Post Mortem

Finally saying goodbye to get-lag here in San Francisco! We culled and uploaded all the photos we took. For the very patient who don't have much else to do... the whole shebang are up at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sauropics/collections/72157624243903877/

Then for those who just want a brief glimpse of each destination, there's a 30-photo digest of the places we've been at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sauropics/sets/72157624373572590/

Enjoy!

One Last Gasp in Stockholm

Thursday, June 24, 2010. Our final day in Stockholm and the last part of our cruise vacation was a nice relaxing and enjoyable series of walks and visits to some places that I missed seeing on our last visit to this beautiful city.

After an included breakfast at Berns Hotel, we ventured out for a long walk along the waterfront, ending up on Djurgarden Island, which is the home to many great museums and historic buildings here in Stockholm. The Vasa Museum was our destination, and it was fascinating. A 17th century war ship that sunk on its maiden voyage has been brought up from the bottom of the sea and rebuilt in all its glory. (Picture of the ship above.) It was under water for 333 years and at the museum they have created fabulous films, displays and interactive exhibits around this amazing archeological discovery. The museum was built around the ship and it is breathtaking. Turned out the big ship had too little ballast, gun ports too low on the bow, and was basically designed quite poorly by the builders. It sank like a rock the first time in the water! Ronna, Briar and Natalie had visited the Vasa 10 years ago, but I didn't see it. So this was quite special for me.

We had a simple snack lunch in the park near the Vasa comprised of French hot dogs, chips and ice cream! Shopping and walks finished out the day before we had a very nice French dinner at Bistro Berns, right outside our hotel on a gorgeous park. We were able to complete our al fresco dinner before the crowds of smokers arrived.

What is it about this "green" and healthy country. They smoke like crazy and if you are seated next to a bunch of smokers at these outdoor cafes, it is miserable. Hey, how about smokers on this side, non-smokers on that side. But no... they smoke everywhere. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

We have to be up early to catch a 7:30 a.m. cab to the Stockholm Airport for a flight to Frankfurt, then a change to a 747 and then on to SFO.

Great trip... great weather... we're blessed and thankful for this memorable opportunity!

The Stockholm Stretch

We are REALLY enjoying our extended visit to Stockholm. What an amazingly beautiful city, and the weather could not be better. Almost too warm... bright sun and not a cloud in the sky. This has caused the attractive Swedish citizens to don skimpy sundresses, tank-tops and shorts and not much else. It makes for lots more "elbowing" from Ronna as I scan the landscape!

Yesterday, we cruised into Stockholm admiring the hundreds of small islands and elegant vacation homes that seem to be everywhere. At 10 a.m. we arrived at our dock, and it was not quite the same as St. Petersburg or Helsinki... we were moored three miles from the City Center in an industrial port area. But we had shuttle buses and cabs available, so we wasted no time checking out the Old Town area, the Palace with the changing of the guard, the shopping streets and big department stores. The architecture is astonishing and the fact that water is basically a part of almost every view you can have, makes Stockholm a magical place.

Stockholm was recented named the "Greenest" city in the world. Quite a contrast from the days when local lakes and waterways were used as refuse dumps and latrines, causing epidemic cholera and many other diseases. They certainly cleaned up their act during the late 19th century and these days the fresh-water Lake Malaren especially sparkles with crystal clarity.

We finally succumbed to our inner yearning for American food and had lunch at TGI Friday's in a beautiful park setting downtown. Ronna had a cheeseburger and I had baby back ribs, plus ice tea! Someone forgot to tell the Swedes that their money, the Kroner, should be revalued. Our lunch cost $75. Stockholm is clearly the most expensive city we've visited, but I guess that's what happens when your country is super prosperous and has not been in a war for 200+ years. They get to spend their money on free education for all, excellent health care, pensions and 6-week vacations, instead of an Army. (I actually looked it up: Sweden spends 1.3% of its GDP on defense; the US spends 4.3%.) But it still seems strange that they get to be members of the European Union but don't have to use the Euro. Similar to the UK, I guess.

We got back to the ship in time to take our final shore excursion: A delightful two-hour tour of the Waterways of Stockholm. What a great way to see this fabulous city. Our glass-sided boat zipped along the Baltic Sea, then went through a lock to bring the ship up to the level of Lake Malaren, then saw many more gorgeous neighborhoods of this water-wonderland city.

