Monday in Singapore - news in Aus

Pleasant walk along the river this morning. Our hotel is in a great spot on a bend in the Singapore River in a very residential area...... so quiet. About 1500M up river from Clarke Quay and with a treed river path on both banks.

Took a cruise down river and around Marina Bay on a very pleasant morning (air quality excepted). Followed on with a walk up through the colonial quarter which has some lovely old buildings that have been preserved. Time for Pat in Raffles Plaza and then on to Raffles - still the same grand old place but hard to imagine it being a financial or literary powerhouse these days.

Back to hotel for feet up for Pat and a shuttle (more like a slow boat to China) to Chinatown for me. Nothing has changed here, still the same old Chinatown - 5 degrees warmer than the rest of Singapore, but progressivey being surrounded on all sides by big new retail developments, all with the same brand name shopping opportunities.

Arrived back to the news that a PM challenge was on at home, and to be determined this evening!! By late afternoon today the air quality has really deteriorated, with visbility down below around 400M. Time around the pool and then off to dinner, this time to our genuine local hawker market on Zion Rd. Nowhere near as busy tonight as the weekend nights, but really enjoyed my food. For the past four weeks Pat has carried her umbrella and rain jacket with her everywhere - tonight they would have been handy.

Rain cleared, and our last walk back along the river. There are some things Singaporean that we could do with back home - we come back via two under road tunnels that in Australia would be prime graffiti sites,  but here they are pristine, not a scribble, not aspeck of rubbish and not a cigarette butt.

Back to the hotel, and guess what???? Aust has a new PM! You leave with one and come home to a new one. Home tomorrow!!!!

Well, well, well -Sunday in Singapore!!

An early night to make some adjustment to the conditions prevailing in Singapore - very heavy smog, so it was with some surprise that sleep extended to 9.50am!!! Big rush for breakfast!

A good 15" taxi ride to the Singapore Flyer for just SGD$7.30, and no queue, saw us on top of Singapore in no time. Unfortunately the smog seriously limited the views, but you cannot miss seeing the massive development that goes on here. The Flyer sits atop the F1 street circuit's starting grid, so the immediate vicinity is a hive of activity - grandstands, safety fences, hospitality marquees, VIP enclosures etc and we saw a couple of arrving cars. It will be a busy place next weekend.

Shuttle service over to Gardens by the Bay, a massive wonderland of flora, including two spectacular cooled conservatories, Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, the latter, 7 stories high with a 35M waterfall. All of it surrounded by lush gardens  - and developed from nothing in just the last few years. An absolutely spectacular addition to Singapore, but quite ironic that it has such a strong focus on the environment and climate change when this country is currently so overwhelmed by the effects of Indonesian burn offs. To see the impacts of that burning off, you really have to wonder why we Australians spend so much time kicking ourselves over our minimal contribution to climate change.

Onward again to Sentosa Island. Once again, the developments of the last few years have seen the island become the playground of Singapore. So much has changed since we had a few days there 7 years back. Our Singapore Airlines stopover package has a full complement of inclusions, but I was not allowed to take up the Segway option on Sentosa. Took the shuttle around the Island and had a beer (SGD$26 for two stubbies made the taxi incredible value) before heading back. Intention was to use the Cable Car, but out of service for maintenance, so came back on the sky rail to Vivo City and Harbourfront. Another hawker stall (shopping centre based) dinner before heading home to the Grand Copthorne Waterfront via a 20" taxi ride (Sunday night) for SGD$12 - SGD$19.30 for 35" in two taxis and SGD$26 for two beers - comparative value??

Heard that Kangaroos had won - pleased they took the fighting spirit of the laundry wars into the game.

Off the ship, out of Copenhagen and into Singapore

With the cruise over, a few comments are worth making. Regal Princess is by far the biggest ship we have ever sailed on but, in reality, it rarely seemed crowded. The biggest "size" issue goes to port access, so I think that is the most important matter in making decisions between cruise lines and ships.

