Are We Russian Along??

St. Petersburg, Russia
Day 1

The only way to go ashore in Russia is to have a Russian visa or a booked tour. Unfortunately we could not get in on a tour for the first day in Russia. We spent the day hanging out on the boat doing laundry and getting some sun. Yes that's right we lounged in the Russian sun. The expected weather was to be cold, but the weather in St. Petersburg is notorious for changing and just our luck it changed for the good.

Day 2

We attended a tour that visited Catherine the Greats Palace and Peter the Greats Palace. Can I say by the end of the day we were all Palaced out. Sick of tacky gold trim work that decorated every room too the point of making you sick. How did one ever live with such a gaudy architecture. It's not all bad, but it is too much. We also shopped in the markets that were outside of the palace grounds. We enjoyed the many deals we were able to negotiate here.

We were able to travel by a Russian Navy base when our ship was navigating out into the Gulf of Finland. A few years ago you were not allowed to take pictures of this base. Now you can and I have many wonderful pictures to share when I get back home. By my estimate I think between Becky's, my Dad's, and my camera we will have over 1000 pictures to look at. Coming soon will be the picture donation fund to pay for developing. I hope to post these pictures on my flikr.com account for everyone to see.

Tallinn, Estonia

What a quaint city this is. We enjoyed walking it's many cobblestone streets and seeing the city. We found shopping to be decent here and several of the churches were very ornate. The town was a throwback to an old era rich in history from 1635 to 1800. This city did us all in as we walked every little knick and cranny we could find. Funny thing about this country they just want to be left alone and at one time were under Russian control. Today they are a separate nation but they do not like Russia too much. Yet the Russian influence can be seen everywhere.

Gdynia, Poland

What a dump! Ever been to a shipping yard for tankers complete with a metal scrap yard? Then you have seen the port of Gdynia. Now for the fun part. If you walk off the boat and work a deal with the Polish taxi driver to take you to the train station, you can take a 35 minute train ride to Gdansk (or formerly known as Danzig when it was occupied by Germany). Gdansk was the starting place for World War II. A beautiful city that bombed to pieces by the Germans. After all of these years you can visit the old town and see the reconstruction that has been done and the buildings that still remain damaged from the war. The Polish economy has been one of the strongest compared to the other economies during the world economic downturn. The price of goods there was excellent and we were able to land many wonderful deals.

One of our best finds was in underground markets that feed the train stations and street crossing areas (they are tunnels that run under major streets so you don't have to cross at the corners). They sell everything from lingerie to electronics here. Dad was able to find a bakery that had the best pastry I have ever had. I need to stop typing about it because it is causing me to drool on my keyboard. After shopping we toured the Church of Our Lady. This church is the largest brick church in the world and holds 25,000 people. It was built in 1343. It was unimaginable to see a church this old and this big.

Finally we jumped back on the train and headed back to the ship. Our ship comedian made a good joke about Poland. He said every 20 years someone takes them over. First it was the Germans then the Russians followed by the Germans again. It happens every 20 years or so. It's been 18 years since the last occupation and so the country is getting concerned. He also pointed out that the Polish language was created to upset the Germans since it sounds like gibberish. Anyways thought I would share those funny viewpoints on the country.

Tomorrow is a sea day as we travel to Oslo, Norway. I will post something after we finish in Oslo.