michael

We had made it back safe and sound, but we still had a lot to do! The first order of business was to take Ribeye to PetSmart on Tuesday, July 29th for a bath! He needed one before we left and the long journey home the day before didn’t help. A short while later, he was soft and smelly good! We spent most of the next couple days just getting the apartment in order, unpacking, stocking the fridge and panty, etc. On Wednesday, July 30, we went to pick up the rental van early in the morning. Paul drove the Magnum and I drove the van down to Staunton for the weekend. We decided to make a stop in Indiana on Thursday to see Grandma. It was quite a drive, so we were going to spend the night at a family friend’s (Judy & Howard) house nearby. I had planned on spending most of the afternoon visiting Grandma, but when we saw her in the nursing home, our plans changed. The last time we saw her was about 6 months earlier, for Christmas. She was up, moving around, joking, and, for the most part, was the same Grandma. But, this time, I didn’t even recognize her. In fact, I looked around the room for her and almost left when Paul said that’s her. She had lost a ton of weight and was curled up under a blanket in an oversized chair. She was sleeping. I woke her up to tell her we were here. She didn’t really seem to recognize us and just went back to sleep. It was almost as if she was heavily drugged - she couldn’t hold her head up long enough to say more than a few word to us. Her dinner came and she barely ate anything. I cried during most of the visit. This is not how she would have wanted to live. It was so heartbreaking to see such a lively, bright spirit become so dull. I think it was at that moment that I changed my prayers to ask God to just let her go peacefully… and soon. We only stayed for about a half hour, although I’m sure she couldn’t tell a difference. We headed back to Judy and Howard’s place and went to bed early. For just 30 minutes, it took a lot out of me. The next morning, we packed up and finished the drive to Staunton. We arrived before lunch on Thursday, July 31st and the Schuette clan was excited to see us pull in the driveway. Before we left, we had decided to leave Tabi in the apartment and take Ribeye with us. So, this was the first time any of them had met Ribeye in person. It was so fun for him to get to meet everyone and, of course, he was thrilled to see everyone - especially his puppy-cousin, Macy! On Friday, Paul and LeRoy went to pick up the U-Haul and we started the packing. Before we had left for Germany, we stored a lot of our stuff in Julie & Stan’s basement (thanks again!) and this was the big trip back to pick everything up. We had rented a larger U-Haul this time, because it was a tight fit 2 years ago on the way down. It took us most of the day and night on Friday, but we got everything in the U-Haul and van - with room to spare. The next day, Saturday (8/2), was our going away party. All of my family drove down to attend and we were so happy to have everyone in one place again. We spent most of the day Saturday swimming at Kim’s place. All of the kids were there and it was so much fun. Meanwhile, the Schuette clan was busy slaving away trying to get ready for the party (which was at Julie & Stan’s place) that evening. We left Kim’s house in time to go back and get showered for the party. We showed up, did just a few things to help get everything ready and then the guest started showing up. Everything went so well and it was so nice to see everyone again. Our 2 best friends from high school were there too! We tried to talk to everyone and get caught up on stories, addresses, etc. We even met a new cousin (Sawyer) for the first time! It was a great time and we really appreciated Julie, Stan, LeRoy, and Patty doing all of the work to get everything done. Since almost everyone has kids now, the party ended around 10pm or 11pm. So, we didn’t even get to bed too late that night! That was good, because we had a 9+ hour drive in front of us the next day to go back to Michigan.

On Sunday, August 3, we headed back home with the U-haul in tow. We had brought walkie talkies with us for the trip, so that made the fact that Paul and I had to drive separately much easier to take. We talked most of the way home, listened to music, etc. We couldn’t go very fast since Paul was hauling the trailer. I think it ended up taking us over 10 hours to get home - after rest stops, meal stops, etc. It was an incredibly long drive. Then, when we got there, we unloaded the U-haul and van because they both had to be returned the next day! We had a late night that night and I was tired the next day, Monday (8/4) - which was my first day back to work.

I went in to work on my first day and not much had changed. I got a lot of “Are you back?” comments all day long - in fact, I’m still getting them (6 weeks later). I got my computer, phone, badge, and most necessities up and running, which is impressive. I still had the same job, so it was nice knowing what I’d be doing, no new boss, etc. I think that was the only thing that hadn’t changed in the past month. My week at work was fairly uneventful. Paul’s on the other hand was just getting started. He had a couple interviews after we returned. He had received an offer to teach 1st and 2nd grade at a gifted school, which he turned down (thought it might be a bit much for a first-year teacher at a gifted school). He also received an offer at an international school to teach 3-5 grade science. This seemed like the dream job, until he met the principal. Let’s just say Paul didn’t get a good feeling from it (which is really saying something, knowing Paul). He turned that one down and had one final interview for a 5th grade science teacher in Birmingham, the ritziest district in the area. But, he didn’t get that job (rumor is they hired someone with more experience). So, he applied to be a substitute teacher. Ironically, this was our original plan, but it’s nice to know he’s subbing because of his choice… not because it was his only option. He submitted his application in early September and it takes 2 weeks to process. So, we’re hoping he’ll start getting some calls next week. That’s the job update.

I guess I’m getting a little ahead of myself. About a week after we gotten back from Staunton, my mom and dad called and said Grandma had passed away. I was so glad that Paul and I had gone to see her the week before. It was so painful at the time, but made her death so much easier to take. My mom and dad were actually there when it happened - nothing short of a miracle in itself - so she was surrounded by family and friends when she left this Earth. She would have been 92 this December and I couldn’t think of a better way to go. It was obvious that she and her soul were ready - I was happy for her. Paul and I made the drive back down to Indiana the weekend of 9th and 10th of August for her funeral. On the way down, the rear tires were vibrating pretty badly. We pulled over to a Sears store (right before they closed!) and bought two new rear tires. Looks like the Magnum didn’t like towing the trailer the weekend before. During this visit, we got to see all of my extended family and even Paul’s parents drove over for the viewing. It’s times like this when we’re so thankful to have so much family around us. I was glad that we had made it home in time for the funeral and that we could be there for my dad, as he coped with the loss of his mom. Paul was also a pallbearer at the funeral. It was a beautiful service and I think Grandma would have loved it. The next day we went over to my Uncle LaVerl’s and Aunt Judy’s log cabin home for a visit and then went out to dinner together. Ribeye loved running in the woods and was pooped out by the time we got home that night. We headed home on Monday and were glad that we got to spend the extra day with Mom and Dad.

Shortly after the funeral, we found out that my sister, Tricia, was getting remarried - in 6 weeks! We talked almost daily about the wedding plans and they continued to change during the entire process. But, it was so much fun to be a part of the planning and she kept me in the loop on everything - I loved it! I love weddings! More later on how the actual event turned out. That same week, our air shipment arrived. So, we had a computer again! We hooked up the computer in the apartment and unloaded all of the clothes there too. It was nice to have some variety in our wardrobes again. The painting supplies also came in the air shipment. We were planning to repaint the master bedroom before the sea container arrived, so we put the painting supplies on the air shipment. The air shipment took about 4 weeks to get to us, though, which only left us about a week before the sea shipment. That weekend, we had the Seppala family over to the apartment complex to go swimming. It was great to see their kids again and get caught up with them. It’s hard to believe that they moved back a year ago! The kids loved the pool and we went out to dinner together afterwards. It was a really nice time.

That next week, we found out that our sea shipment was arriving on Monday, August 25. So, I took off of work on Thursday and painted the master bedroom (Paul had prepped it the day before!), cleaned the carpets, etc. There was a ton of work to do, but I think we got everything done before the movers showed up. That week and weekend flew by because we were busy at work (or interviewing, in Paul’s case) and then working on the house, too. Next thing we knew, the movers were at our door with a big sea container early Monday morning. They unloaded the entire truck on Monday. Most of Tuesday and Wednesday were spent unpacking everything, installing stuff, etc. We told them we would do the basement because they shelves had to be assembled, we wanted to buy totes for the stuff, etc. I had taken the entire week off of work to help with the move, so we spent the rest of the week and the entire weekend getting the basement and garage organized. For those keeping track, it’s the end of August by now and our 7th anniversary was on the 25th - the first day the movers were there. We worked all day on the house with the movers and then got cleaned up and went to Lelli’s for dinner. Yummy! Oh, how we have missed that place! That was about the only celebration in the plans, though, because the house had a ton of work to be done before we moved in. We worked really hard that entire week and through the long Labor Day weekend. Believe it or not, by the time we checked out of the apartment and into the house on Sunday, August 31st (less than one week after the container arrived) everything had been unpacked, the basement was organized, the garage had room to fit one car in, and we could actually LIVE in the house!

We moved out of the apartment late Sunday night. We still continued to work on the house, but it was great to have Ribeye and Tabi there with us. Tabi definitely remember the place! She didn’t hide under the bed at all and went straight to her favorite spot in the big window sill! She seemed really happy and was purring non-stop. It was so nice to see her so comfortable and relaxed. And, she’s even gone outside once or twice! I’m sure Ribeye just thinks it’s another hotel. That poor dog has traveled so much with us (hotel in Germany, apartment in Auburn Hills, Staunton for the party, Indiana for the funeral, and now here). I’m pretty sure he thinks we’re just homeless. But, he seemed to like it and we loved playing with him for the first time in the back yard. He could run around without a leash, play fetch, play in the grass, play, play, play. He had a great time! Paul and I continued to work on the house throughout the weekend and are still working on it. The basement is completely done now (Paul organized all his tools) and the garage is also done with newly built shelves in the rafters. Paul also did a lot of work to get new winter wheels and tires and new summer tires for the Mustang. We also enrolled Ribeye in obedience classes at PetSmart. He goes every Tuesday night for one hour for 8 weeks. He’s currently in the beginner class and is the star of the class because he never barks and basically knows all the commands already (probably should have been in the intermediate class). But, he really enjoys getting all of the treats and attention. Everyone at PetSmart loves him and the class trainer is really good. It’s been fun!

Last weekend, we made the trip over to Milwaukee for Trish and Gregg’s wedding. We decided to board Ribeye this time, since we knew we’d be busy with wedding stuff the whole weekend. I took Friday off of work and we drove over to Mom & Dad’s place Friday morning. We got there by mid-afternoon and got to spend the rest of the day with them and LaVerl and Judy (who also came up for the wedding). Kim, Zack, and Sarah also came in later that night after dinner. We all got up early the next morning and headed up to Milwaukee for the wedding. Of course, Hurricane Ike had been tormenting Houston, Texas for the past day or so and we had caught a lot of rain carried up in the jet stream. Jeff & MaryAnn’s basement flooded and they almost didn’t make it to the wedding because the interstate was flooded too! It rained the entire way up there. This was really bad news because Trish and Gregg were getting married OUTSIDE in a beautiful park that overlooked Lake Michigan. But, we were just hoping it wouldn’t rain between 3pm and 5pm! We got there in time to get ready for the wedding when I realized that we had left some of our clothes for the wedding back at Mom & Dad’s place!!! Paul and I made a dash for Kohl’s which was right next door, to buy the rest of our outfits. We came back, got ready, helped Trish finish getting ready, and finally made it out the door! Believe it or not, the rain was letting up and it was just barely sprinkling by the time we were all piling in the big vans Trish and Gregg had rented to take everyone to the site. By the time we got to the park the rain had quit all together! It didn’t rain at all for the pictures before the ceremony, during the ceremony, or for the pictures after! Can you believe it?!? It turned our really beautiful and we got some really great pictures. After the wedding, just the family headed to the German restaurant and we had this quaint room on the lower floor all to ourselves. It was great. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was authentic (trust us - we’d know!). A couple musicians (bass and accordion) even came down and played a few songs, so Trish & Gregg got to have their first dance. After dinner, they cut and served the cake (really nice 2-tiered white fondant with a chocolate ribbon cascading down the tiers and fall colored flowers). Then, we made a trip to the little German gift shop next to the restaurant and picked up a Christmas advent calendar (I’ve always wanted one!). We made a run back to the hotel to drop off those turning in early and to change clothes before we headed back to the bar. Just before we left, we got one more big announcement - I’m going to be an aunt, again! Jeff and MaryAnn have their 4th child (yes, fourth) due this March and just made the announcement last weekend. We’re so excited for them and wish them a smooth and safe pregnancy! After our stop at the hotel, we headed back to the more traditional reception with all of Trish & Gregg’s friends at a small tavern across the street from the restaurant. We had a couple snacks and cookies (as if we were hungry!) and talked to Mom and Dad for a while. Paul had a beer or two and then it was time for us to turn in. Trish and Gregg were still partying it up until 2 or so the next morning! I think they had a great time. Believe it or not, they were both up (bright eyed and bushy tailed) the next morning to take the family out to breakfast. We had breakfast at another family-owned place and then headed home in the afternoon. Luckily, our basement was dry when we got home and we didn’t see any damage from the extensive rainfall over the weekend.

