July 2015 Baltic on Eclipse - Photos

[texasgirl29]

Day 4, Germany, Continued

 

Traffic got a little heavier as we headed back to Warnemunde. We returned the car to the lot across the street and headed back to the ship. But only for a short while as we wanted to explore Warnemunde.

 

It's super easy to walk off the ship and turn left.

 

 

We saw the Warnemunde train station (note to self, if ever returning, take the train) and walked under the underpass and across the footbridge to a wonderful area of ships and shops. ("Sale" seems to be understood in any language.) The ships were advertising fishing trips. The restaurants and open air cafes were busy. We walked along admiring the beautiful flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

[texasgirl29]

Wednesday, July 15

Sea day

 

In the morning, I went to a lecture about climate change -- the guys position was it wasn't settled science, it was media hysteria, but it's good to cut down on burning fossil fuels just in case. He said feel free to come over and discuss and/or argue with him. Sorry, not impressed.

 

Paul, Stephanie and I had lunch at the MDR. It must have been the B Team because they served my appetizer salad at the same time as their entrees which left me eating my entree alone. We had "southern fried chicken" which was more like Shake and Bake. All of our dinners in the MDR were good; this was just one time it wasn't, so we never went to the MDR for lunch again.

 

At 2, I went to another lecture on the Vikings. I learned they don't have horns on their helmets (sorry Minnesota) and Harald Bluetooth was the inspiration for Bluetooth (wireless connecting).

 

There was a large group on our cruise for a genealogy conference, so the lecturer, who was a retired policeman, had several lectures that were sort of genealogical in nature. But probably not in depth enough for anyone who was paying money to be on a genealogy cruise.

 

Stephanie and I did classic rock trivia at 3 and general knowledge trivia at 3:30. My score: 12/15 for music; 2/15 for general knowledge.

 

Dinner at 6:00.

Mushrooms in puff pastry

 

 

 

Chateau briand

 

 

Grand marnier soufflé

 

The 8:30 show was Jamie Allen who did illusions.

 

Afterwards, Paul, Stephanie and I went to Sky lounge for big band music but it was too crowded so went to Cafe al Bacio for coffee and hot chocolate -- the best part of the day!

[texasgirl29]

Day 6

Thursday July 16

Tallin, Estonia

 

This was one of the easiest ports for getting off the ship. You can see we had plenty of company.

 

 

Here's the view so you can see you walk down toward the town.

 

 

We walked about 15 minutes to the old city walls. You could also get a shuttle if walking was a problem. My inlaws took the shuttle, I don't know how much it was.

 

 

[texasgirl29]

Estonia, continued

 

We entered Old Town relatively early, before the crowds but it got very crowded very quickly.

 

 

Shopkeepers were opening up, and restaurants were getting busy. (The tiny building below is a little chapel.)

 

 

Stephanie is on a quest to try macarons in every country, I think.

 

 

In the market square, there were booths selling souvenirs and clothing. Around the perimeter of the square restaurants set up outdoor seating.

 

 

I had a very good lunch of bruschetta and pumpkin soup.

 

 

[texasgirl29]

Estonia, continued

 

I walked up a steep, cobble-stoned street. Artists were showing their work for sale along the wall.

 

 

This building was at the top of the hill. The rest of the family decided not to climb the hill, so I didn't spend a lot of time up there.

 

 

But I could resist this knight talking on his cell phone, probably telling his wife he'll bring home some milk, or telling the kids to stay off the XBox until they finish their chores.

 

 

Some tour groups were going into this church at the top of the hill.

 

 

There were a lot of elegant or just plain quirky details in Estonia.

 

 

 

(Sorry for the unrotated photos. I rotated and saved them in Photobucket but they won't turn here.)

[texasgirl29]

Estonia, continued

 

As we were able to leave, we entered this church, St. Olav, about a half block off the main street. It has the huge steeple you see as you approach the old town. I loved how obviously well worn and well loved it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't take a photo of it, but in addition to the old interior, there were photos on the wall of current parishioners doing things in the life of their church, just to let you know this was not a museum, but a living church.

