Well, I wouldn't really know how to begin an entry to capture all the memories from my spring break but I think i'll just do a play by play by days, and things might be a little jumbled but on my adventure I was pretty good about jotting down events and places.. so here goes nothing!
Thursday (9th), Friday (10th), Saturday (11th): St. Mark's Square, Murano, Gondola Ride.>> Thursday, Friday and Saturday can really be summed into one seeing as how it was really just one long day with naptime in between. We left from London Heathrow on Thursday morning (EARLY!! I was picked up at 6:30am). After arriving at the airport we (Alissa and I) found out that since we have been in the UK longer than a month we were in fact not international travellers which meant we were only allowed to check one baggage of luggage each. Lucky for me I had my one suitcase and my duffel so I was able to take my duffel as my carry-on. While on the plane we flew over the Alps and it was absolutely breath-taking. It was only about a 2 and 1/2 hour plane ride to Venice and we arrived the weather was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was out and it was WARM! We then took a water taxi over to the Hotel Abazzia where we were staying. It was a really beautiful hotel and the staff was very friendly and funny. We got settled in and decided to take a tour of the city outside of our hotel. We went window shopping and immediately fell in love with all the glass jewelry. We had a nice dinner that evening at a place that Matteau or Mirko, one of the men at the hotel recommended and it was absolutely delicious. Italian food in Italy is quite.. fabulous, haha. On Friday we went into St. Mark's Square and window shopped for a good two hours. Most of the shops there were for those with expensive tastes but I still was able to find a necklace pendant made in Murano. On Friday we took a trip into Murano and had a tour of a glass factory, the same man that owns the hotel we stayed in also owned Furnace Cam, the glass factory we went to. We saw a glass blowing demonstration and they were making a goblet, it was absolutely amazing. We walked around Murano a bit before going back to the main island. On Saturday we walked around some more enjoying the sights and actually ended up taking a gondola ride, because a trip to Venice isn't complete without one! It was certainly an experience, and the one thing they don't show in the movie, is the process of getting in one!!
Above: At Furnace Cam, the glass factory in Murano.
Above: The glass master and his assistant making a goblet.
Above: A beautiful sculpture in Murano.
Above: Crazy pigeon woman at St. Mark's Square.
Above: Me on the Gondola =)
Above: Glass factory in Murano.
Above: Traffic sign, haha.
Above: All of the art supplies are made of glass, remarkable.
Above: Eating gelato at St. Mark's Square.
Above: St. Mark's Square.
Above: Alissa and I on the water taxi.
Above: Rialto Bridge. It contains lots of shops =)
Above: I thought this house was going to tumble if I were to sneeze in the direction but it was very beautiful.
Above: On our way to the Grand Canal.
Above: Finally made it through security at the airport and on the plane!
Above: The Alps =)
Above: At VCE, waiting for a boat to take us over to the main island.
>> Sunday we started our cruise on the MSC Musica. We got settled into our rooms and the crew was just so welcoming and the atmosphere in general was magical. The only other experience I can remotely compare it is is Disneyworld, haha. That evening before dinner there was a "Goodbye Venice" party on the deck of the ship by the pool, and the amount of people there was unbelievable. There were 3,000 guests and fun fact! Guess how many of the guests were registered as English-Speaking guests? Only!!... 354. Talk about being a minority, haha. So the Goodbye party consisted of music and dancing while we pulled away from port. It was absolutely gorgeous out. We had the second dinner sitting at L'Oleandro's and that means dinner was served at 9pm, and then there was a show in the theatre at 11pm each evening for us to see after dinner. While none of us really wanted to go to bed that night we did because we were exhausted from staying up in Venice!
Here's the layout of the ship! --
http://www.msccruises.co.uk/flotta/multimedia_ship/infoship.asp?ship_id=129
Above: A shot of Venice pulling away from the dock.
Above: The sunset the night we left for the cruise.
Above: Goodbye Venice!
Above: One of the main pools on the ship, at the goodbye party.
