Sunshine and Weddings

This stump is what is left of a large tree that used to be right outside the window of the place we sublet. It actually used to give great shade to the apartment and I remember distinctly the day after cutting it down that it was bright and hot in the living room.

But we haven't really notice because we just spent the weekend in west New York state at a fantastic wedding.

I'm not that into weddings, but I go to see friends if the wedding is in the area. Most of the time I can't really afford to go if it is a "fly to" wedding anyway. This one was about 640 miles away and Deanna and I decided to drive it. 10.5 hours according to Google maps. And we coordinated with three other friends for a place to stay. We all rented a house on one of the finger lakes (I think it is Canandaigua, but it is tough to spell and say).

Jon and Leah are now married. They are possibly two of the nicest people we know and it is great they are married.

As a random side note, when we came back home, this was in our neighbor's window.

8/30/09: Filler, Shriller, Chiller

Very soon I'll be taking a stand-up class. It starts next week and ends right before we leave, so the timing is perfect. In my head I've been meaning to get into stand-up for awhile. The thing that appeals to me about it in difference to improv is that if something isn't going well or the audience isn't reacting as expected...well, it is just me up there, so I can change it. If it is a successful change, I win. If not, I can only blame myself.

In other news, we've gone from the coldest July in Chicago on record to possibly the coldest August in Chicago on record. It is 57 right now and should get to the mid-60s. The nice thing about this is we can close our windows at night.

In this apartment, with our windows open, sounds always happen early morning. It seems like garbage men come daily to pick up trash. Birds have nice trees to chirp in. And dogs find stuff to bark at. All right by our apartment.

With our windows closed they are not giving up. Now we have saws cutting through cement in the back parking lot, and today I was awoken to the sound of a crazed dog and a woman screaming...in the back parking lot. I am no dog expert, but if these people would actually walk their dogs instead of letting them out into the gated parking lot they might be less stressed. It was very surreal and I was only half sure I heard it, but once it woke me up I also heard a guy say "are you okay?"

Sounds. I guess I don't always like sounds.

8/1/09: Beep Beep Beep

First off, I had a great first two official ComedySportz shows back in Chicago. Thanks to the people I played with. Fun times.

The mere mention of it is to set the scene for the story. I got home around 10:30pm. Our sublet apartment has been pretty infamous for being in the center of where random sounds happen. I never really get real sleep once 5:00am hits. Birds, neighbors with loud stereos, car alarms going off, etc. But last night the sounds were going already.

Beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep.

All of our windows were open so it was easy to hear. It sounded like it was coming from the building across the alley. I let it go until about 12:40 when I was ready to head to bed.

I shut just the bedroom window, but the sound permeated in through the other windows in our place. As I was shutting windows I saw a guy from the apartments across the alley out looking around for the sound.

As I got back into the bedroom I heard him saying something. "I think it is coming from your building!" I opened the window to say "up here it sounds like it is coming from your building." Well, the mystery was elevated.

I headed down to the alley and sure enough, the sound was coming from inside of our dumpster.

The landlord has been dry-walling and painting the entry way to the building and had just finished. Apparently. There were paint cans and random construction debris in the dumpster, as well as tenants' garbage, and a beep.

The beep was so loud that it was hard to tell if it was in a bag or in the dumpster so I would take a bag out and then listen. The guy from the other apartment started helping.

He found a smoke detector and took the battery out. Mystery solved.

I told him we were the heroes of the neighborhood and we went our separate ways.

The end.

7/31/09: Chicago, IL

Getting back to life. Here is a brief rundown of what I have been doing since I got to Chicago.

Task 1: Check on our car that was in storage
When a car sits for 8 months with the battery still connected it probably needs some work. I knew this going in. I had planned on getting the car towed to a shop and having a oil change, fluid check...basic full car check up.

I had a picture of the car in my mind with spider webs, flat tires, and a layer of dust. What I DIDN'T picture was the mold that had grown. It wasn't everywhere...just where people had touched. The steering wheel looked like it had algae hanging off of it. The shifter and arm rest were gross. It was so bad that the auto shop wouldn't work on it until it was cleaned out...and they didn't tell me this until late the day after I had dropped it off. If they had told me in the morning I could have easily gone down and cleaned it. But I found out around the same time I was heading to our storage unit to get some stuff.

