Wave outside our window - notice how high it is to the window. This was not normal!!Friday, July 31, 2009
Wave outside our window!
Wave outside our window - notice how high it is to the window. This was not normal!!
Day 12 – Waves and Wind on the High Seas!
Normally I would not write about our day at sea since there isn’t really anything exciting which happens. Well, I was wrong about it for our last day. Thursday night around dinner time (~ 8PM) the sea started to get rough. I didn’t think anything of it since it wasn’t bothering me. However, Mom was getting a little seasick so she took some Dramamine to help calm her stomach and the feeling of dizziness she had. So off to dinner we went. After sitting down, I could tell she was not doing well. In fact, she looked a little green. She ordered her food hoping this would help, but she knew she couldn’t make it through dinner so she went back to the room to lie down. After dinner, I went back to the room to check on her and I noticed by the elevators they had the bags you see on planes for air sickness. Apparently this was affecting a lot of people.
I went to bed and didn’t think anything of the waves. Only hoped they would lull me to sleep and be gone when the morning arrived. Well it didn’t quite happen liked I had hoped. During the night the waves picked up as did the winds. I woke up at 7 and at 8. Mom woke up too and asked if I felt the waves during the night. I said I did but then she proceeded to tell me the waves were up to our window when she looked out during the night. I didn’t need to hear to one. She decided to call the concierge to see if there was any update on when they thought the waves might lessen in intensity. They thought between 11 and 12 noon. We went back to sleep after hearing this. When we woke up again about 11:40 it wasn’t much better. In fact, we turned on the TV and it said we were having high waves (duh!) and the winds were 45mph. Just as a side note, a tropical depression has winds of at least 35mph and as the winds increase they look to see if it will become a hurricane. We didn’t have to worry about this since it was sunny outside and the water is much too cold for a hurricane to form in the North Sea. It is now 5:05PM for us and it seems like the waves have started to calm just a little. A couple of hours ago, I turned on the TV to check out the waves (still high) and the winds. The winds were down to 30 mph.
After having the hurricane come through Ohio last year, I never wanted to experience high winds like those again. Well, I guess I can be thankful the winds didn’t get any higher than 45mph but I am ready for the boat to stop rocking and to be on dry land once again!
I went to bed and didn’t think anything of the waves. Only hoped they would lull me to sleep and be gone when the morning arrived. Well it didn’t quite happen liked I had hoped. During the night the waves picked up as did the winds. I woke up at 7 and at 8. Mom woke up too and asked if I felt the waves during the night. I said I did but then she proceeded to tell me the waves were up to our window when she looked out during the night. I didn’t need to hear to one. She decided to call the concierge to see if there was any update on when they thought the waves might lessen in intensity. They thought between 11 and 12 noon. We went back to sleep after hearing this. When we woke up again about 11:40 it wasn’t much better. In fact, we turned on the TV and it said we were having high waves (duh!) and the winds were 45mph. Just as a side note, a tropical depression has winds of at least 35mph and as the winds increase they look to see if it will become a hurricane. We didn’t have to worry about this since it was sunny outside and the water is much too cold for a hurricane to form in the North Sea. It is now 5:05PM for us and it seems like the waves have started to calm just a little. A couple of hours ago, I turned on the TV to check out the waves (still high) and the winds. The winds were down to 30 mph.
After having the hurricane come through Ohio last year, I never wanted to experience high winds like those again. Well, I guess I can be thankful the winds didn’t get any higher than 45mph but I am ready for the boat to stop rocking and to be on dry land once again!
Day 11 – Copenhagen Denmark
We arrived in Copenhagen Denmark around 7AM. When looking outside after waking up, the weather was beautiful. However as we were eating breakfast (something I usually do not have), I noticed the clouds getting darker. I was praying the possible rain would hold off until after our tour (~ 2PM). Well my prayers didn’t work. As we were departing the ship, we noticed the rain had started. During our trip, this is really the only place we have had rain. It called for it in most of the locations, but never really materialized. Thank heavens this was a bus tour although we were going to be taking a tour of the harbor in a canal boat.
It was interesting to learn that Denmark is made up of a mainland peninsula, Jutland, and 406 islands. Copenhagen is the largest city in all of Scandinavia. Something I found interesting is in 2000 a transnational bridge was built that connected Denmark and Sweden. It is called the Oresund Bridge and this will allow Sweden and Denmark to work together to foster their labor markets. We drove by the Frihedsmuseet (Museum of the Danish Resistance Movement), Amalienborg Slot (Amalienborg Palace), and Tivoli Gardens. We made a stop at Tivoli Gardens which is said to be the inspiration Walt Disney had for his theme parks. Tivoli Gardens was built over 150 years ago and is a combination of a beautiful garden and amusement park. Reminds of what Coney Island in New York looks like. Nothing like King’s Island!