Princess absolutely stood out with its amazingly efficient and effecively "no wait" embarkation and disembarkation procedures, and its production shows (and Beatle Maniacs). It doesn't quite match Holland America with some of the little things like towel size and quality, crockery, cutlery etc - but would be very happy to again be a passenger, subject to itinerary.

A few comments on passengers (and I guess the more you have, the more experiences you will have). There are a small number who seem to believe that the cruise is run just for their benefit, there are some who only believe a queue exists if they are at its head and, sadly, some who do not seem to have the terms "please", "thank you" or "excuse me" in their vocabulary. Pleasing to say that Australians did not feature in any of the above observations.

The biggest blight on modern tourism, however, has to be digital photograpgy and digital media. Where one or two photos used to be enough, now its more like ten - and then you continue to block everyone else while you review each of them. And as for the selfie stick - it needs to be planted very firmly up the you know where of its inventor.

Anyway, as noted above, disembarkation was a standout and never had to break stride but for a 5 minute taxi wait. Relaxing time in Copenhagen lounge and on time flight all the way to Singapore. Efficient transfer to Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on Singapore River and into room by 8.30am ($150 excess for a pre-noon check in). Did the full HOHO bus route (part of Singapore Airlines stopover package) then headed back to hotel for Pat to catch some sleep while I went walking. Late swim and then for dinner.

We have experienced minimal high rise in the last 3 weeks, but to experience Singapore is to know what high rise is - and there are just so many more in the course of construction. Construction is everywhere here, buildings, roads, infrastructure, Metro extensions etc, etc, etc. The Singapore Grand Prix is on next weekend, and it too is a massive infrastructure exercise requiring significant interruption to roads, transport, pedestrian access etc. Regrettably, it seems the Grand Prix will be impacted by the very polluted air quality currently being experienced in Singapore due to Indonesian burn offs. Breathing is somewhat impacted - particularly in head cold recovery mode.

A peaceful (last day) at sea - or almost WWIII!!!

Looking to take advantage of an early morning, I headed for the quite busy on-deck laundromat. Very soon discovered that they can be like war zones!!! When one dryer completed it's work, and no one arrived to empty it, a waiting woman cruiser carefully emptied it, placing the dry clothes neatly on a table. Five or six minutes later, the woman owner (with a woman colleague) appeared and was seriously aggrieved that someone had "touched" her washing. Not content with a reasonable explanation and apology, she batted on and it quickly developed into "landrywomen at one pace". A passing Cabin Steward, hearing the commotion, was unable to achieve calm or quiet, and I was forced to step in (almost physically!!) to restore something like calm - but only for a few brief seconds, before it erupted again. This time the only other guy there (like me, a novice in the matter of laundry) stepped in as well, and a parting of the ways was finally achieved. My hopes from this experience are twofold:
1. That I never again need to encounter "landrywomen"; and
2. That the Kangaroos show as much fighting spirit against Richmond as these three mid 50's veterans of the "Great Baltic Laundry War".

The balance of the day was blissful, with beautiful sunshine as we lazily cruised south toward Copenhagen. In sight of land on both sides of the ship for most of the day, passing and overtaking many ships of all sizes (a few yachts included) and km after km of sea based wind farms. Joe Hockey would hate the scenery!!!

In a number of areas there were both north-south and east-west channels and we regularly had ships running parallel on port and starboard as well as crossing forward and aft. We were also flown over by a pollution inspection aircraft.

The final show was a hypnotist, and of course there is something strangely compelling about watching people "perform" under hypnosis - as long as you are not one of them. Last dinners are always a bit sad, but it was "good bye" to our table friends, whose company we had much enjoyed.

Wednesday 9 September - Stockholm

Stockholm is a beautiful city but unfortunately our itinerary and arrangements did not do it justice. While I maintained hope to the end, it was not realistic that there was a chance of docking in Stockholm itself. The Regal Princess is a huge ship and has apparently only ever got in once or twice. It is apparently an extremely slow and tortuous entry, even when a large berth is available. And so it was, that on a beautiful morning, we anchored for tendering, as scheduled at Nynashamn, 1 hour out of Stockholm.

