After our endless sunset, we woke early to meet Birgitta on the dock in Helsinki.  For those who don't know, during my senior year of High School, Mom and Dad invited a foreign exchange student to stay at our house. 

We were lucky to have it be Birgitta Krause (now Krause-Makitalo) from Oulu, Finland.  Birgitta was great fun and her charm quickly overcame my reservations at suddenly having a sister.  We got along, as sisters do, sometimes wonderfully and sometimes a bit more distant as different interests intervened.  We had wonderful family outings together, several of which we recalled today.  I remember a shy young woman coming into our lives.  It was so gratifying to spend the day with the vibrant, beautiful woman she's grown to be.

Birgitta met us on the dock at 8:00 a.m. and we rode the bus into Helsinki.  We enjoyed a coffee at the farmer's market by the harbor and then walked to the Russian Orthodox church.  Since it was such a climb, Mom waited in a cafe below while Birgitta and I hurried up the stairs to view the church.  It was so like being girls again, rushing to do something together while a parent waited for us.

We went from there on the local streetcar and to another church, this one formed from granite quarried from a rocky hill in the midst of the city.  Quite beautiful, acoustically marvellous and such an interesting way to build without eliminating natural elements.

Since Mom had to attend a concert this afternoon on board, we ate an early lunch at a local cafe where Birgitta's sister and brother-in-law had done the interior decorating.  Quite charming and a self-serve method of cutting one's own bread and serving water, salad, even coffee for oneself.  We had a wonderful long chat about life, about family members.  We saw photos of her family and she presented us with books...a novel for me and a collection of poetry for Mom.

We meandered over to a square where Gigi and I enjoyed a glass of wine and Mom had a coffee...then it was time to head back to the ship sooner than we liked.  Birgitta and Mom had a tearful parting and I ran back to the cabin to get my Ipod to show her photos.  She got at least an idea of how all the brothers look, was surprised by Dad's beard and agreed with me that Dan is quite handsome.

Finland is too far from Southern California...but we will find ways to bridge the distance.  Internet.  Continuing to write to each other.  And we're going to explore the possibility of one (or more) of her kids coming for an informal (or formal) exchange program to keep the tradition alive.

After photoes, it was time for tears of my own.  Amazing how we can go for 20 years without seeing someone...and yet how easily we can fit together again.  It's as if I discovered quite surprisingly that part of my heart was living overseas and I didn't even notice until, once again, that piece of self leaped up in recognition of the young girl's face inside the woman on the dock.

Sleeping in is a "good thing."  Seriously.

We were able to get a little extra shut-eye yesterday, our 11th day of the trip, since we didn't have a tour until the afternoon.  We arose at 9:00 a.m.  I threw in some laundry (isn't cruising elegant??) and then we had our usual Lido breakfast.

After laundry, I ran to the gym for an hour and met Mom for a quick bite to eat before we left on our tour--"Jewish Highlights of St. Petersburg."  The tour seemed to get off to a shaky start when we were stuck in the commercial port due to a very long, very empty container train coming to a complete stop in front of our small bus.

As usual, the unplanned for yielded unexpected benefits.  When the tour guide ran out of things to say, one of the women in the bus shared her own story of surviving the relocation of the Jews from St. Petersburg to Siberia as a child.  It was an incredible story, told with a smattering of Russian, and we never would have heard it if the train hadn't broken down.

I also found out, during the stop, that my golf pro on board is Jewish.  It was a bit humorous because folks on the tour assumed Mom and I were Jewish but asked him why he was coming along if he wasn't Jewish.  He replied in Hebrew with some words from the shabot prayers (I believe) and the folks in our bus were astonished.

Once the tour got properly under way, we went to the Edmond Safra synagogue, (the only synagogue in St. Petersburg).  It's a beautiful building with gorgeous architecture and marvellous acoustics.  I mention the acoustics because we were treated to a special concert by the cantor, a violinist, a keyboardist and a clarinet player.  The cantor's voice was quite simply transporting.

We also toured the small synagogue annexed to the larger building where they now hold classes for those who are studying Hebrew.  It was wonderful (and a bit jarring) for this WASP girl to see the detailed prints of the Temple in David's time just like we used to see Sunday School "pictures" of Jesus.

From the synagogue, we drove to the home of a local Jewish family.  They live in a third floor walk-up in an average section of the city.  We were treated to homemade goodies, tea, old photos and conversation with our hostesses--a mother and two daughters.  The mother's family had survived (many of them) the seige of St. Petersburg.  Hearing the family stories helped history to become more real for me...and gave me a deep sense of connection with these people halfway across the world.

