Her name is Alice, and she was born February 17, 2011, at 12:52 am.  She was 6 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches.  She’s totally healthy – a great eater and good sleeper (so far anyway).  And we are totally in love.

Our photographer, Joy Lyn Photography, posted a few more on her blog.

The preamble:  None of our usual travel companions joined us (we almost always travel with friends). This trip ended up costing a lot more than we planned due to the volcano issue (new plane tickets booked last minute, hotel, cab, food). The Celebrity Xpedition desk people were really rude to us and misinformed. We missed the pre-cruise city tour in Quito. We got sick with colds. My husband got seasick. On the last excursion, I slid on loose gravel, scraping my leg and breaking my camera (Nikon D90; don’t worry – I have insurance for it). This was by far the worst luck we’ve ever had on a trip, including our trip to Mexico that got canceled last year due to swine flu.

The verdict : It was the most amazing thing we’ve ever done, and I have serious doubts that any other trip for the rest of our lives will come close to competing with it.

• I got stepped on by a baby sea lion when getting off the panga (small boat used to tender between the ship and shore) for the first excursion.
• A penguin bumped into my leg repeatedly.
• A snake curled around the edge of my husband”s shoe. (Thank goodness I missed this particular moment – I shrieked when I came upon the snake a couple minutes later.)
• We saw blue footed boobies dancing and nesting – they even showed us their eggs.
• We saw waved albatrosses flying (amazing – 7.5 foot wingspan), landing (hilarious), and nesting (saw eggs).
• We saw a giant dude tortoise humping a chick tortoise and groaning. haha
• We snorkeled with sea lions, sea turtles, penguins, sharks, rays, and loads of fish.
• We saw a huge number of swimming iguanas (these are the only marine iguanas in the world, and they only take to the water at certain times of day).
• We made new friends, who I miss already.

It was the trip of a lifetime, well worth every penny and bit of hassle. Sure, I wish it would’ve been cheaper and easier, but the point is that it was hugely expensive, we had a lot of problems, and it was STILL amazing.  If you have ever considered visiting these islands but hesitated due to cost or whatever, quit hesitating – book now!

Pictures and more info to come.

We hopped off the boat in Tallinn, and made our way through a little booths.  We spotted a couple sheep in a pen there.  At first we thought it was strange.  Then we realized that not only were they cute, but they were also super friendly!  The ram pawed at the fence, rubbed his horns on the fence, and batted his eyelashes at people trying to get everyone to pet and treat him.

We had Rick Steves’ Scandinavia, so we were prepared to hit the top spots.  Um… If you’re also working from this book, you’ll want to pick up another tourist map.  It was a little tough to follow.  That said, it definitely gave us a good overview of what to see.

We started at Fat Margaret, one of the best known towers.  We wound our way through the town and found our way to St. Olaf’s church.  This church was first constructed in the 12th century as “the center for old Tallinn’s Scandinavian community prior to the conquest of Tallinn by Denmark in 1219.”  Between 1549 and 1625, this was the tallest church in the world.  It’s life continues today as a Baptist church.

We wandered to the main square and puzzled over Town Hall.  Why?  Check out the gutter spouts.  Odd!  The streets were completely charming though.

We checked out the Church of the Holy Ghost, which “is the only sacred building from the 14th century in Tallinn that has preserved its original form.”  Then we stopped by the Cat Well.  The well is not quite as cool as UNC’s Old Well, but it felt comfortingly familiar… just so long as I ignored the fact that they used to chuck cats in there as sacrifices to the well’s spirit.  Ew.

Finally finally finally, we made our way to the town’s crown jewels – the views and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.  The cathedral is Russian Orthodox and was built between 1894 and 1900.  Although it was allowed to fall into disrepair during USSR days, it’s been restored.  If you miss everything else, do not miss this.

I was really sad to leave Tallinn.  I think it would be a great place to putter around and get to know for a week.  Some beach time would be nice too.  Check out a few more pics here.

Genny’s Family Restaurant
451 Main Street
Chimney Rock, NC

Having hit Waynesville the day before, Dad and I thought we should find another nearby, cute town for lunch on Friday.  I looked at a county map, picked Rutherford County, and figured out that we ought to go to Chimney Rock.  It’s a pretty, easy drive from Asheville, and we already knew there were cute stores and cafes by the gate into the Chimney Rock State Park.

