Egypt - Day 2: Cairo

Today was my second day in Egypt and was even better than the first!  I woke up this morning a little after 6am.. yes 6 AM!!!  I had an FDP for one of my classes to Cairo which is the biggest city in Africa, and 3rd largest city in the world! 

 

Cairo is an almost 3 hour bus ride from Alexandira, so we left at 7:30 and got to Cairo around 10:15 and I was standing in front of the great Pyramid no more than 15 minutes later!  Never in my life did I imagine standing in the middle of 3 pyramids in the Sahara desert!  It was unbelievable and amazing.. the pyramids are absolutely huge.. and to think about how they were built is even crazier!  The blocks that make up the pyramid are bigger than you could even imagine also.. I don't remember the exact dimensions, but they're bigger than a normal room wall in a house.. I think a block would be as big as my cabin here on the ship!  We learned the blocks were moved with a lot of animal power, from elephants and camels and of course the men building it.  It's so hard to imagine something that great being built without cranes and construction equipment.. and they were obviously built very well since they're still standing today!

 

After walking around and learning about the father and the son's pyramids.. we got back on the bus to be driven up hill to a spot where you can see all the pyramids and 18 miles worth of the Sahara desert.. it was amazing!  I got some really cool pictures of all the pyramids together with the blue sky in the background and the Sahara desert off to the side from up higher.. it was so pretty!! 

 

Once we were done with our 'panoramic view' we drove down to the Sphinx, which is also bigger than you can even imagine!!! With the Sphinx in the front and some of the pyramids in the background, those were some of the coolest pictures I took.  The Sphinx was really cool and it's something I never thought I would actually see from a few feet away!  All the pyramids were really cool, but it was so hot out, you would just stand and drip with sweat.. without even doing anything.  I think when we arrived in Cairo it was 30 degrees and that was before 11am, so it only got hotter throughout the day!

 

After the Sphinx, we made our way to a really nice hotel which set up a big brunch for all of us.. it was pretty good, but thankfully they had both Western and Egyptian food.. and I found out I don't like Egyptian food all that much.  Once we got off the bus and were walking into a hotel, an Egyptian type band came out and lined our walkway and played music as we were walking in.. I felt famous!  The actual hotel though was really nice and big and the people who worked there were really nice to us too!

 

Once we were done with lunch we went to the Egyptian Museum, which is full of artifacts and things from inside the Pyramids and found other places.. it was really neat.  There were whole rooms dedicated to King Tut, with all his belongings, his casket type things he was in, his masks, and many other things.  The museum was really big and had a lot of cool stuff in it, but the museum is not air-conditioned, so it was extremely hot in there.  Also, most of the things in the museum are original, but not in any kind of glass case or anything to help keep it looking new.. it was so weird because the museums in America have everything so protected you can hardly get to it.. and some of the tombs and statues you could actually touch here.  It's kind of sad though that Egypt has all these cool things, but they are so poor they can't afford to keep them nicely.  Another bad thing about the museum was that you couldn't take pictures.. you actually couldn't even take your camera into the museum and we had to leave them on the bus.  I really wish I could have taken pictures of some of the things in the museum, but thats ok.

 

After the museum was the trek home.. which only took 2 1/2 hours this time since our bus driver flew!!  I only fell asleep for about 45 minutes, though.. so I got to see a lot of rural Egypt, some things I didn't want to see.. and others I did.  One thing that was weird and gross was that all the men pee on the side of the road, even when they're are cops around.. they don't care at all.  I also saw a lot of different animals and things on the side of the road.. like cows, goats, and other things.. I'm not quite sure if they were owned or if they were wild or something. 

 

Once we were back to the ship.. my friend Lilly and I (who I went with last night) went back out to the shops inside the port because all the owners there love us!  I bought a few things and got even more for free!  The owners will just put stuff in your bag and say 'it's a souvineer from me' and then we promise that we'll come back the next night.  I feel like I am going to end up with so much stuff from Egypt since things are really cheap here, and I'm getting half of it for free!!

 

Now, I am off to bed early again.... another 6am morning tomorrow!!

 

 

Alexandria, Egypt - Day 1

Today I took my first steps in Africa!!!!!

 

Egypt is not at all what I, and many others, pictured in our heads before we got here.. it's much much different so far.  I stayed in Alexandria today, and it is a very big and busy city!  There are cars and cabs and horse-drawn carriages around every corner.. and they all HONK at everything.. and I mean everything!  I don't think I ever went a minute without hearing a car honk, probably even 15 seconds.. haha.  The Egyptians so far like the Americans and we get a lot of stares and cat-calls when walking down the streets.

 

This morning it took awhile for our boat to get cleared, probably because all of our passports got stamped, but I don't know!?  So, around 10:30 we finally made it off the boat, and started our journey through Alexandria.  I went with 3 friends and we didn't have a real agenda or anything.. just to walk around and see what Alexandria was like! 

 

We decided to head toward the Alexandria Library and see what we found on our way there.. and no more then 2 1/2 minutes once we stepped out of the port we were asked at least 2 dozen times if we needed a cab!  We kept saying no no, we're going to walk, but they were very persistent!  However, the cops are extremely nice around here and pointed us in the right direction and told us what cabs/ horse carriages not to take because they would charge too much.. so that was very helpful!  We all ended up walking to the library, which took over an hour, but didn't really seem that long and we got to experience the busiest parts of the city.. and the task of crossing the street when there are no crosswalks or streetlights!!! What an adventure that was.. but I'm alive and in one piece so thats good!  We finally made it to the library, which was huge and crazy! It only cost 10 pounds ($2) to get in, and you had to check your bags, which was weird.. but we went in and had a free guided tour in English of the Library.  This new library has the biggest reading room in the whole world, which can seat 2,000 people!  The library's design is very modern and really big.. There are either 9 or 11 floors to it, I forget.. and the bottom 3 are below sea level which was weird.  In addition to the Library, there is a conference center and planetarium shaped like a giant sphere. 

 

After leaving the library, we were all hungry but afraid to eat real Egyptian food because we've heard lots of things about it from our medical staff.. so we ate at a Hilton Cafe.. haha.  It was pretty good and really cheap.. my whole meal cost only 28 pounds, which is a little over $5.. crazy!  Next, we headed back in the direction of the boat because we had been gone for awhile and were all very hot and tired.  It was in the upper 90's today in Alexandria, and supposedly Cairo is 20 degrees higher on average, which is where I will be spending my next 2 days! 

 

We attempted to walk back to the boat, but stopped and asked directions as the ancient Roman Theater to some police officers.. who told us to get a cab because it would be much easier, and he was right!  The police hailed the cab for us, told him where we needed to go, and negotiated our price because there are no meters.. and we were back at the port in no time!

 

On our walk in the port there are many shops inside, so we stopped at a few of them and made friends with one of the shop owners... he started out by giving us free shot glasses and then tank tops for $2 and I bout 2 pairs of linen pants since this is a Muslim country and it's offensive to show your legs/shoulders... and the pants were only $5 each!  So, I ended up with  2 pairs of pants, a tank top and a shot glass for 50 pounds.. or $10!!!  Also, that owner of the shop engraves these pieces of silver jewlery with your name and so me and my friend Lilly ordered them because we thought they were neat!

 

We finally made  it back to the boat, laid out for about an hour and then went to dinner.  At 10:30, Lilly and I went to go back to the shop to pick up our jewlery and made friends with all the other shop owners.. it was nice though because we were still in the port and you can only get in with your passport and you have to check in with your room number on the ship and stuff.. so it was safe and the shop owners were really nice!

