European Adventure!

Sorry I've been away for so long, real life called and I had no choice but to answer. So much has happened since I last wrote a journal entry.

~June 9th - June 10th: Flew to NYC, from NYC, boarded the Queen Mary II.

~June 11th - June 18th: Cruised across the Atlantic Ocean to Southampton, England and visited Stonehenge.  Hubby and I decided we would never take another Atlantic Crossing cruise again, particularly not with Cuinard, which was hardly impressive.

~June 19th - June 24th: Took the train down to Cornwall, stayed at a Bed and Breakfast, saw Paradise Park, home of The World Parrot Trust, the Cornish Birds of Prey sanctuary, Tintagel castle, and took a tour of the entire Cornish countryside.  I would highly recommend visiting Cornwall, if anyone was thinking of visiting England.  The countryside is not to be missed, and there is so much to do, you really should spend a week, if only to play on the beaches and eat Cornish Pasties or Sunday Roasts.

Took the train up to London, checked into The Kingsley Hotel, tried to relax.  The next day, we walked around exploring for a good ten miles or so.  Visited The British Museum, The Imperial War Museum, London Wetlands for an easier day of walking, then finally hit London Bridge and London Tower.  The Tube system (subway) is really incredible and highly efficient, though it's stuffy if someone closes the window.

June 25th - July 7th: Flew to Stockholm, Sweden.  Boarded the Crystal Serenity cruise ship, settled in, took an excursion, which totally escapes my memory at this time...Set sail on the Baltic Sea and began our journey.  Visited Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Warnemunde, Germany; and Copenhagen, Denmark.  We saw any excursion that was military-related and avoided the grueling 5:30 am - 1 am excursions to Moscow and Berlin.

In Estonia, we visited an Estonian prison and got to see where they executed people.  We had three days in Russia, so first, we visited the Hermitage Museum and had a private performance at a Ballet school.  The next day, we visited an awesome Russian armory museum where they had dozens of tanks, anti-aircraft, artillary, and cannons on the courtyard.  The final day, ...crap, I totally forget, but we were fried at that point.  Oh, wait, maybe it was a palace tour, followed by a canal cruise.   In Finland, we visited the Sveaborg island fortress and shopped at the open air market, then had the most delicious reindeer meatballs, boiled potatoes, and lingon berries we've ever tasted.  Warnemunde was a nice trip, too.  We visited an old military base with a handful of old aircraft hangers, which housed an amazing collection of WWII and Cold War era vehicles, tanks, and aircraft.  They were all owned by hobbyists, which B and I thought was so cool...They even gave us a demonstration of a bridge-laying vehicle.  After that, we were given a tour of a Stasi prison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi), which was turned into a museum and is used by the local university as a glorified storage unit, though it occassionally hosts prisoners awaiting the completion of trials at the courthouse.  By the time we got to Denmark, we were absolute toast, though we survived through an indoor tour of one palace and exteriour tours of two other palaces.

I can safely say that I don't want to return to Russia ever again... We weren't allowed to go outside of tours without visas, so we couldn't venture far or...we may never be allowed back...!  If your visa expires while you're in Russia, they won't let you go home.  Taking photos of the subway and certain things is still prohibited, so is buying antiques, including stamps pre-1991, and anything related to culture (art productions, antique paintings, sculptures, drawings, printed items, icons, furniture, coins, and other items representing significant artistic, historical, scientific, or any other cultural value). We also weren't allowed to bring in anything "containing information which can bring harm to state interest or citizen rights"...

You're also not supposed to go into Northern Russia, cuz there's a lot of violence and civil unrest still going on, and you could get blown up or shot dead. Imigration is so strict, and the workers are incredibly stoic and somber.  Not a one of them would even smile, or nod when I'd say, "Thank you, have a nice day!"

I loved Copenhagen the best.  The countryside was gorgeous, the traditional lunch we had was one of the best I'd ever tasted (while in Europe), the architecture and history were beautiful, and the people were all very nice.

Oddly enough, I didn't buy much of anything on our travels.  I bought postcards for family and friends, a couple guides of some of the museums, a little amber owl, an amber owl pendant for my house sitter/best friend, a wooden fox toy, a felted wool fox, a Danish horse, and a bird book.  I didn't want to haul a lot of stuff back with me, either, so that had a lot to do with it.  My husband insisted I overpack, and I packed several articles of clothing that I never wore due to the cruise ship's dress codes.  My luggage would've been half the size and weight if I'd had my druthers...

Urgh, it's almost 3:45 am now, which is 9:45 am in Denmark.  I've also come down with a cold, thanks to all the germy people and lack of humidity of the airplane.  I have so much to get done around the house and garden, and I hate not being able to do any work right now.  Hopefully I'll be able to smell/taste again, because I seriously hate not being able to enjoy my own cooking!!  Arrrr.... Hope everyone's doing well!