Inspiration

To the person who knew others and I so well.

I learned from you.

On my wall, your words remind me everyday…

Friday, September 28, 2007
- arrived in kasudasi, Turkey with bicycle carts transportation right outside our cabin window
- negotiated round trip taxi ride around Kasudasi from 90 Euros to $60US
- b/c we bargained so hard and the taxi company looked so pissed, I thought they were going to take us to the middle of nowhere and leave us
- went to House of Saint Mary way up in the Mountain region: last known place where Mary lived
- taxi driver waited for us while we went through the area
- purchased amulets and got ripped off (bought 10 for $25US and could have purchased for $10 Euros), got them blessed by one of the monks
- then driver took us to Euphesus (old civilization) for Dad and I toured and took pictures for 1h 30m
- then took pictures on the way down and went into 5 different shops (ceramic, carpet, leather, candy/Turkish Delight and Jewlery)
- Mom got ripped off purchasing Turkish delight candy
- took us back to the port (cost on taxi meter = 200 Lira) ($1US = $1.2465 Turkish Lira)
- had 3 dinners (sushi; Dining room: escargot in puff pastry, jalapeno cheese ???, mixed green salad, ling cod; Mediterreanan buffet outside by the pool
- Mom stole a table's chair and was given the evil eye by some woman the entire night
- (Turkish entainment (music and dancing)
- Turkish folklore team and bellydancer
- nearly had to belly dance in front of hundreds of cruise guest
- 5 men chosen to belly dance including one with and surgically implanted heart pump sticking out of his chest, but he was the one having the most fun!

Saturday, September 29, 2007
- tried calling home, but the phone card we bought in Greece didn't work
- walked around the market looking for ties
- saw 2 ties that we liked and the owner offered 7 euros each and no bargaining...came back 1 hour later with Mom and he offered for 5 euros each
- walked around for 2.5 hours on my own buying shirts and bargaining
- watched the ship sail off and there were topless sunbathers on the top, so I obliged and took my top off too
- watched the comedian/magician before dinner
- dinner sat next to Amelie: frog legs, ox tail consumme, caesar salad, stuffed quail wrapped in bacon, venetian napoleon
- watched the newelywed/not-so-newlywed game with 4 couples: 7 days married, 4 years, 25 years and 52 years
Men guessing questions: 1) most annoying habit, 2) first kiss, 3) movie to describe their love life: a) b) saturday night fever c) be back in a year d) Gone with the Wind, 4) Car to describe their body just out of the shower: a) ferrari, b) stretch limosouine, c) dump truck, d) VW Beetle
Women Guessing: 1) first kiss, 2) most annoying habit (one woman said passing gas) 3) Shopping for a bra, what size? 4) most exciting place making wooppie

Sunday, September 30, 2007
- Sea Day going from Turkey to Naples
- signed up for a poker tournament for $50 and had a plan all laid out: read poker book and relax in the sun until 1:15pm, then workout until 1:45pm and be fresh for the tournamnent.  The stakes at poker were then raised to $100, so I dropped out.
- laid on the deck again and burnt my chest slightly
- went on the internet for 14 minutes and sent email to Tracay and Trish
- napped in the room until the formal dinner: onion, beef and cheese turnover (shepherd's pie); Master's fish bisque; iceberg salad w/ calypso dressing (French); Rack of Veal (so tender and juicy, but the size of Dave's shoulder muscle); grand marnier pie
- Victor kept spitting on Mom's shoulder and food while talking and bragging and interrogating them with questions
- watched Fantasea show - amazing ballet acts!
- at midnight we passed through between Italy and the Soccer ball, Sicili

Monday, October 1, 2007
- was told how dangerous Naples (Napoli) was: camera/brick story, empty box
- walked off the boat and out of the port gates...surrounded by plethora of taxi drivers waiting
- walked 20 minutes to hydrofoil boats to take us to Isle di Capri (45 minutes)
- purchased tickets for tram (Funicoloure) up to top of the island
- looked for an iced coffee, but the shops charged $7 euros for a small and 10 Euros for a large
- walked up to a hidden lookout point on the otherside of the island where the view was amazing
- had pastries (apple, lemon and nutella) at a local shop
- walked to a garden where the we could see the first lookout point above
- had 2 pizzas for lunch down below where they weren't enthused to serve us
- took a superboat back and walked back to the ship
- got hit on by the ice cream parloureuse
- watched early show with a singer from Evita and Les Miserables
- casual dinner night and Mom wanted to avoid the spitting Victor: Lobster ravioli with spicy crawfish sauce; sweet corn and spicy chorizo soup; iceberg salad; entercouppe cafe de paris (centre of new york steak), chocolate cheesecake

Mediterranean Cruise 2007

cont...

