Greetings! I’ve missed my regular encounters with the friendly bloggers who visit my humble little site, and visiting your sites as well. Consider this as the start of me easing back into a regular routine. Then again, because of the side effect I have from the motion meds, I must limit my computer time for a few days as part of my plan of avoiding a very disturbing case of motion sickness.
We recently returned home from our belated (April) 35th anniversary celebration cruise of northern Europe on the Celebrity Constellation. Interestingly, this trip has been ten years in the making because we originally planned a similar trip for our 25th anniversary, but 9-11 caused a change in plans.
Besides the 2 ½ days we had in Amsterdam before departing on the 12-night adventure, our wonderful journey involved smooth sailing on a beautiful ship with good food, entertainment, dancing, activities, and glorious ports. The icing on the cake was being way from the political ads, conventions, and the accompanying crap of this election season.
Below is a snapshot of our ports. The interesting animation in the video uses the 2009 route that had the same stops but in different order and a route through the canal in Denmark instead of going around it.
Amsterdam – Bikes everywhere in this vibrant city with bountiful offerings. Wish I had worn a pedometer.
Warnemunde – A vacation town on Germany’s Baltic coast. Interestingly, this region was part of East Germany, so good English wasn’t common.
Tallinn – The capital of Estonia with its charming medieval sector is a treat.
St. Petersburg – As Russia’s second largest city, it was interesting to see how far they’ve come since the Soviet era, but with still a way to go. We had two great days here.
Helsinki – The youngest of the cities we visited. The Finnish language is supposedly one of the most difficult to learn, thus their long street names made self-navigation a bit of a challenge.
Stockholm – Passing through the 24,000-island archipelago was the biggest surprise of the trip. The city itself was awesome, and is the one we to return to the most.
Copenhagen – A beautiful city filled with friendly people who enjoy life. Interestingly, we spent time with a young man we know from our church.
Meanwhile, I look forward to reconnecting. Besides, I have a celebratory announcement to make soon. Have a good weekend.
A Frank Angle 