The only way to describe it was Gaudy…

I am EXHAUSTED.  Before I tell you about my day here in St. Petersburg, Russia, I have to tell you about a few blessings that have caught me by surprise in the last few weeks.  Ships are typically a “toxic” and “destructive” place for Christians and a weak Christian can easily trip and fall in an environment like this.  Personally, my walk with God started when I was young but I have tripped A LOT but never ever left the path completely.  Since working on ships though, I’ve strayed because I never felt there was support

My friend, Brandi, embarked on the Eurodam about two weeks after I did.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned in previous posts about how ship life is weird – friendships and relationships move at a rapid speed and you grow close and get attached to people very quickly.  Brandi and I instantly hit it off – she’s a great girl, bubbly and happy with a smile that can light up any room.  Unfortunately, Brandi is from Joplin, Missouri that just endured the devastating tornado destroying 75% of the town.  Out of fear for the unknown, she was upset and understandably so.   Myself, Amye & Teleya (both who were friends of hers before the Eurodam) sat with her and prayed through it all together and turned it around to be all part of God’s plan. Two days ago, Brandi’s father was in the hospital because of some health problems where they predicted he would pass on before the night was through. Again, we sat with her until 2/3AM to keep her company and prayed that he would at least make it until she got home. Sadly, he passed a few hours before she made it.  If you will please keep Brandi and her family, as well as the city of Joplin, in your prayers.  I know they need it and would appreciate it.

This is the first time where I have felt the support and ability to comfortably talk about God, my religion and my beliefs and I find myself growing closer to God and have the constant daily reminder about how to be a better Christian by talking about it all with  my friends and by following their examples.  I’m so grateful for them and I can’t thank God enough for putting these friends in my life. 

As I said at the beginning of this post, I’m exhausted.  I was in Brandi’s room until 2AM and then came back to my room and couldn’t sleep.  The last time I remember looking at my clock, it was around 3AM and my alarm was set for 6AM because I had a tour that was meeting at 7AM.  When the alarm began to sing at 6AM, I hopped out of bed because I knew if I pressed snooze that I would press it so many times, I’d miss my tour.  Slowly, I dragged myself and got ready and was up to meet my group right at 7:15AM.  After we got through Russian Immigration (which is a Pain in the Behind, if you ask me!), I found my way to the bus and boarded with a wacky tour guide.  Her name was Nina and she was extremely frazzled trying to count people and tickets.  I threw my backpack in the back of the bus and started to help her by counting and we figured out what was going on and got on our way.  It took about an hour of driving to reach our destination, Catherine’s Palace, located in the city of Pushkin.  To be totally honest, I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t really done my research before joining this ship, which I typically do before joining any ship.  Catherine’s palace is MASSIVE.  This is only the front…it continues on – around 380 meters long!

    

Once we entered the gates of the palace, we waited in a long line and listened to the Catherine’s Palace Orchestra play and slowly progressed to the line where we received our “booties” before we could walk through the palace itself.  They were a sight…

We walked through rooms larger than anything you would imagine lined with wooden carvings that had been painted in gold leaf. Walls and Walls and Walls of gaudy, gold and elaborate décor – but I guess that describes the baroque style – ugly :) The floors were made of 8-10 different types of beautiful woods in intricate patterns, the stoves covered in blue antique tiles and the tables set up with place setting that reminded me of when Robin and I were kids.  Robin, one of my favorite people, and I used to have to set the table for her mother’s dinner parties.  It would take us HOURS to put all the pieces and parts to each table setting and then we would mock it by sitting and the table and explain that it would take us 80 years find anything at the table!

Catherine’s Palace is most famous for the “Amber Room”.  Now, with all my travels, my biggest disappointment in the last couple years is restoration.  So many palaces and museums have been restored and updated to the point that it loses its value and historical qualities.  The Amber room was restored quite recently, actually – 2003.  Granted, it was beautiful –walls close to 20 feet high covered in huge panels of multi-colored amber.  They are not 100% sure of what it looked like because the original panels disappeared when the Nazi’s destroyed the palace and have never been recovered.  But hey, I saw it.  Other than that, there wasn’t much to see other than the “Great Room” the dining rooms, the grand foyer and the many game rooms in the house.  I wish we could’ve seen some bedrooms and things like that, but apparently they are all being restored. 

Outside the palace were beautiful traditional French gardens with manmade lakes, a hermitage (closed for reconstruction) and multiple statues.  We walked around those for a bit before heading to the market that sold all of the Russian treasures – the Merishka (sp?) dolls, tradition Russian military hats and Amber necklaces to name a few.   Check out the Obama and Bush dolls!

There wasn’t too much more to the day other than the hour long bus ride home (where I chose to sleep comfortably in the very back row) and back to work, as usual!

Quote of the day:  “God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.”

Would you like some Pood?

