Susie's Meanderings

A month's worth of Pictures

Knowing I would be in Kusadasi, where my laptop can once again be in glorious contact with the internet, I sorted through my pictures from the last month and tried to choose the best one from each port ( and one of me, due to special request from Tracey) , so here they are......

                   &

and my apologies for the weird spacing on the pictures, it's too hot and sleepy today for me to sort it out.

Santorini

Life has become crazy busy - all new itinerary, so there's lots of sightseeing to be done. Santorini, of course, is glorious, and I think I've filled an entire card with pictures today. A few stuffed vine leaves and fried cheese for lunch, followed by greek yogurt and honey for dessert (indescribably good), and lo and behold, an internet cafe. We've finished our one sea day for the cruise, so it's nothing but a few afternoon classes left for the next 9 days. On the other hand, the next cruise will have 8 whole sea days, so there is balance in all things.

Naples

I have a friend visiting me now, so it's back to sightseeing and goodbye to the free and easy days of beer and pizza in Naples (mind you, we did split a bottle of wine with lunch, so if my spelling is a little off today, blame it on the Italian keyboard in the internet cafe). This morning we squeezed onto a completely full bus to get on the train which took us directly to Herculaneum (the bus was free because we couldn't get to the driver to pay him, the train was 3 euros, and museum entry was free today), and we stopped on our way into Herculaneum for espresso and sfogliatelle because there was an irresitible bakery 25 yards from the entrance with the nicest old man selling them...and it occurred to me that the opportunities for snacks amongst the roman ruins were going to be scarce, and well, 3 hours of ruins can make me grumpy at the best of times (and these were very good ruins). Back to Naples, where, well we didn't have the best pizza in the world, because that restaurant is closed, it being Sunday, but we did well for ourselves...now on to coffee, and then, yikes, I have to work for two hours.

Malta ...

...Home of bad coffee and maimed animals. Actually, that's not entirely fair. I did have two of the worst cups of coffee in my life in Malta (who knew they made instant espresso?) and some pretty pedestrian food (think English food 15 years ago). And I saw a pigeon with cauliflower ear and a lame dog, but most of the other animals were pretty healthy.
Malta itself was glorious - it looked like a movie set. Sort of like I thought Casablanca should have looked but didn't. Everything was closed for the "feast day", so the streets were very quiet, but eventually we worked our way to the top of the hill and found a nice place overlooking the bay where we could have coffee (instant cappucino this time) and Maltese Honey Cake (sort of like a hot, dry Fig Newton, baked into a ring), and eventually I broke down and had a local beer - Hop Leaf - which was really very, very good, and redeemed Malta utterly in my eyes.

One Year Anniversary

Today marks an entire year since I joined my first ship. In some ways it seems like a really long year. I've done so much and seen so many new places it feels like I've crammed a lifetime into the last year. On the other hand, it's flown by. Fittingly, today is a sea day, and I spent the whole day teaching excel and photoshop. I gritted my teeth and appeared on the morning show yesterday in an effort to sell some classes, and the passengers were beating down the doors to get into class today. Formal night tonight, but I'm wondering if I can get away with sneaking up to the buffet in my street clothes for dinner. I need to save my energy for the 80's party up in the crew bar tonight.

Cannes

It's just one new port after another this week. Cannes was really lovely, it didn't hurt that we had perfect weather for it either. Sadly for my friends who wished to buy shoes , it was Sunday and all the shops were closed, but everyone was out eating in full force today. We found a lovely little cafe along the promenade (and I went to check out the food on fellow crew member's plates before deciding to eat there) and I had quite possibly the best croque monsieur ever. Tender, bubbling with cheese, crispy brown top, good flavor; all accompanied by a side salad of mixed greens (no iceburg lettuce here). Unfortunately, their dessert menu was a pedestrian mix of sundaes, so we were forced to walk down the road to the Haagen Dazs, and eat our ice cream on the beach. Somehow, I made the entire day in France and never got a coffee. I didn't realize it until I was back on the ship, and I was very sad to have missed my espresso. Another long sea day tomorrow, and then Malta. I wonder if they have good coffee.

Gibraltar, Dolphins and Sunset

Another brand new port today. I can't say it ever particularly occurred to me that I might like to visit Gibraltar, but it is quite stunning. Very much like England, only warm and sunny. Went ashore with some friends who were a little short on time, so we more or less jogged all the way from the ship to the cable cars (about 45 mins), took the cable cars up to the top of the rock, took pictures of the monkeys, pictures of Spain, pictures of Africa, then more pictures of the monkeys after they stole a bag of potato chips. Cable cars back down (brings new meaning to the word vertiginous when you're standing in the very front). Jogged back through town (this time we were late to meet someone for lunch), shopped round Marks and Spencer, had a nice pub lunch out on a sunny sidewalk, then hiked round to Safeway, where I stocked up on English food. (Ginger beer, Ribena, Jaffa Cakes). Life is good. We had a spectacular sailaway, sailing almost all the way around Gibraltar, and for part of it, we were accompanied by dolphins and turtles. Mind you, they weren't as nice as yesterday's dolphins, who showed up in vast schools and had the good sense to show themselves off in a glorious orange sunset.

