A trip to the Baltic leaves you with a feeling of wonderment of unexpected beautiful scenery and great preserved medieval cities.  Along with very modern life.

     Since the warm weather of summer has a very short season, the populations of Baltic cities are taking advantage of every hour of daylight.  And lots of hours there are, the sun sets about 11pm and arises about 2 or 3am!!  So bring your eye shades for a good night's sleep.  Everyone is outdoors and there are plenty of cafes lining the streets for people watching and absorbing the fine warm weather.

     Ray and I cruised the Baltic region with Silversea Cruises on the Silver Whisper, a ship of about 300 passengers and equal number of crew.  The smaller ships have a lot of advantages over the large ones, and on this trip, the most predominate advantage was in St. Petersburg.  Our ship was docked right in the center of the city, just a 10 minute walk to the Hermitage, whereas, our other companion ships were docked at the port of St. Petersburg and at least an hour of bus travel away.  It really is wonderful feature when you are in a destination for three days.

     The easiest way to define the uniqueness of Silversea Cruises is by what they DON'T do.  No photographers each time you visit a port, no pirate nights, no constant "happy" announcements from the cruise director, no bingo, horse races, ice carvings, napkin tying or art auctions.  It was a pleasantly quiet cruise with enlightenment lectures, wine tasting and stimulating conversations with more international and discerning passengers.  Ports of call that are not overrun with t-shirts and trinkets (although the vendors in St. Petersburg were a lot of fun). Dining is open, no first or second seating, more tables for two, complimentary wines and bar throughout, no tipping.  It's like being on your own trip with no crowds that you're stuck with, but yet a five star hotel and personal transportation and small groups with a private guide.

      If you would like more information on Silversea Cruises, contact Ray.  Slide shows of this trip are found at the bottom of this article. 

      Copenhagen, Denmark -  Since it has only been a year since our last visit to Copenhagen, we skipped sightseeing in the city and decided on a venture outside to tour the Fredricksborg Castle, before going to the ship.  After taking the S-tog (train) to Hillerod, we walked to the castle.  The castle visit was exceptional since it was not crowded and especially no school kids, like we encountered in the Normandy Beach Museum during spring break of this year.

     After returning to Copenhagen we took a cab ride to the Langeline Pier where we would board the Silversea Cruises Silver Whisper.  Our luggage was immediately taken and re-appeared in our stateroom before we did.  THAT WAS A FIRST !!  We were personally escorted all the way to our cabin, with a stop for a glass of champagne, and to check in and take security pictures.  As expected with Silversea we were never left to be confused of what to do next.

     Of course we had a bottle of champagne, Moet and Chandon, in our cabin. The champagne was continuously replenished throughout the week.  Dinner turned out to be a quiet affair, as we dined in the specialty dinning room, but only by ourselves.  This ship staff assumes you want your privacy and I'm sure many of the patrons did.  We would prefer to meet others, so for the remainder of the cruise, we have dined in the main restaurant and started a group table.

     The first day was our luxurious day at sea.   I started the day with an aromatic body scrub and wrap in the spa.  Oh, I felt so clean and my skin so soft.  80 minutes of treatment, what a luxury.  We also caught a wine tasting demonstration which was fun and informative.  Dinner was very enjoyable as we meet Bill from Florida, a musician onboard, and Ilona, who is the ship's hostess.  Ilona speaks 12 languages and has a masters in cultural anthropology.  The third couple was Peter and Sybil from Germany, a very talkative and lively couple.  Later we actually attended the show, which was a ballet style floor show.  Either jetlag or the steady rocking of the ship made us both so sleepy, so we went to bed early.  As we had a balcony, we opened the door to the fresh outdoors and slept to the sound of the ocean.

     Helsinki, Finland, what a wonderful, surprising city.  Very clean and well laid out.  The architecture is very plain, but beautiful in it's own way. The weather was nice and sunny, which made it warm if you were out of the breezes.  Many people were out and enjoying the numerous street cafes and strolling the wide, tree lined boulevards.  Just up from our pier was a market with lots of handicrafts for sale, as well as local fish meals.