Tallinn, Estonia.  To be completely honest, I had NO idea what to expect from Estonia, but my ONLY goal of today was Wi-Fi or “we-fee” as they say in Europe.  My computer needed so many updates and I really wasn’t feeling well – so it sounded like a perfect plan for me.  Steve asked me last night if I want to go out and walk around,  so we met up around 11 and started to explore a bit.

The highlight of our walk today, I must admit, was the Petrol Station right around the corner from the ship.  While we were walking down the road, I said “Steve, I just learned the Estonian word for food…POOD.”  Both of us began laughing hysterically because we are just stupid and find satisfaction and humor in the little things.  (Look at the picture below and you’ll see “Pood Shop”)  Needless to say, this became the joke of the day.  Use your imagination :)

It was only about a 15 minute walk from the ship into the “Old Town” which is best described as Medieval in appearance.  Lots of old buildings and churches, but most seemed to be very quiet despite the fact that it was a Thursday.  My second most favorite thing we saw today was the restaurant pictured below…”Texas, the Honky Tonk Cantina.”  All I can say is WOW.

My back was really bothering me today and I didn’t really have the desire to walk too much, so after walking through a small portion of the city, we settled at a place called “Chaphills Gastropub.”  Well, I’m still trying to figure out what a “gastropub” is – but my guess is that you have lots of gas problems once you leave there?  Hehe…anyways.  It was only about 11:30AM and the pub was pretty quiet so we settled in in the very back corner with our computers and I ordered a Weston’s Organic Apple Cider and he ordered some Estonian beer.    I was ecstatic because the internet was fast so I was able to download all my updates in the nick of time before my computer died (it’s getting older and the battery doesn’t last too long).  Once we both got downloads and uploads going, we decided to order some food.  I guess we’ve been hanging out too much together, because we both ended up ordering the same thing – bangers and mash or “Pork and Apple sausages with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy” – or better known as SCRUMPTIOUS. 

    

The picture above is quite funny – look at Steve trying to show me his…it’s all over the table.  Dufus. 

After an hour and a half or so of food, cider, beer and internet, we decided to walk around for a few minutes before heading back to the ship.  Truly, there wasn’t much other than lots of little cafes that were open as well as a few ::expensive:: stores.  I must say that I know how much God has blessed me with my job and the privilege that I have to see the world for free, but I do love the USA and how cheap it is in comparison to here :( We ended up back at the ship shortly after stopped by a few stores and vendors selling lots of handmade linens, hats, mittens and blankets.  Right outside of the terminal is a long row of vendors selling wooden items, more hats, even more linens etc.  At the end of all of the tents with trinkets for purchase, they had a small wooden pavilion set up for crew and guests to use free Wi-Fi and enjoy beer, ciders and sodas outside with some local music.  I actually believe that the local music was a couple of guys, one playing the fiddle and the other the accordion, looking to make a couple euros.  Several other crew members were out there, so we sat in the fresh (and bitterly cold) air and enjoyed a cider as well as a bit more Wi-Fi before it was time to go back to work.  Oh, work. 

On a sidenote…I’ve received several emails recently asking about what has happened with Ben and if i’m ok.  I’m nowhere near being ready to talk about it because I’m still in a lot of pain/shock/hurt about the whole thing.  Everyday I’m struggling to put a smile on and facilitate a great time for my guests, but still come back to my cabin each evening and cry.  It’s been really tough, but I’ll be ok and update you all soon.  Thanks for the concern – I’m one lucky girl to have friends and family that care.  God has blessed me.

It’s like Strawberry Wine…

Warnnemunde, Germany – where it’s all about the strawberries!  Everywhere you look there are fresh strawberries, strawberry wine and shopping bags in the shapes of strawberries.  Good thing that I love strawberries :) Unfortunately, it was my IPM day (in port manning as described in a previous post or two) but I negotiated with Jess where I could go ashore until noon before she was able to go.  Steve, Bobby, Chris and I went out walking with, as usual, no intention or idea.  Once we met on the gangway, we ended up in your standard souvenir shop right outside of the port.  They actually had quite a few neat nautical themed items as well as the strawberry trinkets piled high upon the shelves.  Well, we ended up on the backside of the store where they had several fun photo opportunities and being the ridiculously crazy entertainment department that we are, we took every single opportunity…multiple times!

         

    

We continued on our journey to nowhere, walking underneath the train tracks and through the train station.    The first place on the right coming out of the train station is a bar inside a train car!  According to Bobby who had been there before, this is apparently THE place for crew.  Located next to it were several small little “shops” set up kind of like a farmers market – the first shop was a “Wurst” station and the second was a fresh fruit stand.  Immediately, the fruit caught my eyes with mounds of fresh cherries, golden delicious apples, strawberries (of course) and grapes.  Steve and I walked over to see how much they were because the cherries looked irresistible to me!  The gentleman working there showed us the different between to two different cherries (one was bigger and the other smaller) and then allowed us to taste them.  WOW!  They were perfectly ripe and sweet which sold both Steve and I on a half a kilo each of cherries.  Behind all the fruit I saw trays of what looked like yogurt covered fruit and asked him what they were.  He said that they weren’t yogurt but WHITE CHOCOLATE covered blackberries, blueberries, cranberries and strawberries and handed me one of each and they were incredible.  Next cruise I will definitely go pick some of those up! We walked a bit further to the bridge and looked down the beautiful river that went through the center of town.  It is beautiful – both sides of the waterway are coated with boats that have been converted into casual cafes and restaurants.