We were late returning from the tour, thanks to the train, but the ship waited for us.  Good thing, too, because Mom and I had a cocktail party in our cabin prior to dinner.  Attending were Karen Nelson, Arie Boris, Flicka and her charming husband Mike, Luci and Rich Janssen, Curt and Jake.  It was quite fun (photo below if I can manage it).

We went from the cocktail party to a lovely dinner in the main dining room.  When we returned to our room at 10:30, it was still full light.  I took endless photos of the endless sunset before going to bed at around midnight.  When I awoke at 2:30 a.m., the sun was still setting...or maybe it was inching around to the other side of the sky to say good morning?  At any rate, it was a long, rich day made memorable by friends, music, history and the generous telling of personal stories.

As Mom and I went to bed on Friday night at 11:30 p.m. (the 13th...our first day in St. Petersburg), the sun was just setting.  I'll try and post a photo of the phenomenal sunset later. 

We can now say we've experienced the "white nights," with the outside never getting much beyond dusk.  One of our tour guides on Saturday (about which I'm blogging) said that the tradeoff is during the winter, when it only gets light for a few hours each day.  "Dis is not enough," she said with her charming overbite and a huge smile.  I am sure I'd agree.

We started the morning off yesterday with a tour of the famous Hermitage Museum.  Because we were a part of a cruise, we were able to enter the building prior to general opening, which proved to be a good thing.  The Russians are on a four-day holiday, celebrating their liberation (I think from Soviet rule) and so it got quite crowded after the doors were opened.

They say that if you were to look at every piece of art, jewelry, antique or antiquity in the Hermitage for 10 seconds each, that it would take you 10 years.  So you can imagine that it felt like viewing art on fast forward yesterday.  We walked through rooms without glancing at any of the ancient works hung on the walls so we could get to more famous works by Rembrandt, El Greco, Monet. 

The most illustrative part of that story is that we got to the Impressionists rooms and the guide gave us 10 minutes to view roughly 50 paintings from Monet to Serraut.  "It should be sufficient," she said.  This was not our guide with the overbite but rather an older guide with a stern face.  The better to keep us in line and together, I imagine.

The tour wore Mom out entirely.  So 3 hours was more than enough for her.  I'd like to come back someday (with a visa and on my own), although my general impression is that their collection was vast but not as deep as the Uffizi or the National Museum in DC.  Then again, I've got 9 years, 364 days and 21 hours of art yet to see!

Mom took a nap while I hit the gym.  Then we had a lovely room service dinner so that we could be ready for our evening's adventure, a Gala Ballet performance at the Mariinsky theater.  Not being a ballet fan, there's not much I can intelligently share with you about the performers or the ballet.  I did have 3 things strike me:  1.  There was an amazing male dancer in a loin cloth whose leaps were breathtaking.  (Literally.  There were gasps when leapt onstage!)  2.  One woman, who bobbled a bit during her performance, was almost dropped by her partner.  Needless to say, there was a lot of attitude flowing back and forth between them as they received their applause.  3.  One of the corps d'ballet had an amazing, healthy, athletic build.  She looked entirely out of place among the other women but I found myself wishing her thin, healthy frame was the ideal rather than the exception.

The theater itself was gorgeously appointed with murals, gold leaf, sculpture and a huge chandelier.  The seats were wide but the aisles were narrow so getting to one's seat was a bit of a challenge.  We enjoyed an intermission champagne reception in a private room thanks to Maestro Joel Revzen, part of our Classical Action group.  The theatre was impossibly stuffy for the second half, and I in my wool suit...well, suffice to say it's not wise to wear wool and be a woman of a certain age in the theatre.  I survived, despite worrying I'd dissolve into a puddle.

And when we left the theater--it was 10:00 p.m. and the late afternoon was languishing like a graceful ballerina in her lover's arms.  St. Petersburg.  Mariinsky.  Good company.  Truly a (white) night to remember.

We finished up yesterday with lots of relaxation and a great meal.  The relaxation came in nap form for Mom and in exercise form for me.  As she was resting, I went up on deck and practiced my new golf skills.  Everything went very well...so I'm looking so forward to getting home and trying it out on the course.

Then I hit the gym, getting in some weight lifting and a little treadmill time.  What's fun at this point of the cruise is we've made a number of friends, so I got to see several of them at the gym and catch up on their day's activities.

Then we met Arie and Karen Kreindler-Nelson for dinner at Silk Road, the on-board Asian restaurant.  Since Ari's a food critic, we were treated like royalty.  I ordered dinner and then, when I asked for a bit of sushi to start, ended up with a full meal's worth of sushi.  All too delicious to let go back (and specially prepared by the chef).  So I was pretty full by the end of the evening.

We spent a bit of time with Karen, looking at photos of her gorgeous granddaughter, Simone.  Simone loves ballet, speaks in complete sentences, differentiates shades of color and is altogether a delight to hear about.  It helps that we're also crazy about Karen.

Since we ate early, we got to get in a little movie before bedtime.  We watched the delightful, romantic, totally predictable August Rush and loved the music tie-in.

Today's pretty busy and I have to get to the gym yet...so I'll update you on the Hermitage and the rest of Day 10 in tomorrow's blog.  Here's a snippet of joint poetry from Mom and I to tide you over--

"A little Caravaggio goes a long way,
But I can't get enough of that man, Monet."

Yesterday afternoon, following a lovely concert by Frederica Von Stade and Jake Heggie, we enjoyed a cocktail party with our Classical Action group. What a lively group of artists and patrons. From there it was back to the room for relaxation before our second formal night.

Dinner was delicious, the company was grand and Mom and I tumbled into bed, exhausted.  We set our clock forward for the 4th time since leaving London, so we’re now 11 hours ahead of California.  The time difference didn’t seem to bother me last night though. On the other hand, the television coming on of its own accord at 2:15 a.m. did bother me just a bit!  Sleep was a bit restless after that.

I was awakened by Mom, ooh-ing and aah-ing over the sights as we sailed into St. Petersburg as I was trying to catch my last few available moments of sleep.  We had an early tour today, so we were up and out by 8:15.  On the tour bus by 8:30.  We were joined by our friend, Arie.  As we were waiting to be processed through immigration, we were entertained by a local band playing anthems, folks songs, etc.  When they went into a Russian number, Mom and Arie started to dance and shout “Hey” at the appropriate Russian intervals.  Quite a delightful memory.

We spent the morning touring St. Petersburg by bus.  We stopped at a number of sites, but the most impressive for me was the Church of the Spilled Blood.  The Byzantine architecture was spectacular on this gorgeous, sunny day.

St. Petersburg has a great deal of charm.  There is architecture from almost every age, from Byzantine to Baroque to Modern...and all of it beautifully restored after the city was leveled during WWII.

The bus tour was a fun way to whet our appetites for the city.  We're here for two more days and are scheduled for the Hermitage, the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater and then a day exploring local Jewish history.  It will still be just the barest appetizer for this city, I am afraid.  But I'll enjoy every tidbit.

Our surprise “at sea” day was simply outstanding!  In the afternoon, members of the Classical Action group gathered to hear some of the musicians speak about their work.  At the end of the session, Mom gave a brief reading of some of her poetry, including some of those that Jake Heggie has set to music.  Honestly, after the reading, there was not a dry eye in the house.  The reading was a capper to the chain of events that began when she and Jake met, continued when he set her poems (alongside the work of Emily Dickinson, Frederica Von Stade and Raymond Carver) into his song cycle—Winter Roses, and reached a crescendo with this trip where artists, composer and poet are all gathered together.  Really quite lovely.

After the reading, we joined new friends and tablemates John and Bernice for dinner at the excellent small restaurant on board, Prego.  The meal was superb, especially the mushroom soup for which the restaurant is justly renowned.  We told stories, got to know each other better, enjoyed a delicious bottle of Italian red wine and equally scrumptious desserts.

Mom and I toddled off to bed after dinner.  It’s honestly the first time on this trip I’ve felt like I ate just a wee bit too much, but it was worth it.  I was so glad I’d put in the extra time at the gym yesterday.

We lost an hour last night but enjoyed a restful sleep (yaay!) and slept in because today was our scheduled at sea day.  I realized as I was just finishing breakfast that I was late for the golf session on deck, so I scooted up to the golf area in time to hear the end of the lecture on iron play.  Then I had a private lesson with the pro, Bill.  He makes golf seem so easy!  By the end of the lesson, I was hitting easily, smoothly and confidently.  I can hardly wait to get back on the course and try my new process on the links.  Bill believes I could easily get from my current 29 index to a 19.  I’m certainly going to try.

The rest of the day will be taken up with a massage (for me), a performance including songs from Winter Roses by “Flicka” Von Stade, accompanied by Jake.  Then we’ll relax before our formal dinner.  Tomorrow we will arrive in St. Petersburg and have our first tour—an overview of the city.  I’m looking forward to our three port days in the land of the Czars.

Mom and I had a delightful “casual dinner poolside” last night after our busy day in Copenhagen.  We chatted about far-ranging topics, watched the sky slowly change from afternoon to extended dusk.  Then we retired to our cabin to watch a movie.  (Viewpoint…better the second time around.)  Maybe the action was too much for me, because I had trouble again falling asleep.  It could also be the extensive light…it hasn’t been getting dark until well after 10 p.m.

After a night where I did more trying to fall asleep than actually sleeping (at least, that’s what it feels like, doesn’t it?) we rose early to prepare for our shore excursion in Ronne—“Bornholm in Bloom.”  We were just finishing up breakfast when the Captain came on and informed us that the low level of water in the channel we were scheduled to take to Ronne had forced a change of plans. 

No port.  Extra sea day.  Ah…a day of rest.  Sort of.

So Mom’s at the masseuse and I’m heading up to the gym in just a bit to get in a workout this morning.  Maybe I can work off some of the energy that’s keeping me up nights.  At least, that’s the plan.  Along with burning some extra calories to pay for last night’s cookies.

I was looking forward to the flowers of Bornholm…but unexpected changes often lead to excellent diversions. As it turns out, this afternoon will be busy with Jake and Leila performing again followed by a reading of Mom’s poetry—a big thrill for her especially since tomorrow brings Jake and Flicka performing his composition, Winter Roses, which uses two of her poems among other noted poets.

Mom had said this was her trip of a lifetime…it’s turning out to be just so.

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I got my first full night’s sleep in four days last night…and it was a good thing, indeed, for today was my walking tour of Copenhagen and although I had nary a troll sighting, I did walk for over five hours total. 

The tour started with the harbor of Copenhagen which boasts energy-harvesting windmills, sculptures aplenty, a brand new opera house and cobblestones everywhere.  Denmark obtains 18% of its electrical power from wind turbines and produces over 80% of the windmills in the world.  I felt right at home having lived for so long in the Palm Springs area where the windmills started as a tax-saving scheme and are only recently being recognized as a genuine opportunity for green energy.

Our tour guide, Jens (or John), was about 6’4”, which made him easy to follow on the street.  His excellent English made him even easier to understand as he shepherded us around his wonderful city.  Early on in the tour, he explained that many of the works of art were a result of Carlsberg beer’s policy of donating half of the company’s profits to art and the other half to education.  Jens also mentioned that gas here is about $10 a gallon with much of that going for taxes.  The tax accomplishes two things: it discourages consumption and funds research into more efficient, less polluting energy sources.  (I think I love Denmark!)

If I mentioned everyplace we stopped, this travelblog would go on for days.  Suffice to say that the cobblestones, the ancient Dane architecture, the castles and churches were all beautiful and distinctively Danish.  We stopped for a mid-morning Carlsberg (another civilized Danish tradition) at the Ofellow Lunch and Restaurant Garden.  There I chatted with a charming couple from Connecticut.  He was retired from the NSA after 20 years with the agency covering, as he called it, the era of the “Russian problem.”  She also worked for the NSA for several years and then went on to other things.

We strolled the back streets of Old Copenhagen for the next 90 minutes, reaching a shopping promenade where Jens left us.  I was faced with the choice of heading back to the ship or heading off on my own (Mom is on her own today with a tour of the opera house and lunch).  I’m so glad I decided to stay in town.  I wandered up the shopping area and took a little left turn at something called Jorq’s Passage.  There were two street cafes on the other side of the passage.  Hmmm.  Danish Mexican food or Danish Italian food?

I went Italian, eating at Ristorante Italiano.  Lunch as a delightful three course meal of bruschetta, grilled salmon salad with a side of the most delicious tomato pesto ravioli, and the perfect cappuccino.  I enjoyed a leisurely glass of the house cabernet (quite tasty) along with my meal and savored the cappuccino for dessert.  There were all sorts of folk strolling by…Americans, Brits, Danes, tourists, locals…all in a lovely hodgepodge as the sun played hide and seek between fluffy clouds.  It was one of those delightfully satisfying meals in every sense, for every sense, that one can really only have on one’s own in a foreign city.  I learned two words of Danish—“manga tek”—which means “thank you very much.”  My exact sentiments.

I smiled all the way back down the shopping street and got a bit of a sunburn while waiting for the shuttle bus back to the ship.  It’s just now 4:00 pm and I’m going to go find Mom and put these weary dogs up.  I think we’re dining casually poolside tonight and catching a movie in our cabin.  Tomorrow, Ronne and the gardens of Bornholm.

 

I write this as we sail through the fjord from Oslo on our way to Copenhagen.  Crystal Symphony was offline yesterday making it a perfectly relaxing “at sea” day.  After the usual Lido deck breakfast (coffee courtesy of John-John from the Philippines) Mom and I went our separate ways for much of the day.

