My venture

3 days in Switzerland......sorry...been slacking a little....hopefully im back now...so after sign off i flew to Zurich and took a train where my gran lives, Weinfelden, near the Germany boarder....but before i got there i had to spend 6hrs at the airport....amazingly there were 10 other people on the same transfer to the airport...well thats not amazingly...amazingly is that one of the girls i have seen around was on the bus....we started chatting and our flights were 5min apart...and 6hrs passed so fast...we went to a restaurant called Mozzarella bar....well...what is there not to like...and had some wine...celebrate our sign off and then some delicious food....so cool...they had different mozzarella to choose from...mild flavour, intense, smokey or creamy....how cool is that...have never see that before....here is a few pics.... when i got to my grans place....was soooooo good to see her...and of course she spoilt me.....starting.....she took me to my favourite restaurant, its a p...

So....end of the contract is nearing....just a couple of days and finito...time just seems to fly....so the last couple of days...Iris and i enjoyed the ports (Istanbul and Naples), doing what we do best...eating chocs....drinking coffee and taking many many pics....so im gonna keep it short..but u will get many pics....so Istanbul it decided to snow...first day, Iris and i went out....had this ok coffee...best part, you got 2 spoons with your coffee...one normal metal one....and one made of choc...so you can swirl the choc one in...and it melted into the coffee...so good...Iris and i chatted for almost 3 hrs...dont ask me about what...and pics of course....second day we went to another coffee shop....same story....this time great cappuccino with thick foam and again...lots of pics in the snow....so here are some of the pics from Istanbul..... Then it was 2 sea days....of course there was sushi lunch the one day..And yes, i had the rock n roll again....and then one night ...

So....Civi...time for the family to leave...had a brunch with them at Cagney's...first time for me the entire cruise...why....cause i was nightshift and that was def the time to sleep....after brunch time to say good-byes and off they went....and off to work i went..hard day...embarkation....BUT last embarkation for a while...last cruise for a while.....that night...first time i slept in my actual bed that i was assigned to...slept quite good....... Sea day, Katakolon and Izmir....hmmmmm....not very interesting....but i guess i do need to mention some of the highlights......and yes...of course there were highlights.....from sea day....lunch time....3 of us decided to go to the Sushi and Noodle bar for lunch....i had the rock n roll role....with smoked eel, yellowtail and avocado...so damn good...i love smoked eel....and at night 3 of us had some red wine in the cabin...enjoying some Merlot and gossip time...so casual and relaxed...exactly what i wanted and needed....pic....yes...m...

New years day......wow...this past year...crazy...looking back...so much has happened...and in hindsight it went fast....wow...1st January 2013.....and i am in Italy...in Napoli....what better place to be...we all know i LOVE Italy.....and off i was going to Heracleum....the second most famous city that was covered when mount Vesuvius errupted in 79AD.....the tour departed at 8am....early...but manageable....the bus ride...20min...chop chop....as we arrived, there were no other buses, cars....so peaceful....the guide we had....amazing...what i loved was that she kept comparing Pompeii to Heracleum...so we could understand the difference.....the major difference is that Pompeii was covered in ash while Heracleum was covered in a mud slide...and thus much harder to excavate....and in actual fact only one third as opposed to 80% (Pompeii) has been excavated....because.....here comes another difference....the modern town of Heracleum has been built on top of the old town while the modern ...

Nightshift over.....and straight away onto a tour.....to a winery and taste local Crete food....yay....so my scene.....bus ride to the winery....very short....there we had an intro video about Crete......the main things Crete produces....olive oil, soap, wines, Raki...very interesting actually.....after that..time to taste some of the wines....we would be tasting a red, a white and a semi sweet red wine.....but before i start here is a pic of me outside the winery Now some facts.....the white wine takes between 3 and 6 months to mature while the red wine takes between 8 and 15 months.....their most famous export however is Raki, a Greek schnapps, only produced by a few wineries.....it is made like Ouzo, but without the aniseed taste....hmmm...that could be good cause that is what puts me off the Ouzo....but we would not be tasting it there because they do not make it....Raki is best eaten with cheese, olives, tomatoes, artichokes....BUT the best is snails.....first off the white win...