Susie's Meanderings

Last Day

Well, my bags are mostly packed, my worldly goods distributed amongst my friends (you'd be amazed how hard it is to give away a DVD player on the ship), and I'm headed out for one last day on the beach before returning to winter. All my ship friends are convinced I'll come back for another contract... it remains to be seen. Meanwhile, I have three glorious days of vacation ahead of me before I fly home.

Last St Thomas

It's always the way that just when I get really comfortable on a ship, it's time to leave. Yesterday my cabin steward (without my even having to ask) packed up my comforter set for me, so that I could mail it home today. This morning I trotted out to the convenient dockside post office, bought a box, trotted back to the ship, boxed it all up and had it mailed home before 10:00 am, which left me plenty of time to meet my friends for lunch and (finally) take the sky ride to the top of the hill and sit around in the glorious sunshine while looking over the harbor full of cruise ships (all five of them, but ours is the prettiest, and I have the pictures to prove it). And now when I go home, I have to think about packing, and I just heard on the news that Seattle has had some 23 days of rain out of the last 30. Why again am I leaving the sea?

One Week and a bit...

Back in St Thomas today, after a moderately disturbing turnaround in Ft Lauderdale. I went into the grocery store (which nobody was entirely certain would be open) to discover most of the shelves were bare. All the refrigerated stuff was gone, and most of the dry goods. It was certainly easy to choose from the remaining food ... no overwhelming choices here, and then there was the long walk back to the ship dodging storm debris. The ship has never felt so civilized.
Meanwhile, I'm counting the days until I leave. I'm sure the day will come soon when I wake up in the rain, and there's no nice man to come make my bed and clean my room, and I have to find my own breakfast, lunch and dinner, and no huge crew of night workers has contrived a fantastic Halloween display expressly for my enjoyment, that I'll ask myself why I ever left ships... but meanwhile, I have 4 work days left, and 7 play days.

Stage Fright

Every week I have to get up on stage in the Princess Theater and introduce myself to everyone on the ship. This used to terrify me, and I'd leave the stage shaking, and be a complete wreck for the rest of the evening. Now I just think it's boring. I caught myself about to yawn last night while waiting for my turn. I guess it really is time to come home.

Princess Cays

There is the cutest couple on board here this week. I have no idea how old they are, but my guess is, pushing 90. He rides one of those little scooters, and rather than hobble along beside him, his wife stands up in front, straight and proud like a figurehead. She, I think, steers ( because I don't see how he could see through her), and looks neither left nor right, and acknowledges no-one, but they're the delight of the ship.

Flying Fish

I love flying fish. They appear suddenly out of thin air, like so many silver coins, then skitter frantically across the sea, only to disappear as abruptly as they arrived. Now that I'm in the Caribbean, I get to see them almsot every day. I can't imagine that anyone would want to eat them, but they must, since they're a feature of our Caribbean night menu. It seems to me that would be like choking down a kazoo, but what do I know?

St Thomas

Apparently I'm back to bringing the rain with me wherever I go, which is a bit of a disappointment now that I'm finally in the Caribbean. On the other hand, it's very good for business - everybody wants to take computer classes when it's raining outside - but it's not doing much for my tan.
One thing I love about the American runs is that we get TNT, intermittently, and I'm catching up on all the shows I never watched when I lived on land ( because, at the end of the day, everything beats watching the same episode of Everybody Loves Raymod for two years straight). What's a little more worrisome is that I have the schedule memorized, and now am structuring my day around catching reruns of "Charmed" at 4:00 and 5:00. In a weird quirk of ship life though, the second episode always cuts out at 5:57 and the screen turns to snow for the next two hours. I wouldn't mind, but without fail it cuts out just at the most climactic moment possible. I've learned to come to terms with it It's always my signal that it's time to go to the gym.

Wired again

We've left the Western Caribbean now, and have begun the endless run to St Thomas, St Maarten and back again. Much to my surprise and delight, my cell phone works (as promised, but I didn't believe them) in St Thomas, and there's an internet cafe right across from the ship. I've already been here two hours, (it is raining outside, so it's not like I'm wasting valuable beach time, and I have all the diamonds I'll ever need... which is apparently not many...so I'm also not losing valuable shopping time, because I'm trying really really hard to stay out of the electronics stores). I actually had to work two whole days in a row, so I'm a bit tired, particularly because I threw a 5 mile run into the mix. Let me tell you, that has its own special challenges on a ship pitching around in the ocean, with really bad musice being pumped out across the gym, just loud enough that I can't drown it out with my MP3 player without risking permanent hearing loss. I went to the crew bar to get a cup of ice (since I had a funny sore spot on my foot) and apparently the bartender thought I was having a big party in my room, because he sent me off with a grocery bag full, which was enough ice for me to be fully encased from the knees down. It was fantastic.

Back at Sea

So every time I think I'm going to give this job up, I'm reminded how fun it can be. For once I have a cabin with a big window, a nice man comes and sets up and puts away all my computers for me. When I look out my big window, there's pretty blue ocean outside, and just when the rest of the world is heading into winter, I'm complaining about the heat and humidity. I'm about to enjoy three days off in Cozumel, Ocho Rios, and Grand Cayman, and next week, I get to turn around and do it all again. Remind me again why I want a desk job?

