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
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