I cleaned it, but it was gross. When they looked at it they said we needed new brakes and tires...which was true. All in all they charged us $1400 and said we should really get it detailed to get the mold out of the carpet and vents.

So, I took it to a detail place and that was another $210. But NOW we have a shiny car!

Task 2: Find our sublet
We subletted an apartment while we're in between ships. It is farther north than where we were by just a little bit, but much farther north than where are car was. From here I rode the Red Line train or the 36 bus wayyyyy more times a day than I cared for just going to storage or mechanics or whatever.

Task 3: Storage
I am still trying to find our ironing board and iron, but I found the xbox!

That ends the tasks. The rest of the time has been spent seeing friends and playing xbox.

Now you're all caught up!

Oh...and if you need headshots...

7/18/09: Portland, OR

We've gone from Europe, to Alaska, to Portland, OR. Operation: Family and Friends is nearing a close. Operation: Headshots, Shows, and Xbox is about to begin.

We stayed our first two nights with Deanna's friend Linda. It is out in Washougal, which isn't necessarily near anyone we know, but it didn't matter. Hanging with Linda's family is always a blast. Her two kids are the best (you can see them in the Kids section of www.rancerizzutto.com), even when they're fighting over who owes who $8.

It was a great time of hanging out and all of Deanna's main childhood/high school friends either saw Deanna during the day or came over that night.

Yesterday we came and checked into a hotel downtown and had dinner with Jeremy and Carrie. They've traveled around a lot and it was nice to hang with them and chat about Greece and Carrie's supposed diseases.

Tonight we're doing a show at the Brody Theater at 10:30pm. So, if you live in Portland and read this and it is the 18th...go to our show!

The rest of my time here will be headshots, catching up with friends, and trying to get the cheapest price on my luggage on the flight home to Chicago!

This may be the last post for awhile...chances are it will pick up again in November. Wink!

7/15/09: Alaska Recap

Today I'm actually in Washougal, WA. BUT...we have been in Alaska since the 8th.

You'll have to check the photos on Flickr, and I'll put an actual link here...when the photos are up.

Alaska was a swarm of delicious home cooked meals, various wildlife (bald eagles, moose, etc.), and Palin supporters.

Deanna's favorite part was probably Al and Evie's dog, Chichi. A chihuahua, but the breed that looks more greyhoundish. A good dog. Deanna probably liked that the best because she has been itching for a dog and I have wanted nothing to do with that. Now at least I can imagine having one.

7/8/09: Land addendum: the air addendum

This day is all travel. Literally.

We woke early around 7:30am in Barcelona we probably could have gotten up closer to 9:00, but we had an 11:20 international flight, and our apartment was on a street that we weren’t sure taxis would frequent. We had no problem getting a taxi however. Deanna and I and our 8 bags headed off to the airport!

At the gate we were told which line to get in and then…waited…for a long time. There was a “guy in a hat” (read that like it is said with disdain) that was taking FOREVER in line and had that look of outrage on his face that comes from misinformation. Meaning, we read about the $50 per second bag charge, and the excess fees for heavy bags…he probably didn’t. So, instead of realizing that and paying, he made a stink about it while everyone in line behind him waited. There was also a group of teens wearing these blue “Education First” t-shirts. There were about 5 not too far in front of us, but more…the late ones…kept showing up with their parents and just would cut into the line with the rest of the group. Boo, I say…boo!

Luckily I was trying to be in good spirits because we had a long day ahead of us. Starting with the 8.5 hour flight to NYC. Luckily our flight had individual screens and a menu you could choose from. This made the flight pass by much quicker. I watched: Taken; I Love You, Man; Sunshine Cleaners; Monsters vs Aliens; and part of Dragonball…and maybe one other movie I’m forgetting. I just kept watching movies so I could spare the batteries on my laptop and iPod for the other flights. Piece of cake.

