Monthly Archives: August 2016

Day 8: Raindrops in Russia

Posted on August 5, 2016 | Leave a comment

Five AM comes even earlier when one is on holiday and today was no exception. We showered and dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast – the restaurants were all open early – and then headed to our designated meeting point to wait for the tour to depart. We are not fans of organized tours as a rule but we made an exception for St. Petersburg because of the visa requirements: if you weren’t on a tour, you needed a Russian visa even to visit for one day. Having gone through that once before, I opted for the “Best of St. Petersburg” tour to hit the highlights: Catherine’s Palace, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and the Hermitage.

We were group 5 – the English tour group. Groups 1-3 were German, Group 4 was in Spanish, and then there were a few groups in Italian and French. There were 30 people in the English tour group and only about 6 of us were actually native English speakers. We spent most of the day trying to figure out where the rest of the group was from and figured that besides the two Chinese families, everyone else was from a country with some Slavic-sounding language (Polish? Hungarian? Romanian?) where the cruise line didn’t offer a tour in that language. Another entertaining detail about the internationalness of this trip!

We got to Catherine’s palace in Pushkin in time for the early opening for tour groups. It is a magnificent building and the beautiful sunshine this morning showed that off nicely. We wandered through the various guilded halls with vaulted ceilings and mirrors, vaguely reminiscent of Versailles but with more gold. Our tour guide, Alexi, gave us the history of the both the royal beginnings of the palace and the devastation and destruction it endured during World War II. The amber room is a fabulous example: the walls of the room are covered in amber, both patchwork pieces and beautifully carved details. The original amber was given as a gift by Germany to Tzar Nicholas but then much of it disappeared during the war. It was refurbished later at a cost of 5 billion euros. The excess amazes.

After an hour of wandering through the massive palace, we headed back to the bus and back into St. Petersburg. Next stop: St. Isaac’s cathedral with its monolithic granite columns and amazing ceiling. While it is a working Russian Orthodox Church, only a small portion of the cathedral is regularly used for worship; the rest is a museum and thousands of people visit every day. I think they were all there when we were.

Because we were with an organized group and had to stay with that group, we had no time to wander around the street markets. The tour company had built in a shopping stop, however, and after our requisite half hour admiring the mosaics in the cathedral, we were off to that designated store. The store was large but with much variety. You could by Russian nesting dolls in a variety of price ranges from 5 euros to 200 (yes, the prices were in Euros, not rubles). There was also lots of amber, fur, fake Faberge eggs, vodka, and the standard tchotchkes with the Russian flag, pictures of Vladimir Putin or other national symbols. No soccer jerseys or chance to buy anything really “local” here but we did get a few little souvenirs before heading back to the bus.

And off to lunch. This was exceptionally fun for me. I had spoken with the tour company earlier in the week to make sure that they could do gluten free for me. I even had my Russian GF dining card with me just in case. The woman at the excursion desk made a note and said she would call the restaurant and make arrangements. Apparently, the restaurant wasn’t up for any arranging because I got a bag lunch delivered to me on the bus before departure. While I truly appreciate the cruise line’s work in providing me with Gluten free options, it was odd watching everyone else enjoy their four course lunch (potato salad, borscht, stroganoff, apple tart) while I picked my salami and cheese sandwich, pack of cookies and a peach from my paper bag. I did join in for the shot of vodka though. J

The lunch was in a large dining hall in a mall just outside downtown – which was just like other malls in other places. We then headed back to the bus to head to the final stop: the Winter Palace and the Hermitage museum. We drove right up Nevsky Prospect, one of the main streets in St Petersburg and got to at least glimpse the Church of the Spilled Blood – the only other tourist attraction that I would have liked to visit but we didn’t have time. I also figured out where the hotel I stayed in last time was and saw lots of things that felt vaguely familiar.

This feeling continued on into the Hermitage. It’s like the Smithsonian – a collection of buildings that house millions of treasures. I think Alexi said that if you wanted to see all of them, it would take 12 years and that’s only spending 30 seconds admiring each one. We went through security and into a crowd that made the craziness of St. Isaac’s seem serene. The number of people was just crazy! It turned out that today was a day with free entrance to the museum and so people had be queuing for hours to get in. At least the weather was good for it – I almost hated going in to each of the buildings we visited because the day was just so lovely.

