Baltic Cruise 2010
Seabourn Sojourn

Berlin City of huge parks and rivers. Hard to tell difference between East and West, except East is even more modern. Only 100 meters of Berlin Wall left as a memorial. Even Hess' Spandau Prison has been torn down and replaced by a modern shopping center. Great to see Horst & Brigitte again.

Our extraordinary hosts Horst & Brigitte Horst & Brigitte Sister Ruth  . Florida Eis cafe  Yummy ice cream  . Looking for grave in huge forest cemetery  Horst finally found  Aunt Liesl's Grave  . Liesl's old home Garden at Old Home Spandau Old fort in Spandau Medieval Feast Famous Florida Eis  . Leisl's Home Address  . Brandenburg Gate  . Huge parks everywhere Reichstag was in East  . Tour Reichstag Lineup  . Look! Do you see it?  . View from Reichstag  . Let's do River Cruise  . Yup!  See whole City Center East now more Modern Bombed Church left Berlin Wall Memorial  . Tried but didn't made escape to West Bits of wall  .

Norwegian Fjords

Norway has one of highest standard of livings in world. High taxes, oil revenues and small population enable even church to be fully state funded. Where else will you find a 7.5km road tunnel 500' under a fjord to town of 1200 and another 2.5km to a village of 150.  Don't let Saltspring Island hear of this.  

Welcome by Norway's special tour guides Postcard sod roof for insulation Quiet picturesque bays Tough hot tub cruising 50 years later revisit Geianger Fjord Time for a  coffee break . Picnic spot with a view . Just another of 10,000 or so waterfalls Local ferry excursion boat bit more crowded . No waterfall shortage.  Everywhere you look . Quaint hotels  campgrounds galore  Road may need a little straitening Ships entertainer stealing firewood Soft rock  relaxation bench Immaculately maintained homes Typical fjord village . Farms high on slopes . Self Portrait . Could be British Columbia Closer to outer coast . No city  pressures here Smile . Top of world We have company . No passengers blocking scenic view 95 percent power is hydro generated . All farm building outstandingly maintained Cruising . . No roads, just gentle walk down to sea for "everything" Not exactly big city moorage . Road must be interesting in winter Small farms provide good living Only good bus drivers or dead ones Inland glacial valley . Lets stop here . Local coastal cruise ship No flat land ignored . Note kayaks in foreground Quiet residential road . Smile for the camera . Stern tie because only feet from shore World famous postcard scene Aalesund pronounced "Oh eh sund" Little more populated . Not much public deck space on most ships Small ship or high fjord  . Trucking up to lighthouse . Town of 150 accessed by 2.5KM road tunnel  . Every flat square foot farmed . Bus front passengers 8' below rear ones on switchbacks

Bergen Norway

Norway's second largest city is both colorful and spotlessly clean.

Bergen harbor  street front Leaning buildings more than just a bit Neat manhole cover . Urban park . Modern sculpture . Harbor view Fresh fish of all sorts Love Boat panini . Blue Lobster . Reindeer or moose meat, your choice Smoked whale delicacy anyone . Huge raspberries & blackberries as big as plums Roughing it  on fresh  seafood onboard  Even industrial  area clean & colorful  . Very very tired local biker

Shetland Islands, Scotland

Very gray compared to Norway Relatively flat countryside Grey sandstone buildings Joan Street . Old grindstones . Yes Viking settled here as well Istanbul to Newfoundland Flower try to bring some color . Major  WWII base . Guess we are  not welcome . Definitely sheep country .

Orkney Islands, Scotland

Strong gale force winds most days prevent all trees from growing except one very small grove planted around 1900. Winter average 5 degrees Celsius,  with 3 days snow despite same latitude as Yellowknife. Dairy, sheep and beef farms support growing population of 20,000 in part due to their ex-pats returning from Canada and New Zealand. Many original employees of Hudson’s Bay Company to “Rupertsland” (Canada) originated here. Orkney's instrumental in both World Wars. Allied fortified it to keep the Germans from reaching England via Norway. Buoy in Kirkwall (Orkney) marks the “grave” of 821 sailors whose ship was torpedoed by a German submarine while at anchor. During WWI 68 captured German ships scuttled in bay because Admiral did not hear about 2 day delay in signing of Treaty of Versailles.

Nary a tree . . Completely windswept . . Cattle sheep country . . 5000 year settlement . . Stenness much older than Stonehenge & Pyramids Hedge used to determine farming seasons Quaint Kirkwall main street  . Knitwear  . . Furniture  . . Wonder why  . . Orkney church . . Seattle Best (Can't escape  not even here) Original Starbucks display in store window Rare four horned goat . . Large prairie oysters . .

