Crucerong Hilaw

12 noon at Central Station is the place and time for the meeting of my cousin Oliver. Growing up together leaves me a lot of adventurous memories with him- from playing table tennis, fishing up to introducing me his buddy Emperador.. hehehe.. so as soon as the ship docks at 10am, we were the first few people in the gangway, ready to get-off. Passenger first but I only have 8 hrs to catch up with him so no time to waste since it is also my first time here in Copenhagen.

We were at Langelinie pier that time and 2 hours before the meeting time is good enough to take a walking tour on our own. First priority is the famous, magical and iconic Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Mermaid". It's summer at this time and tourist are just everywhere! as we walk, I never wonder why they chose Copenhagen- such a sophisticated city! Next stop is the Gefion Fountain.. then to the Amalie Haven and Amalienborg Palace. It takes a lot of researching and asking questions to decide where we would like to go but it is also funny how all this beautiful places just lead us to their way naturally.. Long way to get to the central station but my eyes are too busy looking at their so many bicycles, gorgeous people and nice buildings that I forgot to care about my legs. We took the Sroget street to take a glimpse at their shopping center, although I didn't plan to buy anything in this country (it's expensive) but a magnet for collection wouldn't harm my pocket. It's almost noon and it's time to rush..

The little mermaid

Gefion fountain

Amalie haven

WiFi inside the station helps me check any messages from 'ver and they're on their way.. I'm excited!
Few more minutes and there you go, walking close to us is my good friend/cousin Oliver. I was so happy so see him and 'Len! They just came from work so lunch was shared at Mcdonalds.. a lot of stories already and thank you for my hard rock cafe shirt that you got for me! We didn't waste a second so we started to walk again to visit more landmarks before we get to the ship. Abercrombie shop was memorable too because I got a picture next to their model. Then we head up to the Rosenborg Slot (slot means castle) and more walking all the way to Ryndam where I invited them to be my guest. My pleasure.. I toured them around the ship and it's a bad combination but 'ver had an ice cream and a dutch beer. I hope his tummy was fine after that.. :-) Dinner at Lido and can't help it but play table tennis like we used to do. It was a great day!!

Rosenborg slot

welcome aboard!

7pm came and it's time to say goodbye.. I have to work in 1 hour.
Thank you 'Ver and Len for taking time in meeting up with me. I really enjoyed the time and I'm so happy to see you again insan..

love that ride..

Useful information:

Language- Danish but everybody speaks English

Currency- Dani8sh Krone but souvenir shop takes Euro
as of June 2012 (1 EUR = 7.4277 DKK)

Hop-on hop-off bus- free for crew members but not all operators
Bus #26 takes you to the center for DKK 24

wifi- restaurants and cafe close to the port

Crew service center- none

The ship was docked in the Marine Facade where everything is far. And the day before we conquer St. Petersburg, we did a lot of researching and luckily found a nice tourist information girl in the next terminal were we asked a lot of questions. After finding the best way to get there, then it's time to think about having their local currency. The best way is to buy a souvenir in the port, pay in dollars and get changed in Rubles.

Next day, early morning we walked all the way to Primorskaya metro station- about half an hour walk from the port (if you walk like Marku) :-) It only cost 27 Rubles (not even a dollar) to purchase a metro token and it is really interesting how their subway is reallllly underground. 2 stops from Primorskaya is Gostiny Dvor, which is the station closest to the heart of the city. I love it when I see locals in their natural way of life- you will really see the difference of our behavior and it's fascinating! The long walk starts again when we went to the Russian Museum, Savior of the Blood church and passing through a lot of parks, statues before heading to the Winter Palace where we stop for a quick lunch. So many wedding pictorials that day and the line to the entrance of Hermitage Museum is like a queue to a box office hit movie. In famous landmarks, you'll find a couple asking you to take a picture with them, I asked once and it's 7 euro or 5 euro she said.. thanks anyway!

Russian Museum

Savior of the Blood Church

The Winter Palace.. not ours..

Palace Square

Going back was easy.. we just walk back to the Gostiny Dvor station on a different route, took the underground train again and waited for bus #158 from Primorskaya to the Marine Facade. It is so much to see in St. Petersburg but unfortunately, we didn't have time. This is my first visit and I am very happy that for $10.. I was able to get to the city, had a ice cream stick and bought a bread.
So be a little bit more adventurous and get an up-close encounter with the Russians!

Just a reminder that to be able for passengers to get off the ship, they will need a visa or a booked tour onboard. For crew members, a seaman's book will be required either issued from your country of origin or a Russian seaman's book. Spare a lot time because immigration inspection in the terminal can eat a lot of your time- leaving and arriving from the ship.

I hate taxi.. no challenge! St. Petersburg..... conquered!

Useful Informations:

Language- don't expect an English speaking locals.

Currency- Russian Rubles, only shops in the port takes euro or dollar but in the center, they only take euro. you can change rubles in Tallinn or Helsinki for better exchange rate before arriving in St. Petersburg or an ATM-liked machine in the port.

wifi- in the city.. nothing in port.

Crew service center- None

It's another new place for me, so you can imagine how excited I am to conquer this place with my Brouku! We started the day with a big breakfast then went outside to start a long day..we were docked at Frihamnen that time so the port was not close to the city center but stuffed with a souvenir items, small cafe, lounge and a tourist information desk where we loaded ourselves with maps and booklets. We plan the itinerary for the day and agreed to take the hop on-hop off bus since it's a big city and we wanted to see more in an overnight stay.

Later, we found out that it was free for crew members. wow! that was nice.. I instantly loved Sweden..hehehe.. first stop was the Royal Palace. We got there around 12:30pm and I was so happy that we caught the ceremony for changing of he guards (12:15pm they start everyday). I think that it is a must see with all the music and marching formations! After that, we went inside the Royal Palace to see everything and we just showed our ID's and its free admission again! The history is so rich and I was very impressed how they preserve their artifacts neatly and organized.

changing of the guards

royal carriage

Next stop is the Skansen Museum. We took the hop on-hop off bus from Royal Palace to this open air museum. Tried if it's free again and boom! we were able to get in for zero charge. The place is huge and like usual- a lot of walking but it really worth the effort because my first time to see a lot of Scandinavian animals specially reindeer and old houses from the past. Skansen is the biggest air museum I have been..We took our late lunch in one of the benches there next to the wild fox. Wander around then took the bus again to the Vasa Museum. It was 5:30pm when we got there so only half an hour to see the warship. It was absolutely beautiful! I was astonished by the history and the ship itself- the details and how they build it in 1628. We will definitely go back there..

the reindeer

Vasa ship

Had an expensive burger meal (like Norway and Denmark) next to Tivoli Grona Lund and walked to the city shopping/night life center for our last stroll. It rained for a while so we stopped by in Mcdonalds for Soduku and wi-fi.

It's time to go home and walked back all the way to the ship.
We were tired but GREAT DAY!

useful Informations:

Language- Swedish but everybody speaks English

Currency- Swedish Krona but shops of main attractions takes Euro (June 18, 2012 1 Euro is equals to 8 Krona)

WiFi- in the crew service center just outside the Frihamnen port (turn right), in the hop on-hop off bus and cafe's/restaurants

Crew service centers- Katarina Seamen^s Club (close to StadsGarden and Skeppsbron)
- Kaknas Seamens Center (sports center) close to Frihamnen and Vartahamnen
- Seamen's Mission close to Frihamnen and Vartahamnen

Bus #1 will take you to the city center from Frihamnen port and vice-versa