Spanish island south of Barcelona and very beautiful. I spent the day walking around with George and Juan. We just did some general exploring, which ended with George and I hiking up a hill to a castle over looking the city. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, more fit for June than October, and one more chance to see a port I’ve not yet visited.
Back on the ship and situation was developing. Turns out Ron, the drummer and my good friend from my first contract here, is having intestinal issues and is to be sent off the ship at the next port for medical attention. He says he feels OK aside from a strange stomach feeling, but the other symptoms are serious enough to cause some concern. He’ll be leaving the ship tomorrow in Sardinia, hopefully to return the same day, but more likely to join up with us again in a week or so, who knows. But Ron is a great friend of mine whom I’d hate to see anything happen to so keep him in your prayers and let’s hope for the best.
Due to the situation, the show for tonight had to be changed to something that doesn’t use a drummer and the captain’s cocktail jazz set we always play was done without him. It’ll be interesting to see how we get around this problem if the condition keeps him off the ship for an extended time.
That aside, I’m back to spending my evenings playing chess with George while having wine and cheese. Another reason why it’s fun to be back! Thanks
Barcelona
October 20th
Barcelona
I got off the ship around 10am with my friend from the spa to meet up with a mutual friend in the city. Turns out that we both know someone from the Rhapsody who just happened to be in port with us on a Celebrity ship. It is this small community that makes it so much fun working on ships, you never know who you’re going to run into again and where. So we all met up and went out for lunch and a walk down the main street in Barcelona, La Rambla. We didn’t have a lot of time off the ship and after a few stops (fish market, grocery store, adult store, the usual…ha) we returned to the ship to start the next cruise. The rest of the way went as usual for a welcome aboard day, including another parade that has succeeded in lowering my self-esteem and destroying what little pride I have. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, but I can’t even begin to explain how thankful I am for the fact that none of you will ever see me dancing in a African themed poncho/cape for a poorly designed parade in front of dozens of inebriated guests. Anyway, that was Barcelona, next time I’m here I’ll be getting on a flight home!
Barcelona
I got off the ship around 10am with my friend from the spa to meet up with a mutual friend in the city. Turns out that we both know someone from the Rhapsody who just happened to be in port with us on a Celebrity ship. It is this small community that makes it so much fun working on ships, you never know who you’re going to run into again and where. So we all met up and went out for lunch and a walk down the main street in Barcelona, La Rambla. We didn’t have a lot of time off the ship and after a few stops (fish market, grocery store, adult store, the usual…ha) we returned to the ship to start the next cruise. The rest of the way went as usual for a welcome aboard day, including another parade that has succeeded in lowering my self-esteem and destroying what little pride I have. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, but I can’t even begin to explain how thankful I am for the fact that none of you will ever see me dancing in a African themed poncho/cape for a poorly designed parade in front of dozens of inebriated guests. Anyway, that was Barcelona, next time I’m here I’ll be getting on a flight home!
Sea Day/Malta/Sea Day
October 17th-19th
Sea Day, Malta, Sea Day
I kind of fell behind on my posts, so to be totally honest, I have no recollection of either sea days. I doubt anything too exciting happened anyways, just the usual hanging out on the ship you’re used to reading about.
Malta wasn’t especially exciting either. Most of the day ended up being lost to a late boat drill, leaving about 2 hours to get off the ship. Most of my friends went to the Hard Rock Café on the pier while I found some free interent and went on a quick walk in the opposite direction from my first visit to the city.
That aside, these were the last few days of my first cruise, so that means one more cruise to go and then I’m flying back home! Seeya!
Sea Day, Malta, Sea Day
I kind of fell behind on my posts, so to be totally honest, I have no recollection of either sea days. I doubt anything too exciting happened anyways, just the usual hanging out on the ship you’re used to reading about.
Malta wasn’t especially exciting either. Most of the day ended up being lost to a late boat drill, leaving about 2 hours to get off the ship. Most of my friends went to the Hard Rock Café on the pier while I found some free interent and went on a quick walk in the opposite direction from my first visit to the city.
That aside, these were the last few days of my first cruise, so that means one more cruise to go and then I’m flying back home! Seeya!
Istanbul
October 15th/16th
Istanbul Overnight
We arrived in Istanbul on the 15th around 2pm, my second visit to the city and my first chance to see the nightlife. During the day I had tried to convince my friends into getting off the ship for a Turkish Bath, but due to them having a late night the previous night in the bar, they were to tired to get off. Instead I just went for a walk with George (Piano) and Juan (Tenor Sax guy from Argentina). We walked from the dock to a popular area of the city that I had not had a chance to see on my first visit to the city. This area was filled with stores, extremely busy, and really kind of exciting. We spent some time making our way down that main street till we arrived at the end where there was a street lined with small little music stores, our ultimate goal for the excursion. During the walk we stopped at a few places for food and snacks, most of which were traditional Turkish candies. I had some really great Baklava, some other peanut-buttery candy thing that was an instant sugar high, and whatever else we saw and felt like buying.
After a show that evening, I set out again with a few friends in the band. These were the friends that were out late last night and I was hoping they’d be up for a little excitement this evening as well. We started out by taking a cab up to the shopping street I had just came from earlier that day. After a quick dinner stop, it wasn’t long till we found a side street packed with bars and live music. We went into the bar where a band was playing “Welcome to the Jungle”. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the jazz club I was personally hoping for, but it was still pretty cool seeing a Turkish rock band playing American music. We left maybe an hour later to continue our search, but by this time, around midnight, my group had started to feel the effects of their last big night out and was ready to head back. After some last minute shopping and Ron (drummer) buying a fake Versace shirt from some dude for $10, we walked back to the ship. If it was any other port at any other time I probably would have left the group and continued my exploring on my own, but Istanbul by yourself at night seemed a little less attractive than mild disappointment. I’ll take a safe uneventful night over a raping from the Turkish Mafia any day. I then made some tentative plans for the morning and went to bed.
The next morning I woke up to find my friend didn’t want to wake up and get off the ship, big surprise. Having my exciting plans shot down now for the third time, I decided to go back to bed…another plan that was disrupted. A friend from the spa called me up to go outside for a walk that morning before we sailed at 2, so I woke up again and we left the ship for the down town area. We did the usual thing, went to the Bazar, got some food, and went into a cool Mosque before returning to the ship to leave the port.
Well, that about does it for this trip to Istanbul. I’m expecting my next visit to be better seeing as now all my friends have promised to redeem themselves by not blowing off my plans again…but we’ll see what happens. Thanks for reading!
Istanbul Overnight
We arrived in Istanbul on the 15th around 2pm, my second visit to the city and my first chance to see the nightlife. During the day I had tried to convince my friends into getting off the ship for a Turkish Bath, but due to them having a late night the previous night in the bar, they were to tired to get off. Instead I just went for a walk with George (Piano) and Juan (Tenor Sax guy from Argentina). We walked from the dock to a popular area of the city that I had not had a chance to see on my first visit to the city. This area was filled with stores, extremely busy, and really kind of exciting. We spent some time making our way down that main street till we arrived at the end where there was a street lined with small little music stores, our ultimate goal for the excursion. During the walk we stopped at a few places for food and snacks, most of which were traditional Turkish candies. I had some really great Baklava, some other peanut-buttery candy thing that was an instant sugar high, and whatever else we saw and felt like buying.
After a show that evening, I set out again with a few friends in the band. These were the friends that were out late last night and I was hoping they’d be up for a little excitement this evening as well. We started out by taking a cab up to the shopping street I had just came from earlier that day. After a quick dinner stop, it wasn’t long till we found a side street packed with bars and live music. We went into the bar where a band was playing “Welcome to the Jungle”. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the jazz club I was personally hoping for, but it was still pretty cool seeing a Turkish rock band playing American music. We left maybe an hour later to continue our search, but by this time, around midnight, my group had started to feel the effects of their last big night out and was ready to head back. After some last minute shopping and Ron (drummer) buying a fake Versace shirt from some dude for $10, we walked back to the ship. If it was any other port at any other time I probably would have left the group and continued my exploring on my own, but Istanbul by yourself at night seemed a little less attractive than mild disappointment. I’ll take a safe uneventful night over a raping from the Turkish Mafia any day. I then made some tentative plans for the morning and went to bed.
The next morning I woke up to find my friend didn’t want to wake up and get off the ship, big surprise. Having my exciting plans shot down now for the third time, I decided to go back to bed…another plan that was disrupted. A friend from the spa called me up to go outside for a walk that morning before we sailed at 2, so I woke up again and we left the ship for the down town area. We did the usual thing, went to the Bazar, got some food, and went into a cool Mosque before returning to the ship to leave the port.
Well, that about does it for this trip to Istanbul. I’m expecting my next visit to be better seeing as now all my friends have promised to redeem themselves by not blowing off my plans again…but we’ll see what happens. Thanks for reading!
Thessaloniki
October 14th
Thessaloniki, Greece
Today was a visit to one of the few ports during this contract I have not yet visited. Thessaloniki is a large Greek city on the mainland (I think) and is very cosmopolitan. The band – always looking for an adventure – thought they’d stretch themselves today and go to…TGIF…yeah. Although it is the first TGIF I’ve seen in Europe (or cared enough to pay attention to), I wasn’t about to waste an afternoon sitting at an American styled restaurant. So I went for a walk through some other parts of the city, not really with any destination in mind, but just to get a general vibe for the area.
I did have two objectives for my exploring though, find dental floss and soap, both of which I was desperately lacking in my cabin. I found floss at a local pharmacy without much difficulty – all it took was the word “floss” and a simple hand gesture and the lady knew exactly what I was after. The soap was slightly harder to find. I was hoping for a traditional Greek olive oil based soap, the kind I saw everywhere when I was walking in Greece on my last contract, but it appears you never can find what you want when you need it. I did eventually come across a grocery store that had toiletries downstairs, including a cheap Greek-made soap with some funny name and generic smell I just couldn’t pass up. I grabbed the single bar and a bottle of water on my way out, paid for the products, and left leaving people thinking I was going to take some sort of impromptu shower in the street with my odd purchase. I swear there must be dozens of weirded out store clerks throughout the world due to strange purchases I’ve made.
Anyways, with my floss, soap and water in hand, I continued walking through the city for about 90 minutes before I decided it’d be a good idea to get back to port before the ship sailed. Over all it was a nice city, surprisingly busier than I’d have imagined, but yet still very nice and welcoming. Maybe I’ll return someday when my soap runs out…but I doubt it. Thanks for reading!
Thessaloniki, Greece
Today was a visit to one of the few ports during this contract I have not yet visited. Thessaloniki is a large Greek city on the mainland (I think) and is very cosmopolitan. The band – always looking for an adventure – thought they’d stretch themselves today and go to…TGIF…yeah. Although it is the first TGIF I’ve seen in Europe (or cared enough to pay attention to), I wasn’t about to waste an afternoon sitting at an American styled restaurant. So I went for a walk through some other parts of the city, not really with any destination in mind, but just to get a general vibe for the area.
I did have two objectives for my exploring though, find dental floss and soap, both of which I was desperately lacking in my cabin. I found floss at a local pharmacy without much difficulty – all it took was the word “floss” and a simple hand gesture and the lady knew exactly what I was after. The soap was slightly harder to find. I was hoping for a traditional Greek olive oil based soap, the kind I saw everywhere when I was walking in Greece on my last contract, but it appears you never can find what you want when you need it. I did eventually come across a grocery store that had toiletries downstairs, including a cheap Greek-made soap with some funny name and generic smell I just couldn’t pass up. I grabbed the single bar and a bottle of water on my way out, paid for the products, and left leaving people thinking I was going to take some sort of impromptu shower in the street with my odd purchase. I swear there must be dozens of weirded out store clerks throughout the world due to strange purchases I’ve made.
Anyways, with my floss, soap and water in hand, I continued walking through the city for about 90 minutes before I decided it’d be a good idea to get back to port before the ship sailed. Over all it was a nice city, surprisingly busier than I’d have imagined, but yet still very nice and welcoming. Maybe I’ll return someday when my soap runs out…but I doubt it. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Messina/Sea Day
October 11th-13th
Sea Day/Messina/Sea Day
There isn’t all that much to tell you about the sea day, most of which was spent trying to overcome my jetlag. So between sleep, so practicing, and the usual Navigator happenings, that’s about all there was to the 11th.
The 12th was spent in Messina. I had been to this Sicilian port a few times on the Queen Victoria, and though it wasn’t necessarily my favorite, it’s still nicer to get off the ship and spend some time in Sicily than sit in Illinois. I got off the ship mid day, after training, and actually went running for a little while. I’ve been fighting a cold since I got on the ship and now that it’s decided to invade my sinuses, I thought I could clear some of it up with a good seaside jog. Well, the run was nice, the snot was not, but I got some sun and had some time to remind myself why I take these contracts in the first place.
The 13th was another Sea Day as we sailed toward Greece. Again, nothing really to tell you about, but I got my computer hooked up and working, so I guess that’s exciting. And I’ll leave it at that…thanks!
Sea Day/Messina/Sea Day
There isn’t all that much to tell you about the sea day, most of which was spent trying to overcome my jetlag. So between sleep, so practicing, and the usual Navigator happenings, that’s about all there was to the 11th.
The 12th was spent in Messina. I had been to this Sicilian port a few times on the Queen Victoria, and though it wasn’t necessarily my favorite, it’s still nicer to get off the ship and spend some time in Sicily than sit in Illinois. I got off the ship mid day, after training, and actually went running for a little while. I’ve been fighting a cold since I got on the ship and now that it’s decided to invade my sinuses, I thought I could clear some of it up with a good seaside jog. Well, the run was nice, the snot was not, but I got some sun and had some time to remind myself why I take these contracts in the first place.
The 13th was another Sea Day as we sailed toward Greece. Again, nothing really to tell you about, but I got my computer hooked up and working, so I guess that’s exciting. And I’ll leave it at that…thanks!
Crystal Lake to Barcelona
Oct 8th-10th
Crystal Lake to Barcelona
So it all began Wednesday morning…
I woke up on the morning of the 8th to an email from the company. I had been in contact with the office over the past couple weeks trying to figure out another contract to get on so this email wasn’t totally unexpected – till I read it. It says there’s been an incident on the Navigator wherein they need someone to fill the Alto Sax chair starting Friday; if I accept, I fly out tomorrow. This was the last thing I was expecting to wake up to, and after emailing them back requesting a little time to think, I began my day. Well, a few hours later they called, we negotiated, and I had a flight booked at 3:45 the next afternoon. The rest of the day from that point on consisted of a lesson, a lot of phone calls, and some last minute preparation for a trans-Atlantic flight.
The 9th was a little busy in the morning getting the last of my things together and taking care of any lose ends, and at 1:30 I was off to the airport accompanied by both my parents. It’s actually kind of amazing that neither of my parents really freaked out and both rearranged plans to drive me to the airport. There probably aren’t many stranger things to spring on your parents than announcing a flight to Europe scheduled for tomorrow, but they did great and I’m really appreciative of all the help, thanks Mom and Dad!
The Flight: I was booked on a Lufthansa flight to Barcelona with a stop in Frankfurt. The first part of the flight, the 8 hour part, was OK. I almost got lucky and had an entire row to myself, with a window, and it was set up so that I would have had extra legroom too – almost. After hanging up the phone with my Dad to let him know everything was fine the last three passengers walked in the plane. Two filled out my row, and the third sat in front of me (which always results in the chair being reclined down on top of me). The two guys now next to me had the window with the extra leg room and the seat with a little extra room where I’d stowed my backpack, my seat was in the aisle. It was alright though, the other guys in the row didn’t get out once, and the dude in front of me waited about 3 hours before pushing his seat into my nose. That aside, I swear the pilot introduced himself as Adolph Hitler. I know it sounds totally ridiculous but I swear that’s what he said, and then I never heard his name again…weird. Anyways, 8 hours later I was in Frankfurt.
Flight number two was preceded by me going to the completely wrong terminal in Frankfurt. The terminal listed on my ticket was way, way off. So after walking to the other side of the airport and hanging out at the gate for 3 hours, I look up and see a different flight being listed on the monitor. I had left myself enough time and am obsessed with time the second I step into an airport so I wasn’t rushed finding my way back to the terminal I’d landed in, but still, the extra security point, flights of stairs, and long distance walking with three instruments and a backpack was something I’d have liked to do with out. I had a window for the second flight, flew over the Alps, and landed in Barcelona with no problem.