We took my parents’ dog with us, so we found a place on Main Street that allowed dogs in their outside eating area.  Actually, I think Genny’s was the only one.  It has a couple tables in a fenced in area for people with dogs.  I was actually surprised it was the only place set up for dogs since dogs are welcome in the park and the best way to lunch is to sit outside by the river.  Anyway, we got settled in, placed our order with a friendly waitress, and listened to the river while we waited.

Our food took a little while, especially considering the place wasn’t that busy and we didn’t order anything complicated.  I got a hamburger, fries, and a biscuit, and Dad got breakfast.  It wasn’t particularly special, but it was good.  I’d go again.

You’ll notice that the dog isn’t in the picture.  She apparently decided that the sound of the camera freaker her out that day.  lol  After lunch, we took a stroll along the river.  There’s a very short little path there that has a nice view of Chimney Rock.

And I snagged my county sign pic on the way home.

Panacea Coffee House Cafe
66 Commerce Street
Waynesville, NC 28786-5738

While visiting my parents in Asheville, I talked my dad into visiting Haywood County for lunch with me.  We decided we’d visit Waynesville, which is Haywood County’s county seat.  The downtown area is adorable, with plenty of cute shops and cafes to keep anyone entertained for an afternoon.  History buffs will appreciate that the last shot of the Civil War was fired in nearby White Sulphur Springs on May 6, 1865.  A surrender was negotiated in Waynesville the next day once everyone learned of the surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston.

After a little poking around online, I decided Panacea would be perfect.  My dad doesn’t enjoy a big lunch, so I figured a soup and sandwich place would hit the spot.  Plus it sounded cute and like the soup and sandwiches wouldn’t be too standard.  After we ordered, Dad decided it’d be fun to sit in the comfy chairs, so that’s exactly what we did.  To start, we enjoyed the brown sugar baked brie.  Talk about a party in my mouth!  My dad is hilarious.  I asked him if he’d share it with me, and he said he didn’t like brie.  Um…  I had to fight him for it.  Our soup and sandwiches arrived right as we were finishing the brie.  We both had the Joe Schmoe, which is oven roasted turkey, white cheddar, raspberry chipotle sauce, and lettuce on country wheat.  I thought it was fantastic, but Dad thought the chipotle was a little too spicy.  We also both got the pumpkin gorgonzola soup, which was incredible.  It’s definitely some of the best soup I’ve ever had.  Dad thought it was strange but good.

Not only did we enjoy the food at Panacea, but we liked the cafe itself too.  It’s just so cute!  It’d be great to visit on a warm day, sit on the back deck, and enjoy the river.  It would also be good for anyone looking to get a little internet surfing done since they have free WiFi.  I wish we hadn’t been so full at the end too.  From what I read, they have great coffee and hot chocolate.

View a few more pics here, including pics of their menus when we visited.

My husband and I went to Asheville to visit family for the weekend, and we took the chance to swing by Mocksville for some lunch on our way home.  Mocksville is Davie County’s county seat and had a population of just over 4,000 at the 2000 census.  American pioneer Daniel Boon lived nearby when he was young.

The downtown area is pretty cute, but be warned that basically nothing is open for lunch on Sunday.  We were glad to find Gaither Street Cafe welcoming customers a little after noon.  The menu isn’t particularly extensive, but you’ll find something you like if you like American food.  I had a very tasty grilled cheese sandwich with applesauce that tasted straight out of a jar but good.  Jason had breakfast food and was satisfied.  The service was good, and the other customers seemed to be friendly.  It seemed like a good after church meeting spot, though I’d love to see how jumping the place gets on prime rib night.

This was one of the scariest days of my life.   While I was trying to come up with something special to do for his 30th birthday, I thought, “Oh, gee, wouldn’t it be cool if he could do something off his bucket list?  He’s always wanted to skydive!”  I researched it, and found Raeford Parachute Center in Raeford, NC.  Perfect!  Not only could we check something off Jason’s bucket list, but we could also hit another county!  (Side note – like our shirts?)

