Mon. Aug 19 b

Yes - Micky D.'s. we had a cup of coffee and used the facilities, then went to the museum.


Sadness, the architecture portion was closed.


I thought the 3 legged chair was cool, but I was stopped from taking more pictures.


The sun came out. It was much nicer to explore. We found 2 more yarn shops and went back to the market for lunch. We choose the stand with Lapp food. I had sautéed reindeer on mashed potatoes with lingonberry sauce.


Ana had mixed grill which included reindeer meatballs.


T'was tasty.

We wandered back to the shuttle stop and returned to the ship.

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Monday, Aug. 19 Helsinki a

We all took a shuttle into the center of Helsinki. It was pouring. I WORE MY NEW RAINCOAT. I was the only dry one in the bunch. I was afraid that my return ticket was going to dissolve before I could put it in my pocket.

We all trudged along the esplanade with the rain beating down.


The first shop was actually a shawl. She had a ton of kits for mittens. It again looked like a feeding frenzy of sharks.



Ana and I went to find the design museum. We found the place the map claimed it was and saw nothing that could be it. I went into a very modern shop to ask. Since I was really dripping, I only stepped inside the door and the proprietors came to me. The map isn't very accurate. We headed up the street, but found it wouldn't open till 11. No problem, we can explore even in the rain.


This walking street had Formverk (fabulously interesting modern things for the home), a thrift shop, several gentlemen's clubs, and...

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Sun. Aug.18 b

I also knitted with people and read, but I don't see the joys of cruising.

For dinner I had French onion soup,


Duck salad with a poached egg,


And cherry sundae.


After dinner we had our briefing on the activities in Tallinn, Estonia. It had to be several days early because stuff had to be planned.

Tonight's towel was a turkey.


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Sun. Aug. 18 a

A blog without pictures. I am having trouble posting.

I ate breakfast with an Australian couple from Brisbane. This was their 44th cruise. They are staying on the ship after Amsterdam and crossing to New York and doing the Leaf Peeper cruise to Quebec. Then they are flying to Seattle and cruising back to Australia. That last part takes 4 weeks. They were proud of the fact that on the Princess cruises they have done enough that they get free laundry! Big Whoop!

Today was a sailing day. Thank goodness that there are not too many of them. People seem to wander around from one silly activity to another. I went to the Faberge talk. On display were some OK eggs, but I have seen the REAL THING, and these were not it. The guy giving the talk was trying to tell people that since the Tsar paid only about $1000 for his egg and Malcolm Forbes sold his eggs for many millions, the eggs that he was selling were going to appreciate that much also. The terrible thing is I think that some people believed him. (Of course, the Franklin Mint people do the same thing.)
For lunch, Ana and I joined 4 other knitters for dim sum at one of the "special" restaurants aboard. The only choice was dessert. We had soup, several steamed and fried dims (or is it sums?) and fried rice. I had mango sorbet for dessert. It was merely ok. We had made a reservation for later in the cruise, but are giving it away.
In the afternoon there were tango lessons.
They taught everyone a routine and then picked the best four. The four were then paired with pros and we picked the best 2. These were then going to compete with finalists from other lessons some night. The 2 best were an Asian brother and sister from Pennsylvania.

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Sat. Aug. 17, b

We split up after the yarn and explored on our own.


Just like home. The clothes looked the same.


Ana and I took a tram to the train station. We took the scenic route and had to get off and try again, but finally made it. It was a short train ride to Warnemunde, the seaside village. It has little pensions that are made to look like the original fishermen's cottages.


My daily bride. She and the groom were holdings flag with their names and the date.


Melissa had said that there was a ferry that would take us back to the ship. She misspoke. It went back to Rostock, so we just retraced our train and tram.

Ana and I split up. She went back to the ship and I wandered through stores and the supermarket.

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Sat. Aug. 17, a. Rostock

Rostock is a small Hanseatic city that was part of East Germany. Now, it is a large boat building and seaside vacationing area for Germans.

