More travel news

Monday

Arrived in Helsinki, Finland, to another cloudy day. We had booked a boat and bus tour in Helsinki so that we could catch the main sights. Got on a bus from the dock to go to that part of the harbour where the boat part of the tour left from. The guide spoke pretty good English and the boat was quite comfortable. It was too cold to stay outside for any length of time so became resigned to taking pictures from inside the boat.

It is surprising how many islands make up all of the cities we have been to so far. Helsinki is also made up of a lot of islands, some of which have houses, others, summer cottages with sauna, and others that are owned by the city as recreational parks. There are some bathing beaches, but the water would be pretty cold, and I suspect that there would also be mosquitoes in the summer, because it is quite swampy and low lying.

Many of the houses we passed were owned by very wealthy people, and they take great delight in showing these homes off. One or two even had float planes pulled up on to the front lawns!

Some of the older wooden villas are owned by the city and they are rented out to artists and artisans as craft studios and residences.

Back to land after an hour or so to get onto the bus and take a trip around some of the senic parts of the city. Highlights included the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1940 Olympic Games which were cancelled because of the war, then rescheduled for the 1952 Olympics. we saw more lovely houses including those specially for the Prime Minister and the President of Finland. The highlight was seeing the Sibelius Monument, a memorial to Jean Sibelius, famous composer of the Finlandia Suite amongst other things. It was built by a woman sculptor who took 6 years to complete the project.

We then went back to the ship and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Dinner was formal tonight, but we decided that we didn't really want a formal dinner so went to the Windjammer Cafe instead.
After dinner, we went to the West End to Broadway stage show, which was really spectacular. A fine rendition of Queen and selection from Les Mis were highlights.

Tuesday
Overnight we sailed along the Baltic Sea, losing yet another hours sleep, to St Petersberg, arriving at 7.00 am. It was an early start for tours as they started gathering at 7.45 am for an 8.00 am departure. Everyone had to take some sort of organised tour due to the Visa requirements. This has been the only place where we have had to go through immigration since we left Harwich.

We took a Panoramic tour of St Petersberg by bus, which lasted about 3 hours. The number of palaces built by the Tzars and the nobility in St Petersberg is just incredible. It seems that the Tzars had these built for their favoured subjects. Peter the Great even made his baker the Prime Minister and built him a large palace. Also evident are a large number of churches, which are very ornate and contain much gold as decoration. One of the churches we saw was the Church of Our Saviour Spilled Blood built to commemorate the death of Alexander 2 and was placed on the site of the place he was murdered. It was funded by public subscription from all the districts of Russia, and to recognise this, the coats of arms for all these places were built into the outside walls of the church.

Across the road was a small souvenir market which we were encouraged to visit. Wandered around and eventually decided to buy some Christmas decorations. Bargained a bit, but were probably still overpriced!
The streets of St Petersberg are quite wide as they were originally designed to be canals, by design of Peter the Great who founded the city in 1703. But when they started to dig the canals, it was found to be very prone to flooding, so the canals were filled in. Some still exist and have been lined with granite to keep the flooding at bay.

Back to the ship for lunch and a snoozy afternoon. We did take part in the Trivia Quiz with a british couple and managed to tie for first, causing a tie-breaker question. Unfortunaely, the other team came up with the capital of Venezuela before us, so we were runners-up! It was quite fun though.

In the evening, the cruie company had organised for a Russian Military Dance Troupe to entertain, so the theatre was filled to see this. The singing was good, but the dancing was quite spectacular. The costumes were very colourful and the dancers were very talented and agile. They received a standing ovation at the end.

Wednesday
Another early start to the day and onto a bus for a trip to the Peter and Paul Fortress, built by Peter the Great to help protect the city at its sea port. Unfortunately, it started raining just as we were boarding the bus and we had left the umbrella behind for the first time on the trip! Is that Murphy's Law or not??

