The cruise was perfect from Dan’s and my perspective. Our route had taken us in a 2,938 nautical mile (1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles) circle in an area we knew very little about. We loved the ship, our cabin, the itinerary, and our cruising pals. OK, the weather could have been a bit warmer and less windy but it beat the alternative of a late snow or pouring rain, so again, no complaints. Plus an early-in-the-season cruise meant way less tourists in all the ports of call.

It seemed impossible the trip was coming to an end. We spent our last lazy day at sea relaxing, packing, and getting organized to go home. We had a fun farewell dinner and talked about the things we enjoyed most about the trip.

Hettie: Moscow followed by Copenhagen
Ronnie: The sweet anniversary poem Hettie wrote (and shared at dinner) followed by our lovely staterooms with all the perks that came along with them
Cleone: Pre-cruise Amsterdam tour followed by the farm near Helsinki and the Hermitage
Walter: Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam followed by Estonia
Dan: Stockholm and St. Petersburg
Schele: St. Petersburg followed by Berlin

Sadly there was one main downside: Between bugs they came on board with and stuff they picked up, our pals did not feel totally well the whole time, so I’d venture to say they had a good time but in spite of our great company, not a great one. This trip was part of H&R’s 50th anniversary celebration, so we all felt particularly bad that they were not 100%. In fact we even decided to cancel the special Mothers Day dinner the guys had arranged for us moms at a specialty restaurant, since two thirds of us did not feel too celebratory.

On Friday we were up with the sun and enjoyed our hazy, cool approach into Amsterdam harbor. We had a noon flight so we went directly to the airport from the pier. The airport was as mobbed as I have probably ever seen. We were glad to have ample time to navigate check-in, security, immigration, and so forth. Our nonstop flight took off on time and the eight air hours passed quickly with me watching one movie after the next and eating all that was offered and Dan reading and dozing.

Fourteen hours after waking up, we approached Dulles airport which we noticed was actually just as picturesque from the air, with its green fields, forests, lakes, and monuments, as the approaches to the beautiful cities we had flown in and out of in Europe. Were we supposed to find some meaning in that?

An hour and a half after landing we walked in our front door ready to pick up our lives where we left off.