Long Stretch..

Today will be the third day of my 6 days on board. I switched out Rome so that little Nicole would have a chance to see Rome since I've already been there before and have the chance to revisit again. I'm also missing Monte Carlo, Kusadasi, and Malta this cruise. The next time I can see port is in Athens, Greece. Whoa. I've just been finding things to do and getting some rays. As we all nicknamed this safety duty "in port tanning." The last time I was off was in Barcelona, Spain. We got out as early as we could and strolled through town. I was tired so all I really wanted to do was take in some tapas, have sangria, and do some light shopping. We strolled through the main strip seeing all the various street performers. Some were still doing their performances that I saw last time about 3 months ago. We went farther into town, without bikes, and took in the sight of the Casa Botló. It's one of Antoní Gaudi's pieces. He influenced most of Barcelona in architectural style before his death in 1926. He was the project director for the construction of the Temple la Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction and is not projected to be finished until 2040 or something like that. It will almost be 2 centuries old by the time it does get finished. Anyway, his style is all over Barcelona in various buildings and even on some of the city benches. There's a whole park dedicated to his art and style that we didn't make it to on any of our visits. It's really inland. We did make it to the Casa though, which is up a few blocks from the major strip. The roofs make the building look cartoonish and the other ones next to it have so much detail in them. The balconies of the main building have railings that look like skull heads and some of the supports are fashioned in a way to appear bonish. It was really fascinating to see. After our long walk to see this building of art, we strolled back to town to catch something to eat and have a little sangria. Mmm good. We walked back to the ship after an eventfully warm sunny day. Now I don't see land again until Thursday. Whoa.

Sun and Sangria...

It's so nice to be in Southern Europe. The past couple days in port were delightfully warm. Time to get out the sunscreen again. Not that I didn't use it before, just not as much in the past month. We arrived once again in Lisbon a few days ago and strolled through the main area in the valley. Almost like the valley in L.A., this one has many hip stores and little cafés. We strolled through town stopping at various places like H&M, Zara, and trendy little sporty stores. We took in a snack at McDs (yes, I know sinful to do in Europe, but it's quick and easy). Then we walked up one of the hillsides for some breathtaking views on an old rot iron tower that was built connecting the valley to the hilltop in the 1800s. It's an old elevator that takes people straight up instead of climbing the steep cobblestone streets. After our day was spent we settled down for some nice Portuguese appetizers and some sangria. Yum. Yesterday we strolled casually around Cadiz, Spain once again taking in the views of the well manicured gardens and parks as well as the old buildings and tiled streets. It was refreshing since it was not only warm, but there was a gentle breeze going. We stopped once for lunch and sangria and again at a small café to just people watch and sip some more sangria. Now that's a smooth life.

Retournez a Paris..

Trip number 2 to the famous city of Paris, France. We docked later this time where last time disorganization and confusion led us to take the 8:44am train this time we were forced to take that train at the earliest. We barely made it too even with planning and we would've had to wait for the next one at 10:15am. Yikes! It was another long journey to Paris this time with 3 newcomers. I was fortunate enough to have off both times in this port. We did the same route as last time only being more efficient by taking the Metro (or so we thought). The maze of tunnels to get to connecting trains was a little more confusing than NYC's system and adding French into the equation. We still made it to L'Arc de Triomphe in better time and we stayed there less time maximizing our Eiffel Tower visit and giving us a tad more tourist shopping time. We once again visited the grand monument that identifies France, but this time we didn't go up the tower. It was a cloudy day as compared to the blue skies and heat we had last time. The leaves are already turning over hear which brought a new perspective to Paris. We scurried out of the area and got on a train bound for the Notre Dame du Paris. We still had to see the outside of the Louvre and enjoy a leisurely lunch somewhere. We thought we could do it. We got on the rail and it shot us over to the area of St. Michel where we just took in the beauty of the area and the Notre Dame. We didn't have time to go inside, but just seeing it that close in reality was enough for me. We strolled through the streets nearby stumbling upon cute café after cute café. Shops galore lined the narrow passageways and the smell of the sumptuous delights being made began o make all of our mouths water since it was already 2pm. We got there at 11:00am like last time, so we were doing good. We were just minutes away from the Louvre now and we still had 2 hours to spare. We found a place with lots of atmosphere called Bistrot 30 and had a lovely Prix Fixe meal with some wine. It was good. I had the French onion soup with a turkey breast and baked potato meal and a crème caramel dessert. Yum. Unfortunately the leisurely lunch rolled us into 3:15pm and the train was leaving back to LeHavre at 3:51pm. We determined that stopping at the Louvre even just to snap it would jeopardize us getting back to the port city in time for the all aboard. So we missed it and took an express train back to Gare St. Lazarre with 15 minutes to spare. It was truly an exhausting day and upon our arrival in LeHavre at 6pm I was sure I spent 2 days away from the ship. Lol. It was an incredibly long and fulfilling day of sightseeing Paris. I just know I HAVE to come back here one day. I even got to see more of LeHavre and realized that this city is only a gateway city. It's nice and quaint, but the real adventure lies in Paris.

