Regent Cruise - Part 2

8/19

I started this morning with a bus tour to 3 castles north of Copenhagen.  We went in one and looked at two from outside.  Some people don't like bus trips, but I enjoy seeing the countryside of different countries.  Like Royal hunting grounds.

Our first castle was Frederiksborg. Christian IV, the statue yesterday, lived here.  

It burned in 1866.  The only thing that did not burn was the chapel.  Carlsberg brewery's founder J.C. Jacobson funded much of the restoration, and they have a foundation that still funds it.  Restoration people searched for replacement furniture, paintings, etc... Nobles from Denmark donated their items.  Last year the Copenhagen Stock Exchange burned and already funds have been raised to restore the historic building.

  

Many, many Coat of Arms, including Eisenhower and Churchill.  Everyone gets to design their own.  The new king's is not up yet.

Christian IV had his own family box at church.  Beautiful grounds.

There are 400 rooms.  We only went in a few and they were all exquisite.  

This is a painting of the myth of Gefjun who traveled through Sweden disguised as a homeless woman. When she appeared before the generous King Gylfi, he granted her as much land as four oxen could plow in one day. Gefun summoned her four sons, which she had had by an unnamed giant, and turned them into oxen to plow the land. Not only did they plow the land; they also dragged it from Sweden, where the resulting depression became the lake Mälaren, and out into the ocean, where it became the Danish island of Zealand, upon which the city of Copenhagen is today located. This statue of her is in Copenhagen.

Our next was Fredensborg, the summer home of the previous Queen Margrethe, who was the first to abdicate in 900 years.  The King also summers there in the black house.  I didn't know I wasn't supposed to take a picture of that one and both Royal Guards let me know.  Oops, too late.  (zoom for the finger pointing)

We then drove to Kronborg Castle, which happens to be the one we passed yesterday on our way to Copenhagen. (In yesterday's photos.)  We passed a statue of 3 dancing girls, representing the 3 Scandanavian countries.  We passed many houses with thatched roofs.  Also, black and red tiled roofs.

  

Views of Kronborg, also known as Hamlet's castle.  Denmark never had a King Hamlet.  They were always at war with Sweden. You can see Sweden in the water photos.  The castle was ruined many times and then used for military with barracks.  Now a museum.

Views from the bus

 

Legos are from Denmark so when we got back, I walked to their flagship store.

Views on my walk back, including another view of the Little Mermaid.

Made it back in time for trivia with my solo traveler team.  Marian, Kathy, Pat and Jan.  My dinner companions tonight were David, Marian, Jan and Gudrun.  We spend a lot of time laughing!

8/20

Today we docked in Kiel, Germany.  I didn't want a beer tour.  Didn't want too long to Hamburg.  I decided to take a tour to Lubeck.  Lots of Gothic architecture.  The old town is an island. There are only two gates left.

There are 7 steeples.  This one is St. Petri.

St. Marien, which has a myth about the devil helping build it because he was told it was for wine, not a church.

Heiligen-Geist Hospital.  Was a church, then a hospital, now a senior living place. 

Other views and architecture.

Lübeck Marzipan refers to marzipan originating from the city of Lübeck in northern Germany and has been protected by an EU Council Directive as a “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI) since 1996.

The quality requirements of Lübeck Marzipan are set higher than those of conventional marzipan and are regulated by the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Classification. For a product to qualify as Lübeck Marzipan, a product must contain no more than 30% sugar, while the Lübeck Fine Marzipan must contain up to 10% sugar.

The marzipan manufacturers of Lübeck such as Niederegger, Carstens, Lubeca or Marzipan-Land, however, follow some principles of quality by voluntary commitments, not required by the directive. Niederegger, for example, uses 100% almond paste and no sugar.

Soooo I visited Niederegger which also includes a museum with history and pieces made from marzipan.  When in Lubeck...lunch can be a Niederegger Marzipan Nusstorte. Fine hazelnut cream covered with a moist layer of marzipan and a hot chocolate.  

A woman carving marzipan.  Loved the bathroom symbols.

Had 13 panels of the history, here are just a few and things made from marzipan.  The ship took 350 hours to make.

Views walking back to the bus.

Six is the max for trivia and I'm happy to say we added our 6th.  Me, Kathy, Jan, Pat, Wendy and Marian.  We are still bad, but we are still having fun!

8/21

Today we are back in Denmark.  On an island called Bornholm.  When we got off for our tours we were greeted by a band.  

