Thursday, April 22, 2010

Madeira

April 7th
Madeira

Well, today didn’t go quite as planned. We ended up getting into the port an hour later than scheduled do to some mix up with the port authorities, meaning early morning tours like the one I was on get rescheduled on the fly. Seeing as I’d woken up really early for the tour, only to find we weren’t actually in port yet, I ate a quick breakfast only to return to my room and lay back down while I waited for my tour. I waited a half hour till 9:00am, and we hadn’t yet docked, so I went back to the room. I waited another half hour and went up again, however we still weren’t being allowed off the ship. I went back down stairs for what was another 20 minutes, returned to find the gangway open, and went outside to find my tour bus. The first thing I like to do is check in with the tour ladies, make sure everything is OK, especially on a confusing day like this. So I tried to do so, and the one I tried to talk to was running around like mad, with good reason, and while I stood their waiting for her to free up for a moment, my bus had decided to leave. It was literally driving away next to me when she came back to ask what I wanted and it was too late to stop them. So unfortunately, no tour for today. And what’s even worse is that this was the tobogganing tour where you descend the mountain by being slid down the roads on a wicker bench on wood skis. It’s unique to the island, I’ve tried to get on the tour ever since my first visit there a couple years ago, and it looks as if I’ll have to wait another indefinite amount of time to take go on the tour that just hasn’t been meant to be.
So I returned to the ship and took part in the training session I wasn’t supposed to be missing. That was followed by some practicing as I waited for one of my friend to come back from tour, when I figured we’d get off the ship again.
A few hours later and I was off the ship with John and Jukka (the bassist) getting lunch at some restaurant along side the marina, the Portuguese specialty, pizza. Then we made our way into the city to find the flower and fruit market, something that I vividly remember from past visits to the city, and a place that I really wanted to revisit. The end result was me buying a few bottles of wine from a specialty shop in the market, two bottles of cheap stuff for a wine and cheese party John and I were going to throw for the tour ladies (as a sort of bribe to get better tours), and then one more expensive bottle for me to do who knows what with at a later date. Wine in hand, we all made our way back through the city looking to a shopping center for some food, stopped for a quick coffee, and then went back to the ship for dinner.
I was excited for tonight though because not only did I have the night off, but we had a late sail from Madeira, meaning we didn’t have to be back on the ship till 11:30! So after dinner, my trio got off the ship again in search for a decent bar to hang out at and in search of the band. We had an idea where the band would be eating, so we walked in that direction, only to serendipitously wander by the restaurant where they were at where they were just paying for the bill, perfect. We let them finish up, and after discussing that there didn’t appear to be much open on the walk over, we decided to go to the tiny bar next to the restaurant where they had the football (soccer in the states) game playing. It was apparently a big match going on for the champions cup, which is huge in Europe, unheard of in the US. And that was it, we stayed at this tiny bar the entire time, six of us in total, and there was barely enough room for any one else. But it was the perfect place to hang, no one was really there, it was local and intimate, and a round of drinks cost 6 euro…or about 8 dollars. That’s for 6 people! So apparently, all the drinks were a euro, including my house wine, which you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere in the states for about a dollar (yeah mom, I’m sure you’re jealous).
We left when it was getting close to our departure time and caught the shuttle back to the ship, and that was about it for the night. It was a nice night in the city, nothing to exciting or wild, maybe not entirely what I had in mind, but we happened to find a decent place and stick with it, something that experience has shown me doesn’t always happen. So all in all, a nice day despite the confusion at the start. Now it’s three sea days to England and the beginning of my final cruise, thanks!

Sea Days

April 2nd-6th
Sea Days

Five straight sea days stood between Barbados and our next port of Madeira. Here’s what I did every day:

9:30 – Wake up, shower, breakfast
12:00 – Practice till Lunch
4:00 – Lunch
5:00 – Rehearsal
6:30 – Gym (every other day)
8:00 – Dinner
8:30/10:30 – Shows
11:30 – Go online, and then back to the room for the rest of the night

The schedule didn’t really change, nothing really exciting happened, and I don’t have anything else to tell you about these 5 days. It’ll be nice to be on land tomorrow, I’m scheduled for the one tour I never had the opportunity to do on my other visits, so I’m hoping to have more to tell you than an hour by hour schedule of my day – thanks!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Late in posting

Hey Everyone

I've been a little lazy in getting these online, so I'll just update till April. My last post was April 19th, so this gives you about 2 weeks to catch up with, and I'll post the other ones in a few days while I'm stuck in england waiting for a volcano to shut it's pie hole. Seeya!!

