This is the end? NO[R]WAY!!

So, I'm sitting in a six-seat cabin that I have all to myself, on the train from Budapest (Hungary) to Novi Sad (Serbia), eating an apple and watching the Hungarian countryside pass by, when I think to myself, "Self," I say, "you STILL haven't blogged about the last cruise. Your one reader (shout out to you, mom) is probably sorely disappointed."
"Well, Self," myself replies, "you [I] are [am] right. And I've [We've?] got another six hours left in this journey, so let's get on that."
So then I play Candy Crush for another 20 minutes because I am still procrastinating. I run out of lives (damn you, level 437!). I eat another bite of apple.
OK, Self, I'm ready.

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Despite that overly literary intro, I actually don't have a whole lot to say about The Last Cruise Aboard the Prinsendam. For several reasons:
1. It was all the same ports we'd visited last time. *
2. It rained 80% of the time. And not the nice, summer-sprinkle, "it adds character to these beautiful old buildings" kind of rain. I mean "I don't need to do an 'ice bucket challenge' because I am LIVING in one right now" kind of rain.
3. Norway is crazy expensive.
4. I did all the cool stuff last time. **
5. A lot of disembarkation boring stuff was involved (i.e. dry cleaning/packing costumes, laundry, suitcase Tetris, deciding who gets my Magnadoodle, etc)

So, with all that, there wasn't a whole lot to report from the land of the Vikings and overpriced toiletries.

Here's what I did manage to jot down for notes to myself (shout-out to you, Self) during that last itinerary, and I hope you enjoy it.

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Day 1 was a portent for doom.

We left IJmuiden (Holland) and almost immediately hit rocky weather. Apparnetlt, a hurr cane had recently battered the UK, and we were feeling the aftereffects. We had had such smooth sailings for the entire three.months prior (save a few days), that I had almost forgotten what seasickness felt like.
I was quickly reminded.
The weather was so bad, in fact, that the captain chose to turn the ship around and head back toward Holland, with the intention of returning again the next day when the weather had calmed. The line of trajectory for the ship on the real-time GPS channel looks like someone drew a number "4" in the North Sea.
We were supposed to perform our show Bravo the following night, but the seas were still too rocky. We added another sea day (eliminating Leknes) and lurched our way into Bergen a day later than scheduled.

Somewhere in the midst of all that, I apparently noted that I sang with the Station Band, so that must have been a fun night. I assume I sang "Mambo Italiano", because that seems to have become my anthem on this ship. This is an upgrade, since my Seabourn Odyssey anthem was "La Bamba", and that is one of the most boring songs in the world to sing. Rosemary Clooney is always more fun than Richie Valens. Scientific FACT.

Anyway, back to Bergen.
Unlike the last time we docked in Bergen, when it was sunny, very warm, and just delightful, this docking was cold, drizzly, and in a state of political upheaval. The teachers' union was striking, rallying around the pond in the middle of town. My plans to ride the funicular up to the top for the mountain (NO THANK YOU, windchill factor) were dashed, so Matan and I drank coffee and OJ and soaked up WiFi in a cafe somewhere.
--Pay attention, because that's going to be a running theme for this blog post.
Of note was the fact that in this WiFi haze, I booked my very first AirBnB home stay, in Budapest. It was exciting and a little nerve-wracking, as I've never used this program before. Having just left B-pest, i can say it was a great idea!

Geiranger..again, rainy rainy windy rain, so I went to a cafe, ordered mediocre cailiflowrt soup that cost 98 Norwegian Krona (about $16), and used a lot of WiFi.
(See, I told you this would be a theme)

That night, the cast actually got to eat together in the Pinnacle Grill. I should rephrase that...the cast got to sit in the general proximity of each other, I. the Pinnacle Grill. There's a rule about no more than four crew members eating together, but since we were spread across two tables that could have easily sat twice our number, it was a little awkward. But, undaunted, we made do...until the beverage manager sauntered over, wondered aloud why we were separated, and made an executive decision to combine us on one table in time for dessert. (Merci, Thomas!)

