Once again, I am going to apologize for the delay in writing this posting. Things on the ship have been keeping me busy, and I have also been a bit under the weather, which is why I have fallen extremely far behind. The ship is currently on its way back from spending five days in the Caribbean, and I figured that it would be good to finish this posting up in the midst of five consecutive sea days.

November 29, 2008
Rome, Italy

For the last time in 2008, the Queen Victoria docked in Civitavecchia, Italy, so I decided to go into Rome with some other members of my orchestra and walk around. We arrived at Roma Termini (the city’s main train station) shortly before 11:00am and boarded the local subway system, and at around 11:05, we got out near the Piazza del Popolo. The massive square housed one of Rome’s many beautiful obelisks atop some fountains with lions and surprisingly, was not all that crowded. Despite being a cloudy day, I enjoyed our first stop as we headed for the Spanish Steps.

It was amazing how easy it was to walk from one sight to the next, and we arrived at the Spanish Steps less than ten minutes after leaving the Piazza del Popolo. What is interesting about Rome, and I discovered this more during this trip into the city, is that it is fun to just walk around and see things. The city itself is beautiful, and each landmark offers a different perspective on all that is Rome. The Spanish Steps are exactly what they sound like: they are a flight of stairs. It is more the area that surrounds them than just the steps themselves, as this is the hottest shopping destination in all of Rome. At the foot of the steps was a beautiful fountain that is a true work of art in itself. People can actually step onto a platform in the fountain to get their picture taken, but I skipped out on this so we could make our way to our next stop.

After a quick meal at the local McDonald’s (we were pressed for time), my friends and I headed for the Trevi Fountain, and surely enough, we arrived less than ten minutes after leaving the Spanish Steps. The Trevi Fountain was like nothing I had ever seen. It was amazingly large, and the water was a beautiful shade of blue. I tossed a coin in, as legend has it that if you toss a coin into the fountain then you will return to Rome again (Queen Victoria visits Civitavecchia on April 14 and 26, May 14, and June 17, 2009, so I doubt the coin toss was necessary; I did it anyways).
From the Trevi Fountain, we made our way through more of Rome’s narrow streets and found ourselves at the Pantheon shortly thereafter. I was amazed at how intact the structure was after over 1,800 years, as the only noticeable thing missing was the very top, which might have very well been open to begin with (since the opening was a perfect circle). We spent some time inside the Pantheon viewing the different sculptures on the walls and the beautifully decorated walls, and then headed out to see a bit more prior to heading back to Roma Termini.

We made our way from the Pantheon to Il Vittoriano, which is a large city building and it also houses Rome’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at its base. I did not spend a lot of time here, but had a few minutes to take in the massive structure that is Il Vittoriano, and then I headed back towards the nearest subway station, which happened to be at the Colosseum. I spent a few minutes walking past the place that seems to draw me towards it every time I go to Rome, and then shortly thereafter, I boarded the subway for Roma Termini and made my way back to the ship.

By the end of the day, I had seen lots more that Rome has to offer, and yet, there is still so much more to see. The next time I visit, I hope to see the Roman Catacombs in Trastevere, or perhaps I will explore the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum a bit more closely. Nevertheless, I might not need to spend two weeks on vacation in the city to see everything.

December 6, 2008
La Goulette (Tunis), Tunisia

For the third time since I joined Queen Victoria, she paid a visit to the continent of Africa, as the ship docked in La Goulette, Tunisia on Saturday. I had never visited Tunisia, and did not know what to expect or where to go, so I signed up to escort a tour that would give me a great chance to see a bunch of Tunis and its surroundings.

What I did not know prior to joining the ship is that the ancient city of Carthage, a key piece of Roman history, was located in close proximity to Tunis and La Goulette, so upon seeing the opportunity to do a tour here, I jumped on it. The first stop on my tour was the Roman Baths at Carthage, or at least, what was left of them. The baths consisted of mostly one-story buildings, but there were a couple of tall pillars Unlike the ruins at Pompeii, Pergamum, or Ephesus, the Baths at Carthage were located right along the water, and this only added to the sheer beauty of the historical site.

[Side Note: Ephesus was originally located on the water but the harbor is now a big valley]

We made our way from the Roman Baths to the Bardo Museum, a museum located just outside of Tunis filled with Roman mosaics and statues from over 1,500 years ago. It was situated in a former mid-19th century Ottoman palace, and the interior was decorated beautifully. The palace’s former harem had the most intricately carved white stucco ceiling that had to take at least a year to complete. In truth, the ceilings and wall decorations were more interesting at times than the mosaics or statues themselves, but everything looked amazing in their own way.

