April 28, 2009
We’ve just about completed our first 10 day cruise. This contract will be made up of the same two 10 day cruises over and over again. So the places I didn’t get to see this time, hopefully I’ll get a chance to see in the next couple times we’re here. I am extremely frustrated with the way things are going with the job and everyday some perk of the job gets taken away which makes me even angrier. So job wise (and the opportunity to get off the ship), things are not going well. However, in this particular email I’m going to talk about just the good things I’ve been able to do and see so far.
We got off in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but I think I already wrote about that stop. Went to the old city. A walled city with big cobblestone streets. Ate lunch, delicious. Drank some local white wine. Not so delicious. The plate in front was a local meat item. Some name I have no hope at pronouncing. It was like a meat ball/sausage with a crispy outside. Mmmm.
The next place I was able to get off the ship was Santorini. It was my first time stepping foot on Greek land. I only had a little over 2 hours so we went for lunch at a Greek restaurant the Travel Guide, Tom suggested. We ordered Oyzo to drink, which is a liquor similar to Sambuka or Jagermeister. Powerful stuff. That was my least favorite part of the meal. But it’s a Greek classic. So we had to try it. I had a local wine, which was delicious and Rienus had their beer, although it wasn’t anything too exciting. Amstel. We ordered way too much and the food just kept on coming, but everything was really good. In the picture is Fava, which is smooshed yellow peas (or maybe chick peas, not sure through translation) mixed with olive oil and onions and served with bread. The other thing is made of tomato and dough and fried. We had calamari, Souvlaki (which was just skewers really with lettuce and tomato and pita) a greek version of a kebab. The other people we were with got Greek meatballs, which are a squished, crispier version than back home, and an order of olives. Greek olives in Greece. Who woulda thought?
After lunch we made our way up the steep, steep cliff to the part of Santorini called Fira town. Your choices are a donkey ride up the switch backing trail or the gondola. We were short on time so we opted for the gondola, but next time I’m going donkey. Once you get to the tip its narrow cobblestone walkways, lots of curved arches. White buildings, old cracks running up the sides. The views were gorgeous and you could see the entire island. The island is a crater rim and is a crescent moon shape. I only had enough time for a quick look around and we headed back down, but it was beautiful and hopefully I’ll get some more time next time we are there to sit down, and enjoy the view and some shopping.
We had one stop in Kusadasi, Turkey. This is the port near Ephesus. I didn’t have enough time to go and see Ephesus ( and I want to do some reading up on it so I know some of the history before I go) so we just walked around the port area. It reminded me of the tourist areas in Morocco and China. You are just bombarded with offers and comments. They all say something about what you’re wearing or “special for you”, “just take a look”. It’s exceedingly obnoxious, but I’ve gotten to a point where it doesn’t phase me all that much. I’ve always known you just ignore them, but I’ve gotten to the point where I can do it AND not feel bad about it. In Kusadasi they have “genuine fake” everything, watches, purses, bags, clothes, everything. That morning the Event Manager and Cruise Director confirmed that I can wear my own clothes in the evening instead of a horrendous blue blazer from the 90’s with shoulder pads and a khaki skirt. So I bought a couple tops when we were out. It’ll definitely be my shopping port. It’s a crew members favorite kind of port. They have all sorts of shop less than a 5 minute walk from the gangway. We sat down at a restaurant for lunch with Mike and Lola, Mike works with Rienus, Lola works in the salon. The girls got Rose wine and the boys ordered the local beer, Effe. Both were delicious and on the way back to the ship we picked up another bottle of the Rose’. I’ve enjoyed trying the local wine at all our meal stops. Lunch was the mixed kebab plate for me. Rice, lettuce, tomate, pita bread, lamb and chicken meat sliced off the massive kebab they have roasting in the back of the shop, and lots and lots of garlic sauce. He brought a huge bowl out for the four of us and we were scraping the bottom by the time we were nearly done. On the way back the boys decided to buy themselves the ridiculous fez hats with the Turkish Lira they had left. Ridiculous.
Today I had an hour to walk around Messina in Sicily. My goal was a canoli for Rienus and I and to take some pictures and check out Sicily. Canoli – Check. I definitely learned that the Sicilian’s like to sleep in. I went out at 8:45am and about 1 in 5 stores were open by the time I got back to the ship around 9:45am. I just walked around, saw the buildings, jay walked, took some pictures and walked back to the ship. Hopefully next time I”ll be able to see more. The buildings were beautiful and the canoli and brioche flowed like wine.
