Thursday, October 13, 2011

Post cruise blues

Wow. So, honeymoon cruise in Europe was amazing. 2 weeks of waking up to a new port of call every day, walking outside to breathtaking views from the top of a massive ship with hot coffee and breakfast waiting inside; not to mention disembarking for incredible shore excursions in fascinating places like Kusadasi, Turkey; Split, Croatia; the town of Ioa, on the Greek island, Santorini; and Kotor, Montenegro. There are so many different languages, local customs, souvenirs, and cuisines that I could have spent all 2 weeks in any one of the ports of call and been happily occupied just seeing and experiencing everything.

Alas, it's over now. No more obsequious waiters and shopkeepers confusing me for a movie star from America (because any good looking, well dressed person from America MUST be a movie star). No more towels carefully folded into whimsical animal shapes waiting in my state room for when I get back from a long day of touring the ruins. No more themed dance parties and game show activities with photographers and video cameras eager to capture the elegant young married couple on honeymoon from DC.

It's true not everyone knew our names, but there wasn't a person on that ship that hadn't gazed enviously at my wife and I as we got on stage and sang karaoke, or walked out to the center of the empty dance floor and waltzed, rumba'd, cha-cha'd, or fox trotted until they couldn't stand it anymore and joined us. We were celebrities and everyone knew us on site, pulling us to the side to say how they enjoyed the song we sang, or how well we danced together, or simply how stunning my wife's dress was.

Yes, it's all over. All that's left are pictures and memories.

Someday, we'll go back; maybe not to the Mediterranean (not anytime soon anyway), but we could take a Caribbean cruise. It wouldn't be quite the same, but then nothing ever will. It was our honeymoon; it was magical and now it's over, but we'll never forget it.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Married, and back from Mediterranean honeymoon

I crave tzatziki and souvlaki. Grocery shopping was depressing today; Nobody at Giant wanted to haggle. I woke up at 6 am and no one had made coffee or folded my towels into whimsical animal shapes. I couldn't figure out which port we were in because the sun was coming in at the wrong angle. I wanna go back to Greece and make wine for a living. Boo.