But in we went and the excess and the grandeur was present here too. I remembered the amazing detail on the ceilings, the mosaic tables that caught my eye and a single painting – Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. I felt bad for Alexi because he was trying to do a good job pointing out various things in the museum but I was more interested in the parquet floors or whatever exhibit was away from the crowd toward the open window.

After only an hour and a half – imagine trying to do the Louvre in 90 minutes! – we emerged into the first real rain of the cruise. Nothing too heavy but enough that people who didn’t think to bring an umbrella were nonplussed! We waited for our bus to arrive, boarded, and watched as Vladimir the bus driver got a ticket for double parking. No lawlessness here!

Back to the port, through passport control, and back on board. Ten pretty carefully scripted hours to see the bare minimum. Not enough to say we’ve really “seen” St. Petersburg but enough to know what we’d do differently next time. We didn’t even manage to do much walking – only 10, 022 steps and most of that was at shuffle speed.

Now we prepare for the long journey back to Keil – 756 nautical miles – so we get another day at sea tomorrow. That should be just enough time to work through all the things on the ship that we haven’t done yet. Tonight’s challenge: the casino! It took 45 minutes to lose 10 euros in the video poker machines. We had drinks in two bars we hadn’t visited yet – one with a very nice guitar duo playing and one where they were teaching latin-style line dancing. We danced a slow dance to a badly mangled version of Bryan Adam’s “Everything I do” and then retired to the cabin to get our one hour of sleep back. Need to be rested for tomorrow’s adventure: spa treatments!

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Posted in Russia

Day 7: Sunshine and stairways in Estonia

Posted on August 3, 2016 | 1 comment

We awoke bright and early after having crashed quite early last night. The ship docked early again today – probably not much of a surprise since they had 12 hours to make a 2 hour crossing. We made breakfast in the dining room and then on the shuttle bus into Tallinn before most things were even open. Not to be dissuaded, we wandered around the walled city reading the dozens of glass plaques on various buildings explaining their historical significance. If there were ever a city where a tour guide was less necessary, I haven’t been there yet. The bus had dropped us off on the south side of the city so the first thing we did was find our way north. Tallinn is really a city within a city so there are walls and stairs everywhere.

Yup stairs. Lots of them. Today’s step count may not be as impressive as yesterdays (17,413) but I can tell you that though fewer in number, they covered a larger range in altitude. We climbed up walls, church towers, fortress towers, cobbled streets, and anything else that seemed appealing. We managed to hit most of the major highlights – many of them churches: the tower of St. Mary’s cathedral is 116 meters above sea level and takes 140 steps (up winding steps that might date back to the 13th century) and the views are amazing. From St. Mary’s tower, you can see the Russian Orthodox St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral so that’s where we headed next. Beautiful to look at both outside and in, it was one place where photos were forbidden inside and where I felt that my sleeveless shirt was disrespectful. I covered up, lit a candle for mom (I’m an equal opportunity prayer) and listened to the chanting from a small service going on in the corner.

Then it was downhill a ways to grab a coffee at a small cafe off the market square before plunging into the stalls to look over the wares. It seems that linen is the thing to buy in Tallinn although there was plenty of wool and many sweaters that looked very much like those I had seen in shops in Norway. There was also an amazing amount of amber both in the market stalls and the shops. We managed to find a store selling the Estonian football jersey in kid sizes so I can say I have officially started my Christmas shopping (shhh… don’t tell my nephew Thomas). There were plenty of places to buy things – St. Catherine’s passage was lined with small stalls and the Master’s Courtyard had the real craftsman’s shops including beautiful glass work that I would have loved to have been able to bring home.

We wandered into the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in Europe: open since 1422, the woman behind the counter (in traditional dress) was explaining some medicine in English to what appeared to be a German tourist that didn’t seem to have a very good grasp of English. We also found the Dominican Monastery which, according to the sign outside, was thought to be the oldest building in Tallinn circa 1211(?).

By now we had spent far too long on the same plane so it was time to climb. We wandered up the Hellmann Tower which allows you to walk along a stretch of the wall. A little higher up in the tower, you can see how it was used to defend the city as well as being a prison and a weapon store in the years since it was built in the 14th century. Across from the tower, is the “Sweater Wall” where vendors set up their stalls in the recesses of the old wall and where I gave in and spent 20 euro on a linen cardigan/shrug/scarf contraption that I’m sure I’ll find a dozen uses for. (Really – I think I will.)

