Brussels, belgium

Here we are in Brussels Belgium and just bought chocolates from Leonidas. They are amazing but no samples! !  What the! !
Brussels is lovely and great for a last stop.  1 3/4 hr's from Zeebruge.
Silly us are in the info centre using the internet as it is raining outside. But still warm.

We are looking forward to the next stage of our trip when we disembark tomorrow
really like this town of gothic and baroque architecture but with huge modern buildings as well.
The tours guides said the tax is high and used for building but they don't get the benefits like in sweden.
they speak Flemish, 
Dutch and French. 
Belgium known for chocolates, little pis boy, black mussels, waffles and frites with mayonnaise.

All At Sea

Thank goodness a day off touring and we are at sea all day heading to Copenhagen our second to last stop. 5 days of  excursions in a row including Russia St Petersburg was tough going but we were the young ones on the bus. Some of the older fatties were really slow even just getting off the bus. I nodded off again in the Princess theatre watching the singer. The shows are not as good as on the Royal Princess. But Colin,  Evey and I had a good laugh watching the obese ladies try and sit in the theatre chairs. They perch their big bums on the arms, then plop, the weight sucks down into the chair and they squeeze their fat into it. It is so funny to watch them perch on top then  suddenly suction plop into the seat. Haven't worked out how they extract themselves yet.
The cities are melding into one but we are trying to capture the features of each city to remember them  by.
Eva our Swedish guide made the day. She said In her Swedish accent. "I'm just going to have a sip of vodka, no?. Scholl. Jus joking, it is only water."
We were due to leave port at 4.30pm but watching from our balcony at 4.40, we saw 6 people get off the hop on off bus and run 200m to the gates to board .
The officer said "you are very lucky" in a loud voice and all the Portside passengers were laughing and clapping them on. If you miss the ship you are on your own. Good lesson.
We have only two days left and don't want it to end. Glorious weather all the way through too.
Haven't hit the pool yet as sea days are cloudy and cooler but the lobsters round the pool have put us off. 

Copenhagen Denmark

We are really enjoying Copenhagen as we opted to go to the fishing village Dragor. It is a heritage village with lots of thatched rooves and quaint gardens with hollyhocks  and yellow ocher walls. So different but not long here
Went to the palace and stood outside prince Fredrick an d princess Marys residence
ps thanks for emails glad u like blog. have to leave my little internet connection now and get on bus. Known for little mermaid statue, the long bridge to Sweden $40 to cross one way, best danish ever tasted.

Stockholm Sweden

Loving this place. God Morgan.
It is 33 degrees but the bus is air conditioned.
Girl with the dragon tattoo was filmed here. 
Visited
Gamla stan, old town, smallest boy statue, 
Vasa museum old reclaimed ship is amazing with the museum built around it.
Just went to where the Nobel prize is presented with the blue room and the gold ballroom. Very cool.

Helsinki Finland

Great start today after gaining an hour and felt better but we all slept on the bus again. Funny to look around and find every body snoozing with their mouths agape and heads nodding around. Helsinki was small in the city and similar to all the other Baltic Towns we have seen so driving 1 hour out to Porvoo was something different. A little 1423 town of wooden buildings and the tourist sampling the chocolate in the local shop was the high light. Unfortunately we didn't buy any as it was average but we did a good test. Will wait till Belgium. An excellent lunch was provided of salad, bread, beef olives and potato cake which was a little spicy but delicious and well presented. Dessert was 2  mini fruit custard tarts. Yummy. More complaints as we sat enclosed in the restsurant in 29°heat.The best and most unusual was the Temppeliaukio Rock church carved into bedrock and all the walls were rock and the ceiling a copper cupola joined by glass to the rock. Some of the Americans nearly expired just walking up the little rise to see it. Lol.

Relaxing in our rooms as we cruise out of the port. Billy has taken a photo of my lower balcony where the lady has displayed her underwear in the sun to dry. Not the best sight but he thinks he should enter it into the photo competition. Argggh.

Tallin Estonia and To Russia with Love

Hi all.  We really are enjoying this cruise much more than last time. For a start we have made it to 4 days without mishap. The ship may be older  but easier to get around as it is more compact. The staff are really friendly and not pushy with up selling. We have an excellent waiter Romnick and waitress Magdalena who are cherry and happy givng us wonderful service in the dining room.  The food has been nearly faultless and we are really impressed. Unfortunately  having 4 courses is going to show quickly. So we have done zumba, walking track, salsa class and line dancing today. Wiped out now. billy went on diet for lunch and only ate salad but then had a memory lapse about lunch due to not eating enough. Made up for it at dinner though.

Tallin
Gorgous little medieval town with tons of character. Red roof tops and stone walls everywhere.. We walked around and it took us 4 hours. Not worth doing a tour or bus. Pick up a map from the tourist bureau in old town and do your own tour.

At Petersburg Russia
6.30 start and on the go seeing Hermitage Museum and the treasures which were breathtaking with the 24 carat diamond and the jewel encrusted jewelery covered in diamonds, ruby, and emeralds. Rembrants and Raphael paintings. Peter and Paul fortress and cathedral.where a firing of the cannon gave us all a real fright. All the places are airless and hot and I felt faint as you are not allowed to take food out of this port. Unfortunately the Russian lunch was a let down with vodka that smelt and tasted like meths.  Visited the Catherine the Great palace (1 1/2 drive ) for a magnificent evening of a champagne hor d'oeuvres band playing entrance to the visit and orchestral ensemble. Even acting out from a queen and performance by dancers. Dinner was a little intense with us cooking in the heat and the Russian singers performing upbeat loud music Which was impossible to relax in. Not home till midnight and an early start tomorrow.

Day 2
Started at the Peterhof palace. Magnificent for a smaller palace esp the cascading fountains. Full on day as you go thru the palace the rooms are stifling, just like everywhere else we have visited. Little Russian ladies sit in the rooms fanning themselves and nearly fainting. The canal ride  up the Fontanka River was a breath of fresh air and a sip of sparlking wine helped. After a slightly better lunch but not rushing out to eat Russian anytime soon, we finished off with St Isaacs and the church of the spilled blood. Both huge and magnificent but different with tons of gold decoration and mosaic masterpieces and huge stone pillars. Our guide Constantine was top notch and went over the history and Tsar rulers but we couldn't concentrate. Sergei and Anatole our bus drivers didn't talk, as the Russians even the waitresses don't speak English unless they work in the souvenir shops. Boy were we glad to get back to princess for dinner. Billy and Colin even had two soups.

Gothenburg Sweden

Oslo Norway
We did our own tour and caught the tram to Vigeland Park. Over 200 human body sculptures from  birth to death. Excellent visit. Not Much else but a look around a typical Scandinavian city with lots of shopping.
Princess warned us about the terrorist threat  but it was an overreaction. Was 27 degrees and they are all not used to the I unusual high temperatures for this side of the world.

Billy has befriended a Russian waiter called Anastasia who is a laugh. She says Villhem Chong and laughs a deep throaty Russian laugh which makes us crack up each night we go to have supper. Met some fellow New Zealanders who are hanging with us.
Unfortunately we thought we had signed onto the wrong ship as it seems to be a Retired and disabled bunch of people. We all think we are thin when we get into the lift next to some. No kidding. Beaches whales around the pool. Not a pretty sight on our holiday.

Gothenburg Sweden
Did the tour today with princess and got the  boring old fart and we kept falling asleep on the bus. The best was the canal ride with a super young guide and she took us through the cheesecutter  bridge which we had to kneel onto the floor of the boat and bend down. Otherwise you get your head knocked. It is really low too.
Troublesome internet here so will send pronto