 

Now, I am off to bed because my trip for Cairo leaves at 7:30 am tomorrow, which means I have to get up at 6 in order to get ready, go to breakfast, and be at the buses by 7:15!!!  I am sure my stories from tomorrow will be amazing because I will be seeing the PYRAMIDS!!!!!!!!!

Bulgaria - Days 3 & 4

Day 3

Sunday was a late start for me especially because it was raining all morning, so who wants to get out of bed and go outside in the rain!?  I sure didn't so I got in some extra sleep so I would be ready when the rain finally stopped!  Once the rain stopped I went with some friends around the city to do some shopping and sightseeing.  We had originally planned on going to the waterpark of Varna all day, but since it was raining in the morning, we figured it wasn't such a good idea.  Honestly, there isn't much to do in Bulgaria that we found because it hasn't evolved into a crazy tourist destination yet.  The beaches are always really crowded, but there isn't anything really cool to go see.  So, we shopped around the center of the city and then went to the mall of Varna which was pretty big!  The mall was set up vertically.. so there were about 20 to 30 stores on a floor and then you went up and up and up... there may have been 6 or 7 floors to the mall, so it seemed pretty big.  On the top floor was a movie theater and bowling alley so that was cool!

After shopping for awhile, we came back to the boat for dinner as usual.  Then we just went out and set on the beach for awhile in the evening.  It was another relaxing and uneventful day, but that's fine with me!

 

Day 4

Today was day 4 and our last day in Bulgaria!  I had an FDP (field directed practica) for one of my classes this morning to none other than McDonald's... I'm not even kidding.  I was not happy about this trip, but it was required for one of my classes, so I had to go!  So, we took a bus for like a 5 minute ride and then walked for another 5 minutes and just went to a regular McDonald's.. the manager and some workers talked to us and then we walked through the back to see how they make stuff.. and then we got to eat fries, a ham and cheese sandwich and yogurt water.  Yes, gross, right!?  The fries were good and i was kind of mad about the ham and cheese because i really wanted a regular hambuger, but apparantly the Bulgarian McDonald's are more famous for ham and cheese??  And the milk stuff... gross!!! I honestly just opened it and smelled it and decided not to try it b/c everyone that did said it was terrible!

After my faaabulous trip, I went back to the ship for lunch and to wait and meet up with friends.  After eating, we all went out for some last minute shopping around town and some of them needed to find postcards, which are usually everywhere in each port, but since this isn't a very touristy place, you really had to search for postcards!  So we did some shopping, found postcards, and got ice cream.. and then it was time to come back to the ship before on ship time at 6. 

About an hour ago, at 8:00, we pulled out of the harbor, with the help from a tug boat and I watched the whole thing which was cool.  It was crazy seeing this really tiny boat trying to pull our huge ship out.. and we must have been really popular with the Bulgarians because people were lined up everywhere watching us pull out.. and they did the same thing when we were pulling into the port.. it was kind of neat!

Now, I have to do some reading and homework, I have 2 consecutive days of class :( This will be weird with only having 1 day of class for the past 3 countries.. but I need to get used to it... it's 2 class days, Egypt for 5 days, 4 class days, morocco for 4 days, and then the long trek home with class and finals!! I cannot actually believe that the voyage home is in the near future. Only 2 ports left!! That's crazy!

Ok, well I hope everyone has a good week!  If nothing exciting happens on the ship, the next time you will hear from me will be from Africa!!!!

Bulgaria Days 1 & 2

Day 1

Friday was the first day we were actually allowed to get off the boat and finally step on the land of Bulgaria!!  We had to anchor about a mile away from the port for half of the day, which meant taking tender boats to and from shore, which are just our lifeboats.  I think it's fun to use the lifeboats, but a lot of people don't like to.

After getting off the tender on the port, me and a few friends walked around the city to figure out what Bulgaria had to offer.  Maybe 20 feet away from the port as we were walking right next to the beach, you could see the beach crowded with so many people, tents set up everywhere and loud music playing.. it looked like Bulgaria would be a fun place!!

After walking past the crazy  beaches and pirate ship restaurant, we got into the city and started to walk around.. we found a market and a lot of shops and restaurants.  We did a little shopping and walking around the town and then went to one of the restaurants for lunch.  After lunch we walked around some more and got some ice cream.. which was delicious, but still not as good as Italy's Gelato!!!

We walked around for awhile and then headed back to the port to catch a tender before they were done at 4:30.. From 4:30 to 7 the boat would be moving from the anchored spot to alongside the pier.  When we got to the tender location, we got our bags checked and headed onto the boat.. about 5 minutes later, we were told that the seas were too rough to head back to the ship so we had to wait around until the captain cleared us.. it wasn't until about 30 minutes later that we were cleared and we boarded the tender again and started to head back.  That boat ride was the best boat ride I'd ever had!!! It was soooo rocky, we could have sworn the boat was going to tip!  Almost all of the people on the lifeboat with us were freaking out .. but me and my friends were laughing the whole time.  It felt like a crazy rollercoaster.. and the ride took over 30 minutes because of how slow we had to go b/c of the waves.. it was crazy!  When we finally made it back to the ship everyone started clapping.. I wanted to go againn!!! haha.

Once back on the ship, we watched the boat pull alongside, and decided to stay in for the night.  In one of the classrooms they were playing 27 dresses, so me and some friends went to that.. and it was a good idea b/c they had chips and salsa, cookies, brownies and pop! It was greatt!!!!

 

Day 2

Today was a lazy beach day and I loved every second of it!!  The beach is literally as soon as we walk off the ship.. so we walked down a little further to where it wasn't as crowded and found a nice spot close to the water!  The whole beach was really crowded especially because it's a Saturday, but it was fine!  The Black Sea, however, is kind of black.. not really but it definatley didn't compare it all to the water in Greece in Croatia which was soooo clear... in the water here, you can't see your feet, which made me a little nervous.. but the sea was nice to cool down in since it was above 90 degrees today laying on the beach!!

We spent most of our day at the beach and came back to the ship for lunch and dinner since it was so close.. but that was the basis of our day!  Now me and about 4 other girls are getting ready and we are going to go back out to see what's going on at night on the beach!! It should be fun!!

 

ahh.. we're so close!

Today is Class day 13 and we are more than half way through classes!!!  A little before noon, we anchored in Bulgaria... but we aren't getting off the boat until tomorrow!!  Do you have any idea how annoying it is to see the beautiful coast of a country and not be able to get off the boat!?  I layed out after class today and the whole time I wished I was on the beach I was staring at and swimming in the Sea to cool down.. Black Sea to be exact!

 

So, that's how my day has been.. class, class, class... seeing land and being stuck in the ocean!  Now I know how most of the crew feels when we are in port on the days they aren't allowed off of the boat!  I feel bad for them!

 

Right now we are in our pre-port meeting learning about Varna, Bulgaria and what to expect and what precautions to take.. and yes, I am paying attention, don't worry!  From hearing about Bulgaria, it seems like it will be somewhat like Croatia, relaxation on the beaches :)

 

I will update tomorrow night about how my first day in Bulgaria was!!!

Turkey - Day 5

So, today is our last day in Turkey and I am sad to be leaving!  I always feel like once I get to know my way around the country and start to feel comfortable we leave!  Oh well.. we still 3 more ports! I can't believe we're down to only 3!!!  AND.... I just looked at the date and it's July 22.. we have excatly a month left which means this trip is more than half over! That's crazyy!!

