Showing posts with label Cruise. Show all posts

Wednesday August 15, 2012

Our plane was scheduled to leave at 9:40pm, lucky for us, we managed to board the plane going unnoticed with our oversized carry-on luggage. On the plane we were informed that there was a fog over Venice, too dense to take off in – so we sat waiting for it to clear. While waiting, the cheery captain with a British accent came over the loudspeaker and informed passengers because of our delay he was allowing any curious passengers to come on down to the cockpit for a tour! His ability to keep a light mood, the friendly stewardesses, and cheap fares has made EasyJet our favorite European airline. The flight to London was short, we arrived at Gatwick around 10:45 (gained an hour with the time change) overwhelmed, exhausted, and unfortunately we still had to find a bus to our hotel.

We didn’t appreciate how glad we were to be back in an English speaking country until we got off the plane, easily found a bus, and were able to ask for clear directions to our hotel! Strolling through the streets of Crawley with luggage was all too familiar – it seems like we’re constantly hauling luggage around the UK. The hotel was easy to find, located in the middle of downtown on a pedestrian only street. Walking up we were tempted to stop in next door at “OCOTPVS” for a pint, but after a 12-day cruise we agreed liquid calories were the last thing we needed. Megan had booked our room at the Ramada Crawley Gatwick hotel simply because it was the cheapest hotel close to the airport – but when we arrived we were in for a big surprise.

This particular hotel was part of the Ramada chain, but it was originally “The George Inn”, a historic inn, thought to be built around 1579! The best part – it’s a haunted hotel! Although we didn’t see any ghosts, we did get a good 4-hour night sleep, hot showers and free Internet. We woke early the next morning for our trek back to the airport to catch our flights home to the US. Of course as soon as we walked outside it started raining, but we were glad to have it, the Med was dry, and the temperature back home was projected to be around 110ºF. The journey home was relaxing, and the ten hours seemed to pass quickly. We had a layover in Las Vegas before finally touching down in Phoenix, ironically we are probably the only people we know NOT happy to fly into Vegas.

There's no place like home.
Nothing beats the blazing heat and really good Mexican food with family and friends on your first night back in town! …Although our 80-day adventure was an unforgettable one we don’t recommend doing everything we did in one shot, unless you’ve obtained the proper gear. Because we had originally planned on spending all our time abroad in London we loaded our luggage with jackets, boots and raincoats. Kyle had to pack “fashionable” for castings, go-sees and auditions. In the end we found we had hauled around way more junk than necessary, and found ourselves without essential items – like swimsuits for our month on Tenerife! Go light, nothing was worse then attempting to get around Europe lugging a hundred pounds of luggage. Of course we wouldn’t trade-in any of it; our new friends and experiences made the trip well worth the effort – but man was it was good to be home!

Xo,
M&K

Monday August 13 - Wednesday August 15, 2012

The last stop on our Grand Mediterranean adventure was Venice! It was a different experience arriving at this particular port because we would be disembarking the ship following the day our arrival. We thought saying goodbye to the beautiful blue waters of the Med and pulling into the port for the last time was going to be difficult – but our “sail in” to this majestic city was left us speechless. As the hour approached two in the afternoon the decks were crowded as every passenger emerged to watch the gigantic cruise ship gracefully navigate her way down the narrow canal to the port. It was stunning to see the city from the sea, and its many canals, churches and gondolas!

We didn’t have to leave the ship until official disembarkation at 9 the next morning, but we couldn’t resist an evening adventure. From the port we took a short tram commute to Piazzale Roma and off to explore Venice! We had booked a room in Venice for the following night at a hotel just off the famous Piazza San Marco – and we were hoping to find an easy path along the narrow walkways and bridges, as we would each be hauling 80lbs of luggage each the next day. Wandering through the maze of carless streets and endless canals we met numerous dead ends on our search for San Marco. Of course we had no map so we backtracked to the area near the port and instead shared a real Italian pizza at a small café on the water.

