The second week of our adventure came with a series of ports of call in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. This cruise itinerary was quite port heavy, so we got to see a variety of stops along the way.
Sorry - this will be a VERY long post!!!
May 7 - Stavanger, Norway
Our first port on the cruise was Stavanger, Norway (pronounced Stav-ang-Ger). We did the pre-booked Lysefjord Pulpit Rock Tour on the the MS Rygerfjord, which docked right next to our ship.
This guided tour took us through the Lysefjord and pointed out the variety of scenery along the way. On the way out, we stopped at the side of the fjord and everyone debarked to have coffee with Norwegian waffles, strawberry jam, and sour milk (like fresh cheese/whipped cream). Apparently, waffles and pancakes are a growing theme on this trip (as are cobblestones!) - pancakes were everywhere in the Netherlands.
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| Our tour boat |
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| Waffles and coffee included! |
Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) towers 604 metres above the Lysefjord and is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Norway. On the return trip to the ship, we a few waterfalls and even a few harbour porpoises.
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| Pulpit Rock |
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| Our ship had docked right in the middle of Stavanger |
May 8 - Oslo, Norway
We didn't have any planned shore excursions for our second port (Oslo), so we had a leisurely breakfast in main dining room then took our time after docking to head to shore. Again, we docked right in the city centre, so almost everything was easily walkable. Oslo seems to be filled with art pieces, and is a very clean and modern city.
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| Very interesting art can be found everywhere in Oslo |
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| Modern transportation and fast food! |
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| More random art |
We walked to the Akershus Fortress and found some areas blocked off. We had planned to go to the Norwegian Resistance Museum and when we arrived, we found it was free because today was Liberation Day (explains the uniforms and the VIPs all over the place). Seems that special holidays are also becoming a theme! It was an excellent museum and well worth the time.
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| German rifles in an artistic display |
We then walked over towards the Opera House and Wendy made sure we stopped to use a see-saw on the way, right near the wood heated saunas (they are everywhere!).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FE6aDwCy8DJYFhLv9
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| Opera House and Saunas |
We climbed onto the roof of the Oslo Opera House (it is uniquely designed to be walked on from the ground level). It was a great view from the top and we were able to see the Edvard Munch museum (famous for painting "The Scream"). We didn't have time to go to that museum, unfortunately.
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| Edvard Munch museum ("The Scream") |
We then headed towards the Nobel Peace Prize museum but stopped for espresso, Coke, and brioche on the way. The Nobel Peace Prize museum was also excellent - far more interesting and informative than we had expected.
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| Snack time! |
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| Nobel Peace Prize museum |
We walked back through the downtown area (more cobblestones!) to the ship. That evening, we took in a classical concert and some rock music.
May 9 - Aarhus, Denmark
Today we docked in Aarhus, Denmark and had a planned shore excursion to see Gammel Estrup manor and Rosenholm castle.
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| Aarhus harbour |
Gammel Estrup (an old manor house) was quite interesting and they even provided freshly baked honey cake (like a gingerbread with an orange filling) and coffee/hot chocolate during our tour. The main building was covered in scaffolding for repairs, so there were no good exterior views of the manor. The interiors, however, were spectacular and very sumptuously decorated!
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| Gammel Estrup manor |
The next stop was Rosenholm Castle, current home of the descendants of the noble Rosencrantz family (potentially how Shakespeare came up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet...?). Beautiful architecture and furnishings and lots of stories! There even was a human skull in one bedroom that was from a maiden whose body was found inside the walls of the castle. While at this luxurious old Danish castle, Eric thought it was somewhat incongruous that the lawn was being cut by an autonomous robot!
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| Rosenholm |
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| Yes, a human skull. Purportedly from a maiden whose body was found in a wall. |
After returning to the ship, we had dinner in the main dining room then headed to the World Stage for the Neil Diamond Experience with Robert Nearly show. We later took in games night at the BB Kings Blue's Club, where Eric was somehow selected to be a contestant - where he had to do a "Zoolander style" walk-off (crazy dance).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBwm7vumuCRD1KYo8
May 10 - Warnemunde, Germany
We arrived at the port city of Warnemunde Germany (right next to Rostock) to begin another beautiful sunny day with no planned excursions (Mel and Murray took a whole-day train tour to Berlin and Sachenhausen concentration camp, but we had already been to Berlin). After a leisurely breakfast, we walked into town to wander around. Warnemunde is a quaint seaside town that Wendy says felt a bit like Key West. Lots of little shops and stands selling local crafts.
We wandered by the famous lighthouse and the "Teapott" building, and took a stroll onto a gorgeous white sand beach so Wendy could touch the chilly water of the North Sea. Warnemunde has huge numbers of some very characteristic wicker benches on the beach that people rent .
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| Lighthouse and Teapott beside it |
We had a nice stroll around through the rest of town (everyone was walking their dogs) then back to the ship to relax and have lunch. Wendy had massage and pedicure while Eric went to the thermal spa.
May 11 - Sea day
Today was our second and final sea day of the cruise. After sleeping in, we took in all sorts of activities (lots of sitting and people watching). We played a trivia game and went to the main dining room for dinner.
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| The World Stage where many events were held |
That night was the famous Orange Party at the Lido pool (honouring the House of Orange-Nassau, the royal family of the Netherlands). Considering the (advanced) average age of the passengers on Holland America, the party was quite active and was a lot of fun. Of course, around 10:30 or so, things pretty much shut down as everyone went to bed!
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| Entertainment host, José. |
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| Orange drinks were on for a special price |
May 12 - Tallinn, Estonia
Yet another sunny day for us to explore Tallinn, Estonia. We had pre-purchased a Tallinn visitor card because there were no shore excursions that were interesting. During the day we took in St. Olaf's church (gorgeous views from the tower) and also toured the Kiek de Kok fortifications museum and the Bastion tunnels.
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| Port of Tallinn |
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| The beginning of the city wall (Fat Margaret tower) |
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| St. Olaf's |
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| St. Olaf's |
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| St. Olaf's |
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| View of Tallinn and the Baltic sea from St. Olaf's |
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| Alexander Nevsky Cathedral |
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| Our ship at the port |
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| Alexander Nevsky Cathedral detail |
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| Kiek de Kok fortifications museum |
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| Bastion tunnels |
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| Part of the city fortifications |
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| An old Russian bar that is now a museum |
We had lunch at a cafe in the main square of Tallinn (I had a blue cheese burger, while Wendy had an Elk and broccoli pizza with smoked cheese). One thing that struck all of us as unusual but tasted fantastic was the
rye bread garlic bread!
Soon after, we headed back to the ship, cobblestoned out! We hadn't noticed the city sign, so we stopped for a photo. Wendy also wanted to see how cold the Baltic was.
It was.
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| Wendy touching the Baltic |
Right while I was uploading some photos, my brother was showing them to my parents. He took a picture of them looking at the photos of us on an iPad (ones I had taken less than 30 minutes before in Tallinn). I then got Wendy to take a picture of me, looking at a picture of my parents, who were looking at the pictures of me.
We took the tram back to the port and had a nice quiet time in the thermal pool and dinner in main dining room. Oddly, for a while when we were in the middle of the Baltic sea with no land in sight, we seemed to get full 4G data on our cell phones (we were using e-sims to get data)! Something else that we felt was very different was that the sun set extra late at night (close to 10:30) and rose very early in the morning (just after 4am).
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