Trømso: rain. worst rain so far. Bitterly cold. Bone-chillingly cold. But I was on IPM for this port last time, so I was determined to see it. I was underwhelmed, but I did buy some fun stuff at a discount store downtown: whale-themed decals for my shower, a LED mini Buddah statue, stroopwaffels, and speech bubble magnets that I put over everyone's doors.

We performed our last show of Amour that night. Ciao, Amour. You came in and out with a whimper (though I did really enjoy singing in Spanish).

Honningsvag: It was cold. And raining. I halfheartedly decided I wanted to take the tourist bus to Nordkaap (North Cape), the northernmost point of continental Europe, but it turns out I missed the last bus by five minutes. Mildly upset, the tourist service guy suggested a free classical concert in the church just up the hill. Combining my two favorite things (1. free stuff. 2.not getting rained on), I bought some gummi candies at toothpaste at the market (cost, what, $13? I can't remember) and went to church. It was...as advertised.

It was also Indonesian Independence Day. Apparently the food in the crew mess that night was great.

Trondheim: I really liked this port last time, and the forecasts showed that there would actually be sun and not-freezing weather that day, so i rented a bike from the crew office. Unfoetunateky, the night before, the engineers decided to do work kn the air conditioning system, and cut a/c to ALL the crew cabins on our deck, so i slept fitfully for a grand total of maybe two or three hours (interrupted by having to take a cold shower at about 5am). When the air finally got turned back on, after our department meeting in the morning, i fell right back to sleep. So, I didn't actually make it out to the city until noon-ish, and by that time, all the gorgeous sun had gone away and turned into--you guessed it--cold rain. I biked anyway, bought some cool tank tops from BikBok (a new favorite store), drank coffee, and used WiFi. Standard.

Alesund: I had wanted to go kayaking for a while, and discovered that Alesund was the only place on this itinerary that had availability to do so. I had reserved a bunch of kayaks for a group of us, and had gotten excited until--quelle surprise--cold rain! The ill-fated Prinsendam Kayak Kollective dispersed, so Matan and I went to the aquarium. We were pleased to discover a 50% discount for crew, which made the trip affordable by normal human standards! Success! The aquarium was nice (no Monterey Bay, but nice), and the highlight was the touch tank. I discovered that Matan had a bit of a fear of crabs and things with snappy claws, so of course that fear had to be faced down. He was reticent, so i got things started by picking up a live scallop, something i'd never done before.
Nor will ever do again.
I knew that scallops run (swim?) from predators by clamping their shells open and shut and sort of scooting away in a zig-zag, but let me tell you....when you're HOLDING it out of the water and it starts to do that, it is UNSETTLING. I dropped it quickly, splashing a small boy to my right square in the face. It was not my finest moment. Matan, obviously inspired by my performance (or more likely, "at least i wont look as ridiculous as Barrie"), got a hold of a crab and was the hero of the day. Then we warmed our hands with hot chocolate and warmed our chilled nerves ("ugggh i cant believe i touched it!") with a chocolate cookie.
And then we went to a cafe in town and used WiFi.
(ok, so this was a VARIATION on the theme)

That night was a soecial nitht in yhe spa, just for the cast, since we had a show the last Crew Night (and we're probably their best customers). I got acupuncture, as well as my very first facial treatment. It was divine.

Fläm: Misty, not-terribly-cold rain (improvement?). I walked around a bit in a monument park, then it started to rain harder, so i came back to the ship. (even cafe-and-WiFi was getting boring at this point).

The day greatly improved laster, when I sat in with the orchestra for their 4:30 jazz set. I've gotten better at this gig since the first time I tried it, and I always looked forward to it. I looked forward to it even more that day, because immediately following the set, Matan and I had dinner in the Pinnacle, just the two of us. It was very nice, and probably the only legitimate "date" we ever had. But on a ship, even one legit date is an achievement...coordinating the schedules of cast/musician around a normal dinner time is harder than you might think!