Gibraltar

I can't exactly take credit for this picture, since the camera wasn't in my hands when it was taken, but I like it anyway, so here is the best of the ape pictures from "The Rock". I was pleased to escape without having a single ape jump on me or use me as a springboard to get to another ape (as happened to a few other people while I was there), but I felt my minutes might be numbered, so we adjourned to lower Gibraltar for a pint or two and some so-so Indian food. Now it's back to sea and a frenzy of packing. I'd like nothing better than to walk away and leave all my junk on the ship, but I expect that's not really feasible. Anyway, here are the apes.....

Eating my way through Europe

I really wanted to buy one of these for my cabin, but I didn't think I could finish it before I got home (and I thought it might be a little pungent), so I contented myself with some nice "lait cru" cheese today in Cannes, a couple of all butter pastries, and a backpack full of chorizo and other assorted sausages yesterday in Barcelona. The weather's perked up a bit and I have to wear sunscreen to go ashore again, but it hasn't been desperately hot yet. One week left and then it's back to the glorious Northwest.

Stonehenge

I don't think these pictures really need much introduction - we did a speed run in a taxi from Southampton to Stonehenge, threw ourselves around the perimeter with the thousands of other people who were similarly engaged, and still managed a 15 minute side trip to see the outside of Salisbury Cathedral (imagine having enough time in a port to actually see the insides of buildings...), and still made it home in time for passenger drills. Today was Spain, and I'll try to post a picture of lunch later.

Palma

I'd like to post some pictures from Palma, because the scenery was fairly camera worthy, but while I got my camera ashore, it came without its memory card and so was utterly useless to me. Suffice it to say that the pictures would have been spectacular. For all that, I only had 45 minutes in Palma, so pretty much all I saw was the ocean (of course) and the Cathedral (lovely). Now we're sailing again, and I'm debating whether I need to go up for scones and tea in a few minutes. The other alternative is a nap, or perhaps a run, but running would mean washing my hair again, and its already protesting yesterdays acquaintance with the ship water, so perhaps the run will wait for another day.

Glorious Return to the Med

So many port days in a row ... before I had nothing to write about, now I have no time.
Yesterday was Eze (near Monte Carlo) which was a charming little hill town (and the source of all these pictures) followed by a really lovely meal at La Colombe D'Or in St Paul de Vence (another charming little hill town). I had foie gras, and truffle salad, and possibly the best lamb chops I've ever eaten anywhere in my life. I couldn't face the ship's buffet after such a glorious meal, but fortunately my friends had spent the day shopping for pate and interesting cheese, so dinner was eaten off Ikea plastic plates with much delight.
Today we're in Italy - Livorno which is the gateway for Florence, but it's too iffy to get there without a tour, so we contented ourselves with a wander through the market, where a really lovely man shaved thin slices off a haunch of prosciutto for us, using a knife (and not a meat slicer). Before we left he gave us each a sample, and well, all I can say is that you can do worse than to break your fast with a piece of hand sliced prosciutto from Livorno. We went back and bought another pound of cured meats from him in fairly short order.
Here are some pictures from Eze......

Barcelona

Short hot day in Barcelona today. We were sailing at 4:00, which given that I had to wait 40 minutes for the shuttle to go into town, didn't give me much time. Fortunately I was meeting a friend from my very first ship there, and I had plenty of time for tapas and sangria and catching up on old times. It's just enough time to regret that I didn't have more to spend there. However, Monte Carlo tomorrow, with the promise a of a meal in St Paul de Vence.

Cadiz

What a relief to return to the sun and the land of amazing food. It's remarkable how cheap a 1.50 Euro beer seems after paying $10 for the same in Norway. Spent the day eating as much tapas as I could get my hands on. Here are the best pictures from the day.

More Pictures

These are from the Vigelund Sculpture Park in Oslo. He did do things besides angry babies, but I liked these best.....

Harry Potter

While Harry Potter may be sold out all over England and the Shetland Isles (at least, in the places I've been visiting) apparently in Norway kids aren't quite so anxious to read in English, as I was able to walk into a bookstore in Stavanger today and choose from among stacks and stacks of the latest Harry Potter book.
Meanwhile, here are some long awaited pictures............

Faroe Islands

To judge by visiting the Faroe Islands on a misty sunday, the entire place is peopled by, well, nobody except for cruise ship passengers. It's very pretty though, lots of sod roofed houses, little hills, lots of flowers. I'm sure when the people who live there are actually there, it's a very nice place. I've been very very lazy about moving the pictures off my camera and onto the computer, but I promise it will happen soon, and then I'll put up some more photos. At least now I'll always know where the Faroe Islands are when the question comes up at quiz night.

Dublin etc

Apparently I lucked into amazing weather in Dublin. Never having been there before I have nothing to compare it to, but it was a blazingly sunny day which started at the Jameson's distillery. I've had redefined for me just exactly what an Irish coffee should taste like, and it doesn't involve spray cream from a can. I'm also happy to report that Guinness does actually taste better in Dublin than it does anywhere else in the world. I did see Trinity College too, just in case anyone was thinking I didn't do anything cultural that day. Now we're en route to Iceland, which, assuming I can get ashore, should provide some interesting pictures.

