Catch Up Game :)

I forgot to write in a blurb about my zoo trip in Stockholm, Sweden, so I’m going to do it now! Erin, Brit and I took the bus and walked around the giant park. Not only was this a zoo for animals, they also had an exhibit with historical farmland and towns from Sweden’s colonial age. We were able to pet reindeer and see baby panthers run and play in the grass.

July 20^th was our last time in Copenhagen, Denmark. Erin and I bought train tickets to make our way into the city and to the world famous, Tivoli Gardens! Walt Disney based the design of Disneyland on this park. There was even a ride similar to It’s A Small World, but much creepier, if you can imagine! The stories portrayed in this ride were all from Hans Christian Anderson, author of Snow White, The Little Mermaid and many other stories I remembered from my childhood. We rode on a few awesome roller coasters and had a lot of laughs in a shooting game (like the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disney). We finished our perfect day with delicious treats on a stick, dipped in chocolate.

July 24^th we sailed into a new port for me, Skjolden, Norway. On my last contract, Norway was one of my top favorites, with the beautiful mountains and gorgeous lakes in the fjords. Skjolden was no disappointment! Freddie, Erin, Brit and I went off together to wander. We walked around the picturesque lake towards a small waterfall cascading down the mountain.

Our day in Dublin on July 29^th was a lot of fun! We toured around the city, stopping in several shops and pubs to enjoy Ireland the way the locals do. I happened upon the same store I bought my claddagh ring 2 years ago! I loved having the chance to return to one of my favorite cities! We also ported in Amsterdam four times in August, and I was so grateful to be back! I was able to get those amazing Dutch pancakes again, and I did some shopping in one of my fav shops, Bershka.

Since we had a lot of overnights in St. Petersburg, Russia, I was finally able to visit the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered. In 1916, a group of the city’s social elite conspired to assassinate Grigory Rasputin, a self proclaimed holy man who won favor with the Tzar thru his “supernatural powers”. He developed quite a lot of power and control over the Tzar family, which threatened the empire. This visit completed everything in St. Petersburg that I wanted to see of Disney’s tale of Anastasia! 

Sachsenhausen Tour

Hello fam and friends, I’m back online for another update! :) I’m picking up where I left you last, in July just after my parents flew home. July 13^th we docked for the last time in Warnemunde, Germany. I signed up for a tour to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was opened in 1936 til the end of the Third Reich in May 1945. The camp was made for 10,000 prisoners, but in the end it held 40,000.  Our tour guide began by talking about November 8^th, 1923, when Hitler attempted his first takeover.  She told us how Hitler was arrested and wrote a book while in jail, about his plans if he had power. It’s called Mein Kampf and it was given to every newlywed couple, making it one of the most widely distributed books of the time, occupying nearly every household.

The sign on the way into the camp translated to “work makes you free”, a cynical statement clearly emphasizing the ruthless behavior of these officers of the Schutzstaffel (also known as the Protection Squadron or the SS, it was an organization of  soldiers providing security for the Nazi party). These officials had wives and families that lived on the very same land as the concentration camp. In fact, Hitler had a club for children, brainwashing began as young as 10 years old and was advertised as an exclusive honor. Our tour guide showed us the Green Monster, a large building in the middle of the land used for officer’s meals, as their casino, and for their glamorous parties. Prisoners brought to the camp were forced to work there, serving their captures.  

Jewish prisoners were not allowed to go to the hospital, and the mentally challenged were kept there for medical experiments. We walked along the border of the camp, near the barbed wire fences and beneath the guard posts. There was a path separating the fence from the grass, called the neutral zone, where they would shoot with no warning. One guard threw a prisoner’s hat into the neutral zone and demanded he go get it, he was the first prisoner shot. The barracks were originally made for 150 prisoners, but by the end it held 400, with only eight toilets open for one hour in the morning, one hour at night.

Musicians were allowed their instruments, however, the officers stole several personal artifacts of the prisoners. They were allowed to write home every 3^rd month, but only in German. There was a prison inside the camp for politicians and intellectuals to keep an uprising from happening amongst the prisoners. Some people who tried to assassinate Hitler were brought to this prison, including the man who planted a bomb at a restaurant November 8^th. Hitler left 13 minutes earlier then planned so he survived this attempt. The bomber was kept alive in prison for a show trial set for after the war ended.

Next to the prison were posts to hand people by their arms; they would suffocate just like Jesus when he was crucified. There was a shoe-testing track around the middle of the camp. It was a 40km walk or run around the entirety. The people forced to have this job were hand picked by the Sturmabteilung (or the SA, the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi party), usually intellectuals to break down their integrity. Since there was a lack in leather, the Nazi’s needed to test other material for the soles of their shoes.  The prisoners had to do certain activities like an army chant while running with rucks over various surfaces and in all kinds of weather.

