Hello world!
Be kind everyone - I already somehow feel like an old man in a blog filled universe. I will summarise what is happening now just in case you want to depart early to watch cat videos on youtube. On the topic... perhaps a picture of my cat reading the newspaper will keep you interested? The cat lurks below...
The summary! That is me ( apologies but no prizes if you guessed) and on the right is the Azamara Journey- my temporary floating home and place of work from June to November 2014. My job? Saxophone player in the 7 piece orchestra. That place? Port- Vendres in the south of France. Be warned though if you are planning a visit, shortly after this photo was taken me and Darren (trombone playing jazz master) proceeded to hike our way into a military training exercise! The language barrier was initially a problem but we got the idea when the French military managed a small but potent sentence- ''GO AWAY!'' it goes without saying that we didn't stay long...
So you are probably wondering how I had time to nearly get shot by the French military and meander around taking pictures? As a musician you generally only work in the evenings which leaves the days free for adventures and recovering from whiskey consumption.
WARNING: alcohol is dangerously cheap on ships and you will actually start convincing yourself that they are paying you to drink it- after a long and arduous review into this phenomenon I can now confirm that this is not the case.
How did I end up on a cruise ship I hear you ask?
I have always been excited by the prospect of travelling and started taking spontaneous trips as soon as I was old enough to not look like a lost child.
Incidentally on the ship I was asked by guests roughly 1768463927 times a day if I was old enough to be working. Initially I was flattered and then as the question kept coming my reaction
became increasingly sarcastic. Woops. I want to travel and I love playing music - the cruise ship job offers both so I can't resist. I get paid to explore the world and meet some amazing
people. Most importantly- I met this monkey in Gibraltar!
Waking up in a different country never gets old.
This was one of the most exciting things I have ever experienced. Imagine closing your curtains in Valencia and opening them to see Barcelona!! I really have to use my imagination because as musicians we did not qualify for cabins that had windows- surprise surprise this also meant that we didn't have any curtains!
Not to worry... there was an abundance of portals to the outside world located in the staff mess. I will set the scene for you... It is 7am and you have just woken up to enjoy
the beautiful combination of a whiskey fuelled hangover and a ship engine that sounds similar to that of your first car. Yes indeed you remember... the used car you purchased for the price of a
chocolate bar, having 100% faith that it would indeed be a 'GOOD RUNNER'. Where were we... Ahh yes, whiskey head and engine sounds galore. Time to head to the mess for a coffee and see which part
of the world we had arrived in!
And there it is- boom! A whole new world waiting to be explored. The hangover quickly dissipates and is replaced with pure excitement. What will today's adventure bring?