Yellowstone and Grand Tetons Redux

Getting there

Redux is a good word to describe this trip. I went to the same place I had been three years ago, took the same route, stayed at the same lodge and visited the same places. The only different thing was that instead of taking Pedro with me, this time it was my girlfriend Katrina. That was the plan, at least, but plans seldom work out the way we expect.

I woke up very early Friday morning, and by 6 am was on my way to pick Katrina up. We loaded everything into the car and made our way to the airport. Last time I did this trip I took a club plane and the club forgot to leave the keys out so we ended up not being able to depart until after 8 am. This time we were taking Bianca, so I knew she was there waiting for us, and the key was in my pocket. One of the nice things about owning a plane, I guess.

So we loaded the plane, made the preflight check and by 7:30 took off and were on our way. Last time I stopped at Winnemuca for fuel, this time we decided to stop at Elko. After an uneventful landing the good folds at the airport took care of refueling the plane while we went to do a weather check and look for a sign with the airport name for the obligatory picture. Mission accomplished, we boarded the plane and took off on our second leg to West Yellowstone, knowing we were in for some turbulence and scattered  thunderstorms in our route.

I don't think scattered means the same thing to the weather people as it does to me, as we found ourselves having to first descend from 11500 ft to 9500 ft once we reached Idaho, and do some zig-zagging to avoid those thunderstorms. Still, things were progressing fine until, about 30 minutes away from our destination, we hit a cloud wall we could not go through or under. It was time for plan B, so we did a u-turn and made our way to Idaho Falls, our alternate airport. Apparently a huge thunderstorm decided it wanted to go to the airport too, but we beat it there by 15 minutes.

On the ground we debated waiting the storms out and then flying on to our original destination, but decided it made more sense to just drive the rest of the way, so we rented a car, struggled to load the destination into the GPS and a little over three hours later, with a stop at a McDonalds for a very late lunch we arrived at Grant Village. Unpacked, went down to the Lakehouse Restaurant for dinner, and, exhausted, went back to our room for a good night's sleep.

Exploring the North Part

Next morning we woke up with the intent of exploring the north part of the park. The goal was to start by visiting the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, go on to Mammoth Terrace and end the day at Morris Geyser Basin.  I missed a turn and before I realized it we were at the Norris Geyser Basin parking lot. I am nothing if not flexible, so inverted route it was. 

Unfortunately it was cloudy and raining which made the visit to the basin a little uncomfortable. But that didn't stop us from exploring the place. It was nice walking among those steaming, bubbling and spouting thermal pools, some of which were very impressive. The lack of sunlight hurt, though, as nothing like bright sunlight to bring out the vivid browns, yellows, greens and blues of the pools. 

Back in the car we drove to the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace, the most alien-looking place in the whole park: a whole section of dead trees, white and gray, with these rivulets of hot water running through, covered in bacteria mats of a very rich brown. It's one of those places that you have to see yourself, pictures can't really capture the place. Well, my pictures can't capture it.

It was mid-day, and though we had had a good breakfast and were not planning on having another meal until dinner time, we still thought a small break would be a good thing, so we left the Springs and headed off to the eponymous town, a few minutes away. Happily, the town had changed from what I remembered and still had in its gift store an ice cream parlor. One root beer float later, we were ready to start heading back south.

We had two stops on the way back, both at waterfalls. The first stop was a the Tower Falls, amazing in and of itself, but I confess that what I found the most memorable was a tourist's choice of clothing: Hawaiian shirt, silk shorts, black socks and flip-flops. The second stop was at the Upper and Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. As spectacular as I remembered, and definitely a place I want to visit again.

We finished the day back at the lodge, exhausted and hungry. After going over the day at the bar while enjoying a couple of drinks, we had a dinner that included bison sausages, prime rib and a huckleberry creme brulee. Sated and tired, it was back to our room for a well-earned sleep.

Fitbit steps: 13,473

Geyser Day

The second day was dedicated to visiting the nearby geyser basins. We started at the Painted Pot, not the most impressive basin, but a place where we could see bubbling mud and experience hordes of Chinese tourists with umbrellas to protect them from the sun.

The next stop was at the Midway Basin, to visit my favorite place in the park, the Great Prismatic Spring. When the sun is shining the huge bacteria mat surrounding this spring creates a combination of browns, reds and yellows that are awe-inspiring. It is also home to the Excelsior Geyser, impressive in its size.

From there we kept going south and visited two smaller basins, Black Sand and Biscuit. The Emerald and Sapphire pools made both places worth the visit, despite the threatening signs warning us that that was bear territory.

Finally we made our way to the Disneyland section of the park (as Katrina described it), the Upper Geyser Basin. Our first stop was at the cafe inside one of the gift stores, for a lunch of hot dogs and huckleberry milkshakes. Only one thing to say about it: don't ever order huckleberry milkshakes. Ever.

We started the visit to the basin with the obligatory stop at Old Faithful, followed by the long (two hour or so walk) along the trails to visit the many other geysers and pools at the site. We did take a half hour break during the walk, to wait for the Riverside Geyser's eruption.  There was a sign saying that it would erupt between 1:30 pm and 2:15 pm. Of course it erupted closer to 2:15, but the spectacle was worth it.

After some souvenir shopping we went back to our lodge for dinner and to pack, since we were leaving the next day. Dinner this time was elk sliders and wild game meatloaf. There might have been a beer there somewhere, but I'm not sure.

Fitbit steps: 20,295.

Grand Tetons

We packed up, loaded the car and headed south the next morning, with a plan to visit the Grand Tetons National Park and end the day at Idaho Falls, where our plane was. I had been through the park before, but had never really stop to explore it, so our first stop was a the Colter Bay visitor center to decide what we wanted to see in the time we had. There were many options and our time was limited, so we decided to go visit Jenny Lake and its waterfalls. First, though, we decided to explore a little the area around the visitor center, as it was too pretty to pass.

