Cádiz, España

1.28.09

Woke up early to watch the ship arrive in port. But when I looked out the window BAM! it was Spain outside.

Quickly got ready and took off into the city just as the sun rose. Keith, Hussain, and I explored, hoping not to get lost. We found a a few plazas, parks, and then stopped at a nice little cafe for breakfast. Unfortunately, my spanish is horrible after not utilizing it for the last four years. And so, Keith and I were the stupid Americans when we ordered sandwiches when the menu explicitly said they didn't serve them until at one. The time was currently 10:00. It was a good sandwich, though.

We then proceeded to check out random streets and wandered into the shopping area. Nice little shops everywhere. And there was a market. With fruit. Half a kilo of cherries for three euro. And they were delicious.

We soon met back at the ship to take a tour of the city with a spanish guide. Carmen, our guide, took us around the city, pointing out monuments, important buildings, and relating the history of one of the oldest cities in Europe.

We then explored more. Ate a loaf of bread for 0,70 euro. And ate dinner at a lovely restaurant. Chocolate con churros, tortellini, chicken... it was good.

Later, we attended a Flamenco show. They had a bloodless bull fight, flamenco dancers, tapas, and audience participation. Everyone was tired when it was over.

Keith, Hussain, and I returned to the ship to stay the night before leaving the next morning for Sevilla.

The Ship

1.19.09

HUGE.

Hussain and Keith had to get to the harbor early, so I tagged along. Ended up getting to check-in and board with them despite being a 'K'. Took all of fifteen or so minutes to get our bags checked, our IDs, and find our rooms. TINY. But it'll be more than fine. Explored the ship. Found the Wellness Center, complete with bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, and weights. Quite a lot a of room everywhere.

Met my roommate, Zach Grasmick. From Colorado. Goes to University of Colorado-Boulder. Pre-Med/Pharm - Molecular Biology. He seems quite nice, so it should be a pleasant trip. His younger sister is also here, so that should be fun.


1.22.09

A lot has gone by. Felt fine throughout our first day at sea, the rocking of the ship was simply a bit annoying. Second day, however, was not great. I felt sick most of the day, probably due to Orientation taking place in the Union, which happens to be the worst place to sit on the ship. It's in the front and on the sixth deck (of seven). So it's incredibly rocky. It led me to almost lose my lunch. Fortunately, it eventually passed.

Got to watch the Inauguration on Tuesday. And what an excitement that was! Using all of our bandwidth and satellite connection, the staff made it possible for the over seven hundreds of us to watch our 44th President sworn in. I personally loved the quartet composed by John Williams.

Our third day at sea (1.21.09), was a lot better. It was the first day of classes and I felt much better. Even better than the first day. Classes are classes, though. Of course, I've been checking my watch all the time, bored. But they should pick up soon. Especially since everyday at sea is a class day.

Our fourth day (1.22.09) was the second day of classes, but first B class day. Went well, done by 1200. Took a nap, which I foresee will be something I do often, and did homework.

Ship life is not terribly exciting. It's basically high school, but you have to live at your high school, which is actually a ship that's continuously rocking. So people are always hanging out, or what-not.

I will not jot down everything from now on unless it deserves attention.

1.27.09

We are just about 300 miles from Spain! Muy bueno! I feel the need to brush up on my spanish.

So, in just under 24 hours I will have taken my first steps in Europe and the first of twelve ports!

And it's seven hours ahead of CST, so it may be 12:30 here for me, but all you people back home are either just waking up or will be sleeping for another couple of hours.

I will be posting this on my blog hopefully tomorrow sometime, along with a few first impressions of España. And if not tomorrow, it will be thursday. I'll let Future Steve worry about that.



1.29.09

SPAIN! CADIZ! SEVILLA! More later!

P.S. I'll post pictures later too.

Getting to (and enjoying) the Bahamas!

Flights to Atlanta and Nassau went well. No problems whatsoever. Met some people from SAS already. Met an awesome Bahaman in the airport. Had a nice long conversation. And Torpedo, the only cowboy in Nassau. Crazy getup.

The weather is somewhat overcast, but the breeze feels so nice. It was beautiful flying over the Atlantic Ocean and seeing some of the 700 islands that make up the Bahamas. It got dark by 6:00pm.

Finally, Keith passed through customs and we were on our way to the hotel. The Sheraton is beautiful. We are right on the beach and have a balcony. It's pretty sweet. We grabbed a bite to eat, laid out on the beach, and came back to call it a night.

Woke up the next day, laid on the beach, and thought, "Sweet."

Took a taxi to Da Fish Fry. Had grilled snapper (good, despite the fact that I don't really care for fish). Walked to downtown Nassau. Saw our ship (it's huge, but small compared to the other cruise ships). Walked to Paradise Island and the Atlantis Hotel, which is ridiculously big and expensive. Walked to the beach, accidently made our way onto the private beaches of the Atlantis, and returned to downtown Nassau. Went to a restaurant and met a bunch of SAS kids. It was crazy packed.

Oh, and we watched the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl. Woo hoo!

Also, I haven't exactly gotten the picture posting to work here, so go to my Flickr account for now to see them.

New photos!

So I travelled forwards in time to the future and stole a few pictures of the harddrive of my future self's computer.  I have uploaded them on my flickr account.  Go and look.  See what an awesome time I'll be having.

http://www.flikr.com/photos/cwofc

P.S.  I finally figured out how to post links.  I'm so stupid.

Flickr account!

So, in an effort to be more technologically advanced and "cool", I've created a Flickr account to upload pictures.  I will either be uploading them myself from time to time during my trip, or I'll be employing others to do it for me whenever possible.  So, instead of posting all of my pictures on here, I'll have them all up there and my favorites here.  So make sure to check it out from time to time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cwofc