| My wife and I go on a lot of cruises. It all started | | | | are eating French fries in a McDonald's in Beijing, |
| about 10 years ago when we got married. We | | | | after seeing the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen |
| honeymooned on the American Queen River | | | | Square, and the Forbidden City! On that same |
| Boat, a week long cruise up the Mississippi river. I | | | | cruise I had been to ground zero in Nagasaki |
| must admit that was a fun trip. The boat could | | | | Japan. Now I must admit I never thought I would |
| just pull up to the bank and drop a long gangway | | | | ever be at ground zero where the Atomic bomb |
| onto the levee and walk on or off…back | | | | was dropped. Speaking of McDonald's, there is one |
| then there was no security to go | | | | at Red Square in Moscow. I was there during our |
| through… | | | | Baltic cruise. We docked for a couple of days in |
| Our second cruise a year later was aboard the | | | | St. Petersburg, and took a plane to Moscow for a |
| Crown Odyssey, a smaller older ship, on a cruise | | | | day. |
| through the Greek islands. What a trip! I | | | | Now I grew up in the days of the cold war, and |
| discovered that I love old Greek and Roman ruins, | | | | it's hard to get used to a McDonald's in Moscow. |
| and Mediterranean food is fantastic! Kathy says | | | | Earlier on that trip I visited Berlin and we saw |
| Greece has the best tomatoes of anywhere in | | | | what was left of the Berlin Wall. It was simply |
| the world. We had a blast, visiting places like | | | | remarkable for me to be visiting such places. |
| Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Istanbul. | | | | Never thought I would find myself standing in East |
| During that second cruise we built a website | | | | Berlin. |
| about the cruise and we would upload pictures | | | | Ok so there are a lot of amazing destinations, but |
| and text to the site during our stops in port. We | | | | not all cruises are destination cruises. Some are |
| would find an internet café and do the | | | | what my wife and I call "Party" cruises. Not much |
| uploading while sipping a cold drink. We have a | | | | to see at the ports of call, but lots and lots of |
| photo on our site with Kathy seated at a | | | | partying. A recent cruise we went on to the |
| computer at an internet café in Athens, and | | | | eastern Caribbean was one of the most fun filled |
| out the window over her shoulder you can see | | | | cruises I've been on. Kathy had been conversing |
| the Parthenon. | | | | with about 72 people who were going to be on |
| One of the best things about cruising is that you | | | | the cruise on something called "Cruise Critics" a |
| can see damned near everything you ever | | | | message board place where people meet to chat |
| wanted to see by going on a cruise. For example, | | | | about cruises. |
| one day I told Kathy that if she could find a cruise | | | | So we had cruise critic parties frequently on |
| where I could see the Egyptian Pyramids, then I | | | | board the ship, and went to the shore excursions |
| would go. I think it took her all of about 20 | | | | as a group. It was like doing everything with a |
| minutes to book the cruise. Silly me. But | | | | whole boatload of best friends you were meeting |
| hey…there I am at the pyramids and in | | | | for the first time. |
| front of the sphinx in Egypt. It turns out that the | | | | I hope my wife keeps dragging me on these |
| Pyramids are just a couple of hours by bus from | | | | cruises…I'll be kicking and screaming the |
| the port of Alexandria. | | | | whole way with a big grin on my face. |
| Other places I've found myself on these cruises | | | | |