We invited about 50 people to a party at our house for Saturday evening, and they were also invited to join us for skydiving.  Six of them ended up taking us up on the offer.  We were advised that we had a noon slot for the class and jump, which, given the 2 hour timeframe they gave us, would’ve been just perfect.  We could eat a late breakfast, drive out, train, jump, grab some lunch, head home, and have a couple hours before the party.  And it would have been perfect if it had turned out that way.  Unfortunately you cannot take RPC at their word when they tell you your group can get through the whole thing in 2 hours unless your group is only 2 people.  I’m not sure why they didn’t tell me that when I asked as we would have taken an earlier slot.  We ended up there for 5 hours.  Ugh!  That said, they were really great.  Very safe and fun.  I’d definitely recommend them with the caveat that you should prepared for it to take a loooong time.  So here’s how it went:

We showed up at noon and took the class.  Our group of eight plus one chick without a reservation made up the entire class.  They talked to us, had us fill out some paperwork (release of liability!), showed us a video, and talked to us again.  Then they split us up.  The chick without a reservation got suited up and jumped.  Then 2 of our friends got suited up and jumped.  Then a while later, I jumped with my husband and our friend.  Then quite a while later, the other 3 in the group jumped.

More specifically: We crammed onto benches in a teeny tiny airplane strapped to our tandem partner.  These guys were cracking jokes like nobody’s business, getting us to laugh and stay calm.  As we got higher and higher, I realized that this was no joke.  We were really going to jump out of a fully functioning (apparently there is no such thing as a “perfectly good”) airplane and fall to the ground, all the while hoping and praying the chute would open.  We got sufficiently high enough, so they opened up the door and people started falling out.  Don’t freak out – it was on purpose.  lol  (Side note – notice the incredibly attractive soft helmet and goggles.)

Getting out of the plane was wicked scary.  Even my husband, who was ready to go again as soon as we got down, thought it was scary at first – he blacked out the first few seconds and can’t remember a thing about it!  This makes me laugh.  I didn’t black out as we somersaulted once and then started hurtling towards the earth.  I decided to take the logical approach: the guy I was strapped to has jumped a zillion times and never been hurt; heck, he’d jumped a bunch of times already that day; if he had a death wish, he certainly would’ve ended things sooner and likely wouldn’t take a stranger with him; since he’s packed chutes a zillion times, the chute was really likely to open; even if the main chute didn’t open, they get the emergency chutes regularly inspected and re-packed by an extra specially trained and certified person, so it should open; given all of this, the chute was going to open in plenty of time, so I really only had to worry about doing my part for the landing.

Luckily, my logic proved correct!  The chute popped open, jerking me a little but definitely not giving me any scrapes or bruises (the heavier you are, the more likely you are to get scraped or bruised from the chute opening).  Our descent slowed, and my tandem partner steered us around a bit.  We went left, we went right, we tried spiraling a bit.  The spiraling made my head feel slightly odd.  It wasn’t as odd as Mission Space at Epcot, but still odd.  To land, I just grabbed the handles on the pants part of the jumpsuit to pull them up, and we slid in on our butts.  A tip for those who want to do this and haven’t done it before:  do NOT smile, scream, or open your mouth in any way while sliding in.  I smiled for pictures and ended up with dirt in my mouth.  Yuck.

While we were waiting for our last few friends to jump, Jason and I got a late lunch at the grill on site.  I can’t honestly speak to the quality of the grub there.  When you’re hungry and incredibly elated that you didn’t die, everything tastes good.  I’d definitely recommend eating post-jump rather than pre-jump if you’ve never jumped before.  I’m not sure I could really recommend the jumping part of this equation though… lol  I’m glad to be able to say that I’ve done it once, but it wasn’t particularly enjoyable (I do NOT like being scared) while I was getting it checked off my list.  My husband would definitely recommend jumping though.

For those of you who are more interested in Raeford than my skydiving experience, I can tell you a little about Raeford.  It’s the county seat and had just over 3,300 residents in 2000.  More from Wiki: “The City of Raeford, named after the MacRae family who lived at the ‘ford of the creek’ was at one time made up primarily of old Highland Scot families. Likewise, the Upper Cape Fear Valley of North Carolina was in the 18th and 19th Century the largest settlement of Gaelic speaking Highland Scots in North America. Today many of these old families continue to live in the area, though their presence is noticeably diminished by the great numbers of newcomers to the area as a result of Fort Bragg. Since World War II many Lumbee Indian families have moved northward from Robeson County and now constitute a significant element of the population that is otherwise European and African-American.”

Photos: Taken by me, a friend of mine, or Raeford staff and published here by license

For the last class, we were each supposed to bring in 24 pictures that we’ve taken, preferably while we were in the class but we could bring in older pics since we didn’t get to do the field trips due to cold weather.  I was really proud of my pictures, and I’d like to share a few this you.

