Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

thank you for this wonderful review. i hope you take another trip very soon. judy

thank you for this wonderful review. i hope you take another trip very soon. judy

Thanks Judy and we're glad that you have enjoyed it . We do have an Alaskan cruise booked in May , however we have looked at Antarctica for next November and we can only afford one of those ! ;)

One last early morning view of the bridge

We had a fairly small private tour booked with some of the folks on the Eclipse . We tied up at Langelinie along the road where we met our guide and driver , Adam .

A nice vehicle with plenty of room

Would the pool noodler's prefer the laps?;)

They most definitely would not, Mic! :eek: They spend hours in the pool floating on their pool noodles, or sitting in a seat made from their pool noodles. They could swim laps if they wanted to.

please

 

They most definitely would not, Mic! :eek: They spend hours in the pool floating on their pool noodles, or sitting in a seat made from their pool noodles. They could swim laps if they wanted to.

With the warm temperatures and all of the noodles - it sounds like a big bowl of Ramen noodle soup . :)

With the warm temperatures and all of the noodles - it sounds like a big bowl of Ramen noodle soup . :)

LOL, maybe throw in some vegetables for the soup although no one likes too many peas in the pool.:eek:

LOL, maybe throw in some vegetables for the soup although no one likes too many peas in the pool.:eek:

Or in your wet suit ...

Photographic evidence of why you shouldn't have too much to drink before swimming . :eek:

Our first stop in Copenhagen was at one of the most famous and popular places - The Little Mermaid .

Some people were climbing the rocks for photos

I successfully resisted the urge to shout out to the mermaid 'What's the best tuna ? ', fearing an unscheduled trip to the insane asylum .

Some of the American readers may recognize the line from a popular advertising jingle :

Or in your wet suit ...

 

 

 

Photographic evidence of why you shouldn't have too much to drink before swimming . :eek:

 

LOL, at least it is warm in the suit.:rolleyes:

Ironically, when were there, the mermaid was off to china for the world expo, so we saw the replica at the Tivoli Gardens.:cool:

LOL, at least it is warm in the suit.:rolleyes:

I'm sure that warm would have felt good . It was about 12 C (55 F) in the pool that day !

Ironically, when were there, the mermaid was off to china for the world expo, so we saw the replica at the Tivoli Gardens.:cool:

Do you think that China made any cheap copies ?

At our next stop , several sites were all aligned

The Copenhagen Opera House

Amalie Garden on the Waterfront

The King Frederik V statue

Which sits in the middle of Amalienborg , the Queens Winter Palace .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalienborg

It's also where you can see the changing of the guard

There is a police presence there during the changing which has prompted a saying : The Danish Army is the only Army which requires police protection !

Our guide Adam was quite tall at 2 M ( 6'7" ) , and was at one time , one of the Palace Guards . Here he's telling us about our next stop , Frederik's Church .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik%27s_Church

The words on the front are 1 Peter 1:25 the word of the Lord endures forever .

Adam had made arrangements for us to go up above the dome for a view of the city .

The climb to the top of the church was a tiny , dark , steep , circular stairway in which you couldn't see anything except the shoes of the person in front of you . And when one person stops , the whole group stops . So , were the views worth the climb ?

In the distance , we could see the Church of our Savior

And the Eclipse

And almost below us , where we had been .

:) :D

beautiful pictures! still following and still yearning for a European cruise!

Thanks for the compliment and hanging in there ! :) :D

We never thought that we would could afford Europe - until we first went there . I was 55 on our first trip , and paying off our house sure helped our vacation fund !

And almost below us , where we had been .

Great shot.

Loved Copenhagen, My wife has Danish heritage (one of her many lines, along with English, Scottish, Swedish and German) and I have Dutch heritage so when our tour guide first met us and looked us both up and down and said, 'You two are Viking' and he was probably right.

Our next stop was Nyhavn ( New Harbor ) , for a canal cruise .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyhavn

Some of us were experiencing the afternoon doldrums , but a quick visit to the Polsevogn ( Sausage Wagon ) , fixed things right away .

I tried the Ristet . This isn't my photo , but it was what I had . Grilled onions and pickled cucumbers = YUM

Backing out

Heading out

Skuespilhuset - The Royal Danish Playhouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Danish_Playhouse

Great shot.

Here's another great shot - Scandinavian Aquavit

Aquavit is an important part of Scandinavian drinking culture, where it is often drunk during festive gatherings, such as Christmas dinners and weddings, and as an aperitif.[3] In Sweden, Denmark and Germany aquavit is cooled down and often sipped slowly from a small shot glass. Wikipedia

Some Russian friends gave us a present of Linie and suggested that we drink it " Russian style " - a ice cold shot .

Linie Aquavit – an amazing journey

Linie Aquavit has quite an amazing journey behind itself, both an actual journey and one as a brand of Akvavit. Each bottle travels for about four months across the seas of the world, usually from Norway to Australia but each route is a bit different. This is also how it got its name, by passing the line (equator) the Linie Aquavit was named after this line, linie meaning line in Norwegian.

Loved Copenhagen, My wife has Danish heritage (one of her many lines, along with English, Scottish, Swedish and German) and I have Dutch heritage so when our tour guide first met us and looked us both up and down and said, 'You two are Viking' and he was probably right.

That's quite a mix , Mic ! ;)

We have an English surname , but mom is 100 % Polish and Pat's mom is 100 % Irish , so that's our taproots . After the birth of our son and his sisters , in the 80's , we affectionately referred to their unique heritage as Mcski . And when I did a search on the net for that word , it yielded this :

Ski up fast food in Sweden !

A video clip of the Nyhavn canal cruise :

Water view of Amalienborg

French cruise ship Le Boreal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnie_du_Ponant

The Eclipse

Danish warships

Le Boreal close up

A fish out of water ?

US Secretary of State , John Kerry was in town and so there was a large police presence .

As we drew closer to the Opera House , we could see that something was going on

They were camera blocking for the Red Bull Cliff Diving event , to be held the next day .

After turning into another canal we saw the Black Diamond , the Copenhagen library .

Followed by the old stock market

And , a return to our starting point , Nyhavn .

McSki, sounds cool. That ski through window is a great idea.:D

Our first stop in Copenhagen was at one of the most famous and popular places - The Little Mermaid .

 

 

I successfully resisted the urge to shout out to the mermaid 'What's the best tuna ? ', fearing an unscheduled trip to the insane asylum .

 

 

Some of the American readers may recognize the line from a popular advertising jingle :

LOL! This had not crossed my mind, but now I am sure that when I see the Little Mermaid next year in Copenhagen, I will think of you. :D

Thanks for this detailed cruise report, all the great pictures and videos, and all the relevant links. It has been so helpful in planning for my first Baltic cruise. Sad that the thread must soon be coming to a close.

ha I just signed closing documents on my first house this morning! going to be a longgggg time for me. :|

Congrats on the new house, :D

I think.:p

LOL! This had not crossed my mind, but now I am sure that when I see the Little Mermaid next year in Copenhagen, I will think of you. :D

Thanks for this detailed cruise report, all the great pictures and videos, and all the relevant links. It has been so helpful in planning for my first Baltic cruise. Sad that the thread must soon be coming to a close.

You're welcome , we're glad to help .

I hope that you won't be too disappointed , but with a week's post - cruise stay in the UK , there's still more thread on the old spool ! :rolleyes:

You're welcome , we're glad to help .

 

I hope that you won't be too disappointed , but with a week's post - cruise stay in the UK , there's still more thread on the old spool ! :rolleyes:

Cool. looking forward to it unravelling.:D