going home!!!

it was brutal to go through all the slowness of disembarking the last morning – it starts with 7 am customs and immigration processing, turning in life jacket at 8, getting paid and settling outstanding bar tabs, etc., collecting advances for travel per diem, then waiting for all guests to clear ship before we can leave…  sigh… and there will always be, oh, about 130 people or so who don’t think they have to leave and keep milling about after their disembarkation group has been called to leave… we finally got out about an hour and a half late… then we wait in the terminal (glad i was close to the front of the line).  the people who think they are exempt and extremely important cut in front (the french hairdresser with bad flight plan she made herself and might miss her flight, the doctors, they are god, right?, and the captain – ok, i’ll let the captain cut in line, but these other bums should wait their turn…).  we all have to have our bags x-rayed and clear final customs, and luckily, they let bob accompany me to help me with my bags to the cab… guests were even still talking to us while we were trying to say goodbye, which was awkward… i got in the cab and waved goodbye to my sweetie.  heavy sigh…

i asked the cab driver if he had some music, and was grateful for the bob marley… i have good luck with cabbies and bob marley… i could have taken the crew shuttle to ft. lauderdale airport, but that’s more waiting with lots of people, having my stuff buried under everyone’s and having to dig it out of trailer, sea of familiar crew people… i really just needed to go!  at the airport, i knew i’d still see guests and crew, and i did, and it was pleasant and all, but i couldn’t wait to head west towards unfamiliarity except for family…

an uneventful flight, and at the end, my beautiful boy!  i cried to hug him and see him… caught up a little with him and johnny on the ride home and then my puppy!  so great to be home!  my cozy bed, not as cozy without bob, but i’ll take it!  and diet dr. pepper in the fridge!  does nobody outside of america appreciate this nectar of the gods!?!?  no, they don’t… ah, chemical elixir… it’s my drug of choice up right there with excedrin, cheeseburgers and bravo tv’s top chef…

some of you asked if i am done blogging now, and no, i am not!  i will be launching the “piano broad at home” blogsite any day, and blog about travel adventures with nino and life at home, as well as music and writing that i am up to while on land!  i’ll be here on this site ‘til i let you know when to make the jump… i’ll come back to this site again when i embark august 19^th for alaska, continuing onto the grand asia australia voyage in the fall… stay tuned!

day 110 – at sea, 6 of 6

i am so incredibly psyched to get home to nino!  he has been so amazing and grown up and handled everything so beautifully while i’ve been on the road – i couldn’t be a prouder mama or more impressed!  i am so grateful you are such a solid, centered, awesome and extremely cool person, bean… prepare for goonie adventures and good times when i get back… tomorrow!  how incredible to be able to say that at last! a huge shout out of heartfelt thanks to johnny, my folks, and austin’s and sawyer’s families and all nino’s other friends and their failies, too!  i could never go on the road if i didn’t know you all held nino as close to you as you all do!  i am so grateful for all your love, support and friendship! 

bob is so great to bring some of my stuff home for me when he sails to seattle in may… i am going to miss him so much!  we’ve had some really lovely times out here and i am immensely grateful for everything!  (love you, bobby!  you are the best! xoxo!) it’s only a few weeks til i see him, and then every other week til he comes home august 5^th…

is it really the last day?  i can hardly believe it!  i have been doing the behind the scenes d-bark paperwork and packing for days… i am on fumes… i know my cruise director was disappointed i can’t do the world cruise next year – but nino is graduating, and i am only willing to go out for a shorter-than-world-voyage run in the first half of the year… but i told him that i am truly psyched for the autumn grand asia/australia voyage and will be there with bells on this fall for that… got nice kudos, also, from his boss, the hotel manager as well as the beverage manager… those are the guys i most especially like to keep happy, and they love me, so it’s all good! 

