Continuing the story
This is part 3 in a mini-series, describing my recent vacation trip to the Baltic region. Part 1 began in Amsterdam, and can be found here. Part 2 began the cruise portion of the vacation, and inland into Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and Berlin, here.
The previous installment, part 2, was a bit heavy emotionally, as seeing the remnants of a Nazi concentration camp gives one pause. We now continue with some less intensive sightseeing, sailing into Stockholm, Sweden, and from there into Helsinki, Finland.
As before, the photos in this diary are hosted on flickr. You can click on any of the images to view a higher resolution version directly from flicker.
Please join me below the orange kroissant for more.
For the birds
We left the town of Warnemunde, Germany, our port of call for the side trip to Berlin, just moments before midnight, sliding away into the darkness. The following entire day was spent at sea, and closed with this sunset over calm waters:
Following the sea day, we awoke to a somewhat overcast sky, on what would turn out to another in a series of bright and sunny, hot days. The entrance to Stockholm harbor is through an archipelago that is a great sight in its own right, and takes about 3 hours to navigate at slow speed.
This view is looking forward from our balcony, with the ship's lifeboats on the deck below us.
The aft open-air viewing deck. On this ship, it's an extension of the indoor seating area for the main breakfast/lunch buffet. And one of the few places on board where smoking is permitted.
From the aft viewing deck, several birds tracked along with our ship.
and
Here comes the Viking Grace, the flagship of Viking Line, a regional passenger/cargo/ferry line.
Hey buddy, I guess the passing lane must be on the right in this region:
Some really old stone work on one of the archepelago islands:
On the ground in Stockholm
From the ship, we boarded (yet another) tour bus, with our driver and tour guide visible at the front.
A minor snag before we can really get going: the automatic gate didn't open automatically. Two guys on the ground spent about 5 minutes doing whatever it was they did to convince the thing to open.
From the moving bus: a look back at our ship (the middle), and two others.
Stockholm is of course a holy place. Lettuce pray. Stop me if you've heard this one before.
I love the colors here. And I'm partially color-blind. I just like looking at this.
A random street view, motoring along in Stockholm.
Alongside the waterway, not far from City Hall, with some nice shady trees on a hot day. Naturally, the city is very bicycle-friendly.
The public facilities. For non-Europeans, WC means Water Closet, a common term in Europe.
Get your Nobel Prize, right here
The tour bus drops us off close to Stadshuset, the city hall. Dating back to 1923, it was designed to mimic an Italian Renaissance piazza.
Inside the building, this room has an important international function: it is the room where the annual Nobel Prize banquet is held, seating some 1,300 guests. The stairs on the right lead up to the Golden Hall.
This is more or less a continuation from the previous photo, with the stairs this time on the left, and looking back at the arches. We entered the room from under these arches, and from the right.
Another interior view, looking up...way up.
With windows surrounding the room at the very top, light changes throughout the day, making some interesting shadows and light beams.
Upstairs, in the Golden Hall. After the Nobel dinner, the attendees dance the night away in this room. There are some 18 million gold mosaic tiles on these walls.
Another view of one of the walls:
A close-up view of some of the mosaic work.
Back outside, one of the spires atop an arched wall surrounding one of the big courtyards.
Arches always make interesting patterns. I like patterned ceilings too.
Outside the city hall, a grassy plaza leading to the water's edge.
A sunken ship, fortunately not ours
The bus then took us to our next major stop, the Vasa Museum.
Gathering us all inside, our tour guide told a fascinating tale of this ship, the Vasa, around which the museum is built. (Totally aside: I have a minor partial hearing loss, which affects certain frequencies and voices, and as a result I am constantly asking people to repeat things they say. This particular woman's voice hit my sweet spot, such that I heard every word she spoke, clearly. And she was also well informed, and has a gift for telling a story, such as the story of this ship. Best. Tour. Guide. Ever.)
The link for the Vasa museum above has lots of details, but here's a quick summary. The Vasa sank in 1628 after three years of construction, not half an hour into its maiden voyage, likely due to its being top-heavy and therefore extremely unstable. Basically, it toppled, and sank. Various attempts were made over the centuries to find and salvage the ship, and at times its exact location was lost. Between 1956 and 1961, the ship was found, and moved in stages to shallower water, then lifted out of the water, 333 years after sinking.
The ship was in surprisingly good condition after all that time being sealed under water. There was breakage of course, and some pieces and contents had to be salvaged separately from the ocean floor. A long-term preservation effort, spraying it with PEG (polyethelene glycol), lasted 17 years.
The museum is quite dark inside. It's one of those places where the exposure for hand-held photography is rather long without the aid of a tripod, and flash is either glaring or ineffective, having to fill a really big mostly empty room.
