The Storyteller | Mary Vee

Basel, Switzerland, Photo by Mary Vee Last week, hubby and I cruised the Rhine River from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam. I have a plethora of photos, new information, and SO much to tell...for another time. Today, I want to share what my new friends from the ship discovered. Guests came from all over the world to experience a cruise. Traveling port to port. The convenience of leaving your suitcase in one stateroom the entire time and having the option to eat on the ship or to purchase a meal at a restaurant near the dock is so lovely.  For every walking tour and excursion, only local guides were allowed to present information. So, a guide hired by the ship may take us to a palace built in the 1600's, but the same guide may not present information about the actual grounds. Only an individual living locally and is an expert in the topic may present. Seriously, I couldn't take notes fast enough. These individuals were a wealth of knowledge! Remember, these guides are ...

My daughter saw a poster at her work: Lithuanian festival. She took a pic with her cell phone with all the details and told us as soon as she walked in the door. "Yah wanna go?" Hah. Did we want to go. Let me tell you about Lithuanians, they know how to have fun! Nestled in a community where the houses are only inches away from each other was the building where the festival took place.  A team of dancers, ranging from the little ones in this photo to adults standing behind the curtain, performed ethnic dances. The audience clapped to the beat and cheered the dancers on. Lithuanians who ran the kitchen had no idea such a crowd would come. It seemed every Lithuanian from hundreds of miles heard the news. They ran out of food hours before the festival was over! Our favorite Lithuanian dish: Kugelis, Cepelinai, sausage, and sauerkraut My son and I went to one line and told the worker what we wanted. We knew how to say the words and apparently convi...