No No No NORWAY! I'm not leaving without the Fjords!!!! :D

On the 29th of April, we were docked in Southampton, England. Jess, Pedro, Sean and I took an adorable mini taxi, with seats facing two directions, so the boys were turned in towards us and driving backwards. I noticed of course that the driver was on the opposite side of the car! We headed into the city center, where a large castle-like structure sat in the middle of all the shops. It turned out to hold art of various rock stars in the upper floor.
There was also a small carousel ride, randomly plotted in the street. I found the circular red poles that are the British postboxes and a “TK-Maxx”, which because J comes before K in the alphabet, America must have had this store first! I saw a blue double-decker bus, not quite the red ones that I fantasize about riding in London, but definitely still British in my eyes. I took a fast snapshot of a dancing man in a chicken suit, advertising for KFC.
We decided to make a few stops for shopping in the indoor/outdoor mall and get some internet. Jess and I hopped into Boots, a Walmart-style store where I could get some make up I desperately needed. Then we went into PriMark, my now favorite store in the entire world, even over the European chains Bershka or Desigual! We met up with the boys in a coffee shop, where I had the loudest bathroom experience of my life. It sounded like every appliance was on and every pipe was having threatening to explode from pressure.
Our group met up with Dave and Michelle, and Danielle with her family, who were spending the day in a pub to watch the wedding. A pub is very English, for an English breakfast or a pint. We decided we wanted to head to the Royal Wedding Street Party, to catch some of the broadcasted event. There were plenty of British party commodities being sold on the street, like hats and flags with the Royal couples’ picture in the center. We joined the commotion just in time, the Royal family stepped onto the balcony to greet the public, and the newlyweds even shared a few kisses! :D
This poor little girl who was in the ceremony, I’m assuming a flower girl, looked so grumpy as she sunk on the balcony and smushed up her face with fists. I joked that she will regret that image the world now saw when she gets older. It was funny because the commentator for the broadcast announced “and the Queen has decided that it is time to conclude the balcony ceremony” as the Queen just turned and walked back inside. He was so prim and proper with this statement, so British.
We bought some lunch from a quick-y-mart and ate it outside in a park. It was the perfect day for a picnic. I had an onion and cheese baguette, with onion and cheese chips for a side! LOL. I was talking about the souvenirs I had been hoping to find in this port (the typical “London/ England souvenirs) were unlikely to be here because it’s more of a local area. That was when Jessica offered the best thing of all to me, coming to England with her after the end of the contract! At first I didn’t think she was serious, but then she explained that flights are so cheap to get around Europe once you’re already there, so it would be easy to get from Copenhagen to London. I couldn’t let such an opportunity pass me by! Sean and I immediately began looking for flights and I spoke with my parents, who encouraged me to go!!! So I won’t be back home in Colorado until June 9th, after I spend 10 days vacation in England. We are doing two days in London, where I can most certainly buy my souvenirs!!! We are seeing a West End performance of Jersey Boys, which I’m sure will inspire me and get me into the musical theatre mode for Chicago. It will be a dream come true to finally be in the incredible London atmosphere!!!! And hopefully, when I get home, I will get a chance to visit New York too! Two in one year, I would be the luckiest girl in the world!!!!


Amsterdam overnight
Our next port was Amsterdam, where we were having an overnight for Queen’s Day, their biggest celebration. Amsterdam is already a crazy place; just try to imagine it filled with thousands of partying people! The number of people that come for this celebration is said to be similar to the crowds in Rio for Carnaval! It was madness! Everyone was wearing the Royal Family’s color orange, and there were party boats cruising along the canals, music blasting from every bar and club, and lots of great food to snack on! We had some delicious pizza slices that were grilled right in front of us. We wandered the streets, not having a real purpose or direction, just sightseeing and people watching. It was nice to have a port that I had been to, especially because I went to Amsterdam quite a few times last year, so I knew the city and where to go.
In the middle of the city, there was a giant carnival set up, with a ferris wheel and other fun rides high above us. All around us were shops, some less tame than others. At one store, there was a display of artistically decorated “plastic wraps”. We knew which “coffee shops” to avoid but I didn’t even dare ordering a coffee from anywhere, just to be on the safe side! Between all the interesting costumes people styled and the festive gadgets being sold, it was hard to know where to look or go next! I made sure we stopped and got some local cuisine, French Fries in a cone with mayonnaise for dipping. We also had the most amazing chocolate covered waffles!
Unfortunately, Jess and I had to run back to the ship to do not one but TWO shows of Rhythm and Rhyme because our cruise director didn’t really think everything through. Half the ship was doing a booze cruise, but most everyone would be off enjoying the festivities. So our first show had barely 20 people, completely pointless. After the shows, we quickly showered and ran off again, to catch the very end of the party. The Queen’s day celebration actually starts a few days prior, and then this day wraps it all up.
I bought a tasty chocolate cake from a small diner. The guy didn’t give me a fork and when I asked for one he said, “You want just a fork?” I nodded, and he gave me a fork but took away my cake! He continued to mess with me by giving me back my cake but taking the fork. Finally, he let me have both. We stopped at one of the only restaurants open, their owners most likely running around the streets drunk somewhere, and ordered pizza and some wine. Our waiter purposely whistled as he talked to amuse us, which was funny at first, but after the hundredth time it just became really annoying. Exhausted from the excitement of the long day, we went back to the ship and passed out.
After a wonderful lie in, we headed off again to explore Amsterdam on a normal day. The streets were rather clean, which was incredibly impressive considering how trashed they were the previous night. I took our group to the café I had eaten at last year, so we could have some famous Dutch pancakes. Sean and I split a fabulous strawberry pancake and Jess had an apple one.
We found vending machines that distribute hamburgers; that’s so much worse than McDonald’s!!!!! YUCK!!!! We saw Anne Frank’s house and the floating flower market. We made a few stops to test scrumptious cheese samples. Our final stop was in an ice cream shop, where we tried various flavors; Jess had the orange basil, Sean had something fruity, and I, of course, had chocolate. Ice cream is always the best way to end the day.

