Helsinki Finland!

i think this might have been my favorite day. We docked early in Helsinki, and we were right in the heart of town. Right next to our ship was a Ferris wheel that we discovered later had two special cars-one served champagne and the other was a sauna!!!!  Apparently the Fins love sauna.  We left the ship to attend the excursion for the day-which was an Archipelago tour by RIB (rigid inflatable boat) or zodiac. It was great!  It was a beautiful day, but they did give us parkas and googles to wear on the boat because the wind was chilly!  We got up to 55 mph!

We got off the boat at one of the islands where we took a guided nature walk and had lunch. The guide pointed out and had us try wild berries on the route-blueberries, raspberries and another one I forgot. He also showed us a special moss that the deer love to eat, but they often use in the winter to help absorb moisture in their windows as well as decorate with for Christmas. 

St. Petersburg day 3

The earliest of all, we had to meet the tour bus at 7:30. After the late night at the opera, it hurt, but worth it!  We went to Peterhof Palace, which was the palace for Peter the Great. The palace itself was very similar to Catherine’s Palace, but the grounds were amazing!

 After touring the palace and the grounds, we took a hydrofoil back to St. Petersburg. 

We got back to the ship just in time for our bridge tour!  The bridge had a nice view of our deck directly below them. We also got to steer!  (Just kidding, the boat wasn’t moving). 

 There was a window on the floor also to help them parallel park the ship.   After the bridge tour, we rested a bit and then got ready for our dinner reservation at the Thomas Keller Grill-delish!!!!

St. Petersburg day 2

We had to get up early again for another early morning excursion. This morning, we signed up for a boat tour, but turns out it included a bus sightseeing tour first. The boat was fun. The boat went under some bridges and we noticed people waving on the bridge as we went under/cute!  Then the next bridge, we noticed one of the same guys from the first bridge was waving at us from that bridge. Then we noticed he was jogging down the road so he could wave at us from each bridge!  There were about 4 bridges before we entered the large canal and cruised for a long while. Wouldn’t you know it, when we turned around to come back, he had been waiting for us and did the same routine the whole way back?!?  AND wouldn’t you know it, he made himself available for tips at the end. Oh well, he made it fun!

After the boat tour, we headed back to the ship and had lunch. Then Megan and I got in the hot tub again before showering up to go to the ballet!  

The theater and the ballet were beautiful, but the seats were about the most uncomfortable things we ever experienced. We gladly boarded the bus back to the ship and ordered late night snacks. Another early morning tomorrow-the earliest of all!  No sleeping in for this crew!  Breakfast is coming at 6:30 and we meet our tour at 7:30. 

St. Petersburg day 1

i set my alarm for 6:00 this morning as we had to meet our tour group at 8:15. We had breakfast delivered again at 7 and gathered our things for a trip to the Hermitage Museum. We saw some great sights!

Hermitage is second only to the Louvre in their collection. We saw Rembrandt‘s, Monet’s and Picasso’s!  

After the Hermitage museum, we headed back to the ship and had lunch, and then Megan and I took a nap. We go up again to get ready and have an early dinner before heading out to our evening excursion to Catherine’s Palace. 

The palace was built for Catherine the first, but became the favorite for Catherine the Great.  Catherine the Great married the grandson of Peter the Great, but they hated each other and she was ultimately responsible for organizing his death. 

Tallinn Estonia

We slept in again, but this time knew we had to be up by 8:00 as that was when we elected to have breakfast sent to our room. Then Megan had scheduled a hair appt at the salon for 9:00.  She was ready to cut off some hair!

After her hair appt, we got back to the room to find that dad had gone back to bed, and we thought that was a great idea!  We laid back down and rested until we had to get back up for our onshore excursion in Tallinn. We needed to meet the bus at 12:15 on the pier side. We headed that way a little early and found a souvenir shop.  The guided tour also included some old town sights before going to the candy shop for our chocolate making.  We learned a lot of history (of whatvibcouldnhear without an  audiovox). Estonia has been an independent nation since only 1992!  They’ve been owned by just about everyone over the centuries including Russia, Germany, Denmark, etc. Altogether, they’ve only been independent for a total of 50 years.

We got back to the ship and shortly left port. We had an early sushi dinner before we all retired early for the evening. The next theee days in St. Petersburg will be busy!  Tomorrow we have to meet our tour group at 8:15 am. 

Full day at sea

Today would be our only full day at sea. Tomorrow we heard to Tallinn Estonia and we’ll have an onshore excursion on a chocolate making tour. We slept in, and also didn’t realize we’d be losing another hour, so what we thought was around 10, turned into around 11!  Dad went down for breakfast without us. By the time we were up and moving, it was lunch tome.  It was a cool 65 degrees, but we dined outside to really appreciate our setting. There were heaters keeping us warm tho.

After lunch, Megan and I went down to the pool and soaked in the hot tub for an hour or so. We met a nice couple who live in Houston, but he was from St. Louis!  Small world! Dad came by and we introduced them. Megan enjoyed a bowl of gelato in the hot tub before we headed back to the room to get ready for our tour of the galley. 

Megan got her first taste of caviar-but was not a huge fan. She was able to get the group a ice cream ball sample. After the galley tour, we got ready for our formal dinner with a Seabourn rep. It was a nice dinner and good company.