i really thought tonight would be kind of a ghost town, but it was quite packed ‘til almost 11 – that’s late for this crowd!  it’s not unusual for the attendance on the last night of a cruise to be a little sparse, because everyone is packing or going to bed early, but all my hard core regulars came out in full force!  my set was called “out of my head” because i always do the last night with just whatever is in my head and nothing on the piano except the cruise finale song, which i actually did last night (since i expected penultimate night to be the big finale) and forgot to include in the blog… here it is…

grand world voyage finale song

(to the tune of “those were the days”)

once there was a lovely grand world voyage

we sailed around the globe o’er many oceans

and as we wrap it up i’m just a little

verklempt from this residual emotion

captain olaf, such a thoughtful and fearless leader

who kept our safety and good times in mind

and our hotel manager, henk, he’s such a great guy

always oh so affable and kind

those were the days my friend; we thought they’d never end

we’d sing and dance forever and a day

and don and hermi, too would sing and dance with you

those were the days oh yes those were the days

la la la la la la… etc.

the itinerary even with the changes was brilliant

such historical places, oh so rare

tropic isles and ruins and deserts, even mountains

some places had me wanting to jump ship there

but I couldn’t leave this lovely piano bar

and all of you just hanging on your own

this gig means too much to me to go awol

the nicest place and folks that I have known

those were the days my friend… etc.

but all these places they were just the backdrop

there were other destinations here that were fun

the interior trip we all take individually

and the forging of new friendships we’ve begun

it’s almost as if we are like a small town

neighbors in a shifting neighborhood

we’ve lived here with each other for quite awhile now

and i’d take you all home with me if i could

those were the days my friend… etc.

the evolution of our piano bar community

always such a satisfying thing

bonding after sixteen weeks together

i hope you’ll think of us whenever you sing

i won’t forget our lovely guest star open mic’ers

it was great that you could come and play along

i wish I could take you on all my future cruises

to help me entertain or sing a song

those were the days my friend… etc.

thanks to those of you who bought my cd

and if you didn’t, hurry, there may be time

you can put it on at home and have a cocktail

and come back to the piano bar in your mind

it’s small and flat and fits well in your suitcase

doesn’t weigh much and it lasts a long time, too

it’s calorie free, yet sweet, I hope you got one

so you can sort of take me home with you

those were the days my friend… etc.

i know that there are those of you who’ll email

and I will write you back, we’ll stay in touch

i’ve grown accustomed to all of you who come by

and I’ll miss so many of you very much

if you should go back home and see a piano bar

i hope you’ll think of us and have a smile

and when I play your special songs when I’m back home

i’ll be thinking of you all the while

those were the days my friend… etc.

ciao for now!  - me

day 109 – at sea, 5 of 6

happy anniversary to us!  and a happy easter, passover, spring or whatever else you may celebrate as well!  i simply had to include a super freaky, donnie darko-ish picture of the rather ominous looking easter display w/creepy easter bunny mannequin we saw recently – it was on our last stop at the cruise terminal in funchal (frankenberry), madiera, portugal… i am sure they meant it to be welcoming and seasonal as opposed to disturbing and alien-like…

what in the...

AHHHH! AHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

to make you feel better after that, i will post another nino picture of gimli with his nose prominently featured... note that it is shaped like a little pink heart, which i hope comforts you after the previous photos...

awwww!

bob and i enjoyed our anniversary and tried to have some quality time today in addition to the hassle of my preparing to leave and him preparing to move to a new cabin… we still had fun!  we were too tired by the end of the night to enjoy the champagne bob chilled, so we will have it tomorrow… tonight was the final formal night of the cruise, so they bumped up mainstage showtimes to 6:30 and 8 instead of 8 and 10 so they could have the giant black and gold ball at 10 in the large showroom… i still had a really busy night and stayed about full ‘til 10:30 then it tapered off slowly… my 7 and 9 o’clock hours were packed… my theme tonight was “farewell songs and singalongs,” so we covered everything from “i’ll be seeing you” to “sweet caroline” and it was a lot of fun.  i’ve gathered quite a lot of new friends’ names on my mailing list, and i know many folks i will run into again on other cruises down the line.