Since I only had a short amount of time before I had to be back on board for a meeting, Bobby suggested we backtrack and get something to eat at the “wurst” station (no clue as to what it’s really called) and then get a beer at the train bar and enjoy the afternoon out.  Sounded like a plan to me, so Bobby and Steve ordered a curry wurst and Chris and I ordered a Bratwurst.  I found it really interesting that the woman took the curry wursts and put them through an automatic slicer before placing them into a cardboard container and covering them in curry powder and ketchup.  She handed over the chopped up dogs as well as a bun to the guys.  BUT, when she handed us our brats, she put a (I believe) foot long brat into a 6 inch bun and handed that over to us. 

 

Of course, you all know me and we took a few pictures of our dogs while Bobby went to get beers for everyone (except me).  For the boys, he ordered Krambacher  and myself (because I don’t like beer) a “Kiss” strawberry cider (which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G).  Out of the different dogs we tried, the curry wurst was out of this world.  The perfect balance of wurst, curry powder and ketchup.

 

 

After enjoying a delicious lunch, I headed back to the ship for the meeting, went to the gym and had to work again.  I did the two activities I had scheduled and then headed up to the Lido deck for the Biergarten Party.  I was impressed, to say the least.  The ship had purchased every kind of German food imaginable from pretzels (with butter in the center of the dough), bratwurst, sausages, mashed potatoes, roasted pig and lots of sauerkraut!!!!  That doesn’t even include the vast array of desserts like this sugary doughnut-like things with jam inside and many many different pastries.  It was my heaven!  (Well, anything with delicious food is – if you haven’t figured that out already!)

My favorite part of the entire Biergarten that they set up was the décor- especially the beer mugs that they filled with yellow jell-o and whipped cream to make them look like beers.  They were fantastic!  It was a carb heaven, but I think the guests really enjoyed it, especially when we had the German Oompa (sp ?) Band come and play for three hours. 

  

 

After we all ate, I headed back to my cabin to get changed and go ashore again with Jo, the new lifestylist.  My goal was to find some free internet and someone had told me that the Train Bar had it.  I guess I would have to go and get another “Kiss” of strawberry cider.  Jo and I ordered our drinks just as we figured out that the wi-fi was non-existent there.  But, the weather was crisp and cool so we enjoyed our evening of relaxation and fresh air.  Once we finished our drinks, we decided we would walk around for a few minutes and see if there was wi-fi anywhere else.  We bumped into Bobby and Chris who had spent the day shopping in a town a few train station stops down the way.  They were actually headed back to the train bar, so we followed them back and ended up meeting up with tons of other crew and had a blast.  When I walked to the counter to order my cider, I saw this large bowl of strawberries soaking in a red juice so I asked what it was.  The Bartender explained to me that they were strawberries that had been fermenting in this liqueur and they would mix it with beer and it was called “Erdbeerbowle.”  For a few seconds, I debated ordering it because of my dislike for beer.  In the end, I went ahead and got it.  The bartender actually scooped the liqueur with TONS of strawberries into a glass until it was half way full and then topped it off with Krambacher beer.  Surprisingly, it was a party in my mouth!  The sweetness of the strawberries and liqueur with the bitterness of the beer turned out to be a perfect combination.  Two erdbeerbowles later, I was ready to get back to the ship!

It was only about a 5 minute walk back to the ship, but I decided to stop by the same shop next to the pier and pick up a bottle of strawberry wine for myself along with a picture frame that I had seen earlier.  I checked out and began walking the last 2 minutes to the ship.  While walking, I looked at the bag and noticed that underneath the name of the store, “Karls”, was the most incredible number –1921.  The year that Grandma Ruscup, the most incredible woman, was born.

High:  Spending time with friends, great workout, fresh air.

Low:  Really missing Ben – for those of you that don’t know, we broke up about two weeks ago and I’m having a really hard time with it.  

:: Please forgive any typos – I never proofread these things::

Friends & Port in Portugal

For a brief moment today, I thought I was home in Florida because man-oh-man was it HOT!  About three weeks ago we were in Lisbon, Portugal overnight but never got around to tasting any Port wine which is something everyone has to do while in Portugal!  When Steve and I were walking around a few weeks prior, we had come across a place simply called “Port Wine Bar”.  Unfortunately, time did not allow for us to visit it last time with all the other fun things we did, BUT this week I was determined.  We decided to make it a girls afternoon and enjoy our day together. 

Amye, myself, Teleya, Brandi & Katie all walked in and placed our order of port.  They had a big board with 4 or 5 different ports (tawny, ruby, rose, blanco as well as ports strictly designated by how old they were (the older they got, the pricier they got as well!).

