We are sitting in the Qantas lounge at Changi Airport waiting for our flights home - yes 2 flights as we go via Melbourne. Not sure why as there is a Qantas flight to Brisbane showing on the departures board. We are looking forward to seeing our critters, house and friends. Two months away from home is a long time but we have seen a lot and crossed a few things off our bucket lists. Farewell to all of our blog followers, till next time!

We are both still struggling with jetlag and it is affecting our capacity to appreciate Singapore. It was hot and sometimes sunny and that was a welcome change. The Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system is to be envied - frequent driverless airconditioned trains, no graffiti, clean, with glass barricades at stations to minimise the risk of people falling onto the tracks. We travelled on the MRT to Marina Bay to view the gardens with these enormous artificial "trees". The Marina Bay Sands hotel is probably the most expensive in Singapore starting at around $900  per night. There are 3 towers of more than 50 floors each so the nightly turnover must be astronomical. There was no shortage of Asian guests lined up to check in - I didn't see any European guests. There was no one at the VIP check in area - at those prices everyone should be treated as VIPs! The fee to go to the top for plebs not forking out for the privilege of a view of the bay is $23 . We didn't go up - I stru

Oh cursed jet lag! Sleep for 3 hours then awake from 1am. Consequently we slowly eased ourselves into the day. Breakfast at our hotel was uninspiring but edible. Caffeine was essential to be able to explore the shops along Orchard Road. Again we were lucky missing a couple of downpours since we had not taken our umbrellas. After a session in the shops and lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, we returned to our hotel for a quick swim - quick because the water was cold compared to the warm water in the hydro pool on the ship. The hotel has a sauna, steam room and gym, but I doubt we will use any of them. Anita enjoyed a Singha beer with our Thai dinner. The glass was so cold it must have been stored in the freezer. Alcohol is expensive in Singapore because of high taxes. One local beer at the restaurant cost $9.50  Singapore (about  $9  Australian).

Our flight from Helsinki was very turbulent and it was a relief to be out of the plane. The pilot told us he was trying to avoid thunderstorms but he couldn't avoid them all. A half hour trip in a Mercedes taxi only cost $27  Singapore. Finally a good safe driver! There is no restaurant at the hotel as food and drink is available all day. We didn't venture out as the local time is now after 9pm.

I had planned a visit to the Riga Art Nouveau Museum on our last day - not planned very well as it is closed on Mondays! Instead we went on a tram ride to see what I thought would be an outdoor clothing shop. It turned out to have an amazing collection of military uniforms, but nothing of interest to us. We walked past this huge mural which has not been damaged by graffiti, which suggests it has some significance as there is lots of graffiti all over Riga. We had lunch at the Riviera restaurant where we have enjoyed good food at reasonable prices. Yesterday we made the mistake of eating at our hotel - the food was very ordinary and expensive by Latvian standards. Our hotel has an arrangement with a taxi service to take guests to the airport for a flat fee of €12 - a very reasonable price for a death defying ride! At the airport we had to queue with kids from the Beijing Students Art Troupe who had been involved in the choir games. I am not sure why there were multiple Chinese choirs in

On our last full day in Latvia we caught a train from Riga to Sigulda which is a resort town in a national park. Hiking is a favourite activity with many trails through the park. There are also some extreme sports venues such as bungee jumping and a luge run. A cable car crosses the river. I avoid these but went for a look to see the nearby scenery. I was astounded to see two people hanging from the cable in slings that allowed them to lay face down to see the view below as the cable moved them across the river. I thought it would be scary to cross the river in the gondola - but to hang from a sling is positively insane! This area has been in records since the 12th century. Some famous people have passed through such as Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. There are castle remains but a lot of restoration work was being done so we didn't go inside.

We decided to go to a local market that is not aimed at tourists. On our way through the park we sat for a while and listened to one of the choirs providing a free concert. The European Choir Games are continuing and many people staying in our hotel are involved. Eurovision has become involved with the choirs and we watched the first Eurovision Choir of the Year competition - it was on Latvian TV but our reception was so bad we had to watch on youtube.  We have enjoyed Riga - it feels like a safe and friendly city, the architecture is amazing, and the food is great. The soviets finally left Latvia in 1991 and Riga had to reclaim and reinvent itself. The only downside for us is the number of people who smoke!

Today we travelled by train for 30 minutes to Majori in Jurmala district. There are several stations along the track that runs close to the Baltic Sea beach. This is a resort area dating back to the late 1800s. Some of the timber buildings have been beautiully restored. We were not there to swim as the temperature was only 20°C even though it was a sunny day. Back in Riga we went to the exhibition at the former KGB building. We passed on the tour of cells and cellars were people had been imprisoned, tortured and killed. The outside of the building had been painted but the Riga city council is still looking for funding and ideas about what to do with the building long term.

