Thailand!

I had a month off before I joined my new ship in Hong Kong on January 21st, so I asked if they could fly me a month early. They said yes! So early Christmas morning, I took a flight to Hong Kong. Talk about stereotypes, a Jew flying all the way to Asia for some Chinese food on Christmas.
Within an hour of me being in Hong Kong, something pretty crazy already happens! I take the bus to my hostel from the airport, drop off my stuff, and immediately go out to explore at around 7pm. Right across from my hostel, I see a market with lots of people, so of course I have to walk over there. I walk two blocks and I see my friend Jeremy Bernard, a singer I worked with on a ship this past summer, walking towards me. All I say is “dude, Jeremy?” and he’s like “omg no way.” It was so random that I saw him, especially since I literally just touched ground on the new continent an hour ago! We were also in a very local area of town, so the chances of this happening was pretty low! It was really cool, so we hung out in the market for a bit and a couple days later went out for dinner and drinks with another one of his friends. He was there for a seasonal gig at Hong Kong Disneyland. Small world!
Hong Kong is a really cool city! I was able to explore a lot of the downtown areas. I found out quickly there’s so much amazing food there too! Right around the corner from my place was this place called “dimdimsum dimsum.” There was a sign that said Newsweek put it in it’s 101 Places to Eat Before You Die. I had to go. It was packed with locals, and I stuffed my face with their food. I went for a 2nd time a few days later cause I loved it so much! Dim sum is dumplings, you usually get 3 or 4 and it’s fairly cheap, so it’s easy to eat alone or with people. They had amazing crispy shrimp rolls, ones with pork and ostrich egg, beef with tangerine peel. Then they had dessert ones that were awesome! One had warm pineapple filling, and another had an egg custard filling. I fell in love! There were some other great places to eat in Hong Kong as well, but this was by far a highlight! I saw all the sights in this great city, plenty of markets, went to Victoria Peak to see the whole skyline, saw the Big Buddha looking over mountains just outside of the city, and then the skyline at night is gorgeous with tons of lights! It’s definitely a must-see in Asia.
After this I went to Northern Thailand for 3 weeks to do a trip that was a little different than most tourists/backpackers my age do. I stayed in the north to go to lesser visited towns, skipped over Bangkok because I would go there on the ship, and skipped the islands because I will also be there on the ship and I had just spent 2 months in the Caribbean and was a little bored with beaches. I was ready for something different!
The northern capital Chiang Mai is one of the greatest cities I’ve been to! There’s so much to do, so many tours and different kinds of activities to sign up for. Plus there are a lot of foreigners here to do these with that make them really fun! Right when I got to my dorm bed I met a couple from the US who were traveling and within 5 minutes of meeting of them, we all went to a huge night market to get pad thai and bargain down cheap knick knacks. I also met up with a family friend from home, Casey Weinman. We spent the next couple days exploring the city together, going to huge markets, taking a thai cooking class, watching muay thai boxing, seeing lots of temples, and eating lots of pad thai and banana shakes! We were there for New Years and it was pretty magical to say the least! At the gate of the old city, where the moats are, tons of people were letting lanterns fly through the sky. The sky was filled and it looked like the sky was lit up! We then went to a rooftop bar to watch these lanterns fly, and at midnight fireworks in two directions started, as well as a stage with a band below us while there were thousands of people crowding the streets! It was the most unique New Years I’ve been to, and I’m so glad I was able to be there!
After this I spent a couple days in a place called Chiang Dao. A pretty sleepy place, but nice and relaxing. One day I took a long hike up a random mountain with the guesthouse owner’s husband. It took all day, he had to bring a gps cause the only people who used the trail were locals. He said up there there were hilltribe villages still making opium and growing marijuana in the trees, because it’s very illegal! We got lost at one point and had to cut through brush and go straight up this steep incline. At the top it was an amazing 360 degree view so it was all worth the sweat!
I then took a bus to Pai. The road to Pai is famous for having like 200 something curves, and it’s up in to the mountains, so it’s steep. And of course it’s Thailand, so I couldn’t have just a normal bus ride. No. By the time I got on the bus, it was full and I had to sit in the middle of the aisle, in front of the open door, on a bag of rice, next to a monk and a Thai baby. I can’t make this stuff up. Not only was I holding on for dear life while I was staring at the asphalt on every turn, I was also sitting on someone’s dinner for the next few weeks. But it was all worth it, because I love Pai! Everyone loves Pai! It’s a hippy town in the mountains, so of course I can relate to it. It’s quiet, peaceful, but still has lots of bars, live music, a good night market, and lots of good food so there’s plenty to do! I took a tour out of here one day to sightsee around and one of the things we saw was the Longneck Karen village. The women have the rings to make their necks unbelievably long. It’s very interesting to actually see these women in front of you. It’s a little bit of a tourist trap, and they only moved closer to civilization so they can make money off tourists, but to converse with them and smile at them was still nice. I hope I made their day somehow.
I couldn’t just leave Pai by bus. So instead I booked a 2 day rafting trip ending in the next city. It was a blast! I was with a group of some americans, 3 germans, and the 3 thai guides. I got lucky cause I was paired with the 3 german girls who were all my age, so we had a fun group goin down rapids! The river was pretty low, and we hit a lot of rocks, but there were still some rapids that made it worth it. Plus the scenery and the peacefulness being in the middle of the mountains was so nice! We swam down a waterfall and stopped for a dip in a natural hot springs. At night they had a camp where we stayed in an open air hut, had a huge dinner, and we chilled by the fireplace all night talking and seeing billions of stars! The thai guides were really funny, made awesome meals for us, and even had some funny games and cool local desserts for us at night. It was an amazing trip that was one of the top highlights of my vacation!
The next city was Mae Sariang, not a big tourist destination, but it was quiet enough that I was able to relax by the river, bike through rice paddies and little villages surrounded by mountains where there were only a handful of people. It was serene and gorgeous! Out of this city I did a 2-day trek on the border of Burma. I went to a remote Karen village on the top of a hill surrounded by endless mountains. This was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life! We spent the afternoon there in a family’s hut who made us lunch and dinner. They were very gracious and friendly people- we had only met them that day and they offered to have us stay the night and let us use their cooking area. The reason I don’t say kitchen is because at this village the kitchen and “lounging” area is a hut raised above the ground. There’s a grill and coals in one corner, some cooking stuff and plates, then a hammock, and immediately below the hut is where all the animals live- chickens, pigs, dogs. Let me tell you, sleeping on a bamboo floor, freezing in 2 blankets cause we’re in the middle of the mountains, the last thing you want to hear at 5am is chickens waking up, cause you know they’re not going to be quiet for a long time! We also got really lucky because that night was Children’s Day, a national holiday. So groups of schools from the surrounding villages walked all day to the village we stayed at because there was a party that night. The kids in each school did some traditional dances to music. The teenagers from Bangkok who were helping organize the event stayed up all night where we played games and lit flying lanterns and sang songs. I had never seen that many stars in my life, it was amazing. Another fun experience that day was playing a game with some local guys. It’s like a mix between volleyball and soccer. They have a softball-sized ball made of bamboo that they kick over a net like volleyball. It was really fun!
After this trek, I went to a city called Mae Sot, a city on the border of Burma where there are a few refugee camps for the Burmese. I saw the Mae La camp when I drove in and the camp was enormous! I found out there was 50,000 people just in that one camp! It’s pretty rough there, because they can’t go back into their country but it’s hard for them to make money. Being in town, I met a lot of foreigners who were working or volunteering at the camp, teaching English there, volunteering in clinics, and I even met some photographers, journalists, and researchers. It was very interesting talking to them about what it’s like in the camps and learning about their time spent in this area. The town was nothing like the rest of Thailand, and I felt like I was in a completely different country! That’s because most of the city’s population is Burmese. All the markets are mostly filled with Burmese food and snacks, and it’s hard to find traditional Thai food. I got pretty lucky because my first night there was a huge concert with the biggest rock band in Burma. I watched from outside the gates on a street because you could still hear perfectly and see the stage, and it felt like the whole town showed up to this event! It was pretty fun!
I then headed to a town called Sukhothai, where there are ancient ruins. I explored the ruins on bicycle. They were all spread out between lush forests and fields. It was also not crowded at all, so sometimes I was at some ruins all by myself- it was really peaceful!
My trip had to come to an end eventually and I had to head back to Chiang Mai, where my trip was not at all over. I went out to this bar both nights that have live bands play all night. These bands are all Thai people, they play any song you can think of, and they play really well! The bar is packed with all Thai university students so it’s a really cool atmosphere! On Friday night I actually headed to Chabad. It was all Israelis, but there were tons of them! All ages! I met this really nice group of Israelis my age- 2 guys and 3 girls, and we hung out the rest of that night and the next day. They were really fun and it was nice after being on my own for almost 3 weeks to hang out with some like-minded people.
I really appreciated my trip to Thailand, and it wasn’t at all what I expected! I always kept an open mind and usually went with the flow, cause that’s kind of what you have to do in Thailand. I had a lot of amazing random moments, met a lot of locals and learned some random Thai words, like mooo means pig, but if you say it in a different tone it also means horse... What I learned on this trip were lessons I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. Go to northern Thailand and you will fall in love with it!