Ciao Brazil, Bonjour Europe!!!!

So it’s time to say goodbye to Brazil. I’ve really enjoyed my time here again; I experienced a lot of amazing things and saw even more wonderful places that Brazil has to offer. There were some rough patches and we are all excited to get up to Europe, but I am very happy that I returned to my second home with these crazy Brazilians! :D

For our last Ilha Grande, a group of us rented a speed boat to drive us to the Blue Lagoon on the other side of the island. We also rented snorkeling gear, and spent almost two hours swimming with the fishies and exploring the coast. Again, I felt just like Ariel, I even got closer to touching a fish! Pedro showed me coral that reacted to sound, if you snapped underwater they closed. We also discovered these weird looking fish that almost resembled squid and that changed colors to camouflage with their surroundings. Yuri found a giant starfish that we passed around and studied. It was bigger than my head!!!! I have absolutely fallen in love with these water activities. I have every intention of becoming scuba certified. I get anxious because the ocean is so massive and now that I’ve literally crossed the trans-atlantic, this is ever more real to me. I have the odd fascination with sharks and a desire to see them in the wild. BUT, not while I’m swimming! So, scuba diving is definitely a rollercoaster of emotions!

The morning of our last Buzios, Yuri led our group to the Turtle beach where we rented kayaks and worked our way around the coast of the island. It wasn’t until we rounded the bend in our kayaks and saw our ship that we realized just how far we had walked! We had tendered at the opposite side of the island! After enjoying the beach for a while, we headed back into the city. The others had to get back to the ship to work so Duncan and I headed to Mr. Brad’s Mexican Restaurant for some internet and good food. Then we hit the streets to shop for last minute souvenirs (mostly for him because I got mine last year! I did pick up another pair of shoes though… ;)

We treated Salvador as our last chance to pick up our souvenirs. I accumulated some more hand made jewelry and a cute blanket. Yuri helped me barter down the price for the throw, I’m such a sucker when it comes to that! After our final sail away from Salvador, we had officially started our crossing to Europe. These past sea days I’ve enjoyed the time off; sleeping in and reading a lot. I’ve kept active in the gym though, usually about two hours with Jessica. Then we watch the guest entertainers that were hired specifically for the crossing. There have been the good, the bad, and the TERRIBLE. Bottom of the list was no doubt Helvis, the Brazilian Elvis. My favorite is of course the Celine Dion impersonator, Tracy Shields, who performed last year too.

Jade, my G1 from last contract, has returned to the Vision. Only this time, she’s a guest entertainer! She booked an agent last year for her variety show she was performing during long voyages. Her and her husband have been taking their show all around the cruise ship world, from Norwegian Cruise Lines to Princess, and she is making her debut performance on Royal tomorrow. It’s been so nice to see them again and hear about their success.

Jessica and I both received VIC WOW cards for being “Very Important Crewmembers” and delivering the “WOW” for the ship. Pedro had given her one for helping at the rock wall and Wesley awarded me one as a thank you for taking on the role of G1 for two months. When someone receives a VIC card they get to choose from a list of special privileges. We chose room service and have greatly enjoyed that present for the first seven days of the crossing :D Now I can’t wait for real food back home, some Chipotle is calling my name!!!!

More to come after my first few ports in Europe!!! Love to all!!!!