Usually I am really not a museum person, I actually avoid them when traveling as I find them to be filled with tourists and slightly boring. I much prefer to walk and shop and eat. This trip provided a great opportunity to go somewhere out of the ordinary, however, I know I will most likely not be coming back to Russia, and to get the most out of this trip I should really see the Hermitage.
So off we go, we get in line, get our free student tickets and we are in the Hermitage. It is stunning from the outside and even more so on the inside. The detail and just decadence of this old palace is crazy. I have no idea how they went about constructing this over 200 years ago. The actual museum is massive, I hear you can take two whole days to see it all. I was thinking like 3 hours tops. hah. We walked around aimlessly, I saw a lot of Rembrandt, then walked to the third floor for 19th-20th century French artists and I got to see my favorites Matisse and Picasso and there was also some Monet. Third floor was definitely the best. I don't have a lot to say about the Hermitage, there was just a ton of art. I wish I was better at being arty but whatca gonna do. I am glad I went even if it was just for Matisse and Picasso. Very cool. I took some (possibly illegal?) pictures and I will upload them later.
By the time we left we were starving so we set off to find somewhere to eat and stumbled upon a very Russian restaurant. I was excited to see some Russian cuisine. The menu is full of pickled things, herring, potatoes, pancakes (crepes), soups with beets and just heavy stuff in general. I tried to get traditional meat dumplings but they were out! So disappointing but I recovered and ordered potato cakes with a mushroom sauce. Ordering was another process. It's very interesting, there are almost always English subtexts under the Russian on menus but none of the employees really speak English. Russia acts likes its English friendly but its not really. The cakes were good, the girls I was with got liver and beef stroganoff, meat crepe and herring with potatoes. The general consensus was that it was just OK, I am still glad I tried it. All part of the experience!
Our next stop was the Russian Vodka Museum. We got there and looked inside and it was just one room, we didn't think it was worth 400r even with the tastings considering we could probably buy a handle of vodka here for cheaper.
At this point it's around 3pm and we don't know what we want to do so we go to a cafe someone knew about that had, yes you guessed it, free WiFi!
This leads us probably to the coolest, most amazing, fabulous, delicious piece of Paradise in St. Petersburg. I know this tip may not be the most useful to whoever is reading this as St. Petersburg isn't vacation destination #1, but if you ever are in St. Pete this is somewhere you absolutely have to go! In English this place is called Schastye, I will have pictures later of the Russian name, but it is a cafe/bar right behind St. Isaac's Cathedral that has the greatest vibe. They have beautiful decorations, comfy couches, chairs, benches, positive phrases written everywhere on blackboards and they give you these cute connect the dots activity as if you were a kid at restaurant. They have a sweets, drinks, and regular food menus. They had the best cheesecake I have ever had! We sat there from 3pm to 7:30pm, I kid you not. We just kept ordering, fresh berry juices, bread baskets, a salmon kiwi and strawberry sandwich (sounds weird but its delicious), macaroons and peach punch, a pitcher of the most amazing mixture of vodka, rose wine, and some other mystery ingredients. It was unbelievable. We rested, did connect the dots (this sounds lame but they were legit), relaxed, facebooked, instagrammed and what have you. It was the most pleasant afternoon. It was the best cafe I have been too, I'm hoping to find the equivalent in Miami, but its not likely I will.
We had a long walk back to the boat and a short rest before heading back out for the night around 11:30. I was so interested to see St. Petersburg nightlife. We start off the night back at Schastye solely for the Peach Punch and hang out there until 3am and finally we were like hmm maybe we should leave our little cave and actually see whats up. Now, I know many of you are thinking "3am in Russia, she must be absolutely flat out insane". I was scared of Russia at first. I did not know what I would find but it is really just like any other city anywhere in the world. When you go out you go with friends, not alone, you stay in the main areas and you don't do anything stupid and just stay smart and alert. Russia is no different. Russia is different however in that nothing is made easy for you because you are American.. It's the opposite. As we were walking down Nevsky we look right and see tons of young people around bars and clubs. We start walking around this area to see if we can stop anywhere to get a drink, but literally they were all Russian. Russians on Russians on Russians. I expected to see maybe some other Americans but we were really in this typical young Russian nightlife area and were so obviously not fitting in. I tried to walk into one place and the bouncer says something to me in Russian I say "What?". He hears one word of English and makes an X with his arms. Nothing. It's such an alien feeling to be in the middle of hundreds of people that you can't communicate with. I am assuming that Russia will be the one of the only places I go on this trip that will be like this, or so extreme. Morocco maybe, but everywhere else I am assuming there will be enough English around or Spanish which I can get by with. I may be wrong but I am hoping I'm not because it can honestly be quite overwhelming at times.
We got the message and walked back to the main street, there were people all around but almost no bars open. We couldn't really ask where was open either. We met some other SASers walking around, walked with them for a bit and then did the most natural thing we could do at 4am in Russia.. we went to McDonalds. Such typical Americans..
We walked back to the ship and passed out.
I love the emails! Questions/hellos/updates from home all to maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea :)
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
That time the boat crashed into the wall
Russia is nothing like I expected it to be. Before we arrived I assumed that it would be almost boring, mainly museums and churches. I also really didn't know what to expect the people to be like. I had always assumed Russians were on the meaner side. I actually had very little of an idea of what to expect, I can say that any ideas I had were probably negative and misinformed. I am not going to touch any political opinions or ideas in this post because I really don't know enough about it.
When I woke up at 7am and looked outside my window I saw land again and many cranes and just trucks, boats, trees. Nothing to glamorous. We ate breakfast quickly to be able to get off the ship early and start exploring St. Petersburg, only to be waiting for about 2 hours until the ship was cleared and the people who had field programs got off first. I was surprised at the level of security on the ship and how seriously they take it. We have to swipe out with our ID cards and then before getting onto land we need to show our passport and visa. Coming back on to the ship we show our visas/passports again, show ID, bags through security, get patted down, walk through a metal detector, and swipe back in. All water is poured out, no open food. It's crazy, but now that I think about it, very necessary.
