White nights, city lights & men in tights!

I’ve been looking forward to this evening for quite a while and glad it finally happened!  We’re in St. Petersburg, Russia, as we will be every 12 days for the rest of the summer and there are day tours as well as evening tours available because we are here overnight each time.  When I saw the opportunity to see a ballet in Russia I jumped at it!  After an easy afternoon at work, I ran to my cabin and changed clothes to look presentable and feel like more than a uniformed worker and then headed to immigration.  Immigration took no time at all today, so I sat outside for about 30 minutes and read my book (on my fancy new iPad :) ) 

Finally, the bus was packed full of guests so I could get on and I squeezed in the very last seat at the back.  Forty minutes later, we arrived at the theater and a very old theater it was.  We entered through small wooden doors and walked to the Cloak Room area where they had racks upon racks for people to check their coats.  These racks were very old and rickety, but I thought they were so neat so, of course, I took a photo!

To the right of the cloak room was this grand staircase made of white marble (or maybe limestone) leading up to the main theater where we were to sit and watch “Swan Lake”.

Walking through this old theater and hearing the creaks of the old wooden floors really took me back to “The Big House” that we spent every summer in up in Tybee Island, Georgia.  Every step had a loud creak and there is no sneaking out of that ballet! 

As I entered the theater all I could do was smile because I love the feeling of being in the theater with the muffled murmur of people chatting and the orchestra warming up in the pit at the front along with the energy of anticipation and excitement filling the room.  The curtain that hid the stage was just as old as every other item in the theater and just looked heavy because of the thick blue velvet that it was made from.

I searched for several minutes through the long chain of chairs in order to find the chair that was labeled row 12 and seat 26.  As I sat down in the wooden chairs upholstered in blue tapestry fabric, I quickly came to the realization that the seat was not made for someone of my height.  My knees barely fit in front of me which made me quite nervous because I’m quite fidgety and I was unsure if I could make it through the ballet comfortably. 

Before the ballet began, I was ridiculously thirsty so I headed out to a stand selling juices, coffees and sodas.  The stand was located right outside of the doors next to my seat and was surrounded by old paintings of ballerinas dangling  from the ceiling with black wire.  I bought myself a water and a grapefruit juice and headed back to my seat because the lights had started to dim.  Lucky for me, the seats behind me (located on the large aisle way) were wide open so I had a seat with plenty of leg room!

Finally, the ballet began (15 minutes late) and the lights dimmed and the curtains were drawn.  The set was fabulous.  It looked like “One Starry Night” Painting from top to bottom and front to back of the stage.  I watched for the next hour with a smile on my face and enjoying the experience and opportunity to sit in St. Petersburg, Russia and watch “Swan Lake”.  Amazing.  The first Act finished and after a short intermission, the second act began.  Fifteen minutes later – act two was over and it ends with a curtain call, which left myself and Jay (one of the cast members I ended up sitting with) quite confused.  Act three begins and FIVE minutes later another curtain call was taking place and it was over.  Definitely a different way of wrapping up the show, but hey – the Russian’s definitely like to do things different!

It was like herding cattle to get everyone out of the theater and back to the buses, but twenty minutes later I had made it to the exit and it was still light outside at 11PM!  Our guide, Daria, explained to us that Russia was known for “White Nights” where the sun didn’t set until 2-3AM and would rise again about 4 hours later.  She told us that it was a popular time for folks to go out and about and walk around to enjoy these “White Nights” in the city.  It only took us 10 minutes to get back to the ship (it took us close to 40 minutes to get to the theater earlier) simply because there was no traffic.  I hadn’t even realized how close to the ship we really were until I saw how quickly we had made it back “home” that evening.

Another blessing to add to the books…Thank you Russia.

