SAFELY HOME !

HELLO AGAIN FROM HOME!

Here is the friend we have missed so much ...

Yesterday, Monday 18th June, we docked in Newcastle upon Tyne early morning and got up at crack of dawn and had an early breakfast before assembling in the Ballroom on board the Saga Ruby so that we could wait our turn for disembarkation. It was a very long wait as people were called to different transport methods pre arranged, but we finally got ashore about 10.00 a.m and travelled by coach into Newcastle for our train.

This turned out to be a bit alarming as, due to heavy traffic, we did not get to the Railway Station for our train until 10 minutes before it left. We had to wait for our luggage from the coach, then find the right platform and of course it was across the line. Because we are not as youthful as we used to be (!) this was not easy with heavy bags (even on wheels) but thankfully there was a lift to a subway which helped. However, once we got to the platform the guard was waiting to whistle the train out so we had to get on quickly - and in the wrong carriage. Saga had booked us into reserved seats 'first class' but that as further forward. We left the cases in the entrance and struggled down the train to our seats, where a wonderful member of staff and her colleagues reassured us and went and fetched our heavy suitcases down to our end of the train. All this was a bit stressful at first as we had not wanted to be lugging htem up and down in the train - or trying to retrieve them in our change at York (only 10 minutes to do it in). Anyway, all worked out well and we got a free snack and some coffee and met up with some other people from the Ship who were also travelling south.

At York we had a similar anxiety as time we short and we had to cross theline, but this time we found the lift quickly and got on the train which was already in and not at all full - for the last leg of the journey.

We rang the kennels and let them know we were nearly home and would be coming to collect Chez after lunch - and that was the best bit of the day so far !!!

We got home and found the house intact - after reports of all the flooding we had been emailing friends and neighbours for reassurance beforehand.

Then it was a quick coffee, get in the car and off for Chez.

Needless to say he was perfectly fine, having spent his hols with Angela and the gang at the execellent JayGee establishment! He was so happy to see us of course and we were too, with much kissing and cuddling and licking and bouncing around (and that was just us !!!)

Once home we had to check out all the house and garden (Chez that is) whilst we put on some of hte washing. Having done that it was a good tea and a crash out in front of the TV.

Sleeping in our own beds was bliss; cruising is OK but there is never any silence - engines rumbling, sea sloshing, lights always on somewhere.

East West - Home's Best ....

- END -

HOMEWARD BOUND !

SUNDAY:
Hello everyone!

Well this is it. We have packed our suitcases totally now, apart from one or two last minute items that we need to use overnight (which will go in the hand luggage anyway!).

This morning after breakfast we went to an inter-denominational service held by the Captain in the Ballroom and which we all enjoyed.

Then there was a Disembarkation Talk about the order in which we will go ashore in the morning.

We are now about 70 miles from the coast of Denmark sailing towards Newcastle upon Tyne. It is a fine sunny afternoon and we have had a typical Sunday lunch which was wonderful as always here.

This afternoon 'you know who' is just starting to watch the Cricket on the tv in the cabin! and I am writing up our final blog page; then we will both be able to relax before this evening.

We are 'casual' dress code in the dining room tonight of course, as everyone has packed their best clothes. We have to put the cases outside our cabins at 11.00pm tonight and the crew will then load them onto the various coaches ashore tomorrow early morning, and we don't see them again until we get to our destination.


We will have an early breakfast tomorrow (Monday), meet in the ballroom, and when our ticket number is called for our various methods of transport (we are coach to Newcastle and train from Newcastle to York) we will go ashore. Our bags will be on the coach and we will get them back in Newcastle railway station for the start of our land journey home.

As we have to change at York and only have 10 minutes to do so we will have to organise ourselves there; but as it is not far from Hull we could always get the next connection if any 'hiccups' occur.

This is the last page I will post on this Blog on board, as there is nothing further to tell really.

