Just Cruisin'

On Friday, we explored the ship a little. After going through security, we had dinner in the restaurant, did a few laps around the ship, and went to bed pretty early, anticipating a busy week. Before bed though, we checked what stations we could get on board. Guess what? We got a few Italian, a few German, and one English. Yes, one. And it was National Geographic! At least we could try to learn something on board. However, every program was about plane crashes, boats sinking, and tsunamis… Not exactly the thing people on vacation want to think about. But, sometimes they did play some fun programs. Friday night we learned all about a 700 lb woman. Science!

Mom and I practicing our safety procedures!

Saturday, our boat stopped in Genoa. For mom and I, this was kind of the tester day. We didn’t book an excursion and just wandered around the town. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anything to see or do in Genoa, so after three hours, we just came back to the boat. Don’t cry for us though! The rest of the day was spent laying in the sun on the top deck and drinking fruity cocktails. We even hit up the hot tub. Sounds tough, huh! Before take off, we sat outside and just talked about life for awhile. Realizing this experience has come to an end meant some tears were shed, but it was a talk I needed to have and made the reality come more into focus. It was great being able to just have hour-long conversations with mom again. I definitely missed those.

That night, we did dinner buffet style and hit up the casino! I got to experience the evil of gambling first hand by losing 10 euro. But one good thing came out of it: I learned I am kind of, somewhat, decently, ok at blackjack. Yay me! Later, we went to the show on board. It was called, “Italians!” I thought for sure it was going to be an interactive show, so I was convinced I was the first victim, but luckily there was no audience participation. The show itself was pretty cute, filled with dancing and singing. However, my favorite part was the pictures and graphics in the background. So many things I learned about in my cinema class were in the show like the movies “8 ½”, “La Dolce Vita”, and so many others. They also mentioned Roberto Begnini, Sophia Loren, and Marcello Mastroianni. It was so much fun to make connections in that way! Finally, mom and I got some gelato, and went to bed watching National Geographic’s program about mental capabilities and mental illusions.  

Sunday’s excursion was to Marseilles, France. We started at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde, which was located at the top of a hill. It was beautiful inside, but my favorite aspect was the sailboats hanging from the ceiling! (It was nothing I would’ve expected inside a church.) Then we went to Longchamps Palace, which was GORGEOUS! I could live there. (See pictures!) Finally, we had some free time in the Vieux Port (meaning “old port”). We wandered through a Christmas market and stopped at some fresh fish stands. Let’s just say there are some UGLY fish in France. Yikes.

Beautiful palace!

The view from the fish market.

When we got back, we layed on deck for two hours because it was so beautiful out. (Like mid 60s! Jealous?) That night was captain’s night, so we got a free drink before dinner! We ate dinner in the buffet again, since we weren’t exactly prepared with formal attire. The show that night was called “Olympia”. Of all the shows on the ship, that one was definitely the weirdest. Not my cup of tea. And the captain spoke afterward. The ship’s captain is clearly Mr. Personality and LOVES his job. (Sarcasm. Haha.) But mom and I were cracking up the whole time. Afterward, I was so exhausted that I just went to bed. But not before National Geographic taught me all about drug smuggling!

It's December? Hmm, I didn't notice.

Monday, we woke up in Barcelona, Spain! We first stopped at the Poble Espanyol, which is a village designed to show Spain’s different architectural styles throughout time. It was pretty interesting. After, we drove down Spain’s longest single street, which was 13 km. Then we finally got to see the one thing I NEEDED to see while I was in Barcelona: Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. This church has been in construction for over 150 years and is expected to be finished in 2026, one hundred years after the death of Gaudi!

Sagrada Familia!

That night, mom and I had dinner at the restaurant and ran to play bingo! There was a 7,000 euro jackpot on the line, and that money was meant to be ours! Unfortunately, it wasn’t ours or anyone else’s. But one lady did win 346 euros, so yay for her! The show that night was “Rhythm and Rock”. It was all songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, so it included the Beatles, Elvis, and Michael Jackson. The final song was “Hey Jude” and included some audience participation. The show itself was already amazing but the little Asian man in front of us really spiced it up! He got WAY too into the final song, clapping off beat, and I’m shocked he didn’t pop a lung singing. Although he was horribly off beat, he was sure jamming! Night made! Haha! Before bed, mom and I got to watch NG’s program on airport security. Woo!

We lost.