After visiting Tivoli for about an hour it was time for our canal cruise. It was, of course, still raining off and on and we were walking to where we needed to board the canal boat. In fact, it rained so hard at one point our guide found some shelter since most people didn’t have umbrellas or coats with hoods. After a brief pause, we made it to the boat and boarded. It was covered but the windows would slide up for air and picture taking. Not like our cars windows, but these were curved windows in sections to slide along the tracks to open. Shortly after starting, the rain quit and the sun came out. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. We cruised around the harbor seeing the various sites. When we came to the end of the canal cruise, they left us off near our ship which also happened to be quite close to the statue of Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid. In Danish, she is called Den Lille Havfrue (Little Mermaid). The story says she is the sea king’s half-human and half-fish daughter who must wait 300 years until she can enter the world of humans. Since she was put up in 1913, you can see she still has a long way to go.
That’s the last of my updates from our ports of call. I will update more if something really interesting happens though. So be on the look out!
It was interesting to learn that Denmark is made up of a mainland peninsula, Jutland, and 406 islands. Copenhagen is the largest city in all of Scandinavia. Something I found interesting is in 2000 a transnational bridge was built that connected Denmark and Sweden. It is called the Oresund Bridge and this will allow Sweden and Denmark to work together to foster their labor markets. We drove by the Frihedsmuseet (Museum of the Danish Resistance Movement), Amalienborg Slot (Amalienborg Palace), and Tivoli Gardens. We made a stop at Tivoli Gardens which is said to be the inspiration Walt Disney had for his theme parks. Tivoli Gardens was built over 150 years ago and is a combination of a beautiful garden and amusement park. Reminds of what Coney Island in New York looks like. Nothing like King’s Island!
After visiting Tivoli for about an hour it was time for our canal cruise. It was, of course, still raining off and on and we were walking to where we needed to board the canal boat. In fact, it rained so hard at one point our guide found some shelter since most people didn’t have umbrellas or coats with hoods. After a brief pause, we made it to the boat and boarded. It was covered but the windows would slide up for air and picture taking. Not like our cars windows, but these were curved windows in sections to slide along the tracks to open. Shortly after starting, the rain quit and the sun came out. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. We cruised around the harbor seeing the various sites. When we came to the end of the canal cruise, they left us off near our ship which also happened to be quite close to the statue of Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid. In Danish, she is called Den Lille Havfrue (Little Mermaid). The story says she is the sea king’s half-human and half-fish daughter who must wait 300 years until she can enter the world of humans. Since she was put up in 1913, you can see she still has a long way to go.
That’s the last of my updates from our ports of call. I will update more if something really interesting happens though. So be on the look out!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Day 9 – Tallinn Estonia
The distance from St. Petersburg to Tallinn is only 156 nautical miles. We left Russia at 6PM and arrived in Tallinn at 7AM. What a beautiful city to see. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and one of the oldest cities on the Baltic dating back to 1154. This tour was going to be a walking tour of the city. Our guide on this tour was excellent – very knowledgeable and informative. We drove from the dock up to the new town where the nobles lived. She told us most the city’s progress occurred while it was occupied by various other countries. The Danes occupied it from 1219 – 1346, the Swedes from 1561 – 1710, and Russia from 1710 – 1918. On February 24, 1918, Estonia declared itself an independent country. However, the very next day German troops occupied Estonia and refused to recognize this independence and remained there until 1944. In 1944, Russia was in charge and made life challenging for its people. In fact, our guide told us that the bombing the city suffered was explained in the history books as being caused by the Nazis. However, after the Russians left in 1994, the older generation told the truth about the bombings – it had really been the Soviets. The history books were then rewritten explaining what really happened. Estonia was once again a free country.
In the Old Town it has remained mostly unchanged for over 600 years. Building can be found dating back to medieval times. The roads are cobblestone and it is a charming place to walk through. After walking though most of the New Town and Old Town, we were given time to shop or snack. A place had been recommended for snacks – the Peppersack. We decided to start there. They have wonderful pastries as we found out. Mom says they are the best she has ever eaten – even better than in South St. Louis which she insists has the best pastries. After a relaxing break at the Peppersack, we ventured down the streets to see what shops had to offer. Mom found a beautiful sweater handmade from Linen. We were sailing early this day so our tour was relatively a short one – about 4 hours. We left for Copenhagen at 2PM and should arrive there on Thursday at 7AM.