Barbados

April 1st
Barbados

Much better day today! I started out the morning with a quick walk into town and back, nothing really bit a time waster. I was able to stop by a fish market where the local fisherman and merchants were selling/cleaning their catch, which was pretty cool to see in the setting it was in. There was just so much fish everywhere, it’s amazing that there’s such a demand for it. But after 90 minutes or so, I was back at the ship getting ready for my tour where I was scheduled to swim with the turtles!
The tour left around 1, where myself and about 40-50 others were driven to a large catamaran sailboat. We left the pier and made our way along the shore to our first stop, about 100 yards off the coast, where the crew started throwing pieces of fish into the water to bring out the turtles. After a quick explanation of how the snorkel gear worked and how to get on and off the ship, I was in the water pretending I was in Finding Nemo!
There were maybe 3 or 4 turtles swimming around that the crew were able to lure over with their bate. They were all unbelievable to see swimming in their natural environment. And the best part of it all was that no one in my group was actually a strong swimmer, so while they all floated at the top with their required inflatable life jackets, I squeezed all the air out of mine and was able to dive down and actually swim along side the turtles, grab the shell, and not have to wait for them to come to me. My only concern was to make sure that when I needed to go up for air, that I didn’t find myself surfacing directly under one of the many over-inflated fleshy balloons that were splashing around on the surface. We weren’t in the water too long, maybe 20 minutes, before we had to get back on the boat and sail to the next point, but I wished I could have stayed all day.
The next stop just had a lot of fish, a wrecked barge, and a small reef to look at. Again, people managed to just swim along the surface, while I was the only one able to free dive down the 15-20 feet to actually check out what they had brought us to see. And despite there being no turtles here, it was still a nice stop that I can’t imagine any passenger could be upset about.
Then it was back to the ship to sail back to the port, at which time the rum was opened and I had one too many rum punches (making a whopping total of 2 rum punches). It was a gorgeous sail back, the sun was out the entire time and it was a perfect temperature, exactly what you’d hope the Caribbean would be.
Back at the ship I went to rehearsal a little happier than usual, and then played the usual two shows that night.
All in all, one of my favorite days ever in the Caribbean, a great tour, and it made the entire 5 days worth it, even if I wasn’t able to take advantage of every island. And I managed to not get sun burnt too badly, it wasn’t until later that night that I noticed the clearly defined red patches on my back that were just barely out of reach when I was putting on sun block…where’s Mom when you really need her? Now it’s 5 days to Madeira, which I’m sure are going to be little more than a lot of water and a lot of practicing. As always, thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to being home in just over 2 weeks!

St Vincent

March 31st
St. Vincent

Unfortunately, I don’t have all that much to write about today. I was signed up for a nature hike tour, but failed to get excused from the boat drill that was scheduled for today, meaning I couldn’t go on the tour because I was preoccupied standing outside an elevator with a life jacket on. Honestly, I have no one to blame but myself for not trying to get excused earlier, but missing something that seemed really fun for something that is the opposite of fun and exciting has it’s way of bringing the entire day down.
When I was able, I got off the ship for a quick walk around the town, looking at some of the street markets where everyone seemed to be selling the exact same collection of produce. It was just another Caribbean city though, dirty, nothing really to do, and always making you feel just a little more on-guard than usual. There’s really nothing to do in most of the cities unless you go on a tour or go exploring with friends, and with me being in a bad mood from the morning, after 90 minutes of walking I was back on the ship with no further desire to see the city.
But at least I had a fun show that night with a few good jazz sax solos to play. The singer, however, had been given the wrong name and continued to introduce me not as Mike Potts, but as Mike Cotton, which all things considered, is a pretty good jazz saxophonist name. So if anything, I at least picked up a new stage name today! And that’s about it, thanks!

Grenada

March 30th
Grenada

We were actually scheduled to be in Grenada for the 31st, but due to a double booking for the pier, we switched this stop with St Vincent, where we’ll be tomorrow. The original plan for Grenada was to go SCUBA diving, but our organizer had some emergency come up and our trip didn’t happen, which was a drag, and seeing as I didn’t sign up for a tour because of the planned dive, I was out of luck for the day. So instead, I just got off the ship and walked around the city, half heartedly looking for internet.
At one point, I was approached by a local who was curious as to where I was walking, mentioned a fort, and then suddenly became my tour guide as he walked me towards a fort. I knew from the beginning it was his way of trying to get a tip, and he was actually doing a decent job of pointing out historical markers, so I just went along with it for a while. But he took me into the fort, showed me the tunnels (which was slightly risky…me and some local alone in a dark tunnel…yeah, great idea), and he explained the history. As we went on I did decide that I’d give him some money, something I usually don’t do for these people who force tours upon you, but after finding two 20’s and a single in my wallet, I gave him a buck, apologized for not having smaller bills, and took a different route back into the city so that I wouldn’t run into him again and have him ask me to break my larger bills.
I went back to the terminal, went online for the next couple hours, and then returned to the ship. The show that night was for Jan Lesley, a jazz/big band type singer who has a nice show for the band to play. The charts are fun, a lot of features, and lucky for me, a couple sax solos! The highlight of the show though, was that the name she had for me was wrong, so instead of being Mike Potts playing the sax solos, I was suddenly Mike Cotton on Tenor Sax, which all things considered, is a pretty good jazz sax stage name. No one knows where Cotton came from, but I now have a legitimate stage name. But the shows went well, Jan bought the band drinks afterwards, and we had a good laugh over my new surname. And that’s all, thanks for reading!

