Skjolden - A Beautiful Port

Made our second stop in Norway this cruise in Skjolden (don't ask me to pronounce that). A beautiful, SMALL, town located at (I'm told) the furthest inland fjord in Norway. A fjord is an narrow oceanic waterway, usually surrounded by mountains. I didn't get far off the ship today, as I was busy with other things onboard, however I was able to take some amazing photos and video from Decks 4 and 5. I put them together in a short iMovie for the blog. This is truly a beautiful place. Next week when we return I'll take a tour to either the glacier or to the waterfalls nearby. Either one should be amazing. These photos will have to suffice for now.

Photo Post - Malaga, Civitivecchia, La Spezia, Gibraltar, Southampton

Being back in Malaga was a trip for me. When did my first contact on Adventure of the Seas, Malaga was my sign-on and home port for 3 weeks. Lots of memories for me here. My first trip to Europe, ever. Upon my return, I checked out some old hang spots, grabbed a cup of coffee, had a bit of pizza and took a picture of a shopping area and some shade-providing-thingys that I always thought were cool.

See the curved shade line? Makes the return to the

ship walk a little more fun.

Civitivecchia

My first port in Italy. My first experience of Italy. Actually, really turned me off. I found almost every person I met there to be generally rude. This must be a isolated experience since I've heard so many great things about Europe and Italy especially. I can't wait to get back there and work on changing my impression. In spite of all that negativity, Dustin and I had a good time eating local cuisine and trying some limoncello.

There is old stuff in Europe. 

Deserted afternoon street. Why stay open

during the busiest shopping hours? What's the

point of that?

I got the 4 cheese pizza. Awesome.

Dustin enjoying and mocking local

culture at the same time. 

Always represent UM. Go Blue!

Big guy. Tiny gelato. Tiny spoon.

Limoncello. Liquor made from lemon rinds. Not

my favorite, but, at least I tried it!

La Spezia

My second port in Italy. My second experience of Italy. A polar opposite to my first experience (Civitiveccia) here, La Spezia was great. Beautiful, secluded, quiet, and the people were largely friendly and welcoming. Maybe this was because it was Sunday and everything was closed (except for ONE restaurant)!

Just a short walk from the pier.

Gardens, gardens, gardens.

More gardens.

Cool pedestrian bridge.

For some reason, I take pictures of statues.

Local theater.

More old European stuff. The wall, not the bikes.

How old is this?

Dustin prepping for fresh cooked seafood!

Pasta carbonara with seafood.

Pro tip: always get dessert.

The owner's dog with a face only a mother could love.

Random.

Gibraltar

My time here was quite short. After sleeping in (after a late night gaming/music session onboard, no doubt) I jumped off the ship to grab a quick bit of internet time. Still had a chance to take a couple of snapshots, though. One of "The Rock" and a statue commemorating a wartime evacuation of Gibraltar. More investigation to come soon!

Pretty sure they mean the evacuation of Gibraltar. I'm 

this is not a statue of "Gibraltarians" being evacuated.

Trust me, no one wants to see that. Think about it.

Southampton

Not much to say here. I wandered around aimlessly and unsupervised in port for about 3 hours during my first turnaround here. Apparently, I went the wrong direction when I left the ship and therefore missed most of the shopping and internet offerings here. Things were so bad, I ate at T.G.I Fridays. Yikes. However, I did think this picture of the port entrance (with the cloud break in the background) was pretty cool. Snapped this pic with my iPhone 5. #shamelessnamedrop

Quick hits - Tales from the European Trail

A mixture of old and new experiences awaited me upon (re) sign-on to the Adventure of the Seas. Obviously, having spent 6.5 months here on my previous contract, I know my way around. Finding my cabin, all the training meetings, rehearsal spaces, and dining areas are as simple as a little refresher course. New to me was signing on a ship and seeing familiar faces. Some people who were here during my last contract are still here. Not just musicians, either. I mean, moving back in with my roommate and having most of the orchestra be the same as before is great. Definitely a treat to play with musicians that you know. Old friendships are rekindled quickly and former routines quickly become re-established. On the other hand, it's interesting to have share the "recognition up-nod" with officers, mess attendants, cruise staff, blue boys, stage staff, and many other departments. Ship life is temporary and unique, so, it's interesting to return to a ship and have it feel habitual and comfortable. Broken in like an old pair of shoes.

