Bon Voyage, and off we sailed again - this time to the Baltic

Region. EL Travel Bugs took another adventure on water with

the main goal to visit St. Petersburg, Russia, for their 300th

Once again, we selected the Radisson Cruise Line --->

The weather was perfect, the food was abundant, and the

entertainment was beyond words...and yet, best of all,

this travel adventure exceeded our expectations.

Known as the gateway to Scandinavia ~

Denmark was a great city to start our adventure.

< We attempted this pose but our toes couldn't hold the weight.

Shopping was our pleasure, and we spent lots of time at the Stroget,

Europe's greatest pedestrian mall, yummy! The endless canals

routes that wander through the city, gave us much to explore

However, their biggest attraction is Tivoli Gardens, the world's oldest amusement park (160 years).

The park is on 20 acres and is a wonderland, lighting up at night with 110,000 colorful lanterns.

Marching bands, thrilling rides, and eateries at every corner.

After our brief visit to Denmark, we boarded our cruise ship to start our Baltic journey. Although we were on a cruise, the ports of call outweighed the onbroad activities.

Over 800 years ago, this island in the Baltic was the starting point

for most Viking expeditions to the New World.

No Viking vessels here

Today...Visby is an excellent example of a fortified medieval commercial city, protected as a World Heritage site, with more than 90 churches built in the Middle Ages, most still in use.

Part of the city wall built in 13th century

Stone Sheep in the Handicraft marketplace

Play time on stone sheep, ouch!

Where's the roof?

With Finnish and Hungarian ancestry, many battles raged over

who ruled this small country ~ only to end in 1991 when Estonia

declared its own independence. "That must have been exhausting!"

Many structures are being restored in Tallinn's "old" city (13th century), which sits overlooking the lower more modern "newer" center (14th century).

Amongst Estonia's medieval appeal, is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, one of the most visited attractions, which appears out of place with all its colorful pastels.

Visiting this beautiful city was the highlight of our cruise. At port

for 3 days, it was not enough time to see the ongoing list of famous

landmarks, palaces, statues, shops and vodka distilleries. For

their 300th anniversary, buildings had been freshly painted,

streets scrubbed clean (though full of pothole obstacles to keep us on

our toes) for the lines of tourists and an abundance of handicraft

vendors filled the plazas with plenty of goodies to buy.

One of many wraparound

lines we endured

" Humm, what do I want?"

There were plenty of palaces, fortresses and museums to tour...

many constructed by Peter, the Great (who should been called 'Peter, the Ambitious Builder')

The Peter & Paul Fortress

One of the most opulent palaces is Peterhof, the summer home for Czar Peter, built to rival Versailles. (The amount of painted gold is blinding.)

The Great Cascade with golden statues at Peterhof

His Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum houses the world's finest art collection. (With over 2.7 million works of art, it would take 7 years to spend one minute gazing at each one.)