though i am feeling tired, and the hour back time changes for several days in a row have sort of kicked my butt for a week now, i am experiencing that lovely, game-faced second wind in those critical evening hours that gets me through the gig times… bob’s encouragement also helps a lot… i am grateful for this psychic muscle that has developed - it’s something in you that knows you have to be on when you are on and then it’s ok to stop when you get back to your room and feel the weight of so many nights in a row almost having wiped you out… the weight seems exponentially bigger every evening, and before work each night, when i am feeling a bit chi-depleted even before i start,  i’m like, “holy crap, can i really do it again, or will they be able to tell that i am starting to feel like i am running on fumes?”  i need to really make it through this night and tomorrow night, and then i can go home and quietly collapse for a few days and revel in my babies, anonymity, normalcy, quiet and a little solitude… i will be feeling a bit like wonder woman after this marathon run of nightly shows – for me this has been a herculean thing that i do liken to being in a marathon… it is not effortless, you can’t coast, you want to give up in moments, but it makes you feel like you can do whatever you put your mind to when you’ve finished well…

i also like this type of work because it has a definite start and an end… some jobs are continual layers of never ending stuff, but this has an actual time frame, and you just have to put your head down and plow with some vigor each day.  really, we are selling a product, and the product is not only ourselves, but the entire grand voyage experience, and we all give our part to that and hopefully give these folks their money’s worth… the mission is about creating once in a lifetime experiences, so i always want to be the piano bar they loved the most from any of the many trips they do as a bunch of veteran cruisers and savvy travelers… i feel good about this run especially since the length had me nervous at the top – i had done a 70 day as the longest single cruise with same folks, and 110 scared me a bit!  70 days this fall on the grand asian voyage will seem like a cakewalk after this!  and on the few 2 week alaska cruises i do, i hope to fairly run some rings around the typical short run players’ dynamics… more tomorrow… ciao, me

day 108 - at sea, 4 of 6

another day at sea… fairly calm, and the horizon is like a very sharply drawn line instead of hazy today… whenever i look at the navigation screen that shows our position, i can see it gradually getting closer to the states, and it is so exciting!  i can’t wait to see my babies! 

tonight was our very last guest open mic night.  we had a similar mix of spoken word pieces and songs… lots of fun, as always, though it was a slightly shorter set than usual because our headline entertainer’s shows ran long – which, i guess was ok since it was the famous wayne newton, and bob and i went to catch a bit of his first show during our 8 o’clock break.  he is still quite the showman, though his voice is a bit strained these days...  golden vocal chords don’t last forever!  i’ll be psyched if i can go several more years, though, i might not want to do as many a wayne, however… i hope i’ll be writing and teaching in a college in some place bob and i have picked out to perch by then… i still want to play, but once my pipes are shot, i will turn off the mic, thank you very much… i hope i am also graceful about knowing when it’s time not to drive and other stuff like that, too… i have told nino to tell me point blank and to remind me that i told him to tell me…

my sets went well, and we stayed in the piano bar just past 11:30.  bob and i wished each other a happy anniversary after the clock flipped at midnight to the 24^th… our 6^th!  such happy times to be able to share it together!  we’ve known each other far longer, and i am sure being such great colleagues and friends for years before we ever dated is what makes our thing as good and fun and strong as it is… we’ve missed being together for this day the last couple of years.  

this is us on our honeymoon in paris 6 years ago... we're still grinning!

this whole second half of the world voyage, being able to be together has been a real blessing – you may think, oh yeah, tough life being on a cruise ship in lovely places, but when you are out here without the ones you love, it is melancholy underneath all the cool parts and it doesn’t go away.  without your kid, you feel this psychic tug at your heart strings via your uterus pretty much continually, and you pray a lot that everything will turn out all right and that everyone will be ok… it’s been easier to cope with bob here for at least someone to understand and put their arms around you when it’s hard.  i am always so grateful to have this opportunity, and i am glad we can live in a great place for nino to be near his friends and good schools, and i am grateful like you can’t imagine, considering this weird economy, that bob and i can both be lucky enough to play music full time and make a decent living, i just hate like hell being away from nino… i am so blissed out, though, thinking about being at home and normal neighborhood life and to be able to just hug him every day!  

i know that as a musician, you have to go where the work is, and sometimes that is on the road.  and touring like this at times for work has given me a very clear perspective of exactly what matters the very most in life – i’ve always known it’s my loved ones, but i know it in such a keen way now from missing it that i can’t take a normal evening on a wednesday at home with nothing in particular planned for granted ever again.  that sounds like the best thing ever to me right now… and don’t bother calling in august or december, as those times we will all be home at the same time, i will be unplugging the phone, and i am sure i will probably be the most contented person on earth… i’ve been making the most of having some one on one time with bob at sea, and i am looking forward to making the most of having some one on one time at home with nino – we are going to have some times, bean!  and i will be so very glad when we can all be together… here's some great shots of gimli that nino sent last week from his new camera... nice pics, bean! 