The Jewish prisoners were forced to make counterfeit pounds and dollars to destroy the enemies’ economy. These workers were top secret and were killed before the camp was closed. Upon entering the camp you received your scrap of clothing with a colored triangle to identify your crime. Red triangles were for the communists; the homosexuals wore pink.

The general idea of the camp was “work until you die”, but often times officers would issue a massacre. A man named Rockoff ordered 800 men to stand outside in the bitter February weather, while he watched from the comforts of the Green Monster. 150 people died that day. There were “cultural events” where the gallows were placed right next to the Christmas tree and public executions occurred. Jehovah’s witnesses were shot on after another for being passive in the war industry.

We moved on to the execution trenches and the neck shot facilities, where soldiers would point a gun thru a hold in the wall to shoot people thru the neck. They never even had to look at the people they were killing, to look them in the eye and see their terror. 10,000 Soviet POWs were killed from these facilities. This was the point I could no longer hold back my tears. There were pictures of people who were killed here, some my age or younger. Their ashes are still there; I was walking amongst the graves of so these people. I believe everyone needs to visit somewhere like this. I think it is important for people to feel the pain I felt just hearing the stories, and seeing the faces of the victims. 

Concentration camps were actually not a German idea. There were similar camps in Cuba and South America back in the 1900’s. This camps’ crematory was built for 400 people a day, compared to Auschwitz where 5,000 bodies were burnt a day, with industrial lifts to bring corpses from the gas chambers to be burned. The Death camps were in Poland to not “taint” Germany. In 1941, 15 men talked for 90 minutes about how to kill 11 million people.

And still to this day we have neo-Nazis all around us. In 1992, two men snuck in and burnt the Jewish museum down. There are still people who deny this genocide ever happened, HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?! Even though my tour thru this concentration camp was several months ago, I can still picture is so clearly and I can remember how strange I felt. It was eerie; but it was a feeling like this can’t be real. This was surely a set for a horror movie, it never actually happened. It hurt my heart to think how these innocent people were tortured and murdered, and so many monsters helped first hand, or witnessed it all but ignored it.  Our tour guide told us it was not healthy to understand this.

On our way out of the camp and into Berlin, she spoke about the Crystal Night, a series of coordinated attacks again Jewish citizens of Nazi Germany and parts of Austria following the assassination of a German diplomat by a German-born Polish Jew. The SA militant and non-Jewish civilians carried out the attack, while German authorities looked on without intervening. At least 91 Jews were killed in these attacks, 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Homes and schools were broken into, ransacked, and then demolished. Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed and more than 1,000 synagogues were burned in retaliation. She also talked about the Iron Curtain; the most notable borders marked by the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. The wall stood for 28 years.

After this life-changing tour, we got to see the new Germany, a world that will hopefully never repeat the devastating and unforgivable tragedies of the past. I actually really enjoy the bustling city of Berlin; it has hidden beauties that flourish amid the sorrow. The food is just one great example! We stopped at an adorable restaurant beneath the subway called Brauhaus Lemke. I ate a DELICIOUS veggie meal of potatoes, broccoli, cheese and some sort of sauce, followed by apple streusel with vanilla ice cream. My mouth is watering just remembering it!!! Back on the bus we saw a “running pub” which is a paddling bike you drink beer on!!!! What a great way to see the city while drinking with all your friends! Not to mention the exercise ;) We passed the Jewish quarter and the museums were stunning, I definitely want to come back to explore that area! 

The Doherty's Come To Cruise!!!!!

Alright I’ve gotten way, WAY behind on my blogging so let’s rewind back to June, when my family came to cruise! June 30^th we were docked in Copenhagen, Denmark. I met up with Sean early in the morning and we enjoyed “brother-sister catch up time” while waiting for the rents to arrive. I got a little stressed when I still hadn’t seen ma and pa by boat drill but we finally sorted everything out and they were safely on the ship. I really needed a visit from my family to not only reground myself in what’s most important in life, but to also discuss my future plans with them and get vital feedback from the people I love.

The next day was a sea day, and my first production show. The family watched tech rehearsal and both shows of In Concert. I have a pointe solo in this show and I think mom really enjoyed watching me dance pointe again. I also knew she would love The Prayer being sung by Justin and Christy, since that song is very nostalgic for us.

July 2^nd was Tallinn, Estonia. We walked around this medieval town, enjoyed some cinnamon and honey beer from an old tavern, and munched on delicious cinnamon-sugar covered almonds. It was a beautiful day so we hiked the hill to St. Mary’s Cathedral. We made the exhausting climb up the spiral staircase to the bell tower and enjoyed the view of the city and the ocean port below us.