     Although we only had the day, it was enough to get a good feel of the city.  We did a three hour orientation tour of the city and then had the afternoon for ourselves.  Lunch was local cuisine, which I had the pickled herring and potatoes, and Ray had a baked potato with reindeer mush.  I loved the herring as it was sweet rather than vinegar, but I was not impressed by the reindeer stuffing of Ray's.  It was in some kind of cold sauce, which we think may have been yogurt.

     We again had a lively dinner, catching up with Peter and Sybil, and also meeting Dave and Doris, from California.  Doris is originally from Hawaii and Japanese descent.  We laughed a lot and discussed European economy, immigration and other "hot" political issues.  That's to be expected with Germans, but it was all in good fun.

     The next 3 days were devoted to St. Petersburg, Russia.  The city is certainly impressive. Massive buildings, yet no more than four or five floors high, but they sprawl.  The city has numerous rivers and canals, the Venice of the North, or perhaps a touch of Amsterdam.  It's also a very clean city, no trash on the streets, but many buildings are in need of renovations.  St. Petersburg just celebrated their 300-year birthday.  From the world-famous Hermitage art museum to the fountains and gardens of the Peterhof Palace to the reproductions of intricate carvings in the Amber Room in Empress Catherine's Palace, St Petersburg has never been so freshly turned our, except, perhaps, in its founding days.

     The city highlight tour, that included a ride on a canal boat to see the city from a different perspective.  A good city tour is always a good way to get orientated in a new destination.  We picked up some of the history as well, although most of the tour concerned the buildings.  And impressive they were.  The major sites included St. Issac Church and Square, the Hermitage, the Palace Square, and the Church of the Resurrection.  In the afternoon we visited the summer palace of Peter The Great, the beautiful Peterhof.  Incredible in both size and stature.  The opulence of the times is something to imagine.

     The significant advantage of Silversea, was where our ship was docked.   We were certainly right in the city center rather than being 40 minutes away in the shipyards, where Princess and Crystal as well as others, were docked.  To put this is a better perspective, we could just walk over the Hermitage, while their tours required a 1 hour bus ride.

     Normally visas are required for travel in Russia, but if you are on a cruise and visit the city through the ship's shore excursions, a group visa is issued to the ship and individual visas are not necessary.  There are plenty of excursions to select from that will cover the major attractions and sights, from the ballet, the Hermitage and the great palaces of the czars.  The best trip we took was the home visit, where we had an opportunity to have tea with a middle class Russian couple.  Yulia and Sergi were retired, lived in their state apartment that they now own, and had a son and grandson living in Israel.  They are happy with their lives today, and are comfortable with the changes in Russia now.  They don't have much, but still get some chances to travel a little.

     Following the home visit, we returned back to the ship via the impressive city subway.  Extremely clean, and architecturally wonderful.  Marble, glass sculptured columns, mosaic artworks, murals and statues.  Each station was almost a museum in itself.

     We just about didn't make our visit to Tallinn, Estonia, because of very thick fog.  The captain could not bring the ship into the port, simply because you couldn't see it.  We waited for a few hours, and then finally around 2:30pm an opening appeared and we took the leap.  What an incredibly beautiful small city this is!  The Old Town is the cobbled stone and narrow streets of the 15th century.  The buildings are restored to preserve their history and the walls of the ancient town are intact.  It is a delight to just wander and enjoy the sights.  Our weather was wonderful and being a Sunday, the outdoor cafes were doing a great business.  Estonia is definitely worth a more in-depth return visit.

     We were staying two extra nights in Stockholm, so following our disembarkation, we took a taxi to the old city, known as the_____.  Our hotel, one of only two hotels in the old city, was the Lord Nelson, a nautical themed decor and cozy hotel.  The second hotel, the Lady Victoria, is owned by the same family, who originally bought the hotels for their collection of all things nautical, and their favorite hero, Admiral Nelson.

     Stockholm wins my vote as the best "old city".  I'm so glad we stayed in the old town, although the city itself is easy to get around and if you are lucky to stay at the Grand Hotel, you are only a bridge away.  You need a good two days of touring to see the sites of Stockholm and the easiest way is with the open-bus tours.  You will find these on-off bus tours in most major cities now in Europe and they are the easiest way to see everything.  The tickets usually are for 24 - 48 hours and you get on when and where you want.  There is a running commentary through headsets and in at least six languages.  Visit the city at your pace and stop at the sights that will interest you.  It's also a great form of transportation to get between sites.

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