Tuesday
All Roads Lead to Rome


The most interesting city we visited turned out to be Rome. It had the oldest ruins and most plentiful. But first we had to drive into Rome. Our port was about an hour away from Rome. On the way there, we stopped at highway rest stop. In Canada, we usually have a fast food place, gas station and maybe a tourist information stand. Well in Italy (and probably the rest of Europe), this was what they had:


Beer and Naked Girls

Well, first of all, as a lot of you probably already know, things here are a bit more chaste than in Europe (although one could argue that we are catching up). This Italian magazine had a naked chick on the cover clearly showing some T & A. And this was on the middle rack, as opposed to the "top" rack. Ironically, they had National Geographic on the top rack. This is probably common throughout Europe.

But the more interesting part is the alcohol. Naked chicks don't kill, but drinking and driving do. Think about the irony here...a highway rest stop selling alcohol. That would be something totally unheard of over here (unless you count Duty Free when you cross the border...). I guess culturally, drinking and driving doesn't have the same stigma as it does over here. The whole attitude is different. I'm not breaking any new ground here, but this is something that I got to see first-hand. I suppose that over here, people are more inclined to binge drink as opposed to have it as part of their meal everyday as they do over in Europe. And binge drinking seems to cause the majority of the problems. I wonder if you're accustomed to having a drink as part of everday life, you'd be better able to judge your ability to drive or have a resistance to it. I don't have any statistics on drinking and driving mortality rates in Europe versus North America, but I honestly am not sure what to expect. Are they more naturally responsible about drinking and driving in Europe? So far as to make it that easy? Or do they have the same problems as we do, but nothing is done about it?

Rome is a city bristling with ruins. Everywhere you go, there are ruins. The old is mixed in with the new wherever you go. To the native Italians, ruins are probably more of an annoyance more than anything, but to me, it was amazing. Once again, I'll be comparing Europe to North America. Over here, everything is relatively new, spaced out, and modern. In Europe, you feel as if you are walking through history. It's a surreal feeling, as my tour guide put it, "This is not Disneyland - you are actually walking where the ancient Romans once walked." We first visited the Roman Baths on bus.


The Roman Baths

It's hard to imagine how large of a building this is. Apparently, the Romans cut down a 1/3 of the czech forests to heat the Roman baths - just because when the wood was burned, it polluted less than the local wood. The building is still being used. It doesn't have baths anymore, but several years ago, a concert for the three tenors was held there. It's getting a little bit dangerous to go inside now, so it's shut down to tourists.

Next stop was Circus Maximus, of Ben-Hur fame. We drove by there only once and very quickly, so I only managed a blurry shot. Some estimates say that they were able to hold 20, 000 people in there. Not bad!


Pretty empty now, but it looks like people were allowed to walk around.

One of the more subtle differences that I noticed was the way the city was organized. Over here, our cities are usually organized in a grid-like pattern. Over there, the streets tend to be narrower and not organized so artificially. And a nice side effect to that is that there are piazzas (plazas) at so many intersections. Just nice large open spaces for people to walk through, or for some fountains, monuments or statues. It just adds a nice feel for the city, which is sometimes lacking in our antiseptic cities.


We're going around the roundabout in a bus and there is a fountain in the center.

The coliseum in Tunisia was pretty cool, but the one in Rome just blows your mind. Once again, the sheer size of the structure is amazing. A lot of it preserved quite well, and it's amazing to think that it has been standing here for 2000 years. The lines to get in were outrageously long, so we only walked around the outside. Which reminds me of another peculiarity with travelling with a cruise ship. They bring you straight to the biggest tourist sites, one after another. You never seem to get a real feel for a place, because you are brought to tourist trap after tourist trap. Ever single place we visited sold tourist items. And when you visit these tourist places, it doesn't really feel like you're truly getting a good representation of the local culture. It really made feel like a tourist. And I mean, tourist in a bad way - in the same vein Fight Club uses it to describe Marla attending the testicular cancer support groups. But on the flip side, you get to see the highlights of the city that you are only spending a few hours in. I guess it's the only option if you want to see anything.


The little person in the middle is actually my sister. The coliseum is a huge structure.


A beautiful, but very hot day.