OK, so we are now finally off the ship and walking to central St. Petersburg! A quick and mostly accurate summary of the city: Peter the Great wanted to be a part of European trade so he was like, yo we need a new city on the water. AKA St. Petersburg (at one point called Leningrad). Before they started building it was swamp land and very unappealing. The peasants and slaves were sent in to start building in the 18th century and most of them died. This is the reason why the city is often called the city built on bones. So Peter the Great also wanted the city to be European in style. He brought in European architects, made the nobles shave their beards and wear the "fashionable" clothes, as well as changed the language spoken in court to French. The city is known as the second Venice or Amsterdam and has many many palaces. Catherine the Great was another top dog around St. Pete who ruled later (after killing her husband) and whenever she got a new lover she would gift them with a new palace all their own which is why the city is literally stacked with gorgeous palaces.
When we got to central St Pete I was really shocked as to how European it looked. Our pre port meetings included some history but I was still completely taken aback by how European it is. If I had been dropped there not knowing where I was and there were no street or restaurant signs I would have assumed I was in Europe. The giveaways are the signs with Cyrillic/ Russian on them. The buildings for the most part are all stunning and were all built hundreds of years ago. Canals occasionally pop up, their are a lot of beautiful gardens, Russian fast food mixed with sushi restaurants, hostels next to a DKNY store, outdoor markets and museums and amazing cathedrals are all right there.
The very first thing I did was try and find a map. We crossed the bridge into the main part of the city and realized we had no idea where to go. That is a really unsettling feeling especially when you can't speak the language. After wandering slightly we find a map and had toward Nevsky Prospekt, the central avenue in St. Petersburg. We find St Isaac's Cathedral and want to go to the top, so we set about trying to find the ticket stand and communicating with the lady selling them (who speaks maybe 5 words of English). The general way things have gone when buying/ordering things here is pointing to the menu/sign very carefully to indicate what you want, gesticulating and repeating key words (up?! up?? top!) , and then being confused when trying to convert Roubles to USD to make sure you aren't paying too much. We buy our ticket to the top viewing area of the cathedral and enjoy the breathtaking views of the city.
Side note, "we" is my friend Sumi and I
We spent the next part of the day walking down Nevsky Prospect, shopping, exploring and just orientating ourselves. Some funny/awkward/notable moments.
We stepped into DKNY to look and came across five salespeople who spoke no English. We kind of smile and they know we're not Russian (probably because of the whole smiling thing because apparently Russians don't take smiling lightly) so they just watch us. They are standing completely still just watching us. It was so uncomfortable. But the funny kind of uncomfortable. but still mostly uncomfortable. I was really caught off guard with this whole language barrier thing. I am still struggling with that. We left quickly.
There are no black people here.. I have seen maybe 4.
Sometimes you enter into an area that just smells of body odor and nothing else. That was really common in Gostiny Dvor, one of the first indoor shopping malls ever aka Mecca but not actually because it was slightly disappointing. Shopping here is not really good, most things are either really crappy/souvenir places or so so fancy. We shopped in a Russian Zara which was actually pretty fabulous but that was really the only mid range shopping area I have seen.
Gosh we walked a lot. That is really good because the food is soooo good and I can't resist. We tried to find authentic Russian places to eat but we couldn't read any of the street signs and naturally didn't know what was what and we ended up at the most American looking cafe. It had wifi which we all know is the most important factor in picking any place to stop and eat abroad. We keep walking all day, randomly finding the landmarks like the Kazan Cathedral and the Saviour on the Blood Cathedral.
We passed through a very charming and surprisingly large market full of just Russian Dolls (they are everywhere) as well as stands of amber jewelry. We end our self guided walking tour right in front of the Hermitage, quite on accident. I forgot to mention the Hermitage earlier, a museum so impressive in its art collection that it is said to be one of the top art museums in the world. Right across from it is the Winter Palace. Both are stunning.
All of these monuments/cathedrals/museums are spectacular even if you just look at them from the outside. Personally that was enough for me, I didn't take the time to go inside them. St Petersburg is walking friendly and I really enjoyed just walking around with no particular aim.
I have to mention this amazingggggg Indian restaurant because it was that good. It is called Tandoori Nights and is directly across the street from Admiralty Gardens. Great food and atmosphere, it is really popular locally it seems because all the tables were reserved. We had a great meal and rested our feet and most importantly, we were able to check our Facebook because it has WIIIIFFFIIIII. woo!
At this point I needed to get back to the ship, and its like a 50 minute walk, for my field program. Field programs are optional trips we can sign up for at an additional cost. I signed up for White Nights Canal Cruise and was great! The city is beautiful by night, every building is lit up, it was freezing cold but they gave us blankets. There was one little blip in the night though..
We crashed into a wall at a pretty high speed mind you. We were be bopping along the canals and we hear a clunking noise. It was not really alarming, we just thought it was normal boat noises. As we start to make a pretty sharp turn under a bridge we start getting very to close to the wall. Most of the people are looking behind us at this wedding going on but I am now starting to get a little concerned about the rapidly approaching wall. For my cousin Laura, we used to scream when my dad got close to a wall when driving the boat and quoted Mulan I think the whole time going "Don't panic, don't panic, now is not the time to panic… " and then we got close and screamed "Nows the time to panic AHHHHHHH". It was great fun when we were six and I honestly believe we did it every ten minutes. Anyways, this is what is going through my head as we are driving at the wall. Usually when you get to close to something on a boat you just throw it in reverse. I'm waiting for the guy driving the boat to do that.. but he never does and we crash into the wall.
Part of the boat falls off and lands in the canal, and then I realize we are taking on water. Everyone luckily was able to scramble up onto the street before anyone gets anything more than their feet wet. We don't know what to do but just watch the boat sink slowly.. No I'm just kidding, we did crash into the wall at full speed but everyone just had to get into the cabin of the boat after an initial moment of surprise and slight panic. The boat was completely broken though. Couldn't move at all. The sound we heard before was actually the boats rudder breaking or something. We had to wait twenty minutes for another tour boat to come and get us and finish the tour.
That was my bit of excitement for all you guys, I hope you enjoyed it. We got back to the boat around twelve, I went to shower and to sleep right after because I was d.e.a.d! That was the first day of Russia, I hope I did it justice because it truly was amazing.
