I'm sitting here in the Half Moon Room on Deck 7, enjoying the bright light of a Dutch summer sun, listening to the new station band playing in the nearby Ocean Bar, and I'm in a strange state of peace. I had a long day of walking through Amsterdam today after being deterred by the hundreds of people in line for the Anne Frank House, so i made the most of it and just wandered around that beautiful old city (and bought stroopwaffels. They are the only thing one needs.). We've had quite an eventful cruise, with lots of fun surprises along the way.

Just to recap, here's our itinerary:

disregard the Norwegian ports, which is what we are currently sailing

The biggest news of this cruise was that we finally finished our installation period with the shows, performing Rock at the Opera and Dance to standing-ovation crowds. We said goodbye to Tash, our director, after Dance was installed, and we were sad to see her go....but not without one last hurrah in the OB (frome whence hails my new Facebook profile picture).

We were also happy to find that word had gotten out that we were a halfway decent cast, and we had many of our fellow crew members attending our shows. It's always such a nice feeling to look out into a blank sea of faces, but hear your band mates, shop girls, and spa ladies hooting and hollering for you. It's a nice family feel on this little ship, and I'm enjoying it. 

We started this cruise with two picture-perfect days in the Danish ports of Aalborg and Copenhagen. This was the last time we got to the see and enjoy the sun in full force before being battered by winds and rain in the following ports, and we amde the most of it.

Aalborg is a small city on the Juteland of Denmark, and apparently, the Prinsendam is the only cruise ship that calls there. It was a sweet little town with cute little cobblestone streets and a nice medieval quarter, but we docked on a national holiday, so EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. Like, everything. However, they did provide free hot dogs with all the tradiitonal Danish fixin's (sweet pickles, chopped onions, onion straws, mustard, and ketchup), so that was a good concession.

also, I got to take this picture.

Copenhagen was an absolute dream day for me, because I got to spend most of it with my friend Jacob, who I met just a few months ago when I was hostelling in Mostar, BiH. We met up for some coffee at a theater near the Opera House, then went for a great bike ride across the bridge. We climbed up a beautiful church, whose top golden-painted spire has a spiral staircase on the outside, providing amazing views of the city. We then moved on to Cristiania, a sort of new-hippie enclave just outside the city, where free love reigns and the air is thick with the smell of patchouli and hash. It was a cute littel place, with lots of little twisting, turning, side streets and hills to climb. I had to be back on the ship for a tech rehearsal, but as we were docked there later than usual, I had time to go back out and explore the little hamlet again. I finished my day with a massive smoothie containing about a carton of blueberries. Chock full of antioxidants, I biked back to the ship in the beautiful 80-degree sunshine. Just the dreamiest of days.

spiral-y!

Jacob

 

 One of our nights on the ship was dubbed a "crew" night in the spa, and the cast came out in force to patronize our spa girls. I indulged in an acupuncture session and a haircut, both of which were fabulous. I hadn't had acupuncture in such a long time, and Charlene was fantastic. Chani, who did my hair, gave me a nice trim and curled my whole head...which if you know my hair and its inability to hold shape other than "straight-ish", this was an accomplishment. We felt fabulous.

Once we finished Dance, we had a good 6 days before our next show, and we suddenly found ourselves with all the time in the world on our hands, after several weeks of rehearsals, runs, and reblocks for all our shows. It was a wonderful feeling, to have the days to ourselves. And especially after coming from a Seabourn ship, where we were expected to do social duties several times a day, to now have the freedom to do what we wanted and be where we pleased (within reason, of course) was a nice feeling.

In the middle of all this, I got a wonderful surprise with the arrival of Annie Frances, who was a guest enetertainer on the Maasdam when i was there four years ago. That sassy Aussie's still got it, and it was wonderful to reconnect with her after so long. That, and I didn't have to eat any more Vegemite! 

Our newfound freedoms also coincided with the beginning of the World Cup games, and we've been keeping up pretty well with the teams. The best night so far was Holland's win over European cahmps Spain, who got hammered in a 5-1 defeat. And considering we are on a HOLLAND America ship, you can imagine that there was quite a fervor. The OB was (and still is) decked out in orange bunting and a huge Dutch flag. The ship has paid big $$$ to get all the World Cup games streamed here to the ship, and because of the time difference between us and Brazil, there are a lot of late-night games to watch in the bars around the ship. I don't follow soccer at all, but I get caught up in the energy of it all. It reminds me of traveling Europe back in 2006 when Italy won it all (and I was in Venice that day!). Who knows, maybe the Orange Lions will take the whole thing....?

