Poland August 12-15

Fountain in old town

We just spent four days in lovely Gdansk Poland.  There is a lot of history here, in addition to WWII, there are medieval castles and towns.  Unfortunately, some were rebuilt due to the bombing during the war.  Gdansk is about 5-6 hours from Auschwitz and some participants did visit, because the kids are still young, we opted to hang out in the Gdansk area.

The first day, we went on an SAS tour of some churches, had a wonderful and grand organ concert and then toured old town of Gdansk.





On day two, we went on a tour hour trip to another medieval old town, the town of Torun.  The highlight was a tour of the gingerbread museum.  They learned how gingerbread was made in medieval times and got try their hand at making it.  Unfortunately, it didn't tast very good, but it was fun.







The third day we went into the old town of Gdansk and enjoyed some last minute souvenir shopping.  There was also a large festival going on, so we enjoyed the booths, street food and a giant Ferris Wheel.

On our last day in port through SAS (sad), we spent time at a nearby beach where the kids were happy to run around and build sand castles.  We went back into old town to watch the end of the Gdansk marathon with a bunch of other people.  Eight of our voyagers ran the a marathon.  It was a fun way to end the trip.  The last thing Shannon and I visited was the Westerplatte Monument.  The monument was right next to where the ship was docked and is there to memorialize where World War II started.  We made Andy proud again.

Finland (and Estonia), August 6-9

Finland is one of the most livable countries in the world.  Great education, health, low crime, quality of life. That said, Helsinki looks like a great place to live (also looks like Minnesota), but doesn't have a lot of big tourist sites.  So, you had to enjoy just being there.  It is a lovely city right on the water with a lot of islands there is a great waterfront area to walk along and find cafes.

The first day was one of Shannon's favorite, we went out the of the city to a small medieval town that we toured  and then we went to a farm where they fed the whole tour group in a large farmhouse a traditional Finnish meal.  The part Shannon likes, was that it happened to be a horse farm.  We got to meet the horses, babies too, and tour the stable.

The second day we relaxed and then did the waterfront stroll to the market area.  There were tents upon tents of fresh berries and cherries and we chowed down-you don't get to see a berry on the ship, only melons and sometimes oranges, so it was heaven!  The food on the ship at this point, is getting very old, no cruise ship food here, more like college cafeteria.  Every day presents a form of pasta, potato, fish and meat (usually pork) and then an ice berg lettuce salad.  So, whenever we get to eat off the ship, it is a treat!

On the third day we had a wonderful trip to a different country-Estonia.  There is an easy two hour ferry to Estonia that we took advantage of.  We spent the day there touring the amazing medieval town of Tallinn.  It looks like Disney built it with its hilly cobblestoned roads and perfect buildings.  We ate at a medieval tavern where they do the whole tourist thing, Liam got to be the master of the table.

Day four, back in Helsinki, we went over to a little island with an old fort.  We wanted to make Andy proud.  We were with our friend Julie and son Michael.  There were many fun tunnels to explore and a little swimming beach that the kids loved.

On Ship August 4-5

On August 4th, we actually sat at the dock for most of the day because we didn't need much time at sea to get to Finland.  No one can leave on these days (in port academic day-IPAD).  We pretend we are at sea and have a regular class day.  We've had several of these on this voyage.   One of the highlights of this day was the auction.  Proceeds go toward SAS scholarships.  Crazy things are auctioned off, like a chance to blow the ship's horn or do the daily announcements and they go for a lot of money.

Wonder where I spend most of the day?

My office

My cabin

August 5th was TEDx day.  We have the founder of TEDx on board, Lara Stein.  She worked with some of the faculty and staff in getting selecting and working with six of our community members to present a TEDx presentation.  It has been an interesting process to watch.  The actual presentations won't be on the TEDx site for a few weeks, but here's an overview:

• Jessica Steele - "The Death of 'Poor Me'" - Jessica’s TEDx Talk focuses on the SELF, and on shifting our paradigm of focus from being outward to being inward. Her talk is about a sexually abusive relationship that began four years ago when she was sixteen years old and lasted until the end of 2012. In her speech, she’ll talk a bit about the aftermath — a journey out of torment that took place in three stages.  She is honored and feels blessed to have a shot at expressing herself at TEDx Semester at Sea. http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/jessica-steele/;  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/meet-tedx-speaker-jessica-steele/ 
•  Stephen Deaderick - "Press Pause" - Stephen’s TEDx talk is about helping others find and understand their stories and themselves, he will share his story about finding his identity as a gay, mixed race individual.  He is passionate about identity development, social justice education, and interpersonal dialogue.  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/stephen-deaderick/ 
•  Cosette Haugen - "Being An Open Book" - She is using her diagnosis of depression and anxiety as a basis for her TEDx Talk, in which she will attempt to encourage people to communicate their own needs and open a discussion on mental illness. She hopes that by sharing her story and experiences, it will allow listeners to feel like they are not alone.  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/cosette-haugen/
•  Andrew Sayer - "Tolerance is a Dirty Word" -Andrew’s TEDx Talk covers “tolerance vs. acceptance” and reframing the conversation in America through education policy.  Andrew is a firm believer that our generation can change through education.  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/andrew-sayer/ 
• Kristin Skarie - "Nothing New"- Kristin recently authored and published her first book, A Year of Nothing New – Tools for Living Lean and Green.  Her TEDx Talk is based on her book, which is about not buying anything new for a year. She wants to share her experience in order to give others the tools to change their lives, the way she has changed hers.  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/kristin-skarie/ ;  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/meet-speaker-kristin-skarie-sustainable-woman-extraordinaire/
•  Amber Johnson - "I Will" - Her TEDx Talk is about her journey to become an American Ninja Warrior. Simultaneously she’ll share how she came to love her body, not by “becoming skinny,” but by learning to stop criticizing herself for lack of meeting standard definitions of beauty and figuring out how to reward herself for being able to accomplish things she was never able to do before. She wants to inspire others all over the world to know that they can do anything they set their minds to.  http://tedxsemesteratsea.org/speakers/amber-johnson/

Sweden, July 31-Aug 3

Ya sure, ya betcha.  After visiting Sweden, I can see why so many Swedish immigrants settled in Minnesota, it felt like home.  Sweden is a beautiful country with many pines, water, islands, blue skies.  Stockholm itself is a wonderful city with many museums, parks and historical areas.  We had a great time, saw a lot, though we did not make it to the worlds largest Ikea, but we did eat a lot of great Swedish meatballs.

The first day we visited the Vassa museum, home to this awesomely big wooden ship from the 1600's that sank twenty minutes into its maiden voyage because of a poor design.  Oops.   That evening I enjoyed a dinner in the Old Town with some friends/colleagues.

Can you find Liam and Shannon?

Day two we visited a Pippi Longstocking Children's museum with some friends.  The kids loved it, especially after Russia where they couldn't touch anything, here they could touch everything.  Later in the day we went on an SAS trip to the ABBA museum and an ice bar.  Shannon loves Mama Mia, so she had a blast (we all did).  It was a very well done museum where you got to sing along and interact with full sized holograms. Afterward, we visited an ice bar where we donned fur lined ponchos and headed into a bar made out of ice-walls, bar, seats and glasses.  The adults received a vodka drink, the kids a juice.

They are recreating the flipper dancing scene from Mama Mia (Lay All Your Love On Me)

Shannon in the ice bar

Day three we took it easy on the ship and went on a short trip to visit the summer palace where the Swedish royal family resides.  They had lovely gardens and we enjoyed the ferry ride back into town.  I went out for mussels in the evening.  Yum!

Day four we went exploring on our own into Old Town, a very beautiful area, saw the changing of the guard at the city royal palace and did our souvenir shopping.  Shannon was excited that she got to have a sushi lunch.  I think it was actually less expensive than at home.  Afterward we visited an open air Swedish folk museum called Skansen and following that we joined up with some folks at a lovely garden area outside the folk museum.  We walked a lot that day, we are all getting stronger, even Grandma Alice!

Old Town

Russia July 24-28

So, as I mentioned in the last entry, we were not sure we'd be headed to Russia with everything going on in the world.  The night before arrival during the pre-port, we really laid on thick all the health, safety, and security warnings. To the point where people were afraid to get off\ the ship.  And then we did get off, and everything was anti-climatic.  St. Petersburg, at least, is a beautiful, modern city with lots of tourists, cruise ships out and about.  There were no left overs of the soviet regime, no guards with AK-47's, no KGB behind every bush, no anti-american protesting.  I am sure there are layers we did not see.
And the kids got tired of the stern museum guards at each site, there was no touching anything, not even the rope without being chastised.

We spent our days doing Semester at Sea tours.  Our first day was a lovely canal tour of the city.  This city's architecture is over the top.  Every other building used to be a palace and for those that are still palaces or converted to other types of museums, you got to see your fair share of excess.  Carvings, marble, gold, paintings etc.  The second day, in a converted palace, we got to see the Faberge Egg museum.  There were only ever 50 made, and this museum had thirteen.  Very beautiful.




The third day we toured a big summer palace called Peterhof.  It was super crowded and hot, not to mentioned quite luxurious.  The gardens were quite pleasant.  The kids liked the trick fountains that would get them all wet.

Liam got his hand swatted with the fan of a security guard for touching a rope, but overall, the kids were very well behaved.

