jpalbny

Nah, 55 minutes at CDG is a walk in the park. Some day I'll tell you about the 15 minute connection in Belgrade when we had to fly Air Serbia! We arrived in Helsinki at 16:55 and went straight for the train station. I bought tickets on my phone app as we walked. Arrived at the station and caught the 17:15 train with a minute to spare. A relaxing ride to the Helsinki Central Station then a pleasant slow walk to Hotel Kämp. We arrived and were checking in just after 6PM. Dinner at 20:00 so hopefully we'll have time for a wander first.

Now that we've actually boarded for the second leg, I'm comfortable posting that we made the connection. A 4h50 connection should be no problem, right? Well.. We were scheduled to leave BOS at 6:55PM. That got pushed to 8:30 because the incoming plane was late, so we boarded around 7:30. And then we sat at the gate for about 3 hours, while the storms delayed baggage loading and refueling. Finally we pushed back at 10:30, and were airborne at 10:58. ETA was now 11:30, and the flight to Helsinki was scheduled for 12:45. Doable, but more stressful than needed! The flight was uneventful and we touched down at 11:28. Boarding in 40 minutes... Ten minutes to taxi to the gate. We were #3/4 off the plane, one advantage of being in the last row of business. We didn't run, but walked briskly. Of course we'd landed way out in 2E, Terminal M... So a good long walk to the train, then 2 stops to 2E, Terminal K. Then security, minimal wait. Immigration was quick too. Another walk to cross over to 2F and we were at the gate two minutes before boarding time! A new record for CDG, 30 minutes from gate to gate! And none of the priority lines had been open. And again, I'm really glad that we didn't have to check bags. These tight connections are pesky. Of course, this flight is now a little delayed but hopefully not another 3h saga! We ended up waiting about 15 minutes to board, and we haven't pushed back yet for the 12:45 departure, but the door just closed (12:53). Let's hope we leave soon, so we can have a minute to relax before our 8PM dinner reservation!

They have on one of our two cruises.

It is a bit of a cluster here at Logan. The DL app still insists that we're leaving at 8:00. So we got up and started walking out of the lounge at 7... Only to see that the monitors said ETD 8:50! Back to our seats. The Delta app stubbornly remained at 8:00... Finally at about 7:25 we got a notification that the flight was boarding. We walked to the gate to hear an announcement... "We've closed the jet way because of lightning strikes." A brief delay and we were on board sipping sparkling wine by 7:35. The new DL One suites are pretty nice. Since we had to change flights just a few weeks ago, we're in the last row (7) but we have seats together. So all is good.

So glad to hear from everyone that you're enroute! We are at the AF lounge at Logan. The DL "skyclub" is a temporary pit on the other side of Terminal E, and the VA clubhouse (which we really like) is closed for renovation today! We went to the DL club and it was icky. So we walked all the way here to the AF lounge to find out that they weren't accepting Priority Pass, but they were happy to let us in with our DL One boarding passes. Much nicer than the SkyClub. We got everything done around the house this morning by 11:30, and met my cousin for lunch in Framingham at 2:00. Since I knew that our inbound plane was running 90 minutes late, we took our time and didn't rush. After lunch she drove us right to Terminal E where the person ahead of us was checking in about $1000 of extra baggage! It took forever so they called another agent over to check us in. No fuss for us...no baggage to check! Just a swipe of the passport. No line at TSA PreCheck so we were lounge hunting shortly thereafter. Our inbound plane arrived at 6:01 and departure is rescheduled for 8:00 instead of 6:55. No worries, as we had a 5h layover in CDG so 4 is better. Hope everyone's flights are smooth and we'll see you tomorrow!

Thanks for the preview of the hotel, LAexNY! We are also looking at a 5h connection, but in CDG. Let's hope that it passes by quickly. We were on the Kiel Canal almost 5 years ago - and we were on Silver Wind, but pre-conversion. A nice sunny day with beautiful scenery. Glasses were indeed raised but I can't vouch for how many... Now time to get some last-minute stuff done around the house. I have to do a water change in the fish tank, then grab some extra fish food from the pet store. Would be nice to take a walk before we sit in the plane for hours. And we might jump in the pool for a minute since it's warmed up to over 80 degrees. Sounds like I'd better get moving! We should leave between 10:30 and 11:00 for the Massport garage in Framingham. We have a lunch reservation at 1:00 (my cousin lives nearby and is meeting us) but if we're running later we'll just push that back an hour. Then she'll drop us at Logan and we're off!

