Slinkie and Grumpy do London Town

[LAFFNVEGAS]

G and S definitely enjoying reading your post and looking forward to the next segment:)

[Maryandi]

Hope you have no more disappearing items from the overzealous room steward. Have a great time ! MaryAnn

[serendipity1499]

Hi Grumpy...I'm betting that you bought that lovely jewelry to go with Slinkies new white dress!

 

You are right..Not much Wind from "Alberto" but had about 2-3 inches of rain in the Ft.Myers-Cape Coral area which was sorely needed..The tide has been high but has not come over the seawall.:) ..Believe Naples had about the same amount of rain...

 

Thanks for keeping us up to date on your Rotterdam trip..We were on her sister ship the "Amsterdam" several years ago & that was our favorite ship until we cruised on the "Prinsendam"..Now they both run neck in neck with us, except for the WALK-IN Closets on the Prinsendam: They are the best!;)

 

The trip sounds wonderful..Hope you & Slinkie continue to have a grand time! :) Betty

[Paul123]

Hi you two. So pleased you had a good time and found somewhere reasonable to stay in London. I said I would "do a rain dance" to get rid of the rain for your visit. It worked too!! Hope the cruise goes as well as the stop over in London. Take care and have a great cruise.

 

 

Paul

[alsas]

Wonderful commentary...thanks . Glad to hear Frank is back heard he was missing in action. Tell Slinkie that only a real shopper can go shopping in Europe...It is sooooooo expensive. Hope that you continue to have the cruise weather g-ds taking good care of you..Happy sailing Alsas

[WCB]

Hi Wilda and Jerry,

 

We're glad to see you are cruising again!! Wish we were there with you guys, but we will be going on the Maasdam at the end of June from Boston to Northern Europe and back again (many new ports for us).

 

We are curious about a few things on the ship, such as closet and drawer space in your cabin. Have you found the drawer space under your bed yet?? We will be going on the Amsterdam, which have similar cabins, on next year's world cruise. Is there enough space for that long of a trip?? Also, what are the drink prices in the lounges? How do they compare with Prinsendam's 2005 world cruise prices?

 

Hope you are including Catherine's summer Palace and Peter the Great Palace in your tours in St Petersburg. They were spectacular!! And while in Estonia, check out their knitwear. Sweaters and handmade socks were very inexpensive.

 

What happened to Randal Powell? Wonder if he still works for HAL? We sure enjoyed him during cocktail hour in the Crow's Nest with you guys.

 

Have a super trip!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[MrsMuir]

Slinkie & Grumpy, thanks for the vivid reports from my favorite city and my favorite (so far) ship! We did the Baltic twice, it was so wonderful. Only problem is, I read your first instalment here at the office and your comment upon boarding -- "It's good to be home" -- made me cry. Fortunately my co-worker knows all about my ship obsession.

 

I must dry my eyes and get back to work. Looking forward to your great writing.

 

Mrs Muir

[Williebill]

We are so glad to hear you and your DW are afloat again; best wishes from both of us. I just hope your cruise is as wonderful as the one my DW and I took last month on the Westerdam. The ship was fantastic and the Alaskan scenery was out of this world. Have a great cruise; we'll be following you all the way.

[SomeBeach]

Hi G & S,

I got anboard following your adventures earlier this time. I hope you continue to enjoy great weather and wonderful sites as you cruise along.

I had heard Capt Jack moved to the Rotterdam for the season. I sailed with him a few New Years Eves ago.

Happy cruising!

[Grumpy1]

Sailing, sailing... o'or the bounding seas.... well, the seas are pretty calm as we sail the Baltic Sea about 50 miles off the coast of Sweden enroute to Estonia. The skies are overcast and the temperature is a chilly 56 degrees. Quite a change from yesterday. The weather in Warnemunde was gorgeous! Mid to high 70's and lots of sunshine. Grumpy went out without his hat and got a little sunburn, but he'll survive... Today is a rarity on this cruise... a sea day! There's only three out of the twelve days that are sea days. This will give Grumpy a chance to put fingers to keyboard once again.

