Lagerta

Last time we went to Helsinki we enjoyed just walking along the embankment, the place is charming and peaceful, but we had only a few hours before the flight. And couple of years ago we visited sport complex Allas, we spent there almost 5 hours, swemt in several pools (there is one with salt water as well), got warm in a sauna and rested in a cafe. It was cool!

I think it's a good idea! St. Petersburg is totally worth it!

I’m not sure about group tour arrangements but when you have an individual tour you are provided with some options to choose or you can ask them to book any restaurant of your desires. Last time we chose Stroganoff Steak House and appreciated it much. My husband discovered there a Museum of Russian Vodka as well

http://en.stroganoffgroup.ru/restaurants/stroganoff-steak-house/?roistat_visit=415737#menu 

Getting back to the original post I agree with the recommendation to visit COCOCO as I was impressed by their unusual interpretation of traditional russian cuisine. Another interesting place is Banshiki, Teplo is a good choice for dinner too. I also know that Four Seasons has great restaurants and bars. Besides that you may go to one of roof-view restaurants such as Mansarda or Terraza.  Oh and there is restaurant Schastye which is not rooftop, but has a great view of St.Isaac Cathedral. Actually new places appear every year and I suppose there will be more by 2021. 

Granada is totally worth it! I dare say it is wort staying couple of days as apart from Alhambra there is Albayzin district and on the whole the centre of this town is wonderful

With all respect, but our guide once told us that Russian currency is quite unstable and many Russian people prefer saving money in USD or EUR. So I hope it doesn't make feel anyone uncomfortable taking into account that tipping sum for the guide is never less that 50USD. I don't say about tipping in cafes or restaurants as tipping sum there is not that big. For that purpuses I always have some local cash. Anyway tipping in many places might be included in the bill and paid by card.

We normally leave tips for guide in US dollras as I seldom buy local currency. Never had any inconvenience. Still I' m ready to buy it as much as needed had it more chance to bring us to next year's cruise 😭

I'd rather stay on ship or if there were more time go to Paphos as you can buy some leather souvenirs and the place itself is historic

Well tips are definetely not obligatory but we always leave it if the service was good! And it's very good most of the time

Hello! Alicante Fortress is accessible by several ways if you want to go up on foot: from the Teniente Daoiz street or from the Ereta park. As for us we went up by car by Vázquez de Mella st. and then enjoyed little lift from there to the castle.

OMG three hours in Sevilla will just fly as a minute!! It's the most beautiful city in the world!! no kidding, I really adore it! The Giralda and the Cathedral, the Alcazar are absolutly must sees! If you don't want to walk all the time you can ride a horse carriage around the park as we did.  Your kids are old enough to admire with you 🙂

Andorra seems very cute little country and we did a great liqueur shopping there 😂

Barcelona seemed to so diverse and contrast. I really liked Gothic Quarter there, so if you'll have time it's very recommendable!

On 7/4/2020 at 4:14 AM, blt2006 said:

We're considering cruising out of Copenhagen in 2021.  Would be our first cruise out of Europe.  I'm a bit concerned about language barriers, as my husband and I only speak English.  Would we be able to explore Copenhagen easily on our own?

 

Thanks for any help/advice!

 

When we were there I didn't even realized it was another country - they speak English almost everywhere , in the subway, cafes

There is a great choice for tour operators and it's very convenient that you can always find reviews on TA or here. As I've been already several times in St. Petersburg and seen most prominent sights, I wish to know something special about the city, so attention to details and personal approach are facilities I'm looking for. Big companies as it was mentioned above are reliable but due to a large flow of touris they may sometimes be a bit of impersonal

On 6/13/2020 at 5:03 PM, Nok977 said:

Hi Lagerta, 

 

I have heard from several people that roof tours in StP are officially not legal although many people still do it on their own risk. Have you done it yourself? Is it safe enough? My husband is a big fan of such things, and we have already investigated options in e.g. Stockholm. However with regards to Saint-Petersburg I am not quite sure. Any feedback/information is highly appreciated

Hello! Oh no, we are too old with my husband to jump on the rooftop although they say it's quite safe now! We've had enough of roof excperience taking fotos from the Isaak's Colonnade and the Terraza restaurant (near the Kazan's Cathedral)

 These two agencies are well known  on the market for many years and I'm sure they provide great service.  Ask them both what specialties they have. As for me, my husband and I looking for something new about the city, something unusual , for example I've heard about a quest around the city and the idea seems very original.

I think it's a very good idea in present circumstances! It might be useful for those countries where tourism is a significant part of economy. 

We had a walking tour there. The town is charming and not very big, still the guide told us so many stories and interesting information about it! 