When we get home I will add a final page and some photos from our camera for completion - and as mentioned before there will be a full Cruise 2007 page produced on www.ivyvillacompany.com before long.

Hope you have enjoyed our 'diary' and that we have not rambled too much !!!

Sue and Dusty

CAPTAIN'S FAREWELL DINNER

Well we are sailing home now! We left Denmark at 5.00 pm local time, and headed out towards the Archepelago and the shipping lanes once more for the 500 nautical miles to Newcastle upon Tyne.

In the night we will cover many miles, and also tomorrow, before turning into the North Sea and through the Oil Rigs to the UK.

Meantime we have been at the Captain's Farewell Dinner, a formal dinner with friends we have made on board. Whilst we were eating we turned North and the sun began to shine in the window from the West which was very cheering.

The evening's finale was the 'Baked Alaska Parade' when the pudding was brought in, in the traditional way, on fire with the lights down low! All the staff were introduced and marched in as two columns with flags and sparklers in their hands, followed by the Chefs and the waiters and everyone involved in our meals on board. We clapped them along and then everyone sang Auld Lang Syne and enjoyed it very much.

Someone had a birthday on board (there are a few!) and as usual the waiters brought them a decorated cake with lighted candles and sang 'Happy Birthday' to that person at their table.

Finally, those naughty people in the Duty Free Shop had a special display of gemstones and a 25% sale ! so you can guess the rest! I am going to have to go back to work if I don't stop visiting this shop and go home!

We will give you a final blog page tomorrow before we finish our last day and get the cases out on the landing for home on the 18th.

RAINY DENMARK

Well ... I decided to try and walk around a bit in Aarthus. Dusty declined saying I was mad! It was raining very hard so I first had a look in the Danish craft marquee on the dockside, which was interesting.

Carried on a bit further and then heard the announcement coming from on board the Saga Ruby saying that they had laid on a shuttle bus into town after all, due to the inclement weather. Still, I thought, I will be OK in my rain jacket and hood and already on way. You've guessed it. After three-quarters of an hour venturing towards the City Centre I was soaked to the skin and fed up!

So yes I turned back to the ship, and got some pictures and bits and bobs in the Danish tent. I also took a photo of a craft lady making some wrought iron work baskets which she kindly allowed; and then I went back inside the ship.

Dusty was doing some laundry ready for home so I had to add my soaking wet jeans and my rain jacket and top, and had made a bigger job than necessary all round!!!

Hey, ho. Trust me.

Still, all was not lost. Because of the weather we decided to pack the cases as much as possible today, instead of leaving it all to tomorrow (a full sailing day). So, whilst Dusty dried the clothes I did the early packing. Consequently we are all organised for home now.

This evening as mentioned before is the Captain's Farewell dinner and we have kept our glad rags out for that of course. Also some clean clothes plus sponge bag etc.for tomorrow and home journey on Monday morning. We berth in Newcastle on the 18th. So, otherwise all clothes and equipment and gifts and momentos are in suitacases labelled 'homeward'.

Must say this trip has been amazing; but east, west home's best and it will be very good to get back home and see our Chez and our friends and so on.

PS: Nearly the end of our Holiday Blog. But don't worry; when we get home we have lots of lovely photographs of our trip in our camera and we when we have downloaded them into our PC we will make a special Cruise 2007 page in www.ivyvillacompany.com for you all to see.

AARHUS, DENMARK

SATURDAY

Here we are in Denmark and it is pouring with rain! Yes OK you lot in the UK stop laughing we have seen Sky News - sounds awful at home and hope our house has not floated away !

Deciding whether to go ashore as had not intended to but the town looks interesting - just need to wrap up in waterproofs first!

Will let you know later on how we got on.

Captain's Fairwell Dinner tonight, and then we start packing for home

More later on ...

WARNEMUNDE, GERMANY

FRIDAY 15th June - it must be Germany!

