Stonehenge

I went to Stonehenge yesterday. What a surreal experience. There’s such a powerful and mystical aura surrounding the site and I couldn’t stop taking pictures! The downfall is that there are thousands of tourists and trying to get shots without random people in them proved to be challenging. It’s amazing that the stones that weigh over 50 tons were moved from Wales which is I think over 160 miles away in 500 BC. We still have no clue as to how they got there, what the function of the site was, or who built it. There are tons of theories including Merlin, the Devil, and aliens. One thing is for sure that it was not the Druids as was thought for most of history. I think the most plausible explanation is that the stones served as an astronomical calendar. During the different parts of the year the sun rises (or sets – I forget) in a different arch of the henge, so you can tell what month it is. The burial mounds that speckle the nearby fields are also quite baffling; there are over 300 within a 3 mile radius….makes you wonder. I also went to the site of Old Sarum which had ruins from a huge castle and cathedral that were built in 1200. The hill even had a moat – I felt like I was transported back to the Medieval times bearing messages from the sea. Oh the other interesting thing at Stonehenge was that at noon a group of people dressed in Medieval costumes carrying great big flags came to the site and went into the circle and performed some sort of ritual – not really sure what they were doing though. I’ll try to post pictures when I have high speed internet. Less than 3 weeks and I’ll be home!

Oh, on a sad note, my roommate, Dave, left the ship yesterday so I have a new roommate who has done nothing but sleep today…I’m really ready to be done with the sharing of personal space!

More Fun in the Sun

Beach time and partying continue to consume my days at sea! Sunday we were in Civitavecchia which is the port to Rome and I had a wonderful pizza with red wine and spent the afternoon lying on the beach with a Kiwi friend who leaves at the end of this cruise. I finished the day with a strawberry and green apple gelato and then had an exciting night at the deck party. The crew club hosted another party in the open air which is always refreshing to get out of the smoky crew bar. It was a fundraiser for the Walk for the Cure and I won a free hair cut and style at the spa. The Caribbean Deck band provided the music and I danced the night away again. We continued the party until 4:00 a.m. and I had the surreal experience of free styling (beat boxing and rapping) with 2 Russians, 1 British, and 1 Serbian – quite the international mix!

Monday was spent in beautiful Alghero, Sardegna, which remains one of my favorite places on the planet. The water there was incredible. Crystal clear and the warmest water yet! I had another gelato as well – nocciola and pistachio. I actually took a night off and went to bed at a reasonable hour – 1:30.

Today we had a half day in Mallorca and I walked around the old historic town and then spent the rest of the day on deck sun bathing. My Italian blood is doing me proud as my skin never knew it could get this bronzed!

Yoga and Partying

My apologies for the lack of postings this week, but for some reason I’ve become quite the social butterfly this cruise. I think maybe it had something to do with the close quarters we all had to share during code red, which I am happy to report ended on Tuesday in Cadiz.

Monday night we had our first Entertainment Department corridor party in the dancer’s hallway and partied until 5:00 a.m. – you have to create your own nightlife when stuck on a small floating village. I spent another beautiful day at the beach in Cadiz with some dancers and band members. The water is warming up quite nicely and the weather has been extremely hot and humid this past week.

The other activity I’ve started is Yoga. Caitlyn, one of the dancers, has started teaching a class about 5 days a week and I can’t believe how intense it can be. My body was numb after my second class, so hopefully I’ll do better after the third class today. I have noticed that it really helps my playing by opening my chest up. Oh, the added bonus is taking the class with 5 gorgeous dancers!

Wednesday night, the Entertainment Department hosted a Black and White themed disco party which was quite the bash. Those of you who have seen me dance before can imagine how much I tore up the floor! Let me just say there was also some “worm” action happening. That was another early morning as I wasn’t in bed until 4:00 a.m.

Thursday night saw a break in the action and a bit of recovery time, but I did have quite a feast with my roommate, David. He found the most delicious olives I have ever tasted in Cadiz. He’s a very big olive connoisseur and has introduced me to several different varieties, including a Majorcan bitter. The Cadiz ones are heavenly – there’s absolutely no way to have a better olive – they’re so silky and buttery – it’s incredible! We also had Boursan (sp?) cheese and crackers and I found a very delicious dark chocolate with pepperoncino in Italy – mmmmmm.

So that brings me to last night (Friday). I partied once again until 4:00 a.m. and am now nursing my hangover and preparing to go lay in the sun. I feel bad that all my social activities are interfering with my daytime port time, but we’re in Italy today and I’ve been there done that – what an audacious statement! Sorry, I’m digressing and losing my focus. I’ll leave you with another affirmation that I read in my introspective book:

“Self-creation entails imagining ourself in other ways. Instead of thinking of ourself as a fixed nugget in a shifting current of mental and physical processes, we might consider ourself as a narrative that transforms these processes into an unfolding story.”

Code Red

So what is code red? Well, it means that there have been a considerable number of Norwalk Virus (the nasty gastrointestinal virus that received lots of media coverage a few years ago) cases that have infiltrated the ship, and to protect us from the passengers we are not allowed to go into the passenger areas. Basically, the crew is trapped on the crew deck unless we’re working. This means I can’t eat in the normal passenger areas and have to suffer the questionable crew mess and I also can’t go to the gym. I think I’m in danger of losing the 6 pounds I gained! Rumor has it that we’ll be on code red until Cadiz which is this coming Tuesday – 4 more days….ugh.