We had a nice day in Tallinn, Estonia, which was much improved by the lack of gale-force winds and sleeting rain, like we had the last time we docked there. I had a nice, relaing day with Anthony and Meredith there, with a nice stop at the Beer House for some home brew and giant pretzels. We spent the rest of the day smelling heavily of garlic. It was awesome.

INDEED.

Perhaps my best forway into cultural actitivties came in St. Petersburg, Russia, when I got the opportunity to escort a tour of the Hermitage at night. I had never been before, and I had heard that it was an absolute not-to-be-missed sort of place, so I felt very fortunate to be there. We were on a tour arranged specifically for the cruise, so no other guests were allowed in the museum. We had a private tour guide who has a masters in art history, and not having to jostle our ways through the rooms was a luury I won't soon forget. What impressed me more about the msueum were the rooms themselves. The artwork is beautiful and impressive, but every room is so uniquely furnished and painted and decorated, that it was like walking through the different worlds at Disneyland, always something new to see. 

loving it

I had a wonderful time.

The wonderful times continued at a tiny cafe bar at night with four good friends, the Turkmenistani owners, and an indeterminate number of bottles of vodka consumed. I don't remember too much about that night, but I am certain I had fun. 

Probably.

We mosey'd along to Visby, Sweden...or, that is to say, we tried to mosey along. This port is notorious for its rough waters, and despite the crew's best eofforts, the captain decided it was too choppy and dangerous for the passengers to embark the tender boats to shore. So we pulled anchor and slowly crawled toward Germany. 

The next port, of Ystad, Sweden, was similarly vexed with poor weather at anchorage, so the captain decided instead to port us in Kiel, Germany for the next day. The city itself isn't much to see, unless you are an afficionado of WWII shipbuilding. Instead, five of us took a (very efficiently run) train to the nearby town of Lübeck. It was there I got to visit Niederegger, the shop where marzipan was invented! I'm always up for trying delciisou things in their place of origin (see my adventures at St. Sixtus Abbey in Belgium, circa 2006), and I was not disappointed. The marzipan was flavorful, smooth, and just the pick-me-up we needed after an hour-and-a-half train ride in the rain.

Also, good for making recreations of the city center!

After the surprise port of Kiel, we had our second-to-last show--Bravo--which was received with another standing ovation, and also featured our new bass player, Hannah. Having had to do RATO without a bass player, and using the track for the instrument, it was nice to have a live bassist again.

We finally made it to a double-overnight docking in Hamburg, Germany, which was a blast and a half. I was on IPM for the first day, but we docked at 6pm, so i didn't miss too too much. The next day was a great day of outdoor brunching, shopping, and seeing the sights.

brunch and Mer go well together

Hamburg is a very pretty place, I had no idea! That day was also the day that Germany played Ghana in the World Cup, so when we went out after our two shows of Amour, the Reeperbahn was absolutely packed with drunk Germans celebrating the 2-2 tie. Drinks were cheap, music was loud, and delciious doner kebab was eaten at 2 in the morning. All in all, a success. Also, the Queen Mary 2--Annabel and Dima's previous ship--had arrived later that second night, and apparently the entire city of Hamburg comes out to welcome that ship when it docks. Not even those two knew why it was so celebrated there, but it was funny to see advertisements for the ship all over the city, with not one mention of "oh yeah, the Prinsendam is here too..." No love, I tells ya.

And then it was back to IJmuiden, to start another adventure! We're now on a 20-day fjord-tacular voyage, where we'll be bouncing around the Norwegian coast, going above the Arctic Circle and into the polar ice cap!! I'm reeeeeeeeeally hoping to see the Northern Lights for the first time, and I'm thinking we'll hgave a good chance. This will also be the cruise where the sun will neither set nor rise for three days straight. COOL.

