Archive for Europe

St. Petersburg – Day 1

Photo: St. Petersburg – Day 1

// September 2nd, 1998 // Comments Off // Russia, Scandinavian Capitals '98

St. Petersburg, Russia – We were afforded two wonderful days in St. Petersburg. Russia is a little different than other ports, in most places you either need to secure a Visa, the ship is able to secure one for everyone, or you don’t need one. Russia puts a special twist on this: As long as we are on an excursion that is offered by the ship we don’t need a Visa, if we choose to go ashore independently we need a Visa. This is one place that we didn’t feel comfortable doing our own thing, because I don’t know the Cyrillic alphabet, which makes reading Russian a little difficult… we also weren’t really keen on visiting the sites with 400 of our closest friends. The ship offered a nice alternative: (more…)

Tallin, Estonia

Photo: Tallin, Estonia

// September 1st, 1998 // Comments Off // Estonia, Scandinavian Capitals '98

Our first port on the Scandinavian Capitals Itinerary was Tallin, Estonia. Tallin is popular with tourist for its “fairytale” medieval walled city. First however, we got to see the “scenic” port area. Like most ports that the cruise ships we take arrive at, it’s more for freight than regular passenger service, and not exactly scenic (unless you consider cargo ships, containers and silos scenic). (more…)

Kiel Canal, Germany

Photo: Kiel Canal, Germany

// September 1st, 1998 // Comments Off // Germany, Scandinavian Capitals '98

After leaving Dover and crossing the English Chanel (The Dream swerved sharply in the middle of that crossing at about 1am to avoid hitting another ship… A year later at the end of this same itinerary, during the same shift, she did hit another ship… another reason not to sail NCL) we arrived at the mouth of the North Sea end of the Kiel Canal to begin our transit. (more…)

London – On the Way to Dover

Photo: London – On the Way to Dover

// August 31st, 1998 // Comments Off // Scandinavian Capitals '98, United Kingdom

We flew into London a few days early to sample all that one of my favorite cities in the world has to offer: Theatre, wonderful restaurants, historic treasures, and a character all it’s own. I had even more fun in London than I normally do, because I got to show my Aunt and Uncle all the wonders of my favorite city. (more…)

Athens

Photo: Athens

// October 22nd, 1996 // Comments Off // Greece, Passage To Africa

Athens – After a 10 hour lay over in London (at least the stores were open, I happily spent it at shopping at Harrods and dining at Sea Shell), I boarded my Virgin Atlantic flight for Athens. There’s nothing like arriving in a city at 2:30am. Even the dogs are asleep. I woke the poor pup above up. He was sleeping next to the door at the hotel. (more…)

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