As the sun climbed overhead, we were reminded by our stomachs that it was time to eat. I had my Gluten Free Dining Card in Estonian but had been eyeing the menus outside the tourist restaurants to look for the magic G or GF designation. (Note: I consider any restaurant that posts pictures of the food with descriptions in more than 3 languages to be a “tourist restaurant”. There have been many times when such establishments have been absolute life savers so I mean no slander by the term.) When walking along the wall, we had noted a place called “The Farm” with a flag that advertised “Estonian Modern Food”. Of course, such a descriptor required further investigation and it turned out that they had several dishes that were clearly marked gluten free on the menu (3 languages, no pictures). We decide that it was a good option and headed inside. It was a very tranquil organic farm-to-table kind of place that brewed their own beer and made their own cider. We were sold! I had potato leek soup and Frank had the mushroom soup with several types of mushrooms, vegetables and meet – he thinks it was reindeer – accompanied by their homemade pumpernickel which he declared to be amazing (and which required us secreting several slices back to the ship. We then moved on to the main courses: red deer cutlets with mushrooms and creamy potatoes for Frank and lamb with roast vegetables in peppercorn sauce for me. It is by far the best meal we have had so far this trip.

Thoroughly sated, we had but a mere hour left in our short stay in Tallinn so we proceeded to walk off the delicious food and drink and pick up a few more items which will become gifts. Then off to the shuttle bus where we needed to wait just long enough in the blazing sunshine to make us head straight to the pool when we returned to the ship. A quick dip in the salt water, lounging until the clouds rolled in, and then we set sail.

Tonight is meant to be another gala night so that should be “formal” dress. I remember when dress requirements were just that – requirements. Now they don’t even seem to be recommendations. Frank and I used precious suitcase space to pack evening attire (cocktail dresses, heels and PANTYHOSE for me and a suit for him). Some of our table mates, among others, didn’t even bother to don more than chinos and a polo shirt. {sigh} Dinner was nice nonetheless and apparently it doesn’t matter the decade or the cruise line: the final gala event (formerly known as the captain’s dinner) always ends with the parade of Baked Alaska. Once upon a time, it would actually come out of the kitchen flambé. Then they replaced that with sparklers. Tonight: battery powered tea lights. {sigh}

We thought we’d try one more time to really feel the cruise experience and headed for the show in the hope that it would be less cheesy than the last one. No such luck: the acrobats were similarly amazing and the rest of the show similarly painful to watch. The only difference: the theme was spys rather than Catwoman. So we got to listen to the theme to Mission Impossible while the acrobats did inhuman stunts and the singer got to garble Skyfall rather than something not-really-Batman-related. (I can appreciate the fact that she probably has English as her second or third language and that no one can be Adele but really? It would be like me singing a song in German with a mouth full of marbles.) {sigh}

So that was enough. A very early bed for us as tomorrow is St. Petersburg and our tour is the first one to leave – at 6:20 AM!!! That means that I need to set an alarm on vacation!!!! {sigh}

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Posted in Estonia

Day 6: Sunshine and friends in Helsinki

Posted on August 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

We overslept this morning thanks to a one hour time change and had to eat breakfast in the cafeteria instead of the restaurant. We had just muscled our way to a table in time to hear the Cruise director announce that we would be docking in Helsinki an hour and a half early. Woo hoo! More time to play! We finished up and headed out to catch the shuttle bus downtown. We had arranged to meet a friend around 1 so we had plenty of time to wander about the city like real tourists before that happened. We wandered through the Market Square stalls (where I managed to lose my charity shop cardigan from my last trip to Scotland… grrr) and then up to the Cathedral – a beautiful but incredibly sparse building that reminded me of the severe Protestant churches we saw in Zurich.

Then it was time for some errands. We were looking for insoles for a pair of Frank’s shoes (he forgot to pack his orthotics) and nail clippers. We were also on the hunt for a Finnish national football jersey for my nephew. Multiple sporting goods stores were investigated and all we could find were English Premier League jerseys and Finnish basketball jerseys. And hockey equipment. Boy did we see hockey equipment.

