Home again! (well, at least California again)

Well, thus ends my second contract with Celebrity Cruises! I can't believe how fast it went...3 months felt like just a few weeks, whereas 6 months felt like a year. :-) Maybe my next contract (5 months) will feel right. Yep, it looks like I will be staying with Celebrity after all for one more contract - they have agreed to get me a higher salary and I really can't wait to experience that itinerary.

My flight was very smooth and all the transitions went without problems. I had a fun and talkative seating partner - we entertained each other for half of the flight (whenever I wasn't asleep). I was met at the airport by my sister, three wonderful friends, and a big sign. :-) I wish I had been more awake at that point to enjoy being home, but I was definitely ready for bed. I spent the night with Chelsea on campus at APU, and then subbed with the APU jazz band the next day at a concert. It was fun to play with a big band again, even if I was jet lagged. I spent last night with my friend Dayna, as she needed to finish fitting my dress for my friend's Sean and Sheena's wedding tomorrow, and she is finishing up as we speak. As soon as she does we'll be off to meet the rest of the wedding party at a hotel for tonight, and then the wedding is first thing tomorrow morning. So it will be tomorrow night before I actually get to go home, unpack, and sleep in my bed. But I figure, I've been away from it for 3 months, whats 3 more days? I don't mind living out of a suitcase a little while longer. It sort of just feels like my contract hasn't quite finished yet - I won't feel that until I get home. Ha ha, during the jazz band concert I had a moment of panic when I realized I wasn't wearing my name badge.

Looking back on the contract, I think it was good for me musically. I got a lot more experience in a couple of areas - especially broadway pit-orchestra style music, and dixieland. It was very different from my last contract, which is really great. I made some good friends that I will be missing, especially the acapella group (Shaun the most), Anabelle (harpist) and Andy, my musical director. Looking back I can realize I had a really great team to work with, good musicians and friendly, competent management. I am glad I got to improve musically in some new areas, and I feel like it was a very successful contract. I'm looking forward to the next one! I'll post a couple times between now and July to let you know what I'm up to - but for now I will say goodbye, and thanks for reading! I appreciate your support and encouragement throughout this contract and the last one. The fun begins again July 4th: Europe, here I come! Goodbye for now, and thanks again!

Leaving France, approaching England, flying Home!

Yesterday was my first time ever in France (La Rochelle) – unfortunately I didn’t get off the ship. My roommate came down sick, and was quarantined, so I had to be quarantined as well. Since I had no symptoms, they wanted to isolate me from her as well. My friend Mark, who is the activity manager, was able to get me put up in a guest stateroom for my quarantine – and the only one available was Concierge Class (aka really nice!). I’ve spent two nights here now, and I still have the key, so its nice to relax here. Room service is my new most favorite thing ever. They have a menu that is free and available 24 hours a day. Last night I finished after 1am and ordered hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies to eat before I went to bed. I am ordering room service all the time – I’ve got to take advantage of it! Plus I’ve got a nice little outside balcony! Its pretty sweet, I can’t complain. The only downside is that since I was quarantined, I was unable to go out yesterday in France. But I made up for it today – going on a long excursion to Cap de la Hague, near our port of call Cherbourg. The countryside and architecture were stunning. We visited a lighthouse, some cliffs called the ‘end of the earth’, and the birthplace and hometown of the painter J.F. Millet. This part of France is so breathtaking – imagine old stone buildings covered in vines and flowers, green open fields with horses grazing, old decorative stone churches in every small group of homes, and streams everywhere. I could easily spend a month just in the countryside around Cherbourg.

This twelve day cruise has been so different – I am constantly recognized by guests as ‘the trombone player’, ‘the girl in the band’, or ‘the mother of the orchestra’ as Andy has begun to refer to me on stage whilst introducing us. ☺ Usually no-one recognizes me unless I am carrying my trombone, but this cruise everyone seems to know me, and it is very flattering, but a little weird. Last night I walked by a table of guests and got a round of applause! “Go girl trombone player!!” People even greet me by name all the time. Strange! But nice. ☺ I feel famous this cruise – I think it happened because the guests were different for the transatlantic, and 5 sea days gave them time to get to know us and appreciate the music on board much more.

Well, I still have a whole lot of packing to do! Tomorrow we pick up our final paycheck between 5 and 6am, and hopefully disembark around 7:30am. Its too bad all I will know of England is the airport and the scenery on the 2 hour drive there, but I’m still looking forward to it. This will be the last post from the Summit! I’ll write again once I’m back home. Thanks for following me across the atlantic!

The Rain in Spain.

My first day in Spain (Vigo) I only had time to go out on my own for a couple hours. I began to wander around the city and found my way to a church. Since it was Sunday there was a service happening, so I stopped for a while and listened to the organ and the singing in Spanish. While I was there, I fortunately ran into two ladies I have met this cruise who have become my friends. They are really wonderful, and the three of us spent the rest of the afternoon together exploring the city. We especially enjoyed going to the central park of the city, which is at the top of a high hill - but the view is well worth the climb. It was a perfect day, too - a sunny 80 degrees or so.