Katie and I both ordered the Ruby (sweeter), Amye and Brandy ordered the Tawny (balanced – not too dry, not too sweet).  Teleya ordered WATER!  Oh my goodness.  Eventually we convinced her to order a glass because you HAVE to have some while in Portugal.  Each glass came with a piece of solid (not creamy, like we typically eat it in the states) goat cheese.  The gentleman working there told us that it would soak up some of the port and then when you finish drinking, it’s ready to eat at the end. 

     

The ruby was delightful and so nice and smooth.  Of course, you know the long running theme in this blog has always been food, therefore – we ordered a plate with two different kinds of fresh chorizo & cheese drizzled with a fresh olive oil, as well as a large bowl of green olives (YUCK!).  Amye and Brandy took care of those for us though. 

                            

The way this store was organized was pretty neat – it had all the different types organized on each wall as well as different years were organized into neat rows on the top shelf.  They had 1984!  So, here’s me with my bottle of port made just for me with a VERY pricy sticker on it - 234 Euros!!!

 

The guy that worked there (I really wished I would have gotten his name!) started to show us these really expensive bottles – some of them up to 4,500 Euros.  There was one bottle of “Ginja”liqueur that I was tempted to try because the other girls tried it the last time we were in Lisbon.  I ordered a glass of this cherry-flavored liqueur which was poured out of a tall slender bottled filled with cherries that had been sitting inside of this  bottle imparting flavor into the syrupy liquid that resided inside.  It was SO thick but an incredible flavor and taste, but so sweet that I could only take a few sips before passing it around the table encouraging everyone to please drink it.

Lesson of the Day:  When in Portugal – enjoy your friends, enjoy your free time and enjoy Port wine.

Will the real Monkey please stand up?

When I think back to the conversations I used to have with my Grandma Ruscup, for some reason one of the places I remember her talking about was the Rock of Gibraltar.  My initial reaction when I saw the itinerary for this contract was excitement knowing that I would be in yet one more place where she stood.  For those of you that don’t know, Grandma Ruscup was my rock and the day she passed away a small part of my passed with her.  Whenever times get tough or I get lost or confused on a path I think about her and how she would have handled it.  No matter what, “Everything happens for a reason.” 

A little over a year ago now, I got a tattoo on my left wrist that says “Believe” and I often get questions as to why I have this and what it means.  Initially, when I decided on getting a tattoo I knew it had to be something with meaning and after much thought and consideration I decided on “Everything happens for a reason” as a reminder of my grandmother and a reminder to myself whenever I began to question the plan that God has set up for me.  The tattoo was going to go on my wrist, and those exact words wouldn’t fit the way I wanted them to and I couldn’t find a translation into another language that sounded or looked “pretty.”  After awhile, I realized that “believe” would be perfect because I BELIEVE that everything happens for a reason.  Overall, I wanted this tattoo to serve as a reminder to believe in God, believe in myself, believe in love and believe that everything happens for a reason.  It’s so funny how many times I’ve laid in my bed and cried and the tattoo caught my eye and reminded me that it is all a part of the plan.  It’s so ironic that I got the tattoo as a reminder of Grandma and her mantra on life when in actuality she would KILL me if she knew I got it :)

Not to anyone’s surprise, I’ve gotten off track with this post but I’ve been missing Grandma Ruscup a lot lately – more than usual.

So back to Gibraltar.  When we arrived, I was excited because everyone who had been there previously talked about how close it was to the ship so it was easy to walk and get there on foot.  A group of us headed out on our journey and about 6 stops for Steve to shop, a pop into the Gibraltar Glass Blowing Studio, a speedy ride on a cannon and a 45 minute walk, we arrived at the cable car to get us up to the top of the rock to see the view and most of all – the monkeys! 

Unfortunately, it was an early port which meant all aboard was 4:30 and I had to work at 4PM.  The group all paid 13 Euro (holy guacamole!) to take this cable car to the top, but it’s all about the experience and it is impossible to pass up the opportunity regardless of how rushed it may be.   The line was about 15 minutes long to catch the small cable car, so of course we took the opportunity to take a few photos.  The first photo you see below is the cable car (it’s so small that its difficult to see) and the second was a representation of what could happen if you get too close to the monkeys.  I am playing the role of the human and Jess is replicating the monkey.  Unfortunately, the sign behind us explaining the rules did not make it into the photo as initially intended.  We apologize for the inconvenience. 

Once we reached the top, we were very tight on time but determined to see a monkey or two as well as some photo opportunities of the rock and the view of Gibraltar from the top.  As soon as the cable car stopped, we rushed off and up about 6 stairs before we saw the first two monkeys sitting on the ledge overlooking our ship.  Well, I began to talk to the monkey that you see pictured below and literally, he turned his back away from me as soon as I began to talk.  Of course, I walked to the other side so I can see his face and converse some more.  Immediately, he turned his head to the other side.  Quite a few of the visitors at the top just sat and laughed because it was quite comical how because this continued on. This monkey DID NOT LIKE ME.  If you read previous posts, you will know about the “5 Euro Girl” story.  In an attempt to get the monkey’s attention, I explained that he had the opportunity to meet the 5 Euro girl and he still turned his back to me.  The first picture on the left depicts this interaction.  Eventually, I got a great shot of him sitting on the ledge with the ship which you see below.

