Amsterdam

Once we arrived back in Amsterdam, we took a day to discover the city. One of the coolest things was how they incorporated modern architecture to the old style of the city.

First on the docket on the sights to see, the Anne Frank house. Touching and amazing. Then off to the Rijksmuseum. Lots of Rembrandt's and a couple of Vermeer's, best of all "The Night Watch" Just incredible, and gigantic... probably 30 feet by 20 feet. From there a quick lunch in the park and then the Van Gogh museum. We spent some serious time there, and all of us decided that he was our favorite painter.

We walked back to the hotel and discovered the cafes that Amsterdam is famous for... what can I say, it reminded me of college.

Dinner was disappointing and our first but not last encounter with a rude waiter.

Lithuania...

The only interesting thing about Lithuania right now is that they need about 2 years to develop a real tourism industry. Once they do, watch out. On the way into port they had what New Englanders would call amazing sand dunes and sandy beaches. I also found out that a dear friend of ours great grand rentals are from Lithuania. After Lithuania we had two days at sea. Very uneventful. We must have seen hundreds of power generating windmills in the middle of the ocean. I thought they looked incredibly sculptural.

Estonia - what a surprise

We arrived at the city of Tallinn, Estonia. After St Petersburg, this is cosmopolitan, and very modern. First thing that surprised me was the fact that there were very few t-shirt shops. However, there were tons of galleries, and high end stores. We saw a lot of garments made from flax, not cheap in Estonia, but absolutely beautiful.

I was challenged by the pursuit of the Orthodox church. After many flights of stairs and several breathing brakes, we were rewarded with a beautiful church, and a wedding. It was very interesting.

St Petersburg Russia Day 2

Early morning departure for Peter The Great's home. Peterhof was a great surprise. We were walking the rooms of the palace before the tourists arrived, so we got a great sense of the place. You can't help but be in awe. Lots of history some good, some not so good. Some of the best pics were taken here.

Next, shopping for Russian souvenirs. That was an adventure because they hound you in the stores and try desperately to sell you more expensive items. Interesting to see capitalism at work in Russia.

St Petersburg, Russia day 1

Finally, we have arrived at the highlight city of the trip. The dock was post industrial apocalypse...UGLY!

We are greeted before passport security by a Russian band of musicians playing standards... however, these were American standards..weird. They could all use some serious bleach on those beige shirts that are supposed to be white and a new pair of shoes. We meet our Russian agent, I mean tour guide Anna and off we go to Catherine's Palace. On the way she explains to us that the subway system and the trolleys all run on time (as long as they don't fall apart) and that the ugly as hell cement buildings are Stalin architecture. In her defense, she was very good at telling us how wonderful things are in the new Russia (post USSR era). Interestingly, one of the previously USSR states (Estonia) is about 20 years ahead of them already.

Once at the summer home of Catherine the Great, we realized how exquisitely these people lived. It is just amazing, the grounds are amazing, the paint job is amazing and the fact that they spent all this money to live like this is amazing. From there, we were off to the Hermitage (Catherine in town home) now a major museum. Also incredible. Somehow our guide always skipped the lines and managed to push people aside so that we could get a better view. Interestingly, even the pick pockets on the street got out of her way... and she is not an agent... sure...

we interrupt the trip for breaking news.

On Monday after our trip, I had to do a CT Scan and a pulmonary function test. Luckily I didn't have to drink the horrible potion this time. The results are in... SURVEY SAID... I am clean as a whistle.. YIPPEE!! However. and there seems to always be a however, whatever currently ails me seems to be uncharted and unknown. The way it was explained to me was a) we have never done a surgery like yours, b) It is remarkable that you are doing so well c) there is no road map for the rest of your recovery since I am the only one...not one in a million, but I am IT...nobody else in my statistical group. It is lonely at the top!

Helsinki

After having fallen in love with Sweden I decided to summer in one of the small islands. Helsinki Finland was next. We went into town on the shuttle. It felt like a major metropolis (which it is). Alvar Aalto and Eliel Saarinen are major architects from Finland. Two old churches were on the docket, one Lutheran the other Orthodox. Lovely churches in the traditional style.



However, there was a modern church built in the rubble of a WW2 attack that stood out. Holy guacamole... the coolest place, it has a special feature than when it rains, the water falls from the celing into the inside rock walls...simply amazing. As it had been the warmest day of their summer, everyone was at the beach. I wouldn't mind summering here either...

By the way...did you all know that Finland is a country only since 1917? for such a young nation, they sure have their act together!

Little Mermaids and a Great Archipelago

When I think of Copenhagen, I thought there would be a lot to see and do. Country number 1 and I had high expectations. Was I disappointed! Beautiful harbor, with the little mermaid bronze on a rock. As we walked through town, we realized that there was a lot of t-shirt shops and not a lot of things to see. Ended up in front of Tivoli Gardens and decided not to go in since they never make it to the top amusement parks in the Travel Channel. Walked through town and ended up seeing the crown jewels. Lovely emeralds, but I don’t have a thing to wear with them!. Back to the ship thoroughly disappointed.

Stockholm was next. Had no expectations, but let me tell you.. a jewel box of a city. First of all, to reach Stockholm, you must go thru the Swedish archipelago. Three incredible hours of islands, inlets and just beautiful scenery. We took the shuttle into the old town and were rewarded with an incredible city. This is where the Nobel Prices are given out. All except the Peace Prize. Where is that one given out? Take a guess why don’t you.

As noon approached, we were in front of the palace to see the changing of the guard. Absolutely very cool, however, I was expecting a grand march for a musical accompaniment and instead got an umpa band. Kind of weird but incredible nonetheless. Lunch in a little pub. Back to the ship by 2:30 since we were going to be rewarded again with the archipelago on the way out of town.

and I'm back...

Sorry I haven't posted for the last 20 days... I've been away and I will give you all a Cliff Note version of the incredible trip I took.

Took my overweight bag to the airport for our departure.. I had to pay for extra pounds and my head almost got chopped off. I lived through that one... barely. Had a light meal and got ready for the 7 hour flight to Amsterdam. Can't remember if I slept since I was in and out all the time. Landed right on time 9:00AM. I had hired a van to take us to the ship and luckily that went off without a hitch...and then we waited... and waited for 1:00PM boarding time. We were all exhausted but thrilled the adventure was about to commence. After the boat drill, ( a woman complained that she had been standing for 30 minutes!) we started sailing down the main canal. It was absolutely spectacular. Windmills modern and old everywhere.. Since Amsterdam is below sea level, we had to clear a lock before setting off in the North Atlantic. Very exciting. As you can expect..it was dinner and bed right after that.

The following day, was at sea.. North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. We all woke up very late and refreshed.. breakfast and latte for me. Rest of the day spent exploring the ship and thinking to myself how lucky I was.