So, we go through six straight sea days crossing over from Europe with nothing to tragic as far as waves. But leave New York? Ai yi yi. Today has slowly gotten rockier and rockier. Apparently we’re heading towards a storm system that is moving up through Florida and we’re either going to see the worst before arriving in Port Canaveral in the morning or we’re going through it right now.
Tomorrow we are able to get off the ship at 10:00 and don’t have to be back until 8:00pm. However, we were scheduled to do our shows. This meant we would need to do our tech at 11:00am, so we couldn’t leave until noon or so. And we would need to be back by 7:00 at the latest to be ready for our 8:00pm show. BUT…the ship was too rocky for the dancers tonight. Deanna and I were just finishing up dinner around 7:00pm when Larrance found us and said “Rance. Deanna. This isn’t a practical joke. They need us to do our shows tonight.”
The upside is we get all the time we want tomorrow and we’ve done our shows already. The downside is the audiences weren’t that full or attentive because everyone is getting sea sick. How do we know when it’s bad? When you see people in the Crystal Atrium (midship on deck 8). That is where the rockiness is felt least. There were at least 5 people there sleeping on the couches and some with families at their side. I’m really glad I have strong sea legs and haven’t really gotten sea sick.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
11/29/08: Day 35: New York
USA! We made it! Remember when I said a lot of stuff was going to happen today? Well, it did. For starters, we had immigration. Normally when you travel to the US from another country you have to go through customs and declare things you bought. Since the ship goes in and out of the country weekly this is all taken care of at one time…all of the 1200 crew…today. It started at 7:45 with US crew and crew that were signing off and then went alphabetical by last name. So it was us and the 180 crew that finished their contracts and signed off early in the morning.
It probably took until about 10:30 before we heard the announcement for a handful of remaining crew to go do customs with the added hint that they were holding up everything that was yet to come.
After immigration finished they immediately began the crew safety drill. It happens once a cruise and for whatever reason that meant it happened today. This means some random scenario happens and the crew reacts. Today it was a fake fire and then eventually the call to abandon ship. So, we can leave now…right? No. Another thing that had to happen was the Coast Guard came and tested the crew and ship…this may have been why we had a drill today instead of later in the cruise.
Finally around 11:30 we received the “all crew dismissed” and headed for the exit. Surprise! There were 190 new crew who had been waiting for the drill to end so they could come on, and this meant their luggage had to go through the x-ray. So, crew slowly started to gather to get off the ship and new crew slowly came on. Luckily they paused to let us off before continuing bringing people on.
Around 12:30 we were in New York! All we really had time to do was walk around a bit. We went to Times Square and 30 Rock. Bought a bunch of stuff at a drug store, including a Neti Pot…which I tried for the first time later that day. More news on how it worked tomorrow.
While walking back to the ship we saw Bill Hader from SNL. I didn’t want to seem like a crazy fan so I said “hey” and he smiled and said “hey.”
I’ll sum up the rest of the day being on the ship with this: Americans are not classy.
It probably took until about 10:30 before we heard the announcement for a handful of remaining crew to go do customs with the added hint that they were holding up everything that was yet to come.
After immigration finished they immediately began the crew safety drill. It happens once a cruise and for whatever reason that meant it happened today. This means some random scenario happens and the crew reacts. Today it was a fake fire and then eventually the call to abandon ship. So, we can leave now…right? No. Another thing that had to happen was the Coast Guard came and tested the crew and ship…this may have been why we had a drill today instead of later in the cruise.
Finally around 11:30 we received the “all crew dismissed” and headed for the exit. Surprise! There were 190 new crew who had been waiting for the drill to end so they could come on, and this meant their luggage had to go through the x-ray. So, crew slowly started to gather to get off the ship and new crew slowly came on. Luckily they paused to let us off before continuing bringing people on.
Around 12:30 we were in New York! All we really had time to do was walk around a bit. We went to Times Square and 30 Rock. Bought a bunch of stuff at a drug store, including a Neti Pot…which I tried for the first time later that day. More news on how it worked tomorrow.
While walking back to the ship we saw Bill Hader from SNL. I didn’t want to seem like a crazy fan so I said “hey” and he smiled and said “hey.”
I’ll sum up the rest of the day being on the ship with this: Americans are not classy.
Friday, November 28, 2008
11/28/08: Day 34: Sea Day 6 of 6
Today we have a busy schedule…do a 10:30pm show. I woke up with my back still killing me so after breakfast I went to the spa. My back pain got me thinking about when I was younger and my dad always had back pain. This also made me think about how when he came on the ship last year he said (after visiting the spa) that it was the first time in a long time that he was pain free. Therefore, to the spa I went. My back feels a lot better, but not pain free.
Since this is our last sea day I got out my phone and plugged it in. It has been off for 35 days. It still said “Oct 25th 4:01pm.” Tomorrow I’ll be able to check messages. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t have a message from Bob Kulhan asking how my journeys on the NCL Dawn are going.
The show was really nice. It was made up of most of our die hard fans. Even though it was an “adult show” there was one or two kids there who had been to shows. Really it was the end of a long trip with the promise of an early rise for everyone, so 10:30 was pushing it for some people.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day because there is a lot of stuff going on…more on that when it happens.
The picture is from Rosetta Stone. Deanna and I are learning italian and the picture is one of my favorite awkward conversations. Here is the gist of it (translated):
Boy: Hi
Woman: Hi. What is you name?
Boy: My name is Roberto Valle.
Woman: Nice to meet you.
(frame where they just stare at each other...I imagine the lady is creepy and the boy is just trying to deliver newspapers)
Boy: Bye
Since this is our last sea day I got out my phone and plugged it in. It has been off for 35 days. It still said “Oct 25th 4:01pm.” Tomorrow I’ll be able to check messages. I’ll be disappointed if I don’t have a message from Bob Kulhan asking how my journeys on the NCL Dawn are going.
The show was really nice. It was made up of most of our die hard fans. Even though it was an “adult show” there was one or two kids there who had been to shows. Really it was the end of a long trip with the promise of an early rise for everyone, so 10:30 was pushing it for some people.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day because there is a lot of stuff going on…more on that when it happens.
The picture is from Rosetta Stone. Deanna and I are learning italian and the picture is one of my favorite awkward conversations. Here is the gist of it (translated):
Boy: Hi
Woman: Hi. What is you name?
Boy: My name is Roberto Valle.
Woman: Nice to meet you.
(frame where they just stare at each other...I imagine the lady is creepy and the boy is just trying to deliver newspapers)
Boy: Bye
Thursday, November 27, 2008
11/27/08: Day 33: Sea Day 5 of 6
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We’re almost there…America. I’m trying to think of what happened today. My back was still barely bothering me so I went to work out and try to loosen it up. Backfire! It is as if I never had a massage. Add to that I feel like I’m catching a cold again. Bonus.
Today I ate a lot, worked out, played a card game called Gloom with Brett and Jen, co-led the History of Second City workshop, and then we all went out to eat together for Thanksgiving. Destination: Teppenyaki…the asian restaurant. Larrance and Jen had never been. It was filling.
I now lay in bed full, feeling pre-sick, and aching in my back. Tomorrow is our last sea day before NY!
Today I ate a lot, worked out, played a card game called Gloom with Brett and Jen, co-led the History of Second City workshop, and then we all went out to eat together for Thanksgiving. Destination: Teppenyaki…the asian restaurant. Larrance and Jen had never been. It was filling.
I now lay in bed full, feeling pre-sick, and aching in my back. Tomorrow is our last sea day before NY!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
11/26/08: Day 32: Sea Day 4 of 6
Of course the day after I mention things aren’t rocky they get more rocky. Nothing bad, but not smooth sailing. A couple of days ago I kinked my back while working out. A bad kink that I’ve done before. Right between my shoulder blades and mostly on my right side, as well as some muscle being tight enough to make the pain get into my arm as well. I pulled it like this right when we first moved into Rene’s.
This time it has gone away a little quicker because I’m staying active, but I decided to really get it taken care of with a massage. She really dug into it…and it’s still there. Boo.
We had a really fun improv show tonight. Mike has been gone since Malaga day. He went home to see about a girl. I played a bird for him tonight…in his honor. He plays a lot of animals.
