The Costa Fortuna is docked next to us today. I feel sorry for the captains and crews of the other Costa ships who are now having to put up with all the snide comments and jokes about their line since the Concordia business.
The weather is lovely today. A bit warmer with less wind...or so it feels on our balcony. My tour here was cancelled before we sailed and there wasn't another that I thought I could manage. Many people left very early for a 12 or 13 hour tour to Berlin by bus. That's not for me. I hope to find a camera store this afternoon.
The photo here is what I saw of Warnemunde. I did not need to go ashore after all. While on her tour in Rostock, Jill found a camera store, and her tour guide helped her buy a camera for me. It's a nifty little Canon. The manual is in German, Italian, French and Dutch, but fortunately the camera itself speaks English. There is, of course, an English version of the manual, but it is on a CD which I presently have no way to access, however, I think I have at least the basics down.
Costa Fortuna just sounded their general alarm. But since they are still firmly tied to the dock, we are assuming that it's just a drill. Soon after that the sound system on the dock began playing a CD of a very energetic German brass band doing folk/drinking songs and general biergarten type music, presumably to welcome back the buses from the Berlin tour or maybe farewell to the Fortuna which sailed soon after. We don't sail until 10:30 pm. We got back up from dinner in time to watch us sail, but it was just too cold outside, so they had to sail without my supervision.
At sea
I think that the cold front has gotten ahead of us. The temperature is somewhat warmer, and we have both a following wind and a following sea so that you don't get blown overboard when you go outside. The Baltic is an interesting shade of very dark olive green with lots of whitecaps which is probably due to its being fairly shallow here ... about 25 meters beneath the keel according to the Captain.
As it is both a sea day and Queen Elizabh's Diamond Jubilee, there are lots of activities on board, many of which have a British theme from the menus to high tea. Otherwise it is a nice lazy day at sea with a formal dinner this evening.
We had a nice pre-dinner Captain's cocktail party for about 35 or 40 passengers who, like us, have many days with Holland America. At dinner we got to hear about our tablemates' long tour to Berlin yesterday. They are a fun couple from Australia. There are a lot of Australians on board. I talked to one older woman who lives near Ularu (Ayers Rock) who told us about being on an Antarctic cruise last year and seeing snow for the first time in her life.
As Samuel Peyps said, "And so to bed."
Tallinn, June 4
We had just docked at Tallinn. I was quietly contemplating the breakfast tray and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my shoulders when all of a sudden the sun went completely away! The cause turned out to be the arrival next to us of Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. And she's not even the largest of their ships!
By the way, sunrise this morning was at 4:11, and sunset this evening will be at 10:28. We are certainly not in Kansas (or Colorado or Virginia) any more. By the time we get to the summer solstice, we will be at Tromso, Norway which is well above the Arctic Circle.
We had a fine tour of Tallinn, mostly by bus. There has been a great deal of building since they gained their independence about 21 years ago. The Soviet Era huge blocks of flats that I remember from 1975 are still there, and the old town has been preserved mostly unchanged, but the lower town is almost all new hotels, banks and office buildings. The two towers shown here are 'Fat Margaret" and "Tall Herman." They date from the 16th and 13th centuries respectively.
Estonia is a thinly populated country with about 1.3 million people, 70% of whom live in towns with about 400,000 in Tallinn itself. About 54% of the countryside is still in original forests. Their highest mountain is in the southern part of the country and is about 1,000 feet high. All the rest is virtually flat. The area has been controlled for centuries by Denmark, then Sweden, then by Germany, and then by the Russian Empire. They had one prior "golden moment" of independence for 22 years between the World Wars before the Soviets took over until 1991. They are confident that this time, their independence will last longer. They appear to have an energetic economy. They joined the EU in 2004, and last year qualified to convert their currency to the euro.
The weather is lovely today. A bit warmer with less wind...or so it feels on our balcony. My tour here was cancelled before we sailed and there wasn't another that I thought I could manage. Many people left very early for a 12 or 13 hour tour to Berlin by bus. That's not for me. I hope to find a camera store this afternoon.
Costa Fortuna just sounded their general alarm. But since they are still firmly tied to the dock, we are assuming that it's just a drill. Soon after that the sound system on the dock began playing a CD of a very energetic German brass band doing folk/drinking songs and general biergarten type music, presumably to welcome back the buses from the Berlin tour or maybe farewell to the Fortuna which sailed soon after. We don't sail until 10:30 pm. We got back up from dinner in time to watch us sail, but it was just too cold outside, so they had to sail without my supervision.
At sea
I think that the cold front has gotten ahead of us. The temperature is somewhat warmer, and we have both a following wind and a following sea so that you don't get blown overboard when you go outside. The Baltic is an interesting shade of very dark olive green with lots of whitecaps which is probably due to its being fairly shallow here ... about 25 meters beneath the keel according to the Captain.
As it is both a sea day and Queen Elizabh's Diamond Jubilee, there are lots of activities on board, many of which have a British theme from the menus to high tea. Otherwise it is a nice lazy day at sea with a formal dinner this evening.
We had a nice pre-dinner Captain's cocktail party for about 35 or 40 passengers who, like us, have many days with Holland America. At dinner we got to hear about our tablemates' long tour to Berlin yesterday. They are a fun couple from Australia. There are a lot of Australians on board. I talked to one older woman who lives near Ularu (Ayers Rock) who told us about being on an Antarctic cruise last year and seeing snow for the first time in her life.
As Samuel Peyps said, "And so to bed."
Tallinn, June 4
We had just docked at Tallinn. I was quietly contemplating the breakfast tray and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my shoulders when all of a sudden the sun went completely away! The cause turned out to be the arrival next to us of Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. And she's not even the largest of their ships!
By the way, sunrise this morning was at 4:11, and sunset this evening will be at 10:28. We are certainly not in Kansas (or Colorado or Virginia) any more. By the time we get to the summer solstice, we will be at Tromso, Norway which is well above the Arctic Circle.
We had a fine tour of Tallinn, mostly by bus. There has been a great deal of building since they gained their independence about 21 years ago. The Soviet Era huge blocks of flats that I remember from 1975 are still there, and the old town has been preserved mostly unchanged, but the lower town is almost all new hotels, banks and office buildings. The two towers shown here are 'Fat Margaret" and "Tall Herman." They date from the 16th and 13th centuries respectively.
Estonia is a thinly populated country with about 1.3 million people, 70% of whom live in towns with about 400,000 in Tallinn itself. About 54% of the countryside is still in original forests. Their highest mountain is in the southern part of the country and is about 1,000 feet high. All the rest is virtually flat. The area has been controlled for centuries by Denmark, then Sweden, then by Germany, and then by the Russian Empire. They had one prior "golden moment" of independence for 22 years between the World Wars before the Soviets took over until 1991. They are confident that this time, their independence will last longer. They appear to have an energetic economy. They joined the EU in 2004, and last year qualified to convert their currency to the euro. 
2 comments:
I'm just getting around to reading your posts. Naturally I fixated on the dessert you described in an earlier post. :-) It reminded me of a recipe called Blackout Cake. Yum-eee! Glad to read that you are having a lovely time.
Suzan
Also a little late Didi since we just returned from Houston (which was not chilly). We loved the tale of your camera - reminded us of the camera that died on day 4 of a round-the-USA by train trip! We got a replacement too! The manuals are always too long and complicated anyway!
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