[Yes all right, yeh, yeh! I have noticed that I got my days and dates muddled up in the previous blog post and have put it right - THURSDAY was the 14th of course - being on holiday sends you barmy!!). Changing currency daily and moving the clocks back and forth is bad enough, so no wonder I don't know what day of the week it is !!!]

WARNEMUNDE is in northern Germany and is a pretty seaside town; a fishing port with a lovely long golden beach.

Although it was raining (only drizzling) when we got up, today we went ashore and the rain soon stopped. We had a wander round Warnemunde with its old lovely buildings, including the Lutheran Church which has many beautiful items in it donated by the fishing community.

The gift shops and cafes were very enjoyable and we got some things for home to remind us of our outing, including many postcards - so we can show everyone the whole place i.e. including the parts we did not see of course.

This wander around the local part of Germany was instead of our original planned official trip to Berlin. After we had booked it (at home) we discovered that it was a very very very long day indeed, leaving the ship at 6.45 a.m. and a 3 hour bus journey there and also back again. Plus lots of sight seeing and altogether rather tiring.

So, today we had our very happy outing and back on board for lunch; and one day we think we will fly to Berlin and stay a few days and see it at our leisure instead.

This afternoon we are just lazing about (again!!) blogging and emailing ! and reading - and this evening there is a Bar-b-que as we sail away towards Denmark (our last port of call before returning to the UK).

We will probably need the two days betwee now and disembarking in Newcastle on the 18th to find out how to get all our bits and pieces, gifts and memorabilia, into the suitcases !!!!!!

Off for a lie down !!!

ALL AT SEA!

THURSDAY - TODAY is the 14th June and we are having a sailing day. That is to say we left Tallinn far behind yesteday and sailed all night and today we continue to sail homewards towards Warnemunde in Germany where the Saga Ruby will berth again in the morning.

We have had a restful day, and looked at more of the Russian artifacts that were brought on board for sale when we were in Russia. The tax free shop has lots of lovely gifts in it and there is a special display of the Russian items left from the particular sale of lacquer boxes we had to choose from yesterday.

I must admit to succumbing to the Russian boxes yesterday, and this morning I got some more items and gifts for friends and family!!!

We also went into the ballroom and photographed the Jazz Buffet ready for lunch; it comprised of wonderful food displays including some marvellous 'ICE CARVINGS' of fish and animals - really wonderful workmanship.

We have decided not to take the special trip to Berlin; this is because it means leaving the ship at 6.45 a.m. and travelling for 3 hours each way by coach. Although there will be a guided tour in Berlin it is quite hot and there is some walking and steps to climb etc.

No, instead of this we think we will simply stroll into WARMUNDE itself, a pretty fishing village /port town, and from there we can take a local bus (20 minutes only) to Rostock if we want to.

So, having spent another lazy day relaxing and resting and spending ... we have had a formal photograph taken in our finery!, had a delicious evening meal, and then we are going to the onboard Cinema to enjoy a thriller.

We will be putting the clocks BACK an hour this evening so tomorrow we will only be ONE in front of home ... doing our best not to get muddled up!

We will give you all the news of Germany tomorrow when we get there and have had a look around !!!

ESTONIAN FOLKLORIC SHOW

This evening at 6.00 pm. we had a fantastic bit of entertainment, provided by an Estonian Folklore dance group who came on board the Saga Ruby and gave us a show of local folk dances.

There was a musical trio made up of violin, cello and wind instruments; plus three couples of dancers in varying costumes. The dances were acted out as domestic scenes, for instance wife being stubborn, or wife being bossy, followed by husband being masterful and carrying her off etc. etc.! All very well done and humerous and once or twice the dancers invited members of the audience to participate which was a lot of fun too.

It is a long time since we have seen a group that provided so much enjoyable entertainment.

Needless to say, I took lots of photos and a couple of video clips for the Ivyvilla.com website when we get home!!!!

We have now had our evening meal and a sit in the lounge as we are getting ready to sail once more - this time at 8.30 p.m. We will sail all night and all tomorrow and will then berth in Warnemunde, Germany, at 6.30 a.m. local time on Friday the 15th June.

