Yesterday we had very high seas from Copenhagen to Amsterdam and a lot
of people remained in their rooms.
We made very good friends and saw some fabulous sights on our 3000
miles of cruising.
Web site with all the photos coming soon.
We are home at 3 am on Labor Day
One the highlights of the day was enjoying a traditional Danish lunch
of open-faced sandwiches and Tuborg beer.
We've just departed the harbor en route back to Amsterdam via our
last full day at sea
We've had a great trip and look forward to sharing our adventures with
you soon.
It's a mix of old and new here. It appears to be fairly wealthy here
with Masserati's and other fine cars in large quantities.
A short time in port today. We set sail at 2 pm en route to
Copenhagen with a day at sea tomorrow.
We visited the beautiful city of Helsinki and toured the sites with
our new Scottish friends, Annemarie, Bernadette, Joel, and Jerry.
There were many great historical sites there but one of the highlights
was visiting the public craft market. Brenda bought a few souvenirs
and we dined on salmon and reindeer sausage.
The next two days we were in St. Petersburg Russia. Our first day took
us to Katherine's castle in Pushkin and to the summer palace in
Peterhof. Both amazing castles were destroyed by the Nazis in WW2.
However, they are completely renovated to their original splendor and
are truly something to behold. In Peterhof there are more than 300
gravity fed fountains on the grounds that exceed the beauty of the
ones at Bellagio.
Yesterday, we took a brief tour of the Hermitage museum (not nearly
enough time) and later in the day we took in a tour of the city.
Nearly each day there are hundreds of weddings going on. The
government is looking to grow the population. We beard that there is
an incentive of $500 for the first child and $10,000 for the second!
We also heard that there is a ratio of 3 to 4 women for every man.
Many of the young women are very beautiful and really dress up with
micro mini skirts and high heels to snare their prey.
It's early in the morning. We just docked in Tallinn, Estonia and are
soon off to visit this Hanseatic city.
--
Steve Gebler
Encinitas, California
At the break of dawn this morning we entered a straight that exited
from the Baltic Sea that lead us to the heart of Stockholm Sweden.
This passage was beautiful to say at the least. Imagine the shoreline
being the best of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe combined with the rugged
shore of Maine. All along this route were private camps and palatial
mansions.
Upon arrival we visited the Vasa Museum. This museum is dedicated to
the complete renovation of a cargo/warship that was built in the late
1300's. It sunk after sailing less than a mile on it's maiden voyage.
The care to detail is amazing.
We walked a great deal while exploring various sites in the old part
of the city.
Santa and Bullwinkle would not be happy with us as I had reindeer
steak and Brenda had moose meatballs for lunch.
We've just set sail for Helsinki with an arrival set for 10 tomorow.
Today we arrived in the seaside resort of Warnemunde. We quickly
departed via train to the ancient Hanseatic city of Rostock. Lots of
walking and exploring this beautiful old town with some buildings
dating to the 13th century. Enjoyed some local beer and bratwurst for
lunch before returning to explore coastal Warnemunde.
On our way to the hot tub aboard ship.
Next stop, more ice cream!
Then, we did one of our favorite things and walked through a ton of
local neighborhoods including an artist's region an a stop along the
flower market with every kind of frsh flowers, bulbs, orchids, etc.
that you can imagine (pictures to follow later).
Then, back home for a brief rest before heading off to dinner in the
shadow of a castle dating back to before rembrandt's time.
Finally a return walk home through the infamous Red Light district.
In bed early tonight in anticipation of boarding ship tomorrow.
We started out by getting a day pass to the Canal Bus -- a fleet of
luxurious motor yachts that take you all over Amsterdam via the
interconnected canals.
First stop was the the Rijksmuseum home of the art of the Dutch master
painters and featuring the works of Rembrandt. We then strolled in one
of the many beautiful parks and had a little ice cream.
Later, we got off in a beautiful part of the city to enjoy a lunch at
an outdoor cafe (pictured). The weather has been clear and in the 70's
perfect for walking.
After a nap, we took the canal bus to Anne Frank's home; a sobering
reminder of how cruel we humans can be to each other at times.
Tonight we went to an excellent Italian dinner with alfresco dining.
You notice a few things right away -- the people are gorgeous,
friendly, and thin. It's no coincidence that there are no fast food
joints in view.
All tobacco have giant warnings on them -- you smoke you die!
We can learn from the Finns.
We got a little surprise from American Airlines yesterday morning...
Our flight was cancelled. In a mad dash to try to get back on
schedule, we had to take a day earlier flight and scrambled to depart
late afternoon Thursday instead of Friday morning. This came with a
BONUS. A 12 hour layover at JFK.
So here we sit in a comped Ramada room with this gorgeous view.
It no doubt gets better from here. On to Amsterdam later today.
Our Cruising Information
| |||||||||||||||||
Ship Facts Tonnage: 71,545 Length: 815 ft Beam: 105.6 ft Draught: 25 ft Cruise Speed: 21.5 kts Inaugural Date: Dec 20, 1995 |
Date | Port/City | Activity | Description | |
| Tue, Aug 25 | Amsterdam, Holland | Depart 4:30 PM | ||
| Wed, Aug 26 | At Sea | |||
| Thu, Aug 27 | Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany | Docked | Arrive 9:00 AM | Depart 11:59 PM |
| Fri, Aug 28 | At Sea | |||
| Sat, Aug 29 | Stockholm, Sweden | Docked | Arrive 10:00 AM | Depart 5:00 PM |
| Sun, Aug 30 | Helsinki, Finland | Docked | Arrive 10:00 AM | Depart 6:00 PM |
| Mon, Aug 31 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Docked | Arrive 7:00 AM | |
| Tue, Sep 01 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Docked | Depart 6:00 PM | |
| Wed, Sep 02 | Tallinn, Estonia | Docked | Arrive 7:00 AM | Depart 2:00 PM |
| Thu, Sep 03 | At Sea | |||
| Fri, Sep 04 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Docked | Arrive 7:00 AM | Depart 5:00 PM |
| Sat, Sep 05 | At Sea | |||
| Sun, Sep 06 | Amsterdam, Holland | Arrive 5:00 AM | ||
