Encore

I have to applaud ClearAyes for choosing a better car. After all, there is only so much oil in the ground!

There's only so much oil in the ground
Sooner or later there won't be much around
Tell that to your kids while your driving 'round downtown
That there's only so much oil in the ground

Can't cut loose without that juice
Can't cut loose without that juice
If we keep on like we doing things for sure
Will not be cool - It's a fact
We just ain't got sufficient fuel

There's only so much oil in the ground
Sooner or later there won't be none around
Alternate sources of power must be found
Cause there's only so much oil in the ground

There's only so much oil in the earth
It's a fact of life - for what it's worth
Something every little boy and girl should know since birth
That there's only so much oil in the earth

There's no excuse for our abuse
No excuse for our abuse
We just assume that we will not
Exceed the oil supply
But soon enough the world will watch the wells run dry

Problem Solved

The world just needs more groovy $#@!

LONDON

Greetings from this side of the pond :)

I am pleased with this shot I got around midnight at Piccadilly Circus. I am unsure of whether this was the second or the third night that I had the pleasure of wondering around London lit. Regardless, I have the folks in Amsterdam to thank!
The sign said it was 18 euros for three. I was caught off guard when the vendor presented me with a choice of White Willow or something else. I was feeling rushed and did not wish to opt for some bud that would kick my ass, so I opted for the White Willow, figuring it to be the mellower. Well, the last night in London, I wound up tossing the final portion of the last 'J' into the Thames. It was this past Saturday night, the place was hopping down along the Embankment and I was reeling. While I think I have finally paid off my sleep debt, yesterday was a slog. Upon getting back home I was greeted with a notice that I had been summoned for jury duty. I spent the whole day yesterday going through that thing like some rat in a lab.

Anyway, I did manage to get to the Borough market, WM. It was wonderful. It would not have helped if you had told me about it earlier. At least I don't think so. According to my Eyewitness Guide to London, the market (which has been in existence since 1276) it is still only open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays. Rich and I had lunch at a nice little restaurant under the tracks there called FISH. They had it set up so that you could see everything that went on in the cooking area. I always like that. Even if one is not a "foodie", it is nice that they set it up so that it is open to scrutiny by anyone. Truth be told though, I had previous read about a pub that Dickens mentioned in one of his works called The Anchor.












I had thought about visiting it a day or two before but it didn't fit our plans for that day. It turns out it was right in the vicinity of the Borough Market. I could not have anticipated this since I was not at all sure we would get to the market either. Had I realized it, I would probably have steered us there instead of FISH. Ah well. FISH was good and they have a great philosophy. They are big into buying local. They get all of their dairy products from Neal's Yard Dairy, which I believe you mentioned WM.











The trip was so fascinating. I learned so much. For example, while down around the Borough Market area, we ran across this museum.
I had always heard the expression 'getting tossed in the clink'. However, I had no idea that there was actually a jail called The Clink. Who knew?

London

Greetings from London,
I am sorry I haven't been able to keep you all up-to-date since leaving Poland, but Internet access aboard the ship was horrible. After wasting the afternoon running all over Copenhagen looking for a suitable WiFi, I decided that I was just going to enjoy the remainder of the trip and not waste anymore time chasing after Internet access.
Unfortunately, the auspicious start to our trip, with the lovely weather in Stockholm, did not bode well for our journey. Although they initially told us that the weather should improve in the next day or two, they abandoned that line fairly early into the cruise. Not only did the weather not improve, it got steadily worse as the cruise progressed. While we did get a sunny day in Tallin, Estonia, the wind was strong and cold(to make matters worse, I was not feeling well that particular day, so the wind really had me concerned and I was not in the best of spirits.) The wind was not as strong in Gdansk and it was not quite as cold, but it was windy and we had no sun and some rain. I liked Copenhagen a lot and actually enjoyed the hunt for the WiFi, but the highlight of the afternoon was the young blond who served me at Café Norden. He exhibited the confident friendliness and ease that only the very young and beautiful do. I gave him a nice tip; five Euros for not doing anything much other than smiling at me and letting me enjoy his baby-blue eyes. Berlin was a long trip by bus and the weather, again, was not good, more wind and rain. The excursion was 12 hours long. It was a three hour ride into Berlin and a three hour return trip. On the return, as we drew nearer to the coast, the wind really started howling. Not long after reboarding, the Captain fired up the engine and we began to push off to begin the next leg of the cruise, a passage through Germany's Kiel Canal. Well, about a half-hour later, we notice that there is a tug boat apparently push the ship's stern against the dock. We were trying to figure out why he was doing this when we shortly received an announcement from the Captain that, due to the bad weather, our departure would be delayed. When I woke up at 6:00am the following morning, we were still at the dock in Warnnemünde. This had me concerned. However, we launched shortly thereafter. Then, a couple of hour later we got the bad news. Due to the storm, there had been an inferno at the mouth of the Kiel Canal. Apparently, they keep large containers of paraffin store near the entry/exit. One or more of those had caught fire and they had to close the canal. Therefore, we were informed, the Captain had no alternative but to sail all the way around Denmark, putting us a day behind schedule.
As a result, we would arrive in Amsterdam a day late and, following our visit there, sail directly for Dover missing Bruges altogether. What luck!
Well, it has been a long strange trip, but it wasn't all bad. It was still fascinating to see all the great places. I DID walk around Amsterdam pretty well stoned all Sunday afternoon. I had not figured I would actually buy any weed or eat any of the baked goods, but there I was Sunday morning eating one of their famous pot muffins. "Space Muffins" they call them. They had "Space Muffins", "Space Brownies", "Space This", "Space That". They even have shops that blatantly advertise that they sell magic mushrooms. I passed on those. If I had had more time ....
I just had the best meal I have had in a long time, too. I had the good sense to ask the concierge for a recommendation for a good place to get curry and he made us a reservation at a place called Tamarai. If you ever come to London and you want curry, you must eat at this place. It was fantastic.

