First 7 Day Cruise!!!!

Tallinn, Estonia
Today was a girl’s day out. The weather was beautiful, a light breeze; Europe’s finest spring offering. After boat drill, Holly, Jess and I headed off into Tallinn, Estonia. Immediately off port was a market full of souvenirs and a money exchange for various currencies. Estonia only just changed to euros last year. I was also able to get roubles (the Russian currency) to be prepared for St. Petersburg tomorrow. I got 1,000 roubles for $50! How crazy is that!?! When the guy was counting out each hundred I couldn’t help but stare in shock, I felt so rich! I guess tomorrow will show me how far that will go in Russia… :/
We glanced at a few stalls as we brisked through the market, and Holly fell in love with a pair of sheep’s wool booties. She, like me, loves animals and said she wouldn’t mind wearing pure sheep’s wool because the sheep NEED to be sheared. Not like fox fur or murderous things like that.
The old town was close to the port; no more than 10 minutes, especially for us fast walkers! Tallinn has two parts to the city; the modern section has a giant shopping center and large, shiny office buildings. And directly inside of it, enclosed by ancient towers and walls, is the old town. When we walked in, it felt like stepping back into medieval times. The people are dressed in attire straight from the Renaissance era; from the floppy, feathered hat to the tights and boots.
It was so nice to have the time today to just wander aimlessly around the town and enjoy exploring random alleyways as we saw fit. The other ports were planned out ahead of time because we only went there once; and I wanted to see everything we could possibly see. But now, I’m so much more relaxed knowing that I will have three chances in each place to experience what it has to offer. We meandered through the various markets, munching on glazed sugar almonds Holly bought from a vendor. We got lost in girl gossip, and I could feel a good bond growing between us all. It’s a hard thing on ships because you become close with the people you have been with basically 24/7 for the past few months. Then, when it’s the end of your contract, you are off in separate directions. Most of your friends from the ship live in other countries far away from you. I’m grateful that I live in the modern age of technology, so I can keep in touch with everyone!
We stopped for lunch at a nice outdoor cafe with great wifi, a luxury that’s hard to come by. I had a tasty sandwich for a cheap price. After our meal we walked around a bit more before stopping in a bakery to get Bavarian cheesecake and lattes. We walked to a park on the outskirts of the town and ate our desert on a bench. We continued exploring random streets that caught our interests, more involved in each other than where we were going. Tallinn is nice to walk around and just be in the middle of the crowd, there’s no need to rush here and there taking pictures because it’s just a quaint little town.
We learned that there is a truck that sells cheap chocolate right next to the ship, so we will have to hit that up next time. We also have to make a wish at the wishing bench, a log that was brought to Tallinn from Africa and promises to grant your wish if you sit, close your eyes, and seek your heart’s true desire. I love Tallinn; it was such a relief after the hustle and bustle of all the other ports in our itinerary. It was the perfect day.

Titanic 2
So we had just finished R & R and Jess and I were in our room listening to music from the animated movie Anastasia to get in the mood for Russia. We heard scraping and the sound of rushing water beneath us. Our room startled rattling too. Instantly, I thought either a pipe burst or we are sinking. Jess calls 1800 and tells them she thinks a pipe has burst and is leaking water on Deck 0. They said they would send someone to check it out. I was very unsettled by this, so I wandered the hallway to try to find the source. I was astonished that nobody else was peeking their heads out in curiosity or alarm. I hiked up to Deck 2 to see if the noise was audible in guest areas. Then I climbed down to Deck 0. I heard a watertight door beeping, signaling someone was closing it. In my head, this assured me we were sinking. As I approached the door, I asked the security guard what was going on. He said we were sailing thru ice. I choked out my words “Ice? As in iceburgs!?!” He seemed confused by my reaction and asked “Don’t you feel that?” referring to the rumbling of the ship. I said, “Of course I do, why do you think I’m down here freaking out!?!” He told me to go upstairs on the outdoor decks and watch the ice float by the ship. I immediately returned to collect Jessica and put on warm clothes. Then we headed upstairs to Deck 5. Floating thru this ice felt exactly like the movie Titanic. Whitney started singing “My Heart Will Go On” and even though I love Celine; that was too much for me in that moment. It was unbelievable to watch the chunks of ice surround the ship, and see in the distance the island of ice we were headed towards. Thrilling, overwhelming, stunning, incredible. No words can properly describe what I felt. We headed back down and prayed that the captain knew how to get us thru the maze of ice and safely to land. I focused on my goal for the next day, diving into Anastasia’s life.