The Peter and Paul fortress has inside it a very ornate church which was only used for funerals of the members of the Royal Family, the Romanovs.  All are buried inside the church and have tombs well marked. Even the remains of the last Tzar and his family are there. The most recent interment there was the grandmother of the last Tzar, Nicholas 2nd(?) who had escaped from Russia at the time of the Russian revolution in 1917. She died in the country to which she escaped and her remains were reinterred here in 2009. All but two of the tombs are exactly the same, made from marble and decorated with gold.

After getting very wet going back to the bus, we were taken to a canal boat which took us past many of the places we had seen from the road yesterday. Because it was raining, it was difficult to take pictures, but it did provide another perspective on the city.

Arrived back to the ship about 11.30 am and had lunch. Then took our books up to the 13th floor to find a quiet place to read and have a snooze again before going down to the Trivia Quiz again. This time we teamed up with a couple from Sydney and ended up winning the quiz! 14 right out of 16. The prize? A Pen.

Left St Petersberg about 6.15 pm en route to Tallinn in Estonia.

Photos

Farewell from the Harwich Pipe Band

The Jewel of the Seas at Copenhagen.

Janet and Roger at Nyhavn, Copenhagen.

The Warship Vasa, Vasa Museum, Stockholm.

Cruising at last!

Wednesday
Carol and David dropped us at the station to get a train into London where we needed to get a taxi to Liverpool St Station. We arrived there in plenty of time to collect the tickets for the Harwich train, so had a leisurely coffee before finding Platform 15.

Boarded the train early and watched as others boarded with lots of luggage which was piled up around the doorways – just as well there was no need to evacuate the train in an emergency!

Travelled through Essex to Harwich with one stop at Colchester, a journey of about 1 hour 15 minutes. The train stopped at the International terminal, which was right next to the pier where the ship was moored.

Of course, everyone else was arriving at the same time, so it took quite a while to get through the boarding process. Had to check in to collect sea passes and do the passport thing, then a long queue to go through security before you got on board. Zigzagged up a long ramp to finally reach the ship, where security photos were taken, then finally on to our stateroom on Deck 8. Compact, but with a balcony so it seems a bit bigger.

Went up to the Windjammer restaurant to get some lunch about 3.00pm. Very big selection of food to choose from, but we just had a light lunch as dinner was about 6.30pm. Then we wandered around the ship finding out where things were. At 4.30, we had a compulsory lifeboat drill but did not need the life jackets, nor did we have to get into lifeboats. It would have been interesting seeing some of the people on board struggling into life jackets and lifeboats!! One of the crew who was checking people off for the lifeboat drill fancied himself as a bit of a showman and was trying to be funny as we were waiting for everyone to turn up, but it didn’t come off too well!

The ship departed from Harwich a bit late (due to delays in loading food supplies!) to the sounds of the local pipe band playing “We are Sailing” and a variety of Scottish tunes, including the Skye Boat Song!

Thursday
Today was a sea day and we spent the day relaxing a bit. Used the gym, with a great view of the sea, and more sea, as well as eating, and more eating. They say your clothes shrink when you are cruising – I wonder why?? Went to a craft class, but didn’t do anything as they were just giving out scrapbook layout stuff, but you really couldn’t do anything with it as haven’t any photos yet. I did meet a couple of ladies from Blackburn – a daughter taking her mother on a cruise to celebrate her 80th birthday. The older one was a card maker so we sat down and had a chat about making cards and things.

Have met a few people, mainly at meal times and most have been cruising several times. We have not met anyone from New Zealand or Australia yet. Mostly Americans and Brits on the cruise and are mostly older people.

Tonight was a formal dining night, but because we are doing My Time dining, it wasn’t really a big deal and so far, we have not had to share a table for dinner. Meals are very good – they offer lighter meals that are low calorie as well as other meals and you can pick from whatever menu you want. Roger had escargots for an entrée last night and decided that they were OK but wouldn’t bother with them again as they were swimming with butter. The Atlantic Salmon was very nice and the fillet steak was good too.

Friday
Woke up early and were able to catch the ship’s entry to Copenhagen Harbour about 7.00am. By the time the ship got into the harbour and turned around to dock, it was nearly 8.00am. We had an early breakfast and took our time to get ready to catch the shuttle into the city.