   

Quote of the Day:  “Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before with difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish…”

~John Quincy Adams

South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland

After an easy morning of tendering, Steve, Jo and myself headed ashore in a tender and met up with Ian (the Travel Guide onboard) so he could take us into town to the castle.  We jumped into a cab and headed straight into Edinburgh.  The cab dropped us off at the base of the hill where the castle is located and Ian went one way while the three of us started the short hike up to the castle.  Once we reached the entrance we realized how expensive it was to go in.  It wasn’t just the price that stopped us, it was more the idea of spending that much money to spend just a short amount of time walking through the castle.  After a bit of wavering back and fourth between going into the castle or not going because we didn’t want to have to rush through after spending almost 30US to get in.  We realized that we actually have an overnight in the port in a month or so, so we passed and decided to tour around the city a bit. 

Right at the base of the castle entrance, there was quite a bit of construction going on but you could see a storefront hiding through it all.  I pointed out the store and we decided to walk in.  At the front, there were your typical Scottish souvenirs of shot glasses, stuffed animals, hats, postcards and we can’t forget to mention the whiskey flavored condoms at the cash register.  Jo and I found some amazing hats…

While we searched around the store, Steve bought me a bottle of IronBru which is a European soda (not sure if it is particularly native to Scotland, but I know it is to Europe…hehe).  It reminds me of a Cream Soda, which is one of my favorites!

Behind all the souvenirs you could see lots of sweaters and scarves, so I went to see and touch them because they are all handmade and absolutely gorgeous!  We realized that the store continued on and it turned out that it was a gigantic factory where they make all different fabrics that they sell as well as blankets and walls upon walls of different trinkets with every last name, surname and clan name you can imagine.

 

After spending 45 or so minutes walking through, we headed out to the streets to explore some more. Jo’s boyfriend was coming to see her so she wanted to find him a gift and needed an electronics store.  We walked across town, but not without running into a few characters first.  The man on the left was shouting “I’m not a beggar.  I’m a bona fide collector!”  (I’m typing this in the best Scottish accent I’ve got!)  The man on the far right was playing on the streets in the city trying to make a few bucks.

   

With no luck at the first electronics store, we ended up at – you guessed it – a pub with WiFi!  Apparently, it’s a big chain in the UK – Wetherspoon’s.  Within 3 minutes of sitting down, we all had our computers (or my iPad) out on the tables checking email and ordering drinks (ciders!).  Gabe (the bass player on board) had joined us and we had also met back up with Ian.  We all saw Haggis on the menu and wanted to order it – but for fear of hating it, I wouldn’t do it.  Gabe took the plunge and ordered it along with some root vegetable and mashed potatoes.  Truly, it tasted alright.  The texture was grittier than I anticipated and I also expected it to have a sauce over it but it was served quite dry.  In the end, I tasted it and I’m still alive!  I ordered bangers and mash and Jo ordered fish and chips with mushy peas.  Delicious food as always – we know how to find it :)

  

Quote of the day:  “You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative is so uncomplicated. It can be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounds like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.”

I spoke too soon!

I definitely spoke way too soon about that great European summer weather.  Today was terribly grey and it rained on and off the entire day, but I still let Jo convince me to go ashore and walk around.  The city of Bergen is absolutely beautiful even on a rainy day, so I can only imagine how incredible a sun-shiny day would be.  The grass is so green (from all the rain) and there are tons of statues everywhere giving the city lots history and culture.  Most of the statues were pretty interesting – like a guy playing a violin on the top of a fountain made of rocks with a Zues-looking Mermaid below.  And this one…just plain odd.  It’s a naked kid (boy) with his face all scrunched up.  Just odd. 

Jo and I didn’t do much – walked around as we usually do but then the downpour started to come, so we went inside a McDonalds (surprise, surprise) and got some (terribly slow) Wi-Fi.  There were kids everywhere screaming and yelling, so we lasted about an hour there and then headed “home” and into the warm.  In a way, it was good – I got a good workout in before I had to start work.

Hopefully the weather will start to look up again…soon!!

Quote (Lyrics) of the day:   This song really gets me right now with the current situation.

