Norway Baltic Trip

  Day 23 – Kiel, Germany Christiane again met us at the port.   This time we set off for Lubeck, a UNESCO world heritage town with many worthwhile sights.   It was about a 75 minute drive through the northern Germany countryside.   Christiane was a wonderful guide, allowing us to experience both the sights and ambience of the city.   It is a well preserved city despite the extensive damage inflicted by British bombing during WWII.   After the German’s bombed Coventry in England, the British retaliated by bombing Lubeck.   Neither city had industry or other war related targets – both bombings were inexcusable atrocities.   Much of the city is historic cobbled streets with Hanseatic style buildings, tiny alleys with small gardens, and public squares with grand facades in the gothic style.   We took an elevator to the top of the central church, with expansive views of the city.   It is famous for seven church towers visible from many part...

Day 22 – Ronne, Denmark This is a small town which is on an island off the Danish coast and is quaint but not particularly interesting.   The town offered free buses from the port, a nice change from having to scrounge for transport.   We walked around and tried to imagine how this town would be in summer when it is packed with Danes and Germans enjoying the beaches.   Given the cold and overcast skies, swimming was far from our intentions!   We headed back to the ship early and enjoyed the opportunity to rest.

  Day 21 – In Stockholm, Departure for Ronne, Denmark This day dawned clear and bright with views of the city from our ship burnished by the rising sun.   Our sense of Stockholm improved greatly as we rode the HOHO bus to the old town (Gamla Stan) and walked around most of the area.   Joe and Toni rode the bus all the way around the city and found that interesting, despite fogged up bus windows (it was cold!).   We had hoped to experience the Nobel Prize museum, but it was closed.   The Parliament buildings and Royal Palace were also closed, but walking around them was inspirational.   Just wandering the cobbled streets and narrow alleys was actually more interesting, and we headed back to the ship feeling like we better understood Stockholm as a diverse city. Our ship required 3+ hours to traverse the large expanse of waterways and islands leading to the Baltic Sea.   It was another gorgeous afternoon, and we spent much of the time on an upper deck ...

  Day 20 – Stockholm Well, it was bound to happen on this long a trip with this many ports.   Our day in Stockholm was abbreviated because the ship did not arrive until 11 am.   The ship will spend the night, but tomorrow it leaves at 11:30 am, leaving little time for further exploration.   This in the city with a large population and much to offer in terms of major sights and activities.   Due to the compressed time, we decided to use the ‘hop on-hop off” bus, which included use of a boat system as well.   BIG MISTAKE!   The cruise line combined with the bus company screwed things up royally, causing us to wait for long periods to get the bus and then miss the boat ride as well.   To add insult to injury HAL added a 30% charge to our tickets even though we bought them at the bus. We were able to ride the bus around the city and to experience two very compelling offerings: the Vasa museum and the Skansen.   We went to the Skansen, which i...

  Day 19 – Helsinki Our impressions of Helsinki are colored by our difficulties in getting proper tram passes and then navigating the city.   Perhaps if we had more time to appreciate its character we would be more enthusiastic.   It is a large, mostly modern city with good public transit – but it is also growing rapidly with lots of construction and obstructions.   After considerable flailing we got transit passes and went to the “Rock Church”, perhaps Helsinki’s most notable feature.   While this church, built by blasting out solid granite, is unique we found it uninspiring.   We considered walking to the Sibelius monument, but decided it was too far since it had no transit connections.   We walked around the central core of the city near the port and particularly enjoyed the Uspenski cathedral – a massive brick structure that looks more Protestant than Russian Orthodox on the outside, but is clearly Russian Orthodox on the inside.   Perhaps t...

  Day 18 – Tallinn Tallinn was a very pleasant surprise!   We had little basis for anticipating our experience there, and so found the fortified old town fascinating.   The day started with a rather long walk from the cruise terminal to the old town.   Fortunately, it was a sunny if cold morning and we were soon immersed in new sights.   Tallinn has an extensive in-tact city wall, complete with many turrets, towers, and gates and the old city within the walls has narrow, winding, and steeply sloped streets.   The Rick Steves book on Scandinavia continues to be our “bible”; in this city we followed his detailed walk instructions to get a thorough experience of the town.   From Fat Margaret Tower through Olav’s Gate and up Pikk Street we climbed incessantly while negotiating very uneven cobblestone streets.   The views of the city and port from the ramparts were stunning, much enhanced by the beautiful blue sky and scattered clouds. Every street...