I love my job - working on a cruise ship

For some time now, there are photos jumping out of my Facebook page from all different parts of the World - deserts, beaches, castles and mountains. In this past year, I have experienced so many beautiful places and cities, more than I ever believed I would see in my life.

I love my job, I love the people I work with - not always, but enough to never spoil the feeling of the world on a palm of a hand. Thats why I decided to share my story.. where else than on my blog.

Although a part of this story is always why I decided to look for a job outside my own country, I am leaving this part deliberately out. I think there are enough stories being told about young, smart and capable people that decided to look for a job elsewhere, so I feel there is no need to re-tell the story.

I must admit though right in the beginning that I had never worked on a job that did not, in its own special way, fulfill or make me happy. Maybe it`s just because I find joy in things many people find unimportant, so I never underestimate any job. Since I work on a cruise ship and daily watch hundreds of young people in a search for a better life, I value everybodys effort and work so much more.. even my own too. 

As I`ve already mentioned, I work on a cruise ship of a german company AIDA on a position of a Scout, a part of a Shore Excursions team. If you ever googled for the cruise ship jobs, most openings are on positions such as a waiter, chef, galley or housekeeping, because these are obviously the most needed. The position I applied for a year and a half ago was the first time ever offered in Croatia, therefore that made me also the first Scout from Croatia sent to AIDA.

My position, I still claim, is the best job I can imagine at this very moment. But than again, it`s me.. and my wishes and dreams don`t have to be equal to everybody elses. As a Scout, I learn a lot about the destinations we sail to, I present them to the guests, I sell excursions, which are a part of the AIDA program on board.. and the probably most exciting - I accompany the guests on their excursions, controlling the quality of it. So here we come back to all those castles, parks, mountains and beaches from the beginning of the story.
My job is to get to know all the sides of each destinations, know where things may go wrong and try to fix those, but at the same time, trying to find the most exciting, beautiful sides of each city, mountain or a square. In that way I can share my genuine excitement about the places with the guests while they choose their excursions for certain ports.

NP Caldera de Taburiente - La Palma, Canary Islands

A food market in the center of  Praia, Cap Verde, Africa

Caipirinha on the beach with my colleagues, Tarrafal, Cap Verde, Africa

Through the beaches and volcanos with a buggy, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Hiking in the volcanos, La Palma, Canary Islands

Free time = go to the beach! Mindelo, Cap Verde, Africa

Still one of my favorite places visited - Sevilla, Spain

To leave you speechless - NP Canadas del Teide

Everything shines brighter in Russia.. Nevsky Prospekt and the sight of the "Blood church", St. Petersburg

In attack of the beasts - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

My and the Swedish granny in front of the traditional wooden houses 

I love my job. But yea, I`ve already mentioned that. I love to explore, learn and try out, I love to listen and I love to share everything I have gathered with the guests equally as eager for adventure and new discoveries as I am. I love to adjust the information to different kinds of people, because not everyone seeks the same things. I love to learn about people as much as about the places I am visiting. I have found my second home on the ship and I am excited for all the possibilities AIDA has opened for me. It is an awesome feeling when I know I will see so much of the world doing the job I love.

Many people ask me how come I don`t get tired of working on board, far away from home, my family and all the life stability that people seek for. I am not gonna fool anybody, live on board is not your everyday life. You get to learn and use hundreds of things and rules that simply don`t exist on any other workplace. But once you get a hang of it, your life on an ever-moving hotel also has its perks. And as for working each and every day, with no days or weekends off, on which most people are used to, I can answer only with this famous quote, much appropriate in this case.


When you find a job you love, you will never work a day of your life.

So far so good.

My Paris - Cheese

I am continuing with yet another part of my Paris experience, with which I am also taking you to a bithday celebration of a French friend of mine. She, among other things, was the reason for my visit to France. A bit more about the French cheese-obsession coming soon!

We all know a phrase that French love their cheese. But the reasons "why" they do - I never fully understood.

I got especially amused by their serious anxiety when they come on holidays and on the menu of the Croatian hotel restaurant, they find 4-5 types of cheese like Gauda, ​​Emmentaler and gorgonzola cheese (showing our "exotic" nature).

Croats (apart from very few exceptions) have almost no habit of cheese tasting or eating it after the main meal as a dessert. For most Croats cheese is used to fill the sandwich with something other than sausage.. and to create that fine elastic part of the pizza.

Some put it in salads, cookies, or sprinkle it over the Bolognese sauce, but this is the pinnacle of cheese to use in everyday Croatian cuisine .. which explains the terrible poor range of delicious cheeses in our supermarkets.

