Cruise Highlights

Some folks have been asking about Bob's epic cruise he took in May - where did he get to visit before the injury? Here are some of the highlights provided by his friend and travelling companion, Scott:

Bob and I flew out of Seattle on Wednesday, May 21. Flew from Seattle to Amsterdam to board the Celebrity Constellation for a 12 night Scandanavia and Russia cruise. Bob was in good spirits. He was a little unsteady but with the use of his cane, getting around well.  I was fortunate enough to have been asked to assist him on this cruise because we had travelled before to present at conferences and I had helped him with his dialysis and medical needs on those trips, so I know the drill, as it were. As his medical helper, Bob was able to get a good discounted rate for me to accompany him, and I was able to cover my airfare on my own. We were all set for a great trip!

We arrived in Amsterdam and transferred to the ship.  The first day was “at sea”. On May 23 we were docked at Warnemünde, Germany….a port not too far from Berlin, where some passengers took a day trip to Berlin.  Bob and I opted to stay in the port city and had a nice time walking around, seeing the sites, browsing in local shops and just recovering from the jet lag.  It was a nice day.  Bob bought a colorful kite for one of his adopted nieces as a souvenir.  It is now in the hands of some Russian bastard, er, uh, I mean hopefully it is being enjoyed by a deserving Russian child since we had to leave it behind along with other belongings due to weight restrictions on the medical jet, coming home.

After another day at sea, we docked at Helsinki, Finland. A beautiful city.  We joined the official tour group that day and saw sights. More great weather.

On Tuesday, May 27, we docked at St. Petersburg, Russia, where we were to spend two days sight-seeing.  This was I believe, the anticipated highlight of the trip for Bob.  He remarked that he had always wanted to see Russia, especially St. Petersburg, and he was of course well informed already of the history and knew exactly what he wanted to see. I was the naive eager student, always willing to benefit from his preparation and research.  Some things never change.

We went with the official tour group that morning and toured the famous and impressive Hermitage museum….an enormous place that one can only sample. I believe it is nearly as large as, or perhaps larger than the Louvre. Anyway, it was daunting because there are hundreds of stairs to negotiate and it is very crowded. The Russians seem to be more interested in packing in paying tourists than controlling traffic patterns or keeping things orderly.  We managed well, Bob, with the help of his cane and some assistance from me handled the challenges of the stairs while managing to snap photographs. He really was enjoying the time there..soaking it up, and it was great to see him enjoying himself and his surroundings.

As we left the Hermitage museum to return to the bus and go to lunch as a tour group, someone pushed the person next to Bob in our group…. a fellow cruise passenger who was heavy-set and blind-sided by the push. He said it was a “vendor” who pushed him. He fell into Bob knocking him down and the heavy-set gentleman fell as well…..partially on top of Bob.  We hastily helped them up in what was a hectic, confused few minutes since we were literally in the middle of the street/crosswalk, and I could tell Bob was hurting.  At that point, we did not know that he had broken his arm/shoulder…..just that he was in considerable pain.  I suggested we get medical help, and Bob insisted that we eat lunch with the group first and then see how he felt.  Tough, corn-fed Nebraska boys that he is….we ate lunch.  During lunch I told the tour guide that we needed to get him back to the ship and checked out by the doctor.  Bob agreed and the saga began.  It was determined that he had a severe break that required surgery, and the rest is another long, difficult, tragic story which I will not attempt to chronicle here.

I hope this gives folks some idea of the time leading up to Bob’s injury.

Scott