St Petersburg

St Petersburg is beyond description....but I'll try! We met our guide, Alexander,at the pier at 7am and rushed around like mad to see everything. All of this was complicated by the G20 world leaders meeting that ensured delays and closures. We were scheduled to take a hydrofoil on the river but Putin cancelled it. Oh well, we did see some nice countryside on our way to the summer palace of Catherine and Elizabeth the first. It was pretty stunning and very over the top....gold leaf everywhere and a whole room made out of 11 tonnes of amber. Just nuts! When the peasants were starving....no wonder they revolted. We had a fun trip on the subway, full of mosaics depicting sports and scenes of ancient times. Very ornate and very clean...no graffiti. In no particular we saw the Winter palace, visited the Hermitage museum, (which was amazing) took and boat cruise on the Neva River, visited the awesome Peterhof Gardens, and the Yusupov Palace,where they killed the mad monk Rasputin. It was an incredible experience and we learned a lot of history but very little about the present day. I guess our guide was making sure we got our money's worth. One of the highlights for me was a night at the ballet...Swan Lake. It was so beautiful and the dancers were very talented. The theatre could have used a little cosmetic help but it was still very nice. I was pretty tired for days after. Mike stayed on the ship to rest up as he used crutches for the trip through the Hermitage and it was a big day. We also visited the iconic Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. It is almost a symbol of Russia...all colourful domes and ornate spires. It has another name but Tsar Nicholas the First was murdered on the very spot! We had a very good guide who disliked cruise ship passengers so I had a little chat with him about his role in teaching...it is not so much about facts and figures but about the relevance to people today. He need to understand where the mostly old people are coming from, that they are just trying to see the world as best they can, in the face of not having a hot clue about any place other than the USA, just as Russians view the Americas with movie glasses!

Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia A very pretty medieval walled city that is very well preserved. We went to shore and wandered to see the architecture and the unique shops and galleries. The sun shone and we had a great day people watching and trying the local beer, Saku. Apparently there are a lot of sheep so a major craft item for sale is anything made of wool....we passed!

Stockholm and Helsinki

We are racing from port to port so I wanted to get it all recorded for posterity. Our tour of Stockholm with SPB Tours included visits to the Vasa Museum and the City Hall. I thought it would be a big snooze feast but both were amazing. The Vasa was a wooden warship built in 1628 that sank 7 minutes after launch. It is huge and very well done. They built the museum around the ship, very impressive. We spent a very interesting hour there. Since President Obama was visiting Stockholm, we had some issues getting around but did get to see the city. It is so clean and very beautiful. The City Hall is an amazing building where the banquet for the Nobel awards is held. The room is very impressive, huge with massive brass chandeliers and a marble staircase. Another massive room is covered in mosaic tiles, floor to ceiling (about 40ft high by 100ft long). The old town of the City was very interesting, we didn't see much because it was hard to push the wheelchair around on the cobbles! Helsinki is another very clean and neat Scandinavian city. Our guide was very informative. We visited the big White Church, shopped in the market, and visited the church in the rock....I know, another church, but this one was wonderful. Very simple, built in the granite with a copper dome roof. The acoustics are so clear with a pipe organ. We drove through the Olympic plaza and stopped at the stadium built for the 1952 summer games. They are very proud of hosting a summer games north of 60 degrees latitude. Back to the ship for lunch and maybe a swim since it is back to summer temps!

