What a feeling!

After a long period of silence and moderate contact, here is an update from your favorite AIDA scout from the Baltic Sea. The weeks pass as if they were months and I feel as free and carefree as never before. We are currently in the middle of the fourth journey of our Baltic Sea route and soon the new, last route for me will begin - a detour to the north. I am already incredibly excited for the time in Iceland and Greenland, as this route will be my absolute personal highlight and at the same time marks the end of my first contract with AIDA.. Yes, that's right! I only have 3 more trips ahead of me - since the trips to Greenland are 3-week trips, I still have a total of 9 weeks on board AIDAcara. But this last time will surely be over faster than I would like. Currently, however, we are still enjoying the beautiful cities on the Baltic Sea for the penultimate time. Since yesterday we have been in the port of St. Petersburg and have a whole 2 days here to explore the city in more detail. My excursion today is an absolute highlight, because I was able to look at the Russian metropolis from the observation platform of the Isaac Cathedral after climbing the 262 steps to the viewpoint. An indescribable feeling and a beautiful panorama up there. Afterwards, I had enough free time for 5 hours to thoroughly explore the city. In addition to a typical Russian meal in a local canteen, I took a metro ride along magnificent subway stations to experience the life of the Russians up close. Really special and yet simple at the same time! I paid a total of only €5 for food and a metro ticket. Crazy! However, I have to say that despite many interesting impressions during the last excursions, I don't like the city very much. Everything here is a bit too pompous for me and there are too many people, too much hustle and bustle in the city, and too many contrasts between the ostentatious palaces and the panel buildings that make up the outskirts of St. Petersburg. In addition to visiting the Catherine Palace, the Peterhof Palace, and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, yesterday I enjoyed a lovely evening at the Hermitage with an exclusive orchestra concert and sparkling wine reception for a small group of our AIDA guests and accompanied this great occasion as a scout. The special thing about it was that the Hermitage opened its doors only for us in the evening and you had a feeling of "Night at the Museum". Really great and one of the best excursions on this trip, where every guest was really satisfied. So there is really a lot to discover and sometimes you don't even know anymore what you have already seen and experienced. But besides St. Petersburg, one of our lesser-known ports surprised me again - the Swedish Visby on the beautiful Baltic Sea island of Gotland. An amazing place! The interplay of nature, medieval remains, and rough sea make this island one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. During our last visit, I was surprised by a English-speaking tour guide on the bus with a hoarse voice. You have to know that in such a case, we scouts are responsible for translation, but on the route we are almost "spared" from it in every port. And on exactly the day when I had no voice left, my interpreter skills were required. However, in consultation with the guide, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about medieval life on Gotland, which is also the home of Pippi Longstocking. Stockholm and Riga also proved to be such wonderful places that you should definitely visit in the summer. You can already see how many experiences I have collected in such a short time and yet I hardly find time to think about all that again. Time is short, work is currently very consuming, and I am grateful for every minute of calm and distraction in the evening. At the moment, we are only 4 scouts instead of the 5 planned, which means that much more work has to be done, which we have to divide among ourselves. Despite these circumstances, I love the variety of my tasks, learn from difficult situations, and overcome new challenges. Currently, during a 2-week trip, I am on stage for 5 excursion presentations and I am starting to feel comfortable there or no longer insecure. I would suspect that it is due to the habit. This makes a person much more relaxed, as does dealing with the many different characters. Of course, there are also rubs here.

Therefore, I also miss my home, my family, and all my loved ones around me with whom I can share these moments. But fortunately, after a long time in Kiel, I had a visit from my cousin and her husband, which gave me a lot of strength. Thanks for that!!