👀Another Blast from the Past - Serenade Baltics August 19, 2018🚢

[Von & John]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:20 PM, John&LaLa said:

 

We want to do a northern TP that calls on Dutch Harbor. Laura's mother grew up there. Evacuated during war and never went back. Her grandfather was harbor master and her grandmother was the post master. Only lines that do it are pricey, and no guarantee it will be able to tender.

 

Glad you are enjoying our trip. Let's go to Finland now.

 

Here's to your TP, w/ a visit to Dutch Harbor, becoming a reality!
If you are not able to link the 2 together - you can fly to Dutch Harbor & you can also sail via the Alaska Marine Hwy...

 

I can't wait until we are able to do your trip you are reviewing now...
Hopefully sooner, rather than later :)

[njkruzer]

Had no idea where Dutch Harbor was so I looked.  My dad was stationed in the Aleutian Islands during the war! Didn't know you could go there.  The pictures I have show lots of snow and the soldiers heavily clothed.  I also heard about the boat that took them off the island in very bad weather where everyone, including the crew, were sick.  That was dad's excuse not to cruise until he couldn't explain to my  inlaws why he wouldn't go with them and celebrate their anniversary.   Amazingly had a wonderful time and didn't get sick!

[Von & John]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

@Nami one of my favorite parts of the day was hearing about your love for the solitude of the sauna from our tour guide. Laura and I have definitely changed our pronunciation of sauna

 

Really enjoyed your country. 

 

John  --  please share the Finnish pronunciation of sauna...

We are huge fans of saunas & when we lived remote, during the winter w/ no running water nor electricity - we utilized the sauna to bathe 🙂

[Nami]

On 9/2/2020 at 7:08 AM, John&LaLa said:

Tour guide, a woman, said this is the typical expression of all Finish men

 

Now they have to wear masks.

 

photo Anna Jousijarvi

[John&LaLa]

8 hours ago, Von & John said:

 

John  --  please share the Finnish pronunciation of sauna...

We are huge fans of saunas & when we lived remote, during the winter w/ no running water nor electricity - we utilized the sauna to bathe 🙂

 

The way she said it was sowna, vs our pronunciation of sawna. It just makes me smile

[John&LaLa]

Before we get to Copenhagen,  how about some SpaceX pictures from this morning

 

 

[John&LaLa]

August 26, 2018 - Copenhagen

 

No more Day's on the ship😥

But Copenhagen is a cool place to hang out for another day

 

Sunrise on the Serenade

 

Windmills off the port side

 

MSC is a little late getting here

 

My last pic on the ship today is the Italian flags😉

Anyone else laugh at that?

 

Departure was easy, took a cab to Nyhaven and dropped off at the Bethel

No early check in though, they were swamped with TA passengers

 

Speaking of TA, still kicking ourselves for backing out, saw a lot of friends continuing on to Boston

 

Since we can't check in, the hotel offered to watch our bags and chill Laura's wine, so we ran across the street to catch the HOHO. 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

Little Mermaid

 

I think our first stop is the Little Mermaid, gotta get off and pay our respects to Ariel

When we left Nyhaven we grabbed seats on the lower level

 

Eventually moved upstairs, but this type of bus has a retractable roof, which is nice, but it has full height windows which is lousy for pictures. I would avoid these in the future if you can

 

Bus drop off for the statue

 

Their is a nice marina here as well

 

Serenade in the background

 

Let's go find the little princess. This is where I stayed, up on the walk

 

Laura headed down to the crowd

 

Success

 

Time for a snack while waiting on another bus

She may have snuck some food off the ship

 

There is a nice Maritime monument near the marina

 

One last stop on the northern section

The in town terminal, an Aida ship is here.

 

Need to take a break, Big Brother is coming on in 10 minutes

[Ocean Boy]

30 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

My last pic on the ship today is the Italian flags😉

Anyone else laugh at that?

 

 

I fly the Italian flag in front of my house.

[John&LaLa]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I fly the Italian flag in front of my house.