In and around the coliseum there were these guys dressed up as Roman Gladiators. You have to pay some money to get your picture taken with the fake gladiators waving their plastic swords. I sneakily took a picture while a gladiator was looking the other way.


This guy looks pretty angry. Maybe it's because he isn't getting paid for this picture!

I don't know if the pictures really show it, but practically right beside the coliseum are apartments. That'd be pretty cool to live in them and having the Coliseum right outside your window. A short walk away from the Coliseum was the Roman Forum. On the way there was a victory arch celebrating some Roman general's victory (I can't remember who's exactly, maybe Titus?)


The detail that went into this arch is unbelievable. I guess you have to be there to really see it.

The Roman forum was the political center of Rome. Most of it was in ruins, but it was still pretty impressive to see so many ruins. It's a very large area, and we didn't get to roam too much, but it was cool just knowing that past Roman Emperors probably walked the same paths.


People walking in, through, over and on the Roman ruins.

These columns are the leftovers of the Temple of Vesta. In this temple was a public fire that Romans could come and take with them to light their own fire. This fire was maintained year round by the Vestal Virgins, who held a sacred position in Roman society.


You can't tell, but this was a round building, with the fire in the center.

This is where Julius Caesar was cremated. A rose is placed there everyday. It's really hard to find, because it's small and tucked away behind a wall.


Something I definitely wouldn't have noticed without the tour guide.

As we were leaving the site, I saw a newspaper dispenser for a free subway newspaper. Look familiar?


The Metro

The next major stop was Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that a young girl showed some Roman soldiers the source of a spring. The Romans naturally built an aqueduct and this fountain is the end point of that aqueduct. It's pretty amazing to think that a 2000 year old aqueduct is still being used today. While we were in Rome, we saw the locals take water from the various fountain for drinking. In North America, you would never think of doing this. Apparantly all the fountains in Rome have drinkable water. Once the water exits from the fountain, it is drained into the sewers, so that none of the water is recycled (All the fountains I've seen in North America have pumps). My sister and I sat, and had our lunch here. We also refilled our water bottles at the fountain. I got to drink water from a Roman aqueduct.


This is a very crowded site.


To get this shot, I actually had to stand on top of a post to rise above the other people.

They say that if you toss a coin into the fountain while you face your back towards it, you will return to Rome one day. If you toss two coins, you'll get married. And if you toss three coins, you'll get divorced. There were also some officers there who were trying to keep people from sitting on the fountain. Not an envious job. Another thing that was very noticeable were the gypsies. There were a lof of them there, just begging for a handout. Apparantly, gypsies are a problem in a lot of European cities.

My sister and I wandered the city for a little bit. We came across the WWI memorial, which we had passed by quickly earlier in they day. It's a modern building, so I guess it's nothing special, but it's still pretty impressive.


Notice the roundabout?

Europe was undergoing a heat wave while we were visiting. It was really hot, but I prefer the heat, so I didn't mind too much. There were reports, that tens of thousands of people died in the heat wave. Most of the European buildings don't have air conditioning, so it must be especially tough on the older people. The guide said that Europe will eventually get air conditioning into most homes, but not for a while, because they lag the US in technology by several decades. What they don't know is the crazy power requirements that come with air conditioning.

We visited the Spanish steps next. I'm not sure what's so special about them, but this site draws a lot of tourists. They hold a yearly fashion show on the steps as well. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to climb the Spanish Steps, because we were just passing by.


They are called the spanish steps because this part of town was Spanish. Nearby was the Spanish embassy.

At the base, there was a sculpture of a boat overflowing with water. In the far past, the Tiber river constantly flooded. On one of these occasions, a boat was washed up to this level. From this area of the city, I couldn't even see the river.


People were lining up to refill their water bottles at the fountain.

We ended our tour at the People's square, or Piazza de Popolo. I also wanted to mention that the Italian language is quite beautiful. The guides were using as much English as possible, and I got to hear it from some of the locals. It's a very lyrical, bubbly language with a certain rythme to it.


This square is at the intersection point of three main streets in Rome, the Via Condotti, the Via del Babuino, and the Via Felice

After quite an exhausting day, we got back for dinner. I was hungry :)



Main Course: Roast Beef with yorkshire pudding. (8/10) A little too well done to my liking, but still good.