[TeaBag]

Thank you so much for the visit to Tallinn this AM. We did so enjoy that port. I bought a pair of slippers at the market that was set up in the middle of the town and I am looking forward to wearing them in the winter. I recognized so many of the places in your photos. Looking forward to the rest.

[texasgirl29]

Estonia, continued

 

As we walked back to the ship, we ran into our assistant cabin steward who had the afternoon off.

 

 

Near the ship, we all took some photos. (BTW, that's not a real tattoo on Rachel's arm.... it was a product of one of the evenings at the X Club.)

 

 

The ships were close together, making a sort of alleyway between them.

 

 

From our balcony, we watched them pull out, one by one, as we all set sail for St. Petersburg.

 

[texasgirl29]

Thank you so much for the visit to Tallinn this AM. We did so enjoy that port. I bought a pair of slippers at the market that was set up in the middle of the town and I am looking forward to wearing them in the winter. I recognized so many of the places in your photos. Looking forward to the rest.

 

Thanks for reading and replying! It does encourage me to keep on posting.

 

I agree Tallin is a great port. Easy to access, lots of see. I could wander around all day and just look at the buildings and the flowers.

 

JoAnn

[mskaufman]

Great review. I am jealous of the sunny pictures. A few weeks ago we had rain, especially in Tallinn.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

Love looking at all the pictures! And I agree with your daughter, I love macarons.

[texasgirl29]

Great review. I am jealous of the sunny pictures. A few weeks ago we had rain, especially in Tallinn.

 

Thanks for reading! It was sunny and warn in Tallin. When we had lunch, occupants of one of the tables sheltered by the umbrella requested it stay down, and the rest of us were sweltering in the sun. Finally we outnumbered her and convinced the waiter to put it up.

 

On this trip we had rain in Brugge & Schwerin, then sunny in Rostock and Warnemunde. And in London.... I got a pretty bad sunburn.

 

Just goes to show you never know.

[texasgirl29]

Love looking at all the pictures! And I agree with your daughter, I love macarons.

 

Thanks! I think she's had macarons in NYC, San Francisco, London, Brugge and Tallin, and of course, here at home in Waco, Texas. Maybe she should start a blog.... Around the world in macarons.

[mskaufman]

Thanks for reading! It was sunny and warn in Tallin. When we had lunch, occupants of one of the tables sheltered by the umbrella requested it stay down, and the rest of us were sweltering in the sun. Finally we outnumbered her and convinced the waiter to put it up.

 

On this trip we had rain in Brugge & Schwerin, then sunny in Rostock and Warnemunde. And in London.... I got a pretty bad sunburn.

 

Just goes to show you never know.

 

We ate indoors to get out of the rain. We did have sunny weather the second day in SPB and in Berlin.

 

FYI, if interested, a link to my pictures is earlier in the thread.

[texasgirl29]

We ate indoors to get out of the rain. We did have sunny weather the second day in SPB and in Berlin.

 

 

 

FYI, if interested, a link to my pictures is earlier in the thread.

 

 

Thanks, I'll check it out!

[texasgirl29]

Also,

 

Here is a link to our Baltic pictures from last month on Silhouette.

 

https://msknortherneurope.shutterfly.com/pictures

 

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed your photos. I see you had some really overcast days in Russia and Tallin.

 

With the exception of Amsterdam, I think we saw a lot in common.

 

JoAnn

[We're The Groupnors]

Great review; thanks for sharing! This brings back so many great memories of our Eclipse Baltics cruise in 2011!

[Swann5]

I specifically wanted to meet Dianne, who had organized our SPB tour in St. Petersberg. I did find her and her husband Lawrence, and a couple others.

 

Hi Joann, it was great to meet you and all your family. We have been enjoying your photo review and hope the rest of your cruise was smooth sailing! This fall I will make a photo book of European Adventures and may ask to borrow a photo or two that you captured and I missed. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

 

Dianne

[panmalv]

Thanks so much for the wonderful report--you got some beautiful pictures! We were on the same sailing, and reading this is bringing back great memories.

 

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip :)

[mskaufman]

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed your photos. I see you had some really overcast days in Russia and Tallin.

