Ålesund is the first stop on the Norwegian leg of our cruise journey. Our cruises have been divided up into two-week chunks. About 80% of the people on the ship get on or off every two weeks. There are only a few of us left who boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale. We had the …
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark, was the last Scandinavian country capital that we visited. That is, if you count Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland as the Scandinavian countries. There is some confusion about how many Scandinavian countries there are, you may recall. Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with 1.4 million people in the urban area. …
Lübeck, Capital of the Hanseatic League
We visited Lübeck, Germany, the day after visiting Ronne, which was quite a contrast. Lübeck had all the historical bona fides that Ronne lacked. Not only that, but Lübeck was the capital of the Hanseatic League and its most important city. In fact, the official name of the city is “Hanseatic City of Lübeck.” I …
Rønne, Denmark on Bornholm Island
One of our cruise stops was Rønne, Denmark. We had planned to ride bikes around Bornholm, but changed that shore excursion to a walk around Rønne. The Scandinavian capitals are huge on biking and there are plenty of bike trails in the countryside, but riding in the smaller towns with their cobblestone streets can be …
Visby, Sweden: A Medieval City
After the overwhelming size of Stockholm, it was nice to visit Visby, Sweden the next day. Visby is the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia. It was a Hanseatic town in the middle ages, and was very wealthy with access to trade goods from all over Europe. Because of this wealth, the people of the town …
Museums on Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden
If you only have eight hours to spend in a HUGE city, what do you do? Tom and I visited two museums on Djurgaarden in Stockholm, Sweden. Perhaps it wouldn’t be your choice of a great day, but Tom and I were happy with our choice. Djurgaarden is an island that houses pretty much all …
Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki, Finland
We only had one day in Helsinki so we had to be selective. We decided to focus on the Suomenlinna Fortress. Nothing in Helsinki is really old, like in Tallinn or Oslo. In fact, Helsinki didn’t move from being a very small town to a city until after 1812. Finland was annexed to Russia and …
Tallinn, Estonia: Medieval Old Town
When Tom and I saw Tallinn, Estonia on our itinerary for this cruise our main feeling was disappoint that it wasn’t St. Petersburg. We understand why the cruise ships aren’t going to Russia right now, but Estonia wasn’t on my radar. I couldn’t have found it on a map, even if all the countries were …
Schwerin Castle in Germany
Schwerin Castle is located in the northeastern part of Germany, in what was formerly East Germany or the German Democratic Republic. Now, of course, it is in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania area of Germany. Our ship docked in Warnemunde, and we boarded a bus for the 90 minute ride to the castle. Our guide’s name was …
How Many Scandinavian Countries Are There?
How many Scandinavian countries are there? I thought I knew. The answer always seemed easy in school. There are four. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. But it turns out the answer isn’t as easy up close as it is from a distance. What is Scandinavia? Do you define it by the geographic location? By the …