We set out walking down a trail along the edge of the lake until we found a nice quiet spot with a view and, even better, a bench! So we sat quietly for a while, just taking in the lake, and the forest, with the Tetons in the background. Jenny Lake was beckoning, though, so eventually we made our way back to the car and headed south once more.

All I knew about Jenny Lake is that involved a boat ride and a walk up to a waterfall. So we got on a boat on a lake that had thawed just a few weeks before and rode it for about ten minutes until we got to the other side of the lake, there to be greeted by the sight of a stretcher and medics tending to it. Apparently some kid had managed to fall into the river, a first according to our boat captain. A first it might be, but it made me be much more careful and watch where we were going. A ten minute walk along a dirt part, climbing gently took us to the first waterfall. Not too big, but powerful, and a very nice view to be enjoyed from a bridge spanning the river.

There was a second waterfall to visit, our captain had warned us, conveniently called the Hidden Falls. That involved a longer trek and some climbing, but the 20 minute walk there was uneventful. The view, however, was anything but: a beautiful, tall waterfall with water roaring over the top. The best place to view the waterfall was in the shade, which made it a little hard to take a selfie showing both the person and the fall.

Katrina decided not to do the last part of the hike, a climb to the top of the rim to enjoy a view of the lake. Back down she went, while I kept walking up, up, and up, along rocky ledges that had me nervous until I reached Inspiration Point, a nice cozy area the promised lake view. A little bit of a rest to enjoy the view, along with several other people, and then I was ready for the next part.

The choices were simple: either go back down  to the boat and Katrina, or keep following the trail up and along the rim. I opted for the latter and walked for another 20 minutes until I found a sign indicating that the next attraction was still 3.5 miles away. That's when I decided it was time to head back. Down was definitely easier than up and some time later I was on the boat heading back towards the car and Katrina.

By the time we made it back to the car it was getting late. No more time for the Grand Tetons, we had a two hour drive to Idaho Falls ahead of us, where we were going to spend the night before heading out on the next leg of our trip.

Fitbit steps: 17,326.

Idaho Falls

Getting to Idaho Falls from Jackson involved a drive along US-26 over the Tetons. Once down on the other side we started seeing lots of farms with plants I didn't recognize. We figured it out when we got to our hotel, though. Asked the receptionist who informed us of what should have been obvious: the plants were potatoes.

When we arrived at Idaho Falls we started looking for a place to stay. In the end we decided on the Shiloh Inn based on three facts: it was by the river; I had stayed at the Shiloh Inn in Bend, OR and liked it; and they had vacancies.

By the time we got there we were tired, so no sight-seeing was planned. We unpacked, enjoying the swimming pool and spa, had a nice dinner in a terrace with a view of the Snake River. After the sun set I decided to go for a stroll along the river before retiring and ran into the falls that give the town its name. Apparently they used to be rapids, but with the erection a dam for the hydroelectric power plant, cutting diagonally across the river turned the rapids into actual falls and made the town worthy of its name.

I enjoyed the walk, the view of the river, and meeting a couple from Arizona who were there for the fishing. It was getting late, though, and it was time to go back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Southwest South Dakota

Flying to Casper and Rapid City

Our next destination on this vacation was Rapid City, South Dakota, a 3.5 hour trip as Bianca flies. Since my personal limit on the plane is 3 hours, we decided to stop at Casper, WY, to refuel and wait for the winds at our final destination to be manageable; the day had started with a prediction of winds at KRAP at 15 knots gusting to 30, but forecast to become 8 knots in the afternoon.

We took off from Idaho Falls Regional Airport and, after climbing to 11,500, leveled off and settled down to enjoy the ride.Our first waypoint was Jackson and Katrina was thrilled to be able to take pictures of both sides of the Tetons and get another look at Jenny Lake from the air. Once past Jackson, though, we ran into turbulence which stayed with us for the next hour and a half until we landed in Casper.

Stopping at Casper turned out to be a great idea. Not only did the weather check show that the winds had not died down, but the World Cup game between the U.S. and Belgium was about to start. We had to wait, the FBO had a high-definition TV, so we knew what we were doing for the next two hours.

Two hours later the U.S. was out of the World Cup, the winds had not died down sufficiently and we were hungry, so we borrowed the world's biggest pick-up truck and went into town looking for food. Not many choices, so we ended up having sandwiches at a laundromat/Subway/yogurt shop.

One more weather check showed that the winds were finally below 15 knots, so we got on the plane and a little bit over an hour later were landing in Rapid City. The flight was uneventful, other than the ubiquitous turbulence and five minutes during which the GPS was not able to get a signal. But we made it there, parked the plane, Miranda helped us get a car and a hotel room and off we went to explore the area.

After dumping our bags in the hotel room  we were off to downtown Rapid City, looking for the Firehouse Restaurant, which both Miranda and the receptionist at the hotel told us was the place to go for good beer.  We found the restaurant easily, had what was indeed good beer and wandered around the neighborhood, looking at the statues of presidents they had at every street corner. I was able to recognize enough of them to feel gratified.

 Day 1: Custer State Park,  Black Hills, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

Next day was a long one. It started with a drive to Custer State Park, where we had the opportunity to see lots and lots of bison, way more than we saw at Yellowstone. One of the herds we found must have had over 100 bison in it! We also saw people that did not understand the meaning of wildlife and thought it was a good idea to get really close to the animals, turn their backs to them and take selfies. Luckily no one was harmed.

