2019 began with the usual ball drop in Times Square. In early March I took Lucas to his first ever Broadway show. Naturally, it had to be the Lion King.
After much thought, soul searching and a lifetime in New York, I decided to sell my house and relocate to Savannah. I had visited several times since my daughter and her family had moved there and it made sense. The area where she lives is close to transportation and the airport and the homes are relatively new. Decision made, I listed the house I had owned for 33 years and started the house hunt in Savannah. On previous visits, we had visited some of the model homes in the area and I had found one with a floor plan that was exactly what I needed. If you’ve been following this blog, you already know packing light is not in my DNA. Neither is downsizing. After 28 years in a 2500 sf house with a finished basement, you tend to acquire a few items. Not to mention all the relatives with smaller homes who have run out of space and think you have room for their overflow. I already had the experience of having to move out of the house for the two years years we lived in Illinois and then from Illinois to my friends house. We had stored all of our furniture and belongings in a PODS container and small storage unit. After our two years in Illinois came to an end, our tenants were not yet ready to move on so we retrieved all the items in storage and along with the healthy amount we had acquired in Illinois, moved to my friends house which was only 4 miles from ours. Three years after that, we moved back to our house with everything. After my husband passed, I had expected to remain in my house for good but as it happens, life can turn on a dime. Having custody of my grandson made me rethink my plans and six years after moving back to my house, it made the most sense to move to Savannah where I would have a ready made support system. It also afforded me the opportunity to purchase a nearly new house not much smaller than the one I was leaving but what I didn’t factor into the equation was the lack of a basement. Downsizing was less painful than I anticipated but still challenging. Tag sales are enormously helpful. What could be better than being paid for things you no longer use or want. The biggest obstacle was choosing what to get rid of. After the first few struggles, it got easier. I realized so much of what we hang on to is somehow dictated by our experience growing up. I grew up in a two family house with my grandparents on the first floor. My grandparents and my parents as well, lived through the Great Depression and by necessity, saved EVERYTHING. Changing a mindset is not impossible. I would guess I probably parted with one third of my possessions. There was still a sizeable amount to deal with. What made all this seem possible was again, my wonderful collection of friends and family who had planned a series of events to kick off my departure. From Broadway shows, to rooftop bars to backyard barbeques it was amazing and memorable.
Moving, to me, is probably at the top of life’s worst experiences. Since I was hopeful this would be my last move, I decided to spend the money and have everything packed. If you can afford it, this is something that can relieve a huge amount of stress from the move. The packers were recommended by the moving company and were extremely professional. After bidding a proper farewell to my much loved home, Lucas, myself and the cat left for the airport only to find when we arrived that our flight had been canceled. Yet another think fast scenario. Uber dropped us off at a local hotel and we were finally off to Savannah the next morning. Meanwhile, the moving truck was on its way and was scheduled to arrive in 2 days. This would give us a chance to paint the rooms where the heaviest and largest furniture was going. Everything arrived intact and the only thing that broke was something I dropped! What remained after the purge filled a 60 foot trailer that was also supposed to transport my car. The car didn’t fit and had to come separately. In spite of the amount of life’s acquisitions, I am extremely organized. Unpacking was finished in a week and we could now get down to the business of living in Savannah. On previous visits I had made a few friends who were very helpful in directing me to the necessary resources. Shopping was close by and was not an issue since I had already mapped that out. The next few months were mostly dedicated to settling in, getting school arranged for my now 5th grader and developing a routine in a different place and space. A quick trip back to Long Island in June for Lucas to have surgery and we were finally able to be home. School starts a month earlier in the South so August saw Lucas off to his first day in a new school. Public schools in this district wear uniforms which to me is a very good thing.
Some time ago, we had planned a cruise to Scandinavia. It was an ambitious trip stopping in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Russia. The plans for this trip had been finalized before we moved and I realized I would be away with Lucas starting a new school. I was able to be there the first few days and caught him coming off the bus when I got home. He had a great time with my daughter and her family so it was all good.
This time the crew was down a member since Jennifer would not be able to join us. We started in Copenhagen. No visit to Copenhagen would be complete without seeing the Little Mermaid.
After deciding the mermaid looked lonely and we couldn’t stay any longer to keep her company, we left her and made our way to the ship. The first stop on our itinerary was Germany where we to visit Berlin. This was one of the very few times an excursion was not a positive experience. We thought the person on the bus with us was the tour guide but she was apparently the bus monitor and extremely inexperienced. Once we entered Berlin, we had to pick up the tour guide. This tour was mostly on our own and we all went off in different locations. The city is beautiful and very eclectic. I saw well remembered landmarks, the Brandenburg Gate, a section of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and a Holocaust Memorial that is part of the Topography of Terror Documentation Center but I had a feeling of heaviness the whole time I was there. Possibly because we got off to a bad start. But as it turned out, the trip back was worse. We dropped off the tour guide and the “bus monitor” decided she had to go to the train station with two people on our bus. She was gone nearly an hour with no communication. It was a hot day and we eventually had to get off the bus and wait outside since Berlin law does not allow a vehicle to idle for more than five minutes. After she finally returned, the ride back was not pleasant. Interestingly, the four of us hadn’t spoken to each other until dinner and I was surprised to learn that even though we are all different faiths and nationalities, individually, we all had the same feeling of heaviness in Berlin.
