Our Cruise in the Baltic Sea, 2011 - Scandinavia and Russia

One day, in the beginning of May 2011, I got a call from our friend Nishikant Kapatkar that they are coming to Delhi later in the month to take a flight to Copenhagen for an 11-day Cruise in the Baltic region. Jokingly I told him that we were also coming! And that joke became a reality soon. I quickly checked with Amita, she nervously agreed and encouraged by our daughters and other friends (who have taken this kind of Cruise), we decided to go for it. Availability of Cruise ticket, flight ticket, VISA etc. all fell in place and we flew to Copenhagen on 22nd May by Finnair. Nishikants were a group of 11 people already and with us it became the lucky 13, Nishi and Jaya, Jaya’s cousin brother, Mr. Naolekar and his wife, the Guptas, the Tiwaris, the Batras, Mr. Batra’s sister-in-law and ourselves. Nishi is an architect, Mr. Naolekar is a retired Supreme Court Judge, Mr. Gupta, Mr Batra and Mr. Tiwari are all from the defence services, all retired and living in and around Naukuchiatal (near Nainital) where Nishi and Jaya also live. Excepting us all are between 60-70 years of age. We are just about there!
Nishi and six others had flown to Copenhagen a few days ahead of us and they met six of us at the Copenhagen Star Hotel on 22nd evening. Our flight was via Helsinki, the city we visited later as a part of our cruise. We saw Copenhagen through the 23rd and 24th morning. Our cruise started on 24th afternoon and ended on 4th June morning. It took us to Oslo, Aarhus, Warnemunde (Berlin), Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm.
Our experience in this vacation is huge. The cruise took us to eight cities and then the life in the ship, together made the trip a truly memorable one.
 

The Emerald Princess (at the back)

Our Tour Bus

Our Group

In the following few pages, I will try to put down our experience as much as I can, with my rather limited writing skill. All of it is actually written during the Cruise itself, mostly sitting in our state-room balcony overlooking the sea (what else!)

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: 22 – 23 May 2011
Our flight from Helsinki was late and we reached our Hotel, Copenhagen STAR, late evening. We did not take a proper dinner as we had food (paratha and bhindi sabji) at the Helsinki airport brought by the Guptas from home. But we did have some Tamarind Rice that Jaya gave us from her room.
In the morning of 23rd, all thirteen of us reached the Town Hall square at 9:00 to look for a tour bus. After lot of discussion and confusion among ourselves we finally decided on a combined Bus and River Cruise tour starting from the Tourist Information Centre, which turned out to be very enjoyable one with a very good sunny weather.
The bus tour was a hop-on-hop-off type, (in this case called ‘jump-on-jump-off’!) which took a reverse route than its usual. We first drove to ‘The Opera’, a longish drive through beautiful natural setting of grassland and water channels. ‘The Opera’ is a modern building of glass and steel right on the river with a huge cantilevered (unsupported projection) roof projecting towards the water. From here we could have panoramic view of city across the river with many types of vessels sailing by. We continued our tour passing by ‘Christiania’, Our Savior’s Church, Stock Exchange Building, Christiansborg Palace and reached the Tivoli Gardens from where we had started. ‘Christiania’ is one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions. This is a ‘hippie’ village established in seventies and today it is loved by many and also hated by as many. We did not get off the bus at any of these places - saw them from the bus while listening to a continuous recorded commentary through the earphones. Not only the Spires of the churches, most important old public buildings have some kind of ‘Vertical Elements’, which dot the entire skyline. Our next stop was the most famous tourist spot of the city – The Little Mermaid. On the way, we passed by the Rosenborg Castle, the Botanical Garden and the National Gallery of Denmark. At the Mermaid, we all got off the bus and walked to the water’s edge. There were hundreds of people trying to see this little statue of a woman sitting on a large stone in water but very close to the bank. Some people were even trying to reach and touch the statue! We got into the same bus again and continued, past the Gefion Fountain and the Amalienborg Palace, the present royal residence and reached the beautiful ‘Nyhavn’ area. This is a colorful 17th century waterfront now transformed to a popular entertainment district.

Town Hall Square

The New Opera

Amalienborg Palace

The Nyhavn- the old port area
 

This is where we changed our mode of transportation. We got off the bus and waited for the ferry. Soon the large ferry came and we all ‘jumped’ in. The capacity must be over 150 but it was only half full. It is a low level vessel with a glass cover (roof and walls). At the back there was an open deck with some seats. I sat there for better photo opportunity. Seeing a city from the water is a great experience. These kind of old cities were built on water with access from the rivers/ canals sides too. Hence often ‘fronted’ them in a positive manner and so you get to see great facades from the ferry without vehicles, people or trees in between. The boat cruise lasted for an hour and went through many narrow canals, low bridges and the main river. We passed by the Mermaid, the Opera, the Stock Exchange etc. again but saw them from a very different perspective. We saw the beautiful ‘Royal Library’ called the ‘Black Diamond’ as it is cladded with black granite and glass, tinted dark.
After some rest in the hotel we went out again in the evening (sun light was still there though!) to the central area. It was 7o’clock but most shops were already closed. We got into few and then walked around some very interesting areas. Though the shops were closed but all the eating areas were opening up. Road side Cafes were getting active. It was cold so some had gas heaters and some had ‘blankets’ for their customers. We passed by a church with the ‘Round Tower’ and sat for a while near ‘Our Ladies Church’. There were not many people on the narrow streets at this time. It kind of looked nice and ‘tourist free’, the city was more visible and even more beautiful with the yellow soft sun light on the brown stone buildings.
Next day, after breakfast in the hotel, we packed our baggage and left for sight-seeing again (only two of us). On the way bought some jewellery (Amber) from a branded shop. Walked around for couple of hours. Went across the canal to the Christiansburg Palace. Went into the inner courtyards till we reached the training areas of the royal horses! Had a closer look at the Stock Exchange building with it’s interesting tower of ‘four crocodiles/dragons’. From the forecourt of the palace we could see the old city edge, across the river/ canal. This is the oldest part of Copenhagen.
We took a different route to reach the City Hall Square, passed Tivoli Gardens and the Rail Station again and reached our hotel. Others were there, we brought our luggage down, checked out and we all left for the Cruise Terminal in three taxies.

The Old City Edge
 

Cafes along the street
 

The Royal Library
 

The Mermaid

The cruise company is called Princess Cruises and the ship we took is called Emerald Princess. It is over 900 feet long and has about 15 decks, with 11 of them above water. More than three thousand guests can be accommodated in it and there are about 1200 staff members.
I had been wondering how they are going to check–in so many people with so much luggage, that too from various countries in a given period of time (1 to 5 pm). At 6 pm we were to sail. It all became clear when we reached the Cruise Terminal at Copenhagen on 24th May, soon after noon time.
No sooner our taxi stopped at the dock the baggage handling people from the ship took over our luggage, they put tags on each in our presence with our name and state room (guest room!) number on them and the luggage disappeared. There was a huge tent like temporary structure made out of white synthetic fabric, pitched on the deck along this HUGE ship. Half of this hall was for handling luggage and the other half for check-in. We were asked to stand in an endless queue along this structure. We did not have any idea about the ‘end conditions’ of this line as we could not see the interior of the hall till we reached the entrance to it.
Then we see a huge hall with lots of seating in it and a long row of 36 check-in counters. We did not have to wait long. No sooner the Security check was done, we were personally checked and were then called to one of the counters - we were done in minutes. We got our card-keys to our State-room (number C-226). Before we could get out of this hall we were quickly ‘put together’ for a photograph in front of the Emerald Princess (a large photo). Then we came out and entered the real ‘Princess’. The card-key works as an Identity Card, Room Key and Credit Card for any expenditure in the ship. After another security check at the entry to the ship at deck-4, mid ship we took an elevator to deck-10 and then took the long walk to our room. Our room steward was waiting for us to ‘explain’ our room to us – where is what, what to do and what not to do etc. The room is small in comparison to normal hotel rooms but much better than most. It is a five star facility in all respects – large double bed, writing / dressing table, fridge, hairdryer, T.V., telephone etc., there is a dressing cum open clothes hanging area with a small cupboard with a digital locker in it. The toilet is amazing. It is small but so well designed that you don’t feel it is small. It is well stocked with two sets of three types of towels and all other toiletries. We were lucky to be in deck -10 as the rooms in

The head…
 

..and the body- can't get it all in one frame!
 

The top deck
 

The rear view

THE CRUISE AND THE SHIP 
it have a large balcony (9’X9’) half covered and half open. The ship as a whole is just like a large five star hotel with more than 1500 rooms and several facilities – restaurants of various kinds, bars, several pools, gym, spa, casino, library, shops, games area, auditorium, disc, open air cinema etc., All these are distributed all over the ship, but mainly in deck numbers 5, 6, 7,15 and 16.
The best part is the high standard of ‘service’ provided by the huge staff of the ship. They were everywhere to help you and provide you with all your needs, anytime, anywhere. The staff is from all over the world and they are always smiling and eager to get into some friendly conversation.
Food is fantastic, all kinds and from all over the world. You can go to any type of restaurant, café, pizzeria, and grill and eat whatever you like, any time. Most are open till late night and a couple of them through the night. Food is included in the cruise price but not alcohol and soft drinks. Round the clock room service will bring most food to the room including tea, coffee and fruits.
Overall, it is an amazing experience - in a cruise of this size and kind. It becomes your home for those 10 days. You sail through the nights and during the day you visit a new city, every day.

