St Petersburg, Russia / 3 Days

Once again I ride the elevator first thing in the morning to see where I am today. My elevator said St Petersburg! RAIN! Again? Well it certainly was raining on my boat. Three days in St Petersburg! A blessing or a curse?
Another day to brave the elements. We docked a good half hour from the city center. In reality it took about an hour to get anywhere due to all the construction and closed bridges.
We were well warned and warned again about how to be good comrades and follow orders EXPLICITLY (or be shot, I am guessing). You are not allowed to leave the ship unless you are with an organized tour. (Well, unless you pay mega bucks ahead of time and get a Visa for independent touring) Upon leaving the ship you HAVE to carry your tour ticket, boat pass and passport and file one at a time through immigration where people without smiles or emotions think about letting you pass through. You could ONLY go out as your group was called. If you went out of order the whole ship would pay the price by immigration closing down. You must stay with your group at all times, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU REMAIN WITH YOUR GROUP! On the first day I camE back through immigration and they looked at my passport, then me, then my passport and told me it wasn't me...... That was a fun moment. Seriously? Quick thought of what they could do to me danced in my head. They called another officer up to look at me and my passport ..... after a bit, they let me go..... to the ship, thank God.
David got lost.

Yep. He signed up for a panoramic bus tour. These tours are usually just "look at tours' with photo ops, no walking. This time they went to Peter and Paul Fortress. Once off, the bus left, and as the group walked through the massive gates, David realized the distance. He walked a bit but could not walk further or keep up with the guide. He stopped and they went ahead. No one noticed or counted.... OhOh. He stopped at some garbage cans to rest and wondered what now? As the next Regent tour came up, the guide did not understand the language. The second Regent group came and they tried calling his group and there was no answer. He did not know where the group was exiting and there were no busses in site as busses were not allowed to stay there.
Finally, after 40 minutes his group came back through the same gate. He blended in to the group and no one said anything or noticed. He got back on his bus. Had he been caught without being in his group could have cost him permanent residence in Russia. I took a tour of the same site the next day and we entered and exited tow different gates. It was a lot of walking over tough uneven cobbled stones and a ton of standing. David could not have done it. Happy ending though.
Traffic in St Petersburg was a nightmare. One tour, which we cancelled was a private tour at Catherine's Palace and dinner with the Tsars. The tour started at 6:15 and was supposed to be 4 hours. They got home at 2AM!!! There was concern about getting back to the ship as gates to the islands are opened at night so you can't get back to the ship. They lucked out getting home but the traffic, 2.5 hours to the Palace was crazy long. No one obeys lights here. They pile through the intersection and block it to the cars crossing over in the opposite direction. It is one jam packed parking lot here. No honking, people seem expressionless in their cars while they wait.


David pretty much stayed on the ship during the three days we were here. I toured each day.
I went on a canal tour in the rain and saw Yusupov Palace. I enjoyed Yusupov Palace and the story of Rasputin. We were in the cellar here he was poisoned. I could feel his presence. His Palace is lovely. We then toured Peter and Paul Fortress, where David got lost the day before. Peter the Great was laid to rest here. He was tall, 6'8" (like Grandpa Lukas?). It is said he was very cruel. Several coups against hem ended with mass executions. I am not a forte fan but I did love the stories and I saw where the Romanoff family was burried. Of course, Anastasia was the tomb that capture my attention. I am so thankful I did not live in Russia during those times.... rich or poor it was horrific times where no one could be trusted. I need to read more Russian history.





I visited the wonderful Hermitage and had a private tour of the Gold Room. We did this last time we were here also. We were given individual head sets so we could hear our tour guide. As we doned our individual headsets our guide asked if they were all working. She had a great sense of humor. She said if any headset was NOT working they would locate the engineer who made them .... and shoot him! Her humor had us laughing all day. The treasures in the Hermitage are beyond belief. I never saw so much gold, so many diamonds and jewels. Their art collection is the finest, more then 3 million works, from the stone age to the present. If you visit the Hermitage and spend one minute at each painting it will take you two weeks (with no sleep) to see it all. Amazing. Worth Doing. I would have loved to have more time here.