Warnemunde... a very nice town. The ship docks just a short walk of a couple hundred yards from the train station so anyone that wanted to do Berlin or Hamburg on their own by train could easily do so. Transportation to Rostock is also available by bus, train or ferry. Warnemunde is a resort town. With the warm weather, the beaches attracted large crowds. There is also a lot of ferry boat traffic in and out. There were lots of cars, vans and campers on the ferries . Grumpy wonders if a lot of them were coming in for the World Cup soccer matches. That seems to overide everything else here in Europe these days. Grumpy and Slinkie walked past the train station and across a bridge to the shopping area that is along the waterway where most of the tour boats operate. Slinkie enjoyed a liesurely shopping stroll down to the end, but was just cataloging items at that point. They strolled along the street that parallels the beach, past the old lighthouse, until they ran out of shops. They then turned toward the center of town and found quite a few more small clothing shops. Slinkie saw a lot of things she liked and the prices weren't too bad compared to what they were in the previous ports. After reviewing her list of preferred items, they returned to the first area along the waterfront and Slinkie liberated a top from one of the shops and added it to her trophies. There was other apparel that caught her eye, but she's trying to avoid overloading the luggage going home.

There were several boats offering harbor tours for very modest prices, so after making her purchase Slinkie and Grumpy hopped aboard one and for 6.50Euro apiece settled in for a one hour tour that sailed out of the old port, into the new port. past the Rotterdam, and on up to the Rostock port. Rostock is an industrial area with shipbuilding yards and heavy machinery manufacturing. Grumpy recognized the name Liebherr, as he has used cranes manufactured by them on projects in his former life. The thing that Grumpy noticed all around the port, though, was a total lack of activity. It was almost like they were there on a Sunday. Now whether it's a reflection on the economy of the area or World Cup flu, Grumpy isn't sure... but the Rostocker beer that was served on the tour went down quite smooth... so Grumpy has good memories of the brief glimpse of Rostock. After returning to the dock, G&S returned to the ship for lunch. After a short rest Slinkie said she was ready to go into town again, so Grumpy polished up the credit cards and they headed off again.

One thing about Warnemunde is an absence of ATM's. There is a bank with money exchange windows right by the train station that will handle any currency exchanges needed. They were quoting US$1.32 per Euro compared to US$1.254 quoted in the NY Times. Grumpy did not check the onboard conversion rate so he isn't sure whether it was a good rate or not. Grumpy had brought some Euros with him that got them through the day.

This time, G&S walked on into the center of town and wandered up and down the side streets as well as the main shopping streets. Slinkie found a shop with some very nice clothes, but very little in her size. Petite doesn't seem to be very common around here. Slinkie decided to use her fallback plan... something that doesn't weigh anything and doesn't take up room in the suitcase... so they went back along the waterfront to a shop that had a nice display of amber jewelry. Slinkie prefers yellow gold settings for her jewelry, but most amber is set in silver or white gold. This shop had a very nice display of amber in yellow gold settings. Slinkie found a pair of earrings and a pendant, a nice deep honey amber, that she liked, and it wasn't expensive, so Slinkie and Grumpy both consider the day a success. this morning was the unveiling of the amber pieces in the shops on board, but every piece was set in silver. Slinkie is happy she did her shopping in Warnemunde.

The Lido was turned into a German Biergarten for the evening. Rostocker on tap, and a few local varieties in bottles, sauerkraut, potato salad, brats and cole slaw were served up poolside. The popcorn cart that normally resides around the Wajang theatre had been hijacked and filled with overbaked soft pretzels. Grumpy thinks wiener schnitzle or roladen with spaetzle and red cabbage would have been better... but he didn't go away hungry. He might have except that he wandered into the Lido to see what was on the dessert bar and found a delicious slice of pecan pie... Ahh... even better than the bread pudding... and it takes some doing to top the bread pudding... There was a local brass band set up by the pool to add a little authenticity to the setting.

Slinkie and Grumpy did not stay up for the Indonesian Crew show at 11:15, as last night was another time change forward, so there is no review. The other shows have been good, with the Russian pianist Elena Ivanina being the best show to date.

Since the reference to blue jeans has been removed from the list of banned clothing in the dining room, blue jeans on casual nights are becoming very common. The ones seen so far have all been well styled and neat... no painter's pants, ragged cuffs or holes have been seen yet. Tonight is the first informal night, so Grumpy will check to see what the European Cruise interpretation of informal is.

