Travel with Moores

Thursday, May 26, 2022

The End-- for this trip

4 1/2 months of luggage

The End, of this trip --May 25, 2022

Well, a wonderful adventure has come to an end, but the memories will live on, as will the friendships we've made.

Last minute packing to head home (too much stuff), last minute goodbye dinners, and photos, and hugs. Goodbyes to the great crew members, who treated us so well.

We are so fortunate to have experienced all the adventures, both big and small. Cable car rides, camel rides, canal rides, train rides, toboggan rides, Grand Prix go-kart racing, glaciers, fjords, mountains, lakes, Petra, Pyramids, ruins, snorkeling in the Red Sea, floating in the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Istanbul, temples, mosques, cathedrals, Acropolis, Ephesus, Gaudi, Cape Horn, sunset outdoor dinner in a desert bedoin camp in Saudi Arabia, Medina, mahjong, bridge, trivia, big beautiful cities, small quiet waterfronts.

I still plan to share some posts and photos (eg. Barcelona, Bergen, Copenhagen, Stockholm) when I have more time. We were seeing new places almost every day and enjoying friends' company and entertainment at night, so I got behind.

We traveled Los Angeles, CA-Stockholm, Sweden -

31,227 nautical miles / or
35,911 statute miles,
Jan. 10 -- May 25, 2022.
Total time: 135 days
Port Days: 77
Sea Days: 59
Countries: 28
Continents: 5
Ports: 57

Will I have more time? -- now that reality sets in and I once again will be cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, remembering how to drive? Looking forward to seeing and spending time with our friends at home. Most wonderful will be seeing Cheryl, Syd, Jim, and our granddog, Simba.

YES, God willing I will have time, and I will enjoy every moment. I treasure each day.

We were so lucky to enjoy this trip. World events and world health issues affected many changes to the original itinerary. With a covid saliva test each day, frequent hand washing and masks, we managed to have lots of fun and stay very healthy, without catching even a cold.

Best of all is sharing these moments, big and small, with Dave, my soulmate and my love.

The 38 of us who stayed on for the extra 2 week Homelands tour

me, Lena, Wayand

Us w Gen. Mgr., Wendy Gower

Aleem and Cindy

Lynn and Don

Lynn and Jim

Uma w 3 dessert cakes for us

Surf and turf for our last lunch on ship

Lynn, Wendy, Mara, and me

Lena and Larry

Last supper w Rosemary and Ted before they left us in Bergen

Last cocktail time w Rosemary and Ted before they departed in Bergen

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Gdansk, Poland -- May 21

Our first time in Poland!!

Gdańsk is widely known as the city of glowing amber and Gothic cathedrals. Its luster goes back to medieval times when it was one of the most prosperous cities in the Hanseatic League, the mercantile powerhouse of the Baltic.

The city's rich history is on display in the remarkably restored Old Town, a splendid mix of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque styles----from the royal residence of Green Gate to the 15th-century Artus Court, a merchant's palace.

One of its most fascinating structures is the Gdańsk treadwheel crane, a 14th-century human-powered device that loaded and unloaded cargo. Two men to a wheel. Four men could lift 11 tons of cargo.

The German attack on the Polish military depot at Westerplatte marked the start of World War II and the city was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939.

World War 2 began here and I never knew it until our visit to Gdansk.

This city was destroyed by Russia during the second World War after Germany took over Poland. Gdansk was a major port area at that time and remains so today. It was voted afterward to rebuild Gdansk in the former architectural style.

A monument to the shipyard strike led by Gdansk native, Lech Walesa, is erected in Gdansk shipyard area. A shipyard electrician by trade, Wałęsa became the leader of the Solidarity movement, and led a successful pro-democratic effort which in 1989 ended the Communist rule in Poland and ushered in the end of the Cold War. Lech Wałęsa became the first democratically elected President of Poland since 1926 and the first-ever Polish President elected in popular vote. He also received the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the last few months over 3 million residents of Ukraine have fled to Poland. Ukraine flags fly everywhere in support of the citizens, who are being murdered by Russia.