By Bob Van Leer

  (TILBURY (LONDON), ENGLAND, Aug. 7, 1993) -  Our cruise ship, the Crown Odyssey, is sailing down the Thames River estuary heading into the English Channel for a short voyage to Amsterdam, Holland. We boarded the ship this afternoon after an hour bus ride from the Grosvenor Hotel in London. Our baggage, which had been missing since we left Portland, finally caught up with us on the ship for which we are thankful.

  Betty and I left Gold Beach the evening of Aug. 4 for a drive to Portland where we met up with our daughter, Amy Bornemeier, and her husband Doug, to take off on a long-planned cruise around the Baltic Sea. Aug. 5 we took a Horizon Air commuter plane for the 50 minute flight to Seattle where we boarded a British Airways Boeing 767 for 9 hour, 40 minute flight over the polar region to London. Doug and Amy's bags made the transfer to British Air but Betty's and mine didn't.

FOREST OF OIL DRILLING PLATFORMS SEEN
By Bob Van Leer

  (AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND, Aug. 8, 1993) - In the early hours of the morning our cruise ship, Crown Odyssey, docked at Amsterdam. When we woke in the morning the ship was tied up to the dock.

  After breakfast we took a combined bus-boat tour of the city. Amsterdam is an old city and our guide, Bridget, said the 17th century was the "golden age" of Amsterdam and many of the buildings date to that era. It is a pretty city but the amount of graffiti detracts considerably from the city's appearance.

   The city was founded in 1270 when the Amstel River was dammed and the settlement beside the dam became known as Amsteldamm, abbreviated later to Amsterdam. The treaty of Utrecht in 1579 created a split between the Protestant provinces north of the Rhine and those south. This division is perpetuated to this day as Holland and Belgium.

  Amsterdam today is the commercial and cultural, but not political, capital of Holland. It has a population of 700,000 people and 575,000 bicycles. There is a fairly constant wind which gave rise to the Dutch windmills. A few are still preserved in and around Amsterdam.

By Bob Van Leer

  (KIEL CANAL, GERMANY - Aug. 9, 1993) - The feature of today's journey was the transit of the Kiel Canal.

  During the night our ship, the Crown Odyssey, continued sailing north along the Holland coast and then turned east along the north coast of Holland and Germany. At night the oil drilling rigs in the north sea were lit up like strange Christmas trees. These are busy waters. There is almost always some other vessel in view.

  (WARNEMUNDE, GERMANY, Aug. 10, 1993) - West Germany is having problems digesting East Germany after the reunification Oct. 3, 1990.

  Our cruise ship, Crown Odyssey, docked at Warnemunde, the port entrance to the former East German city of Rostock, a city of 250,000. We spent the day touring around the area in the company of two German guides.

By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA IN THE BALTIC, Aug. 11, 1993) - The next two days are being spent at sea as we sail from Warnemunde, Germany, to St. Petersburg, Russia, a voyage of 724 nautical miles.

  Capt. Emmanuel Tzanis, master of the Crown Odyssey, is more visible now as we are at open sea. In transit through the Kiel Canal he appeared to stick to the bridge. Tzanis said we are traveling at 15 knots and will arrive at St. Petersburg Friday morning.

TOMORROW OUR SHIP WILL ARRIVE IN RUSSIA
By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA NEARING ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, Aug. 12, 1993) - On our second day at sea we are still sailing toward St. Petersburg, Russia. Capt. Emmanuel Tzanis said we should arrive there about 7 a.m. This is not a speed run and we are averaging 14 knots.

  Only about 50 of the more than 1000 passengers are going on a side trip to Moscow. We had a briefing on the trip this morning. We will fly on Aeroflot, the Russian airline, for the one hour flight to Moscow. There we will stay at the Metropol Hotel, a remodeled classic hotel just a block from Red Square.

CRUISE SHIP DOCKS AT ST. PETERSBURG
By Bob Van Leer

  (MOSCOW, RUSSIA, Aug. 13, 1993) - After a couple of leisurely days at sea we made up for it today with a full schedule that started at the docks in St. Petersburg, Russia, and ended at the Hotel Metropol in Moscow.

  Our ship, the Crown Odyssey, docked at St. Petersburg this morning after a two-day cruise from Warnemunde, Germany. At the dock we were serenaded by a Russian band playing the Triumphal March from the opera Aida, the first shore-side serenade we have been given.

   St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. Betty and I visited here in 1989 when there was still a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Now, of course, the union has broken up. Russia was always the dominant republic and is a giant country in its own right. In land area, Russia is almost as large as the U. S. and Canada combined.

