St. Thomas Virgin Islands

I have to go snorkeling in "Turtle Cove" and search for the shipwreck.

We walk about a 5 minute walk to the catamaran waiting for us, and they give us snorkeling equipment, flippers, and safety instructions before we go in search of the ship wreck. Because of the Hurricanes that have hit this area the shipwreck has moved around a bit. I wear ear plugs in the water so don't get to hear all the information. There are scuba divers down swimming close to the wreck and we are more on the top swimming around. It's very serene to be swimming around with all the different schools of fish swimming alongside you.

Off to another location in search of Sea Turtles and Coral Reef. I'm not going to lie to you, I thought I was going to see Coral Reef like in the Disney movies and Ocean specials with coral, yellow and green fluorescent marine life. Well because of climate change and hurricanes you will only see a little coral and it will be blending in to the ocean sandy grey floor. We only saw a few turtles that were swimming on the bottom. The funny thing was one of the turtles that was on the bottom decided to come up to the surface right below me. As I was swimming towards it and came so close....I could hear the Vangelis "Chariot of Fire" theme song going through my head. I was getting so close I could reach out and touch it!!!! But through by ear plugs I heard far away yelling, and can only guess there were saying "don't touch the turtle!". So as the record scratched, my chariot of fire moment came to a screeching halt, and I never got to touch the turtle out of respect. No bonding with the amazing Sea Turtle but we did have eye to eye contact.
Not a picture of the actual turtle because I didn't have a camera with me and I'm sure it wouldn't of come out quite so vibrant. But it was a little like this.

After all that excitement we climbed back on to the catamaran for complimentary rum drinks, fruit, and more drinks. While my 2 teens tried to re-enact Rose and Jack from Titanic on the front of the catamaran with the wind blowing through their hair, I leisurely sat back to have a rum drink, soaking up the sun and imagining what it would be like to have a private yacht and this was all mine.

Back on shore we walk around the shops and stop off for a Pink Pina Colada drink.
A great day in St. Thomas.

#Caribbean #ST.Thomas #VirginIslands #Travelingtheworld #vacaylife

Chill vacation to the Caribbean

Believe it or not I hadn't been to the Caribbean Islands. When you live on the West coast , the East coast seems so far away. But time for a chill vacation.

*Note to self*      Next time don't go on Spring Vacation.

Not because of the crowds, but the airfare is about 2-3 times more traveling late March and April.
But we were taking 2 teens girls, so we didn't have much of a choice.

First stop Princess Cays Private Island. This is a port that is tendered in, and just for the cruise line. We rented a clamshell, which looks a blue clamshell but shaded for 2 people. Even though I love the warm, sunny weather, I am fair and not a sun worshiper so I am happy to be in the shade. Plenty of bars around with music and alcohol, and a buffet style setup for lunch. Being that I have a hard time relaxing, and this will be all day, may be challenging for me because I think I'm a little ADHD. So we walk over to the sting ray encounter (that I booked on the ship) to swim in the warm water with the sting rays. The handlers know the sting ray's by name and let us feed them and stroke them. I thought that might be in the wild but they are actually in a roped in area. So I'm not sure how animal friendly that is knowing they are in an enclosed area. But it was amazing to see them up close.

Feeding the Stingrays

The 2 teens go on the Banana Boat Ride around the bay, which looks fun and I can see them bouncing around on it with their hair up in a bun bouncing too.

I bring my water socks, because I don't care how goofy I look, I don't want to step on anything and cut myself up get bitten by anything. I go out in the water for a short while (yes I have a rash guard too) and swim around because.....hey....I'm in the Caribbean.

I skip the hair braiding corn rows, henna etc. and look at some of the souvenir shops but didn't buy anything.

All in all it was a nice relaxing day and set up was really good. I wouldn't mind an overnight there because it would be really fun to have campfires there and just hang out for the evening on the island. They could have bars, campfires, activities, etc. for a different kind of an experience.

#Bahamas #Caribbean #Vacationlife  #Stingrays

Stockholm, Sweden

After that we walk back to "Gamla Stan" in the old town and stop off for lunch at "Ruby Bistro" for a vegetarian burger and fries. Our table is on the edge of the sidewalk on a narrow little street. Most places prefer credit cards but I also bring some Swedih Krones for souvenirs and such. So once we are done we go shopping and pick up some bath fizzies and soap for my daughter, coffee mug for my son, a Christmas ornament and magnet of a funny viking to commerorate our Vasa museum visit.