I did a Taste of Bornholm tour and some of the scenery on the way to our first stop.

Our first stop was Hallegaard, which is actually a micro slaughterhouse.  We tasted the dried meats.  They actually do it very humanely compared to the pigs that are processed on the island.

One of the rooms used for slaughtering, smoke rooms, our buffet, cute bikes, selection of dried meats, and some of the sheep on the property. 

Then we had a short walk around Svaneke.  A cute little coastal town.

Next stop, lunch.  Smoked herring.  I started my day trying kippers (smoked herring) with potatoes, which were ok, but not my thing.  This was a little better with bread, chives, radishes, onions and an egg yolk.  Didn't eat a lot, but more because we already had the meat.

Gudrun and I and the smallest museum I have ever been to.

Finally stop.  Winery, Vingarden Lille Gadegard.  The land has been in the owner's family over 100 years.  Started as a pig farm.  This owner is the youngest of 7, but the father left him the farm.  He decided he wanted to do something else.  He started with strawberries.  Then wine. Now wine and whiskey.  He made the first whiskey in Denmark.  He also has a unique marketing photo.  He has 3 large hogs and he gives them Coca Cola.  I missed getting the photo of him giving this hog (the smallest) the drink.  Sadly, this year May was too cold and grapes will not be ready in time and in September the birds will come in and eat them.

Regent seems to have stopped formal nights. David brought his tux so we decided to dress up last night.  It turns out that our social hostess, Oli, has to leave today to settle something back in the Ukraine (prayers please for her safety).  One of the performers will take over for her, but we are going to miss her hosting us.  We ate in Prime 7, which is kind of a steakhouse.  For dessert I tried the caramel, popcorn sundae.

8/23

Back to yesterday in Gdansk, Poland.  I went to the Stutthof Camp Museum, where the concentration camp was.  At the beginning the camp was used for Polish people that did not obey German law.  But, in the end people from 28 countries were imprisoned at Stutthof.  110,000 prisoners and 65,000 murdered.  We started with 2 short films of the camp and of the trial for the men and women accused of the atrocities.  

  

Piles of soles of shoes.  All sizes.  Hopefully, you can zoom and read some of the signs.  Disgusting..."those that belong to the Polish nation must disappear..."

   

They did not tattoo the numbers at this camp.  Different colors for different reasons-political, antisocial, Jehovah's Witness, criminal, homosexual Jewish.  They might have to sleep 9 in one bed. 

Crematory

Gallows and area where blocks were.

Wagons/train

Gas chamber

It was my first visit to a concentration camp and it was pretty moving and pretty sad to think about how much hatred is still in the world.  

Views to and from the camp.

I then spent a little time walking around Gdansk. WW II started here.  The area is known for amber.  A gorgeous city!

Our fabulous sommelier, i Nyoman,  and Pat and Jan along with my cheese and port.

Today we arrived in Klaipeda, Lithuania.  I took a tour called Legends of Witches Hill.  We had the best tour guide, Edita.  Lithuania is about the size of West Virginia and has a population of about 1 million. In 2004 it joined the EU and NATO.  It has a rough history.  Witches Hill is a park with many sculptures that have various legends associated with them.  It started in 1979.

First views of Klaipeda.

Witches Hill

This artist designed one to look like him.

The one of the right was a cat, but needs repairs.

The devil and a witch playing cards to win back her glitter.  There were a lot more.

We stopped at a gallery that makes weathervanes.  

Then to a beach on the Baltic.  You can find amber on this beach and I actually found a small piece!  

We then had time to walk around town a little bit.

Cool ghost sculpture

8/24

Last night one of our solo group, Gudrun, received her 400 day pin.  We all dressed again to celebrate her.  

Today I was in Riga, Latvia.  Views on the way to town from the bus.  More beautiful architecture. 

We had just passed a flower market that is open 24 hours/ 365 days a year.  Our guide said it's easy for men to get their wives flowers if they are in trouble when this man passed outside.  

In the old town area.  The rooster is the symbol of the city, but cats are more popular.  This one from the cartoon Flow.  

The Monument of Freedom.

  

The mascot, Marky Mark, for the FIBA EuroBasket 2025.  He's all over the city.  I thought the pigeon and the McDonald's was funny.

The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on August 23, 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 419 miles, across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR, and had a combined population of approximately eight million. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union. After the Revolutions of 1989, 23 August has become an official remembrance day both in the Baltic countries, in the European Union, and in other countries, known as the Black Ribbon Day or as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. 