5 Months: Europe-Olympics-Alaska-Caribbean

I think I need to catch everyone up on the past summer and fall.

I was on a ship in Norway last time I talked to you. My last cruise’s highlight was going to the North Cape, the northernmost point of Europe. I hiked a mountain not too far from the Cape where we docked and I could see for miles- huge jagged rocks surrounding dark blue water. It was very beautiful. In Tromso, a great little city, I went to the northernmost brewery in the world. And who would’ve known their beers are very good! Besides those highlights, I went on some hikes with friends and ate more of Norway’s expensive but very delicious food. I said some goodbyes, and off I went on a 2 ½ week European vacation!

Me and my friend Russell, our bass player, disembarked in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and rented a car. We made a short little tour of Holland that first day, stopping in Gouda to see where the cheese is from, and then ending up in Utrecht, a nice-sized Dutch town with a university and lots of young people.

The next morning we were off to Hamburg, Germany, speeding on the Audobahn (because you can). We met up with a percussionist we met on the ship who lives there with his wife and kid and invited us to come stay. He showed us around town, treated us to some great German wheat beers, and barbecued/made crepes/ate amazing Germany food.

After a couple days relaxing in Germany, we headed towards Belgium, stopping in Cologne for a couple hours to look at the amazing church there and eat some currywurst (bratwurst with curry ketchup!). In Brussels we also met up with a friend we know from ships who gave us a short tour of downtown. We stayed there for the next few days. The beer in Belgium was amazing, not only the Trapist ales that their known for, but any local Belgian beer was great. There are tons of corners in the city where 4 or 5 restaurants will have tables and chairs out in the sidewalk, and everyone will congregate at all these bars at any day/night of the week to eat a little and have a drink. We did this most nights and it was really nice! Brussels is pretty touristy, lots of stupid American college kids traveling and drinking cause they’re under 21. But I always try to find where the locals are and go off the beaten path, so these corners were perfect for me. One day we did a day trip to the beach in Oostende which was beautiful and so relaxing. On the way we back we hit up Bruges to walk around and see where they filmed everything in “In Bruges.”

Our next city was actually my favorite of all- Antwerp. We stayed in a really nice hostel close to everything, I had an amazing meal, and they have the best shopping. Everywhere in Europe in July has huge sales going on for the end of summer. Antwerp is already known for having the best fashion and clothing in that area of Europe, so we got some pretty good deals. But America might not be ready for my European purple pants and green shorts. Or at least not Eugene.

We stayed in Amsterdam for a few days after this. We stayed right in the heart of the Red Light District, which on a Saturday night was pretty crazy. The city is pretty touristy, but you have people from all over the world visiting, and there’s many areas to check out. We went to the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house, both of which I really enjoyed. I also met up with some friends here. One was a friend I worked with at summer camp in upstate New York a few years ago who was studying there. Another was a piano player from college who works on another cruise ship who was in port that day. And then a friend from elementary school, who we played on the same basketball and soccer teams a looong time ago, walked past me while I was sitting on a bench. It was pretty crazy!