We met Tuomas just after 1pm and wandered off to get lunch at a “traditional” (I don’t know if it deserves to be in quotes but just in case…) Finnish restaurant. I had pyttipanna which seems to me to be the Finnish version of hash – sausage, potatoes, and a fried egg on top. Frank had reindeer because it’s an animal he hadn’t eaten yet. And we had draft beer. Gluten free draft beer! Heaven!!! We chatted and caught up and ate and drank, then set out to see some sights.First stop, the top of the Torni hotel. Up twelve stories in the lift and then a spiral staircase to the 14th floor and we go to see wonderful views all over the city.

Then a slightly longer trek to the famous Temppeliaukio Church or Church in the Rock. On the way, we stopped at the Kamppi Chapel – an amazing wooden church that looks like a basket and is in the middle of a square in the city. The inside is plain and serene. No services are held there; it is just a place in the city for people to come and pray. It was the perfect place to light a candle for my mom (I’m sure she gets tired of just the Anglican candles).

Contrast the quiet serenity of the chapel with the tourist zoo that is the Church in the Rock. There were at least 3 tour groups from our ship alone in the church. As amazing as it is, URL it was impossible to be serene here. There were several signs admonishing silence but the noise level was tremendous. However it is a sight and a box that I wanted Frank to have checked.

We walked back across Helsinki through the screaming sunshine – who needs a cardigan? – and caught the ferry to Suomenlinna Sveaborg and the maritime fortress. Tuomas had been regaling us with some Finnish history – which seemed to boil down to “do the dirty work for Sweden” – throughout the day and continued as we walked all over the small set of islands which are a UNESCO world heritage site. The wind had picked up and it seemed fitting to have strong breezes blowing across the rocks at the edge of the island.
I was a bit paranoid about getting back to the ship in time (did it say the last bus was 6:30 or 16:30?) but we made it in plenty of time. We said our goodbyes to our fabulous tour guide and promised to do the same when he’s in our neck of the woods next year. We even made it in time for dinner. A quick dip in the jacuzzi and a glass of rose to watch the sun set took all our remaining energy after covering 21,793 steps today. Now off to get some rest before taking on Tallinn tomorrow!

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Posted in Finland

Day 5: At Sea

Posted on August 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

When I used to go on cruises with my parents in my youth, days at sea were a blessing. No schedule, few rules. I could play in the pool with my new found friends and eat ice cream all day as long as I was in the cabin in time to shower and dress for dinner. It’s a bit different this trip as the weather is not conducive to splashing about the pool for anyone over 12 – sunny and upper 60s is a lovely break from the heat and thunderstorms of the midwest summer but it does mean that the default leisure activities need to be reassessed.

Life aboard this ship has been very entertaining so far. My experiences in the past have all been on ships that sailed from the US and therefore catered to Americans. Not so for this trip. There is a variety of Europeans aboard – we like playing “guess the language/accent” as we wander about the ship – and people seemed genuinely surprised that we chose to fly to Europe just for this cruise. (We don’t bother to explain that we would be flying over the Atlantic anyway to see family. That’s TMI for most casual conversations.) Because there is no majority population on the ship, the language requirements are pretty impressive. Every major announcement is done in at least 6 languages: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Menus, printed signs, order forms… everything in multiple languages. Bingo by the pool takes forever! There are some things written in Greek and Russian as well. I haven’t yet figured out what the default language for greetings should be. On one hand, we sailed from Germany so it might be “Morgen” but the cruise line is Italian so maybe it should be “Ciao”. Of course, the staff are very international: our cabin steward and most of the bar/wait staff are Filipino but the majority of the photographers and tour staff seem to be Ukrainian. As a result, English seems to be common denominator and there is nothing more entertaining that watching two non-native English speakers hold a conversation (or an argument!) in English.

For example, I was sitting on deck reading my book after breakfast this morning when a woman asked to join me at my table. If I had to guess, I would say she was probably Italian from the few words we exchanged. She had a plate full of food from the buffet and had brought it outside to sit in the sunshine. A waiter came by and she ordered peach juice (?!?) and a bottle of water. He was from the Philippines according to his name tag. He delivered it and then gave her the bill. An animated exchange then ensued as to whether or not the package she had purchased for the trip included peach juice from the bar during breakfast hours. It was all I could do to not put my Kindle down and watch the drama unfold before me. (BTW, she apparently won the argument although “the manager” had to be informed.)