action shot of world's cutest dog

i like to think he's smiling thinking about being spoiled when i get back

day 107 – at sea, 3 of 6

over the sea day hump, on the downhill slide towards north america… closer to the east coast than to any other continent for the first time in a long time, and i am struggling against indulging in any kind of horse heading back to the barn mentality… and it is hard!  i want to be fully present until the end for everyone here, and then i will let myself truly relax at home in good conscience knowing i did as well as i could do here…

tonight i did the final third of all port songs for my featured set – it was great except for a little bit of drama – i have one group, we’ll call them the vocal folks, who like to visit and chat and usually sit in the hall a ways down, and they don’t bother me, because they come often, are lively and fun, they like my music and they actually order beverages on regular occasions.  there is a large faction of the piano bar constituency who listens very politely as if in a recital setting, and they don’t appreciate the vocal folks very much.  i appreciate that they also are trying to have my back, and concerned whether it is bothering me or not – oh, how i wish they could see the dueling piano bar back in seattle on a friday night with 300+ drunk people and a bunch of slutty bachelorettes grinding away on the stage while someone else is staggering outside to puke and they are breaking up a fistfight at the bar where they are breathing fire with grain alcohol and a lighter and some asshole is trying to grab my mic and i tell him to sit his drunk ass down before i elbow him in the nads… in other words, a little bit of talk in the hall, even a lot, is really nothing to me, especially from paying customers. 

i sigh a little, because there is no way to make everyone happy – they all paid for their cruise here, and i have to let them sort it out between themselves, and sometimes, it gets a little tense.  i wish everyone would relax – i am not a concert hall, i am a piano bar – it’s ok to be lively, it’s ok to clap and sing along, and it’s ok to visit.  it’s also ok to want to hear the music.  who gets to be right?  it’s all ok with me… yes, i was recording last night, and i did mention it from the stage a few times so people would know not to get too crazy (but they were in the hall, and they were talking, so they couldn’t hear me)… it wasn’t so bad that i felt the need to say anything directly to them, so my advice to piano bar fans is this – go to the early sets if you want more polite listening, and in the later sets, expect a little noise.  the player is going to let people know if it’s too much or just take a break if people are too out of hand – and if you are a talker, maybe it’s good not to sit right by the stage or right behind me at the bar, but guess what?  it happens… on a big enclosed tin can for weeks and weeks at a time, it’s best just to develop a lot of tolerance, patience, and a live and let live attitude.  there are as many ways to enjoy an evening as there are guests, and they all paid for their tickets.  i wish we could make a uniform setting that could please everyone, but that will never happen, so hopefully people will consider this next time they cruise.

on a brighter note, my big brother, dan, who is stuck for weeks at a time in the middle of the alaskan wilderness, came up with a port song for me!  how about that?!  it gave me a chuckle, and i asked him if i could put it here… 

Diane’s World Cruise

(to the tune of “Gilligan’s Island)

INTRO:                                                                                 

Juuuuussst…. Sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,        

a tale of a fateful cruise-                                               

It’s centered ‘round a piano bar,                                              

where all are drinking booze…..                                               

Diane was the featured singer there,                             

She had some awesome pipes-                                    

When guests crept up and touched her back,

That was her biggest gripe-                                          

That was her biggest gripe…                            

                                                                                   

[**sound of lighting/thunder**]                                                

                                                                                               

The weather started getting rough,                                

The waves they’d start to curl-

If not for Di’s medley of strong show-tunes,                 

The guests would surely hurl…..                                               

The guests would surely hurl!                                                                                                                           

The ship reached many ports-of-call,                            

and sailed with quite the group:

including Diiiiiii……..

and Bob-man too……..

the Captain annnnnd….

his First Maaaaate……

No “Piano-Man,”  J

Cruise Director and-

their great crewwwwww-

HERE ON DIANE’S WORLD CRUISE!!!!!

EPILOGUE:

Now that was the tale of Di and Bob,

They’ve been at sea for weeks-

We’ve followed with her awesome blog,

like true computer geeks….