The Auditorium
 

The Casino
 

The Horizon restaurant
 

A Stateroom
 

The Atrium

OSLO, NORWAY: 25 May 2011  
Oslo was our first stop after sailing from Copenhagen, hence lots of excitement and anxiety, the docking of the ship, the first breakfast, checking out, a ladder from the ship to dock! etc. etc.
We had docked at 10 am and we were to sail again at 7 pm (check-in by 6:30). Oslo has a comparatively compact Touristic Area, excepting few museums and a famous garden of sculpture which are a bit away. I had thought of doing only the central area on foot. But everybody decided otherwise and we took a hop-on-hop-off bus service from the port itself. We used the usual ear phones to hear about what we were seeing on either side. The first important building we saw was the Norwegian National Opera by architect Snoheta. It is a new and modern building on the water front with most of it underground. The roof slopes down in to the water and in winter it is used as a skiing surface by general public. It is a white and blue glass building and it is conceptualized as an ‘ice berg’ that has landed in Oslo! There was not enough time to see it from inside. We continued our bus tour criss-crossing through the city, passing by the City Hall, the University, the Royal Place etc. We got off the bus at the Vigeland Park for an hour or so. The Park is full of stone, iron and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, all of human beings, male and female of all ages, depicting a complete cycle of human life from birth to death. After this park we ‘hopped’ into another bus and continued our journey to other areas of the city including where the Viking Ship Museum and Kontiki Museums are located. We came back to the ship, had lunch and started again, Amita and me only, this time on foot. We straight went to the City Hall. It is a modern building of two tall towers with a central hall and an arrival court flanked by colonnaded open galleries. These galleries and some interior halls display important Norwegian Art, many are of wood. We walked up to the Royal Palace passing by the Theatre and the Oslo University.
Then we walked back down the sloping Karl Johans Gate (road), the main commercial street of Oslo. Most of it is pedestrianized with outdoor cafes, shops and restaurants. This street starts at the Palace and ends at the Oslo rail station and the Stortorvet Cathedral. In front of the cathedral there is a large open plaza which till today is used as a flower, vegetable and handicraft market. From there we started our walk back towards the ship. On the way we stopped at a Souvenier Shop (identified on our way out) which was just about to close at 5 pm. But we managed to do our shopping. Just in front of the ship, on top of a hillock, are the very old Akerhus Castle and the Resistance Museum. I went up the hill to have a quick look at these very old stone and timber structures while Amita went to the ship.
On the whole it was quite a satisfying tour, specially the walking bit. Though I wish there was time to see the Opera House in more detail!

Norwegian National Opera
 

The Parliament
 

Akerhus Castle
 

The City Hall

Vigeland Park

ARHUS, DENMARK: 26 May 2011 7
After Oslo, we came back to Denmark again, but this time to the port city of Aarhus (2nd largest town after Copenhagen). It is a large town but here also the Touristic Area is compact and close to the Cruise Terminal. So, we decided to cover it on foot.
The main attraction of the town is its 12th century Cathedral. It is both the longest and tallest Church of Denmark. It’s Gothic decoration and interior art work (pre-1500) makes it one of the most important Cathedral of Europe. There is a large plaza next to it surrounded by important public buildings. There is a pedestrian street connecting this plaza to the Rail Station, full of activities with shops, restaurants and outdoor cafes. Another very important feature of the town is its old river, which has been revived not too long back. Pedestrian paths run along this canal (river) with lots of shops, restaurants and outdoor sitting areas. Paths on either side are connected with a number of foot bridges, each having a different design but all very sleek with steel and cable construction.
Aarhus is also an institutional town with a number of educational establishments. These bring in a huge young population to the town which in turn makes the town very active and vibrant all through the day and night. We walked along one of the streets where many students live in rented accommodation. This fact is well reflected in the area with lots of cycles, graffiti, students hanging around in the corners etc.
As we did not have the time or the inclination to enter museums, we had enough time for a relaxing walking tour of the main part of the town.