We visited 2 yarn shops. You would think that these women had never seen yarn before. It was a feeding frenzy. It is catching! I, who usually can resist, bought stuff. ( Prunkist)

A great deal of this town was destroyed during the war. The brown building was from 1490. The others were rebuilt in the same style.


I loved the door and discovered that it houses an architecture firm.


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Friday really Aug. 16 c

Just realized that I was off on my dates.

I took an Estonian stitches sampler class this morning. The class went all day, but I know my limits. There was a woman who talked incessantly in a very loud voice. She fell behind and when she was trying to get back on track had the nerve to complain about people talking. I thought the very nice lady sitting next to me was going to go ballistic. Most of the other people in the class said that they went brain dead about mid-afternoon.

For dinner I had duck mousse pâté,


arugula and pear salad,



quail stuffed with cabbage,



and chocolate mousse.



In the evening, a Dutch woman who is part of the group did a trunk show of her designs and the yarn that she uses to make them.




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Fri. Aug. 15 b

Today's lunch was Indonesian. We started with a salad.


A chicken/coconut soup


An assortment of tastes.


Some of the wait staff were in costume.


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Fri. Aug. 15 a

I've only been aboard 2 days but the rugs are really important. Now I know why Branwen loved her panties with the days on them.


Today's towel is a ray. The tail is a face cloth.


Tonight was dress up dinner.





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Thurs. Aug. 14 d

All of the elevators have rugs with the day on them. Do you think that the days start to run together?


Today's towel animal is a scorpion.


I forgot to photograph dinner. I had Tuna tartar and prime rib. The portions are just right. I am trying not to overeat. After dinner we meet and knit and chat.

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Thurs., Aug 14 c

Some of the views as we moved from the harbor into the Baltic.





The knitters gathered for a champagne welcome party. There are 45 of us. (Not all are knitters.)


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Thurs., Aug. 14 b

For lunch I had broccoli soup and salad with pâté and lox.





Ana had the same thing but added pudding for dessert.


Before we could sail, we had the lifeboat drill. If you didn't go, they put you off the boat. I guess everyone went, because we got underway soon after.


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Thursday, Aug. 14 a

Our last day in Amsterdam, I finally saw a bride. We were sitting in the lobby waiting for the shuttle bus, when she walked by. Quick like a bunny, I was up and flying to get in front of her so that I could get the photo.


The shuttle situation was a little strange. 3 vans had been ordered. The number of people fit, but the luggage was a problem. We ended up all holding our fairly large carry on bags in our laps.

Ana and I seemed to do everything right. We whipped through the boarding process in nothing flat and our cabin was ready. If you go to Ms Eurodam on the Holland America line and look at cabin 5069 you can see their pictures of our room. Somehow, it looks bigger.


Our veranda


Our bathroom



It does have quite a bit of closet space, so we have unpacked everything and stored the suitcases under the beds.

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Wed. Aug 14 a

We loved our Dutch Fries so much, we decided to have them for lunch also. We stopped in at a coffee shop for a drink to tide us over. Little did we realize that this was a "COFFEE SHOP". We thought they were kidding when they asked us for our I. D's


Here is Ana checking out the pot with the microscope. They explained what we should look for. (We just had the coffee.)


I have been looking for a new raincoat since my bright shiny red one died a horrible death at Versailles last summer. It is very hard to find one that meets my requirements. It must be truly waterproof, coat length, and a pretty bright color. While looking for a yarn store, we found it. Many dollars poorer but very happy we then found the yarn store.


Spent the rest of the wandering from yarn store to yarn store. Saw many canals. If I make it out of Amsterdam without being hit by a bike or tram it will be a miracle.

Many of the knitters met at a restaurant for an Indonesian "rice table". It consists of many small plates and rice. I forgot to take a photo so here are the remnants.

Tues. Aug. 13 e

We have decided that Amsterdam is a city of canals


Bikes


And cannabis.



For dinner we had the famous frites with mayonnaise.