The last little tidbit of this last cruise is that I was offered another contract with Belinda King! I haven't made a decision on it yet, but I am very flattered. It would be a four-week rehearsal period in England for five new shows--one of which is a singers-only show around the piano--performing on the Seabourn Sojourn for five months and the Seabourn Odyssey for another four months. It's a huge undertaking, but the itineraries are INCREDIBLE: Spain, Senegal, Namibia, and overnight in Cape Town, South Africa, India, Cambodia, Madagascar, the Phillipines, Morocco, Egypt...then a two-week break, then on to the Black Sea in the summer--the Balkans, Ukraine, overnights in Istanbul... the list goes on. I'd be adding another 25 countries to my collection, bringing my total up past 100, if I'm not mistaken....!!!

I'll update when we're back in IJuiden on July 13, when my parents will be on, as well as my dear friend Yaniv! I can't wait!

Ciao!

Thank God for that Dutch Seaman's Book

Well, here I am, back in IJmuiden, Holland where it all began a whopping 14 days ago, when we embarked the Prinsendam. it feels like three months has gone by!
we've had a really eventful two weeks, bt I am happy to report that we now have all five of our productions shows on their feet (though we've only performed three of them so far), as well as having done our first performance of Dancing With the Stars at Sea, a speciality performance unique to Holland America Line ships.

The cast had a lovely reunion at the hotel in Amsterdam, and by the sound of it, we haodn't seen each other years, though it had only been three weeks. we took a train into the city and had a nice stroll along the canals before settling down for dinner and catching up on all our various shenanigans since Rome.

Oh, the many, many shenanigans. We did ourselves proud. ;-)

We got onto the ship the next moorning bright and early, and after a series of being shuffled around unnecessarily, we finally got all our belongings in the right place and more or less figured out how and when to deed ourselves. so, the basics.

my cabin is teeeeeeeny tiny compared to my cabin fromthe Odyssey, but.it is all mine and that is a luxury that is worth any size cabin. it even has a fold-up top bunk bed for anyone I sign on as a Friend on Board (I'm just saying...)

we hit the ground running and started staging our first show, BRAVO. We are under the supervision of Tash, the female dancer from the previous cast, who has been with Belinda King for many years. She is very organized, energetic, and basically just the perfect person to be at the helm of our install period.

BRAVO went off without a hitch, the band is fantastic, and we diced right in to show #2, AMOUR.

in the meantime, we docked in the beautiful city of Riga, Latvia. Or, I assume it was beautiful, because I only had about 30 minuted to spend there before rehearsals started.but by god, I was determined to at least step foot in the port to stay that I have physically been in Latvia. Bragging rights, and all that. What little I saw was very pretty, hut also very very cold. it felt like early winter!

We docked in Tallinn,Estonia after that, and I braved the howling wind and horizontal.rain to enjoy the medieval cobblestone streets and the conveniently close supernarket to pick up some essentials. We do come back here again, so I'm hoping that the Weather Gods womp show us some mercy next time, because most people claim that this is one of their favorite ports. I can't wait!

We then went through the Kiel Canal,which separates Denmark from Germany. Apparently, the canal is so narrow that the Prinsendam is the largest sea liner to be allowed into it! It was a lovely cruise, and it was pretty magical to watch the sunset from the Lido deck while we toasted Annabel's 25th birthday! The canal is lined on both sides with trees and bike paths and adorable little families out for a stroll in the sunshine...very peaceful.

We got through AMOUR OK, and started to tech for my favorite show, RED HOT AND BLUE, which we would be performing on my birthday!

We docked in StPetersburg, Russia for an overnight, which on the surface sounded like an awesome idea. the reality is that Russian passport officials have no desire to make yourlife easy, and the ccontrol checkpoint was sparsely populated, slow, and aggravating. Most of the gyests couldnt even syep foot in the port unless they had fenagled a Russian visa, or were on an escorted tour. Luckily, our Dutch Seaman's books allowed us crew members to leave the ship, but even that became a hassle if a certain control guard decided to require further documentation. Add to that the relative inability to get a cab from the port (we were docked about 25 min drug ng from the city center, one of the furthest away you can get), and the fact that the one bridge connecting the port to the city closed between 1 and 6am, we were not overly inclined to go party the night away in town. we did, however, have a blast in the OB (Officer's Bar) that night! 

