Copenhagen

 

Our final day began with a bus tour of Copenhagen. Denmark is the oldest kingdom in the world. The 83-year-old Queen abdicated this year in favor of her son. He is well loved with four children being educated in public schools. He has become “Denmark’s best marketing department”. We stopped first at Churchill Park with the Gefion Fountain, Gefion was a Norse Goddess who turned her 4 sons into bulls. She was promised whatever land that she could plow in a day as belonging to Denmark.

Little Mermaid

We went on to see the Little Mermaid in the harbor and the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. We took in one of the markets, where we saw the Danish special: open-face sandwiches.

Rosenburg Castle Gardens

Then we were given free time in the town center. Many went souvenir shopping, it was our last day. After lunch at an Irish Pub, I took in the 17^th century King’s New Square and New Harbor, the 18^th Century Marble Church, and Amalienborg Palace, the residence of the Royal family.

New Harbor

This was a great trip:  seven interesting countries, great lectures on local topics, unbelievable weather for September (60s and 70s. only one day of rain), friendly and helpful crew members (many of us needed help to our cabins on the one stormy night heavy waves). The highlights were the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and the documentary film about the “Singing Revolution” followed by touring the sites in Tallin, Estonia. Our guide, Julia, was a great representative of Finland, the happiest country in the world. And we bonded with quite a few of our fellow travelers.

Mary with our guide Julia

 

Day in the life on Bornholm

 

Citizen Committees

We started our day in one of the nearby towns. Jurgen, our speaker, has a background in public transportation systems. He was quite proud of working with both the public bus and school bus systems on the island. By changing school starting times, he managed coordinate these two systems, so that he increased the ridership by 70% and the bus system became profitable.

Historically. Bornholm’s economy was primarily fishing. But fishing has declined with overfishing combined with more pollution from fertilizer. Meanwhile world trade has flourished with large container ships reducing the cost of transporting goods. Thus producers need to efficiently produce large quantities of high quality goods, usually requiring the producer to be in a large city. But large cities also have a high cost of living. What do you do in a rural area like Bornholm?

Today, it only takes about 100 farmers to produce the same crops that use to take 5000 farmers on this island.  Our citizen committee decided to concentrate on local food and handicrafts to support tourism with the initial funding coming from the EU. We are seeing success. The island has recently won a Michelin star restaurant and a world prize in crafts.

Nelson, Miya, and Fred at the organic farm

Organic Farm

We then went to Hammersley organic farm. Our hosts, Nelson, Miya, and Fred all had advanced degrees in agronomy. This is their third season running the farm. They rent the land from a firm whose purpose is to encourage organic farming. Many of the 150 shareholders also volunteer at the farm. The farm operates as a CSA, community supported agriculture, with 65 customers who pay up front for a share of the crop. Currently, the farm produces about 50 varieties of vegetables (including 7 types of tomatoes) on their 20 acres. They are growing new unfamiliar vegetables, so they give their customers recipes for them. They are also selling to 10 local restaurants.  In addition, they are renting part of the land for wine grapes and an orchard. Next year, they will be growing mushrooms. 

Vegetable rows 

We had lunch of salad and an open face sandwich of breaded fish. We spent the afternoon in the village of Gudhjem.

The Village of Gudhjem

Bornholm, Denmark

 

Smokehouse

The Denmark flag is the oldest national flag in the world. The legend is that the Archbishop of Denmark prayed in 1222 for God’s blessing against the Swedes and a red flag with a white cross floated down from heaven. Bornholm is a 30 x 40 km. island only 30 km off the Swedish coast. It has 14K people living here. Fishing was the primary industry, but now agriculture and tourism predominant.

Hammershus Castle

We visited a former smoke house. Here the women smoked the fish and then hung them on racks to dry. The island is primarily made of granite in the north and we saw several quarries. Our most interesting stop was Hammershus Castle. Built in 1250, this was once the largest castle in Scandinavia. It was deserted in 1525 when the Germans took the island. We explored St Olaf’s Church, a Nordic Round Church built in 1115.

St. Olaf's Church

In the afternoon, we took a hike from Gudhjem along the coast from the seashore to the cliffs and through the forest. We made good time, so the bus driver suggested another short walk to his favorite spot on the island.

Hike along the coast

That evening, Krishna, our restaurant manager, MCed the Crew Show.

Gdańsk, Poland

 Gdańsk is a heavy industry port of 450,000 people. It became part of Poland in 970 AD. Poland was one of the first countries to elect their king and allow for religious freedom. It was absorbed Prussia in 1793, and was a free city under the protection of the League of Nations after the First World War. Germany and Russia invaded Poland in September 1939 to start World War II. Six million Poles died during the war, half of them were Jews. Ninety percent of the Old Town was destroyed. At the end of the war, the Russian army ‘saved’ Poland. Three million tons of debris had to be removed before the rebuilding the Old Town.