Brian... you're absolutely right about Amsterdam being the diamond capital... Grumpy know's that too, but Grumpy also knows that Rotterdam doesn't go to Amsterdam on this cruise. Aw, gee, he's soooo disappointed... by the way, Brian, Bruce Scudder told Grumpy that Johnny I is still with HAL but land based in Seattle now.

Serendipity... thanks for the weather updates from back home. I know that rain was very much needeed there.

Paul123... you did a good job on the "no rain" rain dance. Grumpy owes you a good dinner back in Naples this fall for that effort.

Alsas... Grumpy had not expected to see Frank on board, but who better to give commentary on this part of the world? The man is certainly well travelled and knowledgeable about most of the ports in the world.

WCB... The drawers under the bed had been mentioned on other threads, but would probably have been found while stuffing luggage under the bed. Right now, the bedding used to make up the beds as two twins is stored in those drawers, but there is more than enough drawer space for a short cruise. The extra bedding could be removed for the world cruise. The makeup vanity/bar/entertainment center area has 9 good sized drawers and each night stand has two more. Add the two under the bed and drawer space won't be a problem. The space under the bed seems to be higher than it was on Prinsendam, so some luggage can be stored there and used for things that won't be needed until later in the cruise. The closet space is about 7 feet long, divided into four sections. Two of the sections have shelves that can be folded up to make more full length hanging space, or the lower shelves could be left down for a combination of short hanging space and shelf storage. Grumpy thinks it will be tight for a world cruise, unless some of the hanging stuff is stored in drawers or in luggage under the bed until needed later in the cruise and then sent out for ironing or pressing if needed.

The drink prices are not high... Bacardi and Coke is $5.00, a select merlot is $5.75. That's a little more than they were on the 2005 world cruise, but Steve S did say that the prices were reduced for the world cruise.

Grumpy heard somewhere that Randall Powell is touring with a broadway production this summer. You could probably find out on his website... he always had his ship itineraries posted.

Slinkie and Grumpy are booked with DenRus for both days in St. Petersburg, and it looks like they will see about everything that can be crammed into two days.

 

MrsMuir... Grumpy tries to evoke emotions at times, but didn't expect to make anyone cry... He's glad they were tears of nostalgia, though.

Williebill, Grumpy did an Alaska cruise several years ago, but on a different cruise line. The scenery there is breathtaking for sure.

Cristiano, it's good to hear from you again, but Grumpy thinks that left is left and right is might, er, right and the left side of the road is never the right side to drive on. Grumpy and Slinkie do hope you come calling some day... They just wish they could have joined you for a drink in Sydney instead of hollering from deck to dock.

Tonight is the Mariners' Reception at 5p, so Slinkie and Grumpy will stop in for a free drink with most of the others on board. They remembered to bring their copper medalions to prove they belong there. Bet it won't get them any extra drinks, though.

More to come...

[WCB]

Hi Slinkie and Grumpy,

 

Thanks for the information on the storage space. We will surely need the drawers under the bed for 105 days!

 

Enjoying your reports.....keep em coming!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[serendipity1499]

Thanks again Grumpy & Slinkie..You make it sound so wonderful & I'm ready for a Baltic cruise! :) Only problem is to get DH to fly both ways..His long legs don't fit in coach seats..:( But I'll still download your trip for future consideration...May have to drag him kicking & screaming aboard the flights..Or better yet ply him with Black Russians..;) Have Fun..Betty

[BuckeyeGal1956]

Grumpy & Slinky are in the Baltic - and Big Sis just returned from ... are you ready for this? ... Iowa!

 

Okay, she lived there for 20 years and went back to visit friends. Her weather didn't cooperate as well - downright cold for 3 of the 6 days, but returned to Naples to find all is well in Paradise. Alberto decided to visit much farther up the coast and only deposited a few inches of much needed rain.

 

Oh, well - Big Sis gets to go along in November on the Westerdam - and is really looking forward to that:) .

[jhannah]

Great hearing from you again. Continue to enjoy your cruise. Many jewelery stores remain to be seen!

[serendipity1499]

Grumpy & Slinky are in the Baltic - and Big Sis just returned from ... are you ready for this? ... Iowa!

 

Okay, she lived there for 20 years and went back to visit friends. Her weather didn't cooperate as well - downright cold for 3 of the 6 days, but returned to Naples to find all is well in Paradise. Alberto decided to visit much farther up the coast and only deposited a few inches of much needed rain.