Lastly I visited Catherine's Palace and the Amber Room, in Pushkin, again. Worth doing each time you visit St Petersburg. We saw pictures of the destruction after WWII so we much appreciated how beautifully it was restored. Restorers are amazingly talented people. They actually moved into the Palace as it was being restored. After our tour, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant which was an old hunting lodge. There were animal heads and furs all over the walls. Doing as the locals do, (We were told) I downed a shot of vodka before I started eating. We were given champaign with lunch.. :) We had mushroom soup and stroganoff with mashed potatoes. There were more mushrooms then beef in my stroganoff. You know my love for mushrooms :). For desert we had an apple strudel.






Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and its Byzantine domes. The name refers to the blood of Tsar Alexander II of Russia who was mortally wounded here in 1881.

First Stop: Tallinn

As I head up to breakfast I take note of today's weather. Hmmmmmm .... What happened to the "No RAIN for two weeks" forecast on the internet? Days like today, your inner thoughts say DO I just go back to bed? Then you also think ... This is an opportunity! Be a Traveler not a Tourist! Oi... Dress warm and dress for rain. I noted the sign on the elevator..... and found it very correct as I headed across the pool for breakfast.
The rain came down in buckets as we exited the ship and the wind was harsh and unforgiving. It was hard to walk. Umbrellas turned themselves inside out and were useless. I braved the weather and headed to the bus. There were 10 very soaked people on my tour. Today was Chocolate day for me. I signed up for a Chocolate workshop with a Master Confectioner. A self taught famous chocolate maker in Tallinn. The shop is well known for hand made truffles. BUT before we get to make chocolate, we have a walking tour of beautiful Tallinn with its cobblestoned streets, gleaming from the currents of water streaming over them.

From the drop off point, our group swam uphill like salmon following the cobbled streets to our final destination ... CHOCOLATE! It was an early Sunday morning. The streets were pretty deserted and most everything was closed. Our Chocolate Shop was open, warm, welcoming and cozy, and that was all that mattered. You could smell the melting chocolate pots waiting our arrival.


The Chocolate Shop. They also had a quaint little tea room inside. It would be a nice place to visit and have a pastry and some tea.



The Chocolate Master did not speak English so our guide translated. We were told the history of chocolate and how she came to be a Master. She didn't know much about cooking at first. She just wanted to assure she would always have something to eat. The stage was set for us to roll the fillings, dip them, and then decorate them with everything from sugar, to rose petals and nuts. My chocolates :) Don't you just want to dig in? They had to be refrigerated before we could take them home.
I think I would much rather have bought a few ...... Theirs looked so much better.... The counter of tempting chocolates and pastries.
Once again, we were taken out into the streets of Old Town, umbrellas in hand. We were told Tallinn goes back 5,000 years. Pottery was found on the site dating back to 3,000 BC. Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site overlooking the harbor. Old Town is divided into two parts. The upper town for the rich and the lower town. We spent time in the lower section. The two sides are divided by a huge medieval city wall. The gate was closed every night so no one could move from one side to the other.





Town Hall Square is the heart of the city since the 11th century. Here we fond the fabulous town hall and the old pharmacy which dates back to the 15th century. This is also the place where beheadings and peltings occurred. My ears perk up when I hear the juicy tales of the past. Now the square is filled a lot of outdoor restaurants and souvenir shops. We toured Old Town for about 45 minutes then had time to wander on our own. The rain gave us a break toward the end of the tour. We were here a few years ago and stayed in a hotel just off this big square. I walked by some of the places were we ate. Fond memories. It is a lovely little town. I would definitely come back. It is worth a visit, or two or six.