We know that Di and bassist Bob,

have done their very best-

to make all shipmates comfortable

in their tropic cruise-ship nest…

           

No phone!-  no yard!-  no full-sized bath,

& missing their fam-ly….                                 

they’ll tough it out for one more week,  

for Nino and Gimli!

So join them on their next Grand Voyage,

you’ll surely never snooze-

As Diane sings and Bob plays things-                                                                           

HERE ON DIANE’S WORLD CRUISE!!!!

© MMXI; Dan Hoffman Productions,

Any unauthorized reproduction without the express written consent of the National Football League is expressly prohibited;

All characters and characterizations expressed or implied are completely fictitious in nature, except those that are true;

Soundtrack available on Sony Records.

day 106 – at sea, 2 of 6

another sea day down… it was so calm today that it hardly seemed we were moving.  the water was so still and glassy; at lunch i told bob i thought we had slowed way down, as it seemed we were practically drifting… he assured me that, no, indeed, we were clipping along – i just couldn’t feel it.  after lunch, we looked at the navigation screen, and sure enough, we were almost at 21 kts!  i couldn’t believe it!  we average about 500 nautical miles a day, give or take, and traveling at this rate is the most fuel efficient (cheapest).  we went faster through pirate waters just so we’d be too speedy a target, but this is our usual rate of travel. 

not much doing today, and yet the day zooms by – how is that?!  i had to do yesterday’s blog, do a little more organizing/packing, start my paperwork for debark (an umpteen step process – they do love a little bit of paperpushing and signature gathering with no purpose here!), and it was the last lunch date with a guest for this voyage, as i won’t make any more – this was with my friend sharon, the sweet lady we try to have lunch with at least once every week to 10 days on a sea day… i have mentioned her before, sings like a bird, had her 80^th birthday last summer here with her fam when i was on, suffered a broken pelvis last year and has to use a walker… anyway, she is a real sweetheart, and gave bob and i birthday cards and a coupe of trinkets… a very nice lady, and is living in new hampshire now, bob’s old stomping grounds.  she always has the sushi and seaweed salad every day at lunch – i may have to start having that, too, if it will keep me cheerful and spry into my 80’s…  

i had to write the last episode of piano broad and get the next batch of port songs for review ready for tonight.  on the gig, i was almost all the way through the set and couldn’t remember what my template song was for the singapore port song, so i had to skip it and said i would do it tonight once i remembered… i have had a couple of drawing blank moments like this week that make me think i must be losing it… i think i have just hit my wall of maximum saturation for music in my head and can’t fit anything else in my brainpan at the moment – it seems if i stuff one more song in, something else comes out… i know it’s not literally true, but my brain definitely feels full, and i look forward after this journey to only listening to or playing stuff that i want to for my own enjoyment and not work related – or listening to nino wail on his guitar or blast tunes from his room - i also look forward to long stretches of silence with no music at all and not hearing all kinds of other conversation going on… you learn to enjoy a social way of life while you are here and being in a constant community, and you learn to relish privacy and quiet time when you go home for your breaks…

i am truly glad my life is certainly not boring, and that i get to enjoy a variety of experiences with a wide range of people from everywhere while traveling… life is very rich – and after 110 days, in moments, it sometimes seems almost too rich – the rich food, the opulent settings, the events, the whirl of it all, and i can really look forward to the simple life again… i am very blessed to experience such a range of situations and to meet so many interesting characters – i wish i could detail more about individuals and dish a little, but i feel i have to repect others’ privacy and can’t share some of the more colorful stuff in this format, but suffice it to say, it takes all kinds to make a world and i think i have met them all!  this is definitely our own little community we’ve made here at sea, and i can feel good about the contributions to that community that i have tried to foster in my small corner of it from the piano bar… more later…  xo, me

piano broad, episode 4 – petra through madeira

(to the tune of billy joel’s “piano man”)

well it’s ____ o’clock on whatever sea day it is – the regular crowd shuffles in

& I plug in my mic & get a beverage, another piano bar evening begins

i can’t believe it’s our last week here, we’d better get the most from each day

cause next week there’ll be somebody new playing here as most of us will have gone away

now don at the bar is a friend of mine, he gets my ice water for free

he plays the martini shaker like percussion, & sometimes he’s louder than me!

