Going “home” to Yerevan 26 years later… part one of our Armenian adventure!

Well, folks, I went and did it. I finally broke down and visited Yerevan, Armenia, which was my home for 27 months of my 20s, back in the 1990s. The 90s were quite a difficult time to be living in Yerevan, especially for a clueless twenty something like I was at the time. I had a difficult time serving in the third group to go to Armenia with the Peace Corps. There were a lot of times back then when I wondered if I would successfully conclude my service without either quitting or being thrown out of the country. Looking back on it, there were people I met through the Peace Corps whom I thought were stronger than I was and didn’t stay the course. But I did, and now that I’m 51 years old and a “hausfrau”, I’ll take that success.

I’m being very serious when I state that I resisted going back to the former Soviet Republic of Armenia for a long time. Part of me really wanted to go there… to see where I used to live, take photos, and experience the place as a tourist. Armenia actually is a very interesting country with a fascinating history. Parts of it are stunningly beautiful, too. I’d like to go back and visit those parts on a proper tour, or maybe hire a guide to take us around the country. Actually, I’d probably be better off with a private guide cuz, you know… I can be a little “extra”. 😀

Bill was also hesitant about going to Armenia. I’m not really sure why. He’s been to some pretty austere places. Last summer, I was pressuring him to go, because I was doing some research that indicated that Armenia has become a place drastically different from what I remembered from the 90s. I thought we could have an amazing and relatively inexpensive vacation. But he demurred, and when we did our usual Champagne Bucket drawing, Finland won. We ended up turning that into a Scandinavian extravaganza that included Estonia and Latvia. As we were wandering around Latvia, I couldn’t help but remember Armenia, and how I needed to grow a spine and go already.

Then in September, fate intervened. Bill put his hand in the Champagne Bucket, and pulled out Armenia. And this time, I decided come hell or high water, we were going– just in time to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. I found a great hotel, booked business class tickets, and let my former student, Stepan, who now works for the Peace Corps, know I was going to be coming.

I remember Stepan was a little skeptical at first. He didn’t want to get excited, since I’d been talking about coming to Armenia for ages. But I insisted that this time, it was for real. I was finally going to come back to Yerevan. I’m so glad we finally made it happen. We had an amazing trip that was extremely meaningful to me on so many levels. I think the biggest takeaway, though, is that sometimes going back to make good memories is the best way to get clarity and perspective.

My first time in Armenia was affected by a lot of things that I probably made more of than I should have at the time. But my second time there, I felt surprisingly confident and comfortable… and save for our actual anniversary day, which was pretty weird, we really had fun. Of course, Yerevan is a lot more developed now than it was in the 90s.

I couldn’t believe the shopping, western style food, and sheer lights everywhere. When I arrived in 1995, none of that stuff was there. Yerevan had few restaurants, few western style shops, and few lights. I got to see it change significantly when I was living there, but it was not even close to the level of development then that it is now. English is everywhere, too. I used my rusty Armenian skills, but I didn’t really need to do that, most everywhere we went.

So now it’s time for my usual blow by blow trip report. I hope some of you will come along for the ride. I have a lot of new stories to write and pictures to share! Not everything was positive, of course, and I do plan to be honest about that… but overall, I was left with a very good impression and a strong feeling of welcome. One thing that hasn’t changed since the 90s, for instance, is that people still seem to think I’m Russian.

I’ll get more into that later… especially when I write in detail about the overly intimate frisking I got this morning from a very obnoxious security officer at the airport. She seemed to be on a massive power trip. There was a lot of confusion, because there was a woman trying to deal with her baby stroller. She was holding things up.

Yerevan only has a metal detector, which requires security officers to put their hands on people who they deem “suspicious”, which I guess I must have been to to the security officer. She spoke English to me, then switched to Russian, as she snarled “Put your arms out. I’m not finished with you, yet.”

I looked her in the eyes and said in a calm, but very serious tone of voice, “I don’t speak Russian.”

At that point, she kind of backed off and let me get on my way. Now I wonder if she thought I was Russian, and was taking out some of the recent Armenian anti-Russian sentiment on me. Don’t get me wrong. It’s certainly well deserved. Russia screwed over Armenia regarding the conflict with Azerbaijan. But I don’t have a drop of Russian blood in me, and I had nothing to do with Putin’s policies toward Armenia and Azerbaijan. I simply wanted to move on from the struggling lady with the baby stroller, and the aggressive security officer with personality deficits. Sue me.

All week, people have been trying to speak Russian to me, just like the old days. I shocked more than a few of them by responding in Armenian. I didn’t bother trying to speak Armenian with the security lady, because I just wanted to get away from her. Aside from that, I think she needed a reminder that not everyone with blonde hair and blue eyes is an oppressor. My aim was simply to get through security and have some coffee, since it was about 3:30 AM. What the hell is wrong with that?

If the officer had spoken in Armenian, she might have gotten a cheerier and more respectful response from me. I’m not sure how people are supposed to behave in the wee hours of the morning when we’re trying to get through security and some woman with a baby stroller is holding up the line, frantically trying to get it to fold. I know I appeared to be very annoyed, because I was. My annoyance was perfectly justified, and there was really no reason for the security officer to practically give me a “happy ending” as I left her country. She certainly had no cause to be so nasty to me. Sorry… just had to get that out of my system. I feel better now.

But anyway, I’m pretty much over that rather traumatizing incident– for now, anyway… 😉 Tomorrow, I’ll commence with writing about the trip and everything we saw and did. That will be a much happier topic. Most Armenians are wonderful, warm, friendly, and talented people, and I really want to focus on their kindness, generosity, and good humor. So stay tuned. “Heto noritz k’gam eli…” (and if you’re Armenian and this doesn’t make any sense, “Voch inch.“)

caves, Sundays

A very special Sunday in southern Germany… part two of our 2023 Czech tour!

Sunday morning, Bill went to the bakery to get us some breakfast. He had already gone to the store the night before to get snacks, wine, and orange juice, so his bakery stop was just for croissants and coffee. We could have had the breakfast at the hotel on Sunday, but we decided not to bother with it. Hotel breakfasts are often pretty overpriced, and we had already paid for the room.

