Aorund the World in 190 Days

On September 20, 1519 Ferdinand Magellan left Spain with five ships and 251 men. Nonie and Brett left Ottawa on January 20, 2009 leaving behind one and one on the way grandchildren. March, 1520 Magellan landed and wintered in Puerto San Julian, Southern Argentina. Nonie and Brett landed in Kelowna on January 20, 2009 and wintered in Penticton. November 21, 1520 Magellan enters the straits that bear his name. On February 04, 2009 Nonie and Brett cross the Straits of Juan de Fuca in a U-Haul Rental truck delivering her Mom's furniture to a new home. On March 26, 1521, Magellan reaches the island now known as Guam. On February 14, 2009, Brett and Nonie reach the island now known as Vancouver. Magellan is killed on April 27, 1521 by the islanders of Mactan. On February 14, 2009 the eye specialist finds a macular tear in Nonie's right eye and her travel days are over for a few months. With only 110 crew left, Magellan's crew abandons one of the ships. On February 28, 2009 Brett abandons Nonie and flies to Harbin, China. Two of Magellan's ships turn back and are imprisoned by the Portuguese in the Spice Islands. Nonie returns to Penticton to recover and get better. The Victoria, Magellan's one remaining ship decides to continue the voyage West. After 8 long weeks apart Nonie arrives in Harbin on April 5, 2009. Eighteen survivors of Magellan's original crew arrived back in Spain on September 6, 1522. Nonie and Brett depart Harbin in July 4, 2009, traveling through Mongolia, Russia, Estonia, Sweden and Iceland arriving in Ottawa on August 1, 2009. It took Magellan's crew almost two years to circumnavigate the world and he didn't live to see the end. Nonie and Brett did it in 6 months and 10 days. Take that Magellan.

Our travel from Ottawa was exciting, boring, wearisome, exhilarating, lonely, breathe taking, aggravating, astonishing, frustrating, scary and while it was a lifetime experience we are glad to be home. We will miss the people though..... I think Magellan would agree with all of the above, except maybe the getting killed part.

Baby, It's Cold Outside. Welcome to Iceland

Rumour has it that Iceland is bankrupt. It certainly was not obvious to us as we departed the plane. The airport was bustling with tourists coming and going and we found prices at inheritance threatening highs. Bankrupt or not there were no fire sales to be had for tourists. That being said, pricing was not as bad as Moscow or Stockholm but Nonie and I are still suffering sticker shock as we continue to compare costs to Harbin and that really isn't fair. Hmm, or is it?

Our bus ride from the airport took almost an hour and give us a glimpse of what we were about to see. Iceland's landscape can be described as tundra with large scars of millennia old volcanic debris dotted with small scrubby trees. Much of Iceland is above the Arctic Circle. We were told that NASA used Iceland as a test track for their first luner lander and lunar buggy.

We were summarily dropped off on a street corner and told that our hotel was just around the corner. A walk around the corner and down a block but no hotel. Back to the beginning and try again. Down two blocks, thankfully they were short blocks and no hotel. Back to the beginning and dammit, I had to ask directions. The hotel turned out to be right on the corner where we were dropped off. On my behalf, the lobby was located in a basement and the only sign for the hotel was a small, small, small sign etched onto the glass door. What's wrong with a little neon for Pete's Sake? This lack of attention to detail could easily have cost us the Amazing Race.

Despite the miserly signage the hotel was awesome with the room right out of an IKEA catalogue. Multiple height ceilings and beams, 42" flat screen with BBC, free wireless and the fluffiest duvet we have ever sank into. The bathroom had a frosted glass wall and a shower with multiple shower heads at various discerning heights. This was all topped off by a decent and free breakfast buffet along with a very dedicated, all be it fastidious staff. The entrance from the street opened onto a black tiled landing then ten or so stairs down to the lobby. The adjacent wall from the landing and stairs was tiled in black as well, with water flowing down the wall into a 24" wide by 12" deep well/trough that ran along the edge of the landing and stairs to capture the water coming down the wall. Very cool looking but as we were to discover very dangerous. The wall had several carved features which esthetically broke up the water as it flowed down the wall. As we were leaving the hotel from the top landing for our first foray into Reykjavik, Nonie decided to take a closer look at these features. In her excitement, she missed the well/trough and stepped right into it. I immediately screamed for the life guard and dove in after her pulling her from the brink. Thankfully the only thing hurt was her pride and we had a much better topic of conversation everytime we left the hotel rather than the dreary one of my not being able to find the place. The hotel has since put up "no swimming' signs.