and hermi has been your charming server, this room wouldn’t run w/o those two

w/o them we’d all go quite thirsty, so w/o them what would we all do?!

our last episode left off in petra, and we’ve picked up some new friends along the way

most of our aussie friends left us in europe, guess it was time to say g’day

from jordan all the way to madeira, we’ve seen so many marvelous things

i can’t believe we saw jerusalem and ephesus and walked in the footsteps of giants and kings

getting to the mediterranean was lovely, european charm and history abounded

and with all the excellent restaurants we’ve been to, you could say traveling has made us well- rounded

we’ve had a few awesome open mic nights, and we’ll have one more before we go home

so i encourage those of you who haven’t taken part yet, to get ready with a dance, song or a poem

la la la la de da… la la la de da da da

sing us a song, you’re the piano broad, here on the old amsterdam

and we’re all in the mood for a melody, so sing us a song, won’t you ma’am

i’ve got to say thanks for that birthday soiree, it was an awesome night here in the piano bar

the decorations and cakes and well wishes, well they made me feel like a big star

for all of your organizing efforts, i’ve really got to give you a hand

and hey, since i played my own party, i saved big time on hiring a band!

we’ve been recapping all of the port songs on the way home with a recorder with built in mics

and i’ll upload them to an internet site soon, so you can download the ones that you like

if you want to get on my mailing list, leave your email or your business card

or you can always find me on facebook, ask your kids how, it really isn’t hard

when i am home this time next week, seven o’clock will feel different and odd

in sweats and no makeup i’ll be cooking away and singing for my kid and my dog

and college tours will be my new excursions, which i can’t wait to do with my son

and i’ll have as many nights off as i want to - to go out to the movies and have fun

but there will be more moments than you can know - when i’ll think of us here and i’ll smile

and i hope i’ll see you all somewhere down the line, ‘cause i’ll be working at sea for awhile

it’s nice to live a life compartmentalized, working away while i’m at sea

and at home i mostly just enjoy being mom and cooking dinner for the family

la la la la de da… la la la de da da da

sing us a song, you’re the piano broad, here on the old amsterdam

and we’re all in the mood for a melody, so sing us a song, won’t you ma’am

and now for some shameless self promotion, please don’t forget to go buy my cd

it’s in the gift shop down the hall where the booze is and if you just go look then you will see

that it’s cheaper by 5 dollars than all the others, that’s a value, now you can’t deny

and it’s small and flat and fits well in your suitcase, so go get one, they’re in short supply!

i don’t want to take any home with me, get one last souvenir before it’s too late

if you loved me go buy a copy for yourself, if you didn’t get one for someone you hate

110 nights is quite a challenge when you’re with the same folks the whole way

i hope y’all didn’t get too tired of me, cause i’ve enjoyed being with you every day

i’ve so enjoyed your support and friendship, and your company here every night

i can’t believe we’ve gone all around the world, these adventures have been out of sight

at the end of the day i hope that you felt you had a place to relax and unwind

and have a drink or a song before dinner or a show, your happiness was uppermost in my mind

i wish i knew every song ever written, i know lots but i can’t know each composition

i learned several new ones, though, because of you, and i thank you for these great additions

your crowd participation was lovely, your clapping and singalongs were a hit

without your cheerful participation, my songs would have sounded like -

sha… la la la la la   sha la la la de da da da

sing us a song, you’re the piano broad, here on the old amsterdam

and we’re all in the mood for a melody, so sing us a song, won’t you ma’am

day 105 – at sea, 1 of 6

happy birthday, bob!!!

we are so happy to have our birthdays together this year since we missed them the last two!  we did our main celebrating while still on land, but we had the chance for some nice hang time since we are at sea with nowhere to go today… the waves calmed down a little from yesterday, sad for us, but happy for our guests…

i am definitely getting more organized as far as being ready to travel – i will make it home with just two checked bags and one carry on – and a little lighter than what i came with, but that’s ‘cause i’m leaving a small suitcase, a carry on and a laundry bag o’clothes/bedding with bob which i can offload gradually while visiting with him in seattle every other week… nice! 