Customs and all that in NYC was actually a breeze. We went through, headed to the gate for our flight to Salt Lake. For that 5 hour flight…I had a middle seat. I have a slightly bad knee that I just need to straighten out and pop time to time. Hard to do in the middle. But, I made it through. I watched: the rest of Dragonball; 12 Rounds; part of Duplicity.

Keep in mind I hadn’t slept on either of these flights. By the time we arrived in Salt Lake it was 4:00am in Barcelona. I was tired. I had planned on sleeping on the final flight. We flew from Salt Lake to Anchorage Alaska to spend time with Deanna’s dad and step-mom. I had an aisle seat for this 4.5 hour flight, but I could NOT get comfortable. I think I fell asleep for 15-30 minutes before I woke up to the lady in front of me getting out her suitcase right over my head and I couldn’t fall back asleep after that. I was pretty done with traveling at this point. I just wanted to SLEEP!

After 23 hours of travel we arrived. I don’t need to get on a plane again for awhile…but I still will be going to Portland and then home to Chicago. So, a couple more Land Addendums to come.

7/7/09: Land addendum: Barcelona

Over the last two days we visited a couple of places that we just never really made it to while in Barcelona on the ship. The first was up on a hill…an amusement park by a church. It is called something like Tibudabo. I can’t remember exactly because Deanna and I took to calling it “beeboobahboh.” The church up there was very tall and we were able to climb up to the top for a great view. I think the only place taller is Montserat…a mountain with a monastery near the top. To get to Tibudabo we thought we would need to take a subway, to another subway, to a funicular. That estimate was close. This is when we found out that two different subway companies run in Barcelona. So, we took a subway one stop to transfer and found out we had to pay for new tickets on this other brand of subway. We took that subway to a trolley. We took that trolley to the funicular. Four forms of transportation to get up a hill to a church.

The next day we went to that other tall place…Monserat. Not only did we go from subway to subway to rack and pinion train to funicular, but we added a hike to the mix. It was a partly-cloudy day but this place is so high up that we were able to get some great views. I can’t really describe it. It was high up. As we were at a viewing area so high up at the end of the trail, the clouds started to come in. Our entire hike back, a hike that was filled with views on the way up, was obscured by clouds. Completely. As in, we were in the clouds.

That took up most of the day. You’ll have to go check out my pictures on flickr…when I get them up.

7/5/09: Day 252: Barcelona

The Grand Finale. After 252 days at sea we are now done. Well, done with this contract.

Deanna and I are staying in Barcelona for a couple days on our own before heading back to the states. Today was all about getting our 4 suit cases and 4 carry-ons from the ship to the apartment we rented. Our bags are big. I researched the Delta site to find out that our bags could be 50 lbs max before we would get a fee…51-70 lbs is $150, 71-100 is $300, over 100 is, well, not allowed. With all of the stuff we brought and bought I had my work cut out for me. Luckily we lived on the same floor as the scale. Out of three suitcases and one giant duffle bag that I got on sale at the L.L. Bean outlet in Maine the weights were as follows: 49, 49.2, 49, 69.3. I tried to get them all one pound under just incase we bought any other little things in Barcelona.

One of the first things we did today was chill and then walk around. While walking Deanna bought a US to EU power converter…just a little 5 euro attachment. I was worried about whether it would convert 110 to 220 and back. Deanna assured me that they used a little plug like that in Italy when she went with her girlfriends. So, I plugged our power strip into the converter then plugged into the outlet. POP! Three circuit breakers flipped and there was something rattling around in the power strip. That power strip was bulky and weighed about 2-3 pounds on its own. Guess we just bought ourselves a little breathing room in the luggage department!

That night we went around and saw a cool fountain up by the Espanya stop. They had music playing and lights and everything that you would expect with a fountain show.

Back that night we slept in our mildy air conditioned apartment. So mild that we sweated our way through the night. Gross.

7/4/09: Day 251: Sea Day

Happy America!

This morning and beyond is our final day on the ship. This means we have to go through various departments to get things signed off…returning our safety card, settling our bill, etc.

But the real gem was around 9:20 this morning. ESPN and BBC News are right next to each other channel-wise. 31 and 32. We got to 31 first and were watching a hot dog eating contest…with Kobayashi and others. It was gross (or G-Ross) to watch. When we changed channels to 32 it was about refugees starving. America!

