Today I got ready for a Peak Potentials camp called Mind of Gold, Heart of Steel. It's a very intense class about personal growth and strength. I have included the link here. I will be gone for a week from this Saturday to next Sunday. I will have a lot to talk about when I get back. I am very nervous about this camp and I know it will help me grow to be a better person.

I also had a chance to stamp. I made a notebook for camp and I have included some SU business cards. You never know where you find your next customer! (wink!)


This notebook is to remind me to stay calm in the eye of the storm. (These camps are compared to an Outbound experience.)
So, tomorrow I am off to a place in the mountains between Vancouver and Whistler. If you get a chance send me lots of positive thoughts! Thank you! (I am listening to Harry Potter!)

Copenhagen

by ktstamps, 11:04 AM

Copenhagen…was about 20-30 minutes away from port. When we got into town, we walked around and then decided to go in different directions. I wanted to go to the internet café. So, I got on a bus and a nice young woman walked me to the café. She was from London but worked in Copenhagen. She hopes to return to England soon. Very nice and friendly people. The bus drivers really helped me to and from my café destination. I tried to get on blogspot.com but it’s in a foreign language. (I don’t know how to maneuver around the blog very well.) When I was waiting for the bus, I sat outside and had a great smoothie! I love how European countries sit outside to eat, drink, smoke or people watch. What a great time I had.

Next stop was Oslo!

by ktstamps, 10:55 AM

We happened to look at our return flight tickets and found that we weren’t going to make the plane back to Seattle. We had 2 hours to get from JFK to Newark. People told us that it would be about an hour and a half ride. So...Oslo was used as our final shopping stop and panicking about our return flight! I don’t think I saw much this day! It was a beautiful day! We got there in the afternoon and left the next afternoon. It was one of those relaxing times you have to walk around and to drink good coffee. (This ships coffee was watered down!)
Time is winding down and reality is coming back into view!
This little mermaid is the main attraction
of the city! People come from all over to
see her!
Cars they drive!
This was one of my favorite pictures.
It's a fountain in the middle of town.
Lots of people take their work day break
at this fountain! Seagulls! Gotta love them!

Our Good byes!

by ktstamps, 10:24 AM

Tonight is our formal night! We stay good bye to all our friends and get luggage ready to be taken off the boat the next morning! I enjoyed the trip and I would do it again! Tomorrow we will be on the “white shores of Dover” We will take a bus to London and spend a couple of days there before we head home! (The great guy in the Picture is Milen!)


This was our table, our servers - the best in the ship,
and the group I traveled with.

London

by ktstamps, 10:00 AM


Again, I have great pictures...sorry I can't use all of them. Had a blast, what a great city! Did the site seeing tour and then did two walking tours.


Our first tour was the ghosts of London. We walked around
London for 3 hours learning about the ghost. You also go to
3 pubs and have a drink...a quiet one!


The next day we did the Royal tour! We got to see the Changing
of the Guards. The Jamaican Royal army was retiring...



...the Irish was taking their post


You can see that the streets we so full, everyone was
out for this special occasion. The picture below is Buckingham
Palace. (We think we got to the the Prince coming out of his
place of living.) :)

This is the area where the leaders will hit each others fist,
then the gaurds have Changed!
It was so wonderful. I haven't ever had the oportunity to see
this.

A Chance to Win!!

by ktstamps, 9:14 PM
I found a great contest while browsing at Nancy's blog. Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to enter to win a 37" Flat Panel LCD HD TV, sponsored by BestBuy. You've only got until the 17th to enter so you'd better hurry!

This contest is open to all women in Canada and the US!

Constellation of Celebrity Cruise

by ktstamps, 7:28 PM
Today we were on the sea. I haven’t talked much about the boat. There are about 2000 people on the boat and 1000+ crew. It is like a small city. Every night they have different forms of entertainment. They run from incredible magicians, pianist, night club performers – some famous, to spectacular dance and performance shows. Bingo, gambling, dance lessons, wine tasting, lots of different rooms that house singers, music themes, and comedians. A floor dedicated to shopping, alcohol, or forgotten toiletries. The boat had three dining rooms - 2 private, 1 Restaurant, and one outdoor café. (According to Sandy, that made the best burgers she has ever eaten.) They had espresso bar, 3 cocktail bars, and music all around! Spa – One night we had this wonderful treatment…mini facial, body exfoliation, hair treatment, and three different spas – moist heat, dry heat, and aroma therapy. I felt so spoiled. I also but a few bids on reflexology for ½ price and one that treatment.

When you on are a cruise ship, it’s really hard to say what is a good or bad day! Your food is the best and very rich, you don’t ever have to clean up, every morning by Sunshine – his real name, my room was cleaned two times a day, my bed turned down at night with a piece of chocolate on the pillow, my laundry done, an exercise room close…WOW! I could do this 360 days a year!

Wonderful city of Berlin

by ktstamps, 7:01 PM
Berlin was my favorite city! It is amazing how life has changed since the wall went down. I will let the pictures do the talking. It was privilege to tour this country and learn about its history.




The wall


Remnants of the wall throughout the city



Check point Charley


This is a tribute to all the Jew who died! These
represent their graves.
This is a Memorial to all the mothers and
children who died. When it rains it symbolizes
the crying of the people for the ones who lost their life.
It is very moving!


