• Home
  • About John
  • Bringin’ Out The Beast – CD
  • Operation Ruby Slipper
  • Heartbreaker
  • Judy Garland

John Meyer

~ Memoirist, Novelist and Songwriter

John Meyer

Tag Archives: Holland America Line

Baltic, Shmaltic -Notes from the Ports

01 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by meyerwire in Baltic Cruise

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bob's your uncle, Chartres, Estonia, food, Holland America Line, MS Eurodam, Saint Peter, Tallinn, travel, westminster abbey

First place we hit was Tallinn, in Estonia. Initial exposure to completely different culture, but…What a let down. Visited the Old Town (supposedly the most worthwhile area). Tacky souvenir shops all selling the same nested Russian dolls…and uninviting restaurants around the Square selling herring, herring, herring. Expended far too much energy walking up the damn cobblestoned inclines. There IS one church (the Nevsky) with an interesting triptych set of windows: each of the three panels shows one (sainted) figure apiece. Never saw that before. All other cathedrals I’ve seen show several figures in their windows. There was a line of people waiting to see a father confessor (and make an appropriate donation). Frankly, I never want to see another church again. I’ve seen Westminster Abbey, Saint Peter‘s, St. Patrick‘s, Chartres and Notre Dame, ain’t that enough??? For one lifetime?  Oh, and St. John’s.  And this place felt totally touristy. However: the one shop in town that interested me sold old sheet music and records -hey! They had a 3-LP set of a Russian musical (!) of The Three Musketeers. Didn’t want to lug it; now that I’m home, of course, I regret that decision. We did not pause to eat there, as nothing looked that appetizing. Wish I had this day back.

THE REMBRANDT DINING ROOM on the Holland-America ship EURODAM. Best dish I had there was a sauteed halibut, tender and tasty. Food generally B to Bplus. The cellar was out of the wine I wanted. There IS better food onboard, on other decks -but they charge a supplement in restaurants like The Pinnacle Grill. We found the Lido Buffet to be OK, the least formal, with a good range of choices. Up there, at breakfast, you could get poached eggs on toast, they had an omelette station, waffles, pancakes and -my choice- a Muesli that had been pre-soaked in cream/half and half. Toss a few slices of banana on top and Bob’s your uncle (and your aunt’s Fanny, a Brit riposted when I said this).

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 40 other subscribers

Archives

  • November 2019 (2)
  • October 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • January 2013 (1)
  • November 2012 (2)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (5)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (6)
  • June 2012 (4)
  • May 2012 (5)
  • April 2012 (4)
  • March 2012 (5)
  • February 2012 (4)
  • January 2012 (7)
  • December 2011 (5)
  • November 2011 (4)
  • October 2011 (5)
  • September 2011 (5)
  • August 2011 (5)
  • July 2011 (3)

Top Posts & Pages

  • Judy Garland

Categories

  • Baltic Cruise (4)
  • Bobby Short (1)
  • Celebrity Encounters (34)
  • Europe Trip 2011 (3)
  • Family (2)
  • Films (2)
  • Food and Wine (2)
  • Heartbreaker (1)
  • Jackie Vernon (1)
  • Judy Garland (3)
  • MacQueen show, Chat-room fight (1)
  • Meeting Helen Mirren (1)
  • Michael Feinstein (1)
  • Miscellaneous (15)
  • Operation Ruby Slipper (1)
  • Reviews (1)
  • Uncategorized (35)
  • Wine Experiences (3)

Blogroll

  • Facebook
  • Interview with JudyGarlandNews.com
  • The Judy Room

John Meyer

John Meyer

John Meyer

John Meyer

RSS RSS Feed

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • John Meyer
    • Join 40 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • John Meyer
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...