6/29/12 day 65: Copenhagen, Denmark

Grey and rainy in Copenhagen today and I loved it. Maybe because I came prepared with an umbrella and jacket but also because I really dig this city and its gonna take more than rain to sour my opinion. It was coming down hard and people were still riding their bikes around. Honey badger don't give a shit! I love it.

Must be graduation day for high schoolers too because there were about 6 different flat bed trucks rolling around downtown decorated w banners and loaded up with rowdy kids dancing to music and carrying on. I remember that from Aachen. There was a big "Abitur" graduation party In the city square and we all hopped on a flat bed pulled by a tractor. I have one shaky picture from that tractor ride.

Had a great lunch catching up with my old Freiburg friend AV and then made my way slowly back to the ship, patiently watching my shoes get wet. Wish i had more time in the city because today would have been a good day to hole up in a pub, enjoy some øl and watch some soccer. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards. First night of a new cruise means I have to be "on" and that takes all my energy and focus, really. Would have been a perfect day for the Dubliner though... Next time.

It was a good first night in the club. Had a great crowd and enjoyed the Surf and Turf menu in the Colonnade Restaurant with a couple from Australia that were on the last cruise. Should be a great 14 day cruise into Norway. Here is the itinerary: Flåm, Ålesund, Leknes, Tromsø, Honnigsvåg, Olden, Bergen, Stavanger, and then back to Copenhagen.

And I am impressed with the new band. They did Josie by Steely Dan among some other gems. They'll be great.

6/28/12 day 64: At Sea

Super chill day today. Not much to report. Saying goodbye to guests as we make our way west, slow and steady to Copenhagen. Tomorrow it's a new load of guests and some new crew including a new band (from the US). Should be interesting. Gonna miss the Sojourn Orchestra but it's time for them to head back to the Philippines and see their families.

Copenhagen tomorrow. Love this city. Heard the weather is gonna be nice too. Gonna meet up with an old friend from my year studying (well, some studying did happen) in Freiburg, Germany. Should be fun to reconnect.

Got my IPM (in port manning) schedule for July. It's crazy to think ill be home soon. As interesting and unique as this experience is, I'm getting excited to come home to Phoenix. Still got a month left and some really cool ports, but looking forward to stepping off the plane in Phoenix and getting knocked over by the heat... Well maybe not that, but everything else.

The pics are of the Sojourn orchestra. Coolest band on the planet. Ria, the singer, is a riot. You should see her when she hams it up for the camera. She is saving up for corrective eye surgery. Safe travels guys. We will miss you.

6/27/12 day 63: Helsinki, Finnland

I'm starting to think I've cursed all bike tours... In the middle of an otherwise uneventful bike tour, dark grey clouds slid under a pristine blue sky and opened up above us. Big rain drops began pelting us. Smarter folks brought rain jackets, wind breakers, scarves, hats...Not me. Not this guy. A polo and trousers (yeah, I said "trousers") was all I had on. And while not as thorough a soaking as in Tallinn, this was still a severe pain the ass and it called for quick action with the safe stowing of the cell phone in a guest's backpack. And then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. The sun was beginning to dry said trousers as the tour ended and we all high fived back at the ship. I took a quick stroll through the farmers market that looks so awesome last time and took note on about 10 things I want to pick up the next visit.

Call it hard headed or stubborn but I did sign up for a bike tour in Norway next cruise. And there it will most certainly rain... Awesome.

6/26/12 day 62: St. Petersburg, Russia

Took a day off from sightseeing today because I had IPM. Couldnt have left the ship if I tried. Actually, before I knew I had IPM or even knew what it was, I went to leave the ship and got denied by crew staff at the gangway. I thought the woman at disembark said "you owe the port money." later I realized she was saying "you have in port manning." either way, I wasn't getting off the ship and no I didn't owe the port money.

IPM days are cool too tho. You get to catch up on sleep, watch movies, chill. I can dig it. I still worked tonight, but I love me some chill afternoon time. Tomorrow I'm escorting a bike tour around Helsinki. Hoping for sun, but you never know. With my luck, it'll be a downpour. Awesome.