We docked in Stockholm shortly thereafter, on a surprise overnight. We were scheduled to dock in the morning on the 2nd, but a little persuasion from our cruise director out us in at around 10pm on the 1st. Sailing through the tiny low island surrounding the city as the sun was going down was absolutely gorgeous, and the cast celebrated with a wee champagne in the Ocean Bar while listening to our fabulous house band. I and a few others went wandering the city that night. and it was really beautiful to see the royal palace all lit up. I did not, however, have enough light to notice the armed guards standing sentinel at the gate, and it scared the ever loving hell out of me. Welcome to Sweden!

We ended up all reconvening at a bar downtown, and a good time was had by all.

the next morning,I rallied and met up with my brother Ubbe, which was an absolute delight. Iconfused many people on the ship, who wondered how iI ended up with a brother in Sweden with a funny name, so I had to explainseveral ttimes that he was an exhmxhange student from when I was about 4 years old, and he has always been, and will always be, my third big brother. it was incredible to see him and get a private guided tour of Stockholm. He introduced me to the wonder of pickled herring, and we lunched at a street side cafe on smoked salmon and shrimp, while the royal guard paraded down the street in their bright blue uniforms. You know, a standard day in Stockholm...

back on the ship, the cast had dinner in the dining room in honor of my upcoming birthday, and we had a toast at midnight to celebrate my big 3-0! it was so wonderful to spend it with such great people.

our two shows of RHAB went well the next da. and then I was surprised and touched to find that the cast had snuck out between shows to decorate the OB in balloons. when o entered the bar after our last show, I was overwhelmed by the sight of all that.color and the siundnfo 30 voices singing Happy Birthday. I was almost in tears. And then my clumsy self knocked over a glass of champagne right into my face as well as Annabel's face, so it's safe to say my birthday party started off on the right foot! EEveryone was dancing to my terrible 90s playlist and shooting darts and generally having a blast, so I couldn't have been happier.

Finally we came to our performance of Dancing With the Stars, which matches guests who have taken the dance classes offered throughout the cruise with our cast members in different styles. the winner of which gets a free cruise and a chance to represent the Orinsendma in the big theme cruise competition on the Oostfdam in December. our winner last night was Mary, who waltzed with Anthony very beautifully. the show was fine, but we were mostly relieved we made it out alive, having learned the whole thing on the fly.

Which brings us to today! I've been a greedy Gus with the WiFi in this port today, answering emails, Skype-ing with Haris, and generally getting as much done as possible before we sail in a few hours.

Our next itinerary is similarports, but i have a feeling I'll be able to enjoy them more., now that our install is almost over. and I've signed up to escort some tours in St P, some of which go to Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, and the Hermitage!! 

More fun to come...

Bouncing Around the Balkans: A trip 8 years in the making

Back in 2006, after I had finished doing my semester abroad in Madrid, my boyfriend at the time--Ryan--and I did the most cliché thing ever and spent two months backpacking through Europe. It was an amazing experience, and we landed in 10 different countries, using trains, ferries, buses, and bicycles to get around.
Because 2006 was in the Long Ago, before smartphones and laptops and data plans were really a thing, I spent a lot of my downtime in my homestay apartment absolutely devouring the Lonely Planet book Europe on a Shoestring. I highlighted, notated, and earmarked that book cover to cover, planning for the day Ryan and I would make our Grand Adventure. I plotted routes and made plans for hours and hours, figuring out the most cost-effective and time-effective ways to get to everywhere we wanted to go. Ryan and I both had our own countries we really wanted to see; his included Belgium, Germany, and Greece, mine included France, Italy, and Croatia.
I don't know how long I sat in my little room, trying to figure out how we could get to everywhere we wanted to go within the two-month limit on our Eurail passes (and leave the Schengen states before my student visa expired and forbade me from entering those countries again), spending time in the university's computer lab translating hydrofoil timetables from Croatian and Greek and Italian. After a while, though, it became evident that we would simply lose too much time keeping Croatia in the itinerary, and I had to let my little Balkan dream slip away.
Not to get all sad-sack and remorseful, because that trip was epic.

I mean, I got to see the largest bowl in Europe. EPIC!

But everything I'd read about Croatia and all the pictures I'd seen really stayed with me. It was described as being similar to the Czech Republic...full of cities rich in history and cheap beer that hadn't quite yet been fully developed into tourist havens the way that most Western European places had. I promised myself I'd get to Croatia some day and see what all the fuss was about.

CUT TO...