 The footprints and the statues represent that time.

These cats have become and even larger symbol in Riga.  From the site Wandertooth -

The story of the cat house has to be one of the stranger tales in the Baltics. It goes something like this: in the early twentieth century, a wealthy Latvian merchant — let’s call him Ludvigs — built a stately art nouveau home on the same square as Riga’s Great Guild, a German run and Germano-centric organization with control over business interests in the city. Ludvigs, being the savvy businessman that he was, sought but was refused entry to the guild. Incensed by the Guild’s denial, which likely would have crippled his ability to do business in Riga, he hatched a plan to spite the Guild. Here, a reasonable person might think of any number of ways to get back at the organization that essentially crushed your livelihood. A good old fashioned poisoning, framing thine enemy for murder or embezzlement, starting a rival guild, or even egging the Great Guild Hall all seem like reasonable solutions. But Ludvigs wasn’t a reasonable man. Nay. Ludvigs wanted to be sure the guild REALLY knew the depths of his wrath.

And so he commissioned some cat statues: two statues of black cats, their backs arched high to the sky, their tales stuck up in the air. And when Ludvigs’ revenge statues were ready, he installed them on the roof of his custard yellow home, and… POINTED THEIR ASSHOLES AT THE GUILD.

A city gate and traditional instrument.

  

City views

  

Street musicians

The clock plays music on the hour and all the churches ring their bells at noon.

Tomorrow we will arrive in Stockholm, Sweden in the early afternoon until Tuesday evening.  I will spending my time with Karin (a former exchange student) and her family.  I do not think I will post during that time.  

8/26

What a fabulous 2 days in Stockholm.  Visiting with Karin and her family has been wonderful!  The archipelago entering Stockholm was beautiful, but currently heading out we have sunshine and it is stunning.  The map shows all the little islands.

We walked around Old Town.  Went into the oldest church.  Shopped at HildaHilda, which is where Lisa (Karin's oldest) has been working.  She is moving to University on Friday.  Lisa's aunt designs and weaves the fabric. (in phot with Lisa)  I was here about 20 years ago and looked forward to shopping there!

Walked around for some beautiful views.

Karin cooked a wonderful dinner at her home with Sanna (her youngest) and Viktor.  

  

This morning Karin was able to come onto the ship for a tour and breakfast before we took a boat to Skansen.

From the ferry

We went to the zoo that was much more than a zoo.  First,we were attacked by a squirrel.

I'm a little bit obsessed with the pygmy marmoset.  Twin babies.  They are so much tinier than they look in the photos. 

This is an exhibit I have never seen in a zoo and I've been to a lot of zoos!  The domestic house cat!

Loved the lynx with babies!

Lots of historical buildings and great views.

Swedish meatballs for lunch and then a walk back to Old Town to meet up with Lisa and then back to the ship.

We had mostly sun today, but a couple of showers.  Some views leaving.

8/27

Today we are in Visby, Sweden on the island of Gotland.  Visby has a preserved city wall.

Love the manhole covers and the little streets.

The remains of Saint Catherine of Alexandria church in 1233.

The town square.

Domkyrkan Cathedral.  The paper doves were made by visitors symbolizing peace.  A cemetary.

  

A walk through the botanical gardens and along a stone was with openings.

Walked along the water on the way back.  It was very clear.

A Welsh Poppy and Old Man's Beard.

Walked back to the ship.

  

Lunch in Compass Rose - Goat cheese and beet panna cotta and cute pulled pork sliders.

8/28

Today is a sea day.  Tomorrow Oslo and Saturday home.

Last night our trivia team had a wonderful dinner!

1st photo Helsingborg, Sweden and on the other side is Helsingor, Denmark. 

8/29

Our Captain farewell and crew show last night.

Sunrise this morning and coming through the fjords.

Munch museum and Opera House.

  

A lot of rain today.  Took a boat ride through the fjords.  

Last year I went to the Fram with Pat to recreate this photo of my grandfather on the Fram at the Panama Canal, over 100 years ago.

Lots of sculptures.  The Homeless games are going on.  Players have experienced homelessness or have been marginalized.  It's to support a path out of homelessness.  They are selected from grassroots organizations around the world and can only participate once.  48 countries are participating.

I have a very early flight tomorrow so I'm going to stay by the airport tonight.  My bed today.

My next trip is in October to Bali with a group called Discover Corps.  May leave my laptop at home and post when I return.