Today wasn't so warm, here in Gijon, Spain. It was freezing and rainy, but I still had a great day. I went on an excursion to the nearby city of Oviedo, which is the capital city of the Asturian region. I really liked the city, especially the old quarter. We saw an interesting ancient romanesque church nearby, and finished our tour with the breathtaking gothic cathedral in the center of town. We had about an hour on my own, and so I went in search of a café. I stepped into the first nice-looking one I saw, and asked for a cappucino, which they didn't have. I asked what they DID have (in Spanish - I'm so proud of my skills!) they told me "coffee, espresso, chocolate..." I stopped them right there, of course, because I love hot chocolate. Well, I got more than I bargained for - this café's special is its "chocolata a la taza" - chocolate by the cup. It was a cup full of smooth hot melted chocolate, and they give you a spoon because it is so thick. They have a special machine to keep it hot and constantly stir it. It is, in a quite literal sense, hot chocolate. It was incredible, and I was sure I had to be sinning with every sip. I couldn't believe I was drinking chocolate. I drizzled some on my pastries as well. Needless to say, I was delighted. It might have been better than the cathedral. :-)

Last Sea Day! (long post!)

Yesterday we had a welcome rest from the motion of the ocean, spending seven short hours in Ponta Delgada, on the island Sao Miguel. Sao Miguel is one of several islands that make up the Azores. They are technically Portuguese, although they received autonomy in 1974. If you look at a to-scale map (do NOT see above), they are actually still pretty much in the middle of the atlantic ocean – quite a ways from the coast of Portugal. As a result, we have a lot more sea to cover before we get to Europe (hence early sailaway yesterday, sea day today, and late arrival into port tomorrow).

I loved the Azores! Sao Miguel is really beautiful – everything is so green I saw a lot of trees, fields, hills, and cows (Dairy is one of their biggest exports). It really reminded me of New Zealand, although in NZ it was sheep instead of cows everywhere. I took a short excursion in the morning to Crater Lake, which are two twin lakes formed in a volcanic crater (many of the islands in the Azores have active volcanoes). It was a gorgeous view (don’t worry, pictures will come), and the air was so refreshing.

After my excursion ended, I wandered around Ponta Delgada on my own. I visited the Military Museum of the Azores, which is located inside of a centuries-old fort, and saw a lot of uniforms, weapons, and technology from the world wars. I’ll admit to trying on an old helmet I found unattended. ☺ After that I walked to the downtown area to a lovely square with some nice architecture and a beautiful Catholic church. I stopped for a snack at the Cafetería Centrál right across the way. Some interesting pastries caught my eye and I decided to try one. I think it was called a “nata” but I could be wrong about that….whatever it was, it was delicious and I went back for a couple more (1 euro each) and smuggled one back onboard with me. It rained off and on throughout the day, but I didn’t mind in the slightest. All too soon it was time to go back to the ship. On my way back I saw an interesting sailing ship, with the tall masts and everything. It turns out she is a semi-famous Norwegian naval training ship named Christian Radich that has quite a history - including being sunk at least once and starring in a movie. I plan to look it up and see if she stays there in Ponta Delgada or if she still sails. Anyway, she was beautiful to look at.

Altogether, the island was such a wonderful, beautiful, fresh place to be. It was much colder than the Caribbean, too – I actually needed my jacket for the first time outside. I love going somewhere new anyway, but I think I might have been predisposed to like the Azores since it’s the first land I’ve seen in 6 days. ☺ I wish I could explain what a relief it is to step onto solid ground after almost a week of constant motion, but I think it might be something you have to experience.

Last night was formal night on board, and we performed “Night of Stars” under great duress. The seas are even more rough on this side of the Azores, and the cast was having a hard time staying on their feet with all of the pitching, rolling, shaking, and jarring. I am really in awe of how great they did in spite of how bad the ship is moving. Most people had a hard enough time walking last night (myself included), let alone dancing. In my opinion, we shouldn’t have done the show – it’s a miracle no one actually fell over or off the stage or hurt themselves. They are an amazing cast! And the orchestra wasn’t bad either (YOU try playing trombone with your mouthpiece trying to get away from your face).

As for today, we had something different – a guest talent show. Andy did a lot of extra work for it, like recruiting guests and writing charts for the band to accompany them. It was a huge success – the theatre was packed for it even though it was an afternoon show, and we had about 15 performers. Some sang, one did a comedy bit, one played flute. It went so well – I was quite surprised how well, actually. They were all impressively talented, and really entertaining. A lot of them got standing ovations. Of course, there were a couple slip-ups, but our band has become good at skipping to another place in the chart if the singer messes up, so we didn’t have any train wrecks.

Some good news came the other day – I got a totally new flight itinerary! It is a hundred times better than before, I only have one layover in Seattle, and I’m home by 9pm on the 10th. Hooray!! I’ll have to start packing soon – only five days left! I can’t wait for Spain tomorrow….I’ll check in again soon.

still in the middle of the Atlantic....

Yesterday we had our fisrt day off in over a month - and it was great. Unfortunately we couldn't really do much since we're still in the middle of the ocean, and the boat was rocking really hard. A lot of people just stayed in bed all day. It was hard to walk around. Phil talked me into doing another spinning session, which was definitely an adventure. We are sore in different places just because we were trying to stay balanced on the bikes. Afterward we were both totally exhausted we could barely eat dinner. It was a bit scary down on deck 1, with huge waves crashing into the windows in the mess. After that, I layed in bed and watched a movie, and then played a couple games of scrabble with my scrabble buddies before turning in for the night. I won both games!! :-)

Tonight we have a new guest entertainer named Cheryl Sinclair, she does a lot of motown and oldies music. I like her alright, but the rehearsal took over two hours, which was a bit frusterating. Most of the issues we were having we with the rhythm section, so it felt like we were just waiting around for them to get it right. But finally we made it through everything, and after a relaxing afternoon I'm ready to grab some dinner before showtime. I wish we had more guest entertainers - the sight reading is such good practice. And this show is pretty fun and different (we're not playing Don't Cry for me, Argentina, for one thing). :-)