Neptune Fountain and Artus Court

We started our tour at the Green Gate, named for the green windows. Designed as a Royal Palace, it was never used by royalty. What look like separate buildings along Long Street are long flats that are decorated to match their former look during the Hanseatic times. Near the Neptune fountain is the Artus Court, the name derived from King Arthur’s Court. The town hall was home to the Teutonic Order, we listened to the carillon play the hour. Saint Mary is a Gothic church built with bricks between 1343 and 1502. Inside is an astronomical clock from 1467 and Last Judgement from 1472. The 1517 altar depicts the crowning of Mary.

Clock and Last Judgement

After a local lunch of pierogi, a polish dumpling, we went to the Solidarity Museum. During Soviet times in Poland, people would wait in lines for hours to buy groceries. Our guide remembered his mother waiting 3 days to buy furniture, you took whatever chair that came next off the truck. In 1970, the government raised the prices by 30% while wages were stagnant. In December 1970 shipyard workers went on strike in protest and people died in the streets.

Marital Law declared during protests

In August 1980, Anna, a crane operator, was fired for participating in a labor union, five months before her retirement. She and others turned this into a strike on bread-and-butter issues in sympathy with strikes elsewhere in Poland and issued a list of 21 demands. The shipyard workers rather than taking to the streets, stayed in the shipyard, making it harder to break up. On August 31^st the Communists recognized the union. A month later other factory organizations joined together to form Solidarity. But in December, martial law was declared. Talks between Solidarity and the government led to semi-free elections in 1989, which resulted in a Solidarity led government and in December 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. Unfortunately, Poland experienced a time of anarchy and unemployment of 27%. The Communists went from ruling to owning most of the now privatized companies.

Lech Walsea addressing the crowds

Our day ended with very rough seas, only about half of us made it to dinner. I was about to order when seasickness hit me. With help from the crew, I made it to our room, but I was unable to even sit up without getting dizzy. Mary continued on at dinner, but a big wave hit and she fell to the floor, but protected her head. Meanwhile the waiters tried to save the plates from crashing in the kitchen. We went to bed early and slept soundly. The waves calmed down about 10:30.

 

Topic: The effects of the Ukrainian War in the region

Economic effects: The West thought that trade with Russia would prevent war. Russia is rich in energy resources, especially oil and gas. In Finland during the first winter of the war, people were asked to not use their saunas until alternative energy sources could be found. Many of the coal plants and nuclear plants were re-opened and the move to green sources was accelerated. Many companies ceased operation in Russia, but they sold their facilities at deep discount. Europe shut their borders to Russian tourists, though Hungary and Slovakia want to reopen the borders. European Union cities are pairing with Ukrainian cities to helping with reconstruction after the war.

Security concerns: Russia is jamming GPS signals, and hacking computer systems in many countries. NATO exercises have been intensified, recently Baltic Sea exercises and Winter exercises above the Artic Circle have been held. Many have volunteered to get military training including Darias, one our guides who is studying at the Lithuanian military academy. Many countries are worried about the loyalty of Russian minorities, especially if they only speak Russian and get their news from Russia.

People: Many countries have absorbed a lot of Ukrainian refugees. This has strained local resources, especially school resources. Most have jobs and are receiving health, and welfare benefits. Some of the refugees have returned to Ukraine even with the war, some are avoiding military service, even though other men have been on the front lines for two years.

Klaipėda, Lithuania

 Kaipėda is the major port for Lithuania, 60,000 of the 160,000 residents are supported by the port. This was a heavily fortified Nazi port during WW II. After a 100-day siege by the Russians in January 1945, the Germans retreated. Only 28 Lithuanians were found still living in the city.  

Gate of Hell on Hill of Witches

Rather than visit this industrial city, our tour focused on the national park that is a 10-minute ferry ride away on the Curonian Spit across the lagoon. It gets over 500,000 visitors each year. In the 17^th and 18th centuries, this long peninsula was stripped of its trees, sand took over and made this a desert island, 14 villages disappeared among the sand dunes. During the 19^th century a 100-year process of reforestation was begun including a 9 km long protective dune. They discovered amber in the lagoon, and the village of Juodkrante was created to house of the workers. Today, it is a resort town. Just outside the town, we walked the Hill of Witches. This sculpture trail built between 1979 and 1982 has eighty oak sculptures that depict various fairytale and legends. Witches used to gather here on the summer solstice. The trail takes on the journey of that night guided by Neringa through the land of witches and demons until dawn arrives, when you can dance for joy with your companions.