my set tonight was the first third of all port songs from the entire voyage from grand cayman through tauranga, new zealand, and we’ll do the next two nights from 9-10 as well with the voyage re-cap.  i was really pleased i had a packed house for that!  i am recording all the port songs live in the piano bar, and people can download them when they get home – we just have to get derivative clearances on them, and edit and upload them.  i’ll keep you all posted…  my other cd in the gift shop is nearly sold out – there’s only a few left, and i hope they sell so i don’t have to bring them home… i’ll have to do a shameless commercial or two tonight and tomorrow and see if that does it…

it feels like everyone is in anthill mode now, hibernating a little, early nighting, getting ready to go, arranging to ship things, and it’s a little weird – not as festive… it really is approaching the end… re-entry for some of these folks is a drag, because they don’t want to leave… they can’t take the cabin stewards home, who are amazing and wonderful… some of them are alone when they get home without a lot of folks around, and they will miss the social aspects of this life… no tours to go on almost every day, which are interesting and educational, no dress up nights… for myself, as much as i am grateful for and love my job, i can’t wait to be at home with my son, my dog, my cozy bed…  of course, i will miss bob for several weeks until he gets home, but transitioning home from ship for me is absolutely no problem!  i can’t wait to see my babies, cook for them, shoot the shit with johnny, call my dad on the phone for free and talk as long as we feel like it, have coffee with my mom, and the first social thing i am going to do is host a big ass taco night with nino, his pals and their folks, play loud music, make a bunch of margaritas and wear non-gig clothing and no makeup… i can’t wait!!!

i haven’t booked much gig-wise for the summer, because nino and i have to make our traveling plans first for prospective college visits – that will be fun to trek around with him!  i also plan to pursue writing as a part-time job this summer with a couple of projects my writing coach and a music mentor have encouraged me to do… with bob out here working, we’ll be fine, and i think i will take these ladies’ advice and dig into these projects a little on my off time – i already have my next few contracts for ships lined up through next year, so i will try on my in-betweens to write, produce, and see if i can get something off the ground… it’s nice to have help, support and a few contacts to really make a go of it… i’ll still play when i can, but i won’t be driving myself nuts trying to gig every weekend like i did on my last break… more soon, me

day 104 – funchal, madeira, portugal

beautiful funchal, on the island of madeira, portugal

what a lovely place, and what a bummer we had to leave by 3pm!  knowing there are 6 full sea days in front of us, a full port day might have been nice, but it was so pretty, i’ll take what we can get – the captain must have his reasons (i’m betting it’s money)… we went up to watch the sunrise (and the moonset – pretty!) as we pulled in to the island of madeira, about 500 miles off the coast of portugal… a paradise, a beautiful city nestled on a hillside, white buildings, black basalt trim, red roofs and so much greenery all around!  we knew bob had a liferaft drill at 10:30 he couldn’t get out of, so since we pulled in at 7:30am, we got out of here the moment the ship cleared and got a cab for a nice section of town with tons of cafes, shops, a view… we figured we could at least go out for awhile and he could go back for the drill…

we had our first coffee near a small boat marina and watched an old dog give himself a back scratch along a long low cement bench… cutest thing ever – he would sidle underneath it and walk the length of the bench pressing the small of his back against it, emerge at the far end, turn around, and go back the other way, and he must have repeated this 3 times… he looked like a regular at the cafe, and no one shooed him away… i really wanted to pet him, he was pretty adorable, but we were eating, and i’ve known enough unfortunate people from the ship who have had seemingly nice dogs take a nip that i just look longingly but don’t touch unless the dog is with a person who says it’s ok… there were strays everywhere we’ve been, even in most of the ruins that we saw, and they all seem quite docile, and will certainly accept food, and most are adorable, but a couple have gone a little nuts when guests tried to pet them… sigh… i miss my dog!  nino got a new camera recently he’s been saving for, and emailed me some great pictures of gimli!  that was a day brightener!  i'll put one on a sea day blog coming soon...

dog scratching his back under the bench

cute!!!

bob and i enjoyed walking on the beautiful streets, and i say beautiful because the streets themselves are cobblestoned with black and white stones in various patterns; it must have taken forever, and each street is unique in design… apparently they have been this way for quite some time… very cool!  we had to get a second coffee, and maybe the best croissants we’ve ever had outside of paris (the girl asked if we minded that they were still warm… what?!?!  did we mind?!?!)… unbelievable!  such a nice place – they are known for ther baked goods here, and talk about a café society - you can’t go a few feet without running across one, each cuter than the next… lovely town!