Main Course II: white fish with salsa sauce(7/10) Not the freshest, but the sauce was surprisingly good.

My sister tried the Jerk Pork.


Main Course: Jerk Pork

I tried a little bit and it tasted like a neutured dish. Well, what i mean is that there was only a hint of the jerk pork taste. I've had some authentic jamaican jerk pork and it's really hot. This dish was not. But it still tasted good.

Tonight's entertainment was some song & dance by the crew's entertainment crew. I got up and left within 5 minutes to go work out. I learned the night before that the gym closed pretty early, so if I didn't get out, I wouldn't get to use the gym. I don't think I missed much, but that's just me.

My parents went to see the Vatican that day, and unfortunately, I didn't get to see it. If you ever visit there, keep in mind that there is a dress code to get in. It was a really fun day. I got to actually see all that stuff I learned about in books on the Romans. Maybe that Trevi Fountain legend is true, and I'll someday return to Rome.

RE: the Redefinition of Marriage in Canada

A few weeks ago, I read on Matt’s blog a couple of fascinating letters regarding this divisive issue on our national consciousness. Matt, I applaud you for your letter and for your attempt to clear away some of the misinformation and half-baked ideas that always seem to float around on an issue as big as this one. I didn’t agree with everything that was expressed, however, and my debating nature just wanted to share constructive criticism, that will hopefully lead both of us to a deeper understanding of the issue… that’s what debate’s all about, right?

I totally agree that it’s imperative to find some common ground between believers and unbelievers that’s based more on logical argumentation than on scriptural interpretation and ethical assumption. Yet finding that common ground is often difficult – because to a believer, what’s contained in the scripture is a deeper truth far beyond the rational capabilities of a logically expressed argument. No matter how arbitrary and inconceivable his/her beliefs may seem to an unbeliever, one can do more by beating one’s head against a wall than demonstrating the illogic of those beliefs. Logic, the believer would reply, is simply fallible human judgment – and what irreverence for one to dare reason against the precepts of the Almighty!?

What we’re up against is a fundamental clash of two worldviews. So how do we find the common ground? I don’t know if telling the author to “call a spade a spade and admit that her so-called ‘naturally-established laws’ are merely a pretext for the social construct of organized religion” is really the best answer, though. Telling a Catholic that the Catholic Church is “a social construct” may not seem that far from the truth to a non-believer, but it’s a pretty charged term that could really offend someone who looks to the church as a divine power. It almost sounds like an attack of religion in general – and rather than finding common ground – using a charged criticism like that may only widen the chasm between belief and non-belief that exists today. Don’t worry, it didn’t offend me personally.

I do agree, however, that Canada is a secular country, and we must find a way to ensure equal rights for all without allowing one school of thought to unfairly dominate our notions of justice and equality. The trick is finding an argument that appeals to both sides without inflaming the one side through an attack that obscures the argument at hand.

I happen to have several good friends who are openly gay (and no, I don’t think Mac has an over-representation of homosexuals) and I think I make far fewer insensitive comments than I did in the past. I am all for equal rights for homosexuals – whom I feel we have totally discriminated against in several ways – and yet I am still opposed to the redefinition of marriage in Canada… Why? Let’s try an argument that doesn’t rely on Religious scripture. This has been spinning around in my head for a bit, and it’s nothing more than a thought experiment:

What happens when society redefines a word? Not much some may say, let’s just change the definition of marriage, include gay couples and everyone will go home happy. Well, that approach may work for some words, but perhaps not all. Let’s think about words for a second. Words enable far more than communication – they enable thought. We don’t think in random, abstract images, we think in words. Try imagining freedom without the word, and it’s going to be pretty tough. Where do the definitions of these words come from? Well, it doesn’t happen overnight; “marriage” for one, has been defined since the dawn of human history as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Period. Aside from the odd exception here and there, we’re talking about virtually every single culture, in virtually every single time in history. I’m not saying whether that’s right or wrong, I’m just saying that that’s the established definition of the word that we've inherited.

