You think you know me, right?  And I thought I knew me.  Turns out, I didn't know me as well as I thought I did.  I am a planner.  I write tasks down and cross them off as they're accomplished.  I have lists within lists.  Rarely do I undertake a activity that hasn't been logged on the calendar weeks or months in advance.

So I don't have an explanation for what possessed me to suggest to Dawn that we take a cruise, one that would embark ten days hence!  Sanity would have returned immediately had Matt told Dawn that (for any of a number of logical reasons) he couldn't oversee the kids for almost two weeks.  But then, his folks, Nana and Pap, are living here in Ohio again, so he asked for their help.  And thus, 24 hours later, we had our tickets!  For a reasonable charge, I was able to book an inside cabin on the Crown Princess, a 19-deck behemoth built to accommodate 3080 paying passengers, plus a crew to support their care.  Where were we going?  The Baltic!!

This is an area I visited in 2002.  This time, however, the towns in Norway were eliminated and Tallinn, Estonia, and Warnemunde/Berlin, Germany, were added.  The highlight, however, would be a visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, a site I really really wanted Dawn to see.

Pictures that follow are highlights from our cruise.  Click here to see more pictures taken on the cruise in 2002 and scroll down to "Fjords and Faberge."

Saturday, June 28 - We left Cleveland at 11:30 AM and arrived in Copenhagen 18 hours later, at 11:30 AM Sunday.  (There's a six-hour time difference.)  Once on the ship and in our cabin, we both took a nap.  Once awake, we unpacked and then went to dinner.  That evening the ship left for our first port, Stockholm, Sweden.  A trip into Copenhagen would have to wait until we returned in nine days.

Wednesday, July 2 - HELSINKI, FINLAND - Our ship's tour included a visit to Temppeliaukio Church.  The church is built into solid rock; therefore, it is also known as the Church of the Rock.

Natural light brightens the inside of the church through 180 glasses between the dome and the wall.  The ceiling is a giant disc made of copper wire.

Another stop was at the Sibelius Monument.  This sculpture in steel aroused criticism for its departure from the conventional type of memorial, so the sculptor later added a bust of the composer.

Thursday and Friday, July 3 and 4 - ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - For me, the highlight of the cruise was our two-day visit to St. Petersburg.  Both days were filled with views of the oppulence of tsarist Russia in the 1700 and 1800s.

We began at the Catherine Palace, designed by Rastrelli and named for Catherine, the second wife of Peter the Great.

Once inside the gates, we were overwhelmed by the size of the building, its color and the amount of gold (once gilt, now paint).  Then we walked to the back of the Palace where there is one of many formal gardens on the grounds.

Then we were off to Peterhof, often referred to as "the Russian Versailles," built by Peter the Great to be the imperial palace.  The estate was equally popular with Peter's granddaughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade.

On Friday we headed to the Hermitage.  Originally built to be the Winter Palace, it is now a museum consisting of six buildings on the River Neva in the heart of St. Petersburg.  The collection of art contains three million items.

Visitors were required to wear "booties" over their shoes in the Catherine Palace, but there was no similar requirement at the Hermitage.  The floors of the rooms we visited were either mosaic tile or inlaid wood.  Our guide could not explain why precautions are not taken to protect the floors.

The Large Throne Room
A section of the mosaic tile floor from Pavilion Hall

Two churches were also on our list: The first was Church on the Spilt Blood, built in 1907 on the site of assassination of Alexander II who was one of the most progressive Russian Tsars of the 1800s and the second was St. Isaac's Cathedral. 

The "onion domes" of the Church on the Spilt Blood are well known.

The facade of St. Isaac's is imposing although less ostentatious than the Church on the Spilt Blood. However, both have interior walls and dome interiors covered with unbelievably detailed mosaic art.

Saturday, July 5 - TALLINN, ESTONIA - Dawn and I were ready to "chill" after two days of nonstop touring.  We took the ship's shuttle to the Old Town of Tallinn and strolled the cobblestone lanes before eventually sitting down to people watch.

Sunday, July 6 - GDANSK, POLAND - Gdansk is several miles from the port of Gdynia where we were docked, so we took advantage of the ship's excursion to Gdansk.

	The city was bombed during WWII but has since been restored and is now a favorite with tourists.

Monday, July 7 - WARNEMUNDE, GERMANY - Warnemunde was the port for excursions to Berlin.  Dawn and I were not interested in taking the 3-hour train ride to the city, and chose instead to walk around the quaint town.  Eventually we sat down for a German meal of mashed potatoes, cooked cabbage and sausage.  We also sampled the local beer.

We returned home on Wednesday, July 9.  Although Dawn had somehow hurt her back a few days before the end of the cruise, the ship's doctor prescribed medication that alleviated some of her pain and made it possible for us to continue our sightseeing.  We had a good time sharing this experience, and I am especially glad Dawn was able to see some of the sights this itinerary had to offer.