There are 2 streets full of souveinir shops, coffee shops, waffle shops, ice creams shops and jewelry stores. The waffle cones smell so good and if I hadn't eaten lunch I might of ordered one. I have 60 krones left so we stop off for a beer for my husband, free wi-fi and a restroom. If you need to use a restroom I saw one that uses coins. Other than that you should try to use the one wherever you stop to eat at. After walking past the Nobel Museum and taking photos we head back to where we 

were dropped off and look for our bus. Back to the ship for sail away from the aft which has the best view. I can't believe tomorrow is our last day which is a sea day and time to pack.

#Stockholm #Sweden #Gamla Stan

Stockholm, Sweden

Today we berth in Nynashamn which is 45 minutes away from Stockholm. If you berth in Stockholm you have to leave by 2:00 p.m. If you berth in Nynashamn you can stay late. We decide to take the Princess excursion " On Your Own" to Stockholm which is around 59 or 69 dollars. This will give us about 5 1/2 hrs. in town. We are given a walking map on the bus and want to go to the Vasa Museum and find out it's about a 20 minute walk. It you are a brisk walker than you can do this easily. If not than you can take a train/tram over. There is also a HOHO boat that will take you around but I didn't want to go all the way to the pier and back so decided to walk along the pitcturesque cobblestone sidewalk along the harbor to the museum. The Vasa Musuem is $16.00 and when you go in, there will be 2 lines. One to the left to buy tickets at the window or the the one on the right that has 3 kiosk machines and will go a lot faster. Guess which one I took? This museum has reconstructed the viking ship that has sunk in 1628 but recovered it in 1970. The museum has 5 floors and I think my favorite part was the display of putting together their bones trying to figure out who they were and what they did. It's amazing what they can decipher from their teeth, bones and shreds of clothing. 

Helsinki Finland

Great weather again today and we are taking the Winterland Ice Bar and Helsinki Highlights excursion.

When you arrive, there are HOHO buses right there that you can take and a souvenir/gift shop terminal  with duty free tax free souvies. 

But I decided to try the ice bar and vodka shots for something different. I know there is one in Sweden and that is more of a bar setting which I know I would of enjoyed but this was touted and the "worlds largest ice bar". It wasn't as big as I thought it might be and I think it's more of a place to bring your kids. It's in a warehouse setting and I would of designed it a little bit different. Because it's dark maybe a dark sky with twinkling lights like you were outside instead of open beamed warehouse. Also I would of liked piped in music because it was a little quiet. 

 When you walk in you suit up in their heavy duty overalls, boots and slim gloves before you go in the ice bar for your shot of vodka in a crystal clear ice shot glass. They have a tobogganing   area and you can take a kick sled for a spin which I did for a short couple minutes. There are various ice sculptures and igloos. They also had a husky dog sled ride that would do 2 laps for 20 euros each. The ride was only a few minutes so we passed. If you have kids this is a place for them and they will offer (I think it was Cranberry) juice instead of vodka. We were there for maybe 45 minutes and if you want more of a bar setting this is not for you.

 One more stop at the Temppeliauko Rock church becuase it is literraly built from solid rock. We got let off for  about a 5 minute walk from the bus. There isn't much walking around the church and it won't take you long to view the church. When we were there someone was playing the piano and it has great acoustics. When you leave there is a cute souvenir shop right across the street to the right. A big selection of very unique gifts. I found  these little music boxes that you wind and play everything from "Imagine" to " let it be" . We had the option of staying in town and taking a shuttle back but that would of only given us 2 hours. So we went back to the ship and went through the cruise terminal gift shops.

Suited Up

Our shot of Vodka

The Rock Church

If I were to do it again I would take the HOHO bus since it is right outside the pier and the town is right there. 

Back to the ship for formal night and lobster.

#Helsinki #Finland #Icewinterland #RockChurch 

Helsinki Finland

Helsinki Cathedral

Helsinki Cathedral is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. The church was originally built from 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It was also known as St Nicholas' Church until the independence of Finland in 1917. It is a major landmark of the city. 

Clouds make great photosl 

Photos taken with my big camera. 

and my phone.