What happens when governments start messing around with the definitions of words? George Orwell illustrates this scenario vividly in what has become one of the most famous works of world literature: 1984. The rulers of this repressive society realized that thought control could be achieved simply through the removal of words. By gradually eliminating words from the dictionary, they were in effect committing the genocide of thoughts. Does the concept of freedom exist once the word no longer does? It’s a bit of an extreme case to compare our situation to the repressive dictatorship of 1984, but it serves as a useful analogy that is not too far from the truth. George W. Bush loves to use this technique – designating the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay “Enemy Combatants” as opposed to “P.O.W.’s” so he doesn’t have to abide by the Geneva Protocol for the fair treatment of prisoners.

Whether it’s used for good propaganda or bad propaganda, redefining a word as complex as marriage overnight amounts to just that – propaganda. Definitions must grow organically and over time. Gay couples have been in the public consciousness for a quarter-century at most. How can society redefine a 5000-year-old tradition pretty much overnight? One can argue that traditions are nothing more than outdated social indoctrinations that can be wiped away like chalk off a blackboard – but does human nature really work in such a cold, calculated way? History is littered with examples of governments taking coldly rational measures completely in the face of millennia of tradition. Particularly tragic were measures such as the Great Leap Forward, or the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that forced cultural change overnight to a populace that simply could not abandon it’s time-honoured traditions that quickly – even if the ideas may have looked good on paper.

I admit that some of my examples are extreme, but they are for illustrative purposes. The point is that cultural change is dangerous to impose. The recent split vote in the House of Commons shows that this nation is totally divided on the issue of gay marriage. Progress has definitely been made, but it’s clear that more must follow – and the only way for that to occur is a gradual, organic process of cultural evolution. People like change and often like it to be rushed, but sometimes what's best is patience. Remember there's only a couple other countries in the world who have approached this issue in a similar way.

In the meantime, what can be done? I like Paul Martin’s initiative to legislate a more neutral gay union that gives equal rights to gay couples without touching the inflammatory issue of marriage. Maybe one day the definition of marriage will evolve, but now is perhaps a bit optimistic.

Monday

I wake up, and I'm in Tunisia. Or rather I'm roused from sleep and I eventually realize I'm in Tunisia. It's 6:30 AM and it's time to get ready for the first Port Excursion. This is the sight that greeted me:


Cars, lot's of cars

Excursions are set up by the cruise ship company and can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 dollars each person. They take care of everything so that you don't have to plan anything. They arrange for tour guides, transportation, entry into tourist spots and sometimes even meals. So if you feel lost, and are not confident in your abilities to get around, then this is the best route to go. Some ports are actually a few hours away from the main cities; for example, Rome, is about a 1 hour drive from the port. But if you really want to save money and you're a seasoned traveller than going your own way is the way to go. Plus you get to wake up when you want to...

This is actually my first time to this part of the world. This was the first time I've ever been to Africa, but it felt more like I was in the Middle East. Tunisia is a muslim country and it is surprisingly sometimes incluced as part of the middle east, even though it is west of Italy geographically. Tunis, the city we visited is actually very close to the old city ruins of Carthage, the base of power of Hannibal. They mentioned that once this area became a Roman province, it was a vital part of the Empire because it provided 2/3 of the grain for the Roman Empire.

I never realize the influence of the Roman Empire in Eurasia/Africa. They were truly great engineers. In every port that we went to, we saw ancient Roman ruins. It is very different when you go to Europe because there are literally ruins everywhere. Compared to North America, everything over here is brand new. You would never see the following in North America. a juxtaposition of the old (coca-cola in english and arabic and the columns from Roman times)


A nice juxtaposition of the new (Coca-Cola banners in english and arabic), and the old (columns from the Roman period.

Here are some examples of the engineering prowess of the Ancient Romans. Ruins of the a Roman Aqueduct in the old city of Carthage:


Those Romans were obssesed with clean water

And the ruin of the Tunis Coliseum:


(I was already impressed at this point...I didn't know how big a surprise was waiting for me in Rome!)

After touring some ruins, we went to a museum that was famous for it's mosaics. Mosaics were an art form that were popular during the Tunisia's Islamic period, which begun around the 8th century, if my memory serves me correctly. Some of these mosaics were huge, and others having intricate details. Mosaics are made up of little tiles which, is hard to see, because from a distance, it makes up some sort of pattern.


