Northern European Capitals 2023

  A beautiful morning for our last port of call. A bit cool to start, about 14C, but sunny. We have an earlier tour, 8:30am start. A quick breakfast and down to the lounge to the meeting spot. It’s about a 30-minute drive from the port of Zeebrug into Brugge. The bus drops us at the south end of town, and we start our walking tour. Our group is 30 people, but they have the whisper sets so easy to hear the guide at all times. Brugge is such a beautiful medieval town with its churches, lovely buildings, gardens, narrow streets and canals. After walking for about an hour, we had a canal boat tour for about 45 minutes. It’s nice to have the views both from the water and from the streets. After our boat ride we continued our walking tour for about another hour, going to the Markt at the centre of town. This is a large square surrounded with impressive buildings. There are lots of stores selling lace, waffles and chocolate amongst other souvenirs. We then walked back through the stre...

  This is another of Azamara's signature events. It's a deck barbeque and party, and they ask people to wear white, or at least something white. We really weren't sure if they would be able to hold it outside as the weather was so changeable. But it cleared in late afternoon though it was fairly cold. So we wrapped up in blankets and headed out to the pool deck. We were still going through the lock and the harbour and had some great views of the waves on the breakwater and parasailers. The food at the barbeque was fantastic, and once the music started we got up to dance and warmed up. A fun event.

  This morning we had our first real rain (meaning rain that we were out walking in) Fairly cool as well, about 15C so we weren't in a rush to get going. After breakfast Karen, Aaron and I ventured out to Rembrandt House museum. It was about a 30 minute walk from the pier, and the streets were not busy. Entrance fee was 17.50 EUR (about $26.00CAD) and included locker fee and headsets and audio presentation. It was great to be able to take off our jackets and leave our wet umbrellas behind as we toured the house. They had a great set up showing the rooms as they appeared in Rembrandt's time, and showing many of his paintings and etchings. There was also a demonstration of how he would have made his pigments, and another on how the etchings were done. We learned a lot about his life and what it was like to live in those times. Well worth doing! By the time we got out of the museum the sun was shining and the streets were full. We stopped for a beer, fries with mayonnaise and some...

 We have a lazy morning as we're not getting into Amsterdam until 6pm. The skies are overcast with sunny breaks. And the North Sea is calm as a mill-pond! A light breakfast, then Karen and I walk around the decks for a while. About 19C. Still lots of wind farms and some oil rigs. Lots of freighter traffic. After catching up on some work I went to the "Excom Q & A" where senior officers answer questions from the guests. Always really interesting. Then Ian and I went to a beginners Salsa lesson. It was fun, but I think we'll need more instruction before hitting the dance floor. Then time for a light lunch followed by some work on the blog while I listened to a port lecture I had missed. By that time we were approaching the coast of Holland, so I went back up on deck. The route into Amsterdam is really interesting. We went through a lock big enough to hold us, a river barge and a small freighter. Then about a 2 hour cruise up the river to the port. This is a mainly i...

  The Kiel Canal is 96 km long, and provides a short cut from the Baltic to the North Sea. And it's like we were on a River Cruise for 1 day as we had land on both sides of us from early morning till about 4pm. It's a beautiful sunny morning, a little on the cool side if you're in the wind, but warm enough to have breakfast on the outside deck.  There is a lock on each end, but for the rest of the time we glided along at a top speed of 6 1/2 knots. We passed many small towns and farms, a few industrial areas and larger towns. There is lots of freighter traffic, and many sailboats transiting through. Some areas there are ferries to take cars and people across. The paths along the side seem to be very popular with walkers and cyclists.  There are about 5 bridges that we went under, not much room to spare! As a matter of fact for some the captain had to fold the antenna down. Most cruise ships are too big to go through the Kiel Canal, and I believe that we are the first this...

  Once again it seems to have rained overnight. This morning is cloudy and a bit cool but dry. We started entering Warnemunde harbour around 7am. The MSC Poesia, 3300 passenger cruise ship was already at dock. Another busy harbour, but much more for pleasure craft. And Warnemunde which is a suburb of Rostock is right there as you get off the ship.  Most of the others were on shore excursions, so I had a relaxed breakfast then headed for Rostock. The train station is less than a 10 minute walk. You can buy a single ticket for 2.80 EUR from the machine on the platform, and the trains go about every 15 minutes. The ride itself takes about 20 minutes. On the same ticket you can change to a tram at the main station and in a couple of minutes you're in the Neuer Markt or main square. Rostock was rebuilt in the old style after being mainly destroyed in WW2. There is a long pedestrian street running from Neuer Markt to Kropeliner Tor, a six storey gate. Most of the old city walls are ...