Brandonburg Gate - Symbol of Freedom


At Sea and Riga

by ktstamps, 9:37 PM
We were at sea for a day. My problem is Sandy had won big at blackjack and woke me up at 3:30AM! She was bouncing off the wall! So, she fell asleep and I was WIDE AWAKE! So, at 4:00 I was up working out and reading Harry! It was wonderful, me Harry and an exercise bike…I WAS IN Heaven!!! I wanted to finish the book but I also understood the bittersweet ending!




Riga was our next stop! My only goal in was to find an INTERNET CAFÉ! (On the ship it cost $60 for 120 mins. My first try I used up over 30 mins due to uploading my pictures onto Sandy’s computer.) So we got took a shuttle to the town. Talk about traffic jam! I really thought Seattle was bad…OH MY! We catch a city tour bus to show us around the town. The city tour lasting about an hour took us 2 1/2 hours. I thought I would never see the inside of an internet café. My concern was both Sandy and her sister fell asleep and I wanted off this noise, smelly bus! (I now call the city tour bus the sight sleeping tour!) :)
Finally, I got to the internet cafe! Foreign countries are great. You can drink a beer while you are doing email. I got to the café and asked to do internet for 1 ½ hours. (Still I didn’t get through all my mail!) But I shared a beer with Karen and we worked away at our email! It was one of those Kodiak moments.

When we got back to leave, a line had form to get back to the cruise ship. When out of the blue, A MONSOON hit! OMG! I held my umbrella out directly in front of me and it rained from the side. I was a drenched rat! Then one bus pulled up for 300 people! People went crazy and it was like a mob mentality! They were pushing, shoving, and knocking others down to get on the bus back to the ship. A little old lady couldn't get on the bus due to this fact. Three buses came and people were nuts. When I finally returned to the ship, I was soooo wet that only my chest was dry from where I held the umbrella! :)

Lithuania

by ktstamps, 9:00 PM

Klaipeda was where we were at port the next day. What a beautiful place. They were having a big concert that night and a big street fair! Amber is the stone of that area. This area is known for its amber! Every shop you looked at or went in had handcrafted jewelry, canes, or knick-knacks. It was beautiful. (Yes, I bought a couple pairs of earrings!) The photo above is Sandy and her mom.



The streets were made out of cobble stone. They were filled with music, dancing, food, and lots of shopping! The music was incredible…Peruvian Indians were playing windpipes and the sound they were making just touched my heart! It’s the type of music that makes your own soul sing! I wanted to buy their music but they didn’t take US$ or Euros. I was very disappointed!
As the ship was pulling away from the harbor… did you know the ships can move sideways? I was quiet shocked! (Little bird walking!) Back on subject, the concert was going on! People were singing, music was great; the ship is blowing its whistle. That was the end of a perfect day!

The ship!

by ktstamps, 5:20 PM

We got into Stockholm! We got off the plane and onto a bus. We had to wait about 3-4 hours for the cruise boat to get cleaned. We arrived at the hotel and they took us to the banquet room. Sandy got the chance to her visit her relatives in Stockholm. I fell asleep at the table.

Finally got on the Cruise ship. OMG! This is beautiful. We have over 2000 people, all language and color, living on this boat and I usually don’t see the same person twice. This is the way too cruise. I of course, was reading Harry, sitting out in the sun! Yes, I got a nice little sun burn! It was very enjoyable.

An early start!

by ktstamps, 5:11 PM
The next morning, we left for Helsinki! I was up at 4:30 AM. Who know what time it is in Seattle? My internal cloak is REALLY off! I worked out in the exercise room at 5:00AM then went to Seaside café to have coffee. I meet the most wonderful people! One was the daughter of the guest speaker. He worked at NASA and had retired. He gets to have a guest travel with him on this cruise. (He was an incredible speaker!) Then I meet Arlene. Boy did our souls connect. We just talked like we were old friends, interrupting each other, changing subject, and just really enjoying our company! (You know these people who touch your life and it happens every now and then!)

We walked around Helsinki. Every nice place to travel. We were very tired due to the time change and didn’t really push ourselves. Hit a “hot spot” Rick Steve’s talks about in his travel book. Then I hit the internet café which was located in a big department store and headed back to the boat.

St. Petersburg

by ktstamps, 5:00 PM

Off to St. Petersburg, Russia. We did a tour of the Hermitage Museum. What an incredible place. Katherine, The Great, was a pretty right on woman. Thinking ahead of how she can preserve her beloved living quarters and her wonderful country! I can’t believe how much gold and precious stones were used during that time! As you can see by the pictures, she knew how to live!




Our second day in Russia, we did a walking tour. Lots of parks make up this beautiful city! The architect was so beautiful…I am in love with old cities. It is divided by lots of water. They were celebration "White Nights" when we visited. This is when the day is about 22 hours of light. The people of Russia say this is the most romantic part of the year and they stay up all night drinking, dancing, and kissing! :)



The weather in Russia was overcast. I was bummed.

Everyday, I came back to the room and read Harry! I think that JK Rowling is an incredible writer. People on the boat are asking if they can have the book to read.
© Stampin Anyone? · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS