Belgium to Denmark!

We’re a few days into the Baltic cruise now, today is a sea day which is nice because I was able to sleep in, and catch up on some reading and journaling! Wow! I sound like an old timer I’m so used to cruising now! Anyways here is an update on the ports I have just been to in the Baltic seas.

The first stop was Belgium to the port of Zeebrugge, which means “Bruges at the sea”. I did a tour which took us into Bruges which was so beautiful! The old town was once the center of all of Europe and is a world heritage site. There were amazing old churches and palaces, and many canals. We took a canal tour through the city where we passed a Belgium brewery and you could smell the hops from the boat. Bruges was very picturesque, and lovely to walk around in. There is a church that holds a “Madonna and Child”, the only Michelangelo taken out of Italy. I bought lots of Belgium chocolates too. All the chocolate shops sold little boxes with pretty ribbons and gave out yummy samples.

Next stop was Bremerhaven, Germany. I took a tour to Hamburg, which is the 2nd largest port in all of Europe, next to Amsterdam. However I didn’t know until I was on the coach, that the drive was 3 hours each way to Hamburg. It was awful, but I did manage to sleep sitting up for a bit! Once in the city, which was huge, I went and got a typical German meal which consisted of a bratwurst sausage and fries. There was a beautiful city hall with a nice courtyard, and a huge mall nearby that I wandered through. On the way home we passed many rich areas near Alster River and Alster Lake. The homes were amazing. Hamburg is a very big wealthy city, I guess it’s all the cars they make and export.

Kristiansand, Norway was a very nice place to visit. From the port you can walk right into town, where the land is surrounded by the sea on both sides. There is an indoor fish market and lots of outdoor restaurants by the water. In the water swam beautiful swans and heaps of orange jellyfish, the type that sting! Everything in Norway is very expensive, for example a postcard is 9 Norweigan Kroners, equal to $2, and a coffee is about $7. In the afternoon I had a tour to the town of Lillesand, and then took a boat tour from Scottevik back to Kristiansand. We passed all the little coastal islands, where all the Norweigans have summer holiday homes. It started to rain, but later the sun came out and the viewing was much better. All the families waved from their patios and boats as we sailed by!

Yesterday we were in Copenhagen, Denmark, one of my favorites! In the morning we quickly went into town, where I grabbed a Danish hot dog which was delicious! We also walked along Nyhavn, the famous canal street with many boats, and tall coloured buildings! I was here last year so I decided to take a tour out of town. We rode on a vintage coach to the town of Lyngby, where we caught a boat from 1896 named the Prins Christian. We cruised around the lakes and later had tea and Danish pastries in Frederiksdal. The lakes were beautiful with lily pads, swans, and many families out canoeing, and kayaking.

I am having an absolutely amazing time on the cruise. There are not many kids/teens this cruise so I have the chance to escort on many tours! Tomorrow we are in Stockholm!