Western Mediterranean Cruise - Spring Break! [part 2]

WEDNESDAY - TUNIS (TUNISIA), AFRICA

My favorite day was Wednesday, why is this? Well, we were in AFRICA. This port was in Tunisia and none of us could believe we were in a different continent! When we got off the boat you could already feel the difference. We headed towards the visitors building to get our passport checked along with a few other papers and then grabbed a cab into the city center. It was about a 30 minute drive off the port but we were surrounded by rivers running off the Mediterranean and it was such a different landscape than Italy. 

Once we got to the city center we walked through the main square and right into the shopping streets which were crazy narrow and packed with hundreds of people. It was scary because you were shoulder to shoulder with nearly everyone but it was so cool to be immersed in this culture. It felt more Middle Eastern than African which is exactly how Tunisia is since it is the northeastern most city in Africa. We went into a bunch of shops because they had the coolest things like hand painted cookware, handmade jewelry, shoes etc, etc. and everything was very cheap! Although their currency is the dinar, they accepted euro and USD as well since it was such a touristy city.

After shopping we went to grab some food. We found a place right off the main square. Jack, Kelly, Bree, Greg and I had Couscous Du Chef and a coke. It was the most traditional we could get since we were in Africa! It was crazy to see the coke bottle written in a completely different language. The couscous was amazing! It had a good kick to it and came with a ton of meat and whole vegetables, literally WHOLE. There was a whole carrot, a whole pepper, half a potato and a lot of other veggies I wasn’t sure of, but it all tasted so unique and amazing. None of us finished our portion even though we were sooo hungry. That tells you how filling and large the meal was.

One thing I really love in Tunisia was the bright colors. Your eyes are drawn to so much at once it is almost overwhelming but I love it! There was this super cool door we saw all over the place, it was a gorgeous blue and stood out against the white mortar stores and homes. 

On the way back to the boat, we went through the visitors center and did some last minute souvenir shopping and then we found a place to ride a camel!! Yes, I rode a camel in Africa. Bree and I got on one together and when the camel gets up, you literally get launched forward because his legs are so long! It was pretty scary but so fun. It was a short 10 minute ride but so much fun. It was a highlight of the day and the entire trip too!

That night at dinner there was a flash mob! All of a sudden a group of the waiters started dancing and they were all wearing sunglasses and danced to gangnam style and a lot of other fun songs. They were great dancers too! Everyone was waving their napkins around which I guess is a cruise thing to do since it happened at a lot of our dinners when there was entertainment.

That night the show was a talent show of the crew. It was so funny because they all had very different performances like dances, magic, but my favorite was Lady Orchestra. When it was first announced I assumed it would be a group of women playing violin and cello, but to everyone's surprise it was three guys using the girls as “instruments” they literally picked them up and pretended to play them to the music. It was hilarious and very creative!

 That night we went to Luna Lounge and just hung out a bit for a chill night since the next day was our day at sea and we wanted to rest up for that day of fun. We tried out the chocolate lounge that night too, I couldn’t have any chocolate but the others had some hot chocolate and then we all sipped on Baileys on ice. On our way back to the cabin, Jack and Kelly stopped to look at all the photos from the ship. There had been photographers every night at dinner taking pictures of everyone and then they would print them so people could buy them. All of a sudden they found a picture of me on the cover of the "Costa Vogeu" (yes it was spelled like that) and it said Miss Serena at the bottom… it was so crazy! I was surprised they had picked my solo shot over literally everyone elses on the ship but it was just so funny because I would never had known unless someone had looked through all the pictures! It was flattering but not worth 20 euro to buy. It was a funny ending to the day.

THURSDAY - DAY AT SEA

Our say at sea was a nice break from the busy week we had. I slept in a bit and then grabbed a nice buffet breakfast. Most of the day I just relaxed by the window and read. It felt like an actual vacation! We had a nice buffet lunch once everyone was awake and ready. We drank so more after lunch and then decided to watch Captain Phillips. It was a perfect movie for a cruise and we actually felt like we were on the boat with Tom Hanks because the boat was really rocky that afternoon!