While we were eating, I discovered that we happened to be in the area at a fortuitous time… if you like visiting caves, that is. On the first Sunday of the warm months, a local caving club opens the Olgahöhle. Since it was the first Sunday of October, they opened the cave to the public (it can also be booked by special request). We decided to head to Lichtenstein-Honau, the little village where the cave is located. We happened to catch the last tour date until spring.

I have already written about our visit to this very special cave, but in the interest of continuity, I will recap a bit with this post and add some more photos. There was a group of German teenagers at the cave, notable because it’s a primary cave made of tufa, a type of stone. Unlike most other caves, this particular cave isn’t formed from limestone. It’s also described as a “very young” cave, as it formed post Ice Age.

As caves go, this one was pretty easy to visit. There was just one flight of stairs to go up and down. The tour was done in German, but we managed to understand a little of what was said. Plus, the club had information in English for us, which was handy. A few of these photos are in the earlier post about this cave, but I figure I might as well share them again. Check out the cauliflower rock!

A few seconds of water dripping in the cave… Water is an artist in its own way.

While we were waiting for our turn to tour the cave, I looked up and noticed the dramatic sight of Lichtenstein Castle, which is a gorgeous Schloss on a mountain top. Bill and I tried to visit the castle after our visit to the cave, but there was no parking anywhere. It was okay, though, since we’d been there before and I already had many beautiful pictures of the grounds. I was glad to be able to take photos from another vantage point, down in a village overlooked by the castle.

It also turned out to be lucky that we missed the castle, because if we’d gone there, we would have missed watching sheep cross the road to another pasture, as well as meeting a couple from Augsburg. We ate lunch at Nebelhöhle Cave, which we chose not to tour, since we’ve been there before. Instead, we just hung out and people watched, enjoying the fantastic weather.

Please excuse Neil Diamond and my goofy comments and laughter…

I got some very pretty photos of the trees that were just about to turn into a spectacular color show… It was just a great day to be in that part of Germany!

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to change into cooler clothes. We were dressed for a chilly cave, which it actually wasn’t on October 1. Since it was Sunday and we’d had a rather active day, we decided to stay in and watch goofy German game shows while we ate pizza from the local joint. I suspect that some Germans have learned some English from watching South Park. This one show we watched involved the host holding up a fake piece of shit. One of the contestants called it a “hankey”, as in Mr. Hankey, the Christmas poo. But a “hankey” or a “hanky” is actually a handkerchief, not a piece of shit. On the other hand, maybe it was an actual Mr. Hankey doll. Who knows? If that’s the case, then the contestant wasn’t wrong to call it that.

Eh well… yet another one of the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools…

Stay tuned for part 3!

Champagne Bucket trips, Finland, Latvia

Twenty-two things I learned on our epic Scandinavia/Baltic/cruise trip…

Hi ho, folks. I usually do a “ten things I learned” post after our trips. Since this was a comparatively massive trip that was divided into a few segments, I’ve decided to compose slightly more than double the usual list. I’ve found that the “things I learned” posts tend to get read more than the “blow by blow” posts. So, in the interest of engaging people, here’s my latest list of things I learned while traveling. Some of these things I mention will seem silly or irrelevant. Nevertheless, they are still things I learned on our trip. I hope some of you enjoy it!

Here goes…

22. In Northern Europe, you are encouraged or even obliged to forgo housekeeping for charitable purposes.

We stayed in four hotels. In three of them, there were signs encouraging or even requiring guests to skip having their rooms cleaned. In Oslo, it was a choice, which we did opt for, since we only stayed two nights. In Bergen, it was automatically skipped unless we requested it by 10 PM the night before. And in Copenhagen, it was encouraged. All three hotels claimed that they donated money saved by not cleaning rooms to environmental or women’s causes. I was actually surprised by how environmentally aware the hotels were. In Copenhagen, they even had a daily 6 AM jog sponsored by the hotel where people could jog together and pick up trash.

21. When you check into a hotel in Northern Europe, don’t be shocked if you’re asked to pay when you get your key, if you haven’t already prepaid.

We had to pay upfront for both Norway hotels and our hotel in Denmark. It didn’t really matter, in the grand scheme of things, but it was kind of surprising at the time.

20. At the moment,it’s hard to plan a land based trip up north. But that’s changing.

I had originally wanted this to be a land based trip because I like to stay at least a night or two in places I visit, especially when they are in countries I’ve never visited in the past. We ended up cruising on this trip, because it was simply more practical. I have a feeling that even though we were on a luxury cruise, it might have also been somewhat cheaper. The Rail Baltica project is making a land based trip to Baltic countries more feasible. I hope we’re still living here when it’s completed, or will be able to visit.

19. Sometimes, Norwegians are indistinguishable from Americans.

Or maybe we were just in places where Norwegians don’t have thick accents. I was often shocked by how much Norwegians reminded me of my countrymen! The one difference was that they tended to be taller, blonder, and a lot more beautiful. Especially the women.

18. Helsinki, Finland has an Armenian restaurant!

I noticed it on the bus ride from the port to the city center. No, we didn’t have a chance to visit it, but I did look it up. Apparently, it’s currently temporarily closed, as they are moving from their old location to a new one. I took a look at the menu and it appeared to be a great place to dine Armenian style. Maybe, if we go back to Helsinki, we can give it a try. As some of you know, Armenia is important to me, because I lived there for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

17. Most Finnish people have saunas, second homes, and boats… some women even give birth in saunas!

The ladies who did our harbor cruise tour told us that many Finnish people have their very own private saunas at home. They are considered very clean, so some women even have babies in their home saunas. That doesn’t seem appealing to me, but what do I know? The ladies also said that many people have their own boats and second homes, and that it doesn’t require a lot of money to have either. That’s just part of their culture. I clearly need to explore Finland more!

16. Estonia had a comparatively easy time during the pandemic, because people there naturally “social distance”.

Our tour guide, the hilarious Raul (Robin Williams come to visit in another life form), told us that most Estonians don’t have big families (same as in Finland). And when COVID-19 was especially terrible, it wasn’t so hard for the Estonians, because people up there are kind of solitary. He said the government would like to see more babies being made and is trying to encourage it, but Estonians aren’t so into the idea.