St. Petersburg, Russia
We had an early start the next morning, helping load tours and escorting a tour group out to Pushkin to see Catherine’s Palace. After spending an hour in the immigration security booths, I was understandably annoyed and scared when my tour guide told me that the tour was full and I wouldn’t be able to go! In Russia, this is a huge problem, because you either have to get on a tour or pay for a special ticket to get off. Since I had planned on this tour, and been penciled in by the Explorations manager for this spot, I didn’t buy the crew ticket. If I couldn’t get on the tour, I would have to wait for the HR office to open and by then, all my friends would already be off the ship. Luckily, they moved some people around because there were two buses going to do the same tour, mine and Jessica’s. I even got the best seat in the bus; right next to the driver with a complete open view out of the window of everything that was in front of us.
My tour guide was named Svehana, such a Russian name! She had Jane to help, a girl who was in a 6 month training program. It was so interesting to talk to her because although we grew up in completely different scenarios, we had similar dreams. She also longed to go to New York, Paris and London. What an eye opener it was to be with a girl about my age from the other side of the world, who spoke such a foreign language to mine, yet we could connect on such a personal language. It just strengthens my love for the world. We are all human and we have the same emotions, the same need for love, the same yearning for dreams and the drive for a better life.
Russia’s streets alone were a pretty intense experience. They have a tram system running in the middle of the street! Traffic was horrendous; it reminded me of all those infuriating hours I spent stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in LA. I enjoyed trying to guess what the signs said, because Russian uses a completely different alphabet! I thought I was being clever with my guessing, until I realized what I thought advertised a chiropractic office, was really a store selling backpacks.
Our tour guide, who was very knowledgeable, used the driving time to inform us all about Russia. St. Petersburg was founded in the early 18th century, but Swiss architects designed and built the original buildings in the city. This was because the Czars didn’t trust Russian architects, so they hired Western European employees and instructed them to make St. Petersburg look “European”. I found this very ironic; even back in the beginning Russians didn’t trust each other! The original name of the city was Dutch, for Peter the Great lived in Holland before becoming Czar and loved the Dutch culture.
St. Petersburg is the biggest seaport in Russia. Smaller ships can tie up right in the Neva river, but our cruise ship is too big! We were on one of the 32 islands of St. Petersburg. While we drove along the river, Svehana spoke of the 18 rivers and canals that divide up the city. December through March these rivers are frozen, and they are not allowed to walk on the ice for safety concerns. On average, there are 30 days of sunshine a year! Russia has the famous “White Nights” from the 25th of May to July 16th, where it doesn’t grow dark. The sky just instantly goes from dusk to dawn. I would love to return to Russia to see this city coated in snow, and to experience the White Nights.
We passed St. Isacc’s Cathedral, the fourth largest cathedral in the world! The 19th century cathedral can hold 14,000 people and has a beautiful dome made of mercury and 100 kilos of gold! The bus driver took us over the first permanent bridge, built in the 19th century. Each bridge is designed differently. We also passed the famous Hermitage, which is 200 miles long! I was lucky enough to go there on a tour last year, but you need at least a week to get through the entire museum!
There were some people in what looked like Militia attire walking along the streets, and Svehana explained that they were students attending St. Petersburg State Mining University (“you-knee!”) and these were their college uniforms. They take oral exams at the end of their semester, which is pretty intelligent because there is little chance of you being able to cheat your way to a better grade. Out of a population of 4.6 million, she told us that there are over 450,000 uni students in the 50 universities of St. Petersburg. She also said that 1.3 million people are retired, so I guess St. Petersburg is like the Miami of Russia. We passed the Morinsky Theatre of Krof ballet, a company created by Catherine the Great. The theatre was built in the second half of the 18th century.
We saw the Cathedral of St. Nicolas, which was active even when communism reigned. There are 200 churches in St. Petersburg and 2/3 of them are Orthodox. There was the Institute of Technology where the famous Professor Demetri, inventor of the periodic table, taught. Although, I think this building appealed to only me because of my love of chemistry! “Speaking of chemistry,” Svehana had said, “we have the ‘perfect composition’ in our 40% alcohol Russian vodka!”
