With apologies for the fact that it’s taken a week, here’s a handful of pictures from my recent cruise to the Baltic capitals on board P&O’s Azura.
The ship is berthed at Tallinn, Estonia in the shot above, which also gives an indication of the sort of weather we were lucky to have – apart from one day in St Petersburg when the rain lashed down. You can see how grey it was from the picture of cruiser Aurora (below), which in 1917 fired the first shot in the October Revolution. The warship is now a floating museum on the River Neva.
Having a cabin at the aft of Azura, we always had a perfect view of where we had just been as the ship sailed out of port. It also meant that we were frequently joined by gulls looking either for titbits churned up in the wake, or from passengers throwing unwanted canapes from their balconies.
These black-headed gulls were also obsessed with food. They are keeping a close eye on the dishes being prepared at one of the stalls in Helsinki market.
Finally, a word about the lady on the left. Meet Jessica Ho, a doctor of Oriental medicine in the Steiner spa on board Azura. Her skills as an acupuncturist and herbalist are mostly in demand from passengers seeking relief from the aches and pains of daily life.
She also provides treatment to help quit smoking, which is why I had three sessions of acupuncture, lying back with up to 30 needles piercing different parts of my feet, legs, torso, face and scalp. Jessica, who celebrated her 25th birthday with an evening at the ballet in St Petersburg, is from Singapore and trained at university in Australia. She will be delighted to learn that her treatment and soothing talks are still working as far as the smoking is concerned, although I probably need a refresher to help cut back on the over-eating.
It does sound scary “30 needles” but acupuncture is actually not so painful. Haven’t yet tried it on a cruise and do worry about a sea day appointment in rough weather, but overall, acupuncture has worked for me, glad it worked for you, too.