6/25/12 day 61: St. Petersburg, Russia

Sunshine and John Coltrane are two things I don't associate with this city, however, at 7:15 AM when I came off the boat to escort a tour of Peterhof, Peter the Great's summer palace or grand palace, that was what I was greeted with: a few stubborn stringy clouds pinned to the horizon of a big blue sky and John Coltrane "my favorite things" purring out of the speakers outside the modern customs building on the pier. Today was destined to be a good day.

We passed architecture of all sorts, including gaudy Soviet stuff. Most humbling was driving through the front line between Nazi and Russian forces during the notorious 900 day siege of the city during WWII, then named Leningrad. A single soviet tank marked the area which was mostly grassy fields and young trees. This area was left a waste land.

As luck would have it, we were the first group to enter the palace after an hour coach ride out of town. The rooms were stunning. Lots of original pieces, newly gilded statutes, unfortunately no pics were allowed in the palace. Trust me though, it was impressive. It made the palaces of the noblemen in town look like college dorm rooms. The history of the palace is pretty amazing too... During WWII, the Russians took as many pieces out of the palace as possible as the Nazi's approached. Eventually, the nazis took the palace and used it as barracks and munitions storage. Luckily, they didn't destroy it but scattered land mines throughout the area and set part of the building on fire as they were driven from the area.

The garden was great too. Beautiful sunny weather made beautiful gold gilded statues sparkle, numerous fountains, huge 100 year old trees, etc. Peter's sense of humor is obvious in numerous "trick" fountains scattered around the grounds. Set off by weighted stones on ground, one wrong step and you got soaked. Which I'm sure back then resulted in spontaneous wet t-shirt parties, 18th century style. At 11am they turn on the gravity pressurized the main water fountains, and blast the national anthem over loud speakers. It's all really truly impressive. Hydrofoil ride back to St. Petersburg took 30 minutes. Can't wait to get home and read more about this town, and the Russian czars. Today has definitely piqued my interest in our brothers and sisters to the east.

6/24/12 day 60: St. Petersburg, Russia

Overcast today in Russia's second largest city. We docked in a new port a couple minutes outside of town. The last two times we were here, we docked basically downtown, just across the Neva River from the Winter Palace. Yeah, no big deal, I'm basically an expert on St Petersburg now. This city has had three different names in the last 100 years. Do you know the other two names? 10 points to the winner.

Escorted the "Jewish St. Petersburg" tour today. We hit a lot of the big tourist sights seen on other tours (saint isaac's cathedral, winter palace, old stick exchange, Neva River front, Flying Dutchman, etc) as well as some sights specific to Jewish history in the city. The synagogue was the big finish. Spent an hour getting a history lesson on Jewish culture in Russia and then the rabbi came in and sang a couple traditional songs. It was very interesting. Still amazed how many Yiddish words resemble German.

After my first set in the club, I went upstairs to the third less fancy restaurant for dinner. I had no appetite at 530 when the mess was open. So usually when that happens and I have a longer break between my 630 and 9 pm sets I roll up to the restaurants and join some guests for a proper meal, a glass of vino di casa, and some conversation. I ran into an Australian couple I had dinner with a couple nights ago. Lovely folks. I don't have the heart to tell them my name isn't Barry. Tonight was Spanish themed, so I took the seafood paella as a main dish. The appetizer took the gold medal tho: roasted tomato, and grilled eggplant baked with goat cheese. I would have eaten 75 of those things and then taken its picture and made it my FB pic. So delicious. This is my life.

Ps. Dig the panorama pic from my new application! Pretty cool, no?

6/23/12 day 59: Tallinn, Estonia

Raining sheets today! No bike tour for me this time Estonia! Burn me once, shame on you. Shame me twice, I'll burn you. Burn me three times, Please, stop burning me.... Or something like that. Left the ship with my friend Chris who disappeared into the rain in search of a supermarket. I thought he was nuts and I chose to stay at the little cafe/souvenir shop at the end of the pier that offered coffee and free wifi. One thorough soaking in Estonia is enough for me.

I added a couple tunes to the repertoire this afternoon: Promises" by Clapton, "Hallelujah" by Cohen, and "American Pie" by McLean. Then I ran my fastest mile yet (8:57) at the gym. Thats 8 hours and 57 minutes, by the way.

Quiet in the club tonight. I think everyone is eager to get a full day in St. Petersburg tomorrow. Sadly we have to advance our clocks an hour as well. Time to call a night and get ready for a 7 AM wake up.