More from our last stop later – Copenhagen home to Hans Christian Anderson and the Little Mermaid!
In the Old Town it has remained mostly unchanged for over 600 years. Building can be found dating back to medieval times. The roads are cobblestone and it is a charming place to walk through. After walking though most of the New Town and Old Town, we were given time to shop or snack. A place had been recommended for snacks – the Peppersack. We decided to start there. They have wonderful pastries as we found out. Mom says they are the best she has ever eaten – even better than in South St. Louis which she insists has the best pastries. After a relaxing break at the Peppersack, we ventured down the streets to see what shops had to offer. Mom found a beautiful sweater handmade from Linen. We were sailing early this day so our tour was relatively a short one – about 4 hours. We left for Copenhagen at 2PM and should arrive there on Thursday at 7AM.
More from our last stop later – Copenhagen home to Hans Christian Anderson and the Little Mermaid!
Day 7 & 8 – St. Petersburg Russia
We arrived in St. Petersburg Russia early Sunday morning. This city used to be known as Leningrad but rather recently they have decided to return to its original name – St. Petersburg. It is located on the Gulf of Finland and is the 4th largest city in Europe after Moscow, London, and Paris. Peter the Great had it built to resemble Venice or Amsterdam since it consists of 65 rivers and canals. This means there are about 400 bridges in the city as well. He designed it to be a monument to himself with palaces, cathedrals, and residences (he really liked himself if you couldn’t already tell)
The Russian people are very particular about letting people into the country. Unless you have a Visa you cannot tour the city or country on your own. You must be with a tour guide. Since this was the case, our traveling companions rented a van for the day. We needed to start quite early and it would be a long day – 7:30 – 4:00. We left the ship and met our guide for the day – Polina and our driver Yuri. The first recommendation was to visit Peterhof first since it can get quite crowded in the afternoon. The drive from the ship to Peterhof was about an hour but we did get to see the city (or at least parts of it). Polina kept pointing out the apartments (some new and some old). The smallest is about 30sq m (~270 sq ft) and the largest is about 50 sq m (~540 sq. ft) – quite small by our standards but since they are forbidden to own land the best they can do is own apartments. The smallest one would cost about $60,000 and the largest one $150,000. Not a bargain if you ask me. We finally made it to Peterhof.
Peterhof was the summer palace of the czar. In fact, our guide told us. Peter the Great wanted it to be known as the Versailles of Russia. From what people were saying about having seen Versailles and now Peterhof there is no comparison – Versailles is much nicer. Peterhof is a little over the top. We had to wear “museum shoes” – booties we slipped over our shoes to protect the floor. Great idea since the floors are gorgeous ones made of wood placed into patterns. Most of the rooms made many mirrors to make the rooms appear larger than they were and had gold leaf on the walls or chandeliers. Not one single person working at the museum smiled. Unfortunately this just reinforced our American stereotypes of Russians. The grounds at Peterhof are beautiful though - incredible gardens and fountains. In fact, at 11AM they started the fountains. We were there to see this. It is quite interesting how the fountains work – all without electricity or pumps! There is a reservoir about 70km from Peterhof. They connected the fountains to this reservoir and then using gravity and the fact it is higher at the reservoir than where the fountains are located they allows the water to flow and start the fountains in a cascading effect. It really was breath taking to see.
After we left Peterhof, it was off to the Winter Palace also known as The Hermitage (pronounced her-mi-tage). This was started by Catherine the Great who brought in treasures of art from all over parts of Europe. The Hermitage closely resembles the Paris Louvre with its collections of nearly 3 million works of art. We saw works by De Vinci, Matisse, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Rodin, and Picasso. We spent about 3-1/2 hours looking at the highlights of the museum as our guide liked to tell us. They mentioned if you spend only 1 minute at each piece it would between 11 and 16 years to see all of them. Incredible!
After the Hermitage, it was back to the ship. The roads were quite crowded but the reason was this was Navy Day. The last Sunday in July, Navy ships from the Russian Federation visit St. Petersburg. It was fascinating to see all of the ships on the Neva River. I took some really great pictures of them as well.
Since we were so far north, the sun had been setting later and later. We asked our guide about this as well. She told us that on June 22, they have only twilight – no total darkness. In July, they have about 5 hours of twilight at night and only 1 hour of total darkness. In fact, that first night in St. Petersburg I stayed up to see the set at 10:57 and stuck around to see if it ever really got dark. It still looked like twilight at 12:06AM. Since we were having another early day, I decided to retire even though I would have loved to stay up and see if she was right about 1 hour of darkness.
