Our journey to Stockholm is only 395 nautical miles, which is too far to reach overnight, so today is a Sea Day, but at a leisurely pace. We wake up at 7am, and it’s 63 degrees and cloudy, but we are traveling at 11.5 knots per hour, far less than our cruising speed of 18 knots. There are plenty of activities available, but we do our usual thing and head for Horizons on Deck 10 for our usual needlepoint and blogging.
The real treat for us is that Dr. Sherry Hutt has two lectures today; one on Stockholm and the second on St. Petersburg. Both cities are loaded with interesting history and fascinating places to visit, so we won’t miss either of them.
In Horizons, Cruise Director Shawn is giving a line dancing lecture to about a dozen women. They are all having a ball, including Shawn. This man was born to be in his job. He has a happy, enthusiastic, outgoing personality that puts everybody instantly at ease. He has a thousand talents, it seems, and is always “up.” Cathy moves to another table to watch this activity, and the entire room enjoys hearing him give instructions and the music he’s chosen. A very fun time.
Steve looks out at the Baltic Sea and can see five ships almost all the time we are up there, all heading in our direction. A giant one on our starboard side heads up this post. The countries of Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and Denmark border this important waterway, one that we know little about until today. Travel forces you to become familiar with places you know little or nothing about until you find yourself there.
At 11 is Sherry’s first lecture, and of course it is informative, educational and entertaining. She really brings Swedish history alive for everyone in the Nautica Lounge, which is customarily packed when she is there. Today is certainly no exception. We take away a lot of information and advice, and one of the tips we will certainly follow: get up early to enjoy the entrance into Stockholm. The scenery is worth the loss of sleep.
Lunch is in the Terrace Café, because Sherry’s next lecture is at 1:00pm. She introduces us to St. Petersburg, Russia. She could have spoken for hours on this subject. It’s almost a shame she is limited to forty-five minutes, but it’s also wise that she is given her audience – especially at this time of the day, right after lunch. She is a riveting speaker, but the snoring of all the seniors would have made it hard to hear what she says. That’s not a knock; two of them might well have been us.
We do hustle back to our stateroom afterwards for our quiet time. Of course, Cathy tunes into the station on the ship tv that has today’s dinner menu. Steve is deep in thought with his blog, and hears her say: “Oohh! Ahhh. Oh my!” as she marvels at tonight’s offerings in the GDR. She has noticed that at dinner after the first full day of the cruise – and therefore after the Captain’s Cocktail Celebration – the dining venues offer some of their very finest entrees. Today is certainly no exception.
We pass up the cocktail hour, but are front and center at 6:30 for dinner in the Grand Dining Room. We cannot understand why it is that so many people opt for the buffet on the Terrace Café instead of the elegance of the Grand (as we have come to call it among the two of us). Perhaps it is because there is an unenforced rule that “country club casual” attire is required. No shorts, sweatshirts, ball caps, t-shirts or similar garb are allowed. We guess, for some people, this is too much to ask. We don’t get it, but it does hold down the crowd in the GDR.
Dinner was fabulous, as always. We can say that without possibly remembering what it was we had that day. Okay, we’ll stop about the food. Our quiet day ends and, as always, we have much to look forward to tomorrow. We’ll finish this post with a picture of sunset – at 10:30pm.
