On The Final Leg Of Our Amazing Journey And Adventure

We got up early this morning for our final flight of this journey and adventures.

We caught a 7AM flight on Continental and were in Norfolk around 8-8:30.

After picking up our luggage, we were on our way home but not before a brief stop at the local Lens Crafters.

Just prior to our leaving for our vacation, I had bought a new set of glasses. I did not wear my new glasses until we started our vacation. Well they broke at the end of our vacation. If they were bound to break, the timing could not have been better. 

They actually broke on our last 2 sea days so I did not miss seeing any sights not did it hinder me from taking photos.

After dropping off the broken pair, picking out new stronger frames and arranging for them to mail me the new set of glasses(it is a 2 hour drive from our home to this place), we headed off for our 2 hour ride home.

By this time, both Veronica and I were really feeling poorly.

When we got home, we brought all our luggage and misc bags inside and I just laid them all on the floor.

Veronica and I then went to bed. It was around 2PM or so. Veronica wanted me to wake her up when I woke up.

I woke up around 6PM and tried to get Veronica up but she wanted to sleep a little longer so I ended up going back to bed too.

I did not get up until around 6AM the following morning.

Veronica was still asleep and she ended up sleeping and staying in bed the whole day and night and the following day and night.

It was a good thing that she took an additional day off.

I ended up putting all of our clothes and other items away...unpacking all of our luggage, and doing about 5 loads of wash.

The following day, Veronica had to drag herself out of bed and get back to work.

It took her about a week before she got to feeling better.

Unfortunately, we were back into our normal routine within a day or so of our return home.

Veronica and I had a fantastic time in Europe. It is something that will stay with us forever. Looking at the photos that we took, we still have a hard time believing that we were actually in Europe.

We have already started to dream about our next big adventure...maybe..Italy or France or Norway or Scotland or Ireland or a combination of any of them.

So many countries and too little time.

Thinking about all of those foreign adventures is what can keep a person going at times.

But I guess that is what dreams are for.
And I will keep on dreaming until the next adventure becomes a reality.

  

Day 12 Of Our Baltic Capitals Cruise- Heading Back To Heathrow For Our Return Flight Home

We spent a couple of hours last night packing up all of our suitcases. We put the suitcases out in the hallway, outside of our cabin so they could be picked by NCL personnel.

This morning we arrived in Dover a little behind schedule. It might have been because of the weather.

The seas were a little rough and it might have slowed us down bit. We were not worried about our arrival time into Dover because our overseas flight was not until 4PM.

After getting some breakfast, Veronica and I gathered our carry on items and we headed off of the ship.

We gathered up our luggage and proceeded to a bus that would take us to Heathrow.

The bus ride to Heathrow lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours..the traffic was pretty bad.

After arriving at Heathrow, we checked our baggage in and went walking around the airport for a while.

They had a Harrods store in the Airport so we decided to walk around in it.

By 4PM we were on board the plane and preparing for take off.

They served us dinner, we watched some movies and then I went to sleep. Other than those things, our flight was uneventful. We arrived in Newark Airport at which time we went through customs, then picked up luggage and had to go through a secondary security check point that was mainly focused on our luggage. After completing all security checks, we contacted the local Country Inn and Suites (our favorite hotel chain), so that we could get a ride to the hotel on their complimentary shuttle.

I had not been feeling too well during a couple of days on our vacation and the last 2 days plus the travel day, it all caught up with me. 

I was definitely under the weather and Veronica  started to not feel well.

After we got to the hotel, we just took it easy. We had to get up early the next morning because of an early flight out of the Newark Airport enroute to the Norfolk Airport.

Here are some videos of our take off on our Virgin Atlantic flight

Here are some photos of a flight information channel that you could watch on the small flat screen tv that was embedded into the back of the seat in front of each passenger.  

Day 8 of our Baltic Capitals Cruise- Helsinki, Finland

I apologize... I messed up when I posted my blog entry yesterday. This is Day 8 of our vacation and should have been posted yesterday. Yesterday I posted Day 9, our time visiting beautiful Stockholm, Sweden. If you would like to visit Stockholm and view the photos from there, please go to the bottom of this blog and go back 1 entry.

This morning we got up and had an early breakfast. We were taking an excursion that we set up through NCL, to go to a small town called Poorvoo along with seeing other sights and the highlights of Helsinki.

