Charter madness

I’ve been a bit tardy on my blog entries because we have been on charter for the past 10 days….my first charter ever!! And man was it easy! Six Russian guests travelling Corsica, Sardinia and Cannes and lucky for me I picked the first late night and because we alternate Danny got all the drunken Jagermeister and Limoncello nights so I definitely had it good.

Erosion effects

A beautiful doorway in Corsica

We managed to have quite a bit of time off considering we had guest on board and Bonafacio, Corsica was our first stop. It’s a beautiful island that depends heavily on tourism for survival. It is a quaint, clean, fresh island home to some unexpectedly rough people so Im told – every second shop is a knife shop! You don’t want to mess with a Corsican…or call them French, even though it’s a French island and French is their native language (?). Anyway its particularly beautiful when entering the port because you can see the effect that thousands of years of erosion has had on the walls which gives the island its fresh, clean look.  The small bars, restaurants and shops on the ports doorstep are only the tip of the iceberg and if you venture up the winding path to the top of the hill you discover the real Corsica. Shops with all leather items, a beautiful greenhouse blooming  with flowers, rustic restaurants tucked away in street corners, a shop containing every kind of hat you could imagine and the best part once you reach the top are the breath-taking views. Its no wonder the island can survive on tourism alone; definitely a must-see!

Bonifacio harbour

After the guests got comfortable and enjoyed the island we headed off to Corsica’s neighbour, Sardinia. It’s a bit, for lack of a better word, weird to think that these islands so close together belong to completely different countries, Sardinia being Italian. It has a completely different feel to it; old world, rough and cosy. Porto Cervo, however beautiful and prestigious, for me, was just a glorified network of ridiculously expensive shops where credit cards go to be abused and it nearly caught me in its evil web with a pair of 270 euro Tiffany and Co’s sunglasses, and that was the discount price.  Porto Cervo was built by the Agar Kahn who is essentially a stateless king of Muslims and was paid in jewels from Muslims the world over. Needless to say he became extremely wealthy and decided to create his own resort. So Porto Cervo was born and is now a playground for the rich and famous. It is a very pretty place, don’t get me wrong and it reminds me a bit of a Smurf village, but unless you are out to do some star spotting or serious and I mean SERIOUS spending, I wouldn’t give it a must-see-before-you-die-rating. After a couple of nights there we started our trip to none other than St Tropez. Not the greatest trip I must say, the boat rolling and doing corkscrews in the waves while trying to serve tea and drinks is kind of a challenge but eventually we made it.

It was such a vaaib as soon as we entered, you could feel happiness bouncing off your skin. After a quick stop in Port we went back out to sea to a bay nearby where the guests enjoyed jet skiing, seabobbing, swimming and platform wars. I even managed to slip in a sneaky swim and the sea was gorgeously refreshing. A friends boat also pulled up alongside ours and they came to say hi on the seabob which was quite cool! Back in Port later that night I managed to get a bit of time off to see friends and take a walk around. Barbarac ice-cream was my first stop of course, try the cookies flavour if you ever go, delicious! While we were there we also managed to go into a great vintage shop called Blah Blah, Roberto Cavalli , just for laughs and continue my hunt for awesomely reasonably priced sunglasses…which was unsuccessful because we were in St. Tropez, duh!

Fireworks in Cannes

Alas our time there had to end and off we went to Cannes. A couple more days of jet skiing and swimming and an amazing and quite dramatic fireworks show and the guests were off. By the end of the trip it was a close contest about who had a better time, but I certainly enjoyed myself. So Im quite happy to say first charter done and dusted, next up is the boss and his family for 6 weeks of madness. I have been told to prepare myself so I am stocking up on plenty of chocolate and red bull. Bring it on!

The Bland Band

You know, I keep thinking that staying in Genoa will get boring but every weekend just gets better and this weekend was probably the apex…of my life. And it was all thanks to the Bland Band who are anything but!

The Bland Band -  Gustaf Jacobson,  Olle Hylén,  Anton Torstensson, Axel Öberg   

Going for a stroll, Bruce and I decided to stop for our usual at Purple Bar. “We’ll only go for two drinks” he said. “Yes”, I agreed, “two drinks ONLY”, because we all know what happens when you say “one drink only”. We both nodded very seriously. So after great conversation and our custom made cocktails we headed back home. We rounded the last corner when what do I hear? A cover of Mumford and Sons being played in the square, and I can’t resist Mumford and Sons so we stopped to listen. The next thing we hear is that the band can’t play anymore, the police were shutting them down and we had already decided that we wanted to hear more, so Bruce went over and invited them to play at La Goletta (our local jol). They were cool enough to say yes. So off we went with our new band, their cello in a pram, guitars, drums, a bango, alles! 2 drinks turned into 3, which turned into 20, we jammed to an awesome sound, drank,  chatted, laughed, drank some more and the next thing we know the sun is coming up and we had made friends for life. Axel, Anton, Olle and Gustaf are currently travelling around Europe in their camper van playing whenever and wherever they feel like, going where the wind takes them and taking one day at a time. We happened to be in the right place at the right time to be lucky enough to meet them!