It is! In reality it will be more "expedition lite" but we're definitely going to places off the beaten path and there should be a nice mixture of tours. I'm really looking forward to a break from the hot weather, as it's been over 90 degrees here in Albany the past few days. Thanks to @Balian65 for the update on the current leg. I don't expect a super smooth operation on these types of expeditions as they are more akin to "repositioning" cruises. The ships just don't visit here enough to have the experience down pat. It seems like the naturalists are exploring the area along with us and I've always had fun with that. The stops look very interesting nonetheless. Well, we did some preliminary packing last night and we have too much stuff. So the choice is, to check a bag or to bring fewer things. We'll probably try the latter first. We haven't checked a bag (unless we're bringing wine home from a trip) since Covid. Between the casual dress for an expedition, and free laundry, we don't really need that much. Hopefully LAexNY is safely arrived and settled in, enjoying Helsinki and those long summer nights that never end! We can check in online in about 50 minutes. Or less. Who's counting?

They have coffee and pastries in the main bar until fairly late in the morning. I just looked at one of my daily schedules from the last cruise and it says they're open until 10AM. That should give you some time to fuel up. If you look at the first page of my review from the Corsica trip on Le Bellot (link in my signature) I have a picture of some of the offerings from that venue.

That looks like the view from the Park Hyatt! We stayed there 5 years ago. Have thoroughly enjoyed your trip report and I am very sad to see that it's over. Thankfully it has tided me over until our trip which starts very soon! Safe travels home.

I second that! Thanks for whetting our appetites, and anything you can share about this trip will be very much appreciated.

That is a great hotel! We've stayed there twice and it's our favorite. And yes, it's across the street from the docks. If we were connecting to/from a cruise in QC we'd definitely stay there, and walk.

The hired help...

Two more sleeps to go until we fly out to Helsinki! Then, 12 nights cruising to small ports and islands. Starting in the Gulf of Bothnia, then we head down through the Baltic Sea, and the Kiel Canal to end in Hamburg. Silver Wind is currently sailing the reverse itinerary from ours, and I've enjoyed the pictures that I've seen so far from that voyage. Lots of activity on our roll call here, and we are looking forward to meeting everyone on board! With all the camaraderie and daylight, I wonder if we will ever sleep? We were lucky enough to visit Helsinki for a few days in November. Not much daylight, and even some snow showers, but it was charming and we can't wait to see it again. This time we expect to see much more warmth and daylight. We fly out of Boston Friday evening and arrive in Helsinki Saturday afternoon. We made a dinner reservation for Saturday night at Kappeli, the old restaurant in the middle of the Esplanade. It looked pretty on our last visit so we'll see how the food is. Now we really have to get packing! We unexpectedly took the long weekend off and went to Puerto Rico, so we are a bit behind. Usually we start thinking about packing the weekend before we leave. I guess we should start tonight. Bon voyage and safe travels to all - see you in Helsinki!

Chef Pia is a gem. I'm still carrying an extra stone for (from) her.

Dorado Beach is crazy expensive. Back in the day it was a Rock Resort, then an upscale Hyatt until they sold it off, maybe 20 uears ago? Our timeshare is a mile or two further out from town at Cerromar Beach. There used to be another huge Hyatt Hotel there but they closed that too, and sold the property. It's been (almost completely) demolished but the plans for that property are seemingly in limbo. As Hyatt timeshare owners we used to have access to both properties and their great restaurants but sadly, no longer. The Dorado Beach property is now a Ritz-Carlton and as you're finding out, it's really pricey.

Thanks everyone. She was almost 22 years old. We adopted her as a 9 month old in June of 2002 so we had a very long time with her. Still we miss her a lot and it's very strange without her around. Yes, after that feast yesterday, I resemble this photo way too much!

Yesterday, continued... We turned inland, and set course for Cascada Gozalandia. A pretty hairy drive! Narrow and twisty forest roads. Lots of breath holding and hoping that nobody was coming the other way. It made the Road to Hana look like a cakewalk. We made it through the worst 10km and then the road opened up a little. Soon we arrived at a large parking lot and walked down a bunch of stairs to the first falls. A spectacular setting! Worth the trouble to get there. Lots of spots for pictures. Oops. A photo bomb from Chris's cell phone! Now we climbed out and back to the pathway. Always fun when it's 90 degrees amd 100% humidity. You could hike upstream to more cascades. Some reviews said not to bother but FOMO won out. There were a few little cascades which were pretty but after another climb the trail ended here. This was definitely worth the effort though we were completely soaked from the heat and humidity. Should have taken a cue from the others and hiked up in our suits. Next time. We rested up for the hike back down. Luckily the direct route back to Dorado was different. Not as narrow, but this time the challenge was some heavy rain storms. No flooding, and the showers were brief, so onward. And better now, than while we were hiking. There was a traffic jam for a mile or two on one of the main routes back towards the coast. We saw that there was a vintage car show. So this car was on the road with us. @Rocchi, this reminds me of the car we saw in Lima! My Dad says this is a 1960 model. We made it back by 4PM and got ready for a late lunch. A Mexican-Caribbean place on the edge of town fit the bill. First a mojito and a margarita to rehydrate. Some croquetas with Jamon Serrano, and cod fritters (Bacalaítos) to start. Chris had garlic shrimp and I had suckling pig. Both dishes were delicious. This very brave Pollo walked right past the restaurant with her chicks. Luckily she couldn't read the menu. We got dessert to go and retreated to our balcony where we enjoyed the evening scenery. Glad we got away this weekend. It's going to make work challenging as we get home after midnight. And we have to start packing since we leave for Helsinki on Friday. Next stop, Silver Wind!