In addition to feeling accustomed to my surroundings, I learned within a few days of signing on that 3 people who I've worked with before on previous contracts will be joining us on Adventure soon. This is great news. As excited as I am to meet new people, it's going to be terrific to get back together with these folks.

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I'm working my way back into my workout routine. Well, that's not really true. I'm not working my way back at all. I decided to get back on the Body For Life program. I'm in my 4th week and feeling pretty good. The workout portion of the program is easy to do. I'm literally 1 minute from the gym. Roll out of bed, step in the elevator, walk in the gym, commence getting ripped. The hard part for me is the diet regimen. I'm not allowed to bring food back to my room, especially fruit or protein sources. It's a fine line, but, I'm really not supposed to. The mess is literally on the other end of the ship and my eating schedule doesn't really align with the mess schedule. Not aligned enough in order to eat 6 times per day as the program recommends, anyway. However, I'm sticking to this as best as I can. I have a calendar, I'm journaling my workouts, and working towards goals. We'll see how this goes. I have a big reward planned for me at the end of this rainbow.

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Elmore Leonard died this past Tuesday. He is one of my favorite authors. No doubt, his connection to Michigan and the city of Detroit was part of that, but, he is clearly recognized as one of the giants of modern fiction. Especially, in the realm of crime fiction. Ernest Hemingway was his idol and after Leonard started his career writing short stories in the Western genre, he moved to crime novels. His crime writing, largely set in Detroit and Florida (or some combination of the two, as in Out Of Sight, for example) is some of the best I've ever read. Leonard was known by readers and other authors alike for being a master of dialogue and for his concise style. I enjoyed those parts of his writing, but, to me his greatest achievement would be in the development of characters that lived on the fringe of society, but, were made into protagonists. As the reader, you ended up rooting for the loan sharks, mob muscle men, and bank robbers of Leonard's world. He was famous for "trying to leave out the part [of books] that readers skip" and, reportedly, "would rather be writing than doing anything else…except maybe watching the Tigers." You'll be missed, Dutch.

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Recently, during a late evening/early morning listening session onboard, a few musicians and myself were watching a DVD of a concert featuring Duke Ellington. All of us were marveling at the musicality and swing of the classic band. They are the BEST, for sure. There was one song, that I had trouble listening to, however. It's called Solitude. Probably the saddest and most relatable lyrics (for me anyway) of the genre. Check it out. Those who know me will get this. The song hits so close to home for me. Still a ways to go, I guess.

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Being back onboard is not without its interesting and testing moments that drive me to sarcasm. A few of these include: 

1) Yes, instead of using headphones like a normal person, please play your music super loud on your phone/iPod. Everything sounds like crap on those tiny speakers, including your Caribbean-DubStep-Mashup-Rap-Merengue. 

2) Just go ahead and walk down the middle of the hallway/sidewalk. I'm not, like, 6'9" and trying to dodge hi-fogs, doorways, and bulkheads or anything. This also includes sidewalks off the ship. Is this a European thing?

3) This just in, the gym is apparently a playground. Being based out of Southampton also includes packs of roving pre-tween riffraff in the gym crowding around machines and watching each other go through the motions and play around on the weight equipment. Some of us are actually here to do real work, kids. 

Thanks for listening, everybody. I feel better now. 

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Recently, during another late night hang session in the MD cabin, a Johnny Carson DVD was played. Believe it or not, it was my first experience with that show. I found it…hilarious. Late Night onboard with the King of Late Night. Yes, please. More of that, thanks.

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If you aren't watching The Newsroom on HBO, you should be. It's the latest Aaron Sorkin vehicle and it's awesome. Sure, it shares a lot of characteristics with other Sorkin shows (The West Wing, Sportsnight, Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip, etc), but, those are good things. Smart characters. Fast, witty, intelligent dialogue. Relevant stories. It's a show that expects a level of return and investment from the audience. That's how TV should be. Funny, dramatic, and challenging.