Last Timers at Messina

Last Timers

29^th June 2011

Once again we are back in Messina, Sicily, but this time it’ll be our last.

Hernan thankfully woke me up this morning. The alarm did go off but I just couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed and fell back to sleep. 

Hurrying to get ready, I grabbed my camera gear and then realized I’d borrowed my second memory card to Zoran. My main memory card was in the lab. Shit! 

Hernan was running towards the lab with 10 minutes to spare because he didn’t have his costume for the gangway! What a nightmare!

For once I wasn’t dressing up. On this particular occasion I was shooting David who was dressed up as a Pizza Chef. This is the first time I’d seen anyone other than Stu and Hernan as the Pizza Chef. David certainly has the personality to pull it off though. It just didn’t seem right not having Stu around shouting out Italian phrases he’d learnt from Fabio. 

Hernan was dressed up as a Sailor with Zoran shooting him. The Sailor and Zoran were first on pool decks before heading to the gangway. David and I were in the Lotus Lounge waiting for the tours to exit before joining Hernan and Zoran outside.

Each shooter had to reach a target of 400 images. If and when they got their target, they’d be able to finish up so David and I were on a mission. By the time we were due to head out to the gangway we already had 176 images. Problems arrived when David couldn’t find his shore pass! South Africans need shore passes for pretty much every country we travel to. 

On Jomar’s orders Zoran ran back onto the ship to change into David’s outfit. If David found his shore pass then he’d return as a shooter. I was now teamed up with Hernan. Working on the gangway with Hernan can be frustrating if I’m honest. He’s very chilled and laid back. He’d quite happily walk around, talking to guests and crew while letting everyone walk past. I was smudging as best as I could while Hernan simply stood there, looking around. If guests were coming off the ship, he’s come and stand at my side to talk to me rather than standing in position in front of the camera to get a photo with the guests. I was losing patience and didn’t want to keep telling him to stand in the way of the gangway exit and smudge. He joined at the same time as me so it doesn’t seem right to tell him what to do. Usually when I’m a character I will just put my arm around people and almost pull them in for a photo. Hernan wouldn’t do that, he didn’t seem to want to smudge so it was left to me. I was determined, almost desperate to get 400 images so we could finish work early and go out. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. Jomar came out to see how many images we had 45 minutes before we were due to finished. David and Zoran had about 280 while I had 332. We did however get to leave gangway 45 minutes early though!

After jumping in the shower and grabbing my things I headed out in search of something to eat and the internet. As it was the last time we’d be coming to Messina, I stuffed my Canon SLR in my bag. 

Bumping into some of the Brazilian shoppies, I joined them at the bar on the plaza (Dolce Vita). The internet connection was diabolical so we packed up and moved to a place down the road. The internet was so much better there, unfortunately they didn’t do food. 

An hour or so later, I got a message from Hernan, he was on Facebook, therefore off the ship. He and David were at the plaza. Packing up again I ran back over to the bar on the plaza to join them for pizza. Still the internet was slow even though there was hardly anyone in the bar. Taking a few photos and having a giggle, we decided to go for a walk around. David was determined to get to The Foot Locker.

I went for the bill, walking back to the table something didn’t seem right. All three of us went over the bill and then it clicked. Only half of what was on the bill was ours. We don’t know where the other half came from but there was no way we were paying €65 for 2 pizzas and 5 coca-colas. 

Taking the bill back inside, I told the guy behind the counter that the bill wasn’t ours. He automatically pulled out another bill with 2 pizzas and 5 coca-colas for €32. The guy didn’t say a word, just handed me the new bill. With what’s been going on for the past couple of days I wasn’t in the mood to take any shite from a bunch of Italian waiters. Looking more than a little miffed the guy said “ok, so this is your bill”. 

After paying, as I was walking out the guy had the audacity to call out “thank you, see you soon”… Was he having a tin bath?? Turning around, I just laughed at the waiter and shook my head before walking out. Would you go back to a place where the people working there try and charge you double?? I might be blonde but my grey cells do function!

We had our photos taken in the plaza before Hernan got it into his head that he wanted to do something a little different. Asking David to take his photo, Hernan stood in front of the church, with plenty of American guests around, he pulled his pants down, mooning at the camera. David was able to compose himself enough to take the shot before we were all rolling around laughing. An American guy was standing nearby, watching us with a disgusted look on his face. That just made us roll up more! That and David’s laugh!

Walking around a few places Hernan had more photos taken of his hairy arse. Just thinking about it while writing this is making me crack up. I’ve gotta get the photos from him and upload some to the blog.

We didn’t get time to go to Foot Locker as we couldn’t remember when we all had to work. We made it back to the ship with an hour to spare (we found this out when we got into the photographer’s corridor and checked the schedule on the wall). Rather than going out again, David went to sleep and I joined Hernan in his cabin. He was blasting his music and singing while I took the chance to update my blog.

Today, I was calmer about Stu leaving. Don’t get me wrong, I was still upset and angry about what had happened. Still, you can’t change the past so I tried focusing on the good times. Without a doubt I couldn’t have asked for a better person to train me, no matter how severely he kicked my arse over the smallest things. So yes, I was lucky enough to work with someone like Stu, even if it was for a short period of time. He was a great co-worker as well as trainer. 

On a personal level, Stu was a fantastic friend who always gave us a laugh or something to smile about. No matter how bad things were, or how much I tried not to, I couldn’t ever resist laughing at the dancing eyebrows (if you know Stu, you’ll know what I’m on about). It’s better to have the experience than not have it at all. Without a doubt Stu will be successful in whatever he does, whether he goes back to working on ships or commercial diving, I don’t know. I’m guessing it’ll be commercial diving though.

