Baltic Cruise

Baltic Cruise & My Impressions

Part 1 Stockholm & Helsinki 

August 20, 2017 (Day 1),  we (Estelle, my travel companion and I), took the plane (s) as we were not on the same flight to Calgary where we were to make connections to London and from there to Stockholm. Our seats were not together on the flight from Calgary to London. (I must change my travel agent as this is the second time she has fouled up. The first time was my flight to Cousin Jim's funeral.) My travel agent on this occasion even had us wait five hours between flights from Calgary to London and six hours between flights from London to Stockholm. Is it any wonder we were tired on arrival in Stockholm?

While our wait in London for the flight to Stockholm, we paid thirty dollars (US) each to stay in the Plaza Lounge as I gave up my Maple Leaf Club Membership when I finally retired at age 75.

Our cruise in the Baltic Sea consisted of traveling to Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Warnemunde, Copenhagen, Skagen and Southampton. The cruise embarkation was Stockholm but before the actual cruise we stayed three nights and two days in that city. At the end of our cruise, we disembarked from our ship (the Azamara Journey) in Southampton then traveled to London where we spent three-days before flying home to Victoria.


Our arrival in Stockholm was smooth with a driver meeting us and drove us to our hotel, which was the First Hotel Reisen in "Gamla Stan" (Translation: "Old Town"). This hotel had been upgraded, and for the price, it was a good deal. Like all European hotels, the rooms are small as compared to those at home. Anyway the room was comfortable. The breakfast was included in the price like most hotels in Europe. This one served everything, a true smorgasbord.

The location of the hotel couldn't be better as it was right by the water front (Stromkajen) where the old sailing ship "Wasa" is moored. I should say something about this ship as it has quite a history. The Swedes thought it would be great if a ship could be built of iron instead of wood. The ship was built and launched but disaster hit. It sank right away as it didn't displace enough water for its weight. Anyway it was refloated and revised and now it is anchored in this little bay (Stromkajen) as a museum. Only the Swedes would display a national failure! 

Our first day was dedicated to exploring Gamla Stan which is on one of the smaller islands making up Stockholm. This island can be walked around in about twenty minutes if one walks quickly, but we walked around slowly and into some of the off streets as well. Regarding Stockholm, it is situated upon 20 islands on Lake Malaren, some islands are small, others are quite large. It is a pretty city with little traffic congestion. Perhaps the reason for the little traffic congestion is the good public transportation system as the subway system covers the whole city. Also there is a very good bus and tram facility as well. But mostly, the Swedes (like the Dutch) make use of their bicycles which takes many cars off the streets.

The Gamla Stan houses the Royal Palace and many of the government buildings. But right across a bridge on the north side from Gamla Stan is a tiny island which houses  the Parliament Buildings only. However, by staying in Gamla Stan walking south from the Parliament Buildings one finds the streets become narrower, where one is in the real Old Town. There are many shops of various kind catering to tourists. The usual Scandinavian items such as sweaters with decorated shoulders, fur hats made from reindeer skin, colourful wooden Mora horses, flags and of course Troll dolls. There are a lot of places to eat and drink.

The Palace which commands the Stromkajen bay located on Gamla Stan is not too elaborate as the royalty seldom dwell there as they have four other palaces and castles where they live located outside the city.

After leaving Vasterlanggatan (main street in old town), one comes into the more serious section where the statue of St George slaying the dragon stands. The statue depicts Sweden as St George killing the dragon which is Denmark when modern Sweden gained its freedom from Danish domination in the 16th century. Not far from the St George and Dragon Statue is a famous little restaurant called "Fem Sma Hus" (Four Little Houses). When I first visited the eatery in 1983, it was four houses all attached side-by-side but now it is one large house. I think it has lost some of its quaintness.     
     
On our second day in Stockholm, there was a "Brig" (a two-masted sail boat) that was being ready for sailing docked across from our hotel.  Crew members, boys and girls were climbing the rigging preparing the brig for sailing. We were surprised to hear the sound of bagpipes, as there were half a dozen pipers and a couple of drummers serenading the crowd prior to sending the brig off on its voyage. Apparently even the Swedes play pipes.

The rest of our day was taken up mostly by riding on the "Hop On Hop Off" bus that covered a great part of the city. As well as the many islands in Stockholm, there are many parks and green spaces; more so than what is found in our Canadian cities. Stockholm is quite a beautiful city.

Our ship, the Azamara Journey is one of the smaller cruise ships (600 passenger) which makes it more intimate as compared to those larger ones carrying 4000 passengers. The Azamara Journey was docked in the Garget area at the north-east end of the city, set sail for Helsinki on Day 4 of our vacation. For the first 2 1/2 hours of the voyage it had to navigate though a number of small islands to reach the open water of the Baltic from Lake Malaren. Some of the channels were so narrow that one could see that they had been blasted to make the channels wider in order to accommodate the larger vessels of today.

Helsinki

Helsinki (Helsingforth to the Swedes) was founded by King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden  to which Finland belonged for many centuries and then to Russia until 1917. Finland is bilingual country as both Finish (93%) and Swedish (7%) is recognized. Like Stockholm, there are no high-rise buildings therefore the city is able to keep its small town atmosphere.  As the cruise ship was docked for only a short time (9:30 am to 5:30 pm) we didn't venture too far. The main highlights of our visit were the large Orthodox and the Lutheran The large white building is the Luthera Cathedral. Cathedrals which were visited   were within walking distance from the ship.

I had heard of the "Rock Church" before and we were given the impression by the tour lecturer that this church was completely underground. It wasn't so! The church was excavated into a rock hill where three sides were all solid rock but the roof was glass panels supported on wooden purloins.

We took a taxi to the Rock Church and back and we noticed that the traffic flowed smoothly. Their tram system was quiet and the tram cars were quite narrow as compared to the ones I have seen in Toronto and other North American cities. Bicycles are made use here as well.

There was an open market near the ship that sold all kinds of Lapland costumes, reindeer skins, wood carvings, paintings, as well as food. What caught my eye were the reindeer skins. I didn't buy any. What would I do with a reindeer skin in Victoria?

Other than visit the Lutheran and Orthodox Cathedrals and the Rock Church, we did not tour any other sites that were recommended such as the gleaming Opera House, National Museum, Parliament Building or the Old Railway Station. Time did not permit a lengthy tour and also it stated to rain which always puts a damper on any situation.