Carol and Lorna celebrate after our walk

Later we saw a strip of forest where over 2000 pairs of cormorants gather; their feces poison the forest trees.

Border with Russia along tree line

After lunch, we climbed Avinas hill, the tallest dune on the island to see the border with the Kaliningrad enclave of Russia. We were advised to keep our phones in airplane mode, since the cell towers in Kaliningrad would be happy to steal our information. Then on to Nida, a village where we saw a sailing competition in the lagoon. Here we saw Curonian pennants, ornate carved flags, unique to the family on the Spit.

Pennant for Nida

Rundale Palace, Latvia

 

Rundale Palace

We visited the 138-room Rundale Palace. It was built in the 1700s by Duke Ernst Johann von Biron. Numerous portraits of the Duke, his wife and generations of children were in the public rooms of the Palace. During Soviet times, the Palace was used for both a school and a grain storehouse, but it has been beautifully restored.

White Hall

Topic: Soviet Monument Removal

August, a local journalist, talked to us about the controversy around removal of Soviet monuments in Latvia. Latvia means the Land of God, and everyone wants it. This land has been invaded by German Crusaders (to turn the pagans to Christians), the Polish-Lithuanians, Swedes, and in the 19^th century the Russian Empire. The Latvian language has been the unifying element throughout history. Latvia gained independence in 1918. In 1939 the Soviets invaded the country without a shot fired. The occupiers built many monuments, usually statues of Lenin or tributes to the soldiers who won WW II, throughout the country. Beginning in the 1990s, many of these monuments have been removed, some of which are in the Occupation Museum. Streets named for Russian poets, scientists, etc. have been renamed. But there is a large Russian speaking population who objects to this “erasure of our history”, the counter argument is that “we are removing the unpleasant memories of occupation”. More info here.

Removal of Soviet Monument, August 2022

Topic: The Vikings

A Viking is best described as a Scandinavian seafarer whose was exploring, trading, and making war. The Viking period was from 750 to 1100 AD. The Viking ships were quite advanced for the age. The large ships were 100 or 120 feet long with a square sail holding 40 to 80 men. During favorable weather, they could sail from Denmark to England in 3 days.  The Vikings occupied almost a third of England and the Normandy region of France at one time. They settled Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland and sailed through the European rivers to as far south as Constantinople. Married women oversaw the household and farm, some also practiced various skills, like sail making. There were also powerful wise women, Volver, who advised the Viking leaders. Women had the right to divorce for unfaithfulness, violence or desertion. The Vikings left many Runestones, memorials to the deeds of various men. Over 6000 Viking Rune Stones have been found, mostly in Sweden. Why did the Vikings disappear? Because they became Christians when the Danish King Bluetooth united most of the Vikings under one King. One additional note: their helmets didn’t have horns.

11th Century Runestone, Sweden

Riga, Latvia

 

Art Nouveau Building in Riga

Riga has 700K of Latvia’s 2 million people. About 50% of the population is of Russian heritage in the city, while the country is 30% Russian.  Originally, a Livonian settlement, the Germans came in 1201, the historic founding date of the city. Today it has a large industrial port and was a Hanseatic city. Our tour began viewing some of the 800 Art Nouveau buildings built from 1890 to 1910. Most of these buildings have been beautifully restored in recent years after having been divided up into small apartments during Soviet times. Next was the marketplace inside five buildings from the 1930s in the basement are freezers and storage. We passed a Stalinist skyscraper (wedding cake) built in the 50s like what you see in Moscow.

Organ in Pulpit in Dome Cathedral

The 1935 Freedom Monument has three stars for the 3 regions of Latvia. During Soviet times the meaning was changed to the 3 Baltic states under Mother Russia. We walked to Livonian Square, with the 17^th century merchant guild building, Dome square with the Dome Cathedral, and Town Hall Square with the Town Hall on one side, and the symbol of the city, Blackhead House on the other. Dome Cathedral has a 6718 pipe, 124 stop organ built in 1884. Some of our group returned the next day for a concert. The Blackhead House was a society with St. Maurice as it’s patron saint, who was a Moor, hence the black head. Established in 1413, the first House was built in 1518. The building was destroyed in WW II, then rebuilt with donations from the Riga community in 1999.

Blackhead House

In the afternoon, we were entertained by the “smallest folklore show in the world”, so claimed because the danced on a platform about the size of a piano bench. They invited Jane, one of the passengers, to try it. Later they played a string instrument called a kokle.

That evening we had dinner with a local family: Klinta, Edgar, and their 4 year old daughter, Lela. They had both been journalists, but Klinta is now studying to become a clinical psychologist.