Europe and Russia 2007

Here's all the exciting vacation stories from my last trip...
Flew to London where we had a 2 hour bus ride to get to our boat. Once we got on the boat it was quite an adventure getting unpacked with all the luggage we had. Three girls pack ALOT of clothes when they're gonna be gone for 16 days. :)
Our first full day on the ship (Sunday) was spent going through the Keil Canal separating Germany and Denmark. Apparently our ship is the only cruise ship that can fit through the canal and as we were the first trip of the season it was a big deal to the people. There were hundreds of people waiting for our ship to watch it pass through. They even had a band playing for us. We totally felt like celebrities. It took us several hours to get through the canal. (It's longer than the Panama Canal.) Monday morning we arrived in Warnemunde, Germany. Then we took a 2.5 hour train ride into Berlin. We took a bus tour of Berlin (east and west). It was very interesting to see the Berlin Wall and hear the guide explain how it used to be. Touching the Wall was very surreal. At one point they had a part of the wall with a guardtower behind it where the Soviet soldiers used to be stationed to keep east Berliners from trying to escape. We also saw Brandenburg gate and Checkpoint Charlie where US troops would check you to allow you back into west Berlin. After a visit to the Allied museum and the Holocaust Memorial, we did a little shopping, ate some ice cream, then it was time for our train ride back to the boat.

Tuesday was spent at sea traveling to Finland. Wednesday in Finland was really foggy in the morning and cold. We did a boat ride around the islands of Helsinki. All the houses had these saunas right next to the water and the guide said that they would go sit in the sauna for a while and then run out into the water and jump in. Might want to mention here that the water temperature was 6 degrees!!!! Crazy people. After our boat ride we went into the city and did a little shopping. Then we saw some girl walking down the street eating McDonalds so of course I asked her where it was and we ate there :) After some ice cream it was time to head back to the boat.

Thursday we arrived in St. Petersburg Russia, this was the part of the trip all of us were most looking forward too. After going through customs in Russia we took a bus to our canal boat. (Apparently St. Petersburg has more canals than Venice...who knew?) The canal boat was really full so we sat outside ( did I neglect to mention that Stacy and I were probably the only people under 30 on the entire ship? we were.) Anyway we didn't want the old people to freeze so we sat outside and froze. It was SO COLD. Seriously cannot stress that enough. FREEZING COLD!!! But it was really fun. Russia was amazing. The buildings are so huge and flat that you think they are fake. And they go on for like half a mile..just one building. After our canal boat ride we went to the Church of Spilled Blood, built where some one important was murdered (I cant remember who right now). The outside was magnificient and the inside was too. They totally did the inside with mosaics that told all of the Bible stories. After this we went back to the boat to rest for a while and eat some ice cream. That night we went to a folkloric show. This was really neat, it was all in Russian song and dance. Very fun. The next morning we went to Peterhof which was the summer palace of Tsar Peter the Great. This place was huge. Seriously. Picture the Empire State Building laying on its side and thats about how big it was. And totally ornate the inside was all done in gold plating. The outside had these amazing gardens and hundreds of fountains. That afternoon we went to the fortress of St Peter and Paul where all the Russian Tsars are entombed. After this our tour was done and it was back to the ship. We were supposed to leave Russia at 6pm but the KGB kept our ship there. There were all these guys in black suits on the dock talking on their phones and they kept wheeling this suitcase off the boat and then back on. One time we even pulled away and then had to go back. Our theory is that they were holding us hostage and then men on the phones were negotaiting with the president for our freedom. :)

Saturday we were in Estonia. For those of you who dont know Estonia is in north eastern Europe and was once part of the Soviet Union. The whole country was beautiful. We started off in their old town area. Visited an old church and did a little shopping. From there it was on to a real medieval fortress built in the 13th century. While there we went through the torture chamber. It was kinda scary actually. After this we went to a distillery where we "volunteered" Stacy for a vodka taste test. She had to do 6 shots of vodka. After she got good and drunk (ok not really drunk) it was back on the bus and back to the ship.

Sunday we were in Sweden. To get to Sweden we had to sail through a series of islands called the Swedish Archepelago. It took us about 4 hours to sail through them all. Some of the islands were huge and had hundreds of houses on them, others were tiny and had only one or two houses. It was absolutey beautiful. In Sweden we did a tour that took us to the place were they do the Nobel prizes each year. We also went to the palace. There we saw the changing of the guard. We ditched the tour after this and did a little shopping (ok alot of shopping, think lots of yummy, yummy chocolate.) Sweden was really neat. The streets were all cobblestone. We ate some ice cream and then walked back to our boat. While on our way back we spotted a McDonalds and satisfied our french fry cravings...

Monday night we got into Denmark. We took another canal boat ride through the canals of Copenhagen and then went to Tivoli Gardens, which is an amusement park that was built in the 1800s. While there we went on what is supposedly the worlds oldest roller coaster. To stop the train they have an employee that rides between the first two cars and pulls a hand brake. We ate some ice cream and then back to the ship for the night. The next morning we went on a 3 hour bike tour of Copenhagen. The bikes they gave us had these tiny hard seats and we all have big butts (especially after all the ice cream) and we had to ride over cobblestone streets so needless to say after the 3 hours our butts HURT!! The ride itself was crazy. There were about 15 of us altogether and one guide. We followed her through the streets like little ducklings. We just rode wherever we wanted, cutting off cars, people. You name it we cut it off. We were surprised nobody died. :) We also almost missed our ship getting back. We only had a few minutes before the ship left. In fact they called my name over the PA to make sure I was on the boat.

Wednesday was spent packing up all our dirty clothes and new purchases and squeezing them into already bulging suitcases. We ate a bunch of ice cream for our last day on board. We got back into London at 5 AM Thursday morning. We took to bus back to the airport where we got a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel was this old building that used to be 3 condos that they renovated. We were on the 5th floor. Thursday and Friday were both spent on a bus tour of London. We got to see everything from the outside but didn't really have alot of time to go in anywhere. We saw Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abby. We got off the bus at Buckingham Palace and yelled through the gate and the guards, trying to get a reaction, but to no avail. Friday we went on the London Eye. Its this huge Ferris Wheel thing right on the Thames River that takes 30 minutes to go around, but you get an amazing view of London. Friday we also walked through Hyde Park which is absolutely beautiful. Very serene and peaceful. Also very green. At the end of Hyde Park is Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived. We checked that out and then back to our hotel. Friday night we saw Phantom of the Opera at the Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original production was first held. Its this really old theatre where the seats were so small you literally couldn't move. Saturday morning was spent packing. Then we walked around again near our hotel and did some last minute shopping. Our flight left at 5pm London time.

All in all it was an amazing trip. I would like to go to all of these places again and spend more time there. There is still so much more to see...