4th Port - Tallinn, Estonia

July 12 – Tallinn, Estonia

Today was cloudy with a little rain, so we took our time getting off the ship hoping it would stop raining.  We had about 8 hours in Tallinn, one of the best preserved old towns in Europe.  This year is the 20^th Anniversary for Tallinn’s independence.  As we got off the boat there were booths set up and as we were browsing as it started raining harder and harder.  Our shoes and pants were soaked.  Luckily there was a Hop On Hop Off tour bus waiting, so we hopped on and toured Tallinn in the rain for a while.  It was hard to see out the windows since there were so many wet people on the bus, but at least we weren’t walking in the rain.

After about an hour it stopped raining, so we hopped off the bus and stopped in Tallinn’s “Upper Town” on Toompea Hill.  There we stopped at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Cathedral.   The inside was full of icons, which are paintings of various saints and holy people.  The cathedral had the typical onion shaped domes. 

Also on Toompea Hill was St. Mary’s Cathedral, a Lutheran Church from 1233 (aka “Dome Church”).  Inside the church there were many coats of arms on the white walls. 

Nearby was St. Mikael’s, a Swedish Lutheran Church. The interior of this church was plain compared to the inside of the other churches we saw in Tallinn.  In the basement of this church there was a small museum with items from the founding church members.  When Estonia was Soviet, the church was used as a sports facility. 

We walked to the “Lower Town” and stopped at the Town Hall where we toured the museum.

On top of the Town Hall is a weather vane, the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas.  According to the legend, the model for the weather vane was a peasant boy who excelled at the springtime contests involving firing crossbow bolts at a painted wooden parrot on top of a pole. Unable to receive a prize because his low-born status, Toomas was rewarded with the job of town guard for life.  Old Toomas would give candy to the children in the Town Square. When he died, the children constantly asked, "Where is Old Toomas?”, which led to uncomfortable answers about the nature of death. Once the weather vane was erected over the town square, parents would tell the children that Old Toomas was watching how they behave and would leave candy under their pillow for good behavior.

Town Hall

Old Toomas

We stopped for a short rest at a Café in the town square, just an excuse for Jay to try the local beer, Saku.  Next we stopped at the Holy Spirit Church which had a wood carved folding altar dating back to 1483.  Our final church that we stopped at was St. Oleviste  (St. Olav’s) a Baptist church, where there was a tower that you could walk up 258 stairs.  Jay climbed up the narrow spiral staircase to the top and I waited at the bottom.  Jay said the view from the top was good and would have been better on a clear day.

Folding Altar

View of Old Town from top of tower

On the walk back to the ship we passed Fat Margaret, which is a large short tower that was part of the defenses around the town.  There were quite a few sections of the original wall still standing around the town.  Tonight after dinner we went to a trivia contest and then caught the last half of “Secretariat” at Movies Under the Stars. 

Fat Margaret

Day at Sea

July 11 – Day at Sea

Since the weather was so nice in Germany the day before, we were hoping for sun today.  No such luck.  It was cool and misty.  So much for sun and relaxing by the pool, so we explored more of the ship and stopped in at the casino and played more blackjack.   As we were wandering around the ship, we ran into Mr. and Mrs. Claus.  They were on vacation from the North Pole with 9 other Santa’s.  They told us that they were in Santa School while on the ship and after the cruise they will attend a Santa convention in Copenhagen.

Tonight is formal night with a Champagne fountain with over 750 glasses.  We had dinner with a US couple who live in Madrid, Spain.  He is an officer with NATO and was wearing his full dress uniform.  He got so many questions about where things were on the ship because people thought he was the captain of the ship.  We talked about what we missed the most from the US and she told me that she missed Slim Jim’s.  We just happened to have some with us so we shared and she told us that we are friends for life.  Later that night they were having a 50’s dance in one of the bars so we went and I even got Jay up to dance the twist, but he did have the “You’ve got to be kidding” look on his face.  Around 10:00 pm they delivered a small cake to our cabin for our anniversary celebration.  Too late to eat chocolate, so we saved it for another time.

3rd Port - Warnemunde, Germany

July 10 – Warnemunde, Germany

We had to set an alarm this morning and I thought this was vacation.  Today a lot of people on the ship went to Berlin and had to leave the ship early, so breakfast wasn’t too crowded.  They were taking a three hour train ride there, touring for about 4 hours and then the three hours back.  We decided not to do that since we want to do a long weekend in Berlin, so we took a train into Rostock, Germany then another train to Schwerin to see a castle.  At the train station, we met a Bishop from Toledo, Ohio, who is a friend of Cardinal DiNardo.  Cardinal DiNardo belongs to the Knights of Columbus at our church in Spring.  The Bishop knew the Cardinal in school and in Rome (what a small world).  The Bishop was traveling with another priest from Florida and we ended up sharing a cab to the castle with them when we arrived in Schwerin. 

Warnemunde, Germany (view from the top deck of our ship)

Rostock City Hall

Palace Schwerin is located in the middle of an island on Lake Schwerin.  The palace is surrounded by the palace garden and the royal park is nearby.  It was such a beautiful area.  After our tour we stopped at a café on the shores of the lake for a beer.  Jay had a German pils (pilsner) from Schwerin called Lubzer.  He said it was OK, but he still prefers the Bavarian lagers.  He is really going to suffer when we get back to the states.  

