This is kind of silly, given the amount of travel I've done. It's interesting to plot it, actually, and I did this in Facebook through one of the multitudes of applications that have been built in FB. I update the map when I go somewhere and sometimes before I go; people can let me know of things I absolutely have to do or see or experience in those places. That's something I find extremely helpful. Plus, if someone's not been to one of these places, I might be able to provide some insights - especially in my favorites because I've been there often or lived there. Have fun!

Copenhagen was a lot of fun for both of us. We had two very informative and not terribly overlapping tours of the city; one of them had a cool boat & harbor component. I fell in love with Copenhagen and the time we had there was perfect. When we had reached and gone through Tallinn, I had thought I wouldn't be able to find yet another city interesting - especially one I had visited already years ago with my brother.

However, the city proved me wrong. I got a new spring in my step. Maybe because I was officially going to be in my 40s whilst seeing the sights. Not sure. But I found myself walking and walking and walking and not wanting to be done taking in the city - even when we were leaving.

One interesting thing that happened to me in Copenhagen was while walking around town taking pictures on my birthday, August 5th. I was minding my own business looking at all the buildings and people, alone, not thinking of anything in particular when I passed this "guru", we'll call him. Well, he wore a turban, looked Hindu, and had a very Indian/Sri Lankan accent.

He spoke to me in English and said, "You have a very happy aura about you - a very happy and positive aura, but your focus right now is fully on someone else and not yourself. You are always thinking about this other person to make sure that their needs are met before yours; that's very selfless and good. In the next two months - by October - you will experience something new and different and your life will change. Can I read your palm? I would very much like to read your palm."

I've run into many fortune-tellers, soothsayers, and gurus (or clairvoyants) in my day, but none had ever been this forceful or approachable. Many of them want to read my palm - even for free - and you know they all want money for their information somehow. Didn't know where this was leading and when I'm alone in a big city I'm always wary about my surroundings (learned this in Vienna, Austria, of all places). If a stranger - like this - starts talking to me, I start looking (inconspicuously) around to see who might become my pickpocket.

Nothing happened and I thanked the guy. But of course those kinds of instances make an impression. Things he said were true. I am a happy person. I am a positive person. How'd he know that my focus was on someone else - my dad? I felt my "self" being selfless the entire trip with my dad - how does that feeling or exertion translate to facial or bodily expression when you see someone on the street? Maybe because I was looking around him to see who was with him. Dunno. It was all very interesting.

This is pretty cool. My sister called the local newspaper in my Dad's town a couple of weeks ago - after we got back from our cruise - for them to interview him about his trip, in hopes of an article in the newspaper: an 85-yr-old man who got up off his Lazy-Boy and went to Russia.

Check it out!


This is the picture I sent them for the article along with a couple extra ones:

Check this out - it's a video recording of my Dad talking about meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury. He recited this story to every British person he met, sometimes three or four times a day. So, I recorded the interaction a couple of times.

Here are three albums:

Helsinki, Finland

St. Petersburg, Russia - The Hermitage Only

St. Petersburg, Russia - The State Russian Museum & the Church of the Spilled Blood (that's the church's short name)

I separated out my pictures from St. Petersburg into three albums (currently working on the third), so that if someone only wants to see museums, they can, or if they want to see city, they can, and neither will have to fast-forward through the things they don't wanna see. Hope you enjoy these.

I certainly hope that no one's getting tired of pictures!! Here's the album of photos from northern Germany - two port towns that started as heavy trade cities with Scandinavia: Warnemuende and Rostock. Had a blast there and visited a local, lovely brewery.

Check out our touring! Enjoy and don't forget to comment on the photos!

An online buddy asked me for some pointers from the cruise I took - he's taking the same or similar tour of Scandinavia next year. I wrote this up for him and thought I'd add it here, in case others were interested in cruising somewhere.
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For all international travel, make sure that your passport is up to date. If it's expired or will expire before your next trip, start the process of a new application as soon as possible. If you're planning a trip for a year from now, 6-8 weeks waiting for a new passport is nothing. The closer to your travel date you get, the more stress you will have applying and getting the passport renewed. Furthermore, if you need a visa for a country you plan to visit and you need to get a new passport, the timeline overall just got shorter. Getting things done early will save you lots of stress, hassles, and money.

If you're flying into a big city (like London), don't use the ship's coordinated transport from the airports to the ship - the cost is astronomical ($300-500 round trip to the airport), and you can have a better, less expensive adventure using public transport and a train to get to where you're going - in less time than the other. You might consider doing a pre-trip or post-trip on either side of the cruise. Coordinate your rental car from the airport from which you're returning home.