Enchanting Corsica

I’m still ready to retire on the island of Corsica. Oh, what a beautiful day I had yesterday! All it involved was lying on a pristine, soft sandy beach and swimming in the refreshing Mediterranean Sea, but that’s all I really need to be content. It was truly a gorgeous day…enough said!

I’ve started reading “Buddhism Without Beliefs” and the following is a passage that caught my attention:

We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness, which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world.
– Marcel Proust

Napoli, Bella Napoli

Well, I can finally say I have been to Naples. I don’t how many times I’ve been to the train station of Naples without actually exploring the city. My main reason was that I always had luggage with me and have been warned numerous times about guarding my belongings.

So this morning I left all my valuables (including my camera) on board and walked all throughout the city. I was fortunate to get my morning IPM covered, otherwise I would have been stuck on the boat the entire day.

Anyway, as I was strolling through the streets of Naples with clothes drying on lines outside all the buildings that look as though they’ll crumble any moment, three words came to mind to describe the city: vibrant, pulsing, gritty. And this was a Sunday morning! Nowhere near as chaotic as a weekday would be. I found an open air market that was more noisy and disorienting than the Grand Bazaar in Turkey! Everyone was shouting and pushing every which way performing a perfect dance of anarchy. It’s amazing how thuggish and tough the people look and all the old men look as though they could be Don Corleone – I don’t like to perpetuate stereotypes, but there are definitely signs of organized crime, even more so than Sicily. One good thing is that the trash crisis seems to have been solved, as I saw not a single piece of garbage on the streets.

I wondered to Spaccanapoli (I think that’s the right spelling) and had the most delicious coffee and sfogliatella of my life. I think sfogliatelle have become my favorite pastry in the world. For anybody who has never had the pleasure of trying one, I’ll try to do my best to describe it. I’d say the closest neighbor is a croissant, but it’s really nothing like it. The crust is flaky, but also very crisp and greasy. Inside is a mixture of sweet cream, ricotta cheese and just a hint of orange zest. Mmmm….delicious. Italians claim that the coffee in Naples is the best in all of the country due to something in the water. Nobody quite knows what it is, but I will certainly vouch that it is the best I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, my first Neapolitan pizza will have to wait until my next visit.

Naples is truly a welcome assault of all the senses.

On a side note, you’ll all be happy to know that I have gained 6 pounds since the beginning of my contract. I guess all my time in the gym is paying off.

Le Jetset de Cannes

I had a marvelous afternoon in Cannes, France today. It was a beautiful and sunny day - perfect for the beach! I went to soak in some sun with my roommate, Dave, and the piano player, Ron. I also had a very nice swim in the Mediterranean, although it was extremely frigid! So the French are famous for their topless bathing, and there was plenty of it, but one couple took public displays of affection to an extreme today. They actually copulated in the water where everyone on the beach could see - tre risque!

After the afternoon on the beach, we went to a creperrie (sp?) for crepes with strawberry jam and coffee. The French certainly know their crepes! The amount of yachts that were in the harbor was quite ridiculous. I can't ever imagine owning something so posh and having the jetset lifestyle. I also saw the building where the Cannes Film Festival takes place - too bad I missed it by just a few weeks. Tomorrow I'll be back in Roma!

Oh, we've had a ridiculously light work load the past week with 2 nights off. I'm really starting to feel like I'm on vacation and becoming quite a Scrabble champion. Hope everyone is well!

Portugal

I visited some lovely villages in Portugal yesterday. One was the seaside village of Cascais. It’s most interesting claim to fame was the amount of German and American spies that stayed there during WWII. Portugal remained neutral throughout the war yet booked all the hotel rooms to spies. And it just so happens that Ian Fleming was staying at one of the hotels during this time and inspired his creation of 007.

On the way to Cacais we also passed by the fort where the Portuguese dictator, Salazar, died by falling off a chair. I didn’t realize Portugal was under a dictator for so long, but apparently the Spanish wanted to borrow the chair for Franco to sit on (the tour guide had a great sense of humor!). After Cascais we went to the mountain resort, Sintra. It was a quaint little village with an interesting castle that had 2 chimney stacks. I sampled a few of the local pastries. One was called a Quesada which consists of sweet cheese with a little cinnamon in a little crust – quite tasty. I also had a custard pastry that was basically like crème brule in a pie crust – yum!! Afterwards I tried some Port which was delicious and wanted to buy a bottle, but they would only sell the one bottle I wanted in a package with another bottle. So instead of getting a “partial” sale from me, they lost all of my business. The guide said Portugal remains about 70 years behind the rest of the world, so I guess they’re not up to speed with sales yet.

Speaking of being behind, the guide also told us about a local village that until a few years ago had an interesting wedding tradition. The villagers would only marry within the village and the groom was allowed one night with the bride to decide if he wanted to keep her. If he didn’t like her after the first night, he could simply bring her back to her parents the next morning. Of course no longer being a virgin, her chances of getting married again were completely eliminated. Another Portuguese tradition is their belief that roosters bring good luck. They have ceramic roosters everywhere, and according to the guide, “the larger the cock, the luckier you’ll be”.

The French fisherman are still striking over fuel costs and more European countries are joining in, so we’re still waiting to see if we’ll be able to dock in Cannes. If the Italian fisherman shut down the docks, I could be floating at sea for quite some time.

My new cabin situation has vastly improved my life on the ship. It’s amazing how a normal roommate who actually speaks and has social norms will change the entire atmosphere of the ship. Anyway, I’ll close the random post now as I’m suffering a bit from last night’s festivities!