Falling off the Blog Wagon

I've fallen prey to iffy sattelite and general frustration with all things email. Apparently (or so they're telling us) this far North the sattelite just isn't very reliable. Still, it's been a fun contract (another reason I'm having a hard time getting anything posted). Amsterdam two days ago, Oslo the next day and today is Copenhagen, where I'm taking shameless advantage of my brother's high speed internet connection. I know I should post some pictures, but I'm just too lazy. I've almost become too lazy to even take pictures, which is probably a sign that it's time to stop travelling soon. Perhaps as we return to the med I'll become more inspired.
Here's one from Geiranger.

The North Pole (or nearly)

So the funny thing about sailing very far north into the Arctic Circle is that the ship loses sattelite connectivity for 6 days. That and the sun never sets. I was so excited when we actually got back to where there was a sunset, even though it only stayed below the horizon for a couple hours. It sort of faded seamlessly from sunset to sunrise, but I was still happy to see it. WEll, time is running out on the card, so more soon hopefully.

Bureaucratic Nightmares

Ah - disembarkation day....actually, we were fortunate today, there was no 5 am immigration nonsense, just a nice civilized "Be at Sabatini's at 9:15" to collect your passport. I might have considered myself warned when the crew purser told me "9:30" and we didn't actually get off the ship until 10:00, but that all went very smoothly. Then there was no bus, but they didn't want us crew members all hanging around in the comfy chairs, so they moved us to a narrow hallway in the terminal, then raced us out to where the buses park and had us stand under vents gushing cold air to wait further for the bus, which, in the end, had nowhere near enough room for the volume of crew luggage that wanted to go aboard.. so another hour passed while we waited for a luggage van. But I was secure, because for the first time in my career at sea, I actually had a letter from the ship saying I was a "bona fide seaman" and asking the airlines to cut me an extra 40 lbs worth of slack for my luggage allowance.
No dice though, even though my bags were a perky 25kg (well under the 40kg allowance granted by my letter) the gate agent asked me to help him lift my bags since "he didn't want to hurt himself" (which I thought was a little funny, since my 98 lb friend had been helping me with the same bags earlier) and made me pay $50 in excess baggage charges.
Now I'm safely on the other side of US customs - only 4 hours left until my scheduled flight....thank goodness for wirless....and Granville pale ale.

Quick Picture

Here's the internet cafe in Whittier. They have nice cold bottles of Alaskan Amber.

Midnight Sun

We arrived in Whittier last night at midnight, so of course half the crew piled off the ship in search of an open bar. It was still bright twilight when we left, and we were among the first to arrive, so it was still a locals bar when we got there. Quiet, four guys playing pool, and everyone excited to see us. Within the space of 20 minutes, it was a hopping disco, filled with girls from the spa all dressed to the nines. I've never seen a place transform so quickly. Breakfast at the attached all night cafe, and we walked home in bright sunrise at 2 am. It's gloriously beautiful here. Mountains and sea and bright sunshine.

Movies!!

Here's how I've been spending my spare time. Evidently I have too much of it.
Anyway, it's my first attempt at putting video on my website, so bear with me. It's just over a megabyte, so if you're on a slow connection it might take a while....(and it's a Windows Media Player File ...)
Click here for movie

Vancouver

It's hot summer here today - kind of bizarre to see all my fleece hanging in the cabin and knowing I was cold wearing all of it just three days ago. More fiascos with security in Vancouver - don't get me started - I've never seen it run smoothly once. It would almost be enough to put me off this city, except the rest of it is so nice. My camera has been retired for the moment - it's exhausted after all those glacier pictures.

Pictures at Last

I'm at the Juneau library today, taking advantage of their sunny tables and free wireless internet. Here is a small sampling of the oh... 500 pictures I've taken this week....

Whittier

Not surprisingly, it's getting considerably colder as we move North - just spent the morning out amongst the glaciers in a smallish boat - stunning, and a little chilly. But I got some nice pictures of otters. Will post them when I've sorted thorugh all 500 of them to cull the best ones.

Juneau

Yesterday's rain and cold have given way to glorious sun and good Alaskan Summer Ale in Juneau. Though the morning was spent at Costco and Fred Meyer stocking up on snacks and housewares, the afternoon was spent in glorious idleness, drinking coffee and beer and watching the mountains. There are only three ships in today, and Juneau seems somehow more prepared to absorb them than Ketchikan. Pictures soon.

Panama Canal

I woke up this morning to see a wall outside my porthole, perhaps 3 inches away, and realized I was missing the Gatun Locks, by the time I had clothes out of my closet, I could have waved at the passengers on the ship in the next lock over. Growing up in a science family, I've had lots of exposure to the theory of locks, and played with mini locks in science museums all over the world, but I've never been through one, so today was pretty exciting for me. I spent hours on deck, watching us move up and down, batting away the bugs and rain. It's amazing how the "mules" kept us just precisely in line in this narrow little canal, not a little unnerving to feel the ship sinking out from underneath, and to see the ground moving rapidly from a long jump down to a slight climb up. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Aruba

I think these pictures pretty well sum up my day in Aruba. We went to see the natural rock formation, which was... somewhat less than we expected, but interesting. From there straight to the beach, since it's the Queen's birthday and everything else was closed. We sampled the local beer (picture 1). The water here does indeed rival Tahiti, except it's a little colder, and something squishy swam out from under my foot and took five years off my life, but it was lovely and clear. As to the bus... well, it was parked where we were hoping to find a taxi.
  