Stavanger: Got WiFi in the lobby of a  theater school. It was very cold that day.

Performed our very very very last show that night, Rock at the Opera, to a standing-O crowd. I think they could feel our energy as we threw everything we had at it, as our last hurrah. I think they also heard us screaming with joy after the curtain closed...

We had one last sea day, where we did our final Dancing With the Stars at Sea show. It was a good finale this time, with some good dancers. Dima and his partner Carol won this time, with a sassy jive.
Since Annabel and Anthony basically spearheaded the costume packing ordeal, we had blissfully little to pack up on our last day, which meant we got to enjoy ourselves a bit. Most of us went up to the Ocean Bar to dance with the Station Band, then off to the OB to say goodbye to as many people as possible.

This is the part I don't like.
I don't really want to document the goodbyes, because in all honesty, they left me numb. Three months is a very short time to be on a ship as an entertainer, but despite that, we made some really good friends. But being the seasoned pros that we are, saying goodbye to cruiseship friends is always a little different. There's a very real chance that you will never, ever see this person again....then again (as it was with Matan), you may see them again randomly two years later. So "goodbye" on a ship is an inexplicable mix of "farewell forever" and "see you soon".
That's all I'll say about it.

So the next day was a lot of final paperwork and all that, a bit of drama at the passport check because a Ukrainian masseuse didn't have the proper exit visa, and then we all made it to the airport. I landed in Budapest a few hours later....and that's another blog post.

I'm going to change the name of this blog, omitting the "2013-2014", since I'm taking another contract very shortly. I'll be in far-flung places again, so WiFi may be scarce, but I'll do what I can...from Ghana...and Myanmar...and Jordan...

That's all for now.
I hope you (mom) have enjoyed my posts from this incredible contract, from England, and aboard the Seabourn Odyssey and the Holland America Line Prinsendam. It's been a long journey.

But there's always room for another adventure.  ;-)

*Except for Oslo and Kristiansand, which were eliminated from this itinerary. We were also supposed to dock in Leknes--a new port for us--but the weather prohibited it.

**Except kayaking! Dangit, I STILL haven't been kayaking!

so three Linbergs and a Zarif walk into an Irish pub...

So!
It's been quite an eventful two weeks here on the MS Prinsendam...

The biggest news, of course, being that I had both my parents on for the whole cruise, plus the added bonus of having one of my best friends, Yaniv, on for the first four days!!! I was pretty much showered in love and support for these two weeks, and I am very thankful for it.

 

So here's what our itinerary looked like (ignore the Scotland/Iceland route, that's our current itinerary):

the one on the left

This was billed as the "British Isles and Celtic Cruise" or something along those lines, and it did not disappoint.

The cruise started off with a chorus of excited screams and lots and lots of hugs all around for my visitors, and then we pushed away from IJmuiden port on our way to St. Peter Port in Guernsey. Unfortunately, one of our passengers came down with some sort of really bad eye infection (or so I was told), and the ship had to turn around and re-dock in Holland to medically disembark the two passengers. True to form, our captain gave what I considered to be waaaaaaaay too much personal and detailed information about this change of plans over the PA system, but hey, what do I know.

We eventually made it to St. Peter Port, where Yaniv and I got to be tour escorts for a fun little walking tour of the city, complete with a trip to the old castle/fort. The town itself is absolutely charming, and the cobblestone streets were lined with bunting and very colorful flower basket displays. We later discovered that they were competing for the title of Most Beautiful Flower Basket Display in Britain, which is yet another indication that I truly do not understand the English mindset.

still, though. super cute.

That afternoon, I sat in with the orchestra for their jazz set, but this time, i surprised my parents with a duet of "Unforgettable" with Yaniv. It was a song we had done together in the show Gold back on the Maasdam, and it was such a joy to get to sing it with him again, especially in front of my parents. I also got to take Yaniv and my parents to the Pinnacle for dinner that night, which is the fancier restaurant on board. It was only my second time in the Prinsendam's Pinnacle, and it did not disappoint. We rolled ourselves out of there, happy and well-fed.

seriously, what is this thing??