No Visible Windmills...

When I think of Holland I think of wooden windmills, clog shoes, grassy landscapes, and tulips. However Rotterdam has none of these in this major metropolis. It has factories, shipyards, trendy stores, works of art, odd and modern architectures, food from around the globe and people dressed to the latest fashions. I started off pretty early and took one of the ship's bikes you could rent for just $1. I was by myself today since I'm the only real adventurous one today that wanted to go biking. No problem. The bike was actually good. It was a mountain bike with great shocks and my only complaint would be that the seat was too narrow and after about an hour, my butt was killing me. We dock next to Café Rotterdam and also the Erasmus Bridge. Rotterdam is an architects haven and citywide museum of interesting shapes. From buildings built on stilts, to huge overhangs, slanted skyscrapers, a pencil shaped building, and houses that are cubes standing on point. The first building I rode past was the Belvedere. Its façade is slanted and is all windows that illuminate at night with thousands of flashing green lamps. If you stand and look at the Erasmus Bridge and the Belvedere, they compliment each other in the way they lean. I then rode over the Maas River on the Erasmus Bridge (nicknamed the swan) where I was headed to a side of town I didn't see before. I crossed over the Willemsbrug Bridge into an island called M/S Noordereiland. This island was actually built up from a sand bank and a dump to a bustling residential island that's supposed to portray a ship sailing down the Maas River. You can actually go to a website (www.co-co.nl/m.s.noordereiland) to view a ship's journal. I have yet to check it out so I don't know if it'll be in Dutch or not. I didn't stay long because I had so much more to see and being an embark day I had little time to do it. I crossed back over the bridge and traveled into Oude Haven or Old Harbor. Here were very strange buildings. The first and most interesting thing was the Blaake Bos or "The Black Forest (cube houses). Yes they're 6-sided homes. Imagine a cube standing on its point and that's the design of the home. For 2 Euro I got to see the inside of one and it was fascinating. You travel up the steep stairs of the column to the living and dining areas on the main floor (the center of the cube). Upstairs is the bedroom, bathroom, and study. It was actually quite spacious and the outside is very deceiving. It looks very small. Upstairs of the bedroom is a room mostly of windows and is at the top point of the cube. You can only stand straight up in the center and I assume for most of the Dutch they'd still be bending over. There are a lot of tall people here. I wish there was something like this in the states. I'd love to live in it. Next to these buildings is a building called the Potlood. It's shaped like a pencil. Next to these structures is a train station that looks like a spaceship called Station Blaak and yet behind all these buildings is the largest library in the Netherlands where these huge tubes are flanked on the outside of the building. I biked all the way over to the other side of town where I took a trip up 185 meters in the Euromast. There's a restaurant on this tower at 100 meters and a rotating cab that rides up the spiral another 85. It gave me a breathtaking view of the city. Although at the platform where on the same level as the restaurant, my knees go a little weak since there where no huge fences like in the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building. It was just open air. The reason being was that you could actually buy an excursion where you scale the tower on ropes. Yikes! I then traveled through the beautiful park next to it It's called the Secret Park (Schoon Oord). It's open to the public, but it's privately owned by a prominent Dutch family who maintains the gardens and pathways here. There are lots of little rivers and trees and places just to sit and relax. I pressed onward and back over the Erasmus Bridge to Rijgnhaven where the justice building stands and over into Noordereiland again. I wrapped up my biking adventure at the mall today before heading back to the ship. Whew!