Either way, I hope to see him again soon. Maybe it’ll be in England, maybe South Africa… or maybe another port on the opposite side of the globe. Until then, take care of yourself and good luck with everything that you do. Even though I’ve said it before, thank you for everything that you did for me while on the ship. I couldn’t have asked for a better trainer and friend… now, don’t let this go to your head Geez or I’ll have to knock you down a peg or two.

Previous Messina Gangways

Back from Tour: Fede & David

David

David & Prashant (Security)

David & Fabio

With the Guests: David and Fabio

Me and Prashant

Photog's Favourite Barman!

Working on the Rail

All Fun and Games Working with David

Luci

This Messina Gangway

The Pizza Chef!

David - Pizza Chef

Fede, Sailor Hernan, Sandra and David

Fede, Sailor Hernan, Sandra, David and Pizza Chef Zoran

Fede and Zoran

Walkabouts in Messina with David and Hernan

Pizza!!!

Pizza and Drinks at the Plaza, Messina (Italy)

David & Hernan

Me, Hernan and David, Messina (Italy)

Hernan

Stalker at Mount Etna?

Stalker at Mount Etna?

5^th June 2011

I’ve only been to Messina once and didn’t get much of a chance to have a look around. This time I was hoping I’d be able to take the camera and just walkabout taking photos. I was almost right.

A couple of us were set to go on tour. and I was one of them. Stu was going wine tasting. Luci finally got her wish to go to the Godfather’s steps. She was over the moon to say the least. Me, well, I was off to Mount Etna!! 

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but either way, I was excited. Mount Etna is situated a two hour drive from the port of Messina which gave me and the guests a chance to get some shut eye. During the journey, I woke up and saw 90% of the passengers had fallen asleep. Poor tour guide!

Stu had warned me to take a jacket as it’s usually freezing cold up there. I asked if I’d be alright in just a hoodie. How cold could it get? His reply “yeah, if you think you’re hard core”. I was going to take my jacket… I just forgot it in my cabin and was running late.

Once we arrived at Mount Etna, I realized Stu had a point. It was cold but not unbearable. More like a spring day in England. Oh, and of course, I’m hard core! 

Setting the exposure, I starting trying to run around taking photos. Most people were more than happy to have their photo taken. The gale force winds were not only very nearly sweeping people off their feet but it seemed to bring out the best in people. Everyone was enjoying the fun of staggering around. On a couple of occasions I nearly stacked it. The wind was so unbelievably strong that one guest was worried shouting “you’re so small you’ll fly away”. Along with the wind was the ash and dust that the wind was picking up. I was worried the tiny bits of grit and stones would crack the filter on the lens.

Looking around for people to photograph I spotted an American guy standing nearby taking photos in my direction. I quickly moved out the way and carried on. Hopping on the bus we went to another spot with a bar and souvenir shop. Of course a magnet was needed and I also got something for my parents. 

Going outside I spotted the American guy again, he stopped me to say hi, asked where I was from, how long I’d worked on the ship etc. The usual questions.

Climbing up a crumbling slope of dried lava I started getting more photos of guests. Having my Royal Caribbean work badge on helped a lot, as soon as people saw proof that I was from the ship they were more likely to have their picture taken. 

Once again, looking around I spotted the American taking photos in my direction. As he was photographing Mount Etna, I didn’t think anything of it and made sure I didn’t walk into the frame. He smiled and asked if he could take a photo of me using my camera as it was my first trip there. He quickly took my photo, handed me back the camera and carried on snapping away on his camera.

As it was my first trip to Mount Etna I wanted to walk around. It was important to find “beauty spots” for future reference. Next time I come on the tour I’ll simply head straight to the area and wait for the guests to pass. In a way it’s like you’re waiting for potential victims to pass before you pounce and get their photo!! 

While walking around I took some time to take stock shots, not necessarily for Image but for me; the blog, Flickr.com, Facebook, parents and friends. Standing on a small wall I had a good view of the volcano and little tourist resort below. 

Turning around to jump off, the American guy was straddling the wall. He was taking photos again, but this time I knew for certain he was taking photos of me. The several times that I’d bumped into him, I thought he’d been taking photos of the scenery. Instead he’d been taking a series of photos of me. I don’t know whether my face gave it away but he said as if it was the most normal thing to say “hey, give me your email address and I’ll send you the photos”. Smiling, I walked off without anything to say… and that doesn’t happen often! What do you say?

Later on, I was standing in the coffee shop door way keeping out of the cold wind (ok, so maybe I wasn’t so hard core after all!) when I saw the guy talking to a woman. She was nearly in tears and he was pretty much on his knees, pleading with the lady “I was only talking to the girl”. My stomach twisted and flipped. Were they talking about me or was I getting the wrong end of the stick? Putting two and two together and getting five? I hoped so!

Getting back on the bus we had an hour’s drive to our next destination Taormina. The town reminded me a lot like Mijas but on a bigger, more historical scale. The town was incredibly picturesque. The tour guide gave us free time and immediately everyone ran off in different directions. I walked around spotting people with the tour sticker and started taking a few pictures. 

Walking down further I came to a large square with something to see on each corner! On two sides were stunning churches, one more modern than the other. On the opposite side of the square was the coast line. In one corner the sea and flat coast line. The other was the sea with a mountainous coast line. You could simply spin the guests around in a circle and get a four photos with fantastic backgrounds.

Back to the ship and it was already time embark and start the journey to our next port.

Tomorrow would be a sea day which means it’ll be formal night. The good news was that I had the rest of the evening off to relax and get some sleep. 

Walking into the photographer’s corridor the music was booming as usual. There’s always something going on in our little corridor. It’s what I love about the place!

Mount Etna - Sicily

Lava Rock

At Mount Etna

Volcano - Mount Etna, Sicily

View from Taormina

Taormina Square