Chorizo is a tasty sausage
Cheese is a tasty version of mold
Churches are in abundance in Spain and Italy
Wine because sangria is amazing... and tasty
Wallets because mine has made someone a little bit richer than they previously were
I'm on my third "cruise" of my contract. Day...........um....tuesday? Could be wrong... didn't see the elevator mats today...
This cruise is a 17 day Spanish Rhapsody collectors voyage which means we stop in lots of touristy places that have lots of churches as well as stuff to see and buy in between where we dock and where these touristy churches are. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these touristy churches. I wandered the streets and found my way to them too. What I have a problem with is the lack of shopping variety in between. I never purchase anything for myself, however when you walk down the streets the shop order goes: Legitimate looking overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics, Legit overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics, Legit overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics..... you get the picture.... This occurs all the way until you hit a pharmacy with it's big LED blinky + sign, and then it begins again until you reach your touristy church destination or the restaurant district.
Siestas are not my favorite thing either. (Get ready for one long-winded run on sentence) Do you know how much money the aforementioned business would make off these wealthy tourists walking past their stores and ogling at the overpriced goods in the windows not realizing that the currency is euro's and not USD.... they'll figure it out when they get the credit card bill.... would make if they stayed open from 1400hrs to 1700 hrs instead of closing!? (for all you non 24 hour time readers thats 2PM and 5PM) They wouldn't have to have a store... or they could buy the empty one down the street and branch their souvenir shop out into a legit looking overpriced watches store.
In Barcelona I had the fortune of meeting some of our librarian Rachel's parent's friends and they gave us a guided tour of the city as we walked all the way from the ship to the metro going through side-streets, and past castles as well as other photogenic but not necessarily touristy places. This was an adventure, as they didn't speak a word of english and only Anna, my co-worker Ace's fiance, and myself (from what I learned in the kitchens of Sweet Tomatoes), spoke Spanish somewhat. She was a heck of a lot better than I at it. She understood almost everything. I understood enough that I was comfortable answering some questions and say si. We eventually got through the city and onto the metra system and took a train out of town. We just followed and had no idea where we were going... I'm not sure they did either. We ended up outside the city in another town that I don't remember the name of. We went to lunch at one of their friend's restaurants. We had no idea what we were ordering and they couple that was touring us around was very understanding and very happy about treating us to lunch, which consisted of a 4 course meal. ensalada (salad), Paella del mar... I think that's what it was. It's a seafood and rice dish that is a specialty in Spain, it was very good, and then we got some cuttlefish and squid and pork.... all very interesting. Cuttlefish has a very buttery flavor but it has the texture of a hard boiled egg white, if not a wee bit rubbery-er. and then we were supposed to get yet another course, however we couldn't eat any more so we had gelato as our fina course. They took us back into the city and we walked our way back to where Rachel had to get on the ship. The woman gave me a warm hug and the man a firm yet pleasant and welcoming handshake, we all exchanged thank you's and goodbyes and went our separate ways. That was such a pleasant experience that was of the most unique I believe I've ever had.
After this Ace, Anna and I went to McDonalds and Starbucks...... to find free wifi. Then headed back to the ship and stopped for sangria on the way. I was surprised at how many people were trying to pickpocket the tourists. They usually swarmed in groups of two and were very bold as to how they did it. Made me make sure my wallet was in my front pocket and my hands were in them as well.
This brings me full circle...
Now....wondering about the wallet? Let me tell you a story, a rather short tale, of a wallet gone missing or stolen, I can't really tell.
Here I was wandering the streets of Valencia, having a wonderful time photographing old touristy churches and stuff, walking around the older touristy side of town, when I happened upon a shop that was selling some orange wine. (alguia de Valencia - that might be spelled wrong) I decided I had to buy a bottle to try. It was only a few euros so I decided why not. I purchased this bottle of wine and started off to find some foodstuffs with Ace and Anna. We happened upon a restaurant about one block away down an alley that turned out to be REALLY nice and Extremely Delicious. We went to pay and I couldn't find my wallet in my pocket! My conclusion is that either A- it got stolen on the walk one block down, or B - I dropped it in the store I bought my wine in. I backtracked to the store to see if I left it, but they were on Siesta. No number to call or anything.... so I'm going to say I got pickpocketed because it helps me feel less dumb and allows me better sleep at night. Everyone was very concerned and sad for me, I was very optimistic and probably could have been viewed as carefree about it. I thought of it this way. I could have been mugged for the wallet.... or... I could have lost my passport instead of my wallet.... or.... who knows... it could have been worse. . . I lost a bit of money and had to cancel my credit card which was a minor inconvenience... worse things could have happened....
That was that day.... Onto the last adventure I wish to discuss for now.
Rome.
Rome was amazing. We docked in Civitaveccia which is about 30 minutes train ride outside Saint Peters square. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the train ride in. We got off the train outside Saint Peter's square and walked to it. Took some pictures and made our way through rome stopping at many touristy photo op places along the way. I had some italian pizza. It was good. The gelateria we found was soooo much better than the pizza. Then we found our way to the Colosseum, which was an amazing sight. we had pre purchased tickets on the starbucks free wifi in barcelona that were only 13 euro to get us into the colosseum and the forum. We got into these places took lots of pictures then headed back to the ship. I'll have pictures up on facebook when I have a good enough connection to upload them. I may upload some to the blog here as well.....
Well.... that's all for now I suppose... It's 2am-ish I think.... Goodnight all.
Hope you enjoyed my post.
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