The Andiamo European Goodwill Tour!

Up at the observation point - Mt. Santis, Switzerland

I decided I was going to do things a little differently this year. It was going to be all about doing trips with Andiamo and getting caught up on traveling abroad. Considering that I had been working much more over the past couple of years, change was due. This was going to be the year that I got caught up on traveling as much as possible.

To prove my seriousness, I gave up my shared apartment in Panama City last January. Thus, not having anything to keep me lazy and comfortable in the city during my breaks in between trips. Since then, I’ve had many nice little jaunts around Panama, back stateside, and even Canada. And now, it was time to splurge and do Europe. 🙂

Late May and early June was proving to be a slower time for Andiamo. Rather than whine about it, I opted to clear the schedule and take three plus weeks off and hit the continent. I hadn’t been to Europe in more than four years, I was long overdue. It was time to hit my old haunts, and visit some dear, long-time friends in their habitat. But it also meant checking out some places that I hadn’t been to and visiting some new friends I made thanks to Andiamo. To hit all the places I wanted to hit, my visits would need to be short and sweet.

After making a quick stop in Florida for my niece’s wedding, I was off to Zurich. Zurich is one of the few popular european cities that I had yet not made it to. Thanks to Andrea and Anne, a couple of super-cool and funny girls who were on Andiamo a few months ago (they were onboard during the now-infamous creepy Babyhead incident), I had not only a great crash pad, but great people to hang out with. Anne was just getting back from a month-long trip in Southeast Asia, so the timing was perfect. When I arrived in Zurich, I got a warm welcome from them at the airport, and we were off to a running start.

Sandra, Cathy, and Menno, more A'dam Andiamo Alums!

The next days in Zurich were a fantastic blur of outings. From going to a nice dinner party at the house of a friend of Anne’s the first night to heading up to spectacular Mount Santis in the Alps for the day with Andrea; to walking around and hanging out in Zurich by the lake on a brilliant summer-like Saturday; to jumping in on a local poker tournament at a popular Zurich poker room (with Andrea so patiently watching the action; I lost btw 🙁 … ); to having a nice dinner night at Anne’s place; watching the girls get silly and dancing to cheesy music; laughing and joking the whole night. Good times! I was so appreciative at the great hospitality Andrea dished out (uh… speaking of dish… sorry about the dishwasher fiasco again… :/ ). Time went by too fast. I simply can’t wait to get back and pick up where we left off.

From Zurich, it was off to London. My friend Steffenie, who I’d met in Isla Mujeres six years ago, offered to let me crash at the flat she shares with her new hubby Spesh in North London. She was busy with work and being pregnant, so our hangout time was highly limited. It was nonetheless great to see her as well as get to know Spesh a bit. From there, I headed over to Camden to meet up with Claire. We became friends back in Utila more than five years ago. Since then, we’ve met up in London to hang out the last couple of times that I had been to the UK. But we hadn’t seen each other in at four years, and man was it good to see her! I ended up crashing at the flat she shares with her super cool if not eccentric roomie Franklin. We managed to hang out quite a bit during the days I was in London. we even had a hellacious night out starting at a great Greek Restaurant over by Primrose Hill, followed by a nice walk up the hill after dinner. The view was amazing, looking down at the city lights. Hell, we even saw one of London’s famed city foxes milling around the park. The rest of the night involved slamming drinks at a half dozen bars along Chalk Farm Road heading towards Camden, and dancing our heads off at a club til the wee hours. Neither Claire nor I had lost our party jones. 🙂 Just like old times…

What’s so great about London for me is how many people I now know there. There was a bundle of great meetups, with some of the great “Andiamo Alumni” as I like to call them. Had lunch with Ashley, a cool guy who works in the financial district. He had been on the boat last year and thanks to Facebook, we met up. I also met up with Barry and Maja, an English/Danish couple who had done one of our Cartagena runs last summer. Cay, a South African friend of mine who I met in Bocas three years ago when she was cruising with a mutual friend, met up with Claire, Stef and me for a great sunday afternoon of coffee, lunch and drinks in Camden Market. She drove a couple hours over from Bournemouth on the coast just to hang out. The great meetups just kept coming and coming. I took a train over to Reading, then on to Theale to hang out with Narrinder and Selina, a cheeky mother/daughter duo who forever left their mark on Andiamo when they came aboard last autumn.

Tracy, who had just been on Andiamo back in April, showed up for lunch and drinks in Camden, along with Barry and Maja who were up for a second round on my last day in town. Time went by so fast with all the visits and catching up, it seemed almost a blur. All I know is I’ll be visiting the UK again really soon. I didn’t forget how much at home I feel there, strangely enough.

From London, it was off to Amsterdam! It had been a few years since being there, and this is one city I can just NEVER miss visiting. And luckily, there were a lot of old and new friends to see. Sandra, a loud, spunky, gruff, no-nonsense Type A who was on Andiamo on her maiden run from Cartagena to Panama in August ’08, graciously offered to let me crash at her amazing flat. It was so smack in the center of Amsterdam, it could not be believed. She even offered to let me drive her company car around if I needed to, though I figured I’d spare the streets of Amsterdam, as well as spare myself.

On the first night, we met up with Shanice and a friend at a hip rooftop cafe. Shanice is a budding actress friend I met back in Bocas back in ’07. We’d stayed in contact ever since, and strangely enough, we’d become great friends even since she left Bocas. She was heading off to Greece the next day, so we only had that first night to hang out. Along with Sandra and Shanice’s friend Nadi, we hit several bars around Leidseplein having drinks reminiscing, joking, and making plans for the next meet up in LA later this year.