We also saw groundhogs and wild donkeys, and more people who don't understand the meaning of wild. As usual in these parks, cars stop in the middle of the road when they spot something and I'm ok with that. What I wasn't ok with was the guy that couldn't be bothered to get out of the car but thought it was a good idea to use food to entice the donkeys to come closer. And come closer they did, as the picture below shows, but again luckily no one got hurt.

Leaving the park we were off to the Black Hills, driving up through narrow tunnels and windy roads that offered spectacular views of the rock formations, many of them decidedly phallic. We ended up at Sylvan Lake, where we got to join the crowds swimming, sunbathing and strolling around it. Without bathing suits we opted for the hike version and spent one very pleasant hour walking along its margins.I will say this about the Black Hills: half a day is not enough, I will have to come back to visit it again and hike along its trails.

Some more driving, including a stop in Custer for ice cream and we were at Crazy Horse, where they are chipping away at a mountain until it becomes a statue of Crazy Horse atop a horse and pointing to his lands. It's work of epic proportions with  Crazy Horse's head itself being bigger than the four heads at Mt. Rushmore put together. And the head is what we have so far, along with a vague idea of where his pointing arm will be. Given work started over 50 years ago, my guess is that it will not be done in my lifetime.

We finally made our way to Mt. Rushmore where I was disappointed to find out that they did not accept our annual national park and monument pass. We forked the cash, of course, parked the car, walked through an avenue with flags of all the U.S. states and went to take a look at the four presidents. They were indeed impressive. It amazes me that there are people who look at a mountain and think, "I will make a statue out of this piece of rock." 

We grabbed some dinner, including bison chili, and headed back to the amphitheater for the lighting ceremony. It was a touching patriotic ceremony, with a small movie about the monument, singing the national anthem and a homage to the veterans and members of the armed forces present, who were all invited to go up on stage and lower the American flag.

After that it was back to the hotel for some shuteye.

Day 2: Badlands National Park and Deadwood

Next morning we were off to the Badlands, an hour's drive away to the East. Nice straight road, but billboards for Wall Drug all over the place, promising us 5 cent coffee. That was not enticing enough for us to stop (actually the idea of what 5 cent coffee would taste like scares me) and we drove right past Wall until we found ourselves at the entrance to the park.

It's easy to see why it's called Badlands. It's huge, hot and large areas of it look inhospitable. Oh, and there are signs everywhere warning us about rattlesnakes. The place was beautiful, though, with the hills having bands of multiple colors, from browns to reds and yellows, apparently telling us the story of when this place was a sea and flood lands before becoming today's prairie. Fossils can be found everywhere and tourists are encouraged to hunt for them. This is another place I want to come back and visit again, in a more leisurely manner. But I will do it in autumn.

Our second and last stop for the day was Deadwood, an hour and a half drive to the West. A pleasant drive, and on the way there we started seeing more and more people riding Harley-Davidsons, an oddity until we realized we were going towards Sturgis, the site of what is touted as the world's biggest motorcycle rally. It was not rally season, but apparently the aura of the place is enough to attract bikers there all year long.

As for Deadwood, all I can say is this: we got to see the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

Going Back Home

We left early for our trip back home, hoping to avoid turbulence. Our goal was to make it to Ogden, Utah, with a stop at Casper to refuel. We took off around 8 am and made it Casper in mostly smooth air. But all good things must pass, and the two hours between Casper and Ogden were some of the worst turbulence we encountered during the whole trip. But Bianca behaved admirably, no parts fell off despite all the shaking and we landed safely in Ogden. where the nice people at the FBO gave us the royal treatment. Not only did they get us a car and hotel reservations, they also brought out a red carpet for Katrina to alight from the plane. She felt honored. It was hot.

By then we were touristed out and wanted to just spend some quality time in the hotel's swimming pool, get a good night's sleep and leave the next day. Unfortunately it turned out that the hotel was being remodeled and the pool was closed. We had to change to plan B and wandered around the downtown area, looking for a place to eat. It was the fourth of July and most places were closed, but we did find an open sports bar close to the hotel where I had a stuffed burger, definitely one of the great culinary inventions. We ended the day going to the movies, mostly to avoid the heat. Did I mention it was hot?

Not much to say about Ogden, other than the fact that it was hot and at most street corners in the downtown area had either a piano or statues of horses. 

Next day we woke early again and headed off for the airport, prepared the plane and took off, flying over the Great Salt Lake on the first of our last three legs of this vacation. We stopped at Battle Mountain to refuel and again in Auburn for lunch. By early afternoon we were back home, exhausted but happy we had done this trip.

Weekend in Las Vegas

It all started with drinks at Scratch. Katrina and Stacey talked, Stacey mentioned they were going to Las Vegas for Marc's birthday, Katrina mentioned that we could easily fly there and next thing I know we had made plans to fly ourselves there and surprise Marc on his birthday. I made reservations for us at the Palms and started checking the weather, hoping it would collaborate on the day of the trip. 

Of course it didn't collaborate. The Friday we were supposed to leave came and it was cold, rainy and the winds at our destination were predicted to reach 40 knots. So we went to plan B, take the airlines. I had made reservations for us with Southwest, in case we couldn't take our plane, and by 10:30 we were at the airport ready to go. By 1 pm we were on the ground in Las Vegas.

I hadn't been to Las Vegas in over 20 years and in that time the city has changed a lot. It had grown, and the first sign we saw of the growth was the taxi line at the airport. I expected to find the usual, a curb with a few cabs and a few passengers waiting. Instead we found one of the longest taxi lines I've ever seen, with hundreds and hundreds of people waiting for cabs. It was organized, though, and very efficient. The line kept moving and in fifteen minutes or so we found ourselves in the cab on the way to the hotel. 