It's hard to see the small tiles that make up these patterns

A lot of the time, the mosaics were arranged in intricate geometric patterns. Apparantly, Muslims do not allow the human image to appear in art and that is why they have geometric patterns. They think that the display of the human image is sacriligeous because it attempts to glorify the human image, when only Allah should be. Since an image of God is impossible to reproduce, they concentrated more on producing abstract images. I could be wrong, but that's what I remember the guide saying. I guess that's also why the persian carpets have such fancy geometric patterns on them.


This is a ceiling with an intricate pattern design

There were also lot's of Roman statues exhibiting the naked human form. When the Christian Vandals conquered the Roman territories in Tunisia, they would break off all the penises and the noses. The penises, because they thought that it was lewd and the noses because large noses were a sign of power.


It may be hard to see, but this statue can't smell or piss

After the museum, we were off to a Bazaar (arabic marketplace), but first, we had to drive through the city. There was a lot of agressive driving, which our bus driver also engaged in. The city was a sprawling urban area, consisting of mostly low rises (residential and office buildings) and what appeared to be housing that would be called low income housing over here. In contrast, we also drove through an affluent neighbourhood (the old city of carthage) and the housing there was really nice. But in the rest of the city, a common sight were people walking with goats along the road, which is something you wouldn't see in North America. But in general, Tunisia is relatively modern. Most people wore jeans and shirts, they were selling lot's of coke and nestle ice cream treats and IBM had setup shop there. The highway we were driving ono was in excellent condition and there were lot's of cars, (which all happened to be french made. I wasn't even aware that France had a large auto industry, because they export much to North America (Correct me if I'm wrong about that). Tunisia was a past french colony, so that's why they were all french, but most of the cars were small in size. Actually this is a huge difference I noticed in Europe, but I'll have more to say about this later.

The bazaar was very large and teemig with people and goods (fake designer sunglasses seemed to be a popular item wherever we travelled). We were first taken to a perfume store. They were selling the extract for Chanel No. 5, which is derived from a cactus plant indigeneous to the area. Then we were taken to a Carpet shop. Persian carpets are world famous and this store was agressive selling them to foreigners. We were brought into an air conditioned room with high ceilings, whose walls were covered by layers of carpets. The people selling the carpets would bring out carpet after carpet and unroll them at our feet and talk about its high quality. They emphasized that they accepted all the major credit cards and were willing to ship them any where in the world (and even take it back to the cruise ship if desired). They said that it took one sewing girl four months straight of hard labour to make one carpet. They were selling these for prices in hundreds of dollars. So if the salesmen labour figures are true, then this girl would not be earning very much money. After the material and sales people take a cut, the girl must be left with very little. It's amazing how little money some people in the world get by on. I also got to thinking how the guide were taking us to specific vendors who would give a little demonstration of their wares. I was wondering if the guide got any kickbacks, but of course that's not for me to know. Who knows, maybe the tour company had an arrangement with these vendors. I forgot to take pictures of the bazaar, which is quite a sight to see, but here is one that I took.


A busy picture for a busy place

Something that I don't know a lot about is what is depicted in the following picture. They had these places were you could pay some money and get something to put into this contraption, and then inhale the smoke coming out of it. They were very prevalent throughout the bazaar, but other than that I don't know anything about this practice.


A busy picture for a busy place

The bazaar was situated close to some goverment buildings. And throughout the bazaar, there were these armed guards. I'm not sure what they were doing there (maybe protecting the tourists visiting the "tourist" area of the bazaars), but they were carrying Steyr Augs (at least some variant of it). I had never seen one in real life (actually, I haven't seen much weaponry in real life...everything I know about guns, I learn for computer games like CounterStrike and Ghost Recon). I tried to take a picture of a guard, but he wouldn't let me. I tried again later, in a more covert manner with a different guard, but he saw me lift the camera. He started to wag his finger and shout at me, so I put down the camera. But what he doesn't know, is that I had already taken a picture of him.


Such a good picture, because I actually captured him wagging his finger at me....At least he's not pointing his gun at me!

On the way back to the bus, one of the street merchants began to follow and harass my dad. He kept shoving a bunch of necklaces in front of him and asking for a price. He walked with us all the way back to the bus. I guess that's what bazaars are famous for...agressive merchants and agressive bargaining.