At this point I know I have been keeping things secretive about our guest on the ship. A celebrity who rented out the entire ship for two weeks. What I CAN tell you is that rumors were flying like crazy about who all would be coming on the ship as guest entertainment. Because of the “pull” of the person renting the ship, the rumors seemed feasible. Here are the entertainers that the inner-ship gossip circle reported would be gracing our ship with performances: Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, and Beyonce. Yes, all of these celebrities were supposedly going to be performing on the ship for the lucky passengers.

Nope.

We did see a laser show on the fourth though. Not like laser Floyd or anything, but nice to have some sort of fancy light thing.

7/1/09: Day 248: Santorini, Greece

Okay…enough is enough. Stop with the beauty already!

Santorini is awe inspiring. The entire population is built on the top of what seems like a crescent moon shaped island with a small black island in the middle of the “C”. What it really is is a huge volcano. The black island in the middle of the water being the dome. Since all of the buildings were so high up there were three ways to get up there: monorail type sky car things; donkey; or walking. We went donkey. The trail zig zags up the steep side of the island for about a mile (total, not a mile straight up). The donkeys are used to doing this all day and just kind of keep going. And the only way to walk up or down is along the donkey road…so you’d be walking in poop the whole way.

We didn’t really have all that much time on the island. As we were walking around we ran into Ric, Sayjal and Demian. They were walking a few towns away to have dinner and we joined them.

From there we hustled back (via donkey again) to clean up before our show. Audiences have been pretty sparse in the other shows, but we had a good turn out for our last show of the contract.

6/30/09: Day 247: Istanbul, Turkey Pt. 2

Yikes…early morning. Well, late night combined with a standard morning. We probably got back to the ship around 1:00-1:30am after doing the show and eating with the cast. My camera was full of images and video and so was Deanna’s so we were up later downloading all of that data. I think I went to bed a little after 3:00am with my alarm set for 8:30.

The plan for today was to do our own thing and then meet Koray and Zeynep by Ayasophia (St. Sophia…once a church, now a mosque) at 11:00. Deanna and I didn’t do much before then. We went to the Blue Mosque and that was nice. Our favorite part, after walking everywhere yesterday and the day before, was that we had to take our shoes off and we walked inside on the nice carpet. So soft and comfy.

That gave us just enough time to be at the meeting spot. From there they took us to a cool and shady place next to an old university that served tea, coffee, and water pipes…hookahs. I had some tea and my first apple tobacco hookah. It was actually quite smooth.

Unfortunately we had to be back on the ship at 4:00pm and everyone was itchin’ to make it to the Grand Bazaar before leaving, so Koray took us there and that is where we spent the last of our minutes in Istanbul.

6/29/09: Day 246: Istanbul, Turkey

More groupy stuff this time around. We hadn’t really planned anything on our own because Mary had been in contact with a former student who has started his own improv group in Istanbul (Istanbul Impro). They offered to show us around the city…non-tourist style. It was very relaxing. His name is Koray and his wife Zeynep was there too.

We didn’t get into the port until around 1pm so we spent the afternoon chatting over tea and coffee (I had tea this time) then walking to a nice place to eat. They arranged for us to have a nice sampling of all traditional dishes. Lots of lamb and veggie combos…delicious!

Everyone headed back to the ship around 6:30 to freshen up for the night. Oh yeah, we got to have another overnight port! Since Mary knew Koray she had been contacting him and they randomly went from “let’s meet” to “our Turkish improv group will put on a show for you to see” to “you guys can be in the show.” So we met between 8:00 and 8:50 for a 9:00 show. They packed the place on a Monday night. It was almost all in Turkish but still very enjoyable to watch. They asked for one of us to come up to play with them and I was the first volunteer from our group. I’m glad I did. We played a game where they got a lot of suggestions a head of time and then we just did scenes based on two of those suggestions per scene. They were all in Turkish so I had them tell me what some were, but I preferred not knowing. As they were getting the suggestions I asked them to ask the audience “What do you think Americans like to do for fun?” I know we certainly have our Muslim stereotypes in the US and I was curious about the reverse. The five responses that they took translated to: Sex, Drinking, Swearing, Conspiracy Theory, and Philosophy. Towards the end I was in a scene with Swearing as one of the things and they pimped me into singing a song. I’ll try to get the video up on youtube…I didn’t swear in the whole song…theoretically.

