Hello! How are you? I hope that you are doing well and feeling blessed beyond belief. I am also hoping that someone is actually reading my blog, but I digress.
Things are going well here on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Since my last update, we have successfully put our newest cast member, Casey, into all of our shows. This means that our near two-month onboard rehearsal period has come to an end! The rehearsals and onstage blocking sessions all went incredibly well thanks to the leadership of our dance captain, Peter, and the overall supportive energy of the cast. It made my job as company manager very easy as I did not have to have any "let's just focus and get the job done" talks because everyone came in with that attitude in place! Fantastic.
Aside from rehearsing, I was able to get off in some interesting and beautiful ports of call. We were scheduled to anchor just outside of Mykonos, Greece and use tender boats to go ashore. However, the wind that day was very strong and caused the sea swells to rise to a height greater than the tenders, so the Captain had to make the call to cancel our visit. We moved right on to our next port of Kusadasi, Turkey. We arrived around 7:00pm and were there until 7:00pm the following day. This was the first time that I had been there at night. I have been fortunate enough to visit this port on other ships, but we always left in the early afternoon and we also always had a show on those days, so my time off the ship was very limited. Excited with the prospect of seeing what nighttime in Kusadasi was all about, I set off to wander around. I walked through the "Grand Bazaar" area, which is stall after stall of locals selling local crafts and other retailers selling very expensive rugs, leather goods, and jewelry. I happened upon a shop that had a gorgeous display of glass-mosaic lamps and lanterns. I walked in and struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper and began the process of selecting a lamp from the hundred designs on display. I selected a gorgeous light blue, broken-glass type with a deep bronze base and topper. I also purchased three hanging lanterns of various designs, but all in the blue, silver, and white color scheme. I was feeling quite pleased with these beautiful lamps, so I decided that there had been enough shopping. I set out to walk along the water, down a street lined with outdoor cafes, restaurants, and a surprising amount of pedestrians. This really seemed like the place to be just after sunset in Kusadasi. I found a cafe that had an open view of the early evening horizon and sat down for a coffee, banana crepe (yum!), and some free internet connection. It was a wonderful evening in what felt like a completely different place than the daytime version.
The following day, Patrick and I set out to do a little more shopping by taking one another to the stores where we had each purchased lamps. I bought two from the store he had gone to the previous evening and he did the same at the store where I had purchased mine. We continued to walk around and take in all the sights and sounds of this bustling, seaside Turkish town before heading back to the ship for a rehearsal for our show that evening.
Another new experience was a visit to "The Red Beach" (Kokkini Beach) in Santorini. I have visited Santorini many times this contract and have gone someplace new each time. (You can refer back to previous posts for all of those adventures.) This time, Patrick and I got off with a plan to rent an ATV and drive to the southern part of the island where the Red Beach was located. We got off the tender boat and saw that the line for the cable car that takes you up to the town was far too long to wait in, so we decided to take a donkey up the hill instead. (Well, by "we" I mean Patrick suggested that we do it in the interest of saving time. A donkey ride up hundreds of steep, slippery steps will never be my first choice. :) ) Patrick and his behemoth beast of burden made it up the hill before me and my frail donkey had made it three quarters of the way. Luckily, I finally made it all the way up, thanked my hardworking transportation and we headed off to get our ATV.
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| The red cliffs of "The Red Beach" |
The ride south was absolutely gorgeous. There were so many views of the open ocean and the sloped outer edges of the island. It was a moment that I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was not dreaming. (Let's take a moment to pause and show some appreciation for all of the blessings in our lives. *le sigh*) We arrived at Kokkini Beach in about twenty minutes, which was a surprise as it looked much farther away on the map. We joined the line of other eager visitors and began our small hike to the bottom of a huge red gorge where a medium-sized pebble beach awaited to welcome us. We rented two beach chairs and an umbrella (which was mostly for me as I wanted to at least have the option of shade) and tip-toed into the Aegean Sea. The water was a gorgeous shade of bluish-green, almost teal, and surprisingly chilly for late August, but it was wonderful once we gave in and dove under the surface. We spent a bit of time treading water and taking in all of the natural beauty of this part of the island before heading back to our chairs for a little lounge in the sun. Well, Patrick did all of the sun lounging. I sat under the umbrella and played games on his iPad. Hey, I got in the water and I was at a beach, it was still quite a change from the norm! We eventually packed up and headed back to our ATV to make the journey back to Fira (the area where the ship drops you off) for some lunch.
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| Heading down to Kokkini Beach |
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| Jump in the line, rock your body in time. Okay, it's The Red Beach! |
We found a relaxing outdoor restaurant covered with grape vines and trees and had a delicious seafood lunch. Santorini is certainly somewhere I would like to vacation at, especially for the freedom to decide for myself when it's time to leave! However, we had to leave or we would have missed the ship and risked potential job termination. No, thank you!
I am now back in Dubrovnik, Croatia where I went cliff jumping with fellow cast members. The best news is that it is raining today! I have not seen rain in so long that it is a welcome sight today. I believe that many people in the cast feel the same way, so at least I'm not the only crazy one.
I'd love to hear how you're doing and what you've been up to, so please do not hesitate to contact me through a comment here, an e-mail, or link to your own blog!
Take care and may you continue to be blessed in all that you do!
But for now, until then...
-Joey