Returning to the ship at dark was eerie as we walked alone through the empty harbor. When we finally made the mile trek back we rewarded ourselves with soft serve ice cream (sadly for the last time). Three bowls each later we went back to our cabin, did a final inspection of the room and went to sleep in our comfy beds for the last time. The next morning we had to wakeup at six, rush to grab breakfast, and pack our remaining toiletries so that we could disembark by 9. Unfortunately in the hustle and bustle Megan forgot to grab her “confiscated item” from the gangway – a hand carved camel bone knife from Istanbul (we’re still working on getting this back from Norweigian if anyone has tips on how to go about doing so – we would really appreciate it)!

After collecting our luggage from the dock we headed out of the port, onto the tram and once again into Piazza Roma. The previous days adventure made us aware of the fact that San Marco by foot was out of the question and we would need to take a taxi to get to the hotel. The coolest part about Venice is there are NO roads at all; boats on the canals do everything from food delivery for restaurants to taxi service. Kyle managed to flag a boat down and Megan asked the rate the guy responded with a huge grin €60! Nearly choking as she repeated the rate – which was more than the hotel for the night – we graciously declined. The man laughed and told us that there was a public “water bus” just around the corner and rates were about €6 a person. Thanking the man as he floated away we hauled our luggage to the waterbus station and got on the first bus to San Marco.

An hour later, and slightly nauseous from zipping around on the choppy canals, we made it to the bustling heart of the city. Kyle insisted we find our hotel, but Megan once again got caught up in the many souvenir stands selling beautiful porcelain masks with intricate decorations. When we finally made it to the hotel it was still too early to check-in, so we dropped off our bags and proceeded to get lost in the magic of Venice. Wandering the streets near the heart of the city is amazing; there are so many vendors, huge outdoor cafes, souvenir shops, beautiful buildings, expensive Italian designer stores and gondolas all over the canals! Following Mykonos as being the coolest place we saw as far as landscape goes – we agree that Venice is the most marvelous European city we have ever been.

Exhausted from hauling luggage all day we went back to the hotel, finally checked into our room, put on a movie and passed out. When we woke up it was dusk and we were starving – for some good sunset pictures! Camera in hand we made our way to the Rialto Bridge, stretching the length of the Grand Canal it is arguably the most well known bridge in Venice. We were approached by a gondolier who offered us a discounted romantic sunset ride for two at the small price of only €150! astonished at the “discounted” price we graciously refused. After a few hours of walking the canals we stopped for dinner and drinks – travelers be warned it is difficult to find fairly priced food in Venice, luckily all of the food is made from scratch and delicious.

Making our way back to the hotel we passed through Piazza San Marco, which is possibly even more beautiful at night. The plaza was still as busy as midday, people danced in the streets as live music was being played at many of the cafés. All around us bright blue lights were being shot up into the night sky and slowly fluttering back down to earth (street vendors sell toys with blue LED lights that kids launch into the air). The incandescent glow of the streetlights illuminated the different types of marble on the Basilica di San Marco, Megan decided this is her favorite church in all Italy. We spent most of the night walking around, enjoying our last night in Italy and on the Mediterranean, we were flying out to London the next day before finally returning home.

The next day was exciting because we had planned on meeting up with our good friends Yara and Eros who would be driving an hour and a half down from their home town of Udine to spend the day with us! We finally met up with them around two in the afternoon, they had to park at Tronchetto (the only car park island) and walk all the way into the main part of town. Poor Eros even had a broken knee and still managed to make it over the many bridges and stairs to the city center. As we normally do with Yara and Eros we found a quiet bar off the town square and indulged in some traditional Italian Aperol spritzer cocktails – something that was new to both of us.