15. There’s an old AIDA cruise ship stuck at Tallinn’s harbor…

As we were entering and leaving Tallinn, Estonia, I couldn’t help but notice the loudly painted AIDAvita, docked at the pier. It looked a little rusty, but I paid it no mind until I got back on our ship and did some Googling. The AIDAvita was sold and is now known as Avitak. But it still looks like an AIDA ship, even though it flies the Liberian flag and has been stuck in Tallinn since November 2021.

14. Everybody up north celebrates Midsommar… It’s a big deal!

I didn’t know about this holiday, which is celebrated in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and other northerly countries. This year, it took place on Saturday, June 24th, and I noticed lots of women wearing flower crowns on their heads. Raul, our guide in Estonia, said that starting on Midsommar Eve (this year, the 23rd of June– the shortest night of the year) people party all night and spend the next day recovering. When we visited Tallinn, it was Sunday, June 25th, and Raul said we probably wouldn’t see too many locals, since people still needed to recuperate from the festivities. Summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21st… but, of course, they’re going by the Summer Solstice. Midsommar represents the time between planting crops and harvesting them.

13. People in Estonia and Latvia are GLAD to be running their own countries now.

I’m not totally surprised about this one, of course. It makes perfect sense that people would take pride in their cultures and want to run their countries the way they see fit. Still, as an American who grew up in the 1980s, it was very interesting to hear about the Soviet times from the locals and how, on the whole, they were very happy not to be part of the Soviet Union anymore. When I lived in Armenia, I think the sentiment was probably similar, although I was there in the mid 90s, when times were more difficult. I did hear some people say they missed the Soviet Union, but probably only because they were tearing pages from books to wipe their asses when they went to the toilet. I’m sure they no longer long for those days.

12. Riga, Latvia has many beautiful art deco buildings!

I hadn’t known much about Latvia before this trip, other than what Bill told me about visiting there. I didn’t know there were so many beautiful buildings in Riga that managed to survive the Soviet era. I do remember some nice buildings in Armenia, too, no doubt built before the Soviet Union existed and imported a lot of industrial tackiness and weird architecture. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to see that there are still many gorgeous old buildings there.

11. Visby, Sweden is a beautiful place, but I think I’d hate to own a home in the old town!

As we walked through Visby’s historic old town within its medieval walls, I couldn’t help but think I’d probably dislike living there. The local government is very strict about how locals can decorate or improve their properties, and as I saw and experienced firsthand, there are MANY tour groups coming through there. But I’m still really glad we visited. And luckily, we probably could never afford to live there, anyway. 😉

10. Liepaja and Karosta, Latvia, are still big military areas. But Liepaja has potential!

I had heard of Karosta before our visit there, to see the big naval military prison. I had not heard of Liepaja, which is one of Latvia’s biggest cities. I was surprised by how nice the town is. There are many trees there; music is a focus of the city; and the beach is surprisingly inviting. I hope we can visit again sometime.

9. I learned the tragic story of the Rose of Turaida…

And you can learn it too, by clicking here and reading up about it.

8. Religious people in northern Europe are typically Lutherans…

In 2023, I don’t expect *that* many people in Europe to be especially religious. Those who do practice religion tend to be Lutherans, although there are also Catholics. We visited several Russian Orthodox churches, too. There are still some Russians living in the Baltic areas.

7. Latvians love their “biggest” cave, which isn’t very big at all, and is more like a grotto.

Our guide explained that Latvians love the largest cave in Latvia, which is not a big cave at all. Gutmana Cave is not very deep and lacks the typical exciting formations one tends to see in caves. What it does have is very pure water, which locals claim bestow eternal youth and good health. Also, on the sandstone walls, there are many carvings and inscriptions dating back hundreds of years.

*Sorry about the window glare. Norway sure is beautiful!*

6. Norway has many, many electric vehicles…

I was very surprised by the sheer volume of electric vehicles in Norway. The cabs we rode in were all electric. We actually rode in our very first Tesla there. The train from Oslo to Bergen is electric. The gas stations have places for people to recharge their vehicles. Gas is expensive, and Norway has many rules regarding emissions and pollution. I read that as of 2026, a lot of cruise ships won’t be able to explore the fjords anymore.

5. If you visit Sigulda in Latvia, you might want to buy a walking stick… or jewelry.

I was surprised by the excellent handcrafts in Sigulda, especially given how reasonably priced they were. One of the items people typically buy there are ornate and colorfully painted walking sticks. We bought a small one for Bill’s granddaughter. I got myself some beautiful silver earrings. That reminds me… I need to look up the boutique online and see if I can order more. 😀

4. There is no more fishing in Bornholm, Denmark…

Bornholm is an island south of the Swedish coast. It belongs to Denmark. You’d think there would be many fish there, but the area has been overfished by humans, and lots of seals call the island home. So now, although there once were fish factories in Bornholm, they are now closed. The locals get their fish from other places. This trip really made me more aware of the environment and how our choices affect everything.

3. Only one restaurant on Bornholm still smokes fish the old fashioned way.

We visited Hasle Smokehouse, a “museum restaurant” in Bornholm, where the proprietor still smokes fish over an outdoor open fire. His establishment is the only one that still operates that way. It’s allowed because the place is also considered a museum, but he told us that the government sends him warning letters every year about public health/foodborne illness dangers. I can attest that the smoked herring is delicious, health risks notwithstanding!

2. Copenhagen, Denmark is fabulous…

I already had an idea that it was fabulous, as this was our third time in the city. But, we clearly need to go there and spend a few days. A couple of nights at the end of a long trip, a night on the way to Rostock, and a few hours as part of a cruise is not sufficient to really appreciate how cool that city is. We need to do a long weekend there. We also need more time in Stockholm and Helsinki… Hell, all of the places we went to were great! I wouldn’t change any aspect of our trip.

And finally, 1. It wasn’t a bad idea in 2023 to go to Northern Europe instead of Italy, France, England, or any of the biggest European hot spots.

Granted, it seemed like everyone was on vacation when we were, but I don’t think as many people came to Northern Europe as some of the most touristy European cities. I’ve been reading a lot about how many people have descended upon Europe this summer. It didn’t seem so bad where we were, with the exception of Bergen. But even Bergen wasn’t that bad… A bonus was that the weather, by and large, wasn’t that hot. However, we did encounter hot weather and a couple of chilly days. I read that the weather last week wasn’t so great, either. So, you take a risk… Still, we were very lucky on our trip, and got to see most everything we planned to see. I still want to see more of the fjords. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance.