For pictures see Facebook

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
- clock moved 1 hour ahead due to change in time zone
- stormy night on our way to Greece
- Mom and Dad went to Anniversary get-together and met an relatives of Duane
- slept in until 12pm!!!  Was pretty damn tired and jet-lagged!
- took a gravol (the only time I had to) and watched the poker tournament
- watched movie (Next) until battery ran out
- informal dinner: escargot, goose pate, caesar salad, flounder and crab meat,

Thursday, September 27, 2007
- early wake up in Piraeus (Athens)
- walked to train station (20 minutes) and then took the railway 7 stops to Acropolis (took pictures for an hour and a half at one of the highest points in Athens
- for some reason admission to the Acropolis was free! =)
- shopping in Plaka and had Iced Grecian coffee and pork/lamb pita
- saw a skinned rabbit except for the paws and tail in the local meat market
- bargained with local shop owner for 2 chess boards (marked at 100Euros) for $35 for the 2
- watched part of the Electic Electric Guitar player
- Casual night and Dad and I wore the same colour shirts: Thai Curried Scallops, New England Clam Chowder, Iceberg Salad, Duck a la Orange and Kahlau pie
- won $5 playing video poker and $25 playing blackjack- one of the casino hosts started flirting with me as I cashed out my chips...then proceeded to tell my mom that I was good-looking

Mediterranean Cruise 2007

My Cruise Diary

For pictures see Facebook

Saturday/Sunday, September 22/23, 2007
9:00am Saturday (Vancouver Time) - 11:30pm Sunday (Venice Time) with 2.5 hours of sleep
9 hour flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt
- watched Bean's Last Holiday, brought back memories of doing silly Bean impersonations: "BEan"
- Old fart in front of me kept sitting hard down in the chair in front of me causing my water to spill on me!
- Lufthansa flight was comfortable and amazing cup holder invention for flight seats.
1.45 hour flight from Frankfurt to Venice
- Dad stopped in Security for a second time and detained in a separate room
- flying over Swiss Alps was amazing
- Flying over Venice was awesome too
- Pictures don't do Venezia (Venice) justice. city of water street
- took the #1 waterboat along the main canal (45 minutes) and back on the #82 (20 minutes)
- dining room casual dinner with 4 other white people: prawn cocktail, caesar salad, breaded veal, Vanilla creme brule

Monday, September 24, 2007
5am - Dad walks arounds looking for something to do
- Walked through Venice, walked along the canal and up to S. Marco Square and S. Marco Basilica
- saw a bride and groom who just got married come out of the Basilica...apparently 1 couple from the cruise got married in Venice as well: now that would be a memorable wedding!
- nap
- Informal dinner with 8 other white people (old people): crab cake, garden salad, vichyssoie, crepe suzzette
- casino, but no one playing poker

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
- dock in Duborovnik (New Town)
- walked 2.5 km to Old Town
- walked around the City Walls
- walked around the town square in Old town and bought a gelato.  The guy threw our gelato up in the air and caught it with our cones!
- my mom waited in line for the washroom and after 4 people ran out, my mom got the message!  I laughed my ass off! HAHAHA
- after "harassing" a local: asking the same question 5 different ways, why mom finally was able to figure out which bus to take to get back to the ship.
- took number 1A public city bus back
- purchased water and pop at local supermarket: went well with the bottle of rum that my aunt snuck
- watched CSI on tv while waiting for dinner
- discovered that my Dad and I left our ties at home, so wore tie-less suits for the formal dinner!!!
- I knew that we were going to be underdressed, but my Dad was surprised to see people wearing tuxedos...he was so self-concious that he explained to everyone at the table why we didn't have our ties
Dinner:
Appetizer: crab cocktail (King crab claws and crab meat),
2nd course (in place of soup): raw oysters,
Salad selection: iceberg salad (knife and fork),
To clean the pallet: passionfruit sorbet with a hint of cinnamon
Entree: filet mignon,
Dessert: apricot tart with a side of After-Eight ice cream
- noticed Amelie's huge ass 3 diamond ring (each one must have been at least 2kt)
- won $45 playing blackjack at the casino

Note: At this point on the cruise I realized that my parents can start and continue a conversation with anyone...even if I can tell that THEY DON'T WANT TO TALK TO MY PARENTS, my parents will some how convince them that they should talk to my parents! HAHA  I wonder why I have the snobby gene?  The social gene must have all gone to my sisters! hahahaha