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 …
Fyrkat Viking Fortress and Living Farm
Fyrkat Viking Fortress was our destination on our first visit to Denmark. The ship docked at Aarhus (two a’s if you don’t have a Danish keypad, Å if you have the Danish keypad). Aarhus looked like an interesting city with some good stuff to see, but we were ready for some Viking history. We boarded …
Oslo, Norway: Too Much to See in One Day!
Our second port of call in Scandinavia was Oslo, Norway. Oslo is the capital and most populous city in Norway. Over a million people live in the metro area. Oslo was founded as a trading center in 1040 and gradually grew from there. Today the economy is dependent on shipping, banking, and being the seat …