Above: While everyone else was loading the luggage on the ship, Mr. Man was chilling.
Above: Our luggage!!!!!!
Above: The sofa area of our room.
Above: Desk.
Above: Room shot.
Above: Balcony shot.
Above: WC.
Above: Welcome message =)
>> Monday was a super eventful day. We docked in Bari and went to the Basilica of St. Nicholas. He is the patron saint of foreigners and is also the man we base our jolly man in the red suit at Christmas time after. We went into the Basilica and saw his tomb. And in the basilica there were different paintings depicting his good deeds so they were quite interesting to look at. Sadly for us nothing else was open basically besides that one Basilica. It was the Monday after Easter and literally all of the stores were closed. The town was so deserted it was eerie. So after walking around a bit and looking at the stores and walking by the shore we decided it was time to go back to the ship. The fact that it started to rain helped in our decision to go back to the ship as well. So that evening we all dried off and got ready for dinner. By the way, our waiter Luis was absolutely amazing. He was very amusing and everything fabulous you would ever want in a waiter. After dinner we went to the theatre and saw the show they put on called "Bizarre". All the shows on the ship that are put on, are put on by the Entertainment Team, and they did an excellent job. Bizarre consisted of Cirque du Soleil like stunts, dancing, and singing. After that we went to the after activity in one of the lounges called Heaven Meets Hell. We sat down, expecting to watch a show, but no no. NO, NO. It wouldn't be that simple, it requires audience participation. So we ended up sitting on Hell's side and got red streamers that we were told to wear. Then two men were picked out of the audience to represent each side and they had to sing an Italian song, and for that Hell won. And then the second part two other men were picked from each side and they had to have three women with them to grab things from the audience to properly dress them like women, so the men took off their clothes and actually put on female clothing from the audience, it was hilarious. One of the MSC crew men, my best friend, came over and asked to use my hairband to help Hell's man. The whole night was hilarious. Then at the end there was a congo line and my best friend, one of the MSC crew made Alissa and I join, so we did, and we ended up dancing a bit before retiring to bed. My best friend came over and danced with me as well, it was good times, haha.
Above: Side street in Bari.
Above: Sign to the Tomb of St. Nicholas
.
Above: Alissa and I in Bari.
Above: Tomb of St. Nicholas.
Above: Alter at the Basilica.
Above: Basilica.
Above: Ceiling at the Basilica.
Above: Statue of St. Nicholas.
Above: On our way to the Basilica.
Tuesday (14th): Casino, Cards, Captain's Ball, Enriqo Scotto.
>> We hit a snag on Tuesday because we were supposed to be going to Corfu but since there was a wretched storm Monday night while we were in Bari, we couldn't leave till late, and since we were about 4.5 hours late we had to skip Corfu and sail through the night and the day straight to Santorini, which was okay with us, because we were glad it wasn't like we were missing Athens, Santorini or Olympia. We spent a good part of the day sleeping and played cards for a few hours in one of the lounges before taking a siesta (we were big on making sure we got in our siesta for naptime/relax time). That evening was the Captain's Ball and we all got dressed up for dinner and pictures with the Captain, we didn't take pictures with the Captain but we took a group picture together, the 6 of us. That evening, the show was Enriqo Scotto who was an Italian Tenor. What I must make mention of is our social hostess Maria. Now.. this woman is my hero. This woman was the woman who made all the announcements. Whenever there was an announcement it had to be repeated 5 times because there were 6 languages being spoken on the ship. So she made them all in: Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. The best part is.. she is fluent in all 6 languages!! It was absolutely amazing, i've never met or seen a person who could do that, it's absolutely astonishing. So Enriqo Scotto sang while the Entertainment team danced, and it was a pretty good show =)
Wednesday (15th) : Santorini (Oia, Thira), Mykanos, "Beauty of Magic".