 

This morning I woke up and went to breakfast, and then headed off the boat to the Bazaar for the last time!  I ended up buying a lot there today because it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was the first day because we went so early, so that was nice.  Still, though, I was being called names like "angel" and a few guys even told me I dropped something and when I went to look down they said "my heart" hahahaha.. Turkish men are quite interesting I would have to say!!  After spending awhile at the Grand Bazaar, we went to the Spice Bazaar which is waaaaay smaller and they mostly have food and spices, hence the name of it.. Through both the Grand and Spice Bazaars, I ended up getting quite a few things.. I got some turkish tea which is faabulous, turkish delight, a bracelt, a really pretty scarf thing they wear here, a shirt and i forget what else.. but I was happy with my purchases!

 

After the long morning of Bazaare madness.. I took all my bags to my room and then headed off the boat for the last time to the resteraunt across the street where you can get free wifi.  I had gotten some wifi earlier in turkey, but it wasn't good at all.. so I figured I  should try again.. and it was much better!!! I got some researching done and uploaded my last sets of pictures from Italy.. and then so many SAS people were there and on the internet that it started to get slow and I didn't have time to finish uploading, but that's ok I atleast got some up!! 

 

Once I was done with the wifi, it was time to step off turkish ground for the last time and get back on our boat :(  I really did enjoy turkey, it wasn't what I had expected at all.  In our briefing before we got here, we learned about all the terrorism going on in Turkey and how the crime rate is really high.  Last year 4 days before the summer SAS voyage got to Turkey, a major bombing occurred so they didn't even get to come here because of it.  We were warned a lot about terrorism and not going out at night, so it was scary and the only reason I am saying this now is because I am safe and on the ship and nothing happened to me while I was in Turkey.. I didn't want to say this before I got to Turkey so everyone would be freaking out.. but thankfully no bombings occured and I am safe!!

 

Now, I am off to finish up my homework since i have class tomorrow :( yuckk!! And i think we may fit in a game of catch-phrase tonight with some friends before actually finishing my homework... haha!

 

PS. I just realized that it is exactly 1 month before we disembark in Norfolk, Virginia... and this was a sad discovery because as of now.. I am most definately not ready to leave the ship!  I wish this was my college all year round, that would be amazing :)

Turkey - Day 4

Today was an early morning.. I woke up at 7am to get ready and have enough time to eat breakfast before having to meet for my trip at 8:15.  I went on a trip to the Prince's Isles today to the island of Buyukada, the biggest of the 5 Prince's Islands.  The ride there took about an hour and a half, but it didn't seem like that long b/c the scenery was so pretty!

 

Once we got to the island we went on a horse-drawn carriage ride around the island which took about another hour and a half.. and it was great!  Our horses liked to go really fast, so we kept passing other carriages.. it was kind of funny!  The ride around the island was great.. we got to see a lot of the residential areas which were amazing... the houses were all soo pretty and huge!  It was really cool seeing real Turkish life in the residential areas!  I felt like the island was pretty touristy, but when you got away from that and into where the houses were it was really traditional and neat to see that part of Istanbul.

 

After the ride, we had some free time to eat lunch and walk around the island to do shopping or whatever else we wanted to do, which was nice.. and after about 2 hours of that we boarded the ferry and took it back to the part of Istanbul we are in now... this trip reminded me of why Istanbul is the largest city in Europe.. it is sooo big.... riding almost 2 hours away from the port of Istanbul, we were still in the same city.. that is huuge!!! 

 

After my SAS trip was done, I met up with some people for dinner and we discussed what we wanted to do later.  We ended up going out for dessert, where 2 of the girls got bachlavah and me and the other 3 got some chocolate mousse cake thing which was sooo good!  After eating dessert we went to a hookah bar on the water that is under one of the bridges.  Hookah is really popular in Turkey and at basically any restaruant you see they have hookah as well, so we figured we should do it.  The hookah bar we went to was really neat, all the chairs were big bean bag chairs outside and they had a lot of couches and pillows inside.. I really liked it.  We sat outside and got to see the sun set over the skyline of mosques and skyscrapers, so that was really cool!!   Hookah was really chill and we got orange and apple flavors and ended up being there for over 3 hours because you could just sit there and talk while over looking the water!  I am really going to go through water withdrawl when I get back to Ohio, I can already tell!  i am being spoiled with water all around me all the time!  At the hookah bar, we met 2 boys from Ireland who are hear because they are doing a tour from Ireland to Cairo, Egypt I think is their last stop... riding bikes!!!  They are doing it for a charity and once they get to their last stop, they are giving all their money to the charity and donating the van that is following them for the people to use as an ambulance.  I forge tthe exact charity they are raising money for, but it's something for neonatal care and a burn facility in a hospital which I thought was really neat!  I could not believe how much they are biking though... they were only going to be in Istanbul for a day and then tomorrow at 5am they were setting back out to ride for 14 hours!!  They have already been through many coutnries and i remember them saying they liked Syria the best!  They had been through Bulgaria already and said they had a lot of beaches, so I am excited for that... they were really nice and I'm glad we met them!

 

Now, I am off to bed since tomorrow will be another early morning.. which shouldn't suprise anyone by now.. I am soo accustomed to getting up before 8 it's rediculous!  I plan on meeting a friend for breakfast and then we're setting off to the Bazaar to do some more shopping before we leave!  She hasn't been there yet, so this will be an experience for her!!  I cannot believe our last day in Turkey is tomorrow... I remember just writing an entry where I was like I can't believe we are going to be in turkey tomorrow... it's crazy!!  One more day of Turkey, one class day, and then Bulgaria for the beaches!!!!

Turkey - Day 3

 

Today was day 3 of Istanbul!  It's def. flying by!!  As I usually say, I got up for breakfast, but this time I went back to sleep for about an hour or so after breakfast because I had a trip, but it wasn't until noon, so I had some time to catch up on my sleep!  My trip was a bosphorous excursion, so we got on a ferry and sailed for a little over an hour and a half down the bosphorous, between the European and Asiatic side of Istanbul.. it was really neat!  The weather today was very different.. it was cloudy all day and windy, so it wasn't scorching hot all day, which was a great change of pace!  The weather also made it a great time to try turkish tea on the boat, which was amazing!!!  I really liked it and plan on buying some to take back home!!  So, the boat ride was good and i even saw some dolphins on it.. and when it was over we went to a private museum to look at artifacts, clothing pieces, accessories and a bunch of stuff from the Ottoman times I believe, which was also neat.  After the museum, we took a bus ride back to the port, which took about 45 minutes since we had sailed on the boat so far down the Bosphorous.

 

Once back to the ship, I went to dinner with my roommate because I hadn't eaten lunch and was starving!!  After an entertaining dinner with our friends the waiters, we decided to go out and search for some internet.  We found some free wi-fi at a restaurant and all you had to do was atleast order a drink, so we each got some tea and water and used the internet... which sucked!  I think there was too many people using it and it kept getting interrupted, so I didn't even get to upload any more pictures b/c it was going too slow and I kept getting kicked off! Ugh.. oooh well!

 

After our internet experience we found some ice cream and then passed our cabin steward and his friend eating, so we stopped and talked to him for awhile.. but we couldn't sit down with them b/c if someone saw us they could get in trouble.... which is sooo dumb! 

 

The rest of the night was un-eventful and I went to bed early because I had a trip that left at 8:30 am the next day.. which you will hear about soon!

turkey - day 2

So, today as usual I woke up early, got ready and then went to breakfast with my roommate.  After breakfast, I finished gathering up my stuff and headed off the boat for my SAS trip "Palaces of Istanbul and Asiatic Side."  So if you haven't guessed, today I finally stepped on Asian Ground!!!!!!  It was so exciting crossing that bridge in Istanbul and seeing the bright, highlighter yellow sign that read, "welcome to Asia" on it.. I had finally made it to my 3rd continent!!