All day Tuesday, we were at sea. It was kind of strange not getting off the boat at all, but it was fun! We slept in until 9:15. (I was so proud of mom for that!) We had our usual big American-style breakfast and came back to the room. Since we had so much time that day to really do whatever we wanted, we decided to watch “Cinderella”, because everyone loves a good Disney movie! After that, we sat on deck and had a drink. (We are getting way to good at drinking.) Then we went to a short presentation about the off-limits parts of the ship. They showed the control room, kitchens, engine rooms, and laundry facilities. It was pretty interesting! After, we grabbed a quick lunch and took a nap. “Why?” you may ask. Because we are on vacation and we can! Woohoo! We did dinner that night in the restaurant and went to a fashion show on the main deck. It was all people who work on the ship modeling the products they sell like Tommy Hilfiger and Guess. Of course they made it a little extra entertaining with their outgoing personalities. From there, we had to hurry to the show, themed “Paris”. They had a bunch on cancan dancers, crazy costumes, and power house ballads. My favorite part was the shadow puppeteer! That night’s educational program was about drug trafficking… Again!

Wednesday we woke up in AFRICA! And what better way to start a day in Africa then by singing “The Circle of Life” to mother as she got ready for the day! (Stereotypical, I know, but she seemed to enjoy the performance.) Since the excursions started so early, we had to be up before the sun. The benefit of that was that we got to watch the gorgeous sunrise. It was truly spectacular! Not really knowing what to expect in Tunisia, we walked off the boat with an open mind. First thing we saw was four camels giving rides to passengers and a four-man band in traditional Tunisian clothes. The customs process was just getting a stamp on a piece of paper, (not our passports) and we were let right in! We took the historical and city tour of Tunis, which was a great choice. We first were taken to an outdoor market and given free time to walk around. I was really interested in buying a dress at one of the stands, but didn’t even look because the vendors were so aggressive. They literally stand in your path and try to lead you into their stores. Mom and I just held onto each other and ran away! It was kind of creepy but funny at the same time. They would try to guess our language, and we just denied everything. One guy said, “German? English? French? Chinese?” Chinese?! Really?! We got a good laugh out of that one! Next, we went to the ancient city of Carthage. The ruins were so cool, very unique from the ruins I’ve stared at in Rome the last three months. Along the way to each location, we passed by beautiful mosques and gorgeous scenery! One thing that surprised me was that each sign was in both Arabic and French, because Tunisia has two official languages! Finally, the tour ended by going to an ancient amphitheater. We actually got to go inside where they kept the lions and prisoners before being executed. It was kind of eerie! The funniest thing we saw was a very heated stare-down between a very tough little black lab puppy and a full-grown ram. The ram only had to take one step forward before the puppy flipped out and dashed the other direction. It was adorable!

Africa.

Camels!

The town of Tunis.

The baths of ancient Carthage.

The fiercest of the African cats.

Mommy and me!

Back on the ship, we ate lunch, had a cocktail, layed on the deck, and watched “The Lion King”. (Keeping with the African theme as you can tell.) We ate dinner at the buffet and tried our luck one more time at the casino. We lost. Again. But I managed to walk out with one whole nickel left, and I AM PROUD OF IT! That night’s performance was “Coney Island”. It was very whimsical and fun with cool talents again. At the end, people from all parts of the ship sang “We Are The World”. I was CONVINCED they were going to ask for donations for a charity at that point, but they didn’t. I mean, it’s “We Are The World”! Could you get any cheesier?! Finally, the evening NG program was the same airport security show we had already seen. Bummer. But don’t worry, we watched it again! Haha!

Walked in with 5 euro. Walked out with 5 cents. I like to call it a win.

Thursday quickly came, waking up in Palermo, Sicily! The first stop on our excursion was to the top of Mount Pellegrino to take in the view of the entire city. We drove back down toward the coast and stopped at the “Miami Beach” of Palermo to get some gelato (lemon and strawberry, of course). After checking out some smaller attractions, we stopped in the city’s cathedral, which had some sort of military service going on, and we walked right into it! Oops! Then we went to a giant outdoor market, the Market of Capo, which sold fresh fish and produce. Although there wasn’t a whole lot to see in Palermo, I loved the whole feel of the city, which may be because of my new experience in Italy. Probably my favorite part of the day though was driving by the prison where the mafia bosses were held after the mega trial in 1992! (Again, connecting class with experiences!)

View of Palermo from the top of the mountain!

Mommy enjoying her Sicilian gelato!

The center of town.

After climbing back on board, we grabbed lunch and sat outside. Again, it was a gorgeous day! (We’ve been so lucky with nice weather this whole time.) We had a cocktail, of course, and just chilled, enjoying our last day on board. After dinner in the buffet, we saw that night's show called "Aztec". It was ok, but not my favorite. I liked the children's performance beforehand better!