No doubt tomorrow will be another lazy day ! Hey ho it is getting so relaxing here ....

TALLIN, ESTONIA

Morning folks!

This morning when we awoke we had berthed in Tallinn in Estonia as expected.

It is a beautiful town comprising of Ancient, Old and Modern.

Unfortunately I have been struck down with a migraine attack this morning and took my presc meds and had a sleep to get better so did not go inland for a walk round. Dusty, bless him, took the opportunity to do our laundry in the facilities provided onboard.

Now, late morning/nearly lunchtime, I have recovered enough to take some good photos from the Promenade Deck of the Saga Ruby of the old churches and domes that can be seen from the dock so that is a relief; we will have some photos to take home.

This evening we will be entertained by an Estonian Folk Group so not to be deprived of some additional Estonian photographs I will take some shots of them dancing and singing, which should be good for our album also.

Then - when we return home - I can include them in the Ivyvilla website so there is not a gap where the Tallinn entries should be!!!

more later ......

PHOTO-GALLERY PICS

Here are some photos sent to Dusty and me onboard Saga Ruby by Linda and Lars - showing our day out in Stockholm on the 9th June !!!















..... Sue at the Flowermarket Stockholm

...and
on the 'Hop on - Hop off' Boat in the harbour with Linda and Lars ...

plus...

Lars and Sue
taken by Linda

refreshing drink
for lunch ! ******








...A WONDERFUL day out was had by all - thank you Linda and Lars xxx

******

SECOND DAY @ ST PETERSBURG

Today is the SECOND DAY in St. Petersburg but we are having a relaxing time staying aboard the Saga Ruby.

[We had such a wonderful day yesterday including our evening at the Russian Ballet theatre, and were treated to an evening buffet when we came back.]

However, today we decided to rest on deck and catch up on reading and relaxing.

It is fine and sunny today, but a little overcast just now as we write (12.00 noon here). We had a late breakfast, and then sat on deck with our books. We had icecreams and then coffee and then returned to our cabins to freshen up for a buffet lunch in the Lido (this is a light and airy deck, glassed in with tables and chairs to eat at - but you can also take your food / drinks out onto the deck to the tables with parasols!!! )It is such hard work but someone has to do it!

After lunch I may have a shower and do some beautifying - then at 5.30 p.m. our time here we sail away from St. Petersburg towards Estonia and there is a drinks party on deck to wave 'farewell' to this beautiful city.

Once the ship sails the Duty Free shop may open again (has to be closed when in dock) and this evening they will have lots of Russian lacquer boxes available (they take them on board in port). We have been promised a terrific selection of only the best - tax free. I did see one I liked that was already in the shop, but the sales lady persuaded me to wait until today as she knew there were others I would like even more ! Can't wait. Dusty is hiding and hoping I don't go too mad!

More news will follow later .....

RUSSIAN BALLET - Evening St. Petersburg

As promised we went to the Ballet in St. Petersburg this evening and had a wonderful time!

The shuttle buses picked us all up on time (7.pm) and off we went in all our finery!

The Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg is quite beautiful; painted pale green on the outside and with fine carvings it is as lovely inside. It is about late 19th Centuary with a 'Victorian' feel inside - carved balconies etc. and a wonderful painted domed ceiling.

The cast were quite young and they were pretty and inventive and gave a good performance all round.

More of this later this month on the main website.

We took lots of photos of the Ballet Theatre for you to see in due course.

It is past midnight here in St. Petersburg (but not dark!) as we are 3 hours ahead of UK time.

We stay over night and all day tomorrow in port and then sail for Tallin in Estonia at teatime

more soon from this Blog ....

ST. PETERSBURG!

This morning we berthed in St. Petersburg, Russia - and will be staying for two days!