Anyway… I could probably add even more to this list. You learn a lot when you go on two week trips to half a dozen countries! But I’ve got some other stuff to do. Noyzi needs a walk; I need to practice guitar; and I have at least one more blog post to write. So I’ll wrap up this post now… I’m glad our big trip worked out the way it did, hectic as it was. We had a good time.

Champagne Bucket trips, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

July 2… time to go HOME.

On the morning of July 2, it was time to start the process of ending our big trip of 2023. Again, I can’t say that I was sad about it. I love going on vacations. I enjoy traveling– seeing new things, buying new stuff, meeting people, eating different foods, and drinking different beverages… especially the adult varieties. But it all has to end eventually.

I missed Noyzi. I craved having access to my washing machine. I worried about the pile up of mail. I even had fond memories of my bed, which really needs a new mattress. And, even though not that many people want to read my blog posts about our travels, I was really itching to write and upload all of the photos I took over the two weeks we were gone. I prefer to write on my desktop computer, which is at home. So, home was where we needed to go.

Bill checked out of the hotel, while I went to the handy self check-in kiosk in the hotel lobby. I printed our luggage tags and boarding passes, and we made our way to the luggage drop off point, which was actually a pretty stout walk within the airport from the hotel. It was especially rigorous, since we had heavy bags. I was thanking God that I booked business class on the plane, because it got us into the short security line, and we were able to get through and into the SAS Lounge (which also serves Lufthansa passengers) in no time.

The Copenhagen Airport has a pretty decent lounge, although I didn’t make full use of it. I just sat in a nice chair and drank sparkling water while we waited until it was time to make our way to our gate. Once we got there, we found it backed up with a lot of passengers and not enough seating. Typical! 😉

I was a little worried that maybe our plane would be like the one we flew out of Bergen on… two by two seating in a very narrow aircraft. But it was a nice spacious plane, with three seats per row. Since we were in business class, we had an empty middle seat, and we even got served “breakfast”… which was mostly stuff I don’t eat. But they did have warm croissants and orange juice, which was fine for me. I also appreciated the chocolate they gave us afterwards!

The flight was perfectly lovely, and we landed on time in Frankfurt. It took forever to get our bags, and I think we might have even been the only ones who checked baggage. We were the only ones we noticed from our flight waiting for bags, which took over a half hour to get to us. While we were waiting, we encountered more Americans. One was a woman who looked a little annoyed when I sat down in a chair near her luggage. She changed her tune when she started wondering aloud about transportation and Bill helpfully piped up with local insider info. She asked us where we were from, and we answered America… but now we live here in Germany, and boy has it changed us in profound ways.

I don’t know what the woman and her husband were here for. The way she was dressed and the amount of luggage she had suggested that maybe she was going to go on a Rhein cruise or something. But those usually start in Basel, Switzerland or Amsterdam, Netherlands. They do pass through the Rheingau, though, and I often watch them and think… maybe I’d book one of those if I didn’t live so close to so many of the stops!

We found the Volvo and drove home, quickly unpacked, and I started doing laundry. I turned on the robot mower to deal with the very high grass. I checked out our rain barrel, which was full of nasty critters I’ve been killing all week. And I’ve been writing on this blog for a solid eight days. I’ve still got some more to write about, but the actual blog series on our big Nordic trip is over now. I hope some of you enjoyed it.

For those who are curious… This trip ran us approximately $22,000. We don’t usually come close to spending that much on a vacation, and we spent more than we had to. This was not an economy trip, by any means. We were also gone for two weeks, traveling in style in a very expensive area of the world. So…

*Cruise was about $12,000 or so… Concierge E on Regent Seven Seas Splendor, which is a luxury class, all inclusive cruise ship.

*Business class plane tickets from Frankfurt to Oslo, Bergen to Stockholm, and Copenhagen to Frankfurt, probably about $2,000 or so.

*A compartment on the train to Bergen from Oslo, about $500

*Hotels for eight nights, about $2,000 or so. Those, we paid at the hotel, rather than ahead of time.

*Trip insurance for a year about $1,000 (covers all trips all year)

*Food, booze, shopping, transportation, tickets to activities etc. about $4,500

I also haven’t factored in how much Noyzi’s boarding was. We had to prepay that in cash before we left.

If we’d wanted to, we could have pared down costs considerably. This summer, we really just wanted to enjoy ourselves. We definitely aren’t alone. Europe is teeming with people this year, and prices are pretty high. I’m happy to report that most of these costs were paid off before our trip started. We just need to work on paying off the stuff I didn’t pre-pay or pre-book.

It was a special pleasure to visit Finland and Latvia, two places I had never been to before, and learn about other places I’d never heard of, like Visby and Bornholm. It really was a good time, albeit very different from our usual road trips south!

So, that about does it for this series. I have to close now, as workmen have just shown up to replace the windows in my house. Hope to see some comments at some point!

Champagne Bucket trips, Latvia, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

A phrase you don’t hear everyday, unless you’re on a prison tour near Liepaja, Latvia…

On the morning of June 28, 2023, Bill and I woke up to our breakfast delivery. We probably should have done breakfast in the suite every day. It was a lot more peaceful than going to the restaurants were. Not only could we enjoy the sea breezes on our balcony, but I could also dispense with putting on a makeup and bra, at least for a short while.

After filling up on breakfast, we got dressed and I put on a layer of makeup. I was kind of excited, for we were finally in Liepaja, Latvia, which was a stop I had been eagerly anticipating. Why? Because that’s where Karosta Prison is, and I had been curious about that place since 2009, when I first read about how the former Soviet military prison had been turned into a B&B for the moderately kinky, which I am.

I’m only half kidding… I seem to remember that in the late aughts, Karosta Prison, which had functioned as a military prison until 1997, had been converted into an entertainment venue for those who were curious about the experience of being incarcerated in a Soviet style prison. Back when I first read about the place in a 2006 Guardian piece, there was a very intense “reality show” available, where paying guests could pretend to be new inmates. They’d be photographed, and then put through their paces by a military “warden”, given a medical check up by a “nurse”, and spend the night in strict silence on thin mattresses in an actual jail cell. Participants had/have to sign a waiver agreeing to the conditions of the prison, realizing that they might be treated badly as part of the program.