We were lucky and our room was ready, so we went up, unpacked, enjoyed our view of North Las Vegas from the 17th floor and then went down to the pool for a quick bite after which we went in search of the shuttle to the strip. We just missed it, unfortunately, and ended up having to walk to the strip instead.

Ah, the strip! I remember it as a place strewn with big, kitschy casinos surrounded by parking lots. Now, apparently, it had become a place jam-packed with big, kitschy casinos surrounded by parking garages. Still, walking down the strip was as much fun as I remembered.

That evening Katrina and I decided to stay in. We started with drink at one of their bars, where we engaged the bartender in a lively discussion about how to make the bar better. After that it was up to the 51st floor of the Fantasy Tower to have dinner at one of the many hotel restaurants. A very nice meal later we were back at the ground floor where I lost my two obligatory dollars at the casino before retiring to our room.

The next day we were back at the strip, though this time we took the shuttle which dropped us off at the Forum Shops, a very nice shopping mall that apparently used to have talking statues, but now looks more like having a nice walk through Rome in the evening. I found a store there that sold some really cool movie memorabilia, including autographed posters of Bond movies. Really nice stuff, but unfortunately out of my price range. Leaving the Forum Shops we braved the rain (yes, the same rain that kept us from flying ourselves had made its way to Las Vegas by then), walked past the street vendors selling $5 umbrellas and made our way to the Bellagio where Katrina wanted to check out the glass sculptures. 

After our exploration of the strip we made it back to our hotel room to rest and wait for Marc and Stacey's arrival. And arrive they did, but their room was not ready so they went to one of the hotel bars to wait. We walked up to them, I tapped Marc's shoulder and when he turned I handed him his birthday gift, apologizing for forgetting to drop it off at his home the previous evening. I think he was surprised.

That evening we went out to celebrate his birthday with dinner at Bouchon, at the Venetian. The service at the place was excellent, the food was very good and we all had a good time despite the fact that I felt a little bit under the weather. There was only one thing that bothered me: if you are trying to recreate Venice in Vegas, don't add motors to your gondolas!

We ended up that evening at the Fremont St. Experience. Last time I was at Fremont St. it looked like it looks in Diamonds Are Forever: seedy casinos and lots of neon. Apparently in the last twenty years it has become a pedestrian-only street, with stages and bands all over the place, and street artists everywhere. All this under a canopy of huge LCD displays painting a show in the sky. It was noisy, it was crowded, it was fun. My favorite thing? Naked Kiss: four street artists that decided the way to make money was to put on thongs, platform boots, Kiss makeup and go pose for pictures with the tourists. Wonder what they were drinking when they came up with that idea.

Sunday we took things a little easier. We started with brunch at a place called Egg Beaters and then went off to take a look at Marc and Stacey's house. Then back to town where we hung out on the strip until it was time to go to the Laugh Factory to meet Marc's brother and sister-in-law to see Murray Sawchuck, a comedian / magician. It was the celebration of his two years on stage, and along with the tricks and jokes we got the company of Pia Zadora.

And that was it for our Las Vegas adventure. We headed back to the airport, went through security, had some nachos, caught our flight home and by midnight I was in bed, tired but satisfied.

My First Broadway Show

When I went to New York City in 2004 I tried to go see a Broadway show. The lines at the cheap ticket booth at Times Square were way too full, so we wandered to a few theaters and managed to get tickets for Salaam Bombay that evening. The evening came, we went to the theater to find out they had sold us tickets for the matinee. No Broadway show that time.

Ten years later, I got to go back to New York, and stayed at a hotel on Times Square. It was Winter the crowds were smaller and I decided this time I would stand in line at the cheap ticket counter and get a ticket for something. I went, stood in line for 45 minutes the something I got a ticket for turned out to be a preview of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, the Musical.

That night Katrina, Paul and I dressed up, walked a few blocks to the St. James Theater, went to our balcony seats and settled in to enjoy a new experience. Two hours later we left, tired and happy, having thoroughly enjoyed the show. After all, how can you go wrong with a show that has dancing hot dogs?

Old Friends at the Metropolitan Museum

Last March I went to New York City to see my girlfriend's daughter sing at Carnegie Hall. My girlfriend's mother treated us to the trip, and got us some very nice rooms right on Times Square. This was my fourth trip to New York, so there wasn't much that I wanted to see, except for one thing: visiting old friends at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To be precise, to visit three different paintings at the museum.

The first painting is Thomas Eakins' "The Champion Single Sculls." I first met this picture in 11th grade, in my U.S. history textbook. At that time, my definition of what made a painting good was how photo-realistic it was, and I remember being impressed by this picture. I stared at it for a long time, amazed that someone could paint something with such precision. When I first went to the museum I had no idea this painting was there, but I remember going into a gallery, running into it and grabbing my girlfriend and telling her about how I first met it.

The second painting is a strange one, "The Innocent Eye Test" by Mark Tansey who, Wikipedia tells me, was actually born in nearby San Jose! The painting is a black and white depiction of scientists showing a painting of cows to a cow. Apparently the scientists were testing whether the cow could differentiate between a painting and the real thing, but for me it's not about the science. Rather, it's about how silly the whole idea seems: grown men, serious and earnest, wondering how a cow will react. Seeing the picture always makes me smile.

The third painting, and the one I find most fascinating, is Jules Bastien-Lepage's Joan of Arc. This is a picture I look at for a long, long time. We are back into photo-realism territory here, but that's not why I like it (Ingrid cured me of such a limited view on art a long time ago); what fascinates me and holds my attention is the haunted look on Joan of Arc's face. The painting captures the moment after Joan's vision of the Archangel Michael, St Catherine and St. Margaret telling her to support the French king. To me, Bastien-Lepage did a wonderful job of capturing that moment. Joan looks like she's in a trance: she's received her instructions and surrendered to her destiny. It suggests that she no longer is in control of her own body, that she has become a vessel for God's will. A little scary, but it is a moment beautifully captured and every time I see it I can't stop looking.

