Because of poor internet satellite service onboard my ship, I will now be doing my blog and posting pictures on myspace because it's quicker and easier.
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Tuesday, June 17th 12:15 am (4:15 am U.S. time)
Greetings to everyone! I am truly settled here onboard the Azamara Journey now. I have completed all my safety trainings (they really make sure you know EVERYTHING about emergency procedures) and I just passed my verbal safety test, so now I'll have more free time. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to go ashore in Helsinki, Finland! It was a beautiful, warm day and I walked around for 3 hours with my fellow bandmate, Jerome, who plays a mean bass guitar. Jerome is from Cleveland, Ohio and has been the most kind person to me since I arrived. He has helped me so very much and I thank God for him. Very, very kind soul and such a gentleman too. Here's his picture:
I took pictures around the town for your viewing pleasure of course, but the highlight of my day was going to this church carved out of one rock face. It was beautiful inside and had great acoustics and a very peaceful ambiance. The ceiling was copper and was such an interesting modern design, but what is incredible is that it was carved out of one rock. There was a pianist inside playing beautiful classical music and it was so nice to just sit and meditate for a minute. Helsinki is a port town and we will be going back there two more times before we change our route in July to go to Norway, then Scotland and England etc. Before I leave this ship, I will have visited 18 countries including Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Portugal and Israel. I'm super excited! I miss everybody but I am praying and praying for everyone. If I don't email you, it's because I'm very busy and/or the internet onboard is very iffy. Today, I'm in Russia but we can't go ashore without paying $15 or with a Russian visa. I also had trainings today so I'm just going to chill. I might be able to go on an excursion into St. Petersburg tomorrow for free if I don't have rehearsals but we always do so we'll see... I get to see Russia twice more so I know I'll get to sightsee before we change route. It's a very beautiful, clear sunny day here in Russia. Still, there's only one hour of darkness here because we're so far North. It's very nice to see such prolonged sunsets and sunrises. Last, night at 11:45 pm the sky was pink and orange. I am really enjoying life onboard, I knew I would. I will be leaving this ship on September 27 (so they say), but hopefully I will get placement on another ship. If not, I'll just come home and chill. I looked into discounts on the ship I'm on right now, but the discounts aren't all that - $300 off a $2000 ticket, big deal! Perhaps on a casual freestyle cruise, the discounts will make more of a difference. I wouldn't recommend my current ship unless you are over the age of 60. (One crew member joked that all our guests are half past dead!)
Anyway, ta ta for now. I will post another blog when I actually get a chance to sightsee again.
x0x0x0x Cas
FINLAND
Sunday - June 8th 6:25 am (11:24 pm U.S.A. time)
Hello to all! My hotel stay was very comfortable and had free wireless internet.
Here are some pictures of my room. Guess what? I had my own private sauna! I also had a view from the 7th floor of the port. Dawn breaks at 1:00am in Estonia. I took a picture as proof. It was daylight by 3:00 am! I am about to check out to finally meet my Ship at 7:00am. I am very excited! xxx Cas
Sabbath - June 7 2008 6:16am (U.S. time)
Above is a picture of the plane I took from Orlando to Frankfurt, Germany. I have just sat down at my gate to catch my connection here at Frankfurt Airport to get to Tallinn, Estonia. I didn't sleep at all on the plane unfortunately because I was sitting next to a stupid man who kept telling me not to use his arm rest. The man on the other side of me was cool though and we struck up some conversation. I didn't use the toilet on the plane because I thought the ones in the Frankfurt airport would be better. Little did I know! The toilets in Frankfurt airport smell like ROTTEN CORPSES. I didn't know poo and wee could smell so bad. I would rather use an outhouse than these airport toilets. Yuk. Then after that, I had to walk for 30 mins to get to my gate. But, I am in high spirits. It is just sinking in now that I am a very, very lucky person to have this opportunity to travel to Europe. I was about 14 years old when I first came to Germany to sing with my School choir, and I'm blessed to be back here again...
It is 70 degrees here in Germany, partly cloudy. When I get to Tallinn, I will be staying at the Hotel Metropol in room number 7. I will take pictures. Oh, I almost forgot the most weird thing about my trip so far - I bumped into Carl Lewis! (Yes, the athlete) He was coming out of an elevator as I was walking in. He looked at me and held the door. I looked at him then did a double take and said his name our loud like a question: "Carl Lewis?" And he bolted! I'm sure it was him, though. He has a face like a frog. :-) I'm going to see if I can google him whether he competes in Germany in the Summer... It's certainly a small world, especially seeing that I saw maybe 3 blacks total today (LOL). Happy Sabbath, family.
xxxx Cas
Friday - June 6 2008 6:46pm
After much ado about a Russian Visa, I am finally at the airport about to board the LUfthansa flight 465 to Frankfurt to pick up my connection to Tallinn, Estonia tomorrow. I will finally board my ship the Azamara Journey on Sunday morning. Thanks to everyone for their phone calls/well wishes. I am excited about this new adventure and thanking God for this amazing opportunity and holiday. Right now, it looks like my flight will not be full which is a relief because that means I can probably spread out a little. Everyone, continue to pray for me as I pray for you. I will keep updating my blog as often as I can with pictures and details about what the Ship is like.
God bless,
xxxx Cas