Cruise Across the Mediterranean

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It has been over two weeks and I have just sorted my pictures from the cruise. As I shared with everyone here, the value was not there; but just a week of R&R was well worth it! I really was quite boring on the cruise, but I did exactly what I wanted when I wanted, including taking naps and sleeping in. The best part, rolling over around 9 AM, calling room service to bring me a pot of coffee and then sipping it on the balcony overlooking the sea! Of course I had long missed the sunrise, but it was nice just enjoying life and not worry about anything. So that I can get this posted along with the pictures, I will not go into a lot of detail but just give you a brief overview of the trip and if you have questions or comments, post them and/or send them my way.

We started off from Barcelona Spain, which I just loved. I want to go back there and see more of that area. While in Barcelona, I got to see and have breakfast with Ruben, one of the contractors from the rendering equipment. Ruben and I had many battles with each other over the installation, but we built a friendship along the way so it was nice seeing him. He gave me a very nice bottle of Spanish wine that I enjoyed on the balcony as well. From the ship's guide it says, "Barcelona marches to the beat of its own drummer. This cosmopolitan beauty on the Mediterranean captivates new and return visitors alike with its famously quirky architecture, unique and delicious cuisine, and exuberant, all-hours nightlife. Wander the tree-line Passeig de Gracia or the narrow sidestreets of the Barri Gotic and experience Barcelona's exuberance and style." I very much agree with this and I highly recommend going to visit if you have never been there and/or even if you have. One thing I did not like was supper did not start until at the earliest, 8 PM and went well up to midnight, but they are right about the nightlife going all night long. It was an exciting city with great architecture, see some of the pictures.

After departing Barcelona, we arrived at Marseilles France. I can not say this was a very exciting stop, but it was worthwhile in the fact my youngest sister wanted some Santon dolls from there. With it being a Sunday, most of the shops were closed, so it made for a real adventure trying to find them in the few stores that were open. The ship's guide says, "Located on a 26-centrury old port, the second largest city in France is full of surprises. As a major departure point for ships laden with French goods bound for all corners of the globe, Marseilles has always had a unique international flavor. Stroll through the Vieux-Port to enjoy scenic views of the main harbor and the marina before settling down for a relaxing afternoon at one of the many cafes that line the waterfront. Known for its unique French and Mediterranean influenced gastronomy, enjoy an aperitif of Pastis or a lunch of the local Bouillabaisse." This sounds all fluffy, it really was to me. It was an interesting city and I am glad I saw it, but I was not all that excited about it nor will I probably go back. I would have never guessed it was the second largest city in France because it did not have a large city feel to it at all. It felt like a fishing village, which is really what it was.

After Marseilles, we were off for Livorno Italy (port) and then a bus trip to Pisa and/or Florence. "Known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence is ideally located for exploring some of the most beautiful cities in Italy, Pisa. Highlights include impressive piazzas and an incomparable 15th-century skyline. Explore the Uffizi Galler in Florence, home to works by many of the masters...And in Pisa, visit the Field of Miracles to discover one of the world's most amazing sights - the Campanile or Leaning Tower." As any good tourist (Traveling Frog), I just had to go to see the tower. I had been warned by many people it is nothing more than a tourist trap, which did not matter to me. It was one of those things on my list of things I wanted to see so I paid for the tour, which only lasted 30 minutes, which was perfect. Just as everyone warned, it was a tourist trap, but for me, worth the time and money I spent to go see it. And yes, I have my picture "holding" the tower up, see my earlier blog entry that I posted for that picture.

After touring Pisa, we headed to Florence and that was an interesting city. I can not say I fell in love with it, but well worth the trip and a place I would recommend going to visit. It is full of all kinds of art by the many masters. We were only there for several hours, which was not enough time, I would recommend at least several days, but the short time we were there, gave me a good feel for the city. I enjoyed it but did not care for the hour or so bus ride to get there from the port.

From there we headed to Naples Italy. I did NOT like Naples, besides their trash problem, it was just did not seem like a safe and/or inviting city. We were met by street "vendors" trying to sell you anything from computers, to cell phones, to watches, to wallets. They had warned us that it is not wise to buy from these type vendors as the merchandise is probably 'hot' and watch out for your own wallets, phones, etc. because as you making the sale, they may be pick-pocketing you. That is how the city felt to me. I am sure are many parts of the city that are wonderful, but I just did not have a great time here. In most of cities, including Naples, I just did the 'hop-on hop-off' bus tours which did not cost a lot and yet gave me a nice tour of the city with a little history. The best hop-on hop-off was in Barcelona. The schedule in Marseilles and Naples really did not allow you any time to hop-off if you were going to catch the next bus as they were only running every hour to two hours and I did not want to stay in any one place that long, nor did I have time to do so.

