The Portage

“All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go

They’re standing here beside our door

One last look before we say goodbye

The dawn is breakin’ it’s early morn

The taxi’s waitin’ he’s blowin’ his horn

Already we’re so excited we could die

…

So ready are we, the traveling Zs

To share with you all we'll see

Thought we’d never ever get to go

But now we’re leaving on a jet plane

Don’t know if we’ll be back again

Oh babe, can't believe it's time to go”

Thank you, Mr. Denver, for all the great music you left us. (You almost wrote the perfect good-bye song).

Our departure date of November 17^th was driven primarily by economics. Winter in Europe is the off season. It's significantly less expensive, beautiful as a post card and no crowds. As you might expect, destination Poland in January is not high up on Rick Steve's list of must do travel videos.

Aside from what we consider to be an advantageous time to travel, we wanted to be in the heart of Christmas-Land during that time of year. Christmas Markets, the arrival of St. Nicholas, Christmas concerts, and Glühwein, of course, are local traditions and highlights we experienced in the past. We are very much looking forward to enjoying them again. For us, this is our Christmas.

Our celebration of the Christmas holidays with family members has diminished over the years; partly because of the passing of our loved ones and partly because of physical distances. We have so many pleasant memories of Christmas’ past with family but now, they're only memories. The chance to spend this special season in places like Colmar, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Lucerne, Zurich, and Vienna helps ease the tinge of emptiness we and many seniors like us feel during the Holiday season. No reason to get depressed. . . Improvise, adapt, and overcome! Since there are fewer gifts to buy for others now, why not continue to contribute to the economy by gifting yourself? You'll always like what you get!

Our flight out of Ft. Myers takes us to Minneapolis for a plane change to Paris. Dorothea, our wonder travel arranger, has us flying Delta in a “Pod” to France. I’m anxiously awaiting to see what exactly a “Pod” is. The only thing that comes to mind is the escape pod in “2001 Space Odyssey!” If while we’re in there HAL starts to talk to us, not so good!

We pick up our car, a spanking new Renault Duster SUV, at Charles De Gaulle airport.  Hopefully, all our luggage will be at baggage claim and easily recognized (remember the tassels!) and the layout of the airport Dorothea found will help us navigate to where we need to go. Oh joy!

Look out Europe, here come the Zs!.


Dorothea and Ed