{"id":1202,"date":"2016-06-17T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-17T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/?p=1202"},"modified":"2016-06-23T15:01:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T22:01:27","slug":"what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/2016\/06\/17\/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Did On My Summer Vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

As little as possible, it turns out. \u00a0And it was utterly glorious.<\/span><\/p>\n

On book tours, it\u2019s almost like a vacation if you get to stay in the same hotel room two nights in a row. \u00a0On our Silverseas Cruise, we boarded the ship and went to our cabin where the butler unpacked all of our clothing, putting some in drawers and hanging the rest. \u00a0And, except for what we were wearing each day, that\u2019s where the clothing stayed for two whole weeks!<\/span><\/p>\n

Breakfast was delivered to our suite\u2014again by the same butler. \u00a0On our previous cruise, the butler showed up the first day and then pretty much did a disappearing act. \u00a0Had we known then what we know now, we would have made better use of her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Book tours entail days with doing multiple events along with meeting and greeting sometimes several hundred people in a single day. \u00a0The cruise was a time for just the two of us. \u00a0On the ship we dined at lunch and dinner at tables for two, usually next to the window with first the English Channel, then the North Sea, and finally the Baltic rolling by outside. \u00a0I wore my seasick bracelets\u2014successfully\u2014one day only. \u00a0The rest of the time it was smooth sailing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other than one lunch when we arrived too late to use the dining room, we avoided the buffet. \u00a0For good reason. \u00a0I\u2019m back to within two pounds of what I weighed before we left. \u00a0The dining room served tiny, tasting menu portions of all kinds of delicious things, and we enjoyed them all. \u00a0Well, the octopus ceviche maybe not so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

We did some shore excursions, but not all of them. \u00a0Some days we stayed in our cabin reading OTHER PEOPLE\u2019S BOOKS. \u00a0I totaled seven by the time all was said and done. \u00a0The most suspenseful was I Am Pilgrim<\/i> by Terry Hayes, and the most restful were the latest Maa Ramotswe and Miss Julia books. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Did we take a lot of photos? \u00a0No. \u00a0Let\u2019s face it. \u00a0Bill is 76; I am going on 72. \u00a0We know what we look like and cameras aren\u2019t necessarily kind to people of a certain age. \u00a0So, very few photos. \u00a0On shore excursions we followed people who took pictures of everything. \u00a0Walking through the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, I followed a woman who took countless photos of almost every painting with her iPad mini. \u00a0The ceilings are tall. \u00a0The paintings are hung high on very tall walls. \u00a0I should imagine that the resulting photos show very elongated subject matter. \u00a0I kept wondering why she didn\u2019t just buy a book in the museum shop where the pictures would have been properly lighted for the photographer. \u00a0But you know what? \u00a0That was her vacation not mine, and I said not a word. \u00a0But I learned that I needed to be careful when I was behind her because her sudden photo-op stops came with no brake light warnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some things can\u2019t be photographed at all. \u00a0The evening concert of classical music in an echoing hall in the Hermitage was delightful. \u00a0Walking through that massive museum, with its huge pieces of art that I remember seeing in my History of Western Civ text books at the University of Arizona, I couldn\u2019t help but remember a book I read several years ago\u2014The Madonnas of Leningrad<\/i>. \u00a0It was about what went on in the Hermitage during the 900 day siege of Leningrad during World War II. \u00a0The artwork was removed from frames, taken away, and hidden to keep it from being stolen. \u00a0But the docents, the guides, still continued to walk through the museum discussing the paintings that were no longer there. \u00a0The book was a tribute to the enduring importance of art, even vanished art, to get through tough times. \u00a0But until I was there, walking the halls and seeing those truly massive pieces, that I realized what an astounding effort saving them entailed.<\/span><\/p>\n