The Town Hall
 

The Main Pedestrian Street
 

...along the Canal
 

A sculpture in the Plaza
 

The Cathedral

The Cathedral

BERLIN, GERMANY: 26 May 2011 8
Actually Berlin is not quite on the route of the cruise. In Germany the cruise stopped at a small old port town called Warnemunde and Berlin is ~2½ - 3 hrs away by train from this place. Four of us opted for a trip to Berlin (Amita stayed back and visited Warnemunde and Rostock nearby, with others). This trip was organized by the ship and hence very well structured. We, literally hundreds of us, were taken to Berlin by two reserved trains! Buses were waiting at Berlin to take us around. We were made into groups of 40 (one bus) and given identifying coloured badges, stuck to our clothes. Each bus had a guide who kept explaining the places, buildings and history as we drove all over the city with a number of stops. Our first one was at East Side Gallery (part of the famous Berlin wall can still be seen). At East Side, a large part of the wall is intact and each panel of this wall- section has been brightly painted by known and unknown artists.
From here we went to the Brandenburg Gate, the most visited spot of the city. Once a symbol of the division between East and West, the Gate has been restored to its original splendor. Its design is said to be inspired by the entrance to the Acropolis. We spent some time here, walked along the most famous avenue of Berlin, the Unter den Linden. This is a tree lined avenue with all the high end shops and show rooms, hotels, government and private offices and important embassies on it. Check point Charlie was our next stop. This was the point on the street called Friedrich Strasse where there was an important cross over point on the wall between East and West Berlin. Russian and American tanks once faced each other at this point, almost starting the 3rd world war! We turned around from here and headed towards the western section of the city which was under the Allied and hence much more prosperous. We drove through the very large central green space of Berlin, passing by the tall ‘Victory Column’ and reached the Charlottenburg area of the city, quite modern with wide streets and glass buildings alongside some older ones. Our stop in this area was at the Charlottenburg Palace. Very impressive building, low and long with a central domed entrance. A huge forecourt helps appreciating the scale of the building. Then we drove through the city some more and reached a restaurant for a typical German Lunch. What followed after lunch was a great experience, a half hour boat cruise on the river Spree. We saw the Government district from the river, the old Reichstag, restored to be the new Parliament of United Germany with its ultra modern glass dome over the old structure designed by famous English architect Sir Norman Foster, and the Secretariat/Ministry buildings, a long new modern structure which spans across the river, all so much more visible from the boat.

East Side Gallery- a part of Berlin Wall
 

The Brandenburg Gate
 

Unter den Linden
 

The Charlottenburg Palace

Then we passed the Museum Island with a number of palace buildings now being used as famous museums. We got off the boat at another point on the river and walked through a lovely park to our waiting bus which drove us through the eastern part of the city to our train which had moved to a different station from the one we had come to. After a 2 ½ hours journey we reached Warnemunde, our port of call. The train journeys, both up and down were very enjoyable too with beautiful view of the country side of forests and open land, some cultivated, others not.
The Berlin trip was hectic but certainly worth it. The River cruise was the highlight. We saw the new developments at Potsdamer Platz from the bus, the Sony Centre etc., but as an architect I would love to spend more time in it, walking and experiencing it more. Next time!

Marker for the Berlin Wall
 

Lunch time...
 

Check point Charlie
 

New Ministry Building
 

Bode Museum in Museum Island
 

New Buildings at Potsdamer Platz

New Buildings at Potsdamer Platz

WARNEMUNDE AND ROSTOCK, GERMANY: 26 May 2011 10

(in Amita’s words)
We docked at the Warnemunde port at 7am. Warnemunde is a small fishing village at the mouth of Warnow River and became an important element of the port system of the nearby city of Rostock. As the trains to Berlin left with Ujan and three others from our group, the rest of us explored the nearby areas on foot. A longish walk from the ship, with the help of a lady from the big Tourist Facility, brought us to a lovely rail station. A twenty minute train ride took us to Rostock and from there three stops away by tram was the Neuer Market (New Market) area. We got off in front of the Town Hall. At one end of the market square was one of the seven medieval churches of the city – Marienkriche (Mary’s Church). The market square has a big fruit market, eateries, offices and most importantly the tourist information centre. After tasting some juicy apricots from a vendor, we walked down the Kropeliner Strasse, the main pedestrian shopping street which has a big gate – the Kropeliner Tor - at the end. A cobbled street, going up and down at times, it made for an interesting walk. Somewhere half way through the Kropeliner Strasse was the Rostock University area on the left with a beautiful plaza in front. The fountains in the plaza are a tourist’s delight. There are remnants of the old city wall next to the gate at the end of the street. Behind the University are the Cloisters of the Holy Cross with a museum for Culture and History next to it. The museum houses a vast collection of paintings, crafts, coins, furniture etc. which are rich in tradition from the middle Ages until the modern times.
On our return to Warnemunde station we decided to explore the town. The Alter Strom is a very old street along the water front with fishermen’s houses in traditional style. We crossed the bridge on the water front to enter the village and walked to the Kriche Platz (Church plaza). Intermittent drizzle prevented us from going any further and we were forced to take shelter under the awnings of some beautifully decorated shop windows, many of them with intricate lace work on display.
On the way back, we managed to buy a couple of souveniers from a big shop outside the ship. It was time for a late lunch and we were really hungry!

