Aarhus, Denmark

Our last stop on this cruise, Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark. We had considered taking a day trip to nearby Legoland, but opted instead for a nice quiet day wandering around.

The water was very smooth as we sailed into this small port, which was lined with both very modern apartments, and a very grotty working port.

The shop berthed just across the small harbour from town, around a 15 minute walk away. This gave a great view of the city. There is a giant globe there for ClimatePlanet2017.

Aarhus also has a very nice blend of old and new, with very modern buildings alongside older districts. A central canal runs through the middle, with cafes and restaurants lining the canal.

We sat by the canal and had a nice brunch to keep us going for the day.

This is the oldest street in the city, very quiet before all the visitors arrived!

There was some kind of world festival on, with many markets selling food from different countries, and a midnight shopping festival where shops would be open till midnight and had many specials and discounts on offer. So the city was very busy and vibrant today. We generally just wandered around, taking it all in, and seeing stuff on offer we wouldn't usually see at home.

We also walked up to see ARoS, the museum, which has a rainbow coloured walkway around the top. We didn't go inside but could see people up there.

We walked quite a distance here, criss-crossing up and down and seeing a good part of the inner city. A nice relaxing way to end our holiday.

Kiel, Germany

Today we visited Kiel, a busy port in Germany. Dad visited here a few years ago, and stayed for a few months. So I'd heard plenty about this place and wanted to see for myself. We cruised in on a beautiful, calm morning and I awoke as the ship slowed to pick up the harbour pilot.

The harbour is lined with all sorts of ships, boats and docks. On the starboard side coming in, I saw the Kiel Canal, a number of navy vessels, and plenty of other sights.

We docked at the cruise terminal directly opposite the German Navy Yard. Sitting on our balony, we counted 14 navy ships, and 3 submarines parked up in the Navy Yard.

There was a motorbike gear shop here I wanted to visit, a 40 minute walk from the ship. This shop opened at 9am, and otherwise the main shops opened at 10am, so we headed out around 8am towards my shop first. The walk took us right into the inner harbour, past the train station, and then a few blocks beyond. It was a lovely clear morning, and many people were commuting by bicycle. We saw some interesting purpose-built electric cycles used by posties.

I did make a few purchases at my store, then we wandered back into town. From here we got a great view of the harbour, the Stena Line ferry had since arrived, and you can see our cruise ship in the background.

Here we found a big indoor mall, and ventured in to find free WiFi. We found a vendor selling Currywurst, which is a Bratwurst sausage cut up, covered in a spicy curry sauce, then with curry powder sprinkled on it. A local delicacy (well, from nearby Hamburg). Served with fries. Very tasty indeed, I wonder why I've never heard of them before? We did a little shopping and purchased some clothes and shoes, then wandered back outside into the glorious sunshine through the pedestrian shopping centre.

We got back on board mid afternoon, and sailed around 4:30pm. By now the sun had shifted, so again from the starboard side we had a nice view of the other side of the harbour. Plenty of nice homes, yachts and beaches. Out near open sea, there is a U-Boat museum/memorial with a U-Boat on land. We had been told this U-Boat can be walked through, and was used for the filming of Das Boot (the German mini-series / movie).

After that we retreated for the usual evening dinner and on-board entertainment. We intentionally had a late night, staying up till midnight. Our course took us under the Storebælt Bridge (Great Belt Bridge), which spans 18km from Denmark to Sweden. This is the longest suspension bride in the northern hemisphere, and when our ship passes underneath we have 5 metres clearance. So it's high! Even at midnight, there was a nice glow from sunset. It was incredible to see how big it was as we passed under. Large trucks driving across looked like ants, and the bridge had radar on it presumably to detect stray ships.

Stockholm, Sweden

Today we arose at 5am. Not exactly holiday hours, but the captain had promised us a scenic passage into Stockholm through the Stockholm Archipelago that was not to be missed. We weren't disappointed. Actually it is a network of 30,000 islands, tightly packed, many containing homes. There are also various car ferries linking them together as well as roading tunnels.

Stockholm started out with pleasant weather, overcast and a little cool, but the forecast was for rain later. There are many cruise ship terminals and we were berthed at the one furthest from town.

We had a 5 hour tour planned as part of our package. Today was rather disorganised, and the tour guide's transmitter was faulty so our headsets kept cutting out and we didn't get a lot of useful information.

We were driven around many of main sites throughout the city, but with few photo stops. I didn't realise that Stockholm was built on a collection of islands, connected by bridges and tunnels. It is very picturesque and many buildings are painted nice vibrant colours.

We stopped at the Vasa Museum. I wasn't aware of this, but the Vasa Ship sank on its maiden voyage out of Stockholm, only shortly after leaving port (just nearby where our cruise ship was parked) back in the 1628. The ship was left there for 300 years, before being salvaged. The wood was largely preserved due to the lack of sea termites and the water being less salty here. The ship is now preserved in a museum for all to see. It is absolutely incredible - of the style we would generally consider a "pirate ship" and presented complete with only certain pieces of wood replaced to help with the integrity of the ship. The museum was darkly lit, and the ship is very large, so good photography was a challenge. Here's what we saw.

Next we were driven to the old town. We were given a walking tour, but given our headset problems this wasn't very informative. Also by now it had started to rain making it less pleasant.

We were given one hour spare time to look around, then we were to meet back to be returned to the ship. We decided to depart the tour, opting to walk back to the ship ourselves.

The walk around gave us the opportunity to discover some nice shops, including a lovely cycle shop which specialised in high quality cycle gear. Here we saw a cycle air-bag helmet, which is worn around the neck and deploys to surround the head in the case of an accident. Also they had a really nice wooden bicycle frame made in Lithuania, all ready to add components and wheels to make your own bike. I bought some nice fingerless leather gloves there.

We stopped for lunch in a shop that was pretty much randomly chosen by us. It turned out to be the oldest cafe in Stockholm, established in 1785. It was very nice inside, the service was fantastic, and the food was nice (always a bonus!).

The walk back to the ship wasn't pleasant, the rain had become heavier and the day colder. It took about an hour walking along the port area, past various ferry and cruise terminals, before we were back on our ship. We dried off and relaxed for about 2 hours before departure. We sat on our balcony as we cruised out of the harbour, seeing a few sights. We then went for an early dinner so we could return to our balcony.

We sailed about 6pm, and it would be about 10pm before we passed through the narrow shipping lane, all the way out to open sea. Although it was cold and wet, the views were beautiful and we were followed out by two other ships. A nice way to end the day.

Our visit to Stockholm was hampered by weather and the tour itself. I am sure sure that given another opportunity, there would be plenty to see here. Certainly visiting by ship is probably a more complete experience sailing through the Archipelago than travelling in and out by plane.

Tomorrow is a sea day, as it takes two days to get to Kiel, Germany. A welcome break, after all this is a holiday!