April 30, 2014

I couldn't stop smiling as I boarded my teeeeeny tiny plane. My breath caught in my throat as I woke up from a mini-nap, looked out the window, and saw the Adriatic coastline unfolding below me.

 

I also marveled at the simple deliciousness of airplane spinach pie and Croatian beer

When I was first booking this trip, I wanted to stay solely in Croatia, starting in Zagreb and working my way down to Split, Hvar, and finally Dubrovnik. The problems I encountered was the cost of one-way flights in and out of Croatia, and it came down to whether I would rough it and take buses and ferries back to Italy instead, or somehow make it full circle back to Zagreb and fly in and out of there. Again, time limits got to me, and I decided Dubrovnik would be my only Croatian city, but that I would use it as a jumping-off point for nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montengro.

It had been a looooooooong journey from disembarking the Odyssey on the 29th...flying to Zurich, staying overnight in their super awesome dayrooms (i highly recommend!), losing my friggen phone charger on the plane, and navigating the buses and tiny cobblestone streets of Dubrovnik to finally make it to my hostel in the middle of the Old Town. After showering the travel dust off me, I was greeted in true Balkan style by the front desk girl and the other hostelers:

a honey-flavored rakija called"medica". Živjeli!

Pumped full of second-wind energy and Balkan hospitality, I wandered out into the breezy night to stretch my legs, get my bearings, and work up an appetite for dinner (that spinach pie was filling!). After elbowing through a few stragglers from the Aria cruise ship that had come in that morning, I left the Old Town through the Ploce Gate and just started climbing up and up and up. I went as far as I could go on foot, about halfway up the hill the funicular climbs, and was rewarded by a beautiful sunset and seeing the lights come on throughout the Old Town.

Having just come from being on a cruise ship for the last four months, where the majority of port days required me to be back on the ship by 4 or 5 in the afternoon, the simple pleasure of being able to see a sunset from land was really special for me. I was very much looking forward to a week's worth of land-based travel, and being able to take time exploring Dubrovnik and the surrounding areas at my own pace. I ate dinner at a Bosnian restaurant called Taj Mahal (still trying to figure that one out), and drank in the night air before turning in at my hostel.

DAY 2--Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik
The One Thing You Must Do in Dubrovnik is walk the medieval stone walls that enclose the Old Town, so that's what I did on my only full day in the city. I started in the early afternoon, under a drizzly sky. There were still quite a lot of crusie ship tourists on the walls with me, but nothing like the clusterf*ck that apparently plagues the city in the summer, when up to FIVE cruise ships can be docked there in a single day. The rain also kept some people from the walls, I imagine, so I was able to move without too much trouble. Once again I was grateful for not having to rush to see this beautiful city, because I must have spent a good three hours on the walls, taking pictures, marveling at the scenery. It was one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen.

but still, I mean...

 I also had the time to stop and listen to a folk quintet who had set up shop in a stone archway that perfectly amplified their stunning voices.  I must had stayed there for a good half an hour, just enjoying their incredible harmonies. During one of their breaks, I whistled to the singer to get his attention, and I threw a paper airplane I'd made from a 20-kuna note down to their basket. it was a tragic failure, as the money-plane flew out about a foot and then drifted down the wall in a slowly depressing spiral. He picked up the note from the soggy flagstones, thanked me, we all had a good laugh, and I mosey'd along to bury my embarrassment in a chocolate ice cream bar.

After wandering Old Town for a bit, I decided to get my tickets in line for my trips to Bosnia and Montenegro. At the main bus station, I was laughingly told that it was impossible to book a bus for a day trip to Kotor (Montenegro), and that I would have to book a tour group for that back in town. Again, having spent quite a lot of time on tourist buses over the last four months, I was NOT pleased to hear the news, so I decided to postpone my Montenegro trip until after my overnight in Mostar (in Bosnia). So i booked the bus for Mostar for the next morning (at 8am. ugh) and decided to walk back to Old Town, about 20 minutes away.

The sun was starting to come out, and I was strolling along the road by the sea cliffs, when all of a sudden...

no, it is not dead.

 This sweet little kitty was just napping away in the sun, and I had an overwhelming urge to join it.
So I did.

