Pompei

Today I went to Pompei and it has been something i've wanted to do for a very long time. I remember when I was little me and Mum looking at a book about Pompei, specifically I remember seeing a picture of a dog, dead, covered in ash. So going to Pompei was like a very surreal experience for me. It was very sad. To look at what was a vibrant City, they had markets and homes and roads build for wagons, you could even see the groove in the road where the wagons travelled. The street signs were not words because people did not read, they were symbols. Pompei's inhabitants were very into gambling as many of their murals and paintings have to do with women, and gambling. The bodies that I saw were actual people who died in Pompei, however it was the worse death possible. Because when the volcano errupted it wasn't the Lava that hit Pompei it was Ash and Gas. So the people sufficated slowly yet kept their shape. This is very different from a neighbouring city which had been covered in Lava (Herculaneum), so the people there literaly incinerated once the Lava hit them, quicker death then those of Pompei.

The bodies in Pompei were preserved because a once everything settles, the ash covering their bodies made holes, when you looked through all of the bones were completely fine so they poured mold into the casing and created body molds.

Anyways, little depressing but I found it so interesting and very sad.

Nice

Today while we were in Cannes, France I took a bus to Nice. Its a beautiful town with cute little streets and a great market with fresh flowers, fruit and veg and breads. Their beaches are amazing only they are not sand they are those really soft round stones?!? But it doesn't hurt your feet. We also did a tour up to a lookout point and saw the house owned by Elton John.

Montserat

I took a bus from Barcelona, Spain to the Mountain of Monstserat to visit to monestary there. The mountain was amazing, big but not with just one massive peak, it had like fingers all over the place that stretched towards the sky! Very very cool. The monstary was neat and people stay in the old dorms as a hotel, they go there to hike the mountain. Even cooler, when I went int the Cathedral of the "Black Madonna" aka wife if Jesus all my pics came out with these little light bubbles. If anyone remembers my days in St. Andrews we were advised that these are "ghost or spirits".

Alghero (Sardinia)

I went on tour to see some ruined citied in Sardinia. Basically they were towers built with rock and the people lived inside of these towers. We were able to go inside and see how they had windows and different rooms broken up. Then we went to a lookout point and back to the ship. It was really interesting because they say they are finding artifacts from colonies like this all over.

Basketball in Civitavecchia

Today I opted not to go on tour (i'm exhausted) and to spend the day with Kellon who's claiming I care more about old buildings then I do spending time with him ha ha ha. So to prove what a cool chick I am I went to watch him and a bunch of guys play basketball. The port agent had booked a very nice basketball court, indoor facility for the guys to play at for a few hours. A team from the Emerald Princess was supposed to come and play against us, but they chickened out:)

It was a cool day, Kellon enjoyed himself so much and the owner of the place had two boys there playing so Kell took some time to play with them and give them a few pointers. When we were leaving another owner showed up, he spoke english, and asked if our guys would want to play a local team when we get back to Civi in 2 weeks. The guys are pumped and the team has begun practicing. So all in all...I had a good time today, Kellon had the time of his life. Especially playing with the kids, trying to communicate as they don't know any english and he doesn't speak Italian, lots of sign language and motioning, they got a game going.

Pisa

Today I went to Pisa to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Its a small area but very beautiful, we visited the Cathedral where they have a real Bishop mummafied and in a glass show case in the Cathedral. Then I got to walk around (but not inside) the Tower. It is really amazing, when you see it, its amazing to see such a big building on such a tilt. The tour guide was great, she told us that recently they had a British architect come out and try to secure it, they don't want it to be straight, but they do want it not too fall over in the near future. This architect was able to secure it so they are confident it will stay as it is for a while now. Also I found out that in Pisa, all building are actually tilted, odd place I tell you!

Monaco

While in Monte Carlo I went to the old City of Monaco to visit the Cathedral and the Palace. In Monaco they still have a Prince and a fully working Palace, changing of the guard and everything. The castle was pretty, but very modest however Monte Carlo definately has no financial difficulty. The day I was there the Prince was in, the flag was up so he was somewhere in the Palace, although his Yacht was out for the day...hard to be a Prince huh? I knew about the Yacht because the tour guide pointed out that if you look at the picture of the harbour, see all the yachts ligned up and then the empty spot...thats where the Prince's yacht parks.

Barcelona

I went on a tour of Barcelona which was great....it is such a beautiful City. We passed by La Sagrada Familia Cathedral which was designed by Gaudi (the famous artist who did a lot of work in Barcelona) and the Olympic Ring however I opted to bypass the Olympic Ring to go and see an older castle that was across the street...I mean if I wanted to see the Olympic Ring in Barcelona I could watch re-run of the 1992 Olympics ha ha ha

Naples - Joining Sea Princess

So I stayed in the "Jolie Hotel" in Naples, Italy. Honestly I was concerned but it was BEAUTIFUL and the view from my room window was like no other. When i woke up I got to watch the Sea Princess sail in - cool to see

Hello from Europe

Hey All,

Sorry, no pics yet, but i'm settled into my new position onboard the Sea Princess as Night Manager. I will be on tour almost every day/all day this cruise and I can't wait. I'm going back to Rome, to Pisa, to Nice and to many other amazing places. Then hopefully I will have some pics to put up.

Nights are great...a little bit boring at times, but also you get to see some of the most random things as well (this will have to be told over the phone) ha ha ha. So stay tooned... more to come.