As time slipped away the wonderful couple offered to take us to the airport in their car, by far the sweetest gesture ever. When we got to the airport they did not drop us off but instead parked the car and came in with us. We dropped off our luggage at the EasyJet kiosk, noticing our “carry-on” bags Yara panicked at their size (clearly too big for EasyJet’s standards) as she snatched one from Megan’s hand and hauled it over to the bin used to measure width and length. It BARELY fit, so she warned us that at the gate they might charge a $75 fee to check them – we are so lucky to have met such amazing friends on our trip abroad. Having a little time left before our flight, the four of us had dinner at the airport café, strangely enough the Marco Polo airport had the best food in all of Venice, fresh pasta with a homemade alfredo cream sauce. After dinner they walked us to security, as we passed through they continued to stand and wave until we were completely out of sight. Megan couldn’t help but tear up as we walked to the gate sad to leave Italy and our wonderful friends!

Xo,
M&K

Saturday August 11, 2012

Athens seemed like an easy port to conquer. Kyle had lived there for three months when he was modeling back in the summer of 2009, and had become fairly familiar with finding his way around. Of course, Athens isn't a port city - we docked in Piraeus, a short 20-minute train ride from the city center. Upon exiting the ship in Piraeus we searched for a bank, we only had Lyra left and had spent our remaining Euros on the Ho-Ho bus in Istanbul. Unfortunately being familiar with Athens meant Kyle was unfamiliar with Piraeus, and we walked around for nearly two hours trying to find a BNL (global network alliance with Bank of America) ATM before giving up and paying the transaction fee and exchange fees at a random Greek ATM. With money finally in our pockets we attempted to locate the metro station - which proved to be yet another difficult task. Turn after turn in the wrong direction, and without a map we seriously considered heading back to the ship... just as we saw the big blue "M” marking the metro station – what a relief!

We gladly paid €4 for two 24-hour unlimited metro passes and jumped on the first train bound for the historic area of Athens. Our first stop was the Acropolis, where we were again pleased to find that for only €12 each we could by bundled tickets for the Acropolis, Zeus's Temple, the Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora, Theatre of Dionysus, Hadrian’s Library, and Keramikos! Packaged tickets are available on the South side of the Acropolis, and can also be found at any one of the seven points of interest (students with a valid ID can get tickets half price.) As we passed through the gates that led to the Acropolis we were blasted by hot stale air, and a light dust from tourists who kicked up the loosely packed dirt path before us. We began our exploration with the Theatre of Dionysus wandering around the remnants of thousand-year-old stadium seating. Next we climbed the steps past the Odeon of Herodes theater, which is still in use today and walked up the steep hill to the Acropolis. Investigating our surroundings we noticed the many construction sites of ancient relics, which were being rebuilt - a trend in Athens that we're not sure we agree with.

Being herded like we were cattle we finally reached the top of the Acropolis, and here is what we saw:

Ancient Acropolis from Traveling In The Moment on Vimeo.

After taking in the majestic views of the ancient buildings, the legendary Parthenon, and the stunning city below we headed off to conquer the remaining sites our tickets allowed. Without a map we asked the closest tour guide for directions to Hadrian's Library - after pointing us in the right direction he glanced at his watch and informed us that all of the places we could see closed at 3:30pm... and it was already 1:30! Panicked that we might not get to see EVERYTHING, Megan shifted gears from admiring tourist to deranged do-it-all'er - as we sprinted down from the top of the Acropolis. Zigging, zagging and flying past tour groups and families we located a map, and managed to make it every single stop on our tour list that our tickets entitled us to. We even managed to squeeze in a pit stop for some authentic Greek frozen yogurt before heading back to Piraeus to board the ship.

Our time in Athens was short and rushed but we still managed to tackle the better part of what was recommended to see and do despite the intense heat. It’s a little disheartening seeing the fading remains of what was once one of the most magnificent societies of our time. We’re grateful for our youth and the ability to literally run around a city while still being able to learn about its history and take in its majesty.

Xo,
M&K

Friday August 10, 2012

Although we were able to squeeze off a post the day we were actually in Izmir, there are a few things we would like to share. Izmir isn't as spectacular as Istanbul, and we highly recommend taking a trip to Ephesus if you're ever in the port of Izmir - we didn't , but wish we would have! If you're in Izmir for the day we heard that the Kemeralti market is a must, similar to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, but and outdoor market with more reasonably priced knick knacks. Head to the city center and Konak Square to see the Saat Kulesi clock tower, built in 1901 it is the city symbol of Izmir. Take a stroll along the coast and check out one of the many outdoor cafes, smoke a hookah and try some fresh squeezed juice at Üsküdar Çaycısı, a small restaurant off the boardwalk.

