New St. Petersburg photos added

I've added a few new photos from St. Petersburg on the Scandinavia/Russia cruise page. I hope you enjoy!

More to come from Russia as well as Estonia and Copenhagen.

Stuart

St. Petersburg photos

Greetings! I have posted some photos from "Day 1" in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the Scandinavia/Russia cruise page. For those reading this somewhere other than on my travel blog -- please visit "Stuart's/Darlene's Travels" at http://stuart-gustafson.blogspot.com and sign up for email updates for our travel adventures.

Helsinki pictures posted

I've posted pictures from Helsinki on the Scandinavia/Russia Photos page on the right side of the page. Tomorrow (actually today now) is a sea day, so after my talk I should be able to post some from St. Petersburg, and maybe also from Tallinn, Estonia.

Thanks for following.

Stuart

Helsinki and St. Petersburg

 It has been a VERY BUSY past two days. Yesterday was spent in Helsinki, Finland – the farthest north we get on this cruise, barely above the 60^th parallel. Today was our first say in St. Petersburg, Russia – the former capital of the Russian Empire. We’ll spend the night in port and have another full day in St. Petersburg tomorrow, and then leave in the evening for our next stop, Tallinn, Estonia – the longest-serving capital city in Europe.

I went to some of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki. Our first stop was “The Rock Church,” a Lutheran Church that was blasted out of a rock quarry in the middle of town. The rough-hewn rocks on the interior add to the acoustics, and the 3,000-pipe, 4-manual pipe organ is such a delight to hear. The almost flat domed roof lets in the natural light, and the center has copper plate on the outside and about 7 miles of copper wire underneath on the inside.

Then we went to the Sibelius Monument, which was a multi-year undertaking by a petite woman in the mid-1960’s. With over 500 steel pipes welded together, the monument created a significant controversy when it was unveiled. Why? Because it was abstract, and no one could identify it with Jean Sibelius, so a bust of the famed composed was added nearby. We then drove by Olympic Stadium, actually built in the late 1930’s for hosting the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were moved to Japan because of World War II. Those were cancelled, also, and Helsinki eventually hosted the Olympics in 1952.

Drive-by photo-ops were aplenty as we went by numerous highlights in town, finishing up in Senate Square. I toured the massive Lutheran Cathedral, and enjoyed the views from the big open square. Sadly, we said goodbye to Helsinki (and another hour of sleep) as we sailed away from the Finnish capital city.

We arrived in St. Petersburg early this morning. After going through Russian customs, our first stop was Catherine’s Palace, home of the famous Amber Room. After sufficient time to view the palace and the grounds, we drove toward the town of Peterhof. There we had lunch that included a shot of vodka, some caviar, a glass of champagne, and a big meal. We then drove to the Great Palace of Peter the Great (aka, “Peterhof”) where we toured for about 90 minutes on the outside. We went through some of the gardens, viewing many of the 150 fountains, and were amazed of the engineering feats. For example, the fountains are all gravity-fed, meaning that their tops are all even, regardless of where the fountain begins. At night, huge pools of water are collected from the underground springs. Then, in the morning, the pipes to the fountains are opened, and the fountains display their beauty for all to see.

Arriving back at ship at 6 PM, it was a tight race to drop bags at the room, change shirts, and get to the 6:15 dinner. Some didn’t show up (either doing something late, or ate at buffet), so it was a rather empty dining room. The setting sun was nice, given that it won’t be going down until after 10 PM. It’s 9:40 PM right now, and only some clouds prevent a shiny sun being reflected in the water. Overall, I took 126 pictures and 15 videos today – I’ll get some posted soon.

Stuart

Stockholm in the Rain

We’re spending more time getting to, and from, Stockholm than we actually spent in port. You see, Stockholm lies inland from the Baltic Sea within an archipelago that consists of over 23,000 islands and skerrits. I don’t know what time we began our entrance this morning, but we pushed form the dock at PM, and it is now 8:45 PM, and we’re still in the archipelago. So it’s appearing to take about 5 hours EACH way. Our docked time was a maximum of 7 hours!