 

Asia wasn't much different than Europe, the only difference was that Asia was more residential with more housing and green landscaping than the European side of Turkey, but really, you couldn't tell the difference.. I didn't care, though,  I had stepped over to yet another continent on my trip!!

 

For my SAS trip today, we visited 4 palaces throughout Istanbul, and those palaces were amazing!!  Unfortunately, in 3 out of the 4 palaces we couldn't take ANY photos at all, or else I would have been in there all day taking pictures!  It's amazing how intricate the artwork is in all of the palaces.. you have to look everywhere to see each and every detail and the most fascinating art work is usually on the ceilings, the last place anyone would think to look!  It was absolutely amazing though.

 

The first palace we went to was "Dolmabahce Sarayi" and was by far the biggest palace we visited today.  It took my group a little over 1 1/2 hours to go through, and that is without seeing all the rooms and hearing all the stories the palace had to offer.  I believe there were over 250 rooms in the palace, so it was huuuge!  There were the most gorgeous chandelleirs throughout the place, with the biggest one weight 4 1/2 tons, yes  I said that right.... now picture something weight 4 1/2 tons and picture how big of a room it would have to be in to make it look smalll!!!! The room that chandelier was in had over 50 columns, I started counting just because I was amazed that in the ROOM ther were huuuuuge columns that you would normally see outside of a place, not in it.. but they were in it and they were absolutely giant!  I could not ever imagine living in that palace, it would take you at least a week to figure out how to get around, and that is if you did nothing else but try to figure out the layout of the palace.  There are no other words to describe this palace, but absolutely increadible.. I was amazed at every single thing we saw in there.. and one fascinating thing we learned was that the kitchens in the palaces were never actually inside the living quarters, they were always outside in another building so the whole place didn't smell like the food that was cooking! werid!

 

After the first gigantic palace, we went over to the Asiatic Side and visited "Beylebeyi Sarayi" which had the prettiest chandelleir in the entranceway.. I wanted to steal it!  The chandelleir was made of all crystal, but most of the crystals were a really prett blue-turquoise color.. it was giant and beautiful!  This palace was not nearly as big, with only about 24 rooms in it, but it was filled with the prettiest chandelleirs, and most of them were really colorful.  In this palace there was also a giant pool in one of the halls, but it's not used for swimming it was only used for the noise of the water and for decoration! 

 

The third and fourth palaces weren't as big or as cool.. but they were still interesting.. in the 3rd palace which was "Yildiz Sale" it was the guest house to the palace, and you would have never known because it was huge and beautiful.  In the biggest room in that palace, yes room, the rug in it was 4400 square feet and it went from one end to the other, which meant that room itself was 4400 square feet, just in one of the rooms!! Also in that palace we walked by a camera crew and all these lights and stuff and found out that they were filming a documentary for the history channel on Monarchy during the ottoman empire.. so we saw the actors getting made up for it and the settings and everything.. that was neat!  Everyone doing the documentary tried to get our dean's youngest daughter to be in the documentary as the princess.. they all loved her!  She is 2 1/2 and apparantly in Turkey, they love babies.. so the director took pictures of the kids, gave them gifts, and then gave our dean his information so apparantly he could bring back Gracie (the little girl) if he wanted to!?  It was soo funny!

 

In all the palaces we visited, something they all had in common was chairs and large dining room tables.  In every room of each palace there were sooo many places to sit.. in one room the size of a big living room or soemthing there would be at least 12 big chairs in it.. and then 2 or 3 couches as well, it was crazy.  In each of the palaces they all had really big dining room tables, that could easily sit at least 20-30 people.. they were huuug!!!  Also, in all of the palaces we had to put on these booties on our feet, like a plastic bag type thing that is made for your foot and they were pink.. everyone had to wear these around.. they looked dumb, but I guess that's a way of preserving the palaces!

 

After a lonnng day of looking at palaces, I came back to the boat and took a nap before going to dinner.  After dinner me and 4 other girls went to the big square in Istanbul which I forget the name of.. apparantly it is like New Orleans, and there are people there all the time, all night long.. so we walked around, shopped and then listened to some Turkish music... me and my roommate also tried Turkish Raki, which is the special drink of Turkey... and it was not good!  It reminded me of ouzo in Greece in that it tasted kind of licorice-y, but it wasn't good.. atleast I can say I tried it though!  The whole time we were walking around the square, though, we were followed by a little gypsie girl trying to sell us tissues.. yeah little packs of tissues and she would weave in and out of all of us trying to put it in our hands and stuff.. it was so annoying and she finally left us alone after about an hour!

 

All in all it was a good but very tiring day!

 

Istanbul, Turkey - Day 1

This morning we arrived in Istanbul, a little later than we had been told, so when my alarm went off at 5:40 am to watch us pull in, we were still in no sight of land... so I went back to sleep and missed it!  That's ok though, I heard a lot of people say it wasn't worth waking up for anyway!

 

I did get up early anyway to get to breakfast before it closed.  After breakfast, immigration still hadn't even gotten onto our ship, so I could tell it was going to be a long morning!  Finally around 9:15 or so, they got on and so we had our diplomatic briefing where a US Ambassador comes onto the ship to talk to us about Istanbul.. thankfully that is shown not only in the Union, but on our TV's, so I layed in bed while listening to it, and ended up taking a nice nap!!  After that was over,  we all had to get our 'landing cards' which are blue cards that we have to show in order to get in and out of the port and allow us to travel throughout Istanbul only.  You have to get a visa in order to leave the city, which I don't plan on doing because Istanbul is huuuge, so I don't need to worry about going outside of the city.

 

Once we were allowed to get off the ship (around 10:30 or so, when usually its by 8!) I got off with some friends and walked around a little bit to find the Grand Bazaar which I would categorize as the largest flea market I have ever seen in my life!!!! There is an estimated 4400 shops that line sidewalks and an indoor type place.. it was absolutely crazy!  I spent hours there and didn't see all of it, that's for sure.. and I was getting so lost inside, you never knew where you were or where you had already been, it was crazy!!  There was soo much there, it was really quite overwhelming.. I was so overwhelmed I only bought one thing, which is pretty unusual!!

 

After being at the Bazaar all day, we were all exhausted and went back to the ship for dinner, and a little time to relax!!  I wasn't even hungry from smelling fish and odd things all day, but it was nice to sit down for awhile and have about 8 glasses of water! My friends at dinner all convinced me to go see Harry Potter tonight, because we were kind of advised not to really go out, and there was not much else to do, so I gave in.. and spent 2 1/2 hours of my time in Turkey in the movie theater!!!   I couldn't believe I was going to see Harry Potter, but sure enough that's where I just got back from!!   I have to say though, it was a really good movie, and wayyy cheaper than in the US, I got into the theater, popcorn and candy for 11 Lira, which is not even 7$, so I thought that was a good deal!  During the movie, I almost forgot I was in another country, until the screen went black about an hour into it, and it was time for intermission!? Most of the movie theater was full of SAS students, so everyone was so confused, why was there an intermission during a movie!?  It was sooo weird.. but thankfully the movie came back on after like 7 minutes.. an odd amount of time!?

 

So, before we got to Turkey, we were warned how the guys here are "charmers" and they sure try to be!  Let me just name off a few things I was called today....  "babyface"  "angel"  "angelface"  "charlie's angel's"... and not to mention we were asked a few times if we were sent from heaven, if we come from paradise, and many other things.. I was also told though that I have nice skin and a good color, and could pass for being Turkish!? So, I guess that's good...?