Here’s the Sri Venkateswara Temple (Cary, North Carolina) – first with polarizing filter, then using silly fish eye adapter:

Here are some moon pictures taken in Morrisville using various white balance settings to make it more interesting:

I took some sunset pics at Lake Crabtree this past Friday night (a little burning and dodging on these):

I took a few in Durham on Saturday (yay for polarizing filter!):

And also snagged a couple in Raleigh:

I’m still no professional photographer (or even close), but I think I’ll continue to improve with practice.

You can see the pics bigger here if you’re interested.

TTT: Travel Tip Tuesday

First of all, let me gush.  St. Petersburg is now officially one of my fave cities I’ve ever been to.  It has the beauty of Paris and Prague, palaces that kick Versailles’ butt, and a museum that makes the Louvre look like a snooze fest (okay, this is totally coming from an Impressionist lover, so keep in mind that my feelings on museums are *very* biased; also remember that the Hermitage has 3 mil+ works of art and the Louvre has less than 40k).  Plus the food is better than Germany and the people are fascinating.  Be warned though – this place is pricey to visit if you want to see a lot in a short amount of time and actually understand what you’re seeing.  Translation: You’ll want a private guide.

Our two day itinerary

Spit of Vasilyevsky Island.  This is the perfect first stop for a tour of St. Petersburg.  From here, you can see the Old St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, two Rostral columns, the Hermitage, the dome of St. Isaac’s, and Peter and Paul Fortress.  You can also check out the Egyptian griffins (rub his head for luck!) and 3000+ year old sphinxes.  The embankment is also charming with its lion masks and huge granite balls.

Field of Mars.  This park began as… a park!  For a while it served as a military drilling ground, and then it was turned back into a park.  In 1942, it served as a vegetable garden during the siege.  In 1957, the first eternal flame in Russia was lit here in memory of those who died during the Bolshevik Revolution.  It’s also great for taking pics with the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood.

Smolny Cathedral.  Anna, our guide, took us here to see a real, working Russian Orthodox church.  The exterior was being seriously renovated and you’re not allowed to take photos in working Russian Orthodox churches, so I don’t have any pics of my own.  Here’s a pic from Wiki for ya:

Catherine’s Palace.  Next up was the summer palace of the Russian tsars.  It’s 25 km southeast of St. Petersburg in the town of Pushkin.  Construction of the palace began in 1717 under the direction of Catherine I.  Her daughter, Anna, significantly expanded the palace in 1733 in Rococo style instead of her mother’s preferred style, baroque.  It was funny to walk through the palace and see the two different styles, both so unbelievably elaborate.

Peterhof Palace.  Peter began planning for this palace in 1705, and construction on this summer palace began in 1714.  After seeing Versailles, Peter decided Peterhof had to surpass it.  From what I’ve seen of the two palaces, he definitely succeeded.  We enjoyed lunch in one of the many cafes on site.  Then our tour focused on the magnificent fountains since the interior is much the same as Catherine’s Palace.  It was fun seeing the cute red squirrels and silly fountains.  Don’t let your guide trick you into sitting on a bench when there’s another bench a few feet behind unless you want to get wet.

Hydrofoil ride.  This is not a special treat – just a way to get from Peterhof back to St. Petersburg more quickly than driving.

Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood.  Finally, the sun came out!  It was the perfect time to go to the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen.  Yes, I thought it was more fantastic than St. Mark’s in Venice, Westminster in London, or Sainte Chapelle or Notre Dame in Paris.  Construction of this cathedral, built to honor Alexander II, began in 1883 and was completed in 1907.  The church contains more than 7500 square meters of mosaics, more than any other church in the world per its restorers.  It was badly damaged in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917.  It was closed in the 1930s and slated for destruction by the Bolsheviks.  Luckily it was saved, restored, and reopened in 1997.

Nevsky Prospekt.  This is the main street of St. Petersburg and the place to shop if you have the time and money.  We just made a quick stop at Sever Bakery, an adorable little shop with beautiful pastries and cakes.  It was fun, but, in retrospect, I’d have chosen to visit the subway instead.  I can get tastier treats right here in North Carolina.

Dinner at Sadko.  We’d planned to have dinner at the Literature Cafe, but our guide said it was just too touristy to be believed.  She and our driver discussed the situation and decided we should visit Sadko.  It was perfect.  They had delicious borscht and beef stroganoff and other stuff too.  If you have a chance to have a nice dinner, I’d recommend it.  It wasn’t horribly expensive either.  Bonus: it’s pretty and they bring your check in a matryoshka doll.

