In the Med...

That thing happened again. That thing where you get lazy with blog posts. When the wall of things to write about get so high you think you’d need a freakin jetpack to get clear of it.

But today I’m getting clear. I’m sitting in the crew bar right now trying to survive the phillipino mafia controlled karaoke session. Someone is singing some Maroon 5 song.

So.. what has been happening? Since I last wrote, I’ve seen a lot of things. I visited the new, post revolution Egypt and saw the pyramids, sphinx and King Tut’s treasures. Egypt is free and the people are enthusiastic, but I was struck by the amount of rubbish lying in the streets. More than India. Or Sub-saharan Africa.. or .. ANYWHERE. Apparently Mubarak let urban hygiene decline while he siphoned off the cash. The biggest fight in the country now is the battle every tourist fights when getting off the tourist bus and being attacked by vendors and men offering camel rides. Every time you run a “ONE DOLLAR ONE DOLLAR” gauntlet.

I’ve also been to Israel and sunbathed on the beaches of Haifa, where only two months ago there was a terrorist rocket attack. I’ve seen the sea of Galilee and dipped my feet in the river Jordan – which is remarkably creek-sized and surrounded by eucalyptus trees. It felt like somewhere out the back of Egypt, not the site of a biblical scene. We travelled to Nazareth and saw the Golan Heights, visited the site of the “loaves and fishes” and the “water into wine” miracles. I have yet to do Jerusalem howeer, the wailing wall and stations of the cross await!

I’ve rode a mule up the steep slopes of Santorini to take in possibly the most amazingly spectacular views imaginable. Whitewashed houses, blue domes, pastels and arches- santorini is stunning. As is the local delicacy, caramel coated almonds. Mmmm. We had lunch with views of the caldera and the heart of the volcano, Thera, rumoured to be the home of the lost city of atlantis.

I’ve also had the chance to climb the acropolis and eat gyros in the streets of Athens. It rained. while we were on the Acropolis. I’m going back to get “sunshine” photos.

I have also had the chance to visit the ancient ruined city of Ephisis, near Kusadasi, Turkey. Ephesis was a site to see, excavated and reassembled by archaeologists with a passion bordering on obsession. From the old to the new, kusadasi is the ultimate “genuine fake” shoppers paradise. I scored a convincing abacrombie and fitch tracksuit for $20. Jasmine, the cutest and sweetest dancer of all, however, was positively violent in her bargaining and I had to rush out of the store to help with the “walk away” bargaining technique she was employing. Jasmine is one tough kid.

I have also lost my whole team in the last week. After 8 months, our beautiful cast has finally returned home. Natalie has also gone home after her short world cruise contract. Suddenly, it’s just Sam, Nicola, Amy and I left in our little group. I’ve moved cabins up to deck four, into the large sized line captain cabin. The line captain, Demi, has moved in to our old cabin down on three. I am now sharing with a lovely girl from Sydney called Chloe. The new cast are all lovely, but it is hard when most of your friends leave on the same day. I got so sick of writing heartfelt notes to everyone. GAH emotions… so draining.

With the new cast on board, I’m looking forward to lots of new adventures and lots of hot gossip. Today we were in Sicily and tomorrow we are going to Malta. After that we hit the Greek Islands, then up via Croatia to Venice, where we have an overnight stop. I can’t wait to visit the next lot of ports. I’m also looking forward to visiting the dead sea, Pompeii and maybe doing an overnight tour in Jerusalem (I put my name down and I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!).