Intent on capitalizing on the free Internet provided by the cafe mentioned above, we didn't do much in Izmir but relax and catch up on news, gossip and virtual life. We took advantage of the Lyra to Dollar conversion and wined (fresh juiced) and dined ourselves as we smoked hookah and took in the sights. Izmir was a well-deserved break and we enjoyed the peace and serenity.

Xo,
M&K

Thursday August 9, 2012

Istanbul was a place neither one of us had ever anticipated visiting prior to booking the cruise, but we were both excited to see the city that spanned two continents. Waking up to the city skyline, Gothic churches marked by the cross became golden domed mollusks and the writing on the buildings surrounding us was an unfamiliar alphabet. Looking out to sea, deep blue waters of the Med transformed into a pungent green cesspool as we sat at port in the Sea of Marmara. Although we knew little about modern day Istanbul, we both had a deep respect for the city and it's history; beginning with it’s start as the capitol of the Byzantine Empire, then being conquered and becoming Constantinople, and again when the city became an important part of the Ottoman Empire - we couldn't wait to hop off the ship and begin to explore.

As usual our day began with finding a bank, a good map and our points of interest. A few hundred yards from the port was a BNL, where we withdrew our first Turkish Lyra, another new currency to experience - and this time the exchange rate favored our dollar! As we finished our withdrawal a man approached us offering up discount tickets for a Ho-Ho (hop-on, hop-off) bus with guidance in eight languages that took us on a two hour journey to all of the major points of interest in the city, as well as crossing the bridge into Asia. We were so excited we couldn't resist his offer, so with maps in hand, and our newfound confidence we boarded the bus and headed into the city. At our first hop-off point we debussed and headed straight to a café, nestled across a courtyard from the Hagia Sophia, to enjoy some authentic Turkish coffee.

Standing in the heart of Istanbul we were in awe of the different look and feel of this particular Mediterranean city. Megan also made it a priority to finish the remainder of her souvenir shopping here, so off we went to the famous Grand Bazaar. As we walked along the streets we browsed through the assortments of beautiful rugs and jewelry. A symbol we repeatedly saw was the evil eye, a dark piece of glass with a white eyeball that had a light blue iris and dark black pupil. It is believed by many cultures that the charm is able to cause injury or bad luck for anyone it is directed at. The Eye was widely available in the Bazaar, as well as intricate lamps, camel bone jewelry boxes, hookah pipes, and handcrafted knives. Once inside we shopped for our friends and family, Megan insisted on bartering with the shopkeepers that seemed irritated with her persistence, and even joked to Kyle that he shouldn’t let a woman do the talking. We learned earlier in the day that 99% of Turkey is Muslim, and they still uphold traditions of a male dominated society. After our shopping spree, we sat down to enjoy some traditional baklava and handmade lemonade at a little café inside the Bazaar.

Taking our time to get back to the main square for the Ho-Ho point we lingered through the streets of the high fashion area, stopping for gyros and sodas. A little after noon loud music played through speakers scattered all around the city - prayer hour, something neither of us had ever witnessed. Many of the shops began to close down and the crowds of people slowly dispersed. Making our way into the main part of town we stopped to admire the Hippodrome and a few more artisan shops.

