Baltic Excursions

Let me rephrase that:

That was Amsterdam?

I’ve had a little time now to piece together some words on the long day that was my weekend in Amsterdam, and they can best be summed up by this passage found scribbled on a receipt in my wallet:

22 June,
The Carousel spins with about as much control as the mind will allow in this circus. Walking atop the breathing streets, the mismatched bricks offer sanctuary to the wanderer, the drifter, the vagabond. In the neon glow of the midday sun, I find myself questioning reality (what is true, what is right) in a space that is occupied by creators (Rembrandt) and carnival performers (midgets joining chorus with side street guitarists). Wandering, I can do nothing but ask, Is that me? Am I who is? Does that make sense? Who knows…who cares?

…So, if you can decipher that then you can get to the core of my experience. Now –

* * *

Breakfast on the ship:

Oh, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up, catch-up… ketchup?

…mmm, hash browns taste much better now.

So we left Amsterdam to return to London (where we didn’t get the chance to enjoy all the city had to offer the first go round). There we got caught back up in World Cup Fever, watching the games with religious fervor (the tears flowed forth as I watched England crash out of the brackets in a blaze of red carded glory). We also cleaned up our acts, Pat and I both deciding to cut most of our hair off to look more like respectable gentlemen (I would post a picture at this point, but I have neither the time nor the patience to figure out the upload process of this foreign machine I sit in front of).

With a final supper I parted ways with my two traveling companions and met my parents and siblings. Oh, the excitement in their eyes (or was it just the terrible smog in the air?). With them I would soon set sail across the Baltic. I would embrace the tourist mentality.

Two days later I made my third visit to the beautiful city of Harwich, England. Our ship was to depart.

* * *

It is a massive beast of a vessel. 160,000 tons of soft serve ice-cream, gambling tables, all-day buffets, Broadway Musicals (complete with C-team performers), and enough geriatrics to triple the population of Southern Florida. Four days onboard the ship already feels like forty pounds later, and the sheer amount of alcohol consumed at night is made only more bizarre by the age of the children I am drinking with. I mean-

Ok, we get it, but it feels like you’re drifting off into the negative here. We all know you’re having fun, it’s a cruise, let’s here about it.

Right, sorry. Exhaustion.
So we occupied Oslo two days ago. A museum of Viking ships and a breathtaking Olympic Ski Jump were quite the sights to take in (mostly because I am fairly certain the jump was used in The Spy Who Loved Me).

The Fourth of July was celebrated leaving Copenhagen, Denmark. There is nothing in this world that has made me more proud to come from where I do than to celebrate the birth of my nation in the middle of the Baltic Sea. I watched the sun set last night completely alone on the bow of the ship, the wind causing nothing but static in my ears. The sun cast a cascade of colors across the evening sky, and the latitude of our course allowed the magic hour to last nearly all night. Add then the twanging songs of America’s birth and you have one of the best Fourth of July celebrations I have had in recent years. The feeling was so inspiring that my sister and I placed second in the evening’s 50s and 60s Twist Competition (the commemorative key chains and shirts are sure to be passed down for generations).

We are now to be at sea for today, then it’s Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; somewhere in Estonia.

Excitement billows. But I must say that I am nearly ready to be home. I echo my friend Anton’s sentiments, I miss my friends, I miss home. 2 months without those comforts is starting to take its toll. Through all of the travels, all of the different nations and experiences, there hasn’t been one day I haven’t thought of all of them (some more than others, they’re my favorites [sorry others]). I can’t wait to see them soon.

In travels,
Kyle write your life story next time Rother