Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[TrulyBlonde]

2 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Perhaps there's beauty to be found:

 

A Midwest US (Iowa) relative posted this photo on Facebook, taken a couple years ago, thought I would share here.  She called it white on white.

 

 

JP, according to no one but me, Finland has some of the best butter on Earth - enjoy!

When I was in Helsinki they had a wonderful "Farmers Market" and the first time I had ever eaten reindeer.

DH would not try it, but I was Game. 😉

[drron29]

Some australian birds are known for their mimicry particularly the lyrebird. One at the Taronga zoo has a cage next to the lion enclosure. last week 5 lions escaped from the enclosure. The lyrebird now imitates the siren and Evacute Now.

https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSsydney/videos/659698412215373/

 

For Christmas we are staying in an apartment in Bangkok. A new Vietnamese restaurant has opened up across the road. their T shirt inspires us to visit.

 

 

[drron29]

Might even go to this one as well.

 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[QueSeraSera]

What do you think about Taylor Swift? 

 

Great music, power & a woman. A chance to hear her explain herself

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

Hi Coolers!

 

Flights were like clockwork.

 

 

All 3 legs were early, and we got to Helsinki on Wednesday evening in time for dinner at a wine bar. Lots of yummy small plates and delicious unusual wines. Just a sampling.

 

 

 

Spent yesterday wandering the city and we were charmed by the ambience.

 

 

 

Lots of Christmas lights so the early darkness isn't too oppressive. Chilly, around 2C/35F for the high, but we have plenty of warm clothes. Those Silversea parkas are handy!

 

 

 

Amazing architecture. Old, classical, and new.

 

 

 

 

The gorgeous Church in the Rock.

 

 

 

Visited a few markets then stopped for lunch in the old town, at a German restaurant! Flammkuche and Brats hit the spot.

 

 

More Cathedrals 

 

 

 

And Christmas displays. 

 

 

 

Had a superb 8 course tasting menu for dinner, at a restaurant which was recommended to us by Chef Ian. You may recall Mysty's favourite restaurant, the Black Tartan Kitchen. The owner worked in Helsinki for a time and gave us two recommendations. We will try the other tomorrow. Just a few samples.

 

Donuts stuffed with duck meat.

 

 

Perch pike in a delicious horseradish cream.

 

 

Now we are on the ferry to Tallinn. The ship is huge! I seriously think it's bigger than Sliver Spirit. We found a covered spot on the back deck to hang out and watch the scenery.

 

 

More to follow...

[lincslady]

Looks lovely, jp - and the rock church is indeed gorgeous.  I am sure you will enjoy Tallinn too.  You two ae the experts at finding fantastic food.  I'm drooling, even just after breakfast.

 

Continuing bon voyage,

 

Lola

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[zqtchas]

[Mr Luxury]

On 11/17/2022 at 2:01 AM, TrulyBlonde said:

When I was in Helsinki they had a wonderful "Farmers Market" and the first time I had ever eaten reindeer.

DH would not try it, but I was Game. 😉

Did it have a red nose 

[jpalbny]

Tallinn was a lot of fun. We were lazy and took the 10:30 ferry instead of getting up early to catch the 7:30. Good call. We had time for breakfast at the hotel then a leisurely tram to the ferry terminal. 

 

The ferry was way better than I thought it would be. The ship is 49000 tons, making it bigger than the biggest SS ships (40000 tons according to my quick web search). There's a buffet, restaurant, bar, large duty-free shop, cabins, and several decks for cars. A great way to spend 2 hours.

 

And they have Wi-Fi included in the fare. So we looked at prices for what we wanted to do in Tallinn, and bought Tallinn Cards online, downloaded the QR code to our phones, and were ready for business. 

 

After a bit on the back deck we got chilly and came inside to the sitting lounge. We lined up to disembark as we approached Tallinn, and were among the first off. Hightailed it to the main gate of the lower town.

 

 

Nearby, the Maritime Museum, at Fat Margaret tower. They had the ruins of a cog ship from the early days of the Hanseatic League. 

 

 

 

The craftsmanship was great. Lots of the outer planking was still intact. Apparently they plugged the gaps with moss, held in place with metal rods hammered into the gap.