We finished the day exploring Reykjavik with three dry feet and one wet one. Last joke, I promise. Day 2, saw us boarding a bus for an eight hour tour of some if not all of what Iceland has to offer. With only one day to explore, we opted for the guided tour. Some of the hightlights included a power plant completely powered by the extremely hot ground water that is available all over the island. There are three other similar plants providing over 90 % of the electrical power requirements to the island. But for this little bankruptcy thing they may reach 100 % in the next two years with a little in reserve for growth. Next we visited an area with an "Old Faithful" like geyser and a schedule of eruptions to match. We have been to Yellowstone so it was hohum, okay. We then proceeded to a large rift zone where the European and North American tectonic plates meet and is marked by a large canyon where the two plates have slowly been separating for the last few million years. Very cool scrambling around. A visit to an interesting water fall (Hohum) and a late lunch. Next and last stop was a large greenhouse operation that was located over a hotspot, an area where the volcanic magma is located close to the surface keeping the ground above freezing 12 months a year. Plunk up a greenhouse and you are good to go. Our final experience was a island wide traffic jam heading out of Reykjavik for a three day long weekend so our eight hour tour became nine hours.

The next day before boarding the plane and our return to Canada, we spent our last few hours in Iceland at the Blue Lagoon where we spent a few hours lounging in a huge hot pool with the most dazzling colour of blue. It seemed like a nice way to relax before the long trip home. The lagoon is located near the ocean and the heated water along with the salt leaching in from the nearby sea water creates a very pale pastel blue colour in the water. What they failed to mention in the brochures is that the lagoon is really a retaining pond for the hot water effluent that is discharged from the local power plant. Better we did not know.

I developed this nasty itch all the way home. Oh, the first picture is a joke. Or is it? The place is called Iceland.

The Cornells Invade Sweden

Compared to our previous border crossings, our entry into Sweden was a bit of an anticlimax. No snarly border guards, no grim immigration officers and no strip searches. We just walked off the ferry, a short stroll and we successfully invaded Sweden. No grudges here. A free bus dropped us off two blocks from our hotel. It was early so our room was not ready, but with our bags stored for the day, we headed out for a peek at Stockholm.

Stockholm is surrounded by water with plenty of water borne options to see the City. For not a huge fee, leaving something for the kids inheritance, we bought tickets on a "hop on, hop off" tour boat that stopped at just about everything we wanted or needed to see. The tickets were good for two days. Our first stop was Gamla Stan, the "Old Town". It seems like every city in Europe has one. This one was not unlike most of the others. Well maintained, manicured, lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and full of tourists. We spent most of our time exploring it then jumped on board one of the beautifully restored tour boats and took the full ride to check out and discuss our options for the next day while watching the sun set over Stockholm. A perfect end to the day.

Next day, with a belly full of free breakfast buffet we jumped on a vintage 1oo year old ferry and headed to our first stop. The Skansen Museum is a park where the Swedes have for over 100 years been storing historical buildings from all over the country. The buildings have been lovingly derected and rerected in the park. There are hundreds to choose from. As an added attraction, they have populated the park with staff dressed in period costume doing everyday stuff like baking bread, making furniture, glass blowing, equipment repairs and my favorite, a fully operational power plant from the late 1800s. Three hours turned into six hours as it was a big park.

A short walk from Skansen brought us to the Vasa Museum home to a perfectly preserved ship built in 1628. The ship was constructed in Stockholm for some invasion or other. About one hour into its maiden voyage, it sank. The design was poorly thought out. It was twice as high as any ship of the time but with a very narrow beam. The ballast was made up of round rocks that had a tendency to roll around. The ship had two decks of cannons. As the ship made its way out to sea, a strong wind came up rolling the ship on to its side. The ballast rolled to the listing side of the ship causing the ship to list even more. Water began pouring into the open gun ports. Thirty minutes later the ship was on the bottom of the harbour where it remained for over 400 years. The ship was recovered in 1962 almost intact and placed in a climate controlled environment. The boat contains over 95% of its original wood. It was an awesome sight. We arrive late so only had an hour to appreciate its beauty. Put this one on your must see list.

Feeling a bit nackered, we jumped on another gorgeously restored boat, this one a large teak and mahogany cruiser for another Swedish sunset and a return to our hotel. Time to prepare for departure to our last stop before we set foot in Canada again. Tomorrow we head for Iceland.

