I feel like I'm at an airport....constantly

Hello everyone,

Well, I have officially been on the ship for a month….whoosh…..9 more to go. Lets recap my week….

When we last left our story…. (haha…you know how…tv shows…anyway)

Our first port was Porto Vecchio, France…and thats about all I need to say about that. THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. Thank the lord, I brought my computer for that day, hoping to find free Wi-Fi…which I did….skyped with mom during my lunch that day…that was nice. We didn't spend that long out off the ship, but I will say..it is a necessity…you HAVE to get off the ship, when you can because if you don't…you will start to feel like a prisoner and that's the only way I can explain it.

Next, went went to Portoferraio, Italy…again, not the most happenin' place I've been to but still nice to get off the ship. Spent the day walking around the city, enjoying the beautiful views that the island had to offer. After a while…we got bored walking around and sat down in the park, over looking the sea. First off, I have NEVER in my life seen SO many jelly fish in the water and people were swimming around them like it was nothing. I didn't set FOOT in that water…I was just stunned. But as we were just sitting there talking and just enjoying the view. We saw a few pigeons walking around us and so I thought it would be fun to act like we are throwing stuff at them and see what would happen. (We were bored….) Pigeons are so stupid….I was throwing air at the dumb thing and it kept freaking out and thinking about flying away but didn't. You know…now that I think about it..I'm sure we didn't look too intelligent throwing air at pigeons and then cracking up laughing at it. Crazy Americans…I'm sure was said a few times haha…oh well, I had fun. After we freaked out a few more pigeons…we were ready to leave but first I had to use the restroom. Do you realize that I (if I would have done it) would had to pay 30 cents…..TO PEE!!!! Never in my life have I been more shocked and as I walked away I thought…"I can't imagine what they would charge someone that ate something that didn't agree with them that came to use the restroom" HAHA.

Our next port was Livorno, Italy…which was a lot of fun. Woke up that morning to discover I had a crew bomb drill…that was interesting. Our safety officer was SCREAMING at me in his little yellow hard hat saying "THIS AREA IS CLOSED….THIS AREA IS CLOSED"….oh man…it was funny. But later that day, I actually got off the ship and took a train to Pisa to visit the leaning tower. It was funny walking towards the tower cause as I got closer and closer…it became very surreal. I have studied about the leaning tower and seen SO many pictures of it and I never thought that I would actually see it…but there it was…leaning towards me…haha. Took a few pictures and really enjoyed the town. Coming back, I was trying to learn a little bit of Italian…its such a beautiful language. Once we got back to Livorno, I walked around the city a little, found a grocery store and a McDonalds…yes, they truly are taking over the world….one happy meal at a time. Something else that I haven't said yet but I have notice at almost every city since Venice…was the fact that almost EVERYONE has a rolling suitcase with them….all the time. I don't understand why….its like I'm constantly in an airport or something. Its very interesting to me and I'm not the only one that has noticed. 

Next, we spent an AWESOME day in Monte Carlo. That is such a cool place and SO expensive…you can just smell it. Walking from the port…which that right there was amazing in itself…so many different yachts and cars….whoosh. There was just SO much money….EVERYWHERE! Its a very clean and nice city filled with shops and nice restaurants. Had a great lunch with the entire cast at this little cafe and then we walked up about a millions stairs to a fort on top of the hill…stunning view from up there and great ice cream as well. Took a few pictures up there and actually…we got a crowd starting to come around us because we all decided to take pictures of us jumping (don't ask why) and people started watching us do it and actually one woman wanted to take a picture of us doing it for herself…that was a little strange but whatever..made her happy. 

Today we spent a lovely day in St. Tropez, France….right in the heart of the French Rivera. It was a very cute little town and I enjoyed my time walking around and seeing all the cool shops. I stuck my feet in the water and it felt really good. I had actually forgot to bring a towel, so before I put my shoes back on…I needed to dry my feet off. I was walking over to the side..where there were some rocks….I saw some moss and I knew not to step there. So I stepped to the right of it and you guessed it…the rock won the fight. I fell right on my face…half of my pants and shirt got wet, HUGE bruise on my leg and cut open my toe pretty well…..damn rock. After the fight, we walked around a little…saw my first cactus…yes I know….I had to travel half of the world to see my first cactus but still. That night, we had a lovely evening with the show and had a great audience.

Tomorrow we arrive in Barcelona where I am on IPM all day (IPM - In Port Manning…by law you have to have so many people on the ship at one time…tomorrow is my day). I am planning on catching up on my book..Eat, Pray, Love…getting a tan, getting a haircut and just enjoying my day. We have an exciting week coming up with Palma de Mallorca, Spain on Sunday / Valencia, Spain on Monday / At Sea on Tuesday / Malaga, Spain on Wednesday / Cadiz, Spain on Thursday / Portimao, Portugal on Friday and we end the cruise in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday. I'm sure I will see my fair share of more rolling suitcase…I'll keep you posted…haha.

Until Next Time,

Jason