Bornholm, Denmark

Hello from Rønne,
a town on the island of Bornholm,
in the country of Denmark. 

View from the ship

Here comes the afternoon rain

To get here from Southampton we had to pass under the Great Belt Bridge last night, the used-to-be second longest suspension bridge in the world. (According to Wikipedia it has now moved to #6.)

Beautiful evening for sailing under

My plan today originally included taking a bus around the island but with the unknown about whether I could take the scooter or not, I took my time leaving the ship and went into town instead. A free shuttle bus was available to take passengers to the church so I ventured my way there only to find out I couldn't go on it, either.

Sorry, no place for scooter, not even underneath

Thankfully I had spent some time after breakfast watching the going ons in the port area... 

You can get an idea of how big these wind turbine blades are
by the size of the teeny tiny people in the bottom left hand corner

and spied a bus that look more compatible.

Bring on the scooter - we'll even put the ramp down for you!

It dropped passengers off at the bottom of the church. Later I found it also dropped off in town. Darn.

At this halfway point Scooter said no more and
I had to drag him up the rest of the way

Whew, that was a workout

With all the cobblestone and steps I didn't even see if I could venture inside. So I grabbed my map and tried to figure out where I was and how to get to town.

Not much help

Even the text didn't help much

Sign isn't going to help either. Terminal means ferry, not cruise ship.

So I just wandered, trying decide which way to go. I wound up just following people instead of trying to forge my own path.

No matter which way I turned or who I followed, it was very extremely terribly tremendously difficult. Because of this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

Cobblestones were EVERYWHERE. 

A very brief respite before the cobblestones started again

I thought I might be at a Vietnam war protest by what Scooter was trying to tell me again and again:

Hell, No, We Won't Go!

The only thing making the adventure worthwhile was something I stumbled upon. I mean, followed a crowd to.

The European Street Market travels the summer through Denmark and this just happened to be the week it was in Rønne. Lucky us! Not so lucky for me was it was held in an area of nothing but cobblestones. It was crowded with locals with their kids (and dogs) so while I ventured by every stall, I didn't get pictures of everything. Lots of free samples were being given and I was able to partake in a few. With my smeller and taster still broken, it all tasted and smelled the same - with two exceptions. I could tell the maple fudge was sweet, and the lavender sachets smelled like lavender. Maybe I have a first step in my taste and smell coming back???

So much bruschetta

Salami and sausages

I don't know what kind this was but I tried it

Another stall of salami. They looked so good!

Add some cheese with the salami

Throw in some bread and I could be in heaven.
I think these were sweets, though.

I can taste sweet maple. Yay!

Beautiful chocolates

Colorful nuts and fruits

I couldn't smell their soaps but could smell their sachet

Today was by far the most difficult day of the trip. The constant roughness of the cobblestones not only required Scooter's motor, but my feet and legs to get him through it. By the time I got back to the ship I could hardly move. The combination of a long, hot, almost-scalding shower and ibuprofen and acetaminophen helped relax things enough where I could at least order dinner in. I'll keep my feet up for the rest of the night and hope I'll be ready for tomorrow when we'll be in Visby, Sweden. We're supposed to have some rough weather coming up, but I'll be there figuring something out anyway!

Apologies for any errors. I'm a hurtin' and can't think straight. I already found about a dozen typos I corrected and wouldn't be surprised if there were several more.

Southampton Turnaround and a New Cruise

Hello from Southampton! If it looks more like a Journey concert on the big screen by the pool on a windy and cloudy day you’d be right.

Wonder what my 16 year old self listening to Journey in her bedroom
would think of where her almost 60 year old self is listening today?

Today most guests are disembarking and a whole new bunch will be joining us. Since I had to change cabins again (for the last time, yay) I was without a home for a few hours so I camped out by the pool for a chunk of the day. Bring on the fresh air! The sun popped out here and there, enough to give me a bit of sunburned face.

Cleaning my new cabin and setting things up took the rest of the afternoon. I disinfected handles and knobs and flat surfaces. Unpacked the suitcase and organized my drawers for the next two months. Worked up a sweat, even.

I cooled off just enough to change clothes and have a quick dinner in Sabatini’s. Food is all about texture for me these days so bread, lasagna, and their Rocher chocolate dessert checked off all the variety boxes. Creamy, chewy, crunchy, smooth, coarse, hot, and cold all in one small meal.

With a full belly I made my way onto the balcony to get more fresh air and watched boats dashing about. I had to look this one up - it’s a hovercraft ferry. Who knew?

So, where are we going on this cruise? It’s an amazing itinerary.

We have a couple of sea days ahead of us and then we’ll be in Bornholm, Denmark on July 1. By the looks of my calendar it’ll be a whirlwind of a month.

See you in Denmark in a few days!

Edinburgh, Scotland

Hello from Edinburgh! 

Can't see much from the picture, can you?
It's because we're anchored offshore.

Today the ship's tenders took us to Newhaven Harbour. There is plenty to see in the area, but I had to go all the way into downtown Edinburgh for my task of the day.

Remember the other day I planned on buying a new iPhone charger cable onboard to replace the one that broke? Well, the ship doesn't carry any such thing. Thankfully a person working at guest services took pity on a panicked guest (me) and let me borrow her extra cable for a couple days until I could get my own. 

Thanks to the charger situation the calm, quiet, and stillness I was working on was replaced with anxiety. I got through it - and today - by reminding myself of something I read years ago on a friend's blog:

"If I won't remember it in 10 years, or if it will make a good story, then don't waste time stressing over it today."

~Yellow Fish Cruises

(Now go read her blog at https://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com. Everything I learned about extended travel came from her.)

I survived my day. I got my charger cable.

Onshore. (After a bumpy tender ride.) 

At the Apple Store. (I've never been in an Apple Store before. They were so nice!)

In Downtown Edinburgh, Scotland. (It's summer and the streets were packed.) 

Not by taxi. (Wasn't sure they would wait.)

Not by public transportation. (Scooters aren't allowed on their busses. No ADA here.)

Hop on, Hop off to the rescue. Blue bus to the transfer station at Waterloo Place. Wheel two blocks away to find the Apple Store. With the purchase secure in my jacket pocket I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. 

Wheel back to the transfer station and take the Green bus for a tour of the city. The Green bus had live commentary instead of the recording. Cool, right? Well...I've never been to Scotland before. I don't know anyone from Scotland. And I have no experience in listening to a Scottish accent. Add in him talking as fast as he did, I barely could figure out what he was saying. I got some words - castle, Harry Potter, church. So I did what I do best, I took pictures of things I found interesting whether they were important or not.

I started with businesses. 

Beautiful building for a mattress store

Florist prepping deliveries

Must be too early in the day for outdoor seating

Colorful storefronts

You can have tea, coffee, and cake with the kitties!

Then it was old buildings. 

Statues.

I also got into colorful doors.

I took way too many pictures today. And to think, I probably wouldn't have gone into the city if it wasn't for the dang anxiety-provoking no-charger situation!

There's a park in the city, too

So. Many. People.

We have a sea day tomorrow and we'll wind up back in Southampton on Wednesday for turnaround day. See you then!