Should We Stay or Should We Go

Our first two days on the ship were sea days. While we much prefer port days, having a couple of days at sea gives us a chance to catch our breath, especially on an itinerary as busy as this one. Yesterday, I think we all welcomed the slower pace, but probably none more than our jet-lagged couple. I’m usually an early riser, but when I opened my eyes yesterday morning, it was already past 9:00 a.m. Apparently, I needed the catch-up too. There was no rush to get anywhere, no sightseeing plans to keep up with and no alarm telling us it was time to get moving. It was a good day to settle into ship life and enjoy the fact that we had nowhere else to be. But there was one thing I had been looking forward to all day. Later in the afternoon, we would be sailing through the Strait of Messina, the narrow passage that separates mainland Italy from Sicily. It lies between Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot, and Sicily, and has been an important waterway for thousands of years. At its narrowes...

We left Amsterdam in the afternoon on October 1st, feeling a little sad to say goodbye. It had been such an amazing place to visit, and we were so happy we had taken the time to explore it together. But now it was time to move on to the next part of our trip, and really, the whole reason we were taking this trip in the first place. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were finally doing Son #3’s graduation trip. He graduated from college in 2020, right in the middle of COVID, which made planning any kind of trip pretty much impossible for the next year and a half. When travel started opening up again, he wanted to wait a little longer because his then-girlfriend was finishing her doctorate later that year. He wanted the trip to be a joint celebration for both of them. Then she graduated, got a job in Virginia, and the two of them decided to get married. At that point, the green card process became the priority. We couldn't really plan a big family trip when he needed to be ava...

  For our last day in Amsterdam, the men decided to visit the Rijksmuseum while I chose something quite different. I went to the National Holocaust Museum. I knew before I went that it would be a difficult visit, but I also felt that it was something I wanted to do while we were in Amsterdam. The museum tells the story of the persecution of Jewish people in the Netherlands during the Second World War, beginning with what life was like before the war and following the gradual process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and murder. What struck me most was how much it helped me put a picture in my mind of what actually happened here in Amsterdam. We had spent our days wandering through beautiful streets, along canals and across bridges. We had admired the old buildings, enjoyed the cafés and watched people going about their everyday lives. Then, inside the museum, I was reminded that these same streets had once been the backdrop to something unimaginable. The museum is lo...

It’s October first and the beginning of another blog challenge month with The Ultimate Blog Challenge.  It’s a month long challenge where participants  try and share a blog post everyday along with supporting fellow participants.  I’ve signed up to participate, but since I’m currently travelling with my family by both land and sea, I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to make everyday.   If you’re interested in joining, you can find the challenge here: Ultimate Blog Challenge Beyond Amsterdam Yesterday we decided to leave Amsterdam behind for a day and see a little more of the area around the city. We hopped on a train and made two stops, each very different from the other. Our first stop was Zaandam. Zaandam is only a short train ride from Amsterdam, but it felt like we had stepped into a different world. The town has a long connection with shipbuilding, timber and the industrial development of the Zaan region. At one point, more than 600 windmills were operating her...