They were such good performers and actors and I feel like this was the best way to have our contract come to it’s end. The nice thing is we’re going to see Koray and Zeynep tomorrow!

6/28/09: Day 245: Izmir, Turkey

The second country on our itinerary that we don’t know the language for. There was another crew tour offered today to go to Ephesus…one of the natural wonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately it was also more ruins and we had no inclination to go to that.

We headed to their bazaar with Ric, Kwami, and Janet with a cab driver who also walked with us as a guide. The first shop we went in offered us tea or coffee and showed us their goods. I wasn’t too interested in buying anything but waited with the group while they got their teas and I my coffee. Turkish coffee is different. I didn’t care for it. Everyone else got the apple tea and it was DELICIOUS. I should have got that.

Once we found a store that sold suits Ric was in there for awhile. Kwami and Janet had to get back to the ship and Ric was going to be a while so Deanna and I headed off. Well, without our Turkish guide and strength in numbers we were approached by EVERY vendor we walked past. We got out of the bazaar.

Luckily we saw more friends from the ship and tagged along the way to see…the walk back to the ship. Many times along the way we came across groups of children, usually boys, who would follow us saying “I love euro! I love euro!” I was doing bits with some of them and they just got more annoying. The last group we came across followed us up until a restaurant worker started walking towards them with a stern look on his face. They all ran away.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Istanbul and we’re supposed to go see a show by Istanbul Impro. I love foreign improv…especially if it isn’t in English.

6/27/09: Day 244: Athens, Greece

I signed Deanna and I up for a crew tour of Athens today. I couldn’t find Deanna and there were only two slots left on the sign up sheet so I did it without talking to her about it. It turned out she had researched Athens and planned stuff, but we went on the tour anyway.

It ended up that the tour took us to the Acropolis and that was pretty much all it was going to do. So, after seeing the sites there we found our guide and told her we were going to find our way back. Best choice ever.

We walked into a little neighborhood…the equivalent of NW Portland, but less hippies and cooler. Nice little shops, nice dining. A good rest after looking at ruins in the heat. Deanna and I are kind of ruin-ed out. We’ve seen Pompeii, Herculaneum, Acropolis, and all of the rich history that is Europe. Our guide also told us that some of the things in Acropolis were replicas and the real ones were in the museum.

From the neighborhood we took a train back to our port area of Piraeus and took the long walk back to the ship. Sweaty day, over.

6/25/09: Day 242: Messina, Italy

What the hell is happening out there? More on that later.

Today was one of the new ports for us. We ported in Messina. If Italy is a boot and Sicily is a soccer ball, Messina is the spot on the soccer ball right across from the toe of the boot. Now, my ancestors supposedly come from Calabria, which is right on the tip of the boot. We pass this area a lot on our normal itinerary, so I kind of look out at the homeland every now and then. But today we had the opportunity to go there, and go there we did. When we first got there it seemed, well, a little crappy. After getting closer to the center of town it turned out to be a really nice little town. We ate and walked the boardwalk.

Along the boardwalk in the water we saw a handful of jellyfish…the kind with the long poisonous strands. Yikes!

So, I’ve set foot in my Italian homeland.

Now, what’s with everyone famous dying this week? Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and now Michael Jackson? What the hell?

6/22/09: Day 239: Barcelona, Spain

Well, we finally had an overnight in Barcelona. Yesterday Deanna and I were using the internet during the day, went to the ship, and then headed out to meet up with the rest of the cast around 8pm. The only plan I knew of was “meet and go somewhere for food and drinks.” I was focused on the food part.