I think that brings me up to date. Hard to believe we’ve had so much going on in the past 6 weeks. Besides the big move, Paul’s gone through a job roller coaster, we’ve had a wedding, a funeral, and a baby announcement! And I thought things would settle down when we moved back! This weekend we plan on working some more on the house. We cleaned up the yard last night - did some major weeding, trimming trees, cutting grass, etc. We still have some work to do, but it looks a lot better. Tomorrow, they’re having an employee appreciation day at the Detroit Science Center for all Chrysler employees. So, Paul and I are going to go there and catch an I-MAX movie or two! Should be fun. If anything else eventful happens, I’ll let you know. Until then, take care!

      

Our first Friday back from vacation, we met up with Jamie and Roland. Jamie gave us a complementary course on repatriation (since Chrysler didn’t offer anything like this). It was really great and gave us a few things to expect and think about when we moved back. We also had dinner there afterwards. It was a nice evening and one of the last times we got to see them before we moved. They were going to be on vacation during our going-away party, but we met up with them one more time a couple days later to give them some stuff (DVDs we couldn’t use, hammer drill that only ran on German voltage, etc.). That was the last time we saw them. It was really starting to hit home that we would be moving in the next couple of weeks! It was sad to say goodbye.

The next Monday, July 14, Paul and I finally took a tour of the Sindelfingen manufacturing plant - where I had been working for the past 2 years! I always worked in the engineering / tech center side, but the complex also included the manufacturing plant where they build all of the C-, S-, and E-classes… and the Maybach. So, we got a tour of the plant. It was pretty interesting, but not unlike many other plant tours I had been on. I think Paul really got a kick out of it because he doesn’t see them as often as I do. Anyway, I had wanted to take the tour since we arrived and, a week before we leave, we finally squeezed it in! The rest of the week was full of pick-up appointments. We had sold most of our German-specific household goods and everyone was coming to the house to pick everything up. Paul took care of most of it and we delivered the rest to our friends at the going away party on Thursday night. We had about 15-20 people crammed into this tiny side room at zur Funzel - a great German restaurant in Sindelfingen, and the first place we ever ate at in Germany (my first boss, Michael Bauer, and Leo took us there during our look-see trip). So, it seemed fitting to have our going away party there. It was so nice to see everyone again. We got a few nice going away gifts too - money, games, cards, and my old C412 group gave us ümlaut T-shirts (that’s a different story!). It was a great time and everyone was mixing and mingling. My friends were talking with my old C412 colleagues, who were talking to my USUV colleagues, who were talking with my friends! It was great and several people said afterwards how much fun they had. We didn’t end up leaving until 11pm that night - and I had to work the next day!

That weekend, Paul went to the Mercedes museum with Rodney, a summer intern at Mercedes (I work with his Dad at Chrysler). Paul had wanted to go to the museum during his entire stay, but had never gotten there. So, he and Rodney went and Paul hit his top speed ever on the autobahn. Sure, Rodney was driving, but no one can knock 161 mph - with the convertible top down! He said it was a great “last run” on the German autobahn. On Sunday (7/20), we met Kylene and some other people from Paul’s work at the Stadt Cafe in Holzgerlingen for brunch. It was great to see them one last time and we ended up staying there for a couple hours. Many of them were also moving back to the States soon so we had a lot of common getting-ready-to-move stories. As soon as we left there, we headed back to the apartment and started packing. It took us all afternoon and most of the night, but we finally got everyone (Paul, me, Tabi, and Ribeye) moved into the hotel. We were staying at the Marriot in Sindelfingen and it was very nice. The room was quite big, by European standards, and we had enough room for Ribeye and his kennel and still had a little room to walk around. They also had a GREAT steak place right in the restaurant. Can you guess what our first meal there was? Our flight was scheduled to leave on Monday the 28th, so we would be in the hotel for just over a week.

The next day, Monday, July 21st started my last week at Sindelfingen. This is also the first day that the movers came. I did work all week, but my boss let me be pretty flexible with the hours since the movers were there. I usually went home for a long lunch in the afternoons. We watched them pack almost everything up that first day. The second day, Tuesday, they just packed up the basement and a few things left in the main living area. On Wednesday, they loaded everything up into the truck and we done! It’s always stressful, but it seemed to go by pretty quick. I was pretty busy at work, too, because my chief engineer landed for some meetings on Wednesday. So, I was busy preparing for his meetings and trying to get the move done, etc. I also had one last lunch with Nadine (my language teacher) on Wednesday. We also started the fun process of having everyone come pick up the items we had sold - or delivering them ourselves. This occupied most of Paul’s time over the next couple of days, but we got rid of everything and made some decent money! Thursday, July 24, we had our final exit inspection with the landlord. Everything was fine with the apartment and we received our entire deposit back. This was also the day of the big negotiations at my office (which is why my chief engineer flew in). So, it was nice to have all of that behind us when we went out to dinner with Kiki (the secretary from my old C412 department) and her husband. We went to a great Tai place in Stuttgart and sat outside under this grass-like awning. It was really good food and nice to try someplace new. Friday, July 25, was my last day at work. My department threw me a “Verabschiedung” (going away party) and gave me a model car of the X164 (the current version of the car we were working on). It was signed by my whole team and is now sitting on my desk at work. That night, we had dinner with Jody and Greg at their apartment. Jody had made everything from scratch and there was enough food to feed an army! We played games before and after dinner. They got us the game “Turns and Taxis” as a going away present. We can’t wait to play it - maybe with them again when they return next year!

That weekend was our last weekend in Germany (at least for a while). We didn’t have anything big planned. We went to Böblingen Mineraltherma (the spa near our house) one last time on Sunday. We went to a nearby biergarten for lunch, took Ribeye for walks in the woods, and just did some of our favorite things. Paul had made a trip around to take pictures of all of the things that we found different and interesting when we first arrived: the recycling center, the cart returns, the parking meters and signs, etc. We were sad to go, but ready to start the journey. The airline that we were flying, Lufthansa, had gone on strike earlier in the week. But, the strike only affected short-run domestic flights. Now, there was rumor that international flights would be affected starting Monday (the day we were supposed to fly out). I had looked at flying other airlines, but many wouldn’t take Ribeye because it was too hot (did I mention it was also unseasonably warm?). So, we were stuck with Lufthansa and just taking our chances that our flight wouldn’t be cancelled. I called 3-4 times a day the entire weekend to check on the flight status and until we actually got on the plane I was never reassure the flight wouldn’t be cancelled. But, on Monday, July 28th, we started the trip back to the States.

We started out Monday by going to get a rental car and returning my company car. We got a station wagon (I had requested a van and just hoped it was big enough to haul everything!) and I went to return my corporate leased A-class. Then, Paul picked me up in the rental wagon and we headed back to the hotel to start loading everything up. Instead of taking the train to Frankfurt, we decided to drive straight there and avoid the unloading, unpacking, repacking, reloading nightmare. We stopped to grab a bite of lunch on the road and made it to Frankfurt about 3 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave. At that time, it was still on schedule. It took us a couple trips, but we got all of the bags and animals unloaded and I waited with them while Paul went to return the car. He made it back in record time (the rental place was right across the street) and we got checked in. We said goodbye to Ribeye (very difficult) and took Tabi on board with us. We were really worried about Ribeye. It was really warm for him to have to wait 2+ hours before the plane took off. He had food and water, but just tiny little bowls that clipped on his crate. The plane ride was going to be at least 8 hours, so he would have to be in his crate for 10 hours (the longest ever), in the heat, with very little food and water. Of course, the cargo area where he would be kept is temperature and pressure controlled. So, once the plane was underway, I think he would be fine. I just was really worried about the waiting time before and after takeoff. Paul, Tabi, and I boarded the plane. I asked the stewardess before we left that I wanted to ensure Ribeye was onboard before the plane left the ground. The ground crew just happened to be checking in with her at the same time. He said, “Oh, you have the bulldog?” He proceeded to tell me that he secured him down himself, put a blanket under his kennel (so he wouldn’t get cold), and made sure there was nothing around his kennel so he would get plenty of air circulation. I was so relieved to talk him myself and hear everything was okay. It was still a long, nerve-wracking trip, but I felt a little better. The plane left on time and the only effect of the strike that we noticed was the lack of meal preparation. Normally you have really nice plates, silverware, linens, hot meals, etc. in business class. But, because of the strike, the meal preparation crew wasn’t there, so the food was warmed in the microwave and some of the side dishes were still frozen. But, I didn’t complain - I was just glad we were on a plane! We made it home and landed on time. It took us a little while to get through customs with 2 animals, but we had all of our paperwork and didn’t have any problems. We were so surprised when we picked up Ribeye and he had not gone potty in his kennel! He had held it for over 10 hours and counting…!!!! We immediately took him outside and he went potty before the long ride home. Tabi was a trooper too! We had tried to get her to use a make-shift litter box on the plane, but she didn’t. So, she was holding it 10+ hours too! She held it all the way to the apartment, where we set up the litter box again and she finally went. They were both such good little animals!!! Mike (a close friend) had come to pick us up in our Magnum. We had hoped that everything would fit in one trip (which we were pretty sure it would since the Magnum was about the same size as the rental car). It did and we all made it to the apartment safe and sound! We would be living in a furnished apartment (Beacon Hills) in Auburn Hills until our sea container arrived with all of our furniture. Since we got in so late, the apartment complex had left a key under the mat for us. We got the key, found the apartment, and started unloading. The apartment was really nice - 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, full dining and living room, fully furnished kitchen. It was so nice for Tabs and Ribs to have room to run and play. I started unpacking and Paul made his first (of many) run to Meijer to get some necessities (a real little box for Tabi, for starters). It was early the next morning before we went to bed. I didn’t have to work at all that week, so we both slept in the next day. We had all made it back to the States safe and sound! I’ll post more about our first days back in the next blog. Until then, take care!

My mom and dad were able to squeeze in one more visit before we move back to the US. They arrived on Wednesday, June 18 and left 3 weeks later on Wednesday, July 9. Between the cruise and their arrival, we were able to get together with all of our friends (probably one of the last times!) for a brunch on Sunday, June 8. This was also the first time we met Cat and Michael’s new baby, Jessica. She was only a few weeks old and this was her first public outing! We stopped by a few days later for a little one-on-one time (read: snuggle time) with her. We also had a short, impromptu visit from my college roommate, Ana. Ana and Steve, her boyfriend, live in Zurich and we’ve visited them a time or two in the past. But, they have never made it up to see our place. Steve had some unexpected work complications pop up, but Ana made a day trip up on the train to see us on Sunday, June 15. We didn’t do much of anything beside just talk and eat… and talk. It was fun to get caught up with her one more time before we leave. She also got to meet Ribeye. Then, a couple days later, Mom and Dad arrived.