Our next port was St. Petersburg, Russia. Although I have visited the palaces and churches of this city several times, I was really looking forward to going here with my family. I wanted to see their reactions to the lavish homes of the czars and the beautiful cathedrals. Our tour guide, Eva, was incredible. I learned a lot from our 2-day private tour and I apologize if random facts aren’t your cup of tea, but they most certainly are mine :)

-Catherine the Great allowed noblewoman to learn things other than music or dance.

-Peter was greatly inspired by his trip to Amsterdam, so he installed the canals throughout the city. It was not a success because Russia’s winter can be from October to April!!!!

-There were several Egyptian sculptures, originally stolen by Napoleon in his raids, placed along the canals. It reminded me so much of London. :)

-The “white nights of summer” means it is only dark from midnight-4am. In the “dark nights of winter”, Russia sees sunlight for only 7 hours and it’s usually during their work hours so they will not get to enjoy it.

-The Chamber of Curiosity holds Peter’s museum from his tours of Europe and gifts from ambassadors around the world.

-The Hermitage used to be the main winter palace for the royals and it is HUGE!!! It is 5 buildings!!!! I think this was Sean’s favorite stop in our tour.

-I always thought Catherine the Great was Peter the Great’s wife but she actually married his great grandson; so I had my generations a bit mixed up! LOL.

-St. Isaac’s Cathedral still has traces from WW2 that will not be fixed in order to remember how terribly the city was affected.

-We saw the Church of St. Nicolas, which I think was a new stop for me. St. Nicolas was a miracle worker and the protector of seaman and naval officers. Probably not a bad saint to have watching over me on this ship!

July 5^th was Helsinki, Finland. After such epic days in Russia, this was the perfect port to just wander around. We meandered thru the farmer’s market near the pier, and Sean and Dad had some of the local meat, while Mom and I enjoyed stealing the potatoes from their plates. I showed them the red church on the rock and the gorgeous white and green state building. Sean and I raced up the steps, Rocky style! We even found some tasty frozen yogurt to munch on.

Stockholm, Sweden, was our last port with Sean. We explored the Vasa museum before seeing him off to the train station. Mom and Dad and I just wandered around the city after that. We saw the Opera house, the state house, and the Noble Peace Prize museum. I also introduced them to delicious Swedish bakery treats :D

After a sea day full of eating, hanging out, and movies, we made it to Warnemunde, Germany. We had booked another tour with the Alla company into Berlin. We saw so many historical sites; Berlin is definitely a city you need weeks to explore fully. We began with the Wilhelm-Platz. Probably my favorite stop was at the Topography of Terrors. It was erie to walk along the Berlin wall and look at the pictures of the war, from start to end. But you can stand where the wall had been torn down, one foot in the “east”, one in the “west”, and look around at the city that is rebuilding itself.

We walked thru the Brandenburg gate where Ronald Regan made his famous speech to tear down the wall and unite the city. Our tour guide pointed our the statue at the top of the gate, saying it had been taken by Napoleon but when it was recovered, they placed it on the Brandenburg gate. I thought it was also interesting to see the infamous Aldon hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out for the screaming press below. We passed the Tiergarte, which is now a nice park for people to walk thru but it was one the hunting place of the princes and kings. We stood at the plaza where the book burning raids took place, and saw the parking lot that was once Hitler’s bunker. The restaurant we ate lunch across from the Jewish memorial site. The tribute was very simple, just different sized slabs spread out on the concrete. There was no significance in the number or size of these slabs but you could walk amongst them and it was a special sort of silence within the memorial.

Back on the ship, we enjoyed the German fest complete with German beer, potatoes, buttery pretzels, and wiener schnitzel (for Dad).

Our next port was Kiel, Germany. We had a wonderful day walking around the giant lake and looking at the city. I’m very lucky to have parents that I can do absolutely nothing with but we still have such a great time. I have the best family in the world :D 

Mediterranean Part 1

May 1^st we docked in Corfu, Greece. It was a tiny little port so Rachel, Erin and I got off together to walk around and have lunch. We walked up to a fort, than had a mini photo shoot in a beautiful garden. We had drinks by down by the water, which was almost turquoise and so clear. We attempted learning some Greek from our waiter but they definitely have a lot of words just for something simple like “Thank You!”. It sounded something like “escostose para polle.” I would still really enjoy learning Greek someday. :)

The next day was Katakolon, Greece. This was another small town so we mainly walked the streets looking at the trinkets offered in the shops. I bought 3 gorgeous paintings and we ate delicious tzatziki by the pier. I really love Greek food, lots of cheese and dairy products, which are my favorite food group, but WOW is it salty. That day was so hot and with the sodium intake we had at our meal, we swelled like puffer fish! I did not enjoy the coffee in Greece as much as I did in Italy. They add some sort of spice that does not agree with my palette. Also, the definition of Cappuccino seems to differ everywhere in Europe. Italy makes one similar to the way we make it in the states so that’s probably another reason I like Italian coffee more than Greece and even Spain. I enjoyed everything else I ordered though.