As we continued driving, I noticed there were giant tvs in the middle of the street, billboards to flash various advertisements. I’ve only seen that in pictures of Times Square, New York! We saw the 5th biggest library in the world, with 35 million books, magazines, the sorts! There was the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, one of the most prestigious art schools in the world. The statue of Minerva, the ancient goddess of wisdom, sits atop this building. It was given to the city in 2003 as a present to celebrate the 300th year of foundation. I, of course, heard Minerva and instantly thought of Harry Potter! I didn’t know the story behind the name Minerva, but it totally works for the character she used!
Svehana told us the fastest way to get around were the trains, to avoid the terrible traffic. You can travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 3 hours on their speedy trains. She also suggested taking the subway, with trains every 2 minutes. Not only is it safe, St. Petersburg has the deepest tunnel in the world! It was built under marshlands so the escalators run really deep, almost 300 feet! You spend 4 to 5 minutes on the escalator ride to get to the subway!
WWII began for Russia in 1941 and ended for all involved in 1945. We passed Victory Square, a memorial to commemorate the 25 million people that starved during the war. In St. Petersburg alone, 1 million people died of starvation after the Nazis besieged the city. We also saw a building with a hammer and sickle atop the roof. The symbols represent the union of the workers and the peasants. It had originally been built for the government but it was too close to the frontline when the Nazis came in; so the state building remained in the city center.
Svehana pointed out the Lenin statue, mayor in the 1990’s. I made note that I wanted to research more on him, along with most of Russia’s history. I’ve always thought that the way different countries teach and learn history is incredibly bias. Everyone tends to sweep their sins under the rug and distract youth with emphasis on the success of the noble feats. Being in the countries I had learned about, the countries that felt the war hit home, because it was on their land, threatening the lives of the innocent. I’ve learned about the struggle to recuperate after war, to rebuild what was lost. The aftermath of this land, although it’s been several years, is so foreign to me because rarely has the states had this.
As we drove into the countryside of Pushkin, Svehana explained that this town was named after Aleksandr Pushkin, the “Russian Shakespeare”. The earliest Russian railroad was built in the early 19th century with the sole purpose of connecting all the palaces for the Czars. Peter the Great and his second wife, Catherine the First, enjoyed a smaller palace, the original build of Catherine’s palace. But Elizabeth the First of the 18th century was fond of splendor and ordered it to be amplified, making it the magnificent spectacle it is today. It was originally used for receptions in the summer.
Much of the palace was destroyed during WWI. The Nazis didn’t occupy St. Petersburg, but they did occupy Pushkin. The staff of the palace loaded precious art treasures on the only train of the area and tried to evacuate the valuables. When the Nazis were forced to withdraw at the end of the war, they set fire to the palace and left various slow-to-defuse air bombs. Restoration is still going on, but since it’s extremely time-consuming and expensive, they are only halfway through.
The palace was named after Catherine the First, contrary to the popular belief that it was named for Catherine the Great. Legend has it that Peter the Great’s grandson was married to Catherine the Great but fell in love with another Catherine, who was a waitress in town. He sent Catherine the Great away to a convent so he could marry his beloved Catherine the First. We weren’t allowed to bring in coats of oversized bags because the palace had extremely fragile gold leaves used for the décor and we needed to use caution wherever we were. We even had to wear plastic booties over our shoes and were asked to slide rather than walk, to preserve the flooring!
Inside the palace, we saw the illustrious Amber Room, which took 2 billion dollars to restore. Catherine had 15,000 dresses spread throughout her palaces, with jewelry to match each one! In one of the dining rooms, Svehana told us the Royal Family used to mix fake fruit with real ones in the fruit bowls. When they had parties and somebody got too drunk, they would mistakenly take the fake fruit and crack their teeth, and everyone would have a good laugh. The esteemed guests invited to these parties were allowed to take part of the service home, so often you would see respected generals carrying silver away from the palace! That would be pretty humorous to see! :D
The painting room was filled with paintings from all over the world, except (for unknown reasons) from Spain and Britain. The art hung together with only slim frames to separate. Sometimes, the painting was even cut to fit in the puzzle on the wall. My favorite room was probably the green dining room, not only because green is my favorite color, but also because it was decorated with Greek mythological Gods and Goddesses. :D One room contained its original furniture and chandelier. There was a hallway roped off because it still had the original flooring from the 18th century!