Back on the ship and time for dinner. Since I have nothing much to say in the captions, I'm going to start ranking it. It's funny that I remember how each dish tasted.


Starter: Fried Calamari with Orient Noodle (10/10). I only wished they gave us more calamari...


Main Course: Roast Lamb (9/10). Lamb usually has this strong taste that some people absolutely detest. I could barely detect any in this dish. Does anyone know if it's dependent on the preperation, cut, type of lamb or something else?


Main Course: Curry Chicken (5/10). This curry chicken tasted like it had no curry. There was only a slight hint of it. I'm more used to Indian curry chicken which is not shy with the curry seasoning. I suppose this dish was toned down to be more agreeable to caucasian's.


Dessert: Chocolate Fudge Cake with Ice Cream(7/10). The cake was pretty good, the ice cream, which I specially ordered in addition to the cake, was so-so. Unfortunately, all the ice cream they had on board was icey...

The show that night was a magician/comedian. Once again British, once again a preoccupation with which part of England people were from. He was alright...nothing too fancy about his tricks or jokes, but enjoyable. At midnight, they served snacks/appetizers that the waiters brought out in big trays to various locations throughout the ship.

That's it for Africa. It felt like I was in the Middle East as opposed to Africa.

Sunday

The joys of sleeping in. The ship's schedule for the day was travel from Palma to Tunis on the mediterrean sea. I was lucky to have a very calm sea for the duration of the voyage and had absolutely no hints of any sea sickness. The sea itself had a very unique iridescent blue colour, that the following photograph doesn't quite capture properly.


Iridescence

So by now I think I caught up on all my jet lag. The time zone was 6 hours ahead. There a strange thing about the time when you're on the cruise ship. There is something called the ship's time and the port's time. When you arrive in a port, the locals may have a different time then the one that the ship is using. So they advise you never to ask the locals for the time. If you do miss getting back on the ship for departure time, they won't wait for you. Apparantly, you're suppose to pay your way for passage on another ship to a future cruise ship port destination. That sounds like a lot of trouble and I hope that fate doesn't befall anyone. They check you in and out of the ship everytime you disembark and embark. You're given a card for a whole week that will allow you to purchase the various goods on the ship and allow you on and off the ship.

So the first day was pretty much spent relaxing in the sun and reading. I finished "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. It was ok....wondrous creativity and a story you wouldn't believe, but end up believing and then wonder about it again by the end. I made it sound more confusing than it really is. I also started Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and only have a few chapters left. Pretty heavy reading for a cruise, but I don't have much time to get reading in otherwise. When I'm at school or at work, there is always some other, more technical reading that unfortunately seems to take precedence.

It was also during my time in the sun, that I found out about "Cocktails of the Hour". Every hour in the afternoon, a different cocktail would go on sale (for the low low price of 1.70 pounds!). They would mix up a big bunch and then the waiters would distribute it among the passengers. This is in addition to the "Cocktail of the Day" which is featured in the daily newsletter. Yup, cruising involves lot's of alcohol and sun.

That night was "Cocktails with the Captain" night. Everyone is suppose to dress up to get their picture taken with the Captain. I had underpacked. I forgot to bring formal shoes. As a result, I looked like this:


White Shoes


While other people had tuxes and suits. I also found out that there is a minimum dress code to get into the dining hall, which I quickly found out that shorts were not allowed for men, but were allowed for women. If you ever go on a cruise, remember that you'll need clothes for the daily port excursions, clothes for chilling on the ship (ie swimwear), dressy clothes for dinner/night (remember to bring long pants) and formal wear for the days with a formal dinner (2 days/week). What a hassle. Cruise ships employ two professional photographers that take pictures at various events. The pictures they take are then posted in the picture gallery for you to peruse and if you are so inclined, to purchase. We ended up purchasing a few pricey portraits, since going to a studio would probably cost just as much. Along with meeting the Captain, we were given a glass of champagne each. I finished off my father's and part of my sister's, which when added together with my drinks in the afternoon, meant I was a little tipsy (not drunk yet though). Hmm...not a good state to be in around your parents, but could have been worse. After that, they introduced the Sunbird's Officers. I find out that the whole crew is British.