Neuer (New) Market Plaza, Rostock
 

Mariene Kriche, Rostock
 

Kropeliner Street & Tor, Rostock
 

Warnemunde Waterfront – Alter Strom
 

TALLINN, ESTONIA: 29 May 2011 11

Tallinn, truly is a beautiful city. It is perhaps the best preserved medieval city of the world. As the capital of the small country of Estonia it has got its newer areas of offices, shops and residences but it’s older areas have been carefully kept away from the influences of modernity.
The older town is highly undulated and has got two parts, the upper town and the lower town. The upper town is the older part and is perched on top of the Toompea Hill. The heart of this area is the pink Baroque Styled Toompea Castle. The Gothic St. Mary’s Cathedral, popularly known as the Dome Church, built in the 15th century dominates the skyline. Views of the lower town from here are breath taking. The steeply sloped red roofs of the structures below, interspersed with green parks and occasional church spires give it a ‘picture-post-card’ look.
Many curving and sloping narrow streets, lined with colourful buildings open up into public squares and gardens. The most popular one is the Town Hall square, the centre of old Tallinn and it is in the lower town. The Town Hall, which looks like a church, sits at the edge of a large plaza. When we were there, a function was going on for which a temporary stage was erected in the middle and local kids were performing in front of the locals and tourists.
It was a gorgeous sunny day and all these pedestrian streets were full of outdoor cafes and restaurants. Besides these eateries, there were numerous stalls selling handicrafts etc. for the tourists. All streets and lanes were packed with tourists. The buildings are all built to the edge of the cobble streets. They are all in line, touching each other, of similar height but with lot of variations in colour and architectural style.
The other structures which dominate the skyline of Tallinn are the church spires. At the sea-side entrance to the old town, stands the oldest 13th century St Olar’s church with its gigantic 159 meter spire.
The other very colorful and robust church is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. This Russian Orthodox Church is in the Palace Square, between the upper and lower town and features onion domes and golden crosses. Tallinn, by far is the best city experience. We walked through its tiring cobble stones, up and down lanes, but still enjoyed its beauty, colour, people and the vibrancy and of course the absence of automobiles.
 

The Dome Church
 

The Old Town
 

The Town Hall Square
 

A colourful street

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA: 30-31 May 2011

St. Petersburg was a great surprise for me. In spite of my research on the city, I found it very different from what I had imagined it as. I had thought that it will be much smaller, old ‘looking’ with cobble stone roads lined with shops and dated buildings with slopping roofs! But it is nothing like that. It is a very large city like Paris, Washington, Delhi…but very different. It is very automobile oriented, all streets are wide but most are lined with 4-6 storeyed ‘designer’ buildings built in last several centuries. The buildings may be old but they are very well maintained and look newly built. They are rich in architecture of various styles from the olden days. Luckily modern ‘glass’ buildings have not replaced these. There are numerous green open spaces throughout the city. And rivers and canals crisscross the city, giving it a Venice like look, though of a much larger proportion.
The roads are unbelievably wide considering the period in which they were constructed. These wide avenues were originally conceived (more than a century ago) to add ‘grandeur’ to the city and for ‘prestige’ of the king but now they have come handy to handle the automobiles!
And of course the ‘history’ of the city has a major influence on what it is today. From the earlier kings, to Czars, then the revolution, world wars, Soviets, communism etc have left their marks on the city, some visible some not. Like other large cities of the world St. Petersburg has also expanded out of its old core. There is the expansion under the soviets, mainly of mass housing quite close to the inner core and then there is the usual sub-urban Sprawl.
After it lost its Capital status to Moscow, it is at present the ‘Cultural Capital’ of Russia with its rich history, museums, theatres, art, architecture etc. People are happy but a bit apprehensive about their future.
We saw this great city through a guided bus tour. We, all 13 of us had a 15-seater Mercedes Benz van to ourselves with a very efficient and learned lady guide. The tour was for two days. The first day we started around 8:30 in the morning from the Cruise Terminal and drove to the center city passing by some recent developments of multi-storeyed housing (quite ugly). Once we arrived near the old core and started driving along the main river Neva, we could see the real splendour of St. Petersburg with magnificent buildings lining the river, canals, streets, plazas and open spaces. Every building seems as if it has been designed to create and respect ‘public space’, whether a street or an open space. Even the palaces, universities and museums come upto the street and shape public places.

 

Buildings lining the river Neva
 

The Catherine Palace
 

Catherine Palace Interior
 

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

We drove around a bit and then stopped near a large circular park and visited an emporium of Russian handicraft, more to use their toilets than to do shopping! From there we drove 30 km to the town of Pushkin to see the Catherine Palace, the imperial summer residence. It is a huge complex. We had to wait to enter as there were thousands of tourists. Our guide took us around with her running commentary to various rooms / halls of the palace each oozing out with raw royal wealth! We then walked through the beautiful garden of the palace and reached our van. The next stop was at the summer residence of one Russian Czar in Peterhof, the Russian Versailles. We saw the building from outside but walked around its famous Fountain Park. Literally hundreds of fountains of statues and sculptures are throwing water in various ways into pools of water flowing from one to other.
From here we went back to the ship at about 4 pm, all very tired, had our lunch and were ready at 7 pm to leave again for the city - this time to watch a Russian Ballet. We saw the famous ballet-Swan Lake, in one of their oldest theatres. Needless to say, it was awesome. We came back to the ship around 11 pm. Even that time there was enough day light that one could read a book. It was Monday, so we had fruits for dinner.
Next day we started at 9 am and went for the second part of our tour through the city with a number of stops at some of the most picturesque spots in the city. The high light of the day of course was a visit to the famous ‘State Hermitage Museum’. It is said that this museum’s collection is second only to that of Louvre. This was originally a winter palace but apparently was never used for the purpose. Other than the very rich interior of the palace, the collection of paintings of almost all world famous painters can be seen here. You have to literally walk miles to cover the museum. And we did and we were tired.
Before we ended the day, we were taken to experience the underground Metro system of the city. This is one of the oldest in the world. We took a one-station ride. The amazing thing was not the trains but the stations deep underneath the ground. I don’t know how deep, but we used some very long escalators whose ends cannot be seen from the start!
We saw the beautiful little old towns at Aarhus and Tallinn but St. Petersburg certainly is the most picturesque, large old town I have seen so far.
 