Baltic Adventure

Baltic Adventure: Our Amazing Race After much deliberation and questioning our sanity we decided to travel to Europe for our Baltic and Transatlantic cruise even though poor Mike has a broken leg and can't weight bear. It is going to be difficult but eased by travelling with a wheel chair and crutches. His Doctor gave the OK and told him to be careful! (After volunteering to go in his place!) The Doc gave him a walking boot and the go ahead to start weight bearing in two weeks. So....off we went with Linda to go out for lunch then to the airport. On the way Westjet called and told us our flight was delayed for TWO hours. Causing us to miss our connection to London. We raced to the airport and managed to bully them into getting on to the earlier flight to TO via Thunder Bay. Big Mistake. All was well until landing in Thunder Bay....some little gizmo malfunctioned and caused them to cancel the flight entirely. Westjet kindly gave everyone hotel vouchers and sent us on our merry way telling us to contact the head office and sort it out, stressing us to the max. So we did! An amazing, helpful woman got us sorted out after searching many options, with flights from T Bay to Toronto, then Montreal, on to Air France to Paris, and on to Copenhagen to catch our cruise by the skin of our teeth. After this miracle of organization we got to our assigned hotel and found no rooms left! A kind man found us a room and the folks at the next hotel were wonderful, very helpful and we had a good dinner and even a decent nights sleep. We arrived in Copenhagen at 9am after a harrowing delay in Charles de Gaulle Airport at the mercy of the "helpers" who did their best to make us miss our plane. It was very scary as they did not get us to the gate for our connection until it was mostly boarded and only 15 minutes until takeoff. I had to communicate very firmly and in a loud voice to the young man who was sitting calmly saying that help was on the way and again to the batch of rude incompetents making us late at the next terminal. I feel for anyone who has mobility issues and has to travel through that terrible airport. It must be hell. After a relax at Starbucks, where 2 regular coffees and a cookie cost $17.00 we jumped on a shuttle and were whisked through embarkation (the wheelchair has some pluses) and were in our lovely big balcony cabin by noon. All this meant we didn't see anything of Copenhagen but we are back in 10 days so hope to do some sightseeing then. The Emerald Princess is as beautiful as ever and the crew are beyond helpful, getting Mike up and down the gangway easily. Our cabin is great, very large, with a huge bathroom so Mike can shower safely. The balcony is such a treat, and we have used it a lot already. Dinner in the Michaelangelo dining room was prime rib and happiness. Slept for many hours and woke up in......... Oslo, Norway Rain, rain and more rain..... So the grey day in Oslo looked like no fun. We were met on the dock by the Hop on Off Bus so we hopped on. Mike is pretty good at hopping, in fact he has mastered the skill. Oslo is a beautiful city with so much history. Since we are coming back on the next cruise we decided to get an overview on the bus and plan our visit. We got off the bus at the Vigeland sculpture park, where the artist donated hundreds of sculptures to the city and arranged for free admission. There is a famous large one called ??? Which is a depiction of life. Sadly, we don't remember the name but I did get a picture. We enjoyed all of these in the pouring rain, which made Mike a bit cranky, so we just got back on the bus. Next time we are going to see the Viking museum and the Thor Hyerdal museum. Just as we got back on the bus the sun came out and saved the day. Everyone got a lot more cheerful! Aarhus, Denmark This second largest city in Denmark has many museums and good shopping! Mike stayed on the ship and I went walking to the Aros Art Museum. Just an amazing place with a 360 degree circular glass walkway of coloured glass called the Rainbow Walk on the tenth floor. It had no visible supports so the view was amazing. Aarhus is situated on a canal that runs through the middle of the city so all the cafes and bars have outdoor patios facing the water. Very trendy! Expensive shops and stores everywhere, so I got a sweater, for our visit to Greenland. Berlin, Germany Up at the crack of 5:45am for our early bus tour to Berlin. The journey took about three hours but was well worth it to see the sights of this historical city. Some of the beautiful things we saw included the Charlottenburg Palace, the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Cathedral. We visited Checkpoint Charlie, and saw several segments of the remaining Berlin Wall. Another very special place we saw was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is near the Reichstag and Bundestag so that the politicians don't forget and have a constant reminder of mistakes of the past. It is extremely moving. We also drove through Kurfurstendamm and Potsdamer Platz, saw the beautiful new train station, the Neue Synagogue, and learned a lot about the history from our excellent guide, Nikolai. Back on the bus for our three hour trip back to the ship. What a day....dinner in the Michaelangelo Dining room was all we could manage before falling into a comatose sleep!

Machu Picchu, Cusco, and Quito

Our three day trip to these amazing places was a blur of ancient civilizations and various very short hotel stays. The highlight was the well preserved Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Pictures do not do this place justice, it is huge and stunning. The terraces up the mountain are so perfect after 500 years, the temples and houses still standing in perfect condition. The ancient cities of Cusco and Quito are both well preserved and beautiful. It is impossible to describe the experience, we are still recovering from the lack of sleep. We were fortunate to have several guides who gave the local perspective about each area.

Valparaiso and Coquimbo, Chile

Two ports in Chile that seem to be gateways to other, better places. Valparaiso is the gateway to Santiago, the capital, and Coquimbo is the gateway to La Serena. La Serena is a little gem, with a nice seafront and a big, bustling market. We enjoyed our day there, just wandering and seeing the sights. We took a tour in Valparaiso that was really bad but we did see some beautiful buildings and a nice museum. Our tour guide was so disorganized that the frustration factor took over and enjoyment fled! We leave tomorrow for Macchu Pichu, and our tour takes us to Cusco, and Quito, Ecuador. We are pretty excited about this trip and hope for an amazing adventure. Michael is having a great birthday, he had a mention on the morning TV show, got asked to be in a fashion show, and drinks with our new friends from Regina.

