Saturday - Monday
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We flew from Portland to Copenhagan via Dullas, leaving early morning and arriving in the morning the next day. We waited at a hotel until 2:00 pm when we finally boarded the Marco Polo. Tivoli Garden in Copenhagen was having its annual day when they allowed dogs. This was a big kennel club event. This neat event helped us pass the time and stay awake.The second day we had a half day tour of Copenhagen that included a visit the the Little Mirmaid.The Marco Polo was built in 1965 and named the Alexandr
Pushkin. In 1991-1993 it was rebuilt for modern cruising and
renamed the Marco Polo.
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Tuesday - Wednesday
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Our first "Day At Sea" gave us a chance to get to adjust to European Time. It also was the first day for Team Trivia which we attended as often as we could throughout the cruise.Wednesday was the stop in Tallin, Estonia in the afternoon. This is a town that has been ruled by the Sweedish, Danish, Germans, and Russians many times. They finally gained their independence in 1991 when the USSR fell apart.Note that Paul is standing in front of the local McDonalds. |
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Thursday -Friday
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We docked for two days in Saint Petersberg, Russia giving us a chance to have some interesting excursions. The weather turned sunny although cool. First we took a canal boat tour. St. Petersberg is known as the Venice of the North because it has so many canals, rivers and islands. We also stopped at the Peter and Paul Fortress where They burried many of the former leaders. That aftertnoon we took a tour out to Catherine's Palace at Pavlovsk, about an hour's drive out of town. Now a museum, it had been the Summer Palace.The second day we took an all day excursion that started at the Hermitage Museum. We only spent a couple hours so we only saw a small portion of it. We had lunch at the Metropole Hotel, complete with entertainers, before the long drive out of town to the Summer Palace at Peterhof. |
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Saturday
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Helsinki was a very interesting city. The weather started cool and windy, but turned to rain by about noon. We visited the cathedral built inside a dome at the high point of the city. One stop was the scupture made to represent Sibelius' music. As you can see, the pipes were very long and varied.At the ship yard we saw a new Carnival Line cruise ship being built. The process takes three years.Team Trivia again today. |
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Sunday
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In Stockholm there is a Hard Rock Cafe. Therefore, the morning excursion on our own was to find it and get the required memorabilia. Here Paul, Michele and Joe wait for the place to open. |
There are many canals, lakes and other waterways in and around Stockholm. The afternoon tour was aboard this low boat that went through a lock to enter a lake, then around much of the city for a different view. We were back for Team Trivia. It was beautiful sailing out through the many islands, but the sea then the sea bacame very rough and it wasn't a good evening for some of us. |
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Monday
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Al and Gloria, 54th Anniversary |
Stan and Ellie, 50th Anniversary yesterday |
Michele and Joe |
Paul and Grace |
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Tuesday
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Since the ship docked early, we went in to the RR Station to make phone calls home before breakfast. After breakfast we walked back to the RR Station to meet Matthias, Paul's cousing from Keil. They recognized each other quickly even though they had never met before. Matthias was able to come on board to visit and have lunch with us.In the afternoon we had an excursion to visit a nearby town of Rostock, a midievil city founded in the 1200s. It is being renovated now that it is no longer part of "East Germany."Upon returning to the ship, Matthias joined us again. This was when we heard about the terrible events happening in New York and Washington. We were able to see CNN in our cabin and we got there in time to see the WTC towers collapse.After dinner we walked Matthias back to the RR Station. The German Police or Military was out in force to protect our ship and the Norwegian Dream next to us. |
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Wednesday
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The Keil Canal cuts through Denmark from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea. There are locks at both ends that raise the ship a little. The crossing took much of the day and the weather was cool but pleasant. The day onboard gave time for more CNN watching to keep track of ongoing events at home.
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Thursday
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Weather in Amsterdam was threatening rain most of the day. Our ship had to wait in the locks for it to fill with other boats, putting us behind schedule. Our excursion took us to a small town of Beatrixberg and then on to Volendam. The countryside is lovely. We also visited a cheese farm where they showed us the cheese making process and gave us samples.
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 After getting back to the ship we skipped lunch we went in to Amsterdam. The shuttle had just left so we walked all the way to the RR Station and through it for the obligatory treck via local tram, to the Hard Rock Cafe. We were back in time for Team Trivia. We learned of a change in our itinerary, dropping the stops in Northern Africa and Gibraltar. |
Friday
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The ship docked in Dover and we took the two hour drive to London for a half day tour and half day on our own. The first stop was the Tower of London, then we drove around a while. Just before 11:00 am they pulled the bus over to park so we could participate in the three minutes of silence in respect for the tragedy in the US. People came out of office buildings to stand in silence and all traffic stopped for three minutes. Parliament was back in session this day, and there was a service at Saint Paul's which the Queen attended at noon. Our tour continued to the Tower Bridge and Westminster as well as other places. |
 Around noon we stopped at Trifalgar Square where we met, as prearranged, with Brad and Valerie. We took a cab to the Hard Rock Cafe, then the Underground back to Covenant Garden area where we had a nice leisure lunch and just visited. After the long bus ride back to Dover I had a chance to call home for a brief visit with both folks. |
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or Paul Pitzer at pcpitzer@attbi.com |