When I woke up at 7am and looked outside my window I saw land again and many cranes and just trucks, boats, trees. Nothing to glamorous. We ate breakfast quickly to be able to get off the ship early and start exploring St. Petersburg, only to be waiting for about 2 hours until the ship was cleared and the people who had field programs got off first. I was surprised at the level of security on the ship and how seriously they take it. We have to swipe out with our ID cards and then before getting onto land we need to show our passport and visa. Coming back on to the ship we show our visas/passports again, show ID, bags through security, get patted down, walk through a metal detector, and swipe back in. All water is poured out, no open food. It's crazy, but now that I think about it, very necessary.
OK, so we are now finally off the ship and walking to central St. Petersburg! A quick and mostly accurate summary of the city: Peter the Great wanted to be a part of European trade so he was like, yo we need a new city on the water. AKA St. Petersburg (at one point called Leningrad). Before they started building it was swamp land and very unappealing. The peasants and slaves were sent in to start building in the 18th century and most of them died. This is the reason why the city is often called the city built on bones. So Peter the Great also wanted the city to be European in style. He brought in European architects, made the nobles shave their beards and wear the "fashionable" clothes, as well as changed the language spoken in court to French. The city is known as the second Venice or Amsterdam and has many many palaces. Catherine the Great was another top dog around St. Pete who ruled later (after killing her husband) and whenever she got a new lover she would gift them with a new palace all their own which is why the city is literally stacked with gorgeous palaces.
When we got to central St Pete I was really shocked as to how European it looked. Our pre port meetings included some history but I was still completely taken aback by how European it is. If I had been dropped there not knowing where I was and there were no street or restaurant signs I would have assumed I was in Europe. The giveaways are the signs with Cyrillic/ Russian on them. The buildings for the most part are all stunning and were all built hundreds of years ago. Canals occasionally pop up, their are a lot of beautiful gardens, Russian fast food mixed with sushi restaurants, hostels next to a DKNY store, outdoor markets and museums and amazing cathedrals are all right there.
The very first thing I did was try and find a map. We crossed the bridge into the main part of the city and realized we had no idea where to go. That is a really unsettling feeling especially when you can't speak the language. After wandering slightly we find a map and had toward Nevsky Prospekt, the central avenue in St. Petersburg. We find St Isaac's Cathedral and want to go to the top, so we set about trying to find the ticket stand and communicating with the lady selling them (who speaks maybe 5 words of English). The general way things have gone when buying/ordering things here is pointing to the menu/sign very carefully to indicate what you want, gesticulating and repeating key words (up?! up?? top!) , and then being confused when trying to convert Roubles to USD to make sure you aren't paying too much. We buy our ticket to the top viewing area of the cathedral and enjoy the breathtaking views of the city.
Side note, "we" is my friend Sumi and I
We spent the next part of the day walking down Nevsky Prospect, shopping, exploring and just orientating ourselves. Some funny/awkward/notable moments.
We stepped into DKNY to look and came across five salespeople who spoke no English. We kind of smile and they know we're not Russian (probably because of the whole smiling thing because apparently Russians don't take smiling lightly) so they just watch us. They are standing completely still just watching us. It was so uncomfortable. But the funny kind of uncomfortable. but still mostly uncomfortable. I was really caught off guard with this whole language barrier thing. I am still struggling with that. We left quickly.
There are no black people here.. I have seen maybe 4.
Sometimes you enter into an area that just smells of body odor and nothing else. That was really common in Gostiny Dvor, one of the first indoor shopping malls ever aka Mecca but not actually because it was slightly disappointing. Shopping here is not really good, most things are either really crappy/souvenir places or so so fancy. We shopped in a Russian Zara which was actually pretty fabulous but that was really the only mid range shopping area I have seen.
Gosh we walked a lot. That is really good because the food is soooo good and I can't resist. We tried to find authentic Russian places to eat but we couldn't read any of the street signs and naturally didn't know what was what and we ended up at the most American looking cafe. It had wifi which we all know is the most important factor in picking any place to stop and eat abroad. We keep walking all day, randomly finding the landmarks like the Kazan Cathedral and the Saviour on the Blood Cathedral.
We passed through a very charming and surprisingly large market full of just Russian Dolls (they are everywhere) as well as stands of amber jewelry. We end our self guided walking tour right in front of the Hermitage, quite on accident. I forgot to mention the Hermitage earlier, a museum so impressive in its art collection that it is said to be one of the top art museums in the world. Right across from it is the Winter Palace. Both are stunning.
All of these monuments/cathedrals/museums are spectacular even if you just look at them from the outside. Personally that was enough for me, I didn't take the time to go inside them. St Petersburg is walking friendly and I really enjoyed just walking around with no particular aim.
I have to mention this amazingggggg Indian restaurant because it was that good. It is called Tandoori Nights and is directly across the street from Admiralty Gardens. Great food and atmosphere, it is really popular locally it seems because all the tables were reserved. We had a great meal and rested our feet and most importantly, we were able to check our Facebook because it has WIIIIFFFIIIII. woo!
At this point I needed to get back to the ship, and its like a 50 minute walk, for my field program. Field programs are optional trips we can sign up for at an additional cost. I signed up for White Nights Canal Cruise and was great! The city is beautiful by night, every building is lit up, it was freezing cold but they gave us blankets. There was one little blip in the night though..
We crashed into a wall at a pretty high speed mind you. We were be bopping along the canals and we hear a clunking noise. It was not really alarming, we just thought it was normal boat noises. As we start to make a pretty sharp turn under a bridge we start getting very to close to the wall. Most of the people are looking behind us at this wedding going on but I am now starting to get a little concerned about the rapidly approaching wall. For my cousin Laura, we used to scream when my dad got close to a wall when driving the boat and quoted Mulan I think the whole time going "Don't panic, don't panic, now is not the time to panic… " and then we got close and screamed "Nows the time to panic AHHHHHHH". It was great fun when we were six and I honestly believe we did it every ten minutes. Anyways, this is what is going through my head as we are driving at the wall. Usually when you get to close to something on a boat you just throw it in reverse. I'm waiting for the guy driving the boat to do that.. but he never does and we crash into the wall.
