Sweden to Finland

Our first night on the ship we sailed from Sweden to Finland. It is pretty convenient to be traveling between countries while sleeping comfortably in a bed rather than on a train or a bus. In the morning we woke up to an amazing room service breakfast and fresh coffee delivered to the bedside (it was wonderful!). I had ordered breakfast fruit-couscous and Dan ordered eggs and waffles with strawberries and cream. Somehow they missed the waffle part and just brought the dessert. We debated if we should call them because we were still uncomfortable with the whole pager-butler set up. 

After breakfast we did yoga led by an Australian woman who told Dan he had the flexibility of an old man. He took it well and I figured it was good leverage to get him to keep coming to yoga with me!


Mid morning we gathered for the group sail excursion around Helsinki. First we toured by bus the main square and visited the Helsinki Cathedral which was built by the Tsar of Russia. After Finland became independent they changed the name and now it is still a significant structure that attracts more than 350,000 visitors a year. Lastly, we drove by the Olympic stadium which hosted the games in 1952.

Next we enjoyed the gorgeous afternoon sailing Helsinki. The tour guide was also the captain so we didn't really get an explanation of where we were sailing or what we were looking at. All I can confidently report is that we saw the Suomelinna, an UNESCO World Heritage Site and previously a fort to protect Finland from Russia. We also saw lots of people enjoying the rock beach and sunny day.  

This picture was taken by the photographer hired by John Hancock ( I took the others).
It was sorta odd having him follow the group around but
also nice because its usually just me taking pictures of Dan.

After the sail trip we ditched the tour group and walked back to the cruise ship. Along the way we stopped at the market where we saw some interesting street food, animal furs and coincidentally, there was a parade going through the town. We had no idea what they were singing or why the were celebrating but the colors, costumes and floats were brilliant.

We rested at the pool and enjoyed some sun and mojitos before dinner. I was absolutely blown away with the dinner presentation but only snuck a few pictures since everyone else acted as if a giant dessert buffet and 6 course meal was normal. 

Following dinner we went to watch the evening show where I discovered that not only were there 6 Broadway stars on the ship performing nightly for us but joining us was Wes from the Warbles on Glee!! I love Glee and it was a perfect show to complete a wonderful day.

Next up....Estonia!

The Baltic Cruise of a lifetime!

I have been waiting to blog about our trip to the Baltic because blogging should feel like a treat- an escape, rather than a chore, but the last few days I just didn't feel like writing. I always go through a bit of  an adjustment after a fun vacation and its even harder when I have to say good bye to Dan. We have been doing long distance for 9 months now and every good bye at the airport is just as hard as the first. Tears!


Anyway, its been a few days and although my homesickness is still lingering, I am sitting outside at the pool, its sunny, I have my pandora music playing and I just finished spin class...so life is too good to sulk. I am past my grace period.


First, just to clarify, my grad school research work did not pay for this luxurious trip to the Baltic! Dan and his business partner qualified for the trip from an insurance deal and I was Dan's lucky guest!  Dan was by far the youngest agent on the ship and I am very proud of him for all his hard work. He frequently puts in extra hours at the office and he has a work ethic deserving of a reward!


The package deal flew me from Atlanta to Minneapolis where I had some time to BBQ with family and friends. It was great  to see my family since I hadn't been home since Christmas and it was extra special because I got to meet baby James (my best best friend Kate's new baby).

Baby James

I also squeezed in a morning run with the Downtown Urban Tour group. I miss my running friends and it was great to catch up on the latest life events. I made Casie talk most of the time because I was a bit out of breadth from my lack of running in Guatemala ( I asked a lot of open-ended questions and focused on the cookies and juice at the end!).


Twenty-four hours later Dan and I flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Stockholm. We LOVED every bit of Sweden and wish we could have stayed longer. We got in around 2pm and even though we were super jet-legged we walked the curvy cobblestone streets, explored the busy shopping avenues, and relaxed at the waterside restaurants. We felt so safe and enjoyed people watching since the Swedes have a such a vibrant and expressive style. We decided it was prepy-bohemian-grunge look with a splash of trendy color (if you can picture that)! Or, better yet, it was blend of JCrew- H & M- J.Lindeberg's golf apparel! We had a nice (yet pricey since everything there is so expensive!!) fish and chips dinner and loved that it stayed light out later so we could continue exploring. 

This is after 15 hours of flying and no shower but we were excited to explore!

The following morning we had a nice little breakfast at a cute cafe and then ventured off to board our cruise ship. We were greeted with a cool wash rag and a glass of champagne and that's when I realized...this was going to be a fancy out of this world trip! Our private butler (equipped with a pager and all) met us in our room to explain the cruise amenities like 24 hour complementary room service and a bottomless beverage fridge. Dan and I were a bit out of our comfort zone but this time in the opposite direction. It was a HUGE change from our last trip to rural Honduras where we had to bucket bath and wake up to rooster calls rather than room service!

Our welcome!

robe, slippers and a walk in closet (on a ship!)

cruise ship pool

Well, that's all for today since the Atlanta heat is causing me to sweat onto the computer and I need to jump in and cool off. Oh, and I guess I should prepare for my school presentation tonight!


Hasta pronto....

Guatemala Trip 2011

http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d1796630k8574588o1/guate

Here is a snapshot into my last MBA trip down to Guatemala. I am one trip behind on blogging!!
Click above to watch with music (there were limited options or I would have picked some better songs!)

Guate - how to create a free slideshow