Day 12

this morning we arrived in szczein poland. el and i went ashore and went on one of the most ridiculous tours. we drove around and listened to the silliest man talk about nonsense. poland is very different from the other places we have traveled thus far. the areas are more industrial and a lot of the housing appears damaged from the bombing during the war. a lot of the buildings have not been restored so they seem rundown. but i really enjoyed the rustic look of it all. the suprising thing to me was how nearly every window had a box of flowers. and when i say every window i mean every window. there would be an apartment with 30 windows and 26 would have flower boxes. it was actually quite beautiful. since we were driving around in a bus i wasn’t really able to get a picture of the windows which is very sad for me. we went to a lovely little rose garden where i had a lot of fun taking pictures of the flowers and the little bugs.

after the short little tour we returned back to the ship where we prepared to set sail again. this is when one of my more epic fails of the trip happened. i had stepped out on to our balcony to shoot some more pictures of the town. i had set my lens cover on the railing so i could use both hands. as i leaned forward to get a better angle on a photograph i knocked the lens cover into the baltic sea. huge fail.
farewell lens cover, may your life in the sea be pleasant. I will miss you dearly, as will my lens.

Day 11

after breakfast this morning  i left dona and elbert on board for an adventure on my own. i met up with the tour guides, picked bicycles, was made to wear ridiculous looking florescent yellow vest and helmet but i was alone and riding a bicycle. i fell in love with my bicycle. i really want one so i can ride all over town when i get home. the bike tour was beautiful. they took us through a park with little dirt paths and through some of the new city. we stopped at a little coffee shop for drinks and cakes. i chatted with some of the other people on the tour. i have met so many fascinating people on this adventure. after the coffee break we took off on the bikes again to the old town of estonia. this was definitely my favorite part. the buildings and colors were just so awesome. it has really been one of the most beautiful and entrancing places i have ever been. i sort of felt like i was on a movie set for a time period piece. i could have spent hours there just wandering about taking photographs. it was then time to head back to the ship. i was so sad, i wanted to keep biking around.
after lunch elbert and i took the shuttle bus back down to the old town so elbert could explore too. we only had about an hour but i managed to get yelled at by a crazy woman for taking her picture. i had fallen behind and spotted her and stop to take her picture. right as i did she looked up and caught me in the act. she started yelling at me in another language and actually stood up and started following me. it really creeped me out. i got away though.
after our short little journey into town we headed back to the ship. tonight we are sailing again tomorrow is another sea day. so i am sure we won’t be doing anything exciting except for maybe going to the gym. friday morning we arrive in szczecin, poland.

Day 9

today was our last day in st. petersburg but since we didn’t have a scheduled tour or a visa we stayed aboard the ship. we slept in until 9 then did the breakfast routine. after breakfast i went to the gym for a few hours. it was wonderful to exercise i felt like i hadn’t for ages. after exercising i laid out in the sun. oh the glorious sun it was so pleasant. the weather during this trip is always changing it seems like we haven’t had very much sun, but today it was blazing bright. that’s really all the day consisted of: eating, exercising and lying around. the perfect way to spend some of your vacation. we are now sailing to tallinn, estonia. we will arrive there in the morning. so stoked for the tour tomorrow. i will be riding bikes around the city. yay!

Day 7 & 8

we are now in st. petersburg, russia. one place that i would love to go explore on my own but we are unable to because of the laws here in russia. to leave the ship we must have a tour guide or a visa. the cost of a visa, 450 dollars, not in my financial bracket. all four of us went on a private tour to the hermitage museum. besides facing all the difficulties of handicap accessibility in europe, the not so awesome tour guide, the over-crowed building, and the heat, the place was actually quite cool. the art work was breathtaking. i actually got to view a few a davinci paintings (which i was yelled at for taking a photo of with my flash on - which was an accident) and some rembrants.

(here is my illegal photo in all it's glory)

after the tour we headed back to the ship and went to dinner.
we eat all the time.

Day 8
today we had another private tour but dona decided not to go. she said that she was too worn out from the previous day adventures. our tour guide today was much easier to understand and a little more attentive to our personal needs which was a relief. we visited a few cathedrals today. the first we were unable to enter at the time because they were having a service; it was very beautiful on the outside. i really wish that we could have gone inside. the next cathedral was also still used for services the priest wouldn’t let me enter because i was wearing shorts.
i guess god doesn’t like people who wear shorts.
so we roamed around outside and just took pictures of the outside of the church while our guide showed elbert around. the most interesting thing about this church is that it was bright blue. it’s so different to what i am use to seeing at home.

after leaving this church we were on our way to the next cathedral and our tour van started making the most horrid screeching noise. it broke down. so while we were waiting for the guide and the driver to figure out the plan we took some pictures of the canal. this is where i saw the dead body in the water.
yep that’s right, a DEAD BODY!
i even took a picture.

