What an amazing time we’ve had these past few months! We traveled to London, UK to visit with best friends and family and then headed out on a cruise through the Baltic. After that, we traveled to Jamaica to attend a friend’s wedding. Finally, we returned to New York!
When we began the cruise, we stopped off in Amsterdam, Netherlands and visited the Van Gogh Museum. Just a hint: be sure to order tickets online or be prepared to wait a long time to get into the very small museum.
Our next day was spent traveling from the North Sea to the Baltic via the Kiel Canal, Germany. We had an amazing suite overlooking the ship’s prow.
Once we arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, we took a tour of the waterways [boring] then walked through the Gamla stan (The Old Town). The streets were closed down for the 15th Stockholm Half Marathon. It was fun to see all the runners and the celebrations.
In Tallinn, Estonia, we walked on our own into the quaint old city and went shopping. The woolen goods are gorgeous, well made and reasonably priced. Woo hoo!
Two days in St. Petersburg, Russia meant we visited the Hermitage, Peterhof Palace, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and cruised down the River Neva.
The Old Town of Riga, Latvia had lots of medieval culture and Art Noveau architecture to explore.
Despite mockery by our friend, Eric, our excursion to the former missile silo in the Zemaitija National Park in Klaipeda, Lithuania was terrific. The best par
t of it was listenin
g to the guide’s childhood stories and the gradual growth of his sense of Latvian pride and nationalism.
We had the opportunity to visit the Louisiana Museum outside of Copenhagen, Denmark and saw the Yayoi Kusama: In Infinity exhibit. It was terrific fun.