The next days and nights included hanging out with Sandra, walking the streets of A’dam, and catching up with old friends. I met up with some more Bocas and Andiamo Alums one fun night in the De Pijp section of Amsterdam, very close by Sandra’s flat. It’s a part of Amsterdam that comes alive at night with bars, cafes, and discos. Eveline, a good friend who was running the spanish school in Bocas while I was in Bocas, coordinated the night out on Facebook. And what a night it was. Merel, who sailed Andiamo from Bocas to Cartagena in late ’07, and Elsbeth, who I also knew from the spanish school, showed up. As did Cathy and Menno, a fun couple who sailed Andiamo in San Blas last spring. A very drunk Sandra showed up later after a dinner/cocktail party, and we closed the place down. Sandra and I met up with Merel again the next night for more drinks and hijinks. Before long, it was time to leave Amsterdam, without me getting to meet up with scads of other people I would have liked to have seen. Again, it went by way too fast!

Next stop was Roma! I had planned to fly into Rome because I wanted to make sure I saw my old friend Luigi before heading to Salerno. Luigi is an italian sailmaker who spends half his time in Rio Dulce. It had been at least four years since I’d last seen him and his wife. I had gotten the sad news of their recent split just before leaving for the trip. Luigi and I couldn’t coordinatefor my arrival, so we made arrangements for me to come to Rome the night before I was to fly out later that week. So upon my arrival in Rome, I hopped on a train for Salerno. I arrived in Salerno less than 3 hours later. My friend Angelo, who is my cousin Simona’s husband, was nice enough to get me at the station. The next few days would be a whirlwind of great food, visiting relatives, and catching up with everyone. I’m surprised at how many people I managed to visit with in the limited few days I had. I got to have lunch with my cousins Dino and Mauro one of my last afternoons in town.

My Italian had suffered badly since I was last there. It got all corrupted and confused by my spanish, but I made the best of it. Because I was there less than a week, my Italian didn’t have time to get coherent and refreshed, but I did the best I can. I’ll have to stay longer next time to bone up. I didn’t get to see everyone with the limited time I had, but I suspect I would be getting back to Salerno again soon to pick up where I left off. It’s always great if not interesting and entertaining to visit my Italian extended family.

I got back into Rome by train later in the evening than I would have liked. Luigi was waiting for me at the train station outside Fiumicino. He had been living on his boat, which has been getting refit at the dock since his split. We managed to find a restaurant that was open late, and had a great dinner of catching up on so many things. Our time was short, but we made the best of it. He drove me to the airport the next morning after breakfast. And just like that, my time in Italy was over, and I was off to Copenhagen for a short and sweet final stop to hang out with Sjelle.

Sjelle, an ex-girlfriend who had been on and off Andiamo for a good year and a half between ’05 and ’07 was living back in Copenhagen, leaving her very taxing boating life far behind. Over the past few years since we parted ways in early ’07, she had spent months at a time in India doing intensive yoga training and learning how to become a master instructor. Though we haven’t seen each other in three years, we managed to keep in close touch. She picked me up at the airport and we spent the next three days hanging out in Copenhagen catching up.

The only downside was the weather. Copenhagen was cold and rainy most of the time I was there. Ironically, I’d scored almost perfect weather my whole rest of the time in Europe. I guess I was due some crappy euro-weather. She had just signed the lease on a space and was in the process of opening her own yoga studio not far from where she lives. It’s an exciting time for her. I was really happy to get to see her and hang out after all this time. We hung out and watched movies, ate sushi in town, and made the best of the time.

Before long, it was time to say goodbye and get back on the plane and head to London Gatwick. From there, I’d grab the next bus over to Heathrow. Then, it was a matter of waiting for my early AM flight back to Panama via the states.

On the way back however, I learn of Spirit’s pilot strike. Which in effect cancelled my flight from Fort Lauderdale to Panama City. I managed to score a ticket on American, but it wouldn’t leave until the next day. Luckily, my friend Fabi took me in and put me up in her apartment in Fort Lauderdale for the night. She made me a fantastic late dinner, and took great care of me. Next morning, thanks to the Tri-rail, I was on my way to Miami to catch my flight to Panama.

This trip was all about seeing just a slice of all the amazing real people who’d become a part of my life thanks to my time on Andiamo. Though all individually different and coming from all walks of life, they turn out to be people who “GET IT”, that’s the only way I can explain it.

Most of the people I saw on this trip shared the common trait of having experienced time on the Andiamo. From that time, they make new connections and friendships with the other Andiamo Alums that they shared their trips with that continue on long after they leave the boat. It’s a really fascinating and rewarding dynamic to be a part of.

I especially enjoy watching people from DIFFERENT trips meet up and discuss their favorite Andiamo moments, and bond or connect with their experiences, though they happened at different times and places! I have been fortunate to witness this several times over the years, even more so now, because of all the trips I do. I never tire of it. I even find it to be a very flattering honor to bring these people together in such a small way.

I’ll say this. There have been so many times I shake my fist and curse this damn boat when things go wrong or something breaks, which is almost constantly. Many times I ask myself why I’m even still aboard her after more than six years. But then, I think of all the great people I’ve crossed paths with, all the great experiences, conversations, friendships, new and old, and incredible connections, all thanks to this boat.

And that’s the payoff on so many levels. It’s all about the experiences, and the people. So let it be known how thankful and honored I am for all the great friends of Andiamo and mine. Thanks for making my “goodwill tour” such a fun experience. Can’t wait for the next one… Only problem now is to decide on WHERE! Thanks to this damn boat, I got connections that span the globe, ya know. 😛