We headed up a concrete spiral staircase which led us to the breathtaking views of Gibraltar as well as a monkey who walked into the restaurant on the same level, stole someone’s sandwich and had a nice picnic lunch on the lanai.

Because of the time constraints, we couldn’t go to the famous location where there are tons of monkeys surrounding you.  Truly, that was something I wanted to do but we didn’t want to risk being late (I do like my job a bit :) )  Steve, myself and Jess headed back and did a bit of speed walking so that we could grab a bite to eat before heading back to the ship.  We stopped at a place called “Roy’s” for the “Real English Fish & Chips.” (yes, one more low-calorie meal!) Quickly, the waiter took our meal and within three minutes or so we each had a pint of Old English Cider as well as a large basket of ketchup, tartar sauce as well as two bottles of malt vinegar and pepper.  Basically, everything I needed to make this meal perfect.  It wasn’t much longer before we had a huge piece of fresh fried cod, “chips” as well as a side of “Mushy Peas” because Steve said we had to have it since it was a truly British staple.  Honestly, they were good – literally tasted like baby food or peas that have been smashed.  As for the fish and Chips…TO DIE FOR!

High for the Day:  The reminder of God’s awesomeness with the stunning views of the Rock of Gibraltar.

Low:  Racing back to the ship in the heat with a very full tummy…but how blessed am I to have a full belly, right?

!Chocolate Caliente!

Embarkation day which means a BUSY day onboard, but Travel Guide Ian was determined to take us for the real deal hot chocolate in Barcelona, Spain.  Myself, Ian, Glenn (Onboard Marketing Manager), Lifestylist Katie, Drummer Grahame and Youth Staff Teleya took the shuttle into Barcelona and followed Ian to what he described as “the best hot chocolate and churros in Barcelona.”  A long walk and several uncomfortable alleyways later, we arrived at a very small café (I’ll have to find the name later) and sat down at a tiny table (it seems everything is tiny in Europe) and in less than 5 minutes, we had 6 cups of (literally) melted chocolate and 5 plates stacked high with freshly made churros.  This stuff was SO thick it could only be described as a semi-sweet block of chocolate mixed melted into a cup. 

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On its own, the chocolate was not something I could enjoy BUT do not fear – if you dip a nice warm churro IN the chocolate – you have a marriage made in heaven!  As with everything I’ve stuffed my face with the last few weeks, this is another low calorie option and I’m almost positive that this is in the South Beach Diet book that helped me out 4 years ago.  How have I not gained back ALL of that weight?  However, I’m not complaining :)

We all ate a couple of churros and enjoyed every bite, but we all had about half a mug full of chocolate left because there’s no way someone can finish it…except for Grahame.  As he licked his spoon across the table, we all looked at him in shock.  It was so funny, because he looked up and all he could say “I’ve never let any chocolate win before and I wasn’t going to let it happen today.” 

Unfortunately, being a busy day on the ship, we all had to head back to work but a fun experience to share with y’all!

I can’t eat anymore! (Never thought you’d hear ME say that, hey?)

I’m sitting in my cabin having just returned from walking around in Trapani, Italy.  We (Amye, Tyler, Steve and myself) decided that today was going to be an eating fest since it was our last day in Italy.  Our first search was for lunch – a true Italian lunch.   After about 15 cafes later, we found a café with a menu that looked delicious!  It was fantastic just to sit outside in the fresh and crisp air and enjoy real Italy.  We all ordered the Caprese – which is just as it is served in the states but the Roma tomatoes are out of this world and fresh mozzarella drizzled with a bit of olive oil and oregano.  Tyler, Amye and I ended up with homemade egg noodles with mushrooms. Not much of a sauce on it – but it was delicious and had tons of garlic, which I LOVE.  Steve ordered fresh tortellini with a cream sauce and ham.  After finishing our hearty Italian meal, we knew that our next stop would be gelato.

Well – as you will see throughout this post (I’ll be backtracking through the last two weeks since I haven’t posted in a bit) that I have never like gelato in the states but MAN-OH-MAN is it out of this world in Europe.  I love the fruity ones – especially the mango and tropical fruit flavors!  Well, there happened to be a gelato place right next door to the café, so we headed in to get some.  We all got a cone and continued to walk around the city.  Trapani is quite small but it is picturesque Italy.  Our next mission was to find a cannoli or 6 to take back to the ship.  We searched several bakeries in search of the cannoli that a guest had brought us the week before (that we out of this world).  Again, I have never liked any cannoli that I had tried before, but one made in Italy is an entirely different ballgame.  They outside shell is so crispy and sweet and then the ricotta cheese on the inside is rich and creamy…to die for! 