The next day we had a walking tour of St Petersburg. We were able to see St. Isaac’s Cathedral, The Bronze Horseman (commissioned by Catherine the Great to commemorate Peter the Great), and the Palace Square which is home to the Winter Palace and contains Alexander’s Column. This column was cut from rock face of a cliff in Karelia. After it was completed they transported it to St. Petersburg which took a full year to complete. The monument commemorates the victory over Napoleon in 1812. The final stop was the Church of the Spilled Blood. I believe she said this is where Czar Nicholas II was killed. The unfortunate thing about this was our guide. She smoked while we were at the Palace square and talked to people on her cell phone. This was quite disconcerting to those of us on the trip. We also noticed while on the walking tour just how dirty the city is – there was trash everywhere including the grounds of the Heritage. Such a shame. Overall, St. Petersburg is interesting although it was quite depressing as well. They have a saying in St. Petersburg about the weather which I think might hold true of the city in general – they have 9 months of anticipation and 3 months of disappointment. I would say we were anticipating quite a bit and left somewhat disappointed.
Next we are off to Tannin, Estonia!
The Russian people are very particular about letting people into the country. Unless you have a Visa you cannot tour the city or country on your own. You must be with a tour guide. Since this was the case, our traveling companions rented a van for the day. We needed to start quite early and it would be a long day – 7:30 – 4:00. We left the ship and met our guide for the day – Polina and our driver Yuri. The first recommendation was to visit Peterhof first since it can get quite crowded in the afternoon. The drive from the ship to Peterhof was about an hour but we did get to see the city (or at least parts of it). Polina kept pointing out the apartments (some new and some old). The smallest is about 30sq m (~270 sq ft) and the largest is about 50 sq m (~540 sq. ft) – quite small by our standards but since they are forbidden to own land the best they can do is own apartments. The smallest one would cost about $60,000 and the largest one $150,000. Not a bargain if you ask me. We finally made it to Peterhof.
Peterhof was the summer palace of the czar. In fact, our guide told us. Peter the Great wanted it to be known as the Versailles of Russia. From what people were saying about having seen Versailles and now Peterhof there is no comparison – Versailles is much nicer. Peterhof is a little over the top. We had to wear “museum shoes” – booties we slipped over our shoes to protect the floor. Great idea since the floors are gorgeous ones made of wood placed into patterns. Most of the rooms made many mirrors to make the rooms appear larger than they were and had gold leaf on the walls or chandeliers. Not one single person working at the museum smiled. Unfortunately this just reinforced our American stereotypes of Russians. The grounds at Peterhof are beautiful though - incredible gardens and fountains. In fact, at 11AM they started the fountains. We were there to see this. It is quite interesting how the fountains work – all without electricity or pumps! There is a reservoir about 70km from Peterhof. They connected the fountains to this reservoir and then using gravity and the fact it is higher at the reservoir than where the fountains are located they allows the water to flow and start the fountains in a cascading effect. It really was breath taking to see.
After we left Peterhof, it was off to the Winter Palace also known as The Hermitage (pronounced her-mi-tage). This was started by Catherine the Great who brought in treasures of art from all over parts of Europe. The Hermitage closely resembles the Paris Louvre with its collections of nearly 3 million works of art. We saw works by De Vinci, Matisse, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Rodin, and Picasso. We spent about 3-1/2 hours looking at the highlights of the museum as our guide liked to tell us. They mentioned if you spend only 1 minute at each piece it would between 11 and 16 years to see all of them. Incredible!
After the Hermitage, it was back to the ship. The roads were quite crowded but the reason was this was Navy Day. The last Sunday in July, Navy ships from the Russian Federation visit St. Petersburg. It was fascinating to see all of the ships on the Neva River. I took some really great pictures of them as well.
Since we were so far north, the sun had been setting later and later. We asked our guide about this as well. She told us that on June 22, they have only twilight – no total darkness. In July, they have about 5 hours of twilight at night and only 1 hour of total darkness. In fact, that first night in St. Petersburg I stayed up to see the set at 10:57 and stuck around to see if it ever really got dark. It still looked like twilight at 12:06AM. Since we were having another early day, I decided to retire even though I would have loved to stay up and see if she was right about 1 hour of darkness.
