St. Petersburg and More in a few words

Saturday

It's vacation - we sleep very late, but still make it out to the continental breakfast.

Pack up to the sounds of an interview with Ben Bernacke. We walked across the bridge to the old town. Upon arriving at Ryssgarden, we were slightly disappointed to learn that because of the summer holiday, the Stadsmuseum was closed.

We set out on a short walk around the island, doing some window shopping along the way as all of the shops were closed.

In the park, we passed an interesting set of small, wooden houses. It was almost like a permanent camping site. We sat on the rocks at the river's edge and basked in the serenity and the sunshine. Probably spoiled it with a hot dog, but the hot dog was really good.

Onto the harbour, which turned out to be a horrible mission. We took the tube to a closer station, tried to board a bus only to learn that you can't buy tickets when embarking, bought tickets, reboarded the bus, road down to the harbour. Followed a blue-line on the sidewalk for pedestrians, straight into the ferry terminal. Realised it wasn't right, walked out, looped back and came back in. Couldn't find anyone to ask any questions. Started to panic. Pulled out our paperwork and called the emergency number. Were directed to walk through a construction site another 15 minutes. We were the last people to check-in - the employees were streaming out by the time we reached the terminal.

Had one of those, if we had been 5 minutes later, this would have been a miserable day moments.

Finally into the safety of the ship, we planned to relax, but had to proceed straight to the mandatory lifeboat drill. Booked our excursions to make sure they didn't fill up.

A trip to the library yielded a book called "God's Harvard," Sunday Money (about NASCAR), Anne of Avonlea, and Man of the Century (a biography of Pope John Paul II).

Our only dinner company was a couple from Sweden who were much more interested in each other's lips than anything that came out of ours.

The day of sea was lots of time by the pool, in the hot tub and reading.

Our day in St. Petersburg was fast and furious. Started with a quick drive to see the St. Isaac's dome. Spent several hours in the Hermitage. Realised that it was mostly European art, which we have seen much of over the last 4 years.

Had lunch at a tourist trap, complete with live folk music. The highlight was a Jack Bauer look-a-like sitting at our table.

In the afternoon, we went to Peter and Paul's fortress. 'Nothing too notable,' saith Matt. WHat?!?, saith Bree. Only all of the emperors of Russia buried there, including the last emperor Nicolas and his family - the ones that were held capitve during the Bolshevik revolution, never to be heard from again. In 1996, most of the family's remains were found in the forest near Siberia - shot dead and burned. They were re-buried in Peter and Paul's cathedral in 200X. Also, Peter the Great, Katherine the 2nd and many other famous Russian leaders were buried here - basically the Westminster of Russia.

Tuesday

Tuesday in Tallin. We signed up for the bog tour. Slept on the hour bus ride there, despite the excitable guide talking the entire time. Walked through the bog - very peaceful. Got to the other side only to realise that the cruise photographer and videographer were missing. The bus drove us back to the beginning - they weren't there, so the guide takes off runnning through the bog to find them. An hour lost, so we don't have time to stop in the Tallin itself. We're not too bothered - from the bus it looks like the other coastal minor European capitals.

Visited the seaside town with the private maritime musuem of ecclectic junk. Had a nice cuppa tea and enjoyed the beautiful view, very peaceful and the white clapboard of the houses reminiscient of a New England sea town rather than a ex-border station during WWII.

Start reading the papal biography. Comes to light much more given the time I have just spent in St. Petersburg and previous trips to Poland and Germany.

We watch the sunset just before midnight and then finally watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Wednesday

Off the boat. Small mission to determine what our flight time from Stockholm is. Short trip to the metro - lovely, clean and on time - oh how I love Swedish public transport. We return to the sStadsmuseum and sit on benches outside waiting for it to open.

Not much to tell about the trip home.

Absolutely wonderful trip.

Stockholm

Three years watching and waiting and the day finally came for our short cruise vacation to St. Petersburg.

I was a little anxious to say the least, waiting on the westbound Jubilee platform at Southwark waiting for Bree to finally push away from the office.

Fortunately I had printed the boarding cards online and our gamble paid off - that our bags were just on the edge of the guidelines to avoid the indeterminate gamble of checking them in.

An expedited dinner sitting on tall stools with bags stacked up next to us at the quickest place available - happened to be Sushi. I cheated and had a salmon filet on salad greens. Very nice. Made me very thirsty.

For a pound, I secured a bottle of "care" water from the duty free (they give part of the proceeds to a water non-profit organisation) - we were nearly the last ones through boarding, but by walking faster down the ramp, were not the last to board... ominous of events to come.

Easy flight... road the roller coaster ride with Bhutto.

Two shortish lines - we're through the All Other side. Confirmed that we were here on holiday.

Walked rapidly past the baggage check area, with Bree trying to shush me from being antagonistic to those who had to wait for the crew outside to get things unloaded and reloaded.

To the left towards the train station... we've been here before and it feels a bit familiar.

Unfortunately, we learn from a pair of girls 30 yards ahead of us that the train has just departed. It's 11:30 and they're only running every 30 minutes.

Took a couple tries at the machine to buy a ticket - only credit cards accepted, a hierarchy that no longer seems to exist anywhere else in the world. Special summer fare on offer though for two people travelling together - which we intended to do. 240 kroner. Probably about $30.

Bree takes a pit stop.

Trying to confirm that I have a clue where we are headed, I end up talking to the pair who had been ahead of us, who have just returned from a cardiovascular research workshop in London. They say that we're staying in a nice part of town.

It's a national holiday in Sweden - a summer festival rated in the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die book. We consider it enough to have been present in the city on the same day.

The trains are always on time they assure us, and after 30 minutes of waiting, the ride to the centre only takes 20 minutes.

ATM machine trip. And then 5 minutes in an electric taxi with a driver from the south of India. 100 khroner.

Hotel check in goes quickly - maybe it helps that for the first time Bree has a passport with the same last name as mine? Just kidding. If there is the occassional morally minded worker at the hotel desk, no longer will we get the raised eyebrows trying to ascertain whether we are young students living in sin or, given that we both wear wedding rings, whether the situation is even more scandalous. In reality, on this side of the world, no one gives either of these possibilities a passing thought - they don't necessarily subscribe to this code and even if they did, they tend to think it's just none of their business.

A cup of tea with honey to cure Bree's congestion from a verdana in the lobby. Our room is practically right behind the check-in desk - it elicits a very positive reaction. It has very fine wallpaper (not sure how else to describe it!), a chandelier as the main lighting, an all glass shower enclosure, and fancy curtains which need to be released to cover our view of the street. Flat screen plasma mounted in the corner.

A movie we missed a few years back happens to be playing - making it quite the late night. It seems like the Juno of the earlier part of the decade. Seems like it was probably originally a script for theatre.

Visitors!

They are a lot fewer and farther between these days, so we set a new record for most visitors at one time and the length of the stay. Noah and I managed to look after the 4 girls pretty well I'd say. Good times had by all.