Fountain Park, Peterhof
 

The State Hermitage Museum
 

Entrance to the Metro
 

Escalator in the Metro Station
 

HELSINKI, FINLAND: 1 June 2011
We saw Helsinki and a nearby small town, Porvoo through an organized (guided) tour arranged by an outside agency (not by the cruise). Due to some misunderstanding the 15 seater Merc van came at 9 am instead of 8 am. We first went to Porvoo, a 45 minutes highway drive. But before we left the city we visited the memorial sculpture of Sibelius, the famous composer, considered second only to Beethoven. The abstract sculpture is made out of steel tubes bundled together like a huge ‘pipe organ’ lifted from the ground, set in a beautifully landscaped park. His bust placed on a rock nearby is also a very strange one, made out of the same metal with the face and shoulders ‘displaced’ and composed in an abstract manner.
Porvoo is a modern town now with a small touristic area along the Porvoo river. It is a hilly area with few cobble stone roads lined with old but well maintained structures. Shops and restaurants line these pedestrian streets which soon meet today’s roads, full of automobiles and glass buildings. At the top of a hillock is the Church, overlooking the old town. After our visits to towns like Tallinn and Aarhus, this place was not as impressive but has its own character with much lower scale of buildings and it is worth a visit.
Helsinki is a fairly large old but modern city, bustling with activities, flooded with tourists from all over the world in the comfortable summer weather. Streets are wide and some are tree lined. The Market Square and the Senate Square are the two major public spaces of the city. The Senate Square is dominated by the magnificent St. Nicholas Cathedral and flanked by the Senate Building and the main building of University of Helsinki on either side of the plaza. The Market Square is truly the main public place of the city with the Town hall, an informal market, and a jetty on one side and a park on the other where a concert was going on at mid day. At the centre of the Market Square is a fountain with the status of the famous ‘Helsinki Woman’, the symbol of the city. We also saw the beautiful exposed brick and stone Rail Station designed by Aliel Saarinen (not Erro Saarinen)

Memorial of Sibelius
 

The Porvoo River
 

The Helsinki University
 

The Parliament
 

The Senate Square with St. Nicholas Cathedral

We visited a unique church called Temppeliaukio Rock Church. It is designed by two architect brothers, Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and completed in 1969. This innovative church is carved into a rock formation with a ‘disc’ like copper roof. The interior is very different with the use of rubble stone walls and polished copper elements. Sunlight comes from the sides of the circular roof through concrete ribs with magical effects of light and shadow on stone walls.
Although Helsinki is a highly touristic place, but even in high tourist season, to me it appeared to be a city for its own people. Most shops and restaurants seemed to be for the local people whose standard of living is one of the highest in the world. As an architect, a few hours of bus tour is too frustrating. Helsinki certainly deserves a few days of walking around to really appreciate it.
 

The 'Helsinki Woman'
 

The Market Square
 

The National Theatre
 

The Pedestrian Mall
 

The Rock Church
 

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: 2 June 2011
Our time to see Stockholm was relatively short. The ship docked at 7 am and we started sailing again at 2 pm. Stockholm is a large capital city comprising of a number of small and large islands with a population of about 20 lacs (Delhi is 120 lacs!). We took a 3 hour guided bus tour from the ship itself and hence it was very organized. We saw the city mainly from the bus itself with few photo stops.
Our first stop was not a photo stop though we went to an Indoor Stadium with a spherical shape, called the Ericsson Globe. It is the largest spherical building in the world. Actually we did not see the interior of this stadium but climbed to the top of it by a spherical glass lift. It was a unique journey along the curved surface of the huge globe. From the top we had breathtaking panoramic view of the entire city, the old core, the water ways and the suburbia beyond.
After a drive through the main island, Sodermalm, we came to the old core, a smaller island at the centre of the city called Gamla Stan. Besides many old but stately buildings of offices, hotels and residences, the Royal Palace with over 600 rooms is also situated here. It is a very large building but unlike other palaces, the huge complex tightly sits in the urban fabric right on the street without any visible open space or foreground. From here we went to the adjacent small island of Riddar Halman for a magnificent view of the City Hall across the river. Our tour continued from here, back to the Sodermalm island and then on to Kungshosm, Norrmalu and Ostermalm areas of the city, seeing on the way some magnificent buildings and vistas, often across water ways. We saw several museums, theatres, churches, hotels on the way, all built centuries ago but maintained so well that they look brand new, with their various old architectural styles.
The city as a whole is very picturesque with great streets and avenues, water bodies, open spaces and some beautiful old buildings. But like many other capital cities Stockholm also is a very busy one with heavy traffic and intense activities.
I was told as Sweden was never involved in any significant conflict /war including the world wars, Stockholm was never physically affected (excepting few huge fires which had destroyed the primarily ‘wooden’ city of long ago) and hence the city what we see today is ‘original’ (not re-constructed) only with some restoration.
The guide said Stockholm is one of the most expensive cities of the world. Living cost is very high. Owning house is very difficult for the younger generation.
 