Our show was at 8:30…right in between the Gravity Defying Comedy shows. I caught the first half of the first show before I had to head up for our call time. Then I went down to catch the last half of the second show…including the show “Fountains.” And, for those who know what Fountains is, I may be in it next week. I’m iffy about it, but it would be a nice little tidbit to say I was in it. It will definitely be a one time thing.
This time it has gone away a little quicker because I’m staying active, but I decided to really get it taken care of with a massage. She really dug into it…and it’s still there. Boo.
We had a really fun improv show tonight. Mike has been gone since Malaga day. He went home to see about a girl. I played a bird for him tonight…in his honor. He plays a lot of animals.
Our show was at 8:30…right in between the Gravity Defying Comedy shows. I caught the first half of the first show before I had to head up for our call time. Then I went down to catch the last half of the second show…including the show “Fountains.” And, for those who know what Fountains is, I may be in it next week. I’m iffy about it, but it would be a nice little tidbit to say I was in it. It will definitely be a one time thing.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
11/25/08: Day 31: Sea Day 3 of 6
So, I’m starting to realize my brain has automatically been falling back on what it remembered from cruising: “after two days at sea we come to land.” Only we haven’t. So it is starting to hit just a little bit that we’re only half way through the sea days. The nice thing is it is still staying pretty smooth as far as waves go. I guess I was expecting huge waves like in Perfect Storm or Deadliest Catch.
Today’s notable moments were mostly at night. Earlier in the day the Bowling with the Stars semi-finals happened and Larrance came in first…but I was working out at the time and didn’t see it.
The big moment was the 7:30 Comedy Hypnotism show. It seems like a lot of these shows have the word “comedy” thrown in with them, like tomorrow night is Comedy Juggling or something along those lines. But the hypnotism show was great. Picture Katie Nahnsen (if you know her) doing some sort of “nice mom” character…that was the hypnotist. She had 15 people onstage and really set standards of things like needing to be willing to be hypnotized. As she was putting people in a trance it became apparent who it was working on and who it wasn’t. If it really wasn’t working she would assist them off stage.
There is that part of you that says “they have to be faking” but we had met some of the passengers and knew they wouldn’t just do some of the stuff they were doing. It is hard to explain the hilarity in full so I’ll explain my favorite combo. She told one person that they were very generous…the most generous person ever and that every time she said “money” they would be compelled to give her something of theirs, but she couldn’t accept cash. Another person was told they were the star of the show and every time the audience applauded that person would stand up and take a bow. She told yet another person that they were the safety officer of the ship and when she said “NCL” they would stand up and scream “Man overboard!” and then forget that they even did it. Finally she told someone that each time they heard “Man overboard!” they would think the person to their right pinched their butt. So that was the set up for hilarity. She’d talk to the audience and say “money” in her sentence causing the one person to give her stuff. She’d say how nice it was to cruise on “NCL” making someone stand up and scream “Man overboard!” which made the other person jump in their seat and look to their right at the person they thought pinched their butt. This would make the audience applaud and the final person would stand up and take their bow.
I know it isn’t fake because you really have to be paying attention to every word to not miss your cue. I still feel like I’m not explaining it right, but seeing this type of show after getting to know some of the passengers made it feel less like fake stuff.
We talked with the guy who felt like he was getting his butt pinched and also at one point forgot the number 6. I asked if he remembered anything and he said “Yeah, I remember it all. I just don’t know why I was doing that stuff.”
The best part for me was afterwards when she tells people to let go of all of the things she has told them and they “wake up” she offers a parting gift to one person, and it is all of the stuff they gave her when she said “money.” The look on the guy’s face was priceless. He looked in the bag to see what his prize was and then quickly looked at himself to notice all of those possessions were no longer on his person. Bewildered. Awesome.
Today’s notable moments were mostly at night. Earlier in the day the Bowling with the Stars semi-finals happened and Larrance came in first…but I was working out at the time and didn’t see it.
The big moment was the 7:30 Comedy Hypnotism show. It seems like a lot of these shows have the word “comedy” thrown in with them, like tomorrow night is Comedy Juggling or something along those lines. But the hypnotism show was great. Picture Katie Nahnsen (if you know her) doing some sort of “nice mom” character…that was the hypnotist. She had 15 people onstage and really set standards of things like needing to be willing to be hypnotized. As she was putting people in a trance it became apparent who it was working on and who it wasn’t. If it really wasn’t working she would assist them off stage.
There is that part of you that says “they have to be faking” but we had met some of the passengers and knew they wouldn’t just do some of the stuff they were doing. It is hard to explain the hilarity in full so I’ll explain my favorite combo. She told one person that they were very generous…the most generous person ever and that every time she said “money” they would be compelled to give her something of theirs, but she couldn’t accept cash. Another person was told they were the star of the show and every time the audience applauded that person would stand up and take a bow. She told yet another person that they were the safety officer of the ship and when she said “NCL” they would stand up and scream “Man overboard!” and then forget that they even did it. Finally she told someone that each time they heard “Man overboard!” they would think the person to their right pinched their butt. So that was the set up for hilarity. She’d talk to the audience and say “money” in her sentence causing the one person to give her stuff. She’d say how nice it was to cruise on “NCL” making someone stand up and scream “Man overboard!” which made the other person jump in their seat and look to their right at the person they thought pinched their butt. This would make the audience applaud and the final person would stand up and take their bow.
I know it isn’t fake because you really have to be paying attention to every word to not miss your cue. I still feel like I’m not explaining it right, but seeing this type of show after getting to know some of the passengers made it feel less like fake stuff.
We talked with the guy who felt like he was getting his butt pinched and also at one point forgot the number 6. I asked if he remembered anything and he said “Yeah, I remember it all. I just don’t know why I was doing that stuff.”
The best part for me was afterwards when she tells people to let go of all of the things she has told them and they “wake up” she offers a parting gift to one person, and it is all of the stuff they gave her when she said “money.” The look on the guy’s face was priceless. He looked in the bag to see what his prize was and then quickly looked at himself to notice all of those possessions were no longer on his person. Bewildered. Awesome.
Monday, November 24, 2008
11/24/08: Day 30: Sea Day 2 of 6
30 Days! Today was another sea day. This one was broken up in the middle by the Bowling with the Stars tournament. There ended up being 20 teams with only 9 being able to play at a time. It was fun to see all the different types of passenger personalities come out. Mostly people who couldn’t bowl and didn’t care…just there to have fun. But there were some bad bowlers who weren’t necessarily gracious losers, and some really good bowlers…on land…who weren’t gracious losers when trying to bowl on a rocking ship.
My partner was of the “just here to have fun” persuasion so I had a good time.
I think that is all of note.
My partner was of the “just here to have fun” persuasion so I had a good time.
I think that is all of note.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
11/23/08: Day 29: Sea Day 1 of 6
So, aside from the little mention of the day earlier, things are pretty mellow today. The ride has stayed fairly rocky but nothing out of control. Little memories are coming back to me from our last contract. For whatever reason it was almost always smooth on the Mediterranean…probably because it is pretty well sealed off from the Atlantic. Since the waves started the little signs are there that say “this could last a while”…they aren’t actual signs, they’re barf bags that are placed by the garbage cans in front of each elevator.
Today was eating, Italian learning, working out, and more Settlers of Catan. After that we decided to go see if bowling was open. We had heard it wasn’t because of the waves…but it was. It is what I call Wave Bowling. You can throw a straight ball with no spin and have it hook. You can throw a ball with a lot of spin and have it go down a straight line. If you’re Brett you can throw a ball like an old man throwing an orange into a fire (as Deanna says) and have it catch major wave action straight into the gutter.
I can’t tell yet if we’re starting to go a little crazy…we might be.
Today was eating, Italian learning, working out, and more Settlers of Catan. After that we decided to go see if bowling was open. We had heard it wasn’t because of the waves…but it was. It is what I call Wave Bowling. You can throw a straight ball with no spin and have it hook. You can throw a ball with a lot of spin and have it go down a straight line. If you’re Brett you can throw a ball like an old man throwing an orange into a fire (as Deanna says) and have it catch major wave action straight into the gutter.
I can’t tell yet if we’re starting to go a little crazy…we might be.
11/23/08: Day 29: Minor Update
Our first sea day is just starting. Everyday now we gain an hour as we turn our clocks back. But...we're on the open Atlantic Ocean. In the middle of the night the waves started. I will try to get a little video footage of people trying to walk in these conditions. It is exceptionally funny right after a show to watch a crowd 1000 swaying back and forth with the waves.