It was nearly 2:45 when we made it back to the Ho-Ho point, we hopped on one of the tour busses and waited for it to depart - we were so excited to see the parts of the city not attainable by foot, and for the first time make it to Asia! As we sat on the hot bus looking at the Blue Mosque the attendant handed us headphones to plug into the guided system, she also informed us that the bus had free Internet. Overjoyed we pulled out the iPad and went to town. About forty-five minutes passed before we realized the bus hadn't moved. Puzzled, and realizing we only had two hours before we had to be at the port for the final boarding at 6PM we got nervous that we wouldn't be able to finish the rest of our tour. Megan got off the bus and asked the attendant when the tour would begin, she informed us not until 4PM! Wish they‘d disclosed that crucial bit of information to us before we sat on the hot bus wasting an hour…

Discouraged that we had wasted money, and wasted too much time browsing the Bazaar and eating we took the next available bus back to the ship. Walking into the port we passed a line of hookah bars where shisha was being smoked out of fruit! We decided that the next day in Izmir, because we didn't have an agenda of places to see, we would smoke hookah and spend the day satisfying our Internet craving. Despite our setback with the bus, we both really enjoyed Istanbul and appreciated all the wonders it helped us discover. It was an unexpected surprise added to an all-star list of Mediterranean cities.

Above: Megan is holding the Ho-Ho map and a cup of water, given to her by the conductor of the bus, after she proceeded to argue with him about bus times and drop off points, demanding a refund, and nearly crying. She'd tell you that it was Istanbul$#!%

Xo,
M&K

Wednesday August 8, 2012

Between our days in Naples and Mykonos we had a day at sea, which was a nice way to catch up and relax sans taxing itinerary. Mykonos was a unique port; we were only there from 7am until 2pm, and the shallow harbor forced the ship to tender rather than dock. Tendering means that our ship anchors near the port and smaller boats take groups of people to and from the docks. Due to the limited number of boats, we wanted to be two of the first passengers off the ship so that the better part of our day was not wasted waiting. Unfortunately our time on Mykonos was the least of all of the ports, just 6 hours, so we had to make the most of it. That morning we woke up extra early and rushed down to the lobby at 6am, hope we would get “Tendering Tickets” in the first group – we ended up with Group 4, good enough! As we waited for our group to be called to the galley we watched the sun break over the mountainous island, nothing on the cruise thus far compared to how beautiful it was.

We touched land at 7:30, and were early enough to have everything to ourselves – which meant Kyle was able to pop off many shots of people free landscapes. We made our way past a night club that appeared to still be open, (full of drunk people that seemed determined to party on through the morning). The white buildings hovered over the crystal blue ocean, backlit by early morning light creating a surreal atmosphere. In the first half and hour Kyle took over 500 pictures of pelicans, windmills, cats, churches and the ocean. We were lucky to be the first people at the windmills, Kyle had been to the island before and knew a more direct path from the docks so we snuck around the coast successfully beating the crowds.

We played on the beach near the windmills, collecting shells and taking in the views of Little Venice. A grisly bearded man broke the ambiance as he came strolling up the dirt path, approached the edge of the sea, stripped to his skivvies and jumped into the azur water. After a short while he returned from the ocean, dressed himself and continued back up the dirt path into town. Emboldened by his behavior Megan stripped down as well and also went for a swim. Kyle acted as a lookout to the mischievous 9am brazen swimming session. Reenergized we headed back into town as the shops were now open - Kyle cringed as Megan rejoiced! Every shop had different knick knacks that had to be examined. As a reward for tolerating yet another round of "junk" shopping, Kyle decided we would go for coffee on the water in Little Venice.

As the tiny town filled with tourists the ambiance was lost, we headed back to the ship for lunch by the pool and waved good-bye to Greece for a few days.

Xo,
K&M

Tuesday August 7th and Sunday August 11th

The ship was everything we could have asked for out of a last minute booking. Our stateroom was perfect - three super comfy beds (one was a bunk), a nice size bathroom, the biggest shower we’d had in Europe to date; also a desk, closet, and flat screen TV. Upon arrival we came to discover we had a complimentary bottle of red wine and $150 in onboard credit to use toward drinks, dining and shopping! NCL offers "Freestyle Cruising" so were able to choose what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it, and the best part was no prearranged dining times or mandatory dress codes. The onboard amenities were pretty awesome too; between pools and hot tubs, art lectures, the gym that we frequented dailly, gratuitous amounts of food, complimentary room service, the night club, library and casino we never ran out of things to do. The highlight of being on the ship was undoubtedly the nightly entertainment. Each night there were performances by singers, dancers, magicians, acrobats, comedians you get the idea…(all for no additional charge) in the Stardust Theater, and each show was so impressive, we happily would have paid to attend.