We followed one through in 2013. We were on tiny Silver Explorer and the behemoth was in front of us. The tight clearance in the locks is remarkable. Now with the new locks they have even bigger "Post-Panamax" ships.

Hi from Dorado, Puerto Rico! It may come as a surprise to some of you, but we have a timeshare here that we bought over 20 years ago. We used to come here every year but haven't been back since 2007. We've been exchanging our points for various other trips since then. We had been thinking about coming down for a while to see how the place was doing. Major damage a few years back with the hurricane. The rebuild sounded nice. Suddenly we found ourselves empty nesters after our last cat crossed the rainbow bridge a week ago Friday. So on Sunday we checked availability and found a points exchange for this weekend. I got plane tickets stat, and we came down yesterday. It's a nice resort. The Hyatt Hotel next door closed some years back and is still being demolished but our part of the grounds is beautiful. There just may be a picture of Chris in that shell fountain from way back. She is dressed so it's not a genuine Botticelli, but I like it anyway. We left Albany at 6AM so it was an early wake-up call. But we were in San Juan before 2PM and at the resort around 3. A brief wait and we were checked in. We secured a dinner reservation at our favorite place in town, El Ladrillo. So atmospheric. Glazed terrazzo floors, no wine list (twenty questions about what you like), and amazing food. But weird lighting so the colors are off for the pictures. Chorizo al vino Angus Lascas de Filete al Jerez. Sliced tenderloin in a Sherry wine sauce. The meat was dry-aged and so flavorful! Chuletón de Ternera. A veal rib chop smothered in a sauce of peppers, onions, balsamic, and more Sherry wine. Unbelievably good. No room for dessert. Today we were up with the sun at 6AM but managed to not set out until a little before 9. Our first stop was at a nature reserve for some hiking. Nice and flat! Then we drove by an amazing Columbus statue, but the roadway up to the statue was barricaded shut! So no good pictures. You'll have to come see it in person. From there we stopped off for an adventure, La Cueva del Indio. It's a DIY adventure. No good directions or signage, just wander the coast and don't fall into the cave. Beautiful sea arches. The hiking was over an expanse of sharp volcanic rock, which looked very unforgiving. We crested this arch first... To see more beautiful coastline! The sun was brutal. But the scenery was worth the sweat. This looks like a daredevil jump. No way. We found the cave entrance but it was a bit more than we were interested in. So we enjoyed the view. Off to the next stop at the Aricebo lighthouse. Nice beach here. If we were into that. We'd rather climb rocks! Now we turned inland. There's a waterfall to hike to. Anyone who knows Chris can understand that she would go to almost any extreme to find a waterfall. So we did.

Safe travels rojaan and drron. Until the next one!

So many great posts and pictures to catch up on this morning! You all were busy while I was snoozing. Thanks for sharing.

More like foggy memories I'd gather. M, we'll be flying into SJU on Saturday. Not staying in the Old Town though. But it's definitely worth a long stroll.

And to some that's a negative. 😉

St. Pancras station is indeed beautiful. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel there a few years ago, before our Eurostar trip. Will have to find some pictures. ETA. A few pix.

I've done it myself a number of times. Have flown to Frankfurt and taken the train to Nuremburg once and to Wurzburg another time. Have flown to CDG then taken the train to Lyon. And once we caught the Eurostar from London to Paris, stayed overnight, then took a flight from CDG to Copenhagen. Especially out of Frankfurt, it was so easy to do this. There are a ton of handy trains right out of the airport. Fewer directly from CDG, IME. A seamless connection from one vendor might make this easier, as I've had to figure out all of my connections on my own for these scenarios, and buy all of the tickets separately. And it would help with the inevitable missed connections. But this can be done now.