I'm writing to let you know about a few things. One, I've received a shout out via the blog of Jeff Griggs (another Chicago improvisor on another ship) so I thought I would send his out: http://jeffgriggs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.
Some people read these because they know me and are keeping up. Some read because they are improvisors who have been on ships and like to reminisce...some are improvisors dreaming of getting this gig and want to know more (that's how I started). There are a lot out there...more than I know of at this point.
I'm also stealing a plea of Jeff's...with a twist. Christmas is coming up. If you're a reader of this blog I would love to receive a Christmas card from you (Deanna would too). For letters you can reach me at:
Rance Rizzutto
Crew Staff
Guest Entertainer/Second City
M.S. Norwegian Gem
First Class Cargo
104 South Central Avenue #18
Valley Stream, NY 11580
USA
That address is only good for letters...not packages. We aren't even in New York until the 29th, so I don't know how reliable or timely the delivery to us is. So why not test it? Right?!
I'm writing to let you know about a few things. One, I've received a shout out via the blog of Jeff Griggs (another Chicago improvisor on another ship) so I thought I would send his out: http://jeffgriggs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.
Some people read these because they know me and are keeping up. Some read because they are improvisors who have been on ships and like to reminisce...some are improvisors dreaming of getting this gig and want to know more (that's how I started). There are a lot out there...more than I know of at this point.
I'm also stealing a plea of Jeff's...with a twist. Christmas is coming up. If you're a reader of this blog I would love to receive a Christmas card from you (Deanna would too). For letters you can reach me at:
Rance Rizzutto
Crew Staff
Guest Entertainer/Second City
M.S. Norwegian Gem
First Class Cargo
104 South Central Avenue #18
Valley Stream, NY 11580
USA
That address is only good for letters...not packages. We aren't even in New York until the 29th, so I don't know how reliable or timely the delivery to us is. So why not test it? Right?!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
11/22/08: Day 28: Malaga
Spain…and the last day in Europe. I was looking to burn some euros before we left so we basically just walked around town and shopped. Malaga is really beautiful and it didn’t seem like a touristy place. At least not as much as some of the others. You couldn’t find tons of stores selling hoodies (or as Larrance coined tonight, “sweaties”) with Espania or Malaga on them. You couldn’t find venders selling purses, sunglasses, wooden letter train cars that link up to spell your name, laser sound guns that blow bubbles, or clacking magnetic stones. Just a lot of nice shops and a few that sold Malaga t-shirts. Also, not a lot of English speakers.
I did buy a new coat that is awesome. The thing about buying clothing in a country not plagued by morbid obesity is that the clothes fit. I bought an XL and the sleeves are long enough AND I’m not swimming in the rest of it that would normally be designed to accommodate what the USA clothing standards would assume would also be on my frame…a huge belly.
Tonight was Jane L. Powell, the Chocolate Goddess of Love. We watched her show and just kept telling Brett “just watch…she is phenomenal at working the crowd.” She still does the exact same show she did on the Jewel…it is still just as entertaining. Deanna and I came back to watch as much of her second show before we needed to head upstairs to do ours.
After all was said and done we came back to the room and I wanted to order room service. I like to tip. I only had US twenties and some leftover euro. Luckily Deanna had at least a buck. This was my first realization of “We’re really going back to the US. My euro will be useless for a while.”
I did buy a new coat that is awesome. The thing about buying clothing in a country not plagued by morbid obesity is that the clothes fit. I bought an XL and the sleeves are long enough AND I’m not swimming in the rest of it that would normally be designed to accommodate what the USA clothing standards would assume would also be on my frame…a huge belly.
Tonight was Jane L. Powell, the Chocolate Goddess of Love. We watched her show and just kept telling Brett “just watch…she is phenomenal at working the crowd.” She still does the exact same show she did on the Jewel…it is still just as entertaining. Deanna and I came back to watch as much of her second show before we needed to head upstairs to do ours.
After all was said and done we came back to the room and I wanted to order room service. I like to tip. I only had US twenties and some leftover euro. Luckily Deanna had at least a buck. This was my first realization of “We’re really going back to the US. My euro will be useless for a while.”
Friday, November 21, 2008
11/21/08: Day 27: Sea Day
Sea Day…so, that means the basics happened. I worked out. I worked on getting photos ready for downloading. I learned some more Italian. We also saw Ole Ole (flamenco dancing) and comedian Bud Andersen do their final show…they leave in Malaga tomorrow before we do our crossing. After that…SETTLERS OF CATAN!
So, that is the summary. Finer points…I didn’t have my camera on the way back from the gym, but I saw a lady sleeping in a deck chair that would have been a priceless picture. At least I hope she was sleeping and not dead. She looked almost exactly like Han Solo when he was frozen in carbonite.
Also, while we were playing Settlers there was one group of four playing bridge or something like it, and a group of older Asians playing Mahjongg. Every time Mahjongg tiles got reshuffled it sound it like bacon sizzling in the pan. There was usually always some noise going on in the game room, be it bacon or talking…except for one moment where everything went quiet right as a bridge lady said over the noise that wasn’t there, “It smells like one of us stepped in shit again.” Everyone laughed.
So, that is the summary. Finer points…I didn’t have my camera on the way back from the gym, but I saw a lady sleeping in a deck chair that would have been a priceless picture. At least I hope she was sleeping and not dead. She looked almost exactly like Han Solo when he was frozen in carbonite.
Also, while we were playing Settlers there was one group of four playing bridge or something like it, and a group of older Asians playing Mahjongg. Every time Mahjongg tiles got reshuffled it sound it like bacon sizzling in the pan. There was usually always some noise going on in the game room, be it bacon or talking…except for one moment where everything went quiet right as a bridge lady said over the noise that wasn’t there, “It smells like one of us stepped in shit again.” Everyone laughed.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
11/20/08: Day 26: Corsica
Since we’re on a 13-day crossing we’re hitting a few different ports along the way back to New York. Today we hit Ajaccio, Corsica. It is an island just north of Sardinia that is technically part of France. And it is famous for being the birth place of Napoleon. There are all sorts of Napoleon souvenirs in shops, as well as a museum and supposedly a bunch of the works of art that were pillaged during the Napoleonic wars.
I can vouch for the souvenirs. Deanna and I got off the ship and walked around a bit after some coffee. It became apparent quickly that the day was turning into a shopping day for Deanna so I went walking around. I’m sure there is something cool somewhere, I just didn’t find it today.
Jen said that she didn’t know a lot about Corsica, but knew they had been part of France for 250 years and if they had it their way they wouldn’t be. Sometimes there are even terrorists “fighting the system” but they usually stick to taking it out on the government and not the tourists.
Tonight we had our first night with two shows. The first show was pretty well packed and the second was medium…medium for that theater is around 500-700 people, so it was still well attended. Things got stormy just before the second show and a really big wave shook the stage in our final number. We’re all ok. Glad we got the big theater shows out of the way before the crossing starts
I can vouch for the souvenirs. Deanna and I got off the ship and walked around a bit after some coffee. It became apparent quickly that the day was turning into a shopping day for Deanna so I went walking around. I’m sure there is something cool somewhere, I just didn’t find it today.
Jen said that she didn’t know a lot about Corsica, but knew they had been part of France for 250 years and if they had it their way they wouldn’t be. Sometimes there are even terrorists “fighting the system” but they usually stick to taking it out on the government and not the tourists.
Tonight we had our first night with two shows. The first show was pretty well packed and the second was medium…medium for that theater is around 500-700 people, so it was still well attended. Things got stormy just before the second show and a really big wave shook the stage in our final number. We’re all ok. Glad we got the big theater shows out of the way before the crossing starts
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
11/19/08: Day 25: Rome
Last Rome day for awhile. The whole gang made it this time as well as Kim, one of the youth counselors.
The morning started off like a comedy show. See, we’ve honed in on a good system for group travel: Meet right off the ship at blank o’clock. We’re all adults here, and I am particularly not fond of the whole group waiting for a late person…in any situation. This is more of the “you snooze you lose” school of thought. Mike and Brett are the night owls and usually make snap decisions on whether they’ll be attending early events. So, that being said…loopholes have been found.