>> I would first like to say that Santorini is possibly the most beautiful place I have EVER seen in my life. It was like stepping into a movie, except it was real. I didn't know such a place existed, I didn't know clouds could looks so fluffy, or the sea could look so green. We arrived in Thira and since our ship is so ginormous and we couldn't dock at shore we were planted out in the ocean and shuttle boats came to the ship to take us ashore. We ended up taking a cable car to the top where the city was, and we walked around a bit and while trying to find our way to a road that apparently existed near the water that we could walk along, we ended up walking into the middle of nowhere, but somehow Alissa's mom found a taxi! So since we were running out of time and wanted to still see some things, we hopped into the taxi. 6 adults and one driver in a car made for 5. It was certainly something i'll never get out of my head, hahaha. It was a tight fit, and limbs were everywhere! We drove back to town to get another car so we could comfortably drive to Oia (another town) and we passed lava (red, black and white) and it was beautiful. While in Oia it of course started to rain, but only for about 15 minutes and the sun came right back out. when back in Thira, we shopped (of course) and took the cable car back down. I forgot to mention that although it was absolutely gorgeous, it also smelled like Donkey, but that would be because there were donkey's everywhere! They are there for transportation, and I can't imagine what one would smell like if they rode one, because i'm pretty sure when we all got back to the boat, we smelled like donkey even though none of us actually touched one. Later that evening we arrived in Mykanos and this time we were able to dock at shore. Mykanos is known for it's nightlife and there were certainly a bunch of clubs and bars to visit but also plenty of shopping and food. Since none of the bars or clubs were open when we were there as it was only early evening, we did the only thing we really could do.. shop! After making our way back to the boat, we all cleaned up and we saw "The Beauty of Magic" which was certainly.. a very odd show. It was a mix between a cheesy magic show, street entertainment, and some sort of strange strip show. While Alissa and I saw that, her family was up decorating our room because it was Alissa's birthday the next day, so when we got back to the room Alissa saw it and opened some presents. It was a lovely day =)
Above: Sign for cable car in Santorini.
Above: It started to rain a bit =( But it cleared up quickly =)
Above: Storm clouds brewing.
Above: Pretty flower =)
Above: In Oia looking out at the ocean.. BEAUTIFUL!
Above: Me in Oia.
Above: The town of Oia.
Above: More Oia.
Above: White lava.
Above: Black lava.
Above: Red lava.
Above: I've never seen such picture perfect clouds in my life, then I did in Santorini.
Above: Happy faces because there weren't 5 of us crammed in the back of the taxi anymore, haha.
Above: =)
Above: Unreal.
Above: Thira.
Above: Map of Santorini.
Above: Our beastly cruise ship!
Above: The cruise ship up close and personal.
Above: Mykanos at night.
Above: Mykanos at dusk.
Above: Mykanos.
Above: SUN DRIED OKTOPUS! Yum, haha.
Above: If you're an Italian man you are almost required to wear pants of super colour. Hot pink, yellow or purple are preferable.
Above: Alissa and I in Mykanos.
Above: Mykanos at night.