Ferries and Fairies

On our last day in Tallinn, we continued our trolley (with tickets) and walking explorations. We kept finding these lovely little hidden tourist jewels every time we turned a corner thanks in most part to the cute Estonian student/guide we met the day before after we were hassled by the trolley police. I would definitely recommend Tallinn to anyone who is planning a trip to the old Eastern Bloc countries. Back to the Casino around 4 PM to pick up our bags and a short hike to the ferry terminal for our overnight cruise to Stockholm.

You have to see this boat to believe it. It is not your typical car ferry, it is in fact a cruise ship calling itself a ferry. It had not one but two show lounges, a disco, a pub, a piano bar, a bar that was just a bar, a pizza joint, buffet dining, three "a la carte" options (Italian, Meat, Tres Expensive), casino, movie theatre and children's play area. I had booked the cheapest accommodation as possible so our room was an inside one with two single beds, a 26" flat screen TV, desk and small bathroom. This boat was spotless. I am a professional facility guy and I know clean, not Nonie clean but clean none the less. It has been on this run for at least a year and it looks pristine.

We arrived at the terminal to find it very, very busy. Check in was quick, all computerized. We were given a card which would open our room door and act as our identification on the boat/ship. The line to get on the ship was long and moving very slowly. It was Miller Time and we were anxious to board and find a bar with a view so we could watch the departure in style. We eventually made it to the head of the line to find that they were actually boarding two ships at the same time. One was headed to Helsinki which was only three hours across the Baltic and which most of the line was headed so we were able to proceed quickly onto our ship, find our room and head to the bar where a lovely window seat became our home for the next few hours. The drinks were not to overpriced and there was free wireless internet.

It was Nonie's birthday so the plan was to treat ourselves to a nice meal and a bottle of wine. Once again, too many choices. Nonie eventually settled on the meat place and as the sun set on the Baltic we eased in to our table with a great view of the Balitic and a little sticker shock from the wine list. We opted for water and a beer. After dinner we wandered to one of the show lounges to check out the action.

Karaoke was in full voice at our first stop. Not our usual cup of tea but we decided to stay and have one of those "foofoo" drinks with the little umbrellas. They were on special. We found ourselves a quiet corner of the room right beside the stage not planning to stay too long. Shortly after we settled in, a lovely couple of the non-heterosexual persuasion joined us in the corner. They were both giddy with the excitement at the thought of belting out a few tunes and perhaps having a few drinks. Over the next 20 minutes the gay population in our little corner of the world increased significantly with most pouring over the Karaoke menus looking for that one perfect song. Our plan to stay only a few minutes vanished as we became caught up in their infectious party atmosphere. We found out later that Stockholm was hosting a Gay Pride event the day we were to arrive. It was an interesting evening watching their interactions and it needs to be said that I was the only guy in the group who had a little umbrella in his drink. Oh and the ferries name was the Baltic Queen. It is all starting to dawn on me.

We will arrive in Stockholm at 10 AM tomorrow. One more border to cross.

That's Tallinn, With Two L's and Two N's

Estonia was not a place that appeared on Nonie and my radar for places to visit. I found it when I was investigating various options to depart Russia. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia is becoming the hot new place where tourists from all over the EU flock for some history and cheap, well at least cheaper than the rest of Europe prices. Estonia is a small country with a little more than 3,000,000 people, a third of who live in Tallinn.

Tallinn is compact little city with a stunning well maintained, 400+ year "Old Town" that still has many sections of the original wall that once circled the town providing protection from the invading Swedes. Yeah, Sweden actually invaded countries back a few hundred years. Now they leave the job of invading countries up to IKEA. I actually found the "Old Town" a little too perfect. They keep all the buildings in pristine condition and there is no seedy under belly left. I am sure that it was not this well kept 400 years ago. Did I mention there were too many tourists and too many options for dining. Nonie and I have difficulty making up our minds where and what to eat when there are too many choices. When this happens, we usually opt for fast food at a McDonalds or similar. Sad but true.

We spent most of our time in Tallinn wandering back and forth to "Old Town from lovely room at our hotel and casino. The hotel had a wonderful, free breakfast buffet and gave us some free loot to blow in the casino. We did take a short trip on the trolley cars. I was not sure how to purchase a ticket so we just sat down and looked for a free ride. Two stops later, the trolley police got on and we were busted. Thankfully, I played the "stupid tourist" card and they let us go with stern warning in Estonian as well as a demonstration on how to pay for our tickets. We did meet a lovely Estonia student who worked as a guide during the summer. She filled us in on all the great places to go and what places to avoid.

We leave by ferry for Stockholm and our final few days in Europe.

