Russia, The Ice bar, and beyond

Jet lag is a funny thing … almost like an out of body experience. You stay up 27 hours straight, 14 of those hours in the air, and in the end you are dumped off in a time zone half way around the world (literally, when it is 7PM in St. Petersburg, Russia, it is 7AM in Los Angeles). Now, five days later, while pretty much adjusted back to the reality of the West Coast, I can muster enough stamina to crank out one last installment in the travels abroad.

Since last hearing from your fearless adventurers, we have soaked up more culture than a simple California boy can endure. St. Petersburg was all you have heard it is, plus more, and it is simply impossible to capture the grandeur and opulence in pictures, difficult to do it justice in words. For two days, in a private car (2002 Mercedes) with a driver and our Russian guide Maria, we saw more churches, more palaces, more fountains and more gold than most well intentioned tourists could handle. It really was a bit overwhelming. By the end of the second day, after seeing The Hermitage (world’s second largest art museum behind the Louvre), Peterhoff, The Catherine Palace, Church at the Spilled Blood, we were spent. Each day, at 5PM, we were glad to be back on the ship, and let it all soak in. What an amazing experience.

It was the peak of the travel season (seven ships alone were in the port at St. Petersburg, not counting the rest of the folks who arrived by other means). Plus, there was a heat wave, with temperatures in the upper 80s (hot for a place that is on the same latitude as Alaska). The result was masses of people all vying for the same spot at the same sites. And it is very controlled. If you don’t have a Russian visa, you couldn’t even get off the ship. Maria took care of all of that for us. But that’s not all. It seems that Maria has an “in” with most of the ticket takers. So, she would take us to the front of the line, ahead of the thousands of people on the organized tours waiting hours to get in, and we rarely had to wait more than 2-3 minutes. Oh yes, we got dirty looks from the rest, but as Maria told us, it’s one of the benefits of hiring a private local guide as compared to going through a group tour. Basically, “Don’t ask questions, just follow me, and don’t get separated from me.” I’ll post a few pictures so you can get a feel of what we saw.

St. Pete was followed by Helsinki, where we found one of the best open air farmers markets in Europe. It was right at the waterfront in the middle of town, and in addition to fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers, the fishermen would dock their boats alongside and have a bounty of fresh fish for sale. We also bought some cool clothes there (like we did at other ports), the kind of things you don’t find in the U.S. or Mexico.

The final stop was in Stockholm where the highlight was visiting the Absolut Ice Bar. We had seen it before on TV, so once we docked, we set out on foot. A mile or so away, tucked in the corner of a small hotel, there it was. You could tell by all the tour buses parked in front.

We didn’t have reservations, and the hostess said she couldn’t get us in for several hours, it was so busy. But she looked at us, saw the disappointment on our faces when we gave her a sob story about how we are from Mexico and we really like Absolut. With a smile she said “hold on.” She snuck us in at the tail end of a group of Colombian Tourists (I told her I could speak Spanish so we could fit in without a problem). And with heavy down smocks on, we entered through a dark tunnel to the ice cave ... er, I mean ice bar. Everything is ice … the walls, the glasses, the bar, the furniture and it is a very popular place. $20 admission includes a watered down cocktail not strong enough for even the slightest hint of a buzz. But hey, we’ve now been to an ice bar.

The finale of the cruise was truly unexpected and spectacular. Leaving Stockholm, you have to sail for nearly three hours through the narrow waterways and past the islands that make up a good part of Sweden. The alpine studded coastline, dotted with beautiful home that ranged from simple A-frames to expansive mansions reminded me of a cruise along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe … but if possible, even more beautiful. Sitting on the balcony, cocktail in hand, watching the sunset and the coastline pass by, it was the perfect end to a memorable 18 days.