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Vincenzo Pandolfi
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9/27/2008 4:21:02 AM
---- Updated 10/2/2008 2:31:13 PM
Home again!!!
Got back in Sydney this morning with a lot of luggage!! A bit tired now so I can't stay, but I will be back with some account of my travels. The highlight for me was climbing the Great Wall (Not too far up..lots of steps!!!) and meeting with John Pippus and his lovely wife.
Ciao for the moment,
Vincenzo
...OK had trouble bringing this up again on the extended view, so I am updating it. Will be back shortly....
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Eaglehead
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9/27/2008 4:27:10 AM
Welcome home! Your pipe and slippers are by the fire : ) I didn't know you knew John - its a small world online eh? I guess you know Ol' Toad Gil too then....... have a good rest!
C
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tom lee
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9/27/2008 5:25:30 AM
ciao vincenzo
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the kozy king
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9/27/2008 5:54:24 AM
Welcome back Vincenzo -- a lot of water has passed under the hull since you last checked in!
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Hugh Hamilton
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9/27/2008 6:00:58 AM
Ciao! Bravo! Amore!
Had just stopped by your page quite recently and wondered about your return...glad to see you safe & sound...
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9/27/2008 9:06:20 AM
Welcome back... hoping you had a wonderful holiday!
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Beth Fridinger
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9/27/2008 10:48:00 AM
Wow Vincenzo, glad to see you are back!
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Beth Fridinger
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9/27/2008 10:48:37 AM
Wow Vincenzo, glad to see you are back!
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srm
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9/27/2008 12:49:35 PM
It's good to see you back, Vincenzo! I hope the cruise with the missus was great. I expect you've got some music straining to be released. How's the guitar coming?
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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9/27/2008 4:43:20 PM
great voyages need to be discussed in some detail----I will be listening!!!
John is en route to New Zealand---Wellington, I believe, where he will perform a play!!
cool !!
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Bruce Boyd
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9/27/2008 6:22:05 PM
Welcome back Vincenzo!
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Vincenzo Pandolfi
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10/2/2008 2:56:29 PM
---- Updated 10/2/2008 4:08:11 PM
Well, this was an amazing trip!! We visited a lot of countries around the pacific rim. Some beautiful, some less so, but all interesting nevertheless.
The video below (I think this was one before the ship actually sailed from Sydney) shows the places we visited although a couple of them we just passed by and not actually stopped at) Kodjak we skipped due to bad weather.
The weather was generally excellent most of the way. The one thing that stuck in my mind was that we could see the pollution at sea with no land in sight a considerable time (days) before we actually got to Beijing. It was just like a thick haze with a reddish/yellow tinge. We had come across a lot of fog, but this was not fog!!
A big challenge for me was not to put weight on as the buffet is open 24 hours a day on most if not all Princess ships. The Sun Princess was no exception!!
My day consisted of Gym between 07:00 to 07:45 appx, breakfast of Otmeals and fruit with the occasional yogurt and boiled egg. I would then take breakfast to my wife in the cabin (You could of course use room service) The casino was next between 08:30 and 09:00. Don't worry I don't gamble, the Casino did not open until 10:00 but there was a piano there that I could use until the casino opened. Later on during the cruise some of the passengers formed a nice choir (The Princess Choir), so during the last leg of the voyage they recruited me as pianist, on account none of the real musicians on board would get up that early!! What is wrong with me? I can I be a musician and get up so early?? Anyway I would practice with the choir until 10:00, then was fast walking around the promenade deck for forty minutes fllowed by the occasional paddle tennis (I don't play tenis by the way...)
Light lunch at 12:30 or 13:00 then movies, reading etc. I made a point of practising the guitar every day, I have not progressed a lot, but I feel I am getting there slowly. The hardest part for me is the ability to change chords quickly enough and avoiding muffling the neighbouring strings. (my guitar has a very narrow fretboard, so I am looking for a real one!!)