The first time I flew to Barcelona my luggage had been lost…thankfully this was not the case today. But, this time I didn’t have clear directions on how to get to the ship, so that had me slightly worried. Luckily, before I had to even find a phone to call the number I assumed was going to be responsible for my transportation, I saw someone with a Royal Caribbean sign for the guests. I told them I was crew and had no problem getting on the nice coach bus and making my way to the port. Nice. However, I was quickly reminded of the people I was soon to be dealing with as the lady sitting in front of me filed her nails the entire drive to the port. Really, do these people not notice that makes the most annoying sound ever?
On the ship, everything kind of just fell back into play again as if I’d never left. I moved into my old room, went up to the mess, played the welcome aboard show, everything as usual. My roommate seems like a pretty cool guy and is from the states, so I’m not anticipating any problems there. I met up with all m old friends again, which is really kind of cool, and ran into some other people on the ship I knew from before who I wasn’t expecting to see onboard. It’s really just a homecoming for me where I get to hang out with some old friends one more time.
Oh, we had a parade at night… Now I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the parade I used to do where I wore a light blue sailor outfit and a Popeye hat, but as bad as that sounds, it got way worse. For this new parade I don’t even play my instrument. I simply put on this huge flamboyant poncho-like cape thing and walk up and down the promenade for about 20 minutes. I’ve never been involved in such a ridiculous show in my life. All I can is that it’s a good thing no one I know comes on this ship, otherwise I think I’d be shunned when I returned home. Anyways, that new parade was not a welcomed change.
So I guess that’s it, three days from home in bed to Barcelona, wild right? So let’s see where these three weeks takes me and I’ll be reporting back here every chance I get. Thanks!
Crystal Lake to Barcelona
So it all began Wednesday morning…
I woke up on the morning of the 8th to an email from the company. I had been in contact with the office over the past couple weeks trying to figure out another contract to get on so this email wasn’t totally unexpected – till I read it. It says there’s been an incident on the Navigator wherein they need someone to fill the Alto Sax chair starting Friday; if I accept, I fly out tomorrow. This was the last thing I was expecting to wake up to, and after emailing them back requesting a little time to think, I began my day. Well, a few hours later they called, we negotiated, and I had a flight booked at 3:45 the next afternoon. The rest of the day from that point on consisted of a lesson, a lot of phone calls, and some last minute preparation for a trans-Atlantic flight.
The 9th was a little busy in the morning getting the last of my things together and taking care of any lose ends, and at 1:30 I was off to the airport accompanied by both my parents. It’s actually kind of amazing that neither of my parents really freaked out and both rearranged plans to drive me to the airport. There probably aren’t many stranger things to spring on your parents than announcing a flight to Europe scheduled for tomorrow, but they did great and I’m really appreciative of all the help, thanks Mom and Dad!
The Flight: I was booked on a Lufthansa flight to Barcelona with a stop in Frankfurt. The first part of the flight, the 8 hour part, was OK. I almost got lucky and had an entire row to myself, with a window, and it was set up so that I would have had extra legroom too – almost. After hanging up the phone with my Dad to let him know everything was fine the last three passengers walked in the plane. Two filled out my row, and the third sat in front of me (which always results in the chair being reclined down on top of me). The two guys now next to me had the window with the extra leg room and the seat with a little extra room where I’d stowed my backpack, my seat was in the aisle. It was alright though, the other guys in the row didn’t get out once, and the dude in front of me waited about 3 hours before pushing his seat into my nose. That aside, I swear the pilot introduced himself as Adolph Hitler. I know it sounds totally ridiculous but I swear that’s what he said, and then I never heard his name again…weird. Anyways, 8 hours later I was in Frankfurt.
Flight number two was preceded by me going to the completely wrong terminal in Frankfurt. The terminal listed on my ticket was way, way off. So after walking to the other side of the airport and hanging out at the gate for 3 hours, I look up and see a different flight being listed on the monitor. I had left myself enough time and am obsessed with time the second I step into an airport so I wasn’t rushed finding my way back to the terminal I’d landed in, but still, the extra security point, flights of stairs, and long distance walking with three instruments and a backpack was something I’d have liked to do with out. I had a window for the second flight, flew over the Alps, and landed in Barcelona with no problem.
The first time I flew to Barcelona my luggage had been lost…thankfully this was not the case today. But, this time I didn’t have clear directions on how to get to the ship, so that had me slightly worried. Luckily, before I had to even find a phone to call the number I assumed was going to be responsible for my transportation, I saw someone with a Royal Caribbean sign for the guests. I told them I was crew and had no problem getting on the nice coach bus and making my way to the port. Nice. However, I was quickly reminded of the people I was soon to be dealing with as the lady sitting in front of me filed her nails the entire drive to the port. Really, do these people not notice that makes the most annoying sound ever?
On the ship, everything kind of just fell back into play again as if I’d never left. I moved into my old room, went up to the mess, played the welcome aboard show, everything as usual. My roommate seems like a pretty cool guy and is from the states, so I’m not anticipating any problems there. I met up with all m old friends again, which is really kind of cool, and ran into some other people on the ship I knew from before who I wasn’t expecting to see onboard. It’s really just a homecoming for me where I get to hang out with some old friends one more time.
Oh, we had a parade at night… Now I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the parade I used to do where I wore a light blue sailor outfit and a Popeye hat, but as bad as that sounds, it got way worse. For this new parade I don’t even play my instrument. I simply put on this huge flamboyant poncho-like cape thing and walk up and down the promenade for about 20 minutes. I’ve never been involved in such a ridiculous show in my life. All I can is that it’s a good thing no one I know comes on this ship, otherwise I think I’d be shunned when I returned home. Anyways, that new parade was not a welcomed change.
So I guess that’s it, three days from home in bed to Barcelona, wild right? So let’s see where these three weeks takes me and I’ll be reporting back here every chance I get. Thanks!
Going Home
September 4th-?
Going Home
Well, I guess I waited too long to write this entry, I barely remember anything 7 weeks later. Following Athen’s, the ship sailed into Civitavecchia where I’d be leaving out of Rome’s airport. The last couple days (I have no idea how many) were pretty standard. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my friends and getting stuff together for my departure. We stopped in Messina Sicily, I do remember that. I bought some wine and cheese for a final farewell party the night before I left. For whatever reason I had a very short time in Messina and barely had enough time to get off the ship for some simple shopping.
The highlight of my final days on the Victoria had to have been the last farewell show. At the end of every cruise we put on a farewell show, just like every ship I’ve been on. This show has me playing a big solo where I use a wireless microphone, walk to the front of the stage and get a big feature. It’s actually one of the nicest solos I’ve ever had on ships, and even though it’s really cheesy, I always have a great time with it. Well, for the last farewell show on my last night on the ship, I decided to play my solo with sunglasses and a black fedora…you know, for added visual effect. I didn’t tell anyone but Ben and Igor (Igor got me the hat), and I went forward as usual, trying to keep a straight face, and played the solo. I have the whole thing on video so if I see you and you want proof, I have it. I thought it was hilarious, my friends loved it, and the music director who the band has spent my entire contract despising was furious – nice. But hey, I was going home the next day and it was too late for him to do anything about it, so it didn’t matter and I was able to leave that ship with a bang!
I left the next morning and drove to the airport in some shuttle sitting next to one of the guest performers who’d just done a show on the ship. It was a nice ride to the airport talking to this guy about what he does and guest artists in general, we’ll just say it was enlightening and leave it at that.
I flew from Rome to Frankfurt and then to O’hare with no complications to speak of. End of contract number three!
Going Home
Well, I guess I waited too long to write this entry, I barely remember anything 7 weeks later. Following Athen’s, the ship sailed into Civitavecchia where I’d be leaving out of Rome’s airport. The last couple days (I have no idea how many) were pretty standard. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my friends and getting stuff together for my departure. We stopped in Messina Sicily, I do remember that. I bought some wine and cheese for a final farewell party the night before I left. For whatever reason I had a very short time in Messina and barely had enough time to get off the ship for some simple shopping.
The highlight of my final days on the Victoria had to have been the last farewell show. At the end of every cruise we put on a farewell show, just like every ship I’ve been on. This show has me playing a big solo where I use a wireless microphone, walk to the front of the stage and get a big feature. It’s actually one of the nicest solos I’ve ever had on ships, and even though it’s really cheesy, I always have a great time with it. Well, for the last farewell show on my last night on the ship, I decided to play my solo with sunglasses and a black fedora…you know, for added visual effect. I didn’t tell anyone but Ben and Igor (Igor got me the hat), and I went forward as usual, trying to keep a straight face, and played the solo. I have the whole thing on video so if I see you and you want proof, I have it. I thought it was hilarious, my friends loved it, and the music director who the band has spent my entire contract despising was furious – nice. But hey, I was going home the next day and it was too late for him to do anything about it, so it didn’t matter and I was able to leave that ship with a bang!
I left the next morning and drove to the airport in some shuttle sitting next to one of the guest performers who’d just done a show on the ship. It was a nice ride to the airport talking to this guy about what he does and guest artists in general, we’ll just say it was enlightening and leave it at that.
I flew from Rome to Frankfurt and then to O’hare with no complications to speak of. End of contract number three!
Athens
September 3rd
Athens, Greece
Today was another one of the ports that I came on this ship to see and have been looking forward to for some time. And not only was I going to be able to check out the Acropolis, but the Navigator of the Seas, my first ship, was in port with me, meaning I had a chance to see some old friends.
I had signed up for a half day on-your-own tour into Athens, meaning I’d have a few hours in the city to do what ever I pleased. The first goal was obviously to get up to the Acropolis. When I got to the entrance of the Acropolis I discovered that there was a 12 euro entrance fee, almost $20, not exactly what I was hoping for. But after searching the perimeter for a good place to jump the fence I decided to try for a student discount at the ticket office. Yep, I still have my student ID from college, which thankfully, doesn’t have a date on it. Instead, Roosevelt always used stickers posted on the back to indicate the semester, something I always figured no one would really pay attention to anyways. So I gave the ticket lady the ID with the 6 euro asking for the discount, she took the card, perused it front and back, and pointed out none of my stickers said “08”…I’d been caught. Surprised, I responded with the best argument I could think of off the top of my head, a totally irrelevant statement: “I go to school in the states,” as if that answered anything. Maybe she pitied me, maybe I convinced her, but she gave me the discount most likely in avoidance of a potential argument with another stupid American which is good enough for me. I entered the park with my discounted ticket and climbed to the top of the hill to spend the next hour admiring the Parthenon and the gorgeous views of Athens and the surrounding cities. It was really amazing, certainly worth my student ticket. When I’d finally had enough of walking in circles and reflecting on how this structure makes me feel about the meaning of life, I made my way back down the hill to climb yet another hill for yet another view.
This next hill wasn’t quite as large and the one that was home to the Acropolis, but was topped with a ruin of some sort and just begged for me to climb it. When I made it through the park and emerged at the top of the hill I took the necessary pictures and looked for a good place to stand to continue my ponderings. That place was standing on top of a vertical pillar near the ruin, about 5 feet in height. It wasn’t long till a man with a radio started yelling at me to get down to avoid hurting myself. I doubted he was really concerned about my well-being and told him “nah, I’m OK,” and went on standing on my pillar. He then asked again, saying “Please get down” in a way that communicated his new desire to hurt me if I didn’t get down, so after slowly contemplating my options I decided to lazily dismount my perch. I left the lookout and he walked over to the pillar to stand guard till I left the hill, stupid tourist policeman. But I was running out of time anyways and had to start heading back to the bus.
The rest of my time was spent walking through uninteresting parts of the city and further deliberation about jumping fences to enter parks I had no desire to pay for. Be it due to the barely intimidating park employees or my 15 minutes remaining free time, I didn’t do anything too illegal and made my way back to the bus.
I ate lunch back at the ship before setting out to find some friends from the Nav. I had emailed the MD on the ship about a possible meeting, and after receiving an email back about his inability to spend the day off the ship and the potential difficulty in finding each other in the large port of Piraeus, I decided to head out on my own to find them anyways. I had no idea where the Nav was docked and hadn’t seen it on my trip to and from Athens, but figuring that it must be somewhere along the coast (being a ship and all), found it 15 minutes later. I walked up to the ship after passing through port security, and recognizing the security guard at the gangway, asked him to make a few phone calls for me to get my friends out side. He managed to get a hold of the MD who immediately came outside to chat for a while about ship stuff. There were still 4 people in the band that I knew, but of whom had gone into the city that day and weren’t on the ship to say hello. But seeing as I had another 90 minutes before I need to be back for a rehearsal, took out a book and sat on the dock waiting for a shuttle to bring my friends back to the ship. By the time I’d left I’d ran into 4 people I knew who were surprised to see “Pottsy” sitting there at the dock totally unannounced. We talked while we could and then I headed out again to get back for a rehearsal that ended up being canceled…stupid ship.
We ended up getting the night off, which resulted in a very chilled out night. I had an enjoyable day and was certainly pleased with the gamble I took in leaving Athens early to try to find some friends. Now begins the process of packing to come home in a few days! Thanks and seeya soon!
Athens, Greece
Today was another one of the ports that I came on this ship to see and have been looking forward to for some time. And not only was I going to be able to check out the Acropolis, but the Navigator of the Seas, my first ship, was in port with me, meaning I had a chance to see some old friends.
I had signed up for a half day on-your-own tour into Athens, meaning I’d have a few hours in the city to do what ever I pleased. The first goal was obviously to get up to the Acropolis. When I got to the entrance of the Acropolis I discovered that there was a 12 euro entrance fee, almost $20, not exactly what I was hoping for. But after searching the perimeter for a good place to jump the fence I decided to try for a student discount at the ticket office. Yep, I still have my student ID from college, which thankfully, doesn’t have a date on it. Instead, Roosevelt always used stickers posted on the back to indicate the semester, something I always figured no one would really pay attention to anyways. So I gave the ticket lady the ID with the 6 euro asking for the discount, she took the card, perused it front and back, and pointed out none of my stickers said “08”…I’d been caught. Surprised, I responded with the best argument I could think of off the top of my head, a totally irrelevant statement: “I go to school in the states,” as if that answered anything. Maybe she pitied me, maybe I convinced her, but she gave me the discount most likely in avoidance of a potential argument with another stupid American which is good enough for me. I entered the park with my discounted ticket and climbed to the top of the hill to spend the next hour admiring the Parthenon and the gorgeous views of Athens and the surrounding cities. It was really amazing, certainly worth my student ticket. When I’d finally had enough of walking in circles and reflecting on how this structure makes me feel about the meaning of life, I made my way back down the hill to climb yet another hill for yet another view.
This next hill wasn’t quite as large and the one that was home to the Acropolis, but was topped with a ruin of some sort and just begged for me to climb it. When I made it through the park and emerged at the top of the hill I took the necessary pictures and looked for a good place to stand to continue my ponderings. That place was standing on top of a vertical pillar near the ruin, about 5 feet in height. It wasn’t long till a man with a radio started yelling at me to get down to avoid hurting myself. I doubted he was really concerned about my well-being and told him “nah, I’m OK,” and went on standing on my pillar. He then asked again, saying “Please get down” in a way that communicated his new desire to hurt me if I didn’t get down, so after slowly contemplating my options I decided to lazily dismount my perch. I left the lookout and he walked over to the pillar to stand guard till I left the hill, stupid tourist policeman. But I was running out of time anyways and had to start heading back to the bus.
The rest of my time was spent walking through uninteresting parts of the city and further deliberation about jumping fences to enter parks I had no desire to pay for. Be it due to the barely intimidating park employees or my 15 minutes remaining free time, I didn’t do anything too illegal and made my way back to the bus.
I ate lunch back at the ship before setting out to find some friends from the Nav. I had emailed the MD on the ship about a possible meeting, and after receiving an email back about his inability to spend the day off the ship and the potential difficulty in finding each other in the large port of Piraeus, I decided to head out on my own to find them anyways. I had no idea where the Nav was docked and hadn’t seen it on my trip to and from Athens, but figuring that it must be somewhere along the coast (being a ship and all), found it 15 minutes later. I walked up to the ship after passing through port security, and recognizing the security guard at the gangway, asked him to make a few phone calls for me to get my friends out side. He managed to get a hold of the MD who immediately came outside to chat for a while about ship stuff. There were still 4 people in the band that I knew, but of whom had gone into the city that day and weren’t on the ship to say hello. But seeing as I had another 90 minutes before I need to be back for a rehearsal, took out a book and sat on the dock waiting for a shuttle to bring my friends back to the ship. By the time I’d left I’d ran into 4 people I knew who were surprised to see “Pottsy” sitting there at the dock totally unannounced. We talked while we could and then I headed out again to get back for a rehearsal that ended up being canceled…stupid ship.