 

With the exception of Amsterdam, I think we saw a lot in common.

 

JoAnn

 

We had overcast days almost everywhere. We had a sunny day in Berlin (although the temp hit 100 deg F) and the second day in SPB. Otherwise the weather was very changeable. We carries our rain wear everywhere.

[warm47]

Enjoying your review. We are doing a similar cruise next August. Thanks for the tips and look forward to more posts! :)

Edited August 18, 2015 by warm47

[texasgirl29]

Hi Joann, it was great to meet you and all your family. We have been enjoying your photo review and hope the rest of your cruise was smooth sailing! This fall I will make a photo book of European Adventures and may ask to borrow a photo or two that you captured and I missed. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

 

Dianne

 

Dianne,

The group you put together for SPB was great -- thanks again for doing that.

 

I just finished my photo book last night and it's in my cart on Shutterfly. It's 94 pages, 12 x 12. I always make one for my inlaws as a "thank you" gift, and my MIL has asked me to have one printed for her brother Dale as well. Even with the 40% off and free shipping, I'm having a hard time hitting the "submit" button!

 

But I'd be happy to send you any photos you like. You can email me at joann.stringer@gmail.com.

 

I think summer is basically over. Stephanie left for college yesterday and last night was "Meet the Teacher" for Rachel.

 

JoAnn

[texasgirl29]

Day 7

St. Petersburg

 

The night before we arrived in St. Petersburg, I started to get nervous. Normally, I'm not a worrier. And it was not "the communists are going to get me" nervous, just, "are we going to meet up with our group" nervous. Will we get everyone up and out ahead of the crowd? Will the fact we have Asian daughters and we're white parents be a problem for Russian immigration? Will there be any problems with our credit card in Russia? Will our cash tip bills be sufficiently "new" and acceptable?

 

Well, it was a lot of worrying for nothing. We (all 8 of us) were up and having breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe and on the gangway by 7:15. The Russian immigration officers looked sternly at our passport photos and at us, then back again. They typed something in the computer and printed out a slip of paper to keep in our passports.

 

Once we passed thorugh, we found the orange SPB flags and were directed to our 16-passenger bus. Our driver was Sergev and our guide was Viktoria.

 

 

Our bus was clean, modern and comfortable. Sergev was a good driver, he knew exactly where to go and when to meet us. Viktoria was a walking encyclopedia of Russian history. Both spoke very good English and were very approachable and professional.

 

I know there are several tour companies, and from all the reports on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor, they all do a good job for a comparable amount of money. I would not hesitate to recommend SPB. Our two day "Deluxe" tour was so jam packed with things to see, add in the entrance fees, lunch for two days and transportation, the knowledge of our guide, it really is a bargain.

 

So, we began our tour with 16 people from the Roll Call, all Americans, and ranging in age and physical stamina. First stop was a short photo opp by the canal.

 

 

We also stopped for a view of St. Isaac's cathedral (which we would see the interior of the following day) and a very intricate monument in the center of the roundabout.

 

 

 

[texasgirl29]

Day 7

St. Petersburg, continued

 

Viktoria gave us a taste of the St. Petersburg metro, which was very interesting. While we don't have a subway where we live, we are used to riding it in New York and recently in London. By comparison, the St. Petersburg subway was very clean and very fast. We were all handed a metro token and entered the lobby and down the escalator.

 

 

The escalator was very steep.

 

 

Nice artwork and a very clean platform, more like another lobby.

 

 

 

We only went one stop, then back up the escalator and met our driver who took us to the next stop.

[texasgirl29]

Day 7

St. Petersburg, Continued

 

The Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul was our next landmark. We stood in a short line to get into the cathedral while Viktoria got our entrance tickets. Inside was the first of what was to be many incredibly ornate interiors in our 2 day visit.

 

 

 

Viktoria went through the entire history of the Romanoff dynasty, explaining who the people were as we passed by their sarcophaguses. It's amazing to see the entire dynasty literally laying at our feet.

 

 

 

In one corner was the chapel dedicated to Czar Nicholas II and his family and servants who were assassinated.