As Deanna and I were walking from our room to get off the ship we saw Mike coming the opposite way saying “I locked my key card in my room.” This means he couldn’t get off the ship even if he wanted to. No biggie. The room stewards could let him in. Then as we get outside, about 3 minutes go by then Brett says “I gotta take these contacts out” and heads inside. About 3 minutes after he leaves Kim says something about not having enough Euro and heads inside to get change made. So it was the show up on time so we know you’re coming but then go back to do the late stuff. Regardless, we left in time to catch the train we were wanting to catch…to find out Mike had left his wallet in his room and had no money. Commercial break!
We covered Mike, and it meant he had to hang out with us instead of taking off early. Today was all about the Coliseum. There is a line to buy 12euro tickets…OR there are guides around outside who can get you past the line AND give you a tour for 23euro. We did the tour. Lots of great information plus it included a free tour of Palatine Hill right next door which included the Forum. That tour was very informative. The both were, but I retained more from the Palatine Hill one.
Jen, Larrance, and Mike split off from the rest of us before the Palatine tour. So the remaining four of us started walking to catch a 3:39 train after our tour. We got turned around a bit, got back on track, and after some speed walking to what was possibly the furthest away track in the terminal, made our train with one minute to spare. That train plus a shuttle ride got us to the ship 30 minutes before we were supposed to be on. Safe!
The morning started off like a comedy show. See, we’ve honed in on a good system for group travel: Meet right off the ship at blank o’clock. We’re all adults here, and I am particularly not fond of the whole group waiting for a late person…in any situation. This is more of the “you snooze you lose” school of thought. Mike and Brett are the night owls and usually make snap decisions on whether they’ll be attending early events. So, that being said…loopholes have been found.
As Deanna and I were walking from our room to get off the ship we saw Mike coming the opposite way saying “I locked my key card in my room.” This means he couldn’t get off the ship even if he wanted to. No biggie. The room stewards could let him in. Then as we get outside, about 3 minutes go by then Brett says “I gotta take these contacts out” and heads inside. About 3 minutes after he leaves Kim says something about not having enough Euro and heads inside to get change made. So it was the show up on time so we know you’re coming but then go back to do the late stuff. Regardless, we left in time to catch the train we were wanting to catch…to find out Mike had left his wallet in his room and had no money. Commercial break!
We covered Mike, and it meant he had to hang out with us instead of taking off early. Today was all about the Coliseum. There is a line to buy 12euro tickets…OR there are guides around outside who can get you past the line AND give you a tour for 23euro. We did the tour. Lots of great information plus it included a free tour of Palatine Hill right next door which included the Forum. That tour was very informative. The both were, but I retained more from the Palatine Hill one.
Jen, Larrance, and Mike split off from the rest of us before the Palatine tour. So the remaining four of us started walking to catch a 3:39 train after our tour. We got turned around a bit, got back on track, and after some speed walking to what was possibly the furthest away track in the terminal, made our train with one minute to spare. That train plus a shuttle ride got us to the ship 30 minutes before we were supposed to be on. Safe!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
11/18/08: Day 24: Florence
It was weird to be back here so soon. Our days go by way too fast because of trains and such. I know we caught a 9:11 train…so I think that meant we caught a taxi at 8:30. It was just the two couples this time. We wanted to shop at a leather craft school (lower prices because they’re made by students, eat a sit down meal, but our main goal was to go to the Uffizi art museum. At one of the VIP parties a few weeks ago one of the passengers gave us a list of 12 or so things to see in the museum…and WHY. So, I used that as my main guide. I can’t list any of them off, but I saw them, and if you showed me a picture I would recognize it and be able to tell you at least one thing that is important about it.
I think we had to catch a train around 3:00pm to be back on time. Jen and Larrance really wanted to sit down and get some food. So, around 1:30 we were finishing up on the top floor of the Uffizi. Jen and Larrance had already gone downstairs and Deanna was going through slower because she had an audio tour. When I found her we rushed back through so I could show her the things on the list from the passenger.
On our exit we hit another floor that we had to cruise through. I will go back for this floor alone. A lot of old books with fancy calligraphy, and two of the things on my list that I didn’t see.
We made it to get food but had to bust butt to get back to the ship.
I was going to workout, but I was tired…and I didn’t nap…so the tired part just sort of hung with me throughout the rest of the night.
I think we had to catch a train around 3:00pm to be back on time. Jen and Larrance really wanted to sit down and get some food. So, around 1:30 we were finishing up on the top floor of the Uffizi. Jen and Larrance had already gone downstairs and Deanna was going through slower because she had an audio tour. When I found her we rushed back through so I could show her the things on the list from the passenger.
On our exit we hit another floor that we had to cruise through. I will go back for this floor alone. A lot of old books with fancy calligraphy, and two of the things on my list that I didn’t see.
We made it to get food but had to bust butt to get back to the ship.
I was going to workout, but I was tired…and I didn’t nap…so the tired part just sort of hung with me throughout the rest of the night.
Monday, November 17, 2008
11/17/08: Day 23: Nice
Now that we’ve started the 13 day cruise we’re going backwards from what we normally do. So, since we were in Villefranche just two days ago we took the bus into Nice today. I grab onto Spanish and Italian pretty easily and plan on learning them more while we’re in the Caribbean so I can get us around better when we return (even though a lot of people speak English). French isn’t my style. Too many unspoken letters…too many ways to pronounce a single vowel.
Anywho. Nice was nice. Now, you are saying Nice as “niece” in your head when you see it capitalized, right? Not every time though…like I could start a sentence and not be talking about it. Nice try. See?
One little thing that we’ve been missing on these cruises, as I’ve talked about, are sea days. Sea days help us catch up with rest. Normally we go, go, go and then get a sea day right after Barcelona. Not this time. We get a sea day before the last port and then plenty of sea days to go around for everyone.
While I’m out and about the ports I go back and forth from thinking “let’s get to the next destination we’re going to see in this port” to “Holy crap! I’m eating a sandwich with Deanna on the French Riviera!” Deanna prefers the latter moments.
Tonight we have the VIP party and then who knows. I almost fell asleep before writing this and Deanna was asleep seconds ago with her finger on an open page of a book.
Side note…and I didn’t get a picture of this…while we were sitting along the beach in Nice we saw a guy walking along the beach with a cane while holding a cat. Keep in mind the beach is made up of stones and not sand. The cat started to fidget so he let it down. It had on a chest harness attached to a leash. The cat sort of just stood there, then the man would drag it. This repeated a few times before he picked the cat up again. I said, “Well, I guess that explains why you don’t see many people walking cats.”
Anywho. Nice was nice. Now, you are saying Nice as “niece” in your head when you see it capitalized, right? Not every time though…like I could start a sentence and not be talking about it. Nice try. See?
One little thing that we’ve been missing on these cruises, as I’ve talked about, are sea days. Sea days help us catch up with rest. Normally we go, go, go and then get a sea day right after Barcelona. Not this time. We get a sea day before the last port and then plenty of sea days to go around for everyone.
While I’m out and about the ports I go back and forth from thinking “let’s get to the next destination we’re going to see in this port” to “Holy crap! I’m eating a sandwich with Deanna on the French Riviera!” Deanna prefers the latter moments.
Tonight we have the VIP party and then who knows. I almost fell asleep before writing this and Deanna was asleep seconds ago with her finger on an open page of a book.
Side note…and I didn’t get a picture of this…while we were sitting along the beach in Nice we saw a guy walking along the beach with a cane while holding a cat. Keep in mind the beach is made up of stones and not sand. The cat started to fidget so he let it down. It had on a chest harness attached to a leash. The cat sort of just stood there, then the man would drag it. This repeated a few times before he picked the cat up again. I said, “Well, I guess that explains why you don’t see many people walking cats.”
Sunday, November 16, 2008
11/16/08: Day 22: Barcelona
Our last time in Barcelona for awhile. Taking advantage of the end of season lack of crowds we hit some popular spots. Deanna, Jen, Larrance, and I hopped on the Metra (very smooth and easy to figure out) for stop number one. Gaudi’s La Pedra. An apartment building designed by Gaudi and very much containing lack of straight lines.
I gotta say…I’m a straight line guy. I like lines. Gaudi’s stuff is cool, but just not my style. That being said, I still have some great photos coming.
Deanna and I had walked by this building before, but it is famous for its roof. So we got there right around opening time and paid to go up. Surprise, surprise…NO LINE!