It was another sunny day so we walked to the market buildings. The customers were mostly elderly and were not making large puchases. Many of them appear to travel by public transport and only had one or two small bags. The busiest place at the market was a small supermarket. We caught a local tram to an area with historic wooden buildings. The tram tracks and some of the trams are very old. They have to travel slowly to cope with the cobblestone streets. We were only about 2 km from the city when we left the tram. There were unmade streets and derelict buildings and very few people or cars. The neglect dating back to the Soviet era is very apparent.  Some of the old timber buildings looked like they should be demolished rather than renovated, but it was apparent many of those are inhabited. There were a few impressive structures such as the one in the photo, but these are interspersed among old concrete apartment blocks. Latvia benefits from EU funding some of which is applied to herit

Today we explored the streets with numerous Art Nouveau buildings for which Riga is renowned. Many have been renovated and are used as foreign embassies. The photo was taken after 9pm when the sun was still on this building. There were also several timber buildings awaiting renovation or restoration.  The city is flat and easy to navigate. So far we have walked everywhere but we plan to venture further by tram or train. We discovered a lovely restaurant in the area with many of the Art Nouveau buildings so walked back there for dinner. Food is not expensive in Riga and the menus are quite extensive. Most of the restaurant staff speak some English and offer an English menu. 

Some Swedish names didn't look good to those of us limited to the English language - the "Acne Style" clothing range might not go down well in English-speaking countries (especially with teenagers) and we weren't tempted to try the food at the "Pong Asia" restaurant. At the Jamie Oliver restaurant in Stockholm the WC was fitted out with toilet suites and wash basins made by Thomas Crapper & Co. The colloquialism "crapper" not surprisingly was adopted by American servicemen in WW1 to refer to a toilet. However, the word "crap" is not derived from poor Mr Crapper's name as it dates back to at least the mid 1800s. The toilet cisterns at the restaurant are cast iron with "Oliver's" stamped on the front. I thought that was a bit over the top until I read that many bathroom items are stolen from Jamie's restaurants, including cisterns! In Stockholm we watched an episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries with Swedis

Our cabin may have been tiny but the beds were comfortable and the buffet breakfast was passable. There was mass queuing to get off the ship but once out of the terminal building we easily caught a taxi to our Radisson Blu hotel just in time to miss a downpour.  At the hotel we initially thought our clothes and luggage stank of cigarette smoke from the ferry. While smoking was banned in cabins and other inside areas of the ship, we could smell smoke everywhere. It now seems not to be our gear causing the smell but someone smoking in this non smoking hotel! When we contacted management about it they at least came to our room and agreed there is a smell of cigarettes smoke, and said they would investigate. The European Choir Games are taking place in Riga and we can hear a choir performing in the park across the road. This is a new hotel with air conditioning but there is a narrow floor to ceiling window that can be opened to let in fresh air, and  which also allows us to hear the choir.

On our last day in Stockholm we had a slow start. The hotel wifi was down so I walked to Macdonalds to download some books for our ferry trip to Riga. We met up with our shipboard friends for lunch at their appropriately named Grand Hotel overlooking one of the city harbours. Our taxi fares keep going down - for a much longer trip to the ferry terminal we only paid 250 sek. We asked our hotel staff to make the booking so the rate might go down for locals. Boarding the ferry was fairly straightforward even though 3 ferries leave at the same time. Anita's great shock was our cabin - I think she was expecting similar to our Viking experience. Instead we have 2 bunks in a miniscule inside cabin with smelly drains! I keep telling her it is only for one night. We just ate the buffet meal which included some unusual offerings such a chicken skewers served cold. This cat is travelling on the ship. We have seen a dog and the area set aside for pets to poop. I don't know if they travel i

Our hotel buffet breakfast was good - apart from other patrons who are incapable of using tongs when selecting their food. The dining area was very cramped with too many oversized chairs.  There are photos on the wall from a 1937 discovery of buried silver. Builders were digging up the floor of the old potato store and discovered 18,000 silver coins and other silver items dating from the 18th century. The current value of the haul has been estimated to be worth 100 million sek.  We took the tram that passes several museums including the ABBA museum but the crowds were too daunting. Unfortunately the rest of the public transport system is either underground or involves buses and we have been in enough tunnels and on more than enough buses for a while! 