On the Coral

So I was all worried that I wouldn't know anyone on this ship, but I hadn't even gotten out of the shuttle from the hotel before I ran into a friend from my first contract. Now it's like reunion week from the Tahitian Princess and to a lesser extent, every other ship I've ever been on. The transition has been pretty smooth. Day two and I haven't eaten alone yet. Even the people I don't know have been really friendly. It's strange getting used to a new size ship, but I like the Sun class - it's a great compromise between the big ships and the tiny. Even the food is a little different, which is a great change. Tomorrow is Aruba - where I'm told there are beaches to rival even Tahiti. Wherever, it's a welcome change from two sea days.

Bangkok

First things first - so far I've not been affected by the earthquake in Indonesia, except that my hotel room swayed around a bit. Thanks to all my time at sea, I didn't even register that my room probably shouldn't be moving at first, and by the time I did, it had mostly stopped. So here are some pictures from my day in Bangkok. We took a taxi to the river, (where we saw the cute little dog), took the local river bus up the river (for 10 baht - about 25 cents), had a nice lunch somewhere, then took a tuk tuk (pictured below) on a wild ride (made wilder when our tuk tuk driver engaged in a little drag racing through traffic with one of his friends) to the Siam Center, where we took the Sky Train one stop the the Government Handicraft Center. It was a fantastic day. Now I just have to face the 17 hour flight home.

Asia Unlimited

Wow, so much to write about and no time. Really, how can I fit Vietnam and Thailand all in one post? Well, Vietnam was amazing. I must say I've never thought of it as a tourist destination as such, but it was a fascinating day, beginning with a 2 hour bus ride through the countryside to Ho Chi Minh city. It was full of rice paddies, water buffalo, and little old ladies on bikes... It was one of the few places that really looked like I'd imagined it might. Louie accompanied me, and we had lunch in the local market (really, really yummy soup) though my friends looked a little skeptical. The women who ran the stall brought out a young girl (about 10) to translate, and she was much charmed by Louie. Then the shopping fest began. Imagine shopping in a place where you think about what price something should be, and they quote you something less than a quarter of that. I bought things I didn't even want. We stopped at a place selling dried fruits and sampled everything from chili coated tamarind to sweetend dried beef. Any time you stop longer than 30 seconds at a stall a stool is brought out so you can sit and shop in comfort. I felt a little guilty when I compared notes with other people who'd gone to museums and temples, but really, what could be a more cultural experience than shopping in the local market?

Kuala Lumpur

Yay Land
After five excruciatingly long days at sea we are once again on land.
We were supposed to see land yesterday, but circumstances dictated we had to skip a port, so Kuala Lumpur was my first sight of green earth in a while. It was a fantastic day, three crew buses dropped us off right at the base of the towers (pictured here, through the magic of photomerge) which just happened to be home to a really amazing shopping mall. I was hard pressed to leave, but I knew I'd regret spending my three land hours shopping, so I went
along with my friend whose mission it was to find the Hard Rock Cafe. (I know, from one American icon to another, but at least it got me out on the mean streets of Kuala Lumpur, which turn out not to be too terribly mean - at least, not there). It was hot and humid, and actually felt like a foreign country. And then we gave into our baser instincts and returned to the air-conditioned comfort of the mall (it was a REALLY nice mall). We did stop to take pictures of the towers though. By the way, I swear I did not cut and paste the giant
prawn into the second picture.

Darwin

This has to be quick, since my friend Sarah is breathing down my neck, and wants me to help her carry 18 tons of chocolate easter eggs back to the ship for the teen center. I'll probably get arrested in Woolworth's, as they will no doubt suspect us of shoplifting, so my next post will likely be from a sweltering Australian jail.
Otherwise, we leave Australia today, after half a day in Darwin, which, at any rate , is suffering from cyclones. 4 sea days to follow. Sigh.
Here's Sarah - in a guest post
******
Hello everyone, I am Sarah, Susie's psychotic canadian friend. We have spent the past 2 days drunk with our Italian posse. Ciao and an appreciation of baaaad wine is all weve learned from them so far. Oz is great Susie is great I'm great and TIM TAM"S are FABULOUS! Cheers from Oz and remember....the bear's can smell.....Signing off now ciao from Australia and Susie's webpage!

Brisbane

Brisbane wins the prize for best breakfast. Free range eggs and yummy bacon. This contract has become the breakfast contract. I don't know what I'm going to do when we get to Asia and I'm denied my daily ritual of cooked breakfast and the hunt for coffee. But by then I'll only have four days left, and I'm sure there will be other compensations. And now that we're heading north, I can finally bring all the summer clothes I brought out of mothballs.

Sydney

I wanted to post this from my cabin, as we're parked just close enough to a hotspot that I can intermittently access the web from here, but at $12 an hour, I want better than intermittent. I FOUND my coffee today. Filter coffee may be difficult to come by here, but when it's here, they get it absolutely right. No lukewarm, see-through, golden brown water here, but good solid black coffee that could almost have come from my mother's coffee pot. I asked for the mega-size but it came in a smallish tea cup. Still, what a cup. Meanwhile, Louie joined me for my adventures today, and he was so stunned at seeing the light of day twice in one contract that he needed a beer after his photo shoot at the Opera House.
    