Dinner was very good and often we would have drinks in the cabin with friends before dinner. There were always live shows with plenty of good productions shows either before or after dinner with a choice of more movies or some other performance like soloists, magicians, comedians etc.
This link shows us coming into OSAKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFTQxsO-KA8
In Vancouver:
All in all: WE HAD A BALL!!!
There were a few wingers and they should have probably stayed on the warf in Sydney. On a long trip like that you are not going to like every show, every meal or every movie and you generally get what you paid for. I thing we got good value for money and the staff could not do enough for you with very few exceptions.
Ciao for now,
Vincenzo
P.S. I forgot to mention that one of the highlights was meeting my brother's in laws in Osaka. (He lives there in Kobe) They took us to Kobe by train then to a wonderful Japanese restaurant (My brother was disappointed as he wanted Italian....In Japan I ask??) We had a wonderful meal and did some sightseing. My brother is very lucky to have such a wonderful Japanese wife (Akiko) who has a beautiful operatic voice.
I also have to mention that the next port of call Nagasaki was very emotional as we visited the Peace park and the Bomb museum there....war is a terrible terrible thing.
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Hugh Hamilton
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10/2/2008 3:26:23 PM
Vincenzo! I only had time to read your blog but I shall return post haste to view the videos...magnifico!
:)
H
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The CODE
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10/2/2008 3:43:24 PM
Excellent cruise video - No1 Vincenzio
How many miles did you do???
The Pacific is HUGE!!!
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Vincenzo Pandolfi
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10/2/2008 4:10:52 PM
---- Updated 10/2/2008 4:29:06 PM
I have to note that while I did take a lot of video, I haven't uploaded it yet. What is in the blog is just stuff I found on Utube, so I don't take any credit for it. As far as miles and figures here they are straight from the cruise log:
Total distance covered Sydney to Sydney: 24298 nautical miles
Total fuel: 9128 Tons
Total water: consumption 57,000 tons
External paint: 1330 litres
Cans/Bottle of beer used: 56188 (This does not count what we brought from shore!!!)
Milk used: 86460 Litres
Beef: 31289 Kg
Eggs: 600,000
Toilet rolls: 29,158
VP
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Beth Fridinger
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10/3/2008 10:39:35 AM
---- Updated 10/3/2008 11:01:30 AM
That ship looks HUGE...how many people were on it? You were very disciplined to be in the gym every morning at 7am!!! Yykes!!!
How long were you in each place? When in a port, how long did you go out into that area:
I see you stopped in Apia, Western Samoa...Oh I can see the waterfront and the street along there...and I liked the market...I spent a month there in 2003...and had a room in Apia but traveled around the island to the different beaches and stayed at different beaches for anywhere from $12 to $26 a night with 2 meals a day included (about 4 days each mini trip)...the Polynesian people are very friendly....the Polynesian culture is so different from our culture...very odd how they are with money...the snorkeling was interesting...all the corals, shells, and sea life...their fales (houses) with no walls were quite interesting.
As far as the guitar goes, keep practicing. Hendrix said sometimes you will hate the guitar but keep at it and it will pay off. Just practice everyday and try to be slow and perfect before picking up speed so muscle memory learns the right thing. Repetition of those chord changes will lead to them being easier and before you know it you will be fast...Find a simple tune you love with chord changes you want to improve and play it...the more fun you have the harder it is to put the guitar down.
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srm
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10/3/2008 10:46:04 AM
---- Updated 10/3/2008 10:46:46 AM
Thanks for including some details on the cruise, Vince. I was particularly struck by the "External paint: 1330 litres". For painting the town(s) red, presumably? Good to hear you're keeping up with the guitar. Clean chord changes are still a challenge for me, sometimes.
Dylan usually has great chord changes. I think that's where the term "Cleanliness is next to Bobliness" came from.
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10/3/2008 4:40:38 PM
I'm glad to see you back home safe and sound.
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