I then flew to London to see the Olympics! I couldn’t get in any events, but anywhere I went in the city was buzzing with Olympic excitement. I went to a big park that had huge screen tvs with events being played (mostly Team GB supporters). Athletes were everywhere in town, even riding the subway with me. People from all over the world were wearing their flags around the city and chanting in foreign languages. It was a really great atmosphere. I also traveled up to the north of England to stay with a couple friends from ships who showed me around Liverpool and Manchester- I got to see the street and pub where the Beatles first got started, as well as went to Old Trafford, the stadium where Manchester United plays soccer (football).

After this amazing trip, I headed home to take a little break from the constant excitement and traveling to enjoy the mild and perfect summer in Oregon. Great weather, meeting up with friends I haven’t seen in a long time, celebrating my birthday, watching some live music including a big festival in downtown Eugene, and buying a new laptop and recording equipment for my birthday!

I then headed on a ship that first did 3 weeks of Alaska ports out of Vancouver, which included lots of good seafood, some dogsledding, and lots of hiking and rain. Then we headed down the west coast, hitting up Astoria, San Francisco, San Diego, and some Mexican ports, to finally go through the Panama Canal and end up in the Caribbean 6 weeks. It’s been a lot of beaches, sipping drinks, catamarans and snorkeling, rainforest hiking, and seeing some wildlife like sloths, monkeys, toucans, and lots of iguanas! Just the usual work days. All of the ports - Cartagena, Colombia; Aruba; Curacao; Costa Rica; and the Bahamas - were really fun in their own ways!

Another update to come about the next 5 months of my adventure!

EPIC CRUISE

This past cruise was the best cruise of the contract. The best ports, the craziest times, with so many good stories.

We went to two German ports first. The first was Kiel, which we were fortunate that there was this huge festival going on there. For about 3 or 4 miles, maybe even more, there were booths with food, huge stages for music, and then tents with lines of tables just like you think Germany’s like. I got off the ship a few times because we were actually docked right in town and until 11pm. At night it was packed with people, big bands with Germany clothing on singing “ZIGGY ZAGGY ZIGGY ZAGGY” and huge glasses of beer. I had sausage, pretzels, ice cream, crepes, and beer (this is over the course of the entire day). I loved it!

The second Germany port was Warnemunde, which doesn’t have much except for a nice beach and a bar at the train station that all the crew were at. So we just sat outside at the train station eating sausage and drinking beer. A pretty relaxing night.

Our next port was Tallinn, Estonia. I had no clue where Estonia was until I had been, but I love it! There was a nice old town with some cool antique shops and beautiful churches and a castle. The highlight of the day was going to this pancake place. It was more like really thick crepes. We all got some and shared them- one with chicken and feta cheese, garlic and cheese, strawberry and cottage cheese and whipped cream. They were all huge and super delicious! Another interesting part of the day was going into this old store that had communist and nazi paraphernalia. It was a little freaky, but really interesting to see these things.

After Estonia was St. Petersburg, Russia, a port I’ve heard is super fun, and it did not let me down! I took the metro into town with a couple friends and did some sight seeing. I saw the Church of Spilled Blood, the Kosov Cathedral, St. Isaac’s Cathedral and spent some time in the famous Hermitage Museum. For lunch we ate at this amazing meat pie shop. They had rabbit and cheese pies, egg and onion, sweet cheese, and some others.  Since we were spending 2 days in Russia, we spent the night/morning at a club in the middle of nowhere. This club had 4 levels, each with its own DJ and dance floor and a bar. The bar was packed full of kids looking like they were 16 years old, and no one spoke English. We basically hung out within our group of about 10, but it definitely made for some interesting conversations with random people. St. Petersburg was beautiful, and pretty fun. But I walked around some areas that were pretty run down, the slums. Near the port area, nowhere near downtown, it was like the projects but with huge Soviet-style stone buildings that could probably withhold a nuclear bomb. Other areas downtown were pretty dirty and sketchy as well. Nonetheless, it was a cool experience going to Russia. By the way, this all happened in an entire 24 hours, without any sleep and going back to the ship once to play for 2 hours.