On 6/3/2020 at 11:06 PM, dog555 said:

we are looking to Vasa, ABBA museum and the royal armory on one day. We will be in port from 9am to 5 pm.  Is this doable?

Yes, I think it's quite doable

ABBA museum is really great, we spent more than hour there and didn't want to leave!.we were singing with Agnetha and others (of course they were holograms I mean)! 

Many agencies provide early booking discounts, so it is a good time to start searching an offer!

St.Petersburg might be called a big open-air museum as you can see great landmarks just on the streets. I like one part of the city, the oldest one called Petrograd side, it's full of old beautiful buildings, narrow quiet streets and endless yards. There are roof tours, porch tours (but I'm not sure it's oficially allowed) and of course boat tours which are my favourite. 

5 hours ago, Host Bonjour said:

 

Don't stop dreaming. Keep reading about places you love, either in memoirs, travel bios, novels, guides. And watch TV, movies, documentaries set in locations that you've visited and would like to visit. It will eventually get back to things going again, we just don't have a date yet, but it will. You'll want to be ready with ideas/plans or what could be fun will be jumping on an opportunity to visit some place randomly, maybe an amazing price to someplace you hadn't thought of before (or something discovered in your armchair travels) that is just too good to resist. You never know. 😉

 

Hang in there 🙂

Oh yeas at least we have possibility to "travel" online now..actually I'm watching some videos about  remote locations I hardly know about. Like Altai region in Siberia or Kamchatka landmarks 

On 5/23/2020 at 12:59 PM, Kate P.C said:

We spent most of the day in Tivoli Gardens, and took a ride to the Little Mermaid

 

 

 

 

Tivoli is great! We were there on Halloween and it was so fun and cool! although pretty cold 🤪 

On 5/24/2020 at 2:56 AM, Host Bonjour said:

 

Could have a lot to do with economic necessity, as we hear a lot of discussion about now. It doesn't seem to be an easy call to make, trying to determine what's more critical, the danger to the people if they continue to get sick or the danger to the people if they cannot earn money to survive (and if they are sick and have no money, which is already happening) so...can't imagine what those metrics look like and being in the room talking about it.

 

 

It is alarming...and a bit positive because everyone, I believe, is struggling with being restricted to virtually no contact, no activity, no joy. And we know, having visited Italy or being surrounded in Italian culture here in my neighborhoods, it is a culture that is about big groups, lots of food, people, music, going places, ...enjoy life. Siesta still happens in soooo many places; it never ceased to amaze me how in the 21st century, people, in the middle of the day simply walked out of work, shut it all down, took a big meal, maybe a little nap, and then resumed work (kind of, depending upon what the work was!) and so...yes. Italy surely needs their lives back, like we all do.

 

How will it go?  Non lo so. 

 

It's interesting because I thought, well, I am a dual citizen (part EU) but I don't imagine they would allow me to enter any EU country w/o a quarantine because I would be arriving from an NYC airport. About a month ago, tested negative. But that's a month ago, and I've been home, social distancing, hand sanitizing, masking.

 

I don't think know if I can stay in Rhode Island. If I were to call and say I want to reserve a B&B room and they say oh yes, where are you coming from, can I say "what's it to you?" or more politely, just say my real location, which is not ideal from a corona standpoint, and then they say "sorry, we're booked!" And there's no question people want to earn money but...at what cost? It's a very complicated and bizarre new normal. Not normal. 

 

I lived very close to WTC after 9/11 (and once worked there, 101st floor, tower 1) so our lives were deeply impacted for quite a while as rescue turned into recovery which lasted a long, long time, and then that eventually became excavation. And that addresses nothing of what it was like to drive anywhere...you can't imagine the blockades, police presence, being checked everywhere, weaponry presence, shut downs, daily changes; there was never anything "normal" about growing up/living here but it then became like something from a movie. Initially, this reminded me a bit of that time, but it's not the same for a lot of different reasons. One being we had answers a lot quicker (mostly) and knew what steps to take to keep a lot of people safe.

 

Travel wasn't normal for a while, people stayed home for awhile, but it wasn't because they couldn't travel; they just chose not to. Everyone can only do what feels right for themselves. 

No one knows how any of this is going to work. We'll have to stay tuned. 

 

Meanwhile, if you're feeling creative and need something to pass a little your shelter in place time (put the phone down!) but still with cruising in mind, give us your version of the CC Coloring Page. There is a blank page in our gallery for you to print, download, and color. Upload your completed page into a post in our gallery. If you're not keen on doing a page, give one to your kiddos, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cats/dogs (paw art is a thing!) we've got some junior cruiser art already up! 

 

Stay safe and well. 

It always takes time to overcome a serious upheaval. First people can't even imagine they will be able to go back to normal, but gradually life takes over..I'm trying to stay positive and dreaming of our future travel without particular dates yet..