Some photos from Copenhagen!
Our next POC, or port of call, was Sczenzen, Poland! A pretty but needy little city with grand grassy hillsides leading up from the riverside, into the hot city center, which had a giant shopping center called galaxy, where I spent the better part of four hours catching up on my internet, TV shows and all the things I haven’t done or seen on-line in the last two months. There was a supermarket with the most reasonable prices and I bought some Polish Cheetos. They are the most amazing junk food ever; I only wish I had bought more! They are kind of a giant long puff rather then the gnarly little bumpy things in the states (look at me all European calling America “the states”).
Nina and I in front of a Church in Poland:
After that came Warnemunde, Germany! A neat port near Rostock, which had a beautiful beach and a long fair looking market street. We walked along the market street and I invested some money in some German Haribo Gummy bears (duh) and they were just as good, if not better then they are at home. Eric, Ares, Nina and I explored the street and looked all around at everything from the lighthouse to the waterfront windmills. The German people along with the Polish people, it seemed were not really versed in English as much as some of the other foreign speaking countries have been, so it was interesting to try and talk to the people who did not speak English.
We then went to the top of Denmark, to a small town called Skagen, pronounced Skaen (the g is silent). It was a boating town, which had a small little street of shops. There was a candy store making fresh fudge, which was delicious (however not as good as mums). Other then that, not much else, except for a random Gant, which I had no idea had a branch this far north in Denmark. We basically hopped back on the next shuttle bus back to the ship as there wasn’t much else, and it was pretty desolate; leave a bar called Javobs where everyone was having a drink at 10.30AM.
Germany:
After Skagen came Oslo, where I met up with my old friend Erik, who I hadn’t seen for fifteen years. We went to elementary school together for two years and became very good friends, then he went back to Norway. He recently found me on facebook and we reconnected and he took Nina and I around his city for the day. It was an amazing day… we went for a behind-the-scenes type look at the Jump tower where they held the long jump skiing world cup this past winter, and it had beautiful views over the city. We went to a wonderful garden filled with a lifetime’s work of statues by the same artist. He showed us the Castle, we had some lunch at this and then Nina left to go have some coffee with another crewmember. Erik took me around some other awesome sights like the beautiful opera house where we sat on the roof and ate some ice cream on the warm day…by the way I was in a tee most of the day! At the end of the day we said farewell, and that we shouldn’t let it be 15 years till the next time we see each other, hah!
Oslo: (more to come)
A day at sea led us to Amsterdam was our next venture; I took a lovely boat trip down the canals of the city and saw a couple museums and some beautiful gardens. Went past the house that Ann Frank was locked away in, and walked past some “coffee shops” where the smell alone made me enjoy my day more and more. Just kidding, however, we did get a strong puff of the stuff every time we walked by an open door. Nina and I went over to the red light district, and wow, there were half naked women standing in windows and doorways as far as the eye could see. What an interesting city; a beautiful city with a lot of bicycles.
Amsterdam:
We then sailed on to Ostende, Belgium, and Gemma and Nina and I went in search of wifi. We found along the way some delicious Belgian chocolate and some sweets and a very interesting street performer with a huge crowd riding a unicycle the height of my mother’s house! After a delicious Belgian waffle, we headed back to the ship and carried on to Honfleur. I was on IPM, again in Honfleur so I alas did not get the chance to go out and see the port, but looking on was nice and I had a wonderful lunch (a crab cake burger with fries) on the deck in the open air.
A photo of the cast and some guests:
After leaving France we sailed into London for the last time this contract, which again was amazing, even though it was pouring with rain. I still got chills going under Tower Bridge, which opens up like a magical pop-up book. When we ported in London we had an over night and then the next morning we were to get the next lot of guests for the next cruise. I decided to take the train down to the Isle of Wight and stay the night with Granny. It was the best decision I’ve made, as I was welcomed with open arms to a warm land based home and warm chicken roast. It was the best night I’ve had in a long while. Just me and granny. She always fills my heart with such joy. I am so happy that I got to see her even if it was just for the night. However the end of the Isle of Wight Regatta was that night so I even got fireworks!! I returned that morning for embarkation and then got off the ship for a wonderful all you can eat sushi dinner. Following that I had a little night by myself and went to tower bridge and let out a really loud crow like Peter Pan. It was amazing. Then I went back to the ship and we started our next cruise around the British Isles!
More photos to Come soon!
Lots of love to everyone. Remember to love!
Rhett
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