Pre-revolution Egyptian adventures

 A political poster on the walls of Cairo (IIRC).

I'm pretty sure this was a telecommunications building. Unfortunately there is glare from the bus window!
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Cinque Terre

Hello all! One amazing adventure I went on was to the Cinque Terre (lit. Five Lands) in northern Italy. I had heard of this national park (protected from the emissions of most types of automobiles) for years, but I had only been close to it on two occassions. My ships docked in La Spezia solely because of the incidental problems with docking in Livorno (such as weather, or strikes). However, I decided to make a trip out with a friend all the way from Livorno, which adds about another hour to this excursion.

Seen above is the first train stop from La Spezia into the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. The only transportation other than this is by boat or eco-friendly bus.

Some nice murals on the wall.

A glimpse of Riomaggiore itself.

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Forested hills with terrace irrigation at the top, along with the beautiful coast seen below.

 Some great diving potential here as well.

 A nice map of this part of the Cinque Terre...complete with graffiti!

 En route to Manarolla!

 Some great shops and restaurants in Manarolla.

St Paul de Vence

A gorgeous hilltop locale situated outside of Nice, France, this Medieval village has been one of my top ten places in the world for the last three years.

 Artwork by Marc Chagall outside the village

...along with his grave, where he rests in peace! A fitting place as this location as all kinds of marvelous art galleries

Some nice outdoor sculptures!

 Melting sax clock a la Dali! I might have to buy it some time!

More sax related art!

My travel blog!

My name is Alex, and I am a young saxophone player who has been working on cruise ships for the last three years. This is a blog of all my travels to places off the beaten path as a musician on a cruise ship! When I first started in Europe, I saw most of the must see tourist destinations, such as Rome, Pompeii, Pisa and Florence among others. I also spent a year in the Caribbean out of Miami where I saw the Spanish forts of San Juan, the beautiful island of Grand Cayman with its Seven Mile Beach, both the French and Dutch sides of St. Maarten along with Cozumel and the now developing Costa Maya.

I returned to Europe to revisit many of the same historical locales, along with the Parthenon in Athens, Ephesus in Turkey, the Pyramids in Cairo, the Valley of the Kings in Luxor and the Gateway to India among others. I also saw many present day wonders in the United Arab Emirates, such as the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa), the world's fastest roller coaster in Ferrari World (located in Abu Dhabi), and the world's largest shopping mall.

I am very fortunate to have a job where I can not only travel, spend time in the gym, and practice my saxophone and other woodwind instruments, but earn money doing it as well! So I hope the pictures and knowledge in this blog can be helpful to those of us who are less traveled, or those who would like to see a place they've been to before in a new light.

I welcome any readers to request information on any of these places, as I have many pictures of the most important parts, along with incidental photos to show what I may find strange, interesting, or unexpected at any place. I have also seen many cities so many times, that I like to go alone or with a group of friends to a new place most cruisers or tourists would never think of going because they only have time to see the "most important" destinations within their ten hours on land.

I will organize this by port, and post pictures and reviews of the places I see on the roads less traveled. Hope you enjoy!