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.
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.
posted by Chris | 9:09 AM
1 Comments:
I competely agree with you...no matter what the differences are, it is never acceptable to take innocent lives. It's even worse when the violent act is in the name of God or religion. The point of religion is to promote peace among all people, not the opposite. I hope that someday all people will learn to find peace; with others and with themselves.
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