Just a side note, Moscow now has Hop-on Hop-off buses. I may try to do that sometime so if I can recommend it or not to any visitors. I think it is a great idea if it works the way it is suppose to like it did in Barcelona. As for Naples, "Naples is not only picturesque, it's also one of the world's greatest cultural centers, filled with extraordinary works of art and architecture in the classical Greek and Roman styles." I know a lot of people from the cruise went on tours of Pompeii, "one of the most famous excavation sites in the world. A thriving city 1,900 years ago, it was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D."

If you did not know, Naples is where pizza was invited as a poor person's dish and of course I had to try pizza from the founding city and it was nothing too exciting to me. I guess I am use to pizza like we have in the US or Russia and this was a little different. Not bad, but nothing special to me.

Next day we were at sea, with lots to do on the ship! Ships highlights, ice-skating rink, rock climbing wall, 50's style diner, wine bar, irish pub, latin theme lounge, casino, golf simulator, 9-hole miniature golf course, 4 swimming pools and 5 whirlpools, day spa and fitness center and a full size basketball/volleyball court. The ships maiden voyage was in December 2002 (so a little older ship, which it did show, but still in good condition minus the SLOW elevators. I did the stairs most of the time because it was so much faster.) Passenger capacity = 3,114; gross tonnage = 138,000; length 1020 feet and a cruising speed of 24 knots with 14 passenager floors and five story theatre. It was like a small city so no time to get bored. Of course we could eat pretty much any time. There were set times for certain meals, but there was food offered 24 hours every day even when in port.

As I shared, I was sort of boring on the ship, but had a great time. There were majicians, bands, comedians, dance parties, etc. to attend if you wanted or you could just rest like me. One afternoon, I fell asleep on the sun deck and even though I had 50 SPF sunscreen on, I still burnt like a lobster. I know when you look like Casper the ghost, a little sun will go a long ways. It was not my intentions to get burnt, but I did want some sun. I think I have finally stopped peeling so the 'frog' I went from ghost, to lobster, to snake all in one to two weeks. 😉

After sailing and partying all day at sea, we arrive in Mykonos Greece. "In the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean lies one of the most inviting places in all of Greece - Welcome to Mykonos. According to Greek mythology, it was here that Hercules slew the Giants." We were there for about 15 hours which was nice to just sit back and take in the relax feel of the island. I had a great time there, but I could not image going there for more than a weekend. I am not sure there was that much to do, but our time there was perfect.

Then we made a quick trip to Santorini Greece. It was also beatiful but was nothing but a tourist island/stop in my opinion and five hours we were there was more than enough; however, I must say, I took some of my favorite pictures from here, which I hope you enjoy. I also thought of my mom with all of the donkeys around. In one of the pictures you will see the winding path from the coast to the top of the island. If I remember correctly, it is 600 steps and pretty steep. You can walk it, as some did, take the cable car as I did or pay to ride a donkey up or down for 10 Euros. The best part, if you were going up and decided you could not make it and wanted a donkey ride the rest of the way, the price doubled...lol The donkeys were well taken care of and treated right as best as I could see but the donkey dung was piled high and you should have seen some of the people trying to step through it and their reaction to the smell.

And that brings us to Day 8 and heading home other than the brief stop we had to make a stop at sea. Someone had a heart attack in the fitness center/spa area. Of course there were all kinds of rumors as to if he died or not, but I do know they stopped the ship so an emergency boat could come up to us and take him off. I did not realize this, but on the first day, someone cut off their finger on one of the fitness machines and they took him off by helicator. How I did not know about that, I have no idea but I got into a discussion with some people when we stopped for the emergency boat.

So now on to Rome and then on to Russia. I did not get to see Rome as I left right from the ship to the airport due to some big meetings coming up this week at work. I heard from our CFO who is from Italy, if you can not spend at least three days in Rome, do not go. You need at least that much time to see city and get a feel for it. He is also one of the people who said Pisa was a tourist trap, which I believed him but just had to go. This will give me a good reason to go back to Italy, to see Rome and maybe spend more time in Florence.

