A last look at Rome, shop and café stop. Then we left to board the cruise ship.
Oh, but first a quick word about the Gypsies. At one train station I saw a faintly Gypsy looking guy eye me off (now it could have been completely innocent). But as I saw his eye hit me, then him move towards me – out of sheer paranoia and caution – I put my hand over the opening flap of my handbag, he very suddenly whirled and walked away. A few minutes later this happened again, almost exactly the same. Now it is possible that it was maybe something as innocent as he was going to talk to me, then along with my subtle hand movement I pumped out some hostile vibes. But it is also possible he was a pickpocket targeting me.
On another train a clearly gypsy boy – the right ethnicity and with a gold hoop earing – with a piano accordion was busking on the train. He was really irritating so desperately demanding money with his eyes. I have seen many with babies asking for money to feed their children. But you also hear the stories like the one about the women who wondered what their nanny was doing with their children during the day, only to see – when sneaking home to check one day - the nanny in a totally different outfit in the train station with their employer’s child used as a begging prop.
The best we saw though was a woman on a train, not with a human baby but with a puppy. Honestly the cutest puppy I have ever seen with giant doe eyes and ridiculously plushy fur. The kind of dog that melts your heart. I think she is onto a better tactic right there. However I didn’t see anyone give her any money. And I certainly wasn’t going to. Admittedly the idea of stealing her puppy occurred to me. :P
Then it was time for the Cruise ship. Woooooo! Navigator of the Seas.
This ship is sick. Some features.
15 Bars (of different themes, Sports, English, champagne, cellars, Latin, Italian, Gothic, Piano bar, etc)
4 large dinning rooms plus a buffet
4 specialty restaurants
A club
Numerous cafes
A promenade full of duty free shops
4 pools
4 spas (sitting at least 25 each)
A putt putt golf course
A golf driving simulator
A roller blading track
A rock-climbing wall
An Ice Skating rink
A sports court
A Gym
A Day Spa
A Hair salon
A Botox clinic
A Casino
A conference center
A movie theatre
A stage theatre
A gaming arcade
A crèche
A kids center
A teens center
A jogging track
A helicopter pad
A library
A computer station
Live music in ten locations at any given time
Boundless sunbathing space (though not for me…skin cancer…Ahhh)
A Viewing gallery
An Art Gallery
A Photo display and shop
A medical center
A desalination plant to supply water to the entire ship
A sewage system
And commercial kitchens catering to 5,000 plus people.
And so many other practicalities I don’t understand or think of.
We went to some of the beginning events, Raina won a 30% discount at the spa (But with the small print it was worth nothing). I signed up for a session with a personal trainer. A big scary Romanian guy. That should be interesting. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Within about an hour of setting foot on the ship we were both fairly pissed. All the free French champagne at the art action thing was great. I only walked into one table at lunch though.
Raina went for a massage (which she said got as much nearly s much done in 50 min as the usual 1.5 hour ones she has at home, because they used a bamboo rolling pin) and while I was waiting in our pre arranged meeting place. The 7:30 free liquor tasting. I made lots of friends in the staff. Like the man at the English pub on the promenade who asked me the time every time I walked past. The Indian guy from the promenade café who gave me my cookie. I could get used to this walking up and asking for any food and they just give it to you. We discussed our mutual desires to go to each others countries ( I do want to go to India again). And most of all Constantine, the Romanian first day on the job, who was running the “guess the art value” competition. Later I was walking past the Latin music and dancing that was on at one of the bars (which much to my disappointment only had three old people sitting there and no one dancing). But as I passed I ran into Constantine again and he asked me if I wanted to dance. Much to my joy it was Buccada dance, which is one of the four Latin styles I know. :D So anyway, we got to dance, then he had to go do some work I guess. That was fun.
Later on I found a Scottish couple who asked if I wanted to get a drink. So we drank and chatted listening to music for a while. They were lovely and I was highly amused that he was a ranga Scot who was sunburnt from being in the sun playing golf. Lol, stereotype much? Bahahahahah.
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