after a while of waiting around we went down to the next cathedral with the most awesome driver, but i’ll get to that in a minute. this cathedral we were actually able to enter. this is the place where st. peter is buried, they have a nice little tribute to him there. i would put a picture of it up but every shot i have someone is standing in the way. i found it to be very strange that some of these cathedrals have souvenir shops inside them. i didn’t really find any of the churches or cathedrals that we have entered thus far to have a peaceful feeling. maybe i am too corrupt.
the next cathedral that we went to was the most interesting. structurally it was the most appealing all the towers, levels, and colors. inside was amazing. all of the walls were entirely mosaic. from floor to ceiling these tiny little tiles were made into the most amazing mosaic pictures.
this cathedral is also the only place where you can find a depiction of christ as child.

it was then time to head back to the ship.

so one thing i have to mention about russia is the traffic is absolutely the worst in the world. there is no way that it could get any worse. drivers just go where they want, you can have three different lanes turning left into one lane. they all try to boss their way through the traffic; it is quite shocking. it almost seems like there are no traffic laws because of the way that they drive. our driver was bomb! he just did as he damn well pleased. i loved every moment of it. one day i hope i can drive like him. they never, ever use their mirrors. our van didn’t even have a rearview mirror, not that the driver would have used it. the thing that makes it all even better is that no one has car insurance. they all drive like maniacs and have no coverage. they really are winners.
after getting back to the ship we had lunch and just relaxed for a bit.  i headed out again in the evening to go to the ballet. it wasn’t nearly as grand as i thought it would be. the company that i thought would be performing actually wasn’t. it was alright though i still enjoyed it. after the ballet i was on my way back to the ship when i saw a bear cub on a leash.
RUSSIANS are awesome!

Day 6

we arrived in helsinki, finland this morning. elbert and i went on a tour around the town and stopped at a restaurant for some local dining. i tried salt cured salmon; it was disgusting! the tea and cheese were delicious but most everything else was just nasty to me. i honestly found helsinki to be a bit boring after stockholm. it wasn’t nearly as pretty of a city. we did go to a few cathedrals one was made entirely from stone which was pretty cool to see.
we are leaving the port now and heading on to st. petersburg, russia.
i didn’t take a whole lot of pictures in finland and not really any that i want to share.

Day 5

Today was our last day in stockholm sweden. after breakfast i took the shuttle down to the city and just explored around on foot. taking pictures of everything, exploring all the sights on my own was wonderful. i absolutely love it there, i seriously am considering moving there one day. at least during the summer months, i have heard that the winters are a little dreary.
picture from a short adventure.

the ship left port today and we are now sailing to helsinki, finland. i am so sea sick...
bleh...
gross!
off to go vomit now.

Day 4

Stockholm, Sweden
Oh how today has been adventurous. it was the day of the first tour. we found out on wednesday night that the tour would not be wheelchair accessible, so dona opted not to go. elbert really wanted to go so i took dona’s ticket and dona stayed on ship.
never in my life have i been so bothered by something. we left the gangway and poor elbert had to climb down 33 stairs, that is a huge staircase. he really amazes me. we were told the tour was not accessible but nothing was ever mentioned about the exit of the ship not being accessible too. elbert is a champ and made it. our first stop was city hall, this is where they hold the noble peace prize banquet. this place was beautiful. european art... there really is no way to describe it. even the photographs don’t do it justice. the building was huge, there was so much to see and i wish i had hours to explore and photograph all there was to see. but on tours you can be a bit rushed due to time schedules.
here are a few photographs from the city hall.

the next stop was to a famous ship that had sunk. for whatever reason i cannot remember the name right now. but it was way awesome. the ship was massive it was made from over 100,000 trees. the carvings on the ship were amazing. due to the ship being under water for over 3 hundred years they have to have the lighting so dim to preserve the wood. so most of my photographs are a little dim and may be difficult to see.
after we headed back to the ship. we had some lunch and rested up for the evening outing. at 5 we headed down to the stairs again. it was pouring rain at this point but elbert still managed to make it down the stairs safely. we drove through the town of stockholm on our way to the mille's garden. we went around the gardens looking at all of the amazing sculptures that were designed by carl milles. i took a million pictures here so i won’t share them all. i loved this place, i really wish that i could have spent more time admiring all of the sculptures. the facial expressions and the hands are beautiful. the only down fall of this tour is that elbert was unable to go down on the terraces but he was able to see the house which was filled with wonderful art as well. it was then time to head back to the ship it had finally stopped raining at this point which is no luck seeing as we were in the ship for the night.

after dinner i went to my favorite bartender, Alois, i go see him every night. we would just chat and he tells me funny jokes. it’s nice to talk with someone else for a change.

*i'm not really sure why these photos are stretched i'll fix them when i get home.