It has been a while since we have been on a cruise. Okay, it’s been 10 years. Therefore, I can’t say that I am an expert in these things but given that I have had many experiences with all-inclusive travel, I can compare things with other such types of trips. While I am completely sympathetic to the idea that having things somewhat a la carte allows one to choose what to pay for, it does make life a little more awkward. We opted not to get the “all you can drink” package – try not to be too shocked! – because I didn’t want to feel that we needed to consume more than the $90 daily charge in alcohol every day. For this, I was happy to be able to be selective. We did by the “we are semi-serious about wine” package so we get a more than decent bottle of wine with dinner every night. Apparently, that part is reflected on our cruise card – the onboard card that is required for pretty much everything you want to do -but it doesn’t include wine by the glass. No problem – we know that and expect to pay for what we drink. When we ordered a glass of Bordeaux with lunch today, the waiter asked for our card and scrutinized a code somewhere, looked at us quizzically, conferred with another waiter, and then returned to our table looking downcast and explained that it wasn’t included in our package. When we told him we knew that and would be happy to pay by the glass (about $5), he looked confused. It seemed to me that it would have been easier for the staff and passengers alike if there was just the ability to order without requiring consultation with an accountant. And I know that not everyone drinks so therefore it’s not fair to charge the non-drinkers for what we alcoholics consume but that’s a moot point here. Even the water costs money – a bottle of mineral water is about $2.50 and Pepsi is $1.50 a can. The prices are very reasonable by hotel/travel standards but it is still a lot of nickel and diming IMHO.

What is included – for the most part – is the food. You can’t possibly go hungry on board even if you might be thirsty. There are multiple options for eating and you can eat 24/7 while on board. The cafeteria/buffet serves food continuously from 6am until 10:30pm, for example. There are also two restaurant style options. We have first dinner seating (6pm) for one of the formal dining rooms and our table for 10 has an assortment of Americans: a retired couple, a mother/daughter pair, and a family of four. Given the predominance of Europeans, I wonder if we are the only such table. Our companions are very amiable and well traveled. The family and the mother/daughter are military and stationed in Germany and the retired couple is retired from the military and they spend half the year in Germany and the other half in Florida. So we are the only ones at the table who did not get the military discount that the cruise line apparently offers.

I am also the only one at the table with food issues so that makes things more entertaining. The reason we chose this cruise line (MSC) is because they advertise that the work with the Celiac Society of Italy to accommodate folks like me. And they have done a great job so far. I have my own waiter at every meal. At dinner its’ Lieuv from Romania who reminds me of a less flamboyant Romanian Harvey Fierstien. He brings me my special menu, my gluten free roll, and surprises me with desert each night. (Saturday night was an excellent pistachio cake, last night was a somewhat heavy chocolate and marzipan baked thing that I don’t know that I would call a cake, tonight lemon cake with Nutella ice cream!) I can have multiple courses like everyone else but they aren’t always the same courses. It is by far more food than I need. There is a catch though: they only offer gluten free options in the restaurants and NOT in the cafeteria. So if I’m desperately hungry at 3pm, I have to choose from whatever they are offering to everyone else. Generally this is fine. We made up an antipasti plate yesterday from the buffet (cheese, olives and salami) and purchased some gluten free snacks from the “gluten free bar” – I don’t mind paying $3 for a bag of GF pretzels under the circumstances – and took those to the room with our wine to sit and watch the ship sail out of Copenhagen harbor.

So far we have been quite pleased and spent the day relaxing – even taking a nap after lunch! The step count reflects that too: just 10,600 today and that’s because we have taken the stairs every time we go anywhere just to get some exercise in. I did manage to get in some yoga today; there’s exactly enough floor space for my travel mat! I haven’t managed to drag myself to the gym yet. The treadmills are strategically placed at the front of the ship so that you have a great view of the open ocean but it will be hard to escape the fact that you are still on a treadmill. And it seems that every time I venture into the gym, there is actually a queue for the equipment.

