Not Much to Report

My favorite holiday has come and gone - Halloween. We had the most fantastic crew party. It was easily the most fun party since I've been onboard. The Cruise Director, the Hotel Director, HR were all there. It was technically an office party, but way cooler. My angel costume has deemed me the "angel" nickname around the ship among the officers. I always get the most successful Halloweens.

I went to Rome and saw the Sistine Chapel. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but still breathtaking. They've restored it in the last few years and the colors are so beautifully vivid I couldn't stop looking up. The blue of the Virgin Mary's robe made it easy to pick her out and the image of God creating Eve almost brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't stop looking up. My neck was a tad sore the rest of the day - so worth it. The rest of Rome was nice. Having a guide through the Coliseum this time made it more interesting. I understood more of what I was looking at, and St. Peter's Basilica was beautiful as always. I had a flood of memories rush back through as I walked through the Vatican. I remembered my time in Ireland and the Spring Break I took in Italy. I remembered finding Emily in the halls of St. Peter's. I remembered Shaina saying a prayer in Hebrew on Easter morning immediately followed by a clap of thunder and sudden rain shower she thought she brought on. I remembered us drying off in a patch of sun with gelatto and laughing about the whole thing. New memories have formed, of course, like seeing Luis walking through with his tour. I do love the Vatican, but I doubt I'll visit Rome again. Rome's great for its history, but it's not really a city. It's more of a theme park really.

I've been relaxing around the ship and the ports lately. Valerie came back for a week which was really nice, but she's gone again. This week I'll take the crew tour to Pompeii.

I fly home in two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks and I can't seem to focus here. Thoughts of home are becoming more and more frequent. I'm planning my trips to visit friends and family. I'm imagining the look little Ariell will get when she sees the gifts I got her. I'm thinking of the giant cocktail I'm going to get after I finally get home on my birthday. Life here is good, but with my friends slowly signing off the ship is changing. It's becoming a whole new crew which makes it easier for me to not be sad about leaving. Most of my crew and I have begun our countdowns and started planning on meeting up in the States.