We finally found a bakery that had some which looked like cannoli perfection, so we ordered 6 to take back with us for later.  The girl behind the counter went and got the shells and filled them up before drizzling chocolate over the top and dusting them with confectioners sugar.  They were a sight to see…and weighed about 5 pounds!  (I think I gained about 10 just looking at them!)  Amye and I were determined that we were going to at least bite into them while still on Italian soil.  We were SO full already…I couldn’t even do it – she did and we got a cute picture of her eyes googling at the beautiful cannolis.  We headed back to the ship and decided to just relax for the rest of the afternoon until we had to work again. 

La Goulette, Tunisia – I have two separate times of docking in Tunisia to talk about.  Our first time porting in Tunisia was about a week and a half ago and a couple of people talked about going ashore to ride some camels and walk around the port for a bit to explore the city.  Amye was dead set on riding a camel as soon as we got off the ship.  Oddly enough, there were about 10 men waiting right on the pier with probably 4 camels or so ready for a ride.  There is one guy, we will call him “The Camel Pimp” of the camel rides, and Amye asked him “How much to ride?” and he says “For you, free”.  In disbelief, Amye says “ok”.  I say…”And how much for me?”  The Camel Pimp grabbed my wrists, lifted my arms in the air, looked my body up and down, turned me around to look at my ass and then back around just so he could tell me I would be “5 Euro.” 

Needless to say, I was a bit upset (ok, really really pissed off) so I told him “no,thanks” with a bit of an attitude.  Amye and Katie each got a camel to ride and Tyler and I took photos.  The Camel Pimp posed them and had Katie take the lead line to Amye’s camel.   Towards the end, the camel pimp made attempts to get me to lead the camel, knowing full well how pissed I was.  I just ignored him and definitely ready to go at that point.  Unfortunately, I must admit that I did have a small cry when we walked away. 

Once they finished their ride, we walked through the port, which was basically a nice little mall/shopping center with lots of little shops in it with souvenirs, spices, lots of soaps, etc.  After walking around and saw what little there was to see in the pier, we found a small café with an outside patio and a view of the ship.  The weather was beautiful so we sat outside and ordered drinks – everybody ordered beer, with the exception of me because we all know how I feel about beer.  I ended up with a Coca Cola Light and the funny thing is – when the bill arrived, my diet coke cost the same thing as their beers!  After about an hour of enjoying the fresh air, we headed back to the ship.

BUT – I can’t close this day out without the funniest story of them all!  Amye and I were standing next to each other while we all walked back.  A gentleman in the native attire walked by us with a large duffle back.  Amye leans over and very casually says “Do you think he’s got a camel in that bag?”  After laughing hysterically, I said “Yep” and proceeded to inflate/blow up an inflatable came.  Well, after typing that – I guess it was a “had to be there” moment.

[Side story – Leah, a girlfriend-on-board of my guitarist friend Brad, was talking to an ex of Meghan while we were at an Engine workshop party.  Basically, she told JP (the ex) that he was mentally retarded for ever letting Meghan go.  Leah looked JP in the eye and said “In my country, we call someone like Meghan a dime – she’s a 10 and an amazing girl”  The story continues, but we were always telling each other that “You’re a dime.”  After the Camel Pimp run-in, I now told all my girls that “You girls might be a dime, but I’m a 5 Euro kinda girl.]

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming….

The second time we docked in Tunisia was just two days ago and I was determined to ride a camel this time, even if I was a “5 Euro” kinda girl and very sick all at the same time.  When we arrived outside, we did not initially see the man who told me how much I cost.  BUT, within about 30 seconds of us arriving at the camels, the Camel Pimp popped up.  He told me it would be five Euros but he would let Amye ride for free.  This time the camel pimp didn’t mention my weight or appearance and I just really wanted to ride that damn camel.  In Cairo a few months ago, I did sit on one but didn’t get it to stand up or anything.  Well, I climbed on the first camel sitting down and before I knew it, the camel pimp threw Amye on the same camel as me and the camel was starting to stand up.  HEAVEN HELP ME that was scarier than any roller coaster I’ve ever been on.  Amye was sitting much higher on the camel than I was – so I couldn’t see anything in front of her and all I did was wrap my arms around her extremely tight and start to pray.  My butt was lopsided on the top of the camel so I was so uncomfortable with every step he took and I just wanted to get off.  We got several hilariously funny pictures and an even funnier video of the camel sitting down.  Glad I did it but it was CRAZY – scarier than all of the crazy roller coasters that I’ve been on in my 27 (holy cow…27) years of living. 

This is the only photo of both of us smiling…the rest of faces of fear!

