Techgurl

Today we took the train and ferry which brought us over to the Czech side of the Saxony region. Some notable differences..... it was not quite as clean as the German side, in Hrensko the Asians had set up shop stalls which looked more like Thailand than Europe and overall prices were alot more reasonable than in Germany...... beer cost $1euro vs $4euros. Our walk for the day took us up up up a very nice trail into the mountains and to the top of one of the sandstone formations. It is always amazing how they can get a restaurant at the top of each of these hiking trails and this one was no exception. The highlight was a natural stone bridge. This was one of the nicest trails we took on our trip. The ascent...although ... read more

We woke to a sunny day again….. no complaints – and had coffee on our balcony. Today is wash day and we camped out after breakfast in the small laundry room to snag on of the 3 washing machines. Of course, since we are on the back end of our cruise everyone else has the same idea. So, this morning will be spent relaxing between babysitting our laundry and waiting for machines. We have met some interesting people on the ship and last evening one of the gentlemen at our table had actually gone to both Royal Roads and RMC in Kingston. Everyone seems to be rather well traveled and the dinner conversation usually involves sharing of amusing stories. One evening we did have a table where everyone seemed to be talking about their various medical ... read more

We docked in Helsinki this morning right in the downtown area…..next to the Ferris wheel which many cities now have. There was a morning market set up not too far from the ship along the waterfront. We decided to just go for a walk and find a tourist office. Not too far from the ship is the Finnish President’s residence and there were red carpets set out and some security staff milling around the entrance…..it was obvious that some dignitary was expected. Helsinki is a smallish town and the waterfront is lined with parks and wide sidewalks….we found the tourist office – a free walking tour starting at 10am – and as we left we were treated to a military marching band making it’s way from the central square to the President’s residence. Apparently, there was ... read more

July 7 – Tallinn This morning we docked in Tallinn Estonia – the home of SKYPE – AND I might add the first country to electronically connect all it’s citizens to government services. Each person has a single identity card which serves as their health card/drivers license and everything else – they also have electronic voting. I recall studying this aspect of Estonia when I was involved in designing electronic services for Ontario. Anyhow….. we had booked a food tour of Tallinn and were met by our guide and joined by 7 others also taking the tour. This was a walking tour and I fail to understand why someone who uses a wheelchair and is barely mobile would figure this was appropriate but we did have one elderly person on the tour who had to be ... read more

This morning we docked just outside of Copenhagen. What started out as a promising day weather wise - with sun and blue skies - gradually changed over the course of the day into intermittent showers - light and heavy and usually JUST after I had put my coat or umbrella away. Needless to say I can firmly state my new jacket IS water proof!! We decided to do Copenhagen independently but had booked a free walking tour through Sandeman's. After breakfast we caught the 8:30 ship shuttle bus into town and found the meeting place for our tour. The guide was a character - full of wry humour - and he told interesting stories of the history of Copenhagen which involved lots of burning of buildings - fires and drunken firefighters. We walked through the central ... read more