Wednesday, June 18

Their flight arrived on time around 9am on Wednesday morning. We didn’t do much of anything that day. They took a nap and Paul and I packed for the upcoming trip. We had planned to spend 2 nights in Brussels, 2 nights in Amsterdam, and then one night back at our place before we flew for our 11-day trip to Scandinavia. We knew we had a busy time ahead, so most of the days at Holzgerlingen were just spent “lounging.” We did plan out most of the trip and found out that we were only about 10 minutes away from Bastogne (where the Battle of the Bulge was fought) during our drive to Brussels. We thought we’d have to add that detour in the next day!

Thursday, June 19

Ribeye had so much fun seeing the tulips in Holland that he wanted to go back to that area again. So, he made the BeNeLux (Belgium… Netherlands… Luxembourg) trip with us. We wanted to get an early start that day so we could have lunch in Luxembourg and then get to the Battle of the Bulge museum before they closed. Even with loading the luggage and Ribeye and everyone into the car, we still got a pretty early start. Ribeye was jammed into the car and his kennel was almost completely surrounded with bags, blankets, pillows, etc. We did have a little fan set up for him though, and he didn’t pant hardly at all during the entire trip. He seemed to be pretty comfortable - it just didn’t look like it when you opened the trunk! Anyway, about an hour into the trip, I realized that I had forgotten my Rick Steve’s book! Since our entire itinerary included walks and tours through his book, we decided to turn around and go back and get it. I was SOOO mad! So much for our early start! Since we had to make the unplanned 2-hour detour back to Holzgerlingen to get the book, we completely skipped the Luxembourg stop (although we still drove through it - does that count?) and got to Bastogne about an hour after the museum had already closed. But, Bastogne did have an outdoor monument on the field where the battle was actually fought. So, that was cool. We looked around there for a while (until it started to rain) and then finished our drive to Brussels in time to check-in to the hotel and go to bed. Well, Dad and Paul had time to go out and have a beer in a bar, and then come back and go to bed. They went to A la Becasse, which, when we all stopped in there next day to see the decor, reminded me of an old hunting lodge. They tried their home brewed lambic doux, served in clay jars since 1825. They said the clay mugs were cool, but the beer reminded them of bitter apple cider. One (or two?) beer later they headed back to the room to go to bed. The hotel room was actually quite roomy (we shared a room with Mom & Dad) and there was even room for Ribs.

Friday, June 20

We spent the whole day in Brussels, mostly just wandering around the town. We spent most of our time on the Grand Place square. We had a Belgian waffle there and sampled the 3 or 4 chocolate shops right on the square. There were chocolate shops everything through Brussels - you’d almost think they invented Belgium Chocolate, or something! There was also a small flower market in the center of the square, which really made the whole place a bit brighter. We walked through the Galeries Royales St. Huber, which is Europe’s oldest still-operating shopping mall (built in 1847). It was covered completely in-glass, making it basically indoors. They didn’t have any of the standard chain stores, just old fashioned stores that sold hats, canes, shoes, umbrellas, etc. It was neat. We walked by the impressive Bourse (stock exchange) building. Since it was quite large and between our hotel and the Grand Square, this building served as our landmark more than once. From there we continued our walk towards the famous Manneken-Pis statue. We passed a few lace stores and stuck our heads in one. They amount of detail in some pieces of lace work was really amazing! They had complete sweaters and shirts, tablecloths and napkins, even pins and locket-inserts all made out of lace. It was pretty neat. Finally, the walk ended at the Manneken-Pis. This is a tiny “water feature” (under 2 feet tall) of a little boy peeing. It was made in 1619 to provide drinking water for the neighborhood and is an appropriate low-key symbol for the unpretentious Bruxelloise. Sometimes, it is dressed in one of 700 different costumes (even Elvis Pissley) - but he was just wearing his birthday suit when we saw him. The legend of the day (there are many) is that the tyke loved his beer, which came in handy when a fire that threatened to burn down the wooden city: He bravely put it out.

From there, we headed uphill to the “Upper Town” where we stopped in the Musical Instruments Museum. We didn’t go into the museum, but just headed straight up to the top of the building (where they have their cafe) to get a nice look at the town below. Then, we headed to the Place Royale (a government building) to start another self-guided walking tour. We walked from the Place Royale to the Parc de Bruxelles, a big public park, complete with many statues and a big water fountain in the middle (it was modeled after the Versailles gardens - but it wasn’t as good as Versailles, in my opinion). After so much walking, we took a break in the park for a while and then headed back to the Place Royale via the Royal Palace (King Albert II’s office - his head’s on the Belgium Euro coin, by the way). From there we wandered onto the Place du Petit Sablon via the Notre-Dame du Sablon Church (a mini version of the Notre Dame - just looked at the outside). The Place du Petit Sablon is a small park in the middle of the city with 10 large statues representing the hometown thinkers of the 16th century - including Gerardus Mercator, the Belgian mapmaker who devised a way to show the spherical Earth on a flat surface (hence the term, the Mercator map). We continued our walk to the Palace of Justice, which looked like a big Greek building, complete with a dome on top taller than St. Peter’s Basillica’s dome in Rome. The dome, which was covered in scaffolding, is said to be somewhat shaky. The view from the Palace was really impressive. Rick Steves gave us a little 360 degree tour of the town from up there. It was here when we read you could almost see Waterloo (where the Battle of Waterloo was fought) about 10 miles in the distance. We thought we might make a stop here on the way to Amsterdam the next day. More on that later. We continued our walk down to the Place du Grand Sablon featuring more cafes, restaurants, and, of course, chocolate stores. I had the best piece at the Chocolatier Wittamer store - a chocolate shaped heart covered in a hard raspberry shell. Yummy!! Then, we finished our tour at the Tour d’Angle, a rare surviving section of the 13th-century wall that once surrounded Brussels. We headed back to the main town and picked out a place for dinner. We ate at this great place - Chez Leon - which was a mussel factory. I had the best mussels of my life there. They were so incredibly fresh, it was amazing. Paul, Dad, and I all ate the mussels and agreed they were some of the best ever. Mom (not a big mussel fan) had an over-cooked chicken breast - sorry, Mom. Then, we headed back to the hotel, feeling good about seeing all Brussels had to offer!

Saturday, June 21

We got up early and checked out of the hotel. We had asked the guy behind the reception desk the day before if there was anything interesting at Waterloo. But, he said he didn’t think there were any museums or anything. So, we debated this morning whether to stop by there or not. It didn’t take very long for us to decide that driving 10 miles out of our way was worth it just to see what was there. So, Amsterdam took a back-seat for a minute as we made our way to Waterloo. Luckily, we had Tom Tom (our nav system) with us and he had a ‘point of interest’ in Waterloo that looked like it could be a museum. So, we headed there. We parked the car just outside of the museum (so much for the reception guy’s knowledge of Waterloo) and were getting ready to go inside when we saw a few guys dressed us as English soldiers. They were standing by this old van (picture VW hippy van). We were debating whether to try to talk to them - guessing they spoke only Dutch. But, when we said hello we heard the familiar British accent in response. They had traveled all the way from England to be part of a reenactment that was going on there that night. We were disappointed that we wouldn’t be around to see the official reenactment (Amsterdam calls!), but they said we could walk up to the camp area where everyone was staying and see what was going on there. On the way there, we passed by the museum (which wasn’t opened yet) and headed to the campsite with Ribs in tow. We arrived there early enough to avoid the entrance fee (which we discovered on our way out). So, we wandered around to where all of these old-fashioned tents were pitched. At first, we weren’t sure if we could go in or not. People were still getting ready, fixing breakfast, and starting their chores for the day. But, we saw a few obvious tourists walking around and decided it was okay to head in. It was really neat. Everyone inside was dressed in period clothing and using period tools to start their day. There was one woman there who showed us how the women would help during the war. They weren’t only responsible for cooking and cleaning, but they also served as medical aides and usually were in charge of taking care of mangled limbs. They would severe the limbs, cauterize them, stitch them up, and make sure it didn’t get infected. This, in many cases, saved the lives of the soldiers, who might have otherwise died of infection. The woman “demonstrated” the techniques on Paul with her big long knife - luckily, she stopped short of actually cutting off his arm! It was very interesting and many of the people traveled great distances to take part in this re-enactment and others around the area. We watched them train on horses, practice marching, and I even saw a father showing his two sons how to march and participate. It’s easy to see how this can become a family tradition. After a few hours, we decided to make our way to Amsterdam. But, wow, what a great unexpected stop!

We made it to Amsterdam and checked into our hotel. The location was really nice and, thankfully, it was on a quieter road than the one in Brussels. Our room was pretty small, especially with Ribeye’s kennel taking up most of the free space. We headed out to see the city and started with a tour of the famous red-light district. The entire city was amazing. That night Holland played the Russian team in the European Cup (which was nearing the finals). Everyone was dressed in bright orange (Holland’s color), had their face painted, and was yelling and shouting in preparation for the big game (they ended up losing, though). We ate dinner in this really nice area near our hotel. These few streets (near Leidseplein square) were probably my favorite of anything we saw in Amsterdam. There were all types of restaurants from all over the world: Chinese, Dutch, American, Uraguaian, Mexican, German, Italian, and on and on - all on the same street! It was so cool! We had our first Argentinean beef steak. Amazing! It was cooked to perfection and one of the tenderest steaks I’ve ever had. After dinner, we headed to the red-light district and followed one of Rick Steves’ self-guided tours. It was late enough that the district was starting to come alive (many of the girls had already started their “shift”), but early enough to still be safe. In fact, I never feel endangered at all. The entire city has a “live-and-let-live” attitude that really gives you a (maybe false?) sense of security. Basically the red-light district was just a bunch of ladies hanging out in doorways in their bra/panties. You wouldn’t see much more revealed than if you were just at a beach. One funny part was that there girls with different “quality” ratings… they nicer the girls, the better the spot they had on the drag. The less attractive girls usually had places in the back or off the main drag (one spot was right across from a church!) and, supposedly, charged less. Even prostitutes have a social hierarchy! We also saw lots of places where they sold drugs, including marijuana and mind-bending mushrooms - all legal. It was really interesting and they did a good job of explaining the drugs, its effect, how it should be taken, how much to take, and any possible side effects. Everything was in English and the price and effects were all clearly listed. I thought it was actually a pretty responsible way to handle it - much better than buying it under a coat from a stranger on the street. They also have quality ratings that they have to meet and certain requirements on how to store and sell the drugs (they have to be licensed). It was all much more regulated and up-front than I had expected. After our walk, we headed back to the hotel and went to bed. We had just a taste of what a great city Amsterdam is and were looking forward to our next full day tomorrow.