Oh, another cool thing about it.  I looked at it for a long time before I noticed that the saints were also in the painting.

And that's it. Three friends I like to visit, one because it's a friend from my youth, one because it's just silly, and one because I find it haunting. I don't know if and when I will go to New York City again, but one thing I'm sure of: if I do, I will visit them.

Baltic Cruise

Departure

After four days in Copenhagen we boarded the Norwegian Star for our cruise: nine days, six ports and over two thousand fellow passengers. And it felt like we were meeting those 2000 other passengers during the boarding process! Having grown used to orderly lines around here, I was not prepared for the jostling and pushing the happened when they called our group of passengers to check-in. Both Katrina and I are tall,, though, so we survived the rush pretty much unscathed, if not in the happiest of moods.

Some time later we found ourselves at our cabin, suitably impressed with what I saw: a nice big bed, a sofa, a desk, and a balcony with an ocean view! The only missing thing was my suitcase. Katrina's was there, but mine had been replace with a little piece of paper saying I had to go pick it up somewhere else because it contained a "prohibited item," a bottle of wine I had told them I had. So I eventually found the place, paid for the wine, picked up my luggage and was ready to enjoy the cruise part of the vacation.

After exploring the ship and finding the usual amenities we joined our friends for our celebratory dinner at the Moderno Restaurant, an actual Brazilian churrascaria located on the ship. Two hours later,  sated and content, I felt we were in for a good cruise.

Waernemunde and Wismar

Waernemunde was our fist stop on the cruise, and started with a series of glitches. We were supposed to meet our guide at the pier, but the boat was rerouted at the last moment and berthed several miles away at the Rostok dockyards. Eventually our guide did find us there only to inform us that he had hurt his foot and would not be able to escort us. He arranged for one of his other guides to take over but he was over in Waernemunde. The man knew what he was doing, though, and eventually collected us all, put us in a van and half an hour later we were all at the Waernemunde train station, ready for our walk.

Now, what do I remember about Waernemunde? we had coffee and cake, which was good and walked along the town towards the beach. They showed us a hotel for foreign tourists built by the secret police, which according to our guide had built-in microphones in every room. We saw a beach covered in chairs designed by a woman who wanted to enjoy the beach in comfort:

And we saw the train that would take us Wismar.

Wismar was part of the Hanseatic League, which means that in medieval times it was rich and powerful. More importantly, Wismar is where they filmed parts of Nosferatu (the Murnau version, not the Herzog one). I remember the bridge with a small pig statue on each corner, no two pigs in the same pose; visiting a cathedral and having lunch at a brewery. I remember seeing the ruins of a church bombed during World War II and a beach volleyball tournament going on at the town square. I remember looking and not finding a book about the city, looking and finding coffee for Katrina and I.

  

Eventually it was time to go back to Waernemunde and the boat. That was the time for questions and answers and we had a pleasant, frank conversation with our guide about what it was like to grow up in Communist Germany. There was also the incident of the drunk German trying to chat up Katrina and Stacey, which made me a little tense, but it was never really a problem.

Oh yes, and I did accompany Marc on his quest to dip his toe in the Baltic:

Tallin

Tallin, the capital of Estonia and home of Skype was voted  favorite port by my friends. I claim it was all because of our guide, Alex from "Alex's Mostly Factual Tours." And mostly factual it was. Armed with a Tallin guidebook and following its directions, I warned my friends that most of what I told them would be factual, but not everything.

"Petrified tree stumps" used to build the dock

So we walked into town, passing the "petrified tree stumps" from the petrified trees they cut down to build the pier (not a fact #1) and in through the Fat Margaret gate (where not a fact #2 was introduced, a mention that Fat Margaret was a popular local prostitute). Walking towards the main town square we passed the KGB headquarters, considered to be the tallest building in town because from its basement you could see Siberia, some interesting churches and, most importantly, a cafe with free wifi, where we all had to stop so my friends could catch up on their emails.

Fat Margaret watch tower

They had a tower at the main square, so Ken, Marc and I had to climb it. Narrow steps, and many of them, but well-lighted and easy to climb, with a nice view at the top. We spent a few minutes there, but then it was time to come down so we could join the others and start climbing Toompea, so we could visit the palace garden and the cathedral.

Tallinn view from the sea

Palace and cathedral properly appreciated, it was time for lunch. We found a nice restaurant at the top of the hill where we enjoyed some local dish, washed down with  local beer. Then it was back down the hill, enjoying the sights until we got to Katarina Street, to Katrina's delight. We did some souvenir shopping there and then were off to the boat, where Mary Ann informed us we had covered 7.2. miles. That number was the basis of our new distance measuring unit, one Tallin. For the rest of the trip it was common to hear some ask, "Why are you tired? We've only walked 1/2 a Tallin!"

St. Petersburg

After a day at sea we found ourselves in Russia's old capital, St. Petersburg, a city of palaces, canals and cars. As our guide was fond of mentioning, St. Petersburg had five million people, one million cars and no parking garages. Of all the stops on the cruise this was the only one where we had to wait in line and go through passport control. The wait wasn't long, and on the good side I did get a Russian stamp on my passport!

Now, the first thing I noticed about St. Petersburg is that they like their domes gilded. Palaces, churches, government buildings, if it had a dome the dome was gold. When they ran out of domes, they decided that statues and iron gates were fair game too.