 
The fourth day we took it easy on the ship, but in the evening went to an awesome Russian Folkloric show.  There was amazing singing and traditional Russian Dancing.

During the intermission, they served vodka, champagne and caviar.  Did I mention this all took place in a converted old palace?


On the fifth day in Russia, we went on a shopping trip and spent up our Rubles.  Every time we went in a store, the kids had to sit on the floor with one of those Russian stackable nesting dolls, take them apart to see how many and how small they got.  I know I got some more gray hairs, and between the stackable dolls and the stern security guards and two kids I was ready to get back on the ship, but happy to get a small taste of Russia.

July 21-23 At Sea

So, after Andy left, we had three days at sea on our way to Russia.  We were monitoring closely all the fun things happening around Russia, worried that there might be travel advisories, but thankfully we were still planning to go.

The three days were hectic with work and activities.   The highlight around day one was the talent show in the evening.  The students/faculty/staff performed  for the first half and various members of the crew performed for the second half.  They were hilarious.  It was great to see the men and women that normally function in the dining room or as cabin stewards (did I mention someone makes your bed everyday?) on stage having fun.    The crew come from the Philippines, India, Jamaica, Croatia,  Greece, England, Russia, just to name a few countries.  A hidden part of this experience is the interaction with the crew and getting to know their backgrounds and stories.  They are amazing and extremely hard working.  Earlier in the day we got to enjoy a beautiful sail in the straits between Denmark and Sweden.  They were so close on either side of the ship, saw a beautiful castle too.

The second day at sea was a non-class day.  The day was filled by the shipboard Sea Olympics.  The students living areas are divided into seas instead of floors in a residence hall, overseen by Resident Directors.  So, in the Olympics each student sea competed against each other.  Other teams were the faculty/staff/dependents and the Life  Long Learners, not sure if I mentioned that the Life Long Learners is a program on the ship for anyone that wants to sail, audit classes and live with the students.  They are typically retired folks, but can and are many ages.

The Olympics got off to a great start with the opening ceremony.  Liam got to help carry in the Olympic flag and Shannon was the torch bearer.  The kids were totally into the Olympics,  Shannnon and I competed in the team cheer, lip sync and yes, the synchronized swimming categories.  Liam participated and almost won the Ship, Captain, Wave (Rock, Paper, scissors) competition.  Alice came in third in Sudoku.  The absolute favorite moment for me was when the two kids competed together in the stand-up comedy competition.  They were fantastic and won first place over all the students and adults competing.  You will have to ask them to do it for you.  See photos below of some of the activities, and link for more:
See olympics      By the way, the faculty/staff/dependents (families) came in second overall!

Shannon and I are in this team cheer-

Sychronized swimming to "Dayo"

Shannon and Liam watching the frozen t-shirt contest (team of two has to be creative and thaw a frozen tshirt ball enough to get it on one of them:


Day three we spent doing work to get ready for the pre-port for Russia.  Lots of cultural and logistical information to get together for this particular port.  Scared everyone silly, then was pleasantly surprised when we hit St. Petersburg.

Norway July 16th-20th

So, Norway is just frickin' beautiful.  Mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfall, fjords, ya can't go wrong anywhere you look.  The only downside, is how expensive it is,  we were in one restaurant in a hurry, kids would only eat hamburgers, we paid $30 for EACH hamburger.  We now compare everything to that meal, "Well at least it's not as expensive as the hamburgers."

The ship first docked in Bergen, which is a smaller city for a day and a half.  It was a bit rainy, but fun to walk around, see the shops, the fishing market and ride the funicular up a mountain and hike around for a while.  Liam liked finding all the wooden trolls around town.  This was Andy's last port before he had to head home, so we made the most of it.

The ship left Bergen to then make it's way to Oslo.  We could choose to ride the ship or travel throughout the country and meet the ship in Oslo.  We did one of Semester at Sea's overnight trips.  It was really a great trip.  We took off from the ship in the evening, stopped by a gorgeous waterfall you could walk behind and started driving through some amazing mountain scenery.  We stayed the first night in a hotel on a gorgeous lake, and had a great Norwegian dinner (provided as part of the trip), lots of  wibderful salmon.

The next day was a combination of culture museums, fjord ferry cruise, cider farm (not apple juice, with alcohol) visit and a stay at another great hotel.  The last day on our way back to Oslo, did a two hour spectacular ferry ride to a town called Flam, had lunch and then through two trains and a bus made it to Oslo, incredible scenery throughout.

For the last day in Norway, we were now back on the ship but in Oslo.  We spent the day in the city getting it all in: Viking museum, which Liam loved; a cultural museum that has recreated old buildings with sod roofs, character reenactments etc; and a visit to the new opera house.  We then returned to the ship where we had to say goodbye to Andy, sad day for him and for us.