The next day we had a walking tour of St Petersburg. We were able to see St. Isaac’s Cathedral, The Bronze Horseman (commissioned by Catherine the Great to commemorate Peter the Great), and the Palace Square which is home to the Winter Palace and contains Alexander’s Column. This column was cut from rock face of a cliff in Karelia. After it was completed they transported it to St. Petersburg which took a full year to complete. The monument commemorates the victory over Napoleon in 1812. The final stop was the Church of the Spilled Blood. I believe she said this is where Czar Nicholas II was killed. The unfortunate thing about this was our guide. She smoked while we were at the Palace square and talked to people on her cell phone. This was quite disconcerting to those of us on the trip. We also noticed while on the walking tour just how dirty the city is – there was trash everywhere including the grounds of the Heritage. Such a shame. Overall, St. Petersburg is interesting although it was quite depressing as well. They have a saying in St. Petersburg about the weather which I think might hold true of the city in general – they have 9 months of anticipation and 3 months of disappointment. I would say we were anticipating quite a bit and left somewhat disappointed.
Next we are off to Tannin, Estonia!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Day 5 & 6 – Stockholm and Helsinki
On Friday, we arrived in Stockholm Sweden. But before we arrived in Stockholm, they suggested going up on deck about an hour before we were to dock. The reason for this is to watch as the ship sails in the archipelago of Stockholm. It is comprised of 24,000 islands some of which are inhabited by people. The lucky ones have electricity and fresh water. They travel into Stockholm via private boats or they even have shuttles which transport people into Stockholm.
After docking, we started off the ship on our excursion for the day. Shortly after we started, the bus came to a high point in the city where we could take pictures of the skyline. Then we proceeded to see the sights and history of Stockholm. It is very rich in history. They at one time had all of Norway and Finland and were considered the largest country in Europe. Several of the kings went to war over the land and eventually they lost Norway and Finland. In fact, the king who lost Finland for Sweden lost his life since people were so upset. I saw many signs advertising an IKEA sale which starts at the end of July. I didn’t see and IKEA, but here is where it all started. They did have a tour which took you to the birthplace of IKEA, but we did not go on this tour.
We visited a museum which held a ship called the Vasa. At its time, it was the largest ship. However, they day it set sail it sunk within 10 minutes where it stayed for 300 years. Apparently way back when they were more concerned with how the ships looked over functionality. When looking over this ship with 95% of the original material still on it, you can see what happened. The ship was very top heavy. In other words, the majority of its weight was out of the water. Well, a strong wind blew and it started to tip. They were able to correct it, but another wind blew and this toppled the ship. After visiting the Vasa museum, we then proceeded to Old Town Stockholm location of the palace of the king. This was very impressive. Next it was on to Helsinki, Finland which is about 150 nautical miles from Stockholm on the Bay of Finland.
Helsinki is a small city located on the coast of Finland. They are very proud of finally gaining their independence from first Sweden and then Russia. Our tour consisted of highlights and history. We drove through the city and looked at the various buildings – a mixture varying architectures from modern to much, much older styles. From here we went to an open air museum where they have homes representative of one found all over Finland. While there we were treated to a cinnamon roll and tea or coffee. The homes were quite small to retain the heat in them and also since they are not a very tall people. They only have about 4 months of nice weather and daylight. Hard to imagine it being dark most of the time but it is for most of Finland 8 months of the year. Helsinki does not have the midnight sun, but up north in Lapland they do where it is 24 hours of light on June 21. Unfortunately, they start to lose daylight quite rapidly after this time. It was a tiring day and we came back and took naps. However, I am sure we will be well rested for our 2 days in St. Petersburg, Russia.
More after our visit to St. Petersburg Russia.
After docking, we started off the ship on our excursion for the day. Shortly after we started, the bus came to a high point in the city where we could take pictures of the skyline. Then we proceeded to see the sights and history of Stockholm. It is very rich in history. They at one time had all of Norway and Finland and were considered the largest country in Europe. Several of the kings went to war over the land and eventually they lost Norway and Finland. In fact, the king who lost Finland for Sweden lost his life since people were so upset. I saw many signs advertising an IKEA sale which starts at the end of July. I didn’t see and IKEA, but here is where it all started. They did have a tour which took you to the birthplace of IKEA, but we did not go on this tour.
We visited a museum which held a ship called the Vasa. At its time, it was the largest ship. However, they day it set sail it sunk within 10 minutes where it stayed for 300 years. Apparently way back when they were more concerned with how the ships looked over functionality. When looking over this ship with 95% of the original material still on it, you can see what happened. The ship was very top heavy. In other words, the majority of its weight was out of the water. Well, a strong wind blew and it started to tip. They were able to correct it, but another wind blew and this toppled the ship. After visiting the Vasa museum, we then proceeded to Old Town Stockholm location of the palace of the king. This was very impressive. Next it was on to Helsinki, Finland which is about 150 nautical miles from Stockholm on the Bay of Finland.