Kangaroos!

I finally managed to get both a fantastic breakfast ashore here in Hobart, AND I got to go pet kangaroos and koalas. Those pictures are going to have to wait a couple days. Meanwhile here's one from Fjordlands, and one from my porthole on the Tasman sea . I think it gets the idea across.
   

Fjordlands

Well, we've had no (or little) sattelite, the last couple days, though we've had some amazing views. The sun came out just in time for scenic cruising, so when I get to a decent connection, I'll try to post some pictures. Meanwhile, we're once again on the Tasman sea, and I got some great footage out my porthole of the waves slapping us around. I'll try to get that online too. Meanwhile, life is very quiet.

Coffee Wars

I went shopping yesterday, trying to find a little cup top filter to make coffee with in my room. I know this is more or less a hopeless cause here as the trend seems to be for plunger coffee and espresso, both of which I like, but neither of which is practical for making in my cabin. I gave up my search after the first store, when the saleslady directed me to a plunger pot, and I said I really preferred filter coffee. She gave a pitying look and said "Well, that's to do with how you were raised " (in a tone that suggested I'd have been better off to have been raised by wolves, who would have had the sense , clearly, to give me a tasted for chewy plunger coffee). I decided to leave when I realized I was becoming embroiled in a filter coffee vs plunger coffee argument, and sadly went to the store and bought some coffee bags, which will be a poor substitute indeed.

moonrise

You know those days when you wake up and you have no idea where you are? They don't plague me much anymore, because pretty much one cabin is like another, so no matter how much the ship might be flipping around on the waves, I always know exactly where the bathroom is.
It's my waking life where I'm becoming disoriented. It's rare when I actually know which day of the week it is, and I'm often not certain of the hour. Today I walked out on deck and saw land, and for a moment had no idea even which hemisphere I was in. My brain said, "Oh, that looks like Greece.. oh wait, no Mexico, ..um Tahiti...?" and that was a profoundly disturbing moment.
On the other hand, there was the most amazing moonrise last night. I ran up to get pictures, but the clouds rolled in while I was waiting for the elevator. Still a little pool of moonlight spilled out from under the clouds, making a surreal puddle of light on the water. I don't think this picture does it justice really.

Christchurch

Another internet cafe! And this time I got to plug in my laptop. It's been so long since I've had a high speed connection that my poor starved computer went crazy downloading updates and magazines the moment I plugged in. Now it's sated and happy.
Started my morning at Starbuck's with a happy cup of plain drip coffee. I think it was the best thing I've tasted in a really long time. It's Sunday in Christchurch, so most everything is closed, but this afternoon we're going to the Antarctic center. Maybe I'll even have pictures. We were crusing through the Fjordlands the other day and I dragged myself out of bed and up into the cold rainy morning to take in the experience. I haven't looked at the pictures yet, but if there are any decent ones I'll put them up tomorrow.

Dunedin

After three days on the high seas (that is, waves crashing up across the deck 5 atrium windows), I am delighted to feel dry land under my feet again. And I've found an internet cafe. They won't let me plug in my laptop, but it's so cheap it's almost free, so I've spent a glorious hour checking up on everyone's blogs, paying bills, surfing wherever my whim takes me. Incidentally, I've just discovered that I have 50 gmail invitations, so if there are any of you out there who still don't have Gmail and want it, let me know. As soon as I can get it to reliably load into my Outlook, I'm switching over.

Making the Birds Fat and Lazy

Had a most serenditpitous day out in Melbourne today. I was supposed to get together with a friend I haven't seen in some 8 years, but when I dragged myself reluctantly out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7 (after a formal night, no less) to meet her at 8:30 (and had to stand with the passengers and get sniffed by a beagle, lest I be taking contraband food ashore), it turned out she had confused the days, and wasn't expecting me until tomorrow. So, I returned to the ship and made plans with another friend who had friends in Melbourne, and we had a glorious day. They came and picked us up, took us for a lovely lunch at their house, and then they drove us up into the mountains where we got to feed exotic wild birds. There were signs up indicating that it was very bad to feed the birds, since it made them fat and lazy, but the amount of seed shells scattered on the ground suggested this was advice largely ignored. These were very canny birds though, because they ignored us and our one pound bag of bird seed for ages - there we were, standing infinitely still, scattering seed, holding out hopeful handfuls, but no dice, until the moment that the Princess Cruises Tour Bus pulled up. Suddenly the place was alive with ravening hordes of cockatoos who moments before would not give us the time of day. Anyway, here are some pictures. Or, there will be some pictures later, when the network is working better.

Hobart

Finally after years of waiting, I finally set foot in Australia... and how did I spend my day? I went shopping and saw a movie, and it was lovely. It felt just like having a real life again. There's even a Target here in Hobart (though I have to say, the selection of clothes is somewhat better here than in the American version - though it was rather lacking in housewares and the like). I think I've been too long on ships though, because there were moments sitting in the movie theater that I could have sworn I felt the ground rocking. Meanwhile, most of my friends went on tour and petted Koalas and Kangaroos. I settled for buying a stack of boomerangs for my nieces and nephews, and eating a really delightful breakfast ashore, complete with real tea.

