My vacation just ended yesterday morning and I miss her already, the lovely Vasco da Gama. She brought us safely from Athens to Dubrovnik, with various beautiful destinations in between.
Finally, late this afternoon, I unpacked my suitcase. For some reason I could not bring myself to begin. And no, not because of the dirty laundry that needs to be dealt with in the coming days. But maybe because then I have to admit to myself, that this fantastic experience is over yet again? I probably should not share this – but you know by now, that I’m too honest for my own good most often. Yesterday morning in Dubrovnik, while watching the last “vacation sunrise” on deck 6 before deboarding the ship, I could not stop the tears from spilling over, because I did not want this vacation to end. You think that I act like a five-year-old, do you? Well go right ahead, but it doesn’t change the fact. This could have kept going until the day I fall over dead. Seriously. Waking up in the morning to discover a new destination all day, and to gather fantastic, lasting impressions is amazing. And it actually confirmed my suspicion once again, being, that I’m not the “stationary type”, at least not, if I am to be truly happy.
Overall, it was a wonderful vacation. But even this time, there were a few “hiccups”. It is a disappointing and incredibly sad fact, that most of the eastern european countries have a lot of stray dogs and cats. Unfortunately, in Albania and Montenegro I had to witness that with my own eyes. Being a huge dog lover, this was a horrific and absolutely heart breaking experience. Without being naive, I was hoping that I would not be confronted with this, because it is one thing to read an article or to see a documentary about it. Having to see it with your own eyes is quite another. The thought of so many of those beautiful, sweet animals not having a safe and loving home opens the flood gates instantly, but I will never be a witness to this first hand again, if I can help it. During our Saturday excursion, the fact that I saw a few stray animals, set the stage for a major panic attack that evening. It was emotionally exhausting and even more embarrassing. Although, I just wanted to forget about it, the staff was so unbelievably sweet and caring. Days later, they still asked me how I was feeling and if I needed anything, so empathic and kind. Regardless, what a flipping fuss over me and my dang issues, good heavens.
Quite a few of the other guests on this cruise were a catastrophy, to be sure. And I have to say it very harshly: I can’t remember a time or situation when I was more embarrassed to be German, than during this vacation. The behavior displayed was that of a five-year-old child. Unbelievable. They were complaining about every tired, boring thing not being 100% to their liking. Everyone was giving their best to make our vacation as fantastic as possible for us, but the ever nagging Germans can’t be pleased with anything. Not to mention that they, of course, would have done it all differently and certainly much better. And yes, they have to let everyone know, how it would have been done correctly, whether or not you want to hear about it is all the same to them. There were a few truly mortifying situations. During one of our excursions I even ended up apologizing to our tour guide for the rude and confrontational behavior of the people in my group. Imagine that. Yep, that’s how bad it was. Okay, enough of that.
Let’s enjoy some pictures instead…

All pictures by Claudia Braun 05/2025