After Russia we ended up in Helsinki.  I had a really nice day here. In the morning I walked around by myself in the rain to see the main sights- a big church, city hall, the fish market, the beautiful music hall, and walked into some shops. The architecture was very very cool. There were old buildings as well as sleek new ones. In the afternoon I went to a café and walked around more with some friends. It was raining then, and by the time we got to the fish market they were all closing down and selling all their food for cheap, which was amazing cause everything looked so good! I got this huge plate of food with grilled salmon, potatoes, vegetables, a smaller fish I can’t remember the name of, and a beer. All for 9 euros. We were in foodie heaven!!! It was fantastic food! I also had some pastries- a meat pie that tasted like a donut on the outside but with a super tasty meat and rice mixture in the middle. Also a traditional Finnish pastry that’s like a Danish but a thicker dough on the outside, like a donut ball, and then custard and jam on top of it. The dough had some herb in it that I couldn’t pinpoint, but it made it taste a little weird at first. But with the custard and jam it was really good!

If the cruise ended here, I would’ve been happy. But we had 2 days in Stockholm! I went out with some friends ALL around the city. We walked through Old Town that had some cool looking chocolate shops. We tried some and it was some of the best chocolate we’ve ever had. Totally serious! We walked through more areas like new town, the palace, some churches, the opera house, some squares. We found this park that had a parade with a military band going down the street. We later found out it was for Somber Day, a national holiday. I’ll tell you more about it later. At this park there was also a stage with some traditional music (although I don’t know if it was traditional Swedish or something else). Either way, we learned the dances and listened for a little- it was a nice that it had stopped raining at this time for us to enjoy it. At this amazing bakery we found a traditional Swedish pastry that was like a cinnamon roll but more like a danish. We also got lunch at a great gourmet sandwich shop. By that time, we had to start heading back to the ship, so we saw another cool looking church, stocked up on Swedish chocolate bars at a grocery store, and then found the hip area of town. I’m talking bars with some attitude to them, shops that had fashion that the States have never seen before, and some great looking restaurants. I was lost with one of my friends, so we started running in the pouring rain back to the ship just in time for my rehearsal. I made it J

That night, about 50 or more of us crew hopped in a shuttle bus at midnight to take us to a club. This was a Tuesday night. And the club was packed!! Remember Somber Day? I don’t know what it is, but I’m guessing something happened that made them all sad. Anyways, the DJ and all these people were dressed and had make up on like zombies- blood running down their mouths, dark eyes, weird hair do’s. it was the weirdest introduction to Swedish club culture, but also totally awesome! We took over the place and closed the place down at 3am. Everyone was super nice there, even the guys. I fell in love with Sweden that night because I realized people are just genuinely nice here. You go to a club in America and they want to see your ID and give you a hard time just to get in a public place to have fun! No, even the bouncers were nice guys and welcoming. The sun was just starting to set, so it was a little bright out now. So we decided to taxi over to another club. We closed that place out at 5am. Us ship people know how to party at night. Since we’re on the ship every night, we get used to our 1 crew bar and seeing the same people over and over. When we get an overnight, it’s a chance for us to let loose, get off the ship and enjoy nightlife like you “normal” people on land do.

So that was my epic cruise. I had an INCREDIBLE time, but I didn’t get to see nearly as much as I wanted to in every place. I want to visit every port from this cruise many more times. I hope to some day, and I hope you guys consider doing it too, because you will love it!

Shetland Ponies and More!

This last cruise was 14 days and it was cool because I got to add 2 more countries to my list: Denmark and Scotland!

