So much has happened over the last few days and it is hard to keep this blog up to date. The basic problem is that the days are so long and as a result we are active for so many hors that it is hard to find time to record our doings.
Our next port of call after St. Petersberg was Visby. This was a cute little town on the Swedish islano of Goteburg. It is still surounded by its medieval walls and has a number of medieval houses still remaining in its narrow cobblestone streets. It is a pretty city and well worth a few hours.
Our day in Berlin was an interesting one, but a long one. We travelled by train through the old East Germany for about 3 hours watching the passing scenery. There was a lot of plain looking buildings and run down places along the railway line. Much of the country was forrested and we could see the occasional deer along the way.
Berlin was really pumping with World Cup activity – especially since they were playing Cnoatia on the day that we were in town. We drove in from the station through the old Russian sector of Berlin, seeing the soviet style apartments that were meant to be palaces for the workers but were only occupied by communist party members and officials. Our tour took us to the Reichstagt and climbed the new modern dome for a view over the city. Berlin looks like is one large construction site. It looks to be a grand city with a lot of large impressive buildings. It would be a good place to revisit in a few years once it is completed (lf ever).
I was looking forward to seeing the Brandernburg Gate and while it is very impressive, it was somewhat hidden behind all the football bunting. In the afternoon we did a little tour of the city and took a rlver boat tour along the River Spree (I don’t think that I would have previously known the name of the rlver on which Berlin is situated).
I think that we need to spend some more time here. A better time to returr would be when the city wasn’t so busy or so hot. It was 33 degrees which made it very hot to walk around – especially by the time we were at Checkpoint Charlie and the site of the Berlin Wall by late afternoon. It was 9 pm before we got back to the ship and it had been a very long and hot day.
Our final port on our cruise was the Danish city of Aarhus. This was a university town and mostly unremarkable. It did however have a very interesting outdoor museum of old houses from all over Denmark.
We said goodbye to everyone on our tour when we returned to Ccpenhagen on Thursday (22nd) ard headed off in different directions. We are going to a little vlllage in Norway called Kragero where Jill’s great grandfather was born.