May 3^rd was Santorini, Greece; one of my top favorite places in the world now! Some of my cast members and I got up early to watch the sail into this beautiful port. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best for letting the sunshine on the town (according to my Officer friend Mark, who has sailed in hundreds of times and recommended watching it), but that’s ok, it was still magical. The white of the buildings in contrast with the hillside is stunning. And the view only gets better when your in town and see the brilliant blue rooftops….but I’m getting ahead of myself! Since this was a tender port, we had to wait a bit to get into a tiny boat and cruise over to the land. Once you’re in town, the only way up is the cable car, walking the steep hill, or riding the donkeys. And of course I came to Santorini to ride the donkeys; just like in the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which we watched the night before in preparation for the day!  Riding the donkeys was hilarious. They must have thought it was a race and they kept running into each other, or the walls, or people in order to get ahead. Once we finally reached the top, we took a moment to marvel at the amazing city all around us. Then we rented to ATVs and drove to Oia, the other side of the island. Don’t worry, I wore a helmet! Erin drove ours on the way there, and I drove us back. It was so much fun speeding around the mountain with the rest of the cast, weaving between people in the towns and watching the scenery fly by. When we made it to Oia, we stopped for a delicious meal (ie. more tzatziki and bread for me!) and wandered thru the shops. It was so peaceful on the mountain, looking out at the blue top buildings and the water below. I don’t even know the words to explain how happy I was. I felt like I belonged there, and did not want to leave. We saw the pier where Lena’s pants get caught and Kostos saves her from drowning (if you’ve seen the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). I would like to return to Santorini to learn how to paint….and meet Kostos. ;)

The next day was Kusadasi, Turkey. I had signed up for the crew tour to Ephesus. Erin and I headed off the ship and hit the Starbucks to get some coffee. The man labeled my coffee Senin (I guess that’s how they would phonetically spell my name!) After our delicious coffees we met the rest of the crew and boarded the bus for the drive to Ephesus. It was really cool to see the old pillars that once marked the city borders. Our tour guide showed us a stone that had one of the first backgammon games to ever exist, carved into it. We climbed the stones into the amphitheater and Buddy and I performed one of our lifts from the shows for pictures :) The detail they carved into the pillars, statues, and tables were beautiful. I found a stone with a medical symbol carved into it. The guide also showed us the angel statue that inspired the Nike symbol. We continued around the city, stopping at a row of ruins that used to be homes. The tile in front of the houses was well preserved and I was able to find a heart in one of the patterns. The main road ended at the library, which was probably one of my favorite buildings I’ve seen in Europe. After wandering thru and marveling at the ancient carvings, we headed toward the giant amphitheater. Erin read some chapters from the bible that were regarding Ephesus. Someday I would love to do a biblical tour of the world, I hope the Middle East can find peace.

May 5^th-6^th was our overnight in Piraeus/Athens. I was actually feeling weirdly sick on the 5^th so I slept all day rather than trying to go out. I think I was very dehydrated from doing 3 Nightlife’s in a row the night before and the exhaustion caught up with me that next morning. Sleeping helped me feel back to normal so around 6:30, I went off with Fraser, Rachel, Erin, and some of our Engineer and Officer friends for dinner. We stopped at a little Italian restaurant by the water and I enjoyed some gnocchi, although it was not nearly as good as the gnocchi I had in Italy, but duh. After dinner we hit the clubs for some dancing with the locals. Since it was a Sunday, it wasn’t the craziest nightlife but we all had a good time.

The next day we woke up early to catch the train and head to Athens. Our goal was the Acropolis, and I played the soundtrack from Hercules to put us in the right mood. Random memory, Hercules was the first movie I remember seeing in theaters; I saw it with Aunt Kathleen and I loved it. Anyways,  16 years later, I’m in Athens in the temples of the Greek Gods and Goddesses I was instantly fascinated by. Athens was named after Athena, goddess of wisdom. We saw the Parthenon, the white marble temple dedicated to Athena. It had once been magnificent, with decorations of the Trojan Wars and the mythological beasts and centaurs. The pediments had the scenes of Athena’s birth in the presence of the other Gods, and her contest with Poseidon for Athens. We also saw the Erechtheion, which was erected in 420BC! We took pictures of us ladies in front of the famous Caryatids, the six stone figures of maidens used as pillars to support the roof of the structure.  The cella (inner part of an ancient temple) was divided into two parts, one for those who worshipped Athena, and the other for Poseidon’s followers. It makes me wonder if their sharing of the space was a peaceful event.