"Love Don't Run" by Steve Holy
This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt like hell
This is gonna damn near kill me, sometimes the truth aint easy
I know that you’re scared of telling me something
I don’t wanna hear, but baby believe that
I’m not leaving, you couldn’t give me one good reason
[Chorus:]
Love don’t run, love don’t hide
It won't turn away or back down from a fight
Baby I’m right here and I aint going anywhere
Love’s too tough it wont give up no not on us
Baby Love don’t run
Let’s lay it on the line, I don’t care if it takes all night cuz
This is gonna makes us stronger, it’s gonna make forever longer
I know it’d be easier walking away but what we got is real
And I wanna save us, baby we can do it, Baby we’ll get through it cause
Love don’t run, love don’t hide
It won't turn away or back down from a fight
Baby I’m right here and I aint going anywhere
Love’s too tough, it wont give up no not on us
Baby Love don’t run
Baby love don’t run
[Bridge:]
So come over here and lay down in my arms
Baby tell me everything that’s on your heart, cause
[Chorus:]
I won’t run, and I won’t hide
I won’t turn away, I just wanna make things right
Baby I’m right here and I aint going anywhere
Love’s too tough it won’t give up no not on us
Baby Love don’t run
Baby Love don’t run

True love is a Friendship on Fire

I’m so glad that summer is finally starting to kick in here in Europe.  The last few weeks were so rainy, dark and cold that I was beginning to wonder why anyone would want to travel to some of these places.  Thank Goodness that the sun is starting to come out and play because I need it!  Jo, Steve and myself went out to see what Kristansand had to offer since none of us had been here before.  Our first stop was not far from the ship – about 25 feet or so and we introduced ourselves to the Kristansand Welcoming Committee…of one.  

My first observation of the country as a whole is that everyone here is BEAUTIFUL.  Blonde hair and blue eyes describes almost everyone you see from small babies and children (who look like chubby porcelain dolls) through the older population.  One of my favorite things about Europe are the buildings – they all offer character and charm through their color, construction and little details.  This small town of Kristansand has much of that!  My favorite building is a church that we went into.  It isn’t your typical baroque style church with lots of gaudy details and intricacies – it is simple.  The inside was carpeted, which you don’t see in my churches.  They are often wood or tiled and typically quite loud as well.  Because of the carpet, I found the church to be silent and offer a peaceful energy about it.  The walls and ceilings were simple slats of wood with one detailed painting at the front of the church above the altar.  Other than that- simple and classy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and one large one down the center aisle.  When (if) I ever get married – a church like that would be a dream.

Once we exited the church, we stood in a “town square” type of area where there were a few vendors scattered about – check these out!  Big Brother Steve and I look b-e-a-utiful…hehe.

   

And this guy – he was in his Porshe of a motorized wheel chair and he was showing off and  flirting with the woman in her Toyota wheelchair.

For another hour or so, we walked around taking pictures and window shopping.  Found lots of neat little shops and there was a TON of home stores with furniture and décor items.  We went in a toy store to see what they had and figured out that even a water gun was around $50.00.  Much too expensive for my taste :)  One of the home stores had tons of the signs that you hang around your home (and all in English, which was odd) and this one caught my eye…hence, the title of this post.

We stopped by a really cool candy/ice cream store with tons and tons of different candies…

 

And then ended up back at the McDonalds for free WI-FI since there wasn’t much else to see in the town…

I won a new IPAD in the crew raffle the night before, so I had a ton of fun getting my new IPAD set up.  I’ve wanted one forever but never could spend that much money.  I am IN LOVE with it – can’t wait to download lots of books onto it!  After an hour or so of Wi-Fi, I headed back to the ship because I had to work ::ugh::.

Quote of the Day:  “The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people are able to hold it.”