Arriving the first larger French supermarket, I realized how it works over there. You know the Croatian section with chocolates and biscuits? Well, it is about the same size as a French department with gourmet cheeses.  And I honestly did not even notice a Gauda .. I am sure that it was out there somewhere, but probably deliberately hidden, because the goal is clearly to buy something else. Of all these choices of cheeses, it is good to act as if you were testing perfumes-do not try more than 3-4 types. I stayed at 4 types.

1. Camembert

Probably the most popular French cheese, which can be found in almost everyone's refrigerator. Affordable price, taking into account that it is not consumed in quantities which we pile it in sandwiches. Camembert is a soft cow's milk cheese that has a white outer rind (noble rot), and inside it is creamy and "molten", but not as squeeky under the teeth, as when you melt a classic cheese. This was my favorite, and I am especially happy when I noticed that it can be found in Konzum, and that it is also produced by a Croatian dairy company- Vindija.  

2. Selles-sur-Cher

Somewhat dry, goat cheese and a lot moldy with far more pronounced flavor, which got I served by my friend as a - cheese from her central region. The appearance of mold can be frightening because in this case it is actually blue-green-gray color, but the mold does not have any obnoxious, non-digestible taste, like most of us would think. In fact, this cheese is very tasty, partialy creamy, but not nearly as Camembert.

3. Crottin de chavignol






Probably the most famous dry goat cheese sold in small, cilinder shape (tall and narrow). This tiny cheese price exceeds the previous two, taking into account how much you get. But he was of such quality and taste that is more made for tasting than for something you would eat till you are full. The cheese I brought home .. and although we often get it and cut off a slice or two, it still has a more than half left. Its flavor really gives the impression of  the goat milk, it is crumby, and the only one without a mold crust, but its own dry crust.

4. Fromage à raclette

At my home we have our own raclette set and we often put it to use when we have guests coming over. But the difference between our and the French raclette is that we put our before mentioned Gaudi and Emmentaler, while the French use their special raclette cheese (now, wasnt that obvious?). It is something like a smoked cheese with a brownish-orange edible rind, which is already cut to size for raclette trays. And call me ignorant, but I personally did not find it any better than our usual melted cheese. I also learned they use a special fondue cheese to make fondue But I will continue, as ignorant as it may be, using regular cheese of my choice. And while we mention the raclette, why not show what we got served along with it. So, with raclette it is typical to serve boiled potatoes, meat snacks and a glass of wine . But of course, I also saw a new technique for baking the eggs, pouring in into the tray instead of cheese.

The only difference in my home is that, along with the cheese, on top of raclette we often put the mushrooms, zucchini, various vegetables to grill. And if we're just hungry, we grill some meat as well.
With this I will finish the second part of my gastronomic travel through France. In the next section-Eating out: restaurants and pastry shops. 

My Paris

„Greetings from Paris!“ 

Unfortunately, I was not able to do any writing while I was there, even though my initial idea was to inform you daily about all the things I am eating during my stay in this magical city. But well, I am back and it is time for the food photo diary.. of the food I for a change did not make, but one day.. who knows.
I gave an effort and photographer almost all the things I have been consuming, no matter how small and "not important" it seemed. This time, for a change, I didn't end up with many photos of myself next to touristic attractions. But therefore, I am left with a lot of photos of the great food tastes that have been passing through my palate in the 10 days of enjoying Paris.

I am gone!

 Yes, I havent been around for quite a while already.. And it doesnt mean I forgot about the blog and the cakes. It just means I havent made any for almost a month now.. And its not about diet or anything like that..
Its about getting back to the job I used to work as a student, far away from my home in Zagreb.. to be exact, in Orebić.. Pelješac.. near Korčula.. 11 hours from Zagreb.. Yup, there!


 So, I had these options:

1. Leave my blog for 6 months (along with baking) and get back to writing in the fall,or
2. Continue writing about whatever sweet and tasty I run into in the mean time.. but without recipes, because the hotel kitchen rests only in my dreams.. (i did take a peek in it though!)

 But well, this time I decided to share some photos straight from Orebić, from this old/new job of mine.. New, because I havent done it for 2 years already.. Old, because this is my 4th year of doing it.

Here are the photos.. and you take a wild guess! :) What is my summer job?

Taste/Test Room

To have a strong support from your friends in what you do is always beautiful, but to have creative and constructive support is actually a push towards making bigger, better things.. not giving up, fighting for what you really want..
I don't say that working without support is impossible, but.. having someone beside you who will nod their head when you do something well is actually pretty encouraging. So for that reason, I decided to organize a little taste/test room for those friends of mine who have been encouraging and supporting my "coming out of the closet" with this baking passion of mine.