Sunday, June 22

We started off the next day with breakfast in the hotel. All the hotels we stayed in at BeNeLux offered a small “European” breakfast. The hotel in Amsterdam (Hotel Hestia) also had a small black cat (named George, I think) that would accompany you at breakfast and beg for some scraps (but, no people food for George!). After breakfast, we started Rick Staves’ self-guided Amsterdam City Walk. We had actually seen parts of it the night before, but it was nice to walk the city from top to bottom in one morning. We took the tram to the train station and started our walk there. We were amazed at the enormous bicycle parking lots! They were just jammed with bikes - which were everywhere in Holland. Bikes really make sense there because parking is always a pain and the area is relatively flat. Many people have bikes instead of cars and the bike parking lot at the train station was proof of that! Then, we walked down one of the main shopping streets and past their stock exchange building. We headed towards some of the sights we had seen the night before. That afternoon we went to see the Anne Frank House. That was really neat. It was the actual house that Anne and her family hid in during the Nazi invasion in WWII. The house did not have any furnishings in it. All of those were confiscated by the Nazi’s when they discovered the hideaway and Anne’s father requested it be left that way when the museum was established. Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was the sole survivor of the 8 inhabitants of the annex. He is the one that decided to allow Anne’s diary to be published and had a big hand in creating and managing the museum. It was full of excerpts from Anne’s diary and really gave you a good idea of how the annex was built into the family’s existing business. Truly a fascinating and sad story. One of my favorite parts of the museum was the modern twist at the very end. After you had left the house, they had built on a modern section and it allowed the visitors to see certain situations and vote on them. They would give you a situation and then pose a question asking when freedom should be given a priority over law. Everyone would then push a button to “vote” and the answers would be posted right away - showing both the answers from the people in the room at that moment, and the answers that have accumulated over time. It was really interesting and very hard to choose an answer in some cases. It really made you think and brought up some of the issues that were shown in the museum to real-life current situations. Very well done and I would recommend this museum to anyone. After a few hours in the museum, we walked through the Jordaan district. This is the working class district and even Rembrandt lived here during his less successful periods (because the rent was cheap). It was full of character and just a neat way to see how the everyday folks live. Finally, we made our way to this adorable Italian/French place right on a canal for dinner. The interior was all painted with frescos and served GREAT food. I had ordered a large water and they brought it out in a big carafe. I poured a big glass and took a swig. UGH!! That’s when I realized I had just chugged a big gulp of Dad and Paul’s white wine! I poured the rest of my glass back into the carafe and waited for my water to come. Everyone thought that was pretty funny. We finished our nice dinner and great dessert and headed home to go to bed. What a nice time in Amsterdam!

Monday, June 23

The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Holzgerlingen. We had tried to find a place for Dad to do some stein shopping, but struck out and headed right back to the apartment. We ate out for dinner that night and were looking forward to a relaxing day at home the next day.

Tuesday, June 24

Didn’t do too much on this day. We did get all the laundry done, which was no easy feat! Paul also spent most of the morning distributing the animals. He dropped Tabi off at the kennel and then took Ribeye to the farm. This was the last time that the animals would have to go to the kennel in Germany. We read books, took a nap, sat out on the balcony, and just relaxed. The next day we were flying to Scandinavia and beginning another adventure!

Wednesday, June 25

Our flight left at 11:45am this morning, so we got to the airport around 10:30am. We had a direct flight to Copenhagen and arrived there a little before 2pm. I had planned to go to the National Museum that afternoon, but that didn’t happen. I realized when we got there that mom and dad had brought very little cash with them. They were planning on using a credit card for most of their purchases. I reminded them that we had quite a few cash-only accommodations on this trip and they should probably pull out some Danish Kroners while we were at the airport. This is when Dad discovered he didn’t have one piece of plastic with a pin associated with it. He didn’t bring the bank card, just got a new credit card, the other credit card didn’t have a pin option, etc. So, this began our afternoon/evening long pursuit of cash for him. To make a very long story short, he ended up having some money wired to him - enough for the whole trip - and then just exchanged the money in each country as we went. It ended up working out okay, but we lost a lot of time. We did end up doing a short city tour that evening, which gave us a nice overview of the city. We went back to our hotel and hit the sack. The hotel was really nice, by the way. We rented a couple rooms and shared a bathroom in the hall. The rooms were really big and opened, decorated in all white. I had a really hard time finding any hotels for less than what equated to ~$200/room/night in Copenhagen. It was so expensive. So, we really lucked out when we found this place for only $126/room/night. It was a short tram or underground railway ride from everything, but those tickets were cheap. We were glad we saved some money and still ended up in a really nice place.

Thursday, June 26

This was our big trip to Aero island. Denmark is basically made up of islands and Copenhagen is on the east side of Denmark. Aero island was a bit further west, so it took us quite a few hours to make our way back to this remote island. We started out early in the morning and took the tram to the train station. We left most of our bags there in the station and just took an overnight bag along. We took a train to Nyborg (a big transportation hub in Denmark) for about an hour, caught a bus to Svendborg (great way to see the country side) for another hour, and then had an hour ferry ride to Aeroskobing - the little city on Aero island where we would spend the night. The trip there was flawless and we made all of our connections. I was a little worried about this part of the trip, but I had purchased everything the night before (had plenty of time to kill in the train station waiting for Dad’s wire to come through) and we had the timing down perfect. When we arrived on the island, it was just beautiful! It really was a little ship-in-a-bottle town. There was very little road traffic and it looked like what I think Maine or the east coast harbor towns would look like (although I’ve never been there). We went straight to our hotel to drop off our bag. This hotel was one of our “splurges” for the trip. It was a small bed and breakfast ran by a couple that really loved to entertain. Each room they had was decorated and named for a place they had lived. Paul and I stayed in the Hong Kong room, painted red and filled with genuine Hong Kong furniture and antiques. Mom and Dad stayed in the London room - very white, bright, and airy. There was a third room on our floor (Amsterdam) and all 3 rooms shared a bathroom on that floor. Lucky for us, the 3rd room was empty so we had our pick of rooms and the bathroom to ourselves. There was also a garden room (Copenhagen - of course!), separate from the house with its own bathroom. Anyway, the B&B was great and I was glad I made the splurge decision. We had lunch at a smoked fish place right on the water. I had some of the best smoked salmon ever (the Hamburg Fischmarkt that comes to Stuttgart gave it a run for its money). We took the short tour down the one main street and around the side streets. It was such a quaint town! We also looked at the ship in a bottle museum. I’ve never seen so many ships in bottles before! It was pretty cool for such a small town. Then, Dad, Paul, and I decided to rent bicycles and ride around the island. This took us most of the afternoon and we all realized how long it had been since we had biked! But, the views were beautiful and we covered most of the top half of the island. It was a really nice ride and was capped off by a quick stop at a windmill near the edge of our town. By the time we finally made it back to the hotel, we grabbed a bite for dinner and went for a Beach Bungalow walk at sunset. It was getting pretty late by the time we finished our sunset walk. We were getting pretty far north and it wasn’t fully dark until around 11pm! I couldn’t imagine what it would be like when we went even further north! The little beach bungalows were one room houses (more like sheds) that just held a small table and a couple chairs. Most had a little balcony or front porch that faced the water. I think they were used by the owners as mostly as a place to change into swimwear, get out of the sun, have a picnic, etc. There were no appliances or bed or anything, but they were still very cute and all painted a different bright color. They looked great against the sun setting into the water. We had had a very full day and were completely tired by the time we made it back to the hotel and went to bed!

Friday, June 27

The next day it was a little rainy. Were we ever glad that we had a full day yesterday! We borrowed a couple umbrellas from our gracious hosts at the B&B and walked a little bit more around town. One quick note about the breakfast at our B&B, YUMMY! They had this egg dish that was cooked in a little cup with chives, oil, etc. It was really good. Anyway, we headed out on the town and tried to go to the bowling alley at the end of town, but it was closed. So, we found a little restaurant and ate an early lunch and just hung out there, reading our books, while we waited for our ferry to arrive to take us back to Copenhagen. Dad and Paul spotted some jellyfish “schools” (to jellyfish swim in schools too?). There were jellyfish everywhere! They were in all sizes and I saw some of the biggest ones I had ever seen. We stopped by the hotel and returned our umbrellas. The rain had died down and we headed to the dock. Finally, our ferry arrived - about an hour late! - and we boarded for the hour ride back to Svendborg. Luckily, most of these trains and ferries feed each other, so we didn’t miss any of our connections. We took a train for about a half hour to Odense and switched trains there to take the hour and a half ride back to Copenhagen. When we got back to Copenhagen, we had a couple hours before our night train to Stockholm left. So, we walked for quite a while to this cute little area and had dinner out on the street at an Italian place. We headed back to the train station, got all of our luggage out of the lockers, repacked a bit, and caught our night train to Stockholm. This was our first time with our own cabin on a night train. Paul and I had our own 2 beds and bathroom in one cabin and Mom & Dad had their own in a cabin down the hall. It was so much better than the couchettes!!! No one disturbed us all night, we could actually lie all the way down, and it was great! Granted the tiny bathroom barely counted… the shower just had a curtain that covered most of the bathroom, including the sink! But, it was still nice to have your own, clean, toilet for the entire night. Traveling on the couchettes was just gross and I don’t plan to do it again. Paul even took a shower (with the sink) the next morning. As for the rest of us, we waited to get to the hotel to freshen up.

Saturday, June 28

We arrived in Stockholm around 7am. We went to the hotel to drop off our bags. I didn’t have a map of Stockholm yet and it was early on the weekend, so most places weren’t open yet. I finally got a decent map from one of the subway attendants and was able to plot out a path to our hotel. But, one of the streets turned into a big staircase - all uphill of course. It was a bit of a pain to drag all of our bags up, but we made it! When we checked in, our room wasn’t ready yet. But, we just dropped off our bags and headed for the tourist information center to buy our Stockholm Card. We walked there and waited a few minutes for them to open. We purchased our cards, which included all transportation, and a free tour around canals of Stockholm. We headed directly for the boats and caught the 10:30am Royal Canal boat tour. The tour took us through the Djurgården canal, by the Djurgården park - a big park not far from the city centre, by the old town and Tivoli (a big amusement park), past the Royal Palace, the Skansen open air museum, and the Vasa museum. The boat had headphones for each passenger and you could pick your language (that means no waiting for 15 other languages to finish until yours comes around the loop again!). They also had a map of the path. It was really nice and a great overview of all of the sights that we would end up seeing later. After the boat tour, we started our museum tours.

We saw the Nordic, Vasa, and Skansen museums. The Nordic museum was a cultural history museum. We each rented a set of headphones and listened to little taped messages throughout our visit. They had exhibitions on the home, clothes and fashion (and shoes!), customs and traditions seen in the daily life in Sweden throughout the ages. Some of my favorite things were the cut-away view of the housing (especially the roof) they lived in, all of the crazy shoes and boots, and the masks in the gift shop. I ended up buying a paper mask of the Queen of Hearts (”Off with her head!” lady from Alice in Wonderland) that will make a great Halloween costume! We also had a really nice lunch in that museum.

Then, we headed to the Vasa museum - built to house the Vasa warship, the only remaining, intact 17th century ship in the world. The entire museum revolved around this ship, which sunk on its maiden voyage, and the time period in which it sailed. A bit of history about the Vasa… During the 1620s Sweden was at war with Poland. In 1625 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus ordered new warships -among them the Vasa. On August 10, 1628 the ship was ready for its maiden voyage. The beaches around Stockholm were filled with spectators, among them foreign diplomats since the maiden voyage was to be an act of propaganda for the ambitious king. But only after a few minutes of sailing the ship began to heel over. She righted herself slightly - and heeled over again. Water started to gush in through the open gun ports. And, to everyone’s horror and disbelief, the glorious and
mighty warship suddenly sank! Of the 150 people on board, 30-50 died in the disaster. When Vasa had been salvaged in 1961, archaeologists found the remains of 25 skeletons, some of which have been reassembled and are on display in the museum. It was an interesting museum, but I found the best part to be that the Swedes had turned a Titanic-like ship into Scandinavia’s most visited museum and one of the foremost tourist sights in the world - who looks dumb now?