Wellington

Once again I'm falling behind on the blogging. I blame the new wireless internet access on the ship. I'm so focused on hopping online to download my email then hopping off to preserve time that I utterly forget to blog. So here I am in New Zealand. First stop was Wellington, where we did a tour of "Lord of the Rings" movie locations. Of course, Louie insisted on coming along, being as he's been cooped up in the cabin for an entire contract. So here he is, having a pre tour Starbucks and seeing the sights.

Going Home

I think I'm going to make it a habit to always stay in a really nice hotel for a couple days when I finish my contract. They couldn't get me a flight out on my leaving date, so Princess has put me up in the Meridien for a couple days. I had rather assumed they would pay for one night, being as I'm flying out this evening, and I was sort of grumpy thinking about what I would do with my luggage after I had to check out, and how I'd have to go do my handover and then I'd have no place to be until 11pm when my flight leaves. But no, someone in the office is really thoughtful, and booked me in for two nights, so I have the whole glorious day to enjoy the sandy bottom pool, the voucher paid meals, the endless ocean view and the lush gardens of the Meridien. Except that I have to go back to the ship to do my handover. I always seem to be the one crew member that stays on after everyone else has left and we've all said our goodbyes, and then I show up again the next day and everyone says "Are you still here?" - it sort of takes the sentimentality out of the whole thing. However, a nice blue rum drink by the pool will likely take the sting out.

Crossword Puzzle Club

I really have fallen off the blog wagon recently, and it's not that I don't have lots to write about, it's just that I've been so busy with the neverending social whirl. First there was Papeete and two whole nights out (which requires a blog entry all its own), and all the intervening ports, plus an amazing day in Nuku Hiva (but I have to get the pictures transferred to the computer before I can approach that properly), but on top of that, my online time is eaten away by crossword puzzle club in the evenings. In fact crossword puzzle club (at 6 pmish in the Crew Bar) and its inevitable stack of assorted junk food and good company is increasingly taking over workout time (also at 6 pmish on the track). But I ask you, at the end of a long day - where would you go?

Crew Bar Movie Night

So last night's crew bar movie was Dirty Dancing - a great favorite from my teenage years (and apparently I'm not alone, judging by the number of us who sat through both showings), but it's funny to revisit a movie after so many years. It's an odd mixture of nostalgia and moderate cynicism. But the really striking thing about that movie, is how similar it is to life on a cruise ship. You have all the silly activities to keep people busy, the big divide between staff and guests... it was really interesting.
Anyway, we're back in Raiatea today, and we've had nothing but sea days since we left Huahine. Rain and fog, rain and fog - in fact it was almost chilly here the last two days (I use the term loosely, I was still wearing short sleeves, but I thought about wanting a sweater). We didn't make Rarotonga, which made me sad, because I was really looking forward to eating real scrambled eggs and bacon again. One more cruise left, and then I'm off to New Zealand. Yay for new pictures.

Two More

I'm coming up on my last 20 days in French Polynesia. It's a bit strange, it's very easy to take being here for granted, it seems like I'll always be back here, but really, it's not very likely. I have further been moved to an inside cabin, which is sort of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I sleep like a baby without the bizarre ambient light filtering in through my curtains 24 hours a day (there was a big electric light just outside my window). On the other hand, the day becomes sort of timeless in a room without windows. I can lie in my cabin for hours and never sense that the day is passing me by. It's very restful, but a little bizarre. Anyway, I'm hoping it will push me to go out and see more since it is a little tomblike, despite the addition of pictures.

Happy New Year!

First of all, for all those of you who are wondering about the tsunami - it didn't affect us here at all, though I am supposed to be in Thailand later this year, so I'll report back about that in March.
New Year's Eve (day) saw me hiking up the hill in Raiatea again, in an absolute downpour. And since I know all of you are tired of seeing pictures of glorious blue water, here's a little piglet who was running wild on the trail. Well, actually, there were about 30 piglets, but this one was the cutest. And much more appealing than the 10 baleful and smelly cows we had to push out of the way, or the horses lying all over the trail.
New Year's eve itself is somewhat lost in a haze of champagne. We started with a very nice dinner ashore (never a bad start to an evening) and ended visiting all the various parties on the ship. All in all, a good start to the new year.

Christmas

Christmas was a very quiet affair onboard this year, one or two quiet parties, but all the passengers were tucked up in their cabins riding out the storm we were sailing through, and the ship was doing a really interesting pitch/roll combo that had even some 17 year veterans being quietly ill all over the ship. As for me, I spent most of the day in the medical center working on our entry for the Christmas lantern competition. Here's a not very good picture of some of the entries - the big star took second place. Our entry is the big blue one in the back. It's maybe hard to envision it, but it's meant to be a volcano with a starry sky in the background. I assure you, it looks much better in the flesh.

Gearing up for Christmas

Despite the plastic evergreen decoration pinned to my door, I'm having a difficult time believing that Christmas is just two days away. Though mind you, I've been invited to become an honorary member of the medical staff for the Christmas lantern competition, so no doubt once I'm up to my elbows in papier mache and lights I shall feel a little more seasonal. In the meantime, it's just more days at the beach, lying in the hot sun sipping mango juice. Though from what I'm hearing about the weather back home, I can't say I have too many regrets....

