This article (h/t Steve) about the so-called glamour of travel hit home with me tonite…
Although the past few weeks of traveling have had more than their fair share of glamour, if you’d seen me schlepping around the city today, you probably would’ve wondered if I was homeless–carrying too many travel bags and crutches and an umbrella, wearing clothes that hadn’t been washed in 2 weeks that included mismatched socks, scratching at my many mosquito bites, looking for somewhere cozy to sit while I people-watched. It was fun, but it was not glamorous…I was a bit cranky and achy and trying to find a fun way to pass the hours until we could get the key to our temporary apartment. We ended up finding a fun little street fair to wander, but after so many of ‘those’ looks from bystanders, we realized that luggage-carrying odiferous and slightly grubby (although happy and well-intentioned) tourists were not really welcome there…
The good news is that my clothes are now I the laundry (yay and please keep your fingers crossed that this odd Finnish washing machine does the job) and tomorrow I will once again be fresh and maybe even just a wee bit glamorous. But tonite, I’m settling for a cozy and domestic and not-so-fancy evening in my gym clothes, writing and making lists of things that need to get done before we launch again….
(photo taken last night from the deck of our ship, in the rain, as the sun was dipping low on the horizon)
A few years back when we took the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, we berthed in the “cheap seats” down below deck, and heard the ice scraping against the hull during the night. It was both alarming and soothing once you got used to it.
that sounds awfully scary to me, Rich. Were you not dreaming of the Titanic all night long???
We were on the top floor of rooms where we were pitching with each wave. It was a bit unsettling at first but I ended up sleeping remarkably well once I finally fell asleep.