First live blog. Legend. Ultimate Scan & Russia 27th july 2014

Hi,

I am sailing on Legend on 27th July on the 14 night Ultimate Russia and Scandinavia.

Before this trip I am doing a two week trip through Central Europe. We start with Dubai then Vienna, Hungary and Czech Republic. We then go up to Norway for a few days then joint the ship in Stockholm.

Following Linda's informative "A bit of a blog - Legend of the seas.." which i followed with baited breath, I thought I would give it a go as well. Not fair to benefit from everyone else's info and not contribute myself.

About us. I (Raina) travel with my 24 yo daughter - about to become a teacher. I am also a teacher, but not 24. We are great travelling companions and have a ball. :D We always find something to laughter about. The cup is always 3/4 full. We travel on a teachers and students budget but do splurge on one thing in most stops. I am always looking for the best deal I can get. And without being an obsessive planner I do like to know more about an area then we can possible do. Then when plans change etc I have some ideas.

So.......my three caveats.

One. The ship blog will not begin for two more weeks. You can tune out until then if you wish.

Two. There WILL be spelling errors and types. SORRY.

Three. I do a proper blog. My almost 89 year old Dad also does a cruise each year with me. And is pretty good on his iPad. I do a blog so that he can keep up with our travels. The blog is written to appeal to him. I then use it to produce a photo book of each trip. I use the words and add heaps more photos. So if you are interested in lots more photos - feel free to have a look at therussiantrip.blogspot.com.au. Then click on the tabs at the top if you have an interest in that place.

I will try to keep the emphasis on places that you can go on a cruise.

Anyway here goes. Wish me luck.

Raina

The Start

Sarah is about to finish Uni and will then be getting a real job. That means no more annual 'Raina and Sarah trip in July' - so this had better be a good one!

Let the adventure begin.

We flew Qantas Premium Economy which, I think, is so worth the money! That bit more leg room and comfort. Also better food and drinks.

We arrived in Dubai to a balmy 30 degrees. Lovely! Except that it was 3 am. I think today will be a tad hot.

They say 43 , feels like.....don't want to know!

Accomm- Dubai Premier Inn International airport., not to far from the airport. It was a $10 taxi ride away. The hotel is quiet nice. The public areas are wonderful with big marble bathrooms. The room was fairly basic but had all we needed. Reception staff were wonderful. The tour desk was great. And at $175 AU for two nights for two of us we were very happy. Yes I would stay there again.

Day 2 - we did a private car tour. It cost 450 AED About $120 AU and took us around the main sites for 4 hours. Good value. About what we would have paid for a taxi.

We saw heaps of great icons.

But the star was the evening tour.

Platinum Heritage tours. This tour was fantastic. A 6 hr tour where we were picked up , driven to the desert in luxury, a wild life drive thought the desert in 1950's land Rovers, camel trek, Hawking display and a meal that would have feed 6 people. http://www.platinum-heritage.com $150 AU each and so worth it.

The local markets were also brilliant. The fish and meat especially.

Taxis are a good price and excellent. Almost as good as in London!

I am now sitting at the Eremites Club at DXB having a Moet and preparing myself for a 5 hour Economy flight to Vienna.

Cheers

Raina

Raina!!! This is amazing! :D

We shall have to collaborate on Rhapsody!!

Linda x

Following! I so want to do this cruise, and looking forward also to reading about your pre- cruise adventures :)

Sounds great until now :p

wish you a good trip to Vienna

Wish I could follow your blog but I will be on board with you :). See you in Stockholm

Looking forward to following your blog, Raina. I too am a teacher, and I too am planning to do a blog of our trip. Must be something about teachers and our need to share information with others. We'll have to compare notes on the ship :)

Have fun on your trip, Raina! I was on the same cruise as Linda but am nowhere near as dedicated or informative as she is in her blogs. It's a great itinerary and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

We shall have to collaborate on Rhapsody!!

 

Linda x

We shall.

Thanks everyone.

Raina

Vienna - Oh my what a lovely place.

We are staying at the Tulip Inn and paying $150 Au for two nights. It was $46 Euro from the airport but now very convenient to the things we want.

Today was the Spanish Riding School - a show and a stable tour. We are 'horse people' so this is huge. The main stallions are out at stud, so the mares and babies put on a show. fantastic.

Every time you turn your head in Vienna you see something amazing.

Awesome place. Well worth a visit. So much history and so much culture. Excellent public transport system.

Raina

Hi Raina,

My husband and I will be on this cruise with you! We were just married this past weekend and this will be our honeymoon cruise. Happy to follow along on your experience too. :)

We are travelling to Paris before the cruise.

Raina..... I just gave my GS his matryoshka doll and there's a piece missing.... if you do buy any check all the pieces are there!!

Linda

Look forward to your reports. Sounds like a great trip.

Okay - I made a mistake. We are leaving this Sunday and your cruise is next! I will still follow along. :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Raina..... I just gave my GS his matryoshka doll and there's a piece missing.... if you do buy any check all the pieces are there!!

