Aug 6 - Day 1 St. Petersberg, Russia

This is the port we've been waiting for. Everyone that we know, who has been on a Baltic cruise, has told us that it was THE favorite port. I've never had Russia on my bucket list. I didn't know much about St. Petersberg at all before planning for this trip. The port visit is for 2 days and requires a Visa to get off of the ship, if you were planning to visit on your own. Several tour companies provide blanket Visas, meaning that if you book with one of them, you do not need an individual Visa. And I have only received positive reviews, no matter which tour company was chosen. Our dear friends, Tina and Tim, were very pleased with Alla Tours and we were pleased to follow their recommendation (especially since our trip to Paris last year was based on wonderful info from Tina and was perfect for us :)). I posted our decision on the Roll Call for this cruise on Cruise Critic and we managed to fill 2 vans, each with its own tour guide and driver for the 2 days, with folks on our ship. The vans were new, clean and had seating for 16. We had 14 people in our van with Julia as our tour guide and Dimitri as our driver. Julia, an English teacher, who is a guide during tourist season and will be a translator at the upcoming Olympics, was fabulous. Dimitri drives 18 wheelers out of Philadelpia, was born in St. Petersberg, and drives to tour van during the summer. We covered all of the main sights including a short visit to and trip on the subway, lunch on Day 1 at a restaurant (Russian Cabbage soup and Chicken Kiev) and a carry-on lunch of a chicken crepe and snacks on the Hydrofoil to Peterhof on Day 2. We also had stops at souvenir shops each day (some were disturbed by this - we were glad to have the opportunity to buy Art a hat and me a visor that shows we were in Russia!). We loved St. Petersberg with its clean streets, beautiful churches and most amazing museums and palaces (the Hermitage has risen to the top of our list of spectacular museums). The subway system begs description (clean, no smells, well lit, each station has a theme that is spelled our in spectacular mosaics on the way, trains are very fast). Art is still smarting from the fact that a woman offered him a seat - because of his advanced age?? :) I took an unbelievable number of pictures. A few are added here and I'll add a slideshow of the rest at the end.

First view on a cloudy day

Clearly you can see that American fast foods have arrived in Russia. We had a wonderful day, arrived back at the ship at 5:30 pm and followed our typical evening routine. Early to bed knowing that we would be up early for another full day tomorrow.

Helsinki - Aug. 5 , 2013

Today was on our own with Patti and John after breakfast.  It was a cloudy morning but no rain predicted.  We took the Celebrity Shuttle into Helsinki city center from the dock and map in hand - Art and John  determined the way to the Rock Church (an amazing structure - a Lutheran church carved out of granite).  It was the longest distance from where the bus dropped us off so all other sights would get us closer to the pick up point later in the day.

We found the church with very little deviation from our path and were really amazed.  The church was planned in the 1930s but not completed until 1969 after a competition for the design was won by architects Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen.  This picture was 'borrowed' from the Web since it shows the church lights better than my photos.

We enjoyed the background music playing and just admiring the design with the copper dome ceiling , the organ and the unique window design.  Then off we went to explore a bit more of the city.  Helsinki is a relatively small city, completely wired, with chairs and tables available in public places for anyone who wants to access the Internet.  We wandered through the main shopping area across the street from a lovely park, then through Kauppatori Market.

Lots of interesting, local foods...small herrings cooked in large pans similar to Paella pans in Spain, smoked fish, crepes, beautiful produce (I drooled over the cherries) and, of course, souvenirs and Tee Shirts.  Art bought a bright yellow Helsinki shirt that really looks good.  Hope he remembers that for each one he buys, he has to discard one when we get home.  He actually has amassed a very interesting collection from the places we've visited.

