Skagen, Denmark

Hello from Skagen! 

View from my balcony

2:33 AM view from my balcony

I distinctly remembered three things from my pre-trip research on Skagen. 

1. It's pronounced Skay-en. 

2. It's the northernmost town in Denmark. 

3. Most buildings are painted yellow.

I was hoping to get to see all those yellows but my accessible tour was cancelled on this cruise, too. According to the ship only those completely confined to wheelchairs ever get the privilege of having accessible transportation. Well, &*#&%$ you Princess, I'll be Ms. Independent and do my own thing without your help. 

There was a shuttle being offered to the center of town for $5. When I showed up to get a ticket at the information center right next to the ship, the line was through the building, out the door, and down the stairs. 

Taken after I got back. No line now.

As I'm not a fan of long lines especially when people are hovering over me as I sit quietly on my scooter, I decided to get to town on my own. (Good thing I didn't wait in line - I found out later their transportation wasn't accessible either.)

Thankfully the path to town was well marked. 

Cruise City? Maybe something was lost in translation.

It wouldn't be an adventure if I didn't run into my nemesis, the cobblestones. Here in Skagen the pavement changed multiple times in just a few short feet. 

Attentive driving required

And just when I thought I could get settled into something looking like a smooth ride I would find the pavers winding up uneven and bumpy. 

The ups and downs of any kind of bumpy pavement is a battery drainer

As I wandered around today I found lots of those Skagen yellows.

If they weren't painted yellow it pretty much meant they were made from brick instead.

What else did I discover? 

Shop and restaurant awnings make for great cover when the heavy rains begin...

"Probably" the best beer? At least they were honest

Right after the first rainstorm passed

A Roomba lawnmower?... 

I'm not sure it was mowing anything

A cool looking friend mannequin...

A bofsandwich is sort of like a hamburger with gravy poured all over it...

A new bike for me...

Maybe not. Scooter might get jealous.

Colorful rhododendrons in bloom...

Colorful boats like I saw in Honningsvag, Norway. And they are hard to see, but what looks like fishermen's cabins like I saw in the Lofoten Islands in Norway...

Colorful green gunk in the water not far from the pier...

I also found my translator app is sometimes of no use...

Not a clue if those are letters or words at the top

Then there was this. A statue best encapsulating how Scooter and I feel about cobblestones. And hills, gravel, and rain. And mud. Definitely mud.

I looked at the map when I got back and tried to retrace my route. I'm disappointed I didn't get farther but once the first battery flashed yellow I decided it was time to switch to the backup and make my way to the ship. It was a fun day anyway.

Tomorrow we are in Haugesund, Norway. It was a month ago when I visited there for the first time but I'm planning on doing something different this time. It'll sure be nice to already have my bearings on the port area and on the city. See you then!

Copenhagen, Denmark

Hello from a very rainy Copenhagen!

Boy, it rained today.

The Weather Channel’s radar pretty much told the story of the day 

How hard and long did it rain? Enough to make the Lido deck pretty much unusable…

Hard and long enough that the reflection in the standing water on Deck 15 some six hours later looked like a lake in Norway…

Hard enough to remove the polish from my balcony tables….

Hard and long enough to still leave puddles in my lounger hours after the rain stopped.

With the weather as it was I opted to stay onboard. Until I saw a little bit of blue sky.

Since I didn’t get any Denmark bling for Scooter when we were in Bornholm (I won’t forget that difficult day!) I briefly left the ship for a few minutes to buy a sticker. I found there was a little souvenir stand just across the way.

Yeah, not too exciting of a day. I did have a little dinner at Sabatini’s with the garlic bread, lasagna, and Ferrero Rocher dessert making the perfect texture combination for when you can’t taste things.

So where are we heading this trip? With Liverpool being removed we’ll be seeing Denmark and Norway and Iceland and Scotland. Some new ports and finally a few repeats for me.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Skagen, Denmark. Here’s hoping the weather clears. 

See you then.

Gdynia, Poland

Hello from Poland! 

Early morning view of Gdynia from my balcony

On our itinerary this port was listed as "Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland". When two cities are listed it is hard to know exactly where you will be landing until you get there. Today we were docked in the industrial port near the city of Gdynia with Gdansk being another hour away from here. 

Ship tours going to Gdansk and beyond

Everyone is off the ship exploring

My plan was to avoid long drives and stay local but the only shuttle we could take went to the mall. Me? In a mall? The last time I was in a mall was when I was a mall walker way back when. I'm not a shopper but I am a people watcher (and being around a new language, a people listener) so I knew I'd be able to salvage the day. If the bus could accommodate a scooter, that is.

Who would have guessed Poland would be the very first port with a special shuttle just for wheelchairs and scooters? Heck, Princess won't let me ride on their accessible transportation but Poland will? Yahoo!

My chariot awaits after my day at the mall

The Centrum Handlowe Riviera (Riviera Shopping Center) is filled with 250 shops and 30 restaurants and cafes. It even had a grocery store inside! Filled with locals, the mall made for great people watching and listening. And even some picture taking.

Finally, no cobblestones!

Takes patience to get a photo with no people in it

Lots of sales today

Looks like the photo is backward, doesn't it?
Nope, the name of the shop is written this way.

As I said when I was processing our back to back visits to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a mall is a mall is a mall. Just like there, I found some of the same stores and familiar brands in Poland as elsewhere in the world. I even stumbled upon The Body Shop where I think the lady working there thought I was nuts. Still desperately hoping to be able to smell something post-Covid I kept spraying different fragrance testers up and down my arms. Only two registered for me - strawberry and pine - but I'll take it as a sign I'm improving.

I also visited the clean handicapped restroom where I figured since I learned to wash my hands in Norwegian when I was in the Lofoten Islands last month I might as well learn how to wash my hands in Polish, too.

Near the restrooms the mall had free lockers to store coats and bags while you're shopping. The directions were in Polish, English, and Russian. 

When in Rome do as the Romans do, right? Well then when in Poland do as the Polish do and do your grocery shopping. The Auchan store had just about anything you might need. It reminded me of a Walmart Supercenter but with a much larger number of selections. I didn't buy anything but had fun looking at all the choices. 

This entire wall all the way to the end is cheese

Mustards galore

Fish in jars? Oh, yeah.

I can't recall the last time I've seen such red strawberries and tomatoes. The prices of everything were good, less than my husband's paying at home right now, for sure.

Today was more of a local experience rather than a tourist experience. Who is lucky enough to say that about their day in Poland?!

Tomorrow is a much needed sea day with Wednesday being a turnaround day and a new cruise starting in Copenhagen, Denmark. See you then.

Return of tastes and smells post-Covid: 

Tastes - Maple fudge

Smells - Rosemary, lavender, brief whiff of sunscreen on my face, strawberry body spray, pine body spray