I took a golf seminar with a pro from the San Diego area, first name of Bill.  (Told you I was relaxed…who needs a last name when the golf pro can’t get away from you without jumping ship?)  Bill did an excellent presentation on the basics of grip and addressing the ball.  Later in the day, I tried out his method and found I was hitting the ball with ease.  I’m even considering changing from an interlocking to an overlap grip, but we’ll see.

After the lesson, I had a long workout at the gym.  They have all new, high tech machines which were quite fun.  I can even play my Ipod on the treadmill (which means I don’t have to worry about running out of battery power).  Then I put back some of the calories I’d burned off, grabbing a quick nosh at the Mediterranean buffet while journaling about a HUGE brainstorm I had relative to personal coaching.  It’s not ready for public discussion yet, but I’m quite excited about the idea.

Then it was off to the spa for a massage by a lovely South African woman named Chantelle.  Great masseuse and convincing salesperson, but I managed to abstain from purchasing any products.  That’s a first!  I went straight from the massage to the classical concert performed by Mom’s friend (and mine) composer, Jake Heggie, and famed violinist Leila Josefowicz.  Their performance was made thoroughly delightful by their obvious joy in playing the music.

After a cocktail reception and a bit of feet up time, Mom and I got gussied up for our first formal night.  We joined Jake, his partner, Curt, and our friend Karen Kreindler-Nelson for dinner.  The sun was just setting when we left the dinner table.  At 10:15 p.m.

Today was full as well.  I woke at 4:30 a.m., thinking by the light sky that it must be our appointed wake-up time of 6:30.  It was light but not yet time to get up!  Mom went on deck at 6:30 as we cruised into the fjord toward Oslo but I elected to stay in bed a bit longer. 

Oslo is a beautiful jewel of an old European town.  We took a bus tour of the city this morning, stopping at the Vigeland Park and at a (very tall) ski jump.  Three hours later, after seeing quaint buildings and hearing tidbits of history (and assertions about the reality of trolls), we grabbed a quick bite on the ship and headed out again.  Mom toured the new Opera House while Ari and I strolled the town for a few hours.

The walk was enjoyable due to the company, the absolutely gorgeous weather (blue skies with ribbons of cumulus clouds, low-seventies, cool breeze), and the many fountains, parks and public areas.  We also had two notable encounters.  The first was with a man named Knute Rockne (really, it was…although we didn’t ask for i.d.), a recent retiree who stopped to explain about a window display of stuffed crab and ended up pointing out the WWII headquarters of the Gestapo (just across the street) and expounding on local politics. Knute seemed to be typical of the Norwegian individual.  Charming, eager to converse with visitors and possessed of excellent English.

The second encounter came as we were wending our way ever closer to the ship.  Behind the military base were two horse paddocks.  There were four horses in the enclosures, but two in particular caught our attention as they nipped at each other playfully in a game that looked much like kids poking each other to get attention.  One was pure white and the other a chestnut brown.  I got some good photos and even some film footage of their play.

Tomorrow is Copenhagen, where Mom will tour another Opera House.  I was scheduled for a bike tour but it was cancelled due to lack of participation…so I’ll either noodle around on my own or find another shore excursion that sounds attractive.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll go on a troll hunt.  Unless trolls are only found in Norway...darn, that's a piece of trivia I missed.

 

We’re on board and unpacked.  And very tired.  The good news is that tomorrow is an “at sea” day, so we’ll be able to relax and recuperate.  The other good news is we had a lovely transition from our hotel to the ship via Canterbury Cathedral.

It was a bit of a dreary day once we got outside of London, so the Cathedral was appropriately moody.  This was fitting for the spot where Thomas Becket was murdered (or martyred, depending on your point of view) in rather grisly fashion. 

The church was beautiful.  We had a personable guide who made the tour a more enjoyable experience (and who seemed to relish the gruesome bits of trivia).  After the tour, we even got in a snack at a local café.

Then it was on to the ship to check in, which was relatively painless.  We weren’t able to get into the room right away, so we enjoyed a cup of gazpacho on the Lido deck with champagne for me and Diet Coke for Mom. 

Upon arriving to our room, we found a wonderful welcome aboard surprise from Dan—a bottle of wine for me, chocolates and flowers for both of us.  (Mom did propose that the chocolates were for her since I got the wine…but I quickly nixed that idea!)

No internet access tomorrow (and not much going on besides a massage) so don’t be surprised not to get an “at Sea” update.  Just picture me on the lanai, book in hand, perhaps later to the gym and then to a massage…and you’ll probably be spot on.