BA & AA's Travels

An Expected Journey

Some statistics, musings and general minutiae:

Total trip approximate miles traveled: 14,000.

Major cities/countries visited: 8, not including by plane (which would add Paris and Toronto): Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Berlin, and Oslo.

Transportation methods: Uber, plane, taxi, ship, bus, Sapsan, tram, feet

Best Meals: All of ‘em.

Hankie-waving award: Warnemunde, Germany

Most aggravating people: Passengers on the Boat

Most friendly people: Estonia

Airport with most walking for no apparent reason: Paris

Tightest Security: America

But wait!!!

Strangest thing ever: just had the best airport meal in my life (Copenhagen). It was still early and Seafood and Prunier wasn’t even technically open yet but the Lithuanian born, Danish transplant woman behind the counter was very friendly and asked if she could “whip us up something”.

I wound up eating smoked salmon with creme fraiche and onion, scrambled eggs and toast. She hooked AA up with the same salmon and an original mango and vegetable salad with vinegrette and sesame seeds.

Our fight plan home has changed now too. The travel agency apparently thought it would be sufficient to let Luftansa tell us after standing in their line. Still going to Frankfurt but on SAS. Then we go to Chicago instead of DC. From O’Hare to Columbus.

I do not recommend Prestige Travel agency.

Last was the ride back down Oslo fjord, heading out into the Baltic, destination Copenhagen tomorrow morning.

Oslo, Norway, Monday May 20, 2019:

Docked right beside the old Fortress of Norway. We disembarked at took a tram to Vigeland Park, which is populated by 600 unique sculptures by Norway’s Greatest Sculptor, Gustav Vigeland. The sculptor and his park are so revered by the Norwegians that the park never closes, has no special security or police presence, and has never had a problem with vandalism or graffiti.

Then, back to downtown for breakfast. Nothing really special about it, but it was very good. We randomly picked without help from Rick Steves, whose book seemed like he woke up grumpy in Oslo. We thought Rick missed a lot here; something that hasn’t happened for the entire trip.

Me, ham cheese & mushroom omelette with toast, salad and pressed coffee.

AA, ham and cheese with croissant, salad, toast, etc.

Sunday, May 19, 2019, sailing for Oslo, Norway. Foggy, but the sun is trying to come out. We have a full day at sea and are scheduled to dock in Oslo early tomorrow morning. Sad that this will be our last stop before returning to Copenhagen and beginning the flights home, but fantasies must end sometime.

Lunch at Georgebrau, a small biergarten on the banks of the Spree just south of the Unter den Linden bridge.

For starters we had White Asparagus cream soup. I don’t know what they did to it but it tasted more like The Milk of Paradise than a vegetable based soup. The bier was George’s own brew and pretty phenomenal.

Rick Steves knows where to point you.

The daily special at Georgebrau was Eisbein:

The “special” looked pretty good to me but AA opted for the brined salmon, (more) asparagus and homemade breads...

I took another look at the Eisbein and it made more sense, especially when it comes with bier and schnapps:

So i ordered it...

Best tasting pork knuckle I’ve ever had 😉

Seriously though, this pork was close to bacon for unbelievable goodness (a Bruce OMG insert here). The sauerkraut was impeccable, the peas were spiced and pureed to a paste that had a decidedly German flair, and the potatoes were... well they were potatoes.

Berlin, Saturday May 18:

Many cool buildings leading up to the famous Brandenburg Gates. Includes Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin Concert house and Humboldt University where the famous book burning by Nazi backing students took place in 1933.

Reichstag (German Parliament):

Tonight onboard ship, the Escargot was notable. Now waiting on two lobster tails. Hoping I don’t get a weight upcharge for flying back to the states...

Following breakfast, touring brought us many more medieval churches and cool allyways. I wish I had access to the photos on my DSLR for many areas of this entire blog but am limited to only pictures on my cell phone.

Afternoon lunch was octopus with potatoes and kraut. Kinda good to get back to a normal lunch ;) (Mom got a kick out of octopus and normal here, but after lunch with rabbits, padded WCs, and FSB agents?)

Last picture of sunset over the Baltic taken before bed at 11pm. The sun never really quite sets this time of year here.

Next day, Tallinn, Estonia!

Now that we’ve dispensed with rabbits, Borsch, and the Russian Secret Service, Let’s visit one of the most well-preserved medieval cities in the world.

This was a must-see, very relaxing and enjoyable. The Estonian people were by far the friendliest people we have yet come across.

So we saw the rabbits, but here’s where it got weird.

The picture above shows my lovely AA with a background of the dining area (restaurant was in the basement).

Scan the photo carefully. Zoom in on areas.

Yes, thats a communications earbud in the older guy’s ear, think Secret Service, modernized to Bluetooth to get rid of the curly wire.

Yes, thats a service weapon on the younger guy’s waistband. Likely a Grach 9mm.

Ok, sooo...

This was the trip to the restroom.

That IS a padded door on the back of the WC (water closet). Very interesting lavatory space outside the WCs. And then of course a bunny hutch. Yeah.

Hunter S Thompson would have had a ball with this.

Now for Lunch in St. Petersburg.

Yat’ restaurant, Moyka 16, Embankment River, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Different, Exciting, Authentic, Weird, Playful, Intriguing, mildly Scary, the adjectives just do not stop, as you will see from this post and the next two. Most memorable event of the trip. Above are photos of the menu and then the resulting dish, in order:

Tasting Set: 3 flavored Vodkas, Nut, Horseradish, and Sea Buckthorn, along with cured herring, salo, and salted cucumber (pickled in brine).

Borsch with beef and beans - also had sour cream for a flavor boost, but didn’t really need it.

Beef Stroganoff: this was awesome and needs no introduction. Best part was eating it approximately five blocks from where it was invented, The Stroganoff Palace on Nevsky Prospeckt.

St. Petersburg Russia!!! (Next day)