Well Doggone, We Did It

Russia was wonderful. The food was wonderful---it was a Swiss riverboat. The room was ok. The facilities elsewhere (dining halls, bars, libraries, etc) were fine. We had to climb lots and lots of stairs: A small drawback in light of the many plusses.
Grandma Letty got to the Hermitage, something she had wanted to do for years and years. Ditto the Amber Room at Catherine's Palace in Pushkin. For a look, go on YouTube and search Amber Room. Almost as good as the real thing.
My feet, now in their mid-seventies, gave out a few times but I missed only a little; John was even more energetic than I with his new heart valve (put in a year ago) and his new SAS shoes. He could go for hours. I have not been similarly brought up to date. Mores the pity.
We have tons of pictures. We used up a photo card holding 100 shots, and printed most of them. We had many really pleasant experiences with Russians and Swiss; most of the waiters and waitresses on the boat were from Siberia which seems to sport a first-class Language Institute.
I was glad to know it had something to recommend it other than Gulags.
Our bus guide spoke great English and was the best and most informative of a crew of 5. All in all, we lucked out..
John gave two lectures on the ship on Russian Opera, a subject he is writing a book about. They were well received. I was very proud.
We even met a few couples who had read our newspaper column and extolled it. Very gratifying.
Now we want to go to Egypt, despite still jet-lagging from a 17 hour crowded flilght. Are we crazy? Don'tanswer.