The palaces were spectacular. We visited Catherine's summer palace and were treated to beautiful gardens, and a palace with beautiful, opulent rooms. For me, two rooms stood out: the ballroom, covered in mirrors and gold (of course!), and the amber room, which unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph. We also went to Peter's summer palace, but there we only visited the gardens, our guide apologizing and explaining our time was limited. Not a problem, though, the gardens were beautiful, well tended, with beautiful fountains and gold statues.

Ballroom at Catherine's summer palace

Gardens at Peter's summer palace

And then there was the Hermitage. We only had a couple of hours in it, not enough time to see much of anything. The collection is so big that if you spent one minute in front of each piece it would take over 30 years to see it all. But we did see some beautiful clockwork, a tabletop inlaid with a beautiful mosaic made of teensy-weensy tiles, and a beautiful collection of Picasso and impressionists. The Hermitage also boasted a collection of grumpy old women that would snap at you if you knelt in one of the benches to take a better picture. Katrina did not like them.

A few other places come to mind: a fort where we saw the graves of Peter, Catherine and Nicholas; the restaurant where we had a lunch consisting of cheese-filled pastries that look remarkably like the Brazilian "pastel;" the beautiful Church of the Spilled Blood, which during World War II was used as a morgue and afterwards as a warehouse; the basement restaurant where we had lunch on the first day; the stores at the dock where we tried to spend the last of our rubles.

Eating Georgina "pasteis"

And I do remember the conversation with our guide on the way back to the boat, talking about what life was in post-communist Russia. We heard how people are entitled to ownership of the rooms where they lived before (not the apartment mind you, the room). We heard about the life expectancy in the low fifties because of systemic drinking. We heard about a culture where no one smiles at strangers and find it suspicious if someone smiles at them. Reminders that it was definitely a different culture. 

Helsinki

Helsinki was hard for me. My wife Sharon had spent a summer studying there when she was doing her MBA at the University of Washington. So everything I saw had me wondering if Sharon had seen it too, and if so what her impressions were. I felt her presence everywhere.

We didn't have much time in Helsinki, but we did have a guide all to ourselves, a Portuguese man who fell in love with a Finn he met in London and who decided that Helsinki was a better place to raise his family. He was entertaining and taught us a lot about the Finns: their disappointment in Nokia and the fact that Microsoft bought them; their pride in the success of Angry Birds; how the country subsidizes education and helps people start their own business. All in a country that cares about its people and wants them to prosper.

So, we piled in the van and made our way to the first stop, the Sibelius monument. Now, I don't know much about Sibelius other than he was the composer of Finlandia, but the monument was nice. Located in a park by the water, it consists mostly of metal tubes and Sibeliu's bust, with music coming out of his ears. Apparently the bust part was not part of the original design, but added because the Finns did not want a Sibelius monument without Sibelius in it.

The whole gan in front of the Sibelius monument

Our next destination was one of the many communal gardens which abound in the city. Apparently the Finns prize their time outside in the sun, given the limited amount they get, and thoroughly enjoy those gardens which they also use as a place to just hang out and chat with their neighbors. On the way there we drove by the prime minister's house where we found no guns, no guards, no big fences. Definitely a different experience than a visit to the White House.

Communal garden 

Our next stop was the Olympic Stadium, whose main attraction was a tower from the top of which we could see the whole city. Even better, the tower had an elevator, so very few steps to climb to the top. So to the top we went and enjoyed a nice view of the city.

View or Helsinki from the Olympic Stadium's tower

In the short time we still had we managed to visit the Rock Church, a church carved into the side of a hill, a downtown market area where I managed to get a picture book about Helsinki and the Uspenski Cathedral before going back to the boat.

I enjoyed Helsinki, a very pleasant place to visit, at least when the weather was summery and balmy. I was surprised at how modern it was, with most of its buildings dating from the 19th century. If I'm ever again in that neighborhood I will definitely drop by. 

Stockholm

I was a little nervous about Stockholm. Given our limited time in town I decided that what I wanted to do was to get together with my friend Tomas and his wife Cristina  for lunch at the modern art museum. With no tour guide waiting for me, no idea where the boat would dock and no idea how to get around in the city I was a little apprehensive about my ability to make it to the museum and back to the  boat in time. 

The fears were unfounded. The ship docked close to the downtown area and there was a hop-in-hop-out boat right by it that would take us to all the places we wanted to go. With a boat every fifteen minutes and a round trip of one hour I was confident we would be able to meet Tomas, have a nice leisurely lunch and be back in the boat with plenty of time. 

Hop-on Hop-off tourist boat, or main means of transportation in Stockholm

So Katrina and I hopped into the boat.

Our first stop was in the old medieval Stockholm. We hopped of the boat by the castle, opened our trusty Rick Steve's guide and took a couple of hours to explore the downtown area. Some of the things we saw:

Smallest public statue in Stockholm

Phoenix sign, indicating this house had paid fire protection in medieaval times

Mailboxes that look like the buildings they represent

After walking maybe half a Tallinn we hopped back into the boat and made our way to Skeppsholmen, the island where the modern art museum is. There we hopped off again and found some time to explore the gardens before meeting Tomas and Cristina. they had some interesting sculptures outside, but the ones that surprised me the most were the ones by Pablo Picasso. I didn't know he sculpted!

Katrina and Picasso statues

We met for lunch at the museum's cafeteria where the food was ok, the coffee was drinkable and the conversation excellent. We caught up on what's been happening in our lives since we'd last met  a couple of years before.  That was followed by a pleasant walk in Stockholm's downtown until we said our goodbyes by the old town's narrowest street and went our separate ways, Katrina and I hopping back on the boat for the trip back to where our ship was docked.

With Cristina and Tomas in old Stockholm

I liked Stockholm and enjoyed spending time with Cristina and Tomas. There's still a lot to see, though, so we will have to come back someday.

At Sea

Ok, we covered the ports we visited during this trip, now all that remains to be covered is the time we spent in the ship.

