Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland

Twice as many Poles died in the Holocaust than Jews. Traces of WWII trauma and Polish suffering is evident everywhere--from brick ruins to worry lines on the faces of elders. Gdynia was the port town we sailed into, but we took a 30 minute train ride into Gdansk which is Poland's fourth largest city.

We visited and recommend visiting: Gdansk main town (take a walking tour of the Old Town); St. Mary's Church (the world's largest brick church...we climbed to the top of the tower); enjoy lunch at one of the many waterfront cafes and restaurants.

The entire town was celebrating either the Dragon Boat race or a soccer match:

Oslo, Norway

Nestled within forests and at the end of an island-studded fjord, Oslo lays peacefully as it claims Scandinavia's oldest capital city. Oslo is clean, modern, progressive, vibrant, and terribly expensive! I confirmed the rumor that Burger King's value meal costs a whopping $20 USD (but it includes fries, burger, and a drink)! A one-way bus fare cost about $7 USD. Forget it! It reminded me of the $12 USD 6-inch subs I had in Reykjavik, Iceland. Notwithstanding the heavy price tag on just about everything, Oslo has an amazing atmosphere.

We visited and recommend visiting: Vigeland Sculpture Park (features Gustav Vigeland's work); Viking Ship Museum (houses 3 Viking long ships dating back to 800-900 A.D.); City Hall (an ugly, but important building where the Nobel Peace prizes are given out); National Gallery (closed on Mondays so we didn't get to see Edvard Munch's Scream); Akershus Fortress and Castle.

A medieval Norwegian King, pointing at this spot, declared it the site of Oslo:

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn, Estonia is a surprise treat! Although held hostage by Moscow for decades, Estonia maintained its Western traditions in the form of its Latin alphabet and its Protestant and Catholic faiths. Locals are stylishly dressed and the town impeccably clean! Medieval Tallinn is best explored on a walking tour.

We visited and recommend visiting: Town Hall Square (home to cafes, boutiques, and restaurants); Toompea Hill (Upper Town); Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Palace Square featuring onion domes, colorful icons, and golden crosses); St. Olaf's tower.

St. Petersburg, Russia (& Moscow)

We are definitely coming back to St. Petersburg. Two days of non-stop sightseeing was not enough to take in all this city has to offer. Peter the Great, the architect of this fantasy city, was truly a visionary. He accomplished the goal of westernizing Russia by building this very European inspired city.

This city is starkly different from Moscow which is more institutional and rigid in design. In the 90s, my family and I stayed in Moscow for nearly 2 weeks for my Uncle's ballet. His ballet debuted in a small theater next to the ornate Bolshoi Theater. We stayed at the Hotel Metropol next to the Kremlin in Red Square. The subways, parks, and buildings were all very impressive!

In St. Petersburg, we visited and recommend visiting: The Hermitage (unbelievable!); Yusupov Palace (site of Rasputin's assassination); St. Isaac's Cathedral (the largest Church in St. Petersburg); Peterhof Palace (built to rival Versailles with an outstanding gravity powered fountain system); Peter & Paul Fortress (Peter the Great reclaimed this land and built St. Petersburg's first building here on May 27, 1703); Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (site of Tsar Alexander II's assassination); take a canal cruise along the Fontanka, Moika, and Neva Rivers and the Kryukov Canal.

Tip: since traffic is so bad in this city, you should utilize the Metro and public ferries. You can zip between Peterhof and downtown on a 25 minute ferry and save nearly 3.5 hours of traffic time otherwise!

Russian entertainment:

Helsinki, Finland

Pursed against Russia, Helsinki is stylishly Soviet. Russians once conquered Finland between 1809 and 1917. Although lauded as an architectural jem rivaling Stockholm, there was little evidence to support this claim. The streets were dusty and the entire city felt drabby, as if Helsinki just stepped out of WWII.

We visited and recommend visiting: Senate Square; Lutheran St. Nicholas Cathedral; Market Square (rather dull); and absolutely visit Suomenlinna Island Fortress which was built to protect Helsinki from Russian attack in the 18th century. Six islands of a self-contained city are adjoined by bridges. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Get there by a public ferry which departs from Market Square.

Stockholm, Sweden

Compact, clean, and historic. These words describe my overall impression with Stockholm, a lovely city with Venice-like bridges and canals. We visited and recommend visiting: the Vasa Museum (which houses the 17th century warship Vasa, the oldest fully preserved ship in the world. It was built as the pride of the Swedish navy, but capsized a few minutes in on her maiden voyage); Royal Palace and the Royal Armory (your pass lasts for 30 days and you can even witness the changing of the guards show); Gamla Stan (Stockholm's historic old town with narrow cobbled streets and buildings dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries); take a public ferry boat ride between Vasa and Gama Stan.

Here's a video of the Royal Changing of the Guards:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is a beautiful, quaint, and extremely clean city. I am impressed with its well organized infrastructures and the friendliness of local Danes. In search of the perfect local meal, a local Dane saw our confused faces and offered to give a helping hand. I asked her if she had any favorite local restaurants. She said because eating out is too expensive, most Danes eat at home. She, therefore, was unable to suggest any restaurants. She did suggest trying the smörgåsbord, a Scandinavian open faced sandwich with capers, red onions, and pickled herring. By walking around purposefully aimlessly, we finally found a cute and rather inexpensive Danish restaurant. I had the open face herring sandwich and it was delightful!

