Day Six–Helsinki

 

We once again awoke to a calm sea and bright sunshine, the clocks had gone forward another hour last night meaning that as we arrived in Helsinki we were two hours in advance of the UK.

The city itself was a short shuttle bus journey from the ship and as we had not planned any organised tours we went off to explore the city on our own.

The first stop was the Market Square, here many brightly coloured stalls sold souvenirs ….

…fruit…

…and traditional Finnish foods, such as small fried fish like whitebait but from fresh water and of course, REINDEER.

This could be a good opportunity for a “Dead Deer” reference but I have to say that I was offered a free sample and it tasted delicious. Santa may be one reindeer short this Christmas!!

After the market we visited Helsinki’s two cathedrals, Uspenski Cathedral of Eastern Orthodox denomination and the Lutheran Cathedral. Can you spot which is which?

This gives a good view of the city from the Orthodox Cathedral, only spoiled by the two old codgers in the foreground.

The city of Helsinki is a nice compact place, the people are really helpful and friendly and all seem to speak really good English: a lovely city.

The sun stayed with us so we spent the late afternoon laying on the deck soaking up the rays, before changing ready for dinner.

Tomorrow we are in St Petersburg, (we loose another hour tonight) and we are having a canal trip in the evening. So expect a delay in tomorrow’s posting but I’ll be as prompt as I can!!

Day Six–Knowing You Stockholm, Knowing Me.

The city of Stockholm sits at the end of a long archipelago comprising of some 24,000 islands and inlets, which we started navigating through in the early hours of the morning.

You could say “I Had a Dream” but was woken by Sylvia taking pictures of each different island as it approached. Due to the fact that we are so far east and north the sun rose this morning at around 3.00am with perfect light for photos.

The ship docked at around 8.00am a little way out of the city meaning a shuttle bus was necessary to reach the city, but we had paid our “Money, Money, Money” the night before so this was no problem.

Most of the historic sights of the city are located in the Gamla Stan, the old town, where you can find the Royal Palace, the Cathedral and several museums. Our first stop was the “Storkyrkan” or Great Church, which in addition to having a superb wooden statue of St. George slaying the dragon….

….is the place where all the Swedish coronations and Royal weddings take place. In fact you could say that this is where the “Dancing Queen” said “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”!!

Here is where they sit when they attend the church.

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous as Sylvia passed the time with a friendly local troll…..

….as I tried to persuade another to “Take a Chance on me”

After a visit to the Alfred Nobel Museum we wandered the narrow streets looking at the shops on our way to another church where many of the Swedish nobility are buried. Shields showing the family heritage are hung around the various chapels where the remains now lie.

Across the river lies the city hall next to the railway station, the name of which escapes me but it wasn’t “Waterloo”.

By this time it was getting warmer and the crowds were really coming out as we looked over the Parliament building from the Palace Square.

We missed the changing of the guards but did witness one of them being spoken to by an officer.

We attempted to find the newly opened Abba museum, just to say “Thank You for the Music” but as even the taxi drivers did not know where it was we gave up and returned to the ship.

The table tennis was vacant so Sylvia and I had a quiet game when an older gentleman (celebrating his 80th birthday soon) asked if he could take on the winner as “The Winner Takes it All”. Now I like to give the older generation a chance but this was ridiculous, he had me running around to very little effect. Yes, much to Sylvia’s amusement he absolutely trashed me not only once but four times, he really did have me calling out “S.O.S.”. I’ll look out for him the next time.

This evening we sailed out back past the islands….

….some containing summer houses….

….and others more elaborate structures….

….and some that had been over-run by the birds.

Tonight we make our way, through a thick fog that has just engulfed the ship, towards Helsinki, Finland. So “Voulez-Vous” join me tomorrow for the next edition.

Day Five–Table tennis at last.

The Celebrity Eclipse is a very different ship than the others on which we have travelled catering as it does more for an American market. Although British passengers probably make up the majority the mix is very cosmopolitan with Americans, Canadians and Australians all present in large numbers.The entertainment is very different from P&O with no sail-away parties or poolside sing-a-longs. The casino on board is also much larger as shown here:

With 3 card poker and blackjack being very popular in the evenings and much money being spent. According to the ship’s newspaper so far $31,583 has been paid out of the slot machines – it fails to mention how much was put in !!

The other major source of revenue for a cruise ship is the shops and Sylvia has done plenty of looking but not too much spending….YET.

Of course with cruising to Russia, local souvenirs are always on sale.