Palace Schwerin

Palace garden

As we were walking back to the train station we stopped at a Lutheran Church.  This church also had a very ornate wood carving behind the altar.  We walked past the Town Hall where a fireman was celebrating his 30^th birthday.  His friends strapped him in a chair and he was drinking some champagne and then his friends sprayed him with the fire hose.  He then had to clean the steps of City Hall with a toothbrush.  The steps were covered in wet saw dust.  Everyone then sang Happy Birthday to him and he put out his candles with a fire extinguisher. 

When we got back to Warnemunde there was a festival going on at the waterfront, so we walked around and looked at the local craft and food booths.  They also had some sand sculptures located around the festival.  I bought my ski hat for next winter from one of the vendors.   Hmmmm, buying a winter hat in the middle of July, I guess you have to buy one some time.  (You’ll have to wait until January to see the hat)  There was also a huge sailing ship in port from Russia, we think, but it was too late to take a tour of the ship.  Jay had a local beer, Rostock Pils, he said it was OK, and it was cheaper than buying one on the ship.  Back to the hot tub to relax and after dinner we went to see a movie under the stars and then to the casino.  We had Surf N Turf for dinner and it was delicious!!!! 

2nd Port - Aarhus, Denmark

July 9 – Aarhus, Denmark

The second port we visited was Aarhus, Denmark.  We were able to sleep late since we didn’t arrive in port until around 11:00 and then we had about 6 hours in port.  As we left the ship there was a band playing traditional Danish music.  We toured ourselves just like we did in Oslo.  We visited the Arhus Cathedral which is dedicated to St. Clement, the patron of sailors.  This church is the longest and tallest in Denmark.  It had a lot of frescos on the walls.  There was a large model of a ship, about 10 feet long, hanging in the church.  Legend is that the model was built for Tsar Peter the Great, to show him what the ship looked like that was being built for the Russian fleet.  The ship carrying the model sank and the model washed up on shore.  Some of the fishermen brought the model to the church, and subsequently donated it to the cathedral. 

Arhus Cathedral

We also went to Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady).  This church was originally a Catholic church and converted to a Lutheran church during the reformation.  It had a really nice wood carving behind the altar.  The wood carver was from Germany.  He would travel around Europe doing these elaborate altar carvings.

Our last stop for the day was “Old Town” (Den Gamle By), which is an open air museum of over 70 houses that were brought here from different parts of Denmark.  These buildings range in age from the 15^th – 18^th centuries.  One of the interesting things we noticed in the old buildings was that the doorways were all very low, six feet or less.   Den Gamle By has a working bakery, which we tried some of the traditional Danish cakes and cookies since we couldn’t pass it up after we smelled the wonderful aromas coming from the bakery.  The vanilla ring cookie was the best.  The town had a small beer garden, so Jay had to stop to sample the Danish beer.  The beer was OK, but they didn’t have pretzels, only cookies shaped like a pretzel.   

Bakery in Old Town

It started raining (hard) as we were walking back to the ship, of course we didn’t have our umbrellas since it was clear and sunny when we left the ship.  You think we would have learned by now.  Back into the hot tub, even though it was raining, since we walked a lot today, around 15 miles.  The same two couples from Massachusetts were there and we talked about our day.  We had dinner with a couple from Australia and a couple from Switzerland.   After dinner we went to the casino to try our luck at blackjack.  I won, which more than made up for what Jay lost.  Jay said that I’m a blackjack pro – hardly!!!  There was a man from Hungary at the table and he gave me some advice, which evidently worked. 

Scandinavian and Baltic Cruise – Our first day (Copenhagen) and first port (Oslo, Norway)

What a wonderful cruise.  We visited 7 countries in 11 days.  We boarded our ship in Copenhagen, Denmark.   We only had a 1 ½ hour flight so we didn’t suffer from jet lag like some of the people we met who had flown over from the US.   Our ship was the Emerald Princess.  As we walked around the ship, Jay commented that this was déjà vu, since it was exactly like the Star Princess (from our Alaskan cruise).   Our room was great.  We originally thought we would have a totally obstructed view, which usually means looking at the life boat, but the life boat was below our window and we had a great view.

July 8 – Oslo, Norway

As we left our cabin the next morning for breakfast, we had a surprise outside the door.  They decorated our door with a “Happy Birthday” sign and balloons. 

The first port we visited was Oslo, Norway, which we had about 8 hours in port.   Travel tip – You should buy the Oslo Pass since it allows you to ride all public transportation, including the ferries, and free admission to most of the museums.  We took a short ferry ride over to the Bygdoy Peninsula, where we visited the Viking Ship Museum.  In the museum there were three Viking Ships that were from 800-900 AD.   These ships were used as tombs for the noblemen, who were buried along with jewels and furniture for the afterlife.  You can still see some of the detailed carvings on some of the items that they found in the ships.