 

Also, since Turkey is a very Muslim country, many of the women wear long skirts and shirts with a headdress, and some even only show their eyes, which was a definate culture shock coming from Greece!! It kind of sucks though because we were advised to not show our shoulders or too much of our legs, so I wore a short sleeved shirt today and capri jeans, which can be extremely hot when it's in the upper 80's and your surrounded by the hundreds of people running around Istanbul.. but I cannot complain too much, the Turkish women have to do this every day, not just for 5 days..

 

So, Istanbul is a CRAZY busy city.. but so far I do like it!  Tomorrow I will be going to the Asiatic side and going to different palaces of Istanbul with SAS, so this will be fun, and I will have reached my 3rd continent!!!

Greece - Day 4

Day 4

Today I woke up early as usual, why waste time when you're in another country!?  So, me and two of my friends went out into the city pretty early for the last day in Greece!!  We headed to the metro station since nothing exciting is in the port city... and we decided why not go to Athens one more time!?  So we went to Athens and went to the Archeological Museum of Athens which was really neat, with so many statues, carvings and artifacts found from ancient greek times.. and it was only 1Euro to get in, so it was a good deal, and really nice because it was air-conditioned!! The last day in Greece was the hottest yet, I think it got up to the mid 90's, but I'm not sure because they tell the temperature in Celcius!

 

After spending a little over an hour in the museum, we decided to take a train-trolley type vehicle that you pay 3 euro and it just drives around athens and you can get on/get off anytime you want.. which was really cool.. it was this miniature blue and white train and it was nice being able to sit down while going through the city, especially with the heat!!  We rode on that for awhile and then stopped to get off and walk around and shop for the last time in Athens!!  We spent the next 2 hours doing just so, and then sadly had to start heading back toward the port so we could make it back with enough time before "dock time" at 6pm.

 

We got back onto the boat around 4 and relaxed and then went to dinner, while we heard many announcements for passengers not on board and such.. there were more than 50 people who were late for on ship time so they got dock time, which means for every 15 minutes you are late past on ship time, you have 3 hours of "dock time" which just means you have to spend that time on the ship before you can get off in the next country!  But, we were safely back on board and winding down from a crazy 4 days!!!  And i was just happy to be on the ship and able to shower and cool down from the blistering heat that day!! I can't complain though, because it was great!!

 

Now, it's on to class day 12, and then Istanbu, Turkey.. my 5th country and 3rd continent since I will go to the Asiatic side of the city.. Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on 2 continents, and for one of my SAS trips I am going to the Asiatic side!!!!

 

I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Greece - Day 3!

Day 3

Today I woke up super early at 7am to get ready and pack up some things before going to breakfast at 7:30am.. wayy too early for me!!  But we had a good breakfast with the same waiters we usually see who are really fun!!  So, my roommate, I and another friend ate breakfast and then headed off the boat for the day!  We got off the boat at 8 and were at the dock we wanted to be at by 8:15.. here we purchased round trip ferry tickets to the island of Aegina, where we were going to spend the day!  The island of Aegina is the closest island off of the coast, so we picked that so we wouldn't have to waste a lot of time in getting there.  I would have loooved to go to the island of Santorini, but it was over a 5 hour ferry ride, and I didn't have the time or wanted to spend the money on that!  Santorini is the place you typically think of when someone says Greece.. it is the island with all the white houses with blue tops and that's usually the island any movie set in Greece is filmed in.! Anyway... we got our tickets and were set to leave at 8:30!!  The boat we took was really fast, it looked and felt like an airplane.. and the boat like floated across the water, it wasn't really in it.. it was nuts!!!  But the boat was so fast so it was only a 30 minute ride, so we got on the island at 9am!! 

 

The island was pretty, and as soon as we stepped off the boat, it was time to look for a beach!! Thankfully a beach was nearbye, and it ended up being a great choice!  That beach was amazing!! I seriously thought I was in a pool when I was in the water (Aegian Sea, to be exact!)!  The water was the clearest I had ever seen.. I could see my feet and the bottom of the sea no matter how deep I went.. it was awesome!  The water was also very warm, which made it seem like a  pool even more.. i loved it!!  The beach was sandy and the water was amzzing.. I could have stayed laying around in the Sea for the next few weeks!!! So, we all layed on the beach from about 10 until 3, which was a nice relaxing break from all the running around athens I did the first two days!!  After soakin up the sun all afternoon, we decided to head into the little town of Aegena to find somewhere to eat!  We walked around and found a little restaurant that looked reasonable, and sat and ate there.. I had pizza and a 7up, no suprise!? But.. this was the first time I have seen Pepsi products in Europe, so I was really excited because I like 7up way better than Sprite!!  After eating, we went to the ice cream shop next door and got some ice cream for dessert.. I forgot until then how much i missed the Italian Gelato I was so spoiled with!!  After ice cream we walked around more of the island and did a little browsing and shopping.. and then it was time to get back on the boat to head back to Piraeus. 

 

One cool think around most of Greece is how cheap the bottles of water are.. in Europe there is always regular sized water bottles and big ones that are 1.5Liters, so it's almost a 2-liter you are carrying around drinking.. and I found alot of the 1.5L here for about 70cents.. so I found that funny and exciting.. and yes, I do drink that much.. it is extremely hot here and I usually bring my nalgene out, but I drink that fairly quickly then i buy a big water bottle and end up drinking that whole thing too!! Atleast I'm trying to stay hydrated!!!  (this paragraph was random, but it was just an observation b.c i purchased probably 2 bottles of water at the beach!)

 

After we got back to the port.. we all went to dinner on the ship and stayed there for awhile talking to our waiter friends who loove us... and then we all went to the port building to steal free wi-fi!!! there were sooo many SAS'ers and crew from the ship in the port on their laptops getting the free internet.. it was soo funny!!  We spent over an hour there and then headed back to the ship for the night to get rested up for our last day in Greece :(

 

 

Greece - Day 2

Day 2

Today I slept in a little, got ready and met one of my friends for an early lunch on the boat.  After, we went out to explore for the day to see if we could find something cool to do.  We decided to take the metro to the stop of Monostraki, which seemed to be a well-known place, so we thought there would be something there.. and there was.. a lot of shopping thats for sure!  Monostraki seemed to be pretty touristy and there was a ton of tourist shops and cafes and restaruants everywhere!  So we walked around for a long time, shopping and just taking it all in!  I wandered into a jewlery shop and found really cool earrings that are australian fire opal, that match my ring and necklace i got for graduation!  I was really excited because I got them for fairly cheap and at the top there is sort of a greek symbol, which means 'long life'  After I bought my earrings we stopped in another shop and the famous drink of Greece is "ouzo" and we really wanted to try it... so there were little sets with the smallest bottle of ouzo and 2 shot glasses with the parthenon on them and it was only 4Euro, so we got it to try.... I do not know how the greeks drink Ouzo.. it tasted like black licorice and apparantly when you put it on the rocks it turns milky which seemed gross to me.. but i tried it and did NOT like it!! Thankfully we had bought baclavah (sp?) and ate that after and so the taste kind of went away.. but i had to try it.. when in greece!!!

 

After trying the gross Ouzo.. we found a post office and got some stamps and right across from the post office was a STARBUCK'S!!!!  So, of course we went to Starbucks and since I had my starbucks card, i got 10% off, which was nice... they also had a big sign at the entrance that had new products and one was Lemonade Green Tea, which was like a slushy and i got a rockslide brownie and they both were amazing!!!  It felt soo weird to be in starbucks b/c for a minute i forgot i was in Greece, not at home!!!