I petted this sweet little thing on the head, she woke up, stretched a little, looked me up and down, decided I was clearly her soul sister, and crawled right into my lap and went back to napping. I was in absolute bliss. I sat there for I don't know how long, garnering looks from passers-by that ranged from confusion to "AAAAAAWWWW!!!"...even had a few people snap pictures of me and the kitty. I named her Moon River, since we were clearly "two drifters off to see the world". It was so peaceful to just sit there enjoying the sunshine with this little stray, but then it was time to go. In true kitty fashion, she looked at me one last time, and scampered off into the bushes. We are temporary creatures, Moon River and I.

The walk back also included a gate that had been peppered with locks left by lovers and families.

I ended my day in Dubrovnik with what I thought would be a late-night, quiet dinner at a small Italian joint in Old Town. It ended up being a semi-raucous evening at a small Italian joint in Old Town after a gaggle of Belgian bikers decided they were going to join me for dinner. To my credit, I spent most of the night conversing in French, which I hadn't really used since I was in Quebec back in August. To their credit, they popped a bottle of champagne, so maybe they were just drunk and humoring me.

so there's Jean-Luc, Didier, Other Luc, Young Luc...and...I'm pretty sure someone was named "Phillipe"....

This, I would come to realize, was going to be pretty standard for my time in the Balkans. I never made it through one meal completely alone. The Croatians/Bosnians/Montenegrans are way to sociable to allow that to happen!

DAY 3-I Discover a Deep Passion for Burek

So it turns out that I was lucky to not go to Kotor on the day I had originally planned to go, because my new Canadian friend Josh from the hostel in Dubrovnik had also booked his bus to Mostar for this day. And, by sheer coinciendence, we had booked the same hostel there as well!

inadvertent travel buddies are the best kind

We made it to Mostar and only got lost a couple of times on our way to Hostel Majda, where Majda herself greeted us and another Danish backpacker from our bus with coffee, iced tea, and slices of what I can only describe as Bosnian tiramisu. After decorating our all-important name tags for our bunk beds, Majda pulled out maps of the areas and proceeded to give us the greatest breakdown of what to see/do/eat in Mostar. I'm talking, tiny hole-in-the-wall burek joints, the sneakiest and best way to see the Old Bridge (Stari Most), great bakeries, the works. The energy and detail she gave us was surprising, but again, it was just par for the course in the Balkans. You could tell how passionate she was about her home town and BiH in general (BiH is the abbreviation for "Bosne i Hercegovine"). She spoke about her memories of the war in the 90s, and admitted that even people like her who actually lived through it couldn't really tell you the why and the how of it all. I also got from her--and it would be solidified later, when I went to Montenegro--that a lot of people from the Balkans are appreciative of young travelers like us who have clearly gone out of their way to eplore this part of the world. I mean, what American really says to themselves, "You know? I think I'm going to take my summer holiday in Serbia this year!" And especially considering all the work and healing energy that has gone into renovating the areas devastated by the war, I got the impression that they really wanted to show us what a truly beautiful country they have. I absolutely agreed. I was definitely in a more touristy city of BiH, but it got into my blood the way that India did a few months ago--I have to go back.

Shameless sucking up to Haris...it certainly doesn't hurt that I'll have my own personal Bosnian to show me around...

Josh and I set off to see the sights, and essentially just wandered and ate and wandered and ate some more. It was marvelous.

Stari Most

Josh and I, from the top of the cafe roof we were advised to climb up for the best (free) view in Mostar. Majda was RIGHT.

On the far side of the Bridge. The bridge was completely destroyed in 1993, and was rebuilt in the original style, using rocks salvaged from the river, in 2004.

destroyed building on the former front line. Chilling, being between two new buildings.

This cemetery was filled with casualties from the war in the 90s. This guy was my age when he died, and he was one of the older ones in this place.

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We returned to our hostel well-fed, full of cheap wine and pomegranate rakija, and very very tired. Josh stayed on in Mostar for another day and took an amazing trip hosted by Majda's brother Bata, then continued his travels through BiH and into Albania. You meet the most fantastic people hosteling!