The crowd I had gathered were 10 totally different creative and enthusiastic people, who were at the same time- my friends. In fact, I kind of had the feeling, when making the list of people that-
when I would manage to put all of them together in one room, there is nothing we wouldn't be able to do together.. And so it really was.  :)
Almost none of them knew each other from before, but they all clicked in an instant. We haven't yet started solving the issues like World peace, World hunger etc. but we did come to some innovative, creative ideas and thoughts.. :D

Still, lets not forget the thing that put them all together - cakes.. cupcakes.. sweets.. So, for this "taste room", I made 10 different types of cakes.. My mind and imagination were over the roof, I even dreamed about what i wanted to make, and how to make it.. And it turned out almost just as i imagined (with some last minute practical changes). The list of cakes I did will be posted whenever I get the photos from the event (because, yes.. one of those 10 creatives was a photographer.. how convenient!)
But to not let you completely in dark with how it looked like, here is a little hint..

Cupcakes were also the instrument of inventing different poses for photos.

 

And we finished the evening with a round of totally unequal game of Pictionary..(I should really scan and post the images of the winning team so you would understand what I am talking about )

All in all, I am really happy to know that this Taste room ended up being such a success, for both me and my friends. I cannot wait to repeat something like that, maybe for the celebration of my 1000th member on my Facebook group.. (ah, that modesty!). At the same time, I am totally excited waiting for the photos of our future photography master, Jazz.. and to share them here with you, of course..
Until than, sunny greetings from Zagreb!





Just in case you wish to know which one is me on the photos.. hint- purple cardigan! :)

No tools, no fun

I noticed you enjoy the posts in which I publish when I got through mail recently. In the first of those types of posts I introduced you to my hobby- penpalling.
The package I am going to share with you today arrived from the USA, from a girl who has been my penpal for some time now. She is also a cake lover, so she helped me get some of the tools for making and decorating cakes, some things that I wanted for a long time.
I don't even need to point out how out of this world it felt when I got a note from my postman to pick up the package at my post office. So, I picked it up, locked myself in my room and started opening and exploring all the amazing goodies inside.

My first and foremost interest was to get two things, which are:

• Cookie cutters  in different shapes and sizes, which are so impossible to find here (and even if you do find some, they are abnormally expensive)

• Decorating tips (which I have found in Zagreb, identical ones, but on a price 3x more expensive than these)

 And so, when I got that settled, I decided to let myself loose a bit and got a couple of other fun and useful things.. like these AmeriColor edible paints: Electric Purple, Gold and Black.

A pack of red, white, pink and yellow sprinkles..

Bags and couplers for the decorating with the tips..

And one of my personal favorites- Edible Pixie Dust - edible glitter for decorating!!

 Ok, ok, I admit it.. I also ordered something from Victoria's Secret, but those photos don't seem appropriate to be shared on this blog.. It is a secret in the end, isn't it?

Truthfully, I feel like a kid on a Christmas morning.. I cannot even stress enough of how much I am looking forward to putting some of these things into use. And, of course, you will be the first ones to see the results. :)
Till than..

Special package

Ufff, how i love receiving post..

One thing that not many people know about me, which I dont mention too often, is one of my hobbies. And no, this time I don't mean cookies. Everybody knows about that hobby by now.
Since I was 11, my hobby has been writing.. all forms and styles of it.. which obviously led me to my diploma in Journalism.. but also - to penpalling.

For all these years so far, my hobby has been penpalling. I have been exchanging letters with Croatian, but foreign people as well.. on Croatian, English, German, Italian, French.. all the languages I can speak fluently or not that much. Along with my letters, I love to add a little gift in the envelope too. But than, when comes the time for birthdays, we exchange big packages with actual birthday gifts.


The package I got today was not a birthday one (because there is still 2 months to go till my 26th (aaaaaaaaaa!!) birthday). This was a random goodie package that I got from a girl in UK, because she knows how much I love to bake.



Yaw-dropping would be the best expression for my reaction when I found this shoe-size box on my kitchen desk. And inside.. full of things for cupcakes.. So let me share what I found inside..

cupcake recipe booklet

measuring spoons

20 mini cupcake silicon molds

6 silicon heart shaped molds

a lot of various paper cupcake cases

2 packs of various sprinkles

4 tubes of glittery icing

Valentines Day, here I come!!



 This is like Christmas and birthday, all in one.. :) Today, not even a slap on my face could take a smile off of it.
I hope the generous sender will like what I just mailed to her address in return.. and will bring as much smiles on her face too.. :)