We were dropped off in the Kings Square, a few metres from Nyhavn, which is an older part of the city and has lots of restaurants and cafes and is that part of the city that is often seen in photos of Copenhagen. After a walk around the side of the canal, we decided to take a canal boat tour which was about an hour long and cost about $NZ 7 each - probably the cheapest thing to do in Copenhagen and certainly cheaper than a latte! The boat trip took us around the canals which are near the harbour, past the cruise boat dock, the royal palace, naval yards and through areas of gentrification where warehouses and factories have been converted to apartment blocks and new apartments have been built. Some of the old barges and canal boats have also been converted to floating homes, hotels and restaurants. It was a great way to see some of the city.

After the canal cruise, we walked back to the centre of the city and wandered around some of the shops, through the main pedestrian shopping area, had some lunch at a little café which specialised in great sandwiches, bought some postcards, changed some money then caught the shuttle back to the ship.
By this time, the weather had cleared up a little and the sun was shining a bit, so it was a pleasant stay. The ship left on time and we were on our way to Sweden, the home of IKEA and Nokia.

Saturday
Today was another sea day. It seemed to take ages to go what seemed not too far on the map but then we discovered that the ship had to back track and go around the island that Copenhagen is situated, so for the first time, last night, we got to see a sunset as we were going the opposite direction to what we were normally going. Make sense?

Spent the day reading and catching up on a few zzz’s in the solarium, where it was very warm. The wind was effectively about 30 knots yesterday because of the speed of the ship and the actual wind speed, so it was quite cold, too cold for us to sit outside although some very hardy souls were sitting out with no shirts on!!
Dinner last night was Italian themed, so we enjoyed it very much. Tiramisu for dessert!

Sunday
As I write this, we are making our way through thousands of small islands in the Archipelago on our way to Stockholm. The islands are beautiful, tree covered and some with quite big settlements on them. It is, unfortunately, a bit wet too, so I am guessing the outside photos will not be so good today.

It is now after lunch, and we are back on the ship warming up after a trip around Stockholm by bus and a visit to the Vasa Museum.

The Vasa was a warship built in Stockholm and completed in the summer of 1628 for the King of Sweden. Its greatest claim to fame is that when it began its maiden voyage, it sailed about 300 metres from its berth, then sank in the harbour. It lay on the harbour bed for three centuries before it was found and consequently raised. Over a period of about 30 years, it was preserved and restored and housed in a purpose built museum in Stockholm, only a few hundred metres from where it was first launched. It is an amazing sight and well worth a visit if you are ever in Stockholm.

The bus trip around the central part of Stockholm was informative and we saw the palace, the cathedral (where Crown Princess Victoria is getting married to her physical trainer on 19th June), the Parliament, the Town Hall where the Nobel Prize dinner is held every year on 10 December, the house where Alfred Nobel lived and worked on his dynamite, the centre for local government and other local attractions. Stockholm is a city of islands, with 52 bridges connecting them all. It also is very old, dating back to the 12th century.

We had thought about staying on in the centre of the city for a while after the bus tour, but it was raining quite hard at the end of the tour, so decided to go back to the ship and get some lunch, then rest up for the rest of the day!!

Update on Tuesday

Well, the crafty day on Saturday at Wantage was great fun. After a wonderful breakfast at the Regis Guesthouse, we headed back to The Stamp Attic to meet up with Sue, Zoe and Lucy who are friends I had met in an on-line forum for card makers. What special people! We had a great time colouring in stamped images with special alcohol ink markers and swapping gifts, as well as setting challenges for each other. I can't wait to get my hands on my craft stuff to get the challenges done!

Roger spent the day exploring Wantage and visiting us at the craft shop. He went to the local Museum, where he got talking to a lady who was contemplating coming to NZ, chatted to some of the locals and generally made himself familiar with Wantage. Wantage is the place where Alfred the Great was born in 849 AD and there is a large statue of him in the market square.

We had a meal at an Indian restaurant on Saturday night, which was very nice.

On Sunday, we made our way back to Croydon via lots of small villages, before rejoining the M4 and then the M25. Driving a manual car is quite different and I managed to only stall it a couple of times!!!