The first trip into the City was at 8.30 a.m. so we had to get up extra early to be ready. It was wonderful and we went to so many places of interest. We saw the Hermitage, and St. Nicholas' Cathedral and the Aurora battleship and many other famous landmarks.

We stopped lots of times to take photos and these will be on www.ivyvillacompany.com later in the month too.

Tonight we go to the Ballet in St. Petersburg but this afternoon we are resting and looking at all the photos we took and the souvenirs and gifts we bought to remind us of this wonderful place.

More will be posted on St. Petersburg tomorrow.....

SUNDAY 10TH - HELSINKI

Today is Sunday 10th June and we had a lazy morning and then went ashore on the 'Helsinki - Visit Sibelius's house' outing after lunch. We went through Helsinki itself and were shown lots of wonderful buildings and statues and heard about the country of Finland itself of course. Lovely sunny day again but not so hot - about 19 degrees and breezy so much more comfortable.

We then went out to the countryside and visited Sibelius home of 53 years. He named it after his wife (more on the website when home again) and it is set in fantastic pine trees hidden from the road. There is a separate sauna also. The house is timber and rustic and lovely to look at and contains all their possession including his piano - a gift from his admirers on his 50th birthday. He lived to be about 89 and died in 1957 - his hat and walking cane are in the living room. His wife lived on into her 90s. In his 'study' are his books, his ashtrays for his cigars etc. Very moving. Both he and his wife are buried in their own garden and there is a bronze plaque there.

After the house visit we were taken a little further down the road to a musical academy named after him and were welcomed in to a recital of his music; to young musicians played and the afternoon sped by. All too soon it was over and we bought some music CDs to play at home and remember the afternoon out.

Will post more tomorrow - or may be Tuesday because t omorrow we go to St. Petersburg in the morning, have a rest in the afternoon and then at night we are taken to teh Ballet so will be late back on board!

More soon ...

SWEDISH RAPSODY

Today Saturday 9th June was the exciting day we had planned for!

Today Linda and Sue finally met up!

Initially Dusty was coming too but the sun was boiling hot even early in the morning and so he decided to take the shade on board the Saga Ruby.

First Linda and I planned the time to meet and after that we tried to telephone each other but there was no signal aboard the ship! Then after a couple of more attempts they had contact on their mobile phones to say where everyone was coming to the meeting place! Finally, Sue and Linda were at the Cruise Ship Terminal - on opposite sides of the building! Both could see Saga Ruby and eventually they kept mobiles on and walked towards each other and then
Sue and Linda and Lars all finally met up and big hugs all round!!!

Linda and Lars live in Sweden at Humlekarr - and they provide the Humlekarr Year diay on the website www.ivyvillacompany.com which everyone enjoys of course.

The main discussion was the fact that the Marathon was to start at 2.00 pm so a plan had to made so that the day could be enjoyed without Sue getting 'trapped' in Stockholm by the runners and unable to return to the Ship!

However, all went well, and Linda and Lars had thought of everything! First we went on a bus into Stockholm and had a wander around the City; something they rarely do themselves they tell me! We had some window shopping, gift buying for others at home and then a coffee stop. This was important as the temperature was by now 28 degrees and it was only 11.00 a.m.!!!!!!! All through this time we took lots of photos on both our cameras so we will be busy
emailing them to each other for a while!

We continued on and had a wonderful boat trip across the harbour - looking at all the pretty islands, the important buildings and other ships including a Tall Ship moored nearby.

Once we had gone a few stops on the Hop on and Hop off boat we got off and we were on an island which name in Swedish escapes me (!) but means 'Animal Garden' or 'Animal Island' because there is a Zoo there and lots of green spaces and trees for leisure time and a river and cafes and so on. It was very good after so much heat from the pavements.

We had a wander round there and some cold drinks in the shade of course.
Because of the time element and the Marathon due to start at 2.00 pm (at which time all the traffic stops and movement around is difficult) we set off back on our re turn to Saga Ruby. Linda and Lars were wonderful and had decided to give us a good margin of time for any errors or unexpected things happening!