 

Oh, well - Big Sis gets to go along in November on the Westerdam - and is really looking forward to that:) .

 

You mean they left you home! Well that wasn't nice was it;) If you were my sister, we would take you along with us..Have a good weekend & Regards from one stuck at home Southwest Floridian to another..:cool:

[hammybee]

I just finished reading the epic world cruise and now the Baltics. Make me want to consider the 10/29 cruise just to meet the two of you and the others too. How fabulous that you make the time to keep us posted and share your opinion. I look forward to the next installment.

[CruisinTexans]

Grumpy,

 

Glad you all are having a great time, but I never doubted you would. You all seem to make your own fun.

 

Thanks for all the info on cabin storage. Handler and I have booked a B category on the Amsterdam for the world cruise. We're only going to take about half the clothes we took on the Prinsendam, but it still sounds like it might be a tight fit. I booked a cabin right over the Explorations Cafe in hopes that we could get wireless in the room.

 

Love to Slinkie.

 

Leslie

[Grumpy1]

Internet has been down while in Russia, so Grumpy hasn't been able to post. The Rotterdam is now headed for Helsinki after two beautiful days in St. Petersburg. Low to mid 70's both days.... does it get any better? Grumpy will have more details later, but for now will say that their DenRus tour was fantastic!

 

More to come...

[Grumpy1]

Friday, 16 June 2006

OK, time to try to get caught up again.

Slinkie and Grumpy were headed for the Mariner reception when last heard from. Grumpy was right, the copper medallion around his neck didn't get him any extra drinks. There was one silver medallion given out and seven copper. Bruce Scudder finally revealed the secret of what the medallions are good for... there is one slot machine in thre casino with a really large slot....

Slinkie and Grumpy did get a surprise, though. An invitation to Cocktails or after dinner drinks with the Captain and Hotel Manager on Friday night showed up in their mailbox. No clue as to the reason for the invitation, but, what the heck, another free dink or two... So after dinner, Slinkie and Grumpy presented themselves in the explorer lounge and met and mingled with the ship's officers and the other invitees. Although there was no official title for the party on the invitation, it was referred to as the "VIP" party by a few people. Grumpy remembered that there had been some discussion about the VIP cocktail parties in the past and what criteria is used to come up with a list of invitees. Grumpy decided that one person that might know would be the Guest Relations Manager, so Grumpy posed the question to him. His response was that the Penthouse guests are always invited, guests that are recommended by officers or staff and by certain travel agents, and then by number of days on HAL until they get the number of guests they want. Now Grumpy is not in the Penthouse, and the TA he used sure didn't recommend him, and it seemed that there were enough passengers that exceed Grumpy's 125 days to bump him from that list, so Grumpy still isn't sure how he got the invite.... It was a nice party though. Grumpy noticed that the Remy Marten Louis XIII was not on the bar setup, though... somebody must have warned the HotMan about Grumpy....

After leaving Warnemunde, Germany, a sea day and another time change forward... those 23 hour days are not to Grumpy's liking, but the 25 hour days on the way back will be just fine... The Rotterdam arrived in Tallinn, Estonia. Again, a perfect day with clear skies and warm temperatures. Slinkie had found her ideal shore excursion, so at 9:00a it was time to "Walk and Shop in Tallinn's Old Town". Slinkie quickly fell in love with the town.. and the shops... and really enjoyed the tour. The guide pointed out all of the places of interest and told of their history and every few blocks turned everyone loose to do some shopping for twenty to thirty minutes. The prices were quite reasonable, dollars were readily accepted, the people were very friendly and most spoke some English. The outgoing personalities of the people were reflected in their love of bright colors in their clothing. Slinkie saw a lot of things that she liked, but the problem with petite sizes continued, so the clothing stayed on the racks. As a consolation, Grumpy bought Slinkie an amber bracelet to match the pendant and earrings she had gotten before.

A word about the dollars being accepted... while heading to the Queens Lounge to get their tour stickers, Slinkie and Grumpy were rerouted out into the deck four atrium area. There was a sign that said Estonian government regulations forbid their merchants from accepting any currency other than the Estonian Krooni and the local bank was set up in the atrium. They would exchange dollars for Krooni at 11.5 per dollar, no commission, and would buy back any unused at the same rate. OK, fair enough, even though the exchange rate should have been 12 per dollar. Grumpy traded some dollars for Krooni before proceeding. Arriving in town, SURPRISE! Almost all merchants would gladly accept Euros or dollars as well as Krooni, and many of the items were priced in Krooni and Euros. They would accept dollars ON PAR with the Euro price, which was surprising. The town was quite crowded, as the P&O Aurora and RCCL Jewel of the Seas were both in port with Rotterdam.