Helsinki is a small city located on the coast of Finland. They are very proud of finally gaining their independence from first Sweden and then Russia. Our tour consisted of highlights and history. We drove through the city and looked at the various buildings – a mixture varying architectures from modern to much, much older styles. From here we went to an open air museum where they have homes representative of one found all over Finland. While there we were treated to a cinnamon roll and tea or coffee. The homes were quite small to retain the heat in them and also since they are not a very tall people. They only have about 4 months of nice weather and daylight. Hard to imagine it being dark most of the time but it is for most of Finland 8 months of the year. Helsinki does not have the midnight sun, but up north in Lapland they do where it is 24 hours of light on June 21. Unfortunately, they start to lose daylight quite rapidly after this time. It was a tiring day and we came back and took naps. However, I am sure we will be well rested for our 2 days in St. Petersburg, Russia.
More after our visit to St. Petersburg Russia.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Day 3 – Berlin
Well like I said I didn’t think I would have been able to update after our trip to Berlin. Boy was I right. The ship was late to dock in Warnermünde and therefore we were late to leave for Berlin. We took a 3 hour train ride to Berlin and arrived @ 1PM. They dropped us off at the Berlin Hilton (nice place) and from there we were on our own to explore the city.
The first place I wanted to go was Checkpoint Charlie. If you know anything about Berlin you are quite familiar with this term. For those who aren’t, this is the place where from 1961 to 1989 you had to travel through to get from West Berlin to East Berlin or vice versa. West Berlin was the Democratic side and had guards from the US, UK, and France (at times) guarding it. The Eastern side was guarded by the Soviets. In 1961, a wall was put up to keep the East and West Berliners apart. Many people tried to escape to the West side but the wall and the barbed wire along with the guards and dogs pretty much prevented this. Families were torn apart when the wall was put up since one part of the family may have lived across the street from the other. Once the wall was up one part of the family was in West Berlin and the other was in East Berlin. They have Checkpoint Charlie set up like it was until 1989 and you can have your picture taken with a “soldier” from the US and one from USSR standing beside you. Of course, it cost money - 1€ (euro)or $2. Mom took the picture for me. There is also part of the wall they have left standing and I took pictures of it as well. Pretty cool!
After lunch, we went to a museum that housed some Rembrandt paintings one of which was the Man in the Golden helmet. I am sure quite a few of you have seen this painting but if not Google it and you will see what I saw. After this we decided to see the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. What amazing buildings these both are to see. Such a rich history in Berlin and unfortunately 6 hours was not enough time to see everything there was to see. Would love to go back some day and see much more. We boarded another train for the ride back to the ship. We didn’t get back until 11:15PM and the ship sailed at 11:59. It was a long day but so worth all of the time. I kept a pedometer on me to see just how much we walked there. It ended up being 3.75 miles. Wow!
Thursday is another day at sea as we travel to Stockholm. Then we move on to Helsinki, St. Petersburg (2 days), and then Tallinn. It is going to be crazy for the next 5 days. We are at sea after Tallinn enroute to Copenhagen.
Auf Wiedersehen (Good bye in German) for now.
The first place I wanted to go was Checkpoint Charlie. If you know anything about Berlin you are quite familiar with this term. For those who aren’t, this is the place where from 1961 to 1989 you had to travel through to get from West Berlin to East Berlin or vice versa. West Berlin was the Democratic side and had guards from the US, UK, and France (at times) guarding it. The Eastern side was guarded by the Soviets. In 1961, a wall was put up to keep the East and West Berliners apart. Many people tried to escape to the West side but the wall and the barbed wire along with the guards and dogs pretty much prevented this. Families were torn apart when the wall was put up since one part of the family may have lived across the street from the other. Once the wall was up one part of the family was in West Berlin and the other was in East Berlin. They have Checkpoint Charlie set up like it was until 1989 and you can have your picture taken with a “soldier” from the US and one from USSR standing beside you. Of course, it cost money - 1€ (euro)or $2. Mom took the picture for me. There is also part of the wall they have left standing and I took pictures of it as well. Pretty cool!
After lunch, we went to a museum that housed some Rembrandt paintings one of which was the Man in the Golden helmet. I am sure quite a few of you have seen this painting but if not Google it and you will see what I saw. After this we decided to see the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. What amazing buildings these both are to see. Such a rich history in Berlin and unfortunately 6 hours was not enough time to see everything there was to see. Would love to go back some day and see much more. We boarded another train for the ride back to the ship. We didn’t get back until 11:15PM and the ship sailed at 11:59. It was a long day but so worth all of the time. I kept a pedometer on me to see just how much we walked there. It ended up being 3.75 miles. Wow!