Puerto Montt, Chile

Chile is a very llloooooonnnnggggg country. We have been sailing along the coast for many days. It was cool down by Cape Horn but the sea was calm and it has been sunny. The weather in Puerto Montt was grey and rainy, and our trip to the rain forest was a little wet. The hike through thousand year old trees was beautiful and pretty easy. Our guide, Patricio, told us a lot about Chile, the education system, and life in general. We toured an amazing private museum started by a local German farmer, built to save the antiques brought to Chile by the settlers in the 1800s. It was an extensive collection of household and farming items. Really well done. We visited a lakeside resort for shopping and I bought a beautiful Alpaca wool shawl, lime green, of course!

Antarctica!

A special, crazy, amazing day. It started off pouring down rain and we were still in the dark about our final destination, as the Antarctic trip would be aborted and a trip to a national park would be substituted due to bad weather in Villa des Estrellas. Our guide, a professor of veterinary medicine, with 30 years experience in the Antarctic, told us when we got on the bus to the airport that 'it's a GO' to much applause! After a 90 minute flight we landed on a gravel runway on the the dark side of the moon. Rock and patches of ice everywhere. The only vegetation are moss, lichen, and algae. Best word is bleak, but very beautiful in a unique way. The little village is surrounded by ice but has several roads and a few vehicles. They are very concerned about fire, in fact the fire hall burned down a few years ago. We toured the village on foot, seeing the awesome Russian Orthodox Church, the Chilean Catholic Church, the naval base, and the little shop. Pictures were taken of the local BABY, who came to the base at 11 months of age. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly, seems they enjoy visitors. It was a big day for them as a Brazilian Herc landed just after us with supplies for everyone. In the afternoon we boarded Zodiac boats for our trip to Ardley Island and our visit with the Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins. Just so amazing that these little guys survive at all. Only 10% survive to adulthood, sad. We laid down on the rocky shore and they chicks came right up to us and were very curious about our clothes etc. It was a highlight of the day! After a COLD ride back we had some hot chocolate and wandered back to the plane. The flight back was 3 hours long and they fed us royally, poured Pisco sours and champagne, and we arrived back late to the ship but very happy!

Ushuia, Argentina

I keep spelling the name of this place wrong. However, I will remember it for the three piles of burning tires that met us on the pier. Apparently they are still quite upset that Princess, with Bahamas ship registry, visits the Falklands. There were a few protesters but nothing happened. The town is very beautiful, built up the side of some mountains and overlooked by glaciers. It is very modern and full of outdoor stores that outfit Trekkers to Patagonia. We had a hike planned to the Martial National Park, which took us up to a chair lift in a taxi, a wonderful long ride over a rushing river, and a little hike up the mountain so we could take some pictures of the glacier. Local beer and lunch at a cafe and post cards sent from the "end of the world". It was a perfect day and we are happy to have made some new friends, Judy and Bruce from Regina!

Falkland Islands

We were so happy when our Canadian Captain, Todd McBain from Alberts, announced that we would be able to tender to Stanley, Capital city of the Falklands. Woke up to sunny and cool, made it to shore on the first tender and found our tour. We four wheeled for 2.5 bourse over the wettest, roughest terrain I have ever seen. Good thing there were hundreds of Gentoo, and King penguins waiting for us. And the most beautiful beach with aqua surf rolling in. It was pretty close to heaven. The penguins were not bothered by anyone, they just stood there with their little chicks on their feet, or ran on their stubby little legs to the water. It was amazing and we enjoyed it beyond words.

Montevideo

We had a wonderful wander in Montevideo. Our ship was docked in the centre of town, and we just walked off to see the sights. It is a very pedestrian friendly place, with many streets blocked to cars. It was a short walk to the Torres Garcia Gallery where Jaik suggested we go. It was very interesting and we enjoyed it. Montevideo has lots of interesting galleries and cafes, plenty to see and do. We have met up with friends on the ship and are having dinner with them tonight. Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was great, met people from everywhere, even Regina! We are having a great time, and not seasick, even though the sea is moving a bit.