In 2023, it looks like the reality experience has been watered down a bit. Now, it’s a three hour experience, although it is still possible to book an overnight at the prison, too, if you call ahead. My guess is that a lot of tourists were either freaked out by the original package, or conditions changed due to COVID. But anyway, even back in 2009, I didn’t think I could take the extreme package that was still being offered then. I much preferred the idea of just a simple tour, then going back to a luxury hotel room. 😉

We had to move out of Germany in 2009, so I never got a chance to plan a land based trip to Liepaja, which is one of Latvia’s largest cities. There was a time when a person had to get special permission to visit Liepaja, owing to the fact that there are many military facilities there. Even to this day, there are military facilities operating in Liepaja, but back in the Soviet years, it was a place where there were a lot of top secret Soviet military operations. So, even though there’s a lovely beach there, and it’s well known for being the source of a lot of Latvian music and musicians, it wasn’t a top tourist spot until after the Soviet Union fell apart.

After another quick visit to the Constellation Theater, where we traded our tour tickets for group numbers, we headed out to the tour buses. Our tour guide, who confessed to being born in 1990 and spoke with a noticeable stammer, did a good job of showing us around.

First, we visited St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Church that dates from 1903. We were warned to cover our shoulders and knees, and ladies should have something to cover their heads. No photography is allowed inside. Well… sure enough, there were people on the tour who either didn’t read the instructions, or didn’t care about the request for modest clothing. They showed up in shorts. The information had specifically indicated that men were not allowed to wear shorts in the church. The kind woman who was running the church tour didn’t make anyone cover their legs or cover their heads, as they do in the Wiesbaden Russian Orthodox Church.

We learned that the church was not used for its original purpose during the Soviet years. Russian officers used it as an entertainment venue– for watching movies and working out. Our guide told us that the Russian officers didn’t like the church’s amazing acoustics, because it made watching movies difficult. They closed the interior dome to eliminate the acoustics. Efforts to reopen the dome are ongoing today. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the church was given back to the Latvian Orthodox Church, under the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The inside of the church is beautiful. There is also a little souvenir shop where visitors can buy candles and light them. Bill lit candles for his dad, as he often does when he visits churches. The area surrounding the church is also home to military facilities and some housing.

After we visited the naval cathedral, we went to a beach in Karosta for a quick potty and photo stop. I took some photos of the beach near Karosta, and some of the buildings we passed on the way there.

Then, we made our way to Karosta Prison. I had to laugh when the bus stopped, and with great enthusiasm, he said “Let’s go to the prison!” There’s something you don’t hear everyday!

We didn’t get the “official” Karosta Prison tour. Our guide told us about the prison and used a teenager to demonstrate how the prisoners were forced to march for hours. We also caught some of an official tour, where a guy in a military uniform appeared to be giving visitors a little taste of the prisoner experience.

Karosta Prison, which dates from 1905 and looks it, was not a place for thieves, rapists, or murderers. Rather, it was a place where sailors who were either mutinous or somehow got into trouble– maybe they got drunk or were late to formation or something– were sent for a few days to straighten them out. And it was, indeed, a miserable place. Inmates had two opportunities per day to go to the bathroom, with very tight time limits. They spent their days cleaning, doing exercises, and marching, all in strict silence.

I was glad to visit the prison, although I might have enjoyed a more in depth tour than what we got. Nevertheless, my curiosity is now satisfied. I’ve seen it, and I don’t know that I need another visit there. I got lots of pictures, too.

We loaded up and moved on to Liepaja’s city center, where we visited Liepaja Beach, which was pretty inviting. I miss beaches! Our guide pointed out the skeleton of a structure that was meant to be a Soviet era five star hotel.

*The skeleton of the Soviet hotel that never got finished.*

We then went to the Seaside Park, a beautiful, leafy area, where there was a sort of musicians “walk of fame”, and a metal tree sculpture called Spoku koks (Tree of Ghosts), where visitors could push a button on a bench and hear the music of one of Latvia’s most famous rock bands, Līvi, which formed in 1976. At night, the tree has special lighting. Around the city, there are also musical notes everywhere in the sidewalks. It reminded me of when we went to Dinant, Belgium, and learned that was the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the man who invented the saxophone.

On our Riga tour, our guide mentioned that it’s customary to plant a tree whenever one is cut down, and for parents to plant trees for their children. It looks like a lot of people have heeded that custom, as Latvia is very forested. When I lived in Armenia, I saw the devastation of deforestation, as locals cut down trees to keep warm in the winter. I’m sure there are more trees in Armenia now. It didn’t look to me like the Latvians had the same idea about staying warm. However, they did have the familiar Soviet style apartment buildings I’ve seen all over the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet countries. Indeed, I lived in two such apartments myself. It was one of those life experiences worth having once or twice, but not necessarily anything I’d want to repeat. Kind of like when I took a bus from Yerevan to Istanbul for three LONG days… Cool story now, but not something I want to do again.

We visited a lovely Lutheran church, where two women with luminous voices were singing like angels. I wasn’t sure if that was part of the plan, or they were just rehearsing. They sounded wonderful, though. It was peaceful listening to them sing.

Then we went to the Great Amber Concert Hall, where we were able to see a brand new facility for Liepaja’s musicians. It was a welcome stop, not just because it’s an impressive building that highlights amber, one of Latvia’s best known products, but also because it also offered a place to pee. Below, you can see the amber color from the inside.

While we were visiting the concert hall, the weather suddenly changed. Blue skies were replaced with clouds. After we got on the bus, the skies opened up, and there was torrential rain! We watched one guy somehow miraculously avoid getting soaked while standing under trees. However, after a short time, the rain finally found him and he had to move to a safer spot.

That brief rainstorm was really the only bad weather we had all week. We were very blessed with mostly sunny and pleasant days. I understand the current passengers have not been as lucky.

Bill and I went to La Veranda and had lunch, then went back to our room to get cleaned up. Our dinner was to be in the Pacific Rim Asian restaurant, which appeared to me to be the most popular of Regent’s eateries. Below are some photos from that, as well as a couple of pictures of the “designer” cocktails offered in the Meridian Lounge on Deck 5. We didn’t discover that bar until well into the cruise, which. is a real pity.