The first port was Copenhagen, which is such a cool city! There are beautiful buildings everywhere you look. The first time I was there I only had an hour to walk through downtown very quickly. However on our new cruise a couple days ago, me and some friends rented bikes from the ship and biked around. It’s a lot easier to get around and to see many things in a short amount of time. One of my friends has a friend that lives in Copenhagen. She met us for drinks and some food at a couple cafes, and it was cool talking to a local about what it’s like living there. Copenhagen also has the most amazing pastries! Obviously danishes come from there, even though they call them a Viennese pastry. And these cinnamon roll-like things with chocolate and marzipan in them. It’s incredible!

Our next port was Oslo. I walked around and saw the famous opera house, some cool looking forts, castles, theaters, buildings, and the Nobel Peace Prize Center. Like most big cities, it’s a great place to people watch on the main walking streets, with tons of fashionable people and characters to see.

Most of the Norway ports we had already been to, and it was a lot of the usual things- hiking, relaxing. In Alesund I took a tour of some neighbouring islands connected by underground tunnel. They are mostly filled with rich summer homes and beautiful views!

Now Scotland! I had such a fun time in Scotland, mainly because of the way it started. We got in early around 6pm to our first port of Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands. I had the night off, so this meant a bunch of us went into town to a local Scottish bar to watch the Euro Cup games. We met some locals, and things got rowdy. They kept buying us drinks, and it was a blast! The night ended with some fish and chips, which was perfect! The next day I took a tour around the island, just looking at the scenery and visiting an old castle and museum. Beautiful countryside, and I got to see Shetland ponies! I ended that day again with fish chips. You get a huge piece of fish, and the best fries I’ve ever had. Now I know why the English love fries so much- because they make them way better than any in the US. It’s unfortunately true.

At our port in Invergordon, I got on a tour bussing us an hour away to see the Dunnrobben Castle. It was this huge castle in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest, on the coast. There was a huge beautiful garden with a falconry that put on a show with falcons, owls, and other birds flying around us. There were so many rooms with tons of old artifacts, paintings, and furniture from back in the day when the castle was used. I forget the surname of the family that’s been living there, but it’s pretty cool to see how far they can carry the name.

Our last port was also really fun! We were docked near Edinburgh, the biggest city in Scotland. It took a while to get there (a tender ride to the port from the ship, walk to the train station, and then 20 minute train to the city) but it was well worth it! The coolest architecture, with tons of buildings, a huge castle at the top of a hill overlooking the city. When we looked around we could see green, green grass on top of a cliff of rock, and then right next to it huge stone buildings and castles. It was fun just walking around and looking up! We walked up the famous Royal Mile to the castle and had a beer at a pub there. I also ate a huge steak pie which was DELICIOUS.

I’m now almost halfway through my next cruise and I already have some crazy stories that you won’t wait to hear about. This is the best cruise of the contract- Copenhagen, 2 Germany ports, Tallinn Estonia, Helsinki, and 2 days with an overnight in both Stockholm and St. Petersburg.

Beautiful Norway!

The past two weeks we’ve had two 7-day cruises to Norway. These cruises have been almost full of Dutch people. It’s been a little different having guests that only speak Dutch and don’t understand English. It’s a lot of pointing at the buffet, and head nodding in confusion. Other than that, it’s been fun because with 7-day passengers, they go to the bar and they have more fun! The past week there was also a Dutch film crew and actresses on board. They were filming a video for some tour company, so if you ever see Dutch people in a promotional video, you might see me! This coming week another film crew will be filming people for a reality TV show in Holland. I haven’t seen them yet, but I’m sure we’ll see them.

As for Norway, it’s been beautiful!! Almost every port has huge snow-capped mountains surrounding our ship. I’ve been doing lots of hiking and exploring. Norway must be the capital of waterfalls, because there is one every 100 feet. But they’re massive, starting at the top of a mountain and falling into the fjord. When we sail out of these ports, we have some scenic cruising for a couple hours. We cruise out of the fjord to get back to the ocean, and it’s so beautiful! Towering mountains on both sides of you; random houses in the middle of nowhere that make us think who the hell lives there, what do they do with their lives, and how do they get anywhere else; the greenest grass and trees I’ve seen; huge slabs of rocks (most of the mountains are just flat or spiky rock). The scenery is gorgeous here. Norway is a must-see for anybody.