 

After starbucks we did some more browsing and shopping.. and then I found myself in a tattoo shop!!!!!!! I think everyone who doesn't know yet heart's just sunk for a second.. but don't worry it was a henna tattoo shop.. which seemed like fun so I got a chinese (i know, im in greece, but they had no cool greek tattoos that were cheap!) symbol on the very top of my spine, almost to my neck.. it means good virtue i think.. its really cool and i have had people ask me if its real, so apparantly it looks good! i like it, but it will be gone in 15-20 days! haha.... after getting tatted up... we were ready to go back to the port to meet with other friends, but there was a bomb threat on the metro.. so we were kind of stuck b/c they closed the side running to the port down! fortuantely, another stop was nearbye and they opened up but reveresed the track so we didn't have to be on the track with the bomb threat, but could get back to the port!! 

 

We then ate dinner on the ship (a very cheap alternative, since its free.. and we loove the waiters).. after dinner I relaxed for a little bit then went to see what Piraeus offered for some nightlife. which equaled nothing!!!! I kind of expected that, but we got times for our ferry for the next day, so it wasn't a waste of time.. and I got to see the sun setting over the ocean/harbor while walking around the city!  So, the night was quiet and I went to bed somewhat early (1am?) to get up by 7 to get ready for the next dayy!!!

 

Right now, it's actually the end of Day 3, but I need to get to bed, so you all will have to wait to hear about day 3 until tomorrow!!! Sorrrrrrry! But to forwarn you, today was amazing!!!

Greece - Day 1

This morning we arrived in the port of Pireas, Greece!! Pireas is the port city of Athens, and after walking through it, I would classify it as a mini NYC.. there is a lot of taxis and the streets are very busy and there is a lot of buildings and stuff. After the ship was cleared I got off with a bunch of friends and we headed into Athens to the Acropolis! First we had lunch at some restaraunt near the Acropolis and I had a hard time finding something on the menu to eat!! Thankfully there was a chef salad.. and it ended up being really good! I have noooo clue what kind of "sauce" as they say was on the salad, but it was good!! After eating, we all went in to the Acropolis and since we are students, we got half price admission which is always nice!! The Acropolis was really cool and a large site of dirt pathways that let to The Parthenon, Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus and a lot of other ruins.. it was really neat! After we were done walking around the ruins and such, we all spent awhile just walking around the part of Athens we were in and doing some shopping! It was weird being in a country that is back to the Euro, especially after Croatia where everything looks so expensive, but the rate is 1$ - 5 kounas.. so a bottle of water there would be about 10 kounas ($2) and here in Greece is about 1.20Euro.. thankfully though Greece seems waayy cheaper than Italy so far.. I got some really cool statues of Greek goddesses in a store today for only 5euros each, and they are a pretty good size, not miniature, but not huge.. so I thought it was a good deal!!

After we were done in Athens, we all came back to the port and made it back around 7, which meant we just made it for dinner on the ship, which was not good! haha.. well, it's never all that good, but thankfully I was still kind of full from lunch! Now I am in my room, uploading pictures from today and trying to figure out what I am going to do tomorrow!! I am hoping Wednesday I will make it to one of Greece's Islands, which I heard are beautiful!! Most of the people with SAS are in Mykonos, which is the "party island" for the time we are here.. I wonder how much damage they will do there!? Let's just say I'm glad I am not going to Mykonos with any of them! haha.. but I would loooove to go to Santorini, which is really not a possibility because it is over 5 hours away by ferry.. Santorini is the typical place you think of when you think of Greece, white houses with blue roofs.. and was the setting for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! If I ever come back to Greece though, that will be on the top of my list!!

Well I should be getting to bed soon, so I can be well rested for tomorrow! I forgot how exhausting ports can be after the relaxing time I had in Croatia... let's just say my legs are absolutely killing me from walking so much today!! I have been sitting now for about an hour and they are still throbbing!!!

I hope everyone has a good day!!

i forgot something...

So, I forgot today I went on a bridge tour!! I got to see the whole place where the captain and his crew sit during the day and control the ship.. there were soo many buttons and things, it was crazy! i even got to sit in the captain's chair and get my picture taken!!  the captain wasn't in there though, but the ship was on autopilot, so it was steering itself. there was a watchman in the bridge though looking out with binoculors for things that would be in the way of the ship.. like whales.  we learned all about the ship and like how it works and everything.. we have 4 engines, only 1 was running today and i think its the only one usually running... but one engine has 11,300 horsepower or however you say that! so thats A LOT!!!  and we have a water purification system that could make up to 20,000 tons of water an hour i think.. it sounds like a lot, but thats what me and my roommate remember him saying! crazyy!!

ok, well i thought you would like to hear that.. its bedtime for me now!

GREECE tomorrow :)

SEA OLYMPICS!!!!

So, today I woke up bright and early at 9:40am, but it really was 8:40 because we switched our clocks an hour ahead last night.. thankfully it was the last night we have to lose an hour of sleep!!!! But... i woke up to the sound of Dia (our assistant executive dean) over the loudspeaker saying we were having our 2nd lifeboat drill at 10am.. ughh... we had to wear long pants, something long-sleeved, a hat and closed-toe shoes... which got really hot when you're shoulder to shoulder with about 150 other people outside on the deck in the warm weather :(  but.. after my nice wake up call..  it was time to get ready for sea olympics to start!!!

 

SEA OLYMPICS!

Sea olympics is a whole day full of "olympic" activities that the whole boat participates in.. which meant we didn't have class today, so that made it even better!!!! for the olympics, we are split up into Seas which is basically part of the hallway where you live, and thats your team.. mine was the Mediterranean and our color was blue! other teams were seas like adriatic, yellow, red, baltic, aegean, caribbean and others... we had the opening ceremony at 12:45 where we passed the torch and stuff which was fun!  after the opening ceremony the games started!!! the different events we had were synchronized swimming, pictonary, boat race, tug of war, pool relay, academic relay, lip sync competition, dodge ball, relay race, and a sea makeover, for each there was a specific number of people to compete so you signed up for whatever you wanted to do... the games lasted all day and then we had the closing ceremony at 5:30 to find out who the winners were!! my sea did really good in the academic bowl, synchronized swimming and lip sync competition.. but unfortunately we only came in 5th place out of 11, so that wasn't too bad.. BUT.. the first place team who won which was the yellow sea gets to debark the ship first when we get back to norfolk.. so that was the prize for winning!

 

The best event of the day i would have to say was the lip synching competition.. it was great!  my sea did rollin on a river by tina turner.. and we were by far the best at lip synching.. other teams did spice girls, tlc, baby got back and one boy even sang a song by madonna i think which was really funny b/c he had in a weave and was wearing a dress and heals.. haha!  today was really fun and when all the games were over we had a BBQ dinner and finally got to have good food and ice cream! yay :)  so now im in my room resting a little b/c today wore me out!! we have our pre-port meeting in an hour where we all go to the union and hear about the upcoming port and get our "green sheet" of like emergency contacts and get lectured on being safe in port for like an hour.. and i think we will probably be getting in trouble because apparantly some stupid group of SAS'ers decided to get really drunk in some bar in Croatia and ended up causing 5000 dollars worth of damage there and then the bar put up a sign that said "No SAS kids" .. so we will probably be getting lectured at again all b/c of some dumb people who got wasted..  but, on the bright side.. i was NOT in that group and TOMORROW i will be in Greece!!!!!

 

I will be updating about greece soon!!!!!!!

Croatia: days 2. 3. 4.