The cocktails in the Meridian Lounge are not offered anywhere else on board, and they’re really interesting, although a couple of them are insanely expensive to order (like over $25). Our concierge status would get us a slight discount, but not enough to justify the expense. One drink was over $40. I also liked the art deco/jazzy vibe in there. If we ever sail on Splendor again, we’ll have to visit that bar more often. It was better than the Splendor Lounge and the Observation Lounge.

And another batch of photos from the lounge and dinner… I tried edamame for the first time. We met another German couple in Pacific Rim– folks who live in Dusseldorf, and have tried a lot more luxury lines than we have. They seemed to be enjoying Regent very much, and we surprised them when we told them we live in Germany.

Our waitress was a very pretty young blonde woman with striking green eyes. She said that if she could cook like they do in Pacific Rim, she’d be already married. Bill noticed that she spoke German, and understood that she came from Ukraine. I think a lot of people don’t realize just how smart and accomplished many people in the service industry are. Everyone from the wait staff to the housekeepers to the guides were multi-lingual and practiced with dealing with difficult people. They definitely deserve more respect than a lot of people are willing to give them.

It was a good day… to be followed by over very last full day on the ship. More on that in the next post. For now, I’ve got to stop blogging and make Bill’s birthday cake!

Champagne Bucket trips, Latvia, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Riga, Latvia… a place I will need to see more of someday…

Monday, June 26th, we had plans to call on Riga, Latvia. Bill had been there a couple of times before, back when we were living in Germany the first time. That would have been in 2008, or thereabouts. Things have changed a bit since then. As for me, I had never been to Latvia, although I had been wanting to go. I was curious about Riga. Bill said it was a beautiful city. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see very much of it, because of the “free” excursion I chose that day.

Actually, I’m not sorry we went on that excursion, as it was very interesting and we saw some beautiful countryside in Latvia. But, we didn’t have much time to explore Riga, as the excursion took over five hours. It was the longest of all of the ones we experienced last week. Turaida and Sigulda are two castles that are located about an hour outside of Riga.

The plan was to drive to Sigulda Castle and visit the renovated ruins, visit Kropotkin Manor House, see Gutmana Cave, and visit the Turaida Castle and sculpture park. At the end of the tour, we’d have a brief stop at Riga’s Town Hall square for photos, then drive back to the port.

One critical mistake that Bill and I made was not having lunch before we left the ship. The tour began around lunchtime. We weren’t that hungry when we left, and figured there would be a stop for something, given how long the tour was. We were wrong. There was a cafe near the Sigulda Castle ruins, but we didn’t have a lot of time to visit it. One thing we learned on that trip is that Regent will put a plate and silverware icon on trips where there is food involved. That trip didn’t have that particular icon in its description. Actually, now that I’m looking at it, they didn’t use that icon on our Tallinn tour, either, even though that one did include lunch and beer.

Fortunately, at Sigulda Castle, there were also vending machines, so we were able to get some snacks before we went back to Riga. It really was a good thing, because I got very irritable at the end of our visit to Sigulda Castle. Bill… bless him… knows this is an issue of mine. I get “hangry”. I usually try to carry some candy or something with me for emergencies. It usually happens kind of suddenly, and I’m fine once I have something to bring up my blood sugar.

I enjoyed the Turaida and Sigulda trip, in spite of my “hangry-ness”, for a few reasons. Once again, our guide, named the Latvian version of Eva, talked a bit about the Soviet era and the Latvian attitudes about being in the Soviet Union. Here’s a hint. Most people didn’t like that time and wouldn’t go back to it! We also passed Riga’s KGB Museum (the Corner House), which Eva told us was a good thing that came out of a building where there was once a lot of tragedy and sadness. If we ever get back to Riga, I am going to try to go there.

But I also enjoyed our excursion because I liked visiting Latvia’s largest cave… which isn’t so very large. As you will see in my photos, Gutmana Cave is covered with carvings done hundreds of years ago. It’s also got a stream running through it that, legend has it, bestows eternal youth and good health on those who drink or bathe in its waters. I didn’t drink the water… I already had a cold, and have also known the hell of having a stomach bug on a cruise ship. But I did rinse my hands in the cold water.

Below are some photos of our trip through Riga, and Sigulda Castle… You can see some of the art deco buildings that managed to survive the Soviet era.

As for the castles, they were interesting to look at, but we didn’t have that much time for exploring. And, to be honest, by the time we got to the ruins, I was really tired. It’s tiring listening to someone talk and paying attention. We also did a fair amount of walking, and by the time the tour was ending, I was super hungry and cranky. However, I did enjoy hearing about the legend of Turaida Rose. Click here for more information on that.

Here are some more photos from our excursion, mainly of Gutmana Cave, and a very old country church…

*Famous walking sticks in Segulda. We bought one for Bill’s granddaughter.*

We walked back to the entrance of the huge park and I dug into my purse for the many euro coins I was carrying for this occasion. I got a leaded Coke, some sparkling water, and a package of a Latvian snack product called Long Chips. This snack, which is kind of the Latvian version of Pringles, comes in several flavors. In the vending machine, they only had the cheese and mashed potato varieties. We got one package of each, and after I’d had a few chips, I felt a lot better.

Interestingly enough, I just read that Long Chips are actually a relic of Latvia’s Soviet era, having been first made in 1986. The company that made them, once owned by the Soviet government, was eventually purchased by a private company in 1992, and is now available in 25 countries. They sure were a lifesaver last week!

I enjoyed seeing what little I did of Riga’s town hall, especially since there was a man with a beautiful baritone voice singing there. He was singing arias very well, and when I dropped a couple of euros in his hat, he bowed graciously and thanked me in English. I took a lot of photos and recorded a little of his performance, but mostly I sat on a bench and enjoyed listening to him sing. I found it inspiring.

A lovely singer…

Town Hall doesn’t suck, either.

I also liked that excursion because it included some good shopping, especially at Sigulda. I bought some beautiful silver earrings from a designer there, as well as a wallet for me, and a new leather bound notebook for Bill, and a walking stick for Bill’s granddaughter. Prices were very reasonable. And, I also loved the Latvian folk music playing where I bought my earrings, so I downloaded that, too.