Next I got to escort a tour to the beautiful Tresco Gardens off the Isle of Scilly (pronounced "Silly"....much to mine and my father's enjoyment), from the port of St. Mary's. Yaniv was suffering from some severe jet lag (from a non-stop red-eye flight from NYC to Amsterdam, bless him!!), so it was just the Lonberg clan who ventured forth. The day was a little overcast, but the sun absolutely came out and lit up the beautiful gardens. It was nothing like what I expected, with plants from every Mediterranean place you could imagine..I had to keep reminding myself I was in the English Channel! Apparently, the Isle get sthe benefits of the Gulf Stream to keep it temperate and avoid huge winter frosts like the rest of the UK would get. As such, we saw flowers and trees and plants hailing from Chile, South Africa, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the like. It was bizarre, but very beautifully kept up. Also, our botanist/tour guide was super cute and English, so I certainly enjoyed that part...

The next day was Dublin, which was also, sadly, my last day with Yaniv. I was tragically put on In-Port Manning (IPM) for the day, so Yaniv and I took it easy, relaxed outside by the pool, played a few rounds of Yaniv (a card game, not neessarily related to my Yaniv) with Matan out on deck, and generally just took it easy. At the last minute, our Culinary Arts host announced he was not getting off for the rest of the day, so we seized the chance and made it into Dublin for a few glorious hours. The weatehrw as absolute perfection ,and we said our goodbyes over a few sensible glasses of Jameson and Bushmill's Irish whiskey.

class. we haz it.

I am so grateful that Yaniv flew all the way to the other side of the world to spend just a few days with me. I am a very lucky girl to have a friend like him. :)

The next day was Liverpool, and I escorted a tour with my parents to the nearby city of Chester. Chester was once a Roman stronghold in Britain, and they seem to keep unearthing old Roman ruins from the soil. It was generally a very scenic little town, and it was a nice change from Liverpool, which I'd visited previously on the Maasdam.

so cute!

We made it back to Liverpool, where I set my parents off on their own because I was BEAT from the last four days! I had forgotten what it was like to have family/friends on board, who aren't used to my semi-sedantary lifestyle. I got my stamina up this cruise, that's for sure!

We docked the next morning in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), but I had a raft drill and a tech rehearsalf ro our show, Amour, that afternnon, so my time was a bit limited. My parents enjoyed their time on their own in the port, and I had a chance to roam around at my leisure. The shopping in Belfast is FANTASTIC, and I had to keep myself from going nuts (I did buy a great dress, however. I'm not a savage). On my way back to the ship, however, the streets became blockaded by a protest rally in support of Palestine. It was a disturbing sight to see so many people riled up, even so far from the conflict itself. I had to wander down to the waterfront and hail a cab to get myself back to the ship on time, and I arrived out of breath and more than slightly upset about the whole ordeal. I have people on both sides of the conflict, and it was just too much to process.

 We followed a great set of shows (expertly pimped out by both my parents) with a sea day, which was chock-full--in true Linberg fashion--with trivia, trivia, and more trivia. And wine. Definitely wine. And bingo, and slot tournaments, and Name That Tune....my parents have definitely taken to the cruise life!

We  next stopped in Killybegs, Ireland, which is a teeeeeeeeny little place in county Donegal that's renowned for hand-knotted carpets and as a good jumping off point for some spectacular cliffs and whatnot. We didn't go to see these, but we did enjoy our time in th elittle town, and finished up our day listening to live Irish folk music....and even having a wee sit-in with the band singing "Brown Eyed Girl" (I was only slightly mortified).

also, this happened.

The Officer's Bar hosted a 50s/60s night that night, and I somehow got talked into several games of Jenga and Twister.

I refuse to say any more on the subject.

Galway, Ireland was our next port, and the city surprised us by being much more developed than we had expected. On the advice of my cab driver from Belfast, we went to the cathedral, and we were not dispapointed. Although it was only 50 years old, it was a spectacular inside and very surprising.

right?