St. Petersburg is a relatively new city, founded May 21, 1703, by Russian czar Peter the Great. Moscow is a far older city, founded in the 12th century. Moscow was the capital until St. Petersburg was founded. Moscow became the capital again after the 1918 Russian revolution.

AFTERNOON FLIGHT TAKES US BACK TO ST PETERSBURG
By Bob Van Leer

  (ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, Aug. 14, 1993) - We arrived back at our cruise ship, Crown Odyssey, this evening after a full day starting at Moscow. The feature of the day was a tour of the Kremlin including its famous Armory which contains a few displays of medieval arms and a lot of displays of early Russian metalworking art, jewelry and clothing.

  Kremlin translates into "fortress" in Russian but spelled with a capital it means the one in Moscow. It dates to the 12th century. The wall is a mile and a half long in a triangle and is up to 50 feet high. On display are cannon captured from Napoleon in his abortive attempt to defeat Russia.

BECAME INDEPENDENT AFTER RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
By Bob Van Leer

  (HELSINKI, FINLAND, Aug. 15, 1993) - Our stay in Helsinki was short. Our cruise ship entered Helsinki harbor, small as major ports go, at 11 this morning for our six-hour stay. With bow thrusters this ship is highly maneuverable in spite of its size. Docking involved making a 180 degree turn and then backing alongside the dock, all without the assistance of tugs. It was impressive to watch the smooth way this was done. We were tied up and had port clearance by noon and could leave the ship.

  Betty and I had been here before and elected to walk the short distance to downtown and spend the afternoon mainly relaxing. Daughter and son-in-law, Doug and Amy Bornemeier, took a bus tour around Helsinki.

SUNK IN 1628 ON ITS MAIDEN VOYAGE
By Bob Van Leer

  (STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Aug. 16, 1993) - Sweden is the most populous of the Scandinavian nations with a population of approximately 8.5 million. Our cruise ship, Crown Odyssey, arrived here this morning for a short visit.

  King Gustav Vasa is credited with fashioning the modern Swedish state in the 16th century breaking away from Denmark. The city of Stockholm was founded by merchants from Lubeck Germany, in the 12th century. Today's population is about 1.5 million. The old town was built on an island in the estuary and is now a restored historical center.

ENGINE ROOM CONTROLLED FROM CONSOLE
By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA OFF NORWAY, Aug. 17, 1993) - Our cruise ship, the Crown Odyssey, is plowing through some heavy swells tonight on our way to Oslo, Norway.

  This is the first time in the cruise there has been a roll to the ship that makes walking a little difficult. Today is Tuesday and we still have to visit Oslo and Copenhagen, but our cruise is beginning to wind down.

By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA NEAR OSLO, NORWAY, Aug. 18, 1993) - Before World War II, Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Now it is one of the richest. The difference is oil. Oil under the stormy waters of the North Sea.

  Yet curiously, the Official Guide for Oslo, a tourist publication, makes no mention of oil at all even though it has a section on the history of Norway.

  Norway traces its origin to the Vikings and a museum in Oslo features three Viking ships from the ninth century. These were used for burial of important persons and were found preserved below the surface of the soil. These are the classic style the mind associates with the Vikings - open boats with high prow and stern. The three are all more than 1000 years old. Ships used for burial and had been in use. The Vikings were wise enough to use some condemned ships for funerals.

   These are not new finds. The Gorkstad Ship, the largest of the three on display, was excavated in 1880. It is 24 meters long and rowed by a crew of 32. The ships had a mast and a single sail but did not depend on the sail.

  (COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, Aug. 19, 1993) - Our ship, the Crown Odyssey, docked in Copenhagen this morning after a cruise from Oslo, Norway. This was the last leg of our tour. We are to spend the day and night on the ship in Copenhagen and tomorrow we will disembark and start the long journey home.

  We have covered 2,689 nautical miles according to the ship's newsletter and a nautical mile equals 1.15 statute miles. The longest leg was Warnemunde, Germany, to St. Petersburg, Russia, 724 nautical miles.

COULD START CONSTRUCTION BEFORE CENTURY'S END
By Bob Van Leer

  (LONDON, ENGLAND, Aug. 20 and 21, 1993) - We disembarked from our cruise ship, the Crown Odyssey, at Copenhagen, Denmark, this morning, took a tour and then boarded a British Airways plane for London where we arrived just before nine this evening.

  Our group, going to California locations on British Airways, was the last to leave the ship. Disembarking over 1100 passengers and their baggage is a chore all by itself. We had to clear the ship so the next load of passengers could come aboard. But our plane was not supposed to leave until 5:30 p.m. So they sent us off on another bus tour to give us something to do before leaving.