Day 2

The second day in Croatia was much more relaxing than the first day, climbing all the city walls!  This day I got to sleep in because I had no where to be at a specific time, and it felt wonderful!  I am almost positive this was the first time I slept in past 9 this whole trip.. and I didn't even really sleep in because I went to breakfast at 7:30 and then went back to bed for another hour or so after breakfast.. but still it was nice.  Today wasn't too exciting, so there's not much to write about... I soaked up some rays during the day and then went to the "old town" where the city walls are later in the evening with a friend and did some shopping and had dinner. 

 

Day 3

This day was one of the best days in Croatia!  I got to sleep in again!! And this time actually sleep in, I didn't even get up for breakfast!!  After waking, my roommate, friend, and I went and bought a ticket for the ferry that went to one of Croatia's thousands of islands... the ferry left at 10:30 and would return at 4:30.. so we could spend the day on the island, laying out and swimming in the Agean Sea, which is exactly what we did all day!!  On Croatia's mainland, the beaches aren't what you would typically think of as a "beach" because there isn't really sand or anything.. there is water, but you lay out on rocks and the sea is rocky and not very smooth.. but once you get out to the islands, there you will find the sandy, typical beaches you think of!  It was amazing how clear the water was, and also amazing how salty the water was!  When I got out from swimming in the sea each time i could look at my stomach, arms and legs and see specks of white everywhere... salt!! Anytime I went under water i could taste the salt without even opening my mouth and it burnt my eyes without even opening them underwater which I normally do!  All in all, the day spent at the beach was cheap and fun.. the ferry cost 50 kounas round trip ($10) and we rented chairs on the beach which was 20 kounas ($4), so i spent an entire day at the beach for 14 dollars, plus the ice cream I got on the way back :)  After coming back from the island, we all went to dinner and then to the internet cafe!  It was soo exciting to finally be able to get online.. so I got to upload some pictures to facebook and will be sending links out for those  not on FB so you can see them all tooo!!!  After spending about 2 hours at the cafe, I stopped in the port and called home which I find so weird everytime because I am using a payphone and calling card.. instead of my cell phone!  After talking to my mom I walked back to the ship (don't worry I was really close and already had been checked in by immigration, so i was inside the port)... and I passed my cabin steward (in normal clothes!) and his friends!  it's soo weird seeing any of the workers off the ship, in regular clothes, and not doing some sort of work!  i looove my cabin steward.. he is 27 and from the Phillipines and has been working with SAS for 2 1/2 years.. I talk to him all the time and have most of his life story!  And mom, if you're worried about me coming home married, it would be to him --- i found out he watches FRIENDS!!  He was talking about it to me and is going to let me borrow seasons 2-6 since he's on 7 right now and 1 doesn't work! hahaha.. i was sooo excited tho because I have missed my friends DVD's :) 

 

Day 4 (today!)

Today was another relaxing dayy.. took the ferry again with my roommate and went over to the island for the day!! On the island today I bought some more souvineers and found really cool peace sign bracelts that were really cheap and bought a few of those!  

I am using sunscreen everyday and can't seem to get my skin to stop tanning!! I just keep getting darker.. but my face did get a little red yesterday and today :(  This port has been very relaxing which is a really good thing.. after we left port in Spain as well as Italy I was sooo tired in general and my legs were always sore and my feet were usually covered in blisters because of all the running around i was doing.. but not here!  I am calling this port my "vacation".. and i know you all are saying this whoole trip is a vacation.. which it is but this was the relaxing part where I wasn't rushing around everyday to see all the monuments and eveyrthing in the city.. so this was technically my vacation for the trip!   Unfortunately though, my mini-Croatian-vacation has ended and I am in the middle of a paper thats due tomorrow at 5 and i've got a lot of reading to catch up on for class.. so it's back to reality!!! 

We were supposed to debark from Croatia today at 8pm, but we got an announcement that the captain switched around the schedule some and we won't be leaving until tomorrow morning, but it doesn't really make a difference b/c we are all already back on the ship and can't get back off!  I think it's so he can spend more time with his family, but who knows.. we will probably be booking it to greece then (just kidding, we normally go really slow so we have time for class, so we'll prolly just be sailing at a normal speed for once!)

So, now I have to say goodbye to Croatia... it was pretty and relaxing... but I'm honestly not sure if I would come back here.. it's more of a spot for older people (no offense) and there wasn't really anything to do besides go to the beach (even though i have noo problem with that)  don't get me wrong.. i loooved it here, but still my #1 spot is the island of Capri in Italy!!!!

 

OOH, and there was a huuuuuge cruise ship that came and docked in front of us today.. it made our boat look like a smart car sitting next to a semi-truck!! That ship could have eaten ours.. our ship is big, but not in comparison to that one.. i got some cool pics of the 2 ships so you'll have to see for yourself soon :)

 

 

Goodnight... off to bed since we have CLASS tomorrow :( boo!

Croatia - Day 1

I am in Croatia now!! The pearl of the Mediterranean, as they call it because it is one of the Mediterranean's most beautiful cities!  I will have to admit, it's not exactly what I thought it would be when I first looked out the window in my cabin this morning.. but it is nice!  I expected to only see sandy beaches everywhere I looked, but that is not the case... there are beaches, most not sandy, but rocky.. and they aren't everywhere!  The country is really pretty still though, all the houses have red/orange rooftops and there's a lot of blue water and hills everywhere.. so it is really pretty!

 

Today I had an SAS trip.. a City Orientation called "city walls" because we went on a tour of the "old city" in Dubronik where the city walls stand that were built back in the 11th C. to keep other people out... they are really big and pretty! Since I was on a tour of them, we walked around on top of the city walls, which is about 1 1/2 miles long.. and there was some amazing views of the city from there!  I got a lot of really good pictures from today's tour!! 

 

After my city walls trip.. I met up with 4 other people and we walked around for a bit and went to dinner.. and we ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant... yes you can laugh here... and that was quite an experience in itself, but you'll have that!  our bill ended up being 196 kounas.. !!!! BUT..... 1 american dollar = 5 kounas.. so my part of the bill was 70 which is only $14.. which was kind of expensive for only tacos and a fanta.. but a lot less than 70 actual dollars! haha!  the exchange rate here makes you feel like a kounanaire!!  i got money out of the atm today and got out 300, which i thought was a lot, but thats only 60 american dollars.. its so weird when prices aren't all the same!

 

After dinner, we made our way back to the ship because all the girls I was with have trips tomorrow morning at like 8am.. thankfully I do not!! I plan on sleeping in (sleeping in for me on this trip would be about 9am.. in port I like to get up early and go out for the day, and while sailing i have class at 8am, so i'm up at 7 usually to get ready and go to breakfast before class!!!!) So, now I plan on getting a good nights sleep and being well rested to head to the beach tomorrow and swim in the Adriatic Sea!!!

 

Oh, and suprisingly a lot of people here speak English.. all the younger people speak it very well and most of the older people speak too, but thank goodness they do because croatian is a hard language to understand!!!  Also, our Captain is from Croatia, so today I saw him getting off the ship (in jeans and a t-shirt, not his usual full white uniform, weird!).. get into his BMW and drive away, to his house to visit his wife as he told us last night he was going to do!  It's kind of cool he's from here and will get to go home in the middle of our voyage.. I think he may actually be bringing his wife back on board for the rest of the trip, but I'm not sure!

 

Ok, time to get some sleep!  I'll think of you all when I'm laying on some of the most beautiful beaches tomorrow :)

Italy - Part 2

 

First off, let me just say that Chivittavechiah was by far way nicer than Naples.  I had an amazing time in the 2 days we spent in this port, but I would honestly never come back to Naples.. it is extremely dirty and scary here and I just did not like it…. so with that out of the way.. here comes the good stuff and why I actually loved my 2 days here!!!!