At this point, the sun came out, the temperature rose and we started looking for some of the landmarks from our travel guide.  Several lovely and distinctly different churches were next on the list - first the beautiful Uspenski Eastern Orthodox Cathedral perched upon what I'm guessing is another granite slab

Then we walked over to Senate Square to see the magnificent, imposing white Lutheran Cathedral.  John and Art were walking ahead of us and didn't seem to notice that we were falling behind (and had no idea where they were going :)  We did catch up to them and found the square with a statue of Emperor Alexander II in front of the Cathedral.  A real photo op!  Surrounding the square were other beautiful governmental buildings and museums (which we did not visit).

By this time, we were hot and getting hungry, we decided to head back to the bus stop and return to the ship for a late lunch.  We knew that the next 2 full days of tours scheduled for St. Petersberg would be exhausting, so a few relaxing hours onboard this afternoon sounded just right.

The rest of the day was typical of our shipboard routine - food, pool, reading, chatting with friends, drinks at Michael's Club, early show and dinner....Boring, not!
Slide show of pictures that I took in Helsinki:

Aug. 4 - Stockholm

So glad to be returning to this city ( we spent 5 days here many years ago when I was presenting at an international Quality in Healthcare conference and loved it).  We decided to take the hop on/ hop off BOAT from the ship - the first time we'd ever heard of one - with Patty and John.   We stayed on for the entire route, admiring this beautiful city of 14 islands and many bridges.  Then we rode to Gamla Stan  (old town) and Patty and John went on to the Vasa Museum which we had seen on our previous trip.  This is the museum of the restored 17th century ship that sank in the harbor on its maiden voyage and was resurrected in the 1980s in pristine condition (probably due to the temperature and salinity of the water).  It is definitely a sight to behold.

Sunrise - 3AM

Sailing into Stockholm

Islands in Archipeligo

We wandered around the narrow, cobble- stone streets, bought Art his requisite Tee Shirt and found our way to the Royal Palace.  Whe we got there, we discovered that the next stop on the Hop-on Hop-off boat - from where we got off- would have been the palace so we decided to call the walk, mostly uphill, our morning exercise since we hadn't gone to the gym in the morning.  Took some picturesbut, since we were more than an hour early for the changing of the guard, we continued on our wander around old town.  We found a little cafe and stopped for coffee and excellent Swedish coffee cake - apple and raspberry.  Then continued on our way back to the boat and on to the ship.  A relatively short but very nice visit.  We were a little sorry that we hadn't ventured outside of the tourist area but looked forward to the gorgeous sailaway promised for this evening.

The highlight of the day really was the 4.5 hour sail though the great Archipeligo made up of  30,000   Islands (according to Google).  Obviously we didn't see them all.  They range in size from tiny and uninhabited to large with small communities and large estates.  On our last trip, we did a ferry ride from Stockholm to the upper part of the Archipeligo and got off for a stroll through one of the villages and a bit to eat in a little cafe before catching the next ferry back to the city.  We had lots of discussions and we sailed this time about how the residents lived and commuted in the winter time, how they generated electricity, if they used propane for heating and cooking, etc.  Need to do some research when we return.

Tonight was another formal night so off we went to get dressed in time for our nightly social time in Michael's Club.  Another lovely day on the Constellation.

Aug 8, 2013 - Tallin, Estonia

Based on our wonderful experience planning our St. Petersberg, Russia tour, and the good price that we got for booking a 2nd tour, we used Alla Tours again for Tallin.  Our day began by waiting to meet a couple who didn't show up at the meeting place, by the time we gave up and went to the the bus, all seats were taken.   Not a good start when I had planned this tour for the group :)  However, never fear, the group leader put us in her car and we had a private description about Tallin as we drove to the starting point for the tour of Old Tallin.  On the way, we passed the Concert Hall, Cultural Center, and several other landmarks.  AND, we got there ahead of the bus :)  The larger group was broken up into 4 more manageable groups and off we went on a 3 hour walking tour of Upper and Lower Tallin, one of the oldest cities on the Baltic Sea and a very busy seaport.  We visited or walked past several churches, schools, museums and government buildings (including the home of the Mayor) with good information and fun anecdotes from our guide.