We took some time to enjoy the view above the glorious amphitheater. I saw the remains of Zeus’ temple from a distance. It was unfortunate that there was so much construction throughout the Acropolis but I tried to understand. I’m very appreciative that the city is working hard to preserve the phenomenal history of the Greeks. I can’t imagine a world without the relics of our past surrounding us, reminding us where we came from and how much we have yet to grow.

We docked in Messina, Italy on May 8^th.  Brit, Erin and I hired a taxi driver to take us to Taormina. He first drove us around Messina for a city tour. He showed us how the city had to rebuild itself after an enormous earthquake. The old city was beneath all the new highways and roads. He explained they now have a building restriction for structure height because the last earthquake was so destructive, and they seem to have them quite often. 

The drive to Taormina reminded me a lot of the Pacific Coast Highway, and I thoroughly enjoyed behaving like a dog with my head sticking out the window and loving the breeze :) Once we got uphill into the town, our driver dropped us off with directions on where to go and what to see. We had several hours before we were to meet back with him so wandered around looking at the shops and the church. We headed to the amphitheater, which was not nearly as impressive as the Acropolis, but it was still interesting to see. The structure was made of red stone brick rather than the white marble and stone used in Greece. There was a wonderful view of the city and the ocean from the amphitheater.

After we found some fun crevices and holes to take pictures in, we worked our way back into the heart of the town for some pizza. We found this fantastic place that had a balcony so we could eat and look out onto the ocean.  I needed to use the restroom before the long drive back to the ship, so we stopped in a Gelateria. I was too stuffed for Gelato (WHAT!? I KNOW!) but I forced myself to eat a Canoli. AMAZING. Brit tried the Granite, frozen coffee they usually have in the morning. I sampled a bit of the slurpee like coffee and it was pretty good. Our taxi driver stopped along the way to show us the best view from the hillside. It was absolutely stunning. I had a wonderful day with my girls.

We docked in Naples, Italy the next day. I was doing the crew tour to Pompeii but it wasn’t until a little later so Erin, Ann, Megs, Brit and I headed out into the city. We were on a mission for pizza. Not just ANY pizza though. We were headed to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, the world famous pizza place as seen in Eat, Pray, Love. There were pictures of Julia with the pizza staff, and of her eating the pizza. The movie was not lying people; this was the best pizza I’ve ever had. It was perfectly cooked in open fire, brick oven. I’m learning that if it’s made the traditional way, it’s sooooo much better. I guess I will need a gigantic red brick oven in my house so my husband can make pizzas for me. :D And the sauce, cheese and oil just melted in my mouth. I am not ashamed to say that I ate an entire pizza myself.  With a stuffed tummy and a happy heart, I headed back to meet up with the crew tour. Pompeii was incredibly sad and eerie to walk thru. Our tour guide showed us the hot and cold saunas, the whorehouses, and the market. I learned that Mount Vesuvius, the volcano responsible for the tragedy, has erupted more than 50 times! Over two thousand people died and the city was abandoned. It was rediscovered in 1748. It was weird how intact Pompeii was, as if nothing happened. But then you walk around and find people sitting or lying in the same position when the volcano erupted. There were some skeletons with their bones poking out from the volcanic ash they were buried in. I was told there was a hill beneath the city where most of the bodies were, but there was no way I could handle seeing children and dogs buried. I could feel the emotion from the postures of the bodies I did see, the absolute terror. It was overwhelming.

After our tour guide gave us a meeting place, Brit, Sara (our stage manager) Erin and I looked around at the pottery and artwork that had been preserved. We had a bit of a mishap because our tour guide told us to go the wrong way to find the meeting place. I’m starting to see a trend that the Italians don’t quite understand “left” and “right” so you should just assume to do the opposite of what they say. Anyways, we ended up having to run to catch the bus but we made it. Back at the port I had a delicious glass of chocolate Granite before getting back on the ship.

May 10^th was Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy. Since this was my last day in Rome, I wanted to have a stress free day in the city. Realistically, this is impossible since we are always on a tight schedule to be back on the ship and in a foreign country. Rachel, Ann and I took the train but got off at the wrong stop because the map in the station is not easily labeled for all tourist attractions. We asked a policewoman and she told us which stop to get off to see the Pantheon. This stop had us near the Spanish steps so we used that as our reference point and headed down the street. Again, when people gave us directions, they seemed to not correctly understand “left” versus “right” we were about to give up when a nice vendor lady told us we just needed to head “STRAIGHT” (YES!). We ate a decent lunch on the plaza and found the best gelato I’ve had in Italy at a random Gelateria. SUCCESS.

May 13^th, I had a wonderful day at Cheers Bar and Restaurant in Malaga, Spain with Rachel, Fraser, Kirsty and their friend from their last ship, but I can’t remember his name :/ The two boys were Scottish and I was really enjoying listening to their accents. :D 

Oh, Happy Days!!!!