That night was gala night, so we dressed up for dinner. When we go to dinner, they had our menu’s on fancy paper and and rolled up like a scroll. We were told not to order dessert because there was a surprise dessert! It was such an elegant dinner and was fun seeing everyone all fresh and formal. That night I tried a poached egg and it was really good. I was a big fan of the vegetarian options on the menu since the meat were very exotic to me like rabbit meat or even seafood dishes. Before the surprise dessert they shut off all the lights and then played some Italian music while everyone was waving their napkins around and then the waitresses came down the stairs with huge cakes and a sparkling candle on top! We all got a piece of cake that night along with champagne. It was such a fun surprise.

After dinner, in the Luna Lounge there was a chance to see the captain give a toast. We got there quickly, although it was already pretty crowded. We were given fancy drinks like tequila sunrise or champagne along with little appetizer/fingerfoods. Then our captain – Captain Mauro Muratore - gave a lovely speech in five different languages and introduced the other men that helped run the ship. Then we all toasted to Coasta Serena and then headed to the theatre for the show.

That nights show was The Big Bang Show which was a musical. It was incredibly elaborate! There was about 10 different numbers and the same two main singers for every song. They were so good and there were also a ton of dancers and spinning props and sparkly costumes. It was a great show and had so much pizazz to it!

That night we got some more drinks and hung out in the Apollo lounge, then headed to the casino. Jack, Greg and I played black jack and I almost won all my money back but I lost most of it pretty quickly after it. It was still so much fun, they all recognized me from the other night so we had fun catching up with the dealer and other workers. Then Colleen came back to our table with her husband and we all talked about Europe and cruises. They go on 7 cruises a year! They are really living the retired life, but had so many cool stories to tell as well.

FRIDAY - BARCELONA, SPAIN

Finally made it to Barcelona, one of the cities that I was so excited to visit! We had planned to meet up with my friend Logan from kappa, which was going to be so fun to see her again while abroad! We meet up with her along with some other girls studying abroad and they showed us around the town. It was the nicest day yet, sunny and 65 degrees feeling like summer.

Our first stop was at La Boqueria which was a huge food market off of the main street called La Rambla. It was the craziest market ever! It was huge and they had full animal carcuses, fish both alive and dead and tons of fresh fruits and cool foods all trying to be sold. It was so interesting to see.

Next up we checked out La Rambla and walked up and down the street, it was so pretty and there was a ton of people and little kiosks along the street.

We then headed to the Sagrada Familia which was the famous church designed by Gaudi. Although it still isn’t finished, taking about ten more years to be completed, it was the coolest thing to see! We didn’t get a chance to go inside, but the outside was sufficient enough.

We took the metra to the beach which I was so excited to do since we’ve been having very rainy and cold weather in all the other cities and its not spring break unless you get to the beach at least once, right? While waiting for the metra to come, I spotted a girl I recognized… and you will never believe it but it was my friend Sara Dalan who I cheered with all through high school!! She was studying in Florence but I had no idea she was in Barcelona that day and none the less she was waiting in the exact metra station at that exact time as me! We were both so shocked and immediately ran to hug each other and talked for a long time just catching up on everything. It was so crazy to run into her and I made me so happy to be able to see her while aboard!

Once we got to the beach, Logan and I walked to the water. It was super cold of course but I loved being able to take off  my shoes and walk barefoot in the sand. 

We then made our way along the beach to find a place to grab lunch. We ended up at Conborbo and I got two plates of tapas. I tried croquettes with was basically fried cornmeal type thing and also crab drum sticks. They were both delicious! We split a pitcher of sangria for the table also. I could feel myself getting a tan during lunch since we sat outside, it felt so good to be in the warm sun. We also heard a street performer playing our favorite salsa dancing song :

Our last stop was to the Arc de Triomf and El Parc de la Ciutadella. It was such a great place to end up because we got to walk around a bit and soak in the city. We found this amazing fountain and walked up it to over look the park. Then we went over by this huge elephant statue and got some fun pictures on it. It was really hard to get up on his trunk but with a running start I was able to make it!

The Arc de Triomf was so cool to see, the walkway to it was also very scenic. There was a map of Barcelona on the ground, which would definitely come in handy.

It was so sad to leave the beautiful Barcelona. I wish we had more time to hang out in that city, or even a night to go to try out their night life, but sadly our cruise only allows for such a short day in each city. I know I will be back soon, because I literally fell in LOVE with Spain. And it was even more comforting since I know much more Spanish having studied that in high school. But all good things must come to an end, so we said our goodbyes and headed back on the cruise for dinner.