Rarotonga breakfast

I must stop making excuses. But I've honestly just forgotten about my blog lately. I hop on to email, my battery dies, and my blog goes unwritten another day. I have some nice pictures of huahine, but I've decided to stop torturing you all for a couple days. Suffice it to say, it's blisteringly hot and I'm getting a fantastic tan. Yesterday was Rarotonga again - and I went ashore for breakfast (at roughly 1:00) - as extensive as the buffet is on the ship, breakfast is generally felt to be a disappointment. The eggs are, well,liquid. The bacon soggy. The pancakes, um, unlike anything I've ever eaten before. Denny's its not. So this breakfast ashore was like manna. Big fluffy eggs, proper English bacon, fresh whole grain toast, real brewed coffee. I thought I was in heaven. Here I am, halfway around the world, and what makes me happy? Fresh eggs.

Cruise 3

Okay, it's just lazy to let my pictures do all the talking for me. We wanted to go to the Bora Bora Nui hotel the other day which is a boat ride across the lagoon from where the ship drops us. We were having no luck getting a water taxi, so one of the girls I was with flagged down a passing motorboat and we had an amazing ride across the water to the hotel. Once we got there it was idyllic - infinity pool, crystal blue water, and on and on. I really had the worst time convincing myself it was real.
Now it's back to Papeete and some form of civilization, loud cars, oppressive heat, unlimited internet....and it's still gloriously beautiful. Sat out on the docks last night eating the best Chinese food I've ever had out of the back of a dodgy van labelled "Chez Mamy". The food comes so quickly from pan to table it burns my mouth, but I can't stop myself from eating it. I dream about it all ten days of the cruise. So here goes round 3. Huahine tomorrow and then back out to sea.

Rarotonga

Well, after a very quiet and uneventful sea day, I find myself once again in Rarotonga at the email place that used to be overrun by feral children. Today finds it very quiet and plastered with signs that no-one under 15 is admitted ever under any circumstances. Sigh, though the guys running it still look just barely over 15 themselves.
So I'm not even in Polynesia 3 days before I've succumbed to the lure of the black pearls (not like I didn't have a collection of them already) but last time I was here I resisted the carved pearl, and have regretted it ever since, and rectified the situation within 20 minutes of coming ashore.
It's so lovely to be back here, and a little, well, unnerving that an island so far away from my life should seem so familiar and homey.

Papeete

Here's the view from yesterday. The view from the ship is about the same. It's stunningly hot here. My body is all confused from being picked up out of the dead of winter and dropped into the height of summer. I am not, however, complaining.

Living Right

Well, after an eight hour flight here (in the bulkhead seat, with a very quiet baby next to me and no-one behind me) I find myself once again, gloriously, deliriously in Tahiti. My hotel last night had a stunning view of the ocean and the palms and the moon, and today finds me walking around in the melting heat and humidity. (Very welcome after a month in the cold). It's too lovely a day to sit in front of the computer, so I"m off to buy flowers.

Land!

Caught my first sight of land in 5 days today, and I have to say it gave me a thrill. I've actually been so busy this week that I haven't even noticed we've been at sea. The waves calmed down almost immediately, more's the pity, and we just had a dull slow roll for the last three days. Yawn. Tomorrow is a frenzy of immigration and customs, and then it's vacation, vacation, vacation. Yay. I can't wait to eat land food again.

Life in the Funhouse

7 foot waves and gale force 11 winds all make for a really entertaining day at sea. It all started with me more or less being rolled out of my bunk last night at three, and every 15 minutes thereafter. Showering this morning was well, quick, because the water all pooled at the non drain end of the shower, and teaching was a riot today. It was a toss up whether I was going to trip over a power cord, or simply fall over when the waves hit. The open decks are closed, the pools have been drained (since earlier they were sloshing tidal waves and sending spray up to the deck above), and the passengers are divided as to whether this is fun or miserable. As for me, I'm enjoying every second of it. We're all waiting for the real storms to hit. 1 day down, 4 more to go.

Yay for touch typing

Today is our last Sunday in Naples, which is nice, because Sunday means my chances of getting run over as I cross the street are greatly reduced, but sad because the pizza place is closed. So today is just about internet and coffee, and despite the Italian keyboard, thanks to my Gates training, I know how to change the keyboard to English, so as long as I can resist the temptation to look at the keys, I can almost type like a normal person. Today is my last Nociolatto (espresso with some yummy hazelnut fluff dropped in) so I plan to go savor it. Then it's back to the ship and laundry day.

Last Venice-2

I shall miss Venice. We spent the last night in Venice at the Jazz Bar (hoping to see Heath Ledger, who's filming Cassanova here - but no luck) then wandered over to the Rialto bridge for pictures and gelati, then, being as we were such a large group, got a water taxi back to the ship through all the back alleys and mysterious byways in Venice. It was really an amazing way to see the city at night. I gave up taking pictures after the second one just turned into crazy streaks of light. Managed a last two cappucinos in Venice the next day before we sailed, and now it's back to Florida.

Last Venice

It's starting to get cool and foggy in Venice, which really only makes it more mysterious and fantastic. Still crowded, but last night I had the most amazing dinner. After some 6 months of coming in and out of Venice, I finally got around to eating in one of the restaurants my parents recommended, and, well, they never steer me wrong. We started with crispy little fried zuchinni and red wine, moved on to all kinds of yummy vegetables in olive oil, and on and on. In the end we walked back to the ship because we were so full we needed the exercise. Today is turnaround day and the ship is full of passengers wandering around lost, stumbling through the buffet. Much better to be here in town.