After we closed down the Vasa museum, we headed to the Skansen open air museum. My itinerary said the museum didn’t close until 10pm. But, when we arrived, we found out that most of the people who work in the buildings as informative tour guides of the building and times usually leave by 5pm. It was 6pm now. But, admission was already included in out Stockholm Pass, so we decided to go in. Although most of the period buildings were locked up, they also had a zoo there. The animals were quite active and we got to see a mama bear and her 2 cubs (along with a brave fox, who was just in there for fun) playing and climbing. Also, we walked through the lemurs cage and saw them all huddled together on the railing. On our way out, we noticed that there were 2 or 3 little baby lemurs buried in the huddle. So cute! We also got to see a baby moose. There were not very many people there and the animals seemed to be putting on a show just for us. We were so glad we went in! On our way out, we grabbed a quick bite from a nearby hotdog stand and caught the bus back to our hotel. What a great and busy day!

Sunday, June 29

The next morning we went to see the Royal Palace. We got in on the very last minute of our 24-hour Stockholm Card - did we ever get our money’s worth out of that card?! The Palace was okay, but we had seen better. Mom and I went to scope out how we were going to get to the cruise ship later that afternoon, while Dad and Paul decided to check out the armory. The highlight of that visit was the really old stagecoaches. When they had finished with the armory, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags, and then took the bus to the cruise dock. We were getting ready to take an overnight cruise to Helsinki for the day and then take an overnight cruise the next night (on the same ship) to get back to Stockholm. One advantage of this was that we were able to leave all of our stuff on the boat while we went sightseeing in Helsinki. So, we got there in plenty of time, checked in, had a little cake and a drink, and then boarded the cruise ship. The room on the ship was tiny! We had 4 flip down beds, 2 on each side (bunk beds). If we wouldn’t have had so much luggage, it might have been better. But, as it was, Mom & Dad crammed their luggage behind the door. Paul’s bag went in the shower (only when not in use!) and mine stayed at the foot of my bed! Very cozy quarters, indeed! But, we rotated our shower schedules in the morning (Paul and I would leave while Mom & Dad got ready and visa versa), so that made it bearable. We didn’t spend much time in our room anyway. We found a table by the window and camped out there for the entire night. Who wouldn’t? The views were absolutely amazing! We watched as Stockholm broke away into islands. They were getting less and less populated as we went out, but the islands themselves were really nice - dotted with red little houses here and there. It was so beautiful to see Sweden literally break away into the sea. Our first dinner on the boat was in true Scandinavian style - smorgasbord! It was a very neat dining experience with anything you could possibly imagine. Paul tried caviar and I had a large helping of chocolate mousse! It was nice to try all the different foods and then head back for seconds on your favorites. Needless to say, we all overate that night! We stayed up for a little while longer and watched the islands go by. It was so disorientating because it was still daylight out!!! We took a picture that night at 11:00pm with the sun setting behind me! It was crazy! We just couldn’t get over that throughout the entire trip. Finally, we decided it was time to go to bed. We all crammed ourselves into the room and slept well!

Monday, June 30

We arrived in Helsinki at around 10:00am this morning. We started out by taking a bus orientation tour for about an hour and a half. The highlights of the tour were the Church in the Rock and the Sibelius Monument. Quarried out of the natural bedrock, the Church in the Rock (Temppeliaukio Church) has all interior walls created naturally by the rock. Due to its excellent acoustics the church is a popular venue for concerts and there was a pianist playing a BEAUTIFUL full-sized grand Steinway piano when we were there. It was amazing. I think I spent more time looking at the piano than the church, though. The Sibelius Monument was built in honor the world famous composer Jean Sibelius (we had never heard of him). It resembles a bunch of organ pipes, and is made of welded steel with the bust of the composer on one side. At 28 ft high, 34.5 ft wide, and 21 ft deep, it’s built of over 600 pipes and weighs 24 tons. After that quick stop, we headed back to downtown Helsinki and did our own self-guided walking tour. This took us through a couple of the more popular churches in Helsinki. We went through the Cathedral right downtown, which reminded me of the Salzburg cathedral - very simple and uniform. We also saw the Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral right before they closed. This was a very typical Catholic Cathedral - lots of ornamentation. There were so many things to look at, that you weren’t sure where to look first. But, with its golden cupolas and redbrick facade, the church definitely showed some of the Russian impact on Finnish history. We walked through the neat flea market on our way back to the ship. They had all kinds of furs, jewelry, food, etc. there. It was a nice way to end the day. Although our stay in Helsinki was short, I think we saw most of the highlights. I would have liked to have seen the Suomenlinna Fortress, which surrounded the city. We saw the fortress walls on our way in on the ship, but didn’t have time to go back out to the water’s edge to visit the fortress itself. We got back on the boat, turned around, and settled in for another night cruise to return us to Stockholm. This time, we decided to save ourselves from another gorging section and skipped the smorgasbord. We ate at a really nice steak place on the ship - even though we didn’t make reservations 4 hours in advance (seemed like everything was booked even though lots of tables were empty - luckily, this place had a cancellation). After another night of good food and great views, we turned in.

Tuesday, July 1

This day was mostly a travel day. Our cruise ship arrived in Stockholm around 10:00am. We took a bus to the train station where we dropped off our luggage (gotta love those lockers!). I also picked up all of our pre-purchased tickets for the Norway in a Nutshell trip the next day. We did a quick self-guided tour of the old town of Stockholm. Even though we had seen most of the sights by now, it was still nice to hear some of the history behind them. In the afternoon, we took the train to Oslo. This was one of the few non-night transportation options that we had. The train was very comfortable and the 6.5 hour train ride went by pretty quickly. We got to Oslo in time to get checked into our hotel (pretty close to our tram stop) and go to bed. This room was also a pretty big room, although it had 4 single beds. But, by this time in the trip, we were just happy to have some room to spread out! We went to bed as soon as we could because we had a big travel day tomorrow, one of the highlights of the trip - the trip west to see the Norwegian Fjords!

Wednesday, July 2

We got up really early this morning to start our all day travel trip to the west side of Norway to see the fjords. Most of the day was traveling and it was mostly about the journey, not the destination. Well, considering our end destination was Oslo, right were we started, it was most definitely about the journey! We were going to do a one-day, round-trip sightseeing trip using just about every means of transportation possible. The trip is called “Norway in a Nutshell” and I had bought the deal as a package (the only package I purchased for the entire trip!). We took the 6:35am train from Oslo to Myrdal. In Myrdal, you take a little “touristy” train down into the valley to Flam. Then, we’d start the highlight of the trip, the 2 hour boat cruise through the Sognefjord - Norway’s deepest and longest fjord. The end of the cruise took us through the Naeroyfjord - the narrowest part of the Sognefjord - to Gudvangen. We took a bus from Gudvangen to Voss, and from there a train back to Oslo to arrive at 10:32pm. As you can see, it was going to be a busy day!

The train ride from Oslo to Myrdal was uneventful. It was scenic, but nothing different than we had been seeing throughout our Scandinavian travels. But, that became a different story as we came closer to Myrdal. The train made one stop and everyone got off the train to stretch a bit. There was a beautiful glacier and lake where we got our picture. It was very beautiful. When we changed trains, we tried to get a good seat on this little cog-like train that was going to take us to Flam. There was a big rigmarole about who could sit where. Supposedly some cars were reserved for tour groups, but they weren’t labeled and no one knew that. They tried to move everyone after we had already found our seats (by the window), but no one would move. It was just a big mess. But, we managed to keep our good seats and didn’t get into a fist fight with anyone. We made one stop on the way to the boat and everyone on the train got out to take pictures of the enormous waterfall. The views were just great. We picked the right side, because we could see out to all of the beautiful, green land with water everywhere. The other side of the train could basically just see the side of the mountain. By the time the train arrived in Flam, where we would catch the boat cruise through the fjord, we were running about 30 minutes behind. The train conductor came on the intercom and told everyone not to worry because the boat would wait for our train to arrive before leaving. But, he asked that we hurry on to the boat and told us which boat was ours (there were 3 or 4 lined up). So, we all rushed off the train and fought the crowd to find and get on the right boat. Mom and I pulled ahead (looking for the best seats again), but we thought Dad and Paul were right behind us. So, Mom and I got on the boat. We didn’t have to show our tickets, which was good since Dad and Paul had all of the tickets. But, we figured they would check them once the boat got underway. So, Mom and I found a good seat on the top deck along the railing and waited for the guys to find us. Pretty soon, the boat started pulling away from the dock and we still hadn’t seen them. I walked across the top deck to look at the dock and saw Dad and Paul standing on the dock!!! I yelled, “Paul!!” He threw his hands up and said, “Well, you ran off!” I looked at Mom and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders. I had to think fast! I ran down to the boat captain and, quick, whipped up some hysterics. I explained that my husband *sob, sob* and father missed the boat and that they said the boat would wait for the train and it didn’t and, oh by the way, they have our tickets and, and, and…. The boat captain was super nice and was really concerned about the distraught wife in front of him. He tried his best to settle me down and yelled up to the other captain. Pretty soon the boat slowly started turning back towards the dock. They were turning around! Meanwhile, Dad and Paul were still at the other end of the talking to an employee there and working out a plan B (I can just hear Dad saying, now where does the boat go, how can we get there, etc.). The employee noticed the boat slowing down and turning and she said, “What’s he doing? I think he’s turning around.” So, Dad and Paul started running towards the other end of the dock to meet the boat. Back on the boat, I couldn’t see them at all. The captain was lowering the walkway and said, “Now, if they’re not here, we can’t wait.” I said, “Oh, they’ll be here.” I yelled for Paul again at the top of my lungs right about when the gangway hit the dock. Then, I saw them running and was jumping up and down and telling the captain - there they are! They ran on and caught the boat!!! It was then that we heard their side of the story. They couldn’t see that we had gotten on the boat. So, they asked the employee they were talking to if anyone could board the boat without tickets. She said no way. So, they assumed we hadn’t made it on the boat. I’m guessing we slipped in behind one of the tour groups, or something. Anyway, they couldn’t be sure that we were on the boat and they had our tickets. So, they didn’t board. Anyway, they made it on the boat and the whole upper deck cheered when they came on and took their great seats beside Mom and me. Finally, the boat trip was underway. The first half of the trip was nice, but no more beautiful than the train ride down. But, the second half, through the narrow section of the fjord, was absolutely breathtaking! It was crazy to see how narrow the fjord was (only 850ft at its narrowest), but yet so deep (over 1,600 ft at the deepest!) at the same time. The surrounding mountains are almost 4600 ft tall, so that makes everything seem even more extreme. It was absolutely one of the highlights of the trip and I’m so glad we could all see it together! Since we were running behind on time, the bus ride back skipped its planned stop and we still caught the train back home to arrive around 10:30pm. It was a very long day, but well worth it.