Invergordon, Scotland

Invergordon is only 20 miles from Loch Ness and about 80 miles from Balmoral Castle.  Also several world famous Scotch distilleries. Up to 30 old North Sea oil platforms may be mothballed here at a time before relocation to third world countries.

Invergordon Countgryside Farmland Mothballed oil platform Bright flowers Neat stone house . Farmland . Church . Donkey Bridge . Translate sign If you can

Edinburgh Scotland

Approaching harbour entrance locks . Hope we will fit . . Not much clearance More fun in crosswind . Locks rising tight fit for tug . Made it! Tug used  to help steer stern and braking Haggis anyone actually just like meatloaf Castles everywhere . .  Huge crowds 4 major festivals  in town Get on get off tour buses beats walking Famous Royal Mile . . More crowds . Getting ready for military tattoo Residences . Laundry wine . Out thru locks again .

Britannia Yacht (Edinburgh)

H.M Yacht Britannia 1953 - 1997 . . . Queens 3" wide bed . . . Queen Bedroom Pretty plain, but she always had 45 personal attendants on board Duke Edinburgh bed His legs probably  hung over end . Charles's Diana Honeymoon Suite only double bed onboard Formal Dining for 60 head of state including Clintons Typical tacky furniture picked by Queen personally Only 1/2 Luxurious room on yacht . Bridge Not much better than Columbus  Steam turbines . .

Captain told us when we met him on gang plank in Stockholm that at one point navigating Copenhagen Channel that we only had one and a half meters of water below boat. Better him driving than us. 

Copenhagen, Denmark

Our personal escorts Welcome committee shopping square Few bikes more bikes Gorgeous harbour  at start of open boat sightseeing Tour bridges so low we had to duck down between seats Modern opera house . . High end residential area . Waiting for boat   in light rain . Then last half of cruise in torrential downpour  . Mermaid on holidays at Shanghai's Worlds Fair .   Danish Royal Yacht . . . Training ship Largest full rigged ship in world. Crystal Symphony also berthed Looks old compared to our brand new ship

Stockholm Sweden

Stockholm is beautiful thriving city with clean wide streets with abundance of modern buildings, public transportation and sophisticated retail displays. Transiting the sea entrance archipelago consisting of thousands small islands to the city looks similar to the Gulf Islands except they are much closer together. 

Because local politics require cruise ships not to moor at dock over night because of parties onboard may disrupt local condos. So at 10 PM we moved 100 yard off the dock an anchored with a stern tie to a buoy smack in the middle of the small harbor. All other cruise ships vacated. Just like anchoring a cruise ship right in front of the Empress Hotel.

Typical archipelago Note name on our next cruise ship Well kept homes along Stockholm approach . Our next home,  we wish . More homes . . Could easily be  Land's End Road Sidney Stockholm Old Town . . . . Tied to anchor buoy in middle of harbour after 10PM . . Plenty of large parks including this at  City Hall . . Nobel Prize Ball Hall   18  million (yes 18 million) tiny mosaics Most 23 carat gold. Absolutely stunning. Lingonberries & Chanterelles at $2. 77 per kilo Coffee $7 a cup . Vasa, capsized 20  minutes into maiden voyage in 1628. Most stunning museum  we’ve ever visited .  View upper stern Reassembled 24,000 artifacts, 14,000 ship pieces, plus skeletons & even clothing  Huge collection of displays  would take a least a full day to absorb. Note size of tourists standing below & behind stern Stern figurine replicas Vasa  at least four times the length and 20 times the volume of the Santa Maria replica in West Edmonton Sailor skeletons, clothing, mitts, boots  and weapons recovered  All in remarkable preserved .

Helsinki, Finland

How could people possibly live here? Modern, clean, parks galore, high standard of living, vibrant downtown, very friendly people. There would be nothing to complain about. Highlight of trip to date was going shopping for three hours with ship's genuinely hospitable chef and six other passengers. (In our own 50 seat Mercedes bus, no less. FOR FREE) 

Is it wild or farmed ? Joan, should we buy ?  Lingonberries anyone? Veggies with a smile 2 cuts, 2 perfect fillets What do you think ? Full Reindeer Selection Your Reindeer feast Reindeer plate please Street median Outdoor cafe one of hundreds North Europe's East meets West Narrow passage at 12 knots . I