That night for dinner I had Paella, which is a traditional Spanish dish. It was yellow rice with lots of veggies. They also had cream of potato soup. I was really good and felt like a little bit of home too! 

The show that night was the Terry Parade. It was on guy doing cool magic and acrobatic things. He was literally crazy!! He didn’t really talk, but he made the craziest noises and got the entire audience cracking up and amazing at his talent at the same time. He was one of our favorite performers! 

That night we went back to the Luna Lounge to hang out. The Project band was playing the greatest music! They played lots of The Beatles and other classics. We played more thumper – per usual – and then danced a lot when they played the good songs! To end the night we went to the disco since it was the only open bar at that point. It was weird being with all the younger kids but still fun! At this point it was only Jack, Kelly, Bree and me so we decided to go to deck 9 and see if there was pizza out. But of course it was much to late but we ended up just goofing off since the buffet area and pool deck was empty.  We were all super tired at this point and made our way to deck 1 to get some shut eye before our last day. 

SATURDAY - MARSEILLES, FRANCE

Our last port was in Marseilles, France. I have been wanting to go to southern France since I got to Europe so this was a perfect city to see for me! It was another sunny day, not too warm out but good enough for us. Once we got off the boat, Kelly, Bree, Jack, Greg, Kristen and I saw a ferris wheel and had to take it for a ride! It was so much fun getting on it and it was going pretty fast too. We went around three times and the last time we stopped right at the top. The view was unbelievably amazing! It was a fun start to our day in Marseille.

After the ferris wheel, we saw another train tour and knew we had to do it! It took us all over the town. We saw the beach, hills and hills of trees and gorgeous sping flowers blooming.

We went all the way to the top of the mountain to where there was the Marseille Cathedral.  We had seen this church from the ferris wheel and I was so glad we go to get out and stay a bit at the top. It was a great view of the city – even better than the ferris wheel, in fact we saw it from the mountain!

It looked over the city as well as the port which was so cool. Although it was super windy, we still had fun taking pictures and goofing off a bit.

We headed into the church to check it out. It was not as big as it seems, but the cielings were super high up!

We were cutting it close with time because the boat was leaving at 5, so we took the train back down the mountain to the city center and then after some quick souvenir shopping we headed to get back on the boat. It was cool to be in France, since it was my first time. I loved seeing all the French families dressed up so stylish and cute and the language is so pretty and fun to listen to. It was a nice change from Italian and Spanish and the multiple languages they spoke in Africa.

Before dinner we went to the arcade room and played air hockey as some other arcade games to kill some time. Jack got really into the games where you can try and win an ipad or macbook! We all watched him try and win and even Bree got close to winning but it was so hard, but also addicting!

That night at dinner was Italian night since our next port was back in Savona. All the waiters wore Italian aprons and there was lots of good pastas and desserts on the menu that night. I had the cheese platter, gnocchi, salmon and veggies and then for dessert I had a half-frozen raspberry cake. It was such a great last meal and we really devoured the last of our all you can eat, all inclusive food plan. At the end of dinner, all the waiters did a bunch of dances together and sang some classic Italian songs like “Volare” and “On an Evening in Roma” It was sad to say goodbye to our waiter, but we got a picture with him and then also said our goodbyes to the Swiss family that sat next to us.

The show that night was called Radio. There was a lot of singing and dancing. They sang a ton of American songs like Pitbull, Cristina Aguilera and other popular pop songs.

That night knew we had to go to the Luna Lounge and end the trip in the exact way we started it! The Project band was playing again and they remember us from our dare night event, but they loved having us there because we got the crowd to start dancing! We did our best to use our all inclusive drink deal for the last time ever! It was a lot of tequila shots and pineapple rum. The band played Africa by Toto, one of my all time favorites and they even played “Sweet home Chicago” in dedication to our group, which was such a nice touch J 

The Project Band singer  posing with us

Some of the girls headed back to the cabin but the majority of use kept going strong through the night! We went to the club eventually and it was so much that night because we were hanging out with the rest of the crew guys that we got to know really well throughout the week. Before I know it I am back in bed and we had to be up by 7am so the crew could clean our room for the next guests. The week went by so quickly and I had the time of my life! My first cruise ever was an amazing success. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Ciao to the Costa Serena!