We ended up getting the night off, which resulted in a very chilled out night. I had an enjoyable day and was certainly pleased with the gamble I took in leaving Athens early to try to find some friends. Now begins the process of packing to come home in a few days! Thanks and seeya soon!
Izmir
September 2nd
Izmir, Turkey
After an early rehearsal for a production show I got off the ship with Ben and Cherese (a dancer) for my first and only time in Izmir. We didn’t have a ton of time to look around, nor did we have anything in particular that we wanted to find, so we just set out with a map to see what was out there. The walk started out along the waterfront, which was uneventful, and culminated with a visit to a bazaar. Now the bazaar was actually interesting, more so than the ones I’d visited in my last two Turkish ports, and probably larger and more confusing than the other ones as well. We actually got lost in this bazaar, and totally turned around, were walking in every which direction trying to get out. I did see a way out, but my friends, frustrated by the labyrinth and starting to get worried, had to undermine my pride and ask for directions…jerks. The bazaar was really neat though, selling a wide variety of items, from clothing to pets to skinned sheep heads (I have a picture). I always find it exciting to be in a place like that, something putting me entirely out of my element to the extent that I simply lose myself in the chaos of the market. Anyways, we made our way out and started heading back to the ship.
Ben and I had been looking for some local food since entering the bazaar and finally found something just as we were leaving. It took a while because we didn’t have any local currency, but seeing as it’s almost 1:1 with the dollar we were hoping there wouldn’t be a problem. We ended up buying an interesting wrap made from a kind of pita bread and filled with gyro meat (maybe?) and a nice sauce, among other things. And for $2, this “Doner” as it was called was really good. We ate them as we walked back to the ship.
We had the shows as planned back on the ship and that’s about all I have to say about Izmir. Four days left!!! Thanks for reading!
Izmir, Turkey
After an early rehearsal for a production show I got off the ship with Ben and Cherese (a dancer) for my first and only time in Izmir. We didn’t have a ton of time to look around, nor did we have anything in particular that we wanted to find, so we just set out with a map to see what was out there. The walk started out along the waterfront, which was uneventful, and culminated with a visit to a bazaar. Now the bazaar was actually interesting, more so than the ones I’d visited in my last two Turkish ports, and probably larger and more confusing than the other ones as well. We actually got lost in this bazaar, and totally turned around, were walking in every which direction trying to get out. I did see a way out, but my friends, frustrated by the labyrinth and starting to get worried, had to undermine my pride and ask for directions…jerks. The bazaar was really neat though, selling a wide variety of items, from clothing to pets to skinned sheep heads (I have a picture). I always find it exciting to be in a place like that, something putting me entirely out of my element to the extent that I simply lose myself in the chaos of the market. Anyways, we made our way out and started heading back to the ship.
Ben and I had been looking for some local food since entering the bazaar and finally found something just as we were leaving. It took a while because we didn’t have any local currency, but seeing as it’s almost 1:1 with the dollar we were hoping there wouldn’t be a problem. We ended up buying an interesting wrap made from a kind of pita bread and filled with gyro meat (maybe?) and a nice sauce, among other things. And for $2, this “Doner” as it was called was really good. We ate them as we walked back to the ship.
We had the shows as planned back on the ship and that’s about all I have to say about Izmir. Four days left!!! Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Crete
August 31st-September 1st
Sea Day/Crete
The 31st was the usual sea day with the usual sets at night. I did spend some time outside doing some reading on the bow, I guess one of my final chances to enjoy my time on the ship and the beautiful weather.
I was signed up for a tour in Crete that left the morning of the 1st out of the port Agios Nikolaus (translated: Saint Nick). The tour was into the mountain interior of eastern Crete and included lunch, always a selling point for me. We took the bus into the mountains to a large plateau where a number of villages have stood for years. The first stop was at a nunnery, which I guess was interesting, and meant I saw a really old Greek Orthodox Church. The highlight of that stop was when one of the 5 foot tall nuns asked me to open one of the church windows. Or I assume that’s what she asked, it was all Greek to me (haha…bad joke), but she seemed pleased after I’d opened it. That made me happy then because I’m sure the Greek Gods are now smiling upon me for helping the small old nun with her ventilation problems. Yeah, I’ll go to heaven…
Following that, we visited a museum in one of the old villages on the plateau. The museum was called the “Cretan Folklore Museum” and showed what life was like in Crete. Oddly enough, it doesn’t look like much had changed in the past few centuries. It was actually really interesting walking through these villages because they were so underdeveloped, almost entirely untouched by modern civilization. The thing that struck me the most was that this is a place where widows, upon losing their husbands, dress all in black for the remainder of their lives. I’ve heard of the tradition before, but to actually see all these old women, dressed up in black gowns with black scarves over their heads in weather that was anything but black friendly, really made me feel like I was in a different time in history and in the heart of a culture I can’t even scratch the surface of. And this all after arriving in a nice, modern bus with a ceremonial banner draped over the roof after tearing it from a church who had hung it too low over the street (if that makes sense). Who ever said tourism was a bad thing?
The museum was followed by lunch at a restaurant perched on a hill overlooking the plateau where we could see the dozens of old-fashioned windmills the area is famous for. Oddly enough, the highlight of my lunch was the Greek salad I was served. Though all the courses were great, it was the simple collection of vegetables topped with Feta and oil that really made the meal.
Lunch was followed by some more driving through the island and back to the ship where I hopped on my tender and got on board just in time for a rehearsal (unlike Ben who’s tour got him back to the ship 30 minutes late). And that’s about all for my Cretan adventure, thanks!
Sea Day/Crete
The 31st was the usual sea day with the usual sets at night. I did spend some time outside doing some reading on the bow, I guess one of my final chances to enjoy my time on the ship and the beautiful weather.
I was signed up for a tour in Crete that left the morning of the 1st out of the port Agios Nikolaus (translated: Saint Nick). The tour was into the mountain interior of eastern Crete and included lunch, always a selling point for me. We took the bus into the mountains to a large plateau where a number of villages have stood for years. The first stop was at a nunnery, which I guess was interesting, and meant I saw a really old Greek Orthodox Church. The highlight of that stop was when one of the 5 foot tall nuns asked me to open one of the church windows. Or I assume that’s what she asked, it was all Greek to me (haha…bad joke), but she seemed pleased after I’d opened it. That made me happy then because I’m sure the Greek Gods are now smiling upon me for helping the small old nun with her ventilation problems. Yeah, I’ll go to heaven…
Following that, we visited a museum in one of the old villages on the plateau. The museum was called the “Cretan Folklore Museum” and showed what life was like in Crete. Oddly enough, it doesn’t look like much had changed in the past few centuries. It was actually really interesting walking through these villages because they were so underdeveloped, almost entirely untouched by modern civilization. The thing that struck me the most was that this is a place where widows, upon losing their husbands, dress all in black for the remainder of their lives. I’ve heard of the tradition before, but to actually see all these old women, dressed up in black gowns with black scarves over their heads in weather that was anything but black friendly, really made me feel like I was in a different time in history and in the heart of a culture I can’t even scratch the surface of. And this all after arriving in a nice, modern bus with a ceremonial banner draped over the roof after tearing it from a church who had hung it too low over the street (if that makes sense). Who ever said tourism was a bad thing?
The museum was followed by lunch at a restaurant perched on a hill overlooking the plateau where we could see the dozens of old-fashioned windmills the area is famous for. Oddly enough, the highlight of my lunch was the Greek salad I was served. Though all the courses were great, it was the simple collection of vegetables topped with Feta and oil that really made the meal.
Lunch was followed by some more driving through the island and back to the ship where I hopped on my tender and got on board just in time for a rehearsal (unlike Ben who’s tour got him back to the ship 30 minutes late). And that’s about all for my Cretan adventure, thanks!
Valletta
August 30th
Valletta, Malta
Today we were in Malta for the first time since I’ve been on the ship. I left the ship after a morning rehearsal to be greeted by 100+ degree weather outside. After the initial shock, Jim (guitar) and I set off to do some exploring. We walked up into the city, got some nice views of the harbor and surrounding city, and had a leisurely stroll through the streets. We stopped somewhere so he could order a cheese omelet (everyone has there thing I guess) and then made our way back to the ship for another rehearsal. Nothing really exciting happened while we were out walking around, but we did come across some noisy cicadas and a cat café (for feeding cats, not eating them). There ends the excitement.
The rest of the day finished with a rehearsal for the guest artist and two shows, the usual. That’s all, thanks!
Valletta, Malta
Today we were in Malta for the first time since I’ve been on the ship. I left the ship after a morning rehearsal to be greeted by 100+ degree weather outside. After the initial shock, Jim (guitar) and I set off to do some exploring. We walked up into the city, got some nice views of the harbor and surrounding city, and had a leisurely stroll through the streets. We stopped somewhere so he could order a cheese omelet (everyone has there thing I guess) and then made our way back to the ship for another rehearsal. Nothing really exciting happened while we were out walking around, but we did come across some noisy cicadas and a cat café (for feeding cats, not eating them). There ends the excitement.
The rest of the day finished with a rehearsal for the guest artist and two shows, the usual. That’s all, thanks!
Livorno/Naples
August 28th-29th
Livorno/Naples
My day in Livorno was pretty relaxed, and being another IPM (in port manning) day it’s not like I had much of a choice. I can’t say all that much got accomplished that day, certainly nothing blog worthy, except for one thing: Laundry!!! Yeah, I did a lot of laundry on the 28th, probably the single most productive thing I could have done at that point in time, making the day a success. The show that evening was pretty easy and that just about sums up the day.
Naples was a little more active however. I actually have a friend (Gianni) from my first ship who grew up in Napoli who I was hoping to catch up with on the 29th, but after a few emails back and forth I found out he’s moved to New York and is playing music there. Great for him...drag for me. Anyway, he recommended that I go up to the Castle Sant’ Elmo, a large fortress on top of a hill overlooking the city. I figured I’d know what it was when I stepped off the ship, and the moment I looked toward the city it was there, right in front of me on a hill way above sea level. I was with Ben and Jim, and after a little encouraging, was able to lead my group toward the castle.
It was an interesting walk through the city as we progressed higher. Down near the port the alleys were very dirty and crowded, not to mention the people driving down these small streets were as much a danger to themselves as they were to my group. Ben described traversing the city as a large game of Frogger…he’s kind of correct. But then, as soon as we ascended past a certain level, the streets cleaned up, the traffic became less deadly, and the city was suddenly very pleasant.
We reached our destination about 90 minutes after we’d set out, and after a brief congratulatory break, be purchased tickets and took the elevator up to the top of the castle. Thankfully the view was impressive (had it not been I’d have likely be thrown from the castle by my now fatigued friends) and we spent about an hour walking the perimeter taking pictures and admiring the city.
I had volunteered to take Ben’s tour that afternoon at 2:00, meaning we had to get back down the hill, get some pizza, and get back to the port in the same amount of time it took to fight our way up. We found a better route down though, and a few alleys, stairwells, and dead birds later, we’d made it back to sea level with plenty of time to spare. Ben knew of a great pizza place near the ship from past visits and recommended stopping for a quality lunch. We stopped, ordered, and I received a pizza the size of a large plate, loaded up with bright red tomato sauce and real Italian cheese – it makes all the difference. We all split a plate of gnocchi as well, which was equally satisfying. I then gave my friends some money and made my way to the port for my tour.
The tour I was supposed to be on, the one Ben had been signed up for, somehow got given to one of my other friends on the ship. I have no idea how or why, but he keeps laughing and saying he owes me a drink…whatever. So instead the tour office decided to put me on a Naples Panoramic tour, not exactly my idea of a good trade, but I took it having nothing better to do. This meant instead of going to the Herculaneum to see ancient ruins from Vesuvius I got stuck sitting on a bus driving around the city for 2.5 hours, I’m sure you can imagine my lack of enthusiasm for the new scenario. Well, I went on the tour, saw some things I wouldn’t have otherwise seen, and during our only stop, got some free gelato that was provided on the tour. Free ice cream will always win me over.
When we got back to the ship I hustled down to my room to get out my flute for a lesson with the previous night’s guest artist, a professional flautist. The guest, Bettine, simply asked after our shows if we wanted a lesson and volunteered to meet us around 6, I was excited. Bettine is an interesting woman: She’s extremely cheerful and supportive, happy to the extent of seeming to be in her own world, and has a thing for playing her flute to animals. She certainly has her own thing going on, but has an incredible flute sound and lovely personality. She gave Ben and I an hour long flute lesson, sharing exercises and experiences, gave us one of her CD’s, and then spent some time showing us pictures of all her animals, including a pig she named Harry Trotter. Anyway, it was a really nice gesture and very much appreciated by Ben and me.
That night was a big band set, nothing too exciting to write about there.
Oh, I should mention though that I got my roommate today. Yeah, the single room didn’t last as long as I’d have hoped but this new guy is 41, from Atlanta (though lived in Chicago for years), is a great player and seems to be really interesting. I know he’s really into Tai Bo and studying Ancient Egyptian writing. I’m sure there’s way more to him and am somewhat disappointed I only have a week to pull it out of him. But there shouldn’t be any problems regarding the living situation between now and the 6th, thankfully. Have a great one!
Livorno/Naples
My day in Livorno was pretty relaxed, and being another IPM (in port manning) day it’s not like I had much of a choice. I can’t say all that much got accomplished that day, certainly nothing blog worthy, except for one thing: Laundry!!! Yeah, I did a lot of laundry on the 28th, probably the single most productive thing I could have done at that point in time, making the day a success. The show that evening was pretty easy and that just about sums up the day.
Naples was a little more active however. I actually have a friend (Gianni) from my first ship who grew up in Napoli who I was hoping to catch up with on the 29th, but after a few emails back and forth I found out he’s moved to New York and is playing music there. Great for him...drag for me. Anyway, he recommended that I go up to the Castle Sant’ Elmo, a large fortress on top of a hill overlooking the city. I figured I’d know what it was when I stepped off the ship, and the moment I looked toward the city it was there, right in front of me on a hill way above sea level. I was with Ben and Jim, and after a little encouraging, was able to lead my group toward the castle.
It was an interesting walk through the city as we progressed higher. Down near the port the alleys were very dirty and crowded, not to mention the people driving down these small streets were as much a danger to themselves as they were to my group. Ben described traversing the city as a large game of Frogger…he’s kind of correct. But then, as soon as we ascended past a certain level, the streets cleaned up, the traffic became less deadly, and the city was suddenly very pleasant.
We reached our destination about 90 minutes after we’d set out, and after a brief congratulatory break, be purchased tickets and took the elevator up to the top of the castle. Thankfully the view was impressive (had it not been I’d have likely be thrown from the castle by my now fatigued friends) and we spent about an hour walking the perimeter taking pictures and admiring the city.
I had volunteered to take Ben’s tour that afternoon at 2:00, meaning we had to get back down the hill, get some pizza, and get back to the port in the same amount of time it took to fight our way up. We found a better route down though, and a few alleys, stairwells, and dead birds later, we’d made it back to sea level with plenty of time to spare. Ben knew of a great pizza place near the ship from past visits and recommended stopping for a quality lunch. We stopped, ordered, and I received a pizza the size of a large plate, loaded up with bright red tomato sauce and real Italian cheese – it makes all the difference. We all split a plate of gnocchi as well, which was equally satisfying. I then gave my friends some money and made my way to the port for my tour.
The tour I was supposed to be on, the one Ben had been signed up for, somehow got given to one of my other friends on the ship. I have no idea how or why, but he keeps laughing and saying he owes me a drink…whatever. So instead the tour office decided to put me on a Naples Panoramic tour, not exactly my idea of a good trade, but I took it having nothing better to do. This meant instead of going to the Herculaneum to see ancient ruins from Vesuvius I got stuck sitting on a bus driving around the city for 2.5 hours, I’m sure you can imagine my lack of enthusiasm for the new scenario. Well, I went on the tour, saw some things I wouldn’t have otherwise seen, and during our only stop, got some free gelato that was provided on the tour. Free ice cream will always win me over.