Peter and Paul Fortress.  Our second day in St. Petersburg began with a visit to Peter and Paul.  This was established by Peter in 1703 to protect the city from Sweden.  We checked out the flood lines, saw a really silly sculpture of Peter, peaked in the Boat House to see the replica of Peter’s sailboat, and then went into the cathedral to visit the tombs of the Romanovs.  If you visit the fortress, be sure to study the sign detailing the rules really carefully.  You’ll notice that skiing, committing suicide, and walking rocking dogs are not allowed.

Hermitage Museum.  This is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world.  It’s filled with some of the world’s greatest treasures, such as the peacock clock and two of only about a dozen da Vinci paintings still in existence, and also displays some really fun architecture, being the Winter Palace.  We spent about 3.5 hours here, and basically ran around.  It was incredible, so incredible that it’s now my fave art museum.  If you get to visit St. Petersburg and like art, make sure to allot as much time as possible to your Hermitage visit.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral.  St. Isaac’s is one of the few super important places in St. Petersburg that doesn’t have Peter in its name.  Don’t count it out though – Peter the Great was born on St. Isaac’s feast day.  The main dome should be pretty familiar to those of us from the US; our Capitol’s dome was modeled after this one.  It also inspired the dome of the Helsinki Cathedral.  Inside, the huuuuge bronze doors are covered in reliefs.  And inside the dome, there’s a sculpted dove representing the Holy Spirit.  Our guide pointed out a nail in the floor directly below the dove.  She said that if you stand on the nail, look up at the dove, and make a wish, it’ll come true.  The style was much different from that of the Church of Spilled Blood but spectacular in its own way.

Shopping.  We actually went shopping three times, twice in stores specifically chosen by our guide as selling authentically Russian items and once at the market by Church of Spilled Blood.  On the first day, we went to a shop that’s known for having a great selection of authentic nesting dolls, Dostoevsky Art Salon.  It was pretty close to the Church of Spilled Blood.  Rats, I can’t figure out the name of the second store, which is where we got a lacquer box.  The shop also had an amazing selection of pretty prints of S. Petersburg paintings.  The market was okay for finding some cheap things, but our guide recommended we leave everything of value (including our passports) in the van to be guarded by her and the driver because it’s so chock full of pickpockets.  I’d recommend just checking out the little shops by the ship instead.

Subway.  Okay, we didn’t actually go on the subway.  It’s the top thing we didn’t do that I wish we had done.  The stations are fantastically individual.

A Few Tips

Anastasia Tours.  This is a great company.  While planning the trip, they always responded promptly and with really useful information.  They were also reasonably priced – right in line with the other trustworthy companies.  Then we had Anna for two days, who was fantastic.  It was expensive to have a guide and driver for just the four of us for two days, but it was one of the best choices we made.  We really enjoyed Anna.  Not only was she a veritable font of information about the sites we visited, but she also told us a bit about what it’s like to be Russian and living in St. Petersburg.  I nearly cried when we left her (okay, part of that can be blamed on how awesome St. Petersburg is, but Anna was a big part of that).

About planning your itinerary and the weather.  St. Petersburg only gets about 60 sunny days each year, so don’t be surprised if you see quite a bit of rain when you visit.  Try not to let it get you down – you’re still in one of the most fantastic cities in the world and it’s beautiful even under gray skies.  When we visited, it rained the first day and we wanted to bump our visit of Peterhof to the second day to see if we might be able to score a visit without rain.  Unfortunately Peterhof and Catherine’s Palace aren’t very close to the port, and traffic can be really bad if you drive back in to the city from the palaces.  So the guides almost always plan to take you to the palaces on the first day and stay in town the second day.  If you don’t want to worry about making it back to the ship, stick with what the guides suggest.  Seeing Peterhof in the rain made us VERY soggy, but it was still beautiful and fun.

One last thing.  Be prepared to be incredibly exhausted.  The time change on your way there is the first killer.  Then you’ll get picked up at, like, 7am on the first day.  Then you’ll be completely overwhelmed by information and all the sights.  Don’t be surprised if you fall asleep in the van while riding around.

Check out some more of my pics at my Picasa collection – day one and day two.

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Hope your holiday flights go smoothly and without delay!

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