Well, I finally managed to go through and research every port. Amsterdam and Dublin were, well, massive. Amsterdam has way too much to see. The Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and The Royal Palace just to name a few. Crazy amount of restaurants I'd like to eat at, and lots of shopping. Yes, I like to shop. Mainly for oddities and funny things. At least for a while. I get burnt out quickly. Guess I get to retain my man card.
Dublin strangely involves a lot of drinking-type places. I don't know if my great-grandmother Whelehan would approve, but them's the genes she passed down. Besides the Guinness tour (aka Mother's Milk) and the Jameson's distillery, the Tall Ship and Famine Museum (yes, they are together) and the Dublin Zoo interest me greatly. Good thing for smaller ports and sea days interspersed here.
Been busy on the Cruise Critic forum lately. I'm usually shy about forums and likewise large crowds (until I get to know people), but I put out the list of sunrise/sunset times and average temps. after some questions and it was appreciated. Feeling more welcome all the time. Maybe the meet and greets they have will be fun for me after all. Commented on a beer list, and folks actually wanted to see that. Guess being anal about knowing as much as possible ahead of time pays off.
Now mind you, while I plan fervently, once we're there, we're laid back. We see the things we really want to see, but beyond that we pretty much just wander and stop at what interests us. Knowing what area to do that in helps, though. Have had some wonderful experiences doing just that. Chatting it up with the locals is always one of my favorite activities. Strange, with a few people I'm extroverted, in larger settings I'm extremely introverted. I suppose over the course of years and tens of thousands of dollars a therapist could tell me why. I really don't care.
But hey, here's the big occassion, the shore excursion planning is FINALLY done. Errrr, kinda. I made my list and finally went over it with Neesh's choices tonight. We have our must-do's, or sounds goods, the iffys, and the cross of the lists done. Next step is to get together with our two friends who are joining us to see what's in common. Then Neesh and I will whittle the list down further and finally book the things. Assuming there's any room left. We're already hearing of waitlisting. If we can't, we can't, I won't lose sleep over it.
So yippee, planning all but done! Sit back and relax, yes? NO! Now it's time to implement what we've planned. Good Lord, this sounds like a battle plan now. I need a new suit! I need my tux cleaned! I need ties! I need transpo to Boston! On and on and on. Don't get me wrong, it's now getting very exciting. It all seemed very surreal when we first started this, now the reality is really setting in. What was several months away is now only 11 1/2 weeks away. Gah!
Yet, I enjoy the planning, knowing it will all pay off for 5 weeks of utter relaxation and living our trip to the fullest. I'll be a pile of mellow mush when I return. What I don't enjoy is the increasing anxiety surrounding work. What I thought was that I'd be in good shape before I left is already turning into a mad rush to stay ahead of all the things getting piled on me. My Program Manager had a look of utter doom and futility when my boss and I finally told her what she must know. That and perhaps a look of "crap, why doesn't my husband do this for me?!" So I'm going to pay for this trip in more than monetary means. I will
report back in August just how long the vacation glow lasted. I'm
suspecting one singular day. Wish me luck.
And beyond all this nonsense of me babbling on about planning, as well as interspersing "yippee" comments with "oh crap" comments, I'm just looking forward to reporting in nearly real time all the great things we'll see. It can't come soon enough. Once I have everything all set, that is.
So for now, as Izzy Mandelbaum said in Seinfeld, "it's go time!"
(note to self: make list of all strange exclamations at the finality of this blog, like Gah! and Yoiks!)