After we had our boat drill today for passengers, we sailed away for our next port of Le Havre, France, which is the gateway to Paris. It's going to be an early one tomorrow. As we left, tons of families and friends stood shore side waving to their families and friends on board. Our ship is full of Dutch officers and crew. Today was a busy day for visitations. However they're only a small percentage of the crew on board. The Indonesian and Philippino crew are the most populated on board. I wonder what sail away will be like when I leave Indonesia next year.

Smalltown Germany...

Yesterday was a fabulous day despite how it started. It was kind of shady and cool as we pulled into Warnemünde, Germany. I went off with my friend Trisha and we got on a train for Rostock. It's a cute city tucked away just south of port. It's the transfer point if you wanted to go to Berlin on this day. What we didn't know was that this city was mostly closed yesterday due to it being Sunday and all. We still strolled around taking in the environment. I was here before when it was bustling during the week. There are all these cute little shops and cafes. This is in a little area called Neuer Markt of course. It's another subway/tram stop from the main train station. A college area and a hip and trendy place to be. It seems to be a place where all the locals just go to party, hang out, sip coffee, or shop. There's a beautiful park just at the end of the strip and it's located on the river that stretches from Warnemünde to this city. I had these fabulous potato pancakes here the last time and I took her to indulge in them. It was lovely. The only thing I missed was that the pretzel stand that was open last time was closed and the 2 candy stores full of German chocolate were also closed. Boo. Oh well. It's still a cute little escape from Warnemünde. We headed back to the port town and it was alive. People were everywhere and packed into this little resort town. For my family from Ohio it reminds me of that little escape we have called Lakeside in Vermillion. This place, like Warnemünde, has a bunch of little cute homes and some shops, parks, and recreation. The streets in this little town in Germany are all cobblestone and there are small shops and cafes everywhere. Even a bowling alley. It's called the "American Bar" and it was a great hangout for crew for our long stay here. We went yesterday and bowled 3 games. I still have my bowling arm, lol. Afterward we headed back to the ship where we were all invited to dinner in the dining room. The last time I ate in a Holland America dining room was when I was on the Nieuw Amsterdam more than 6 years ago. It wasn't the same though. This is a 2-tiered dining room with windows everywhere and high ceilings. We all sat at a huge round table and feasted on that day's menu. I thought it was much better than eating at the Pinnacle Grill since the menu varies from day to day. Our special little restaurant on board (Pinnacle Grill) has the same menu wherever you go and whatever ship you're on. It's Northwest cuisine. Although fabulous it can get tiring after too many ship contracts. So the dining room was a welcome change to the monotony of things out here. The dining room manager also set us up with a wonderful white wine and a pinot noir. About 3 bottles of each for our table, so that was also a nice welcome change to the evening. Tonight we have a different dining room experience. We are dancing around and making fools of ourselves tossing food around in a new extravaganza concocted by our ignorant supervisor in Seattle. It's called the Master Chef dinner and although it features new items on the menu created by our Master Chef of the Holland America fleet dolled up into exiting presentations, the show that's incorporated into it is demeaning and ridiculous. The positive aspect of it is that each guest gets a chef's hat tucked with goodies, a menu, and (I believe) recipes. They also get to try and see the new dinner presentations. The other aspect of it is that we are dancing around them while they are trying to eat and socialize and at the end of the meal (just before dessert) we shoot off confetti canons right over them that may land on unfinished food. It may appear fun, but the reviews have been mixed. Just like the photographers can be intrusive during dinner events, this show will be more intrusive. It's also difficult for us since the show incorporates not only cast, but cruise staff and the waiters. The cruise staff and waiters change much more frequently during a 6-month stint, which requires teaching new people every time. Also the dining room stewards change stations every cruise causing problems with different traffic patterns and such. It's our debut tonight. We've gotten out of performing it since we learned it in July because of missing props or staffing issues. Only 3 times for us. Yay!

