Canary Islands

We arrived early in Tenerife and had a nice, leisurely day and a half there. This meant NO WORK! Kayleigh, Harry and I went out on the first day, the port itself isn't really picturesque. It was a dramatic difference from Madeira. It's safe to say it was a commercial port, shops and cafes everywhere. We did consider the hop on hop off bus, but we would have wasted our money. There wasn't much to do in Santa Cruz. Had we have ventured out to another town then it's probably would have been a nicer day. Instead we found wifi cafes and obviously sampled the local beer. Hard life I know! We made our way briefly back to the ship before heading out that evening in search of some more drinks and somewhere to eat, this time with Alex in tow. Nothing really seemed to be open and we settled for a less than satisfactory cafe but it's all good when the drinks are coming and everyone's in high spirits. It was funny though, on our way back to the ship at 11pm we found a park... Imagine the 4 of us on seesaws. It's quite funny to say that this was probably the most fun we had in Santa Cruz. The next day we went out purely for ice cream and wifi, and that concludes our less than exciting time in Tenerife!

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria was very similar to Tenerife, however there was actually more to see. We spent a long time looking for the beach which was apparently 500m away... (Harry is clearly terrible at directions). We probably reached it after about an hour... Disapointingly it was rather cloudy! Kayleigh and I had planned out our perfect beach day but of course the weather had to ruin it! So we ate in a cafe overlooking the beach, had some more beer, took some selfies of course and then headed back to the ship rather early. At this point we decided to take the hop on hop off tour bus, it was nice but we were almost falling asleep from the woman's voice and the music in between the talking! We then quickly hit the mall by the port before heading back to the ship, which look considerably smaller than the giant Royal Caribbean ship that was right next to ours. 

The day we pulled into Lanzorote it was as though everyone had turned into zombies! None of us got off the ship but a few customers told us that they didn't really care for that port so we didn't miss much. That night however was amazing! We finished work at 11:30pm, went to our cabin, got changed, and headed up to the top deck on the ship. There was a crew party up there, lights had been hung everywhere, there was a dj booth and a free bar (crew are only allowed beer or wine at all times!) but the experience was amazing. We were partying in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the night, under the moon and stars! Definitely hoping for some more parties like that because it was incredible!

Anyway that's it for now! As you can tell I'm having a great time! Next post will be on Morocco! 

Sophie xxxxx

The First Few Days

Okay so the first few days of any new job is hard, especially for me having such a major change. I woke up on Friday morning in rainy Lisbon, headed down to the port on instruction, boarded my new ship at midday. It sounds like a simple process, but obviously there were a few complications for example my company told my the wrong time to be on the ship, she there I was stood outside the terminal at 9:30am in the rain, rather than 12noon. Then there was the drama of having to get my luggage onto the ship - obviously the hardest process as you could imagine.

 I was then showed my cabin. Now everyone wants to know what they look like, I can tell you now I was quite shocked. Can you imagine how much stuff two 22 year old girls have!? But somehow we're making it work. My roommate is called Kayleigh, from Holland. We work together and she's very nice, relieving because meeting who I was going to live with for the next how many months was the scariest idea ever!

Work is alright too, the pace is much slower than I had been used to at McDonald's, you could even call it easy in comparison. I think I'm going to really like it here. I'm surrounded by precious gems and gorgeous diamonds all the time! HEAVEN! And yes I have picked out my engagement ring so if any of you want to know ;)

On Sunday I had my first port day we visited Funchal in Madiera. It was a very picturesque port, with gorgeous purple trees and pink flowers. I went on the hop on, hop off sightseeing bus with two of my fellow shoppies - Alex from Romania, and Harry from India. Naturally we missed the beautiful market until the very end, wishing we had tried some of the street food rather than having the quick pizza in an Internet cafe. It's funny, we are constantly surrounded by watched and diamonds yet the biggest desire we all have is wifi! Hence why I am able to write this from Santa Cruz, Tenerife. But more on that next time.

My connection is too bad to upload photos on here, but I uploaded Madeira yesterday onto Facebook :)

Sophie xxxxxx

My New Adventure

As many of my friends and family know, on Friday I start my new adventure working on a cruise ship. It feels like it's been forever since I found out I got the job back in January, and quite a long costly process also. One week ago I got my post on Holland America Line's ship called the MS Rotterdam. Starting off in Lisbon, I will then be sailing around the Canary Islands, and Morocco, Spain and some more of Portugal within the first 2 weeks. I am fortunate to have been placed on a ship with so many destinations, rather than going on a repetitive course.

So my blog's name has to be credited to my sister, Melissa. My favourite thing to eat is a good burger, it is all I ever order in a restaurant. I joked when we went out for tea last week that I am going to sample a burger at every port I visit, and just like that the idea was born.

Packing has been somewhat of a challenge. Anyone who knows me understands that I have a slight shopping addiction, and limiting myself has been a major issue! However I think my Aunty Kay was more concerned about it than I was, asking on several occasions whether I knew what my luggage allowance was! With the ships destinations, I have to be prepared for all weather conditions, going from the sun in Morocco, up into the Arctic Circle in Norway. It's a good job I have a lot of warm clothes living in Blackpool!

When researching my ship's itinerary I had never heard of most of the destinations listed. Since then my mother and I have been scouring the internet, researching and obsessing about some of the places I will be seeing, most notably the Norwegian Fjords and the Northern Lights in Iceland. It seems as though I have contracted a serious case of Wanderlust, resulting in writing quite an extensive Bucket List. I hope to get a lot of these crossed off within the coming years.

THE BUCKET LIST

1.   Swim in hot springs - Iceland

2.   Swim with dolphins

3.   See northern lights

4.   Go on hot air balloon

5.   White water rafting

6.   Go on a husky ride

7.   Go on a helicopter ride

8.   Gondolier ride in venice

9.   See the pyramids

10. See the acropolis

11. Ride a camel

12. Elephant ride

13. Safari in africa

14. Hold a baby lion

15. Scuba diving in the great barrier reef

16. See the colosseum

17. See niagra falls

18. Walk the great wall of china

19. See stonehenge

20. See the taj mahal

21. See the leaning tower of pisa

22. See machu picchu

23. Visit petra

24. See chichen itza

25. Go to the grand canyon

26. See mount everest

27. Ride a cable car in san francisco

28. Go to alcatraz

29. Visit auwschwits

30. Go to mardi gras in new orleans

31. See pompeii

32. Do a coast to coast american road trip

33. Visit a volcano

34. Go to a drive in movie

35. Hold a koala bear

36. Feed stingrays

37. Hold a monkey

38. Go on a horseback ride on the beach

39. Milk a cow

40. Kiss a sealion

41. Sleep in a yurt

42. Sleep in an igloo

43. Stand under a waterfall

44. Go whale watching

45. Attend a masquerade ball

46. Go ice fishing

47. Attend a luau

48. Drive route 66

49. Do the hollywood walk of fame

50. Stand under the hollywood sign

51. Walk on glass beach california

52. See mount rushmore

53. Attend carnival brazil

54. Visit the valley of the kings

55. See killer whales in the wild

56. Spend christmas in lapland

57. Ice skate outside the Chrysler building NY

58. Visit every single disney theme park

59. Try a philly cheese steak in Philadelphia

60. Visit easter island

Have you ever wrote a bucket list? I never thought I would, but it feels much better to have goals, and things to aim for.

I hope to update you on my travels as often as possible, Sophie xxx