Let's start with the worst thing, the coffee. It was, to say the least, undrinkable. Whether we got it at one of the many restaurants or brewed it in our cabin, it did not taste good at all. We had to made do with tea and promised ourselves that if we take this cruise company again we'll bring our own coffee.

Other than that, the days at sea were fine. We usually had dinner in one of the two main dining rooms and the food was tasty. We ended each day by meeting at the Biergarden to talk about that day's adventures, watch the ship leave the port and celebrate with beer.

Celebrating at the Biergarden

There was a martini tasting experience. A few weeks before the trip I told my friends that if anyone in the boat asked me what I did for a living I would tell them that I sold sex dolls and was treating my top customers to a trip. And the opportunity for that happened when I decided to go to the martini tasting, which apparently is ship-speak for drinking four full martinis in less than an hour. . I shared a table with an Australian couple  and when they asked what I did for a living,  all inhibitions were thrown aside and I happily answered when they asked me what I did. Spent the rest of the trip hoping to run into them again when accompanied by my friends, but unfortunately that did not happen.

They did do the traditional towel folding thing, and we returned to our rather nice room every evening to find some animal waiting for us: dogs, elephants, apes and my favorite, the "evil penguin." For reasons I can't explain they decided to add reflective red eyes to the penguin-folded towel which just made it look as if it was possessed. Creepy.

Evil towel penguin

We had line-dancing lessons one day, Katrina, Mary Ann, Ken and I. It was fun, but I hadn't done any dancing in years and underestimated how out of shape I was. While everyone kept on dancing I had to stop every few minutes to rest. Of course that resulted in some ribbing from my friends but, hey, that's what friends are for!

And with this we finish this account of my Baltic cruise. Once again I apologize for the tardiness of this entry, since it has now been over six months since we came back. I will try to do better in the future.

Copenhagen

First, some apologies. I intended to write this as day-by-day account of our visit to Copenhagen and our Baltic cruise, but time ran away from me, as well as inspiration. Instead we have this somewhat dry account of the trip, written almost six months after coming back. Not even sure how much of it is true anymore, but as my friends know, I am not one to let the truth get in the way of a good story. But I'll try and do better next time.

So, after successfully obtaining our cOPENhagen cards, Katrina and I  found ourselves in our hotel room in Copenhagen, conveniently located between the train station and what used to be the meat district but now is the red-light district (I guess that makes it still the meat district). Unpacked, showered and hydrated, we were ready to take on Copenhagen. We had three whole days to explore the city, with many things to see and do, and many places we visited more than once. Here's what we did, in no particular order,  and my impressions.

Stroeget

The Stroeget is Copenhagen's answer to Vienna's Kaertnerstrasse, a pedestrian-only street lined with stores, filled with tourists and peppered with street artists. We entered the Stroeget from the city hall side, and I have to admit I was a little discouraged by my first encounter with it: the three stores at the entrance were, shall we say, distinctly American.

It got better once inside and  I soon found myself enjoying the crowds, the sights and the noises. They had all kinds of stores, from hole-in-the-wall eateries to designer stores and everything in between. I even found one of those spas where they have fish nibble away at your dead skin! Always thought that was a Japanese thing, but apparently I was wrong. Oh, and several stores had the following sign, which I hope means sale and not what I think it means:

One of the good things about the Stroeget is that if you go in from the city hall end and come out the other end, you will find yourself really close to...

Nyhavn

The New Harbor is, apparently, a redeveloped area. Close to warehouses, it used to have seedy bars catering to sailors, but now has expensive bars catering to tourists. Being a tourist, I felt it was my duty to go there, find a bar and consume the traditional Danish beverage, beer.

Now, Katrina and I had been debating for quite a while the merits of Carlsberg and Tuborg beers. She vehemently defended Carlsberg as the ancestral beverage of her family and I, never having tried either, unhesitatingly expounded on the superiority of Tuborg. At Nyhavn we finally put it to the test, ordering one of each so I could decide. I also decided to take a poll of the locals, which actually means I asked our waiter which beer he liked best. I am happy to report that, according to my research, the Danish people agree with me: Tuborg is the better beer.

We went back to Nyhavn one more time, to celebrate the arrival of our cruise partners. More beer was consumed, but this time we chose the bar based on proximity to the desired street artist, in this case a violin player performing Solveig's Song from Grieg's Peer Gynt, one of my favorite classical pieces. With this kind of entertainment, we had to stop there, enjoy the view and raise our beers in celebration before heading for dinner at...

Tivoli

It's hard to describe Tivoli. It's a park, in the sense that it has nice gardens, and paths among them; it's an amusement park, in the sense that it has rides, including merry-go-rounds and roller coasters; it's a mall, in the sense that it has stores and many, many, many restaurants. Most importantly, it is a wonderfully entertaining place, our last stop each and every day before returning to the hotel to sleep.

Our first time there we had one and one goal only, to find the restaurant that sold organic fish and chips. And find it we did, tucked somewhere in the Chinese sector, under a big red dragon. I was more a kiosk than an actual restaurant, but they had the fish, they had the chips and they tasted good.

We went for a boat ride, in a little lake they have. Katrina was always impressed by the honor system involved in riding these little boats: you take your  boat out into the lake, and wander around until your number lights up on a message board, at which point you have to take your boat back. Not many places can have this system work.

Inspired by my friend Ken I decided the boat ride was the perfect opportunity to try and be artistic with my photography. So I set the camera on its tripod, selected an exposure of several seconds and spun the boat around as fast as it would go. If you do that, you get blurry yellow pictures.