Transportation for the cello

The next day was recovery day but later that evening we were ready for round 2. Bruce and I had already secured our positions as co-managers by booking them a second gig at La Goletta because we’re cool like that. This time the drinking preceded the playing and by 10 o clock things were getting exciting. They started to play, and I’m not exaggerating, literally had the entire restaurant’s attention. They blew their opening act out the water and even attracted customers from neighbouring restaurants and bars. They wowed the crowd so much so that a captain from a boat down the key actually paid them to go back to the yacht and play. We were now officially their entourage so of course we went with. So there we were, sipping free beer, on the back of a beautiful boat, listening to the greatest band in the world. Life was great. But, the sun eventually began to rise…again, so inconvenient! So we decided to all call it a night; or a day?

Portofino beach

Portofino was on the agenda for Sunday lunch so off we hopped on the ferry and no matter how many times I go there, it takes my breath away every time. After lunch at a restaurant on the harbour we took a stroll to the beach where we swam in the crystal clear blue water and lay on the beach. After a while Gustaf, Axel, Anton and Olle joined us and while I slept (like a granny after two nights of hard partying) they enjoyed each other’s company sunbathing and bombing into the water. Last to leave the beach, we stopped for cold beers and ice-cream and Gustaf took a shower in his boxers in the middle of the street in Porto Fino – we all laughed at him but he ended up being the clever one because the boys didn’t have any shower in their camper van.

The last supper

We took the train home, and had a final dinner of good old Italian pizza and rosso vino. The next day we said a final goodbye and I must admit, there was I did have something in my eye, it might have been a tear or something. After meeting these incredibly  genuine, humble, talented young men my faith in the world and its people has been restored. Even though it was a brief encounter, its one I will never forget and they are definitely memories to be treasured.  

The Bland Band are extremely talented live performers who definitely deserve a listen so do yourself a favour and check out their video’s on YouTube and like them on Facebook: facebook.com/theblandband. 

Viva Italia!!

Having lived in Italy for just over two months now, I have come to realise a few things about the Italian way of life.

First of all Italian sense of time is completely different to the standard sense of time. If an Italian tells you that they want to meet you for coffee at 19:30, they don’t, they actually want to meet at 20:00 because as they are walking down the street to wherever they need to go, they will see their uncles, brothers, wife’s cousin and stop to chat about the weather, their new shoes and how baby Riccardo is doing. So instead of arriving early and getting looks of pity from passers-by because they all assume you’ve been stood up, always plan for an extra half hour and save yourself the trouble.

Another one that can be summed up in one word: coffee. Coffee with breakfast, coffee before lunch, coffee after lunch, afternoon coffee, a Guiness with the football (which they call a long cappuccino…so basically a coffee) and a coffee with dessert of course! It is their life blood, their holy to their grail, the bread to their butter, their i to their Phone. So if you ever want to make an Italian happy, learn how to make a killer espresso and serve it hot enough to burn their tongue and they will be calling you amore before it hits their stomach.

This next one ties in with my first observation but has to be said separately nonetheless. There will be arms waving around in the air of at least five people, yelling, pointing, rude gestures and heated debates when there is a problem to solve, whether it be how to rid the country of poverty or simply which coffee machine does the best job. Italians love to argue and complain about EVERYTHING, and they like to knock people out with their ‘waving of the handsa’* in the process. In this culture a good argument must always precede any action. That is why (and this is where the time thing comes into play), any task takes ten times longer to accomplish than in the rest of the world. Do not try to rush it, you’ll only get yourself in a tizz, rather sit down, let the hand waving rage on and have a coffee.

Enjoying an apperativo in Piazza Ferarri with Seh bear! 

There are things, however, that Italians are particularly good at. The first thing that may come to your mind is food, pasta, pizza, gelato! Correct! I know because I am an expert on the matter having fed myself with these things to the point of near overdose. Luckily it didn’t go that far so I still can (and do) have a gelato every day. Other than that: apperativo’s – small snacks that are ALWAYS served with your drink at any point up until about 8 o clock. Best invention ever and should be spread around the world immediately if not sooner. In the afternoon, you’re hungry, but In the afternoon, you’re hungry, but you are also thirsty and need to relax after a hard days work, you meet your friend for a beer and BOOM you get food and drink at the same time, at no extra cost! No wonder Italians are so happy!!

This next one is for the girls. I am quite a fan of all things girlie and hence have quite a bit of experience and knowledge when it comes to hair, nails and all things Venus. So I must say that Italians know their shit! Best hair dressing salon experience I’ve had was at Mods hair, a company originally founded in Paris with branches all around the world, but I swear Genoa has the best one! The manager comes around to each individual to discuss cut and colour in depth with you so that they know exactly what you want. When getting your hair washed the chairs actually massage you and there are little chocolates in the counter you can munch on when getting a cut! Your colouring (if you choose to do any), goes into their database so they know exactly what to use when doing touch-ups. It was seriously a heavenly experience. My waxer and facialist also knows exactly what she’s doing and is not afraid to get all up in there during a Brazilian if you know what I mean!

But the most wonderful thing about Italians has to be their friendly nature. They are always interested and willing to help any stranger they meet. Even when they cant speak your language they will talk anyway and do anything they can to make sure what you are trying to communicate, is understood.

Every country has its pro’s and cons but what with the delicious food, passionate people and old world charm, Italy is definitely a winner.

*To be said with an Italian accent