Next up ~ Berlin and Tallinn

Our next port of call on our Baltic cruise was Berlin.  As it is quite a distance from the sea, we had to take a train into town.  I grabbed this quick photo at the train station so I'd know where I'd been.

We headed first to this area of the Berlin Wall.

You know I never gave the wall a great deal of thought, but after seeing it in person, I try to imagine one day waking up to a wall dividing my city.  The wall divided neighborhoods in half, I can not even imagine.  I always thought that the wall came as a result of the war, but the city was divided in the war, and the actual physical wall didn't go up until 1961.  From 1949 to 61 the east lost so many citizens to the west that they had to make a physical border.

I believe this is where the German president lives.  The chancellor actually runs the country, the president is more ceremonial I think.

We took a boat ride on the river.  This was part of the border between east and west Berlin.

This radio tower is the 4th highest structure in Europe.  I wanted to get a good picture of it, but everytime we passed it I was either too close or someone was in my way.  This shot I got from our boat ride was the best of the lot.

We had a very good lunch here.

Checkpoint Charlie

Tons of tourists 

A piece of the wall.

Brandenburg Gate

The spot where Reagan gave his famous Tear Down This Wall speech.  A very important symbol for free Germany. 

And if you are still with me after all of these pictures, I leave Germany with one last shot of one of the wall memorials.  These iron bars stand where the wall once did.  I love the people on both sides freely moving about.  

The next few pictures are very blurry but they are all I've got of our sea day.  The first 2 pictures are of a wine tasting we attended in the afternoon.  

This blurry shot is the 4 of us at formal dinner night.  I'm not sure how much the guys enjoy wearing their tuxes, but I sure thought they looked great.  Too bad we don't do a little more of that.  It's a rare day that Bob even wears a suit anymore.  

Yay, finally a blue sky in Tallinn, Estonia.

Beautiful Russian Orthodox church.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

I loved the little narrow streets in the Old Town.

The view from old town and you can see our ship to the left of the tallest tower if you look carefully.

The next several shots are in Old Town.  It was such a pretty day that I took lots of pictures.

We didn't see the sun much on this trip.  The days were cool and cloudy, and sometimes rainy.  Which really was nice for touring, but I did feel sorry for the people who live here ~ this is their summer ~ and they have looong winters.

In the afternoon we went to this old castle in Rakvere.

Those were a lot of steps to climb.

5 "volunteers" to sample 5 different vodkas.

Please note that from our busload of people, 3 in our party managed a seat at the table:-)

This is inside the castle, various things to do, archery, ride a horse, see the torture chamber.

Let me just say that the castle was "interesting."

After all of that vodka Bob was still able to hit a bulls-eye.  {As did Jim ~ in fact Bob hit right on Jim's arrow and really impressed the local boys}

After a full day of touring I was happy to get back to the ship and end my evening like this.

Sweet Dreams!

Visiting Oslo and Aarhus

We are off!

I love this shot I got of our good friends, Robin and Jim, as we cast off from Copenhagen.  We have state rooms next to each other and our balconies connect.  How cool is that?

The few cruises I have been on have been similar in the way that we board the ship in early afternoon and usually set sail around dinner.  I think that is of course by design, everyone is usually so busy eating and drinking that we hardly know we are at sea.

The best part is when you wake up in the morning and open your drapes you are usually docked at your first port.

Magic.

Or Oslo, Norway.

This is the view from our state room.

The old fortress in Oslo.

We visited this lovely city just 4 days before they commemorated the awful attack that occurred last year on July 22.

She was mowing an interesting design into the grass.

We boarded our bus and visited the Open Air Museum.

A great glimpse of life in Norway long ago.  I have Norwegian heritage and I loved imagining my ancestors living in a house like this long ago.

Our guide told us that there are more Norwegians living in the US than in Norway and I think the majority are living in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Living an isolated life in one of these small houses would be so difficult.  I can see why they tried to find their fortunes in the New World.

Norway enjoys about 18-20 hours of sunlight in the summer  { in the south ~ 24 hours in the north }  So of course the winter is the opposite. 

Can you imagine? 

This was a church that had been moved to the location.  Very beautiful and very dark inside.

Next we visited the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  

We were so fortunate to have a guide with a real love for this park and she gave us great insight into the sculptures.

These were all created by one man, and they were his vision of the human condition from birth to death.

It is one of the most visited places in Norway.

The last stop in Oslo was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump.  It was the site of the '52 Olympics. 

It was perched at the top of the city and we had a fabulous view over the city and out to the sea.

