Sunday, July 17, 2005
Scenes at Sea
First of all, thank you to those of you that sent your birthday wishes to me, even if I was thousands of miles away. It was great to hear from all of you. Secondly, thanks to all of you for posting comments, it’s nice to see that people are reading the blog and I’m not just writing to the great abyss of cyberspace, and I enjoy hearing your thoughts on my stories and photos.
As I’ve said many times before, life on the ship is very hectic. We will be in Belgium in three days, but before then I’ve got lots of tests and papers (yes, you do have to do work on the ship). Then we are in Belgium for 4 days, on the ship for just 1, in London for 5 days, on the ship for just 1, then in Dublin for 4, then back on the ship for just 2 days, and then 5 days in Spain. Following Spain we have a leisurely 11 day cruise back to Florida. Everything goes by so quickly that it’s hard to believe I’m about halfway done.
I’m working on a write-up of my time in Poland, but in the meantime I thought I would share with you some photos of us leaving various ports. Typically all passengers are required to be on board by 9 PM the day of disembarking. As you can imagine, despite the punishment of “docktime” whereby students must stay on the ship for a period of time in the next port, often students run late. As soon as the last passengers are on board, we pick up the anchor and begin to pull out of the harbor.
One of my favorite parts of the trip has been going up to the 7th deck, aft side, as the ship moves away from port. Since we have had such long days, even when we were leaving at 10-11PM, the sky was still bright, before falling to some beautiful sunsets. I always take my camera with me, and usually sit there for an hour or so, watching both the horizon and the sky change before my eyes.
Here are some photos from our ship leaving various ports:
Leaving Icleand:
One of the senior passengers has a kite that he enjoys flying as our ship pulls away, taking advantage of the ship’s movement to provide ample wind speed to lift it up. Though there have been some portentous moments where the kite falls to the side of the ship, out of view, or gets tangled in lights or other structures on the ship, I believe the kite is still alive and well, though I didn’t see it last night. 2 photos of the kite, with Iceland’s skyline behind:
2 photos from leaving Norway:
2 photos from leaving Russia:
As I’ve said many times before, life on the ship is very hectic. We will be in Belgium in three days, but before then I’ve got lots of tests and papers (yes, you do have to do work on the ship). Then we are in Belgium for 4 days, on the ship for just 1, in London for 5 days, on the ship for just 1, then in Dublin for 4, then back on the ship for just 2 days, and then 5 days in Spain. Following Spain we have a leisurely 11 day cruise back to Florida. Everything goes by so quickly that it’s hard to believe I’m about halfway done.
I’m working on a write-up of my time in Poland, but in the meantime I thought I would share with you some photos of us leaving various ports. Typically all passengers are required to be on board by 9 PM the day of disembarking. As you can imagine, despite the punishment of “docktime” whereby students must stay on the ship for a period of time in the next port, often students run late. As soon as the last passengers are on board, we pick up the anchor and begin to pull out of the harbor.
One of my favorite parts of the trip has been going up to the 7th deck, aft side, as the ship moves away from port. Since we have had such long days, even when we were leaving at 10-11PM, the sky was still bright, before falling to some beautiful sunsets. I always take my camera with me, and usually sit there for an hour or so, watching both the horizon and the sky change before my eyes.
Here are some photos from our ship leaving various ports:
Leaving Icleand:
One of the senior passengers has a kite that he enjoys flying as our ship pulls away, taking advantage of the ship’s movement to provide ample wind speed to lift it up. Though there have been some portentous moments where the kite falls to the side of the ship, out of view, or gets tangled in lights or other structures on the ship, I believe the kite is still alive and well, though I didn’t see it last night. 2 photos of the kite, with Iceland’s skyline behind:
2 photos from leaving Norway:
2 photos from leaving Russia:
Comments:
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Beautiful pictures, Alex. I love being able to 'travel' along with you by viewing your wonderful photographs.
Love,
Mom
Love,
Mom
# posted by 
: 7/17/2005 10:58 AM
: 7/17/2005 10:58 AM
So many gorgeous photographic images. My favorite is the kite over Reykjavik. It is a highly unusual capture, and quite beautiful indeed. ...dad
# posted by : 7/17/2005 12:50 PM
: 7/17/2005 12:50 PM
We love your ship pictures around here--brings up some great memories of our times on the ship.
Gretchen and Ray
Gretchen and Ray
# posted by : 7/17/2005 6:25 PM
: 7/17/2005 6:25 PM
Great pictures, Alex. We are really enjoying your trip.
Jessica and Jeff Gaynor
Jessica and Jeff Gaynor
# posted by : 7/17/2005 6:57 PM
: 7/17/2005 6:57 PM
Alex,
A belated Happy Birthday! I am sure that these posts are taking precious time from your day but be assured that those of us at home are really enjoying your efforts. Keep the photos (outstanding!) and text coming.
A belated Happy Birthday! I am sure that these posts are taking precious time from your day but be assured that those of us at home are really enjoying your efforts. Keep the photos (outstanding!) and text coming.
# posted by : 7/18/2005 1:24 PM
: 7/18/2005 1:24 PM
Hi Alex, Once again I am amazed at the incredible photographs that you captured and your writing is truly refreshing and I enjoy each vignette!! Have fun and keep the blog afloat...........Hazel
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# posted by : 7/31/2005 10:02 PM
: 7/31/2005 10:02 PM 
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