Photos from the Baltic Bliss

We flew into Copenhagen and stayed the night there to have some time to see the city. When we boarded the ship the next day, I was like a kid in a candy store with all the exploring I did. I ate three times in a six-hour period because I was so excited to see all the food! (Those who know me well know how much I like to eat :) We set sail for Oslo, Norway, and arrived there the next morning. Kyle enjoyed their city hall and a sculpture park more than I did. However, I really enjoyed the Viking musuem and seeing a really posh neighborhood in Oslo. I just couldn't get over how expensive the city was!

The next day we were at sea. I enjoyed getting to attend a class about digital cameras, look at the books they had in the library, go for a swim and of course take a nap :) Our room was on the inside area of the boat so we didn't have a window. At first I was worried I might get claustrophobic, but once we saw the size of the room we realized that it was bigger than most hotel rooms we stay in throughout Europe. The best part was that the room got pitch-black dark when you shut the door, which made for a great nap! They also had three art auctions on the ship which were really interesting. I am still amazed they can get this type of art, but they actually had works by Picasso, Dali and Chagall among many others. It was nice to be able to see such a variety of artwork in a small area. Of course, I really took a liking to a pen and ink that was framed beautifully. We asked about it and it turned out to be a Rembrant starting at $32,000! Oops...at least I have good taste. We ended up getting a few pieces by the much, much lesser-known artists that were shown.

After a restful day at sea we explored Gdansk, Poland, the next day. It was funny to see how there were different tourists on the cruise -- some signed on for every excursion the ship offered; some did a few excursions and then for other ports took a taxi into the city and explored on their own; others tried to do everything the cheapest way and either took the local bus or train into the city from the port and toured around on their own, following pages they had copied out of the tour books they got from the Women's Club library. Can you guess which ones we were? We walked past all the tour buses in Gdynia (the port city outside of Gdansk) and took a 30-minute train ride into Gdansk. The train station in Gdynia looks like it hasn't been touched since 1942. It is gray and dusty and incredibly depressing. After a very rickety train ride in cramped seats we made it to Gdansk. Over 90% of the downtown was ruined during WWII. First the Germans bombed it to take over; then the Americans bombed it to get the Germans out. I sure would not have wanted to be a German on our cruise because basically the history of every city was, "Well, the Germans bombed us everywhere and we are still trying to rebuild." OR "The German soliders took over this beautiful castle, church, building etc. and desecrated it, breaking or stealing every historical artifact that was in here." The city was rebuilt according to what it had looked like in the 1600s. During that time the city had been developed by a Flemish guy, so walking through Gdansk actually felt alot like walking through Brugge, Belgium.

The next day we visited Tallinn, Estonia. No one could really pinpoint what was so great about the city, but everyone we met on the cruise just loved it (including us). We had a great day wandering the streets and enjoying the architecture. This city is the perfect example of Wall Street Journal beliefs put into action. The former prime minister after communism fell decided to let business guide itself through privatization and free market policies by introducing a flat tax among many other changes. Seeing how Estonia is flourishing compared to what I can only imagine it looked like under Communist rule is amazing.

Click here for photos from Copenhagen.

Click here for photos from Oslo.

Click here for photos from Gdansk.

Click here for photos from Tallinn.