We left our ship this morning and took a taxi to our hotel. We could walk between the ship and hotel in 10 minutes, but the taxi took 10 minutes because of roadworks and an inability to climb steps. The fare was 450 sek (Swedish kroner) which is about $64 . We knew cabs were expensive but Viking would have charged US $219  for the same trip in a hire car. The Victory Hotel is more like a museum but it is comfortable if cosy. We spent the day exploring Stockholm on foot and found ourselves also exploring shops. It has been another lovely sunny day and the threatened lunchtime storm did not eventuate. We walked to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant and enjoyed our meal, especially because it was different from ship food. The only real complaimt about the Viking food is that it was bland - nothing spicy. On a 2 week cruise there is little repetition of the menu, but we had the same foods for both cruises. My favourite was the Norwegian waffle with creamed cheese and fresh berries. The

During our 2 hour tour of Stockholm this morning our bus was stopped to allow a parade to pass. It is the 40th birthday of Crown Princess Victoria and there will be a larger parade later.  Today is also the 14th birthday of Max the wonder dog, and the 17th birthday of mischievous Miki and righteous Riki. Coco also gets to celebrate today because we don't know his real birthday. This will be our last night on the ship. We were at the farewell do last night when a large contingent of the ship's crew paraded past.

This poster was outside the free garden near Catherine's Palace in St Petersburg. It seems to cover most activities.

This poster was located outside one of the busiest tourist attractions in St Petersburg. Hundreds of people of many different nationalities will have seen this ad for an Englishman's Italian restaurant in Russia, including the Australian tourist leaning against it. Talk about multicultural!

Our ship berthed in Helsinki later than the rescheduled time so some of the tours were cut short. Anita did the included tour and took this photo of the Sibelius Monument. It is dedicated to the composer violinist Jean Sibelius whose many works include Finlandia, a famous piece about the Finnish battles with the Russians. I visited the village of Parvoo which has wooden buildings dating back to the 1800s. While many of the buildings double as businesses such as cafes with the owners living upstairs. Despite a forecast that it would rain the early morning fog lifted and at 9pm the sun is still shining. Our guides complained there has been no summer and joke summer was on Wednesday.

We were due to set sail at 5.30pm but strong winds were blowing perpendicular to the side of the ship and may have pushed the ship back against the dock if we moved without tug boat assistance. This caused the captain to annouce a delayed departure while we waited for the tugs to arrive. Five other cruise ships were moored near us. We watched as the two ships either end of ours were assisted out first by the tugs. Once they cleared the area the tugs pulled our ship out. The ships pointing into the wind did not require tug assistance.  The captain received nine favourable comments from passengers thanking him for putting safety first when he did not go alongside in Eidford Norway because of strong winds. He also received 44 letters from passengers who wanted to fire him! No doubt he will have added to his collection of complaints after today's delay. This picture is of the cupola on Catherine's Palace. 

Our tour today was to Catherine's Palace and Gardens. Talk about obscene wealth! When these palaces were built the disparity between the nobility and the rest of the population must have been extreme - no wonder the nobility came an extreme ending! The palace was ransacked and many parts deliberately damaged by the Germans. Most of it has been beautifully renovated at huge cost. The amber room has large panels of amber with ornate amber decorations. The originals were removed during the war and are presumed to have either been destroyed or hidden. Photos were not allowed in that room. The picture is of one of the many buildings in the large gardens. The palace itself is so long a wide angle lens is needed to capture its size. The crowds were huge again but managed fairly well by the staff at the palace. The Russians are not happy the Chinese bring their own tour guides who know nothing of the history and are not able to provide an informed commentary. The staff were also very unhap

There were at least 8 cruise ships in St Petersburg today and it was chaotic. We visited two significant churches and the crowds inside were scary. We did two tours but unfortunately the second followed most of the route taken in the first tour. The photo is of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood which was completed in 1907. It wasn't bombed during the war so is in virtually its original condition. The internal mosaics are amazing.

If you have ever experienced difficulty parking your car, imagine how hard it is to park a cruise ship in line between two other ships. When we arrived this morning another ship had apparently helped itself to our position. That left our captain having to use the thrusters (that is the correct name!) to move the ship sideways. The captain abandoned the first attempt as he wanted to know the exact distance between the other two ships. Once this was provided he successfully berthed our ship. We are so close to the forward and aft ships that one bollard is being used each end to secure the ropes for two ships. It's hard to estimate the distance between the ships but my guess is less than 3 metres.