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Russia here we come Stacking dolls, fur hats and all Wow, Ornate lighthouses. Warehouses with Greek columns St Pete know as Venice of North 65 canals & rivers Watch your head on couple hundred bridges This WW1 battleship fired signal to start Bolshevik Revolution First glimpse 1000 room winter palace Blue paint must have been on sale . Palace is museum with 3 million artifacts from all over Europe Some gold jewelry pieces have 50,000 diamonds. Stones as large as 8 carats. Exhibit halls for most Masters.  Only visible security are Babushkas (grandmothers) sitting in each room Could virtually touch works of all masters (de Vinchi here) Including encouraged to to feel unpolished Michelangelo statue Numerous ballrooms used for visiting exhibits . .  Just another cupola with pure gold leaf About 10% churches remained open under Communists Love locks mean little Divorce rate 85% Babushka examining every carrot before buying Caviar The real thing First at Catherine's Palace. So open up we are ready . Left half of palace. She must have very kept busy dusting . Pure gold copulas. When Catherine tired of boyfriend she gave each 1000 serfs, land &  jewels Start the band here we come . . . Huge part of  welcome band. Especially for us??? . Elton played here but not invited No mirrors, just one long long 1 km corridor Typical private sitting room How many ante rooms ???? Private dining for us?? Fireplace in  each room . . Dining china from all over Europe . . Died leaving 15,000 dresses . . 18,000 acres of gardens, lakes gazebos, hunting grounds Damage remaining from 900 day Nazi siege. Palace burned on retreat 1.4 million had starved in city Subway spotless clean & ornate Trains 20 cars long & packed even on Sunday Subway artwork . Retro elevator except to 4th floor apartment we visited  Badly spalled concrete stairway & shabby vestibule to 4 condos Bathroom, toilet, library for 400 sq ft one bedroom condo  Kitchen & hostess Could almost touch all 4 walls 1 bedroom typical of Soviet era apartment for up to 8 people Neighbor family recently renovated identical apartment Not everything restored Warships look very very tired

Tallinn, Estonia

Medieval seaport town . . . Town entrance gates . Narrow twisty streets . Street cafes . Church Period costumed vendors Nut samples anyone Oliver welcomes you Local artists at work

 Szcezin look like a quaint town with historical building from the harbor. But up close park grass uncut & full of weeds. nearly all buildings facelift, cars & trucks tired, roads & sidewalks in major disrepair. Sad. Looked like all the sterotype no energy photos of the old Soviet Union.  

Szcezin, Poland

from afar ok up close, needs work Waremunde, Germany Yet less than 100 mile west of Szcezin is Waremunde, which was part of the old East Germany. It is a thriving clean, port town which was fully restored after German reunification. Doesn't say much good about Poland.  Clean fishing harbour Small well stocked shops Well kept parks Fine sand beach dwarfs Waikiki  Homes dating to early 1800's Outdoor cafes all shapes and sizes Some more unique than others Bakery goods to die for Harbor lined with small shops & cafes Smoked salmon heads anyone Thought it was only in Asia where might be eating dog

Seabourn Sojourn

Seabourn Sojourn

Three month old all inclusive ship for 450 passengers. Nearly as many friendly very well trained crew. No tipping & unlimited premium drinks. Not even a professional photographer to continually bug you.  Friendly outgoing Captain, kitchen staff and entertainers mingle with ALL passengers. (Captain was actually having coffee at bottom of gangway when Joan & I returned other day. Chatted for full five minutes.  

Incredible amount of public deck space and attention to detail in both design and service.  Open seating restaurants have over twice guest capacity. Or order complete dining menu as room service.  Countless unique details like order lobster bisque, it is served  with a bit of lobster in bottom of a fine china soup bowl then waiter pours hot liquid from a closed small pitcher at table. Batteries in TV remotes changed every six weeks. No detail to small. Ship was near capacity but you would swear it was only a third full by observing any public space. Fresh berries and local fish brought on board almost every second day. 

Most passengers very friendly and well traveled. Have not observed any egotism or very very few grossly overweight specimens. Elegant restaurant with some outdoor wind protected areas is far more popular than the formally decorated dining room and a specially restaurant that serves eight course dinner of twelve chef chosen items.  Overall atmosphere is very light but professional. Certainly not stuffy at all. Even I (Maynard) feel comfortable. 

Mini bar continually stocked with champagne & gin Walk-in closet between bed & bathroom Shower behind on right . Balcony . . Lifeboat ?? Left in cabin by maid Petra Hey monkey stole my sunglasses . Forward looking Observation Lounge Another Outdoor Bar Somewhere . Stern Grub Station . . Where is everybody gone . Model of boat in transom storage . Fiji substitute . . Finally I finished rolling towels Big job Our favorite 30 seat bar lounge . Lonely when you have to help Capt'n drive . Hope we can find a vacant deck lounge . Bow Jacuzzi also 4 more aft Bridge spy equipment Guess we can't hide anymore Bridge tour After hour they asked if we wanted coffee Driver seat Every conceivable electronic toy. Main dining . Farewell dessert buffet includes Baked Alaska Farewell buffet. All hot items in kitchen Farewell soup station Farewell cheese fondue station Hope we don't look like balconies on bigger ships . Balcony feast Lobster & tenderloin courses still on floor So drunk couldn't even get glasses straight Only tenderloins on floor left . LED lit table menu in Specialty Restaurant to follow preset menu