Part of the boat falls off and lands in the canal, and then I realize we are taking on water. Everyone luckily was able to scramble up onto the street before anyone gets anything more than their feet wet. We don't know what to do but just watch the boat sink slowly.. No I'm just kidding, we did crash into the wall at full speed but everyone just had to get into the cabin of the boat after an initial moment of surprise and slight panic. The boat was completely broken though. Couldn't move at all. The sound we heard before was actually the boats rudder breaking or something. We had to wait twenty minutes for another tour boat to come and get us and finish the tour.
That was my bit of excitement for all you guys, I hope you enjoyed it. We got back to the boat around twelve, I went to shower and to sleep right after because I was d.e.a.d! That was the first day of Russia, I hope I did it justice because it truly was amazing.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Pictures!
Made it to Russia! For now just pictures
Pool deck pass
Passing under bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden
My cabin!
Sunset at sea
View from st isaacs cathedral
Passing under bridge that connects Denmark and SwedenView from st isaacs cathedralTuesday, August 27, 2013
A rather boring blog post
I have officially made it to all my classes, I have developed a horrible habit of sleeping in between them, the food is already getting old, and Russia is getting closer..
I wanted to take a second to kind of quiet some of the rumors that go on about Semester at Sea. It is no worse than a regular college or university in terms of the drinking, sleeping around and type of people you find. I know SAS has been called booze cruise and the floating mattress and I just wanted to point out that any college could be called the stationary mattress and that drinking occurs everywhere. People will or won't take advantage of the ability to drink both here and at their home university, same thing with sleeping around. Ports can be extremely dangerous, but if you are smart and responsible you lessen the chance of anything happening, same as at home. Anyways..
Semester at Sea is even better than any school academically just because we get to live what we are learning! I am such a nerd I can't even handle myself sometimes but I am legitimately so excited for my classes. I had race and ethnic relations, marine biology, and world literature today and the work load seems to be a little more challenging than it does usually just because we are expected to do things while we are in port. Our first port is St. Petersburg, Russia and my planner is full of assignments to read Russian poems and short stories as well as many chapters from the race and ethnic relations textbook. I need to sit in port and listen to Russian music for my popular music class, observe racial relations and write about it, answer questions about marine life and relationships and something else I am sure I am already forgetting.
It's really overwhelming and seems already a really challenging thing to keep up with, but after the initial period of holy crap this is so much work I realize that this is going to make my experience, both in port and overall, ten times more beneficial, memorable, and worthwhile. I am going to get 10x more out of the ports if I am forced to engage. Normally I'd be about shopping and cafes and I can still include that when I go around and explore but now I will need to observe a little more, go deeper and really get to know the city I get the chance to see.
I need to stop taking naps though, I keep crawling into bed at any and every hour of the day. I just feel so exhausted lately! I will soon be forced out of that habit, however, as I am already behind in reading. Dinner outside on deck 6 tonight, it is unbelievably hot out right now, the water surrounding us reflects the sun quite efficiently and I am sure I have a burn on one side already. The first pre port cultural seminar is tonight and I am really excited for that. I realized I knew nothing about Russia and learning about it can only benefit my time in port.
Keep emailing and commenting! Maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org
Hope all is well at home. After tonight I will be 8 hours ahead of you in Tampa time.
XXoO (Beeg kees, beeg kees, little hug, beeg hug)
I wanted to take a second to kind of quiet some of the rumors that go on about Semester at Sea. It is no worse than a regular college or university in terms of the drinking, sleeping around and type of people you find. I know SAS has been called booze cruise and the floating mattress and I just wanted to point out that any college could be called the stationary mattress and that drinking occurs everywhere. People will or won't take advantage of the ability to drink both here and at their home university, same thing with sleeping around. Ports can be extremely dangerous, but if you are smart and responsible you lessen the chance of anything happening, same as at home. Anyways..
Semester at Sea is even better than any school academically just because we get to live what we are learning! I am such a nerd I can't even handle myself sometimes but I am legitimately so excited for my classes. I had race and ethnic relations, marine biology, and world literature today and the work load seems to be a little more challenging than it does usually just because we are expected to do things while we are in port. Our first port is St. Petersburg, Russia and my planner is full of assignments to read Russian poems and short stories as well as many chapters from the race and ethnic relations textbook. I need to sit in port and listen to Russian music for my popular music class, observe racial relations and write about it, answer questions about marine life and relationships and something else I am sure I am already forgetting.
It's really overwhelming and seems already a really challenging thing to keep up with, but after the initial period of holy crap this is so much work I realize that this is going to make my experience, both in port and overall, ten times more beneficial, memorable, and worthwhile. I am going to get 10x more out of the ports if I am forced to engage. Normally I'd be about shopping and cafes and I can still include that when I go around and explore but now I will need to observe a little more, go deeper and really get to know the city I get the chance to see.
I need to stop taking naps though, I keep crawling into bed at any and every hour of the day. I just feel so exhausted lately! I will soon be forced out of that habit, however, as I am already behind in reading. Dinner outside on deck 6 tonight, it is unbelievably hot out right now, the water surrounding us reflects the sun quite efficiently and I am sure I have a burn on one side already. The first pre port cultural seminar is tonight and I am really excited for that. I realized I knew nothing about Russia and learning about it can only benefit my time in port.
Keep emailing and commenting! Maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org
Hope all is well at home. After tonight I will be 8 hours ahead of you in Tampa time.
XXoO (Beeg kees, beeg kees, little hug, beeg hug)
Monday, August 26, 2013
Ship Life
Ahoy!
Sorry that was really lame. So I've been on the ship for approximately 2 days and the ship life is really great. This morning I woke up at 11:40, looked out my window and saw blue, calm sees and Sweden off in the distance.
I had signed up to work out at 12:00 pm so I went off an did that. I got an elliptical by the window and just stared outside the whole time. The gym isn't spectacular but it'll do. Its got spinning bikes, two treadmills, ellipticals and stair masters which are really more than enough. I went out onto the deck after working out and there was a beautiful breeze and the temperature was perfect. I can't wait to get a book and just chill out outside.