Today is also a day of remembrance. I remember for the few years that I worked on Wall Street the big gaping hole that appears where the twin towers used to stand tall and proud. It was a sad sight and although I was thousands of miles away when it happened, I could feel the impact it had on those people. Some of my friends who were in the city that day can't even go to work on this day because of what happened and how it affected them. I hope nothing ever happens like these tragic events in any country for as long as can be. It's unacceptable when a radical group decides to take civilian lives to make their point clear as in the cases of NYC and Madrid as well as the other random bombings that happened all over Europe and Southwest Asia.

Swedish Fish..

Yesterday was a rainy day in Stockholm. It's the end of the Baltic season and temps are getting colder and rainier. Ahh sounds familiar. It's just like Alaska. Everyone's getting the Baltic blues and looking for a change of scenery. It's funny how weather determines your main mood. Paris has been consistently in the 80s and we'll be there in a week!! Tres Bon!! Despite the port of Stockholm always being a show port (meaning we usually have a show that night), I still had a lovely time there. The Baltic seems to be more about the shopping and bustling cities rather than interesting places to see. Yes, there ARE interesting places, but it's been nice just walking around these foreign cities and experiencing the vibe. You know you're in a different atmosphere by the way people carry themselves. Also the abundance of tall, blond, and blue-eyed individuals. I did have one day a month or so back where ports got switched due to a conference in Russia. Because of this conference we had to arrive in Russia a day or two later so Stockholm landed on a non-show day. We were all excited (well those of us NOT in port manning) and the weather was gorgeous. My friend Trisha and I spent the day together just looking at all the nooks and crannies of the city. We started in old town (Gamla Stan), which is really just a small island of cobblestone streets and interesting buildings. There are a lot of islands here linked by bridges and it kind of has the same feel as Venice in a way. Of course Stockholm is much more metropolitan than Venice in character though. It's the home of the Nobel Museum and holds all the recipients of the well-known Nobel Peace Prize. I didn't get a chance to go inside so maybe on my next visit. Sweden is home to 2 of our popular brands in the U.S. (IKEA and H&M). They're known as cheap brands in the U.S. and they're also known for things that don't last too long, lol. Unfortunately I didn't find the IKEA store out here (you'd think it would be right out where you could find it), but there are H&Ms like there are Starbucks in NYC. Practically one on every block. I don't think they're as cheap out here as they are in the U.S., but the exchange could be throwing me. Also the stupid Scandinavian tax that seems to be attached at different rates in these countries. Oslo being the worst for the tax. As a U.S. citizen and a crew member I could get the tax back, but I never do any shopping that's significant enough to get all the paperwork to do so. So I think I got on a major tangent there. Anyway, we strolled through the old town of Gamla Stan that day and looked in all the wonderful enchanting stores holding Swedish glass, Dala Horses (an icon of Sweden), linens, and the usual staple of tourist related items. The buildings are always so fascinating in every port we come across. We stop for lunch in this one store where the aromas came up from underground and inside it looked like a dungeon. We thought the atmosphere was nice and unique so we stopped to eat. It turns out it DID used to be an old dungeon. A prison in fact. It was neat to eat down there and the food was good and cheap. We took in the sights of town including the Obelisk (built to honor the Stockholm Burghers for their support in the war with Russia), the Finnish Church, the Nobel Museum, which is also the Stock Exchange (erected in 1776), and the Royal Palace. On that day we even caught a glimpse of a marching band going through town after the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. We then strolled through the shopping quarter where later on in future visits we discovered the candy store. Yum. It's choc full of Swedish delights including licorice, creamy chocolate goodies, and lollies. It was heaven for me. You could even get your Swedish fish here (those good gummy fish you find in any candy store around). We headed over to the other side of town and took in some fascinating scenery of the opera house and various decorated parks. Everything is so maintained here. The shuttle lets us off alongside the old town and right in the main drag there is a park that runs through the center. It's just a small park that has summer events like concerts and such. There's even a reflecting pool with fountains and surrounding the stairs that lead down to it are various urns filled with colorful arrangements. The city really takes care of its gardens around here. Any day in port is an exhaustive one. The shuttle ride back to the ship is always a sleepy one and with all there is to take in here in Stockholm, yesterday (despite the rain) and all the other times were no exception.