People and Places …

Some places are just downright unforgettable.  Kinda like some people.

Our Viking riverboat cruise lived up to its billing.  We visited The Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Hungary.  Saw castles, cathedrals and palaces everyday.  The vineyards outnumbered the glasses of wine we enjoyed, and that’s saying a lot.

We visited Amsterdam’s Keukenhof Gardens that boasts of six million tulips.  I think we saw all of them, but I stopped counting just short of a hundred.  Each castle had its own story, each cathedral its own brilliance and each palace its own family history.  And, I didn’t see a single creaky screen door on any of those palaces.

The sites were plentiful and breathtaking.  But these trips are as much about the people as the places.  Our riverboat, the Viking Baldur, had rooms to accommodate about 180 of us.  Excuse me, staterooms for 180 of us.  And, with three unnecessarily lavish meals each day there was plenty of time to eat and meet.  Mature adults, i.e. old folks, i.e. us, tend to get clique-ish, especially during a 17-day ride.  So, our clique formed quickly with some interesting characters.

Mack, from New Mexico who likes to be called a portion of his last name, is the type guy who could be a friend for life.  His real name is Gary and he livens every conversation with a subtle quip that brings belly laughs.  A former rugby toughie, he kept studying in life and earned four undergraduate degrees.  Sticking a ring on Cathy’s finger 25 years ago was his best accomplishment, and being part of their 25th anniversary on the riverboat was special.  Knew Mack half the cruise before learning he had polio as a child and wore those Forest Gump leg braces.  No need to dwell on any of that.  “Always better to look forward than backward,” he says.  Quality guy; quality wife.

James and Lynn have been married twice as long as Mack and Cathy.  From Arkansas, this couple is celebrating 50 years of marriage by tripping to several places around the world.  Either could have stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine, but Lynn was not shy about wearing the anniversary gift from new riverboat friends – plastic, gaudy, pierced diamond earrings. We worried her ear lobes might turn green after the third day.  This couple fit right in.

John and Marcia, from California, found a place at our table most meals, too.  I had to prod John to remove his blue LA Dodgers hat a couple of times.  His response: “Do you guys play major league baseball in Atlanta?”  They fit right in, too.

Leaders of the pack were the Brewers, our traveling partners and S.C. friends forever (pictured above).  Buddy, who uses “awesome” to describe everything, probably met 179 of the 180 passengers.  Wife Lynn could teach the Viking cruise managers and tour guides a thing or two.  As a couple, the Brewers are … well, awesome.

Outside our clique were other interesting people.  There was the gregarious businesswoman executive from Pennsylvania who previously had been a nun for 25 years.  And the beef and hay manufacturer from Utah.  And the nice couple who recently had moved from Hawaii to Georgia and now live in Marietta – just a short distance from our home in Woodstock.  We went half way around the world to meet these neighbors.

There were others, too, but by far the most interesting couple we met on board was Leonard and Mary Ann, from Oregon.  Leonard, a lawyer, has authored 30-plus books and presently is busy on nine revisions.  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned a forward for one of his books as did several other notables.  Leonard and Mary Ann have been on 32 cruises since 2002, and they schedule two every year despite working full-time.  They met in 1964 and have been married 52 years.  But they do not talk about 1964.  Leonard is blind, and 1964 is when he lost part of his left arm, fingers on his right hand and his eyesight.  When he was brought to the hospital, Mary Ann was his nurse who promised to stay by his side during his recovery.  She has been his eyes ever since.  He has never seen her.  And that’s all they have to say about that.

Kinda like Mack said, always better to look forward than backward.  Even if you cannot see.

For 17 days, Leonard and Mary Ann trudged through castles, gazed at sky-high cathedrals and visited ornate mansions with gold walls and meticulously detailed ceilings and artwork.  And, he is blind.  With his right hand seemingly attached to her shoulder, she continuously and quietly described details for him to envision.  Whether through windows on a bus ride or from the top deck of the Baldur, Mary Ann was Leonard’s eyes with a patient description for everything.  How amazing.

At breakfast one morning, Leonard talked about the cabin they own on a river in Oregon.  He described details of each room, confirmed by Mary Ann’s photos, even though he has never seen the cabin.  We swapped cabin stories and agreed that we should plan trips to visit each other – at our cabins.  Such a special, inspiring couple.

The Viking cruise concluded in Budapest, one of the world’s most photographed cities.  A night cruise along the Danube produced spectacular views of the city, sites that are downright unforgettable.

Kinda like the people.