From there we grabbed a bite and then headed back to the Metra to get to a stop near Park Guell (a park designed by Gaudi). The entry way reminded me of a slightly fancier Enchanted Forest (7 miles south of Salem)…so…I was expecting more. But the over all design of the park was well done with plenty of great views all around.
From there we all kind of went separate ways to return to the ship. I then did laundry. I am really good at laundry. I like it better than most chores and Deanna hates doing it, so I take it. In theory so she’ll do other chores like cleaning the bathroom or doing dishes…two things that we don’t have to worry about on the ship.
We also found out that Brett went to an internet place and downloaded the first three episodes of 30 Rock and the last 6 of The Office…which I am going to watch…NOW.
I gotta say…I’m a straight line guy. I like lines. Gaudi’s stuff is cool, but just not my style. That being said, I still have some great photos coming.
Deanna and I had walked by this building before, but it is famous for its roof. So we got there right around opening time and paid to go up. Surprise, surprise…NO LINE!
From there we grabbed a bite and then headed back to the Metra to get to a stop near Park Guell (a park designed by Gaudi). The entry way reminded me of a slightly fancier Enchanted Forest (7 miles south of Salem)…so…I was expecting more. But the over all design of the park was well done with plenty of great views all around.
From there we all kind of went separate ways to return to the ship. I then did laundry. I am really good at laundry. I like it better than most chores and Deanna hates doing it, so I take it. In theory so she’ll do other chores like cleaning the bathroom or doing dishes…two things that we don’t have to worry about on the ship.
We also found out that Brett went to an internet place and downloaded the first three episodes of 30 Rock and the last 6 of The Office…which I am going to watch…NOW.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
11/15/08: Day 21: Villefranche
Today was beautiful in France…at least from the seat of the restaurant with free Wifi it was! Photos are up on flickr (some Pisa and Pompeii photos are missing, they might be up on the 17th).
That’s today! I was supposed to teach a workshop with Deanna, but they put us in a weird place on the ship that is only known about by the kids, and they put the workshop at the same time as their final bingo and free cruise drawing where you have to be there to win. So, no one showed up. We were ready though.
That’s today! I was supposed to teach a workshop with Deanna, but they put us in a weird place on the ship that is only known about by the kids, and they put the workshop at the same time as their final bingo and free cruise drawing where you have to be there to win. So, no one showed up. We were ready though.
Friday, November 14, 2008
11/14/08: Day 20: Livorno (Florence)
A lot of photos have been added to Flickr...use the link to the right. I'm still working on adding photos to the blog posts. I ran out of time in the internet cafe.
Day 20…yikes. Days are burning by on this leg since we’re out everyday.
I did a leg workout late last night after the show because I knew things would be non-stop today. Ai yi yi. We walked a lot and climbed a lot of steps today. The Livorno train station is near to Pisa, a little further away from Lucca, and just under 2 hours away from Florence. We got off the ship at 7:45 to catch a train to Florence. It started with a train to Pisa at 8:26 to catch a Florence train that made a lot of little stops…but we finally got there.
There were a few things Deanna wanted me to see. The “Florence Duomo” (as she knows it…she says it has a more official name), and the statue of David. Those were the two big ones and we had about 4 hours before we needed to catch the train ride back.
The Duomo. A church. Churches seem to come in two flavors: super fancy on the outside; or super fancy on the inside…never/rarely both. This was a super fancy on the outside place, but still cool on the inside. The nice thing about this Duomo…for E3.50 you could climb to the top of the dome. That was a lot of stairs for my recently worked out legs, but worth the view. The climb took us not only right up by the art work inside the dome, but up and outside on top. The view was awesome.
It turns out that going down on wobbly legs is harder than going up. This time of year is perfect for coming to see Italy. The season is ending so there are way less people and it is much cooler out. While we were climbing the tiny, tight stairwells Deanna said “imagine this 30 degrees hotter and packed with people.” That would have been awful…especially since there is one part of the stair climb that is two way, but also has people coming back down from the dome. That would be yuck.
After that we went to see the statue of David. Carved from a single piece of marble. Amazing. And I’m not talking about his penis, perves. The little details are what got me…veins on arms, wrinkles on knuckles, toenails. Amazing.
From there we had time to eat and hop on the train. There was an empty seat in front of me (those kind where it is two seats facing two other ones) that had gum on it. So, I thought no one would sit there. Wrong. A lady sat her two sons there. I took a few pics of them so you can see the kids that were practically on my lap for two hours. The nice thing was we got on a train going directly from Florence to Livorno. The nicer thing was it made 5 stops total. If we would have waited a little longer in Livorno for the direct train we would have probably got there in the same amount of time if not faster.
We had our VIP party and I rocked my ascot. Now, I sleep.
Day 20…yikes. Days are burning by on this leg since we’re out everyday.
I did a leg workout late last night after the show because I knew things would be non-stop today. Ai yi yi. We walked a lot and climbed a lot of steps today. The Livorno train station is near to Pisa, a little further away from Lucca, and just under 2 hours away from Florence. We got off the ship at 7:45 to catch a train to Florence. It started with a train to Pisa at 8:26 to catch a Florence train that made a lot of little stops…but we finally got there.
There were a few things Deanna wanted me to see. The “Florence Duomo” (as she knows it…she says it has a more official name), and the statue of David. Those were the two big ones and we had about 4 hours before we needed to catch the train ride back.
The Duomo. A church. Churches seem to come in two flavors: super fancy on the outside; or super fancy on the inside…never/rarely both. This was a super fancy on the outside place, but still cool on the inside. The nice thing about this Duomo…for E3.50 you could climb to the top of the dome. That was a lot of stairs for my recently worked out legs, but worth the view. The climb took us not only right up by the art work inside the dome, but up and outside on top. The view was awesome.
It turns out that going down on wobbly legs is harder than going up. This time of year is perfect for coming to see Italy. The season is ending so there are way less people and it is much cooler out. While we were climbing the tiny, tight stairwells Deanna said “imagine this 30 degrees hotter and packed with people.” That would have been awful…especially since there is one part of the stair climb that is two way, but also has people coming back down from the dome. That would be yuck.
After that we went to see the statue of David. Carved from a single piece of marble. Amazing. And I’m not talking about his penis, perves. The little details are what got me…veins on arms, wrinkles on knuckles, toenails. Amazing.
From there we had time to eat and hop on the train. There was an empty seat in front of me (those kind where it is two seats facing two other ones) that had gum on it. So, I thought no one would sit there. Wrong. A lady sat her two sons there. I took a few pics of them so you can see the kids that were practically on my lap for two hours. The nice thing was we got on a train going directly from Florence to Livorno. The nicer thing was it made 5 stops total. If we would have waited a little longer in Livorno for the direct train we would have probably got there in the same amount of time if not faster.
We had our VIP party and I rocked my ascot. Now, I sleep.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
11/13/08: Day 19: Civitivecchia
My plan was to go to the Coliseum today…regardless of who was coming with me. Then, sometime in the middle of the night or early morning I heard heavy rain. Now, to you in houses you might be thinking “oh,yeah…been there.” But, keep in mind we are in the middle of the ship and two levels down. We’re talking major storm. Lightning, thunder and water spouts a.k.a. tornados. So, I didn’t wake up early and I didn’t get off the ship.
The nice thing was that they decided to show movies in the Stardust theater to provide something to do in the bad weather. Brett and I saw Ironman at 11:30am.
We then though it might have cleared up and went to brave looking for an internet café. Right as we got off the ship it started raining and I turned right back around to go watch the 2:00 Dark Knight showing.
Other than that we had a great show in the Spinaker.
The nice thing was that they decided to show movies in the Stardust theater to provide something to do in the bad weather. Brett and I saw Ironman at 11:30am.
We then though it might have cleared up and went to brave looking for an internet café. Right as we got off the ship it started raining and I turned right back around to go watch the 2:00 Dark Knight showing.
Other than that we had a great show in the Spinaker.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
11/12/08: Day 18: Naples
Today Deanna and I (and Brett also, but on a separate bus) took advantage of a crew tour. Every so often the ship will arrange tours for the crew at a discount price. Today the tour was to Sorrento, a nice little town on the water known for shopping, and Pompeii, a nice little town that was frozen in time when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in August of 79AD…only to be discovered in the 1700s while a family was trying to dig a well for water.