At a wonderful viewing platform, we overlooked this beautiful area and, of course, took pictures.  Most important - Art bought his requisite Tee Shirt and I got the Cherry Amber earrings I wanted (having been told in advance that prices were better in Tallin than St. Petersburg).  I'm not a fan of the tyical yellow/brown Amber colors but really like the almost black (really very dark red) cherry color).

We stopped to try the wonderful flavored, roasted almonds from a street stand (and bought some to snack on), walked down the steepest old road called Long Road that is really made up of steps, explored the Town Square with its amazing flower market and found yet another McDonald's in an unexpected town.  When the tour ended we wandered around on our own for an hour then decided to walk back to the ship (although a bus transfer was included in our tour fee).

We did manage to get lost a bit although we could see the ship in the distance...made the mistake of thinking we should go to the Passenger Terminal and missed the turnoff to go directly to the ship.  Just a delay of a few minutes but the day was warmer than anticipated and we were looking forward to lunch and relaxing in the pool for a few hours.

Another wonderful day on our great vacation

For the sake of time, I've added a few pictures here but the link shows many more.

Click on Slideshow to see our tour in Tallin

Aug 13 - Off to Home

We were really organized last night...everything ready to go.  Only one small suitcase for last minute things, shuttle to pick us up at 9:22 (really?), to bed at reasonable hour.  Up at 7; leisurely breakfast in the lounge, packed up and in the lobby at 9ish.  Then it began....9:30 - no shuttle; 9:45 - no shuttle; Concierge checked - bus broke down, Taxi would be at hotel to pick us up in 15-20 minutes; No taxi.  Taxi finally arrived at 10:30.  After loading our 'stuff', driver said he had to pick up another person but no room for his luggage.  After a discussion about how late we were, he called his office, another driver was assigned to the other passenger and off we went into Amsterdam's morning traffic.  Finally arrived at the airport...unloaded luggage and found out that they had comped our fare (saved 32 Euros!).  Almost worth the aggravation!

Check-in was a breeze...Sky Priority with Delta works in Amsterdam!  Then off we were to obtain tax refunds for our watch purchases.  Long walk (with back hurting) to the other end of the airport for customs stamps, then all the way back to their Customs 'bank' to get our money...long, slow line.  Finally done and after a quick sunglasses purchase for Art, off we went to our gate.  Very efficient and short line again for Sky Priority (worth all of Art's commuting years with Delta) and we were first in line at the boarding entrance.

We had a really good flight...in Economy Comfort, near the front, excellent Flight Attendants, good food and drink - lunch, 2 drink services, sandwiches 1 1/2 hours from landing; slow, old entertainment system, and long flight.  We arrived on time, luggage arrived quickly and the Ellen Fiori Taxi Service was efficient - communicated from Cell Phone lot and despite lots of traffic, we were soon off and headed home.

Countryside near runway 

Leaving Atlanta

Summary 

We loved Amsterdam...could have enjoyed a few more days (one for a trip to the Windmills, another for a few more museums,  a more thorough visit to the Jewish history area and a couple of evening meals along one of those beautiful canals.  The cruise was lots of fun and also exhausting.  Long 10 hour touring days with early beginnings but not enough sea days to recover.  We met a lot of very nice people and made some wonderful new friendships.  We look forward to cruising again with Patti and John and staying in touch with our group that met each day at the Elite Captain's Club Social Hour.  The staff in Michael's Club were amazing - always served our favorite drinks and hors d'oeuvres with a smile.  Lionel, the Captain's Club Host was the best ever.  We wrote a special commendation for him that was well deserved.

