http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kevinsonic/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kevinsonic en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:00:29 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:00:29 +0000 a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Seward/blog-421611.html 1 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Jamaica/Montego-Bay/blog-413236.html o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-415652.html o http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Metropolitana/Antigua/blog-415651.html k http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manzanillo/blog-415650.html It was time for me to put in some work in a port as part of my volunteer responsibilities. I chose I reland as one of the two ports that I would be helping passangers. With four four other teachers our coordinator a few translators and over 100 passangers we headed of the boat very early in the morning. On the bus the other teachers and myslef were the entertainment. We decided to go on s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Westmeath/Westmeath/blog-332994.html Stepping off the boat the weather was not all that bad. Will Lauren and I looked for a taxi downtown and after a bit of negotiating got one. I jumped in shotgun and was psyched to use my meager Spanish. I pestered the driver with questions. He was friendly and... understood what I was saying http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-333085.html Panama http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-415489.html 1 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-413234.html Ahhhh Bergen. What a lovely place. Too bad it rained so hard most of the time I was there. Getting off the boat in my rain jacket and jeans I still had the biking bug so after a stop in the tourist information center which was amazingly helpful I made my way to rent a bike for the day. Walking towards the bike shop I was surrounded by tourist shops and crappy little cafe's but after a tur http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Vestlandet/Bergen/blog-332991.html Ummmmm. I kinda did. For a while after the trip when I was recalling the countries and recounting the ports I left out Copenhagen. Was it because I hadn't had fun there Nope. Did something really bad happen there that made you want to forget it Not that either. It was because Denmarkrsquos most remarkable point was being not all that remarkable. A place to live and be happy but to visit well http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Denmark/Region-Hovedstaden/Copenhagen/blog-292902.html There came a time on the PeaceBoat journey for most of the teachers when they wanted to get away from the group the boat and everything that was Peace Boat. For me this time came just around Amsterdam. I had just been part of organizing a huge project for all of the students on board. Was exhausted from all of the days in port and was rightfully tired of living on a boat with the same people e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-291066.html One of the Spanish teachers on the boat Rocio is from Spain and gave us the lowdown on what to do in Bilbao. She got all of us pretty excited for what Bilbao had to offer being a pretty unique place that is just barely a part of Spain. When the ship docked it was a lovely day early in the morning and I felt oh so ready to make the most of my day in what has since become one of my favorite sm http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-258725.html So by this part of the trip I am kind of into the swing of things. This is pretty much the heart of the trip where there is more time in port and less at sea. We were doing a port every day or every other day. I wasn't teaching classes and was soaking up the sun on the deck and sometimes hopping in the Mediterranean Seawater filled pools. Life was good and I felt great stepping of the boat fo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Catania/blog-254144.html After an overnight at sea we pulled into the port of Pirreus early early in the morning. Many of the crew members were very excited for Pirreus and others were dreading it. The ones who were excited had every right to be. We would be spending a day in their home city and they would get to see friends and family. The others dreaded the port because it is where the TSS Topaz did most of its purc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-240203.html From Egypt we were onto a bit more familiar turf and a vacation within this round the world vacation Mykonos. Going into it I had low expectations. We had already had so many excellent unique and extreme experiences that I did think that Mykonos was going to be nothing more than a day on the beach and for better or worse that is what it was. An awesomely exciting and beautiful day on the beac http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Mykonos/blog-229408.html When I was applying for and got accepted by Peace Boat I very naturally thought about which ports and parts of the trips would be the best. For months before embarking I looked forward to two parts of the trip the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal. To get to our next port of call Port Said we traveled through the latter. On that day there was nothing going on onboard. There were no classes http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Giza/blog-227492.html Yemen to Jordan was a quick trip. I think we were only at sea for a day and when I awoke and stepped up onto the top deck I was greeted by a huge Jordanian flag flowing in the breeze over the port city of Aqabah. It was hot sunny and dry and I was just about to board an air conditioned tour bus that would take me around the very beautiful and complex country that is Jordan. The reasons that http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-225821.html When people ask me what my favorite port was on my trip I answer without hesitation Yemen. There are several reasons that Yemen appealed to me. Firstly was the people. They were the most welcoming and warm people that I encountered in any port that we visited. They were helpful honest and genuine people who were truly happy to share their culture with me. I also loved the land and city http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Yemen/Sayun/blog-221846.html After a full day in Singapore and I crashed into bed and slept like a baby as I was getting used to the boat rocking. It was actually comforting by then. The next morning I woke up and headed to the Yacht Club for my usual buffet breakfast some oranges a hard boiled egg and some toast. After getting out onto the deck to eat my modest breakfast in the sun I was struck by how many ships there w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-219790.html