I'm back! What a ride!
Aug. 12th, 2009 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenGreat food (I gained only 5 pounds in 2.5 weeks of EATING my heart out), great towns visited, great memories, and lots of pictures (6000+ to put it mildly). It's going to take a while to edit and post those pictures, but can't wait to dive into them!!
We visited London, Harwich, Salisbury, and Amesbury (along with Stonehenge and Wood Henge), Amsterdam, Rostock & Warnemuende (Germany), Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn (Estonia), and Copenhagen. Every night I slept about 6-7 hours a night, drank 2-3 glasses of wine each day - or 3-7 beers each day, depending on which country we were visiting (Germany was the absolute best for the beer and we visited a local brewery - YAY!!), had the odd martini, and smoked quite a few cigarettes (I know - bad Steve!).
Being with my dad for that concentrated time (17 days) and proximity (8' x 10' room with a balcony - adding to that a HUGE ship to get lost in) was interesting and very educational indeed. I learned a lot about him as a person now like what it means for him to be 85, how to work within his moods, how to care for him, and what to do in certain situations. I'm sure that my new knowledge and exposure won't help my siblings much in their own interactions with him, but at least they'll see a definite change in me and our relationship. And it's all good.
Granted, there were times that I wanted to jump off the ship - that's when I went for a drink. Or times I wanted to argue till the cows came home - that's when I went for a smoke. But all in all we had a blast and I would have regretted not doing it - no matter the cost.
More to come about the trip and pictures, but thanks to all who wished me well on the journey - the wishes and good tidings really helped!
We visited London, Harwich, Salisbury, and Amesbury (along with Stonehenge and Wood Henge), Amsterdam, Rostock & Warnemuende (Germany), Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn (Estonia), and Copenhagen. Every night I slept about 6-7 hours a night, drank 2-3 glasses of wine each day - or 3-7 beers each day, depending on which country we were visiting (Germany was the absolute best for the beer and we visited a local brewery - YAY!!), had the odd martini, and smoked quite a few cigarettes (I know - bad Steve!).
Being with my dad for that concentrated time (17 days) and proximity (8' x 10' room with a balcony - adding to that a HUGE ship to get lost in) was interesting and very educational indeed. I learned a lot about him as a person now like what it means for him to be 85, how to work within his moods, how to care for him, and what to do in certain situations. I'm sure that my new knowledge and exposure won't help my siblings much in their own interactions with him, but at least they'll see a definite change in me and our relationship. And it's all good.
Granted, there were times that I wanted to jump off the ship - that's when I went for a drink. Or times I wanted to argue till the cows came home - that's when I went for a smoke. But all in all we had a blast and I would have regretted not doing it - no matter the cost.
More to come about the trip and pictures, but thanks to all who wished me well on the journey - the wishes and good tidings really helped!