 

At the recommendation of the guitarist from Killybegs, we also found our way downtown to the pub Tig Coeligh (pronounced "Tee Co-lee" or something...Gaelic is baffling to me), and enjoyed a few pints and some great live music out in the square.

charming view, innit?

I got to escort another tour with my parents in Dunmore East, Ireland. It's traditionally the jumping-off point for Waterford (Where Waterford Crystal is made), but we went instead to a huge estate about 90 minutes away that had acres and acres of beautiful gardens from the bygone era. It was stunning, and we got to see  a bit of the cute little town (with yet another unpronounceable Gaelic name) beneath it, but it was quite a long haul from the port, so we were all pretty pooped by the time we got back.

still though...

We totted back to England for a stop in Fowey (pronounced "Foy"), a town in Cornwall. It was just about the cutest place on this cruise, with pasty shops and cobblestone alleys and pirate stories everywhere you looked. We took the little tourist tram around the city which was wonderfully narrated by a very enthusiastic guide ("Viv" maybe? She seemed like a Viv). She regaled us with town gossip, old stories, fun facts, and kind of made me want to adopt her as my new auntie. Unfortunately, the rain started just as we got back, so my mom headed back to the ship while my dad and I stopped into the pub for some crab sandwiches, fish and chips, and some local ales.

it was a wise choice.

Our last port was a re-route from our original itinerary. We were scheduled to port in St-Malo, France, but at some point it was changed to the city of Cherbourg. This was another lazy-ish day for me, as I simply could not get my body to rally early enough to get off ship with my parents. Which was not such a bad thing, as the city was not much to write home about. I wandered around with Matan, roaming through the street fair and using my halfway-decent French on unsuspecting locals (most of whom seemed to understand me!). We took a nap in the sunshine up by the waterfront and headed back to the ship. A relaxing day, if not a particularly interesting one.
We also performed our final show, Rock at the Opera, that night, and I got so many wonderful compliments from people my parents had befriended over the cours eof the cruise. It was very clear to me that my parents were incredibly proud of me and were so happy to be able to watch me perform. It probably didn't hurt that they got to play the Proud Parent card to anyone unwise enough to linger by them for more than a few minutes!! I kid...but I also have a feeling that the ratings for Entertainment for this cruise are going to be higher, and reflect the expert "pimping" my parents had been doing for us for two weeks.

The cruise wrapped up with one final sea day. I got my  mom a massage with my favorite diminuitivbe Ukraninan masseuse, Tania, who was very happy to work on my mother. My dad and I did the Walk for the Cure, a HAL-wide event that has so far raised over $3 million for cancer research. We spiced things up by changing our home stretch entrance for every lap. I sure we weren't annoying at all. :) I later toured my parents around the crew areas of the ship and introduced them to my itty bitty cabin (but she's mine, all mine....).

The next morning, I made it into Amsterdam to spend a few last hours with my parents. We went to the Royal Palace, the interior of which I'd never seen, despite visitng Amsterdam many times. It was very beautiful, but I was startiung to flag a bit. We refueled with a few pints of Amstel and a cone of pommes frites before I had to say goodbye at Centraal Station and make it back to the shuttle bus in Haarlem in time....which I did, but by the skin of my teeth (and to the amusement of all my friends who were pleasantly surprised to see I'd actually made it aboard).

This was definitely my most involved cruise so far, but I cannot repeat enough how happy I was to have my parents and Yaniv on board with me. It's such a treat to get to show people how you live, especially once you've gotten the hang of how things work and what special little treats you can give them. My parents (and Yaniv!) are already apllaning to come on another cruise, probably when I'm on the ODyssey next summer in the Mediterranean!


I'm looking for to it.  :)

This current cruise will encompass Scotland and Iceland...so, until next time...lots of love to you all!

You can't "a-fjord" to miss this post!!

Aaaahhhhhahahahaaaa.....haa......ha......hehhhh.....

Terrible puns NEVER go out of style.
I swear.