Glass Lift at Ericsson Globe
 

The City Hall
 

The Waterfront
 

The Old Town
 

LIFE IN THE SHIP
In our 34 years of married life, I have never stayed with my wife Amita together in one room, 24 hrs a day, for 11 continuous days! And this Cruise made it happen.
Our day time was usually spent visiting the towns we docked at excepting two days, when we sailed through the day and night.
Our mornings started with tea which got delivered at the time requested by us the night before. We used to hang a slip outside our room door before going to bed (around 11 pm). Not only tea we could ask for anything by ticking the right boxes in the printed slip. There was a separate slip only for fresh fruits. After tea, we would get ready and go for breakfast, sometime as early as 7 am, depending on what time our day tour was scheduled. There were a number of places one could go for breakfast in the ship. ‘Food in the ship’ will be discussed separately later. Normally after breakfast we left the ship. After coming back or when we are day-sailing one could do a number of things. People from other countries spent a lot of time in the various types and sizes of pools or sunbathing on the decks. The same people also used the Spa, gym and other sports facilities a lot. There are shops selling clothes, perfumes, jewellery, liquor, watches, craft items etc. Jewellery shops were very popular specially the ones selling low priced ones and amber-jewellery. We all bought something or other from these shops or at least spent lot of time in them. There were also ‘sales’ going on in some shops. Casino is another place one could go to. We did go once, lost a few dollars in a ‘slot machine’ just for the experience. There are sitting areas at many places outside the restaurants where you can just sit and while away your time watching the sea, drinking, eating or reading something. You can get eatables from the restaurants and eat in these areas too. Smoking is allowed only at one such place near one of the outdoor bars, the cigar lounge and your room balcony (if you have one). Near one of the pool decks there is a huge outdoor cinema screen showing popular films, almost continuously.
There is an Auditorium of about 800 capacity used for various shows- dance, music, theaters, cooking demonstration etc. and also presentations about the city we are visiting next day. We regularly attended these shows.

The Buffet Breakfast
 

The Shopping Area
 

The Casino
 

The Auditorium

The Cruise Company also owns lots of art work/ paintings. One could buy them directly or through an auction. We attended one such auction for the heck of it.
The Photography shop/ Gallery are very active in the ship. The photographers from this shop keep taking your photographs at various times, like when you are entering the ship, in the formal dinner or when you are at the ports of different cities sometimes with some local touch. Then they print and display them in a gallery for sale. Lot of passengers were buying them. We saw ours but we didn’t buy as they were rather too expensive.
There is a three-level ‘atrium’ in the middle of the ship with glass lifts, fountains, curved stairs and an ornamental ceiling. Most of the shops are situated around this atrium at various levels. At lowest level some performances keep happening music, singing etc. This area is quite active throughout the day. The central information and reception area are also here.
Information and communication systems are very good in the ship. There is a paid Internet Café. There is a telephone in the room for calling other rooms and various facilities. A ‘Public Address’ system keeps giving information about various activities in the ship, about the city-tours one wants to take and also various necessary instructions and suggestions to the passengers. A daily News Letter is distributed in every room at night. A very informative two-page leaflet on each city we stopped at was also distributed the night before.
A bit about the room. There are various kinds of rooms available -rooms with windows, rooms with balcony and inner rooms without window. There are rooms for wheel chair users and also there are larger rooms as suites. We had a room with a nice balcony with four chairs and one table. The railing is of glass and the entire wall towards outside/ balcony is of glass/ glass sliding door. We spent lot of time in this balcony. Watching the ship slowly docking or leaving a port from this balcony is fun. We also looked at passing vessels or land edges (when nearing a city). Watching sunrises and sunsets over the sea was a fascinating experience. Having tea, smoking or just lazing… on the balcony was great.
The Room itself is about 12’X8’-6”, small but very efficiently furnished. A number of mirrors on the walls make the room look quite spacious. Other than the double bed, there is a writing table with a chair, fridge, TV and an arm chair. As one enters the room the toilet is on one side with its door from a walk-in cupboard area with ample hanging space and a small cupboard with a digital locker.