>> This was the day we were all looking forward to the most I think. We docked in Athens or as the greeks call it "Piaraeus". We booked a tour from the ship and got on a bus with our tour guide Effy! There were a few moments where she reminded me of the father from My Big Fat Greek Wedding when telling us about origins or words and how they are used in the American language, haha =). The first part of the tour consisted of a bus ride around the downtown area of Athens before we arrived at the Acropolis where we got our tickets and went inside. It was quite a hike to the top but COMPLETELY worth it. At the top we stopped and sat down while Effy told us Greek Lore and history behind the Acropolis. The townsfolk were not allowed in the Acropolis for willy nilly reasons besides worship or in the case of a crisis where they could go there to hide and be safe. And of course she shared the history behind the Parthenon and how it was a place to worship Athena, the Goddess of Love. We were able to then walk around by ourselves and explore and take pictures. Being at the top of the city looking down was certainly breathtaking. From the top I was also able to see the amphitheatre and it looked magnificent. Renovations are currently being held to the different buildings at the Acropolis and are suspected to be finished in about 15 years. They are not adding anything new but taking pieces, the broken pieces and putting it back together to make all the buildings are bit more whole. On the ride back in the bus we stopped at an Olympic Stadium and took pictures and also stopped at the Greek Parliament. I think the best part of the day was dinner. Why? Well.. Alissa's parents ordered a cake for dinner that was to be brought out at dessert time. So dessert time came and our waiter along with about other waiters came out and sang happy birthday, but they didn't stop there. They sang happy birthday again in Italian and then after that they sang ANOTHER song that we don't know what it was. But.. during all of this, 750 of Alissa's closest friends also joined in with the singing and clapping because the entire restaurant joined in and it was hilarious and great and amazing. I can't even handle people singing to me at Friday's, this was 1 million times more, but it was grand, and i'm certain it's something she will remember for the rest of her life, and it'll definitely be hard to top that! So after that experience, the evening show was "Chaplin" which.. really wasn't a theme, it consisted of a few mimes, yes, but there was dancing and more body contorsion and wild acts. All in all, while strange, it was pretty good. Another great part of the night was when we went to the after activity and it was the search for the new John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Alissa was asked to partake in the competition as one of the Olivia Newton John's. So while we were waiting for the competition to start I was sitting around with her aunt while people were up dancing on the stage and two of my friends came over and asked me to dance but I declined and one of them frowned at me and I felt kind of bad but not really. So the competition started and there were 3 couples. And there were 3 stages to the competition and it was all dancing. And the winners were... ALISSA AND HER PARTNER! It was good times, it was hilarious and fun, and well.. something you'd never forget, haha. She won a t-shirt, a bellybag, a backpack and a bottle of tasty champagne.
Above: Greek Lipton Iced Tea.
Above: I honestly don't remember.. whoops!
Above: Greek Parliament in Athens.
Above: Alissa and I =)
Above: Olympic Stadium.
Above: Olympic Stadium again.
Above: Amphitheatre at the Acropolis.
Above: At the Acropolis.. what we thought used to be the well where Zeus struck into the ground.
Above: In front of the Parthenon.
Above: Hard to see now, but there are ruins in the background.
Above: Parthenon.
Above: Infooooo.
Above: Temple that goes along with the info in the above picture.
Above: Parthenon info.
Above: Temple.
Above: Effy our tour guide!
Above: Welcome to the Acropolis.
Above: On our way to the top.
>> Olympia. We were so psyched!! To see the ancient stadiums and playing fields except.. The Greeks celebrate Easter a week later than the Catholic's so we actually were there on their Good Friday and the archeological park was closed =( It actually opened from 12-6 that day but we left at 1 so there wasn't time to hang around and see. We were able to see some things from the outside (from the road) and we took a walk on a path to nowhere, and saw some remnants from outside of the fence, it was still nice. And it was a warm day so we all got a little colour. We then went back into town by the port and shopped a while and got baklava! One of my new favourites, it was delicious. That afternoon Alissa and I (when back on the ship) had a mani/pedi appt. at the spa. 75 minutes of me time was just what I needed. It was perfect timing because that night was another Gala night and we were all dressed up again so I did my hair, and my nails and toes were done.. fabulous. There was also a special surprise in store at dinner. For dessert we were told by our waiter we didn't have a choice, it was a surprise. By the way.. for dinner there were like 7 courses, of course you picked and chose what you wanted and there were a few selections for each type of course. Appetizer, salad, soup, pasta, main course, cheeses, desserts. It's of course impossible to eat all that so we usually all settled for an appetizer, pasta, main course and dessert. But anyway.. when it came time for dessert, we realized no one else in the restaurant had it either, and then.. the lights went out and music came one! And all the waiter's' came out with Baked Alaska on trays and candles in it! And over the loudspeaker they were giving thanks to the waiters and the assistants and the chefs and the maitre d's. It was fabulous, a good show and of course.. yummy Baked Alaska. The show that night "Pirates" was dedicated to us, the audience. And it really had not so much to do with Pirates. I mean the Entertainment crew was dressed up as Pirates but, there was some pirate-y stuff and some non pirate-y stuff. And they gave a big thanks to the audience that evening. It was very warming =).