A striking feature of this ship is the tree that is growing in the centre of the atrium, yes it is real !!

As I mentioned in today’s headline, the table tennis was finally released to an expectant public and despite there only being one bat to begin with, we managed several games.

Tomorrow we dock at Stockholm , the start of  four ports in five days.

Day Four–Berlin?? Actually Warnemunde.

If you know anything about German geography you will quickly realise that Berlin is not on the Baltic coast, in fact it isn’t on any coast at all.  As this is the closest that many will ever get to the German capital it’s a perfect opportunity to visit the city. The organised trip involved leaving the ship as it docked at 9.30 this morning and taking a coach for the approximate 3 hour ride to Berlin, having your excursion followed by a return journey of another 3 hours. If you had never seen the city the trip is probably worth the time and effort but as Sylvia and I had spent a number of days in Berlin with an excellent German speaker (Thank-you Briony) only a few years ago we decided to stay more locally.

The small coastal town of Warnemunde is a delightful place and this was the view from our cabin as we sailed up the estuary early this morning.

We decided that we would visit the nearby city of Rostock in the morning which is located a short 20 minute train ride away. The train takes you through the suburbs of the city which comprise many high rise blocks of flats. This is part of the former East Germany and some of the flats look as if they date from that period.

The city centre however is much better looking, a combination of ancient buildings…

…together with modern sculptures …...

….and shopping centres.

We wandered around the city for most of the morning visiting old churches together with C&A and T K Maxx, before returning to the ship for lunch and an afternoon nap.

In the early evening we walked around the small fishing village of Warnemunde, a lovely place as you can see from these photos.

The skyline though is always dominated by our ship, Celebrity Eclipse.

Tomorrow is another sea day before Stockholm on Thursday.

Day Three–At Sea.

Although the day started brightly, a cool breeze across the deck meant sun bathing was really out of the question. The benefit of this ship is that there is a covered solarium where you can lie by a pool without experiencing the outside temperature. Sylvia took this opportunity to sketch some of our fellow travellers as they relaxed for the morning.

Later in the afternoon we watched the “Hot Glass Show”, a glass blowing demonstration given by members of the Corning Museum of Glass.

This is a unique presentation as they have a full glass studio set up on the ship, right next to the lawn. They made several types of vases and later on in the cruise will make some bigger items. Here they put the base on the vase..

..prior to the completed vase being transferred to an annealing oven.

A brilliant demonstration and a great way to spend an afternoon at sea.

Later we saw a pirate ship.

I relaxed on the deck….

….while Sylvia ate canapés on the balcony.

In the evening we went to see a rather camp entertainer called Perry Grant, who was recommended to us by our neighbours. Not really our cup of tea and we won’t be visiting that show lounge again. The comedian in the main theatre, Jeff Stevenson, was however completely different, funny without being rude. Good family entertainment!!

Thanks to everyone for your comments and especially for your good wishes for our anniversary. More from Germany tomorrow.

We’ve been together now for 40 years……..

Yes today is our 40th wedding anniversary. Firstly I would like to thank all of you who sent a card, we enjoyed opening them first thing this morning as we docked in Zeebrugge. I can’t believe it’s Forty years and looking at this picture I don’t think we’ve changed a bit.

Well perhaps a little!!

Having visited Bruges on a number of occasions we decided to stay on board and finish our exploration. One feature on this ship is a glass blowing exhibition and we obviously had to take the photo opportunity that this presented.

 

The weather started off a little cloudy but as the day progressed the sun came out which enabled a little sun deck time.

After an afternoon nap it was time to dress up in our finery ready for our anniversary dinner in Qsine, the speciality restaurant. This is unlike any restaurant we had previously eaten in, with the menus presented on ipads and all the courses designed for sharing. The way the food was presented is also original as you can see from the following photos.

Firstly Spring Rolls…………

followed by a Peruvian dish of fish pickled in different forms of alcohol……

then to Mexico for Taco Royale, (with guacamole made at the table by me!!!)……..

and then Mediterranean Mezzes with a variety of meats and dips all served in a wooden frame.

The sweets menu took the form of a magic cube device .

I chose the Qsine surprise, which to my delight was a bread and butter pudding with ice cream and custard.

And finally a chocolate strawberry (Notice the necklace and ear rings!!)

A brilliant experience and one that I would recommend to anyone coming on this ship.

Just to prove that we haven’t changed a bit from the first picture here we are in our glad rags.

Here’s to the next forty years!!!!!