Sorrento was nice. That about sums it up since I wasn’t really into shopping. Although, I saw a little cart with ties, bow ties, and ascots. Ascots? Really? Yes. Naturally, I had to have one. I bought a light blue ascot that I plan on sporting at the next VIP party in two nights.
Pompeii was fantastic! This city was a business city that contained a population of about 15,000 people. I’m always blown away by the stuff I see that is that historic. We’re talking 79AD is when it ended, so who knows where it began? The art work in the bath house was amazing, as was tile work just in some entry ways. That plus acoustic theaters, original paint work, and the view of Mt. Vesuvius. Fantastic. Our tour guide, Fabio, had a postcard that actually showed a painting of the mountain on one of the walls of the ruins. That mountain is tall today, but had a huge peak before. It erupted and buried the city in 40 feet of ash and stone. Many of the bodies they found had crushed skulls as if falling rocks were their demise rather than the ash.
And they aren’t even finished digging. Well, there is more to be dug up…they are holding off and deciding that the money they get should be focused on upkeep more so than new finds.
Tonight we had another show and it went well. I didn’t wear the ascot.
Sorrento was nice. That about sums it up since I wasn’t really into shopping. Although, I saw a little cart with ties, bow ties, and ascots. Ascots? Really? Yes. Naturally, I had to have one. I bought a light blue ascot that I plan on sporting at the next VIP party in two nights.
Pompeii was fantastic! This city was a business city that contained a population of about 15,000 people. I’m always blown away by the stuff I see that is that historic. We’re talking 79AD is when it ended, so who knows where it began? The art work in the bath house was amazing, as was tile work just in some entry ways. That plus acoustic theaters, original paint work, and the view of Mt. Vesuvius. Fantastic. Our tour guide, Fabio, had a postcard that actually showed a painting of the mountain on one of the walls of the ruins. That mountain is tall today, but had a huge peak before. It erupted and buried the city in 40 feet of ash and stone. Many of the bodies they found had crushed skulls as if falling rocks were their demise rather than the ash.
And they aren’t even finished digging. Well, there is more to be dug up…they are holding off and deciding that the money they get should be focused on upkeep more so than new finds.
Tonight we had another show and it went well. I didn’t wear the ascot.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
11/11/08: Day 17: Malta
Man, I didn’t go anywhere today. I worked out, AND I finally got a haircut. I haven’t had a haircut since right before CSz tournament in the end of August.
That’s about it.
That’s about it.
Monday, November 10, 2008
11/10/08: Day 16: Sea Day
The earlier part of the day has been mostly eating, learning Italian, and watching the extra stuff on the Sweeny Todd DVD. I also watched pool/billiards on the Euro Sport channel. The kind with the bigger table and all the extra balls. I don’t get it. All the commentary was in German so that didn’t help either. When they sank a red ball they got a point. When they sank a different colored ball they got points equal to its number and a judge would take that ball out and put it back on the table. But…they took forever to actually get to the point of sinking shots.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
11/09/08: Day 15: Barcelona
Walkin’, y’all. That’s what we did today. Saw a lot of cool stuff like the Arc de Triomf and Sangria Familia. You’ll have to see pics.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
11/08/08: Day 14: Villefranche
I didn’t get off the ship today. I’ve been nursing a sore ankle since I twisted it in my last CSz remote. It was better for one day, and then we started doing all of this walking around Europe. Deanna and Jen’s plans included walking around Villefranche and shopping for soap. Borrrrrrrrinnnnnnnggggg. : )
So, I stayed on the ship and hit the gym. It has been 4 days since I went. Since I haven’t worked out in awhile my workouts have gone like this:
Day 1: Triceps and Pecs. Good workout leaving the muscles feeling tired. Very hard to wash my hair in the shower.
Day 2: I think I rested. Triceps were a little sore, I could have worked pecs more.
Day 3: Legs: Triceps even more sore. After workout it was hard to walk down or up stairs because legs were wobbly.
Day 4: Legs were a little “ow”
Day 5: It hurts to walk! Slow down!
Since everything was sore for about 3 days after the work out I waited until after our show on Naples day to workout because I have to pick up Jen at one point and didn’t want my muscles to say “I don’t think so” during the show. And we just didn’t have time on the two days after that.
Anywho, I worked shoulders and will try to get in biceps tomorrow. Bored yet? I hope you guys are good at skimming. I ramble sometimes.
Also…dear news, it is okay to stop talking about Sarah Palin. And DEFINITELY okay to never mention Joe the Plumber. I know news is slower after the election, but there has got to be something, right?
So, I stayed on the ship and hit the gym. It has been 4 days since I went. Since I haven’t worked out in awhile my workouts have gone like this:
Day 1: Triceps and Pecs. Good workout leaving the muscles feeling tired. Very hard to wash my hair in the shower.
Day 2: I think I rested. Triceps were a little sore, I could have worked pecs more.
Day 3: Legs: Triceps even more sore. After workout it was hard to walk down or up stairs because legs were wobbly.
Day 4: Legs were a little “ow”
Day 5: It hurts to walk! Slow down!
Since everything was sore for about 3 days after the work out I waited until after our show on Naples day to workout because I have to pick up Jen at one point and didn’t want my muscles to say “I don’t think so” during the show. And we just didn’t have time on the two days after that.
Anywho, I worked shoulders and will try to get in biceps tomorrow. Bored yet? I hope you guys are good at skimming. I ramble sometimes.
Also…dear news, it is okay to stop talking about Sarah Palin. And DEFINITELY okay to never mention Joe the Plumber. I know news is slower after the election, but there has got to be something, right?
Friday, November 07, 2008
11/7/08: Day 13: Livorno (Pisa)
Today we headed to Pisa. We had learned a few lessons from our journey last week. Instead of taking a shuttle to a bus to a train station we took a taxi to a train station. There were a couple of passengers who recognized us as we got off the ship and asked what we were doing in hopes of finding out the best way to get places. They hopped in the cab with us and also the train to Pisa.
Once on the train we knew it would be a quick 10 minute jaunt to the next stop…PISA!!!........wait…why is the train stopping?
Apparently a rather common thing in Italy is a strike or protest. Sometimes the train workers strike for fair wages, but today the students were striking for some other reason and blocked the tracks far ahead. Our 10 minute ride turned into a one hour sit. Eventually the train started moving and stopped one stop past Pisa Centrale, which actually put us right by the leaning tower.
Another day for great photos. I was hungry and hadn’t had coffee so I was a little on edge, but after a nice snack and caffe latte it was game on. Again, great pictures were taken that you probably won’t see until December.
Tonight is not only our late night improv show, but our second VIP party of the night. During the party Deanna and I were talking with a guy named Dave. We started talking about what he had done on the cruise and that led to stories of the Uffizi. Apparently his son studied art in Italy and gave him a list of the 12 pieces of art he needed to see in the Uffizi and why…then he gave us that list. SCORE! We’ll be using it and attempting to go to Florence next week.
I made the running order for the show tonight and it ran short. Not a big deal. It’s improv and we simply added a Day in the Life to the end. The volunteer was Elli…the guy who was with us in the taxi, train, and Pisa. As Deanna was interviewing him and he was talking about the train strike there were three guys in the back who were shouting out “OH! Yeah! Screw those guys!” They had been stuck on a train as well. First I bring Jen and that lady together via expensive gelato, now these guys and us found each other via train strikes. Peace at last.
Once on the train we knew it would be a quick 10 minute jaunt to the next stop…PISA!!!........wait…why is the train stopping?
Apparently a rather common thing in Italy is a strike or protest. Sometimes the train workers strike for fair wages, but today the students were striking for some other reason and blocked the tracks far ahead. Our 10 minute ride turned into a one hour sit. Eventually the train started moving and stopped one stop past Pisa Centrale, which actually put us right by the leaning tower.
Another day for great photos. I was hungry and hadn’t had coffee so I was a little on edge, but after a nice snack and caffe latte it was game on. Again, great pictures were taken that you probably won’t see until December.
Tonight is not only our late night improv show, but our second VIP party of the night. During the party Deanna and I were talking with a guy named Dave. We started talking about what he had done on the cruise and that led to stories of the Uffizi. Apparently his son studied art in Italy and gave him a list of the 12 pieces of art he needed to see in the Uffizi and why…then he gave us that list. SCORE! We’ll be using it and attempting to go to Florence next week.
