Exploring the Major Ports on the Baltic Sea

 I booked my first cruise around the Baltic Sea for the summer of 2020, but, as many no doubt remember, that was the first summer of the Covid pandemic and all such trips were cancelled.  One of the most interesting ports on that aborted itinerary was to have been two days in St. Petersburg, Russia with opportunities to visit some of the Czar’s palaces and the Hermitage Museum, reputed to be one of the most beautiful art galleries in the world.  I missed the opportunity since travel to Russia has been off limits since the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent lengthy war.  However, Scott and I did find a Baltic cruise itinerary on a ship we liked --without a stop to visit St. Petersburg—for the summer of 2025.  We spent three days in Stockholm before boarding our ship, the Silver Spirit, and stayed for a couple of days in Copenhagen after disembarking.

Some views of the Baltic Sea, our ship the Silver Spirit, and our veranda stateroom

Although we couldn’t visit, we heard often about Russia’s perceived threat to the other nations that surround the Baltic Sea:  Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, and Denmark.  These nations are often called “The Baltics.”  While a small part of Russia also fronts on the Baltic Sea, rather than being considered part of this loose alliance of nations, Russia is the feared giant of the region.  At different times in their histories, several of the Baltic states have been overrun or controlled by Russia.  A lecturer on our ship said that the Baltic countries are fiercely independent but have reluctantly joined the European Union and NATO for protection; she likened this to a “Sicilian Marriage.”

The guide for our shore excursion in Helsinki, Finland told us that the Ukrainian flag is flying in Finland as a act of solidarity and would continue to do so until the Russians leave Ukraine.  In tiny Estonia, we visited a memorial to the victims of Communist terrorism.  And in Gdansk, Poland, we visited the Solidarity Museum, the shipyard where Lech Walesa and others led a labor movement that eventually (after many brutal crackdowns) led to Poland’s freedom from Communist tyranny and his election as the first president of the new democracy.

Even though the Russian threat was palpable, we had a peaceful time sailing around the Baltic Sea and visiting several interesting cities along the way.  What follows are descriptions and photos of the cities we visited on this trip around the Baltic.

Stockholm, Sweden:  Like Venice, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Copenhagen, Stockholm is a city of islands (seven of them) and canals.  We stayed at the Hotel Reisen, which occupies a renovated historic building on the edge of the Gamla Stan, or Old Town, island.  The area is very walkable, and we enjoyed seeing the Royal Palace and visiting the Nobel Prize Museum there.  We watched the changing of the guards at the palace and enjoyed the interesting exhibits at the Nobel Prize Museum. 

Top left is the "pink church;" bottom left, our hotel; bottom right, the palace as seen from across the river; and top right, the elevator we took to get to a recommended restaurant.

Some exhibits in the Nobel Prize Museum, bottom row:  Lech Walesa's workbench, Herb Simon's chess board, and Malala Yousafzai's shawl.

We rode the ferry to another island to visit the Vasa Museum.  The Vasa was a massive ship, built for Sweden by Dutch shipbuilders in the early 1600s.  The ship was so tall that it listed and sank as it sailed out of port on its maiden voyage.  Several centuries later, it was brought up from the mud, cleaned and restored, and is now housed in a specially-built structure.  While the shipbuilders can’t be credited with building a sea-worthy vessel, their beautiful work can be admired through the various exhibits at the museum.

Top left, the ship; top center, a replica of the ship as it was painted when it sailed; bottom right, a model of how the inside of the ship would have been organized; the other photos are of ship details.

The National Museum was across the canal from our hotel and easily accessed by a bridge.  We didn’t know much about Swedish art, but were captivated by a special exhibit of the works of Hannah Hirsch Pauli, the first woman allowed to study at Stockholm’s Royal Academy.  She grew up in a middle-class Jewish family, married another painter, and spent sixty years creating art.  Other artists featured at the National Museum include Swedish masters Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn.

The National Museum of Sweden, top left.  Paintings by Hanna Hirsch Pauli include the family, the woman in white, and her sons.  The top right photo is a painting by Zorn and the bottom left by Larsson.  The panel in the bottom middle is from a Russian church.

Sailing out of Stockholm, our ship navigated through narrow passageways between the islands, such as the one in the photo below, that dot the sea between Sweden and Finland.