This cruise has been a battle royale for the prize of Most Picturesque Norwegian Fjord, and I am happy to announce that YOU ARE ALL WINNERS. Seriously, each port is just as stunning, clean, quaint, and super-Scandanavian as the last, and it's been a pleasure to go exploring as much as I can.

We started our Legions of Norwegians (that's totally a thing now) with a stop in Bergen, which was the only Norwegian port I didn't get to see when the Maasdam did her Voyage of thw Vikings in 2010. Partly because I was on IPM, but more partly because I was knocked out on Vicodin from my ankle injury (y'all remember "Maurice"?). So all i saw of Bergen was whatever was captured on the bow and stern cameras broadcasting on the TV channels, and an assortment of pictures taken for me by Oli. So it was really nice to be able to actually get out and explore the area in earnest!
It was a SPECTACULARLY beautiful day, to the point that I was worried we'd gone to some other port in the Med and they just added some clapboard facades to the buildings to make them look Norwegian. It must have been about 85 degrees and completely sunny. Not only did I get to cruise around the port, but I came back to the ship, put on a bikini, and actually honest-to-god laid out on Deck 9 and got a decent tan! 


Next up was our first dip into the crazy fjords, sailing into Geirangerfjord. This place was absolutely spectacular, and it's one of the few times I have voluntarily gotten up early to watch a sail-in (see also: Sydney Harbor, Milford Sound in NZ, and Eiskafjordur in Iceland). It was lovely, sipping coffee while passing by the famous Seven Sisters waterfall, as we rounded the bend to dock in the tiny town of Geiranger. Anthony and I had yet another of our famous Dream Days on a practically cloudless blue-sky day hiking up the side of the fjord to a bevy of incredible views. We toasted our success with sandwiches and Heineken at the top, and a cadre of military jet fighters inexplicably flew by overhead. Not gonna lie, that was a little disconcerting, but it was also a very interesting cherry on top of a beautiful day.

Then it was on to Trondheim, a port I knew absolutely nothing about, but earnestly wish I had researched before we go there (luckily, we go back in August). I woke up late (which was nice), to look out on the bow camera and see a bustling metropolis in the afternoon sun, and here I was, lazing away the day (which was less nice). I rallied and got to go out for a good three hours or so, where I was so  pleased to discover sweet little cobblestone streets, pretty Scandanavian clapboard houses painted red and yellow and blue, summer flowers in bloom, excellent WiFi and questionably delciious bacon hot dogs in a small mall in the middle of town, and best of all, a random Marching Band Festival all around the city center. There must have been at least 15 separate bands, of varying ages, all staking out a street corner and playing all types of music. It was really wonderful, and totally surprising! I washed this all down with a coffee called "Thor's Hammer" (what Americans would call a "Red Eye"), and I ambled back to the ship feeling excited for the next time around here....they even had a museum dedicated to Norwegian rock and pop music! I mean, come on... No more sleeping in on Trondheim Day for me!

That night, I also had the extreme pleasure around this time to dine with Anthony, Annabel, and Chris in the Pinnacle Grill, which is the fancy-schmancy restaurant on the ship. We pretty much closed the place down, and very much enjoyed dressing up and eating steaks and grilled asparagus and far too much creme brulee.

Just kidding, there is no such thing as too much creme brulee.

A sea day, a port in Tromso which I spent on IPM (no worries, we'll be back in August) , then it was yet another Amazing Place With a Fjord: Honningsvag. This little guy is waaaaaaaay up at the top of Norway, and is also the jumping off point for Nordkapp, or the North Cape, the northernmost spot in continetnal Europe. I didn't get a chance to see Nordkapp (this time), but I did go hiking up the mountain just outside the port, which afforded incredible views of the fjord and of the Norwegian Sea. It also afforded views of the very steep and rocky/mossy way down the moutain we'd just climbed, and it took us twice as long to hike down as up....my calves were paying for it the next day! But all in all, it was a really lovely day, and yet another gift from the weather gods, who seem to be treating us very nicely on this cruise.

