The Bis Key Chronicles

We were only in port for about 8 hours today and got on a bus almost immediately. All the bus drivers were women which was different from everywhere else that we have been this trip. The highlight of the day was Gustav Vigelands’s stone, iron and bronze statues in a park that was quite long. Like most of the cathedral architects and such, Gustav did not live to see the park finished.

Debby, Suzy and I commented that this kind of public display would never happen in the US and that it was sad. The presentation was celebrating live from young to old and captured moments from most of our lives. And there was a story for each statue, some of which I suspect would not be allowed by Windows Live Spaces to be posted on this blog.

We ended the tour at the Viking Museum with three actual ships, sleds, and other artifacts. It was hard to hear our tour guide because the place was so packed. As was the park, these places had many tourist and people from Norway too.

We are now enroute to our final destination from whence we started, Copenhagen. I’ve down loaded over a thousand photos to Debby’s thumb drive for her to take home. Hey, I wonder if I can get Suzy to pack my bags?  ;o)

Poland brought us to the medieval castle of Malbork located near the city of Gdansk. I must have taken over 300 pictures of the castle before we even got to Gdansk to view the Church of Mary.

We spent much of our time on the bus in between locations because our bus drive kept taking the wrong turns. After about the fourth wrong turn which where the correct location was well marked we started getting nervous. Finally the tour guide took to watch the  bus driver and giving his spiel. It was amazing and had me wondering who this fellow knew to get a premium job like this is Poland.

We had lunch at the castle with a three piece string trio, local beers and food. I looked at the music of the musicians, I’d been doing this all along and rather than the hand written songs I had been seeing, I saw a standard three staff trio piece that looked like it had been copied from a Rubanks or some such lesson book. I will be posting videos of the medieval music on my YouTube account once I get back to my ultra-fast FiOS connection at home.

Once in Gdansk we had a whirlwind tour of the Church of Mary and the Market and Long Streets.

I’ve received some comments about the pictures I am planning on posting on my Flickr account. The Internet is so slow here, I am going to have to wait to post until we get back to the States.

We visited the Baltic republic of Estonia today and I ended up taking 200 pictures in just 3 hours. Every corner of this ancient town was full of unique hand-made architectural delights, towers, walls, and gates.

The people are lovely, the drivers manic, and guides well educated.

And of course the graffiti is ever present:

Here are some other random shots:

So where are the hundreds of other pictures. I’ll be posting them to my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/Gandalfe when I get home to my zippy FiOS Internet connection. Prost.    

I wasn’t really surprised by the security surrounding everything the Russians do, but it was annoying. Everywhere else in the EU we breeze through security. In Russia there are extra paperwork requirements like xerox’d copies of passport and other ‘special’ paperwork required which result in long waits in lines to go on the tours. The guard, in our case a wizened old lady, peers at you frowning and then stares at your passport photo.

Gates are everywhere, windows are barred, and traffic lights have a second countdown for green so that you know how much time you have till it starts blinking and then changing to green. As drab, beat up, and dilapidated as much of the city is, the public areas, museums, cathedrals, and community centers are posh, gaudy, and with a lot of Baroque (in every sense of the word). Most of these places were palaces for the Czars and now are public facilities.

Collections of art rival those of the Louvre with Rembrants, Van Goghs, and Monets. So much art and in just one city.

We were constantly reminded to guard our wallets and there were stories of one wallet being stolen yesterday and a credit being used after a purchase from one of the street merchants. And then there were the brides, everywhere brides dressed in white with their young men, what is it with the month of June and the young Russian ladies.

Beautiful place, polite people, many young people, and then there were the guards, the police, the pickpockets and the military. St. Petersburg is definitely a study in contrasts.

Late last night Harri, a Finn and the owner of the SOTW, pinged me on Facebook to see if we could have a breakfast or drinks tomorrow morning when we arrive in Helsinki. I let him know we might be able to make that happen, but didn’t hear back. In the morning, for the first time since we started the cruise, all three of us overslept waking up after 10 AM!