Hi friends! Sorry I haven’t updated in awhile, I had a bit of a scare with my computer. It would turn on but the screen stayed white and it was making a clicking noise like it was trying to work but couldn’t. I still don’t know what the cause was but it seems to be working a bit better, fingers crossed.

So backing up, April 22^nd -23^rd was our overnight in Barcelona, Spain. The first day we walked to La Sagrada Familia, a gorgeous church that will take the next 40 years to complete because of the detailing on the structure. We also made it to Can Mila, one of the many interestingly shaped buildings in the city. There were a lot of amazing shopping and artwork on Las Ramblas, the famous main street. It was insanely crowded because, as we discovered later, it was a holiday. It was Sant Jordi (Saint George), their equivalent of our Valentine’s Day. The fable begins a long time ago, when there was a dragon that was terrifying the town with it’s ferocious attacks. The town struck up a deal with the dragon that they would sacrifice one townsperson every so often, if the dragon would leave the rest of the town in peace. This worked for a while until one day; the Princess’ name was drawn for the sacrifice. The king was very upset but what could he do? He had to keep the peace for his people. So the Princess was sent to the dragons’ lair. George followed her and killed the dragon, bringing the Princess back unharmed and saving the town. The tradition of Sant Jordi is for men to buy their female loved ones a rose and the woman buy their men books.

Meghan, Brit and I stopped into a cute restaurant for a very nice meal and drinks before heading back to the ship. Later that night, we met up with Erin and took the shuttle to the center of the city. From there, we took a taxi to Opium, the club our crew friends were all meeting at. However, we are used to the American way of life, so we thought getting there at 11:30p was late, but the club wasn’t even open yet! We decided to wait at the bar in a restaurant called Carpe Diem. The bartender was really awesome and we hung out chatting with him for quite a long time. We headed over to Opium and learned you had to pay 20 euro to get in! That included one free drink but still!!!!! We decided to try the club right next to it called Shoko, and got right in. It was very crowded and a lot of fun, dancing with my girls. We stuck out like sore thumbs because not only did we look American, we could actually dance! So guys would try to dance with us but we would all grab hands, yell “ABORT!” and run to another spot on the dance floor. It was ladies night, fellas!

The next day I got off with Meghan and Brit. There was a really cute bakery we stopped into for breakfast. I love the tiny espressos they give you in Europe. We walked to the Magic Fountain, a beautiful building with a waterfall and a fountain in a square. The fountain is only on at night but it was still worth the visit. We witnessed some great Spanish policeman work as two cops chased after two men running with bags. As the chase ensued, fans, hats and other popular souvenirs fell to the ground. My guess is they were selling stolen goods. The cops caught one of the guys as he tried to go down the stairs. You go, po po!  I saw the football (American soccer) stadium and we stopped for some delicious tapas (I had a cheese and potato omelet on bread) before going back to the ship.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain was our next port. This was a tiny town so Erin, Freddie, Rachel, Ann and I took our time meandering around. We started at a coffee shop for a cappuccino and some snacks. The main attraction of the city was their church so we walked there next. It was such a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun walking around this nice city.

Our next port was supposed to be La Goulette (Tunis), Tunisia however we were not able to go. The captain told the ship that this port is very difficult to sail into and the weather conditions that day made it too dangerous to attempt. :(

We did make it to Palermo, (Sicily), Italy on April 27^th. Ann, Rachel, Erin, Brit, Meghan and I got off to wander around, but our main mission was food and drinks. I had another AMAZING plate of gnocchi, this time with marinara sauce. I’m definitely a happy camper eating all this delicious Italian food in Italy.

April 28^th was Naples, Italy. Naples was surprisingly disgusting. I was expecting it to be beautiful after seeing Eat, Pray, Love. I think they were very selective on where they filmed because it was trashy with trashy men yelling things at us. Ann, Brit, Rachel and I wandered around trying to figure out where to go. We ended up chasing after a guy with a coffee tray, because if he was headed back to his coffee shop we could get internet and do some research. We caught up to him and ended up having delicious coffee at his place. They were all so nice to us. We decided to take a train to Sorrento, a resort. After having a hilarious trip to the station; bobbing thru the traffic of people and cars, trying to remember what country we were in so we could ask directions, we finally made it and hopped on the train. Sorrento was absolutely beautiful. We had an amazing lunch at a country club on the edge of the cliff with a stunning view of the water below us. We saw Mount Etna, the volcano, in the distance on our train ride back to Naples. 

The next day was Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy, our homeport. Our mission of the day was to see as much as we could. We started by taking the train for about an hour to the Coliseum. We discovered that our train tickets also doubled for Metro tickets so we were able to get around a lot faster this day. The Coliseum was really cool to see and imagine the ancient gladiators. One day I would like to come back and walk around inside. We took the Metro to the Trevi fountain where I threw a euro coin and made a wish, another life long dream accomplished. :) The Spanish steps were near by so we walked to that square and took a lot of pictures of the beautiful architecture and flowers.

