HOMEWARD BOUND

Sitting in the FINNAIR lounge with about three hours to go before boarding and it seems like a good time you reflect on the past three weeks in the Baltic and Norwegian Fjords.

We spent most of today in the Tivoli Gardens which is an amusement park with all the rides you would see at the Ekka and then some as well as some beautiful gardens. This is not M flying at the speed of sound but I do believe this is the ride our Parker begged to go again while his dad was out looking for his stomach.

This was more Michele's style

Streets of Copenhagen and City Hall

This has been a busy cruise in contrast to other cruises we have done. The difference is that longer cruises generally involve numbers of sea days where you get a chance to draw breath and relax - with a book, at a lecture, in the pool. It probably fits between those horrendous bus tours that visit a different country every day and a more leisurely longer cruise. So it has been more tiring but absolutely enjoyable.

The weather in the main has been pretty good for this time of year in these latitudes. We were very fortunate to get clear days in Flam, Norway when we cruised the Songefjord Fjord and took the train to Myrdal up in the mountains. Perfect weather in St Petersburg was also a bonus in displaying the magnificence of their palaces, churches and museums. Perhaps the most disappointing weather was in Stockholm which did not give an opportunity to do as much as we might with our guide.

Health-wise, Michele struggled at times with walking and will need to have her hip investigated; it has been eight years since her first hip replacement and she was told then that the other hip was also showing wear. But we shall see. I got a man-cold which lasted a few days and of course was at least as bad as a major bout of flu and requiring regular nursing care!!! But for the most part we were pretty good for two old pensioners. Again the message is loud and clear - do your travelling overseas as early as you can.

Before the cruise I did my usual research of where we were going, looked at options for shore excursions and prepared the outline for this Blog. We took only three guided tours and managed all other shore excursions on our own. We were often able to do the same activities provided by Holland America and saved considerable loot in doing so. For example I was able to buy the train ticket to Flam on line. Those who purchased the excursion possibly paid an extra hundred dollars each for some very expensive waffles in Myrdal. The Alla Tours booked for St Petersburg, Stockholm, and Berlin were less expensive than HAL and provided a necessary guide for these locations.

I think we would both say that St Petersburg was the highlight of the tour in terms of its grandeur, its comprehensive nature over two long days, and its unique history. At the same time you may recall from my post of that visit, that we were also appalled by this ostentatious display of wealth built on the lives of a peasant class. It was fascinating, even eerie, to know we were standing where Hitler stood in Berlin, where he addressed the masses, where he killed himself in the bunkers below, where evil raised its ugly head to threaten our civilisation.

The Eurodam was a pleasant cruise ship, less formal than the Cunard line and perhaps equivalent to Princess Cruises. The waiting staff were mostly Indonesian and were absolutely remarkable in their attention to passengers. Because of the busy nature of this cruise there were very few activities arranged on board during the day. Obvious because most people go on shore. Nevertheless we thought this could have been improved. Certainly, the evening programs were poor in comparison to other cruise ships we have used. The food on this ship was superb and probably superior to Cunard. After disembarking from the Eurodam, it was cruising on to Iceland, Faeroe Islands, Newfoundland, and New York. We would have loved to have continued on to those exotic locations.

I have tried to provide some accounts of the fellow passengers that we met over the course of the voyage, usually over a meal where there is an opportunity to exchange information about our respective lives. Meeting people, particularly from other countries, is one of the great joys of cruising. In the final analysis you come to the conclusion that we are all different and we are all the same. I guess because we all have the same purpose of taking a cruise simply for its enjoyment but also with the understanding that it will be a shared experience, that we find a lot in common and generally tend to like each other despite our differences. As indicated a number of times politics is a common theme for discussion and there is clear disquiet from residents of numerous countries in the quality of their Governments. 

I also see travel as a significant opportunity for learning or relearning from the experience. At times I have personalised and philosophised my interpretations of those experiences and I hope you will forgive me for that. I think it is the case that we wander along in this life with scales over our eyes unable to challenge old ways of thinking, content with the status quo, unwilling to question long held beliefs. When you are immersed into strange environments, into different cultures, and languages, and histories, there is opportunity to rethink this life's journey. 

To those who followed this blog, I hope you found some of it interesting. Due to technological limitations on this particular cruise I have not been able to structure it or resource it with illustrations as previously but will update it in the next couple of weeks. 

The journey to the Baltic and Norwegian Fjords was a fitting tribute to this 50 year Wedding Anniversary.