On the Baltic Sea

Off on our cruise and for the entire time we were robbed of darkness! Was weird peering out the cabin window in the middle of night to be blinded by daylight. Most people boarding a  cruise head straight for the bar. We headed straight for the ship's doctor to try and stem the colds we received on the Danube. To my shock I was found to have a temperature!! Another 0.2 degrees and I would have been quarantined for four days. Lucky escape!!!

The first day was at sea - a long sail from Copenhagen to Estonia. Seems like their country has leapt ahead  after being released from Soviet stronghold. Business is flourishing and they have developed a well-oiled tourist machine.

The weather turned nasty and temperatures dropped from 30 to 13 degrees by the time we reached St Petersburg. This city has only 40 full sunshine days a year and it decided not to share any of them with us. It has a spectacle of golden spires, guilded domes, and pastel palaces with ornate chandeliers, semi-precious stones, priceless paintings, stunning mosiacs and pure extravagance. We embraced the grandeur and elegance of St Catherine's Palace, Hermitage Museum, Peterhof Gardens and the Church of Spilled Blood.

Although we marvelled at the iconic treasures that showcase St Petersburg, there was a downside. There was something unnerving about walking around. Street gangs operate as businesses and pick-pocketing is rife. The riot squad had presence in the central city because swarms of hard-core FIFA World Cup fans were ready to party! Although the city centre is delightful the outskirts are dirty and heavily laced with graffiti.

Our captain made two attempts to get off the berth when we left St Petersburg. The screaming side-thrusters and a tug boat were no match for the Gulf of Finland winds, (50kts). If he didn't succeed on his third attempt we would have had to stay there until the next morning and miss the Helsinki stopover. But, after more shuddering and lots of engine grunt we made it!!

Who could not like Scandinavia? We chose to explore Helsinki and Stockholm at our own pace. Both cities are clean, dynamic,.......and best of all, the people smile!! Stockholm maintains a picture-book  charm, especially its historic quarter. The food is just as fantastic and expensive as we remember it from previous visits.

We entered Stockholm's Ice Bar for an igloo experience and found it pretty weird drinking vodka out of ice glasses. At first we thought they had given us coloured water, but when we re-emerged onto the pavement, the street lights were at strange angles!!!!

By the time we reached Warnemunde (biggest industry - manufacture of riverboats) we were over crowded large cities so we decided to wander around the beach resort and check out their beach baskets.

It was alarming sailing into our last port of call (Kiel, Germany) to see wharves lined with warships?? Then we learnt the main industry is warship and submarine manufacture. Six of us took off for a cycle ride around the waterfront and across Kiel Canal with a local university student. He shared lots of valuable information with us, including the best micro-brewery in town. Great way to finish our trip,.....beer and bratwurst!!!