When we got back to the ship I hustled down to my room to get out my flute for a lesson with the previous night’s guest artist, a professional flautist. The guest, Bettine, simply asked after our shows if we wanted a lesson and volunteered to meet us around 6, I was excited. Bettine is an interesting woman: She’s extremely cheerful and supportive, happy to the extent of seeming to be in her own world, and has a thing for playing her flute to animals. She certainly has her own thing going on, but has an incredible flute sound and lovely personality. She gave Ben and I an hour long flute lesson, sharing exercises and experiences, gave us one of her CD’s, and then spent some time showing us pictures of all her animals, including a pig she named Harry Trotter. Anyway, it was a really nice gesture and very much appreciated by Ben and me.
That night was a big band set, nothing too exciting to write about there.
Oh, I should mention though that I got my roommate today. Yeah, the single room didn’t last as long as I’d have hoped but this new guy is 41, from Atlanta (though lived in Chicago for years), is a great player and seems to be really interesting. I know he’s really into Tai Bo and studying Ancient Egyptian writing. I’m sure there’s way more to him and am somewhat disappointed I only have a week to pull it out of him. But there shouldn’t be any problems regarding the living situation between now and the 6th, thankfully. Have a great one!
Monaco
August 27th
Monaco
Monaco was just as I remembered it, beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather, and lots of money! But seeing as I’ve visited Monaco a few times and didn’t have any real desire to go exploring, Ben and I decided to catch a train to a city we were even more familiar with, Villefranche. This picturesque seaside town was my first port ever on the Navigator after I joined and certainly one of my favorites, so after a quick round about exploration through the streets of Monaco, Ben and I wandered our way into the train station and purchased tickets. Luckily Ben’s French is fairly decent, letting me relax a little and enjoy the journey. The train station was really nice and after a 20 minute wait we were off. The train ride wasn’t quite as beautiful as I’d hoped, but the moments spent outside the tunnels reminded me of why I enjoy this area of the world so much. Before we knew it we’d arrived at the station in Villefranche and began walking the streets both of us knew relatively well. First stop: internet café. Yeah, maybe that’s slightly anticlimactic after a nice train ride requiring us to spend money to leave the city, but we just both like Villefranche so much and wanted to go there again just to hangout. We sat on our computers for a couple hours doing busy work we can’t get done from the ship only to have to immediately catch our train back into Monaco. We had a nice time though sitting at the café on soft couches, enjoying the vibe and eating a Roquefort sandwich; it was exactly what we were looking for.
We made the train back with no problems and were soon back in Monaco. The train back was really fancy, some what difficult to describe, so I’ll leave it at high tech and fancy (exercising my developed vocabulary). Ben hadn’t been to Monaco before, so as soon as I’d found my bearing again, we decided to take a quick walk up to the casino before rushing back to the ship for a rehearsal. The casino was surrounded with unbelievable cars as always, that and unbelievable tourists doing everything short of climbing on the cars worth more than their lives (pleasant thought). We were quickly running out of time though and left to start our long walk around the harbor to the tender pier. Yeah, we were tendering at the port, always a pain, and always unpredictable. We made it to the pier just as a tender was pulling out, unfortunate timing for two musicians with a rehearsal in 35 minutes. The next tender showed up, we boarded, got delayed by “choppy” seas, and got to rehearsal just barely on time.
The show that night was great. The guy we played for was a comic singer, really funny and a pleasant change from the usual. The first show went well and the second show was surprisingly short. Due to the ship departing from Barcelona we have a large number of Spanish speaking guests onboard, most of whom have been grouped together into a single theater show, meaning a non Spanish speaking entertainer is stuck performing to an audience that can’t understand a word he says. The guest tonight responded to the situation by singing his few songs and getting off the stage, cutting the show 15 minutes short. Maybe not the most exciting story I could have written about…but I was amused, therefore it’s blog worthy.
As a side note that I forgot to mention in the Barcelona post: Gordon moved out after spending 9 months on the ship, wow! Oddly enough, Cunard didn’t have their act together and didn’t have a replacement lined up, meaning his band is without a trumpet player and I’m without a roommate! I’m sure it won’t last too long, but it’s nice having the room totally to myself. I’ll let you know when someone decides to move in. Thanks for reading!
Monaco
Monaco was just as I remembered it, beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather, and lots of money! But seeing as I’ve visited Monaco a few times and didn’t have any real desire to go exploring, Ben and I decided to catch a train to a city we were even more familiar with, Villefranche. This picturesque seaside town was my first port ever on the Navigator after I joined and certainly one of my favorites, so after a quick round about exploration through the streets of Monaco, Ben and I wandered our way into the train station and purchased tickets. Luckily Ben’s French is fairly decent, letting me relax a little and enjoy the journey. The train station was really nice and after a 20 minute wait we were off. The train ride wasn’t quite as beautiful as I’d hoped, but the moments spent outside the tunnels reminded me of why I enjoy this area of the world so much. Before we knew it we’d arrived at the station in Villefranche and began walking the streets both of us knew relatively well. First stop: internet café. Yeah, maybe that’s slightly anticlimactic after a nice train ride requiring us to spend money to leave the city, but we just both like Villefranche so much and wanted to go there again just to hangout. We sat on our computers for a couple hours doing busy work we can’t get done from the ship only to have to immediately catch our train back into Monaco. We had a nice time though sitting at the café on soft couches, enjoying the vibe and eating a Roquefort sandwich; it was exactly what we were looking for.
We made the train back with no problems and were soon back in Monaco. The train back was really fancy, some what difficult to describe, so I’ll leave it at high tech and fancy (exercising my developed vocabulary). Ben hadn’t been to Monaco before, so as soon as I’d found my bearing again, we decided to take a quick walk up to the casino before rushing back to the ship for a rehearsal. The casino was surrounded with unbelievable cars as always, that and unbelievable tourists doing everything short of climbing on the cars worth more than their lives (pleasant thought). We were quickly running out of time though and left to start our long walk around the harbor to the tender pier. Yeah, we were tendering at the port, always a pain, and always unpredictable. We made it to the pier just as a tender was pulling out, unfortunate timing for two musicians with a rehearsal in 35 minutes. The next tender showed up, we boarded, got delayed by “choppy” seas, and got to rehearsal just barely on time.
The show that night was great. The guy we played for was a comic singer, really funny and a pleasant change from the usual. The first show went well and the second show was surprisingly short. Due to the ship departing from Barcelona we have a large number of Spanish speaking guests onboard, most of whom have been grouped together into a single theater show, meaning a non Spanish speaking entertainer is stuck performing to an audience that can’t understand a word he says. The guest tonight responded to the situation by singing his few songs and getting off the stage, cutting the show 15 minutes short. Maybe not the most exciting story I could have written about…but I was amused, therefore it’s blog worthy.
As a side note that I forgot to mention in the Barcelona post: Gordon moved out after spending 9 months on the ship, wow! Oddly enough, Cunard didn’t have their act together and didn’t have a replacement lined up, meaning his band is without a trumpet player and I’m without a roommate! I’m sure it won’t last too long, but it’s nice having the room totally to myself. I’ll let you know when someone decides to move in. Thanks for reading!
Barcelona
August 25th-26th
Barcelona
Another overnight in Barcelona, I couldn’t wait! There wasn’t a whole lot planned for the evening, but I had high hopes for a great time. Mark and Patrick had just gotten off the ship but had arranged to stay in a hostel for a few days before flying back home. I wanted to find them that evening and spend just one more night with two of my closest friends on this ship, that was the only plan I was sure about.
The day started off with me and Ben (tenor) and a couple others getting off the ship around 1 and heading into the city. We split a cab ride to La Rambla, the main street of Barcelona, and began walking the street. Ben and I made a stop in a clothing store, where in the rest of the group split off from us. Soon after, Ben had to head back to the ship to work in the Internet Center, meaning I was left alone to go find Mark and Patrick. I had the address to the hostel, and after a few directions, soon found the not-so-impressive building. I asked the man at the desk where their room was and headed up to find them taking a break from there own exploring. After a short sit the three of us headed out to resume our exploring. We had decided it might be a good idea to buy some food and put together a picnic at the beach as a sort of final farewell dinner. I had bought some nuts at a market, Mark picked up some cheese, and after meeting up with Ben around 7, we all got some crackers, wine, chips and olives. We were shopping at a supermarket where they had bottles of wine selling for around 50 euro cents, or less than a dollar! We picked up our supplies and started walking toward the beach. Unfortunately Patrick had broken off from the group before we met up with Ben. Why? I have no idea, but it meant that we couldn’t find him for he remainder of the evening, kind of a drag when I knew it’d be my last time hanging out with him for a while. This left Mark, Ben, Jim (new guitarist) and me at the beach, sitting on the boardwalk having a picnic there by the Med. The beach was surprisingly busy for being night time, and we had a few interesting people walking by our site. One man approached us, not looking especially well groomed, asking for a few potato chips. He however didn’t ask lightly, but simply walked up, pointed to the bag of chips and yelled “Po-tah-toe!” Mark, hesitant to hand him some chips, evoked a few more requests out of our friend before giving the guy a handful of chips. He left with out another word while our group laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. When the food was gone we packed up and walked back toward the city.
I knew the area somewhat well from my last few visits and led the group towards a bar I know to have live music. We stopped along the way for a restroom break and play a game of pool at a pool hall we passed, a fun detour, and then continued on to the bar. I was correct in there being live music, and despite it being really good and indicative of the area, Mark suggested getting back to the city to meet up with some other friends he knew would be arriving at the Columbus statue around 1AM, so we left (to my dismay) to meet our friends.
We did find a number of people back at the statue and reorganized the group, resulting in my now larger group taking a trip to a nightclub brought to our attention by someone handing out fliers. Luckily there was no cover and you weren’t required to buy a drink, meaning I could just hang out with out spending money. The club wasn’t quite as much fun as we’d hoped and we ended up leaving an hour later.
At this point it was getting fairly late, certain people wanted to get back to the ship, Mark was happy to try to find his way back to the hostel, and I was slightly disappointed in the club not being what I’d hoped. Half the group caught a cab back while I walked back to the ship with Jim, returning us to the dock by about 5:30AM.
I woke up the next morning around noon, and with the ship leaving an hour later, I didn’t have any time to get off again (as expected). This left the second day as being a usual ship day with rehearsals and shows, nothing really worth mentioning. I met the new drummer and piano players, and though I’m sure they’ll settle in, I really miss my old rhythm section. Well, one more cruise left and then I’m home...just a little bit longer! Thanks and have a great one!
Barcelona
Another overnight in Barcelona, I couldn’t wait! There wasn’t a whole lot planned for the evening, but I had high hopes for a great time. Mark and Patrick had just gotten off the ship but had arranged to stay in a hostel for a few days before flying back home. I wanted to find them that evening and spend just one more night with two of my closest friends on this ship, that was the only plan I was sure about.
The day started off with me and Ben (tenor) and a couple others getting off the ship around 1 and heading into the city. We split a cab ride to La Rambla, the main street of Barcelona, and began walking the street. Ben and I made a stop in a clothing store, where in the rest of the group split off from us. Soon after, Ben had to head back to the ship to work in the Internet Center, meaning I was left alone to go find Mark and Patrick. I had the address to the hostel, and after a few directions, soon found the not-so-impressive building. I asked the man at the desk where their room was and headed up to find them taking a break from there own exploring. After a short sit the three of us headed out to resume our exploring. We had decided it might be a good idea to buy some food and put together a picnic at the beach as a sort of final farewell dinner. I had bought some nuts at a market, Mark picked up some cheese, and after meeting up with Ben around 7, we all got some crackers, wine, chips and olives. We were shopping at a supermarket where they had bottles of wine selling for around 50 euro cents, or less than a dollar! We picked up our supplies and started walking toward the beach. Unfortunately Patrick had broken off from the group before we met up with Ben. Why? I have no idea, but it meant that we couldn’t find him for he remainder of the evening, kind of a drag when I knew it’d be my last time hanging out with him for a while. This left Mark, Ben, Jim (new guitarist) and me at the beach, sitting on the boardwalk having a picnic there by the Med. The beach was surprisingly busy for being night time, and we had a few interesting people walking by our site. One man approached us, not looking especially well groomed, asking for a few potato chips. He however didn’t ask lightly, but simply walked up, pointed to the bag of chips and yelled “Po-tah-toe!” Mark, hesitant to hand him some chips, evoked a few more requests out of our friend before giving the guy a handful of chips. He left with out another word while our group laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. When the food was gone we packed up and walked back toward the city.
I knew the area somewhat well from my last few visits and led the group towards a bar I know to have live music. We stopped along the way for a restroom break and play a game of pool at a pool hall we passed, a fun detour, and then continued on to the bar. I was correct in there being live music, and despite it being really good and indicative of the area, Mark suggested getting back to the city to meet up with some other friends he knew would be arriving at the Columbus statue around 1AM, so we left (to my dismay) to meet our friends.
We did find a number of people back at the statue and reorganized the group, resulting in my now larger group taking a trip to a nightclub brought to our attention by someone handing out fliers. Luckily there was no cover and you weren’t required to buy a drink, meaning I could just hang out with out spending money. The club wasn’t quite as much fun as we’d hoped and we ended up leaving an hour later.
At this point it was getting fairly late, certain people wanted to get back to the ship, Mark was happy to try to find his way back to the hostel, and I was slightly disappointed in the club not being what I’d hoped. Half the group caught a cab back while I walked back to the ship with Jim, returning us to the dock by about 5:30AM.
I woke up the next morning around noon, and with the ship leaving an hour later, I didn’t have any time to get off again (as expected). This left the second day as being a usual ship day with rehearsals and shows, nothing really worth mentioning. I met the new drummer and piano players, and though I’m sure they’ll settle in, I really miss my old rhythm section. Well, one more cruise left and then I’m home...just a little bit longer! Thanks and have a great one!
Marseille
August 24th
Marseille
Not too much to write about in regards to my first trip to Marseille. I got off the ship early with some friends, took the shuttle into town and began a long walk towards the beach. We had picked up some snacks at a bakery, ate them, and then played paddle ball at the beach. The water, surprisingly enough, was freezing, so there wasn’t a whole lot of swimming going on. The sun was nice though and I got a chance to work on my sunburn. As we ran out of time, we started heading back to the shuttle pickup point while searching for a good cheese shop. Being Sunday however meant that all the cheese shops were closed, causing Ben (our cheese guy) a great deal of frustration. We made it to the shuttle pickup point about 40 minutes before needing to be back on the ship for a rehearsal, but 30 minutes later a bus still hadn’t come, forcing the group into having to get a cab back to the ship. We were still 5 minutes late to the rehearsal, but after explaining the shuttle situation and us paying for a taxi, all was forgiven (guess we got the MD on a good day). We played the farewell show as usual and then ended the night with a farewell to Mark (drummer) and Patrick (pianist) who were getting off the ship the next day in Barcelona. And that’s about it, one more cruise down, one more to go before I fly home! Thanks!
Marseille
Not too much to write about in regards to my first trip to Marseille. I got off the ship early with some friends, took the shuttle into town and began a long walk towards the beach. We had picked up some snacks at a bakery, ate them, and then played paddle ball at the beach. The water, surprisingly enough, was freezing, so there wasn’t a whole lot of swimming going on. The sun was nice though and I got a chance to work on my sunburn. As we ran out of time, we started heading back to the shuttle pickup point while searching for a good cheese shop. Being Sunday however meant that all the cheese shops were closed, causing Ben (our cheese guy) a great deal of frustration. We made it to the shuttle pickup point about 40 minutes before needing to be back on the ship for a rehearsal, but 30 minutes later a bus still hadn’t come, forcing the group into having to get a cab back to the ship. We were still 5 minutes late to the rehearsal, but after explaining the shuttle situation and us paying for a taxi, all was forgiven (guess we got the MD on a good day). We played the farewell show as usual and then ended the night with a farewell to Mark (drummer) and Patrick (pianist) who were getting off the ship the next day in Barcelona. And that’s about it, one more cruise down, one more to go before I fly home! Thanks!
Florence
August 23rd
Florence
Today was my second visit to Florence, and like the tour to Rome, consisted of an “on your own” tour that was merely a glorified shuttle ride (but free shuttle ride none the less). I didn’t have a lot planned out for the day but figured I’d try to see some of the thins I didn’t see last time, things that required waiting in line. After exchanging some money for euros I approached the art academy where Michelangelo’s David is on display. Oddly enough, the building itself is very modest considering the art it houses, so much so that I wondered if I was mistaken when contemplating the 10 euro entrance fee. Also to my surprise, there was no line, furthering my doubt of the museum I was at. But sure that my guide wouldn’t have told me the wrong location I paid the fee and walked around the corner, where dead ahead under a copula of it’s own, standing high above the crowd of people gathered at it’s podium, was the real David. I’ve seen around five replicas of the statue around Europe, but there’s something about the psychological impact of seeing the real statue, the quintessential sculpture which unparalleled public acclaim. I must have been there around an hour slowly walking the circumference, giving myself the opportunity to reverently examine the piece over a time frame limited only by my ability to concentrate. That’s what I’ve always felt is the correctly to look at art, and if anything deserves that it should be the David.
