Not Visby, Sweden Again

Hello from not Visby, Sweden. Again.

I was up early watching our approach. The temperature felt warmer but the wind was just as strong as it was on Sunday when we didn't make it the first time. 

The bridge cam shows how close we were to getting in

The marinetraffic.com map shows how hard we tried

It was not to be. We should feel lucky we even got a second chance at the port. I can't remember ever missing a port and then in the same cruise going back and trying again. But this cruise itinerary was a bit different as we had extra sea days with nowhere to go. If I recall, at least one day was originally scheduled for St. Petersburg. We all know what happened there, so we wound up with extra time on our hands and only a couple hundred miles between our port stop in Estonia and tomorrow's in Latvia. So the second attempt at Visby was, well, attempted.

The final word came during breakfast and as soon as it was announced I knew how I was going to spend my day.

I sat on the balcony and dozed off in my chair right after breakfast. Ever fall asleep sitting up and your head jerks forward or jerks back? Yeah, that happened more than once. I wouldn't be surprised if I was snoring out there, too. Once I woke up from that little nap I changed into shorts and my swimsuit top and headed back out for the day. Lunch rolled around soon enough, and since the port day turned into a sea day the dining room was serving lunch. Not one to ever step foot in a cruise ship dining room anymore, I ordered in. Why do I skip the dining room? Check out the blog post from 2018 explaining it.

Lasagna with a view

Speaking of food, yesterday was the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. I didn't pay close attention but the cutoff for an invite was 500+ days. We had the previous Captain Circle host Patrizia at our table but this was the last one she will be attending. The luncheon is now hosted by the future cruise consultant who is taking on loyalty duties, too. Thankfully the nice menu hasn't changed.

Crunchy coating on the prawns

The rosemary wound up being important

As usual, desserts are beautiful

And as usual, I couldn't smell or taste a thing. Except...the rosemary sprigs. While it didn't taste like rosemary, I could tell there was some kind of flavor to it unlike every other thing I eat that still tastes like toilet water.

Tomorrow we'll be in Riga, Latvia. Like I said before, it's an amazing itinerary. See you then!

Keeping track of my progress on tastes and smells: 1. Maple fudge tasted sweet. 2. Rosemary tasted like something other than toilet water. 3. Lavender sachet smelled like lavender. 

Tallin, Estonia

Hello from Tallin! 

A windy walk down the pier

All week crew members have been talking about what a beautiful town Tallin was, yet I knew from my research it was going to be difficult for someone with mobility issues. So as soon as I climbed aboard the Hop On, Hop Off bus today I gave myself a little pep talk. Take it all in. Be okay with whatever happens. Appreciate the opportunity. Whatever you decide to do, it'll be enough. Those words would most definitely come in handy.

I first did the entire bus route while listening to the recorded narration. Estonia was not only under Nazi Germany control during World War II, but when Germany retreated Estonia fell under Soviet rule until 1991. The past history of Estonia certainly made the bus commentary different than most other tours I've taken. 

On the tour we drove on the outskirts of the old town, saw new and modern buildings in the newer part of town, and even drove through a forest.

Towers of flowers

Estonian Maritime Museum

Freedom Square

I liked how the new mirrored building reflected the
older building across the street.

Maarjamae War Memorial honors the Soviets who helped
defend Estonians against Germany during World War II

Tallin TV Tower was built to help provide communications
for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games

Of course I had to get my signs, statues, and sculptures in the picture, too.

Look like extra large rolls of toilet paper, don't they?

Now all of that was the easy part. The Tallin the crew members were raving about wasn't accessible by bus, but you could get dropped off at the bottom or the top. On a second loop around on the HOHO bus I chose to get off at the top of the old town.

Ooh, it's going to get pretty

But first, a rough sidewalk and a steep incline.

UGH

I managed the first hill by dragging Scooter up it and even made my way down a side road (with Scooter carrying me) to get a better view of the Toompea Castle.

Once there I had only two choices - gravel or stairs - so I had to turn around.

Hmm...which way do I go?

Up another incline - again dragging Scooter along beside me - I came upon a Russian Orthodox Church, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. (Check out how quickly the weather changed in the time it took me to drag Scooter from one side of the building to the other. Yeah, yeah, I'm super slow.)

Across the street was the Parliament of Estonia.

Up the hill farther looked really interesting.

But when I looked at the sidewalk

and then the steepness of the incline...

I decided not to try it. I looked all over for alternative routes to take but there wasn't anything I could manage on the scooter. Now what was I supposed to remember? Okay...

Take it all in. 

Be okay with whatever happens. 

Appreciate the opportunity. 

Whatever you decide to do, it'll be enough.

And it will have to be. 

I did stop by the terminal building on the way back to the ship to pick up some bling for the scooter and found some interesting bathrooms. I have absolutely no idea which one is which. Glad I didn't have to go!

Maybe the boy on the left and girl on the right?

We have a much needed sea day coming up tomorrow as well as the Most Traveled Luncheon. Then on Friday the ship will be making a run back over to Visby, Sweden in hopes the weather will let us make land, unlike our first try on Sunday. See you then!

Stockholm, Sweden - Day 2

Hello from a second day in Stockholm, Sweden! 

All aboard was at 1:30 PM so to make the most of the day it was going to need to start early. For me it began at about 6:30 AM on the balcony. The Viking ferry had just arrived full of passengers and their cars, and truck drivers and their trucks. Vehicles were going here, there, and everywhere, both leaving the ferry and lining up to join the ferry. 

The wind was cool and brisk but you can tell by the blue skies it might be a good day to do one more trip around on the HOHO bus. 

Such an organized process

By the time I got back from breakfast the clouds had started moving in. And the Hop On, Hop Off line was getting long.

It still wouldn't have kept me from another ride around the city, but Scooter did. He was having a bit of trouble yesterday trying to go up the ramp when we came back on the ship. Then this morning he wouldn't turn left. 

I'm sure it was a combination of things: 

*The gravel issue we encountered in Seydisfjordur, Iceland

*The buckled and uneven pavers we drove over in Honningsvag, Norway

*The muddy muck we ran into in Trondheim, Norway

*The metal ramps we climbed as we worked our way to the top of the cloudy mountaintop in Andalsnes, Norway

*The hills and constant cobblestones we encountered in Borholm, Denmark

*And the wet pavement we had to drive over here in Stockholm, Sweden yesterday

Geez, the guy has been through a lot! Since left turns are kind of an important thing I decided to stay on the ship and do some scooter maintenance. I covered the table with a pool towel and put him on top and took things apart and cleaned things up. Although I replaced the drive belt right before this trip - and it still looks good now - I took a chance and tightened the tension. I did some donuts in the cabin and I am optimistic we're all set. Fingers crossed.

That left me the rest of the morning and early afternoon for sitting in the sun and watching the happenings on the dock. Did you know there are trucks that move trailers around and then the driver turns his seat around and drives the other way to pick up the next load?

He's sitting in the cab facing (and driving) in the direction of the arrow. Wow.

My in-the-sun time on the balcony continued as we sailed away. To sail out of Stockholm the ship has to navigate hours worth of waterways. Such a pretty way to get in and out of a city. Here are just a few of the photos I took along the way.

Someone is eating on their balcony and its not me. 
Dang seagulls.

Tomorrow we'll be in Tallin, Estonia. It's another port where I had a no-you-can't-go accessible tour scheduled so I'll be coming up with something else to do. See you then!