 

Civitavecchia, Italy – This port is the main port with access to Rome.  Most of our guests take buses and trains into Rome to see all the sights there, so the ship is docked until quite that late in the evening.  The first time we were in Civitavecchia (Ch-vi-ta-vek-e-a), Steve, Myself, Amye, Teleya and Colette went out with a mission to eat (anyone surprised?),  There are lots of shops and streets that you can wander down while there, so we walked for a bit hoping we would stumble across a restaurant with Wi-Fi (we-fee, as they say in Europe) and good food.  We eventually found the latter of the two at a place conveniently named “the Pizzeria”.  We wandered in an the food smelled great so we were ready!  Teleya and Colette ordered a spinach and ricotta ravioli, Steve ordered a bruschetta and a frankfurter calzone (they put frankfurters in everything here) and the biggest bottle of beer ever and Amye ordered a pizza.  I settled on a salad and a calzone.  The calzone left a bit to be desired because I love my sauce and it was a bit dry, but all in all an experience, right?  The salad was TO DIE FOR…who would have though?  I’ve noticed that they serve tuna on pretty much all the salads they serve in Italy,  The salad was lettuce, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, tomatoes, tuna and olives (which were quickly removed and set to the side…YUCK!)  All full and ready to move on, we headed to a small outdoor café to grab a coffee/beer/wine/water and get some Wi-Fi before heading back to work. 

Our most recent time of docking in Civitavecchia was just 3 days ago and again, had the intention of food and Wi-Fi.  Well, we really all wanted to go into Rome, but as per usual, the deck officers decided it would be a great day for a VERY LONG DRILL so that nobody had the time to go into Rome, so as I mentioned, we resorted to the only other option – food.  This time, we went for gelato first (my new addiction) at a little corner shop.  I had a melon/mango with white chocolate.  The white chocolate gelato was amazing, as was the melon, but there were real  chunks of white chocolate!  Amazing as always.  Since it was Sunday, there was a flea market set up down the entire street with vendors selling everything from jewelry to electronics to soap.  Of course, I saw jewelry and began to shop.  I found a really cool long necklace with a heart (with a bell inside…ding ding), a pair of earrings and a beautiful own necklace.  My wallet was growing weak, so we returned to the same Wi-Fi café that we hit the previous week and enjoyed the free internet for about an hour or so before we decided we were hungry…hehe.  Of all the options, we ended up at McDonalds which was actually a more expensive selection.  I believe that my chicken sandwich combo was around $12.00 American dollars.  Crazy, hey?

Jess told us that she had gone to a little souvenir shop around the corner the week before and she wanted to go back because they had some fun little trinket type things.  She took us around the corner to this little corner shop with a handmade sign outside that indicated it was “Frank’s Place.”  After entering, we quickly noticed it was very small with a lot of cheap trinket type things.  Behind the counter was a tall gentleman with thick salt and pepper hair, a sky blue sweater and khaki pants and glasses that instantly reminded me of Harry potter.  Immediately he said “Hello and welcome to my shop, lots of discounts for you.  I asked him if he was Frank and he said yes.  Not sure whether or not my causal tone with him made him relax a bit, but before we knew it Frank had us all laughing so hard because of the way he was talking about his shop and how he knew it was full of “cheap made in china shit” but “who cares?”  When he found out we were crew, things got even cheaper.  There was the wolf statue with the kids nursing from it and I asked him what the story was.  He quickly relayed the “Reader’s Digest” version of it and stated “that because of that, you can say that all Roman’s are sons of bitches”.  Frank’s casual manner just made the trip memorable and we enjoyed spending a few minutes talking to him about his store and his life.  It was a great laugh before heading back to the ship.

Meet Frank:

On these two short 7 day cruises, I have quickly put Italy on my list of top places I’ve visited.  Reason number one would have to be the food and reason number two simply because they Italians are very fun and welcoming people.  No matter how much we struggle to speak Italian and communicate, they still have a smile on and have a great time with us.  A port in Italy that I have a special love for is Santa Margharita Ligure or Livorno.  This port is actually the gateway for guests to take a ferry over to Portofino.  Due to time constraints and lack of desire to spend money on a ferry ride, several of us decided to get off the ship to walk around and get food (go figure!).  Character is the best word I have to describe the city – it is a picturesque little town with local pharmacies, vendors lining the streets and a café every step you take with large umbrellas and small tables cluttering the streets. 

Our first day in Santa Margherita Ligure two weeks ago, we decided to do some exploring which led us up an extremely step stairwell to a beautiful church at the peak.  We walked in and it was extremely old with ornate décor and beautiful chandeliers dangling over the rickety pews.  When we left the church, we walked down a long narrow path with stone arches and walls made of a grey stone with vines oozing down the sides.  Turns out, there is a University right next to the church – again, quite old but a place I’d definitely be willing to attend.  Since it was a the top of this very steep hill we climbed, the views of the harbor were unbeatable and the best part is that there was a small pond loaded with tons of turtles (which were stacked in such awkward poses that we thought they were fake) and statues of various smart people (I really have no clue what they were of!).  We made our way down the hill and ended up at a little gelato store right on the water with a small patio.  This particular Gelateria had an amazing Tropical fruit gelato – once I finished mine, I said “I should have gotten the big one.”  So delicious!  My taste buds were satisfied and was ready to catch the tender and head back to work.