 

I escorted a tour today called “A Day in Stockholm.” It was a motor coach tour of the highlights of the city – by the way, Stockholm is situated on 14 islands – plus two photo stops, and stops at 3 of the city’s “high points.” Our first stop was at City Hall. This is where the Nobel Prize Banquet is held every year in the Golden Chamber, a grand hall decorated with over 19 million golden mosaic tiles (23.5 Karat gold). The banquet is held, and the prizes are awarded, each year on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. You have to admit that the place setting is a bit glamorous!

After some touring, we went to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was constructed in 3 years and was launched in 1628. It sank after sailing only 1,300 meters, and it remained immersed in the brackish water and mud of the Baltic Sea for 333 years. When it was raised in 1961, it was in remarkable condition for being under the water for that long. There were over 700 carved wooden statues incorporated into the ship. Most of the cannons were recovered in the 17^th Century, but they were sold to Germany, so there were only 3 left when the ship was raised from the depth of only about 30 meters.

 

Our final stop was the Old Town area where we had some free time to explore on our own, plus visit the city’s oldest church and the place where most Swedish coronation had taken place, and there have even been some royal weddings. It was originally a Catholic church, built in the late 13^th Century, but was converted to Lutheran after the Protestant Reformation. We didn’t have time to visit the Royal Palace, but we did walk by it; the guards are one of the oldest regiments in the world (Swiss Guards at Vatican are the oldest); pictures are okay, just so long as you don’t get too close to them.

As we sailed out, we saw some islands with no houses, just trees. Some islands had one or two houses on them, and boat transportation was the only way to connect with other islands or the mainland. Well, we finally made it out into the open waters of the Baltic Sea as we head to Helsinki, Finland – our. northernmost port on the cruise

Stuart

New Pictures Posted

I've posted some new pictures on the Scandinavia/Russia photos page on the right. Please take a look!

Lead Story in Ship’s Paper

My two talks today, as we’re on the Baltic Sea en route to Stockholm, were the lead story in the Celebrity TODAY paper here on the Celebrity Constellation. I gave a morning talk on “Finland – Its Culture and Its Music.” Then in the afternoon, I gave a well-attended presentation on “Opulent St. Petersburg.” First-timers to St. Petersburg had many questions for me (“What should I see?,” etc.). It was fun.

 

The sea is smooth in the Baltic, and everyone was in good spirits today. There were many late sleepers, primarily those who took the 3-hour train ride into Berlin yesterday (because it was then a 3-hour ride back, arriving late in the evening). We left Warnemünde about 11:30 PM last night.

I did manage to watch the final round in The [British] Open Championship golf tournament today. The announcers were right in saying that it was Adam Scott’s tournament to lose. Unfortunately, he did that with four straight bogeys on the last four holes. I was happy to see Ernie Els win it with a birdie on the last hole.

Off to bed soon as I will try (repeat, try) to get up early (5 AM) for our entrance through the archipelago into Stockholm in the morning. Until next time, safe travels!

Stuart

Amsterdam to Warnemünde

It was a pleasant morning on the day of sailing from Amsterdam, July 19, so I decided to walk from the hotel to the ship, the Celebrity Constellation. I left early and got to the terminal about 10:20 AM, which was still too early to board. But, I did manage to avoid the rain, which began around 11:30. Once on the ship, I had a couple hours to wander around as the staterooms were not yet ready. So I used that time to walk each deck and get acquainted with the layout.

As we left the dock, we had to maneuver through the canal toward the North Sea, taking about two hours to reach the lock that separates the canal from the North Sea. It was interesting to see the lock open and our huge ship go inside. From the upper decks, it didn’t appear that we had much clearance on the sides, but a lower-level look revealed 50 feet on each side. Once we were through the lock, it was cruising North and the weather got a little rough.

We were in fairly rough seas on the first morning, Friday July 20^th. Many people were having motion sickness, and it stayed rough until about 4 PM when we began a “U Turn” to the right into the straits between Norway and Denmark. I gave my first presentation, about Sweden, at 1:00 in the Celebrity Theatre, and the 45 minutes went much faster than I thought it would. I talked with a few people after I was done; some wanted to talk about heritage, and a few wanted my opinion on which tour they should take in Stockholm.

That night was the first formal dinner, and so I suited up for it, and had an enjoyable dinner in the San Marco Restaurant. Our table only had 4 people, and so dinner wasn’t an extremely lengthy affair. I returned to my cabin to find out that I was going to be escorting a tour in Warnemünde the next morning, so it was early to bed for me.

