We are in Athens today, and this is my first time getting access to free internet since the Frankfurt airport.

Yesterday we were in Katakolon, a tiny town on the west coast of Greece with a population of 600. It is mostly cool because it is a half-hour drive away from Olympia, the original site of the olympic games, the location of the temple of Zeus, and a number of other archeological goodies. Myself, three other members of the showband, and a broadcast technician rented a car and drove there.

Our timing was impeccable because we went quite late in the day due to having had a boat drill in the morning,  so when we arrived we were basically the only people on the site who didn't work there. It was my first opportunity this contract to take lots of touristy photos. I had one photo taken of me doing a headstand in front of the entrance to stadium where the olympic games historically took place, but unfortunately one of the workers there thought it was disrespectful and made me delete it.

Thursday (two days ago) we played Showdown, the Motown production show featuring singers who are voted off by the audience, and I thought it went very well. Thankfully I still remember a lot of it from last time I was here so it didn't take long to relearn it, and I feel like played it better than I could have a year and a half ago.

Yesterday we did our dixieland jazz set in the atrium ( the center of the ship), which also went well. It was a significant set for me to play, because when I was last on the ship we did the same dixieland set, and, at the time, it was my first experience playing that genre of jazz. Since then I've been playing a lot of it in Vancouver, and getting to go back and play that same set a year and a half later was a cool way to track the progress that I've made.

A couple of other general things I've (re)noticed about life on a cruise-ship: the longer you stay, the smaller and smaller your world becomes. Try as I might, it gets more and more difficult to think or care about all the things that I have on the go in Vancouver. The environment here really sucks you in,  and it's very easy to forget that there is an outside world. Having limited access to the internet is a big contributor to this, since I never check the news and have barely been on facebook since I've been here, so I have hardly any idea what's going on in Vancouver or the rest of the world.

Coming back to a cruise-ship after having been off for a year and a half has given me the feeling that I never left and that this is just a continuation of my previous two contracts, so that four days in it feels like I've already been here for months. This feeling is also perpetuated by the fact that, because it's such a contained environment, you see the same people all the time everyday and get to know them very quickly, far more quickly than would be possible at home. As a result, you get the impression that you've known them for a much longer time that you really have.

I forgot how difficult it is to find time to yourself, especially on sea days. Right now I'm on the ship and most of the passengers and a lot of the crew are out in Athens, and I'm savoring how empty the place is. I now remember why I used to go out into each town by myself most of the time instead of with other people.

It's hard to believe that it's christmas in 10 days. So far the ship has played some christmas music over the sound-systems, and there are a few giant gingerbread houses and other decorations, but for the most part the christmas references have been subtle. I expect that the next cruise, which spans Christmas day, will lose all subtlety.