Dubrovnik

This wins the prize for prettiest port visited this itinerary. I filled an entire 256 mb card just taking pictures walking around the old town wall. It seems to have largely recovered from the fighting in the 90's though here and there you can see signs of shelling, and almost all the roofs are brand new. So it's sort of horrifying and amazing all at once, because it seems quite peaceful and well, placid now. One simply cannot imagine anything bad happening here.
Back to Venice tomorrow, and then begins the long trek across the Atlantic.

More Greek Isles

Today we declared a moratorium on ruins (though we did ferry out from Mykonos to Delos yesterday to see the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo) and comandeered a taxi in Katakolon to take us to the beach. He pleaded with us to be allowed to take us to the site of the first Olympics, but we held firm, and ended up on an idyllic and almost deserted beach (because it's apparently too cold for the Greeks now) for three hours. Incidentally, Mykonos was pretty fabulous too, and we had some great food.

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.

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.

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.

Accademia della Pizza

Yesterday was Naples, which, despite it's rather dodgy reputation, is actually one of my favorite ports of call. The people are friendly, they make excellent coffee, and there's the most amazing pizza place, which I couldn't for the life of me describe how to get to, but their prosciutto arugula pizza is out of this world. Of course, one could also go to Capri or Pompeii, or drive up the Amalfi coast, but really, this pizza is so good it sort of outshines all those places. Also, yesterday, we discovered a Neapolitan specialty at the Professore del Caffe, which is espresso with some sort of nougat whipped into it. It's fairly tasty. I've been doing a fair bit of espresso tasting over the last couple days, and I have to say, this one stands out.

Turkish Bath

Had a lovely day in Turkey yesterday. By now I've become acquainted with some of the shopkeepers in Kusadasi, so I spent parts of my morning sitting in the shade chatting with the leather guy, the carpet guy, the shoe guy, it's all very friendly and pleasant. My friends and I wanted to go for a Turkish Bath, but I'd brought my laptop ashore, so I handed it over to the carpet guy for safekeeping for a few hours.
It was a beastly hot day, so the bath was really quite an experience. We walked in and they handed us all towels, then after we changed, we went into a big hot room with a warm marble slab in the middle, and water and steam everywhere. It brings all new meaning to the phrase, "hot as a Turkish bath". Anyway, someone pointed out to me some little plastic bowls and a spigot of water, which one uses to splash cold water over oneself to avoid heatstroke. We sat on the marble slab, and up above in the domed ceiling are hundreds of little skylights, so it sort of looks like a starry evening inside. It's really quite lovely.
From there we went to the loofah room, where about 10 people were sitting around another marble slab waiting for their turn with the communal loofah man. It's really rather fascinating to sit around and watch everyone get scrubbed, then shampooed, and sent off to the soap man (who holds court on the other side of the marble slab). Once all the dead skin has been scrubbed away, you lie again on the slab, and the soap man covers you in bubbles and rubs you down, cracks your joints, slides you all over the marble, and finishes it all off by throwing a bowl of cold water over you. It's truly unlike anything I've ever experienced. Sort of like a spa day, only out in public, and using communal washrags.

Last Venice Until September

Venice is an amazing city - it never ceases to be beautiful. We've had three glorious days in port here, and I managed to get ashore for good parts of every one of them.
The first day we had coffee in St Marks. We knew it would be expensive, because we were sitting right next to the live music, and well, it's prime tourist territory. The coffee itself was no more than I might have paid for something really spectacular at Starbucks, it was the 15 Euro charge for "music" that startled us (particularly as one of our company had been sitting at that cafe all contract and never been charged - apparently it's now summer, so the music is more expensive). Anyway, in short, three cappucine came to 37 Euros. Eek. Still it was a remarkable experience - cloudless sky, perfect day, good coffee, lovely music, and .. Venice.
This day was capped off by a late dinner and drinking in some square near the Rialto. The streets are completely different at night, shadowy, quiet, empty - it's really stunning. Our shuttle stopped running to the ship at midnight, so we ended up taking the Vaporetto all the way along the Grand Canal home. We sat right in the very very front, and there is surely nothing that compares to the Grand Canal at night.

Pisa

Braving train blockages (which kept me stranded in a stifling train for three hours last week on the way back from Florence) and bus strikes, I finally made it to Pisa today, which was lovely. Got lots of pictures of the tower, and oddly enough spent most of my time there with my back to the tower looking at glitter covered light up replicas of the tower in the souvenir booths, largely because that was the only shade to be had for miles. (That, and that's what all my friends were doing). Still, it's nice to have seen it. We then had a very congenial walk through Pisa to where we thought we could catch a bus back to the ship, only to discover the busses had gone on strike, whereupone we ran to the train station, caught almost the last train back to Livorno (and the ship), where the bus that would have taken us to our shuttle was ALSO on strike, so we had a bit of a walk back. At any rate, that justified another hearty snack in the buffet when we finally did make the ship. Tomorrow it's all lying by the pool.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Barcelona

I can´t 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. It´s so refreshing to have a fast connection. Mind you, it´s 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. I´m 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).

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.

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