The tour returned Slinkie and Grumpy to the Rotterdam in time for lunch. After lunch, they decided to go back into town on their own. It isn't a long walk, but they decided to splurge and take the shuttle into town. US $4 per person each way seemed like a ripoff, but what the heck... Grumpy had a pretty good idea of the layout of the area that they had covered in the morning, so they headed down a street that they had not been on before. One block down, they found a genuine mall, three stories, and wandered through. Slinkie found a red suede jacket that was very reasonable... she had looked at similar ones back home and knew what she would expect to pay there and they had one that was a good fit. Another trophy bagged! There was more shopping, but no more trophies found before heading back to the ship. Upon returning, Grumpy traded his unused Krooni for Russian rubles, 2 rubles per Krooni, and the Rotterdam set sail for St. Petersburg.

Saturday, 17 June 2006

St. Petersburg port certainly puts new meaning to the word "UGLY". It's strictly an industrial port, piles of scrap iron, dilapidated buildings, dirt everywhere... not a good first impression. Rotterdam tied up about 7a and was cleared by the authorities before 8a. Slinkie and Grumpy had booked a two day "Complete St. Petersburg" with DenRus. They knew there would be at least 4 others with them, as Grumpy had been in touch with CC member GigiT through the rollcall thread and knew that she and DH were travelling with another couple, but didn't know how many more would be in the group. DenRus had said the groups usually are about 10-12. Even before the announcement that the ship was clear, Slinkie and Grumpy were down to A deck, presented their passport and DenRus ticket to the Russian officials, got their passport stamped and a red card to carry with the passport. Off the ship, found the DenRus reps waiting and hooked up with the others doing the same tour. There were 9 in the group. After a short walk to the parking lot, (the HAL tours had about 30 buses lined up two wide blocking the entire roadway in front of the ship) the group climbed aboard a very nice 15 passenger van and headed off. The first of the HAL tours were just starting to board the buses. The tour guide, Olga, was very good. She certainly knows the history of the area and everyone was very impressed with her. The tour started with a drive around for sort of an overview of the area and a stop at St. Issac's Square and a few other places for pictures and then to Peterhof. There the value of booking with someone like DenRus became clear. While many other tour buses were discharging 30 to 40 at a time and a long line was building at the entrance to the palace of Peter the Great, Olga led her group to a small entrance off to the side and zipped right in. She gave a very detailed tour of the palace and then out into the gardens and fountains for some magnificent viewing... did Grumpy mention that the weather gods were still smiling? The temperature was about 60 at the start of the tour and warmed up to about 72. Mostly clear skies made for another perfect day.

After Peterhof, the tour stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant (included in the tour price). A glass of champagne, a shot of Vodka, and who cared what the rest of the meal was... Grumpy somewhat remembers a salad cup with diced egg and cucumber, chicken breast over rice, blueberry cake, coffee.

After lunch the tour went to the Hermitage for a couple of hours. To visit all of the galleries could take months, even years, if you wanted to see everything, but Olga knew the route to take to hit the highlights, the important works by the Old Masters and other pieces important to the history of the area. While other tour guides were spending all of their time trying to herd 30 to 40 people together around a piece with everyone jockeying for position to take pictures or hear the guide, Olga's Group of 9 ambled on by, got all the pictures they wanted, and could stay close enough to hear her very interesting commentary. After leaving the Hermitage Museum, there was time for a stop at Olga's favorite souvenir store and a bit more sightseeing before returning to the ship. Having driven down Nevsky Prospect (the main shopping street) and having seen the window displays in the stores, Slinkie would have preferred to stop there instead of the souvenir shop, but alas, it was not to be.... (thanks, Olga, Grumpy owes you for that)... The tour returned to the ship at 6:05p... just enough time to stop in the cabin and then head to the dining room for dinner. The not quite so dynamic duo decided to skip the show and call it a day.