Most of the ports are small places, with one shop, one café, and a handful of houses. They’re nice and quiet and have great hiking, but besides that it’s a little boring. We’ve gone to some bigger towns, like Alesund, and Bergen. Those are fun because there’s shopping and younger people around. We were supposed to go to Oslo last week, but there was some big strike with the pilots who navigate us through the fjords and shallow water so we don’t hit any rocks or anything. So we had to cancel Oslo, which I was really bummed out about. (Luckily I’m going to Oslo this next cruise!) A bunch of our ports were up in the air too because we could barely dock anywhere, or even leave ports. We were afraid that this next cruise (with 7 Norway ports) was even going to happen, but luckily the strike ended and everything is back to normal. Some of the other Norway ports I went to were Kristiansand, Sondefjord, Flam, Stavanger, Eidfjord, Geiranger,

Also the big big news is I have switched from percussion to drum set! This is a big change for me, and definitely a promotion! They’re actually getting rid of the percussion position fleet-wide (we’re the only cruise line that hired a percussionist still) so I took the initiative and said I would replace the drummer when he left. It’s the perfect situation since I already know the band, and the bass player is a good friend of mine, so I can ease into the position and have some great guidance. I was already picking the previous drummers’ brain about the gig, since playing the songs as a drumset player is different than from a percussionist. It’s been going well so far, and I’ll only get better from here, but I’m really excited for the opportunity and the fact I get to rock out on the set!

I also forgot to mention one of the coolest things about Norway. The sun doesn’t set until about 10pm, and it doesn’t get dark until 1am, but it never even gets pitch black. We actually docked in Alesund early once and had an overnight. We all went out and watched the beautiful sunset that was still there at midnight. On our walk back to the ship at 2:30am, the sunset was still there but we had noticed it was definitely brighter. The coolest thing is getting a drink at the bar at night, which is in the very front of the ship full of windows so you can look outside. So you’re enjoying a drink at 11:30pm and it’s still bright outside. It’s really cool.

Mediterranean Madness!

I forgot one of the ports I did after Lisbon. GIBRALTAR. It was really cool being there. Me and a bunch of friends took a van tour up the rock where we could see two continents, and 3 countries (Spain, Gibraltar is part of the UK, and Morocco). I was so excited for this port and it definitely paid off! On top of the rock of Gibraltar there’s a bunch of stops- caves, tunnels from WWII, and monkeys! Lots of monkeys, technically their apes. The only apes in Europe. They climb on people and high-five the bus drivers and take people’s food if they have it in a bag or anything. It’s pretty funny when this all happens! Last time we went through the Gibraltar Straight at 1am and I went outside for a minute in the rain to look at it. So this was way cooler!

After Barcelona, we headed to Civitavecchia, the port of Rome. I had been there a few times on my first ship so I didn’t head into Rome. Instead, one of our other ships was in port with us and I had friends on there, so I hung out with them. It was really nice to see them after about 6 months! Civitavecchia being our only Italian port, I ate pizza at about 3 different places, as well as gelato and frozen yogurt with warm nuttella drizzled on top--- WHOOAAHH. America needs to get on board. Business opportunity?? I also stocked up on cheap Italian wine and amazing chocolates!

Our next port was the Spanish island of Ibiza. I went on a tour that took us all around the island. Ibiza is known for a few different things- the main thing being a huge club destination for Europeans and the whole world. We drove by a couple of them and apparently they’ll have 10,000 people in there each night. It makes sense that these two clubs were rated the biggest club in the world, and the other one the best club in the world. I wish we had an overnight so we could’ve gone to check them out. However, it was pre-season, so they weren’t even open. But all around the island are billboards for DJ nights and special events. Literally every half of a mile there’s one. On our tour we went to a couple towns that were very different than each other. One was in the countryside, where it was quiet, hilly, and had “white-cubed” houses. The other town was definitely the party destination, with a big beach and tons of bars and clubs next to the beach. I definitely want to visit again once I have lots of money, and you should too! If you pay for the plane tickets I’ll pay for the drinks :) It’ll probably work out to the same price anyway.