Here is how NCL describes this excursion as it is taken directly from their web site:

After an approximately one hour ride along a picturesque coastal road, you’ll stop at the Old Bridge for a magnificent view of Porvoo’s quaint Old Quarter. Porvoo is the second-oldest town in Finland, dating back to 1346. In this popular artists' center you’ll enjoy a walk along cobblestone streets lined with colorful wooden houses. Enjoy some time to explore Porvoo on your own, perhaps browsing the many artisan and handicraft shops, before your short drive to Haikko Manor, where you’ll stop for lunch. After lunch, you’ll ride back to Helsinki for a tour of the city which includes a visit to Temppeliaukio Rock Church and a stop at Senate Square. You’ll also see Market Square, the Uspenski Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, and many other city highlights.

Poorvoo is approximately 30 miles East of Helsinki.

So after having breakfast, we met up with our tour guide and boarded our bus for the days activities.

I apologize for the lack of quality on some of the photos. I was taking photos through the bus windows and I was dealing with reflections and dirty glass.

The harbor was busy first thing in the morning.

We got in our bus and drove through the city of Helsinki. Electric Trolley cars are widely used in Helsinki.

Off to school she goes

One thing that I noticed was that the city was going through some extensive renovations

Photos of the inner harbor

Finally we get out of the bus so that I can get some quality photos.

Here is a display of bears decorated and representing every country in the world

Veronica with the USA bear

We were getting ready to board the bus again and "bearly" had time to get us photographed together

We were driving on the highway and had this train running right next to us

I think that these are big department stores

Heading out into the country...on our way to Poorvoo

Below is a school with children in the playground

Contemporary housing just outside of Old Town Poorvoo

Our first view of the old section of Poorvoo. This old section consisted of maybe 2-3 streets at the most and each street might have been a city block long...possibly less.

It was not anywhere as big as I thought it might be

Many of the stores that were in Poorvoo were closed up. Some opened after we had been in town for about an hour, while others never opened up. We were disappointed with what we got to see in Poorvoo. I ended up going down back alleys, driveways and behind buildings in order to get some good photos.

Some of the stores might have stayed closed because I think that we were one of the last, if not the last, cruise ship tour of the season.

Below is a really small cafe. The owner was very kind and allowed me to take some photos of his cafe

The streets were pretty much empty when we arrived. After walking around for a while, some of the shops started to open up. I got the feeling that they only opened up because a tour was in town.

There were numerous quaint shops scattered up and down the streets of Poorvoo

Actually...not having lots of people around worked out in my favor. I was able to take all kinds of photos without having to worry about people getting in my shots or me getting in the way of others while taking my photos

I enjoy taking photos of old windows for some reason. Each one has its own character

This is Cafe Fanny where Veronica and I took a break and had something to drink.

Here I am doing my best sign post imitation. You can tell that the lady on the bench is amazed at what a great job I am doing at being a sign post.

On the way back to the bus, I saw this old barn with a chair just sitting in front of it. It was screaming out to me to take a photograph of it. It took me about 4-5 shots to get the photo exactly how I wanted it

Just another nice Finnish neighborhood

The housing in Finland sure was different from that of St. Petersburg, Russia

I saw the name of this place and I knew I wanted a photo of it. Unfortunately it did not come out as sharp as I had hoped but you get the idea

If they can have a Japanese restaurant in Russia, then they can have an Irish Pub in Finland. Whoever made up these rules at least had a sense of humor.

This looks like a plumbing supply store..I think I see a toilet in the window

Pizza is truly a universal language

Maybe its McDonalds that is the universal language

This piece if Finnish art was made out of aluminum

Below are a couple of photos of the Olympic Stadium. Finland hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics. Of course everything has been renovated since then.

Below are several photos of the Rock Church. It was built right into this rock outcropping

This obviously isn't an exclusive practice within the United States

Some sort of transportation terminal. Not sure but could be for the trolleys or buses.

This Department store is the largest in Scandinavia

I noticed that many of the taxi drivers were driving BMWs. Taxi driving must be a rather lucrative job in Finland

After we returned to our ship, the weather began turning for the worse.

Another ferry leaving the harbor

Even though the storm clouds were building up, the windy conditions brought out the sailboats in droves

While I was photographing the sailboats, This guy flew by but I got him before he flew away

The inner harbor of Helsinki

With stormy weather on its way, the waves starting getting rough and this boat was taking a beating

We had left Finland behind, about an hour out and it really started to get really dark out. It was that eery scary dark sky look to it. The clouds we hanging low to the water too.

Eventually it poured outside and the water got rather choppy. Made for a rough ride for a bit.

You knew that the skies were going to break open and it was only a matter of time

Tomorrow we are scheduled to drop anchor (literally) in Nynashamn. Then it will be onto Stockholm, Sweden

To see all of the photographs that were taken in Helsinki, Finland including the ones that did not make onto this blog entry, please view the slid show below. Just click on the picture to enlarge them.