Thursday, July 3

The next morning we started our Museum Day! We went to 4 museums in one day. We started off with the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums, which were on a little peninsula of their own. The Fram was a museum built in honor of one ship (the Fram) which took modern-day Vikings Amundsen and Nansen deep into the Arctic and Antarctic, farther north and south than any ship had before. For three years, the Fram was part of an Arctic ice drift. Next door is a museum housing the Kon-Tiki and Ra II, the boats built by Thor Heyerdahl. He sailed the Kon-Tiki 4,000 miles and the Ra II for 3,000 miles to prove that early south Americans could have sailed to Polynesia and Africans could have populated Barbados. Then, we headed back across the Oslofjord and went to see the Viking Ship museum. This housed 3 great ninth-century Viking ships, surrounded by artifacts from their days of rape, pillage, and plunder. The Oseberg ship was the largest boat, from 834 AD, while the Gokstad dates from 950 AD. In 1892, a replica of the Gokstad sailed from Norway to America in 44 days to counter the 400th anniversary of Columbus NOT discovering America. Finally, we ended up at the Norwegian Folk Museum. This time we got there before everyone had left for the day. We spoke to half a dozen employees and really learned a lot about that time period, the buildings, and even some modern-day thinking. Brought from all corners of Norway, 150 buildings have been reassembled on these 35 acres. It started in 1882 (a bit before the Stockholm Folk Museum) as the king’s private collection. Highlights included the inside of the church (with ancient graffiti) and hearing a couple women play handmade instruments. Plus, we got to eat fresh made bread (think pita bread) hot from the fire “oven.” Yummy! We really enjoyed talking to the people. We had dinner at TGI Fridays (I know, I know - very Norwegian) and were debating what to do with the rest of our evening. Since it didn’t get dark until very late, we felt that we had a lot of “daylight” left - even though we were pretty beat. But, there will be no rest on this vacation! So, we hopped on the tram and headed out to Frogner Park. This was amazing and definitely a must see when you go to Oslo. Although it’s a bit outside of town, it’s filled with beautiful statues by Gustav Vigeland. In 1921, he made a deal with the city. In return for a great studio and state support, he’d spend his creative life beautifying Oslo with this sculpture garden. From 1924 to 1943 he worked on-site, sculpting 192 bronze and granite statues - 600 figures, each nude and unique. My favorites were the baby statues (all different facial expressions and actions), the statues around the fountain showing all stages of life in tree-groups, the maze around the statue (which I traced the entire thing!!), and the monolith showing 121 figures carved out of a single block of stone. It was very relaxing and we’re so glad we got to see it. We went home happy and exhausted!

Friday, July 4

Happy 4th of July! No fireworks for us, though. We were busy making the most of our last day in Oslo. We started off the morning at the City Hall. We took a guided tour in English. We were the only ones there for the tour, so it was just us and the tour guide. She told us all about the murals that covered the walls of the City Hall, what they meant, how they were painted, etc. It was very interesting and we could have spent hours just looking at the enormous floor-to-ceiling murals. But, the highlight of the visit was the private (somewhat prohibited, I think) trip to the top of City Hall. The tour guide let us in the elevator with her badge and took us all the way to the roof. We got an AMAZING view of the city and harbor. It was wonderful. Then, we were off to the Norwegian Resistance Museum to get in there just before our 24-hour Oslo Pass ran out! This was probably the most boring part of the trip - as expected. Dad and Paul spent HOURS reading and looking at all of the WWII stuff. In the beginning, it was interesting, but after an hour or so, I was museumed-out. The museum was particularly poignant because many patriots featured were executed by the Germans right outside the front door. After lunch on the grounds, we took the tour of the rest of the Akershus Fortress Complex. I thought the tour was really interesting - I really liked the prison tour. It was also neat because it’s still a military base. We saw the castle, war memorials, and lots of cannon-strewn ramparts. It ended at the Resistance Museum, which we had already thoroughly covered. So, we headed down to the docks to catch our night cruise to Copenhagen.

When we boarded the boat, we found out it was a lot nicer than the one to Helsinki and back. Our room was just as tiny, but they had outdoor seating and a couple hot tubs. We didn’t do the smorgasbord, so we didn’t make reservations. When it was dinner time, just about every place on the boat was booked and it was looking like we’d have to do the burger/hot dog place. But, then the steak place said they could squeeze us in. We ate dinner and everything was fine, but we noticed that the place was never more than half full. I have to admit the service was pretty slow, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t booked. But, we thought it was odd that they almost didn’t seat us because they were “fully booked” when the place wasn’t even half full. Weird. The views were not as spectacular as the ones to Helsinki - mostly just open water. So, we went to bed and got ready for our last day in Scandinavia.

Saturday, July 5

Well, we woke up in Copenhagen and had come full circle. This was our last full day in Scandinavia. We spent most of our time at the Rosenborg Castle. We toured the castle grounds, including the treasury. I always enjoy the treasuries - what woman doesn’t like jewels, and BIG ONES at that! They had jeweled swords, and a big coronation crown (from 1596, seven pounds of gold and precious stones). The crown jewel collection featured a 19-carat diamond pendant cut in a 58-facet brilliant style. Wow! We also went through the rooms of the castle, but they were unimpressive. For lunch, we found a great, cheap pizza place about a 10-minute walk from the castle. We picked up a pizza and headed back to the castle gardens for lunch near a gazebo. It was really nice and a great way to relax and enjoy the gardens.

After having checked the castle off our list, we were wondering what to do next. We decided to go to Tivoli Gardens, the world’s grand old amusement park. Established in 1843, it’s 20 acres (doesn’t seem that big) and full of amusement rides, cotton candy stands, etc. We didn’t ride any rides, but spend most of the day watching the people and free shows. We watched the marching band parade back and forth (it’s a short march from one end of the park to the other). But, the highlight was seeing the pantomime theater where everything was still done by hand (set changes, curtain open/close, etc.). It was fun and the show was good, but I think it would be “skippable” on a quick trip through Copenhagen. It would take up too much time and money to get your money’s worth out of the ride pass, and without that there wasn’t much else to do. But, we did get our dose of people-watching and it was a nice relaxing way to finish up the trip.

Finally, we headed through the Christiania neighborhood before heading back to the hotel. In 1971, the original 700 Christianians established squatters’ rights in an abandoned military barracks just a 10-minute walk from the Danish parliament building. A generation later, this “free city” still stands - an ultra-human mishmash of idealists, hippies, potheads, non-materialists, and happy children. “Pusher Street” was the main drag and the only one we visited. It was a little taste of Amsterdam. It seemed dirty and rundown, but it was interesting to see a wall covered in graffiti next to the pristine playground. It seems like the inhabitants encourage artist expression, but also respect community areas (playgrounds, schools, etc.). Neat mix.

Sunday, July 6

We caught our flight early in the morning back to Stuttgart. We really enjoyed our stay in Scandinavia and felt like we got a good taste of the people and culture in that area. We arrived home in the morning and spent most of the day doing laundry, collecting the animals, etc. We ate dinner at La Primavera (the good Italian place next to the gas station). Our favorite Italian place (Sotto de Stella) closed down. But, we like La Primavera and we had a nice dinner.

Monday, July 7

We started off by going to the bakery. I think this is one of mom and dad’s favorite parts of their visit. We went to downtown Stuttgart in the afternoon and took Dad to see the enormous toy store. I wanted to treat him to something on the “train” level for Father’s Day. So, we spent a lot of time looking at all of the model train stuff. He picked out a German-looking lodge for his model train set-up (which he plans to soon “set up”). He also found little miniature people - including a Scout troop! - for his train display. Now if he will only get the basement cleaned out and his trains set up… (hint, hint). We had dinner on the steps of the Königstrasse. Nice view!

Tuesday, July 8

We again started our last day with a trip to the bakery. We spent most of the day watching movies at home. We did take a walk through downtown Holzgerlingen. But, if I remember right, it was a bit rainy and a good day to just hang out and read / watch movies. We went to dinner in Vaihingen at the Romer Höf. It was really nice dinner and a last change for Mom and Dad to have some German food.

Wednesday, July 9

Mom and Dad headed for home early in the morning. Their flight left from Stuttgart, with a connection and 5-hour layover in Frankfurt. They didn’t have any problems and made it home safely and I headed back to work that same day.

What a great way to bring our 2-year stay in Germany to an end. We had a wonderful time and I couldn’t have planned it better myself! I definitely enjoyed traveling without a group (i.e. Globus), but it did take a lot more time and effort to set everything up. And then, 2 quick weeks later, the trip is over. But, it was all worth it. Now, we had to get in move out mode! More on that later. Until then, take care!

Our Mediterranean Cruise started and ended in Rome. We decided we would take the train there, tack on 3 days after the cruise in Cinque Terre, and then take the train back. There were a lot of firsts for me on this trip - first cruise, first overnight train, and most port visits were a first. When booking the night train, I decided to pass on the “sleeper car” and just get a couchette. I envisioned this “couchette” as a mini-couch, although it was pictured like a chair. So, I figured best case, it folds out into a little couch so you can lie flat and, worst case, it just reclines a bit like an airline seat. Either way, we have done plenty of overnight flights by now to survive on a little reclining seat. So, I booked it. Well, were we surprised! There were 6 of these chairs in a cabin. We only had 2, so the other 4 were strangers. The chairs did NOT recline and had microscopic lumbar support. The bottom and back were connected and they did slide out. But, the headrest was fixed to the wall and didn’t move when you “extended” the chair. So, if you did want to try to slide the chair out (which we discovered was even more uncomfortable), then your head was resting on the bare wall. If, by some miracle, you managed to fall asleep, it wouldn’t be for long. The train personnel came by 3 or 4 times throughout the night to check your tickets (every time they changed shifts, I’m guessing). And, heaven forbid, someone in your cabin leave their seat. Then, they came by again and asked if that seat was free (the train was full and many people without reservations were sleeping in the hall or dining car). It was absolutely crazy and I felt as if I was traveling in a 3rd world country! There was no air conditioning, but that wasn’t too much of a problem since it wasn’t too hot that day/night. But, I can only imagine that packed train in the middle of July! Ugh! But, on the positive side, we made all of our connections and arrived safely in Rome. The first thing I did was stand in line at the ticket desk to see if I could upgrade to a bed for the ride home. No such luck - the return train was also fully booked. So, we got to start our trip out knowing that another wonderful night like the one we just barely survived last night lay ahead of us! *sigh*

Saturday, May 10

Our train got into Rome at around 10:30am (oh, no breakfast served on the train either - so we were STARVING when we got off). We had originally planned on leaving our luggage at the train station in Rome and doing a bit of sightseeing before boarding the boat. But, by now, we were just ready to get on the boat and begin our trip. So, we headed straight to the boat (took a train from downtown Rome to Civitavecchia, the port town, then walked ~10 min. from there to the port, where a shuttle bus was waiting to take us to our ship). We sailed on the Carnival Freedom, built in 2008 and one of Carnival’s latest and greatest ships. It has 13 decks, 7 bars/clubs, 6 restaurants, a library, almost 3000 guest capacity (and another 1000+ for crew), 3 small pools, 5 hot tubs, gym, full-service spa, mini-golf, half of a basketball court, and more! It was huge and really amazing. The gaudy Las-Vegas-style decorations weren’t my taste (especially the scary, glowing floating Statue of Liberty heads in the buffet room), but it was still impressive none the less. When we booked the trip, we just got a TBA (to be assigned) room, since we were going to get an interior room anyway. We were assigned an interior room, but it was near the front of the boat and on one of the top decks - which is supposed to be good. Anyway, we liked it and it was close to all of the action. It was a nice size, slightly bigger than some of the other hotels rooms we’ve had in Europe, with the token tiny shower. We spent the first day on the ship unpacking our bags (not exactly enough space to have 6 bags lying out - we emptied them into the closets/drawers and stored the bags under the bed) and wandering around our new floating home. Given my past experience with boats, I was a little worried that I would get motion sick during the trip. The first time the boat pulled out of dock, I definitely felt “funny.” I wouldn’t say sick, just funny because my balance was off. Paul said that it just took a while to get used to. He was right, because by the next day I only felt off balance on land! Anyway, the whole trip was pretty smooth and I didn’t get sick at all. That night at dinner, we were scheduled for the “late” dinner which started at 8:30pm. We decided that was going to be too late and asked the maitre d’ to move us up to the early seating (6pm). The next day, we had a great table for 2 (most are for 6), right by the window, at the early seating. Sweet!

The itinerary for our trip was first in Rome (Italy), then Naples (Italy), a day at sea, Marmaris (Turkey), Izmir (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), a day at sea, Athens (Greece), Katakolon (Greece), a day at sea, Livorno (Italy), and then back to Rome for a full day and night. I’ll break the trip up by day.

