Travels with Farley - Cruise Views - school sends stuffed bear on trip

Cruise Travel, March-April, 2003 by Robert L. Willett

Our introduction to Farley was brief and a bit mysterious, and came only three days before we were to leave from Rome to board Holland America Line's Noordam for a 14-day European capitals cruise. Our grandson Forrest had mentioned casually a few days before that his teacher had a project with which we might be able to help her, but gave few details. He also asked us to come to visit the class, to talk about one of our major interests, the Civil War. Although it was close to our departure time, we felt it was important, so we went to. Gardendale Elementary School in Merritt Island, Florida, made a brief talk, and then received our assignment.

We were asked to take their friend, Farley, with us on our trip to share our cruise experiences. Then we met Farley. He's a monkey--a stuffed 13-inch brown monkey, with doe-like brown eyes and a rather large protruding upper lip. He was dressed in jeans and a multi-colored shirt and was attached to a many-zippered backpack containing souvenirs of his previous travels, an autograph book, and a 27-exposure disposable camera.

The teacher, Mrs. Thomas, explained that Farley had been to the Bahamas, Russia, England, and Paris, and had been brought back to the class with experiences that led the youngsters to study his routes, and learn about the culture and geography of the countries he visited. It sounded fairly easy, and a wonderful way to expose students to the world. So Donna and I met Farley, shook his limp cotton hand, and left for Rome.

We took pictures along the way: Farley reading the paper in the Red Carpet Room in Frankfurt, Germany; then in Rome, at the Forum, the Vatican, the Colosseum, and many of the ruins that make the city such an attraction. All the while we were explaining to those we met about our project. An explanation of why two senior citizens would be carting this rather disinterested stuffed monkey all over ancient Rome was probably more a concern of ours than theirs. But it prompted some interesting conversations, and surprisingly, most thought Mrs. Thomas's concept of education was great.

After two days in Rome, we boarded the Noordam in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. We settled into our inside cabin with little effort, and discovered we were beginning to think of, and talk to, Farley as we would our own kids. He was taking on a very deflate personality. Our first night at sea we met our three dinner-table couples, and Farley became the icebreaker for the dinner conversation. Our six tablemates--Muriel and Sid from Vancouver, Bev and Duane from Montana, and Ruth and Larry from California--took to the scheme with real enthusiasm, and our cruise was off to a great start.

For the next two weeks we showed Farley highlights of Europe: St. Tropaz, Marseilles, and the Beaches of Normandy in France; Canterbury Cathedral in Dover, England; Amsterdam; Oslo; Copenhagen; then over to Sweden. He became virtually an international celebrity. But his real favorite was Gibraltar, where he mixed with his own kind, the Barbary apes. On the ship he played bingo, went to the shows, dressed for dinner, and maintained his silent decorum. We left the ship and our new friends in Copenhagen and headed to our daughter Ingrid's home in Lund, Sweden, for a quick visit.

The last days were a blur. Our son-in-law Norton drove us to the railway station in Malmo, Sweden, where we took the train to the Copenhagen airport for flights to Paris, Boston, Orlando, and home. Farley took it all in stride, staring wide-eyed at everything around him. We were exhausted when we finally got to Cocoa Beach, but he was as fresh as ever, sad that the trip was over, but glad to be back.

The final chapter of our Farley Expedition has yet to be written. Forrest's school finished its term the day before we got back, so we have to wait six weeks to recount our trip to the class. But we can honestly say that Farley added much to our voyage; creating friends, letting us see things in a new light as we tried to view sights as Farley might see them. Not only was he representing the Gardendale 5th grade class, but he was also educating all of us by his silent presence and through the creativity of Mrs. Thomas.