Sunday, 18 June 2006

The tour didn't start until 9:00a, so Slinkie and Grumpy were able to sleep in a little, enjoy a liesurely breakfast and then join up with the rest of the gang for another day in St. Petersburg. Lots of sunshine, temperatures in the 60's early and 70's later. First stop was an old Jewish synagogue. After touring the synagogue and the wedding room, the tour was supposed to visit Peter & Paul fortress and cathedral. When they arrived, the lines were looooong. There were several other cruise ships in port and it seems that tours from all of them arrived at the same time. Olga didn't have a side entrance there, but she did have an alternate plan. There is a dock next door with boat tours of the rivers and canals. The boat tour was supposed to follow the tour of Peter & Paul, but Olga reversed the order. The Group of 9 was ushered onto a boat that could easily hold about 30, half under cover and half open seating. Since it was a private tour, everyone had a good seat along the rail with lots of photo opportunities. After leaving the dock, the boat moved out into the Neva River for some nice panoramic views of Peter & Paul, the Hermitage, the Marble Palace, the Rostral columns and more, then cruised up past the Cruiser Aurora. The tour continued up the rivers and canals. With such beautiful weather, and being a Sunday, the grassy areas along the banks were crowded with sunbathers. A few brave souls dangled their feet in the water, some splashed a little water on themselves, but very few ventured into the water, which is probably still quite chilly. There are no beaches, and the banks are steep sloped cobblestones. The water didn't look all that clean, even if it had been warm enough to swim.

The boat returned to the Neva River once again, and then headed into another canal that went up past the summer palace and gardens, the engineer's castle, the Church of the Spilt Blood, the Hermitage and Palace Square and then back into the Neva River for the return to the dock. By the time that trip had finished, there were no lines at the entrance to Peter & Paul so Olga whisked her group right in. The cathedral is the final resting place for all but one of the Romanov Dynasty tsars, and is, of course, built and decorated in a manner befitting the royal family. Very impressive. But then we went to St Isaacs Cathedral... try to imagine a jigsaw puzzle covering many thousand square feet. The whole place is done in mosiac and took more than 30 years to complete. It's really stunning to see. Grumpy took lots of pictures, but it's really one of those places that you can't truly appreciate until you see it in person. After finishing the tour there, it was time for lunch. A delicious Greek salad, champagne and vodka, beef stroganoff, dessert and coffee and everyone was about ready for an afternoon nap. Olga had other plans though, so off to the Church of the Spilt Blood they went. this church is built on the site of the assassination of tsar Alexander II. The exterior, with its onion domes in multi color mosiac is stunning. The interior is also magnificent. After a tour through the church, there was still more to come. Yusopov Palace, the site of the assassination of Rasputin, has been restored and gives one a good idea of the grandeur of the homes of the tsars. That was the last stop of the day. The Group of 9 was ready to call it a day, and all felt that it would be difficult to see much more in 2 days. Catherine's Palace, a visit to one of the mosaic decorated subway stations and shopping on Nevsky Prospect are things often mentioned in reviews of St. Petersburg, and DenRus will be happy to customize a tour for you, but what we got for a "canned tour" was as much as any of the group had hoped for. The tour ended about 4:30p, so there was a little time before sailaway to rest the tired feet. After sailaway and dinner, Grumpy was able to get on the internet, download Email and start putting together this report. Fatigue caught up, and in spite of getting one of those hours back, was unable to finish the report.

St Petersburg is a relatively young city, 303 years since it was founded. The buildings were built on a grand scale by very wealthy rulers and most survive in surprisingly good condition, considering that churches were turned into warehouses and offices under communist rule. Fortunately, the grand plan to raze many of the old symbols of religion and wealth was never carried out and restoration was possible. It is a city with a rich history and it would have been easy to spend another day there.

Monday, 19 June 2006

Upon awakening and realizing that the ship wasn't moving, Grumpy opened the curtains and gazed out on Helsinki, Finland. Another day, another 6 1/2 hour tour, another day of sunshine and temperatures in the 70's. This one would be much more relaxing, though, as there was a lot of sightseeing by bus and not too many stops. The tour bus went around Helsinki and the guide pointed out several sites of historical interest. She told of the history and present of the area and spent lots of time bragging about the extremely high standard of living and how well their social systems work. When questioned about wages, taxes, housing prices, etc, one finds that, while things are good, it isn't the utopia that she would like you to believe that it is. She never mentioned the huge numbers of people that travel by ferry from Helsinki to Tallin to do their shopping because the prices are so much lower in Tallin. Those ferries run several times a day. She hinted that there may be problems down the road, as they have had to open their traditionally tightly controlled borders as part of joining the EU.