Dinner Time

Tonight was the first formal dinner. We registered for the early dinner was is held at 6:30. There is also a late dinner at 8:30. In hindsight, I think the late dinner would have been better. After coming back from the day trips, we would have to hurry off to dinner and lose out on some time in the sun. We had requested to have a table for ourselves, and we got it. Dining is fairly formal on a cruise ship. There is a head waiter that greets you and makes light conversation with the guests; head waiters, who's responsible for 3-4 tables each; an assisstant waiter, who performs functions similar to a bus boy; wine specialists, who keep your glass full; and bus boys, who bring food to and from the kitchen. The service is top notch. But something bothered me at every dinner. The fact that almost all the waiters and kitchen staff are filipino. So you have all the officers, who are british; all the waiters and kitchen staff are filipino; all the entertainers are irish; and the cabin stewards are almost all filipino. It felt strange that it was so segregrated. It felt like life on the ship was classy....classy in the sense that there are different classes of people. To me it's was an unsettling feeling. Even worse was the fact that the waiters had to sing and dance at dinner time. These are skilled waiters and they're doing song and dance. I thought it was demeaning. I was embarassed for them, even though some of them were really into it and enjoying themselves. So my guilty feelings were manifested in a weak gesture of giving a little extra tip at the end of the week. The easiest and most cowardly way out of any situation.

Anyway, about the food quality. Formal dining means that there is formal table wear.


That blue plate you see in the middle is actually taken away as soon as you sit down. It is purely decorative.

Immediately, you can start on the bread, which is slightly different every day.


Notice the butter in my sister's hand? They had extra large servings of butter.

Then you order off of the menu. There are starters, then salad, soup, main course, dessert and coffee/tea. The food presentation is very nice (which also usually means small portions). But once again, I'm going to nitpick a little. The food is not always the freshest. You can sometimes taste that the meats were frozen. The fruit is of medium quality. But once again, it can't be helped, because they can't get fresh food at the ports everyday. It didn't ruin dining by any means, but it is sometimes noticeable. One other small complaint is that the cuts of meat were of medium to low quality. But once again, I shouldn't complain since this is a discount cruiseline. The cooking is usually quite good and pretty tasty, although to my personal taste, I would have preferred a little less salt and more spice. The served jerk pork one night and it had absolutely no kick. I sound too picky, but I ate a lot. I ordered two main courses every night, and sometimes multiple starters. And yes, I'm weird for having taken these pictures.


I think that's the remains of roast pork or lamb on the left. On the right is stuffed chicken. I had forgotten to take pictures of the other stuff....because I was probably too busy eating.


Cherry Jubilee.


Chocolate Cake? These are actually other people's dessert. I didn't have dessert everyday.

Actually the entertainment for tonight was that Brit Comic. The previous day didn't have anything. Anyway, near midnight, it was the Chocoholics Buffet.


Welcome


Chocolate Breads


Chocolate goodies and the Chocolate Eiffel Tower

That's all for sunday....writing this has made me hungry...

Saturday

After landing in Palma, Mallorca, the first thing I noticed was that it was hot. Very hot. Europe was undergoing a heat wave at the time, but lucky for me, I like it hot. Just as long as it's not too damp, I like the hot weather.

They bussed us, from the airplane to the "Sunbird." The ship was to begin sailing later that night, but in the meantime, we were given some time to explore Palma. My family decided to go check it out, and I chose to stay in my cabin for a nap. Yes, I know, I missed out on seeing some of Palma, but I was damn tired...I had hardly slept the night before!

The Ship

The rooms themselves are pretty small, with an even smaller washroom, but you don't really spend much time in them, so I would say they were pretty comfortable. They have satellite TV in every room, which we hardly touched. Some comments about the ship itself. I felt like it was used. It was a relatively old old ship, but it was still pretty nice. I thought it was a good size and it pretty clean, but I'm not really experienced in these things. My parents said it was better than the other ships they have been on, so I guess I can't complain. I basing my judgement on the fact that we passed by other cruise ships, and they looked much more luxurious. I think the Sunbird had already been in service for a couple decades already. The company we went with billed itself as "the number one is affordable cruising." So I guess I can't expect too much. The ship itself had quite a few different areas: dining hall, crew dining hall, a cafe, can can lounge (for shows), Oklahoma Lounge (for singing and dancing), a bar with a pianist/singer, a bar ringing the smoke stack, a kids area, a "sporting deck", a casino, several small stores, small library, a small weight room (argh....they had no bench presses. I guess there's some liability issue, but still, it would have been nice to have one. No machines present either. They did have a variety of free weights and a normal bench though.), an internet cafe, two pools (very small ones, which had salt water in them...yuck) and of course a sun deck (which was complemented by multiple bars). Here are a few pictures of the ship:


The Ship



The Sun Deck with its pools (and bars)



The Can Can Lounge where they had the nightly entertainment (notice the bar in the back)



The bar in the Oklahoma Lounge. They had their own band, who would perform in various locations throughout the day, including this one.



One of the many decks. This one happens to be where we were suppose to gather in case there was a disaster.



A shot of the sun deck at night



Me in front of the Moulin Rouge in Paris...err....in front of the Moulin Rouge mural on the ship

Notice how I kept pointing out the bars? Well, they are pretty hard to miss. When we first got on board, they asked us if we would like to participate in the All Drinks Included Deal. It cost 119 pounds each (about $300 CAN), and it allowed access to unlimited alcoholic drinks. The cruise ship really tries hard to entice you buy alcohol, especially since the cheapest drink you can buy is about $5 CAN. I suppose a lot of people partake in this deal, because they plan to get plastered in the sun for a whole week. May sound enticing to some people - like Keith Mo.



Keith shows his true self on the cottaging trip

But I digress. :)

So on this first night we hurried off to dinner. The first night's dinner was held in the formal dining lounge, but it was informal. Unfortunately, I have a small complaint about a cruise, even though it's going to sound dumb, trivial and nitpicky. Everything is run on a schedule. I don't like always worrying about the time, especially when I"m on a vacation. You have to be at dinner at this time. You have to wake up to go on the excursions at this time. There will be entertainment in the lounge at this time. Photos will be taken between these times. I guess I'm making it sound worse than it actually was, but personally, I find that keeping a tight schedule a little annoying. It's something that can't be avoided though, because of the sheer logistics. For example, they serve 7000 meals a day! The Can Can Lounge can only accomodate half the passengers at a given time. The dining hall has two sittings, the early dinner and the late dinner. Which reminds me; Because I like food so much, I'll be showing a picture of the nightly dinners. And yes, it was slightly weird bringing a camera to every dinner, but I'm sure you can appreciate the sacrifices I make for my blog. j/k, =P


Spanish Paella with Squid

I have more to blog about the meals on the board, but that's for another day.

Right after dinner, we were directed to the Can Can Lounge where we had some entertainment. The first night was a comedian. Oh man, he wasn't very funny. First of all, he was British. Second of all, he was British. Third, he was really old. Quite a bit of dry wit, with hardly any dirty jokes. Did you know that a lot of British humour is based upon where in Britain you're from? So he was going on and on about this type of people from this area and on and on about people from that area of Britain. It might be funny for someone from the UK, but not me. The very young kids in the audience was heckling him quite a bit, which I found to be the most entertaintaing part of his performance. I think his act was geared towards the older audience and it had to be family friendly, so the Cruise organizers really know their audience.

Which brings me to my next point. There are a lot of old people on cruises. That isn't surprising, but it's quite noticeable. And the cruise organizers know this is their bread and butter. There were also some young families on board and honeymooning couples as well, but there were few people my age. There was a wide variety of nationalities present. Most of the people were from the U.K. or the scandanavian countries. There were some Canadians, who all kept pretty quiet, because I never saw them up on stage or participating in the contests. And there were noticeably no Americans. Actually, we met one American family from Buffalo, but it seemed like the cruise ship's customers didn't include Americans (for better or for worse). So there was quite a mix in the customers, which can be interesting when you talk to them.

So, I guess the first night is just getting acclimated to life on a ship. I could get use to this - they feed you, clean up after you, there's lot's of sun and provide entertainment. Sounds good to me :)

P.S. on an unrelated note, I just watched the semifinal between Iron Chef Chinese and Iron Chef Italian. I know they are all re-runs, but i'm now wondering who wins and becomes the King of Iron Chef.