 

 

Other less impressive relics. Sailors carried these kits to treat themselves for gonorrhea. 

 

 

This is a model of our ferry, the Megastar.

 

 

On the top floor, a viewing platform. Freezing with plenty of wind. Our coats were safely down on floor -1, in the wardrobe...

 

 

Further up the street, the three sisters. Now a hotel.

 

 

We love Estonia! Enough said. Only a small part of this art, which covered most of a city block.

 

 

The Estonian History Museum. I had a laptop just like this about 20 years ago. Ouch.

 

 

The museum is in the great guild hall. It's decorated for the season. 

 

 

Further up the street, near the Town Hall, a pharmacy museum. I did not learn about this ingredient in Medical School...

 

 

Now, off to the upper town. We didn't leave ourselves time for lunch but we have a 5:00 dinner reservation so we should be able to go a little longer.

[QueSeraSera]

 

[mysty]

@drron29 Well done on the wine issue on your thread!  I actually stood and cheered when I read it!  🥰

[QueSeraSera]

It turns out I have this humorous cousin in Iowa:

 

[zqtchas]

M you getting 5 feet of snow too?

[mysty]

6 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

M you getting 5 feet of snow too?

 

It hasn't started yet but we've been threatened with snow.  Looks like 5 to 10 inches locally.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[jpalbny]

Got a dusting of snow here in Helsinki so we went to the beach... But first, the rest of yesterday's visit to Tallinn.

 

We climbed to the Upper Town and walked the City Walls.

 

 

 

 

Underground tunnels. Used as bomb shelters in WWII.

 

 

 

Chris found a friend in the tower.

 

 

We finished up with the City Walls around 4PM. It was already getting dark.

 

 

A quick run by the Parliament Building. 

 

 

And across from it, the Alekander Nevsky Cathedral. Beautiful from the outside. 

 

 

This beautiful building is a café.

 

 

A scenic viewpoint. With a great view of St. Mary's Cathedral.

 

 

 

Now it was getting quite dark and the wind was picking up. Time for dinner! We jad chosen a Ukrainian restaurant named Odessa.

 

No Ukrainian wines, as I assume they can't export any now. An Italian Pinot Nero stood in.

 

 

Chicken Kyiv

 

 

An Odessa schnitzel. 

 

 

And sour cherry varenyky for dessert.

 

 

And yes, every dish was served with heaping portions of sour cream...

 

Back to the ferry and we settled in with a G&T with Finnish gin. 

 

 

The 2 hours went by quickly, and we got out ahead of the crowds. The tram was waiting and there was room, so not a bad journey home. We were exhausted after a long day being outside in the cold, and slept like logs.

[Lirio]

Santinho beach @Florianopolis in the south of Brazil.....A lovely spring day.....

[mysty]

19 minutes ago, Lirio said:

Santinho beach @Florianopolis in the south of Brazil.....A lovely spring day.....

 

Beautiful!  Looks so inviting when we are expecting snow! 🥰

[rojaan19]

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

Have a great safe fun day all!

[jpalbny]

Hello from Saariselkä! 68.4 degrees north. We landed at 1:15 as the sun was setting. Barren snow-covered landscapes looked nice in the golden light.

 

 

 

We arrived at Northern Lights Village at 2:00 and checked in. Nice cabin with a glass roof facing north, for aurora views, we hope!

 

 

 

Late lunch at 2:30, and the twilight was deepening significantly by 3:00.

 

 

It's pretty much dark now at 4PM.

 

Tonight, a photography briefing and then dinner. Later on, aurora chasing on snowshoes at 10:30PM. Sounds like work!

Edited November 20, 2022 by jpalbny

[lincslady]

lovely photos - jp, it is dark here at around 4.30 on a cloudy day too.  Hate it, but at least the mornings are not too bad.

 

Looking forward to seeing auroras soon,

 

Lola

[Lirio]

Well, on the other side of the globe, on a sunny sunday we went for a hike in the Morro das Aranhas (spiders hill) just behind the hotel. Then  to the beach and in the afternoon  the conference will start. A local flower.