Apparently the government and the historical restoration company are in constant battle because the city needs space to expand for the growing population and therefore old buildings are being threatened of demolition to provide this land. As of now, the government is not allowed to move a building without the permission of the historical organization. It was very frustrating to see the modern structures mixed around the historical sites. I found myself hating all the industrial areas because I wanted everything to look and feel like it used to, like the Russia I imagined. I’m happy they are working so diligently on the restoring of these historical places, but I wish I could have been there to see them in their genuine glory. I hate how industrial the city is, I would have loved to been there to see the palace without telephone wires around or cars surrounding it. To be captured by its stunning beauty in the pure state it used to be, that would be unbelievable.
Driving back to the ship, we passed the Annunciation Church. Cathedrals were misused when the Nazis came, like this church which was turned into an artificial skating rink! How terrible, to trash somebody’s sanctuary, to have no respect for something so sacred and special to lots of people. But I suppose that’s how they gained control; by destroying the things people valued and replacing it with terror.
When we got to the pier, Jess and I checked with the explorations manager to see if there was another tour we could join rather than going back on the ship. We lucked out and were able to hop on a canal cruise and shopping tour. Our guide, Marina, was really nice and she kept emphasizing we had big plans for this tour- “Napoleonic plans!” She told us there are 500 bridges in St. Petersburg as we cruised along the canals beneath the city. I was excited when she pointed to a building and I knew before she announced it that this was St. Issac’s cathedral, I felt like a local! She explained that it took 40 years to build the brick church.
St. Petersburg was founded on the 16th of May, 1708. Moscow was the first city mentioned in ancient chronicles, dating back to 1147. We cruised by the winter palace, where a major arrest of city officials occurred. The clock inside the palace has been set at 10 minutes past 2 am to show this mark the time of the arrests. We passed the Hermitage, which was a summer palace for the Czars. I made note to research Rasputin, because she mentioned him being assassinated but I have no idea who he was.
Marina told us the legend behind the popular faberge eggs. Long ago, there was a soon to be emperor, who didn’t believe in Jesus. Lady Magdalene presented him an egg, to which he said if this egg turns from white to red, I will believe in your Jesus. And sure enough, it did! In Moscow, a skilled egg maker presented Nicolas II an egg every year, starting the tradition.
Overall, I absolutely fell in love! The entire time I was here, I was yearning for more time to explore. I’ve been inspired by Sean and I’ve considered looking into a similar program for future traveling! All day I couldn’t get the idea of coming to teach in Russia out of my head. It’s a crazy plan, because it would be difficult with the language barrier and living in a completely different country, but what an experience that would be! What a challenge!

Helsinki, Finland
Toby, our Activities Manager is from the countryside of Finland, so we went off with him when we ported in Helsink. We took the shuttle, which dropped us off in the city center. I labeled him Tourguide Toby. :D All the streets have two names, because they speak both Swedish and Finnish in the city, but only Finnish in the country. They also learn English in school. I’m so jealous that everyone on the ship is at the very least bilingual, except for most people who had English as a their first language. As we walked thru the city, we discussed WWII and how Finland chose to side with Germany and fight for independence rather than become a part of Russia. We talked about how Europe has evidence of their wars, yet the US, being a relatively new country, has had few battles fought on our soil.
In Finland, they don’t have “please”, so they say “thank you a lot” which is “kiitos”. I remember this by “cheetos”, and then adding in the k! Toby showed us some major buildings and monuments of the central city. Then we enjoyed a “Typical Finnish day”, we sat on the steps of the State Senate, overlooking the city. We ate a delicious lunch at Memphis, a fancy diner. I had a sandwich with toasted Memphis bread, grilled chèvre (goat cheese), bell pepper, garlic mayonnaise, Asli sauce, apple, cucumber salad, tomato, lettuce, and marinated red onion. It was SO GOOD. It came with “Dipping Strips potatoes” which are French fries and seasoned mayonnaise as a dip. Memphis had a wall display of rubber ducks, a fish tank filled with their mascots.
I asked Toby where the bathroom was and he told me to go to the bathroom around the corner on the right. There was only one door and it was labeled “m”. I walked in, and immediately walked out. It was definitely a urinal! I asked the waiter where the bathroom was and he pointed to the left. This door was labeled “n”. So now I know, m for males, n for females! Luckily no one was in the urinal when I made that mistake!!!!!!