Above: Greek water bottle, haha.
Above: Bee in the flower.
Above: Map of Olympia.
Above: Ruins.
Above: More ruins.
Above: Crazy looking tree.
Above: Coubertin Monument. Possible where the torch is lit or held or something?
Above: Field.
Above: More ruins.
>> CROATIA! Who thought i'd ever go to Croatia? Not me. I'm happy to say that I have been though. We went into the Old City which used to be a fortress. It was beautiful and we walked around the city walls which took quite a while and there were lots of ups and downs.. lots of stairs, and we definitely got our workout of the year, haha. It was nice though. Many people say that Dubrovnik is one of the most gorgeous places on the Earth and you know what? I believe it. It literally took my breath away. The old palaces and the water, and the churches.. beautiful. I know i've been saying everything on this trip was beautiful but there isn't any other way to describe it. It was all amazing. After walking around the city walls we went into town to shop and explore the outdoor market. As we were waiting in the longest cue of my life to get a bus back to the ship, we stopped in the shop at the corner and saw some ties and fun fact, ties come from Croatia and I was thinking I might want to get one but they were 799 Kuna which is a little less than 80 euro's, so about 100 dollars more or less, so I wasn't really about to do that. That evening we had dinner and it was sad saying goodbye to our waiter and maitre d' because we had such a spectacular time, but the show "That's Amore" was the perfect ending to any cruise. Popular love songs, mostly Italian and the Entertainment team's dancing. We packed that evening so we would be ready to leave our rooms at 7:30 the next morning.
Above: No smoking, no fries, no ice cream! This sign was on the bus in Croatia, haha.
Above: CSI Dubrovnik! Hahaha.
Above: View of the city from the city walls.
Above: I would not want to fall over the edge here.
Above: Taking a break =)
Above: GORGEOUS!
Above: Croatia.. the land of satellite dishes.
Above: Me in a guard's tower.
Above: Old castle behind me =)
Above: Castle.
Above: What used to be a fountain.
Above: Croatian flag?
Above: A long way up!
Above: Sign up the entrance of the city wall.
Above: Creepy ice-cream man!
>> We left the cruise to get to VCE to fly back to London, and we ended up waiting at the airport for a good 4 hours before boarding, so we entertained ourselves by looking at the pictures on everyone's camera. It was a smooth and VERY quick ride back. It was less than two hours, and once back home to my house in England I did some unpacking, talked to my parents and then passed out soon afterwards.
Very successful spring break in my opinion =) Now it's back to reality and i've got classes to finish up! =)
Above: A peacock chillin' on the windowsill.
Above: Sitting outside where we had our first proper pub lunch. That's Adele coming out of the door, haha.
Above: Ginormous suitcase!!
Above: Blarney Castle.
Above: Blarney Castle cont'd.
Above: Alissa and I after the Blarney Stone.
Above: Inside the castle. Above are people kissing the stone.
Above: Best Irish Coffee i've ever had.
Above: This place is known for it's Irish Coffee.
Above: Best View- FOG PERMITTING!
Above: The B&B we stayed at in Killarney. Absolutely LOVELY! If you find yourself in Killarney you must go here. The woman made the best scones i've ever had in my lifeeeeee.
Above: On our tour of the Ring of Kerry..
Above: The strangest "statue" thing.
Above: More Ring of Kerry pictures..
Above: Bus ride back to Dublin from Killarney.
Above: HAHAHA, me kissing the Blarney Stone. My pants are wet from climbing up the stairs.. narrowest staircase ever.
Above: In Blarney Castle.
Above: Relaxing in Cork.
Above: Windy at the Ring of Kerry!
Above: In the Young Ladies Room at Blarney Castle sporting my new backpack =)