The ship is really just like a tiny little campus. We have a computer lab, library, dining halls, gym, bookstore, classrooms and a lecture hall as well as the clinic. You walk upstairs and are in the main part of the ship and walking around you see people you know everywhere (and that's saying something about the size of the ship considering I know like 10 people) and soon after I meet my professors I'm sure I will be seeing them around too.
Email has been a pain in the ass but honestly by complaining about it I know I sound like an ass because I'm here. On a ship. Traveling the world and all. (Love ya mom and dad). I do love to hear from you guys so please email me at maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org and if you have any tips for me for Russia they would be greatly appreciated!
I have mostly been working out and eating and hanging out in my room trying to get settled, I need to make an effort to get out there and meet more people.
We have a cabin steward who makes our bed and cleans our cabins every other day, I think his name is Ray and I've yet to meet him. Every person on the staff or crew is amazingly nice. They clear your plates for you and everything and one guy even took my water bottle and filled it for me.
Looking out of my window hasn't gotten old yet and I don't think it will.
Communication on the ship is interesting. Say you meet someone and you want to hang out with them later. Well you can either try and remember their cabin number and call them or try and spell their name correctly to email them. Hit or miss kind of thing. You really end up just seeing them around the ship.
I just finished with my first class, popular music, and I can see why you really leave this boat a global citizen. The classes are fully integrated with all of our ports. We learn popular music and we learn specifically the music in each port. This class particularly focuses on the cultural aspects of music and how people identify with music and the role it plays in each port included with its history. The class seems very cool overall and I am looking forward to it.
We had a mandatory lecture to attend at 19:00 and in the middle of it the captain announces that we are about to pass underneath the Øresund Bridge, the bridge that connects Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmö, Sweden. It's 5 miles long and really really pretty. So we all run out to the deck to see it and it's just freezing outside, I have jean shorts on but I didn't even care. I got some really great pictures I will post eventually but can't right now. As we were passing underneath the bridge the captain sounds the horn and I just thought it was a great moment, a special one so far.
I am back in my cabin now researching St. Petersburg and maybe starting some homework (maybe). Tonight is the first night with "beverage service" so everyone is doing that. They monitor what we drink, we can get two with dinner, three after and we have to buy a punch card ahead of time. I forgot to by my ticket by five, so no drinks for me.
It is kind of a teaser to be passing by Denmark and Sweden and not get to stop! It just makes me more excited to get to Russia.
Its 9 pm here and still light outside, which is weird but it's so pretty.
Didn't do much yesterday, I slept until 3pm, skipped most of orientation but met some people at dinner and just unpacked and all that jazz. The food is actually good in my opinion, some sort of white fish, salad bar, always veggies, pasta potatoes.. It is pretty standard but I like it.
That's all I have for you today, keep emailing me, commenting, I love it.
TTFN
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Last days in the UK
Well well well, where to begin..
I can't post pictures for a while unfortunately, I can use the free email on the ship to post to the blog but I can't send pictures for some reason. I made it to the ship though!
The last day in London I just checked out of the hostel and checked into the Hilton at the airport because that is where the shuttles that take us to the ship leave from. After I checked in and ate lunch I was just so tired I couldn't move and took a nap. I had planned to go back to London for the afternoon and evening but it was an hour ride on the tube and I was just like ughgghhgkfjlgk..bed. Had a nice dinner though and a drink at the hotel and met more SASers which was really nice. (SASers is what Semester at Sea people call themselves).
After a full night of sleep I got up to work out before packing and getting on the shuttles to Southhampton (yes I actually woke up and worked out mom).
OK now for the good stuff!
The ride to Southhampton was about two hours long through the country of England, lots of green, lots of cows but finally we got to the port and drove up to the ship. That moment was when it all started to hit me. The ship is not as big as some of the other ships we saw in the port but its just lovely. We go through customs and bag check and finally get to go up the gangway and step foot on the ship. The crew are dressed in crisp white jumpsuits and look like the real deal. They swipe our IDs and let us in. A big staircase is the first thing we see with different quotes on the walls, we walk upstairs gathering papers that are being handed to us and we are herded from table to table as we register and the management on the boat make sure we are all set with papers and medical forms.
After all that jazz I finally get to see my cabin and its so tiny and cute. It's very similar to my dorm in Miami, vary narrow. Just imagine that but shorter and even skinnier. One closet instead of two, a little desk, a vanity, and a teeny tiny bathroom. All of it is very clean, and well taken care of. I met my cabin mate (NOT roommate, and by the way I am on a SHIP not a BOAT, I will never make that mistake again after being snapped at haha) Amber, very sweet. I didn't know how to unpack, I wanted to think about how to best maximize space. My friend I met at the hostel in London is down the hall from me which is nice and I am in the "Adriatic Sea" which is just the way they separate us and also the team I'm on for the Sea Olympics (field day on the boat). I went to convocation with Amber and we had a really really awesome speaker, she was on the national foreign policy something something for Obama for the past two years and seems really cool and she went on the '96 voyage or something. After that we had a lifeboat drill and had to wear the lifejackets and everything.
We had to report to our muster stations and sit quietly in very neat rows and wait for Captain Jeremy to come by and inspect. It was very odd as he came by, he is a very serious guy and he had like a parade following him, all of his party was very well dressed again in crisp little white jumpsuits. Apparently in Maritime Law the captain always has the utmost authority on the ship, not the dean. Whatever Captain Jeremy says, you do. Boom. Needless to say he was very intimidating.
I forgot about my little tour of the ship. I was walking around with Amber to get the lay of the land and the first place we came to was the wellness center. This is on all of deck 7 and included the gym and the hair salon. Ok, so I was so surprised when I saw the three massage rooms and nail salon and I found out they do waxes, facials, they have a sauna, steam room some sort of fancy jets bathtub and all this amazing spa stuff!! I mean it is pretty damn expensive but, hey, it's a really nice option. Maybe I will treat myself on my birthday or something.
Let's see what else today.. I do apologize if this is all a jumbled mess, my day had been such a whirlwind of activity!