The only issue we encountered with life on board was running out of clothes after only eight days, and opting to wash our laundry in the shower to avoid the $25 laundromat fee, we just wanted to see if it could be done. Did we mention our problem with overeating? Somehow we managed to aid in the disappearance of between three and seven desserts a day… but who can really resist an endless supply of cakes and cookies?! Our “Freestyle Daily” (a daily itinerary of all possible to-dos) also provided us with far more activities than we could ever imagine, time being our only limitation! We also feel that as a young couple we got overlooked by service staff and sales people on most occasions – sure we're not their target demographic of “big spenders” but we don't deserve to be ostracized when we’re still spending good money to be on board.

All things considered, we would gladly do another Norwegian cruise again soon. There’s nothing like being waited on hand and foot while you wake up to a new city every morning.

Xo,
M&K

Monday August 6, 2012

It was the temptation of great pizza, pasta and dessert that lured us off the ship the morning we landed in Naples, despite how run-down we still were from Rome. Megan actually believed that in this historic city the streets would be lined with cafés where big men with thick Italian accents wearing cute chefs’ hats served gratuitous bowls of freshly made pasta and mouthwatering pizza. Reality has a tendency to burst the dream bubble, and our Naples experience turned out to be the complete opposite of our fantasy.

Before leaving the ship we composed a list of the things we had heard about Naples, our daily “to do” list, which included eating real Napoli pizza, sfogliatelle, looking through the collections of Nativity scenes on Christmas Alley, the Castel Nuovo, the Doll Hospital, Castel dell'Ovo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art – which happened to be free on Mondays! Walking away from the port we easily located Castel Nuovo a 13th Century castle complete with moat and drawbridge. Around the corner from the castle was San Francesco di Paola a large church with a plaza, similar to St. Peter’s Square but unfortunately covered in graffiti and garbage. From there we headed off to explore the rest of the city, and ended up lost, in an older less maintained part of town where we saw a young man on a motorcycle and an older gentleman yelling at one another as if they were about to exchange fists. Less than enchanted with our location we walked back to the plaza in an attempt to get things back on track. This is where we began our search for pizza and sfogliatelle, despite just having had breakfast and it still being ten in the morning.

The funny thing about our sfogliatelle hunt was that we had no idea what we were looking for; let alone how to pronounce the funny looking Italian word. Walking into the first bakery we encountered we held up a paper with the funny word to the counter girl, and with a big smile on her face she turned around, reached inside the oven and pulled out two of them…

The flaky pastries were piping hot, pulled apart in crispy layers, and had a warm doughy center that tasted of creamy cinnamon custard. They were exactly what we needed to kick start our appetites for what we planned to be a long day of gluttony and feasting! Savoring our treats we continued down an alley of contemporary shops in what we believed to be the direction of Christmas Alley; unfortunately the street dead-ended and we were forced to head back to the main plaza once again.

Back in the plaza we found a pizza shop that happened to have free Internet, so we grabbed a few slices and pulled up Google maps aid in crossing things off our to-do list. Trying to orientate ourselves in the city proved to be too confusing and what was a minimal one-kilometer walk turned into a two-mile expedition into another sketchy area of town. Kyle held his camera close as numerous beggars, illegal merchants with knock-off goods and rough looking Italian thugs approached us. The streets were so littered with trash that we had to kick through the piles just to walk down the sidewalk, most areas also contained widespread stretches of broken glass – very difficult to negotiate in flip flops. After over an hour of walking we gave in to reality, we were lost, again. And after being unable to find Christmas Alley for the third time we decided to head back to the ship. Another hour went by before we passed through the port gates, and we were stunned that a few wrong turns took us so far out of the way! Unfortunately we don’t have beautiful pictures of Naples, but we did walk away with profound sense of reality.

Xo,
M&K