After thoughts

Final photos posted - still readjusting to being home.

I am happy that we went ahead with the trip in spite of the known (and always lurking unknown) obstacles that we encountered. 

As long as COVID is still a public health concern, travel outside of the US will be more complex and risky. Of course the kind of places that we want to travel to are desperate for the tourists to come back, so we were welcomed everywhere we went. But being on a large, luxurious cruise ship built to host 980 passengers with only 480 on board posed a real challenge for the staff. The captain said that the ratio of crew to passenger was 1:1. Other than constantly cleaning this and that, it seemed that many were really looking for something to do. We received so many ‘good days and thank yous,’ I really wanted to sit them down and hear their stories of life while the cruise ships were idle.

During the cruise portion of the trip, I learned a great deal about the tumultuous history of Malta and of the Balkans. And for the first time, I came to really understand how World War I got started and how the poorly managed aftermath in the Balkans contributed to the start of World War II. Each of the cities we visited in Montenegro and Croatia seemed well on the way to recovery, which considering what those populations have been through for generations was amazing in itself.

And in retrospect, I think our itinerary was overly ambitious under the ever changing COVID travel restrictions and the challenges of navigating new airports and train stations. With the horrible start at Charles De Gaulle in Paris and the high stress finish at the airport in Frankfort as bookends, I have to say that it could have been much worse in between!

I was really put off by the crowds and traffic in Naples, but did enjoy our Airbnb and dinners. Rome was harder for me, as I was not able to get in sync with our tour guide and missed some of the key attractions. Maybe starting out at the Vatican Museum was not such a good idea!