The next day was Canada Day, and besides a watermelon in the Lido being carved to look like the maple leaf flag and me spouting as many Canadian stereotypes as I could at our very sweet saxophonist, Cassandra (from Toronto) for my own amsuement, there wasn't a whole lot of hoopla. Although everyone did seem much more polite that day.... :)

The next day was Longyearbyen, our first port on the island of Svalbard, which is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY the hell up there, between Greenland and where Santa Claus lives. The city itself isn't much, but I did get to take a picture next to the world's largest mailbox, which supposedly receives all of Santa's mail. So, you know, that was pretty cool. Another high point of this day was discovering that Anthony, another of our singers in this cast, also accepted the contract offer from Belinda King that I was offered!! It's such a joy to know that I'll get to work with this wonderful gent for another contract...the question is, can he withstand another year with ME?
:-D
We came back on the ship, shivered a bit, drank some hot chocolate, and then i got to do something I have been longing to do for quite some time: I sat in with the orchestra during their afternoon jazz set and sang a bunch of songs with them! I was more nervous during this set than I think I've ever been for a stage show, purely because these arrangement aren't always what I'm used to hearing, and I had never done these songs with this band before, so I was on high alert the entire time. I was told later that my participation was appreciated, if nothing else, than for a good change of pace. I sat in with them again a few days later, and it was MUCH less nerve-wracking, but I definitely needed a glass of wine after this first set was through!

The next day, we sailed even further north, the most north I have ever been in my whole life, and we reached the edg eof the polar ice cap. Meredith, whose boyfriend is sailing with us this cruise and has a PIMPIN' suite up on Deck 10 with a blacony, invited the cast to come and watch the sail-in from their cabin, complete with mimosas and warm blankets. It was a blast, and we enjoyed seeing our fellow crew members piloting a tender out into the ice floes to go harvest a chunk of iceberg to be served in the bars later that night.

We turned back around and headed south again to Ny Alesund, which is a research station waaaaaaay waaaaay waaaaaay up north. We were originally supposed to be tendering into this port, and as such, the crew were only allowed to get off if we volunteered to "stand guard" along the trail through the station, making sure the guests didn't stray from the path, disturbing the protected wildlife (or getting mauled by a polar bear). I offered myself for a 30-minute slot, but we ended up anchoring at the port anyway, so the appeal wore off quickly. However, it was a really interesting place to see, and the sheer desolate feeling of the place really threw into stark relief the lives of the researchers who dedicate their days to living up here. They are a hearty bunch, to say the least!

Two more days at sea with a performance of my favorite show--Red Hot and Blue-- then we were in Alesund. Such a cute little town, and we started our day off by scaling the mountain (ok, the "mountain") at the head of the city for some really nice panoramas and little nature trails. We wended our way down again for some coffee and WiFi (and by far the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever eaten), and then the rain and wind kicked in. Apparently, only tourists carry umbrellas here, as we discovered the hard way. The place is renowned for its high winds, so the locals just hunker down and bear it. BUnch of crazies, these Norwegians!
I bought some home decor at a cute little shop here, and my room is slowly resembling a tarot reader/soroity girl's boudoir. I'm digging it. It beats the off-white metal walls with no natural sunlight that make up my cabin!
I have been noticing, too, that Norway is CHOCK full of adorable little home decor places. I feel like they almost outnumber the clothing stores! I like the style, but a lot of their decor is very stark (very IKEA-esque)....oh, and also outrageously expensive. Seriously, if you're planning a trip up here, save up. Or shop at thrift stores, like me! :)

Next stop was Flåm, at the tip of Yet Another Stunningly Beautiful Fjord (Sognefjord, this time). I was all ready to get my first kayaking experience in, but as we had to tender into the port, we got out-booked by about five minutes due to our later arrival. Luckily, the weather was spectacular, and we took ourselves on a hike up to Brekkefoss, a beautiful waterfall not too far from town. If you've ever been to Yosemite, it reminded me of a smaller version of Vernal Falls. It was a steep hike, and my arm still hurts from the walking sticks we salvaged to help us get up to the top, but it was well worth it. The best part was running into another 15 or so crew members at the top! Matan, Anthony, and I spent a good 20 minutes lounging on the grass, making shapes from the clouds forming overhead. It was beautiful. We hiked back down, I had a beer with our pianist, John, and I came back on board for a very relaxing night, accented by Brazil's spectacular loss to Germany. The Dutch on board were excited to be going so far in the World Cup, but alas, it was not to be...