Maybe there isn’t enough (quality?) entertainment on board so people feel the need to go to the gym. While I had no delusions about what the ship board shows would (or would not) be, tonight’s entertainment was nearly indescribable. Billed as “The Catwoman”, it tried to something of a Cirque de Soliel show: part acrobats, part dancing, part singing, part I-don’t-know-what. All done by “entertainers” in ripoff Batman, Catwoman, Penguin, and Joker costumes. I honestly can’t believe there wasn’t multiple violations of intellectual property laws – including music from the Batman TV show as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean (WTF?) Maybe I’m not European enough for such things because I couldn’t stop laughing. With the exception of a handful of people who walked out midway through, the rest of the audience seemed to really like the show. I can’t possibly explain it – maybe I’m just tired and it will make sense in the morning…. but don’t hold your breath.

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Posted in Transit

Day 4: Sunny Sunday in Copenhagen

Posted on August 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

Our first morning aboard ship came after a rather fitful night for me – although Frank slept like a baby. We awoke just before 8 and were already docked in Copenhagen. We showered and headed to the buffet for breakfast. A thousand choices and just as many people. I’m generally not a fan of buffets so we might decide to do room service breakfast since we have a lovely little deck to eat on and watch the world go by.

We were docked at the northern cruise terminal which is quite a ways from town so we boarded a bus which dropped us off in front of what Google maps said was the Danish central bank – Hi Ole! – and then we were off to explore. It’s funny that yesterday we had 5 hours to “kill” which seemed like a lifetime and today we had the same 5 hours to “do” Copenhagen which would not be nearly enough. The sun was brilliant and warm and we left the umbrella behind and began to explore.

We started at the Christianborg Palace which houses the Danish Parliament, Supreme Court and Royal reception rooms. It was build on the site of Absalon’s castle – a bishop who built lived there in the 12th century. We prowled through the ruins under the current palace which they had discovered when building the current (3rd!) version of the place at the beginning of the 20th century. We learned about how Absalon’s castle was leveled in the 14th century and Copenhagen Castle arose on the site. It stood and was built upon for about 400 years when it was torn down to make way for the first Christianborg Palace in 1731. It stood for about 60 years when a fire broke out and it was burned to the ground in 1794. After about 30 years, the second Christianborg Palace was built with more fireguards than the first palace. It stood for about 60 years before… it burnt to the ground. (Reading the placards in the palace was like a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.”)

The third and still standing Palace was completed just after the turn of the century and is quite impressive. We wandered through the Royal reception rooms – where there are paintings that were saved from the second fire that still show some of the effects. We also wandered through the kitchen where the largest banquet in Denmark was held in 1937 for the king’s silver jubilee. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so much copper cookware in one place!

Then it was time to move on so we wandered through the city to the famous Nygard area where we sat in the sunshine and watched thousands of tourists wander past as we ate lunch. How does one choose among all the various restaurants? Find the one that says “we can help with allergens” in English at the bottom of the menu. Bingo! I didn’t need my “Gluten Free Danish” card and enjoyed a lovely quinoa salad (tomatoes, avocado, pumpkin seeds…. yummy!) and Frank had what seems to be the Danish national dish: smørrebrød – open faced sandwiches. His had beef and horseradish, shrimp and potatoes, and tomatoes cheese and basil.

Now fortified and rested, we walked along the waterfront to visit Copenhagen’s most famous resident: the little mermaid. I remember seeing the statue when I was here about 30 years ago but I don’t remember the crowds and food trucks. She’s still haunting but the busloads of people trying to get close to her was just too much. So we wandered away to find St. Albans – the only Anglican church in all of Denmark. If I had known it was there, we would have gone to service at 10:30. Grrrr…. It is an adorable little church where I lit a candle for my mom as I have done in a church in every city I’ve visited for the last 9 years.

Outside the church is the Gefion fountain, billed as Copenhagen’s Trevi fountain. Next door is Kastellet, one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe. We wandered all around the ramparts which afforded great views of the harbor and the city around us. But the skies were starting to darken and our time in the city was drawing to a close so back the the bus for us. Just in time too as rain drops started hitting the windshild as the bus headed back through town. A glass of wine and some snacks on the deck was just what the doctor ordered after a long day of walking.

Speaking of which, I forgot to note our steps yesterday. This is the first trip using my Apple watch rather than my fitbit so the comparisons might not be completely comparable but yesterday we managed 19, 396 and today we racked up 18,788

A small plate of antipasti and a glass of rose on the deck and we watched the ship pull away from the Danish coast. Off to dinner and tonight’s show – Italian opera. Then the continual battle with the satellite wifi which has been behaving very badly which is why there are so few photos per post.

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Posted in Denmark