It turned out that everyone was at the meeting spot, PLUS Tiffini from the Gary Musik company, Rene…Josh’s roommate who was on the previous cruise and knew a friend in Barcelona, AND Jeff and Mary! For this two-week cruise we are scheduled to do a LOT of workshops with adults. So, many that there are also a lot for teens and kids…Jeff and Mary are here to handle those workshops. I’m glad they were there, it was nice to meet new people after 4 months of not.

We walked around the city being lead by Matt who knew where the “good places” were. We found one little square that was packed with people…dirty hippy people. Luckily there was another square about two blocks away. We went there and found a place. I was hungry!

We got food and drinks and chatted with the new people and then headed off…for food and drinks. We were done with the second set of food and drinks around 1:00am and then ended up back with the dirty hippies. It was very “Moulin Rouge bohemian spirit”-esque, but dirtier and hippier. Lot’s of people sitting in circles on the cement drinking beer and smoking and talking. People playing guitars and singing. Dogs. After a little of this Deanna and I headed back to the ship.

If you know me you know I am not a foody and don’t like spending money on meals. The night set me back about E50. Not too bad, for one night. I don’t see how people do it every port and stay out of debt.

We have a celebrity chartering the ship. I’m not gonna say who, but the cruise has a great “look and feel” department that is coordinating everything with their graphic logo and color palate. To the point where as we walked through the port terminal…a place these passengers will only see three times (yesterday, today, and the final day) we noticed that all of the seats there…some 200-300 airport gate row type seats…had been reupholstered in a color that matched the rest of the look and feel and theme and what not. For real. I’ll get a picture. Check my flickr.com.

Today was just getting food and using internet again while we can. I was takin’ care o’ business. We have a 5 minute slot in the Welcome Aboard show…a showcase of what will be happening later in the cruise. That is what we do tonight.

6/19/09: Day 236: Lucca, Italy

Thanks to the three people who offered improv suggestion. I think I used one of them…no, not Larrance’s Choice.

This week has been, as I think I mentioned, a series of last-time-heres. I think we pretty much hit everything we wanted to do.

“Malta=internet.” When we first got off the ship around 10:30 and headed to the restaurant for internet we discovered the power was out…for the whole island. I don’t know what happened, but it fixed itself about an hour and a half later. I still have some photos I didn’t manage to get uploaded, but SOME of them are up on flickr.

“Naples=funicular to park.” Check. Naples was hot and humid. But, we walked to the funicular stop and headed up the hill to walk around a castle with a great view of the city, and a park filled with lovers and water-fightin’ teen-agers. At the end of it all I wanted to just get back to the ship and out of the heat.

“Rome=Sistine Chapel.” And the Vatican. I don’t know where I thought the Sistine Chapel was. I only remember people saying “you have to go through the Vatican Museum to get into it.” So, I figured…for some reason…the Vatican Museum like the bookstore that was connected to the Vatican just like every other place you go to has a bookstore at the end of it. Deanna and I viewed the Vatican, which was scientifically amazing…it was huge but designed not to feel huge. Hard to explain with words. Then Deanna, who knows where the Chapel is, leads me right back out of the Vatican and St. Peter’s. What? Isn’t the bookstore back inside? No. We go to the actual Vatican Museum which…is…HUGE. Two hours of walking around in that later I get to the Chapel. It was great and I wish I could have respected it more and enjoyed it more. I was just so sick of walking around the museum by that point that I skipped past a lot of stuff. Plus, it was hot and muggy again.

“Livorno=Lucca (rain or shine).” Every time we had been in Lucca before it had been at least cloudy with some level of rain. Deanna had come here before with her girlfriends and rode bikes around the wall. It is a walled city with a road going all along the top of the wall. We rented bikes and rode the wall! The weather was great, and we made all the shuttles and trains to get us there. After the prior two days, I wouldn’t have minded if it was raining.

The next cruise is a two-week charter and will have some different ports. We have one more shot at Barcelona, Civitavecchia and Malta, but the rest…for now…are gone. BYE-YIIIII!

6/15/09: Day 232: Sea Day

First off, I didn’t even realize that I left the day number off the last three posts. Second…we’re winding down.

