This was another cruise with Celebrity (following a previous trip to Norway) which enabled us to visit some of the major cities on the Baltic sea and which unfortunately led to a hospital visit for me.
Our first port of call was Zeebrugge which does not have any immediate attractions itself and from which the main organised excursion was to Bruges. We have been to Bruges previously so decided to take to a local outing on a bus. Both of us have a cold so the bus took us the nearby town of Blankenberge. This is actually an attractive place to wander around and we find a pharmacy and can obtain some treatment for the colds.
The ship then headed further north to dock in Copenhagen where the big attraction to us, given that a within recent times we had watched “The Bridge” (a detective series based around body parts found at the centre of the new bridge linking Copenhagen to Malmo), is the bridge which has to be traversed. The bridge replaced the ferry service I had used when making my Interrail trip in 1976. We take the open top bus into the city which stops close to the station and having negotiated buying tickets we travel to Malmo and return. Back in Copenhagen we are able to wander around the Tivoli Gardens which are also close to the station. The return bus service stops at The Little Mermaid to obtain the inevitable photographs.
Our next stopping port is Stockholm and here we take a city tour visiting the location where the Nobel scientific prize awards are made (but not the Peace Prize which is always presented in Oslo) as well as seeing more of the city as we travel. Stockholm stretches across numerous islands and there are therefore many bridges in and around the city. The Swedes have (like the Mary Rose in Portsmouth) recovered a sunken vessel – the Vasa – which succumbed on her maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was recovered in 1961 and the museum opened in 1990.
We cross from the Scandinavian side of the Baltic to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The sun is shining (much of the area is experiencing close to record temperatures) and we take a walk through a little market and then use a bus to the highest point of the capital and which is the location of the Town Hall and then wander back down the hill. It proves exceptionally warm for the latitude and with this weather Estonia appears very attractive, less so in the depths of the winter I suspect. However the opportunity to return for a further visit is probably limited.
Our next and most major port of call was St Petersburg which we visited over 20 years ago so this is a return visit. Whilst the historic buildings in the city centre show little physical change the names outside on the shop fronts now reflect the usual range of designer names that can be seen across the world. At the port – which we did not see previously – huge areas have been redeveloped with tower blocks and modern constructions. Huge highways and of course a lot more traffic.
We are here for two days and also here is the Russian Navy for an official navy day and on the second evening we are taken to the river frontage and can see huge numbers of naval vessels. It remains amazingly warm even past midnight. The navy ships can only arrive and depart in a couple of hours overnight when it is deemed appropriate to open the bridges across the river to facilitate the larger vessels leaving and without impacting traffic significantly.
Whilst St Petersburg looks generally more prosperous and modern than on our last visit I suspect the improvements are concentrated on the major cities and that the rural areas of Russia are probably little changed.
Built into the itinerary are a number of “sea days” when the cruise ship is heading between ports. We always try and plan to use one of the specialist restaurants on one of these days to allow another activity feature as we have not been out and about much during the day. As we are at sea for a day before the next stop we have some absolute stunning food in the Japanese restaurant aboard. During the night I start being sick – and although I have emptied my system I cannot stop. A trip to the medical bay ensues and as the doctor has a particular concern it is then in an ambulance to the hospital.
The ambulance requires payment in cash before departing so Jackie rushes upstairs to extract money from the cash machine and she eventually has enough Euros to pay them. I can report (and in contrast to some horror stories) all of the treatment on board and at the hospital was never charged (unless they contacted our insurers direct) so we are grateful to all concerned.
I have been given some morphine for the pain and other medicine to control the urge to be sick – that had been going on for some hours – so feeling better I was more worried about missing the planned trip on the Molli – a local light railway line – than having something wrong with me. A trip for the future.
At the hospital an abdominal scan proves the doctor’s fears groundless – it would appear that it is actually my gall bladder which has given up the fight against good living. It is inflamed and initially they are suggesting an immediate operation – which is not ideal. However wiser councils prevail – antibiotics for now, a return to the ship prior to sailing and then arrange treatment on return to home.
Rostok was the last stop before Southampton so after a couple of days we are back in Southampton and heading up the M3 and the car finds its way to Frimley Park where the wait is significantly longer than in Rostok – despite knowing what is wrong with me. Eventually the diagnosis is confirmed and appointments will be coming.
This was a great trip until I fell ill – but in fact provided a story to tell so I can hardly complain!