When you do the excursions, plan them ahead of time and pay for them before you get on the ship - they're sometimes a little less expensive that way, and you will have more options before you cruise. Sometimes cruises will list how many spaces they have; if they don't you might be able to call the cruise line directly to find out the available tickets. But the best thing to do is purchase the tickets before you get on board. Many times, though, when the cruise sells out of a particular excursion before they disembark, they will coordinate an extra bus or two - they want people's money and to provide everyone with an excursion. My cruise ship, the Celebrity Constellation, bent over backwards to make sure we all had the excursions we wanted. We did the panoramic bus tours (my dad preferred walking with a cane or riding in a wheelchair, so these were better for us both) and some of those tours had boat tours around harbors attached - the combo tours were really great.

If you're going to Russia on your cruise, you might want to try getting your own visa (I heard they cost $400, but that might have been the expedited version) - start that process MUCH sooner than later. Do the tour of the subways in St. Petersburg as well as the Hermitage. I know the Hermitage is "just a museum", but its collection rivals the National Gallery in London, the MET, and the Louvre. Well worth the time and effort going there - especially with the Gold Room, which houses Russia's prized possessions of ancient Scythian, Sarmatian, Mongolian, Greek, and Chinese gold artifacts.

There's no real need to do the bus tours of Stockholm, Amsterdam, Tallinn, or Copenhagen if you can walk well. The cruise-supplied shuttles will suffice to get you into town and you can go hunting on your own for stuff to see. If you want to buy souvenirs, do not always buy stuff at the excursion-appointed shop(s) - often times the tour guides have "connections" with souvenir shops that work to their benefit - not yours. Also, check to make sure that the stuff you buy is made in that country; everyone is buying crap from China or Taiwan that you can get over here anyway.

When you're at sea (we had 4 days at sea), tour the ship, go to some of the activities, engage lots of people in conversations - about anything. There are some really interesting folks on these things!! I did the wine tastings and had lots of fun doing them - plus, I learned a lot. Also, be careful of the amount of food you eat. I gained 5 pounds, but many others gained easily 10 pounds!! Keep in mind that alcohol is extra and each day you'll be charged gratuity on your room, the restaurant wait staff, AND each bar drink you order. That can really add up over the course of a week or two.

BY ALL MEANS, get Concierge Class on any cruise you take. You'll love the service, the attention, and the add-ons. Cruisers typically get a better dining table, afternoon canapes, a welcome bottle of champagne, daily fruit, and expedited check-in/check-out on the boat. Plus, when ordering excursions, you get greater priority if an extra excursion has to be planned due to sold out excursions.

If you've never been on a cruise, go on one. Even if it's 5 days - it's worth it. It's an experience of a lifetime wherever you go. I've done two long-term cruises to places I'll probably never get a chance to visit again. Happy travels!

Not sure if I posted these - pretty sure I didn't. Here are the links for our last San Francisco & Hawaii trips:

San Francisco - May & June 2009

Hawaii - May-June 2009

PS I had to get these posted before I could feel good about posting the soon-to-come UK & Russian Adventure photos from the 14-night cruise with my Dad.

Enjoy!

Great food (I gained only 5 pounds in 2.5 weeks of EATING my heart out), great towns visited, great memories, and lots of pictures (6000+ to put it mildly). It's going to take a while to edit and post those pictures, but can't wait to dive into them!!

We visited London, Harwich, Salisbury, and Amesbury (along with Stonehenge and Wood Henge), Amsterdam, Rostock & Warnemuende (Germany), Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn (Estonia), and Copenhagen. Every night I slept about 6-7 hours a night, drank 2-3 glasses of wine each day - or 3-7 beers each day, depending on which country we were visiting (Germany was the absolute best for the beer and we visited a local brewery - YAY!!), had the odd martini, and smoked quite a few cigarettes (I know - bad Steve!).

Being with my dad for that concentrated time (17 days) and proximity (8' x 10' room with a balcony - adding to that a HUGE ship to get lost in) was interesting and very educational indeed. I learned a lot about him as a person now like what it means for him to be 85, how to work within his moods, how to care for him, and what to do in certain situations. I'm sure that my new knowledge and exposure won't help my siblings much in their own interactions with him, but at least they'll see a definite change in me and our relationship. And it's all good.

Granted, there were times that I wanted to jump off the ship - that's when I went for a drink. Or times I wanted to argue till the cows came home - that's when I went for a smoke. But all in all we had a blast and I would have regretted not doing it - no matter the cost.

More to come about the trip and pictures, but thanks to all who wished me well on the journey - the wishes and good tidings really helped!