Thursday is another day at sea as we travel to Stockholm. Then we move on to Helsinki, St. Petersburg (2 days), and then Tallinn. It is going to be crazy for the next 5 days. We are at sea after Tallinn enroute to Copenhagen.
Auf Wiedersehen (Good bye in German) for now.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Day 1 & 2 – Embarkation and At Sea (in the North Sea)
Hi Again! Sorry I didn’t write anything yesterday – it was crazy getting to the ship and settling in. Before we went to the ship, we took a canal ride in Amsterdam. Boy was that something to remember (maybe not when you are 6 months old like I was the last timeJ). I took tons of pictures and hope to post some of them for you. Amsterdam has been a city since October 27, 1290 when the name Amster Dam was first used. The city is named for the Amstel River (there is also a beer named Amstel and I guess this is where it came from). We rode by the museums that contain Rembrandt artwork as well as Van Gogh. We were going to visit the museums but we didn’t have time before we needed to board the ship.
We finally needed to go to the ship. This was an adventure! We made it there fine, but found out when we got there you could board until they called your number (we had number 12). Well, my traveling companions didn’t want to wait so they decided to try to board. There was a German lady “guarding” the area we needed to pass. They went up to her and with a heavy German accent, she told them – “We have not called number 12. Have a seat over there!” (Picture it with a heavy German accent!). We affectionately named her Broomhilda. After our number was called, she still stood there very stoically NEVER smiling.
Once on board, we proceeded to our room. Very nice! It has one of the largest bathrooms I have ever seen on a cruise ship. We unpacked and then proceeded to get ready for dinner (we were told by our travel agent we had seats @ 8:30PM.) Before dinner, we decided to meet our companions for a drink (I chose Hot Tea and it was wonderful!) After our drinks, we went to the restaurant. Well, when we arrived at dinner they told us we were actually to be at the 6PM dinner. They wanted to see our dinner cards and we proceeded to tell them we didn’t have one. “It is in your room.” They said. “No it was not” we replied. Well, we did get to have dinner. Unfortunately, my chicken was dry and the mashed potatoes left a lot to be desired. I hoped that the next day things would be better in the food department. Oh – the sun didn’t set until 10PM last night! Very different for it to be so light for so long but we are3 further north then at home.
This brings us to today. We slept until 11:15AM (for you back home it would be 5:15AM with the time difference). The entire day is at sea since we need to go around Denmark to get to Germany! Since we were too late for breakfast, we decided to just do lunch (I was hoping my meal would be better). The only entree that sounded good to me was the Cowboy Burger. Let me tell you – if you have ever made meatloaf with Lipton Soup mix you have what my burger tasted like and it was DRY! Oh well, dessert was good (cheesecake). Hopefully dinner (which we did get straightened out- we dine @ 8:30PM) will be better.
Well, I am happy to say that dinner was much better. We arrive in Germany early and leave on the train for Berlin @ 9AM. I probably won't be able to update until Thursday.
Enjoy my travels! Later!
We finally needed to go to the ship. This was an adventure! We made it there fine, but found out when we got there you could board until they called your number (we had number 12). Well, my traveling companions didn’t want to wait so they decided to try to board. There was a German lady “guarding” the area we needed to pass. They went up to her and with a heavy German accent, she told them – “We have not called number 12. Have a seat over there!” (Picture it with a heavy German accent!). We affectionately named her Broomhilda. After our number was called, she still stood there very stoically NEVER smiling.
Once on board, we proceeded to our room. Very nice! It has one of the largest bathrooms I have ever seen on a cruise ship. We unpacked and then proceeded to get ready for dinner (we were told by our travel agent we had seats @ 8:30PM.) Before dinner, we decided to meet our companions for a drink (I chose Hot Tea and it was wonderful!) After our drinks, we went to the restaurant. Well, when we arrived at dinner they told us we were actually to be at the 6PM dinner. They wanted to see our dinner cards and we proceeded to tell them we didn’t have one. “It is in your room.” They said. “No it was not” we replied. Well, we did get to have dinner. Unfortunately, my chicken was dry and the mashed potatoes left a lot to be desired. I hoped that the next day things would be better in the food department. Oh – the sun didn’t set until 10PM last night! Very different for it to be so light for so long but we are3 further north then at home.
This brings us to today. We slept until 11:15AM (for you back home it would be 5:15AM with the time difference). The entire day is at sea since we need to go around Denmark to get to Germany! Since we were too late for breakfast, we decided to just do lunch (I was hoping my meal would be better). The only entree that sounded good to me was the Cowboy Burger. Let me tell you – if you have ever made meatloaf with Lipton Soup mix you have what my burger tasted like and it was DRY! Oh well, dessert was good (cheesecake). Hopefully dinner (which we did get straightened out- we dine @ 8:30PM) will be better.