Casablanca

A brand new port today, and I must say, Casablanca was everything everyone said it would be - sort of decrepit, dingy and not much to recommend it. On the other hand, it is in Morocco, and I've never been there before, so it was still very exciting. Went ashore with a group of six, and we all crammed into one taxi to go to the market, then wandered around until we found the fruit and vegetable market (which was really lovely, a little more local and less tourist driven) where I bought a little wooden camel and a bowl which will serve as my Moroccan souvenirs (for $4), I am deeply ashamed to report we ate at McDonald's (but I have a great picture of the McDonald's billboard in Arabic, which I shall post at the first opportunity), but it did look better than the stack of fried things coated in exhaust that were for sale on the street corner. Back to the Bazaar then, which was very similar to Turkey - lots of leather coats, fake Louis Vuitton, and cheap clothes. My friend described it as like being in a haunted house, the minute we looked at something, a salesman would materialize and then follow us through the twisting turning paths of the Bazaar. By the end we had quite a crowd.

Tapas and Pictures

Went out last night in Barcelona for amazing tapas and beer. It's such a lovely city for sitting out at night. And best of all we missed the big fat rain storm that has made for a lovely cool day today. Anyway, here are some pictures from Capri....

Barcelona Again

Back in one of my favorite ports. I can´t say that I´ve done much useful (in fact, I´m ashamed to admit that I allowed my friends to drag me to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch), but at least I´m awake, and that´s a refreshing change. Tomorrow we start a run of brand new ports, Malta, Casablanca, Corfu, and I can´t remember where else, but it´s all new places to me, so I¨m getting the camera charged up and emptied out. Well, it seems a shame to sit in a dark underground internet cafe when I could be out on Las Ramblas, so that´s me for today. Tomorrow I´m bringing the laptop back, so if I´m really organized, I´ll get some pictures up.

Still Napping

It's the end of the first cruise, and I seem to have slept the majority of it away. On the other hand, I got ashore for Chinese food in Livorno - I realized I have no idea what I'm ordering when I order Chinese in Italian - all the names are different - there's no "Happy Family" or "General Tso's whatever", it's all "meat in spicy sauce", so it was a bit of an adventure. I settled for the "tavola calda", which was all the deep fried appetizers they serve. It wasn't bad really, though I'm told there's even better Chinese food in Santorini. The highlight of the afternoon was devouring "hungry hippos" - sort of hazelnut frosting filled cookies shaped like hippos - with the dancers on the bus back to the ship. The label claims they're a good source of calcium, so I bought a box of them.

Narcolepsy in Civitavecchia

So here's what I did yesterday....
10 - 10:30 breakfast
10:30 - 12:30 ashore for internet and coffee
12:30 - 2:00 running and weights
2:00- 4:00 lunch and lying by the pool
4:00-6:00 nap (to recover from my busy day)
6:15 - get proof from printer and approve it
6:20-7:15 nap
7:30-9:00 dinner
9:00-9:15 wandering the open decks
9:15 to midnight - nap in front of the tv
midnight - bedtime

But today will be much busier. I'm scheduled to work two hours this evening, which will cut out the post-dinner nap.

Capri

Had a glorious day in Capri today. Up at the crack of dawn (8:00) to catch the hydrofoil, then we splashed out on a convertible taxi (with cloth awning -pictures to follow someday) to take us up to Anacapri, where we took the chairlift 12 minutes up to the very tippy top of the Island. There's a lovely little cafe there furnished with deck chairs, porch swings and beer where we spent a comfortable hour or so soaking in the view (and beer). Rode the chairs back down (nowhere near as terrifying as anticipated), had an amazing lunch in a tiny little hidden garden Trattoria, then convertible taxi back down the hill, cappucino on the dock, and hydrofoil home. I love my job.

High Seas

It's coming to my attention that September is the ideal time to be in the Med. Most of the tourists are gone, prices are dropping (no more $15 coffees in the Piazza San Marco) and the weather is glorious. Yesterday in Athens (a name synonymous with horrific oppressive heat) we had lovely light sun and a brisk cool breeze - though apparently it was quite blustery up by the Acropolis. The sea is rough enough now that I'm having to choose between my fear of Norwalk and my fear of breaking my neck walking up and down the stairs. I've found I've become remarkably proficient at mincing up the stairs in high heels without touching the germy railing while the ship pitches back and forth. Not sure where that skill will help me in real life, but it entertains me now.

Gmail

Oh, and by the by - I have 6 gmail invites, if anyone's interested. It may take me a couple days to get them out, but let me know if you want one. Oh, and here's what marshmallows look like when they're toasted in the toaster oven with chocolate chips.

Back on the Star

My apologies for the lack of postings for the past few days. Apparently hurricane Frances has a farther reach than I imagined, as our sattelite connection has been down for the last three days on the ship. It's nice coming back to a place where I know everyone - that makes the rest of my job so much easier. This time I have a lovely cabin right up across from the bridge, which means that when I lose my keys, almost anyone walking by can let me into my cabin, since they all have pass keys. Who needs a cabin steward when the Captain is right there?
We're back in Kusadasi today, so it's shopping and visiting the rug guy and basking in the sun for me. Athens tomorrow.