Gdansk

Greetings from Gdansk, Poland,

Sorry for so few posts so far , the shipboard Internet is a joke.

The stops have been nice and I have some good pictures. I only have a few minutes now so this will be short. I will have more time tomorrow in Copenhagen so I will try to catch up then.

Hope you all are doing well.

Ciao!

White Nights

WOW! Check out the view from our cabin veranda!

Wouldn't you know it? The sky finally has cleared as we depart St. Petersburg.
Isn't that sky stunning? I am listening to the title track from Charles Lloyd's Jumping The Creek. He is a semi-legendary jazz musician who records for a German label that has produced some very cutting-edge jazz and classical recordings over the years.

Kirov Rejects and a Jog Through the Hermitage

Hello from St.Petersburg.

I know I said I would try again to post the night before last night, but we back to the ship rather late and I was too tired. Same last night. We have been rather busy since getting here with two excursion per day.

The ballet was alright for a bunch of Kirov rejects. I overheard one woman say that she would have liked to go see the Kirov, but the tickets were $600. For that price I think I should get my way with my choice of ballerina.

Clear Ayes,
What was the name of that all male Ballet troupe from Monte Carlo? Was it Trocadero? They are from Monte Carlo, right?

We went to the Hermitage yesterday morning it was just the kind of museum visit I hate. Although it was three hours, the place is so big, that if we had set any quicker pace we would have been jogging. I was astounded when we stopped in a room that held Caravaggio's 'The Lute Player' and the guide was not going to bother even mentioning it. It caught my attention and after I took a look at it, a woman in our group asked the guide about it. The guide was very blasé. She said something to the effect of , "Oh yeah, there is a painting by Caravaggio over there." Then she quickly led everyone out of the room leaving no time for people to take a good look at it; which was pretty much the way it went the whole tour. Sigh. Ah well, I did take the time get get a good look at a few nice paintings, a Michelangelo sculpture and a couple by Rodan.

Last night we went to the Place of Catherine the Great for an imperial Evening of the Tsars. It was fun! We had the whole place to ourselves.

Scandinavian Skies

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Well, the weather turned on us yesterday and we spent our last day in Stockholm under gray skies with moderate wind and rain. While it put a bit of a damper on things, it did not deter us altogether. Thankfully, we were scheduled for a bus tour so we were not out in it much at all. Unfortunately, the bad weather has affected the entire region and we had more of the same all the way to Helsinki. Consequently, we didn't get to enjoy seeing the Fins have fun in the sun the way we did the Swedes. Never-the-less, our day in Helsinki was terrific. Not only did we get to see the Orthodox church that I posted a picture of five or six weeks ago, but we also got to visit the monument erected in memory of Jean Sibelius.
The weather is supposed to be the same tomorrow and we have two tours; The Highlights of St. Petersburg in the morning and An Evening of Russian Ballet (Swan Lake). The first one is by bus and the other is indoors, so the weather will not impact them. I just would like a little sun so that I can take better pictures. We will be getting back fairly late, but I will try to post. I do not want to put it off until the next day because we have two excursions that day as well: The Hermitage in the morning and A Grand Imperial Evening of the Tsars. Saturday morning we go to visit the Grand Palace of Peter The Great - Peterhof. So, I am going to be quite busy until Saturday afternoon. Like I said, I will do my best to post nightly.

Sorry no picture. I will try again tomorrow, but this slow ship connection is just eating up my minutes trying to post the picture.

Regards,
PMT