LAST ONE

Well, I am HOME now. It’s very nice to be back on land and getting back into the groove of reality. I wake up in the same geographic location everyday, which is something new Here are my last, and final updates from the travels!!:

Mykonos, Greece
This was a very expensive and nice little Greek stop. I hung out with the fitness instructor, Azelia, because I knew it would probably be our last time to hang out, and I had grown close with her. There were many twist and turns in Mykonos, with lots of expensive and souvenir shopping. High white walls, and blue awnings were all around us! We each bought a Mykonos t-shirt for a little souvenir, and had delicious yogurt with fruit at a little café that overlooked the blue water! It was a nice afternoon!

Dubrovnik, Croatia
I wanted to try some fresh seafood, and I heard that Croatia is the place to do this! I found a nice restaurant within the Old Town (a little over 10 years ago, they actually NEEDED to have the Old Town enclosed in this fort!!) I had some freshly squeezed lemonade and very yummy fried calamari! It was quite delicious, and now I can say that I ate calamari in Croatia!
Croatia is also known for their hand stitched work, so I found a non-English speaking lady and somehow negotiated a good price for some cloth that she has sewn typical Croatian looking designs into.
It was a good day.

Venice, Italy
Well, I knew our time was coming to an END! I did some last minute shopping, hunting for the best prices on the Morano Italian glass-
Our boss, Robbie, was on the ship installing the NEW cast (yes, we were being replaced, they do all the same shows, plus a new one they learned!). He took my cast out to dinner in Venice on our last night. We ate a restaurant called The Madonna…down a dark alley near the Realto Bridge. Now, you would never walk down a dark alley in Venice, but we heard there was amazing food, so we took the chance.
The restaurant was wonderful! Italian restaurants are funny because when you walk in, all the food that you are going to eat that night is all around you. The Madonna is known for sea food, so there were shrimps, squid, crabs, lobsters, mussels- everywhere! Plus fresh veggies, salads, and desserts. For dinner we ate: fresh crab, risotto, veggie soup, pastas (spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna (that one was THE BEST!)), and even lobster. We all shared each other’s meals, wanting to taste the best of Italy. For dessert we had a round of limonchellos (yum!), Madonna cake (like a flaky, custard filled cake), sweet cream ice cream with mini wild strawberries, and, of course, melt in your mouth Tiramisu! What a lovely way to go out!
We took an hour walk back to the ship, and finished out our packing, since tomorrow morning we were all saying our goodbyes to the Marco Polo!

It was a one in a lifetime experience, and I really feel like I accomplished something by finishing out the contract. I’m proud to say that I once sang on a cruise ship, and I can check that goal off my list!