June 28, 2004
Naples
I can't really comment much on Naples, as I rolled out of bed at 10.30 and followed my companions to the internet place. Now that I'm here, I find I have no emails and nothing to do, so at least I have the leisure to write. Everyone's heart is set on going to McDonald's for lunch, but after three years of straight McDonalds at BMGF, I find it's really lost its appeal. I'm sorely hoping for pizza instead. Anyway, it's hot a crowded here, but not without charm. Last time I was here I found a restaurant that specialized in buffalo cheese, called, loosely translated, The Buffalo Brothers. Very tasty.
June 27, 2004
Louie and Bob Detained
Apparently, stuffed bears are not welcome at the Acropolis. My friend Laura and I were happily setting Louie and Bob up for the de riguer shot on the steps of the Acropolis when a guard walked up and peremptorily removed them, said something more or less incomprehensible of which I caught "that blonde lady up there" and walked off with the bears to keep them in the custody of said blonde lady until such time as we were leaving. At any rate, they got to see much more interesting parts of the Acropolis than we did, since they got to go behind the wires and sit in the part where tourists are not allowed. The boys were so distraught that we had to take them right to the nearest cafe for a Mythos beer (pictures to follow soon) and a greek salad.
June 25, 2004
Louie in Venice
The one of Louie and Bob in the gondola is shamelessly photoshopped, the closes Louie got to a gondola was 20 feet, and I don't think they make little gondolier hats in bear sizes, but it was irresistible. However, the one of Louie feeding the pigeons is all real. For those of you wondering, he is going to have a bath before he sleeps with me again.
June 17, 2004
Pictures!
Here's a selection from this cruise. Capri, Toscania, and Athens. Lest any of you are under the mistaken impression that this job is all work and no play.
-thumb.jpg)
June 14, 2004
The fields are bleeding from the poppies..
My last two days have been spent escorting shore excursions, which, while I'm not a big fan of bus tours, has its own entertainment value. Our guide today, for instance, had a very poetic command of english, in that he spoke in fantastic metaphors, and had the most amazing vocabulary, but he put the words together in Italian order, which made him almost completely incomprehensible. I found it utterly charming. Anyway, yesterday was Capri - which was breathtakingly beautiful (though full of tour groups puffing up and down the hills), and today was the countryside and olive oil tasting. We also saw the crypt where Zeferrelli filmed the death of Romeo and Juliet, which was a total surprise, (and lovely - filled with almost untouched frescoes). I don't think most people understood that's what we were seeing, since what the guide seemed to be saying was "this is where Juliet died", but I gleaned from his later comments that what he meant is "Romeo and Juliet was filmed here". Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon. Now, after a week of almost no work at all, the group of sea days is looming its ugly head, and once again I shall have to work for a living.
June 12, 2004
Livorno Revisited
I must say, Livorno is a little perkier on a Saturday. I went ashore today in determined pursuit of a duvet (as the bedspread in my current cabin, while perfectly adequate, doesn't quite offer the downy coming homeness of a duvet), and with the help of Frankie (who is not afraid to ask in fractured Italian where we could find something that we cannot describe accurately even in English) we discovered that "the sort of thing you want does not exist in Italy" unless I go to Ikea, since that's a Swedish company, where the nights are cold, and one might be expected to want such a thing. So tomorrow, if I don't get the tour to Capri on the hydrofoil that, we are warned, might induce seasickness on the faint of stomach, I'm determined to hunt down the Ikea in Naples, so I can sleep in comfort once again.
June 08, 2004
Barcelona
I canīt claim to have seen much of Barcelona. I walked down La Rambla until I found an internet cafe, and have been buried there ever since. Itīs so refreshing to have a fast connection. Mind you, itīs exhausting coming up with a third language in as many days. My brain is awash with Italian and French, and now I have to come up with Spanish. Yesterday in Monte Carlo I kept asking directions to "the door of Monaco" instead of "the port of Monaco". Sigh. Iīm sure I will adjust. We have three days here, after which I intend to be speaking like a native (a two year old native maybe).
June 07, 2004
Monte Carlo and Fairy Hills
Beautiful sunny day in Monte Carlo today - and I went and did all the important tourist things in the morning, then went about finding the grocery store, which is hidden under the cliffs. One walks around until one finds an elevator marked "Public Elevator" with a tiny little MacDonald's sign on it that is buried in the side of the cliff. The mysterious Fairy Elevator only goes down, and you arrive in a blank tunnel, which leads to this marvellous shopping mall and grocery store, with lovely terraces and waterfalls. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can walk back to the ship, however, without going back up through the elevator, or you will discover you are on the wrong side of the cliff.
June 06, 2004
The Grouchy Chef cooks Again
First of all, because I love this restaurant and think it should be supported, I'm delighted to say I have it on good authority that it will be reopening in its old location in Mukilteo on June 7th. If you ever get up there, make it a point to stop in. The food is amazing.
Also, I think it provides an interesting comment on blogs. The reason I know my favorite restaurant is open again is that two complete strangers read my earlier posts about it (I'd link back, but time is limited here on the ship) and commented to let me know it would be opening again. So while I'm here in the middle of the ocean, I can still get news from back home. I hear there's some great new stuff on the menu.
Sleepy Sunday in Livorno
A little effort today would have gotten me to Pisa, a great deal of effort to Florence, but I was feeling lazy, so I contented myself with an afternoon stroll around the deserted streets of Livorno. Everything was closed with no sign of habitation aside from hundreds of hot and sleepy pigeons, but a city so quiet has its own charms. The Deputy Cruise Director (Frankie) and I wandered aimlessly down the middle of what should have been busy roads, only occasionally having to move aside for a speeding moped. It would have passed for a ghost town except for the odd cafe wafting out aromas of espresso. Tomorrow is Monte Carlo, where I'm hoping for an internet cafe, but research into the matter doesn't make me very hopeful.
June 04, 2004
Vacation Time
All my sea days are behind me now, and I have 4 days ahead of me where the passengers will go ashore and exhaust themselves seeing Pompeii, all of Rome, Florence and Monte Carlo, and by all accounts will be too tired even to make it to the shows, much less come to classes about PowerPoint, so my time is more or less my own (aside from some private lessons with some determined passengers). Today finds me in Naples, which looks charming from the ship, woke to see what I can only assume is Mt Vesuvius on the web cam. Now ashore for a decent cappuccino and a little shopping.
June 01, 2004
Kusadasi
Today finds me in a brand new port in a country I've never been to before. Life is good. I'm in a hot humid internet cafe with the most fantastic view of the harbor and the ship, not to mention the rest of Kusadasi. To get here I had to climb up a dark, narrow spiral staircase, past a phalanx of jewelry salespeople, but it was worth it for the view alone. Next week, perhaps, I'll make it to Ephesus. Incidentally, MSN messenger is a whole new challenge in Turkish.