Stavanger was next, and it could not have been a more convenient port. We were docked righ tin the center of town, a mere 3-minute walk to all the points of interest, and everything in the city was very walkable and accessible. I spent far too much money on decor and clothes (thanks, Salvation Army!), but it was just a delightful little place. And there was some sort of promotional fair going on, so I got a free bag on cinnamon rolls. Don't mind if I doooooo!!!


Then on to Kristiansand, which is apparently the sunniest holiday spot in all of Norway. And boy, did it live up to that title!! It was a VERY warm day, maybe in the low 80s. I escorted a tour to Mineral Park, a rock exhibition and nerd-kingdom hidden up in the forests. There was also inexplicably a beautiful lakeside beach there which i didn't have enough time to enjoy, sadly. What I did get to enjoy, however, were the incredible specimens of rocks an dminerals from around the world, in some of the most mind-blowing forwmations I'd ever seen. I was interested in this tour mainly because of my brother Corey (lovingly nicknamed "Rock Boy" by the family), and I knew that he would have some interesting tidbits to add to my pictures when i came home. It really was interesting, and even more exciting, it got me back to the ship with enough time to head into the city and go exploring with my favorite travel buddy, Anthony. We walked along the waterfront chatting about life, the universe, and everything, got some tasty ice cream, and decided that the hottest dads inthe entire world apparently come from Norway because OH MY GOD.
I think the Danes still take the top prize for Most Jaw-Droppingly Beautiful People, but the Swedes and norwegians are definitely duking it out for second! The Finns and the Icelanders, however....they'll have to step up their game. :-D

That night was another round of crew-only fun in the spa, and I indulged in acupuncture and a massage. It was divine.


Finally, we docked in Oslo, our last port of this epic 21-day cruise.I got to meet up with my fiend Phil and his friend Terri on the getaway "beachy" (I use that term VERY loosely) island of Langøyene. It wasn't much to write home about, but it was really cool to see a hometown friend on the opposite side of the world. We splashed around in the water for a bit, but then I had a tech rehearsal for our last show, Rock at the Opera (which got a standing ovation, thankyouverymuch). I did have some time and a very lucky run-in with my friend Kevin who lent me his bike, so I popped back out in to the city to see the sights. This was one port that I had been to before, on the Maasdam back in 2010, but as I was injured then, I didn't get to see a hwole lot. Now, on the bike, plus the absoilutely stunningly beautiful day, meant that I got to crusie around all of Oslo and take it all in. i did a bit of shopping, but mostly I just biked everywhere I could, including up the gravel path that lead to the Royal Palace as well as the sloped outer paths around the National Opera House.
OK, that's partly a lie, I only walked my bike up that ramp. That thing is STEEP! But it did give me some great views of the harbor and the city.


So that's the last I'll see of Norway for a few weeks, when we revisit many of these ports in August, barring Svalbard, Kristiansand, and Oslo (but adding Leknes, wherever that is...). But in the meantime, we have quite an incredible itinerary coming up, made even better by the fact that MY PARENTS AND ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD are coming on this ship TOMORROW!!!
I am so happy and blessed to get to share this ship and this part of the world with three of my favorite people, and I can't wait to treat them to everything the Prinsendam has to offer. I've already been told by several key players here that whatever they need, all I have to do is ask.

I MEAN...

So, until next time, I hope you're all well, and I'm sure I'll have lots to report after this dreamy dreamy cruise!!! Maybe I can even get my dad to compete in the chacha for Dancing With the Stars....???

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!