Posted by Max Dunn Wed, 09 Aug 2006 15:33:35 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) I couldn’t take it any longer…it’s 6a so I jumped out of bed, threw a sweatshirt on and marched upstairs to the deck of the Seaside Grill. I could care less what I looked like – all I know is that I was not a happy camper and was determined to see who the culprit was. Someone was making a lot of noise again, right above our room.
Posted by Max Dunn Wed, 09 Aug 2006 15:32:52 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) Today we reached the northern seaside resort of Warnemunde, Germany. The whole family (Claire included…woohoo!) took a short hike into town and along the beachfront. The wind was blowing at least 20 knots so we didn’t stay too long at the beach – white, sugary sand was whipping around in every direction. There were a lot of kite boarders and windsurfers out there which got my adrenalin going. It looks like a lot of Germans come here for vacation. And everyone brings their dog. Claire counted at least 16 dogs that passed by us, some cute, some not so cute.
Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:20:44 GMT | 1 comment
On this cruise, I am still trying to figure out what we should actually be doing in a foreign city.
Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:22:10 GMT | 3 comments
I am a pessimist. Let me get that out of the way so we can avoid the criticisms and evil glances that this next comment will generate. The comment I would like to make is this: Often I am finding at sea days on this cruise to be boring, boring, boring.
Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:18:43 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) Yeah, we finally got to sleep in! It was a “nothing” day today as we sailed towards Germany so we slowly got up, had breakfast and literally said bye to the kids (they wanted to hang with their friends in the Fun Factory). We didn’t do much – read, ate, read, jacuzzi, ate, read (we did check on the kids every now and then).
The highlights of the day? Well we finally had our lobster night at dinner (yummy) and the show tonight was a taste of Cirque du Soleil, which consisted of a 40 minute show from Allegria with 4 acts. It was the best show on a ship that we’ve seen, maybe because it was Cirque du Soleil and their shows are always spectacular. We had second row seats, we could experience everything – every movement, every facial expression, the detailing of their costumes, etc.
Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:16:44 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) It is our second day in Stockholm. We got a late start this morning and finally headed toward the end of the pier where the Hop On Hop Off boats pick you up (yes, they have boats too). Our plan today was to take the tour on the water this time since we had Claire. It took you to Old Town, the Stockholm Palace, the central downtown area, Vasa Museum (which houses an old Viking ship that sunk 20 minutes into its maiden voyage), and Grona Lund (Sweden’s oldest amusement park).
Posted by Max Dunn Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:13:58 GMT | 4 comments
(Suzanne) It was around 4:20a when the room started to get bright. I left the curtains open last night to let the natural light come into our stateroom. By 4:45a, the sun was peering in. I’m outside now, wrapped in my blanket. It’s not quite 5a. I came out to our balcony to watch the sun rise and to see what was around us. We were told that we will be navigating through the Northern Stockholm Archipelago from 4:30a until arrival at 9a and it’s supposed to be spectacular
Posted by Max Dunn Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:12:36 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) We woke up this morning with the port of Helsinki outside our window. It’s a beautiful day so far, a lot different than what we had left back in St Petersburg. Since we had a successful day with the kids in St Petersburg, we thought we try again. Besides, not very many people go to Finland and the only time we really hear about them is during the Winter Olympics. I was actually excited to see it because I studied a lot of buildings built there in an architectural history class and it was the home of Alvar Aalto (Finland’s version of Frank Lloyd Wright).
Posted by Max Dunn Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:11:29 GMT | no comments
(Suzanne) After leaving the kids on the ship yesterday, we decided to try taking them into St Petersburg so they could have a taste of Russia. We were also determined to get into the city once again so we could deliver the wine that we forgot yesterday to Eugene and Luba. But, as usual, I hadn’t booked any excursion yet so we were scrounging around the pier in the afternoon to see what we could get on. Nevertheless, we ended up going on a panoramic city tour which actually ended up being the best choice for the kids because they didn’t have to walk much and the weather was kind of cold and a little rainy.
Posted by Max Dunn Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:09:07 GMT | no comments
We went through the Hermitage Museum in two hours today. There are a thousand rooms in the Hermitage and you would probably need to spend two hours in each one to get the full impact. Even the ceilings in many of the rooms were so fantastic that I always made it a point of looking up when I first entered each room.