Welcome Aboard! / Voyager 28 days / Castles, Crowns & Fijords

Planning is everything. It was nice to have a noon flight rather then a 5AM flight! We ate and drank our way from Tucson to Chicago to Heathrow to Stockholm. We saw the sunset then rise. It was beautiful. In between the various 'airline' feasts, we dozed, napped, read and watched movies. It seems the way airlines keep people happy is to make sure everyone is always eating.
At every stop, a wheelchair was available at the planes door to escort David from one gate to another. Heathrow was the worst. It is a long way no matter where you want to go. They asked me to wait 'behind' the handicap trolly until it was loaded with all the wheelchair people. Then, I could follow 'behind' .... Well, my patience level by Heathrow was minimal so I decided to go on ahead of David rather then try to jog along behind everyone with Davids and my carry ons. We went through security separately and met up at the next gate about 90 minutes later. Heathrow is complicated with long stretches of walkways and buses taking you from one terminal to another. Heathrow always has long winding security lines. You just wait forever in one line or another. Heathrow and Phoenix are my least favorite terminals for layovers.
When we arrived in Stockholm we noticed the baggage belt was loaded with suitcases going nowhere. There were also about 100+ unclaimed suitcases sitting next to the baggage ramp. As the luggage rack actively started to roll, all three of our suitcases arrived. We thought nothing more of it. We unloaded the suitcases with Regent and headed to our waiting bus. We waited for the rest of the group. We waited some more...... Seems luggage for more then half our group never arrived! They had to fill out missing luggage forms and head to the hotel without their luggage. Someone took care of us today.
We were told airlines were two days behind delivering suitcases to people. Seems this happened to a lot of the people on our ship. Since we arrived a day early, some luggage arrived in time for sailing. Most of those missing luggage had to do without. People were scrambling to buy new clothes. Some just said forget it. Some people were VERY angry vowing to never sail on Regent again. Some were more mellow going with the flow. It was the airlines, not the ship who was at fault. Then again, I had my suitcases..... I sat in the lobby near the help desk listening to people vent to the Regent agents.
Stockholm was beautiful from the sky. Lots of green clean land was below. Why haven't I been here before? Definitely have to come back.



We stayed at a lovely hotel, Scandic, third floor. Scandinavian, clean, 'modern' and a sixties feel. We were exhausted and fell asleep even though it stayed light outside until 11 PM, at least. We were across the street from a casino. Street people right under our room were up till 4 AM. It was a loud, busy street and we felt we were part of the partiers all night. Since our inner time clocks were screwed up, we got up at 4 AM, and it was light again. Not easy to be a morning person in Stockholm. NOW the party people decided to go to sleep. The street finally got quiet.
We had a lovely healthy breakfast at 7AM with a huge assortment of cold and hot food, breads, pastries, eggs, cheese, granola, juices... and my favorite Swedish pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries. After breakfast, I walked around the city a bit before we headed for a Highlights of Stockholm tour. The tour was offered last minute as a way to see the city before heading to the ship. We took advantage. David stayed on the bus when the driver stopped at various locations around the city for little walks or photo ops.
I almost thought I was home! Chicago in Stockholm! The sign for the musical made me smile. Cool......



I HAD to take a few pictures of these lovely ladies having a chat on the park bench. I also love to take pictures of windows and doors ..... and roofs ..... and aging walls ......

This is a statue from the 60's that is a MUST SEE in Stockholm. The ladies above were sitting in his park. For some reason this little boy became an icon in Stockholm. He must be all of 15" high? People dress him all the time in appropriate clothing and for Holidays. Here he is in his orange scarf. You must rub the top of his head and make a wish. So I did...
Some photos of the Old Town as we toured Stockholm. We saw it all on our little bus: Sodermalm, Gamla Stan (the medieval Old Town), Norrmalm, Ostermalm and the island of Djurgarden. We passed by everything..... Lots of people out and about. Lots of bikes. Lots of traffic. It is a large bustling city that can not be done on foot, for sure.





Alas, we arrived on the ship. It was easy to unpack ...... WE had our suitcases. We tried to pack with some common sense, always trying to bring less and less. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. At sail away we went to the observation lounge and toasted to a new adventure just beginning. It was fun. Missing suitcases got everyone talking, complaining, and coming together with something in common. We met some nice new friends during the sail away.

Dinner? We ate early and sat at a window table for two. I had a rib eye. David had lamb chops. I had a goat cheese and apple tart and beef broth and David had a shrimp appetizer and a caesar salad. Dinner was beautifully plated, lukewarm and just OK. We are too critical I think.