The Smaller Ports of the Baltic

Not to say that these ports were less impressive. I was simply not able to spend as much time in these cities, or they were "half-day adventure" ports. Enjoy!

MARIEHAMN, ALAND

We made it to Mariehamn the second 14-day Baltic Cruise! George described this town as “American summer camp.” It reminded me of the quiet, residential Menlo Park, California that I knew growing up.

Featured in this pic that I made them pose for are Quinten Melo and Sydney Leigh Horne.

Mariehamn is located on an island that belongs to Finland, but the island is autonomous with its own flag. And the people there speak Swedish.

After a long walk from the ship through a neighborhood of large houses, we came upon a “downtown” pedestrian road lined with shops. George and I, accompanied by Dean, our new M1, found a bustling café in one of these large country houses. Every room was filled with tables and house décor. The main counter register was set up in the kitchen and the self-serve coffee station was literally on top of an antique, fire-burning stove.

We enjoyed homemade biscuits (Cookies, for us Americans.) outside in the sun. Then, we returned to the pedestrian strip and found an indoor shopping center with free wifi. That was our half-day adventure in Mariehamn.

HELSINKI, FINLAND

On the first of our fully Baltic cruises, we had to skip Mariehamn due to weather and instead port in Helsinki for a day and a half. Welcome to Finland! The weather in Helsinki wasn’t spectacular and we were docked a ten-minute shuttle ride from the main town. As a result, it was not the most exciting of adventures. However, Helsinki is a bustling city that must be drop dead gorgeous in the summer!

Agnes, Luisa, and I went shopping for gifts the second day. I found some traditional licorice for my father and Agnes introduced us to Moomin, an animated, Finnish TV-show featuring endearing, hippo-like creatures that apparently have had great commercial success.

I also found an orange fanny pack, so. Yeah. I like Helsinki.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

So here is the situation in St. Petersburg.

I could not disembark in light of the current political stances between Russia and the U.S. Or so I thought....

The four or five times we went to St. Petersburg, my days were full of sunbathing, gyming, reading and knitting for my life, cleaning and reorganizing my room for the umpteenth time, and Selection Restaurant. BUT THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED. The Crew Committee organized shuttle buses for the crew that would not otherwise be able to get off in Russia. As long as we used the shuttle buses, we could go out. And so, Agnes and I had a glorious adventure in Russia. Please enjoy the pictures below, heavily featuring the gorgeously rich Hermitage and the Cathedral on the Spilled Blood.

Hermitage Photos:

Explorations:

KLAIDPEDIA, LITHUANIA

I can say that I have been to Lithuania! Klaipeda is a small port connected by many little canals. The Old City was a fun, half-day exploration. On the walk into town, we had to cross a hand-cranked bridge in order to let boats pass through the canal below. Alongside the bridge was a dementor-like statue, coming up out of the water. Pretty creepy.

There is a historical theatre square, as well as an open-air market where local people sell their wares. Linen was being woven on a loom in front of me, women were knitting all kinds of things, Baltic amber was draped and displayed on wooden carts. I also found a secondhand store that reminded me of Savers (Here, I supplemented my exclusively winter wardrobe with some summer-ware, as we went from sub-zero climates to shorts and a T-shirt weather in, like, a week.).

My favorite part of this port was a huge, painted map of the Old Town on the main road.

RONNE, DENMARK

I came here once, with Mom.

It is a pretty little town with a nice shopping scene.

They also have a nice theatre there. Mom tried her first Smorrebrod, which she loved and immediately devised a plan to make it for all of her friends back in the U.S. And, I was catcalled in front of my mother, which was awesome. Some people have no class.

FREDERICIA, DENMARK

I loved Fredericia and was sad we only went there once! The very first thing off of the ship is a basketball court and a small tent where bands can play music. Other crew members were utilizing the basketball court as much as they could.

There is also an artist/garden community that thrives off of the many cruise ship passengers passing through on their way to town.

Mom and I perused the handmade jewelry, looked at the planter boxes, and admired the artwork on all the shipping containers.

Then, we took a long walk through the town, passing through the most pristine cemetery I had ever seen (Kirsty, I hope you saw the perfect cemetery!). There was a lovely path that took us right along the water and all the way around back towards the ship. I could easily imagine Fredericia as an summer destination for the Danish.