A disappointing 30 minute wait between tenders (might have been a one off) to reach shore started us off. Once there, we paid for a Stromma transfer with seamless access to its Stockholm HOHO bus and boat service. Just a km or two into the transfer my mood became darker (as had Pat's cold), when a clown on board began his photograpgy exploits. In quite unremarkable countryside, he took around 400 photos in 40 minutes with his extremely large camera and lens - doubling that rate once we hit Stockholm. He was oblivious to the requirement to remain seated and seat belted while the bus was in motion, and on 5 or 6 occasions almost went over when we braked or changed lanes. In almost wishing he would go over I, of course, sought dispensation from the Rotary 4 Way Test.

Alighting at the Vasa Museum (getting to it shortly), I enquired of the driver the location of their nearest HOHO boat point, only to be told "no boats, boat already stopped". This, without any pre-sale disclosure and despite their own brochure telling us that boats ran every 20" in the period ending 9 September. Boats are the best way to see Stockholm at its best on a beautiful sunny September day, so this was a bummer.

Anyway, the Vasa is a naval, sailing, salvage and technology story like no other. At over 200 ft long, and ommissioned by King Gustavus (who directed that she be built high (172 ft) but skinny (less than 16ft at the water line) and accommodate an extra gun deck, the result was her almost immediate demise. In fact, she rolled over and sank just 40 minutes into her 1628 maiden voyage - and lay at the bottom of Stockholm's harbour for 333 years. Rediscovered in 1956 and raised in 1961 she was in incredibly good condition and underwent great restoration activity to now be housed in her own massive museum which allows inspection from 5 levels. In addition to the Vasa itself, the museum has wonderful displays and explanations - including many almost fully formed skeletons of more than 30 sailors whose bodies were retrieved.

Completed the HOHO bus route and then wandered Gamla Stan (Stockholm's wonderfully preserved "old town" which is fronted by the Palace). Visited the Palace Chapel and caught the tail end of the Changing of the Guard. Took a late coffee and snack in a real waffle shop, where they make their own on a window front 7 station machine. Some more waterfront wandering and then time for our 1 hour trip back to Nynashamn and our tender to Princess Regal.

Another enjoyable dinner on our table and then to our final full cast live show production - 16 piece Orchestra and 17 performers. A wonderful show with outstanding performances, costumes, staging and sound and light effects. The quality of the live show productions has been top shelf.

Interesting day in Helsinki

Pleasant but cool morning as we arrived in Helsinki, having crossed the Gulf of Finland (and a substantial Russian naval establishment). An unremarkable outer dock but with massive redevelopment and extension underway. Took the shuttle into the city, but could almost as easily taken a tram.

Helsinki is the only European capital with no medieval history. It was never much more than a village until Sweden built a huge fortress on an island outside the harbour in 1746 and the village boomed as it supplied the fortress. When Finland was overtaken by Russia in 1809 (remaining part of the Russian Empire well into the 19th century), the capital was moved to Helsinki and the city's new public buildings were modelled on St Petersburg. Helsinki was used for the filming ot Dr Zhivago because filming in Russia was not possible during the Cold War.

We wandered up to Senate Square (with its statue of Alexander II - Finland's favourite czar) via an attractive promenade, the Lutheran Cathedral, below the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral (built in 1868 for the Russian military when Finland belonged to Russia), around the inner harbour and Market Square. The waterfront is a key part of the city and is a hive of activity with boats of all sizes constantly on the move.

The city has a very comprehensive tram system, including one big figure of 8 loop line which we rode and which travels past the impressive central railway station, the National Gallery, through the shopping and entertainment districts, trendy apartment blocks, the National Opera House, the 1952 Olympics site, a working class district and through the Embassy area. It proved an interesting trip. We first met a female Law Professor from Seattle (travelling on another ship), then a young Finnish law student who was both informative and keen to talk. He alighted just before the working class district, from where we had the pleasure of the company of the town drunk - but he was a happy middle aged drunk, keen to engage us in loud conversation. So we had a most interesting exchange for the next 20 minutes or so, with much laughter on both sides, and without a word of common language. I wonder if he will ever know how Helsinki memorable our meeting was!!!