Sunday, May 11

We had heard that Naples was a city to miss: big, congested, and dirty. I might have liked to have seen it anyway, but with only one day in port we had to set priorities and Pompeii beat it out (by a landslide!). One of the main reasons we decided to do a cruise was to see Pompeii and Athens (and after doing more research, we picked this one because of Istanbul). We had booked 2 shore excursions with Carnival, but ended up cancelling the second one. So, this was our only excursion that we did with Carnival - at all of the other ports, we just explored on our own. The excursion really was nice and convenient. They took everyone into the main lounge and assigned everyone a number based on what excursion you had purchased. When they called your number, you disembarked the ship and got on a big bus with the same number. Our excursion included a trip up Mt. Vesuvius and then onto Pompeii. We boarded the bus and got the very front seats - so we had a great view out the front window. We got a little bit of history about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii during the drive from our local guide. Mt. Vesuvius is a volcano that erupted on August 24, A.D. 79 blanketing the towns and 1000s of residents of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum. Pompeii was buried 10′ deep, while Herculaneum was buried under 75′ of ash. This volcanic eruption is the first to be described in detail. The ash preserved and protected Pompeii against the elements until future archaeologists unearthed this snapshot in time. The volcano continued to erupt every century until A.D. 1037, and then it was dormant for 600 years until it erupted again in 1631, killing another 4000 people. During the rebuilding efforts, the ancient ruins of Pompeii were discovered on March 23, 1748. Wouldn’t people learn, you’re thinking? Evidently not. Today’s population around Mt. Vesuvius is about 3 million, which is potentially catastrophic in the area of such a dangerous volcano. The last major eruption occurred in 1944, but activity may start up at any moment. The bus took us as far as it could, and then we hiked the rest of the way to the rim of the volcano. I had seen a volcano before when I was in Hawaii about 15 years ago (oh my gosh - 15 years ago!), but this was Paul’s first. It was really cool because, like Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii, Mt. Vesuvius is still an active volcano. So, it was smoky and steamy inside the crater. The hike up also gave us a great view of Naples below. You could also see the old lava flows from the last eruption, now sprouting grass and flowers. After our volcano stop, we reboarded the bus and headed to Pompeii. Of course, as with any purchased Carnival excursion, we had the mandatory visit/tour of a store/factory. In this case, it was a Cameo factory. Thankfully, they combined it with a bathroom stop. They gave us just enough time for everyone to use the facilities and then we were on our way. No sales pitch, no tour, just a potty break. I was pleasantly surprised at how this DIDN’T drag on.

Pompeii was everything we’d thought it would be and more. First, it was such a large area. We were there for about 2-3 hours and only had time to see one part of the excavation area (granted, it was the largest part). The most impressive thing was the sheer size of the excavation. It differs from Rome in that when you are in the ruins of Pompeii, you’re surrounded by them. You can’t see the postcard stand, the street, traffic, grocery store, subway stop, etc. like you can when you’re at the Colosseum (which is a ruin-oasis in the middle of a huge city). In Pompeii, you can walk from the ancient wine bar, to the ancient brothel, to the ancient living quarters, etc. The streets were also used as gutters, so they had raised blocks at each intersection to help people safely (and cleanly) cross the street. When they excavated the bakery, they found a loaf of bread in the oven. The preservation of the site is unbelievable. We didn’t have to go to the museum, which is where many of the small artifacts (like the bread) have been moved to. But, they did have a few artifacts on the site. We saw a few of the casts of the people they found. It was so sad. Many people did escape the eruption, but it was the women, children, and slaves who were left behind to take care of the homes. So, these made up most of the people that were found. We saw one cast of a slave. You could tell he was a slave by the type of loin cloth he was wearing (yes, there’s that much detail). You could just read the pain on his face. There was another with a woman covering her face, one of a dog with its legs bent at impossible angles (the chain still around its neck). It was so heartbreaking, yet fascinating to see such a literal snapshot of time. There were also still paintings on the wall. One of the more “colorful” murals was inside the brothel, which displayed the “menu” that the women there could offer - very early Kama Sutra, if you will. The customers, many of which were international and may not speak the local dialect, could then just point and order. It was also interesting to see so many Pagan symbols, since Christianity wasn’t around yet. There were phallic symbols engraved on the road in front of some of the houses. This was their version of a lucky horseshoe - it was meant to symbolize the life it brought into the world and to bring the occupants of the house good luck. There were snakes intertwined on a painting near the street, meaning there was a hospital in town. The snakes were thought to represent health since they “regenerated” their skin every season (and they’re still used in our pharmacy’s symbol today!). It was a great tour and an amazing place. I think you would need a full 2 days to just see all of the Pompeii ruins. But, after our 3 hours or so, it was time to head back to the boat. At dinner, we found out that our new waiter (for the 6pm seating) was VERY insistent that Paul get a full bottle of wine. When we explained that I don’t drink wine, he said he’s save the bottle and bring it out night-after-night, so it doesn’t go to waste. But, you didn’t really save that much (glass vs. bottle) for it to be worth having the same wine every night. So, Paul asked him to recommend something by the glass. But, Mr. Waiter was very insistent, asked for our Sign-and-Sail card (think ship-only credit card), and he would just pick something out for us. When he showed us the BOTTLE he was going to suggest, Paul just said, forget it… I’ll have this glass. He wasn’t very friendly with us for the rest of the cruise (yes, his tip was reduced). The next night Paul ordered a different glass of wine and the waiter said, “see, you should have gotten the bottle.” *sigh* We just let it go.

Monday, May 12

The next day was our first day at sea. After breakfast, we were going to go hang out on the pool deck. I was getting ready to put some sunscreen on and asked Paul if he wanted any. He said, “No… I need to get some sun.” This is where I made the worst decision of the whole trip (can you see it coming?). I thought, yeah, I need some sun too. I’ll just lay out for a little bit and then come back down to the room and put sunscreen on. I told Paul when I was laying out, that it was his job to keep an eye on me and let me know if I was getting red - even a little bit. A little while later (well, it turned out to be over an HOUR later!), I asked Paul if I was getting red because my legs and chest were feeling a little warm. This is where Paul made the worst decision of the whole trip. He said, “No. I think you could use a little more.” Later that night, I was lobster red and couldn’t move my legs or arms. I went through the entire bottle of aloe that we had brought on the trip and by the end of the cruise; my entire non-bathing-suit-clad body had peeled at least once. In the areas where I got really burned (my left shoulder and thigh), I peeled twice. It was really painful and completely stupid. I felt like such an idiot. Paul got burned and peeled too, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as I was. Luckily, we hadn’t already booked and paid for something the next day - so I was able to use that to recover a bit. Since this was our first day at sea, it gave us a chance to try out some of the stuff on the boat. We also had a meeting with the “Cruise Critic” forum. This is a chat forum that I had been reading/writing on for the past couple of months. I had met a few other people that were going to be on this cruise on-line and we had set up some excursions together. So, it was nice to finally put a face with a name after weeks of exchanging e-mails! That night, we had our first formal night. This is where everyone goes to dinner all dressed up and they serve fancier food than normal (i.e. lobster and prime rib were on the menu). I wore my black dress and sweater (to cover up my stupid burn) and managed to survive my first night.

Tuesday, May 13

The next day my burns were still getting hotter. We had made port in Marmaris, Turkey, which is right across the water from Rhodes, Greece. This was the “beach” stop of the trip. We were only in port for about 6 hours that day and it made planning any excursion that wasn’t directly in that area almost impossible. I stayed on the boat, indoors or in the shade, for the entire day. Paul did wander into port and walked up and down the beach. He said it was a nice beach, but nothing special. I think he was just saying that so I wouldn’t feel like I missed something. Anyway, I stayed out of the sun and read a book. I think the sunburned peaked this day and the aloe finally started kicking in. The rest of the trip was painful, but not as bad as those first couple days.

Wednesday, May 14

The next day, we went to Izmir, Turkey. I had already pre-arranged for a minivan to pick us up and 2 other couples that we met through Cruise Critic, Chris & Rick and Vanessa & Michael. Vanessa & Michael have a son, Christian, but he stayed back on the boat. Evidently they have a great kids care program on-board and he really seemed to love it. Anyway, the minivan was right there to pick us up and the driver took us to see the day’s sights. We started out with a visit to the House of the Virgin Mary and then went to Ephesus. Ephesus was really the main attraction for the day, but Chris is a secretary at her Catholic Church and really wanted to see the House of the Virgin Mary. When we got to Ephesus, they recommended we see it first. So, we hired a guide that would take us through Ephesus, he joined us in the van, and ended up being our guide at the House of the Virgin Mary, too. According to traditional Christian beliefs, this is the house that Virgin Mary lived in after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. She was brought here by Apostle John. In 1812, Sister Ann Catherine Emmerich, a German nun, visualized the journey of Apostle John and Virgin Mary from Jerusalem to Ephesus. The sister, who had never traveled anywhere else, vividly described the house and it was recorded. The actual house matched her vision to a T! The house is also sacred to Muslims, since Mary is the most mentioned woman in the Koran and the Muslims recognize her to be the mother of the Prophet Jesus. The house became a Catholic shrine in 1896. Besides the house itself, which is a fairly small, 3-room building, there are also 3 fountains of water, which are believed to be holy water and can be drunk by anyone. Our fellow traveler, Chris, had brought lots of little bottles to fill up with water and take back with her. The spring water is believed to have healing properties. There was also a wall full of what looked like shredded paper. It was actually a prayer wall where you could write your prayer/wish on a slip of paper/cloth and tie it to the wall. After that short visit, we headed off to Ephesus.

Ephesus was established as a port on the mouth of the river Cayster and was one of the foremost cities of the world for its being on a strategic trade route in Anatolia. It seems as though Ephesus has always been a “center” of something. Once it was the trade center of the ancient world, a religious center of the early Christianity and today, a unique tourism center. The city was founded by Androklos, the son of Kodros, the King of Athens. According to legend in the year of 10 BC, Androklos was searching a location for establishing his own site, as he was fleeing the Dor invasion of Greece. He was leading one of the migration convoys. It was predicted by an Apollon oracle that a fish and a boar would show the location of the new settlement. Days later, parallel to the oracle’s prediction, while frying, a fish fell down from the pan, irritating a boar hiding behind the bushes. The feared boar escaped immediately. Androklos followed the boar and established the city of Ephesus, where he had killed the boar. It was absolutely packed the day we visited. But, we saw almost all of the ruins, including the famous library, which is the most intact / restored ruin on the site. We also took a tour through the Terrace Houses. The houses were where the rich and important people of Ephesus lived, on the terraced hillside, while the main city (government area, marketplace, etc.) was located in the valley. The oldest of the houses were built in the first century BC, and most of the houses were restored in the second century AD. The houses seemed plain from outside, but inside there were living and dining rooms opening to the hall, on the ground floor, and bedrooms and guest rooms, upstairs. The houses were heated (using clay pipes running through the walls and under the floor) and had cold and hot water. The tile mosaics were very impressive, colorful, and well restored. And the marble plating on the walls were all cut from the same piece of marble. We spent the entire day out and about exploring Ephesus and that area. We made it back to the boat just in time (an hour before departure) and were starving. We had skipped lunch, so we headed straight to the “Lido” deck to grab a snack before dinner.

Thursday, May 15

Next, we went to Istanbul. After doing some research and talking to a few colleagues who had visited Istanbul, this was quickly becoming one of the most anticipated stops of the trip. We got into port a little late (about 9:30am, instead of the planned 9:00am) and it was absolute mayhem. The Queen of England was visiting that day and the port was absolutely packed. Plus, there was no real parking area (or if there was, it was blocked off by the Queen’s security), so we had a really hard time finding our minivan. I had arranged a similar trip as the day before. A driver was supposed to be waiting for us, just like in Izmir. But, since there was no real waiting area, he was just driving around and we didn’t know exactly what to look for. We were traveling with the same people on this day, but this time, Vanessa & Michael’s son, Christian, joined us. We finally spotted our driver (Thanks, Rick!) and piled in to the van. We wanted to hit the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, and be back on the boat by 7:00pm. We had a full day ahead of us.