 

Helsinki, Finland:  According to our tour guide, Helsinki was founded by a Swedish king, and Finland was part of Sweden for 600 years.  Sweden lost Finland to Russia in 1809.  The Russians ruled Finland until 1917; at the time of the Russian Revolution, the Finns declared themselves an independent nation.  Signs in Finland are typically in three languages:  Finnish, Swedish, and Russian.  One of the most iconic sites in Helsinki is the Russian Orthodox Church which sits on a high hill.

We learned that sixty percent of the world’s ice-breaking ships are built in Finland.  The Baltic Sea freezes in late September or early October, and ice breaking ships are necessary in that harsh climate.

We elected to take a shore excursion via “waterbus” to Suomenlinna, or Fortress Island.  The Fortress was built in the 18^th century.  While the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also home to about a thousand year-round residents.  At one of the island’s shops, I snapped photos of some of the area’s tourism posters. 

 

Top left photo is of the Russian Orthodox church in Helsinki; the two bottom left photos are of tourism posters.  The remaining photos are of Fortress Island.

Tallinn, Estonia:  Estonia was ruled for many centuries by the Danes who sold the land to the Germans around 1300.  The Germans established a system of serfdom, essentially enslaving the native peoples.  Then the Swedes took over the country and ruled until they lost a war with Russia.  The Russian Czar Peter the Great built a castle in Tallinn.  According to our tour guide, he built a beautiful park around the castle for the use of the local population.  Later, Estonian was conquered by the Danes and then the Swedes.  After World War II, it became part of the USSR.

Tallinn is most known for the Estonian Song Festival which has been held every five years since 1869.  It was to begin the weekend of our visit, but we did not get to observe the gala.  According to our guide, about 30,000 singers from all over the world come to participate in the festival.  Individual cultural groups perform, and, at the end of the festival, all of the participants sing together in a final concert.

We stopped at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism.  Two long walls, depicting “the journey,” are engraved with the names of more than 22,000 Estonians who disappeared between the years of 1940 and 1991.  In the 1940s and 50s tens of thousands of Estonians were deported to Siberia, including all members of Parliament, professors, community and industrial leaders, etc.  Others were murdered or terrorized by the Russian occupiers.

We also walked through Old Town, past the former palace that now houses the Estonian Parliament.   Across the street is the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Alexander Nevski.  The old city has both an Upper Town and a Lower Town.  Evidently these were two different towns and the residents of each hated the others.  Our walk was through the Upper Town, but we stopped to look out over the Lower Town. 

 

Top left, view of Lower Old Town from Upper; bottom left, the palace that now houses Parliment; upper right, walls of the old town, center and bottom right, the Russian Orthodox church.

Riga, Latvia:  We docked at Riga on July 4^th.  To celebrate the American holiday, the restaurant crew prepared an extensive champagne and bloody Mary brunch.  

July 4th extravaganza included, salads, cheeses, nuts, etc., drinks, and a seafood table.  There were also eggs to order.

After eating and drinking too much, we set off on our own to explore Riga.  Like other towns in the region, Riga’s houses and old buildings are colorful and interesting.  We walked around several squares in the Old Town and stopped to admire St. Peter's Church.  We were charmed by the decorative figures added to the yellow house.

 

Gdansk, Poland is a beautiful port city with a proud history.  This was where World War II began when Hitler’s troops fired on the city from the harbor.  What the Nazis didn’t bomb during their occupation, the Russians did when they “liberated” the country.  Nearly 80% of the city’s buildings were destroyed by one army or the other.  However, the people of Gdansk have faithfully restored the buildings to their original beauty.  The 1,000-year-old city is surrounded by a medieval wall set along Poland’s Vistula River which flows from the mountains in the south to the Baltic.  Our shore excursion began on the waterfront and continued with a walking tour of the old city, stopping to admire Neptune's Fountain, the Town Hall (the red brick building), and a large thermometer celebrating physicist Daniel Fahrenheit who invented the mercury thermometer in 1714 and created the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

Top left, city along the Vistula River; bottom left, city walls; bottom middle, memorial to the start of WW II; bottom right, Town Hall; top right, Neptune's fountain; top middle, Farenheit's thermometer.