It was less than a week later (four days to be exact) before we were back in the same spot.  The only intention we had for the day was to hit that same spot and score some more of the gelato better known as deliciousness.  We just had three of us, Steve, myself and Jess and they both suggested we get some lunch at a cafe .  It didn’t take long for us to settle on a café about 4 doors down from the Gelateria with the delicious awesomeness in a cone by the name of “de Alfredo”.  We sat “outside” – can’t really say it was outside because it had one of those greenhouse-style glass coverings.  Steve ordered a massively large calzone, Jess initially ordered the “Pesto lasagna” and I ordered Gnocchi Pesto.  Santa Margherita is actually located in the region where Pesto began, so I was dead set on ordering something with Pesto and what better to eat it on than gnocchi?  When it all arrived our eyes were HUGE because it all looked incredible – Steve’s calzone was puffed up to perfection with air as it was delivered to the table straight out of the fire burning pizza oven.  Jess didn’t get a pesto lasagna – she ended up ordering a pasta dish called “tolfi pesto” (at least that’s what I think it was called.”  Her pasta reminded me of Spaitzel covered in a mixture of pesto sauce and maybe a slight bit of alfredo.  My gnocchi was homemade and completely different than any gnocchi I’ve ever tasted before.  In the states, whenever I had had gnocchi, the dumplings were chewy and dense but here they were light, fluffy and melted in my mouth.  Oh, and don’t forget the creamy pesto sauce unlike any of the oily pesto in the US.  Oh man…there’s nothing else I can say to describe it other than HEAVEN :)

THE pesto Gnocchi:

Last day to post about in this particular post!!!!  PHEW – I know this is long and if you have hung on this long, please comment and let me know you’re still alive :) Monte Carlo, Monaco was never a place I had thought about visiting and truly never realized what it was.  Travel Guide Ian ended up hooking me up on an awesome tour called “Jewels of Cote de Azure” which made several stops in Monaco as well as Nice and Eze in France.  We started off driving to “The Rock” which is what the old city in Monaco is referred to as. 

After several elevators and escalators, we finally made it to the top where our tour guide, Florence, showed us the Museum de Oceanographiqe and one of the schools for the kids that actually live in Monaco.  Well – if you don’t know anything about Monaco, money talks.  The harbor is loaded with tons and tons of large and expensive yachts.  Florence told us about the kids in the school and how lucky they were because their parents had to be extremely wealthy for them to even live in the heart of Monaco.  The average cost per square food is 2,000-3,000 EUROS.  Holy Cow is that an incredible amount.  But anyways, back to the tour.  We walked up the rock even more checking out the views and buildings and well as the hundreds of yachts all over the water.  Next stop, the Cathedral of Monaco where saw the tombs of Grace Kelly and Price Rainier.  Beautiful Cathedral and almost a museum with the way they have it set up with all the different cloaks on display.  Then we stopped by Princess Palace, but truly couldn’t see much because of all the construction – but the view  of the city as well as the Grand Prix track from the very top was worth the walk in itself. 

One hour and one bus ride later, we stopped in Nice and had an hour of free time.  Had an ice cream bar there because there was truly nothing there that impressed me or excited me.  Cute little town but if I never would have made it there, I would have been content.  Drove a bit more and ended up in Eze, which I think was one of my favorite spots! Eze is an incredible medieval city at the top of a mountain growing more and more in character and charm every step of the way.  You’ll have to check out the pictures when I eventually get them posted.  After an hour of free time walking around Eze, we met at the bottom in Cannes and had dinner at a small restaurant that had the most incredible view of the mountainside at sunset.  Our dinner was quite simple – salad with tuna and olive oil, chicken with a light cream sauce, green beans and roasted potatoes followed by a dessert that tasted like Cool Whip with pistachios and almonds.  At this point I was EXHAUSTED from the long day already (6 hours of the tour had already passed) but we still had one more stop, Monte Carlo. 

We took another hour bus ride back to Monaco so that we could stop in Monte Carlo and see the Grand Casino.  It was a bit of a hike from the bus to the Grand Casino as well as the center of the Grand Prix, but what a sight to see.  Lining the streets were Bentley’s, a Rolls Royce or three as well as every luxury car you imagine in one spot.  People entering the casino were dressed to the nine’s because of the dress code (and cover charge!) to enter the casino.  I stood outside and did lots of people watching – one because I love to people watch and observe what’s going on and I was also so tired that I just wanted to get back to the ship and go to bed!  When the group started to arrive at the meeting point, I was more than thrilled to head back to the bus.  It was truly an awesome day and I saw everything I could ask to see.  Don’t really have a desire to go back – but glad that I saw it while I had the opportunity because I know how blessed I truly am:)

Ok – I think I’ve typed a few chapters in a novel at this point and please excuse any typos.  Lots of love to everyone out there! XOXO