 

Looks like Mexican flag as well

[Ocean Boy]

12 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Looks like Mexican flag as well

No, it doesn't.😏

[John&LaLa]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

No, it doesn't.😏

 

Yes, it does

[Sunshine3601]

22 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

August 25, 2018 - Day 7 - At Sea

Our final day on Serenade

Not much going on, had a bridge tour at 9am

I've done this tour more than any other, not sure why, but I almost always go if I can

 

Flags they fly in port are always cool, I see Estonia

 

Looking Nauti

 

Looking at the deep balconies on Deck 7. 

I don't think I'd like that short wall on the end

 

 

We absolutely love the cabins with extended balcony on deck 7.  You should try one sometime.  Still have the privacy of other balconies but can have fun with others when standing at the rail.  Can only see others if you go out of your way to look around the portion with short wall while standing at the rail.  

Or nice when others are standing at the rail and everyone is enjoying a cocktail.  We have had lots of fun there.

[Sunshine3601]

Beautiful trip.  Looks like you had some great weather just about everyday.  

I cannot wait to see the 2022 itineraries come out this fall.  I so want to do the b2b we had booked for this summer but not available for 2021.  Would love to do that ta crossing to iceland Greenland to boston.

Thank you for sharing this trip and all the beautiful photos.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Sunshine3601

[Bailey & Sophie]

40 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Looks like Mexican flag as well

 

Baloney. It looks like swim trunks.

[John&LaLa]

Driving towards Tivoli

 

I'll be back here later, Starbucks on the right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

More Architecture

 

Tivoli Hotel isn't really near Tivoli

 

 

 

 

 

Another view of the Corkscrew, this time from land

 

 

Christiania Freetown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headed back to Nyhaven

[Ocean Boy]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Driving towards Tivoli

 

The only Tivoli that I know is the one in Italy where no one thinks the Italian and Mexican flags look alike.

[John&LaLa]

When we got off the bus we grabbed lunch

 

 

Beer was $2

 

While we eat, let's review where we just went

 

So we got on in the middle and did a round trip more or less

 

[John&LaLa]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

The only Tivoli that I know is the one in Italy where no one thinks the Italian and Mexican flags look alike.

 

My Google prefers the one in Copenhagen

 

Technically, it's Tivoli Gardens.

Maybe some Dane had a good time in Italy on holiday and named their park after it.

 

Tivoli, also known as Tivoli Gardens, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, also in Denmark.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by John&LaLa

[Ocean Boy]

Maybe in Denmark they think the Italian and Mexican flags look alike.

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Maybe in Denmark they think the Italian and Mexican flags look alike.

 

Technically, they are both based on the French flag. Go figure

Edited September 4, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

After lunch and some research on flags, we walked across the street to check on the hotel room

Still not ready, but they have a lovely sofa that Laura will use to crochet some more

I'll head out in search of the Starbucks we saw on the HOHO, Laura wants a mug

 

GPS says it's that way

 

 

 

This is a department store, it wants me to go inside

 

That was a mistake, not a fan of walking GPS

 

 

Found the street

 

Forget the name, but it's a pedestrian street that goes for several blocks

Lots of shopping and dining

 

Dog friendly as well

 

Getting near the end

 

Almost there

 

BINGO

 

Saw these bikes on the HOHO

No idea how they keep track of them

 

Headed back

 

 

This is an observation tower, I'm out of steam to climb it by now

 

Yea, that aint happening

 

 

No Texas up here, just Hotlanta

 

Turkish Coffee anyone

 

Looks like I made it back

 

 

Back on the canal

Edited September 4, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Room was ready just after I returned, let's check it out. 

Supposedly have a canal view

 

Tiny to say the least, lucky it's just one night

 

Efficient bath

 

Lots of windows, let's open one

 

Canal view did not disappoint.

 

Right in the middle of the action

 

Laura's souvenir wine is here.

You can't find this in any shops here

We may be in room 121

 

Always crocheting

 

We should be heading out soon for an early dinner

[John&LaLa]

Here is another experimental slow mo video

Here's to hoping I get better at this someday. It hasn't happened yet