 

The first day (Saturday), 2 of my roommates and I decided we would like to spend the day visiting Pompeii, a town about an hour away from Naples.  While walking to the bus stop, we all decided we did not want to come back to Naples until late evening (before it got dark), so we planned on going to Sorrento after our stop in Pompeii.. which turned out to be a fantastic decision!! 

 

After getting off the train in Pompeii.. we got a cab to take us to the ruins, because it was about 2km away, and we did not know how to get there!  Our cab driver was so funny and nice and was talking to us about friends he had made in America and then he tried to basically marry me off to an Italian.. he kept saying “ahh an Americano or an Italiano?” and when I said no no, I don’t want to get married now, he would reply with “Ahhh, Mama Mia! Mama Mia! But you are so nice and pretty, an Italiano!?”  Haha.. we loved him because he was funny and got us right to the ruins of Pompeii!  Pompeii was a city built close to Mount Vesivious, and when it erupted over 2000 years ago, the whole city was destroyed.. and about 300 years ago, they discovered Pompeii under all the ashes and lava from the eruption, and started to clear it.. it’s hard to describe Pompeii, but it was amazing, it’s the only part that hasn’t been rebuilt over.. and its just the ruins of the city.. there were houses and shops and you could see the baths and toilets and countertops in some places.. even some of the artwork wasn’t completely destroyed and you could still see it.  Me and my roommates walked around that place for atleast 2 hours and for sure did not see even half of it!  But, it was extremely hot and dusty because all the roads in were dirt and stone, so we decided to make our way to the exit.  Since I cant describe Pompeii that well, you should google it and you will most likely find pictures and sites on the ruins of Pompeii and will understand what I’m talking about! Haha

 

After Pompeii we decided to take the train to Sorrento, a small town about 45 minutes away from Pompeii, so we didn’t have to go back to Naples.. and this was a great idea!  We got to Sorrento and the first thing we did was find somewhere to eat because we were all really hungry!  Sorrento was such a cute, quaint town lined with shops and cafés and we were excited to explore after eating.  So, we found this pizzeria (surprised?) and had some pizza and gelato.. which took up some time since shops close from about noon to 4 or 5.. so by the time we were done most of the shops were opening and so we walked around and shopped!  We left Sorrento around 6:30 and headed back to Naples, to spend the night on the ship.  Thankfully, we found our way back pretty well and made it right back to the ship without any hassle.. just trash!

 

The second day in Naples (Sunday/Zander’s Birthdayy!!) was by far the best day I have had thus far in port!  I went on an SAS trip to Capri and Anacapri and absolutely loved it!!  We first went by Hydrofoil ( a really big, fast boat) from Naples to Capri, which was fun but I fell asleep on it.. once we got to Capri we took a “minibus” up to the village of Anacapri.. the whole island is built vertically so to get to Anacapri, it’s a long journey up.. and it’s a bit scary because the bus went fast and almost ran into other buses and cars a lot… but we got up to Anacapri safely and had wonderful views of the village below and the water all around the island. The next part was my favorite.. we took a chair lift up the rest of the mountain to the way top!!!! it was a 13 minute ride up to the top, and the views were incredible the whole way! After the chair lift, we went to lunch in the village of Capri and then walked around Capri for awhile.  After walking around our tour guide arranged a tour around the island on a boat, and that was so much fun! I got some amazing pictures and got to see the blue water really close up!  After the boat tour, it was time to go back to naples to board the ship and get ready to leave!

 

When we got back onto the ship, we were having a 4^th of July cookout (even though it is the 5^th!) so I went to that for dinner!  At 8:00 we pulled out of the harbor and are now going to be traveling for the next day until we get to Croatia on Tuesday!!! I can’t wait for Croatia, beautiful beaches are going to be a great way to relax from these last 2 ports which were exhausting! 

 

Classes tomorrow so I should finish up my homework and head to bed!

 

Happy 4^th and happy birthday to my nephew Zander!!!!

ITALY - PART 1

Part 1 of our Italy trip is over!  Civitavecchia, Italy was our port for our first 3 days in Italy!  Civitavecchia, pronounced CHA-Vi-Ta-VeKK-E-aa.. yeah its hard to say.. was really nice and only about an hour away from Rome on the train. 

 

The first day in Civitavecchia I went out and explored for awhile with a group of friends.. we walked around and found a huuuge market and spent some time there shopping and then went to a small cafe.  We walked around until about 12 and went back to the boat because some of the girls I was with had a trip with SAS at 1.. so we ate lunch on the boat (which saves a lot of money!) and then I met my roommate when she got back from a trip and we explored the city a little more.  We actually found a beach really close to the gate of our port so we went back to the boat, put on our suits and headed back to the beach!!

 

The second day in Civitavecchia, I had a trip with SAS to the Santa Severa Castle which was about 30 minutes away from the ship.. unfortunately, nobody informed us that the castle would be closed and we could only go to the museum of the castle.. so it was disappointing.  But the town we were in was all beach, so i spent the day walking around the beach and eating lunch, of course pizza!!  After coming back from the trip, I met up with some other friends and went out for dinner to this amazing Pizzeria where you can get 5 sections of different toppings on your pizza, and it was DELICIOUS!!!! After dinner, which is really late in Italy so we were done around 9, we walked around the town for awhile!  Civitavecchia was a really safe and small town.. and now that I am in Naples, I miss it!!

 

The third day was my favorite because my roommate, friend and I went into ROME!!!  Rome was amazing and hot!! Well, all of Italy has been hot but Rome seemed like it was the hottest!  When we got into Rome, we went straight to the Vatican since that would take up a lot of our time.  Going through the Vatican was awesome.. it is huuge and every single inch of that place is either painted, carved, or decorated! It was really pretty and at the end of our trip through seeing all the different rooms and statues and paintings and everything we went through Sestien Chapel (sp?) which was also really increadible.  You're not supposed to talk or take any pictures, but everybody was until they yelled over the loudspeaker at everyone. But I got some good pictures and a video of it to show everyone!  After we were done at the Vatican, we took the Metro to the Colleseum, which was also extremely hot and huge and amazing!  One of the coolest things about the colleseum was that I ran into about 4 boys from OSU while walking around the second level!  This group walked past me and two of them were wearing O. State gear, so I asked them,  and sure enough they go to OSU and are studying abroad outside of Paris and were in Rome for the weekend! Crazzy!  After the Colleseum, we went to this little restaruant that had delicious pizza, of course and then we got Gelato, which is soo good and regular ice cream will never ever compare!

 

So, so far Italy is great, I'm not sure if I like it as much as I did Spain.. but it is pretty amazing and I love the fact that they, like the Spaniards, close down the city from about noon to 4pm, so everyone can have a big lunch and take their Siesta.. then the shops re-open until about 7!  It's soo weird, but kind of cool when nothing but the places to eat are open for 4 hours because they devote so much time to eating with family/friends and taking your afternoon nap! nothing like america, thats for sure!

 

After the third day, which I spent in Rome, our boat set sail overnight to get to Naples, where we are spending our last 2 days in Italy!  I feel like I am missing things from our first port in Italy, so I will update if I remember, and I will write about Naples later, even though I've already been here for a day!!

 

OOH, happy 4th of July!  It's so weird.. I didnt even realize it was the fourth until someone said something about it!  I never even know what day of the week it is, let alone the date! So, I hope everyone saw fireworks.. I did not :(

 

Check back tomorrow (Sunday).. I will be updating when we leave Italy for Croatia!!

=)