Monday was a lazy day again after the excitement of the weekend, and we didn't do a lot, except catch up on washing and other chores!

Today was a sunny day initially and as David had some time off, we decided to go for a drive. We eventually decided to go to a village called Godstone, just south of the M25. We went to a 16th century pub called the White Hart for lunch - rather a large one at that! After lunch, Carol suggested we should see if Dai Davis was home. Dai was the principal of the school that I taught at in London in 1989 - Whitehorse Manor Junior. He was home and was most surprised to see us, but we got a warm welcome and spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up on the last 20 years!!

Back home to start packing suitcases as we leave for our 12 night cruise tomorrow afternoon. We have to get a train up to Liverpool St Station, then another train to Harwich. Roger is feeling much better now and is looking forward to the cruise, so it should be a good time!

Not sure about internet connections on board the ship, so will try to update when we can. Photos to be included next time too!

Back to Croydon

Wednesday evening saw us back on the road to Croydon. The weather has started to warm up a bit, even so, the wind is a bit cold!!

Thursday afternoon, Roger and I had to go to the bank to pick up the new cash cards that I had ordered a week before. Only problem was that the old pin numbers no longer work and they had to order new pin numbers - another week!

Did a quick look at a couple of shops in the Whitgift Centre and Roger bought some DVD sets while I checked out the card making magazines in WH Smith.

Day 16

Picked up a KA car from the car rental at Elmers End and headed to Wantage via the M25, M4 and a few little villages on the B4494. Stopped at a village called Thackton for a coffee and found that we couldn't lock the passenger side door. Ended up ringing the car rental place to find out what to do! You would think it would be written in the car handbook!!!
Arrived about 3 pm at Wantage. It is a smallish market town in Oxfordshire, about 20 miles from Oxford. Checked in at the Regis Guest house to a warm welcome from Millie and a nice cup of tea and fresh blueberry muffin. Went for a drive into the town centre, found a car park and went for a short walk. Found the Stamp Attic where we are meeting tomorrow and had a sneaky look around the shop. Looking forward to meeting up with Zoe, Sue, Carol and Lucy tomorrow morning.

Day 8

After the excitement of craft shopping yesterday, we had a quiet day this day.

Carol suggested a ride to Coombe Park to have a look at the gardens.

The tulips were still flowering gloriously and we wandered through the garden to a seat at the top of the park. It was sunny but cool. The tulips were stunning colours and varieties and the photo does not do them justice.

Day 9
Carol and I decided to go over to Bromley to have a look at the shops. It was still pretty cold so I decided to buy some new jeans, as I was sure I would need then for the cruise as well. Spring just has not been at all warm while we have been here. Managed to find some good bargains and we headed back to the Vicarage.

Day 11
Sunday, and we went to church. It was an interesting service as the preacher was Adjoa Andoh.
Adjoa is a lay reader from Herne Hill who also starred in Invictus, the movie about Nelson Mandela and the Rugby World cup. After the service we had a brief word with her and she was the most delightful, unassuming person who has a strong Christian faith. She has also been in TV programmes such as Dr Who, Casualty, The Bill etc.

After church we had lunch then headed off to Birchington, Kent, where David and Carol have a house that they plan to retire to in 2012. It takes about an hour and a half to get there from Shirley.

Spent the next few days at Birchington and visited a few places, including the shopping centre at Westwood Cross, a garden centre at Broadstairs and Canterbury.

Canterbury is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. They now charge for entry to the Cathedral as they are trying to raise a lot of money to undertake repairs to the cathedral, but David flashed his clerical ID and we were allowed in for nothing!

We spent  quite a bit of time walking around the cathedral as it has been added to over the centuries and has a lot of little chapels as well as the main body of the cathedral and the crypt. A lot of tombs are there as well, Henry VI and his wife, a number of archbishops and wealthy patrons from centuries ago.

It was a very cold day and Roger and I ended up buying jackets to try to keep warm. Still, they were quite cheap and will be useful for the cruise  too!


