Have you ever had a Bilbo Baggins moment? If you don't know who that is google it (I'll wait). Now that we cleared that up let's talk about this adventure. Picture, if you will, me in sweatpants, sweatshirt, 12 to 14-pound backpack running through Frankfurt Airport desperately trying to catch a flight after a torturous jaunt through customs. Vince is running ahead as I literally yelled out "I'm going on an adventure " while trying to keep up and remember to breathe (now that I think about it I probably looked a bit like Gimli chasing after Legolas and Aragorn). A couple coming the opposite way starts laughing very loudly as I run by waving, mask and all. Needless to say, I made the gate but couldn't breathe at all by the time I got to the shuttle but I digress. You see, recently Vince and I went on what was supposed to be an 8-day cruise with Viking River Cruises with a 2-day extension in Amsterdam.
We left the booking of our flights up to Viking. That was our first mistake. Obviously, the person who booked our flights has never been to the Frankfurt airport much less gone through customs there. It's painful. They have the customs booths in a small area tucked away from everything else and you have to go down an escalator, squeeze into a hallway then wait, and I mean wait.. It was hot, crowded, and crammed, thankfully everyone was masked because social distancing was not an option. But, we made it to our final destination. Vince is doing a write-up on the day-to-day of our adventure and of course, there will be photos but I want to talk about it from a different perspective, the life perspective. I was told that going on this cruise we should be prepared to be bored, food to be bland, and to be the youngest on the ship. None of that was true. The staff was delightful, funny, engaging, and intelligent with a keen interest in who their guests were, why we chose this cruise and what did we know about the area, were there any gaps they could fill in. I realized that as Americans we like to label everything. We like to make categories and subcategories and say that things such as styles of vacation, lifestyles, modes of transportation, hobbies, even the color of someone's hair all belong in little silos and are owned by groups not to be crossed over. It is silly, tiring, and utterly ridiculous. Our ship was filled with people from all corners of society and my only disappointment was that everyone's hair was a normal color. It was so enjoyable being with people that were not all the same, didn't think all the same yet, all wanted to engage in conversation and get to know you as a person, not some label or job. It was refreshing. Prior to this trip, I had never been to the region. We went through Switzerland, Germany, France, and The Netherlands. I didn't know life could be like that anymore. The air was clean, cool in the mornings, and patchworked with a beautiful fog that lifted with the rising sun. Even when we reached the heat of the day you could breathe, it was not humid, stifling, or heavy. The air was always fresh. Everywhere we went people biked, walked, or rode on the deceptively quiet public transportation (their buses are stealthy). No one was staring at their phones, people were out in the squares having coffee or tea, chatting and connecting. It was a hum of activity yet not the obnoxiousness that we have come to know in America. I was in awe. I knew I would be because of the architecture and the cobblestones, who wouldn't be!?! Yet, it was the people and their joy that stole my heart. No one was angry, no crazy honking, no shouting, no loudness, no busyness. It felt like I really had fallen into a storybook each day and I was there for it! It gave me a new perspective on what I am and what I want my normal to be. People were different and everybody was okay with it. They have to be. As our tour guide in Cologne explained because the countries are smaller and living spaces are at a premium you have to learn how to accept people who are different. You cannot separate yourself or ignore the humanity in others. To persecute them or punish them is to punish yourself. I welcomed this and loved that you can be as unique, as quirky as you want and no one expects you to be like them. I must admit, waking up every day on the river was a gift that just kept giving. I admit I was not sure about any kind of cruise but sleeping on the water, experiencing the gift of its song during the nights is something that will stay with me for a lifetime. I woke up several times in the early morning, would open the balcony door and just listen to the sounds of the river, the animals onshore, and just enjoy seeing a dark sky with no city to pollute it.
Below is a list of all the villages we visited:
Basel, Switzerland
Breisach, Germany (The Black Forest GAH!)
Strasbourg, France
Speyer, Germany
Rudesheim, Germany
Koblenz, Germany
Cologne, Germany
Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
We also did some day cruising which was so peaceful and refreshing.
Now I know I stated no photos but, that just wouldn't be me..
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