European Cruisin' Adventure

Harry Potter countdown: 14 days 'til the last (sniff) book, 4 days 'til the next film. If J. K. Rowling kills Snape, I'll be really upset with her! He's a good guy, darn it, I just know it!

On to more pressing matters....
Well friends, the time has almost come. Husband and I are about to embark, literally, on a trip that we will certainly always remember. We're going on a cruise!!! We're getting to visit three countries we've never visited before!!! We're going to be gone for 3 whole weeks!!!

So the whole thing started a couple of years ago. Husband was surfing the web and read that the cast of NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor" was going on a cruise to Nova Scotia. He mentioned this idly to his mother; 10 minutes later, she had booked tickets for herself and Eric's dad! I'm really not kidding! They had a marvelous time on the cruise, and they said then that if "A Prairie Home Companion" ever went cruising again, we all needed to go.

Fast-foward to this summer: yep, that's right, we're going on a cruise with Garrison Keillor and friends! PHC is riding the waves through the fjords of Norway, and thanks to Husband's incredibly generous parents, so are we, as is Husband's totally awesome sister Zauditu.

The cruise is with Holland America, one of the big international cruise lines. It'll be a big boat. I've never been on a big boat, or even a medium-size boat before, so this will be something else. The ship leaves from Copenhagen, Denmark in a week, but Husband and I are arriving in Copenhagen early next week so we have some time to explore that city before going to sea. Once onboard, we'll spend 10 days cruising around the fjords of Norway. One of the side excursions that Husband and I chose involves actually kayaking on one of the fjords, which should be GORGEOUS. We'll also get to see where Grieg, Norway's most famous composer, lived. And we'll visit a Viking museum (of course! we have to!). On the ship, we'll have several Prairie Home Companion shows, as well as concerts and other fun stuff. It's amazing to think about everything that will be going on!

After the cruise, Husband and I are taking a short detour to Iceland before heading back to the States. We have friends from Florida State who live there, B & C, and they've insisted that they're picking us up at the airport, we're staying with them, and they're showing us all around Iceland. Don't need to twist my arm! We're really looking forward to seeing them and having some time to catch up and see their amazing country!

I doubt that I'll be able to to post during our travels. But when we get back, I'll put up some stories, as well as some photos.

I hope that you have a relaxing, fun July. If you are doing some traveling of your own, go safely and enjoy!

See you in August!