After feeling like I’d contemplated the sculpture in a satisfactory way, I finished up looking at some other pieces in the museum and headed back into the city. I didn’t have much more planned for the day and decided to see the main attractions of the city again, stopping when appropriate to absorb what was in front of me. The other attraction I had thought about seeing was the Uffizi Gallery, but after seeing the id day line and another 10 euro entrance fee, I moved ahead to other points of interest, taking me to the library.
I had brought my laptop along hoping to get online again and figured the national library would certainly have an internet connection, so that’s where I stopped. When I walked in the place I was surprised how dark and vacant it was, but didn’t think anything of it and walked upstairs to start my search for internet. I walked the building for a while seeing the occasional person, some of whom would tell me something in Italian, and eventually made my way back downstairs into a large study room with a strong connection. Unfortunately the signal wouldn’t let me pull up any web pages, and frustrated by my effort, I moved forward to keep exploring the building. Soon after, upon one of my passes by the front entrance, I found my self being approached by an angry Italian woman yelling something at me and seemingly questioning something about my backpack. I didn’t have a clue what was going on and just looked at her dumfounded, trying to answer a question I had no hope of understanding. When she realized I was completely clueless she aggressively walked me towards the door, out the exit, and through the gate she’d apparently just closed. Turns out that the library had closed and even been gated up, effectively locking me in. Had I actually found a good connection and been able to sit for an hour I probably would have had more than enough time to write these blog entries from the confines of the library I’d been locked inside. Luckily that wasn’t the case and I was able to ponder what could have been from outside the gate, still slightly dumbfounded and confused by the verbal beating I’d just taken by an angry Italian librarian. She closely watched as I left the premises and I continued on.
Now frustrated with my inability to get internet in a library I was determined to find a connection by following a similar strategy to yesterday, walk the alleys with my computer open clicking “search”. I soon came across a connection, but after trying to get comfortable on the ground and fighting against a week signal I gave up on the search and moved forward in search of more pressing issues, food. Luckily enough I turned the corner into a nice little café with free wifi, just what I needed! I ordered a sandwich and sat down to work in a much more civilized way than I had done earlier in the alley. The sandwich was great, internet was fast, and soon it was time to meet back at the bus.
I made it back to the ship with no problem, had the rest of the night off (finally), and hung out with my friends in the evening. Thanks for reading!
Florence
Today was my second visit to Florence, and like the tour to Rome, consisted of an “on your own” tour that was merely a glorified shuttle ride (but free shuttle ride none the less). I didn’t have a lot planned out for the day but figured I’d try to see some of the thins I didn’t see last time, things that required waiting in line. After exchanging some money for euros I approached the art academy where Michelangelo’s David is on display. Oddly enough, the building itself is very modest considering the art it houses, so much so that I wondered if I was mistaken when contemplating the 10 euro entrance fee. Also to my surprise, there was no line, furthering my doubt of the museum I was at. But sure that my guide wouldn’t have told me the wrong location I paid the fee and walked around the corner, where dead ahead under a copula of it’s own, standing high above the crowd of people gathered at it’s podium, was the real David. I’ve seen around five replicas of the statue around Europe, but there’s something about the psychological impact of seeing the real statue, the quintessential sculpture which unparalleled public acclaim. I must have been there around an hour slowly walking the circumference, giving myself the opportunity to reverently examine the piece over a time frame limited only by my ability to concentrate. That’s what I’ve always felt is the correctly to look at art, and if anything deserves that it should be the David.
After feeling like I’d contemplated the sculpture in a satisfactory way, I finished up looking at some other pieces in the museum and headed back into the city. I didn’t have much more planned for the day and decided to see the main attractions of the city again, stopping when appropriate to absorb what was in front of me. The other attraction I had thought about seeing was the Uffizi Gallery, but after seeing the id day line and another 10 euro entrance fee, I moved ahead to other points of interest, taking me to the library.
I had brought my laptop along hoping to get online again and figured the national library would certainly have an internet connection, so that’s where I stopped. When I walked in the place I was surprised how dark and vacant it was, but didn’t think anything of it and walked upstairs to start my search for internet. I walked the building for a while seeing the occasional person, some of whom would tell me something in Italian, and eventually made my way back downstairs into a large study room with a strong connection. Unfortunately the signal wouldn’t let me pull up any web pages, and frustrated by my effort, I moved forward to keep exploring the building. Soon after, upon one of my passes by the front entrance, I found my self being approached by an angry Italian woman yelling something at me and seemingly questioning something about my backpack. I didn’t have a clue what was going on and just looked at her dumfounded, trying to answer a question I had no hope of understanding. When she realized I was completely clueless she aggressively walked me towards the door, out the exit, and through the gate she’d apparently just closed. Turns out that the library had closed and even been gated up, effectively locking me in. Had I actually found a good connection and been able to sit for an hour I probably would have had more than enough time to write these blog entries from the confines of the library I’d been locked inside. Luckily that wasn’t the case and I was able to ponder what could have been from outside the gate, still slightly dumbfounded and confused by the verbal beating I’d just taken by an angry Italian librarian. She closely watched as I left the premises and I continued on.
Now frustrated with my inability to get internet in a library I was determined to find a connection by following a similar strategy to yesterday, walk the alleys with my computer open clicking “search”. I soon came across a connection, but after trying to get comfortable on the ground and fighting against a week signal I gave up on the search and moved forward in search of more pressing issues, food. Luckily enough I turned the corner into a nice little café with free wifi, just what I needed! I ordered a sandwich and sat down to work in a much more civilized way than I had done earlier in the alley. The sandwich was great, internet was fast, and soon it was time to meet back at the bus.
I made it back to the ship with no problem, had the rest of the night off (finally), and hung out with my friends in the evening. Thanks for reading!
Rome
August 22nd
Rome
Today was my third visit to Rome, but my first time back in about a year. I had signed up for a “Rome on your Own” tour, or basically a bus ride there and back, with the plan of exploring some areas I haven’t hit in my previous visits. Ben (tenor player) was on the same tour and we met up in the city to start the day off together. Ben had his mind set on going to the top of St. Mark’s Basilica, something that he’d been recommeneded to do from some old friends. Being something new to me, I was up for it, and 5 euros and 500 stairs later, we were standing at the top of the dome looking out over the city. It was actually a really interesting ascent, probably more so than any other stairwell I’ve yet to encounter. Aside from it just being cool that you’re climbing to the top of the copula, there were times that the walls would slant with the bell shaped walls we were climbing inside of – I felt like I was hanging out with Willy Wonka. Same thing goes for the spiral staircases we had to negotiate, which had the tightest spiral I’ve seen. But we made it to the top, got the view we were looking for and eventually found the way back down to celebrate our success at ground level. We did happen to take a wrong turn exiting the basilica meaning we had to jump some fences at the risk of being chased down by the Pope’s guards, but what’s a real Mike adventure without jumping a fence of some type?
Following that visit we continued into the city where Ben wanted to make his way to the Coliseum. Having been there myself I decided to break from him and explore an area of the city I’ve been wondering about since my last visit. There’s an area on the other side of the river where tourists don’t seem to go and where there appeared to be a large collection of cafes, meaning a much hipper area than old ruin-y touristy Rome. When I finally figured out a way there through the backstreets of Rome I found all the cafes and restaurants I figured were there, and after a couple hours of walking, couldn’t find much more. Yeah, there weren’t many tourists, but I wasn’t as excited about the “hip-ness” of the place as I thought I might be. Really, all I wanted to do was find a café with a wireless connection and a cool vibe, but after a couple hours found no such thing. Disappointed by the lack of useful cafes and maybe a little wired from an espresso, I began wandering the back alleys with my computer open actively searching for an open wireless signal with every passing block. It took a few minutes, but I soon found a signal in some alley, sat down, and began enjoying the freedom that unrestricted internet access allows.
The alley wasn’t anything special, not especially attractive and not especially unnerving, but either way, maybe not the prime place to sit down in a road and work on an expensive laptop. While I sat there I was passed by a couple gypsies who did nothing and an Italian woman who made some comment to me in Italian. Not having any ability to comprehend Italian, I faked a laugh as she continued to walk by, probably not convinced of my chuckle. Then came the most exciting part of my day.
In front of me stood a motorcycle, parked in a usual way, acting as part of an arena for a fight that was breaking out between a cat and a roman rat! (Don’t even pretend like that’s not exciting) I raised my head to the sound of a vicious squeaking to observe the duel, which oddly enough, was being dominated by the rat. The rat had a strategy, squeak his brains out and lunge at the cat’s face. Man, it was a real life David and Goliath as this rat fought the cat to the point where the cat turned and ran. Now in all honesty, the cat was kind of a wimp, not quite the vicious beast that would have put up a real fight against the rodent, but regardless, it’s the principle. Anyway, after the rat proved his dominance he walked over to the front wheel of the motorcycle, near which lied a smashed piece of food, the apparent catalyst of the skirmish. Soon enough, however, the cat returned, and from the safety of the other side of the motorcycle wheel, observed the victor eating his spoils. After a moment of observation the cat returned to try again, and was again vanquished by the overly aggressive rat. And then later, after the rat had finished his mid day snack, as he slowly waddled across the alley toward my side of the street, the cat was literally right on his tail trying one last time while the rat’s back was turned. But after a similar combination of lunges and squeaks the rat proved unstoppable and the cat again went running for cover. It was an inspiring showing of strength in spite of unfavorable odds, regardless of how not terrifying the cat was. Like I said, it’s about the principle.
Now that I got that story off my chest, the rest of the day was usual. I finished up on the Internet, walked by to the bus and made the trip back to the ship. Nothing else out of the ordinary to get all riled up about, I don’t think I could handle it if there was considering my treatment of the rat tale. So that’s what I did in Rome, maybe not anything at the top of a usual tourist’s to-do list, but certainly worthwhile in the end. Thanks for reading!
Rome
Today was my third visit to Rome, but my first time back in about a year. I had signed up for a “Rome on your Own” tour, or basically a bus ride there and back, with the plan of exploring some areas I haven’t hit in my previous visits. Ben (tenor player) was on the same tour and we met up in the city to start the day off together. Ben had his mind set on going to the top of St. Mark’s Basilica, something that he’d been recommeneded to do from some old friends. Being something new to me, I was up for it, and 5 euros and 500 stairs later, we were standing at the top of the dome looking out over the city. It was actually a really interesting ascent, probably more so than any other stairwell I’ve yet to encounter. Aside from it just being cool that you’re climbing to the top of the copula, there were times that the walls would slant with the bell shaped walls we were climbing inside of – I felt like I was hanging out with Willy Wonka. Same thing goes for the spiral staircases we had to negotiate, which had the tightest spiral I’ve seen. But we made it to the top, got the view we were looking for and eventually found the way back down to celebrate our success at ground level. We did happen to take a wrong turn exiting the basilica meaning we had to jump some fences at the risk of being chased down by the Pope’s guards, but what’s a real Mike adventure without jumping a fence of some type?
Following that visit we continued into the city where Ben wanted to make his way to the Coliseum. Having been there myself I decided to break from him and explore an area of the city I’ve been wondering about since my last visit. There’s an area on the other side of the river where tourists don’t seem to go and where there appeared to be a large collection of cafes, meaning a much hipper area than old ruin-y touristy Rome. When I finally figured out a way there through the backstreets of Rome I found all the cafes and restaurants I figured were there, and after a couple hours of walking, couldn’t find much more. Yeah, there weren’t many tourists, but I wasn’t as excited about the “hip-ness” of the place as I thought I might be. Really, all I wanted to do was find a café with a wireless connection and a cool vibe, but after a couple hours found no such thing. Disappointed by the lack of useful cafes and maybe a little wired from an espresso, I began wandering the back alleys with my computer open actively searching for an open wireless signal with every passing block. It took a few minutes, but I soon found a signal in some alley, sat down, and began enjoying the freedom that unrestricted internet access allows.
The alley wasn’t anything special, not especially attractive and not especially unnerving, but either way, maybe not the prime place to sit down in a road and work on an expensive laptop. While I sat there I was passed by a couple gypsies who did nothing and an Italian woman who made some comment to me in Italian. Not having any ability to comprehend Italian, I faked a laugh as she continued to walk by, probably not convinced of my chuckle. Then came the most exciting part of my day.
In front of me stood a motorcycle, parked in a usual way, acting as part of an arena for a fight that was breaking out between a cat and a roman rat! (Don’t even pretend like that’s not exciting) I raised my head to the sound of a vicious squeaking to observe the duel, which oddly enough, was being dominated by the rat. The rat had a strategy, squeak his brains out and lunge at the cat’s face. Man, it was a real life David and Goliath as this rat fought the cat to the point where the cat turned and ran. Now in all honesty, the cat was kind of a wimp, not quite the vicious beast that would have put up a real fight against the rodent, but regardless, it’s the principle. Anyway, after the rat proved his dominance he walked over to the front wheel of the motorcycle, near which lied a smashed piece of food, the apparent catalyst of the skirmish. Soon enough, however, the cat returned, and from the safety of the other side of the motorcycle wheel, observed the victor eating his spoils. After a moment of observation the cat returned to try again, and was again vanquished by the overly aggressive rat. And then later, after the rat had finished his mid day snack, as he slowly waddled across the alley toward my side of the street, the cat was literally right on his tail trying one last time while the rat’s back was turned. But after a similar combination of lunges and squeaks the rat proved unstoppable and the cat again went running for cover. It was an inspiring showing of strength in spite of unfavorable odds, regardless of how not terrifying the cat was. Like I said, it’s about the principle.
Now that I got that story off my chest, the rest of the day was usual. I finished up on the Internet, walked by to the bus and made the trip back to the ship. Nothing else out of the ordinary to get all riled up about, I don’t think I could handle it if there was considering my treatment of the rat tale. So that’s what I did in Rome, maybe not anything at the top of a usual tourist’s to-do list, but certainly worthwhile in the end. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Messina
August 21st
Messina, Sicily
Visit number 2 to Messina with limited things to do and limited time to do them in. I really had nothing planned for Messina, and being unable to do a tour do to a rehearsal, knew that I didn’t have many options left in the city. It’s a lovely area, there’s just nothing there of any real interest. So I grabbed my computer and went out in search of the always elusive internet signal hoping for the best. I had gotten off the ship with the new guitarist, Jim, and his plans were about as ambitious as mine, so that worked out just fine. We ran into Igor in town and began walking with him, yet another fellow internet hunter. By the end of the day we hadn’t found any internet signals, bought a few delicious canoles, and downed some espresso. Nothing too exciting I guess, but it’s always nice to get off the ship. This, however, was the port where I bought my cowboy hat. Well, I had to wear it and it made me instant friends with all the hat peddlers on the street. Instant friends or instant laughing stock…I guess I’ll never know. But it wasn’t till the evening that the day really hit it’s peak.
