Second 7 Day Cruise!!!!

Copenhagen
Dani, Jess and I headed off in Copenhagen, our mission was Christiania. When we reached a small square, we stopped to double check our map and find an exchange place for Dani. Jess and I were contemplating where to go when we looked up, and saw a strange man shaking Dani’s hand. He had been standing near us for a while until he finally spoke. He mumbled, clearly under the influence of something, talking about how he was from Australia and asking if we knew where we were. We politely said we knew and he started talking about the “hippest bar in town” and that we should go there. He slurred out something like “I don’t call it ‘prostitution’ I term it boom boom.” We told him to have a nice day and walked away, not sure if he thought we were prostitutes or he was suggesting we could get that job. LOL.
After a bit of walking, we finally reached Christiania. We walked thru the market, and I bought a pair of wool socks from Afghanistan and a scarf. We walked past hash stands, the presentation of drugs was even more open here than in Amsterdam. We stopped at a food stand and ordered lunch. I asked for the bread and cheese, thinking it would be a grilled cheese, but it was quite literally just bread and cheese! It was still good though; they provided some yummy strawberry jam. There were these crazy birds that flew so low and so close to us, we felt their wings brush our skin as they zipped by. I think they were under the influence of something too!
As we ate on the benches, we were visited by the cutest little puppy. He hopped up on the seat like he belonged there too! He was very polite as he begged, we hand fed him and he was a gentleman, taking the food with great caution so he wouldn’t accidently bite us. We laughed as he tried Jessica’s raspberry jam and made a sour face, he clearly didn’t like that! He didn’t touch the lettuce we gave him, he only wanted the eggs and ham from Dani’s scrambled eggs. Eventually, he hopped up onto the table and began licking her plate, finishing her meal for her. The best part was when he looked her in the eyes and snatched her unopened plastic butter tub, jumping off the table and running away before any of us could react. It was so unexpected; we couldn’t stop laughing!
The hippy town was an awesome place to spend our Sunday evening. Although it rained and even hailed a bit, it was a nice day to be out and enjoying the company of friends. We took the train back so we could have time to souvenir shop in the port before getting back on the ship. At the train stop we found a small grocery mart, much like a mini Sams. I bought a chocolate ice cream bar for 4.50 kroner, less than a dollar, and Dani stocked up on wine and candies. In the port Jess and I bought our magnets (we have one from each country), then got back on the ship. :D

Estonia
After boat drill, Holly, Joel, Jess and I headed off in Tallinn, Estonia. We made a few stops in the little market near the pier. Holly bought her sheep booties, made with real wool! We all bought lots of delicious chocolate from the famous chocolate truck we had heard so much about. Then us girls sat on the Wishing Bench, closed our eyes, and made a wish. The legendary bench came from the ocean floor of the Baltic Sea.
Once we had walked into the city, we headed to Molly Malone’s, an Irish pub Joel raved about. I ordered a nice mozzarella, lettuce, and basil sandwich. The internet was great, so I was able to send a few emails and search the web for various things. It was a nice day to just relax and de-stress.
Tonight is our cast dinner in the dining room, to celebrate the end of the contract. It has been a struggle for us all to get here, and we’ve lost a very special person along the way. But we will use the dinner to reminisce on the good memories throughout our time together, and to chatter excitedly about what’s next to come. Most of the cast will be doing other contracts; I’m the only one that didn’t request something. Although I’m not as close to this cast as I was with my last, I wish them all the best with their futures and we will be keeping in touch via Facebook. :D

Russia
After a chaotic morning of organizing tickets for the evening ballet, Jess and I headed off. We only had a few hours before we needed to catch the shuttle back, but that was ok because it was freezing! We wandered for a bit, and stepped into a Chinese buffet place, partially to get some warmth and partially to look at the menu. Theiri door was labeled “we speak English, a little”! Lol. The buffet didn’t look too good so we headed out into the cold again. Next, we came across a nice Italian restaurant that accepted euros as well as roubles, so we stayed here. We had really good thin crust, four-cheese pizza and used their internet for a bit. After our lunch, we walked the streets to get our bearings even though the wind was frigid. We happened across a random coffee place, it was so difficult to find a café that provided coffee. I was surprised because everywhere we had been in Europe had a coffee joint on every corner, but here it seemed rare. We had to literally walk in rubble and construction to get into the place! We ordered our coffee to go and headed back to the shuttle because the wind was too bitter to deal with any longer. Back on the ship, we excitedly prepared for the ballet!
The group consisted of De-Rock, Dani, Michelle, Jess, Philip, me and Holly. It was a great group! On the bus ride to the theater, we tried to remember the Swan Lake story because there are so many versions, like the animated film or the newest movie that just came out “The Black Swan” with Natalie Portman, one of my favorite actresses. We all laughed when I asked, “Is there a donkey in this one?” and then realized I had confused Swan Lake with A Midsummer Nights Dream! After sitting in traffic for the longest time, we finally made it to the theatre. It was not as glamorous as I thought it would be, it looked more like a convention center. I was expecting a palace! We hurried to our seats, and the ballet began soon after. I recognized the music instantly, and even knew some of the variations in the ballet, having learnt them in my years of ballet classes. I was really surprised and amused by one of the musicians, who was texting on her phone rather than playing her instrument during the show. At one point, she put her violin ON THE STAGE and showed a funny text to a musician behind her, who laughed too! It wasn’t like they were hidden away in the pit, like our musicians on the Vision; they were at the same level as the audience. We could see everything they were doing. I wish they had a pit that went down though, because my seat was right behind the conductor, so he blocked my view for some of the dancing. I wonder if this isn’t where the dancers normally perform, if this was just a show for the cruise ships so they brought the ballet here.
At intermission, we toasted the group and the end of the contract, and being at the Russian Ballet in Russia, with the free sparkling wine they provided. A poor server popped a bottle and the cork ricocheted out, hit the ceiling and hit her in the head. She was standing behind us and we saw her face- from the initial pop it looked like she was having a heart attack of fright, then she looked shell shocked from the explosion, then pain when the cork hit her, then embarrassment from the entire episode. :(
We were having such a good time, chit chatting and laughing, until one of the tour guides came over and told us the second half had already started! We had been waiting for an announcement, or for the flashing lights, like all the theatres I’ve been to in America. I felt so bad climbing over the people in my row to get back to my seat! One of the ladies next to me tried to hold my dress down because it was getting all twisted around from being smooshed between chairs and people’s legs. Lol.
Although some of the ballerinas weren’t the best I had ever seen, I really enjoyed the show. The lead was solid in her movements; I miss that. I was very inspired by her. The boys weren’t very good at all, and I feel like this was the younger group from the company. I enjoyed looking for the dancers that gave me passion; that loved what they were doing and performed for us. The joker was really great at that!
When the ballet was over, we had a short question and answer session with two of the dancers. It was interesting because they needed translators to answer our questions. They travel all around Europe in part of their season, and stay in Russia for the rest. The girl had been dancing since she was 11. The guest who had held my dress down gasped when she heard this, thinking it was impressive. I thought to myself, if only she knew I started when I was 3!!!! Lol.
As they ushered us out and back to our buses, we realized that it was 10 minutes to 11:30, which is when our ship was scheduled to sail away! Because we paid for our tickets like the guests, we were on a special security list, or else we would be in big trouble for not being back at 10:30 for crew on board. We weren’t too worried because we knew they would hold the ship for the guests, but it was still a bit unnerving to think that we were so late!
I had another fabulous day in Russia and getting to listen to Tshiacheviosky’s elegant music where it all began, we such an amazing experience. It’s the Russian Ballet afterall; they are like Brazil in soccer or Canada in hockey. They own it!

