Since this was just a regular morning for 1200 of the passengers, normal breakfast, served at a normal pace, was available in the dining room, and the buffet was not any more busy than any other day.
We needed to be out of our room by 8:30 and off the ship by 9:30. So, we planned to meet up with Marika in front of the main dining room at 8:30 and told Rio (who wanted to get one last trip to the buffet in) to meet us in the Centrum at 9:25. We had a nice, leisurely breakfast, met up with Rio and were walking off the ship a couple of minutes before 9:30.
Marika had made friends with a German girl (Viki) in the teen club, and as luck would have it they were right behind us getting off. We stopped to grab a quick photo of the girls and let them say goodbye, an then headed on down to pick up our luggage.
With such a small group of disembarking passengers, and being some of the last off, it was VERY easy to find out bags. There was no customs or immigration line to go through (typical for a cruise in this area) and we were walking out of the building less than 5 minutes after we walked off the ship.
Right there next to the door was a table set up by Park Mar (phew!). We handed them our receipt and they gave us our key and our car was RIGHT there. I couldn't believe how close the car was to the ship. It was so wonderful and easy to just walk over there, no shuttles or anything, and load up to go home.
We were on the road and driving less than 15 minutes after heading for the ship's exit--without rushing! It was so easy and so lacking in stress that I would choose a cruise embarking in Genoa over another port if others things were more or less equal--JUST for this excellent and easy way to end.
Being the last day of Pfingstferien (a major school break in southern Germany), we expected long back ups at the Gotthard tunnel. So, we decided to return home via the San Bernardino tunnel. The normal route for this would then send up up near Munich, but we wanted to avoid flooding as well, so we crossed through the tunnel, then headed over to Basel and then up. In total that adds about 45 minutes to the trip if you encounter no traffic issues. We figure it likely saved 2-3 hours over the back ups we would have had otherwise. AND it was gorgeous. An even prettier drive than Gotthard--by far. Some day I hope to drive all the way up and over the pass. Here are a few photos for you:
(the view from the GAS STATION before we got up into the mountains)
(a really pretty place for a highway rest stop) I was freezing in the photo though--it was about 35 F and windy)
Heading towards Basel, after the pass, we passed (too quickly for me to grab a photo) an honest to goodness goat-herder on the mountainside with several goats. Marika commented that it was the real life Peter (if you do not know what she was referring to, please reread the classic Heidi). Not 10 minute later we passed:
(Heidi Town!)
And, shortly thereafter came to a much needed rest stop, which really amused me to no end. It was kitschy in the extreme but also fun and adorable. Please forgive me all the photos that I just had to take.
All told, with stops for an excellent Italian truck stop pizza lunch, restroom breaks and a quick and cheap dinner at Burger King once back in Germany, we made it home about 8:30 p.m. Not bad for a ay taht started off nice and slow.
Tomorrow I will be picking up Marika from Girl Scout camp. The camp is near the popular tourist town of Rothenburg (an old walled city). If weather and traffic cooperate we hope to explore the town a bit and then I can have a nice German blog post tomorrow night!
--Hadley
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