I try to unpack after convocation but nap a little too. We have a minuscule TV in the room and it has music with a map of where we are as well as the time and lat and longitude, speed, and the time. We have our first time change tonight, we set the clocks forward one hour. I get up because there is some other meeting and then after a while I look out the window and holy shit we are moving!! Like holy hell actually moving, waves and boats and seagulls are outside my window! I am jumping around my room saying "holy shit we're moving, look a boat, oh my god we're moving" over and over again. Amazing.
Oh shit I forgot about the rest of the boat tour.. I'm a mess. OK, so the deck seven is nice and has amazing views and chairs and tables at the aft (back) of the ship (not boat) as well as the wellness center and the basketball court, pool, deck, and pool bar with all the unhealthy snacks. Deck six has the union, the biggest area on the boat where all the main meetings are held, the piano bar/lounge, the computer lab, library, garden lounge (one of two "dining halls") and most of the classrooms. Deck five is Tymitz square or something with like offices and things like that as well as the bigger, other dining hall. Deck four is where I'm at (4034) and has all cabins as do all the decks below that with the exception of deck two which is where the clinic is.
Alrighty so now we come to the second meeting of the day, they introduced the faculty and staff, quite boring but whatevs. After that we went to directly to a meeting with our RD (like the RA in college) and ran through some info.
I also forgot to mention I ate in the Garden Lounge, food is ok, view is amazing. Dinner at sea with the sun setting is really quite amazing.
They showed videos all about SAS and just snippets of people from past experiences and I honestly almost teared up during some parts, I just felt so overwhelmingly lucky and thankful for this opportunity to be here. This is just such a special trip and opportunity and I am going to take every chance I get to say thank you to my mom and dad for making it possible, love you guys.
I hope I didn't miss anything, sorry for the train of thought blog post I will make the others a little less spastic. Email me!! Questions, just to say hey, anything! maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org
It is almost 12 here and tomorrow I hear is the longest day of all on the ship, orientation.. So I am showering and sleeping.
Goodnight from at sea!
I can't post pictures for a while unfortunately, I can use the free email on the ship to post to the blog but I can't send pictures for some reason. I made it to the ship though!
The last day in London I just checked out of the hostel and checked into the Hilton at the airport because that is where the shuttles that take us to the ship leave from. After I checked in and ate lunch I was just so tired I couldn't move and took a nap. I had planned to go back to London for the afternoon and evening but it was an hour ride on the tube and I was just like ughgghhgkfjlgk..bed. Had a nice dinner though and a drink at the hotel and met more SASers which was really nice. (SASers is what Semester at Sea people call themselves).
After a full night of sleep I got up to work out before packing and getting on the shuttles to Southhampton (yes I actually woke up and worked out mom).
OK now for the good stuff!
The ride to Southhampton was about two hours long through the country of England, lots of green, lots of cows but finally we got to the port and drove up to the ship. That moment was when it all started to hit me. The ship is not as big as some of the other ships we saw in the port but its just lovely. We go through customs and bag check and finally get to go up the gangway and step foot on the ship. The crew are dressed in crisp white jumpsuits and look like the real deal. They swipe our IDs and let us in. A big staircase is the first thing we see with different quotes on the walls, we walk upstairs gathering papers that are being handed to us and we are herded from table to table as we register and the management on the boat make sure we are all set with papers and medical forms.
After all that jazz I finally get to see my cabin and its so tiny and cute. It's very similar to my dorm in Miami, vary narrow. Just imagine that but shorter and even skinnier. One closet instead of two, a little desk, a vanity, and a teeny tiny bathroom. All of it is very clean, and well taken care of. I met my cabin mate (NOT roommate, and by the way I am on a SHIP not a BOAT, I will never make that mistake again after being snapped at haha) Amber, very sweet. I didn't know how to unpack, I wanted to think about how to best maximize space. My friend I met at the hostel in London is down the hall from me which is nice and I am in the "Adriatic Sea" which is just the way they separate us and also the team I'm on for the Sea Olympics (field day on the boat). I went to convocation with Amber and we had a really really awesome speaker, she was on the national foreign policy something something for Obama for the past two years and seems really cool and she went on the '96 voyage or something. After that we had a lifeboat drill and had to wear the lifejackets and everything.
We had to report to our muster stations and sit quietly in very neat rows and wait for Captain Jeremy to come by and inspect. It was very odd as he came by, he is a very serious guy and he had like a parade following him, all of his party was very well dressed again in crisp little white jumpsuits. Apparently in Maritime Law the captain always has the utmost authority on the ship, not the dean. Whatever Captain Jeremy says, you do. Boom. Needless to say he was very intimidating.
I forgot about my little tour of the ship. I was walking around with Amber to get the lay of the land and the first place we came to was the wellness center. This is on all of deck 7 and included the gym and the hair salon. Ok, so I was so surprised when I saw the three massage rooms and nail salon and I found out they do waxes, facials, they have a sauna, steam room some sort of fancy jets bathtub and all this amazing spa stuff!! I mean it is pretty damn expensive but, hey, it's a really nice option. Maybe I will treat myself on my birthday or something.
Let's see what else today.. I do apologize if this is all a jumbled mess, my day had been such a whirlwind of activity!
I try to unpack after convocation but nap a little too. We have a minuscule TV in the room and it has music with a map of where we are as well as the time and lat and longitude, speed, and the time. We have our first time change tonight, we set the clocks forward one hour. I get up because there is some other meeting and then after a while I look out the window and holy shit we are moving!! Like holy hell actually moving, waves and boats and seagulls are outside my window! I am jumping around my room saying "holy shit we're moving, look a boat, oh my god we're moving" over and over again. Amazing.
Oh shit I forgot about the rest of the boat tour.. I'm a mess. OK, so the deck seven is nice and has amazing views and chairs and tables at the aft (back) of the ship (not boat) as well as the wellness center and the basketball court, pool, deck, and pool bar with all the unhealthy snacks. Deck six has the union, the biggest area on the boat where all the main meetings are held, the piano bar/lounge, the computer lab, library, garden lounge (one of two "dining halls") and most of the classrooms. Deck five is Tymitz square or something with like offices and things like that as well as the bigger, other dining hall. Deck four is where I'm at (4034) and has all cabins as do all the decks below that with the exception of deck two which is where the clinic is.