Wandering around the park with our friends looking for a place to have dinner, I was unable to convince them to go eat on the pirate ship at the lake. Not even the mention that they served knaesende kakerlakker was enough to sway them. It's a pity, because I was curious as to what a knaesende kakerlakker could possibly be. Not enough to look it up, though, so it will remain a mystery until I go back.

In one corner they had a nice big lawn where kids were running about, balancing on top of these big wooden wheels  and trying to roll them like loggers. It seemed like a lot of fun and the, shall we say, "kids" in our group could not resist the temptation to give it a try. In the blink of an eye Katrina and Ken were on top of their wheels, trying to drive them around. Despite some fears, no body parts were broken, sprained or dislodged.

So good food, good fun and just a pleasant place to hang out in. When I go back to Copenhagen I will definitely go back there.

Walking Tour

Katrina arranged for us to meet Hans Christian Andersen, a.k.a. Richard from New Jersey, who took us on a walking tour of Copenhagen, telling us all about its geography, history and the current state of the country. The walk itself and the sites were nice, but not remarkable, covering the Latin Quarter, some churches, a synagogue, the university (which had a bust of Niels Bohr) and more. The information imparted, however, was well worth the price of the tour:  it was interesting, thought-provoking and entertaining, though his defense of the socialist welfare system makes me wonder if Republicans would last more than half an hour on the tour before quitting in disgust. It was actually fun how H.C.A. would stop passer-bys to corroborate the points he was making. For example, after talking about government-financed education he stopped and asked her to tell us whether her government stipend was enough to live on.

Conveniently, the tour ended right by the...

Round Tower

There is this unwritten rule that requires I climb towers in Europe. It doesn't matter what city we are visiting, it doesn't matter how tall the tower is, it doesn't matter how many steps there are to the top, it doesn't matter how uncomfortable the climb is, it doesn't matter how the rickety railing always freaks me out, I have to climb it. And at the end of the walking tour there was a tower. More specifically, there was the Round Tower.

The Round Tower was built by Christian IV, who liked climbing towers even less than I do. He believed that if you have to climb a tower, you might as well do it in comfort and style. So, instead of the cramped space, instead of the never-ending stairs, instead of the rickety railing, there was a wide gently slopping ramp that could accommodate Christian's carriage and horses. Not having a carriage or horses handy, I had to walk up, but it was a pleasure.

And I got rewarded with this view.

Canal Boat Tour

We took a canal boat tour, a one hour ride taking us through different parts of the town, all the way up to the Little Mermaid statue and back. We got into the boat, looked around, got out of the boat and it was one hour later. I am glad the ticket price was covered by the cOPENhagen card.

National Museum

We visited the National Museum on a rainy morning, and it was good to be inside. The cOPENhagen card was no use here, since admittance to the museum is free, but we did not not let that deter us. We went inside and had a wonderful time looking at exhibits dating from prehistoric times all the way to the Dark Ages (there actually might have been more, but that's where we stopped).

What I remember most is their special exhibit on the vikings. They had a viking boat in there somewhere, or at least significant parts of one. We eventually found it and there's one thing I have to say, those boats were big! Not big as in the size of a bus, more like big as in the size of three buses placed bumper to bumper!

Little Mermaid

We had been warned she was going to be small, we were prepared for her being small, so it was not a disappointment. Our first sighting of the mermaid was from the boat tour, a little too far to really enjoy it. My second sighting was when I walked there from NyHavn where I had to fight my way among throngs of tourists in order to see her. So I sat on a rock and just watched the crowds, enjoying their interaction with the statue, amazed by parent who would put their three-year olds on top of it and step back to take a picture.

They have more impressive statues in the city. As a matter of fact, I found the one I liked the most on the way to the Little Mermaid. Right by St. Alban's church is Gefion Fountain, on top of which we find Gefion herself, with her sons in the form of oxen. Apparently Gefion needed a chunk of Sweden in order to build Seeland, the island on which Copenhagen is located, and thought that changing her sons into cattto help her plow the land was the best way to accomplish that. The hole she left behind in Sweden, the story says, is now lake Maelaren.

Amalienborg Square and Museum

This is the square where the queen lives, at least in winter. Four identical building make up the corners of the square, one the residence of the queen, another one of her marathon-running son and prince, a third one a museum of the royal residences. The fourth building is there, I guess, because having three identical buildings would just be silly.

The museum was worth the hour or so it takes to visit, and they did accept my cOPENhagen card. You walk from room to room, each room recreating the personal office of one of their kings. It's fun to go from room to room in chronological order, seeing styles change and things become more and more modern.

Rosenborg Castle and Gardens

Rosenborg Castle was built as a summer residence by Christian IV, he of Round Tower fame. Apparently the man liked having things built to accomodate his tastes. In this case he had his architects include a room covered in mirrors in which he met his many mistresses. He was wise enough to add a secret entrance / exit to the room, so that the women could leave unseen, should it be necessary.

The castle was also home to the treasury, where I went to take a look at the crown jewels. And they had a lot of jewels:  some beautiful scepters, extravagant necklaces and crowns covered in gold and jewels, but my favorite was this small ring one of the kings made for his unfaithful wife (not that he was a saint either): the band consisted of a hand holding a penis, a not so subtle message from the king to his wife, indicating he knew what she was doing.

Church of our Savior

On the edge of Christiania, the Bohemian district of Copenhagen, there is a church. This church has a tower, so I had to go climb it. No wide, horse-friendly path this time, just narrow windy stairs with an interesting twist: close to the top, the stairs are outside, surrounding the tower's spire.

That was enough to stop me. For the first time ever, I didn't make it to the absolute top. The outside steps were too much for me, and I stopped at the little platform where they started. But I was rewarded with this view:

And this was it for Copenhagen. A bicycle-friendly town, a walking town, a town with many interesting things to see and do. Given a chance, I will definitely go there again.