4th AUGUST, 2019 – COPENHAGEN

We were so happy to be able to invite Ole and Anne-Grethe to have lunch on board with us. Their hospitality in Nakskov was so generous and the ability to reciprocate such gestures by European family members is often difficult to achieve.

We set sail from Copenhagen anticipating two days at sea before reaching our first port of call, Tallinn, Estonia. Ole had explained to us that the name ‘Tallin’, actually means ‘Danish’ in Estonian. Estonia’s history is liberally sprinkled with long stretches of foreign domination, beginning in 1219 with the Danes, followed without interruption by Germans, Swedes, and Russians. Only after WWI, with Russia in revolutionary wreckage, was Estonia able to declare its independence. Shortly before WWII, in 1940, that independence was usurped by the Soviets, who – save for a three year occupation by Hitler’s Nazis – proceeded to suppress all forms of national

Estonian pride for the next 50 years. Estonia finally regained independence in 1991.

The weather in Copenhagen was fine as we left and, in a reprieve from the European heatwave, it was a pleasant 21 degrees. Throughout the journey through the Baltic Sea, the weather remained fine and still. The sea was like a mill pond, with only wind ripples disturbing its surface. Other than the soothing, almost hypnotic, rumbling of the engine underfoot, there was little movement in the ship at all. At night, the low level engine sound and sensation was a calming, mechanical lullaby.

With two relaxing days at sea, there was no urgency to get up early in readiness to go out and explore. So our regime was simply to sleep in, having no regard for the various restaurant cut-off times for last breakfast sitting, and then once dressed, wander down to the Arts Cafe for coffee, a plate of cut fruit, and a ham and cheese baguette. While we normally don’t eat lunch, days at sea are problematic! Having too much time on your hands has you always thinking of food and feeling hungry! Temptations of the flesh – in the form of food – are countless on a cruise! On our second day at sea, after our late baguette breakfast, the first pangs of impending famine were felt in the early afternoon. Our panic was heightened by the fact that our reservation for dinner wasn’t until 8 pm that evening. How ever would we survive?!!

Fortunately, Spaccanapoli, the onboard pizza restaurant, was able to offer salvation in the form of food-aid!! Their pizzas are amongst the best we’ve ever tried! The freshly made dough, baked to perfection, topped with the best Italian style ingredients, makes for a world class result – not a grain of sweet corn, nor a slice of pineapple to be seen! We sat outside, yet under cover, just above the pool deck grill. The familiar faces of the attentive staff made us feel at home. A glass of sparking water, a glass of fine red wine, and appetisers: olives, preserved cherry tomatoes and cubes of old Parmesan cheese, helped us survive until the pizzas arrived. However, as delicious as they were, we were forced to admit defeat, we couldn’t eat all that was put before us! Since then, we have been wise enough to only order one pizza between us! But a return visit was inevitable!

The two days at sea were an opportunity to relax, to write, and enjoy the great luxury of the Silver Spirit. As small a ship as this is – though it seems quite large to us – there remains space enough for everyone to enjoy the shared open areas, lounges, bars and cafes. Occasionally a venue like the Arts Cafe, with relatively limited capacity, will find itself overwhelmed by its own popularity – especially on days at sea with everyone on board having the same idea at once. We’ve decided that our favourite restaurant is the intimate ‘Silver Note’, with seating for only forty people, excellent food and excellent service. A gentle jazz band performs soothing background music.

6th AUGUST, 2019 – TALLIN, ESTONIA

It was only going to be a short stop of less than seven hours. The ship was due to depart at 4 pm with everyone to be back on board by 3.30 pm. Unfortunately the forecast was for rain. But the skies looked like it would clear up as the morning wore on. Nevertheless, we ventured out wearing our rain parkas. A shuttle bus service operated to ferry us into near the old town centre. It was still overcast as we left the bus and walked the 800 metres to the old town gates. Tallinn’s old town has been described as an incredibly well preserved medieval city. It is ‘surrounded’ in parts by remnants of a wall that once would have completely enclosed the town. The wall was topped, in those remaining parts, by a wooden roofed parapet and walkway. While reflecting its ancient origins, much of it is obviously reconstruction.