When we got back to the ship that afternoon, I realized that it was karaoke night in the Splendor lounge. I usually love karaoke, although I was a little skeptical of how good it would be on Regent Splendor. SeaDream had karaoke on one of our cruises and it was honestly the worst karaoke show I’d ever attended. But, in spite of that, I sang a few songs and met my friend Meryl and her parents, who have now sadly passed on to the great beyond. Meryl is in the music business. In fact, she and her husband work with a major rock star. She asked me if I was in the music business! So it wasn’t a total loss. Meryl and I are still friends today.

The other thing that gave me pause is that karaoke started very late at night and only ran for about 90 minutes, which didn’t seem long enough. And I was also dealing with the remnants of my cold, and my voice was, frankly, a bit fucked.

In any case, Bill and I got dressed up and went to dinner in the Compass Rose. Unfortunately, dinner was a bit of a disappointment. I decided to have scallops, which were billed as a main course. But my dish only had three scallops on the plate, and it wasn’t really enough to satisfy me, even with the roasted quail starter I had. Dessert, too, was a bit of a disappointment. I had rum cake that was much too sweet, and lacked a promised scoop of Tahitian vanilla ice cream.

Yes, I know I could have and should have complained, and/or ordered more food. But everyone seemed so harried, and I was still feeling kind of crabby after our excursion. So we just beat it out of the dining room and went back to the Splendor Lounge, where Aldo and Dimas were playing music. We were the only ones in there at first, but Ger and Gail soon joined us, having decided to abandon the show in the theater. Bill and I never did make it to a show, so I can’t comment on the quality of the productions on Regent Splendor. But Gail and Ger said they weren’t impressed. During that time, I also learned how to use the “jukebox” in the Splendor Lounge.

After a little while, some teenagers showed up in the bar, obviously wanting to do karaoke. It got very busy, and Gail and Ger very abruptly beat a retreat when the place filled up. We probably should have done the same thing! I did get to sing a song. I chose “When You Say Nothing At All”, by Alison Krauss. To be honest, I think the only reason I chose that song was because I usually do it in the piano bar on SeaDream and I know it pretty well. Unfortunately, due to my cold, my voice wasn’t quite 100 percent, and I botched the high notes.

There were some really good performers, though… people with genuine talent. One guy sang a dead on rendition of “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. Another guy did a hilarious version of “America” by Neil Diamond. Bill and I stayed for most of it, but left about a half an hour before karaoke ended. It was way past our bedtimes! I don’t think the teens ever did get up to sing. They might have been overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. There were a lot of singers, which is why I think karaoke should have been longer. I also didn’t like that it was run by theater people. It needs a real host. But that’s just my cranky opinion as a karaoke snob. Actually, I think I might prefer a piano bar, which Regent doesn’t have.

I was troubled enough by my own performance that on Monday, I decided to record my version of “When You Say Nothing At All”. It turned out great, if I do say so myself. Or, at least I didn’t mess up the high notes. Being healthy again is a good thing!

I wanted to dedicate this to Bill on Regent Splendor, but I’ll just have to do it on YouTube…

I did also get some photos of the top decks on Regent. Below are some pictures I took. It was the one day we ventured up there… These photos are all from the top of the ship. You can play tennis, mini golf, bocci, or shuffleboard.

*Someday, I hope to come back and do Riga properly.*

One last thing. When we got back to our stateroom on Tuesday night, we found the door standing wide open. No harm was done, but we don’t know how long the door was left open. It seemed like a pretty serious slip in service. We did speak to the steward about it, and it never happened again during our sailing.

Latvia

A quick glimpse of Riga, Latvia…

We are waiting for our excursion to begin. Right now, we’re on the 12th deck of the Splendor, gazing at Riga, Latvia’s old town skyline. I think our tour will take us out of the city for a few hours.

I really enjoyed Tallinn yesterday. We definitely need to plan a trip to stay there at some point… but there are so many other places I still want to see! Here are a couple of photos for now. The stories are piling up quickly.

Finland, Latvia

Sorry for the break!

We are into our Baltic cruise now, and Internet access isn’t always a given. It is included with our room, but we’re limited to four devices. I may end up buying a package for the computer, because I have a lot to write about, and plenty of photos to share.

As I mentioned yesterday on the main blog, Regent Seven Seas is a very pleasant way to travel. I wish we had more time in port to see some of the fantastic cities we’re visiting, but seeing these places once or twice helps us decide on future trips. We already knew we liked Tallinn when we were here in 2009. Now we know we like it even more.

Yesterday’s visit to Helsinki was also a success. We managed to find a few gifts for Bill’s grandchildren, as well as a few things for us.

Unfortunately, Bill has picked up my cold. He’s not as sick as I was… or have been, as I’m not 100 percent back to normal yet. Now, I have an annoying cough and a stuffy nose. But I have more energy and feel better. I can see I wasn’t the only unfortunate to pick up a cold on this trip.

Tomorrow, we head to Riga, Latvia, a place Bill have been to twice. It will be my first time there. I’m looking forward to seeing a new place and adding a new mug and magnet to my collection. We set sail in about an hour.

Finland, Latvia, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

The big decision has now been made… (cross-posted)

Again, cross-posted on the main blog… The featured photo was taken on the car ferry from Denmark to Germany, back in 2019.

Yesterday, I wrote about my apprehension about booking a cruise. I termed it a “true first world problem.” Aye– as my Scottish ancestors would say– that it is. Twenty-four hours ago, as I was pondering whether or not I wanted to spend big bucks on a luxury cruise in the Baltic region, I started looking for alternatives.

A friend of mine had suggested touring the Norwegian fjords on Hurtigruten, which is, of course, a perfectly good suggestion. However, if I had decided to go for the fjords, that would have completely negated using the champagne bucket to choose where to go. The Norwegian fjords are a place I’d love to see the right way, and a cruise is probably the right way to go. But it wasn’t one of the choices for this particular trip. Moreover, I never asked for alternative suggestions.

I still decided to look into the Norwegian fjords experience and found that besides Hurtigruten, there’s another line that does cruises along the fjords. Maybe at some point we’ll pull the trigger on that. I did look into short cruises in Norway for the days we’ll be there, but they aren’t very convenient to our plans.