Following the earlier than usual production show In Concert, Gordon made me aware of a trivia game going on in one of the lounges and recommended putting a team together to compete. I quickly assembled my dream team of musicians (well, not quite) and we headed to the ward room where the trivia contest was well under way. The game was set up in segments, one being general knowledge, one having to do with exotic food recognition (from strange mushrooms to baby food), and two more in similar genres. The highlight had to do with the physical challenge of which I volunteered to be my teams representative for. The challenge was this: with out touching the floor with anything but your two feet, bend down and pick up a vertical carton of cigarettes with your mouth. After each successful round the carton would be trimmed down an inch, making the next round harder by requiring more flexibility. If you happened to fall or touch the ground with anything but your feet you’d receive a strike, three strikes and you lose the challenge, the last one eliminated is deemed the winner. I was excited going into the challenge thinking I have decent flexibility, but soon figured out how hard the challenge really was. The first few I did relatively well at, but as the carton decreased it’s height, I struggled more and more till I eventually took my first fall. At this point there were only 3 teams left of the original 5, and after there first two eliminations, the challenge was getting interesting. The three contestants were the safety officer (who had yet to show any struggle), a short stocky girl named Wendy with a chest that seemed ill proportioned for such a game, and myself. I had taken the first fall of the three and was the obvious under dog, but as they sat between rounds, I stretched, determined not to let my team down. There must have been 2 inches left to the carton when I took my second fall, receiving an enthusiastic “ohhhh” from the crowd. But I wasn’t about to let my team down, got myself in the zone and made the stretch; the crowd went wild. 1 inch left, Wendy takes her first spill, but regains herself on the second attempt and succeeds at the astonishment of the crowd. Seriously, it doesn’t look like this girl should have any flexibility, yet continued to impress the crowd with each successive attempt. The safety guy went, also with a little more struggle than usual, but succeeded. I slowly approached, focusing my legs to bend in ways they’ve not yet been forced to handle. I bent down, extended one leg back, put my arms out for balance, strained my neck downward…and…Success!! I spat the carton out to the cheer of my adoring fans (let me know when I take this too far) and returned to my corner to stratch and prepare for the final round, 0 height. This meant the walls were totally trimmed off the carton, meaning we had to pick up a flat piece of paper from the ground. Imagine picking a playing card off the floor with your mouth without touching your hands to the floor…that was the final step. Wendy succeeded to everyone’s astonishment, but certainly deserved to after licking the carpet way more than necessary and leaving a bright red streak of lipstick on the remaining square. It was impressive. The safety dude also succeeded, not without falling once, but still managed to complete the task with apparent difficulties. Now it was my turn, the obvious underdog, the guy that should have lost rounds ago, the one guy that doesn’t seem able but somehow finds a way. With the heads of my department watching and two members of the band to my left I took position. This requires a very delicate blend of positioning and balance, one that took a couple efforts before feeling right about going for the card. Having no strikes left I had to be extremely careful not to fall, just more pressure onto of having to prove myself on behalf of the entire entertainment department. I bent down, stumbled forward, but regained balance without using my hands and reset for try number two. I went down, descending with extreme caution towards the paper, slowly, among the screams and hollers and ridiculous suggestions to make good use of my tongue. But this wasn’t a time for jokes, this was a time for concentration and control, I was un-phased. I got closer and closer and the noise suddenly disappeared in the tension of the moment. All eyes were on that remnant of the carton and my painfully controlled approach. It was at the point where I could no longer focus my eyes on the white paper that I puckered my lips, and with one last push complimented with violent inhaling I sucked the card to my face and stood up, victorious, to the cheers of audience that had just witnessed some sort of miraculous feat. The underdog had overcome what seemed to be relentless bodily limitations through sheer will and determination, it was quite the spectacle. I instantly received recognition from the on looking department heads and cheers of congratulations from my fellow band members, I might have well won the Olympics at that point. As the energetic hum of the room died down the final results of the contest were revealed. The musicians ended up in 3rd place out of five, which I guess is decent considering the 30 minute disadvantage we received. The best part, however, was that 20 out of our total 42 points were earned through the physical challenge, making that win the difference between a most certain last place and a respectable third. I had saved the name of the entertainment department, landed us at a good average third, and sacrificed my legs all at the same time, it was an eventful night.
Well, now that I’m done with that terribly over dramatic account of the evening, I guess I’ll conclude the post. The party ended after that, I returned to my room to do some stretches and went to bed hoping for no leg pain in the morning. Thanks for reading the seemingly endless drivel and have a great one! And be sure not to hurt yourself when you try the challenge at home! Seeya
Messina, Sicily
Visit number 2 to Messina with limited things to do and limited time to do them in. I really had nothing planned for Messina, and being unable to do a tour do to a rehearsal, knew that I didn’t have many options left in the city. It’s a lovely area, there’s just nothing there of any real interest. So I grabbed my computer and went out in search of the always elusive internet signal hoping for the best. I had gotten off the ship with the new guitarist, Jim, and his plans were about as ambitious as mine, so that worked out just fine. We ran into Igor in town and began walking with him, yet another fellow internet hunter. By the end of the day we hadn’t found any internet signals, bought a few delicious canoles, and downed some espresso. Nothing too exciting I guess, but it’s always nice to get off the ship. This, however, was the port where I bought my cowboy hat. Well, I had to wear it and it made me instant friends with all the hat peddlers on the street. Instant friends or instant laughing stock…I guess I’ll never know. But it wasn’t till the evening that the day really hit it’s peak.
Following the earlier than usual production show In Concert, Gordon made me aware of a trivia game going on in one of the lounges and recommended putting a team together to compete. I quickly assembled my dream team of musicians (well, not quite) and we headed to the ward room where the trivia contest was well under way. The game was set up in segments, one being general knowledge, one having to do with exotic food recognition (from strange mushrooms to baby food), and two more in similar genres. The highlight had to do with the physical challenge of which I volunteered to be my teams representative for. The challenge was this: with out touching the floor with anything but your two feet, bend down and pick up a vertical carton of cigarettes with your mouth. After each successful round the carton would be trimmed down an inch, making the next round harder by requiring more flexibility. If you happened to fall or touch the ground with anything but your feet you’d receive a strike, three strikes and you lose the challenge, the last one eliminated is deemed the winner. I was excited going into the challenge thinking I have decent flexibility, but soon figured out how hard the challenge really was. The first few I did relatively well at, but as the carton decreased it’s height, I struggled more and more till I eventually took my first fall. At this point there were only 3 teams left of the original 5, and after there first two eliminations, the challenge was getting interesting. The three contestants were the safety officer (who had yet to show any struggle), a short stocky girl named Wendy with a chest that seemed ill proportioned for such a game, and myself. I had taken the first fall of the three and was the obvious under dog, but as they sat between rounds, I stretched, determined not to let my team down. There must have been 2 inches left to the carton when I took my second fall, receiving an enthusiastic “ohhhh” from the crowd. But I wasn’t about to let my team down, got myself in the zone and made the stretch; the crowd went wild. 1 inch left, Wendy takes her first spill, but regains herself on the second attempt and succeeds at the astonishment of the crowd. Seriously, it doesn’t look like this girl should have any flexibility, yet continued to impress the crowd with each successive attempt. The safety guy went, also with a little more struggle than usual, but succeeded. I slowly approached, focusing my legs to bend in ways they’ve not yet been forced to handle. I bent down, extended one leg back, put my arms out for balance, strained my neck downward…and…Success!! I spat the carton out to the cheer of my adoring fans (let me know when I take this too far) and returned to my corner to stratch and prepare for the final round, 0 height. This meant the walls were totally trimmed off the carton, meaning we had to pick up a flat piece of paper from the ground. Imagine picking a playing card off the floor with your mouth without touching your hands to the floor…that was the final step. Wendy succeeded to everyone’s astonishment, but certainly deserved to after licking the carpet way more than necessary and leaving a bright red streak of lipstick on the remaining square. It was impressive. The safety dude also succeeded, not without falling once, but still managed to complete the task with apparent difficulties. Now it was my turn, the obvious underdog, the guy that should have lost rounds ago, the one guy that doesn’t seem able but somehow finds a way. With the heads of my department watching and two members of the band to my left I took position. This requires a very delicate blend of positioning and balance, one that took a couple efforts before feeling right about going for the card. Having no strikes left I had to be extremely careful not to fall, just more pressure onto of having to prove myself on behalf of the entire entertainment department. I bent down, stumbled forward, but regained balance without using my hands and reset for try number two. I went down, descending with extreme caution towards the paper, slowly, among the screams and hollers and ridiculous suggestions to make good use of my tongue. But this wasn’t a time for jokes, this was a time for concentration and control, I was un-phased. I got closer and closer and the noise suddenly disappeared in the tension of the moment. All eyes were on that remnant of the carton and my painfully controlled approach. It was at the point where I could no longer focus my eyes on the white paper that I puckered my lips, and with one last push complimented with violent inhaling I sucked the card to my face and stood up, victorious, to the cheers of audience that had just witnessed some sort of miraculous feat. The underdog had overcome what seemed to be relentless bodily limitations through sheer will and determination, it was quite the spectacle. I instantly received recognition from the on looking department heads and cheers of congratulations from my fellow band members, I might have well won the Olympics at that point. As the energetic hum of the room died down the final results of the contest were revealed. The musicians ended up in 3rd place out of five, which I guess is decent considering the 30 minute disadvantage we received. The best part, however, was that 20 out of our total 42 points were earned through the physical challenge, making that win the difference between a most certain last place and a respectable third. I had saved the name of the entertainment department, landed us at a good average third, and sacrificed my legs all at the same time, it was an eventful night.
Well, now that I’m done with that terribly over dramatic account of the evening, I guess I’ll conclude the post. The party ended after that, I returned to my room to do some stretches and went to bed hoping for no leg pain in the morning. Thanks for reading the seemingly endless drivel and have a great one! And be sure not to hurt yourself when you try the challenge at home! Seeya
Kusadasi/Sea Day
August 19th/20th
Kusadasi/Sea Day
Kusadasi was another Turkish port, and due to another renegade rehearsal, my time there was cut drastically short. I got off the ship as early as I could to get the most time possible and began exploring with some friends. We went in a few shops here and there, bought some coffee and snacks, and basically just wandered though the bazaar. There wasn’t much time to do any more than that, unfortunately leaving me with a not so productive port visit. The area was beautiful though and I certainly enjoyed the hot weather, oh, and the game of the day dealt with timing how long one could go without having a local vendor approach you saying “my friend” – it usually took less than a minute.
After the shows that night I decided to host a party in my room. This wasn’t supposed to be a huge crazy party, just a get together for the band to chill out with food and drink. Believe it or not, I still had my bottle of Estonian Vodka from way back when (remember the tram incident?) and hadn’t gotten through even half of it, so I envited my friends over to enjoy it with. Mark brought over some Turkish Delight we’d bought in port that day and Igor and I grabbed some food from the mess. They must have been over for 4 hours, just talking about stuff and having a good time. It was nice to have everyone over, it’s not something I’ve ever really done, but my sudden popularity in being the one providing the drinks was more than welcome, ha. But it was a great night and one that I hope we can do again before I leave the ship. The only downside of it all were the final two hours wherein everyone simply discussed our less than approved of music director…kind of a drag to talk about, but at least it means we all agree on something.
The next day was a sea day complimented with a Dixie set and the usual thing at night. The general opinion is that we all need a day off; extra Dixie sets aren’t doing any of us favors. But that aside, I actually played a couple decent clarinet solos, so I guess that’s almost exciting…almost. Thanks for reading!
Kusadasi/Sea Day
Kusadasi was another Turkish port, and due to another renegade rehearsal, my time there was cut drastically short. I got off the ship as early as I could to get the most time possible and began exploring with some friends. We went in a few shops here and there, bought some coffee and snacks, and basically just wandered though the bazaar. There wasn’t much time to do any more than that, unfortunately leaving me with a not so productive port visit. The area was beautiful though and I certainly enjoyed the hot weather, oh, and the game of the day dealt with timing how long one could go without having a local vendor approach you saying “my friend” – it usually took less than a minute.
After the shows that night I decided to host a party in my room. This wasn’t supposed to be a huge crazy party, just a get together for the band to chill out with food and drink. Believe it or not, I still had my bottle of Estonian Vodka from way back when (remember the tram incident?) and hadn’t gotten through even half of it, so I envited my friends over to enjoy it with. Mark brought over some Turkish Delight we’d bought in port that day and Igor and I grabbed some food from the mess. They must have been over for 4 hours, just talking about stuff and having a good time. It was nice to have everyone over, it’s not something I’ve ever really done, but my sudden popularity in being the one providing the drinks was more than welcome, ha. But it was a great night and one that I hope we can do again before I leave the ship. The only downside of it all were the final two hours wherein everyone simply discussed our less than approved of music director…kind of a drag to talk about, but at least it means we all agree on something.
The next day was a sea day complimented with a Dixie set and the usual thing at night. The general opinion is that we all need a day off; extra Dixie sets aren’t doing any of us favors. But that aside, I actually played a couple decent clarinet solos, so I guess that’s almost exciting…almost. Thanks for reading!
Istanbul
August 18th
Istanbul
Finally the port I’ve been waiting all cruise for, Istanbul! I had no idea what to expect, and with another unfortunate rehearsal planned, limited time to find out. I woke up early in the morning to get off the ship, took a shuttle into town with Mark (drummer) and some others (a shuttle in which I told the operator that crew are allowed onto for free, a complete lie, but saved me and my 4 friends over $10 each) to discover the city. Mark and I split off to head into the grand bazaar, which did justice to its name. It was simply a lot of shops selling fake (presumably) designer name clothes, linens, and water pipes. It was cool for about 5 minutes, but not having any desire to buy clothes, was easily left in search of more exciting options. Mark and I kept walking, exchanged some money, and went looking for some interesting places to sit down and enjoy the culture and vibe of Turkey. We ended up at a nice local-looking hang out, a large room with many couches, where one could buy food and drinks, well, that and a little more.
Driven by my curiosity to experience the culture and confirmed by Mark’s past experiences, I recommended a stop at this place for the prospect of seeing what the water pipe, or more commonly known as Hookah, was all about. The water pipe, which is a large vertical pipe, burns a flavored tobacco, filters it through water, and is then inhaled. These pipes, though usually associated with the middle east, can be found in the states, are totally legal, and even have found a place in Hookah themed bars. Now I’ve never done any drugs, nor have I even once picked up a cigarette, but the cultural significance of the Hookah made it a justifiable activity in my mind. So there I sat with Mark, drinking tea and trying this strawberry flavored Hookah, experiencing the culture. It was certainly interesting to say the least, but surprisingly light and fruity, not nearly as aggravating to my respiratory system as I was expecting. We made ourselves comfortable on the couches though, played checkers on some Turkish board, and just hung out till it seemed the appropriate time to leave. I guess you could explain it as a very relaxing cultural experience and it’s obvious why it has such a large role in a social context. There’s just something about “passing the peace pipe” that makes the environment very friendly…or maybe that’s the hookah as well. Regardless, it might be something not exactly respectable or even in character for me, but these adventures require taking risks and venturing outside of your comfort zone, which that experience most certainly was.
When I finished beating Mark at checkers we left to look for some possible food. We still had about $20 worth of the Turkish YTL, of which we knew could get us a great lunch. It wasn’t long till we found a sit down restaurant and ordered a couple dishes, of which I have no hope of telling you what they were called, but everything was very good. We ate quickly and left to start making our way back to the ship by walking. The bus ride into town didn’t seem especially long, and considering I had a map and am overconfident in my sense of direction, we set out on our trek. I did have a general idea of where we were and knew that if we could get to the water, I’d be able to ascertain our position. Getting to the water required a few things however. The first was easy: walk around some mosques to where I could get a good viewpoint. The good viewpoint, however, came from on a grass hill on some Turkish palace grounds. Apparently, they aren’t quite fond of Americans on their grass, and I immediately drew the attention of an armed guard who showed his disapproval via a very intimidating whistle. Honestly, at first I wasn’t even aware he was blowing it at me; I was focused on getting my bearings. Then, as the sound got louder and I saw a uniformed man with an automatic weapon on the adjacent hill, I decided it might be a good time to dismount my grassy knoll. I played it off well as if I got off on my own terms, paid no attention to my belligerent friend and pretended to be the ignorant tourist (maybe it didn’t take that much pretending). We exited the palace, and after a quick discussion and Mark relieving me of some excess pride, we grabbed a cab. I negotiated with the cab driver before we got in, which didn’t seem to please him too much as he seemed to take one of my comments as an insult, and we got stuck paying $30 to get back across the bridge. It worked out though because had we not gotten in the cab, even though I did know exactly where we were, the walk would have been too formidable to make in the 40 minutes remaining time, the extra fee was worth the peace of mind. Not to mention it’s just fun riding cabs in foreign countries, and now I can add Turkey to that list. Mark and I made it back to the ship in time for rehearsal and that was end of the excursion.
The rest of the day was as usual, so nothing more to write there. Thanks!
Istanbul
Finally the port I’ve been waiting all cruise for, Istanbul! I had no idea what to expect, and with another unfortunate rehearsal planned, limited time to find out. I woke up early in the morning to get off the ship, took a shuttle into town with Mark (drummer) and some others (a shuttle in which I told the operator that crew are allowed onto for free, a complete lie, but saved me and my 4 friends over $10 each) to discover the city. Mark and I split off to head into the grand bazaar, which did justice to its name. It was simply a lot of shops selling fake (presumably) designer name clothes, linens, and water pipes. It was cool for about 5 minutes, but not having any desire to buy clothes, was easily left in search of more exciting options. Mark and I kept walking, exchanged some money, and went looking for some interesting places to sit down and enjoy the culture and vibe of Turkey. We ended up at a nice local-looking hang out, a large room with many couches, where one could buy food and drinks, well, that and a little more.
