Mark and Gail's Excellent Adventure: August 2012

How lucky am I?
VERY! Kayleigh and Rob invited me to join them on their last sailing of their 5 month contract, "Gems of the Baltic" for 10 amazing days. Mark's work keeps getting in the way of our travels, but he so graciously told me to go and have great time (ok not too great). My uncle Richard and his friend Don flew in from Florida to join us. My friend Karen (my Abu Dhabi BFF) ended up with some free time and decided, 'What a great opportunity to see the Baltic with Gail!'. I know the real reason...she didn't want me to get there before her!

We landed in Copenhagen around 8am, found our way to the downtown train station, dumped our bags and headed for the Hop on Hop off bus. We spent about 5 hours riding around the city getting a feel before we headed to our home away from home for the next 10 days, The Eurodam. Weather reports said we would have rainy, cloudy, cold weather for the entire trip so it was hard to pack. Living here in Abu Dhabi, we don't have that kind of wardrobe anymore. Yep, we had it all and SUNSHINE, in fact more sun than rain, making it great sightseeing weather.
This was truly an amazing trip with seven ports and only two sea days.
Copenhagen, Denmark; Tallinn, Estonia; St Petersburg, Russia for two days, Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Wamemunde (Berlin), Germany; Kiel(Hamburg), Germany, and back to Copenhagen.

Our Cruise director Ian, said, cruising the Baltic is "work" and boy he was not a kidding. Long days trying to see everything and short nights, we would loose and hour each night for the first three, combined with our jet lag and already lost three hours. I'm sure it had nothing to do with our late night pub crawls, dancing, shows, and (me) crew parties with the kids.

I loved it all and would go back and do it all again, so much beauty and history.

The little Mermaid watching the harbor in Copenhagen

Beautiful church, Copenhagen

Wall sitting in copenhagen

Peter Pan watching over Copenhagen

Another church, you can actually walk up all
426 golden steps.

Canal touring, Copenhagen

Not a lot of head room in these canal boats. very cool

Military fort, Copenhagen

Chilling in the Ice Bar in Copenhagen

CHEERS!

We lasted about 15 minutes before tips and toes were cold

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This trip was also special, for it was my Uncle Richard 82nd birthday. I really enjoyed sharing time with him.

Kayleigh and Rob worked most everyday, but did manage to arrange their schedules so we could play in port and have most dinners together. Kayleigh has recently been promoted to YPC, Youth Program Coordinator. She and her staff entertain and watch all the kids on board. She had around 200 kids on board this sailing. It's a tough, long, thankless job, 7 days a week, 4-14 hour days, but she makes it look easy and somebody's gotta keep the kids happy. Rob is the Techspert on board, holding 4-6 computer classes daily, from Windows Live to movie making and photo editing. He does a fantastic job, and most classes are standing room only. They both can also be found judging a talent show, hosting an event, teaching line dancing, DJ'ing, and working the gangway welcoming guests, and they would get you and all those kids safely to your lifeboats if needed.. They each have put in over 750ish sailing days on different ships in the last few years, and yet they keep on smiling. They make it look easy and I'm so proud of them. TOOT TOOT.

They are both back in England resting and traveling before their next contracts.

Fancy night with Karen

Enjoyed a wonderful evening with Uncle Richard, Kayleigh and Rob

Guard gate in Tallinn

Tallin, Estonia is a historic city dating back to the medieval times from 1050. It has passed hands many times over the years, Denmark 1219, Sweden 1561, Russia 1710, independent 1918, Soviet Union 1940, Germany 1941-1944, then back to the Soviets. Estonia declared independence again in 1991. What a quaint historical city covered in cobbled streets and filled with medieval houses and alleyways, parts still protected the the city walls.

one of many gates that protected the Medieval town of Tallinn, Estonia

Rained on in Tallinn, kinda felt like home

Rooftops overlooking Tallinn. Our ship is way in the background

St Petersburg, Russia. Formerly know as Petrograd, then Leningrad then back to St Petersburg. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703. We had an overnight in this amazing city so we booked a whirlwind two day jammed packed see it all tour. I really had no idea what to expect but I was truly enthralled, and overwhelmed in all the history and architecture. We left exhausted, knowing we had really hit the hot spots, what a fantastic tour. The rain even held off until we returned to our ship, our guide had said it had been raining for 2 weeks.

Inside The Hermitage before it opens, upper photo was the formal ballroom.
The line to get in wraps around the building. Thank goodness we
booked a private tour with early entrance.