Sunny days, keepin’ the clouds away

Copenhagen, Denmark today and couldn’t ask for a more PERFECT day of weather.  I woke up this morning with a lack of motivation to go out, but Jo convinced me to go walk around with her today and I’m so grateful that she did.  Last cruise, we had some horrendous weather and none of us wanted to go ashore, especially since we had to pay for the shuttle to go from the port to the heart of the city. 

As soon as the two of us finished our morning activities, we hopped on the shuttle to town.  The shuttle dropped us off in the heart of the city.  The first thing Jo noticed were the swings.  Does anyone remember those swings at carnivals that go round and round?  Well, those are the swings we saw- except they went more than round and round, the entire ride went really high so you could see the whole city while swinging.  If you know me, you know that I love rides and apparently she loves them just as much, so we were insistent on riding them.  Turns out, it’s all part of Tivoli Gardens amusement park which has gardens, an aquarium, tons of rides, a Titanic exhibition and lots of other fun things.  Unfortunately, we did not have anywhere near enough time to spend enjoying all the rides and attractions that it had to offer and it was quite pricy – so definitely wanted to come back when we had the time to enjoy it all.  Next time, I guess.  The amusement park was in the center of a bustling city, so we walked around the city and checked out all the rides before ending up right in front of a bridge and next to SYDBANK!  I had to get pictures…

         

The weather was absolutely gorgeous – nice and warm.  The fresh air, sunshine and light breeze truly perked me right up and allowed me take many deep breaths throughout the day.  We crossed the bridge over the river and ended up right on the waterfront where hundreds of people were enjoying the flawless weather as well as a portion of the river that had been sectioned off for swimming and diving.  Kids flooded the “pool” and were diving off of steep platforms and just having a fun time outside.  Copenhagen is a very active city – there are tons and tons of bikes parked everywhere, there are biking lanes as wide as the car lanes and everywhere you look, people are walking or biking to get where the need to go.  With the weather the way it was, I’d enjoy a bike ride too!

The waterfront was quite long and as I mentioned before, crowded.  There were several photo opportunities along the river – my favorite being the hand painted elephants that were on display throughout the city.  These elephants were up for auction to save the elephants of Asia and they were just beautiful.  I actually heard, from a guest, this afternoon that there is a store in Copenhagen that sells replicas of all of them.  My goal next cruise will be to find one of the stores, because I want one (obviously smaller than these- they are as tall as I am!)

 

 

Over the river and through the…well, on the sidewalk and we were back by Tivoli Gardens and close to the shuttle stop.  On the way into town earlier, we had noticed a festival-type function going on and decided to stop by and see what exactly it was.  Turns out, it was some sort of turkish culture celebration.  There were tons of people eating turkish foods (yum…I wanna go back to Istanbul and Kusadasi) so we sat and lisetened to the live music for a bit before stopping by to see Hans Christian Andersen.

If you don’t know who he is, he wrote The Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling,etc.  So, we said “hello.”

Both of us were hungry, so we “window shopped” several different restaurants and cafes.  Of all places, we ended up at the Hard Rock Café because it was the “cheapest” of all the options and it had outdoor seating.  I could have cared less about the food, I just didn’t want to go inside when the weather was so perfect!  We nabbed the last table outside and I ordered an apple cider (one of the best I’ve tried, thus far) and our food.  Jo laughed at me because I take pictures of all the food and drink, but she’ll appreciate it one day.  Jo ordered a chicken sandwich and a coke and I got a pulled pork sandwich (which had cabbage on top – common for dishes in Denmark), a salad and my cider and the bill came to…55 Euros!!!!!!!!  OUCH!

 

A fantastic day – I’m so grateful that Jo asked me to go walk around.  So worth it!

Jo’s (random) quote of the day – “I dated a Jew once, but I knew it wouldn’t work out. ::awkward pause:: I like bacon.” You probably had to be there, but it was absolutely hilarious!

Quote of the day:  “Unless you can create a whole universe in five days, then perhaps giving “advice” to God isn’t such a good idea!”

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.