Baltic Cruise - The Quilt Goes a Cruisin'

For the quilt's creator's 50th birthday, the quilt decided to try a new mode of transportation - a cruise. Now sure the quilt has gone cruisin' before, in the Galapagos and Fiji, but that was on boats holding around 20 people. This ship, Holland America's Eurodam, has a 2104 passenger capacity. The ship is 11 stories high! Here it is in port in Tallinn, Estonia. 

The cruise departed from Copenhagen, Denmark. Here the quilt poses with Den lille havfrue, better known as the Little Mermaid.

This trip the quilt visited Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. The quilt requested photos of all the various flags. I was more than happy to comply. Here's Denmark.

While in Copenhagen, the quilt insisted on visiting the world famous Tivoli Gardens. I was very happy that the quilt was so determined to visit because it was certainly worthwhile.

Here the quilt visits the statue of Hans Christan Andersen that gazes across the street toward Tivoli.

We rented a condo right behind the bright yellow building in the center of this photo of Nyhavn. It was over 80 degrees when we arrived and packed with people; not exactly what one would expect in Copenhagen in May.

Copenhagen has wonderful ice cream. I especially liked the chocolate dipped cones. I was glad the quilt was watching what it was eating so I had the entire cone to myself!

First port for the boat was Tallinn, Estonia. This was a new country for the quilt. We climbed one church into the bell tower, and from the window there was a great view of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

Here the quilt poses with the flag of Estonia.

View of the old town of Tallinn from our balcony on the Eurodam.

The next destination of the boat was St. Petersburg, Russia. We decided to hire a private guide for the two days the boat was docked here because we weren't sure about the possibility of returning. Below the quilt visits Церковь Спаса на Крови -  the Church on the Spilled Blood, site of the assassination of Czar Alexander II.

The flag of Russia.

Петерго́ф

The quilt visited Peterhof Palace. The fountains were amazing. As were the gardens. The next three photos show the grounds of Peterhof.

Everything was so green and the flowers were beautiful.

Our guide, Irina, needed to stop at the market. We enjoyed seeing Russians going about their daily lives. The fruits and veggies looked nice.

Uspenskin katedraali

After St. Petersburg the ship went to Helsinki Finland. Here the quilt poses in front of the Uspenski Cathedral. We enjoyed walking around the city, the architecture was amazing. Unfortunately it was a Sunday so most stores were closed. However some of the markets were open.

Here the quilt visits with the flag of Finland at one of the markets.

The fruit markets were amazing. The raspberries and blueberries were quite picturesque.

As were the strawberries...

and cherries. Complete with basket.

Next up was Stockholm, Sweden. Again the quilt insisted on a photo with the flag. There are lots of pedestrian streets in the Gamla Stan area.

This square provided the back drop for a delicious patisserie treat, not to mention a great photo op.

Here's a view of Gamla Stan from the Eurodam as we entered the center part of Stockholm.

The last country the quilt visited before returning to Denmark was Germany. The ship docked in Warnemünde. We took the train to the nearby Rostock and visited the markets and shopping areas.

Here the quilt poses with the German flag in Warnemunde.

What trip would be complete without a visit to the library?

I was in the market in Rostock taking photos of the vegetables. The vendor was jealous of the vegetables and requested that I take her picture. She ducked down and peered over the white asparagus.

The quilt enjoyed the cruise, considering it a wonderful way to visit several great countries in a relatively short time. It was amazing to only unpack once and to live in the cabin for 10 days. Actually, the quilt has already been starting to grumble about going on another cruise. I think the quilt is spoiled.