From the museum, we headed to the Medina of Tunis, which is the old part of the city. We had some free time to explore the marketplace, which reminded me slightly of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul in that it was a bunch of shops next to each other, and many of them had the same items inside. Some sold spices, some sold leather, and there was other interesting stuff for sale including shoes or traditional Tunisian clothing. I enjoyed walking around but did not enjoy being constantly bothered by the shopkeepers. One person even started following me around, and that was no fun and even a bit creepy.

We went from the Medina to lunch, and from lunch, we traveled to the nearby Moorish village known as Sidi Bou Said. The entire village is made up of whitewashed buildings with blue windows to reflect the color of the sea and the clouds. In truth, it turned out to be very touristy and street vendors selling everything from cats to coasters covered the main drag. I ended up purchasing a water pipe and a couple small souvenirs.

From Sidi Bou Said, we headed back to the ship, thus ending a wonderful day in a wonderful country. While the food is not anything to write home about, the scenery and history I encountered in Tunis and Carthage was enough to make the day a wonderful experience and I am glad to say that I was able to go there.

December 8, 2008
Malaga, Spain

On a sad and dreary December day, Queen Victoria docked in Malaga, Spain en route back to its maiden port of Southampton, England. Despite the lack of sun and the abundance of rain, I spent the morning taken aback by the natural beauty of the earth and was not affected by the weather. This was because I decided to do a tour that visited the caves in the nearby city of Nerja. Despite the fact that humans inhabited these caves over 300,000 years ago, they were only discovered in the late 1950s by some children playing on a hillside.

We entered the caves at around 10:00am and spent about an hour exploring only about a third of what had been discovered since the other two thirds require proper spelunking gear and guides. Nonetheless, I was in awe of how beautiful the caves were. The most-popular tour offered in Malaga is a trip that visits the Alhambra, but I wanted to see something that would be completely unique and like nothing I had ever seen in my entire life. The caves fit this description perfectly. We walked through these massive caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites, some of which were over 200 feet long. Unfortunately, flash photography was not permitted inside the caves since it deteriorates the color of the rock and actually causes it to turn green, but I was able to get some decent photos by setting my camera on handrails and standing very still.

This was my second visit to Spain, and every time I go there, I find something new to love about the wonderful country. I am looking forward to returning to Barcelona and Malaga in 2009, and will be visiting Santiago de Compostela on December 31.

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December 26, 2008
Merry [Belated] Christmas to All

Christmas on the ship was fun. I seem to be starting a tradition of getting sick right around the big day. Last year I had strep throat; this year I have the flu, so I was not able to partake in the festivities. The staff mess was decorated two weeks in advance for Christmas, but the Christmas dinner was quite nice. In the end, all there is left to say is: Merry Christmas to all from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

I just wanted to tag something else on to the end of this entry since there is nothing recent to write about. My visit to Malaga and the caves at Nerja was over two weeks ago, so I thought I would fill in on what has been going on and what will be happening in the near future.

On December 11, the ship docked in Southampton, England and embarked on a 22-day voyage to the Caribbean. We stopped in Ponta Delgada, Azores en route and I did a short tour of the island. It took me to a beautiful panoramic viewpoint of the island’s Crater Lakes, and then we visited a pineapple plantation where I purchased some pineapple liqueur. The tour was nothing to write home about, so I will not say anything more.

On December 19, we arrived at our first stop in the Caribbean when we docked in Antigua (I spent the afternoon on the beach), and this was followed by visits to St. Kitt’s (I went golfing, and no, I am not a golfer), St. Lucia, (our Caribbean band on the ship is from St. Lucia so they organized a beach party for crewmembers), Grenada (I went river tubing and also got to pet a live monkey), and Barbados (another beach day, spent at the Boat Yard, one of the most popular crewmember hangouts in the Caribbean). Currently, the ship is on its third consecutive sea day and will be arriving in Funchal, Madeira on December 29 and then Vigo, Spain two days later before returning to Southampton on January 2.

January 2 marks day 1 of Queen Victoria’s 2009 world cruise which, needless to say, I am very excited about. Our first stops will be visits to the USA: New York on January 10 and Fort Lauderdale on January 13; I will get to see my family both of these days. You can see the complete itinerary on my previous posting from a few weeks ago. As for what I have planned thus far, all I am set on doing so far is:
-Bungee jumping in Auckland, New Zealand [possibly skydiving there as well]
-Visiting the Sydney Opera House
-Going to the Great Barrier Reef
-Visiting the peace park in Nagasaki, Japan
-Eating Thai food in Thailand
-Skiing in Dubai

Beyond that, everything else is up in the air. I have seen some interesting tours in the Asian region, namely Singapore, Vietnam, and China, but I have not narrowed it down to a first choice as of yet. There are plenty of things to do in the different places to visit and I am looking forward to the voyage. Sailing around the world is something I never thought I would get the opportunity to do, and I am grateful that I will be able to stick around. Stay tuned for more updates, as the next few months are going to be exciting.