Driven by my curiosity to experience the culture and confirmed by Mark’s past experiences, I recommended a stop at this place for the prospect of seeing what the water pipe, or more commonly known as Hookah, was all about. The water pipe, which is a large vertical pipe, burns a flavored tobacco, filters it through water, and is then inhaled. These pipes, though usually associated with the middle east, can be found in the states, are totally legal, and even have found a place in Hookah themed bars. Now I’ve never done any drugs, nor have I even once picked up a cigarette, but the cultural significance of the Hookah made it a justifiable activity in my mind. So there I sat with Mark, drinking tea and trying this strawberry flavored Hookah, experiencing the culture. It was certainly interesting to say the least, but surprisingly light and fruity, not nearly as aggravating to my respiratory system as I was expecting. We made ourselves comfortable on the couches though, played checkers on some Turkish board, and just hung out till it seemed the appropriate time to leave. I guess you could explain it as a very relaxing cultural experience and it’s obvious why it has such a large role in a social context. There’s just something about “passing the peace pipe” that makes the environment very friendly…or maybe that’s the hookah as well. Regardless, it might be something not exactly respectable or even in character for me, but these adventures require taking risks and venturing outside of your comfort zone, which that experience most certainly was.
When I finished beating Mark at checkers we left to look for some possible food. We still had about $20 worth of the Turkish YTL, of which we knew could get us a great lunch. It wasn’t long till we found a sit down restaurant and ordered a couple dishes, of which I have no hope of telling you what they were called, but everything was very good. We ate quickly and left to start making our way back to the ship by walking. The bus ride into town didn’t seem especially long, and considering I had a map and am overconfident in my sense of direction, we set out on our trek. I did have a general idea of where we were and knew that if we could get to the water, I’d be able to ascertain our position. Getting to the water required a few things however. The first was easy: walk around some mosques to where I could get a good viewpoint. The good viewpoint, however, came from on a grass hill on some Turkish palace grounds. Apparently, they aren’t quite fond of Americans on their grass, and I immediately drew the attention of an armed guard who showed his disapproval via a very intimidating whistle. Honestly, at first I wasn’t even aware he was blowing it at me; I was focused on getting my bearings. Then, as the sound got louder and I saw a uniformed man with an automatic weapon on the adjacent hill, I decided it might be a good time to dismount my grassy knoll. I played it off well as if I got off on my own terms, paid no attention to my belligerent friend and pretended to be the ignorant tourist (maybe it didn’t take that much pretending). We exited the palace, and after a quick discussion and Mark relieving me of some excess pride, we grabbed a cab. I negotiated with the cab driver before we got in, which didn’t seem to please him too much as he seemed to take one of my comments as an insult, and we got stuck paying $30 to get back across the bridge. It worked out though because had we not gotten in the cab, even though I did know exactly where we were, the walk would have been too formidable to make in the 40 minutes remaining time, the extra fee was worth the peace of mind. Not to mention it’s just fun riding cabs in foreign countries, and now I can add Turkey to that list. Mark and I made it back to the ship in time for rehearsal and that was end of the excursion.
The rest of the day was as usual, so nothing more to write there. Thanks!
Katakolon/Mykonos
August 16th-17th
Katakolon/Mykonos, Greece
Yet again, another day of fun in the sun has been interrupted by a rehearsal. Upon our arrival at noon, I got off the ship for a little exploring. The attraction of the port is it’s proximity to Olympia, certainly an interesting site to visit, but unfortunately not on my plans for the day. Instead, I walked around a small little city with little to offer but a long beach. I didn’t have my bathing suit on, and after seeing some jellyfish in the water, wasn’t about to go swimming, so instead went for a walk/run down the beach. Yeah, two consecutive days of running, I thought that was pretty good! But yes, there were tons of jellyfish all along the beach, and apparently they make them different in Greece. I saw on in the water that was the size of a deflated volleyball, looked to be made out of some sort of rubbery plastic, and almost glowed from its glossy blue-purple color. I swear, if you were to have turned that thing over it would have said “made in china”, it looked that manufactured. But then I saw dozens more, many washed up on the beach where it would find a slow, evaporating demise, or in the case of the lucky ones, covered with sand and jumped on. I continued at least a couple miles down the beach, wearing nothing but my shorts and John Wayne hat, enjoying what I could of this part of the Grecian coastline. This lasted a couple hours before I made my way back to the ship for the usual evening aboard…woohoo.
The 17th wasn’t much different, and with a morning rehearsal, the visit was limited to how early I was willing to wake up. Well, seeing as it was my only chance to see the city, I wanted to wake up super early, rent a scooter and go on my own tour of the city. I did manage to wake up early, something I’m very proud of, and after being off the ship by 8 am, I discovered that all the scooter rental places didn’t open until 9 am. This would have left me about 90 minutes of riding time, not enough to make the fee worth it, and disappointed in my foiled plans, I went walking as far as I could in the time I had. The city was gorgeous though, a perfect example of the Greek islands, and the weather was just perfect for going of a walk. Nothing too exciting happened though, sorry. There was however, Mykonos’ mascot, some famous pelican. I don’t understand the story (probably because I heard it from a ditsy spa girl) but supposedly this is supposed to be some famous pelican and the only one of the island, which when you think about it, makes absolutely no sense. But hey, there were tons of souvenirs with pictures of the dumb bird on them, so I guess I should write off this pelican’s accomplishments too soon. Maybe it’s worth researching when I get home…but probably not. I wrapped up my walk and caught a shuttle back to the ship where the day played out as usual. Thanks!
Katakolon/Mykonos, Greece
Yet again, another day of fun in the sun has been interrupted by a rehearsal. Upon our arrival at noon, I got off the ship for a little exploring. The attraction of the port is it’s proximity to Olympia, certainly an interesting site to visit, but unfortunately not on my plans for the day. Instead, I walked around a small little city with little to offer but a long beach. I didn’t have my bathing suit on, and after seeing some jellyfish in the water, wasn’t about to go swimming, so instead went for a walk/run down the beach. Yeah, two consecutive days of running, I thought that was pretty good! But yes, there were tons of jellyfish all along the beach, and apparently they make them different in Greece. I saw on in the water that was the size of a deflated volleyball, looked to be made out of some sort of rubbery plastic, and almost glowed from its glossy blue-purple color. I swear, if you were to have turned that thing over it would have said “made in china”, it looked that manufactured. But then I saw dozens more, many washed up on the beach where it would find a slow, evaporating demise, or in the case of the lucky ones, covered with sand and jumped on. I continued at least a couple miles down the beach, wearing nothing but my shorts and John Wayne hat, enjoying what I could of this part of the Grecian coastline. This lasted a couple hours before I made my way back to the ship for the usual evening aboard…woohoo.
The 17th wasn’t much different, and with a morning rehearsal, the visit was limited to how early I was willing to wake up. Well, seeing as it was my only chance to see the city, I wanted to wake up super early, rent a scooter and go on my own tour of the city. I did manage to wake up early, something I’m very proud of, and after being off the ship by 8 am, I discovered that all the scooter rental places didn’t open until 9 am. This would have left me about 90 minutes of riding time, not enough to make the fee worth it, and disappointed in my foiled plans, I went walking as far as I could in the time I had. The city was gorgeous though, a perfect example of the Greek islands, and the weather was just perfect for going of a walk. Nothing too exciting happened though, sorry. There was however, Mykonos’ mascot, some famous pelican. I don’t understand the story (probably because I heard it from a ditsy spa girl) but supposedly this is supposed to be some famous pelican and the only one of the island, which when you think about it, makes absolutely no sense. But hey, there were tons of souvenirs with pictures of the dumb bird on them, so I guess I should write off this pelican’s accomplishments too soon. Maybe it’s worth researching when I get home…but probably not. I wrapped up my walk and caught a shuttle back to the ship where the day played out as usual. Thanks!
Dubrovnik
August 15th
Dubrovnik
As I’ve mentioned before, the ship just got the new production cast (singers and dancers) onboard and this is now the first cruise with a new cast. Though this is usually kind of an exciting event (lots of new dancers to talk to!), it sometimes means that more is asked of the band. That “more” made its first appearance today.
Ben (tenor sax) and I were planning to go on the same tour in Croatia today, an all day tour of the region including lunch – always a favorite of mine – and had gotten the forms from the tour office yesterday. Yesterday night, however, we get hit with a schedule that puts a rehearsal in the middle of our tour, something that we simply can’t work around, and despite a well formulated printed request to our director, we were unable to get out of the rehearsal. I could give you all the details about why we weren’t needed for this rehearsal, but instead I’ll just leave it as “the director’s a total jerk” and just hope you take my word for it. Anyways, our request was denied and I woke up in the morning to go help the tour office send out tours in a sort of “sorry I couldn’t do the tour you assigned me” way. They were happy with the extra help at 8am so I think I’m still off the tour office blacklist.
Anyways, I decided to do my own thing instead – go running. Seeing as I’d been to Dubrovnik before, I didn’t have much desire to travel back into the city and though my pent up steam (from the early morning denial) could more effectively be released running along the bay where we docked. And let me tell you, there was nothing more appropriate at that time than running along the beautiful Croatian coast line listening to some unusually heavy rock music on my iPod…just the venting I needed. I ran for a good distance along the shore looking at the little boats and small beaches till I stopped at some resort owned beach where I somehow didn’t get questioned about when I entered. I sat down for a bit, cooled down under one of the showers (I couldn’t go swimming without a towel and wasn’t about to run back the few miles in wet and sandy socks/shoes), and then eventually headed back. As I made my way back to the ship it occurred to me how much I miss boating, not the floating hotel thing, but the small watercraft thing. It’s strange living on a ship that doesn’t move with the waves and one you don’t have to go or look outside if you choose not to. So as I walked along pondering the irony of missing boating while living on a gigantic ship, I decided it’d be an interesting idea to borrow a small boat. The port area was filled with small watercraft, some of which obviously hadn’t been touched for weeks, so I figure when I have more time and a good enough opportunity, I’ll borrow one and row it around for a while. I have no intention of stealing it, just amusing myself with a short rowing trip, where’s the harm in that? I didn’t do it today, and kind of doubt I’ll work up the balls to commandeer a row boat in a different port, but it’s a nice though just the same.
I made it back to the ship for the rehearsal as scheduled, not with much enthusiasm, but at least with a sense of accomplishment for my enjoyment of the port in light of the circumstances. The rest of the day was nothing spectacular, just a bunch of musicians complaining about the extra rehearsal – yep, we’re a happy group! Thanks for reading!
Dubrovnik
As I’ve mentioned before, the ship just got the new production cast (singers and dancers) onboard and this is now the first cruise with a new cast. Though this is usually kind of an exciting event (lots of new dancers to talk to!), it sometimes means that more is asked of the band. That “more” made its first appearance today.
Ben (tenor sax) and I were planning to go on the same tour in Croatia today, an all day tour of the region including lunch – always a favorite of mine – and had gotten the forms from the tour office yesterday. Yesterday night, however, we get hit with a schedule that puts a rehearsal in the middle of our tour, something that we simply can’t work around, and despite a well formulated printed request to our director, we were unable to get out of the rehearsal. I could give you all the details about why we weren’t needed for this rehearsal, but instead I’ll just leave it as “the director’s a total jerk” and just hope you take my word for it. Anyways, our request was denied and I woke up in the morning to go help the tour office send out tours in a sort of “sorry I couldn’t do the tour you assigned me” way. They were happy with the extra help at 8am so I think I’m still off the tour office blacklist.
Anyways, I decided to do my own thing instead – go running. Seeing as I’d been to Dubrovnik before, I didn’t have much desire to travel back into the city and though my pent up steam (from the early morning denial) could more effectively be released running along the bay where we docked. And let me tell you, there was nothing more appropriate at that time than running along the beautiful Croatian coast line listening to some unusually heavy rock music on my iPod…just the venting I needed. I ran for a good distance along the shore looking at the little boats and small beaches till I stopped at some resort owned beach where I somehow didn’t get questioned about when I entered. I sat down for a bit, cooled down under one of the showers (I couldn’t go swimming without a towel and wasn’t about to run back the few miles in wet and sandy socks/shoes), and then eventually headed back. As I made my way back to the ship it occurred to me how much I miss boating, not the floating hotel thing, but the small watercraft thing. It’s strange living on a ship that doesn’t move with the waves and one you don’t have to go or look outside if you choose not to. So as I walked along pondering the irony of missing boating while living on a gigantic ship, I decided it’d be an interesting idea to borrow a small boat. The port area was filled with small watercraft, some of which obviously hadn’t been touched for weeks, so I figure when I have more time and a good enough opportunity, I’ll borrow one and row it around for a while. I have no intention of stealing it, just amusing myself with a short rowing trip, where’s the harm in that? I didn’t do it today, and kind of doubt I’ll work up the balls to commandeer a row boat in a different port, but it’s a nice though just the same.
I made it back to the ship for the rehearsal as scheduled, not with much enthusiasm, but at least with a sense of accomplishment for my enjoyment of the port in light of the circumstances. The rest of the day was nothing spectacular, just a bunch of musicians complaining about the extra rehearsal – yep, we’re a happy group! Thanks for reading!
Venice
August 12th-14th
Venice
Yep, three days in Venice, not too bad right? Well, I’ll group them all into a single post.
I made it up to the bow for the sail-in around 11AM on the 12th for my first view of a city I’ve been eager to see since starting ships (woh, 4 “s” words with out even trying, I’m getting better at this). The scenery was everything you might imagine it to be, one huge ship traveling down a watery road, surrounded by what seems to be a floating city and dozens of little water taxis. Everything instantly projected a feeling of being somewhere a little different, something that was strictly Venice. We ported son after and I hurried off the ship with my tour entitled “Hidden Venice Walking Tour.” I figured a walking tour of the “hidden places” would be a good place to start seeing as I’d have no difficulty finding the popular places on my own. The tour left on a water taxi where we were then dropped off along side the Canal Grande in the western part of town to begin the walk. It was great being in such a famous city and the architecture and canal system didn’t disappoint. As we walked, I talked with an Italian escort assigned to the tour and took in what I could. 4 hours later, after a café stop, we made our way to a pier, got on our taxi and returned to the ship. The tour was ok, but come to think of it, I don’t feel like I found “hidden” Venice at all. Nothing about the tour was hidden, secretive, mysterious, undiscovered, or any other words you might associate hidden, including cool. But whatever, I saw some stuff, familiarized myself with parts of the city, and discovered hidden is a cruise ship euphemism for “understandably less popular tourist area.”
I wasn’t back at the ship for long, barely enough time to eat, before I was out again meeting up with the band in St. Marks. We had the night off and were planning to have a great late night experience in the town - I was excited. We met as planned, and after little discussion made our way to the first stop, a restaurant. Well, I had just eaten, so I dismissed myself and went wondering while they ate, planning to meet them later after dinner. I figured I had an hour, and armed with my detailed map of the city, set out for an exploration into my own hidden Venice. I returned about an hour later, no more, to find their table empty and totally cleared. I’d been ditched. Now, I’m sure my friends weren’t conspiring against me, and I assume they must have waited at least a few minutes for my return, but how they went through a three course meal in such little time is a complete mystery to me, so there I was, alone and disappointed at prospects of a wild and crazy night.
Venice closes down at night. Being primarily a tourist destination, and most tourists being grumpy old people with limited vision and mobility, almost all the streets completely clear out after 8PM. My hidden tour took me down streets packed with people (more proof of it’s un-hidden-ness), where as a few hours later, I could walk for 5 minutes without seeing a single person. In an attempt to find my group again, I walked to the two areas with people, the Rialto Bridge and St. Marks Square, both of which yielded no results after 2 hours of searching. Then I had a bright idea, why not forget my friends, go to the crew water taxi drop off point, and meet up with some other friends when they get dropped off. Within 20 minutes I had found my roommate, gotten a name of a jazz bar, and figured out I could wait for one more water taxi to catch up with some other friends following close behind. The evening ended up with me finding the jazz club (after great difficulty cause Gordon can’t read maps well), which was simply a jazz themed bar, but still cool, and then catching a 1AM water shuttle back to the ship. Maybe not so late of a night as expected, but as I said, everything was closed down, it just wasn’t in the cards.
