Cruise - what we did onboard and back to Stockholm

It's such a weird feeling slowly catching up on blogging about my trips as I am re-experiencing the whole thing again in fast motion. I hope to finish all the posts before I get too busy.

Back to where I left off yesterday. The last day of the cruise was spend on board the ship, slowly sailing back from St. Petersburg to Stockholm.

I started my morning by waking up at 8am and going to the gym. Can you believe that? I got up early just to go to the gym. Well, there were 5 other people earlier than me when I got there.

Finally, it was time for brunch.

I started treasuring the 24 hours free flow of food. I know that I won't get pampered like this for much longer.

I went for a free seminar on detoxing and learned a lot on how to explain how the body accumulates toxins in layman's term. It was a very educational session lead by the cruise's German gym instructor.

After that, it was time for the sauna and steam rooms. With free towels and deserted rooms, I felt like a sotong being grilled in the sauna and potatoes being boiled in the steam room. Hahahahaha. There was a weighing scale in the changing room for those who were interested to see what are the effects. No photos of this experience as the people in the rooms were so hot that none of the cameras survived. Hehehehe.

We went for the backstage tour in the afternoon and it was an eye opening experience.

We were shown around by the lead dancer and singer who took us through how the props and costumes were stored, make-up, changing and the chaos behind the scenes.

Dinner as usual, was a la carte. I'm missing this already. When will be my next 3 course meal served by my own waiter without me worrying if it'll burn a hole through my pocket?

The last performance for the night was so amazing that we went back to watch the whole thing again. The highlight for that night was the stunt by this husband and wife acrobats. The girl first bent to curled into a loop, then carried into the air by the guy, and suddenly he dropped her through him and she landed on the floor still maintaining the same pose. Looked painful to me but she didn't sustain any bruises. We were all so shocked.

The International Flag Parade - all the crew working on board carried their national flag for the parade. I didn't know that there were so many nationals but sadly, there were no Malaysians except the tourists.

I was tempted to buy this home but I was too broke and there was the 100mls limitation for hand carry.

The next morning, we arrived in Stockholm and also gained our 2 hours back.

This will be my 3rd time around the city.

Crash course for F on how to read maps. I hope that it was effective before your parents' trip.

The Royal Palace

This time, all of us stayed for the changing of guards.

Normal group photo.

Active group photo.

Would you dare follow us down to this dungeon cafe?

We went back to the little cafe serving drinks in humongous sizes. This time, we were served salmon quiche with watermelon sprinkled with cheese.

Awestruck by how ice-cream cones were made.

The narrowest street in Stockholm.

The art of pickpocketing in broad daylight. Hahahaha.

Stockholm's take on the Bridge of Sighs. I can understand why the owner would sigh. His windows are broken.

Sekolah

The last picture of Stockholm. I would never had expected visiting this place 3 times. Time to bid goodbye.

My hibernation for about a week started. I had to recharge my batteries before 2 VIPs arrived.

Next up: Paris through pictures Part 1

Cruise - St. Petersburg through pictures

The hardest time to wake up is when you've lost 3 hours. From UK flying into Stockholm, we lost 1 hr, as the cruise sailed into Tallinn, we lost another hour and finally, reaching Russian seas, we lost another hour.

We had breakfast in bed as we had to get ready by 8.45am to join our tour group.

Our receiver and headphones for the tour.

As I mentioned a few posts back, I love my Russian tour guide. It's so difficult to make out whether she's in a middle of telling a joke or when she's serious as her voice and facial expression is always set in serious mode.

First stop: Hermitage Museum

If we got lost, we would have to find this green vase and gather there.

Groupie

This museum is the largest art museum in Russia and consists of 4 buildings - the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage. It holds about 3 million art pieces.

The boy on a dolphin. I initially thought it was some mutated platypus crossed with fish tail.

Is it a young boy or a girl?

Portraits of past generals.

The peacock clock.

St George Hall (aka The Large Throne Room) and the Pavilion Hall.

Impressive mosaic in the Pavilion Hall.

We're risking our lives standing below this massive vase just for this photo.

Russian lunch:

Best campaign that I've tasted and best vodka too. I was surprise on how smooth the vodka was considering that it's 70% alcohol.

Russian water. Still taste like water to me. Endorsed by Queen Elizabeth.

I enjoyed the Russian meal, but the chicken didn't taste anything exceptionally different.

We were entertained by Russian song and dance while we dined away.

The Senate building at Dekabristov Square.

Opposite the Senate Building is St. Isaac's Cathedral. It was originally Russia's main and largest Cathedral.

Groupie.

Battleship Aurora anchored on the Neva river.

Peter and Paul Fortress

This fortress was built in 1703 to protect the area from Swedish invasion.

It is also the first site chosen by Peter the Great to build his new city.

Inside Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Impressive gold plated decorations. However, the green gave off a creepy feeling. Here lies the tombs of the Russian tsars.

 

We were entertained by this choir group which sang beautifully after the tour of the cathedral.

Finally, the highlight of the tour - Church of the Resurrection (aka Cathedral of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood). This church was build on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated.

Most colourful church that I've seen in real life.

Back to the ship:

Dinner, as usual, is extremely delicious. I had lamb shanks for mains that night and I can still remember how tender and tasteful the meat was.

Entertainment for that night was Rhythm and Rhyme and it was a mixture of all the famous Broadway theaters. Best show of the cruise!

From Chicago to Mamma Mia, I was totally engrossed in the performance.

What did we do close to 12 midnight?

We had late night buffet at the Poolside! With so many cute little fruit animals and ice carvings, our appetite was reignited.

At least we were quite healthy until the desserts came along.

Such beautiful mixture of blue and orange.

Guessed what we did to burn the extra calories?

We played outdoors in the cold.

Next up: Cruising and back to Stockholm.