 

A Performance in the Atrium
 

Our Room
 

Our Balcony
 

Dinner at Botticelli

‘Food in the ship’ is the key attraction for most guests. Other than a 24 hour room service, there are several places in the ship where you can go, eat and drink. Most popular and used place is the Horizon Court, a very large buffet eating place offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is closed only for few hours after lunch during which Café Caribe is open, another large buffet place with a tea-time menu. One of these areas is open 24 hrs (we did not check!). Then there are outlets for Pizza, Hotdog / Hamburger and Ice Cream. One picks up something and sits at any of the many sitting areas overlooking the sea and the pools or the open air movie screen. There are three sit-down fine dining places with more than 500 seats in each. One has to book a place in advance. We had our place booked in Botticelli. The other ones are Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Menu is almost same in these places. In these restaurants one really enjoys special items from a menu, served by a particular waiter and his assistant every evening. It is very relaxing after a tiring day (in comparison to going for buffet type food). One does not have to pay in the above eating areas. There are half a dozen more which are specialized restaurants where you have to pay a cover charge of about $20 for dinner.
There are several bars, some formal others open counter type one could go to. We went to one formal type. There is a stage for live music with a dance floor in front. We didn’t dance as it seemed, the people who were, knew how to dance! One had to pay for alcohol and soft drinks. The menu and price of alcohol is same in all bars (5-10$ per large peg and cocktails). Self service Tea / Coffee counters are there at a number of places. In the late afternoon, a trolley moves around the open decks offering milk and fresh hot cookies. One can take any food from anyone of these free outlets to any part of the ship including to one’s room and eat (Although we didn’t find anyone eating at non-food formal areas like the shopping area, auditorium, picture gallery etc.)
Finally the ‘disembarkation’ time came. We reached Copenhagen very early in the morning at about 5 am. The day before was a ‘sailing’ day. So we had been sailing for about 36 hour continuously. All last minute shopping, photography etc. was done. Disembarkation, logistically is a very complex process. Everyone has to leave the ship for their onward journey, mostly to catch flights at various times, some quite early, within few hours.
 

Tea in the Atrium
 

The Champagne Fountain
 

The Pool area
 

A pool-side bar

The ship had their own arrangement to transfer passengers to the airport by bus on payment of 34$ per head. They will pick up the luggage from room and deliver it to you at the airport when you reach there. Others can carry their luggage themselves out of the ship and walk to the taxi/bus stand. A taxi to airport costs less than 30$. Transfer arranged by the ship ($ 34 per head) is expensive but all of us took it as the cruise people kept warning us that it will be very difficult to get a taxi that time in the morning as there will be 4-5 cruise ships docking at the same time.
The night before we were all asked to pack our luggage (two suitcases) and keep outside our room before going for dinner. Initially we were little uncomfortable with the idea but later we found it to be quite nice. When we came back from dinner, we find our suitcases gone! There was very little to pack in our handbag, so we could have nice, relaxed last night in the ship. Baggage tags with different colour and bus number were given to us with a time and place to assemble in the morning. We were grouped depending upon flight time. Our flight time was 1:30 pm, so we were one of the last buses to leave around 9 am. The ship had to be vacated by 9:30 am, anyway, as it had to start its new cruise in the same evening, like we had done 11 nights ego.
To handle so many people, breakfast was being served from 4:30 am onwards from more places than usual. We took our bus and reached the airport. There, the waiting cruise staff took us to the luggage hold area where our stuff was kept systematically, bus-wise. It was easy to identify our luggage. We carried them on trolleys to the airport departure lounge, duly guided by the Cruise Staff. Even when we were waiting, a staff came to offer further help of any kind.

The old boys at the formal dinner
 

... and the young ladies
 

A really enjoyable Cruise ended successfully. It was an amazing experience. All activities run smoothly and efficiently only because of a highly professional staff and more than adequate logistics support. Organizational capacity of cruise agency is really of very very high standard. Every activity happens in time and to the fullest satisfaction of the customer.
I think everyone should try to get a Cruise Experience some time in life!

Ujan Ghosh did his under graduate studies in Architecture from School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi in 1975. After working for two years in Delhi he went to University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia where he completed Master of Architecture and Master of City Planning in Urban Design. He worked for few years in USA before coming back to India and joining Upalghosh Associates as a partner.
Since then he has been practicing architecture and urban design in various parts of the country. He is also a visiting professor at SPA, New Delhi and has been teaching Urban Design for the last 38 years. He was nominated to the Senate of SPA, Bhopal and has been a member of the Board of Studies in different departments of SPA, New Delhi. Presently he is a member of the Academic Council, DIT Univercity, Dehradun and on the Board of Studies,Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Ansal University, Gurugram. 
He is the founder member of Institute of Urban Designers-India and its former President.