This morning we had coffee in our ship suite and breakfast in the Terrace dining room before bidding adieu to the Silver Whisper... a marvelous cruise ship and the perfect size, we decided.

Disembarkation was hassle-free with no lines or delays. We took a cab to the Berns Hotel where we will be staying for two more nights here in Stockholm. It's a stylish, trendy boutique hotel with an Asian restaurant, a French bistro, a nightclub and a concert hall. (Marianne Faithful will be performing here July 14.) All this overlooking a beautiful park with the Lake and boats in the background. There are hundreds of designer shops everywhere you walk, with prices to match yesterday's lunch. We had to kill a couple of hours before our hotel room was ready, so we meandered around this part of Stockholm and found at least 20 restaurants I want to eat at!

For lunch today it was Bistro Jarl a few blocks from our hotel. We got a nice table outside and there were NO SMOKERS nearby, which made for a great hour of eating and people-watching.
Bikes are a big deal here, with tons of them parked everywhere you go. It's also quite a site to see a leggy young Swedish blonde in a mini-skirt getting seated on her bike!

When people say "Hey," instead of "Hello" as a greeting in America, bet you didn't know they're speaking Swedish! "Hej" is Swedish for "Hello!"

One more day, then back to San Francisco.

Finnish Fun!

Monday, June 21, 2010. We awoke for the longest day of the year and we certainly picked a good place for the celebration. Helsinki, Finland is a very vibrant Nordic city at the about the same latitude as St. Petersburg. So that means not very much darkness at this time of year... perhaps two hours of night from 2 to 4 am. (The St. Petersburg graduation celebration fireworks Saturday night were fired at 2 am!)

Our final day in St. Petersburg yesterday was quite fun, although it finally rained. (St Petes have a saying about the weather. "We have nine months of anticipation and three months of disappointment." We took an afternoon coach tour to two splendid palaces very near our ship--Vladimir and Yusupov Palaces. One was originally owned by royalty, the other by the wealthy Yusupov family and where Rasputin was murdered. Now they are both owned by the Russian government. They featured over-the-top gold gilt and huge ballrooms as big as basketball courts. The Yusupov Palace had this amazing performance space with box seats and room for 200 to watch a ballet or symphony performance. It was way cooler than any home theatre we've seen.

We had a fun sail-away party around the pool deck and marveled one more time at the spectacular St. Petersburg skyline.

At 8:30 this morning we docked at another superb city location... in a primo spot downtown just a block from the famous "Esplanade" boulevard of Helsinki. We strolled this clean and historic city finally landing for lunch at Kapelli Restaurant, which looked a bit like a Victorian version of Tavern on the Green. All windows and turrets, plus a typical Finnish menu. Tough choices... Filet of Reindeer, Wild Bear, or German Venison? I chose a dish that was labeled "Fried Game." Turned out to be deer meat and was quite delicious. The market stands adjacent to our ship have huge stalls with immense round fry surfaces filled with reindeer paella. Or reindeer sausage. Or reindeer burgers. You get the idea. In addition to their unusual protein choices, Finns also average 9 cups of coffee a day... tops in the world.

We're not in Finland long as we'll be "finnished" at 6 pm tonight... Helsinki is very cool with lots of English-speaking, friendly people.

Tonight's our third formal night, so it's back into the fancy duds for another overly-rich "gourmet" dinners. Tomorrow night we're opting for the "hot rocks" dinner around the pool... grilled meats, plain and simple.

Final port tomorrow: Stockholm. We've already cranked up our AABA tunes on our suite's music player.

St Petersburg--Sauro Style

Day two in Russia's second largest city was a combination of decadent leisure and over-the-top fun! We had a nice morning lounging in our suite, and then headed out for one of our "see what happens" walks. We ended up back at the city's main drag, Nevskiy Prospekt, and enjoyed seeing all the set-up for what was apparently the biggest night of the year in St. Petersburg... a combination of Graduation Night for all the colleges and high schools in the City, plus the finale of the Euro Economic Summit. We even ran into two nice young men from Mesa, AZ... one wearing an ASU t-shirt.

