I told you all about the pictures that I shot for the Grand Princess Performers.
I was recently befriended by one of the performers, after he saw the pictures that I passed out to the rest of the cast. Przemyslaw (We call him "Przemek", which is pronounced "Shemeck") sat down with me at breakfast one morning, and thanked me for the pictures.
He told me that, when he had sent the pictures home to his mom in Poland, she was thrilled with what she saw. Przemek asked if I could take some more pictures for him, so we had an impromptu photo shoot, both in St. John's, and in West End, Bermuda.
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For the shoot in St. John's, Przemek and I went out on a scooter. We originally tried to rent a Jeep, but we hit a few snags along the way. The first of which was that we were still technically in the United States. As you probably know, the rental age in the US is 25 years, making me 2 years shy of being permitted to rent. Przemek began to fill out the paperwork for the rental (as he's 27), when the clerk asked him for a credit card. Which he didn't have.
So, now, we're back to square one. I'm not 25, and Przemek doesn't have a credit card. After trying at 9 different rental agencies, we about gave up....but not before finding a scooter rental store. (I know what you're thinking. I haven;t had the BEST record with personal vehicles!)
We zipped around to a few beaches along the coast, seeing places that we wouldn'tve seen via any other method of travel.
After we stopped at the first beach, we stayed out just long enough to take some photos, before heading on to the next beach. Przemek asked me if he could try to drive the scooter for a little bit. I thought against it, but then, I thought, "What could happen?"
ANSWER: Przemek could drive it like a jetski. That's what.
Having never before driven a scooter, he figured that it would be much like a bike. But I think that the 300lb deadweight of the scooter, plus our combined weight, threw off his calculations a little bit.
No, we didn't run into any cars or ditches...but he DID nearly run over an old lady and her less-than-impressed daughter.
I quickly withdrew my offer, and Przemek surrendered the controls back to someone with [one day] more experience.
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On Monday, Lori, Przemek, and I went out across West End in Bermuda to take some photos. The day was still planned for Przemek to get more photos to send home, but Lori and I managed to squeeze ourself into some great shots, as well.
On one particular occasion, I found a great rock to take pictures on, just off the beach. Giving my camera to Lori, I waded out into the water, unsure about how deep it really was. It was about knee level, nearly all the way out to the rock formation, but then it dropped off, right as I was reaching the rock.
Consequently, I got soaked all the way up to my chest (and mind you, I'm wearing white pants with blue swim trunks underneath). As soon as I went under, I frantically checked my pockets to see what was in them (I usually carry my phone in my pocket). Thankfully, my wallet was the only thing that got doused.
So, I figure...what the heck? Might as well get the photos I came for! Both Lori and Przemek could not stop laughing (or taking pictures, for that matter), and they continued laughing AND taking pictures up past the point that I'm back OUT of the water.
Finally satisfied with the results of our pictures for the day, we headed back to the port. There, we met Cameron (Lori's bf) who met us to hang out for a little while in the surrounding port area (hence the pictures of us on the swings in a playground).
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With only 2 weeks left in his contract, Przemek was glad to finally have some pictures to take home to remember the glamour of ship life. These pictures (along with the other mishaps), you'll be able to find below!