Nana and I are off on another adventure! We are going on a cruise, and the theme of this cruise is “In the Wake of the Vikings.”

Norway → Iceland → Greenland is, almost port for port, the actual route the Norse followed a thousand years ago as they pushed west across the North Atlantic. It’s historically real — not a stretch — so this will almost be like bedtime stories for the grandkids. It will feel like we’re retracing an old adventure story.

To start off our trip, since we’re already in Europe, we came early and visited our daughter and her family. We flew into Hannover, spent a few days there, and then took the train to Rotterdam to catch our Viking Voyage cruise.

Nana and I love visiting our children and grandchildren. There is nothing like watching everyone grow up — from work problems and life issues, to playing tickle on the living room floor. This is true for every one of our children and grandchildren.

We love visiting Hannover in the summer around this time, which lines up with the Maschseefest. It’s Germany’s largest lake festival, drawing over two million visitors each year since it was founded in 1986. The festival actually traces back even further — its roots go to 1950, when Hannover’s canoe sport clubs held a “Wassersportwoche” (water sports week) alongside the German Canoe Championships. It took on its current form decades later, and today it stretches along the shores of Lake Maschsee for about three weeks, offering visitors more than 200 performances and a wide variety of food from around the world.

We spent both nights just listening to music… and eating… and drinking. It’s so interesting how music brings back so many memories, like ELO and Irish ballads. My favorite was the Irish area, easily. We also visited the children’s play area, and then I got some great adult time in with Haley and Renato — even had a Lüttje Lage. It’s a Hannover specialty, and not just any liquor-and-chaser combo — it’s a specific local tradition: a shot of Steinhäger (or Korn) and a small glass of beer, held together in one hand between the fingers, and drunk simultaneously from both glasses at once without spilling. It’s considered a bit of a party trick, and very much a Hannover thing to do.

But the real highlight was watching Cecilia and Isaac step up and help with our suitcases — six in all, since Nana packs a lot, and those formal nights take up a lot of space! They helped us haul everything from the apartment, through the subway, all the way to our ICE train.

We made the ship with no problems, though we were among the last to board.

So much more to come — this will be an interesting cruise.