June always seems to sneak up on me — which probably seems weird, since my birthday’s in early June (so you’d think I’d be paying extra-special attention), and May is so long you can’t help but notice it’s almost over for several days before it really is.
Still, changing the calendars over to June this morning throughout the house brought home one important fact to me, almost immediately.
THE HONEYMOON’S ONLY EIGHT WEEKS AWAY!
Ok, ok, I know that’s not exactly breaking news, but still. When we first decided what to do for a honeymoon, it felt like a small eternity away. Even when we were in Hawaii, the end of July seemed light years into the future. Last week, even, I couldn’t fathom how quickly the end of July would come, at least that is not until I started looking at my summer syllabi and realizing in the same span of time that I have to get ready / pack for kick-ass honeymoon, I also have to write three pretty substantial research papers and reading a buttload of books.
That’s, honestly, when it really hit me.
I believe sometime long ago, when I was being a better and more faithful blogger, I mentioned in passing that we were going on a truly spectacular honeymoon, but I’m fairly certain (foggy memory at work here) that I never actually told you all in bloggerland what said spectacular honeymoon entails.
In late July, we’re flying to Amsterdam, spending a couple of days/nights exploring Europe’s potentially most open-minded and liberal city, then hopping on a Celebrity Cruise ship for a 12-night Baltics cruise around some of Europe’s coolest northern destinations: Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tallinn, and my personal favorite, St. Petersburg.
Since I was about 15 years old, I have dreamed about spending some time in St. Petersburg. And for that reason, the great thing about the cruise itinerary is that it includes an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, so we have nearly two whole days to explore the city and its charms. That, to me, was the critical selling point.
I’ve never cruised before (neither has Daniel), so it will be an interesting experience. Honestly, my biggest reservation is about the fact that we’re going on a Celebrity cruise, which from what I can tell means we may never be able to wear denim on the boat at all. I really, really wanted to go on the Norwegian “freestyle” cruise option, but it cost a bit mroe and — as you might expect — cost is a big factor in this trip. That I have to wear what I consider dressy clothes every night for dinner just, well, SUCKS. But, my hope is that everything else about the cruise will be so fantastic that I’ll get over that part.
I am still in a bit of disbelief about the whole thing. I mean, seriously, we get to go to Europe for 2 weeks? Holy crap!