The tour on Saturday the 21^st was “Delightful Warnemünde,” a walking tour of the town. After a stop along the pier for our tour guide to give us an orientation to Warnemünde and the neighboring Rostock, we walked into the small village, and went to the Evangelical Church – the only church in town. It used to be a Catholic Church, but has since become Lutheran. We were entertained with a fifteen minute concert on the pipe organ, and it was very delightful.

We continued our walk to the beach, but the strong winds (ambient temperature around 60 F) put quite a chill in the air. Our xt stop was a lovely little restaurant in the base of a windmill from the 19^th Century. A small sampling of a white and a red wine (not local; no grapes in the area) was offered, and we then boarded a little tram o continue our tour around town and back to the pier. There was still plenty time left in the day to wander around on my own, but the strong wind didn’t make that an inviting thought. The warmth and comfort of the ship seemed a better idea (plus I was able to watch the British Open on TV.

We are at sea tomorrow as we sail toward Sweden; I am giving two talks (one on Finland, and the other on St. Petersburg), so it will be a busy day, followed by five consecutive port days.

Free time? Well, I haven’t done any writing on my Sydney novel, as I appear to be very tired all the time. Yes, I’m taking my vitamins and drinking water – the energy level just isn’t there.

Thanks for following along – feel free to post any comments (including questions) if you’d like. I’ll be back online in a day or two. Until then, auf wiedersehen from Germany.

Stuart

In Amsterdam -- All's Well, Finally!

The trip started off fine; my flight from Boise to Chicago was on time. And, even though it was a regional jet, the only carry-on luggage I had was my back pack; the other two pieces were checked all the way through to Amsterdam. So I didn't have to wait for them to bring my "green tagged gate checked"bag to me. Arrived in Chicago at gate B18 and had to go through the tunnel over to C19 for the non-stop flight to Amsterdam. I got there, and they should have been boarding. There was no activity, aside from a few people sitting there. That didn't look good.

I went to a departure screen and saw CANCELLED -- that is certainly not good. Fortunately, the United Club was close by, and I went in to see what I could do. "Hurry, she said, they're boarding to Munich right now, but you need to go there immediately." Another agent asked, "Bags?" Yes, two of them. "I'll try to get them re-routed for you."

I said Thanks, and headed out the door and ran to gate C10. It was a comfortable flight to Munich, and then I got on a Lufthansa flight from there to Amsterdam, arriving about 3+ hours later than my original schedule -- not a problem for timing. That's one of the reasons I came in a day before the cruise -- Just In Case! As the bags began to come out on the belt, I saw one of mine. Whew! They made it. Oops -- only one made it on the same flights as I was on. Off to the baggage office; I wasn't the only one with that problem. They didn't know where my bag was. Filled out the form, and took the one bag with me.

One thing I like about the Amsterdam airport is the train station right in the center. So off to a kiosk I go to buy a ticket to Centraal Station, but they only take credit cards with a chip and a PIN. Mine doesn't have that. I go to the ticket counter, same thing. Take US Dollars? No. I found a bank, and got a terrible exchange rate. But I got the coins I needed to buy my ticket, and I boarded the 2:48 express train. Arrived in town, and now it's raining. Fortunately, my rain jacket was in the one bag I got. Out I go to walk to the hotel through the rain, pulling one bag with me.

My room (a 7 x 14 foot "single" plus bathroom) is on the fourth floor up a bunch of narrow, steep, winding stairs. Elevator -- ha ha ha! No elevator. I called the baggage people about 30 minutes prior to their closing -- nothing on your bag yet, I'm told. I go down two floors to the desk to ask where I can buy a razor, etc., for tomorrow. "The airport just called, and your bag will be here between 8 and 10 PM tonight." It was about 7:15 at the time.

Went out for dinner -- still raining. Bought a compact umbrella on the way back from dinner. My bag arrived about 9:15 -- sure glad it's here. So now I'm all set for tomorrow; I just hope it's not raining if I ha to walk the mile or so to the cruise terminal -- taxis aren't that plentiful here, but I will try to get one.

I'm starting to post picture on the PHOTOS page on the right side of the main blog page.

Time for a long sleep with ear plugs in -- very noisy area.

All's well -- finally!

Stuart