 

 

 

Linda

I shall check Linda. As that is on the list. I grew up with a Matryoshka doll. Her name was Mrs Wobbly. So I need to find a new one.

Okay - I made a mistake. We are leaving this Sunday and your cruise is next! I will still follow along. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Sad you will not be with us. But then you have less time to wait.

Congrates.

I'm currently in Budapest. What an amazing place. So stunning. Shall report soon. But Linda. Went to the Jewish Quarter today. Such beautiful buildings.

Budapest. Stunning

I'm staying at Hotel Medosz, booked it on Bookings.com for $377 fro 4 nights including breakfast. It is a nice place. The view from my room is stunning. It is funny that I'm about to go on a cruise as my room is much smaller than an inside cabin, the bathroom is much smaller (although the curtain doesn't stick) and the internet is SO much slower than on a ship. And the front desk staff are quiet snarly. Give me a ship...I am so used to everyone saying hello and being pleasant.

I'm staying on the Pest side and it is wonderful. Old, grungy and full of spirit. The architecture is outstanding (even though 80% was damaged or destroyed in WW11). I have really got my moneys worth with the Hop on hop off buses here.

The food is great, the prices are great. Just lovely.

One day we drove out to Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park, 200 ks away to see the Preswalski Horses. The original horse - brought back from official extinction. There were 13 animals left alive in zoos. There are now 5 wild herds in the world.

Today we went to on old fashion circus. It was fantastic and then to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths in the heart of Budapest. The building and the baths are magnificent. They were started in 1880 and by 1913 200,000 people visited a year. There are 3 outdoor pools – all huge, one a 50 m lap pool and 15 indoor baths. It is so big that in 1938 they had to tap a second well. 6,000,000 litres of 77 degree water pass through daily.

It was glorious.

Budapest = a big YES

Wonderful!! This is fabulous stuff! Thanks for taking the time to share. x

From my mobile so apologies for predictive text

Bratislava, Slovakia.

We were travelling from Budapest to Prague and had a few options. One was the overnight train (which are never comfortable) or a 2 1/2hr trip with an overnight in a new country then a 4 1/4 hr trip to Prague.

We elected to do the overnight stop.

Bratislava was a pretty little place with a much slower and charming vibe to it. Heaps of really pretty buildings in Old Town.

We stayed at Hotel Mercure, which was lovely. Really lovely. Greeted with a smile and a jug of lemon water! Happy pleasant people. The price was great too. $85 AU.

The big problem with Slovakia....$$ It is nestled between Hungary and Czech Republic. Both nice cheap places to visit. But Slovakia has a "high income advanced economy". Bottom line everything was ridiculously expensive. A taxi ride of about 2 kilometres was 17 Euro:eek:

SO.. what we saw was pretty and I'm sure there were may wonderful things, but I will not be recommending a visit to Bratislava to anyone. But I can say I have been there!

Prague - Czech Republic.

Is stunning but SO MANY tourists. It was like Disneyland everywhere you went.

We stayed at Hotel Rott - right on the edge of Old Town Square and sensational. Highly recommend it.

So many magnificent building, so much to look at.

A few standouts.

The Lennon Wall

Where, during Communist rule, people would write John Lennon lyrics on the wall. Then it would be painted out and people would write it again.

The Charles Bridge

Started in the 1300's and so wonderful.

Strahov Monastery, Monastic Brewery and Strahov Library

The Church of Bones (creepier than you can imagine)

The church is decorated with the bones of 40,000 people.

Prague was awesome.

Heaps more photos on the blog therussiatrip.blogspot.com

Norway.

So now I am getting to the part where cruise people are interested.

We flew into Oslo late in the evening and took the express bus train to the city. Tickets were approx $35 US each but a taxi would have been over $170 US. :eek:

We stayed at a hotel called "Citybox" and it was funny. It was automated. You check in and out with a machine. It gave you your keys, wifi password etc. The room was fine and finally I got a soft bed.:D

We did the "Norway In A Nutshell" tour. The scenery was great, the planning by the company was not. Everything was SO rushed. The trip leg was great, then you had to get off and rush to the next thing.

So part one.

A 5 hour train trip from OSlo to Myrdal. This is on the main train line and was a really nice train. The scenery was wonderful.

It was then onto the Flam Railway for a steep scenic one hour trip.

We stopped at an amazing waterfall

Then a 2 hour cruise through the Fjords.

Now a new post - too many photos.

Norway part two.

The back onto the main train to Bergen.

We spent the night at Bergen, usually a sleepy little town. We were there for the street party for the world Tall ship race. Beautiful but very busy!

We stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal, by the harbour - and IT WAS STUNNING!!!!

So - - Norway is very stunning! It is unbelievably expensive!

Norway in a Nutshell tour was great but I think you could organise it yourself with more time!

Wow what a great review so far, I can't wait to read more.