Derek in the Baltic

As the ship docks in the port of Gdynia which is an hour or so away from Gdansk, we opted to take the coach up to the latter city. I  was pleasantly surprised by Gdansk. It had been pretty much flattened during the war but has now been rebuilt, the new buildings being sympathetically styled with the older buildings that survived the bombardment. The old town has been in existence since medieval times and is reminiscent of Tallinn, although less hilly. Parts of the old city wall still remain, as do a number of the original city gates.  Within the walls, the main street and town square were thronged with tourists and locals alike admiring the impressive Cathederal and City Hall Building and listening to some very talented buskers The terrace alongside the river is particularly picturesque and is lined with small restaurants and cafes, interspersed with jewellery shops selling the regions most valuable natural resource, amber.  The old town is not particularly large and afte...

The weather forecast for Helsinki had not been great for some time and upon opening the curtains we saw that the sky was an ominous, dreary grey. Undeterred, we found our umbrellas and headed out, jumping onto the local bus just outside the terminal and with the intention of getting into the central station in the middle of the city. Having been to Helsinki a couple of times before, we knew where we were going...or at least we thought we did. Just one more stop and we would be there....but the bus turned in a different direction and before we knew it we were heading out into the country.  By now, the rain was falling steadily and we thought we would just wait and see what happened....at least we were staying dry and getting a nice view of the Finnish countryside. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty...surely we would soon be at the end of the route and be turning around and heading back into the city. An hour later we pulled into a small town and shopping outlets and thankfully turne...

For many, the two day stop in St. Petersburg is the highlight of the Baltic cruise, and indeed, for the cruise lines it is the same as unless you are on an organised tour where no paperwork is required, as the bureaucracy involved in getting a full Russian visa is second to none. Thus we booked the ship's excursions for both days. The first day we boarded a coach (driven by Sergei, obviously, and who did actually resemble a meerkat), and made our way to one of the jetties on the city's many waterways so as to complete a hat trick of canal cruises. It's definitely a way of seeing a big city from a different viewpoint, especially if your particular interest is Russian architecture. It wasn't a particularly busy afternoon although we did make the obligatory stop at the church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, one of St. Petersburg's more familiar landmarks. For those guests not going ashore for an evening at the ballet, a troupe of Russian folk singers and dancers gave ...

I do like Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It dates from medieval times and the old town has well preserved city gates and ramparts surrounding a large town square and innumerable little narrow streets and alleyways. Although busy and thronged with tourists, the town has lost little of its character and charm. The gift shops are stocked more with local handicrafts than fridge magnets and tee shirts, although there is a nod to the importance of tourism as many of the servers in the restaurants are dressed in national costume.  However, before exploring the town we had headed for the harbour museum, primarily a maritime museum built under the concrete domes of Tallinn's seaplane hanger which dates from 1916. As interactive museums go, it was excellent especially for children young and old. The main exhibit was the submarine Lembit, the pride of the Estonian navy when it was launched back in 1936, and visitors can now clamber through the hatch and have a glimpse of what life was like ...

Today's port of call was Stockholm. As scenic cruising goes, the sail in to and sail out of, the Swedish capital is as picturesque as any in the world. For over two hours, the ship meanders along narrow waterways and weaves in and out of the hundreds of pine covered islands of the archipelago. Most of these islands are uninhabited whilst others have just one or two expensive looking summer residences along with equally expensive looking powerboats moored up at wooden jetties. Crown Princess was berthed a fair way out from the centre of the city and more by accident than design we found ourselves on the first shuttle bus traveling from port to city centre. Having been to Stockholm a couple of times before, we wanted to do something a little different, so taking a leaf out of our Copenhagen experience, we bought tickets for a two hour boat trip around the islands that make up the bulk of the city and its suburbs. This was an excellent and relaxing way to see parts of the city that we...

Following a day at sea and our first formal night, Tuesday's port of call was Copenhagen and we had set ourselves a target of taking a canal cruise and then getting to the top of three of the tallest buildings in the city (the Church of St Saviour, the Town Hall and the Round Tower). The ship's berth was about a half hour's walk into town, but as it was a lovely sunny day and the route took us past Copenhagen's iconic Little Mermaid statue, it made a very pleasant start to our task. This was our first visit to the city since 2008, and it was immediately obvious how much development and construction had been undertaken along the waterfront.  Anyway, we found our way to Nyhaven (or "new harbour" for any non Danish speakers) and to the ticket booth for the canal cruise. The next hour or so was spent wending our way along the city waterways and ducking under very low bridges (made even lower than usual because of an exceptionally high tide). It's a very relaxi...