I left Mostar early the next morning and arrived in Dubrovnik in time to book my trip to Montenegro for the next day. After discovering that every tour bus available (I scoured at least 6 different companies in town) would only spend about an hour in Kotor and about 3 hours in nearby Budva (which I had been told was not worth that much time), I was soooooooooooooooooorely tempted to just rent a car and do the trip myself, on my own time. It was about the same price, but what made me switch back to the tour bus was that I absolutely despise driving, and I was not 100% confident about my abilities to get through the border checkpoint on my own, without a local's knowledge of exactly how to do it. That, and I could also picture myself stranded in Montenegro, totally lost, mispronouncing the names of every street and highway I attempted to find. So I sucked it up, negotiated the price down, and booked my tour bus for the next day. After that, I just strolled Old Town Dubrovnik a bit for the evening, got some AMAZING gelato (better than Italy! OH SNAP!), ending at a cliffside bar for a glass of graševina before bed.

DAY 4--I Get a Serbian Grandpa


 After waking up at some ungodly hour of the morning (6), I grabbed some coffee and Croatian pastry or indeterminate filling and hopped on my 12-person bus to Montenegro. I got my passport stamped many many times, which made the delays at the border well worthwhile. Our first stop was a quick photo break to take in the Bay of Kotor, which we would be circumnavigating.

 

It was a chilly day, and the cloud topping the mountains were really spectacular.

We then made it to the city of Kotor, where I was shocked, amused, and more than slightly annoyed to find...

The Seabourn Sojourn!

Apparently, Seabourn was just NOT DONE with me, yet. It wasn't the ship I had just come from, but one of its sister ships, with the same size and dimensions. I just can't quit you, Seabourn...

Unfortunately, our driver desperately wanted to move our tour group along, because we had gotten through the border ahead of the bigger tour buses (holding sometimes 30-40 people), and he wanted to make sure we got back to the border before them as well. I understood the urgency, but I had heard a lot about Kotor, and I really wanted to see as much of it as I could.

I am such a sucker for medieval stone buildings, apparently.

 I took a quick turn around the city and proceeded to climb as much of the winding battlements as I could in the short time I had left. Pro Tip: If anyone tells you that an hour is plenty of time to "see Kotor", they are full of crap.

climbing the old battlements is tough work!

I had just enough time to stop in for a quick beer at a local pub in town (how could I say no to a sign that said "Pivo : €;1,20"? It turns out I picked the saltiest, most Elks-Lodge-esque pub in the city, as it was populated by nothing but crusty old men old enough to be my grandfather. I ordered a beer and went outside to drink it, under the confused stares of EVERYONE IN THE BAR. I sat at a table across from another bar patron, who decided that under no circumstances was I going to drink alone, and he asked to join me. I agreed, we chatted, and I had the most enjoyable, heart-warming, Balkan-tastic experience I had in my whole journey.
His name was Vladi, he was from Serbia originally, and he had studied jazz saxophone in Paris as a young man. He was warm, kind, funny, and full of stories. He left for a second to get us a shot of maraska, a sort of bitter cherry rakija. He taught me to drink the maraska and chase it with beer, he told me I looked "200% Serbian" and was shocked to hear that none of my ancestors came from this region, and we took my absolute, hands-down favorite picture of my whole trip.

Deda Vladi

I had to run off to catch the bus, but I couldn't have asked for a better way to leave the city.

Our next and last stop was Budva, a resort city that has been developed (read: "taken over by") rich Russians in recent years. Apparently, if you contribute 500,000 euro to Montenegran development, you get automatic citizenship. Go figure.
I had some tasty stew in Budva and wandered the medieval city and the shoreline a bit. It was a beautiful place, but I wish I could have swapped the amount of time there with the amount of time in Kotor.

still, though. very lovely.

Then it was home again, home again, jiggedy jig. We did, in fact, make it to the border before the big buses, and didn't have to wait too too long to get through the checkpoints. I finished my night with another late-night meal and a lot of packing to get my life together before heading out to the airport the following day.

DAY 5--Doviđenja!

My last view of Dubrovnik

Six flights, a bus, and two days later, I was home.



I hope you've enjoyed my wee jaunt around the Balkans. I know I certainly did.


So now I've got one more day in CA left before I fly back out to meet up with my cast and embark the Prinsendam in Amsterdam. Three more months of this contract, cruising around the Baltic and the UK, singing, eating, adventuring, hiking (I hope!), seeing the Northern Lights (I REALLY REALLY hope!), and ample WiFi. More posts to come, so stay tuned!!

Lots of ljubav (love) to you and yours!