As a small victory, however, I did find out that my friends who ditched me left only to head back to the ship after dinner. But what should have been a 15 minute walk to the shuttle resulted in over an hour of confused navigating, utter frustration, and a situation I was glad to be a part of. I, on the other hand, never got lost :)
Day two was walking day. After waking up late, I hurried off the ship to begin my own walking tour of Venice. This was approximately 5 hours of aggressive walking, covering almost the entire island, complimented with an ice cream cone and pizza slice along the way. It was great though, no one to slow me down, just me, a map, and an over ambitious desire to cover as much ground as humanly possible. My feet were pounding by the end of my quest, but I’ve probably gone over enough bridges and seen enough gondolas to last me the rest of my life. I walked back to the ship for a couple sets we were playing for a different band (so that they could have a night off) and that was the end of the day.
Day three consisted of a rehearsal at 11AM and a departure immediately following, meaning I got screwed out of a day. The original production cast has now left the ship, meaning the band is going to get hit with a bunch of rehearsals to help out the new group of singers and dancers, not my favorite scenario when the only reason I’m here is to see the ports. Unfortunately that’s about it for the 14th, however, I did spend the sail away running on a treadmill in the spa, meaning I had a front row seat 10 decks up as we sailed out of the archipelago…nice.
To sum up, Venice is an unbelievable city. The maze of canals and alleys (over 3000) is almost not navigable, as demonstrated by my friends, and commands your respect and appreciation for the culture of the city. The gondolas, though ubiquitous, never got old. I always enjoyed turning a corner and coming across an unexpected bridge being negotiated by a long black boat, always steered by an Italian man with a horizontally striped shirt and a single paddle. I didn’t try much food however, some times I’m too cheap for my own good, but Venice is not wallet friendly, certainly making it not cruise ship musician friendly. It was for that same reason that I didn’t get on a gondola, though I toyed with the idea, the price was too high to take a friend and six musicians sitting in a gondola probably doesn’t capture the romantic spirit of the tradition…not even close. Regardless, it’s a beautiful place that you just have to see, maybe not specifically for the canals or bridges or buildings or people, but simply because it’s Venice. Thanks for reading and have a great one!
Venice
Yep, three days in Venice, not too bad right? Well, I’ll group them all into a single post.
I made it up to the bow for the sail-in around 11AM on the 12th for my first view of a city I’ve been eager to see since starting ships (woh, 4 “s” words with out even trying, I’m getting better at this). The scenery was everything you might imagine it to be, one huge ship traveling down a watery road, surrounded by what seems to be a floating city and dozens of little water taxis. Everything instantly projected a feeling of being somewhere a little different, something that was strictly Venice. We ported son after and I hurried off the ship with my tour entitled “Hidden Venice Walking Tour.” I figured a walking tour of the “hidden places” would be a good place to start seeing as I’d have no difficulty finding the popular places on my own. The tour left on a water taxi where we were then dropped off along side the Canal Grande in the western part of town to begin the walk. It was great being in such a famous city and the architecture and canal system didn’t disappoint. As we walked, I talked with an Italian escort assigned to the tour and took in what I could. 4 hours later, after a café stop, we made our way to a pier, got on our taxi and returned to the ship. The tour was ok, but come to think of it, I don’t feel like I found “hidden” Venice at all. Nothing about the tour was hidden, secretive, mysterious, undiscovered, or any other words you might associate hidden, including cool. But whatever, I saw some stuff, familiarized myself with parts of the city, and discovered hidden is a cruise ship euphemism for “understandably less popular tourist area.”
I wasn’t back at the ship for long, barely enough time to eat, before I was out again meeting up with the band in St. Marks. We had the night off and were planning to have a great late night experience in the town - I was excited. We met as planned, and after little discussion made our way to the first stop, a restaurant. Well, I had just eaten, so I dismissed myself and went wondering while they ate, planning to meet them later after dinner. I figured I had an hour, and armed with my detailed map of the city, set out for an exploration into my own hidden Venice. I returned about an hour later, no more, to find their table empty and totally cleared. I’d been ditched. Now, I’m sure my friends weren’t conspiring against me, and I assume they must have waited at least a few minutes for my return, but how they went through a three course meal in such little time is a complete mystery to me, so there I was, alone and disappointed at prospects of a wild and crazy night.
Venice closes down at night. Being primarily a tourist destination, and most tourists being grumpy old people with limited vision and mobility, almost all the streets completely clear out after 8PM. My hidden tour took me down streets packed with people (more proof of it’s un-hidden-ness), where as a few hours later, I could walk for 5 minutes without seeing a single person. In an attempt to find my group again, I walked to the two areas with people, the Rialto Bridge and St. Marks Square, both of which yielded no results after 2 hours of searching. Then I had a bright idea, why not forget my friends, go to the crew water taxi drop off point, and meet up with some other friends when they get dropped off. Within 20 minutes I had found my roommate, gotten a name of a jazz bar, and figured out I could wait for one more water taxi to catch up with some other friends following close behind. The evening ended up with me finding the jazz club (after great difficulty cause Gordon can’t read maps well), which was simply a jazz themed bar, but still cool, and then catching a 1AM water shuttle back to the ship. Maybe not so late of a night as expected, but as I said, everything was closed down, it just wasn’t in the cards.
As a small victory, however, I did find out that my friends who ditched me left only to head back to the ship after dinner. But what should have been a 15 minute walk to the shuttle resulted in over an hour of confused navigating, utter frustration, and a situation I was glad to be a part of. I, on the other hand, never got lost :)
Day two was walking day. After waking up late, I hurried off the ship to begin my own walking tour of Venice. This was approximately 5 hours of aggressive walking, covering almost the entire island, complimented with an ice cream cone and pizza slice along the way. It was great though, no one to slow me down, just me, a map, and an over ambitious desire to cover as much ground as humanly possible. My feet were pounding by the end of my quest, but I’ve probably gone over enough bridges and seen enough gondolas to last me the rest of my life. I walked back to the ship for a couple sets we were playing for a different band (so that they could have a night off) and that was the end of the day.
Day three consisted of a rehearsal at 11AM and a departure immediately following, meaning I got screwed out of a day. The original production cast has now left the ship, meaning the band is going to get hit with a bunch of rehearsals to help out the new group of singers and dancers, not my favorite scenario when the only reason I’m here is to see the ports. Unfortunately that’s about it for the 14th, however, I did spend the sail away running on a treadmill in the spa, meaning I had a front row seat 10 decks up as we sailed out of the archipelago…nice.
To sum up, Venice is an unbelievable city. The maze of canals and alleys (over 3000) is almost not navigable, as demonstrated by my friends, and commands your respect and appreciation for the culture of the city. The gondolas, though ubiquitous, never got old. I always enjoyed turning a corner and coming across an unexpected bridge being negotiated by a long black boat, always steered by an Italian man with a horizontally striped shirt and a single paddle. I didn’t try much food however, some times I’m too cheap for my own good, but Venice is not wallet friendly, certainly making it not cruise ship musician friendly. It was for that same reason that I didn’t get on a gondola, though I toyed with the idea, the price was too high to take a friend and six musicians sitting in a gondola probably doesn’t capture the romantic spirit of the tradition…not even close. Regardless, it’s a beautiful place that you just have to see, maybe not specifically for the canals or bridges or buildings or people, but simply because it’s Venice. Thanks for reading and have a great one!
Dubrovnik
August 11th
Dubrovnik, Croatia
I’ve been looking forward to today for a long time. Maybe not especially today, but certainly looking forward to Dubrovnik, which I’ve never heard a bad thing about. After switching out of my IPM duty, I was off the ship and ready to begin my Croatian outing.
The weather was, yet again, perfect - another 90 degree day, cloudless, and still more than welcomed after months at the North pole. I didn’t really have much of a plan for the day, but just to walk around and enjoy the city at my own pace. After a little walking, I soon found myself traveling toward the waterfront where I would be sure to get some great pictures. As one thing led to another, I was soon walking through a nice park and getting some amazing views. When I approached the end of the trail, I was greeted by a wall - apparently part of the fortifications that ran through the city area. In the center of the wall was an opening, obviously what used to be some sort of walkway through it, but had now been blocked with bricks and large stones. Me, being the untamable explorer that I am, wanted to know what was on the other side of the wall and why I was being kept from it, so I climbed it. After finding the right set of hand and foot holds, I was up the wall in no time looking at that which someone didn’t want me to see…pretty much nothing. After a series of jumps, I was on the ground on the other side, met by an overgrown forest area, an old set of stairs, and no obvious way out. It was about at that time that I looked down at my hand only to notice my fingers were covered in blood. I guess, in the process of climbing the wall, I slit the tip of my right middle finger and it was doing its best to let me know about it. Knowing how much fingers bleed, I figured the cut couldn’t be too bad and let it dry up as I continued exploring…unsuccessfully. The forest was relentless and wouldn’t let me pass, where as the old staircase led me to a cliff, another less than promising alternative. Then I found a cleared out area littered with glass bottles and beer cans, probably some teen hangout. This meant one of two things, either there was an easier way in to where I was that I just couldn’t find, or I’m a total pansy considering a bunch of teens, most likely drunk and high, are also able to climb this wall without over dramatizing it in a blog entry. Instead, I’ll argue for a third option: Croatians must be unbelievably agile in any physical/mental state…or were smart enough to bring a ladder. Regardless, the only remaining option was to go back the way I came, so defeated after 30 minutes of unfruitful curiosity, I prepared for my descent. As I stepped to the edge in order to ascertain another set of holds, I found the likely culprit to my now blood-encrusted finger, a tiny green shard of glass…jerk. I blew the glass out of the areas I was sure to be placing my hands and, with no abundance of grace, made my way back to the original trail. I was alive, though bleeding, but no longer trapped by my own ridiculous excursion. At that point I started walking back to the city where I’d be safe from, well, myself.
I spent the last part of my free time in the old part of town, a highly fortified area, almost like large castle, and gorgeous. The streets were lined with small stores and ice cream shops, interrupted only by the occasional thin alley way with an ascending staircase that didn’t seem to stop. I enjoyed my walk through the area, unharmed, got some green apple ice cream (recommendation from the girl at the stand), and made my way back to the ship to celebrate my successful escape from the city.
I think I was going to write more, but I got distracted (for 4 days) and now don’t remember how I was planning on finishing the entry. I know I had to get back to the ship for a rehearsal, and I’m pretty sure I remember the guest being really annoying and from Scotland. Anyways, there’s my day, the whole gruesome tale…or what I remember of it. Thanks!
Dubrovnik, Croatia
I’ve been looking forward to today for a long time. Maybe not especially today, but certainly looking forward to Dubrovnik, which I’ve never heard a bad thing about. After switching out of my IPM duty, I was off the ship and ready to begin my Croatian outing.
The weather was, yet again, perfect - another 90 degree day, cloudless, and still more than welcomed after months at the North pole. I didn’t really have much of a plan for the day, but just to walk around and enjoy the city at my own pace. After a little walking, I soon found myself traveling toward the waterfront where I would be sure to get some great pictures. As one thing led to another, I was soon walking through a nice park and getting some amazing views. When I approached the end of the trail, I was greeted by a wall - apparently part of the fortifications that ran through the city area. In the center of the wall was an opening, obviously what used to be some sort of walkway through it, but had now been blocked with bricks and large stones. Me, being the untamable explorer that I am, wanted to know what was on the other side of the wall and why I was being kept from it, so I climbed it. After finding the right set of hand and foot holds, I was up the wall in no time looking at that which someone didn’t want me to see…pretty much nothing. After a series of jumps, I was on the ground on the other side, met by an overgrown forest area, an old set of stairs, and no obvious way out. It was about at that time that I looked down at my hand only to notice my fingers were covered in blood. I guess, in the process of climbing the wall, I slit the tip of my right middle finger and it was doing its best to let me know about it. Knowing how much fingers bleed, I figured the cut couldn’t be too bad and let it dry up as I continued exploring…unsuccessfully. The forest was relentless and wouldn’t let me pass, where as the old staircase led me to a cliff, another less than promising alternative. Then I found a cleared out area littered with glass bottles and beer cans, probably some teen hangout. This meant one of two things, either there was an easier way in to where I was that I just couldn’t find, or I’m a total pansy considering a bunch of teens, most likely drunk and high, are also able to climb this wall without over dramatizing it in a blog entry. Instead, I’ll argue for a third option: Croatians must be unbelievably agile in any physical/mental state…or were smart enough to bring a ladder. Regardless, the only remaining option was to go back the way I came, so defeated after 30 minutes of unfruitful curiosity, I prepared for my descent. As I stepped to the edge in order to ascertain another set of holds, I found the likely culprit to my now blood-encrusted finger, a tiny green shard of glass…jerk. I blew the glass out of the areas I was sure to be placing my hands and, with no abundance of grace, made my way back to the original trail. I was alive, though bleeding, but no longer trapped by my own ridiculous excursion. At that point I started walking back to the city where I’d be safe from, well, myself.
I spent the last part of my free time in the old part of town, a highly fortified area, almost like large castle, and gorgeous. The streets were lined with small stores and ice cream shops, interrupted only by the occasional thin alley way with an ascending staircase that didn’t seem to stop. I enjoyed my walk through the area, unharmed, got some green apple ice cream (recommendation from the girl at the stand), and made my way back to the ship to celebrate my successful escape from the city.
I think I was going to write more, but I got distracted (for 4 days) and now don’t remember how I was planning on finishing the entry. I know I had to get back to the ship for a rehearsal, and I’m pretty sure I remember the guest being really annoying and from Scotland. Anyways, there’s my day, the whole gruesome tale…or what I remember of it. Thanks!
Corfu
August 10th
Corfu, Greece
Today was my first visit to Greece, which I guess makes it important. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to write back about. I took a shuttle into the city and walked around in the 95 degree weather for a few hours. The city was beautiful, usual Mediterranean style buildings, and the streets were packed with souvenir shops. Apparently, Corfu, if not all of Greece, has a strange love affair with cumquats. I have no idea why, but you couldn’t go a block without passing multiple cumquat retailers selling either cumquat liquor or candied cumquat, more cumquat than you’d ever know what to do with. And the worst part was that it didn’t even taste all that good, not to mention the candied cumquats left an interesting slime on your fingers (I’ll leave any inappropriate jokes up to you)… I did get lunch with some friends though, and that was nice. I had a pork gyro (as if I had a choice in Greece), while my other friends picked up a stuffed pepper and a Greek salad topped with a huge slice of feta cheese. We also ordered saginaki (the fried cheese they set on fire at The Village Squire, but not here) and some odd caviar paste, which was bright pink in color, and served as a dip for our fresh pita bread. I didn’t appreciate the glowing fish egg dip, but everything else was just great, and made better simply by sitting outside in a Greek city. I was quickly running out of time though and headed back to the ship for my usual rehearsal and shows.
That night I had a small cheese and wine party with two of my friends, for which I brought the Italian wine. Ben, the band cheese connoisseur, obviously brought the cheese and gave explanations and names I can’t quite remember. But regardless off my ignorance for high end dairy products, it was a nice evening all the same. Thanks for reading!
Corfu, Greece
Today was my first visit to Greece, which I guess makes it important. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to write back about. I took a shuttle into the city and walked around in the 95 degree weather for a few hours. The city was beautiful, usual Mediterranean style buildings, and the streets were packed with souvenir shops. Apparently, Corfu, if not all of Greece, has a strange love affair with cumquats. I have no idea why, but you couldn’t go a block without passing multiple cumquat retailers selling either cumquat liquor or candied cumquat, more cumquat than you’d ever know what to do with. And the worst part was that it didn’t even taste all that good, not to mention the candied cumquats left an interesting slime on your fingers (I’ll leave any inappropriate jokes up to you)… I did get lunch with some friends though, and that was nice. I had a pork gyro (as if I had a choice in Greece), while my other friends picked up a stuffed pepper and a Greek salad topped with a huge slice of feta cheese. We also ordered saginaki (the fried cheese they set on fire at The Village Squire, but not here) and some odd caviar paste, which was bright pink in color, and served as a dip for our fresh pita bread. I didn’t appreciate the glowing fish egg dip, but everything else was just great, and made better simply by sitting outside in a Greek city. I was quickly running out of time though and headed back to the ship for my usual rehearsal and shows.
That night I had a small cheese and wine party with two of my friends, for which I brought the Italian wine. Ben, the band cheese connoisseur, obviously brought the cheese and gave explanations and names I can’t quite remember. But regardless off my ignorance for high end dairy products, it was a nice evening all the same. Thanks for reading!
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