I think ever since we hit June and I had to start thinking about getting headshots and USA stuff going I have been in “home” mindset. Even though we have just under three weeks left we technically have four more mainstage shows, four more improv shows, and a contractual possibility of leading four more workshops. Usually we only have one workshop per cruise since things are so busy, but our last cruise will be a 14 day adventure with a few more sea days…prime time for workshops. We’ll see.

This week is my week for coming up with the improv lineup. If you comment fast enough you can help me pick the running order, or perhaps you think you have what it takes to do the full lineup. I’m taking requests. 7 shot form games make up the running order. Who all reads this?

It feels like a time for reflection. I feel like Deanna and I have become much better travelers with each other. I think I’ve relaxed a little. In the beginning I was more like my dad where I wanted to make sure we saw everything and I didn’t want to waste time stopping for food or anything that could be done on the ship later. I still like to get back to the ship with a nice buffer instead of waiting until the last possible moment.

Other things. If you are Prouty, Tara, Ries, Super, Shad, or Buster Bluth…not only have your parents been in our show (“Mr. and Mrs. [lastname]”), but you have been diagnosed with D.U.M.B.

Since this is our last cruise with this itinerary (we will hit SOME of the ports on the next cruise, but not all) we know exactly what we’re doing for the week. Malta=internet; Naples=funicular to park; Rome=Sistine Chapel; Livorno=Lucca (rain or shine).

You have very little time to suggest improv lineups!

6/12/09: Livorno, Italy

Looks like it is time for a recap of the week! Hmm.

In Barcelona I went and found a good internet spot. I was there by myself because Deanna was volunteering to be a spa customer. They do spa tours as the passengers arrive on the first day and like to have people actually getting massages and facials and what not so the services can be seen in action. I also just wandered around to see if I could find a new area that might be interesting for when Deanna and I stay in town for three days.

Malta was another internet day. I’m getting my headshot biz back in order and needed to mail out my newsletter and such. I found a new spot that is not only right by the port but also has fast wifi…and I’m not saying where until I leave.

Naples was going to be me going to the Archeological Museum and Deanna going up a funicular to a park. We decided to walk together to a coffee place and then we would part ways…but she had a total mapping brain fart. She is normally really good with maps and direction but got totally turned around by a plaza. It was a big plaza similar to St. Peter’s but a little less grand…just a little. So, she wanted me to go up to the park with her instead of us splitting up. We walked to where she knew the funicular stop was…but we had walked a long ways past it. To the museum! It was a good thing we went to the museum because there were two main sections of it that were closed when Deanna originally went. It had all sorts of frescos and mosaics from Pompeii and Herculaneum. A lot of great statues from those and other places as well.

The next day we were going to go to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, but we heard that it would be closed. The one day of the year it is closed is the day we were showing up…Corpus Cristi day. So, we went to the town next to Civitavecchia, San Marinella and went to the beach. They had really nice beaches with umbrellas and chairs. I had my mind set on that…as did Deanna. I figured we could go to a restaurant and for an entrance fee we could use the beach by them. Well, kind of. It was 2E for a bathroom/changing room pass; 9E for an umbrella, and 14E for two beach chairs. All purchased one at a time as I figured out that they didn’t come together. All said and done, we sunbathed in between a mix of to guys kicking a soccer ball back and forth, rambunctious teen girls splashing water on each other, guys walking by with crappy jewelry or hats for sale every 10-15 minutes, young 20-something topless girls and older 50-60-something topless women. All in all it was a nice day with only minor burns.

Later that night in our improv show we got a 9-10 year old boy named Reynold to do our sound effects for an improv game. I was making TONS of sound effects at that age. Reynold, on the other hand, was very literal…but hilarious. There were cats (“meow”), dogs (“bark”), a combo (“meark”), but the best was when Ric said “My phone is vibrating! Let me switch it so you can hear the ring.” Reynold, “I like ice cream. I like ice cream.” Brilliant.

Today we were going to go to Lucca. Due to normal Livorno hang-ups we got to the train station in time to watch our train leave. For some reason there is a train to Lucca at 10:20 and the next one isn’t until 12:20. So, we decided to go to Florence instead. We wanted to go back to both of them and would only be here two times including today. We’ll get you next time, Lucca!