A Tale of Four Cities`

St. Petersburg is a city with a split personality. It is an old city with areas that reminded us of Prague minus the graffiti, a city crisscrossed with canals much like Venice without the gondolas, the Peterhof, a palace with magnificent gardens that rival Versailles and Peter Paul Fortress, a castle that compares with Karlstejn. The fortress, a monolithic structure that has protected St. Pete for for over four hundred years. The City is clean and full of tourists. So much to see and so little time.

An overnight train from Moscow saw us arrive early in the morning. A short walk brought us to our hotel. It was really a cross between a motel and and hostel. A mostel! Thankfully an early check in was not a problem, so into single camp cot like beds for a quick nap. We did not have to share our compartment on this our last train ride but sleep is still illusive on a rocking and rolling train, along with the early arrival, made a nap a priority.

The rest of the day was spent walking, walking, more walking with a little planning for our attack the next day on all the touristy spots we could fit in. Getting from point A to B in St. Pete was a challenge due to all the canals. We were always looking for a bridge. Feeling frisky, we decided to jump on the subway for a quick afternoon visit to Peter Paul Fortress as there was as subway stop right at the fortress and only one stop away from our location. We got off at the next stop to find our selves in the middle of busy commercial area. No sign of a fortress anywhere. Some struggle with that pesky Cyrillic alphabet and we realized we had over shot our destination. Nonie and I were both sure that we did not miss a stop but what the hey, back on the subway. Paying a little more attention on this return trip, we discovered that there is a stop there but is still under construction so we slowed down but did not stop. All the subway route maps show the Peter Paul stop, but nowhere do they mention that is closed. Oh well, we got to sit down for a few minutes.

Up early, we headed out to catch a hydro-foil to Peterhof. The weather was spotty and windy. We ran into one of the couples we met during our Trans-Siberian. They had taken the trip the day before. They had to take a bus back from Peterhof as the hydro-foil is very weather sensitive. A long trip. Armed with this information, we decide to pass on Peterhof and walk over to the Peter Paul Fortress then spend the afternoon in the Hermitage. The fortress was awesome and worth the second effort. A few hours turned into several, so we did not get back to the Hermitage till late in the afternoon.

The Hermitage is the repository of every piece of art that Russia has managed to amass over the last 400 years. It is so big, that if you were walk through every gallery, you would travel over 24 kilometres which was exactly how long the line of people was who were waiting to get in. After much agonizing, GASP we decided to be "drive by tourists". Get the picture and move on. It was Miller Time anyway and I needed one of those Russian beers. The Russians have perfected the art of making fine vodka but are still working on a good beer. Perhaps some Miller Litesky

We exit Russia tomorrow for Estonia and the beautiful medieval town of Tallaan. One more Russian border crossing to go!

The Moscow Girls Make Me Sing and Shout

Having grown up during the cold war, my visions of the Kremlin were coloured by the times and the emotions that were evoked during that period. The threat of mutual nuclear destruction left me with the image of a cold and dangerous place where the evil Mother Russians planned their nefarious deeds and plotted the take over of the free world. Nothing could be further from the truth now. It is far from a cold and dangerous but a treed oasis of stunning architecture with many of the buildings having once been churches. Our visit there was the highlight of our stay in Moscow. By the way, Red Square is not actually red but black. It was named the Red Square long before the Communists ruled there.



St. Basil's Cathedral is located in the square. If Disney were designing a cathedral, they would have used St. Basil's as their model. St. Basil's is a psychedelic array of swirling colors and redbrick onion domes. Nine domes top the cathedral. It was built to celebrate Ivan the Terrible's victory over the Mongols in 1522. It was named after the "holy fool". "Basil the Blessed" was a beggar who if you believe the images, ran around naked begging for money which he donated to the church and the poor.

We found Moscow very clean and cosmopolitan filled with beautiful women having the longest legs in the world. When God was handing out legs, the Moscow girls double dipped. When he was handing out customer service, most Muscovite's were playing hooky. Everyone seemed to walk around in perpetual scowls. Not the Harbin scowl where if you offered a quick smile you immediately received one back. Tried my most beatific smile on many only to receive back looks of "I wonder what he is smoking". Even the panhandlers scowled. Having said all this, we did meet a number of friendly people along the way, although not involved with the service industry.

We spent most of our time exploring the city from the street. Lots of "lost time" The Cyrillic letters were at times difficult to read but we found if you looked at the letters quickly then looked away, then looked again, you could get a sense of what the sign said. Didn't work every time, hence the "lost time". Looking forward to getting back to a country with a real alphabet.

We leave for St. Petersberg by bus. Looking forward to the border crossing.