Full disclosure--I've written these last three posts at home. There was just no time to get them done on the trip, or there was poor wi-fi.
All good things come to an end and that means packing. Our flight from Zurich was scheduled after one, so we left the hotel at 9:15 am. Since Viking takes care of everything, that meant having your bags outside the door at 8. So we put them outside and then had our (included) breakfast at the hotel, which was pretty good. Then the bus to the airport.
A word about the airline, Swiss (I keep wanting to call it Swissair, which is the old name). First, they had the most comfortable pillow I've ever had. Second, they're the only airline to give me chocolate ice cream during the flight. Last--but not least--they gave a small Swiss chocolate bar near the end of the flight. This vacation probably pushed me over the "borderline diabetic" line. The flight was smooth and we landed in Chicago on time, but remember those French strikes I mentioned at the beginning of the blog? We had to divert around France because the air traffic controllers were on strike too. I doubt all of them were, but the pilot said we were flying around France, so...
I won't complain too much about the second flight on United to Harrisburg, but there was a "computer problem" that took 90 minutes to resolve while we were on the plane. They gave us a chance to deplane (which I think is the law), but we stayed on to be safe. With all that delay, we finally got home to Carlisle at 12:30 am. I was dead tired, but luckily I had Monday off too so I could rest some. And finish the blog.
What did I think of the cruise? I think I've said it before, but the Viking staff was great, the food was excellent, and we met some interesting people on the way. I really did like it better than the ocean cruise we took to Iceland in 2018. The company does put a lot of thought into what they're doing and all the excursions (we only took the included ones) were interesting and informative, although some guides were better than others. Would I do it again? Yes, but. We did this (as I've said) because Fe had a voucher, so the cost was only half of what it would be. Double that, and I think you can do better on your own for a lower cost. Also, we spent a good bit of time waiting on the group when I could be looking at other things. I understand this but as long as I'm able to get around, I'd rather be on my own. What was my favorite part of the trip? The Paris part by a long shot. A fascinating city with so much history and culture. It's no wonder the French are proud of it. One and a half days was not enough time, but we did see more than I thought we could.
Lessons learned: 1) Remember that jams and sauces should go in your checked bag, not your carry on. I can't believe I forgot this, but I did and had to pitch a few things we bought at the farmer's market. 2) Always check your pockets before doing your vacation laundry. As said above, I was dead tired, so I just threw what I was wearing into the basket and then put them in the laundry the next morning (or really the same morning). Now I have the cleanest passport I ever did. At least the stamps in it are still good, but it's unusable so I'll be requesting a replacement soon. There's money I didn't need to spend. Dumb. 3) When traveling overseas and using your credit card, always choose to have them use the local currency. If you let them charge it in US dollars, their bank will do the conversion and the exchange rate won't be as good as if your bank does it later. Now, I didn't do this but I heard a few others complaining about it.
So that's it for this trip. Hopefully you've seen something that whets your appetite to go somewhere new.
Viking Joke #15: In the year 917, a red-haired Viking named Rudolph was looking out his longhouse window one morning, He said to his wife, "It's going to rain today." She asked, "Why do you say that?" He replied, "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear."