Stay tuned for my update on our Greek ports, possibly my favorite place in the world! <3>

EURODAM 2013

     Well, a lot has changed since my last blog update! I am currently working on Holland America Cruise Lines’ Eurodam, their largest ship in the fleet. It’s a beautiful ship and I’m much happier with the quality of shows and the company overall in comparison to Royal. I have 6 shows- Listen To The Music (the Welcome Aboard show), Dancing With The Stars (a dance competition amongst the guests which I will explain later), It Takes Two (our show without the male dancers), In Concert (I dance pointe in this one), Dreampark, and Nightlife. I like them each for different reasons. Dreampark is a lot of fun just a lot of partner work so it can be pretty tiring. Nightlife is probably my favorite because I dance a lyrical type section with the four boys. Our stage has a pit that drops down so we can enter and exit on it, as well as 4 risers, a turntable, pyro, and smoke. It’s been interesting working with so many technical elements. It adds a lot to our shows. So far, our audiences have been very happy with them, our ratings last week were higher than the cast we just replaced! Turnover was pretty tough just because it was so long and we had so much to get done. Our schedules were ridiculous. Rehearsal all day, then a few hours off to sleep then rehearsal starting again at midnight and running til 3 or 4a in the morning, then back in the theatre at 8 or 9a. I literally had to sleep every free second. We never actually slept, it was more like napping, which you all know I love but I also like to have a full night of sleep as well….lol. I know that if I do another contract it won’t be as bad since the Eurodam has the most shows. 

     It’s nice being on the bigger ship because I don’t feel the rocking as much on the normal sea days. Of course since we started with the crossing, I was taking my motion sickness pills to get thru rehearsals. But now that we are in the Med, it’s much calmer. I did throw up once, even though I took my Dramamine, but that was because they hadn’t turned the air on for our rehearsal and it was burning hot so I overheated. :/ But Casey, our Stiletto director, was very happy with my cast and we had a great turnover. He said he was returning to the studios with glowing recommendations and asked me to come back and request to work with him again. :) 

      We had some issues with one of our male dancers in rehearsal and we are actually surprised he made it to the ship with us and didn’t quit or get fired. It was frustrating to work with someone who is so lazy and disrespectful, especially since there is so much partnering in our shows. Before we left to join the ship, the entire office had a talk with him and gave him a second chance, mainly because they are so desperate for male dancers right now. Casey had extra rehearsals with him on the ship to get him caught up and he was able to fake his way thru our opening shows. At least now he is acting like he wants to be here and trying to be a part of the cast. I hope he continues to work hard and help make our shows great. 

     Since install was three weeks long, most of which was spent at sea for the crossing, we didn’t get to go out much and explore the ports. The ship even had to miss a port because of bad weather in Ponta Delgado, Portugal, making it ANOTHER sea day. I was at sea for 9 days straight, my longest yet! I kinda went crazy with cabin fever near the end lol. The first port I was able to get off and explore was Malaga, Spain. We started at the old Roman theater and walked from the fort to the castle. It was a bit of a hike but the view of the city below was wonderful. We saw the bull-fighting arena from above and walked there next. Meghan, Erin and I looked inside the arena and happened upon the policía practicing their formations in the sand. We ventured into a local grocery store for a peek at their food. They like to hang full pig legs for display and you can buy the whole thing. Gross. We then stopped for lunch and had delicious sangria. I ordered a cheese plate expecting various cheese samples and ended up with just a plate of parmesan slices lol. We made our way to another square for some cocktails and internet. We stopped at Cheers, Malaga! Holland America recently stopped serving hard liquor to crew onboard, in the hopes of reducing the number of employees they have to fire for excessive drinking. It stinks for me because I hate beer and though I like wine, I want to enjoy it with my dinner or as a nightcap. So it was nice to get a pina colada, strawberry daiquiri, and a rum and coke while having a lot of laughs with my girls. :) 

      The next day was Cartagena, Spain. Erin, Brit and I made the mistake of going off the ship at 9 in the morning, thinking we were being smart since we had to be back early for a tech rehearsal of Dreampark. I definitely forgot that we were in Spain and nothing opens til at least 10a. HAHA. We walked around and saw some ruins and Roman bathhouses. We found a small church that was really pretty, and really quiet except for my squeaky sneakers! 