I made the running order for the show tonight and it ran short. Not a big deal. It’s improv and we simply added a Day in the Life to the end. The volunteer was Elli…the guy who was with us in the taxi, train, and Pisa. As Deanna was interviewing him and he was talking about the train strike there were three guys in the back who were shouting out “OH! Yeah! Screw those guys!” They had been stuck on a train as well. First I bring Jen and that lady together via expensive gelato, now these guys and us found each other via train strikes. Peace at last.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
11/6/08: Day 12: Civitevecchia (Rome)
So, here is what goes into a Rome day at the beginning…”why are we waking up at 7:00am?” Around 9:00am you get your answer. Oh! Rome!
Today in Rome was fantastic. Deanna had planned a tour for us since she was here last year. We took off at 8:00am. All of us. Even Mike. Mike was actually early and everyone else was late by one or two minutes…which was enough for Mike to feign outrage (he is always the late one).
We’ve mastered the train system by now, so we bought our tickets and hopped on a train. We took a different route out of the San Piedro stop this time that lead pretty much straight to the Vatican, and was a little more scenic. The weather was fantastic and I have some glorious photos.
Summary of locations I remember: Vatican, Castle Sant’angelo, Piazza Novaro (or something close to that name), Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and a few things that we just came across that I don’t have the names of.
The nice thing about this time of year is that there aren’t many tourists. There are still a lot of tourists, but I guess it is CRAZY in the summer.
Some interesting things that happened along our journeys…there are people roasting chestnuts and selling them. All over. We stopped for coffee and I saw a guy roasting some and thought “I’ve never had roasted chestnuts.” It was 5 euro for a scoop of about 8 of them, so I bought some and we all tried them. I don’t think it is something I’m anxious to eat again, but glad I tried it.
The real fun zinger of the day was when Jen and Brett stopped for gelato. Brett got a cone for 4 or 5 euro. Jen asked for a scoop but on a different cone. The guy said it is a little more money and she said ok. He put some cream in the cone, put the gelato on the cone, added little edible cones and doodads including a little umbrella and sparkly pom pom stick. He hands the cone to Jen. “That will be 15 euro.” FOR A CONE OF ICE CREAM! She was blown away and had to have Deanna go get Larrance because he had her money and had only given her 10 to cover gelato. She said it was worth it.
We had our improv show tonight and in the first game I asked for a suggestion by saying “Jen spent 15 euro on a cone of gelato today. What is something you could buy for 15 euro?” Jen laughed and said something along the lines of “hey!” I heard someone say something from the back but didn’t understand. “What was that?” I asked. “We paid 15 euro for gelato too!” Jen found a friend.
Tomorrow, Pisa?
Today in Rome was fantastic. Deanna had planned a tour for us since she was here last year. We took off at 8:00am. All of us. Even Mike. Mike was actually early and everyone else was late by one or two minutes…which was enough for Mike to feign outrage (he is always the late one).
We’ve mastered the train system by now, so we bought our tickets and hopped on a train. We took a different route out of the San Piedro stop this time that lead pretty much straight to the Vatican, and was a little more scenic. The weather was fantastic and I have some glorious photos.
Summary of locations I remember: Vatican, Castle Sant’angelo, Piazza Novaro (or something close to that name), Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and a few things that we just came across that I don’t have the names of.
The nice thing about this time of year is that there aren’t many tourists. There are still a lot of tourists, but I guess it is CRAZY in the summer.
Some interesting things that happened along our journeys…there are people roasting chestnuts and selling them. All over. We stopped for coffee and I saw a guy roasting some and thought “I’ve never had roasted chestnuts.” It was 5 euro for a scoop of about 8 of them, so I bought some and we all tried them. I don’t think it is something I’m anxious to eat again, but glad I tried it.
The real fun zinger of the day was when Jen and Brett stopped for gelato. Brett got a cone for 4 or 5 euro. Jen asked for a scoop but on a different cone. The guy said it is a little more money and she said ok. He put some cream in the cone, put the gelato on the cone, added little edible cones and doodads including a little umbrella and sparkly pom pom stick. He hands the cone to Jen. “That will be 15 euro.” FOR A CONE OF ICE CREAM! She was blown away and had to have Deanna go get Larrance because he had her money and had only given her 10 to cover gelato. She said it was worth it.
We had our improv show tonight and in the first game I asked for a suggestion by saying “Jen spent 15 euro on a cone of gelato today. What is something you could buy for 15 euro?” Jen laughed and said something along the lines of “hey!” I heard someone say something from the back but didn’t understand. “What was that?” I asked. “We paid 15 euro for gelato too!” Jen found a friend.
Tomorrow, Pisa?
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
11/5/08: Day 11: Naples
This is our second time in Naples. This is also the second time that I haven’t made it off the ship in Naples. I think we’re planning on Pompei next time around…because it is our last time here in our first four months.
So, aside from the great news early this morning about Obama winning, I didn’t do much.
I’ve been tearing into Italian via Rosetta Stone hoping I’ll at least be able to better understand the language in the remaining few weeks we have here. I’ve been able to get by with “Caffe Latte” and “gratzi” so far.
Tonight was our sketch show. Show number two. This crowd wasn’t as responsive as the last, but they still seemed to like it. There are a couple of songs that will hit harder with an American crowd. Not just because of the English barrier, but because the American sense of humor is different than the European sense.
Deanna has a big day planned in Rome for us tomorrow.
So, aside from the great news early this morning about Obama winning, I didn’t do much.
I’ve been tearing into Italian via Rosetta Stone hoping I’ll at least be able to better understand the language in the remaining few weeks we have here. I’ve been able to get by with “Caffe Latte” and “gratzi” so far.
Tonight was our sketch show. Show number two. This crowd wasn’t as responsive as the last, but they still seemed to like it. There are a couple of songs that will hit harder with an American crowd. Not just because of the English barrier, but because the American sense of humor is different than the European sense.
Deanna has a big day planned in Rome for us tomorrow.
11/4/08: Day 10-11 Pt. 2 (read pt 1 first)
Oh goodness. Part two takes place around midnight our time…6pm EST. The results from the first closed polls were minutes away. Deanna and I fell asleep.
This was all part of the plan. We would sleep with the TV on and when it woke us up we would be further into the voting. Problem. The TVs switch to the “menu” channel after being on one channel for a long period (probably about 2 hours). We both woke up to the music on the menu channel around 2:30am (8:30pm EST).
“Let’s change to CNN.” Problem. The remote wasn’t working. It would control the power and the volume but not the channels. There are a few unmarked buttons on the remotes that I thought were for programming it and thought we might have reprogrammed it while lying on it.
Earlier Brett had said he was going to go watch in the library. I had said I was definitely out because of how sick I was…but my plan at that point was to watch in the room and that was no longer an option. We headed out to the library.
No one was there, and the TV was static on the navigation channel with no remote to be found. So…TO THE GYM!
In the gym we turned on a couple of the exercise bike TVs but they had no volume. That was when I remembered there were two flat screens in the dumbbell room that I remembered hearing volume on…AND…one was always set to BBC, the other to CNN. Score!
Deanna and I watched the results in there. We pulled over two weight benches, inclined them, and were locked in. During a break I called reception to see if they had extra remotes since ours wasn’t working. She said that there was a problem with the TVs, not the remotes. No one was getting reception. I wonder if it was because so many people tried to watch the same channel at the same time. I don’t know.
A lady came in to work out and was watching with us. She was very careful about asking questions. She got to “so, where are you guys from?” When we said Chicago she said “so…you’re for Obama?” Yes. Bam. “OH! Me too! I’m so excited! I wanted to watch from my room and the TV wasn’t working!”
Once the polls closed in the west coast and they announced the prediction that Obama won the lady started jumping and clapping, Deanna started crying for joy, and I just felt relief.
I really thought McCain’s concession speech was great. It made me realize at least that he is for a unified America and that Palin was more responsible for the tactics encouraging the “boo”s from the crowds. Palin is the Jerry Springer Show of politics.
So, at 6:00am-ish (12:00am EST) after listening to Obama’s acceptance speech, Deanna and I went to bed.
This was all part of the plan. We would sleep with the TV on and when it woke us up we would be further into the voting. Problem. The TVs switch to the “menu” channel after being on one channel for a long period (probably about 2 hours). We both woke up to the music on the menu channel around 2:30am (8:30pm EST).