Finland
Today I got off with Dani, Michelle, and Jess, a girls day out! We ate at Memphis again and I had my delicious sandwich! It was a nice lunch, using some internet to check mail and chatting like girls do. We intended to buy the rubber duck mascots as a souvenir, but the guy just chuckled when we asked and gave them to us. We stopped at a champagne bar; the girl asked if we were all over 20, HECK YES I AM!!!! That’s interesting that it’s 20 here, I thought everywhere in Europe was 18 or maybe 19, but I’ve never heard of 20 before. We toasted to us girls and the end of the contract. We had to squeeze into the little space; a table for two, it was pretty funny. After relaxing in the bar and people watching, we took the shuttle back and souvenir shopped for a bit in the port.

Sweden
Troy, one of our dancers, is throwing a baby fit. Last Rhythm and Rhyme he slid on his knee with a bit more force then he intended, and bruised his knee. He has been complaining about it since, making it a huge ordeal, which we’ve ignored because that’s his character. But its now gotten out of hand because he went to the doctor and we are now rebocking him out of the shows. For our LAST cruise. Unbelievable. The thing with ship doctors is that they cover their butts by ASKING if you can be fit for duty. When I went for a personal issue earlier in the contract, the doctor asked me if I could still work. I was caught off guard, thinking that was his job to determine if I am ok to work or not. Of course, I said I was perfectly fine and could dance, no troubles! But somebody like Troy can manipulate the situation and claim that he can’t work, which is what he is doing. The nerve of him to pull himself out of the shows for a bruise, acting it all up, pulling the same drama fest I used to see from kids all the time at my dance studio. This is a 40+-year-old man, a “professional dancer”. He is letting his team down and he completely ruined all our plans for the day. Most people didn’t get off today in Stockholm, because of the extra rehearsals. And he didn’t even show up for that, he was off wandering around the city! There are various theories as to why he is doing this. He wasn’t offered another contract with Royal and he isn’t getting a job as a choreographer with them, so maybe he is trying to get as much from the company as he can before he leaves. Or he is just pining for attention, like always. Connie has been like that too lately, calling herself fat and complaining of a “fever”. She was supposedly too sick to take a picture with the cast but could party at the Philippines karaoke party. I’m just over these fake people. I’m disgusted that they are needing all this attention, at the cost of everyone else. I’m so glad we have ONE WEEK LEFT! I’m trying to be positive but I’m still pretty frustrated!
Anyways, after rehearsal Jess and I ran off and caught the shuttle to the city. Unfortunately, there was so much traffic that the driver had to let us out about 10 minutes away from where we were supposed to be dropped off. We had originally planned on going to the ice bar, but there was no way we would have enough time, crew on board was in 2 and a half hours. We got our bearings of where we were, and where we needed to be to catch the shuttle back, and headed off to find a nice place to eat.
We looked at a few restaurants but couldn’t understand their menus and everything was expensive, so we asked for a 7-11, always reliable! I ordered a fabulous spicy pesto calzone, and “honey bun”, cinnamon roll. Europe’s 7-11s provide much better food than the ones back home BUT we have the slurpees! :D
Troy showed up to the second Boogie, and had the moxie to come backstage afterwards and congratulate us on a good show with the air of a guest who had come to visit his friends and see the show. I can’t wait to surround myself with real people again, people who are dedicated and hard working and love what they do. Artists who have real passion for what they do, and a WORK ETHIC. Growing up in a military style dance studio has pushed me to constantly demand better from myself, and I’m shocked when others around me don’t have the same drive. I guess it separates the meek from the bold, the weak from the strong. I know what side I’m on.