Soooo…I’M ON A BOAT!!!!  It has been super hectic!  We have now put up 3 of the 6 shows.  The first one was easy, #2 & #3…not so much…  It sounds good when “the show is ready except for hooks, snaps and Velcro” but it’s not usually THAT simple…we worked a LOT of hours in a small space while the crew painted things right outside our door.  Good times…  The shows have been well received so far we’ve all just been too tired to be happy about that.  We were able to take long lunches in order to go into Corsica and Naples.  It was nice to get off the boat but we really only had time to venture around the port area.  I’m not complaining.  It’s more of those cities than I had seen before!  HOWEVER…I was playing with my camera…in manual mode…at night…and I forgot so all my pics of both cities are overexposed.  I might be able to do some Photoshop magic but it’s going to take more time than I have at the moment.  My sinus infection cleared up.  My ears still haven’t really popped but my balance is mostly normal…until I had to wear heels 3 nights in a row on a moving ship.  There are a LOT of stairs to climb on a ship!!  I was ALMOST willing to sacrifice some fabulous for easier mobility…but I didn’t and obviously, I survived (reminds me of a song…).

The production team had dinner one night at the schmancy restaurant, The Pinnacle Grill.  It was to celebrate John’s (the director/choreographer) bday on April 6 and mine.  We got all fancy…and forgot to take pics of ourselves…

We passed through the Straights of Messina on the 25^th but it wasn’t until my birthday in Split, Croatia that we were able to go ashore.  Split is AMAZING!!!  There was really only time to walk around the Palace of Diocletian but it was just spectacular!  I walked through the farmers market first thing and was convinced to buy a container of strawberry’s that were soooooooo dark red and tasty!  It’s such a gorgeous mishmash of architecture…Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian.  I took SOO many pictures!  Since my great grandfather was originally from Split there was some added interest.  The weird part was that being there sorta clarified things for me about me?  Maybe I was just homesick and was looking for anything to connect to but being in such an ancestral place made me go, Oh(!!!) a good amount.  AND it was just a beautiful day anyway so.  It was a good birthday.  I bought some good stuff…including a towel from Split.  It’s a tea-towel, but I felt it was important to get a little nerdy.  (wiki-Douglas Adams).  After the trek we had to do some quick fittings for show #4 then I was taken to dinner by my co-workers to Canaletto, the Italian restaurant on the ship.  Delish!  Finishing off the night in the lounge with the HALcats (on ship band) who at the end of their set sang a mash up of Happy Bday and Oh What a Night.  And yes it was!  We had set sail already but the weather was still really nice so we moved the party to the Officers Bar and hung out on the bow.  SO incredible.  Stars are BRIGHT!!  I did not miss the orange glow of LA one bit!

4/29 we pulled into port in Venice!!  THIS show we are actually in REALLY good shape so we were able to spend yesterday evening and this morning in the city.  Still not long enough but now I have officially been to both canal cities!  The water is as disgusting as you hear…yet it’s still beautiful.  Some of the band and a couple dancers jumped into the canal.  SO disgusting!  The food is better than you can imagine and the house wine???  I would drink a lot of it every night if I lived here!!  I would definitely like to visit again.

Now we are off to Greece.  Where there are Starbucks in Athens.  Many.  I checked.  Go ahead Becky, speculate on what I’m bringing back for you!

I have a TON of photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But due to the slow & expensive internet, I have to adjust the size of the photos I post so they upload quicker which means I can’t post ALL of them but I hope the ones I do put up express the vibe!  I also can’t figure out how to put the pics in *MY* order!!