“Let’s change to CNN.” Problem. The remote wasn’t working. It would control the power and the volume but not the channels. There are a few unmarked buttons on the remotes that I thought were for programming it and thought we might have reprogrammed it while lying on it.
Earlier Brett had said he was going to go watch in the library. I had said I was definitely out because of how sick I was…but my plan at that point was to watch in the room and that was no longer an option. We headed out to the library.
No one was there, and the TV was static on the navigation channel with no remote to be found. So…TO THE GYM!
In the gym we turned on a couple of the exercise bike TVs but they had no volume. That was when I remembered there were two flat screens in the dumbbell room that I remembered hearing volume on…AND…one was always set to BBC, the other to CNN. Score!
Deanna and I watched the results in there. We pulled over two weight benches, inclined them, and were locked in. During a break I called reception to see if they had extra remotes since ours wasn’t working. She said that there was a problem with the TVs, not the remotes. No one was getting reception. I wonder if it was because so many people tried to watch the same channel at the same time. I don’t know.
A lady came in to work out and was watching with us. She was very careful about asking questions. She got to “so, where are you guys from?” When we said Chicago she said “so…you’re for Obama?” Yes. Bam. “OH! Me too! I’m so excited! I wanted to watch from my room and the TV wasn’t working!”
Once the polls closed in the west coast and they announced the prediction that Obama won the lady started jumping and clapping, Deanna started crying for joy, and I just felt relief.
I really thought McCain’s concession speech was great. It made me realize at least that he is for a unified America and that Palin was more responsible for the tactics encouraging the “boo”s from the crowds. Palin is the Jerry Springer Show of politics.
So, at 6:00am-ish (12:00am EST) after listening to Obama’s acceptance speech, Deanna and I went to bed.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
11/4/08: Day 10: Valletta, Malta Pt.1
Bummer number one…I couldn’t find a falcon. I really got my mind set on buying a Maltese Falcon. That’s about the only bummer and it is super minor.
Malta is beautiful. It is old. Filled with all sorts of fortifications from many wars gone by. I need to read up more on this place. It has been ruled by many countries and during old times (I’m told) was a place for Catholics to avoid religious persecution and find refuge. The Maltese language is a mix of Italian and Arabic. Anytime I’ve seen Arabic it was written in their alphabet. The stuff around here is all written in the English alphabet…it was interesting to see the more Arabic words spelled out.
Deanna and I just walked around to see things. We had to be on the ship by 2:00 so we couldn’t really go to far. We may try to get to some Neolithic ruins next time we’re here…maybe.
Today as I’ve been sick and Deanna has too we’ve been mostly hanging out watching election coverage. As I type this it is 8:40pm. 1:40pm Chicago time. We won’t see polls start to close until 1:00am. Right now McCain is on doing a speech in Colorado. Ugh. I swear, if he calls us “my friends” one more time…ugh.
I’m really hoping Obama wins. I’ll have to figure out where I’m going to live otherwise. Let’s drill now, right? McCain knows how to deal with our enemies. He knows how to deal with our friends, right? He says so. I guess he forgot about his record.
I’m going to go vomit now.
There will be a part two to this day.
Malta is beautiful. It is old. Filled with all sorts of fortifications from many wars gone by. I need to read up more on this place. It has been ruled by many countries and during old times (I’m told) was a place for Catholics to avoid religious persecution and find refuge. The Maltese language is a mix of Italian and Arabic. Anytime I’ve seen Arabic it was written in their alphabet. The stuff around here is all written in the English alphabet…it was interesting to see the more Arabic words spelled out.
Deanna and I just walked around to see things. We had to be on the ship by 2:00 so we couldn’t really go to far. We may try to get to some Neolithic ruins next time we’re here…maybe.
Today as I’ve been sick and Deanna has too we’ve been mostly hanging out watching election coverage. As I type this it is 8:40pm. 1:40pm Chicago time. We won’t see polls start to close until 1:00am. Right now McCain is on doing a speech in Colorado. Ugh. I swear, if he calls us “my friends” one more time…ugh.
I’m really hoping Obama wins. I’ll have to figure out where I’m going to live otherwise. Let’s drill now, right? McCain knows how to deal with our enemies. He knows how to deal with our friends, right? He says so. I guess he forgot about his record.
I’m going to go vomit now.
There will be a part two to this day.
Monday, November 03, 2008
11/3/08: Day 9: Sea/Birth Day
Today is our one sea day on the cruise. As I mentioned before, we’ve been looking forward to this for rest. I think I went to bed around 11:30pm or so.
Today is also my birthday. Brett gave me his cold for an early birthday present so I was in bed until 10:00. Deanna woke me up and I distinctly remembered thinking “C’mon…it’s my birthday. At least wait until my alarm goes off at 9:00.” Then she said something along the lines of “…we should go get breakfast. It’s 10:00.” That woke me up.
I do not like missing breakfast on the ships.
We had breakfast and lunch. I started kicking in to learning Italian via Rosetta Stone again. And Brett came by with a great gift…a 6-pack of Bravo Root Beer. For whatever reason in the last month or so I got on a big rootbeer kick. I was telling Brett about this in Barcelona yesterday and I guess he was listening. I’m about to enjoy one now.
Today is also my birthday. Brett gave me his cold for an early birthday present so I was in bed until 10:00. Deanna woke me up and I distinctly remembered thinking “C’mon…it’s my birthday. At least wait until my alarm goes off at 9:00.” Then she said something along the lines of “…we should go get breakfast. It’s 10:00.” That woke me up.
I do not like missing breakfast on the ships.
We had breakfast and lunch. I started kicking in to learning Italian via Rosetta Stone again. And Brett came by with a great gift…a 6-pack of Bravo Root Beer. For whatever reason in the last month or so I got on a big rootbeer kick. I was telling Brett about this in Barcelona yesterday and I guess he was listening. I’m about to enjoy one now.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
11/2/08: Day 8: Barcelona
Yike. It was raining today. We were up at 9:00am to say goodbye to Monica and go into town…except the weather delayed our exit. Around 11:30 I got bored and decided I wanted to go. Deanna and Brett came with. We met a few of the singers and a dancer from the production cast and they let us know the ropes as far as where the crew shuttle is and what to see in the town.
Deanna, Brett and I headed up La Rambla. A long strip of road with little shops. It actually stopped raining for a while.
From there Brett and I split off to head back through the gothic area and check out a mall near the shuttle stop.
Other than that, business as usual. The ship took off a little late, and once we got out to sea it was rocky and will probably be more so tomorrow on the sea day.
Deanna, Brett and I headed up La Rambla. A long strip of road with little shops. It actually stopped raining for a while.
From there Brett and I split off to head back through the gothic area and check out a mall near the shuttle stop.
Other than that, business as usual. The ship took off a little late, and once we got out to sea it was rocky and will probably be more so tomorrow on the sea day.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
11/1/08: Day 7: Villefranche (Nice)
France!
Of the three languages we come across (aside from English) on this cruise French is my worst and it is a tie between Spanish and Italian for slightly better than worse.
Villefranche is a nice little town in France that is very close to Nice and relatively close to Monacco. We stayed right in town today. I wasn’t really out there for too long. We wanted to make sure we were all on the ship in time so we hadn’t planned a lot. I went in, walked around, had coffee with the others while they ordered food, and went back to the ship to work out for the first time.
With all of this site seeing we haven’t been on the hunt for internet cafes. I can’t imagine I’ll be looking for one until we get back to the states…so pictures might be a long time coming.
I’m planning on changing the template for my blog and cleaning up the side links once we get to an internet café. So, once this looks different you might want to scroll back down through old posts to see if there are photos or videos.
Of the three languages we come across (aside from English) on this cruise French is my worst and it is a tie between Spanish and Italian for slightly better than worse.
Villefranche is a nice little town in France that is very close to Nice and relatively close to Monacco. We stayed right in town today. I wasn’t really out there for too long. We wanted to make sure we were all on the ship in time so we hadn’t planned a lot. I went in, walked around, had coffee with the others while they ordered food, and went back to the ship to work out for the first time.
With all of this site seeing we haven’t been on the hunt for internet cafes. I can’t imagine I’ll be looking for one until we get back to the states…so pictures might be a long time coming.
I’m planning on changing the template for my blog and cleaning up the side links once we get to an internet café. So, once this looks different you might want to scroll back down through old posts to see if there are photos or videos.
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