Our next stop was to Norsk Folkemuseum, which was an Open-Air Museum which presents life in Norway from 1500 until today.  The Open-Air Museum has more than 150 historic buildings.  The Stave Church from Gol dates back to around 1200.  We also saw the typical home, barn, schoolhouse with children in traditional dress enjoying the day.

Stave Church

School children having lunch

We then went to The Kon-Tiki Museum.  This museum houses original boats and exhibits from Thor Heyerdal’s world famous expeditions.  He sailed his raft, which was made from balsa wood, from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.  I don’t think I would have taken any of these boats on a couple hour cruise, let alone for 101 days, which is how long their voyage took.

Our next stop was to the Fram Museum.  The Fram is the most famous ship in polar history, known for its expeditions to the North and South Poles.  We were able to go on to the restored ship and even go below to see how they lived on the ship. 

Next we visited the Akershus Castle.  This is medieval castle from the 13^th century that is still used today for state events. 

Inside Akershus Castle

Our last stop was to City Hall.  You wouldn’t think going to City Hall was something you would want to do but, the inside is decorated with murals showing Norwegian art.  The main hall was huge.  The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded at City Hall.

It is amazing how quickly 8 hours can go by.  We managed to walk about 12 miles and the hot tub felt very good for the tired legs and feet when we got back to the ship.  We met 2 couples from Massachusetts and they gave us an idea for what to do when we stop in Germany. 

June - Back in Munich and our Croatia, Italy and Slovenia trip

June 2 – Back in Munich after my home stay.  It was good to be back especially since the weather is much cooler here than Houston.  Too hot too soon in Houston.

June 6 – Kevin and Mandi came for a week before they left on their cruise for their honeymoon.   They spent the week touring around Munich and sampling the beer of Germany.  They left on their cruise June 12. Jay and I found a local festival near Ostbahnhof that had several bands playing during the weekend. 

June 14 – Jay and I went to see Elton John in concert.   We didn’t buy our tickets until March so we didn’t think our seats would be great.  We thought we would be in the “nose bleed” section, so we didn’t bring our camera.  Big Mistake!!!!!  The seats we had were great.  They were 18 rows up from the floor and to the side of the stage.  Elton John’s piano was on the side we were sitting so we had a great view of him.

(From the Munich Newspaper)

June 18 – Today and Sunday is the celebration of the 853 Stadtgeburtstag (Birthday) of Munich.  There were booths and stages set up for bands at Marienplatz, Odeonsplatz and Karlsplatz.  It was a very rainy day, so it was easy to find an open table to stop and have a beer and listen to the music.  We saw the largest beer keg we have ever seen in Marienplatz, and we thought they only made big things in Texas. Sunday was a nicer day, so we went back to listen to some of the bands and enjoy the food and, of course, beer.  There were craftsmen in one area giving demonstrations of how things were done 100's of years ago.

June 23 – Today is a holiday in Germany – Corpus Christi, so we decided to go away for the weekend.  We rented a car and drove to Umag, Croatia, which is on the Adriatic Sea and about a 5 ½ drive.  As we were driving and we missed one of our turns, Jay suggested that we change the language on our GPS to German so we could practice.  I told him that I didn’t think that was good idea since we can’t follow the directions in English.  It was very hard to understand the Australian woman trying to pronounce the street names of the countries we were in, but we eventually made it to Croatia.  Our hotel was right on the Adriatic Sea and the weather was great.  Clear skies and highs in the 80’s with very little humidity.  We relaxed by the sea, went for a swim in the Adriatic Sea and walked along the sea wall.  This hotel was an “all inclusive” so we didn’t have to worry about anything.  All meals and drinks were included.  At night they had a band for entertainment.  The band the first night played all ABBA songs. 

June 24 – We went into the town of Umag on the local ECO Train since it was a cloudy morning.  We walked around the town and looked at the local shops and vendors.  Headed back to the hotel and sat by the sea.  No waves today.  The water was very clear.   At dinner we were greeted by traditional musicians and we were offered a taste of Cherry Grappa, a local liqueur.    After dinner there was a band playing again and they played Latin rock. 

June 25 – On Saturday we drove to Trieste, Italy.  Jay’s German instructor suggested that we visit the city since it was so close to Umag.  The Irish novelist, James Joyce, spent some years in Trieste.  We did a short tour of the city and had some great pizza for lunch at a street side café along the Grand Canal.  We stopped at a local bakery for some sweets.   We then drove to Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Grand Canal

Lake Bled is an alpine lake with a small island in the center.  An interesting fact is that this is the only island in Slovenia.  Just before we left on our trip I read an article that listed Lake Bled as one of the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the world. There is a small church on the island.   In the church there is a bell and the legend is that if you ring the bell and make a wish your wish will come true.  We also visited a castle that was 1000 years old.  The castle is on a cliff above the lake.  The walk to the castle includes 222 stairs, but who’s counting.   The castle also has a small museum and a working model of Guttenberg’s printing press.   We were shown a demonstration of how they worked the printing press by them printing our names and date on a sheet of handmade paper.  We sampled Bled Cream Cake, the local dessert. 

This was a real relaxing weekend.  We never have those when we go on a trip.  We are always trying to see so much in such a short time.  We had a great time.