Don't Cry For Me, Argentina

Our hotel stay includes breakfast at a cafe around the corner. It is just a continental breakfast but totally delicious. Cafe con leche, orange juice, toast with the most delicious cream cheese and jam. We start the day happy and full. Today we reluctantly took a taxi to the Recoleta cemetery to see Evita's grave....well, it was the most spectacular cometary we have ever seen! What we thought would be five minutes turned into an hour of wandering around this amazing place. Next we walked to the Museo de Bellas Artes, where we were stunned by the amazing collection....Manet, Monet, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Rodin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh....Awesome. After lunch we walked through an artisan market and caught a taxi home, where we plan to watch the Oscars and pack to get on the ship tomorrow. Our stay in Buenos Aires has been great and we are happy to have experienced it.

Tango!

Another walking day in beautiful Buenos Aires. Cloudy and a little cooler, so wandering was much les sweaty. Today we headed in the opposite direction to see the Obelisk, a very tall, 67 metres, cement pointy thing that was erected to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of the city. It is quite impressive. Continuing on, we stopped at Tango Porteno and booked a dinner show complete with a pick up from our hotel and a lesson. Our objective was the Gallerias Pacifica, where we decided only the rich folks could afford to shop. I did manage to find a sale and a gorgeous black handbag is now mine! I did find that leather is a good buy here and pretty reasonably priced.....just saying! And handbags are always a useful souvenir. There are pedestrian only streets where the real people shop, lots of interesting things, we looked at a craft market where one vendor was actually making enamel on copper jewellery. Very pretty. Back to the hotel for a rest and a spruce up and on to our adventure of the day! We had so much fun and did learn some basic Tango steps. The amazing part of this evening was meeting 2 couples from home. An older couple from Lorette, who are spending 2 months wandering around South America, and a couple from White Ridge leaving today for a two week cruise on an ice breaker to Antactica. We had dinner and watched the show with them, exchanged emails, so hope to keep in touch. They are very big travellers and have lots of stories. It is truly a small world. Dinner was delicious, empanadas, steak, and three yummy desserts. Plus all the wine you could drink. And we did! The show was lovely, lots of moody music and amazing dancing. The taxi home took 5 minutes and we got to Skype with Dena and Jessica to say Happy Birthday. We are having a wonderful holiday here and have found the Argentines to be very nice and helpful to tourists. The architecture is so interesting, with lots of wrought iron balconies, gargoyles, carvings and parks everywhere.

Beautiful Buenos Aires

A big walking day here in downtown BA. According to the GPS we walked 8 kms this morning from our hotel to the Mercado San Telmo. Lots of fruit and vegetables with antiques and various shops. We bought a souvenir, a painted Spanish sign for the kitchen "La Cocina". By this time we were exhausted because of the time change so back to our place for a nap. This city is great for wandering, except for the crumbled sidewalks. I had to buy a walking stick to hold me up! In the afternoon we walked to see the National Congress, a very beautiful building. Everywhere along the streets are sidewalk cafes, we stopped for lunch and a giant beer in a one litre bottle, and we drank it all! So far we plan to stay in tonight and seek out Tango tomorrow.

Buenos Aires

We are safely in our hotel,nice place, has Wifi, close to shops and food. It is hot and busy, very fast, crazy traffic. We are totally exhausted so plan to seek out some wine and snacks then sleep for many hours!

São Paulo, Brazil

We are sitting in the airport with 4 lovely Francophones from Winnipeg who are on the cruise with us! It is such a small world....Our journey has been a bit stressful, the flight was late leaving Winnipeg due to a small malfunction. This put us in late to Chicago, so we raced through the airport and just made the flight! We hope our luggage will get there. It is HOT here and humid. More news later when we get to Buenos Aires.

On the Road Again! South America

This morning we are getting ready to leave for another Grand Adventure! This is what Princess calls an extra special cruise like the one we are taking from Buenos Aires around the Horn. It is going to be an excellent adventure, with side trips to Antarctica and Macchu Pichu. We are booked into the lowest, cheapest cabin, right down in steerage! But we will be very close to the best coffee on the ship and not too far from the dining room. Our adventure begins in the Riva Urban Lofts Hotel in Buenos Aires after a 24 hour flying marathon. We leave Winnipeg and stop in Chicago and São Paulo, Brazil. Probably we will just collapse the first night. We will be seeking Tango demonstrations and Mike has agreed to try a lesson!!! We will see.... We board our ship the Star Princess on Monday Feb 25, so anyone wanting to see where we are can follow on the bridge cam, accessed on the Princess site, princess.com. I will try to Blog when there is something interesting to report. Laurel