for your VINformation: lost@sea

Stockholm:

Suckholm is more like it.

Our pier berth was a thirty minute walk from towns – both Old and New – and finding WiFi was difficult to say the least. There was no shuttle bus into town and a taxi cost your first born. Even though from the bow it all seemed to be right there.

Up on the rooftop...

The anniversary of my 35th birthday fell on a Swedish port day and it was probably the best day I’d spent there. It was the only day I had a great time. I signed up for the shore excursion, “Historic Walk on a Rooftop.” Now, I expected it to be, “Take an elevator to the top floor of one of Stockholm’s skyscrapers and wander around while a guide points out the sights.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Our guide picked us up, took us on an hour long walking tour and then up to the peaked roof of the former Parliament Building. We got strapped into harnesses, clipped on to a guide wire and began to traverse the rooftop on a nine inch wide platform!

As someone who loves the feeling of heights – skydiving is still one of my fondest memories – this was an awesome birthday present.

The remainder of the day, my last in town, I wandered around on my own. I found a great pub, had a beer and internet, found a great store where I bought myself a few birthday presents and slowly made my way back to The Boat before all-aboard.

Now, Jew and Gentile Readers, isn’t that always the thing? On the last day, the last time I’d be in Stockholm, I fell in like with the place. Of course, it was the day I explored on my own, unhindered by anyone else’s agenda.

The Baltic’s were quite an adventure for me. With so many languages and currencies and cultural differences to experience. It was the perfect primer for the rest of Europe and Africa and quite the difference from the South Pacific and South America. It was as if The Boat went from poverty to princes and I got to take the ride.

Helsinki:

Best Street Sign EVER!

After taking the “Helsinki Highlights” shore excursion, I found Finland city didn’t have very many.  I’m exaggerating of course, but, I really have no want, need or desire to return.

I called it “HelSTINKY.”

Next Week: Stockholm, Sweden

St. Petersburg:

There’s a rumor in St. Petersburg…

The first time I visited Colombia, South America, I imagined piles of cocaine on every street corner and roving bands of bandits with machine guns looking to kidnap Americans for fun and profit. What I experienced couldn’t have been further. I found a welcoming country itching to rid itself of it’s bad reputation; a warm, friendly population looking to show me their county in the best possible light.

Visiting St. Petersburg, the “Venice of the North” was as eye-opening. I only knew what I was taught in school grade school or saw on the evening news. Growing up during the cold war under the threat of nuclear annihilation you can imagine, what I knew wasn’t pleasant; the rest I learned from the animated film Anastasia.

St. Petersburg is the most western city of Russia and among cities of the world with over one million people, the northernmost. The Historic Center of town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to The Hermitage, the largest art museum in the world.

Smartly, the powers-that-be made St. Petersburg an overnight. The Boat would dock at one of the seven berths of the ultramodern, brand-new port Marine Facade around 7:00 AM and didn’t pull out until 7:00 PM the next day. Every minute was necessary. It’s impossible to see a city with 280 former royal palaces and over 8,000 architectural monuments in just one day. Now, Jew and Gentile Readers, St. Petersburg has seen some very difficult times; revolutions, blockades, sieges, civil war, world wars, poverty, Communism, but you wouldn’t know of it’s past hardships from visiting it now. Most of the city has been restored to former imperial glory. The city boasts 221 museums, 2,000 libraries, over 80 theaters, 100 concert organizations, 45 galleries and exhibition halls, 62 cinemas and around 80 other cultural establishments.

It’s a city easy to fall in love with and I fell hard.

You see, I was very lucky. When visiting Russia on a cruise ship, without a Russian Visa, as a passenger, you’re not allowed to venture out on your own. You must take an escorted tour. When you’re a member of the crew, that’s not the case. I was issued a Seaman’s Book which allowed me on and off The Boat at will. Admittedly, at first, I was cautious, escorting shore excursions. I did “Imperial St. Petersburg,” “Royal St. Petersburg,” “The Hermitage at Night,” “St. Catharine’s Palace” and the “Gala Night of Singing,”

Symbol of St. Petersburg

I started exploring the Russian canal city on my own when I’d run out of excursions to escort…

While the underground isn’t nearly as extensive as New York City’s or London’s, it got me to where I wanted to go on the cheap. Once I got past the language barrier, read: had the port agent write down, in Russian, the names of the places I wanted to visit, I’d grab a cab. It might’ve cost a few Rubles more, but piece of mind knows no price.

Dealing with Russian Rubles makes you feel as if you’ve got money, when exchanged for Euros, that is, less so when the exchange takes place with Dollars, but the extra zero added to every denomination, gives the illusion of being flush. The exchange rate was about 5 to 1 (dollars) and 3 to 1 (euros).

I found the Russian nightlife to be quite…what’s the right word? Exciting? No. Interesting? No. Eventful? No. I guess, I’d call it, “a sure thing.” Yes, a sure thing…I had…to put it politely…relations…with Ivan, Dimitri and Nicolai. I met my Russian collection at Central Station, the biggest gay club in St. Petersburg; four floors of dancing, dining and karaoke.  Surprisingly, St. Petersburg has a large gay and lesbian community. By large, I mean…

One of the complaints I heard my crew-mates voice was that the people of St. Petersburg were angry. I didn’t find that at all. They might’ve been covered in a hard candy shell, but once you licked that, they’re all soft and gooey inside, just like New Yorkers. A smile goes a long way in a country that spends most of it’s days either frozen over or in continual daylight.

I have to admit, I was surprised Russia got under my skin so deeply. I really can’t explain it. The climate, the people the energy, I…liked it…I liked it all. The time I spent there made me want to spend more time there. Over the course of the seven voyages, we spent a total of two weeks in St. Petersburg. It wasn’t enough time. I have friends who live there, a Seaman’s Book and the desire to visit again. Perhaps that’s enough. One day, Russia will be mine again.

Next Week: Helsinki, Finland