St Lucia

March 29th
St. Lucia

Another tour today, however it was not one that I had originally requested. I like to go for the fun active ones, like bike riding, but supposedly those had all been filled and I was left with a run tasting tour…whatever – I’ll take it!
I left the ship early that morning and we made our way to a distillery where we were shown where and how the island makes their world famous rum. I didn’t really get a lot out of the how’s of the process, but I did try to take advantage of the sampling after the presentation, where they had 20 different types of rum products for us to try. I had their usual rum, along with a great peanut flavored rum, and a 160 proof rum! And in case you were unaware, 160 proof is equal to 80% alcohol…which trust me, is hard to swallow. So I “cultured” myself there for a while before returning to the bus to go to all our other destinations, which paled in comparison. There were some lookouts and art studios we went to, but I don’t think half the passengers could be bothered with it after the rum stop. It really wasn’t a strong tour, and the island doesn’t have a ton to offer, but I did get to try something new today. And just for the record, I did not get drunk…though I did need to lay down for a minute as soon as I got back to the ship…oops. And the show that night went fine, despite some of the passengers concerns for my playing as we left the distillery.
And that’s it for the day, 2 islands down, 3 to go, thanks!

St. Kitts

March 28th
St. Kitts

I was excited for today, not only because it was our first Caribbean port after a lot of sea days, but because I was signed up for a tour. I’d gotten on good terms with the tour people and was on the escorting list, and had been set up with a bike tour of the island today, which went really well!
The tour escorting works the same as all the other ships, I simply hang out with the tour and make sure nothing bad happens, and in return get to do expensive tours totally free. This was a mountain biking tour that covered about 12 miles over the course of 3-4 hours, which considering the age group of the passengers on the ship, I was curious to see who actually was brave enough to sign up, of which there were six, five of which were in good condition for a bike tour. I can’t say the same about the 60 year old obese man that tried to keep up.
The bikes we were given were proper mountain bikes, the nicest I’ve ever seen on this type of tour, which was a nice surprise. We rode around the island with a guide on a bike and a chase truck incase anything happened and to help control traffic at intersections. The highlights of the tour for me were probably the old sugar factories we saw and riding through the sugar cane fields. The guide was great at explaining the history of the island and how sugar cane was key in that role, and being able to bike from place to place was great (for the majority of us). The bigger gentleman was able to keep up, but at the slow pace we were going, it’d be hard not to. I was slightly worried about whether or not he’d actually be able to complete the tour, but the guide really didn’t take us up any terrible hills, except one...
We were given an option half way through the tour of either climbing a really steep, long hill on our bikes, or getting a ride in the truck to the top to see the lookout planned on the itinerary. 5 of the 6 people thought they could take on the hill despite the warnings from our guide. Maybe one of the 5 made it half way, and even myself, who’s been on an exercise routine this contract, failed to reach the top without getting off the bike (however, I did get within 50 yards, then my legs failed and I basically fell of the bike). But after a couple hours of excruciatingly slow bike riding, it was nice to get a challenge thrown at me, despite the hit to my pride at not making it all the way without dismounting once. The lookout was nice, and after a brief recovery period, the group rode back down the hill, which put into perspective what we’d just tried to accomplish, and we made our way to a beach where we were given local fruits, a guava drink, real sugar cane, and time to go swimming. The sugar cane was great, and being a cane, you simply crush the cane between your teeth and drink the juices without actually eating the cane. It was one of those local cultural things I really like about getting on a good tour. We hung out there for a while before riding back to the ship, where we were each given a beer by the tour guide, which was really nice after a hot day on the bikes.
All in all, it was a great tour, the overweight man somehow managed to not die and ruin my day as tour escort, and we all had a great time. I finished up the day in port by walking through the city and trying to find some internet, where I did manage to get a weak signal and attempt a skype call back into the states. Then it was back to the ship for the usual couple shows that night.
But it’s great to be back on land doing tours! I’m hoping for a few more great ones this cruise! Thanks for reading!

At Sea

March 24th-27th
At Sea

Nothing to write home about, just four sea days where I spent the majority of my time practicing. The crossing couldn’t have been nicer, the ocean was as close to flat as anyone could expect for four consecutive days. Otherwise, I really don’t have anything else to write about, thanks!

Ponta Delgada

March 23rd
Ponta Delgada

Don’t worry, I didn’t go swimming today. Instead, I got off the ship with the same group of photographers in the hopes of getting a cab to the top of a mountain, but we had a late arrival with a regular departure time, meaning I had 3 hours in port, not enough time to get where I wanted. Instead, I grabbed a quick lunch in town and then headed out with my group to a military fort that had a decent museum set up, granted all the displays were written in Portuguese, but it’s always cool to look at big guns and cannonballs, right? So I wandered around the museum for a while, making sure not to get myself in too much trouble because it was still an active base with military personnel doing whatever the Portuguese Military does.
That was followed by a trip to the supermarket where I bought some wine, some cheese I know nothing about, a strange circular hard bread thing, and two beautiful boxes of Oreos. I don’t even really eat Oreos, but it just seemed too good to pass up at the time.
I then came back to the ship to restock my refrigerator, rehearsal, gym, and shows. Now it’s 4 days to the sunny Caribbean – thanks for reading!