each street and square tiled like this but in different designs

buildings mostly in this style, white with black basalt trim

perfect croissants and coffee... mmm...

we window shopped and browsed ‘til bob had to go back for his drill – while he was away, i went in a bunch of shops that specialize in the regional art of embroidered goods… i would have loved to purchased a souvenir of this sort, but it was fairly cost prohibitive, though lovely – i didn’t want any of it that bad, and i guess i still have hand embroidered stuff that was my grandma’s to enjoy… it was nice to look at, though… they have some cool regional clothing items and a very bright striped fabric used in their national dress that they made table runners out of, but almost every souvenir here has the name “madeira” stitched on… i hate souvenirs with the town name on it, cause it looks tourist-y and kinda tacky, so i didn’t even come away with a potholder because i was so annoyed that i couldn’t just get a pretty item that didn’t cost over 100 euros without the name splashed on it… when bob returned and i explained my plight over lunch, i told him i would just like to pick up a bottle of excellent cooking wine as a souvenir, so we got a nice madeira wine, and, of course, a portuguese cookbook… i am thinking sunday dinners for months and months will be the greatest souvenirs to share with family and friends… does anyone really need another coffee mug?

pretty streets and buildings throughout town

really good street music - latin guitars

we had a great seafood lunch, regional dishes, i had the paella with local seafood, and bob had the scabbard fish with banana, also locally grown… this climate is the best of mediterranean meets almost tropical, meets great european city, meets volcanic mountains, meets terraced vineyards, dramatic cliffs… this place has something for everyone and is so picturesque… we definitely would like to come back when we could hang out for more than 5 hours… i was glad to get a lot of walking in today and feel the earth under my feet since we have 6 long sea days ahead…

scabbard fish and banana, both local

seafood aella, all local

gorgeous parks and flowers everywhere

everything in bloom

we took off at 3pm, and almost immediately the seas were churning… bob got some nice pics as the clouds rolled in over town before we left… i am glad bob and i both like exciting seas and don’t get seasick, but many of our guests, who have been pretty spoiled on this voyage (only one or two days of mild waviness with smooth sailing the rest of the way), are retreating to their cabins and not enjoying this turn of weather.  

clouds roll in as we ready to leave

beautiful... sad to say goodbye!

the ship was a ghost town after 10, and even my waiter was green around the gills and had gone home – his substitute was not faring much better… my theme tonight was latin music, and i did everything from portuguese and spanish to mariachi and pop with a latin feel… when it looked as though we were done, i called it early at 11.  i stopped by bob’s lounge, and they were all sitting there talking cause no one was there either… i told him i would head downstairs – we are going back another hour tonight, so it’s like getting off of work really early!  nice once in awhile… more tomorrow… ciao, me

port song for funchal, madeira, portugal

(to the tune of “the last farewell” by roger whittaker)

as we pull in beside the small boat harbor

we go to see the sunrise on deck nine

and the moon is setting full and bright to one side

while on the other side the morning starts to shine

we dash to get a taxi when the ship clears

for bob has to return for a drill at ten

and we have a coffee date, and we visit not just one place

but two places for some coffee while we can

this place is like a jewel set on the hillside

i can’t believe we have to leave at three

there’s so many different things you can enjoy here

so many places you can go and see

the feng shui of this place is pretty awesome

the hills behind and out in front, the sea

folks have lived here for centuries, ‘cause it’s about as pretty,

as pretty as a place could ever be

bob has to go back for the drill and so we

arrange to meet on the church steps very soon

because we have a date to go out for some seafood

and we’d like to be all over it by noon

tho we didn’t stay long enough to get the feeling

of what it’s like to see what locals know

cause we leave at 3 o’clock, and that seems kinda early

considering we have six sea days in a row

i’m glad we got to come here to madeira

i bought a cookbook and some tawny port

and a bottle of Madeira wine to cook with

and the day zoomed by and it was way too short

i’m looking forward to wild and swoopy seas though

i’ll sleep just like a baby on the way back 

it makes the sea days interesting, and it makes me put my stuff away

which i have to do anyway to pack

today was beautiful, and bob and i loved it dearly

and now we’re ready to get started back