OK. So JetMoney actually arrived in Sydney a few nights ago, and I know I should have reported on the trip sooner. But I blame a sleepless flight from London, and sleepless nights since, for my recent inability to look at the computer screen for more than a few minutes at a time.
Before detailing the return journey, a few thoughts should be shared about a few things that rated a mention from the past week.
- The Seven Seas Voyager's French Cordon Bleu restaurant, Signatures, was good but not great. We were disappointed even with the highest-end of fine dining available on the ship. Some things were nice, but the medium-cooked lamb ordered for the main shouldn't have come out over-done. To the waiting staff's credit - and the staff was exceptional - they offered to have it replaced on seeing it, but I was happy to eat the OK parts and leave the rest, which is not what you want to feel in a so-called grand dining establishment. We'll be trying another cruise line - probably Silver Sea - for our next trip.
St Petersburg can't be seen in a day. It's massive. You need a good six days on the ground to get a real feel for the place. We were sorry we missed the Caviar Bar in the Grand Hotel which had a good selection of well-priced Beluga (£900 for 500gms) and other types of caviar on offer.- Know when you go to Russia, you are going to get ripped off to do pretty well anything. I don't recall another city where the hands are constantly out for payola.
Don't miss St Petersburg's massive but overwhelmingly impressive Hermitage Museum, which now rates as JetMoney's favourite. As fans of impressionist art, we were blown away by the wonders displayed in three rooms. And while the British Museum may have the largest and most important array of Eygptian artifacts and architectural wonders, the Egyptian range on show at the Hermitage - including ornate mummy cases and a real 10,000-year-old mummy - is almost more interesting.- Helsinki - the city at least - seemed quite dull. Perhaps Finland's finest features are out of town?
- Visby, the second last port of call for our cruise, proved to be more interesting than anticipated. Rated as one of the best surviving examples of a walled city around, the Swedish village is also home to some unique shopping across art and fashion, and is a picturesque place for a stroll. It's hard to imagine where else one could see so many decimated churches in such a small area, though.
- Cophenhagen is magnificent. No wonder Mary Donaldson (the Australian-born Crown Princess) locked on to the place. There's a life and vibrancy about the old Viking haunt - it is home, after all, to the happiest people in the world, according to one recent study - that is hard to find elsewhere. It looks good, too. Very clean. Spotless, actually, whether you're looking at extensive waterfront, cobbled streets and maze of pedestrian shopping zones. This is a city best seen on foot (do leave the heels at home, though, girls) or on bike. You'll encounter beautiful architecture, a serene series of canals and - again - terrific shopping. Hermes has one its largest European boutiques on the main shopping drag, Strøget, and many of the other usual suspects are a slow stroll away. The people watching is a real treat.
- JetMoney spent a night in the Royal Suite of the 250-year-old Hotel D'Angleterre. We should have stayed longer. Centrally located overlooking the city's historic main square, Kongens Nytorv, the hotel was stunningly redecorated about four years ago, with quite an investment going into the Royal Suite, by the looks of things. The coffee-and-cream interior is the epitome of luxury with its bunches of white flowers, classic high, ornate ceilings, plush carpets, drapes and furnishings. Just being in the space makes one, indeed, feel like royalty. If it doesn't, the spread of afternoon refreshments certainly should: buckets of champagne, harder stuff from a completely stocked bar that appears out of nowhere, enormous platters of fruit, and cigars galore. JetMoney ate lunch on the day of our arrival in the hotel's street-side restaurant and would have made a reappearance the following day had we not had to leave for Sydney.
- Just 300m from the hotel is one of Copenhagen's many Michelin-starred restaurants - the city has more of them than the rest of Scandanavia combined. Called Godt (meaning 'good', which is an understatement to say the least), it deserves a post all of its own.
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