Helsinki is a very pleasant city, with a big CBD, and it is very pleasing to the eye with its lack of high rise developments and the manner in which it has integrated new development with old buildings. Spent time wandering the essentially pedestrianised inner city streets, to the City's most famous statue, the "Three Blacksmiths", which honors hard work and co-operation. The statue stands outside Helsinki's very classy iconic, 8 floor, Stockmann Department Store.

With an early sail off,  it's time to head back to Regal Princess. Another formal night tonight with a beautiful dinner featuring cray tail dishes - how lucky are we. Another excellent full production show brought the day to an end - but another early one tomorrow.

Day 2 in St Petersburg

Another early morning kick off, through Immigration in a flash and heading for our canal tour of St Petersburg. The canals form a significant piece in the City's public transport system as well as being a mecca for tourists. We had slight drizzle, so were pretty restricted to the lower undercover deck. St Petersburg has had a number of floods in its history - the biggest rising to about 1M above the canal walls.

With the drizzle gone, on to Yusupov Palace, the former private residence of one of the richest families in Russia. It was the site of the 1916 murder of Gregory Rasputin (depicted in an on-site wax exhibition), has beautiful artistic interiors including a palatial 160 seat theatre.

Then to St Isaac's Cathedral, built between 1818 and 1858. It is particularly notable for its mosaics and lavish columns and decorations. St Petersburg has a lot of internal mosaic art works, as it was quickly discovered that, having been built largely on reclaimed swamp land, paintings deteriorated quickly due to humidity. St Isaac's was at one time the largest cathedral in Russia. Interestingly, the Cathedral's do not have pews - the congregation stands, around 2 hours for a "standard" service, and extending to around 4 hours for an Easter service!!!

Basket lunch today as we headed 25km out of town to the Tsarz's Village (the basket fell a long way short of yesterday's restaurant) to the royal summer estate of Catherine Palace. If we thought we had seen gold leaf, we were mistaken, because the Palace drips in it. It is literally impossible to describe in size, grandeur and extravagence. The Palace was originally presented by Peter the Great to his second wife, Catherine I in the early 18th century. A few decades later it was rebuilt to its present appearance on the orders of the royal daughter, Elizabeth I. It is home to some of Europe's most extravagant interiors, including the world famous Amber Room. About 30% of the works were removed before the Nazi occupation,  but there was major damage and looting, including of the Amber Room, since re-established in its original form.

Back to the city to St Peter and Paul's Fortress, the birthplace of St. Petersburg.  Originally constructed in timber over 3 months during the Great Northern War with the Swedish Empire in the early 1700's, the fortress was rebuilt in stone after 1730 to act as a military fortification. We drove over the original wooden bridge - over 300 years old. The Cathedral of St Peter and Paul is on the grounds of the fortress and is the burial place of many Russian emperors, starting with Peter the Great (1689-1725), and ending with Nicholas II (1894-1917). The remains of Nicholas II, the last Russian Tsarz and his family (dad, mum and five children) were buried beneath the Cathedral on 17 July 1998 - their 17 July 1918 assasinated (and hidden) bodies having finally been discovered.

Finished off in the biggest Souvenir Shop ever seen - but they had free vodka!

Really glad we chose to do St Petersburg with Alla Tours - very professional and with a small group of just 16 we got real value for money and had a very well versed guide who was happy to talk about Russia and the difficulties its people face today.

Good dinner again but our table numbers are down - one of the downsides of cruising is catching a cold. We have both been inflicted to a degree, but fortunately, only mildly. One of us missed the Show last night - the other had no partner to dance with to the sounds of the Beatle Maniacs!!