After Ibiza, we were in the city of Almeria. Most people headed to Granada, where Alhambra is. As much as I wanted to go, I had to be back early for a rehearsal so I hung out with friends in the port city. Which turned out great! We went to the oldest tapas restaurant in the city and had chorizo, cheese, wine, and bread with this great olive paste on it. Hanging all around the restaurant were these smoked legs of pork. You seem them everywhere in Spain. The walls were filled with these, even over our heads while we ate! We learned that they last about 2 years after they’re smoked. We saw them cutting one of them- it looked like a science experiment, and kinda gross so we all passed. But I’ve heard it’s great! One thing I have to mention is that the pastries here are incredible!!! I found this small little shop filled with just pastries. And all of them COVERED IN CHOCOLATE. Not joking. And goooood chocolate. I’m not lying to you when I tell you I bought extra to bring back on board. I don’t know why it’s just this place, but they were also at the following port too, so maybe it’s a Southern Spain thing..?

The last port of the cruise was Cadiz, Spain. I was lucky enough to go here last year so I knew my way around the place pretty well. It’s a beautiful place, a little touristy in some spots, but others not so much. It’s a pretty small sliver of land, so you can cross one side of town and get to the ocean pretty quickly. It was nice just sitting on a ledge with the calm Atlantic Ocean below us. Me, the bassist and singer found this local market with all fruit, fish, and meat and cheeses. Everything was amazing! We bought some fruit and meat and cheese and a baguette for later. Then we found this restaurant with internet and the best paella! Then…. You guessed it, I went to the supermarket to stock up on more local Spanish wine.

It was so nice being in the Mediterranean this week! It was smooth smailing (sailing, that typo was really funny)- it felt like we were docked and not moving. It was great! And luckily the Atlantic Ocean was pretty calm, but then we went into the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel and things started to get rocky. I definitely ate a lot of food and drank lots of wine and coffee this cruise. But I’ve heard everything in Norway is about 5 times more expensive- like coffee being $10 for a cup, or $17 for like a hamburger and soda at McDonalds.. Also the warm weather was incredible. I got a rosy face to bring up north. Especially since I heard it was snowing in Norway this past week! Let the summer begin?

Portugal and Spain!!

This second cruise has been incredible! It started in Rotterdam, which is our home port. It’s a great home port because there’s lots of shopping close by and a pretty cool city. It’s Europe’s biggest port and practically the whole city was demolished in WWII because of it. So most of the city is pretty modern and new. When we sailed away from it, it took a long time because it just keeps going and going.

Our first port was Lisbon, which is such a cool city! I ran into this huge flea market going on, with tons of people selling everything you could imagine, from CDs, DVDs, and clothes, to random things like lamps, antiques, magazines, etc. I bought a cool little comic book that was in Portuguese, as well as a Fado CD (the local music genre of Lisbon), and a scarf of the Lisbon club futbol team. I then walked in the heart of downtown where there was lots to do and many tourists walking around. I had some great pastries and there were awesome views and many photo moments.

Then I went to Cartagena, Spain. A small port town, but I drank some great wine and ate lots of tapas for cheap. There were some cool places to walk around there too, and most important- fast internet, since that is a novelty on ships.

Barcelona was next, which I have been looking forward to visiting again since last year. I had one of the best days there! I went to Mercat la Boqueria, where I bought the famous fruit juices and some cheese, sausage, and a baguette. Me and my friend Russell walked up Jew Mountain (Montjuic) where we ate our European picnic with an amazing view of the entire city! Afterwards we went to my favorite sandwich place- Bo de B!!! I had to wait in a long line this time, but it was totally worth it! Chicken sandwich with tons of veggies and all their amazing sauces, along with the best patatas bravas. We enjoyed that on a packed lawn by the bay since it was a gorgeous sunny day. Then we walked Las Ramblas and found some friends in a bar, where we joined them for a sangria. We played for the BBQ set back on the ship and afterwards took a hot tub on the back deck with a beautiful sunset over the city.