We started the day off at the Blue Mosque, which is famous for its beautiful domes and semi domes, nice courtyards, and six slender minarets. I was really looking forward to seeing all of the blue tiles inside. But, honestly, I thought it was just as beautiful (if not more so) from the outside as from the inside. The multiple domes and semi domes were amazing and the 6 minarets were different than anything we had ever seen before. The Blue Mosque was founded by Sultan Ahmet I, who ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to begin construction in 1609. The whole complex was completed in 1616. The location of the mosque is just opposite of the splendid Church of Hagia Sophia as it is trying to compete with it. That is actually true because Architect Mehmed wanted to construct a bigger dome then Hagia Sophia’s but he could not succeed. Instead, he made the mosque splendid by the perfect proportion of domes and semi domes as well as the splendid minarets. There is an interesting story of the mosque; Sultan Ahmet I wanted to have a minaret made of gold which is “altin” in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him to say “alti” which means “six” in English. So, he built it with 6 minarets (the same number of minarets as the mosque of the Ka’aba in Mecca - which was supposed to have the most!). However, when the architect realized his mistake, he was shivering, asking “Am I going to be beheaded?” But, Sultan Ahmed I said no because he liked the minarets so much. Instead, the Sultan paid to have a 7th minaret added to the Ka’aba in Mecca. When we were ready to enter the Blue Mosque, we had to remove our shoes and carry them with us in a plastic bag. The interior was completely carpeted and the walls were lined with more than 20,000 handpainted tiles and 200+ stained glass windows. And although there supporting wires for all of the chandeliers seem to detract a bit, it really was beautiful inside.

From there, we walked to the Church of Hagia Sophia, through a nice garden. There was a fountain there, which made for a great picture of the Blue Mosque, when looking back. Although the Hagia Sophia was not as breathtaking as the Blue Mosque, it holds more historical significance. Architecturally, the grand basilica represented a major revolution in church construction in that it featured a huge dome which necessitated the implementation of new ideas in order to support the weight of this dome, a feat which had not been attempted before. The dome, which became universal in Byzantine church construction, represented the vault of heaven. In the days when there was no steel used in construction, large roofs and domes had to be supported by massive pillars and walls. The dome of Hagia Sophia was supported by four piers (the solid supports from which the arches spring), each measuring about 118 square yards at the base. Four arches swing across linked by four pendentives (the parts of a groined ceiling springing from the pillars). The apices of the arches and the pendentives support the circular base, from which rises the dome pierced by forty single-arched windows admitting light to the interior. The church itself measures 260 x 270 feet; the dome rises 210 feet above the floor and has a diameter of 110 feet. The nave is 135 feet wide, more than twice the width of the aisles, which measure 62 feet. As for the building history:

- Hagia Sophia stands on the site of an earlier basilican church erected by Constantius II in 360, some 30 years after Byzantium had become the capital of the Roman Empire.

- This church was burned in 404 and rebuilt by Theodosius II in 415, only to be again destroyed by fire in 532.

- The present structure, which is entirely fireproof, was built in 532–37 by Emperor Justinian from designs of his imperial architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus.

- As a result of severe earthquakes, the dome collapsed in 558, but it was rebuilt by 563 on a somewhat higher curve.

With the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Hagia Sophia became a mosque, and in subsequent years all the interior figure mosaics were obscured under coatings of plaster and painted ornament; most of the Christian symbols elsewhere were obliterated. The four slender minarets, which rise so strikingly at the outer corners of the structure, were added singly and at different times; the crescent supplanted the cross on the summit of the dome, and the altar and the pulpit were replaced by the customary Muslim furnishings.

It was about now when we heard our first “call to prayer.” This had to be one of our favorite parts of Istanbul. They play a loud chant over many speakers 5 times a day, to call all Muslims to stop what they’re doing, turn towards Mecca, and pray. It was eerie the first time we heard it, but absolutely amazing. We listened to it in awe as we headed for lunch. We wandered across a great little place for lunch. They served us buffet style (we didn’t really order anything except drinks - the food just appeared) and we made our own chicken wraps (think of a Gyro, only with chicken instead of lamb). So, after a filling lunch, a quick shopping break, and a few postcard purchases, we headed to our last major stop of the day - the Topkapi Palace.

Topkapi Palace was more than just the private residence for Sultan Mehmed II and his court. (When he captured Constantinople in 1453, he found the palaces of the Byzantine Emperors in such ruins as to be uninhabitable - so he built his own!) It was the seat of the supreme executive and judiciary council, the Divan and the training school, the Palace School. In the First Courtyard, there were a hospital, bakery, arsenal, a state mint, a part of the treasury and the Outer Service. It was open to public. The Second Courtyard was open to people who had business with the council. The Third Courtyard was reserved to the Sultan’s household and palace children. The Fourth Courtyard was exclusively reserved for the Sultan’s use. We toured the entire grounds, including the Harem area and the treasury. The treasury contained an 86-carat diamond (yes, EIGHTY SIX), which was surrounded by 49 brilliant-cut diamonds. It was one of the most beautiful stones I’ve ever seen. Amazing. The grounds of the palace were immaculate. We found ourselves only about two-thirds of the way through the grounds when it was time to go. We radioed to the rest of the group (Chris & Rick had brought walkie-talkies!) and told them to go ahead to the Grand Bazaar and we would just meet them there. We finished our tour of the palace and even had time for Paul to sample a Turkish coffee and me a Turkish tea. The Turkish tea just tasted like good, brewed tea. I think the “cream tea” in England is still at the top of my Tea list. Paul enjoyed the good, but very strong, coffee. We weren’t disappointed, because, as promised, there was a nice layer of sludge in the bottom of the cup of coffee. This is because they don’t filter their coffee. Paul was on a caffeine high for the rest of the day. We walked to the Grand Bazaar and were there long enough to be happy we hadn’t spent the last hour there. It was super crowded and very easy to get lost in the winding stalls. There were banners and ads draped from the ceiling. Every shops had their goods (many of which were the same shop-to-shop) piled from floor to ceiling - all of them ready to make a deal with you. In nothing short of a miracle, we actually just ran into the rest of our group, who was shopping in a stall an aisle or two off the “main drag.” They showed off what they bought and we headed back to the van. We got back to the boat with time to spare and wished we would have gone to the spice market. But, with traffic (and the Queen in town!), you just never know how long it will take to get where you’re going. Anyway, we all headed to the Sushi bar for a snack (I think I had sushi about 4 times on this trip! Yummy!) and Paul and I joined Chris and Rick at their table for the late dinner. We were sad to leave Turkey. It was an amazing country and we wish we could have seen more of it. Everyone there was so friendly and willing to help. We didn’t feel like we were constantly being ripped off, either. Okay, so we may have been ripped off, but at least we didn’t FEEL like we were being ripped off. We really enjoyed our time there and were happy that we picked an itinerary that exposed us to such a great country.

Friday, May 16

The next day was our 2nd day at sea. After 3 days in a row in port, we were ready for a break. We read our books, ate, slept, lounged by the pool, etc. This was also the day that I had scheduled a “couple’s massage” for Paul and I at the spa. By now, my burn was touchable (all except the worst spot on my left arm). So, I was happy that I had been liberal and religious with the aloe applications. The massage was really nice. This was Paul’s first massage and, although he enjoyed it, I don’t think it does as much for him as for me. My masseuse said I had the most stress than anyone else on the cruise. I replied that I was probably one of the few that was still working! (As you can imagine, the average age of the cruise was 60+). But, the massage was nice and we followed it up with some time in the sauna.

Saturday, May 17

Finally, we started our stops in Greece. We went to Athens to see the Acropolis - with the Parthenon being the highlight. I had not pre-arranged anything for this trip. Paul and I were just going to take the train into the Acropolis. Vanessa, Michael, and Christian as well as a new couple, decided to join us. We ended up taking a couple cabs to the Acropolis. This was much more expensive than the train (which is basically free), but we did beat all the crowds. We got there just as they opened and saw the Parthenon and the rest of the Acropolis ruins with only 20 - 30 other people. By the time we left, there were hundreds making their way in - most following behind a Carnival sign! So, we felt smart and good about our taxi purchase. We did end up taking the train back, so the round trip cost was offset a bit. The Parthenon was just like all of the postcards. You couldn’t get too close to it, though, because it was roped off and part of it was under construction / renovation. It was the centerpiece on the big rock of Acropolis, which literally means “high city,” and was a temple built for the Greek goddess Athena, the protectress of Athens, in the 5th century BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. It’s regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece, of Athenian democracy, and is one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. We spent the whole day traipsing about Ancient Greece to see all of the ruins. We walked from the Acropolis to the Ancient Agora (most famous another Doric temple, Hephaestus), to the Roman Agora (not much left), through the famous shopping district of Plaka (lots of the same stuff), to the Temple of Zeus (very cool because you could stand right next to it and get a feel for how BIG these structures were), and finally through the National Gardens to Syntagma Square (Constitution Square). We picked up a group of Japanese tourists at the Temple of Zeus. ONE person came up to me and asked how to get to the subway station. I told them of the only one I knew of close by (at Syntagma Square - the one we were going to). I gave him directions and sent him on his way. Then, as he was leaving, I said… well, we’re going that way anyway, you can just follow us if you want. So, we take off and he follows - along with about 10 others!! It was pretty funny. Anyway, we got them all safely to the subway station (for free!). We still had a few minutes before we had to leave, so we looked around Syntagma Square for a bit. We saw the Greek Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The metro station there is also a little mini-museum, which we spent some time exploring. Eventually, we had to catch our train and head back to the boat.

Sunday, May 18

The next port stop by was Katakolon. This was a tiny port with basically no other traffic other than a couple other cruise ships. The town was pretty small too. The main reason for this stop was that it was only an hour or so from the ancient Olympia ruins - where the first Olympics were held. We had originally planned to take the train there to see the ruins. But, after spending all day looking at ruins in Athens, we were up for an alternative. The day before, we had talked to a really nice Greek lady working at the Hard Rock Cafe store. We had said that we were a little sad we didn’t get to see any of the beautiful Greek islands while we were here - the ones that are always pictures on the postcards. We told her our next stop was Katakolon and asked her how the ruins compared to the ones in Athens. She said they weren’t as good - not nearly in tact and not nearly as impressive (which was also confirmed by others on the cruise that went there). So, we had decided then that we would try to do something different in Katakolon. We were going to try to head to the island of Zakynthos to see Shipwreck Beach, another postcard perfect spot. Katakolon looked pretty close to this island and we figured they’d have boats running out to the island, if not all day long, at least some in the morning and afternoon. But, when we saw the small port we doubted that we’d find that. We asked one of the Carnival Cruise guides (she was a local from Katakolon) and she said the only boats that head out to Zakynthos leave from Kyllini, which was about an hour taxi ride away. So, we ruled that out - just not enough time - and asked her what else she would suggest. She said that although the eastern Greek islands get all the attention, the islands on the west (where we were) have the best beaches. She said we should just go beach hopping! That sounded like a great idea. We walked across the street and rented a 4-wheeler from this motorbike shop. They gave us directions to a couple beaches. The first one was kind of dirty. There were bottles and trash everywhere. Plus, it obviously wasn’t groomed, so seaweed was everywhere. We decided to try out the second beach. It was tiny, but much cleaner. We were about to head down to the second one (we parked up on a cliff near by) when we saw it… an absolutely beautiful, groomed, wide, sandy beach. There were lounge chairs and umbrellas and what looked to be lik