Dantes and David

I did make it to the Chateaux D'If, hooray! I got off the ship early, caught one of the first ferries over to the island, and stayed for about an hour and a half.  I was really fascinated - the Chateux is quite impressive and it was fun to wander the towers and prison cells.  There were several displays devoted to the Count of Monte Cristo, since it was that novel by Alexander Dumas that gave the island prison most of its fame.  My ferry was even names "Edmond Dantes." After the Chateaux D'if I still had some time left, so I caught a sightseeing train up to the other symbol of Marseilles - the hilltop cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde.  The church was impressive, but equally if not more so was the view - a panorama of Marseilles on all sides.  It was breathtaking.  

Due mostly to lots of scheming on my part, I was finally able to get myself on a tour to Florence a few days later.  I helped convince Mario D'Andrea that we didn't need a rehearsal, just a sound check, and then told the same to the production manager and music director and asked them to talk to Mario, which they did: 6:00pm sound check! Hooray!!) Then I was first on the list for my tour and after not getting it went in to my friends in the shorex office and begged the manager to let me on it...anyway you don't need all the details, the important thing is that I got myself on that tour dang it!! We saw much of historical Florence, which was incredible - but the most important thing was I got to see David.  Michealangelo's marble statue of him, that is.  And wow.  You were right Mom - it blew me away, both with size and beauty - I gasped when I came around the corner, not expecting it yet, and there it was.  Wow.  It also brought me to tears a little bit to know I was standing exactly where my mom stood years before I was born - like coming full circle somehow.  The rest of the tour passed in a blur - we had a fabulous lunch just down the street from Michaelangelo's old apartment - and then walked through the Santa Croce church where he is buried, alongside Galileo and Machivelli - wow.  Florence is just an amazing place when you consider how many important people in history lived there.  The whole day was a bit overwhelming, and I enjoyed it more than I can say.  Today we are in Corsica, and I went on a tour to the Prunelli Gorges, which was a really nice tour - I didn't realize how green Corsica is - and there are so many different shades of it.  Tonight we play Mark Donoghue's show - he is one of my favorite people.  I know I say that a lot - but its true.  

Barcelona for real!

Today I finally took a shot at conquering Barcelona!  Usually on embark day I'm pretty tired at the end of the cruise and I just feel like sleeping in....but today I ventured out.  I had plans to spend the day with Liam and Marie, but they decided to sleep in and I was already up, so I just did it on my own.  We have started docking right downtown (I'm praying it stays that way) so getting into town is incredibly easy.  I bought a day pass for a tourist bus company that has dozens of busses running routes all around the city, and set out on a day focused on Antony Gaudí.  I'd learned about him in college while studying Spain, and was really interested to see some of his "modernista" architecture, which can be found all around Barcelona.  His most famous creation is the church called the Sagrada Familia: I knew it was big and ornate and had seen photos, but seeing it in person really boggled my mind - it is so over the top.  And not even finished!  The second highlight of my day was visiting two more of his buildings, the Casa Batlló in particular.  I spent the money to go inside and take the audio guide tour, which was really neat.  The facade has columns that resemble bones, the main staircase looks like the spine of some great sea creature, and the roof is shaped like a dragon's back, complete with scales.  Its really something else.  I think the best words to describe Gaudí are daring and brave - what must people have thought back in 1900??  My last stop was the Park Guell - a park that Gaudi designed to be a residential district that blended with nature.  More than anything else it reminded me of some sections on Disneyland - I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Walt was inspired by Gaudí.  Inside the park is a house where the architect lived for some time, now a museum, which was also neat to visit.  But by the time I finished these three stops I was totally out of time already....as it was I had to ditch the bus that I'd already payed for (it would have dropped me right in front of the ship!) and take a taxi back for about 5 euros.  It was an awesome day, but I'm exhausted. :-) 

Some really good news for me - the Spanish Bible study is starting to pick up here and I am becoming a committed member.   We meet twice a cruise, and we're small, but mighty and slowly growing.  Also I found out that Mario D'Andrea the entertainer is a Christian!  When he first came on board he remembered being the first show I'd ever played, and he gave me his rose (all the entertainers get one backstage before their show) to celebrate our "anniversary."  Anyway I ran into him upstairs when I was having some tea, and we ended up talking for hours when we made the mutual discovery.  It was SO refreshing to talk to him.  He really is an amazing man.  And I am thankful that God finds ways like this to bless me!! 

What else....I got up early last cruise on the sea day to see the volcano-island of Stromboli.  That was pretty neat, thought I would have been more impressed if there had been some lava action. (I'm told I need to go to Hawaii for that)  This cruise has a few surprises - our new cruise director started today and doesn't seem to have as good a handle on things yet....we were left guessing a bit in regards to some logistical aspects of the show.  Hopefully things improve.  Also a new sound guy showed up today - and he's my friend Jason from the Summit!  We were both quite surprised to run into each other this afternoon.  

As for tomorrow in Marseille - Chateaux D'If, take two.  (It didn't work last time)  Wish me luck!