After a short while, I stopped researching travel possibilities, and turned my attention to my guitar, which badly needed new strings. I don’t play it so often that I routinely change the strings. But, it had gotten to the point at which I had forgotten when I had last changed them. The old ones were starting to get discolored, and weren’t staying tuned well. So, as much as I hate changing the strings, but love the results of changing them, once they stretch, I knew it was a job that urgently needed doing. I had just put one string on when my phone rang.

It was someone from Regent Seven Seas Cruises calling. I felt confident in answering, since I knew Bill was already agreeable to my booking the cruise, once we confirmed the correct price. The cruise specialist, whose name is Andrea, is from Germany. She thought I was German too, and was speaking German to me, even though I had made contact in English. I didn’t realize it, but the voicemail on my phone is in German… No one ever calls me, so I didn’t know. I thought the call was coming from Germany, but actually, it was a U.S. based call that somehow looked like it came from Germany.

Andrea and I got to talking, and it turns out she lives in Florida, which is where Regent is based. She’s been there since 1991. I always find myself bonding with Germans in the U.S., since I’m an American in Germany. As we discussed the cruise, we talked about how we ended up in each other’s countries. In many ways, Germany is kind of like the U.S., but I find that the U.K. feels more like home to me than Germany does, even though people drive on the other side of the road and kids wear uniforms to school.

Andrea said that my request went to her, because I am in Germany. She handles all clients from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, even though she’s based in Florida. It was still very early in the morning where she lives when we were talking– maybe 5:30AM! Nevertheless, she was wide awake and friendly. I guess she’s a morning person like Bill is. All of our documents are in German. Andrea says there’s nothing she can do about that, since I’m in Germany. Google Chrome will save us, I’m sure…

It didn’t take long for Andrea to sell me on Regent. I put down a deposit on the cruise. I would have just paid for the whole thing, since the cruise is coming up in June, but I used my credit card with a lower limit, and the whole cruise costs more than the limit is. I used that card rather than the other one, because I knew it was less likely to get declined for “suspicious activity”. Both of my cards usually have zero balances. I rarely use them because it took me forever to pay them off when we were less affluent. The deposit didn’t raise any red flags, which made me feel confident about using my card (mistake).

Bill got home later and I proposed booking the flights. I was thinking of flying into Stavanger or Bergen, since we had never been to either of those beautiful towns, and we have been to Oslo. But it turned out there weren’t any flights that worked with boarding Noyzi and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Like… there was an attractive flight that would have worked, except it left at 10:30AM, and that wasn’t enough time to get Noyzi to the Hundepension and get ourselves checked in at the airport. So, Oslo it is…

I had no idea that Norway’s cities were so far apart. Stavanger looks like it’s not that far from Oslo, but it’s a seven or eight hour car ride or train trip. Bergen, likewise, is hours away by car or train. There are cheap flights available, and we may decide to avail ourselves of one, just so we can get a feel for a city other than Oslo. But, we did also enjoy visiting Oslo when we were there in 2009, and that was at a time when we had a lot less money.

Oslo is also closer to Stockholm, which is where we will be meeting the ship. We haven’t seen anything in Stockholm except the cruise port, which is where our first Baltic cruise in 2009 ended. It was a four night “short break” on Royal Caribbean, and we started in Oslo and stopped in Tallin and Copenhagen, then ended in Stockholm. We couldn’t enjoy the city, because Bill had a conference in Garmisch-Partenkirchen the next day. So, we hopped a plane to Munich. I spent the next week taking tours out of the Edelweiss MWR Lodge while Bill tended to his Army duties. We had flown to Oslo from Munich, and when we got back to the parking garage, the car battery was dead, necessitating a call to ADAC. Plus, our bags didn’t make the flight, and had to be brought to us in Garmisch.

This time, we will end in Copenhagen, a city we’ve been to twice, but haven’t had much of a chance to really enjoy. The first time, it was on that short cruise, that only allowed a few hours in town. The second time was in 2019, when we were passing through on our way home with our new car and stopped for a night of rest as we continued onward to Rostock, Germany. This trip will at least give us a full day to enjoy Denmark. We’ll spend a couple of nights there before coming home on July 2.

So, off I went to Lufthansa to book our flights, after confirming with Bill which ones we wanted. I input all of the information, then tried to use my trusty credit card to pay. Sure enough, it was declined. I called up PenFed and explained that I was trying to book my vacation. I should have probably asked them to raise the limit on that card, too. Maybe next time I call…

The tickets are now booked. All I have to do now is decide on hotels in Norway and Denmark and maybe book transportation to Stockholm. A flight from Oslo takes an hour, but a train is much more scenic and is about five hours of fun. 😉 Oh… and I also need to choose excursions and restaurant reservations for the cruise, since they are included in the fare.

It’s hard to believe, just a few days ago, I was agonizing over all of this. It’s all coming together now, like magic. I wasn’t planning to do a cruise, but this may turn out to be a bit of a Godsend. If it turns out we really love any of the places we see, we can come back and do a land based tour, as I originally planned. They are now building a railway in the Baltics that will make it a lot easier to travel there. And I do want to go and spend more than a few hours. We already know we like Tallinn from our 2009 trip, and Bill enjoyed Riga when he went.

I know… first world problem, and maybe I should be ashamed of myself for writing about it. But, at least this isn’t a cranky complaint post about politics or similarly unpleasant topics.

For those who are curious, here’s a video highlighting the ship we’re going to be on. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s not like you don’t get a lot for the money. This is also not our usual style. We normally prefer much smaller ships, and that generally means the ships we’re on are usually much older. Splendor was built in 2020. Hebridean Princess, by contrast, was built in 1964 as a car ferry and later became a cruise ship in 1989. SeaDream I was built in 1984. I think Vision of the Seas is 1998 vintage, and I’m not even sure if it’s still in service.

A new experience for us… revisiting the region where we had our very first cruise. This time, we’re taking more time and spending way more money!

We booked a Concierge Suite.

Again, I chose this entirely for the itinerary, and the fact that it’s an all inclusive cruise. I’m not a Regent cheerleader, and I’m not sure we’ll give up small ships for this. But then again, maybe we will. We won’t know until we actually have the experience. At least now, I’ll have something new to write about on the travel blog!

By the way… I was very impressed by Andrea. I hope she’s a representative of most of the people who work for Regent. She seems pretty awesome… but then, maybe it’s because Germans demand it. 😀

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The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: Latvia