The city of Tallinn probably has the greatest concentration of foreign embassies in the world. Every time we turned a corner in the narrow streets our guide pointed out another embassy with the associated diplomatic cars clogging the narrow streets. From a distance this is a wonderful historic city but up close it has changed into a tourist town. Every shop targets tourists and there are no local shops. Estonia only has a population of one million. Some Estonians catch a ferry and work in Finland during the week returning on the weekends. The benefit is they accrue superior pension rights if they work in Finland for seven years. Ukrainians come to work in Estonia. Our guide was 31 years old and during her lifetime there has been three different currencies - the Russian ruble, the Estonian currency and now the euro. Many Russians continue to live in Estonia but the history of the atrocious manner in which Russia treated so many people is still part of living memory. At the end of the co

With six cruise ships in Tallinn on the same day the streets were crowded with tour groups. The port is walking distance to the town but we were transported by bus. The benefit of this was being dropped off in the high part of town so we only had to walk downhill to rejoin the bus at a different location. Walking on the cobblestone streets can be challenging. Cruise ship tour groups are issued with individual devices which allow each person to hear the tour guide through an earpiece. Our guide had a sensible approach to counting everyone in the group to make sure no-one had accidentally wandered off or become lost in the crowds - she simply got us all to raise an arm until each person had been counted. Our ship is second from the left.

Today we are at sea travelling from Gdansk in Poland to Tallinn in Estonia. We spent the day playing scrabble and visited the hydro pool late in the afternoon when only one other passenger was there. There is entertainment during the evenings but we saw most of it on the first cruise and don't need to see any of it again. There are also educational talks during the day but we prefer to watch the recordings on tv in our stateroom. This photo shows a strange side of Gdansk. A man had this snake in the main street and presumably he charged for the opportunity to touch it and have it draped around your neck. I suspect the three blokes in Hawaiian shirts were participating in some strange male bonding ritual.

Gdansk was a major trading port for hundreds of years up until the Prussian takeover in 1793. Grain was one of the commodities traded and the ruins of large brick graneries are still waiting for redevelopment funds. The red bricks used to construct the original buildings from the 1400s onwards arrived in Gdansk as ballast in the trading ships. Our guide showed us a brick in a section of an historic wall that has been incorporated into the Radisson Blu hotel. It has a distinct paw print from a dog that must have stepped onto the clay before the brick was baked. That's a 15th century paw print!

After lunch our ship was reversed into Gdansk port with assistance from a tug boat. We are berthed at an industrial terminal so cannot walk around the port. Thirty three buses were lined up waiting to take us on tours. We decided to do the included tour for three and a half hours. Most of that time was out of the bus which was fortunate as the air conditioning was woeful. There were a couple of showers while we were on the walking tour but they cleared. We enjoyed listening to our guide who was very well informed and forthright in expressing her understandable anti Russian views. Almost all of Gdansk was razed by the Russians at the end of WW2. After the war there was debate whether to rebuild or to construct a modern city. The decision was to rebuild so 95% of these buildings date from the 1950s onwards. It reminded me of a film set with facades that don't reflect the buildings behind. St Mary's is the largest brick church in the world. Construction of the original building co

Today Viking managed to take over 400 passengers from the German port of Warnemunde to Berlin, a distance of about 240 kms. At 5.30 am we walked the short distance from the new port facilities to the railway station where we boarded a privately booked train. The train journey took about two and a half hours, then we all climbed into buses for an hour and a half bus tour of the key sights of Berlin. Other cruise lines use buses for the whole trip which can take 4 to 5 hours depending on the traffic. There is still a lot of construction work around the city, especially restoring historic buildings that were neglected in east Berlin. Our guide explained the purpose of extensive overhead pipe networks near these sites - Berlin has a high level of ground water so this has to be constantly pumped out of any diggings. We had a few hours to walk around the city. This picture shows the protestant cathedral with the modern tv tower in the background. When the Berlin wall was erected by those pes

We were asked to comment on any issues we have experienced onboard. I noted our unnecessary early morning in Bergen when we were incorrectly told our passports had to be stamped. This platter of chocolate-dipped strawberries was delivered to our room this afternoon as thanks for taking the trouble to report issues. In response to my suggestion that headphones be made available in staterooms, a set appeared in our room. This allows one person to read or sleep while the other listens to a movie or tv.  I observed the mattress is a bit hard so they are going to try softening it with a doona underlay. We have also received many apologies for restaurant bookings that disappeared from the system. Viking really does try very hard to please their passengers.