This was just as well as first the boat was full and we had to get on another; then when we got to the stop we needed the Marathon had started and was running by us! From then on we took photos (of course) of the runners but were forced to stay on one side of the road only as hundreds of competitors were going by. Initially we felt a bit 'panicked' as we could not get to the underground subway trains - but then kind fate smiled on us and someone in the crowd pointed us to a station on our side of the human traffic! We got into the underground which was lovely and cool and then after one or two changes the next and last step was to try and get a bus for the last lap back to the Ship.

Unfortunately, despite saying they would continue running, after 10 - 15 minutes we knew that a bus was not coming. By now there was only one hour left to boarding time but wonderful Linda spotted a taxi coming and flagged it down. Although he could not take us as he had another fare to go to, his colleague who was dropping a passenger off waved us over and all was well! We all piled into the taxi and got a lift back to the Saga Ruby.

THANK YOU LINDA AND LARS FOR A WONDERFUL DAY IN STOCKHOLM

You will all be able to view the photos we took in due course when we show then on the Humlekarr special holiday pages!!!

LAZY FRIDAY - 8th June 2007

Here we are again; lazing about in the sun !!!

Today we got up late, had a leisurely breakfast, sat in the sun, had coffee, read our books and heard a bit of a talk about Sweden; we are going to STOCKHOLM tomorrow and meeting our friends Linda and Lars who live in Sweden - so exiting; never met before but have talked so much over the Internet!

They will meet us and take us around their homeland and we will get to know each other better.

Hope we find each other first - this is the hardes bit as the Saga Ruby can berth in one of two places so it is 'hunt for Sue and Dusty' in the morning!

Going for another rest now! then an evening meal later and an early night ready for all the fun of Stockholm

Apparently seeing the Archepelego in the rising sun is beautiful; we take a pilot on board at 4.00 am - not sure if we will make that target!

All the news tomorrow again ...

COPENHAGEN - DAY OUT Thursday 7th June

This was the day we went out to Copenhagen. Actually Dusty decided to rest as he was not 100% and I went on the coach anyway.

We took 2 hours to reach the City and picked up Avril, our Tour Guide who was so interesting. She took us all over Copenhagen in the coach showing us historic places and monuments; and also to lunch at Copenhagen Corner - at 11.30 a.m. This was a typical Danish buffet and was good.

After lunch we went on and found the boat that was taking us on a canal cruise. This was especailly enjoyable as it had become very hot (29 degrees) and the canal had cool breezes.

We took loads of photos and you will see these when we get home on http://www.ivyvillacompany.com/ !

After the canal cruise we got a bit stuck in the extra traffic - caused by local transport difficulties - but got back to the Saga Ruby alright in the end.

This was a great day out - going for a shower and an evening meal now

More tomorrow !!!

Wednesday 6th June - All at Sea

Wednesday - 6th June:

Today we had a lovely relaxing day just loafing about on the deck in the lounges and having endless treats!

First we had a leisurely breakfast followed by coffee on deck followed by icecreams! then we had a late lunch - salade and icecream - and then afternoon cream teas in the ballroom - with a piano playing!

Then we had a nice shower, rested and had an evening meal!

It is very hard work this cruising lark but someone has to do it ... we are having an outing tomorrow...

First day at Sea

Today we boarded the Saga Ruby and were greeted by the crew and given a cream tea!

As we sailed out of the Tyne and into the North Sea we went on deck and took some photos
We have had an early lifeboat drill - followed by a Bucks Fizz !

We are now sailing in the North Sea ...

We have met some lovely passengers and had a great meal and are very relaxed and happy already and are going to have an early night after all the excitement of getting this far!

We will be able to explore ship properly tomorrow and will let you know how we get on! We hope you are all enjoying the blog so far - will get much more exciting as we go along ...

It is now 9.30 pm - speak again tomorrow - Sue and Dusty