Well, I am happy to say that dinner was much better. We arrive in Germany early and leave on the train for Berlin @ 9AM. I probably won't be able to update until Thursday.
Enjoy my travels! Later!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
We made it to Amsterdam!
We have arrived in Amsterdam. Actually, we did that at 9:40AM which was 3:40AM to me. Needless to say, we are quite tired. We moved through Customs, got a taxi, and went to our hotel. Since it was before our check-in time of 3PM we could only store our bags. We decided then to walk aliong the roads near the hotel to see what was near. Found some shops and a nice little restaurant to have lunch. Then, we walked some more before deciding to return to the hotel to see if our rooms were ready. Our room was but our traveling companions wasn't. We went upstairs to get some shut eye before we went to Anne Frank's house.
After resting and finally taking a shower, we were ready for our walk to Anne Frank's house. It is a half a mile from where we are staying. What a phenomenal place! Amazing what history is here in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, in the United States we don't seem to value preserving history. In fact, when were were walking we saw some building that were constructed in the 1600's!
Well, that is all for today's update. Still very tired and since it is going on 11PM here I think I will be hitting the hay. We board the ship tomorrow so hopefully I can update from there.
Later from Amsterdam!
After resting and finally taking a shower, we were ready for our walk to Anne Frank's house. It is a half a mile from where we are staying. What a phenomenal place! Amazing what history is here in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, in the United States we don't seem to value preserving history. In fact, when were were walking we saw some building that were constructed in the 1600's!
Well, that is all for today's update. Still very tired and since it is going on 11PM here I think I will be hitting the hay. We board the ship tomorrow so hopefully I can update from there.
Later from Amsterdam!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Made it to JFK Airport!
Hi Everyone!
Well, I am sitting in JFK Airport waiting for our flight to leave. We can board the airplane starting @ 7:45PM. One of the problems flying overseas is the time difference. There is a 6 hour time difference not in my favor. In other words, they are 6 hours ahead which means I lose 6 hours. When we land, it will be about 9AM over there. To me, it will only be about 3AM. Hopefully since we cannot check into our hotel until 3PM someone won't find me sitting on some park bench sleeping :). It has been known to happen (i.e. England 2001!). I will try to sleep some on the plane. Here is a picture of what the plane will look like. This one is actually going to Paris and leaves before we do. Will update when I get a chance again - hopefully from Amsterdam!
Well, I am sitting in JFK Airport waiting for our flight to leave. We can board the airplane starting @ 7:45PM. One of the problems flying overseas is the time difference. There is a 6 hour time difference not in my favor. In other words, they are 6 hours ahead which means I lose 6 hours. When we land, it will be about 9AM over there. To me, it will only be about 3AM. Hopefully since we cannot check into our hotel until 3PM someone won't find me sitting on some park bench sleeping :). It has been known to happen (i.e. England 2001!). I will try to sleep some on the plane. Here is a picture of what the plane will look like. This one is actually going to Paris and leaves before we do. Will update when I get a chance again - hopefully from Amsterdam!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Baltic - Here I come!
Well, I have started my trip to the Baltic. I am currently in Bloomington, IN waiting to travel to Indy in the morning. Need to get up by 6AM we can leave for the airport by 7:30AM. Flight to NYC leaves @ 10:35AM. We touch down in NYC JFK @ 12:48PM. I will try to update when we are in JFK. Looking forward to keeping everyone updated! Calling it a night.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Half way there!
Well, we made it to Atlanta today. Heading to Venice tomorrow and by evening I should be able to see the Gulf of Mexico. Looking forward to sand and sun on Sunday! Also looking forward to doing something special on Tuesday for our 25th Anniversary!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Before Baltic - Fun in Florida
Before I leave for the Baltic, hubby and I are heading to Florida for a vacation. This isn't just any vacation though - we are going there to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary! It just seems like yesterday we were getting married and now we are at year 25 with two grown kids. Can't wait to leave tomorrow. It should be a blast - sun and the ocean.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Countdown to the Baltic!
I can't really believe it is finally July. Hubby and I celebrate 25 years on July 7th in Florida! Then we return on July 12th home. On July 17th, I leave for Bloomington and then to Indy to fly to Amsterdam! Hard to believe I was there when I was 6 months old - and no I don't remember any of it :). The trip of a lifetime my husband says! Can't wait to post things to this blog to show you what we are doing on our trip. Later!
What is happening with this blog?
Well, I think I have the page set up the way I want. We shall see. I have such a hard time deciding what I want it to look like. So like life this is a work in progress.
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