So that is the cruise in a nut shell. I have to thank Mark for asking me to join him. I really had not planned on another cruise but back in late 2007, he asked me if I wanted to go. I told him I needed to think about it and I was not sure. After a month or so of going back and forth and finally getting approval, I decided to go. The timing was perfect for a mental and physical break. I was home in May as most of you know, but having brought a Russian friend with me, I never relaxed. I am not complaining, just making a statement so it was good to get away for a little over a week. Having never traveled with Mark before, I was not sure what to expect, but he was really a good traveling partner and did not even make fun of my naps and boring time on the cruise. The only problem we had, the first one or two hours after he went to sleep, he snored and I mean snored loud! The good thing, it would stop or at least become reasonable after the first couple of hours. I learned that after a couple of nights of going to bed before he did and then being woken up, not from him coming in, but of him falling asleep...lol So that is when I would get up and go check and/or send messages and usually he was fine. Thanks again Mark for inviting me. He is also the one that splerged on the room with a balcony. You all know me, I would have been fine on the lower deck with an inside room, but I have to admit, I liked the balcony particularly on this cruise because we saw land most of the time. We basically sailed along the coast line so it was nice to see the land, sea, and other boats.

I also have to tell you about my White Party outfit. Next to the last night, the ship usually has a big sailing home party party and the theme is usually all white hence "White Party." When I got the official word it was going to be same on this cruise as the last one, I wanted to go shopping for my outfit. I had asked Dasha to help me sometime when she was in Obninsk (prices cheaper than in Moscow). Well, it was getting close and Dasha had not said anything so I decided to go on my own. I knew pretty much which store I wanted to go to as I have walked the few shopping "malls" we have here in Obninsk but this one place as more updated styles and seem like good clothes; although not cheap, but I was not worring about the price for this shopping adventure.

I know the last time I was in there just looking before I knew we would have the white party theme, they got all bent out of shape that I was pulling pants and shirts out to look at them. I put them back, but I guess I was not suppose "help myself." One of the good things, I knew the word for white so I went in and said "billy" and pointed at pants and even knew how to say "32". Let me tell you, I like Russian clothes because the 32's were were too big for me, but the poor sales guy did not realize I was saying too big, I need smaller and went the other way and got me bigger pants. We finally get on the same page and realize I need 30's. I have not been in 30's for many years so that made me feel good in itself....lol He keeps bringing me pants after pants. I found a pair I liked and fit well so I stepped out for the store employees opinions and got thumbs up. Now on to shirts, which was actually easier than the pants and I put it all on together and it look great. I then pointed to a belt and he helped me find one that matched the outfit and even resized the belt for me. I really got customer service at this store and they tried with their one or two English words they knew and my 20 Russian words.

The one thing they did not do is hem pants, or at least as best as I could ask and he could answer, but was funny. Initially, he thought I wanted shoes, so after I had everything paid for, he literally walks me to the shoe store he recommends. I laughed, pull out the pants and roll the pants leg and point to that with the motion of "scissors." He smiled and walked me to the window and pointed to another building and said in English, "Three floor" and pointed to the right. I went over there but could not figure out the place so I asked Julia the next day. She knew someone who was working on some stuff for her and so we went after work.

When I got back, I took a translated thank you note with my white outfit picture to the store to thank them for their help. They did a great job. Probably nothing more than we would normally expect at most stores, but for the stores here, they really went out of their way. What makes this even funnier, Dasha was in Obninsk, the same "mall", not sure the same store or not, two hours before me buying an outfit. I harassed her over and over, and still harassing her about it for not calling and at least letting me know she was in Obninsk with her parents. Her sister has class on Saturday and Dasha's parents normally drive her here and then do shopping while they wait.

Any ways, it all turned out great and it probably would not have been as good of story to tell had Dasha helped but then again, Dasha and I would have probably made our own kind of story somehow. Sorry for the lateness of this posting, but I hope you enjoy!

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Photos

Criptograma
Sagrada Familia - notice how numbers, no matter how you add them up equal 33, the age Jesus was killed.

Sagrada Familia at Night
You have to see this! It is not completed and started hundreds of years ago but it is just awesome (day or night)!

Pickle
I do not know the name but everyone referred to it as the pickle.

Mark and Vince
Dressed for the White Party

Comments

[mom]

dashing
You look very dashing in your white outfit. the store did you good.

[Leo]

Spain
Mmm... I want to live in Spain ;)

[Lorraine]

Cruise
Wow! Beth is going to DIE when she sees the picture of you in all white. You look great and your pictures are stunning. I smell a regular travel columnist brewing - and you already have the title: Travelling Frog.