The Doherty's Come To Cruise!!!!!

Alright I’ve gotten way, WAY behind on my blogging so let’s rewind back to June, when my family came to cruise! June 30^th we were docked in Copenhagen, Denmark. I met up with Sean early in the morning and we enjoyed “brother-sister catch up time” while waiting for the rents to arrive. I got a little stressed when I still hadn’t seen ma and pa by boat drill but we finally sorted everything out and they were safely on the ship. I really needed a visit from my family to not only reground myself in what’s most important in life, but to also discuss my future plans with them and get vital feedback from the people I love.

The next day was a sea day, and my first production show. The family watched tech rehearsal and both shows of In Concert. I have a pointe solo in this show and I think mom really enjoyed watching me dance pointe again. I also knew she would love The Prayer being sung by Justin and Christy, since that song is very nostalgic for us.

July 2^nd was Tallinn, Estonia. We walked around this medieval town, enjoyed some cinnamon and honey beer from an old tavern, and munched on delicious cinnamon-sugar covered almonds. It was a beautiful day so we hiked the hill to St. Mary’s Cathedral. We made the exhausting climb up the spiral staircase to the bell tower and enjoyed the view of the city and the ocean port below us.

Our next port was St. Petersburg, Russia. Although I have visited the palaces and churches of this city several times, I was really looking forward to going here with my family. I wanted to see their reactions to the lavish homes of the czars and the beautiful cathedrals. Our tour guide, Eva, was incredible. I learned a lot from our 2-day private tour and I apologize if random facts aren’t your cup of tea, but they most certainly are mine :)

-Catherine the Great allowed noblewoman to learn things other than music or dance.

-Peter was greatly inspired by his trip to Amsterdam, so he installed the canals throughout the city. It was not a success because Russia’s winter can be from October to April!!!!

-There were several Egyptian sculptures, originally stolen by Napoleon in his raids, placed along the canals. It reminded me so much of London. :)

-The “white nights of summer” means it is only dark from midnight-4am. In the “dark nights of winter”, Russia sees sunlight for only 7 hours and it’s usually during their work hours so they will not get to enjoy it.

-The Chamber of Curiosity holds Peter’s museum from his tours of Europe and gifts from ambassadors around the world.

-The Hermitage used to be the main winter palace for the royals and it is HUGE!!! It is 5 buildings!!!! I think this was Sean’s favorite stop in our tour.

-I always thought Catherine the Great was Peter the Great’s wife but she actually married his great grandson; so I had my generations a bit mixed up! LOL.

-St. Isaac’s Cathedral still has traces from WW2 that will not be fixed in order to remember how terribly the city was affected.

-We saw the Church of St. Nicolas, which I think was a new stop for me. St. Nicolas was a miracle worker and the protector of seaman and naval officers. Probably not a bad saint to have watching over me on this ship!

July 5^th was Helsinki, Finland. After such epic days in Russia, this was the perfect port to just wander around. We meandered thru the farmer’s market near the pier, and Sean and Dad had some of the local meat, while Mom and I enjoyed stealing the potatoes from their plates. I showed them the red church on the rock and the gorgeous white and green state building. Sean and I raced up the steps, Rocky style! We even found some tasty frozen yogurt to munch on.

Stockholm, Sweden, was our last port with Sean. We explored the Vasa museum before seeing him off to the train station. Mom and Dad and I just wandered around the city after that. We saw the Opera house, the state house, and the Noble Peace Prize museum. I also introduced them to delicious Swedish bakery treats :D

After a sea day full of eating, hanging out, and movies, we made it to Warnemunde, Germany. We had booked another tour with the Alla company into Berlin. We saw so many historical sites; Berlin is definitely a city you need weeks to explore fully. We began with the Wilhelm-Platz. Probably my favorite stop was at the Topography of Terrors. It was erie to walk along the Berlin wall and look at the pictures of the war, from start to end. But you can stand where the wall had been torn down, one foot in the “east”, one in the “west”, and look around at the city that is rebuilding itself.

We walked thru the Brandenburg gate where Ronald Regan made his famous speech to tear down the wall and unite the city. Our tour guide pointed our the statue at the top of the gate, saying it had been taken by Napoleon but when it was recovered, they placed it on the Brandenburg gate. I thought it was also interesting to see the infamous Aldon hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out for the screaming press below. We passed the Tiergarte, which is now a nice park for people to walk thru but it was one the hunting place of the princes and kings. We stood at the plaza where the book burning raids took place, and saw the parking lot that was once Hitler’s bunker. The restaurant we ate lunch across from the Jewish memorial site. The tribute was very simple, just different sized slabs spread out on the concrete. There was no significance in the number or size of these slabs but you could walk amongst them and it was a special sort of silence within the memorial.

Back on the ship, we enjoyed the German fest complete with German beer, potatoes, buttery pretzels, and wiener schnitzel (for Dad).

Our next port was Kiel, Germany. We had a wonderful day walking around the giant lake and looking at the city. I’m very lucky to have parents that I can do absolutely nothing with but we still have such a great time. I have the best family in the world :D