{oops ~ should have edited out my finger!}

Later that evening back on the ship ~ our favorite pastime.  Dinner!  

Our second port of call was Aarhus, Denmark.

We visited an open air museum there also.  

We went into the city center to their cathedral.

Our guide told us that there is always a ship in a Danish church.

{Can you spot the ship hanging in the photo below?}

She also told us that few Danes go to church.  It is mostly Christmas and Easter.  I am very afraid that it appears that a lot of Europe is very secular.

I remember a bishop from Uganda once telling our church, that once Europeans and Americans came to Africa to spread the word of God, and now maybe it's time for the Africans to repay the favor and send missionaries to Europe.  I think he's right.

One of my very favorite things to do in Europe is to visit old churches and see the beauty that was created to worship God.  I pray that their faith returns and that these lovely places of worship are filled with something besides tourists.

Back on the ship after 2 full days of touring.  It was a lovely sunset viewed from our balcony.

We have lots more to see on our cruise.  I am documenting this mostly for us to remember ~ but you are welcome to come along.  

Copenhagen

We left Texas and flew to New York, to Laguardia, and lucky for us, had a connecting flight to London leaving from JFK.  {don't ask how that happened!}   Insert a hot cab ride and a long layover.  Then into London and change terminals, which means leave security and go out and try to find the subway to take us to another terminal.  {while hauling all of our luggage}  Then, board another flight to Copenhagen, then a cab to the hotel.  

Finally, after about 24 hours of travel, this is the view that greets you from your hotel room. 

Lovely and worth it.

A canal view of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

We joined our good friends from Kansas at the hotel and it was so good to see them.  They, too, are celebrating 35 years.  

After dinner in the hotel and a great night of sleep we started the morning on one of those Hop on Hop off tours.  Our tour started with a canal tour and then we switched to a bus.

I think those tours are a great way to get a feel for a city in a short amount of time.

We passed under LOTS of these bridges and they are low.  Like you have to duck your head low.

See

Rosenborg Castle 

2 guards guarding the entrance to the royal jewels.

And here is the most photographed site in Copenhagen ~ according to our guide.

Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid

Lots of canals, and I thought they were so picturesque.

We were on our way the next day to the museum and happened upon this building.  We didn't know what it was but it looked important.  

It was lovely.  Lots of state events are held here in the beautiful rooms that we toured.  Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures but it was gorgeous.  I do love a nice palace:-)

Check it out here.

On our way back to our hotel I snapped a pic of this building just because...

I've no clue what it is.

We had a half day the day we arrived, then a full day, and then a morning before we boarded our ship.  We didn't see a lot, but I did feel like we hit the highlights.  

Copenhagen is a lovely city, bicycles everywhere ~ water everywhere ~

What a lovely start to our adventure.

More to come:-) 

Has It Been 35 Years?

Bob and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in June.  It really does not seem possible that it could be that long.  If I could do the math I would figure out what percent of our lives we've been together.  More than half for sure, and getting close to 75% I think.  We have been blessed in so many ways, and are thankful for each and every day.

We took a Mediterranean Cruise for our 30th, and decided to take another cruise for this one.

Can you guess where we are?

I try to take a picture of each countries' flags ~ but I confess that I didn't know them either.

But I do now:-)

This is not the Red Cross, this is the Danish flag.

Norway

Germany

Estonia

Russia

Sweden

and I've searched my photos over and over, but I can't find the flag of Finland.   We did go there too, so just imagine a white flag with a blue cross. 

As you probably can guess, we went on a Baltic cruise.  It was pretty terrific ~ but kind of hard to describe.  When you go to England or France or Italy, it is easy to tell everyone what sights you've seen.  They are all so familiar to everyone.

These places were not as familiar to me so visiting on a cruise ship was a great way to get a little taste of each country.  But hard to tell just what you saw to the folks back home.  No "name brand" monuments to tell about. {well, the Berlin wall is kinda famous as are a few of the palaces in St. Petersburg}

We went on the Emerald Princess, and I didn't take one picture of the ship.  Luckily for you, we took the very same ship on it's inaugural year to the Mediterranean.  Here is a fuzzy picture of the ship docked in Ephesus, Turkey.

It's big.

~ Really big ~

But the rooms are small.

{flowers are from my 30th trip too ~ no flowers for 35 ~ hmmm}

Just in case you want to see a cruise ship potty ~ it's this small.

For the next few days I will be posting about our trip.  Mostly for my memory.  Please come back if you would like to see some random shots taken from buses and boats.  This was a trip that did not produce stellar photos ~ but we have some stellar memories.

And that's what it's all about.