So I quickly tried to get online to see what arrangements had been made, but the Internet connection was tenuous at best. An hour and twenty minutes later I found out Harri had been at a restaurant that was not to be at. Sigh, oh well we tried.

The first part of our tour was a visit to the great architect Saarinen (father of the famous American architect) country villa and study. Such an interesting space with so many architectural delights some of which I captured. Even if it is just doors, they are so nicely done.

And his art, drawings, and use of color was of interest.

Then we toured the city and headed back to the ship.

The history of Stockholm proved to be fascinating and we heard about it from the ship historian and again on tour. For example, a newly commissioned ship for King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1628 named Vasa, at that time the largest ship in the world, sank within a mile of the starting point of it’s maiden voyage. Did you know there is a joke that to be the King of Sweden you have to be named Karl or Gustav?  :o)

We were taken on a bus and then boat tour of the city and parks which lasted three hours. We didn’t even have time to go in any buildings and then we were back at the ship. The women folk didn’t even get to do any shopping other than a quick stop at a tourist trap before they got back on the Emerald Princess.

Debby surprised us with a birthday meal even though my birthday is next month. Why do I always get red in the face when people sing happy birthday to me? I’d rather sing with the gang than be the recipient. We are now cruising down a fiord towards Finland and specifically Helsinki. The sun is setting and after two excellent shows we are all watching the night arrive in the Owners Suite that we were upgraded to for the trip. Life is sweet.

What a whirlwind day with shows, shopping, (well me following the shoppers, Deb and Suzy), and so … much … food. We especially like the music with the 3-horn jazz and dixie band, musicals with really talented dancers, and comedians. I go some ideas for Gary’s Dixie band and some other thoughts about doing our own arrangements for my group, the Dissonance.

I did want to mention that once again people are proven to be very gullible. The cast of ‘winners’ with the various animal nose above were told that there was a contest with limited winners during a comedian’s show. They were selected and their prize was to sing ‘Old McDonald’ for the audience. Surprised? We were not.

It was sunny and beautiful on the Baltic Sea as we progressed to Sweden. Debby took the time to have afternoon tea on our balcony, a British thing don’t ‘cha know. Suzy and took that time go to the movies and watch ‘Mama Mia’ which I thought was better than the premier of the Broadway production in Seattle.

The women folk were shopping all day and then planning the side tours for the rest of the trip. I hope they select well.  :o)

We got a nice night’s sleep because we were all so tired. After a hearty breakfast buffet that set us back 545 Kroners (what’s that about) we headed out to find the town center. We were told that everyone walks every where, but if you ask me everyone seems to ride bicycles everywhere. Here are some shots of our short walk.

It wasn’t very crowded downtown at around 10 AM on this Friday. We followed the tower of the church pictured below.

I’ll be putting more pictures on my flickr account which I’ll post a link to later.

After an uneventful nine hour, non-stop flight from Seattle to Copenhagen, we met my sister Debby at the baggage pickup area. Suzy and I flew economy which means that my knees were lodged tightly under my chin. Being 6′ 4" has its disadvantages. The Princess Cruise line rep had already found Suzy and took us to a shuttle to the Radisson SAS hotel.

The traffic lights are weird and we were reminded of that on the way to the airport. From a red light you get a yellow warning that the green light is coming. I suspect it was designed for people with manual transmissions.

  Radisson Casino, Love Chairs in the lobby, the Snail Mail box

We were so tired, indeed Debby who is unable to sleep in a plane, was up for 24 hours straight. So we crashed for two hours. Then we went up to the penthouse restaurant on the 25 floor and enjoyed a 2.5 dinner, with wine and four course meals. The fabulous view was only exceeded by the quality of the food and drink.

It is approaching 9:30 PM and we all still up jabbering. We have to lay out our clothing for tomorrow and then the staff can pick up our bags tonight before we crash. Tomorrow we’ll have four hours to sightsee and then load the bus to go to the boat.