Of the Ports that we visited, we, especially, loved St. Petersberg, Russia and Tallin, Estonia.  They are beautiful cities with amazing architecture.  Russia was a real surprise to us - St. Petersberg was so clean and beautiful, the guides all spoke English very well, and we learned so much.  We were unimpressed with Helsinki...likely because we were not there long, did it on our own and, except for a few places, the architecture didn't wow us.  Copenhagen had a lot of construction going on in the middle of the city, but we had a great walking tour...again not enough time and we were tired after walking for 3 hours...would be nice to go back and see more.  Stockholm was the only city we had visited before...it is a lovely city, with magnificent water views and sailing the Archipelago was breathtaking.  Since we had spent 5 days there previously, we just enjoyed wandering through old town.  Warnemunde is a very pretty resort town and we were sorry that, on a hot day, we spent time on an unairconditioned train to and from Rostock.  We should have stayed in Warnemunde.

It was a very good trip and we are certainly glad to have experienced so many new sites and speak to locals in all places.  Once again, we are impressed by the multi-lingual abilities of people in other countries and wish we could do the same at home.  And we are glad to be home :)

Amsterdam - last vacation day

Arrived and off the ship by 0745.  Picked up by Gassan Diamond Center for tour.  Amazing customer service.  Saw how they cut and polish diamonds, display of brilliance and Gassan 121 cuts ( for the first time, I could really see the difference in number of facets!  The prices were breathtaking :).  Two watch purchases for very good prices and after coffee, picked up by their car service and dropped at our hotel!

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Classifying Diamonds

Cutting and Polishing

We felt like coming home - checked in by our friend Michael again, keys to the lounge to wait for our room to be ready.  We have leafy chatted with 3 people who were on our cruise!   So good to have free Internet again.

We walked along the Singel Canal to a Cafe with a large outdoor patio for lunch. It was our marker for where to turn to get to thecAnne Frank house and the Jordaan area pre- cruise.
We walked for 2 1/2.hours in the Jordaan after lunch ( hamburger for Art with those wonderful Amsterdam Fries and my new favorite sandwich wonderful whole grain bread with goat cheese, toasted walnuts, pear and honey.  Dark Dutch beer for apart and French Rose for me ( very dry not like American version).  We love  the quiet residential  neighborhood with small canals, local shops and attention to dodging bicycles!

After wine and snacks in the lounge we decided that we really didn't want dinner, so off we went to finally walk through the Red Light district.  Quite remarkable...huge crowds ( including families with children) and tours in every language.  After a few wrong turns, we followed one of the tours down a narrow street and, Voila, we were in the midst of red curtained windows, red lights on some buildings and signs saying " no photos " in most windows.  I did take a bunch of photos of ' interesting signs and names of restaurants and bars ' .  Looked like Times Square before they cleaned it up with the addition of Canibis.

Off we went to find the frozen yogurt place, again took a wrong turn and lengthened our walk.  Getting around Amsterdam (named for a Dam on the Amstel River) is confusing.  Many of the roads curve in more than o e direction since they run where canals were before being filled in.  Goof our yogurt dinner, returned to the hotel lounge for coffee and tea, and are turning in early to prepare for our flight tomorrow.  We have a 9:20 shuttle booked since we have to clear customs and get the tax refund for our watches ( sometimes it's good to be an international guest), then check- in.  Delta has informed us that KLM is managing the flight and KLM won't let us check- in online.  I just sent a message asking them why they sent me an earlier message telling me that online check- in was now available! Such is the joy of air travel.

Arriving Back in Amsterdam in 7 hours

So sorry that my blog comments have dropped off...darn cruise line slow, expensive Internet access!  And, to be truthful, very busy days on this exciting and interesting Port intensive cruise. I plan to catch up a bit on our last day ( when in Amsterdam tomorrow) and add pictures when we get home!  It has been a wonderful experience but a very tiring one - thought it might have something to do with aging but all of the much younger folks feel that the many 3 hour walking tours and 2 extremely long days in St Petersburg exhausted them as well.  

We had a lovely sea day today and look forward to our tour in the morning of a Diamond Center where we will see them cutting and grading diamonds.  No souvenirs :(.  We will be dropped off at our hotel around Noon....check in and head back out to do another canal walk...this time viewing the beautiful Gables of Amsterdam.  Most important - free Internet!