Another view. The carvings that decorate the ship are quite stunning.
The menu at the museum's snack counter. Currency is the Swedish Krona, which works out to about one Krona = 0.15 USD.
An old town square, and lunch
Our next stop was an old-style town square, which these days is of course the typical tourist trap.
I do love the colors and architecture of these buildings.
Another longer view of the square.
The ubiquitous souvenir shops, with their collections of local trinkets and trash. Oh look, what a pretty rainbow on the window!
Looking down a cobblestoned street.
If you don't like walking, you can hitch a ride.
More interesting colors. It turned out to be a gorgeous day.
And a narrow street.
Plugged records. You mean vinyl?
Indeed, lots of vinyl.
Today's lunch specials at a restaurant. We didn't eat at this place, but actually found a nice Italian place on a narrow cobblestoned side street, looking down toward the water. Quite lovely.
I quenched my thirst with a traditional Swedish beverage. Oh wait, I'm being told they have this product at home, too. Excellent!
Later that day
As the day began, so it ends sailing slowly through the archepelago, with the birds riding shotgun.
Farewell to Stockholm. We had a lovely day. I hope the people on the ship following us enjoyed it as much as we did.
The very next day
Looking up at our ship at the pier at Helsinki. If you're not familiar with cruise ships, this may look big. Actually, it's one of the smaller ones we have been on. I made a joke that the last mega-ship we sailed on (Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas) carries along a couple of Celebrity Constellations as life boats. That's an exaggeration. Just slightly.
Just a stone's throw away from the ship, the first tourist souvenir shop. They get you early at this stop.
Inside, they have various animal pelts, hats, tshirts, trinkets, yada, yada, yada.
Looking back toward the ship, most people exit from the aft gangway. And you have to go back that way to board, as it is the first security checkpoint before actually entering the ship.
Things to see in Helsinki
The main entrance to Helsinki's famous Rock Church, more formally known as Temppeliaukio Church. Opened in 1969, it was excavated and carved into solid rock. A dome roof suspended over the interior allows for plenty of natural light to enter. Although built as a church, apparently the room has excellent acoustics and is also used as a concert hall.
Interior views
and
and
Adjacent to the Senate Square, plenty of shopping to be found:
Also at the Senate Square, the Helsinki Cathedral. It is a Lutheran church, and sits high upon an intimidating set of stairs. Our friends ventured up the stairs; Partner and I stayed at ground level.
At the base of a fountain at Senate Square, this fellow is selling his crafts. Or texting. Maybe both. We actually saw very few hawkers selling their stuff independently like this.
Outdoor museum
For this bus tour, we had Worst. Tour. Guide. Ever. A startling contrast from the previous day's Best. Tour. Guide. Ever. She didn't have much to say, really, and as the bus wound its way through Helskinki, she would say things like "And now we are going to turn right. And, ummm, ya.", or the equally brilliant "Ahead, we are going to turn left. And, ummm, ya". Apparently she had been taught in school that every period punctuation mark was pronounced "And, ummm, ya." Maybe this was a (bad) audition to be the GPS lady.
So the tour took us to what she repeatedly called "The Outdoor Museum". She never really elaborated on what the museum was about. Like what kinds of artifacts one could expect to see. We did figure out, though, that it was outdoors. Turns out, it is the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum.
As the bus pulled to a stop, and the door opened, she started shouting "Oh my god, it's raining! It's not supposed to do that today!" Everybody on board stared at each other, in that "WTF?" way that people have. It wasn't raining. There was no water to be found anywhere except for the river, some walking distance away.
To make a long story short, Partner and I decided to stop at a cafe at the entrance to The Outdoor Museum", while our friends and the rest of the crowd followed the guide into the park. We had a coffee, enjoyed the nice breeze in a shady spot, and relaxed for about an hour and a half.
Upon returning, our friends remarked that the guide didn't really elaborate on the artificats in The Outdoor Museum. "This is number 37 on your museum map, it is a boathouse. And, ummm, ya.". Yawn.
Anyway, this is the cafe we waited at. We enjoyed our outdoor time at one of the tables on the right, actually the shady one closest to the building.
I'm not sure what these plants are, but they line the waterways quite thickly.
Quite a relaxing sight, actually.
Random kayakers.
Some more random boaters were out on the water, standing and rowing themselves along lazily.
Out back, this old ladder propped up against the back wall of the cafe, with some decrepit chairs and tables scattered around.
I like these lines:
Not included in the tour
My one regret is not having enough time to visit the Institute for Going a Bit Red in Helsinki".
Up next
The next installment in this mini-series takes us to St. Petersburg, Russia. Yes, we went there. Stay tuned.