Raphael's Madonna Conestabile

So much art, so little time

St Peter and St Paul Cathedral, built in the
18th century was once the tallest building
in Russia

The Winter Palace is one of five buildings that now make up the
State Hermitage Museum. Housing more than 3 million exhibits,
They say if you looked at each item for 8 seconds, it would still take
over 5 years see it all.

Human fig leaf...his parts were broken off, and NO I didn't do it! and yes Vodka was involved

Iconostasis in the Church of Spilled
Blood

The Church of Spilled Blood. Built around the murder site of
Emperor Alexander II. The church and all mosaics took 24 years
to complete. 1883-1907. Stunning.

Stunning mosaics

Mosaic in the central dome inside the Church of Spilled Blood

Beautiful ceiling and one of the many
chandeliers in St Peter and Pauls cathedral

Center dome in St. Isaac's
Cathedral

St Isaac's built over the course of 40 years
1818-1885

In 1998, the remains of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II
and family(the Romanov's) who were shot to death in June 1918 were buried
here in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Faberge eggs

Authentic Russian lunch, onion & egg pie, Karen had Cherry
& I had cottage cheese pie. Oh yes, Russian beer. Lunch was so yummy.

Peter The Great

Canal tour in St Petersburg. Lots of rain, so clearance
is only about 6-8 inches. Mind your Head!

One of 191 fountains at Peterhof, the favorite residence of Peter I.

A remarkable gravity-fed water system installed in the Petrine era, 1723.
The fountains operate daily 11am-5pm.

The grand Cascade fountain.

View of the Grand Canal

Grand hall, all gold leaf. When the German forces retreated after the
siege of Leningrad, they had the residence intentionally destroyed.
The palace was used as barracks & for target practice, before leaving they
set the place on fire. What was not destroyed, had been stripped and
vandalized. Reconstruction was completed in 2003, thanks to Russian
archivists with great documentation.

Main stairwell, Catherine Palace 1752.
This marble staircase survived the fire (note the columns)
but the walls and ceiling were destroyed.

Waiting for our tour of Catherine's Palace

Cupolas of the palace church, Catherine's Palace. St Petersburg

Founded in 1550 by the King of Sweden as a trading post to compete with Tallinn. Rebuilt by the Russian tsars in 1812 to resemble a miniature St. Petersburg. Such a beautiful city and so bike friendly. We borrowed bikes from the ship and rode around town.

Dipping our toes in the icy cold Baltic Sea in Helsinki

Rob and Kayleigh hanging with me at Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki

Great indoor market in Helsinki...bear, moose, and reindeer
meat all available here.

Bike riding through Helsinki

Cruising the Stockholm Archipelago with over
24,000 islands and islets.

Archipelago

Leaving the Stockholm Archipelago in a rain and
hail storm

hanging with my new friends, pulling into Stockholm

Ain't it the truth, Helsinki

4am sunrise pulling into Stockholm

Amazing coastline on our way in to Stockholm

Stockholm awaits!

Stockholm is made up of 14 islands connected by over 50 bridges. Founded around 1250 AD.

Water taxi into town with my tour guides

The Royal Warship Vasa, sank on her maiden voyage Aug 10, 1628 in Stockholm harbour.
The wreck was salvaged in 1961 and reconstructed, 95% original. The Vasa museum
was then build around her. My pictures do her no justice. Spectacular!

I think what grabs you most is the size of her, 226ft, 172ft height (6 stories)
145 sailors and 300 soldiers. Truly an amazing sight to see.

one of many canal bridges, Stockholm

Fantastic fruit and veggie markets, this one Stockholm

Stockholm

sunset leaving Stockholm

Warnemunde Germany. We opted not to spend 6 hours roundtrip on trains to see Berlin for a quick 3 hours. What a quaint seaside german town. We did take a small train and tram journey to Rostock in our quest for authentic Brats and German beer. OK, I usually never drink beer, but I was determined to enjoy one here, so with a little help and tasting....the winner is "a Shandy" a mixture of german lemonade or 7up and lager. Gotta say, not so bad, and lunch and our outing was fantastic.
I dang near got knocked down and my big toe run over by the horse drawn beer wagon in the crowded street. chunked up my peddi, broke my nail and made my toe bleed and hurt pretty bad. Ok just a no horses and just a guy running with a yard cart full of beers, but it still hurt like hell. The least he could have done if offered me a beer to cry in!