Baltic Refresher...

As I walked through the Lido pool area this morning (2:00pm) there was a refreshing wind blowing in the air that was reminiscent of spring on the cusp of summer. It was that scent as well and it was delightful and brings such happiness and elation into my system. That is my favorite time of the year and favorite refreshing wind when spring is just turning into summer. It's not too hot and not too cold. The temperature is just right. All the flowers are awakening and the trees are coming back to life from their dead winter state. Of course being that it is well into July it isn't that time of year, but here in Russia it sure felt like it when I walked through to get my lunch. San Diego pretty much has this kind of weather all year round and that is lovely. It could explain why most of the time I was happy out there. It has been an interesting couple of days. We're sailing through the Baltic now and seeing ports I've seen many times last year. Russia included. It's been cold and rainy most of the time, which for July is not my favorite. I like my July to be hot (except for this morning at 2:00pm, hehe). We've been to Germany and Finland already. I was able to get out in Germany, but the corporate politic finally cracked down on In Port Manning on this ship and I was stuck on board in Finland. The Russian experience this time was new and exciting. The club wasn't as happening as in past times, but we had the crew there from the Prinsendam. It was a party on land and all had a good time. I was even daring enough to try Absinthe. It has a stigma about it that it causes ethereal highs because of its strong content. In Russia they light it on fire and you inhale the fumes twice before they pour it into a shot glass. They turn the hot glass upside down onto a napkin and a straw and you suck out the remaining fumes. It was an instant high. The liquid itself is not too flavorful. If you like licorice, it's very much like that anise seed flavor. I'm not a fan and chased it with a Pepsi. One was bought for me and then I did another one. It was quite the evening. The day wasn't quite as long as I remember from the past and I suspect it's because we passed the summer solstice. As we get into the later months, the days get rapidly shorter here. I'm hoping for a long day on our next "Top of the World" voyage since we'll be in the Arctic Circle. We left the club and headed to the Seaman's Center. This is a place where the crew can go to inexpensively enjoy an evening out not too far from the ship. There's a club, bar, food, and plenty of Russian women to help out the sailors. It was hilarious to see all this happening. Since the taxi situation is a racket here, we only took the cab to the Seaman's Center to get the $2 shuttle back to the ship, which was coming 20 minutes after we arrived. Perfect timing. We all packed up the shuttle and were back on board by 5:00am. It was one of those nights. St. Petersburg has done it again.