Alrighty so now we come to the second meeting of the day, they introduced the faculty and staff, quite boring but whatevs. After that we went to directly to a meeting with our RD (like the RA in college) and ran through some info.
I also forgot to mention I ate in the Garden Lounge, food is ok, view is amazing. Dinner at sea with the sun setting is really quite amazing.
They showed videos all about SAS and just snippets of people from past experiences and I honestly almost teared up during some parts, I just felt so overwhelmingly lucky and thankful for this opportunity to be here. This is just such a special trip and opportunity and I am going to take every chance I get to say thank you to my mom and dad for making it possible, love you guys.
I hope I didn't miss anything, sorry for the train of thought blog post I will make the others a little less spastic. Email me!! Questions, just to say hey, anything! maren.douglas.fa13@semesteratsea.org
It is almost 12 here and tomorrow I hear is the longest day of all on the ship, orientation.. So I am showering and sleeping.
Goodnight from at sea!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
London shenanigans day 2
London day two began with aggravation.
You see, a room full of 21 other children is not quiet at 7 AM. It's very noisy, and, when trying to sleep, this is quite bothersome. Whatever shake it off, right? Free breakfast at the hostel was oranges, toast, assorted jellies, and oatmeal.. The breakfast of champions! But really the hostel I am staying at, St. Christopher's Village, is exceeding my expectations. It isn't horribly dirty, everyone is nice, and the only thing I have to complain about is the shower situation (imagine a communal dorm room shower).
Ok so onto the good stuff. Today's adventures include Covenant Garden, SOHO, West End, The London Eye, Big Ben, St. James Park, Brick Street, Indian food, and secret bars!
Covenant Garden, particularly the market area, is gorgeous. It is filled with higher end stores but it also has many unique boutiques and amazing looking places to stop for food. It's definitely a window shopping kind of walk, but it was worth it all the same. The area is gorgeous
Met Monika (my nanny back in the day, living in London now, looking lovely might I add) at the Liverpool St. station after a refreshing 30 minute nap and she took me through an area full of really gorgeous buildings and nice pubs which were watering holes for hundreds of men in suits. This was on the way to an even cooler area on Brick Street just lined with Indian restaurant after Indian restaurant. The funniest part of the whole thing was how these men just aggressively talk at you trying to get you to go to their Indian restaurant. They throw in 25 percent off and free drinks to try and lure you in but little did they know we were just looking for any place that had butter chicken. Hah. The food was amazingggggg, for anyone who loves Indian food you really can't go wrong on this street!
You see, a room full of 21 other children is not quiet at 7 AM. It's very noisy, and, when trying to sleep, this is quite bothersome. Whatever shake it off, right? Free breakfast at the hostel was oranges, toast, assorted jellies, and oatmeal.. The breakfast of champions! But really the hostel I am staying at, St. Christopher's Village, is exceeding my expectations. It isn't horribly dirty, everyone is nice, and the only thing I have to complain about is the shower situation (imagine a communal dorm room shower).
Ok so onto the good stuff. Today's adventures include Covenant Garden, SOHO, West End, The London Eye, Big Ben, St. James Park, Brick Street, Indian food, and secret bars!
Covenant Garden, particularly the market area, is gorgeous. It is filled with higher end stores but it also has many unique boutiques and amazing looking places to stop for food. It's definitely a window shopping kind of walk, but it was worth it all the same. The area is gorgeous
I had never been to an Opening Ceremony before and I am so glad I got a chance to go in! It is super expensive but half of what they have is Kenzo (which I love (and you should too)) and the other half is equally as amazing. The men's clothes there are great as well.
The Covenant Garden market is also a go to place with food, clothes, jewelry and many specialty stores.
After walking around Covenant Garden, we travelled up to Soho and felt right at home with Zara, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. If you want to shop til you drop, go to soho.
At this point I was about to drop so we began looking for somewhere to get food. One weird thing about London is that you can spend 10 minutes walking through an area of all restaurants and cafes, turn the corner and be in an area with shops on shops on shops, and then want to kill yourself as you try and find any place to eat.
Before finding a place to eat we ended up in West End (Theatre district I suppose) and that inspired me to really try and see a show in London before I leave.
Finally found a place to eat, rested, turned the corner and naturally we walk right into one of those streets that are just filled with food that had been so elusive.
One thing I have discovered in just two days of traveling is that Starbucks is literally a life saver. Its got the holy trinity.. wifi, bathrooms, and food. It will give you that pick me up that is necessary in the all day treks when traveling in any city.
After the Starbucks we decided to be a little touristy at least and head to the river and see the London Eye and the whole Westminster deal.
unashamed of my selfie
We proceeded to St James Park which was also stunning, got hit on by some odd middle easterners and then headed back to the hostel. I was meeting Monika at 6:30 and was in desperate need of a cat nap.
 |
| McDonalds is witty in England |
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| St James Park |
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| Top of Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace |
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| Flowers in thaa paahk |
Met Monika (my nanny back in the day, living in London now, looking lovely might I add) at the Liverpool St. station after a refreshing 30 minute nap and she took me through an area full of really gorgeous buildings and nice pubs which were watering holes for hundreds of men in suits. This was on the way to an even cooler area on Brick Street just lined with Indian restaurant after Indian restaurant. The funniest part of the whole thing was how these men just aggressively talk at you trying to get you to go to their Indian restaurant. They throw in 25 percent off and free drinks to try and lure you in but little did they know we were just looking for any place that had butter chicken. Hah. The food was amazingggggg, for anyone who loves Indian food you really can't go wrong on this street!
 |
| The feast |
Barely able to move after the food and the 2nd free beers that we bargained for it was time for the secret bar. At a location I can't disclose, we entered through a refrigerator and entered a very very cool bar where the drinks are overpriced (just like every other goddamn thing in London) but delicious. I was fine with it because we were in A SECRET BAR.
We made it to the tube and said goodbyes and now I am in the hostel.
I set my alarm clock for 7 AM to the tune of people talking loudly about how "they were like soo drunk last night"
Cheers!