Our local friend was right, everything was expensive in the city because of the 25% value added tax. Living costs are high and income taxes, as I learned from another local friend, varied between 40-60% of your income (this particular friend failed to accurately calculate her tax and was therefore charged the maximum 60%). The benefit, of course, was that everyone receives universal health care and an excellent education!

We stayed at the stylish Adina Hotel Apartments which was within 15 minute walking distance to the city center. It is about a 5 minute walk from the train stop (which links directly to the airport). Alternatively, bus #26 passed right by the hotel which can take you just about anywhere within the city for about $4 USD. We saved literally $100 in public transportation costs by purchasing a 1 day unlimited travel pass for about $30.

We visited and recommend visiting: The Little Mermaid; Kastellet Fortress (adjacent to Copenhagen harbor, near the Little Mermaid); Tivoli Gardens (pleasure gardens which was actually too expensive to go in); National Museum of Denmark (The only thing that is free and worth it in Denmark!); city center (with wide pedestrian only streets...its fun to people watch and window shop); City Town Hall (where public weddings take place and where you can climb up the clock towers--tours given once a day at noon); Rosenborg Castle (beautiful crown jewels); Kronborg Castle (site of Shakespeare's Elsinore Castle in Hamlet); Helsingor (the cute town just north of Copenhagen in which Kronborg is situated).

Emerald Princess

In the late 90s, my family and I enjoyed a huge family reunion cruise on board a Princess liner. We sailed through Alaska and the coast off of British Columbia. We floated pass glaciers, swimming pods of dolphins and whales, and enjoyed the fjords. After making landfall in Vancouver, a chartered tour bus zipped us from Vancouver to Calgary and back. We drove through the amazing Canadian Rocky Mountains and visited Banff. Memories from this trip were very pleasant, until I got violently ill after splashing my face with the crystal clear waters in a mountainous lake up in Banff!

I had fond memories of the Princess: a well groomed professional staff, pleasant fellow passengers, excellent food, creative fruit carvings, and minimal peddling. These were the memories which influenced our decision to try another Princess cruise for a mini-family reunion trip through the Baltic.

We sailed the Emerald Princess on the Baltic Sea between May 16 and May 26, 2009. We embarked from Copenhagen and made stops at Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), St. Petersburg (Russia), Tallinn (Estonia), Gdynia (Poland), and Oslo (Norway).

There was a noticeable difference between the quality and service on this most recent Princess experience. First, the food was awful (i.e., tasteless meats, over salted soups, minimal buffet selections). The entire ship was crowded with loud, arrogant, and angry Americans. Except for the brief moments ashore, I felt we were trapped on a floating American colony. Some days we had to take food back to our cabin and eat it on our beds because the dining rooms were filled to the brim with people.

Staff members were ok, not exceptional. Our cabin toilet smelled really bad and overall air quality on board was debilitating. Then came all the excessive peddling from staff to purchase exorbitantly priced "treasures" (i.e., by the end of the trip, you probably had over 100 "professional" photos taken of you). We were held hostage on 2 sea days where staff increased the peddling of photos, gifts, and bingo games. We were attacked from all directions. Even when the on board professor lectured, he would find moments to solicit sales of various sorts. There was hardly enough time to truly enjoy each city.

There were two advantages. First, we were able to cut down on travel costs. Second, we were able to cut down the annoyances of the pack-and-go traveler (when you cannot fully unpack because you're moving from hotel to hotel). At the end, the quick tour of each port city allowed us an opportunity to sample what cities we'd likely return to. The experience is analogous to enjoying a sampler appetizer plate.

Personally, I will not be traveling on board Princess anytime soon...or any cruise ship for that matter. I'm more of a land animal. I like to be on shore looking out far at a distant cruise ship imagining all the things I'm not missing.

Uniquely Odd American Tourist Attractions

Roadsideamerica.com is a great website showcasing unique and odd American tourist attractions. Create and plan your own road trips under "My Sights." http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

Free London!

Free London activities.

`Iolani Palace (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Any visit to Honolulu must include a mandatory stop at `Iolani Palace, the only royal residence in the United States.

The palace once symbolized Hawaiian sovereignty, power, and progress. Today, the palace reminds us of the grandeur of the Kingdom of Hawaii while juxtaposing the violent relationship between American businessmen and the vulnerable monarchy.

Interestingly, King Kalakaua installed electricity in the palace even before electricity was introduced into the White House. Additionally, he installed other high tech gadgetry such as flushing toilets, bath tubs, and 200 gallon hot water tanks. At the time, Honolulu also had the most telephones per capita than any other city in the world! Queen Liliuokalani (last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii) was also imprisoned within these palace walls--her own home--during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

As a kama`aina, you'll get in FREE usually on the first Sunday of each month. We spent about 3.5 hours here first enjoying a 45 minute docent guided tour of the palace, then marveling at a wonderful collection of artwork, jewelery, and other royal paraphernalia in the basement gallery.

Coronation Pavilion (used in 1893 for the coronation of King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani)

`Iolani Barracks (top/bottom)