Picture above: Memorial outside the gates to the Cathedral at Canterbury.

Picture at right: Canterbury Cathedral - looking towards the main entrance.

Another Update

Day 6

Since yesterday was a very quiet, stay at home day, I ventured out to Croydon with Carol. We had a bit of a look around the Whitgift Centre, where I went to the bank to find out why we had not got our updated cash cards... The bank officer was very helpful and ordered cards to be picked up from the branch in 5 - 7 working days!! (Just as well we had some cash already!) Then she said we might need to get new pin numbers and that would take a further 5 - 7 days as you couldn't do it at the bank (perhaps the NZ banking system could show them a thing or two about that!!). Hopefully we won't need to use the cards before the end of the month!!

The weather has been a bit on the cool side - starts off sunny out, but cool, then the clouds arrive and it stays cool. Fortunately, it hasn't rained since Sunday, so don't need a coat.

Day 7

Today was the day when I got to meet Burnice - a friend I had met some time ago on an on-line card making forum. Roger was not interested in spending the day talking about cards and shopping, so he stayed in Croydon while I took the train to Lingfield, where Burn met me and we headed for the Craft Barn, an incredible craft shop dedicated to stamping and the like. I have never seen so much in one place that I could have bought! (Photo - Burn outside the Craft Barn clutching her shopping bag!)

After an hour and a half shopping, we headed back to her house at Woodingdean, near Brighton where we spent the rest of the time talking and playing with stamping stuff. Reluctantly, I had to leave her and get the train back to East Croydon later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Roger had spent some time going into Croydon and having a bit of a look around the shops. He was able to find out about rental cars for our trip to Wantage next weekend.

At last - arrived in the UK

After a rather traumatic short stay in Hong Kong, and a very long flight, we have arrived safely in the UK.
Day 2
We arrived in Hong Kong on Friday morning after a good flight. Arrivals hall was not too busy and we were able to get through and reclaim our luggage quite quickly (much more so than arriving in Christchurch International). We got the train into the city and then a taxi to the hotel where we were able to check in and get our room (all this before 7.30 am!)

The hotel - Novotel in Nathan Road - was very comfortable. The room had a kingsized bed which did take up a lot of room! After a shower and cup of tea, we wandered down into the road and made our way to the underground. We took the underground up to the next station and went to visit our friend, the optician to get contacts for Suzanne and Janet and to get glasses for Janet. The cost is incredibly cheap compared with what you pay in NZ.

From there we went to the Harbour Shopping Centre and did a bit of shopping there - iPod, Benefit cosmetics and some card making stuff. Then back to the hotel.

Hong Kong was quite warm - mid-20"s and fine.
Day 3
Saturday was a public holiday in Hong Kong. However, as Roger was not feeling too good, we stayed in the hotel for breakfast. Later on, he was still not great so we called a doctor who suggested that he should have some tests done. Result - spent the rest of the day in St Theresa's Hospital having a battery of tests to make sure everything was OK and that we could continue our flights to the UK. Cost - an arm and a leg! Got back to the hotel about 9.30 pm to pack up and get ready for an early check out for onward flight to the UK.
Day 4
Checked out early - 6.00 am, took a taxi to Kowloon Station and were able to check in for the flights at the train station. This is great because it means you don't have to take suitcases on the train, and there are no queues for checking in.

By 6.45 am, we had arrived at the airport and made our way to the airline lounge and had a cup of tea and some food before boarding the flight to the UK about 8.00 am. The flight was very long - 13 hours 15 minutes and because it was all day time flying, not much sleep! Food kept coming out and there was plenty to drink as well.

Over both flights, managed to see a few movies that we had not caught up on before we left. Watched Colin Firth in A Single Guy - very good movie. Also, Boy - a lovely NZ movie about a young boy in a Maori community. Saw Julie and Julia as well. Must have a look for that cookbook!!!

Arrived at Heathrow on time and didn't have to circle for hours to get a landing spot! Immigration and customs was very fast and both cases came out quite quickly. David and Carol were there to meet us and very soon were in the car and heading back to Croydon.

Weather was cold and a bit wet.