We docked close to Copenhagen just after breakfast. The guide on our bus tour was the best yet. It was another sunny day with little traffic because of summer holidays. This is the beginning of a 3 week period when most Danes take their break. The tour included the outside of the royal palaces - don't think in terms of Buckingham Palace as each palace is more like an historic apartment block. The queen has one palace and her eldest son is next door with Mary from Tasmania whom he met during the Sydney Olympics. I hope the refurbished interiors are more impressive than the outsides. There are dozens of copper rooves and towers which are green as a result of about 300 years of oxidation. I was taken by this structure which has been reclad because the nails corroded. The green top is obviously original. It will take more than 20 years for the new copper to oxidise to the green hue.

Our ship arrived at lunchtime in Alborg in Denmark. We started with a walking tour but left it after half an hour as it was a bit tedious. It is a small city centre so we found the historic sites just wandering around. As the photo shows we had another sunny day with the temperature around 20°.  Some of the older residences in the city go up to six floors so moving furniture is an issue. We saw a nifty extending ladder attached to a utility vehicle. A platform was loaded with boxes or furniture and sent up to the balcony where it was unloaded.

Yesterday evening the ship docked in Stravanger ahead of schedule because we could not get off at Eidfjord. We walked around the old town which was saved from developers. The offshore  oil industry operates from Stravanger so there is a lot of infrastructure in the port and many foreign workers. The other attraction here is the Lysefjord where we cruised this morning on one of the local catamaran ferries. Morning tea was provided in the form of Norweigian waffles served with strawberry jam and a mixture of sour cream and double cream - yum.  We spotted a couple of seals and cruised near Pulpit Rock. This is an overhanging rectangular formation that is aptly named. The cliff is 604 metres above sea level and has no safety barrier. We could just make out human figures standing near the edge. 

We sailed out of Eidfjord without docking because the coastal weather forecast was for strong winds. At least the scenery was interesting as we sailed out of the fjord. The ship has just left the long fjord and these windmills and drilling platforms are located near the entry. We are headed for Stravanger today so will arrive ahead of schedule.

Norway has invested most of its earnings from oil and gas for future use when that source of income dries up. It was financially a poor country before receiving income from what is under the sea. Previously income was based mainly on fishing and tourism. Most electricity is produced through hydro power plants with some from winds and tides. All new vehicles will have to be electric from 2025. Incentives for buying electric cars are significant - 30% tax instead of the 100% tax imposed on non electric vehicles, free parking anywhere, reimbursement of the cost of the electricity used at home to charge the cars, and use of bus/taxi lanes for all electric vehicles. I saw many electic cars in Bergen but not in Voss where the incentives would not be so advantageous. The expensive Teslars are even used as taxis here in Norway - that might be the only way we will get to have a drive in one of them!

The ship is in Eidfjord but the captain has announced the winds are preventing the ship from docking at the wharf. He will wait here for another hour or so before deciding whether the winds have dropped sufficiently to allow him to dock. Meanwhile several buses, tour guides etc are on standby.

It rained on and off most of the day which is normal for Bergen where it rains 275 days of the year. We have noticed a lot of wet weather gear for sale in the shops! I made the mistake of visiting the Bergen aquarium where tropical fish and crocodiles are on display! The sea lion show was impressive but the space for the fish and other wildlife was way too small. It has also been disturbing to see seal skins for sale along with reindeer and moose hides, and to learn that orca whale meat is often eaten by tourists. The buildings in the picture all have chimneys, but the smoke is coming from our ship's funnel in the background. There is a wide variety of styles in the historic buildings in this city because over the centuries there have been many fires that have destroyed large areas of Bergen. This resulted in architects being brought in from all over Norway and other parts of Europe to design the replacement structures.

These historic timber buildings are part of the UNESCO-listed Bryggen wharf in Bergen. Part of the wharf has been dated from the Hanseatic era (1100s) but the buildings date from the 1700s. These are leaning against each other and the doorway of the building to the left is seriously out of plumb. They are a key tourist attraction and it is interesting walking around them and seeing how they were constructed.

Most of the passengers left the ship this morning and the next group came onboard this afternoon. We walked to the railway station and I took a train to Voss. Anita decided to stay in Bergen. She explored for a while then relaxed on the ship where she spoke with two Australian women, the second mother/daughter team we have met on the ship. Coincidentally when I came back to the ship late in the afternoon and went to the spa, the only other person in the hydro pool turned out to be the daughter from the two women Anita had met earlier. The train trip to Voss took about an hour and 20 minutes. Half the time was spent travelling through tunnels, while the rest of the trip was scenic, either fjord or river. Apparently the rest of the trip from Bergen to Oslo is one of the most scenic in the world. Voss is an old town with many hotels for skiers and fans of extreme sports such as skydiving, parasailing, walking tight ropes strung between high buildings etc. There was a large gathering aroun