We loved our shore excursion to Bremen\u2014home of the Bremen Town Musicians\u2014who, it turns out, never actually made it as far as Bremen. \u00a0We went to the Rathskeller there for a wine tasting. \u00a0On the way, our very young German guide on the bus, a guy who is studying economics, told us straight out, \u201cI don\u2019t know why you\u2019re doing a wine tasting. \u00a0This is Germany\u2014you should be tasting BEER!\u201d \u00a0We chalked it up to youthful ignorance, and happily tasted our German wine. \u00a0The Rathskeller in Bremen ships only German wines\u2014600 varieties\u2014to wholesalers all around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the high point of that tasting (and the low point as well) was going down into the wine cellar\u2014one that was dug in 1105 AD! \u00a0It\u2019s still filled with immense old wine barrels, some containing drinkable wine from 1727!! \u00a0 (Like the art work in Leningrad, the ancient casks were hidden during World War II. \u00a0In this case, the casks were sunk in the river.) \u00a0The main room was dark and the aisles between the barrels was lit with candles. \u00a0But no photograph could capture the aroma in that room\u2014the thick scent of aged wines was like a velvet curtain falling on our faces. \u00a0The guide pointed out the faded image of a rose painted on the ceiling of the cellar. \u00a0If the city fathers had some intractable problem to discuss, they came down to the basement and discussed it under the rose because whatever was said there was entirely confidential. \u00a0Ever heard the term sub rosa? \u00a0<\/i>Well, there you go.<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing that was everywhere on the shore excursions was chocolate. \u00a0Chocolates were served at wine tastings. \u00a0Chocolates were served at demonstrations of hand-dipping chocolates. \u00a0When someone who has just hand dipped a set of chocolates offers you one on a tray, it\u2019s not the time to say, \u201cI don\u2019t like chocolate.\u201d In other words, in the past two weeks I\u2019ve eaten a lifetime\u2019s worth of chocolate. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s licorice. \u00a0I don\u2019t like that, either. \u00a0Carmel? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Pralines? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Chocolate and licorice, NO! \u00a0But in Sweden, not only was there chocolate to be tasted, but licorice as well. \u00a0I admit it. \u00a0I sat outside on a nearby bench while the group went into a shop to do a licorice tasting in Helsingborg. \u00a0And while I was sitting there, I was thinking about my mother. \u00a0Her father, my Grandpa Anderson, left Sweden when he was nineteen years old. \u00a0Family legend has it that he left Sweden with a price on his head for having killed a deer who made it back to a game preserve before croaking out. \u00a0So Swedish blood runs in my veins. A more undiluted version of same, ran in my mother\u2019s, and she loved licorice. \u00a0Loved it to her dying day! \u00a0And I\u2019m willing to bet that for an immigrant family living a hand-to-mouth existence on a farm in northeastern South Dakota, that licorice was a special holiday treat when she was growing up. \u00a0And that realization was enough to take me back to my Swedish roots. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The funniest thing that happened on the cruise? \u00a0That would be what we shall call The Case of the Amsterdam Tie. \u00a0Once we were on board the Silver Whisper and our clothing was unpacked, Bill realized he hadn\u2019t brought along a tie. \u00a0The first night was a casual night so a tie wasn\u2019t necessary in the dining room. \u00a0The second night was a formal night, so Bill wore his tux\u2014he had the tie along for that. \u00a0When we went on the canal tour in Amsterdam, we went looking for a tie. \u00a0We walked and walked and finally found a shop with a single tie for sale\u2014a very narrow tie with purple and lavender checks on it. \u00a0\u201cNo way,\u201d Bill said. \u00a0\u201cWith my build, I need a wide tie\u2014a wide red tie.\u201d \u00a0We left tie shop and set off to return to the ship. \u00a0Our gyros got tumbled, however, and we walked eight kilometers total IN THE WRONG DIRECTION! \u00a0When a guy in an Irish pub (Every city has its own special version of Irish pub!) set us straight, we hailed a cab to take us back to the ship because we weren\u2019t up to walking another eight kilometers.<\/span><\/p>\n

That evening the ship set sail. \u00a0After dinner, when we stopped by the bar for a beverage, I noticed that the ship\u2019s store was open. \u00a0Leaving Bill at the bar, I went into the shop and asked the clerk, \u201cDo you have any ties?\u201d \u00a0\u201cYes,\u201d she answered. \u00a0\u201cDo you have a red tie, a wide red tie?\u201d The answer was yes once more. \u00a0\u201cOkay,\u201d I said. \u00a0\u201cI want one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So she brought it out in a lovely red box. \u00a0I signed for it, charging it to our room, and went back to the bar in triumph. \u00a0Bill opened the box and loved the tie. \u00a0Then he looked at the receipt. \u00a0It turns out his wide red tie was a limited edition Faberge tie. \u00a0Five hundred bucks worth of Faberge tie. \u00a0We did not return it. \u00a0It\u2019s by far the best Father\u2019s Day tie he\u2019s ever been given, and he will NOT be wearing it on Sunday when he\u2019s in charge of the Father\u2019s Day barbecue.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you book your next cruise before you leave the ship, you get an added discount. \u00a0For this cruise, we were delayed in customs in the UK. \u00a0We made it, but we were the LAST passengers to board the ship in Southampton before it sailed. \u00a0And coming back, our flight from Stockholm was delayed, and we made it through the Terminal 5 security check point at Heathrow with enough time to race to our gate and make a single pit stop before it was time to board our Seattle bound flight. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, yes, we\u2019ve already booked next year\u2019s cruise along with an extra day coming and going, just to be on the safe side.<\/span><\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect a pile of photographs from that trip, either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just consider our cruises to be sub rosa.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

PS. \u00a0Now that I\u2019m back on this time zone, I\u2019m back to getting my daily ten. \u00a0Didn\u2019t make my goal every day, but after all, we were on vacation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As little as possible, it turns out. \u00a0And it was utterly glorious. On book tours, it\u2019s almost like a vacation if you get to stay in the same hotel room two nights in a row. \u00a0On our Silverseas Cruise, we boarded the ship and went to our cabin where the butler unpacked all of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3nsBA-jo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1212,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}