We were happy to back on board and on to our next destination, Stockholm, Sweden. Who wouldn’t love this city of 14 islands. There’s much to explore and after our previous experience, being around happy people was a pleasure.
Our visit to Stockholm was brief but long enough to decide it merits a return visit.
Our next stop definitely unique. An early morning visit to an ice bar in Helsinki, Finland. Breakfast menu-Bilberry Vodka in an ice cup. We were advised to keep the cup as a souvenir! The whole experience was amazing and full of laughs. We were given cold weather gear, a tour of the facilities, a dogsled ride and “breakfast”. Aside from the laughs, it was really quite beautiful. An entire village of ice sculptures and igloos surrounded the ice bar.
More to explore in Helsinki, we found a local restaurant to have lunch and wandered around the city square admiring the architecture and the art on display. All this while, Rose was doing really well with her walker and cane. She’s had several lung surgeries so she has to stop periodically but she somehow always manages to keep up (except when we lose her to an interesting shop).
Our next stop was St. Petersburg, Russia and the magnificent Catherine Palace. I was most looking forward to seeing the Amber Room. I’ve seen several documentaries on it and even though it’s a recreation, it’s still breathtaking. The original Amber Room was dismantled and hidden by the Nazis. It’s whereabouts have still not been discovered. Thanks to color photographs taken in 1917, documentation gathered after WWII, unbelievably talented craftspeople and modern technology, the Amber Room has been recreated.
This photo is from obviously from a souvenir book since photos are not allowed and this ban is STRICTLY enforced. Hopefully, one day, the original will be found.
The rest of the Catherine Palace was almost too lavish to believe. Unfortunately, this was one time, Rose was not able to take the tour. She came with us to the palace but much of the tour required walking up high staircases so she stayed behind in the palace gardens which are every bit as beautiful as the palace. Of course we took multiple photos and videos to share with Rose.
St. Petersburg is another interesting mix of old and new. Ultra modern bridges and buildings in contrast to onion domed churches and cathedrals.
The next stop on our journey, Norway. All I can say is while its architecture is distinctive, the landscape is glorious. It seemed like every mountain (and there are lots of mountains) has a waterfall and every place we went was a travel brochure photo moment. In spite of the remote character of much of Norway, it is an extremely sophisticated country, even in rural areas where we found towns with beautiful gardens and shops with the latest fashions. Rose did extremely well in Norway and as usual, we lost her to the shops.
One of my best memories of Norway was the luncheon we had at a restaurant on a mountain. The food was beyond delicious. We were served salmon that was so fresh it seemed like it had been caught five minutes before we arrived. However, the reindeer head on the wall didn’t seem to share our enthusiasm.
Trolls are everywhere in Norway. Including my new BFF!
Unfortunately, It was now time to bid farewell to Norway and sail to our last stop, Copenhagen. We had been there briefly at the start of this adventure but now had more time to explore since we had opted to stay 2 more days. It was well worth the time. We spent one day at the famous Tivoli Amusement Park. As luck would have it, this was the day of the dog show. This show is not about breeds, just the cutest, smartest and best overall dog, based on audience votes. There were dogs everywhere and in spite of the dogs, this was the cleanest outdoor place I’ve ever been. No need to worry about stepping in anything, there was nothing anywhere. The park has some awesome rides. I’ve always loved the rides but always seem to find myself in the company of people who don’t. No matter, there’s always the odd teenager who will fill the empty seat next to you. I will say, Fran was game for a few rides but drew the line at the one in the next photo.
Once again, we find ourselves at the end of an epic journey. I think we covered more ground on this trip than ever before but it was worth every minute. The holidays came and went. Memories of good times and good friends are always close. My family and I did manage a short trip to Orlando Florida to celebrate the New Year with visits to Legoland and Disneyworld which was hugely enjoyable even though no one was feeling up to Universal Studios on our last day.
I’d like to say the crew was in the process of planning our next journey but as 2019 came to a close we found ourselves in the midst of a world wide tragedy. The thing that most people never thought would happen hit the world. I’m sure most of you have heard the statement, “The world is one plane ride away from a global pandemic”. Any one who has traveled at all can appreciate the seriousness of that statement. However, panic or unwarranted fear is never the answer. For most of 2020 we followed the rules, stayed home when mandated, wore our masks and waited for good news. We weren’t sure how long it would be before it was safe to travel. That question would be answered in a way no one could have anticipated. In October of 2020 my grandson’s mom passed away. She lived in upstate New York where she had a large family. A memorial service in lieu of a funeral was planned for the following month. We had to be there. A supply of masks in hand, we set off. We were flying from Savannah, GA to Albany, NY and as we disembarked, we were greeted by armed soldiers with health forms to fill out. These were not optional. The service was heart wrenching especially when my now 11 year old grandson gave a tribute to his mom. I was hoping to be able to do something to take the edge off and I was able to arrange a visit to my granddaughter in Massachusetts who had just had a baby boy. It did lighten the mood some. Now, it was time to go home to Georgia and face the future.