      After another sea day, we stopped in Civitavecchia, Italy. A bunch of us got off and headed to the train station. We missed the first available train because we didn’t realize you have to validate your ticket at another machine after you buy it from the kiosk…..what? Eventually we made it on the train and took it into Rome. We headed into the Vatican City, which was a lot different than what I was imagining it would look like. I thought there would be all these popes running around and that it would feel more religious and serene. It was insane how many people were there, and lines like crazy to get into everything. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a lot of helpful signs or information for being such a popular tourist destination. We ended up waiting in the wrong line at one point. We finally realized we wanted to be on the other side of the city for the Sistine Chapel and headed along the outer wall to the museum. It was so beautiful inside and I got to see Michelangelo's Creation of Adam painting, which was a bucket list item for me! 

    The good news, I saw the Sistine Chapel. The bad news, I got separated from the group. I looked up at a painting, looked back to make sure I could see Brit cause I knew she was following Alan and his wife Janette. I looked back at the ceiling and a second later looked back to the same spot and the crowd closed around Brit and they were gone. I stopped at various exits to scan the crowds but I knew there was absolutely no way I would find them the moment I stepped outside and saw about a million people walking around. I knew we all made plans to meet back for the 1 o’clock train when we originally split into the groups. I only had a split second of panic when I looked at my ipod for the time. When we were making the crossing, the ship would set the clocks forward an hour every night to be at the correct time when we landed in Spain. I have to manually change the clock in my room and my ipod for when I’m off the ship. I realized that I hadn’t bothered to double check my ipod time lately so I checked its settings and saw it was set to the Canary Islands. I switched to Rome, Italy and the time went forward an hour making it 1!!!!!! Luckily, as I was retracing my steps back to the train station, I saw the local time posted and it was still noon. I’m still not sure why my ipod has the wrong time. I stopped to get my souvenir magnet and postcards and found the station relatively easy considering I’m not familiar with Italian at all. I surprised myself by how much I actually pay attention to details, even when I’m not trying. I was enjoying being with my group and following along; not concerned about where we were going or how to get back. This is the second time in my life where I was genuinely impressed with the way I handled a scary and extremely stressful situation, the other being the Valentine’s Day debacle in LA. Everyone was so relieved to find me at the train station and seemed to have a new respect that even though I’m the youngest in the cast, I can clearly handle myself responsibly. I enjoyed my day in the Vatican but I would like to return when I have more time to study all the religious symbols in the art the city has to offer. I would like to use the Da Vinci Code series as my tour guidebook :) 

     Livorno, Italy was our next port. Lizy, Erin and I took the train to Pisa for pictures with the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. As soon as we got there it began to rain sideways and literally flooded the streets. It was pretty hilarious trying to take pictures of dance poses with the rain soaking our bodies and the wind blowing our hair uncontrollably. My boots were definitely made for fashion and not to withstand weather because the water soaked thru to my socks and froze my feet. I guess it’s the perfect excuse for me to buy some nice Italian leather boots ;) We hopped on a bus and took a train to Florence or Firenze (and yes my Harry Potter nerd mind kicked in and I was telling everyone that’s the name of a centaur in the series haha). I think this is my favorite city we’ve been to yet! We wandered from the station and the alleyway opened to a square with an exquisite church. We ate lunch in the Piazza del Duomo, right across from the church. I had the BEST meal. I started with Minestrone soup, which our waiter thought was weird to ask for the soup as the first course. I then had four cheese gnocchi, AMAZING. Our waiter was so awesome and he kept bringing over his coworkers and other waiters at the neighboring restaurants and he would tell them “I want you to meet my friends”, even though he didn’t know our names hahaha. I think he was just tickled that we were American. We asked one of our new “friends” where we could get the best gelato and he gave us directions to a cute little gelateria. I had the most delicious chocolate and caramel gelato. We looked at the art being sold on the street and then took the train back to Livorno. We still had some time before we had to be back on the ship so we stopped in a couple of shops. Our timing was so impeccable that day, arriving right in time for a bus or train; and we were very happy we explored all three cities. 

       Our next port was Monte Carlo, Monaco. This city was on my bucket list after seeing it on Cars 2 when they are racing the Grand Prix. We started by exploring a castle on the other end of the port. Buddy (my dance captain) and his boyfriend Evan (another dancer in my cast), Lizzy (my company manager and fellow female dancer) and her boyfriend Pete (our drummer), Erin (one of our singers), Brit, Ann and I all went off together and had a blast taking photo shoots all over the castle. We came into the little town and walked down the alleyways. I bought one of the best chocolate éclairs I’ve ever had and pretended to reenact the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp with Ann. I’ve been buying coffee as much as possible because it is amazing in every European port. So strong and delicious :) Then the group headed to the other side and we saw the popular casino, with lots of luxurious cars parked in front. “Lifestyles of the rich and famous” was our theme of the day. I had another remarkable experience with gelato, this time a thick, dark chocolate mousse that tasted just like icing. We walked along road for the Grand Prix and headed back to the ship. 

      I love my cast, my roommate, Rachel, is amazing, and I’m traveling again to a lot of new and exciting countries. Life is beautiful!