Foggy London Town
What a day. I don't think I have ever been so tired in my life! Got to the airport by 10:30, no snafus, had good flights, slept a bit...
The fun started once I landed at Heathrow and got to baggage claim where I proceeded to wrestle with my two huge bags and two smaller bags alllllll the way around the airport. It took me about three hours to get to the city, where I was struggling to find the hostel without wifi. I stopped at a Starbucks and luckily my friend from back home walked by right as I looked up. She took me to the hostel and invited me to go to Camden Market with her and some other people.
A short tube ride and we were at Camden, a super busy area full of vendors selling everything from shirts with Harry Styles' face on it to cheap Mexican food to beautiful Indian throws. We spent a lot of time here just walking and walking. It was endless. There was a beautiful spot on the river where we stopped for lunch. All along the canal were "narrow boats" and they were pretty neat. We kept walking and found nitrogen ice cream cafes and a huge rave/neon/sex shop right next door. Camden altogether is overwhelming with just the volume of stuff being sold and everything going on but it was a great place to spend the morning.
After a pit stop at a local pub for a beer we decided to head to Piccadilly. Once you step out onto the street from the tube, all of Piccadilly is in front of you and it is stunning. It was beautiful buildings and architecture, really upscale stores, hotels, and restaurants all on one street. After walking down the street we take a left into Green Park and unintentionally find ourselves at Buckingham Palace. After taking a few pictures we are back at it, walking now to Oxford Street to shop a little bit.
At this point I am dead tired, we decided on The Hard Rock Cafe for an early dinner and I am falling asleep at the table. On a side note, everything in London is actually so damn expensive its almost ridiculous, but there's nothing you can really do about but suck it up.
The Hard Rock in London is the original Hard Rock and next door they had "the vault" with Jimi Hendrix's guitar and Sting's, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lennon's glasses. Very very cool.
We walk back to the tube, get to the hostel where I grab my bags and finally shower and settle in. The room I am in has 21 other people. It's a huge room just full of bunk beds, but its clean and the hostel is nice.
I shower and get ready (much to my surprise, I didn't think I had the energy) and head up to the roof where other SASers are all hanging out. I go with a group trying to go to the ice bar, but its too far and after unnecessary walking we end up at a few bars/pubs and finally the one right next door to us. It was karaoke night! Woo! Had a blast singing, looked like an idiot and loved it. Sang Dancing Queen by ABBA.. there seemed to be no other choice. After a long night I finally get to go to sleep for five hours before getting up for free breakfast at 8 AM.
Today I'm not sure where I am headed, but I am meeting Monika for dinner and I am really excited to see her!
Here are some pictures from the day
The fun started once I landed at Heathrow and got to baggage claim where I proceeded to wrestle with my two huge bags and two smaller bags alllllll the way around the airport. It took me about three hours to get to the city, where I was struggling to find the hostel without wifi. I stopped at a Starbucks and luckily my friend from back home walked by right as I looked up. She took me to the hostel and invited me to go to Camden Market with her and some other people.
A short tube ride and we were at Camden, a super busy area full of vendors selling everything from shirts with Harry Styles' face on it to cheap Mexican food to beautiful Indian throws. We spent a lot of time here just walking and walking. It was endless. There was a beautiful spot on the river where we stopped for lunch. All along the canal were "narrow boats" and they were pretty neat. We kept walking and found nitrogen ice cream cafes and a huge rave/neon/sex shop right next door. Camden altogether is overwhelming with just the volume of stuff being sold and everything going on but it was a great place to spend the morning.
After a pit stop at a local pub for a beer we decided to head to Piccadilly. Once you step out onto the street from the tube, all of Piccadilly is in front of you and it is stunning. It was beautiful buildings and architecture, really upscale stores, hotels, and restaurants all on one street. After walking down the street we take a left into Green Park and unintentionally find ourselves at Buckingham Palace. After taking a few pictures we are back at it, walking now to Oxford Street to shop a little bit.
At this point I am dead tired, we decided on The Hard Rock Cafe for an early dinner and I am falling asleep at the table. On a side note, everything in London is actually so damn expensive its almost ridiculous, but there's nothing you can really do about but suck it up.
The Hard Rock in London is the original Hard Rock and next door they had "the vault" with Jimi Hendrix's guitar and Sting's, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lennon's glasses. Very very cool.
We walk back to the tube, get to the hostel where I grab my bags and finally shower and settle in. The room I am in has 21 other people. It's a huge room just full of bunk beds, but its clean and the hostel is nice.
I shower and get ready (much to my surprise, I didn't think I had the energy) and head up to the roof where other SASers are all hanging out. I go with a group trying to go to the ice bar, but its too far and after unnecessary walking we end up at a few bars/pubs and finally the one right next door to us. It was karaoke night! Woo! Had a blast singing, looked like an idiot and loved it. Sang Dancing Queen by ABBA.. there seemed to be no other choice. After a long night I finally get to go to sleep for five hours before getting up for free breakfast at 8 AM.
Today I'm not sure where I am headed, but I am meeting Monika for dinner and I am really excited to see her!
Here are some pictures from the day
Packed up
Camden Town, the river
Narrow Boats!
Really cool shop in Camden
Piccadilly? (It looked important idk)
Victoria Memorial
Had to go to TopShop!
Random but pretty store just of gorgeous Persian rugs on Piccadilly
Gorgeous buildings on Piccadilly
One of the reasons I love London, it's all just so pretty
That's all I have for now! Leave comments, appreciate the pictures while I still have wifi
Love you all
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
From the plane
Today is the first day away from home. I'm writing this somewhere between Toronto and London. I can't to touch down in London where the real excitement begins. I'm so lucky to be on this trip at all and the biggest shout out to my amazing parents. I love you both so much and already miss you. I'm hoping to keep the blog up to date as much as I possibly can ( for all two of the people reading this).
Notable moments from today:
- a guy was arrested at the restaurant in the airport
- some girl just walked into the plane bathroom WITH NO SHOES ON.
Stay classy San Diego
Notable moments from today:
- a guy was arrested at the restaurant in the airport
- some girl just walked into the plane bathroom WITH NO SHOES ON.
Stay classy San Diego
Sunday, August 11, 2013
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