After lunch we walked to the mall and bought some traditional Finnish chocolate. I bought milk chocolate and peppermint, Jess bought milk chocolate and lemon. We headed back to the shuttle and discussed plans for next Finland; hopefully we could take the ferry out to a castle. It was a nice and relaxed day after the frantic and exhaustive “tourist day” in Russia.

Stockholm, Sweden
This was the port I was most looking forward to, after finishing the Millennium Series, which is based in this city. Jess and I bought the map for the Stieg Larsson Tour and decided we were going to do one of the walking tours on our own. We chose the Södermalm area because it had the most references from the book and the movies.
The first stop was Bellmansgatan 1, where one of the main characters, Mikel Blomkvist lives. We took pictures like we were entering his house. :D The next stop was Moteliusvägen, one of Stockholm’s most beautiful views. Across the river you could see the Stockholm District Courthouse, the scene for various important trials throughout the series. Jessica and I started a video commentary to commemorate our travels.
The next stop was the Lundabron, the Lunda Bridge in Lundagatan. This was Salander’s old apartment, the setting of her miserable upbringing. Walking down Ludvigbergsgatan brought us to Mellqvist Coffee Bar at Hornsgatan 78. Not only was this Mikael Blomkvist’s regular hangout, it was also Stieg Larsson’s own hangout. We bought coffees inside and asked the man what pastry he recommended. He said something in Swedish and pointed to a bun with what looked like poppy seeds. I asked what that was but he just repeated the name again so I shrugged and we bought two. It turned out to be the most delicious thing EVER! It was just the right amount of cinnamon sweetness, with a hint of something fruity.
Adat Jisreal Synagogue at St. Paulsgatan 13 was next. This was where Detective Inspector Jan Bublanski has a meeting with Dragan Armanskij of Milton Security. It’s a random part in the story and Jess and I hardly remembered the significance to this place; because in the midst of all the details logged into the series, this one particular spot wouldn’t stand out. Turning right on Götgatan and on the corner of Hökens gata is Millennium’s editorial office, the magazine Mikael Blomkvist writes for. This location in reality only holds apartments but in the books, it was located above Greenpeace’s and had a glass façade facing Götgatan.
The 7th stop on the map was the 7-eleven Salander always shops at. I was most excited about this part! There are several 7-elevens in Stockholm and around Europe, really. But this specific one marked was so special because of the book. Jess and I ate Billy’s Pan Pizza, something Salander always gets. I had the original, and was surprised that it had ham in it. I guess I’m used to American standards where an “original” would traditionally mean just cheese. I had to scrape off the meat but I enjoyed the micro-waved snack nonetheless!
We then headed all the way down to Tjärhovsgatan to find the Kvarnen club, a regular hangout for Salander and her girls in the Evil Fingers rock band. The bar actually opened in 1908 and is one of Stockholm’s oldest taverns. Next was Fiskargatan 9. Salander comes into some money and buys a 3,800 square foot, 21-room apartment on the top floor of this building. She furnishes only three rooms with IKEA goods and lives in it under the alias V. Kulla. Villa Villekulle is the name of Pippi Longstocking’s house. The building is from the 1910’s and caused a scandal when it was built because it blocked the view of Katarina church from the water.
Traveling by route of Svartensgatan, we made it to Mosebacke Square, where we took a picture of “The Sisters” statue mentioned in the books. The tour ended at The Stockholm City Museum, where they had an exhibit to see part of the film set of the Millennium editorial office. It was an amazing experience to walk in the day-to-day lives of the characters we have fallen in love with in this series. It wasn’t over advertised so it didn’t feel touristy. It’s awesome that I can bring this adventure home with me, and when the movies come out in English, I will be able say, “I’ve been there, I’ve walked that street! Or I drank coffee at that café!” :D
After the tour, we had a bit of a scare getting back to the ship. We got to the port fine, thanks to our amazing map-navigating skills, but thought the Vision was a lot closer than it really was. We saw our ship, but not the two long ships ahead of us! We were cutting it close to the time crew needed to be back on, so we started running. We ran through gates as a car was exiting, because our eyes were focused on our vessel and not necessarily the proper way to get there. As I ran forward, out of the corner of my eye I saw security being radioed and heading our way. We flashed our cards, knowing someone had just called them announcing “THREE GIRLS JUST RAN THROUGH THE GATES!!!!” Luckily, security was nice and pointed to where we needed to be, rather then making us walk all the way back around and take the appropriate route to the gangway. We made it back on the ship just in time!!! :D