However our enthusiasm was ‘dampened’ – along with our clothes – by rain, steadily increasing from drizzle to a downpour. Thankfully, the worst of it was relatively short lived. The rain eased, but the cobblestone streets remained a slippery challenge. The cobbled streets wound throughout the town – the streets determined by the buildings, rather than the other way round – in a way so characteristic of many medieval cities.

As beautiful an example of a Medieval town as it is, the old city is now, sadly, a tourism trap on steroids. The majority of the buildings are now hotels, bars, cafes or shops. The shops mostly sell an endless variety of tacky, useless souvenirs. A few of them sell quality wooden products. The remaining establishments, and there are many of them, are quite unapologetically, “Gentlemen’s Clubs”, “Sauna Clubs” or equally undisguised sexually-oriented service providers!

Old Tallinn, despite its commercial taint, is a lovely example of a Medieval city. Modern Tallinn we only observed from a distance as we passed through it on our shuttle bus. It appeared to be yet another recently sprung-up industrial city with no particular soul or style. For those people who love this city and praise it so highly, we make no apology. These are just our own honest impressions from a visit that we concede was measured in hours not in days.

The MSC MERAVIGLIA, seemed to have followed us and was berthed next to us on our return. What a monster!

We returned to the ship, tempted once again by the fragrant allure of the Spaccanapoli pizzas. The dining options onboard are all of a very high standard. Unfortunately, lunch in three courses, is a death trap in more ways than one! So, if we eat lunch at all (which is not our usual practice) a light lunch is all we want to eat. Weight is easily gained on a cruise, but not so easily lost!

7th AUGUST, 2019 – BARRY’S BIRTHDAY IN ST PETERSBURG

We arrived to look out from our balcony to see the lovely vista of the ‘Church of the Spilled Blood’. Not quite so lovely was the submarine alongside us and the ugly floating immigration barge checkpoint.

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We had organised a private guide and driver to meet us where the ship docked. That turned out to be a fabulous idea. We hate the idea of following around someone carrying a red flag along with forty other people, but discovered that the greatest benefit was having ‘Tatiana’ squeeze us quickly past the waiting throngs and know the back corridors to special museum rooms not already crowded with milling people. First we drove an hour and a half out of town to Peterhof, the location of the Summer Palace of the Tsars. The gardens were equally spectacular.

If the Summer Place wasn’t stunning enough, after taking us for a delicious Gorgian lunch, Tatiana took us to the overwhelming Hermitage. The collection and quality of the European Art: Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyke, De Vinci, Bruegel, etc was as stunning and as prolific as any I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Then there was the China, the silk, the tapestry, the marble statues, the wooden parquetry – it was all sensory overload but so sumptuous that it was impossible to stop looking at it.

We came back to the ship completely exhausted and took a short ‘nana nap’ before dinner at The Silver Note. On our return to our suite, the canin staff had organised a surprise for Barry. The room of our cabin flickered with disco lights, ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Silver Threads Amongst the Gold’ boomed from a hidden recording, balloons and fairy lights were every-where, and of course, there was also cake!

8th AUGUST, 2019 – ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Tatiana had instructed us to be on the dock by 7:45. Another breakfast served in our room at an ungodly hour, ut we were there on time! Once again we had a 90 minute drive out of the city, this time to Catherine’s Palace and the famous ‘Amber Room’, completely encased in Amber, it is the most expensive room in the world. Catherine’s Palace is a perfect example of Russian Baroque, its bright-turquoise exterior distinguished by row after row of white columns and pilasters with gold baroque mouldings running the entire 985 feet of the facade.

After lunch we visited the Cathedral of the Spilled blood and St Isaacs. The amount of money required to create these spectacular structures, which Tatiana explained was to show the power of Russia to the outside world, actually started to repulse me given the relatively poor living conditions of the citizens, both then and now.

St Isaacs

9th AUGUST, 2019 – ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

As well as feeling completely exhausted, it was also impossible to leave the ship without an authorised ‘guide’. Barry was convinced that our driver, Nicholai, had actually been KBG. So we spent the day lolling about and taking some photos from the ship. What an adventure!