Summer has come, and again we hear the call. On May 24th we started an 8,899 mile trip to Brussels, to board an agreeable ship for passage, to stop at many a harbor, and in the end....may we be so blessed to travel those 8,899 miles back to our home. What follows is our pictures along with some comments from along the way. At the end we had covered over 20,000 miles, visited eight countries and pulled off a logistical masterpiece that will be tough (yet fun!) to top. So saddle up and hang on….
Here is the chosen path…
First up Belgium; We stayed at the Amigo in Brussels, Here we find these two chilling at a three day jazzfest in a central courtyard. All the building around us were built in the 1790’s.
First port, Amsterdam, we loved the town, went to the Hermitage Museum (sister to the St Petersburg one) and the Maritime Museum, walked the canal intersecting streets and enjoyed the local characters.
At the Maritime Museum…
There was an incredible painting, well 100’s of incredible paintings but this one titled “Naval Battle near Gibraltar”, if I can find an online image that does it justice I will post it, but I don’t expect to find one.
Next up Delfzijl, Netherlands
We took a walk along the dikes and it something to see the higher ocean level on one side and the lower land on the other.
Local Art
We took the train over to Groningen to see some of the country and have lunch. It seems everyone bikes to where they have to go and here at the train station you can see the bike parking and there are two of these garages, thousands of bikes!
We continued on to Hamburg, Germany, a beautiful city with much construction going on. We took a canal boat tour ( a rare touristy thing to do). The narration was in German, and while we could not understand it, the guy had everyone laughing the entire two hours, the ride was good fun. Here’s us walking the streets.
We loved Hamburg, and the Hamburgers could not have been kinder. (yes I believe I said that correctly) Just before we got underway Jules and I went out for sushi and it was fantastic, see my review at Tripadvisor.com (link coming)
Next day we navigated the Kiel Canal, along the way we passed a home which always has a party when a cruise ship passes, they waved, played national anthems, and here’s the scene.
Next day was at sea…
At the end of our day at sea, we had a nice sunset and then these two posed for a foto before dinner.
The following two days were on the two larger islands in the Baltic, first up Bornholm, Denmark.
Here the couple can be seen relaxing outside the church of St. Nicholas (its old)
Then on to Gotland where we rented a moped…the thing could get up to 100KPH!
And Julie by a church from the 13th century.
Then came a highlight (well the whole trip was a highlight) but St Petersburg, Russia was a visit long looked forward to. The visa process an expensive pain but as someone from St Petersburg, said the USA and UK require the same expense and info from them. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Ligovsky and had a great two days. Here’s some highlights from a beautiful city.
First a couple postcards…
The Hermitage, an incredible place…
And the Church of the Resurrection built 1883 to 1907
Our first foto of us and the Peter the Great Statue
Actually the city has quite a few statues, here’s a taste…
Here’s Catherine the Administrator, and the scene reminded me of a quote that I cannot quite remember. The saying has something to do with being a statue, and the bird losing the grip on one all over its head. Please let me know if you know that quote.
Outside a theater…
A favorite among thousands at the Hermitage…
After 36 hours we headed back out to the Baltic Next stop Estonia. Which had been occupied for decades by a combination of communists and Nazi’s.
A beautiful local church…
The two consider two who thought they could rule the world...
IDIOTS!
Our 2nd to last day was Sassnitz, Germany where we set up a tee-time and played 18 holes at Golf-Centrum Schloss Karnitz, here’s proof…
One more night out..
The last day we arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark and headed over to Iceland.
Here’s our place of residence for the three days, see Jules outside our room?
An hour out in the hills…
Stopped by a waterfalls, but the water was still frozen ice further uphill so not much flow just yet..
In Reykjavik…that’s Leif Ericcson and a beautiful Church
Seems the statue was a gift from the People of the US of A, here’s the backside
We stopped by New York on the way home, visiting the Sankey family.
Now sitting at home after this great adventure, I have to say that was the most fantastic experience.
See you out there Amigo’s
First up Belgium; We stayed at the Amigo in Brussels, Here we find these two chilling at a three day jazzfest in a central courtyard. All the building around us were built in the 1790’s.
First port, Amsterdam, we loved the town, went to the Hermitage Museum (sister to the St Petersburg one) and the Maritime Museum, walked the canal intersecting streets and enjoyed the local characters.
At the Maritime Museum…
There was an incredible painting, well 100’s of incredible paintings but this one titled “Naval Battle near Gibraltar”, if I can find an online image that does it justice I will post it, but I don’t expect to find one.
Next up Delfzijl, Netherlands
We took a walk along the dikes and it something to see the higher ocean level on one side and the lower land on the other.
Local Art
We took the train over to Groningen to see some of the country and have lunch. It seems everyone bikes to where they have to go and here at the train station you can see the bike parking and there are two of these garages, thousands of bikes!
We continued on to Hamburg, Germany, a beautiful city with much construction going on. We took a canal boat tour ( a rare touristy thing to do). The narration was in German, and while we could not understand it, the guy had everyone laughing the entire two hours, the ride was good fun. Here’s us walking the streets.
We loved Hamburg, and the Hamburgers could not have been kinder. (yes I believe I said that correctly) Just before we got underway Jules and I went out for sushi and it was fantastic, see my review at Tripadvisor.com (link coming)
Next day we navigated the Kiel Canal, along the way we passed a home which always has a party when a cruise ship passes, they waved, played national anthems, and here’s the scene.
Next day was at sea…
At the end of our day at sea, we had a nice sunset and then these two posed for a foto before dinner.
The following two days were on the two larger islands in the Baltic, first up Bornholm, Denmark.
Here the couple can be seen relaxing outside the church of St. Nicholas (its old)
Then on to Gotland where we rented a moped…the thing could get up to 100KPH!
And Julie by a church from the 13th century.
Then came a highlight (well the whole trip was a highlight) but St Petersburg, Russia was a visit long looked forward to. The visa process an expensive pain but as someone from St Petersburg, said the USA and UK require the same expense and info from them. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Ligovsky and had a great two days. Here’s some highlights from a beautiful city.
First a couple postcards…
The Hermitage, an incredible place…
And the Church of the Resurrection built 1883 to 1907
Our first foto of us and the Peter the Great Statue
Actually the city has quite a few statues, here’s a taste…
Here’s Catherine the Administrator, and the scene reminded me of a quote that I cannot quite remember. The saying has something to do with being a statue, and the bird losing the grip on one all over its head. Please let me know if you know that quote.
Outside a theater…
A favorite among thousands at the Hermitage…
After 36 hours we headed back out to the Baltic Next stop Estonia. Which had been occupied for decades by a combination of communists and Nazi’s.
A beautiful local church…
The two consider two who thought they could rule the world...
IDIOTS!
Our 2nd to last day was Sassnitz, Germany where we set up a tee-time and played 18 holes at Golf-Centrum Schloss Karnitz, here’s proof…
One more night out..
The last day we arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark and headed over to Iceland.
Here’s our place of residence for the three days, see Jules outside our room?
An hour out in the hills…
Stopped by a waterfalls, but the water was still frozen ice further uphill so not much flow just yet..
In Reykjavik…that’s Leif Ericcson and a beautiful Church
Seems the statue was a gift from the People of the US of A, here’s the backside
We stopped by New York on the way home, visiting the Sankey family.
Now sitting at home after this great adventure, I have to say that was the most fantastic experience.
See you out there Amigo’s
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