Lübeck, Germany

I walked around the Hanseatic city of Lübeck with Todd and Brooke this overcast day to snap pictures of cathedrals in the Old City, taste the famous marzipan, and get some precious wifi. I felt a special connection to the name of the place :)

Beck & Todd on a bridge over the river Trave

Beckergrube!

The Marzipan King with tasty baked and natural samples. Legend has it that marzipan was first made here when a famine left only almonds and sugar. 

Todd captured Brooke's and Beck's extensions the first try!

Holstontor, or the Holston Gate, is the symbol of this German city and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A metal model of Lübeck

St. Mary's Church, displaying the typical brick Gothic architecture

Street musicians with LOTS of instruments!

Exchange for wifi

Stockholm, Sweden #2

Today Todd and I met up with his family friend, a writer for Billboard, Fred Bronson, for lunch with a view at Gondolen. The restaurant is like a tunnel in the sky with the best views and the best chef in Stockholm. I ordered a glass bottle of Coke and the weekly lunch special, which looked like a giant Swedish meatball atop a bed of potatoes and gravy and dill pickles. Delicious! Fred brought a Swedish music producer and a music writer. The conversation and company were quite enjoyable. 

Another highlight was meeting passenger, Naomi, on the Hop On Hop Off bus. She is an 86-year-old firecracker who volunteers 4 times a week at the Senior Center on 49th in NYC. She tried to give me her seat! Ryan said the other night when he complimented her formal dress, she replied, “Thank you. I do look sexy for my age, don’t I?” Ha!!!

Helsinki, Finland #2

Todd and I went for a picnic on the island of Suomenlinna, a short ferry ride away from Helsinki. It was a sunny, breezy day, and we found the perfect spot on a grassy rock to feats on sandwiches, Pringles, apples, Coke, and Belgian dark chocolate covered pistachio marzipan. I also got to debut my lace parasol from Brugge, Belgium! 

St. Petersburg, Russia

I tried on MANY different Russian fur hats (with a 20-min time limit, Ma!)...blue, black, big, small...and I whittled my way down 50% for a lovely mink headband. It will be perfect for chilly New York winters, looking at Holiday windows on Fifth Ave. This isn't the one, but this blue one is sure fun!

River boat cruise

More fur hats!

The Hermitage Museum is the largest museum in the world, our guide Natalia said, or rather, it has the largest collection of paintings. In fact, if you spent 2 minutes looking at each canvas, you would be there for 11 years! The mint green building used to be home to Russia’s royalty for 400 years. 

The Church of Spilled Blood is the 7,000 square meter, gold-guilded mosaic memorial where King Alexander II was killed. He was a well-loved emperor responsible for liberating Russians. He escaped attack six times, but on the seventh, his enemies succeeded. A bomb was thrown at his carriage, immediately killed all of his horses, but the emperor remained unscathed. He asked a man at the gate if he was hurt, and the guy opened his coat and threw the last bomb at the king’s legs. His last whisper was, “Take me home,” so his servants brought him home to die. Now the site is referred to as a castle/temple/memorial place/museum. 

Church of Spilled Blood

This is the Hotel Astoria, one of the fanciest in town, where US Presidents stay!

St. Isaacs Cathedral now hosts 10,000 tourists a day. 40,000 people died due to the mercury used in building it. During WWII, the gold dome on top was a target from the air for Nazi bombings. 

My observations: Russians are crazy drivers. Vodka was actually introduced by Swedish conquerors. People look unhappy - even on rare and gorgeous weather days. They just look angry walking down the street, like the Russian villains in movies. Maybe they’re not fond of the tourists. Even in just 20 minutes of free time I felt edgy walking around alone in front of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. I felt mocking eyes on me as I hurried back to the bus.

In short, I'm glad I went, and saw incredible sights, but need not return!

Riga, Latvia

Here are the highlights from my walking tour of Latvia:

I don't know why I think it's funny what they advertise tour bus amenities :) 

(It is illegal to lie on the grass in Lativa FYI)

Accordion player and romantic bridge over-looker

Local currant wine and alcohol...tastes like black licorice!

Yes, this street sign has a knitted sleeve.

Adorable curly-haired locals 

Sassnitz, Germany

I was supposed to have IPM (in port manning) today, but my casties came back early from their day in Sassnitz saying there wasn’t anything there. So Todd and I set out to explore! True, it’s a small, quiet town, selling used goods at a market most likely set up only for cruise passenger transit, but we had a sunny day and made the best of it. The highlight for me was this harp bridge, winding around and overlooking a German submarine. Also, we went to a grocery store and bought loads of chocolate!

Love to see foreign popular names

Brugge, Belgium

Well I must have liked Brugge because in marking my favorite pictures, I had twenty! It was hard to narrow down the best of the best. 

I was delighted to escort an excursion called “Romantic Brugge,” including a walking tour of the city and a boat ride through the canal. It rained in the morning, but the sun conquered the clouds. The smell of chocolate and waffles, the clip clop of horse-drawn carriages, colorful flowers and slow boats floating through the winding canals, and tall, old buildings and weeping trees. The best surprise was running into our friend, Amanda, from our last cruise contract! She is singing on another Holland America ship that was in port at the same time as us. 

My prize from the country was a white, lace parasol! Indulgent, but classic. 

Canal boat

A local lacemaker on the street...looks complicated!