Our tour continued with a visit to the Solidarity Monument and Museum, located in the Gdansk shipyard where striking workers eventually overthrew the Communist regime.  The exhibits provide a sober recounting of the growth of Solidarity, the brutal repression of the movement by the government, and the eventual establishment of a democratic government with Lech Walesa its first elected president.  We learned that the 82-year-old former president still frequents his office in the Museum, but we didn't see him.  Outside of the museum stands a Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers.  The three 138-feet-tall crosses with anchors on top serve as a memorial to those killed during the 1970 strikes and to other victims of communist oppression.

 

The Monument to the Fallen is on the right; some of the victims are shown in the bottom center photo; the bottom left photo shows Lech Walesa celebrating the victory for democracy; top left, the gateway to the Gdansk shipyards.  The top center photo is a call for solidarity with Ukraine.

Bornholm, Denmark:  The island of Bornholm is about 20 miles from Copenhagen.  We took a shore excursion that drove across the island to the village of Svaneke, known for its craft brewery, glass blowers, and gourmet licorice.  The drive was quite lovely as we passed farms and fields and forests.  Svaneke is a beautiful little fishing village turned artisan community.  One of the more unique aspects of Svaneke is the annual town raffle.  People buy numbers, chickens are thrown onto a grid that looks something like a bingo card, and winners are declared when the chicken shits on one of the numbered squares.

Bottom right, driving across the island; top photos are of Svaneke; bottom left and center photos relate to the chicken poop raffle

We did not get to witness the chicken event, but did enjoy our beer tasting and later a licorice sampling.  We didn’t buy any beer, but learned later in Copenhagen that it is a well-known craft beer.  We did buy some licorice, which disappeared in short order.

 

Copenhagen, Denmark:  Our cruise ended in Copenhagen.  We disembarked and then checked in to 71 Nyhavn Hotel, an historical hotel on one of Copenhagen’s many canals.  We walked to the nearby palace to observe the changing of the guards.  We were unable to see anything there because of the crowds.  Next to the Amalienborg Palace is the beautiful Marble Church (Marmor Kirken).  We stopped for a quick look inside and then continued our walk, and there beside us, were the palace guards who had just gotten off duty.  We enjoyed walking through the gardens of the Rosenborg Palace and later through the courtyard of the Christianborg Palace, which now houses Parliament.

Top left, Amalienborg palace and Marble Church; the right middle photo shows the dome inside the church.  Bottom right photo is of the palace guards marching on the street.  The other three photos on the bottom row are of the Rosenborg palace and gardens.  Top right is the Christianborg palace, now house of parliment.

We spent an afternoon at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum which houses the private collection of Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries.  Jacobsen collected Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts as well as paintings and sculptures by European artists.  In addition to the art it houses, the building itself is quite interesting.  From the rooftop we were able to see the rides at Tivoli Gardens which are located next to the museum.

The building and some of its treasures.  The hippo in from a fountain.  Scott is standing in a room that exhibits some of the hundreds of pieces of sculptures that have been found.

The top left photo of Tivoli Gardens was taken from the roof of the Glyptotek as a storm was blowing in.  The top center sculpture is by Matisse; the other two are by Degas.  The bottom center painting is by Paul Gauguin and the top right by Berte Morisot.  The bottom right is a painting of Mother Denmark by Elisabeth J Baumann.

Our sightseeing in Copenhagen was interrupted several times by heavy rains.  During one such storm, we took cover in a small neighborhood café and ate lunch.  The next day we just braved the storms and got completely soaked even though we had rain jackets.  When the sun came out, so did the locals.  While we were drying out in our hotel room, Scott took a photo of the sunbathers on the plaza across the canal. 

Finding affordable meals is a challenge in Copenhagen, but we stumbled on a fantastic food court, Broens, across the bridge from our hotel.  We ended up eating there both of our nights in Copenhagen, enjoying reasonably priced and delicious Vietnamese, Thai, and Italian meals.

The top photos were taken from our hotel room.  The bottom two are from the food court we found.  The photo of produce was taken in a market where we were sheltering from the rain.

All good trips must end, as did this one.  Our early morning flight required a 3:45 AM wakeup, but the hotel provided us with a quick breakfast of coffee and pastries, and we were off to the airport for our least favorite part of vacations:  the long flights back home.  And Phoenix welcomed us with temperatures well above 100 degrees.  Sometimes it is hard to remember the rain and cool breezes we experienced so recently, but we try.