Russia

"Will we or won't we?" This was the pressing question of the students, faculty, Lifelong Learners and staff as we moved toward St. Petersburg. As it turned out, neither the rebels nor Putin nor Obama could keep us from enjoying this astonishingly beautiful city. (We were here in summer 2008, thrilled to return). The three ship days between Oslo and St. Pete included two class days, multiple exams, and the always-fun Sea Olympics (the faculty/staff "Sea-lebrity" group came in second!).We began the day in St. Petersburg with a diplomatic briefing from the Consul General of the US Embassy (who happens to be a UVa grad), our first briefing on this voyage. His presentation was particularly important and interesting given the unease of the current political situation. The contrasts are striking, but one certainly sees the New Russia everywhere -- expensive cars, chichi shops, beautiful women. St. Petersburg is the jewel in the crown, of course, Peter the Great's major statement that the West held more promise than the East (are you reading this, Mr. Putin?). From the Hermitage to Catherine Palace to Peterhof, the Church of the Spilled Blood (where the Tsar was assassinated), Fabergé eggs and expansive boulevards and canals, St P is hard not to love.

We had a lovely dinner with Kirk and some friends at a restaurant called Vinaigrette --and pronounced just like that, but spelled like this (Russian is impenetrable!):

Then, Moscow. What a surprise. Or, at least, the parts they took us to on our two-day trip were dazzling. The city is clean (it has a stated goal of becoming the cleanest city in the world), historical, and monumental. We trooped around St. Basil's cathedral (1671), GUM department store, Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin and Putin's Palace, then to a lovely dinner and overnight in the Novotel Moscow Center.

The next day took us on a tour of the very impressive Moscow metro, lunch at the Boris Godunov restaurant, a visit to the grounds of the HUGE Kremlin buildings, including the State treasures (gasp) in the Armory Museum, and a stop at the lovely New Maiden (Royal) Convent.

This long and wonderful day then feted us with another excellent meal, followed by a performance of the ballet "Giselle" at the Russian Youth Theater, located next door to the Bolshoi.

Could it get any better? Well, yes. We returned to Red Square for some night shots before boarding the first class night train to St. Petersburg. Very fun, very comfortable.

What a trip. On to Stockholm tonight.

Norway

We sailed into a drizzly Bergen, up the fjord about 27 miles from the sea, early on the morning of July 15. It's a class day (we're in full session, but docked here looking out at the beautiful scenery).

Janna and I were leaders for a three-night "Best of Norway" trip that took us all over the place. We left Bergen at 6:30 pm, after classes finished up for the day, on a bus to a hotel in Stalheim, with stunning views down the valley of Voss. Gargantuan (and really delicious) buffet dinner ("salmon porn" in someone's apt description). After a lovely sleep in the hotel and a delicious breakfast buffet, we boarded the bus to drive to the tip of the Nærøyfjord, where we got on a ferry that took us on a two-hour sail up the fjords (several of them) to Flüm.

Through the longest tunnel in the world (15 miles) to Lærdal, on another ferry to visit one of the only stave churches left in existence.

A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Urnes stave church was built in 1130 and added to in 1600. From there, the bus took us to the Jostedal Glacier (largest in Norway, 325 square miles), before settling us into the hotel in Loenfjord.

The next day took us to some more Unesco fjords (this never gets boring), and to one of the scariest switchback roads I've travelled outside of the Andes.

I kissed a reindeer and ate some good food, but we're grateful that the meals are included with the excursion because, as you will see, food here is bizarrely expensive (this Big Mac dinner deal costs...$23!!).

On to Lillehammer (site of 1994 Winter Olympics), a wonderful meal with Fernando and Carrie, and a fun walk home.

Our final day in Oslo we simply tried to take in some sites: the Viking Museum, the Maritime Museum, the stunning opera house, and a $38 pizza and beer.

It's confirmed: Norway is absolutely the most gorgeous country on earth (clean, impressive infrastructure, no billboards, civic thoughtfulness), although its people might need some work.

Ireland

The dizzying speed of this program left us only one day between Scotland and Ireland, a day full of classes, homework, meetings, pre-port presentations, a talk by a Scottish shamanistic practitioner (who is accompanying one of the classes on field labs to Tara and New Grange), and preparation for Ireland.

Just as Kirk was arriving from New York, I headed in to Dublin to meet up with some colleagues from Trinity College, have lunch with them and get caught up on professional issues (she has published twice in the international journal I edit). Lunch was in a repurposed Bank of Ireland building (echoes of Edinburgh: why are old banks now restaurants?). We enjoyed after lunch coffee in the Staff Club of the University, then saw the Book of Kells and the gorgeous library.

I spent the afternoon at the dazzling and select collection of masterpieces at the National Gallery of Ireland, then met up with Kirk and Janna for a few Guinnesses before having dinner in a lovely (if noisy) wine bar in town before returning, drenched and tired, to the ship.

The weather cooperated for the next few days as we trooped around beautiful Dublin.

We enjoyed Brian Friel's classic play, "The Aristocrats," at the famous Abbey Theatre.

Saturday took us to the medieval city of Kilkenny and its important castle before we returned to Dublin for a night out in Temple Bar (a lively, hip neighborhood in center city).

Kirk sped off to Galway and the foggy Cliffs of Mohr, but the last day we puttered around Dublin together. Classes resume again for three days before we arrive in Bergen, Norway.