While looking for the Russian Vodka Museum, we discovered this interesting restaurant overlooking the Nikolaevsky Palace gardens with a classic exterior, fabulous logo, and impressive entry way. I went inside and checked it out... an amazingly grand interior space that looked like the Mirror Room at Versailles! The gorgeous hostess didn't discourage my interest. I took their business card (terrific thick black card stock with silver printing) and said we might be back later in the evening. I checked it out on the Internet... "Gimnazya" is the English translation of their Russian name, and it sounded very interesting. Russian cuisine, combined with Italian dishes and tons of sushi! Talk about restaurant schizophrenia! We called and made 8 pm reservations.

Upon arrival, we found the place catered to primarily very large parties, but they had a nice table for two in the rear middle of the room. The main dining hall was at least 200 feet long, with grand pillars, chandeliers and marble everywhere. It was quintessential Russian "opulent extravagance." On the sides were private anti-rooms where food was also served, and perhaps more! At the far end of this grand space was a stage with a huge video wall with a DJ behind a podium. To the right, a crow's nest/choir loft lighting and sound center up near the ceiling that was reached by a ladder. High quality speakers were mounted along the walls every 10 feet.

We ordered dinner serenaded by a great sound-track of American light dance tunes. Suddenly nearly 100 young graduates and their dates descended upon the huge tables near the DJ stage, pre-covered with food, snacks and vodka. It was a parade of interesting Russian young people! Many young women challenged the laws of physics concerning how short a skirt can actually be while covering one's critical anatomy. In many cases their heels were higher than the length of their skirts.

As our excellent dinner progressed, the music tempo increased. Soon, a very talented young female vocalist emerged and began singing beautifully to instrumental disco tracks being spun by the DJ. Absolutely fabulous! The video screen featured appropriate generic montages of music groups and the volume started pumping. Guests started danced in various parts of the room, and it turned into a "dinner disco." My favorite combination!

But the only downside... the smokers started puffing away. No laws against it here. So we said goodbye at about 11 and had some great memories of old-school Euro dance places, this one in a spectacular room with tasty food. And all this just three blocks from our ship!

A great second evening in St. Pete!

Land of White Nights

<--- View from our ship balony at 11:19 PM.

Saturday morning, June 19, 2010. We began our second day in St. Petersburg still marveling at our good fortune. When we awoke in this beautiful city yesterday, we pulled open the drapery in our suite to discover our ship was docked practically the middle of downtown St. Pete on the "English Embankment on the Neva River!" I can throw a ruble from our balcony into the 15th century buildings across the street! This is another amazing advantage of a smaller cruise ship. When our whole family was here 10 years ago aboard the Celebrity Millennium, we were docked in an industrial port area, and it took 30 minutes by cab to get anywhere. This is heaven... we stroll off the ship with our Russian Visas and can wander around without the hassles of tour groups and motor coaches. Only a handful of our fellow cruisers went to the trouble of getting their own Russian Visas... and are we ever happy we did!

Yesterday, we had a great walk along the Neva River through beautiful parks and along streets filled with interesting architecture. St. Petersburg is a city of superlatives: 250 museums; palaces and cathedrals around every corner; more waterways and bridges than Venice; the coolest subway system in the world... the list goes on and on.

We ended up on Nevskiy Prospekt--St. Petersburg's main drag--window-shopping at fancy shops, side-stepping crazy drivers, and marvelling at how young Russian women get so "dolled up!" Lots of make-up, super short skirts and high heels that would break most people's ankles! It's quite a site and Ronna elbowed me so many times, my ribs are sore. Along our route we passed the municipal "Wedding Palace," where couple after couple were getting married, with the wedding attendees dressed to the nines and bottles of Vodka flowing on the sidewalks between obscenely long stretch limos and Hummers.

We heard about a good sidewalk cafe at the Grand Hotel Europa off Nevskiy Prospeckt and we had a fine lunch at one of their six gourmet restaurants' outside patios. What a gorgeous hotel... we might end up back there for dinner tonight. After lunch, we were able to snag a driver and a car at the hotel for a quick trip back to the ship and our 2 pm departure of a ship tour called "Through the Eyes of Russians." Instead of museums and art galleries, we went to a typical Russian shopping mall, the famous food hall market, and then a fabulous two-line ride on St. Petersburg's fabulous subway. The underground trains were constructed up to 500 feet deep, to go under all the canals and rivers and to double as Cold War bomb shelters! The fast-moving escalators are so long you can barely see the end from the entrance. Inside, the three subway stations we visited were incredibly beautiful. Marble, artwork, carvings, art deco lighting, and not one spot of graffiti anywhere! The Communists wanted this transit system to be "Art for The People" and they sure accomplished that! After the subway excursion, we had a shopping stop and did a vodka tasting at the Hotel St. Petersburg.

We returned to the ship in time to change clothes and head back out for a "Billy Walk," as Ronna calls them. I tell her a restaurant or store is just a short walk away. We walk, and we walk, and we walk and I basically trick her into miles of exercise. We heard good things about a restaurant called "1913." And on the map it looked only a few blocks from our ship. It turned into a major "Billy Walk" through some rather rough neighborhoods and perilous crossings of streets and canals. (Pedestrians do not have any rights in Russia and they have very few crosswalks.)

Dinner was quite good with very cute and attentive waitresses with a fair command of English. The restaurant had a violinist, guitar player and vocalist who did mostly Russian classic folk tunes. When they took their break, the restaurants switched on a CD... Dave Koz in a St. Petersburg restaurant! Cool!

The restaurant was able to call a cab for us. They are hard to get this weekend in St. Pete. There is a World Economic Summit here this weekend, and streets are blocked and traffic is terrible. In addition, our "Evening at the Hermitage" tour was cancelled because the President of France is a guest at a big formal dinner at the Hermitage! We were quite upset about that! Our restaurant server told us our cab would be there at 10:05 and it was a "yellow Russian car." OK. Just on time, this rusted, broken down old Volta sedan pulled up. It must have been 40 or 50 years old! But the driver was charming and we ended up safely back at our ship to see a marginally-entertaining trumpet player show. (He was no Rick Braun or Chris Botti, shall we say.)

In bed at about midnight, and the sun was still shining and the City bright as daytime. Only a few more days until the "longest day of the year," and up here that means virtually no evening darkness with sunrise at 4 am! The land of the White Nights.

Today's it's a boat tour on our own, a trip to the Vodka Museum and more independent strolling and sightseeing of St Petersburg.

Terrific Tallinn

We enjoyed our visit to Tallinn, Estonia during our family Baltic Cruise 10 years ago , but this time our excursion to this quaint medieval capital was far more comprehensive.

We left the ship at 9 am to join a motor coach with local guide for a six-hour tour of Tallinn. "Old Town" is a very picturesque fairytale village of steeples, towers, red-tiled roofs, cobblestone lanes and blind alleys. It is the best preserved medieval city in Northern Europe. Estonian, the local language, is closest to Finnish, but is in the same family as Hungarian. The nearby other Baltic countries of Latvia, and Lithuania use a completely different type of language... no wonder these three countries have had their issues! Throughout the tour, we were reminded of the various times in history when Estonia was a free country, as it is now. It bounced around from being controlled by the Danes, the Germans, the Soviets, and finally in 1991 truly free when the Soviet Union dissolved.

The Estonian people are very friendly and hospitable, with an attractive Scandinavian demeanor. They are really into folk singing and dancing. Our tour group had coffee in the "Blackhead's Fraternity House," a 15th century building that was the home of guild workers who were not able to find wives! We were treated to authentic Estonian folk dancing, and Ronna and other guests of our cruise got pulled into dance with the "pros." Ronna was "thrilled?" to be waltzing, clapping & getting very dizzy at the rough early hour of 10 am! And is so excited that Bill was able to catch it all on film -- not.

We had lunch at Peppersack, a typical restaurant with tourist-driven Estonian cuisine... we ate chicken salad with yogurt, pork cutlets with dill gravy, sauerkraut and pickles.

Several old monasteries have been converted to craft shops, featuring locally made linens, leather goods, hand-blown glass and amber jewelry. We bought some really beautiful glass candlestick holders for Dillon.

We're now back on the ship and getting ready to sail away to our three-day visit to St. Petersburg.

Best one-liner we heard so far: A women on our cruise from Memphis said at dinner last night.... "I hope my husband makes enough money someday so that he can afford a mistress."