The tour continued out of town to the town of Sipoo to visit a church constructed in 1450. The visit would have normally been to a church from the same period in Poorvoo, but that church was recently damaged by fire and is undergoing repairs. After a stop to tour the church and take pictures, the tour continued on to Poorvoo. There is an old town section, that is billed as a medieval town. The streets are very rough cobblestone, and the frame buildings are quite old. Most of the businesses are local crafts. The guide turned her group loose for about one and a half hours ot shop.

After wandering down one of the two main streets in the town, Grumpy and Slinkie came to an intersection where the cobblestone ended and paved streets with modern buildings began. The traffic signals instructed them to cross the street and the did... right into a nice modern shopping mall. That was more to Slinkie's liking than arts and crafts, so most of the shopping time was spent there. It was a rather benign trip as far as Grumpy's wallet was concerned, but one skirt and top found its way into Slinkie's collection. After returning to the old town, they wandered down the second street, took a few pictures and returned to the bus.

The tour bus drove a short distance to an old farm. The farmhouse can be rented for banquets or weddings. There is an old distillery building that has been turned into a restaurant. One end of the building used to house a blacksmith shop and all of the equipment and tools of Grumpy's Grandfather's trade are still in place as you enter the building. The restaurant itself is down in the cellar. The floors are cobblestone with many very uneven places, the ceilings are low, and the acoustics are loud. The lunch was good but unremarkable. The Finnish beer was pretty good though.

The tour continued back into Helsinki past the olympic stadium and a few other locations and stopped at a church that has been dubbed the Rock Church. This Lutheran church is a recent structure and is unique because it was carved out of a rock hill. The interior walls are bare rock. It can seat 900. From the outside, it doesn't look impressive, but that was the idea. Inside it is very impressive, though. That was the last stop on the tour, so it was back to the ship and a little rest before the wine and cheese sailaway.

Tomorrow is Stockholm. It's also the last formal night. It's hard to believe that there are only a few more days left to enjoy the Rotterdam and the Baltic ports. There is a sea day before Copenhagen, so Grumpy should be able to post once more before the end of the cruise.

Special arrangements were made to get the broadcasts of World Cup Soccer. It is not on the stateroom televisions, but is shown on the big screen tv in the sports bar. Several rows of chairs were set up in the atrium area to accomodate the soccer fans onboard.

More to come.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Grumpy, I am certainly enjoying cruising with you and Slinkie and so glad that Slinkie is making some very good purchases. I will say that the champagne with a little vodka sound pretty good, might have to try that;)

[SDHALFAN]

Thanks Grumpy for another great report. You write so well that one can almost imagine oneself there with the two of you.

 

I am glad that you are having such a good time and am looking forward to the next installment.

 

Valerie:)

[RuthC]

Oh Grumpy, thank you! You have brought back such lovely memories of my time in St. Petersburg. I saw much the same things you did, but also went to a folkloric show on that first evening, and was able to go to Catherine's Summer Palace.

You didn't mention the traffic---I don't suppose it's gotten any better. :rolleyes:

I always forget about the cobblestones in that area. Walking can be difficult at best!

And I well-remember all those short nights heading over---my cruise lost 8 hours! Count 'em---8! Getting them all back was heavenly, though.

Please, keep up the narrative. It's great reading.

[hammybee]

Grumpy/Slinky,

Given that you used a tour company independent of the ship, was it necessary for you to obtain visas before the cruise? This was a huge deal not to long ago.Those that did not plan ahead had to take a HAL excursion.

[dakrewser]

Grumpy/Slinky,

Given that you used a tour company independent of the ship, was it necessary for you to obtain visas before the cruise? This was a huge deal not to long ago.Those that did not plan ahead had to take a HAL excursion.

 

As long as you pre-book with a registered tour company (Denrus, Red October, Alla-Tours) there's no need to obtain a separate visa.

[localady]

Grumpy-

So glad to hear the weather has been wonderful!!

We had more rain last year in July!!

Thanks for the memories!!:cool: