Comrades

Sunrise over St. Petersburg

Day 15 (8/15/2010) Day 8 Baltic Sea Adventure

Day two in Russia was quite intense. Again we did a tour but this one spent more time exploring some of the buildings. The one area that I wish I would have had more time to explore is the Hermitage. It has over three million works of art and is contained in four huge buildings, one being the Summer Palace of Peter the Great. We didn’t do it because it is so huge. From what we heard, even if you spent four days you would only scratch the surface. The people who did go complained that it was unbearably hot, since they have no air-conditioning, and terribly crowded. Apparently it rarely gets as hot in St. Petersburg as it was for our stay. We went past some of the same buildings today as yesterday, the Cruiser Aurora, Cabin of Peter the Great, Admiralty, Stroganovsky Palace and the Hermitage, but this time we had more photo opportunities. The biggest part of today’s tour was going to the Peter and Paul Fortress which also contains there cathedral. Here many of the Russian leaders have been buried including the Romanov family with Anastasia. After a four hour tour we had an hour to ourselves which most people used for shopping. Eileen and I did some shopping but spent most of our time walking around the Court yard of the Summer Palace which again houses part of the Hermitage. Even though it is one of their most cherished treasures the buses don’t stop there because there is no place to park. We noticed the sky was starting to grow dark so we started making our way back to the bus. Soon after our group had loaded we had a huge storm which made several buses late back to the ship because of downed trees.

The problem with tours is that there is a lot of hurry up and wait time. It seems like there is always that one person or group that is always holding everything up. There is also the attention seeker who is always either asking stupid questions or trying to outwit the guide. It can also be kind of hectic trying to follow somebody who you can barely understand through large throngs of people often with their own guides going in different directions who they can barely understand. Eileen and I found it best to sit in the back of the bus, keep our mouths shut and stick to the guide like glue when in busy places. The problem with not taking a tour, however, is you have to find your own transportation and unless you are very good at preplanning everything probably won’t know where you are going or what you are seeing anyway. As you can tell by now I am kind of at that point where I need a little vacation from vacation.

Same Sunrise later

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Monument to Emperor Nicholas 1

Winter Palace from across the River

Light towers

The Cruiser Aurora

Fortress of Peter & Paul

Cathedral of Peter & Paul Fortress

Palace Square

Tomb of Romanovs

Tchaikovsky with Pigeons

St. Petersburg

Me at Church of the Spilled Blood

Day 14 (8/14/2010) Day 7 Baltic Sea Adventure

Here we are in Russia. I really never thought growing up in the heart of the cold war that I would ever be setting foot in Russia. Today started at 5:30 with breakfast in the Buffett. We had to be ready to catch a tour of St. Petersburg by 7:45. Even though Russia has come a long way since the cold war there is still a feeling of oppression that runs under the surface. Unlike other ports where you just have to show your cruise card, in Russia you have to go through and have your passport stamped and be with a tour group to get beyond the port. Only people with Russian Visas are allowed outside the port area without being with an organized tour group. To my surprise St. Petersburg is what we grew up knowing as Leningrad. After the fall of the Soviet Union it went back to being called St. Petersburg after the clergyman who brought christianity to Russia.There is still a large military presence around St. Petersburg. There are old weapons from warships to canons all over the city. Some people we met from Russia, but now living in Toronto, told us that the people are still very scared of the KGB after the tour guide had kind of deferred answering a question about the KGB headquarters in St. Petersburg. The city is beautiful though. Unlike many older cities which would have torn down the old buildings and built new, St. Petersburg has retained the original facades. Even though the buildings are often gutted and totally remodeled, the front still looks like it did when it was first built. This has left a very beautiful authentic looking city. Unfortunately, two days only allows you to scratch the surface of a place like St. Petersburg. Fortunately, the tour we were on took us to most of the important land marks even though we were only able to see them from the outside. The weather was beautiful but hot so after our tour we came back to the boat and went to the pool.

Church of the Spilled Blood

Churc of the Spilled Blood (detail)

Eileen in the Market

Building at Church of Spilled Blood

The Academy of Arts

Helsinki

Antti

Day 13 (8/13/2010) Day 6 Baltic Sea Adventure

Today we were reminded that when all is said and done, travel is still about the people. Sailing into Helsinki was nothing like the beautiful trip in through the Archipelagoes of Stockholm. We passed a few somewhat nondescript islands and landed in an industrial area. You could see some of the city off in the distance but it had none of the initial awe inspiring beauty of Stockholm or even Copenhagen. But it was here in Helsinki that we had two of the highlights of our trip so far. We had no real tour planned so we had decided to just take the shuttle into town and have a look around. We had a foreign exchange student from Finland at Cedar Grove last year that I had told him that if we came to Helsinki I would give him a call. As these things go he probably thought he would never hear from me especially since the only contact information I had for him was on Facebook and we didn’t want to use that for fear of letting everybody know that we were out of town. At the last moment I remembered that perhaps they would have his phone number at school so I got that right before we left. I am not exactly a savvy traveler so cold calling somebody I don’t know that well was kind of scary. We had trouble getting the pay phone to work but a young lady working at the counter offered to call him using her cell phone. With her help we were able to get a hold of him and make arrangements to meet at a place that she knew everybody would be able to find. It probably was quite involved considering that we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him. He was totally surprised however that I had really looked him up and it was great seeing him. The young lady however that helped us became very interested in our success and asked us to stop back and let her know how it went. At some point we found out that her husband had actually spent some time doing a mission in Beaver Dam (I can only imagine what sort of difficulty he must have encountered with those heathens). She had also lived in the States for a year and a half in Los Angeles. At any rate it was one of those meeting were you just connect and she told us all about her home in eastern Finland, close to the Russian border and how beautiful it was. We gave her one of my Peace Papers and exchanged e-mails and promised to keep in touch. Even if we never hear from her again it reminded us that no matter where you go you can find people with which you make a connection.

Sunrise coming into Helsinki

Welcome to Helsinki

The White Cathedral

Leaving Helsinki

Stockholm

The Aft Pool

Day 11 (8/11/2010) Day 4 Baltic Sea Adventure

Today we spend the entire day at sea. We started the day with breakfast in the Buffet. It has been cloudy and windy most of the day so we have spent our time getting to know the ship. I think we kind of have it down. We found out where our room is when looking at the side of the boat. We are port side just above the front of the #14 life boat. I have heard that cruises are a food fest and that is an understatement. The hardest part is working up an appetite between meals. Tonight is the first “Formal Night”. I am not looking forward to that. That in fact may be my single biggest problem with cruising. I am not exactly the type of person who is used to pampering and find it quite annoying to have people hovering around all the time waiting to answer your every beckon call. Every time you leave the room somebody comes in, straightens up and leaves you information and whatnot for the next stage of your adventure. Perhaps I will get used to it. Tomorrow we go to port in Stockholm. We made it through formal night. We sat with some people from Philadelphia and a group from Liverpool, England. They all seemed very nice.

Chillaxing

Day 12 (8/12/2010) Day 5 Baltic Sea Adventure

We were woke up at 5:30 to a clanging somewhere in the bowels of the ship. We never really did find out what it was but as soon as we looked outside there were hundreds of little islands going past our ship. They started small and grew larger and larger. Finally some started becoming inhabited. As it turns out, Islands appear to be to Sweden what waterfalls are to Norway. As soon as you think you have seen the coolest one ever a new even cooler one pops into view. Unfortunately, by 6:30 there was a heavy fog and you couldn’t see much of anything. This was another time when our balcony came in handy. By the time we would have dressed and made it to the deck the show would have been over.

The start of the Archipeligo

By the time we went and had breakfast the weather started to clear. It turned out to be a beautiful day in many ways. After a beautiful trip in through the archipelago we docked around 10:00. We decided to wait until the crowds cleared and then we went for a walk towards down town. We walked for about an hour from the ship and then back along a scenic channel. We then came back to the pier and boarded a tour boat to take a tour of Stockholm. It turns out that Stockholm is known as the Venice of the North. It is built on twelve islands and is most assessable by water. It has to be one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. It has a very interesting juxtaposition of old and new buildings. Like all Scandinavian countries they are very environmentally conscious. One of the islands is currently being developed so that no cars will be used. To live there you have to use public transportation.

At 5:00 we started making our way back out through the archipelago. It turns out there are 10,000 islands in the archipelago leading in and out of Stockholm some of which are inhabited and some not. In a nutshell it was a wonderful day.

Buildings start to apear on the Islands

Entering Stockholm

Stockholm by the Water

Stockholm Houseboat

City Government Building

Leaving the Archipeligo

Star Princess

Day 10 (8/10/2010) Day 3 Baltic Sea Adventure

Courtyard at 1st Hotel in Copenhagen

Today we go to sea. After getting up this morning we debated about what to do for breakfast. There was a buffet downstairs in an enclosed courtyard restaurant but we were not sure what it would cost and if we would want to spend the money. We asked the cost, which was about $20.00, each American, and decided, in spite of it being more than we would normally spend on breakfast, to go for it. When we got there the host asked for our room number and informed us that it was included in the room. I would have been really disappointed if I would have found out later that we bought breakfast and there was not only a free one but a wonderful one included in the cost of our room. At breakfast we met a group from Minnesota that is going on the same cruise. We may share a cab to the ship but there are six of them and unless we get two I don’t see how that will work. Checkout is at noon.

We decided to get a cab on our own. Check in on the ship was mostly painless. If I would have known that we had to go through another security check I would sent all my stuff to the room ahead of time. They must hire the staff based on their ability to smile. Most have been quite nice but sometimes hard to understand. The only downer so far was finding out that internet access is not free and actually fairly expensive. I will have to limit my blog time and no skyping. The ship is beautiful and huge. We had opted for a mini suite with balcony mostly because by the time we really decided to go everything cheaper was gone. In the long run I think it is going to be great. Although windy we can sit on the balcony, sip wine and watch the world go past. We are still confused about many things but are starting to figure some things out like where we have to go to eat. I am sure tomorrow while we are at sea all day we will figure out a lot more.

Eileen on Deck

Our room for ten Days

Eileen on the Balcony

Star Alliance

Star Alliance

Day 9 (8/8/2010) Day 1 Baltic Sea Adventure

So far so good, except for the mandatory sleepless night, the night before, everything seems to be going smoothly. We got to the airport 3 hours early. We had taken off from Cedar Grove early because we really had no reason to stay home. We had everything ready and thought our time was better served stopping for breakfast and getting to the airport early in case of any unforeseen situations. It rained most of the way to Chicago but now it looks like the sun is coming out. According to the sign above the desk it looks like our flight to Stockholm is on time. The airport, at this point is quite quiet. I took a picture of the plane and noticed that the name of it is the “Star Alliance”, kind of sounds like something out Star Wars. Eileen pointed out that we have this Star theme going, our ship is the “Star Princess”.

Eileen at the Airport

We have been in the air now about an hour. Unlike our first trip to Scandinavia, everything is on schedule. The plane has a really cool interactive mapping system so you can watch where you are going. We are about to pass north of Toronto at 35000 feet. Our air speed is 624 mph and it is -54 degrees outside. You can also camera down to watch the ground or camera forward to see what the pilot must see. We are about to pass over the Madawaska Highlands. They are starting to serve food so for now I will take a break.

Dinner is served. For airplane food it was wonderful. We had the chicken which was quite tasty. Of course it came with a nice Chilean Carmenere which may have added to the overall lusciousness. There was also a nice roll, some brie and I am guessing a cheese cake which I am saving for later. We are currently following up the Hudson Bay and still have six hours to go to get to Stockholm. Then we will have to catch another flight to take us to Copenhagen. They are coming around with the coffee which smells delicious but I am going to have to pass and try to get some sleep. We still have a long trip ahead of us.

Airline Food

It is morning and we are passing over Norway. It is 11:30pm there but 6:30am here. They just passed out breakfast. After seven plus hours of sitting it was a little rough to handle. I did have some coffee though and that was good. Unfortunately as hard as I tried I couldn’t get any sleep. With our lack of sleep last night I am starting to look forward to a shower and a nice cozy bed. It will be nice to get off this plane and walk around a little even though we still have the short flight to Copenhagen and have to find our hotel. We have less than an hour left so we should be starting our descent soon.

Our first Hotel

We have landed and now sitting in Stockholm airport. Apparently they don’t believe in air conditioning because it is super hot and super humid. It is 8:30am now there time and the plane leaves at 10:00 so we will have some time to chilax.

Except for being dog tired, the next leg of the journey went well after we finally got a pilot. I am not sure what happened since most of the discussion was in Swedish, but apparently the pilot didn’t make it on time so we took off a little late. In spite of that we arrived a little early in Copenhagen. After getting our luggage and a taxi we made it to our hotel. To be honest as soon as we got in the room we cleaned up and took a nap.

It is hard to say were one day ends and the next starts when your life doesn’t stop and time is such a relative thing. I thought about starting a new day after our nap but decided I would just cram it in with day 1. Tomorrow I will try to get back on track when we indeed have days that have definition. After our nap we went for walk around Copenhagen. The first thing you notice is the bike traffic. Not only are there huge numbers of bicycles but huge varieties. There were an infinite number of baby carriers alone, everything from covered ones to haulers that could carry an entire family. Like most old European countries Copenhagen is an interesting mix of old and new architecture. There seems to be work going on everywhere. Copenhagen seems much more cosmopolitan than the cities in Norway. It has an interesting mix of cultures. Copenhagen has a amusement park right in the heart of their city center. If we had more time and money we probably would have gone mostly because of one ride that spins you in swing as raises over the city. Tomorrow it is off to the ship.

Billions of Bikes

Tivoli

Grain Silos converted to Apartment Buildings

Cool Reflections

Turf covered Car

Changes

Day 8 (7/21/10)

We finally got back out on the water. It has been a very busy summer. It doesn’t look like it is going to slow down anytime soon. Originally we had planned on an overnight camping trip. Unfortunately several things came up to make that impossible. We decided to go to Gerber just to get out and enjoy what promised to be a beautiful, but hot, day. Many things had changed since our last trip to Gerber almost a month ago. The first change we noticed since our last trip was that they have installed a box to pay for docking/parking. We had heard that Sheboygan County had started charging to use the bike trails but we had not heard about the docking fees. I imagine if people don’t want higher taxes they have to pay for parks and recreation somehow. I’m glad we brought money. It looks like you can get a yearly pass that will give you access to both trails and launch sites. Personally, it is not a hardship, but I do feel sorry for low income people who are being forced to pay to take their children fishing. It makes fishing for food even more costly. After paying our penance we unloaded our yaks and got to business. The second change we noticed was how weedy the lake was. It never was like this last year. My guess is that all the rain and heat has made for optimum conditions for weed growth. The one thing that didn’t change was that we saw little in the way of wildlife. It may have been the time of day that we went out but there were almost no shore birds. We saw a bunch of circling Turkey Vultures but that was about all. The third change was that the only house overlooking the lake is either being torn down or remodeled. I must admit it would be cool to have no houses on the lake but it was far enough away as to not really be obnoxious. Finally, the last change was that there were no people. Eileen and I had the lake entirely to ourselves. That made for a very relaxing afternoon. We were able to go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. When we were packing up to leave a man and a boy put their boat in but otherwise nobody.