Helsinki, St Petersburg, Riga, Gdansk, Visby ports review

My husband, 19 y.o. daughter and I just returned from a 7 night Baltics cruise aboard RCI’s Vision of the Seas. It was a port-intensive and fascinating cruise but not particularly relaxing, especially since we had to move our clocks forward one hour two different nights at the very beginning of the cruise. We did our own thing in every port except St Petersburg (for obvious reasons) and hope our experiences and what we learned may be of benefit to others who also want to DIY it.

Helsinki: We were scheduled to arrive in Helsinki at 10:00am but were a few minutes late arriving so it was 10:20 or so before we were cleared to leave the ship. We had intended to take a public bus from the port but learned on board ship that a shuttle bus was offered; due to time constraints we decided to go that route. We got off the ship as soon as we were cleared to do so because we wanted to try to make it to Suomenlinna in time for an 11:00am English-speaking tour. The shuttle, which cost 12 Euro each round trip dropped us off at Mannerheimintie and Etalaesplanadi. We quickly walked the 6 blocks to the harbor near Kauppatori Market Square where the ferries dock. There are different ferry companies at the harbor (including one going to Porvoo) but all are well signed in English. The ferry costs 6.5 Euro each roundtrip and you can buy the ticket on the boat. Drinks and snacks are available on the ferry.

It was a beautiful , sunny day but somewhat humid. We were lucky enough to get seats on the top deck where we could enjoy the breeze on the 15 minute ride as well as the beautiful sights (including a docked submarine you can visit while at Suomenlinna). When you get off the ferry at Suomenlinna take a look at the bulletin board where they post the return times so you can plan your day accordingly. Unfortunately, we missed the English speaking tour by about 5 minutes but enjoyed the visitor center with a museum and book shop then set off on our own to explore the island. Following is a link to a good map I printed before leaving home: http://www.suomenlinna.fi/files/1486/kartta_EN-2011.pdf

We saw the historic sites, spent a few minutes in the arts and crafts store and walked the grounds of the beautiful Suomenlinna Church. We did not go in as it was Sunday and services were underway. After an hour and a half or so, we made our way to the Suomenlinna Brewery to enjoy a few cold beers in the outdoor beer garden.

On our return trip, we were again fortunate to get an upper deck outside seat. Husband enjoyed the beer so much on the island he bought two more at the snack bar on the ferry. Be aware you have to finish your drinks on the ferry because you can’t take them off the boat.

We then had a great time wandering through the outdoor market and checking out all of the food stalls before deciding where to eat. We each had grilled salmon; daughter and I in sandwiches and husband had his on a combination plate with grilled vegetables and another fish similar to a sardine. The young ladies working at the grill stand were kept hopping the entire time we were there. We had fun people watching while we ate– there was a soccer team of high school or college age guys who were going through the market with an iPod playing music, singing and doing choreographed dances. After we ate, we browsed the arts and crafts stalls at the market , purchasing 3 ceramic Christmas ornaments. We were tempted by some port glasses with metal reindeer ornamentation because they were so beautiful and unique, but decided in the end not to get them. I do not wear fur, but if I did I surely would have purchased something here. We saw some beautiful hats, gloves, capes and coats. We also saw beautiful (although disturbing to me) reindeer pelts at much better prices than those we had seen in Iceland on our stopover to Stockholm.

On the way back to the shuttle bus stop, we walked by some of the places of interest listed on this map: http://0.tqn.com/d/goscandinavia/1/0/Q/3/-/-/helsinkicitymap.jpg We also did some shopping along Aleksanterinkatu and Pohjoisesplanadi streets. Daughter found a pair of funky, bright yellow boots on sale for 15 Euro.

At the port, daughter returned to the ship and husband and I spent a few minutes looking at the offerings in the large shop at the pier. He didn’t find a hat he liked but there were some beautiful things there. Many people were sitting outside taking advantage of free wifi.

St Petersburg: Quite the experience at immigration here. When we arrived in the terminal building there was an energetic young cheerleader type assigning people to particular lines and telling everyone to have a GREAT time in St Petersburg. That euphoria was short-lived however, as within 2 minutes I encountered the first of two of the most humorless people one would never hope to meet. I thought he was rude until I had the misfortune of getting in the line at the end of the day for a female agent who loudly yelled and gestured at me “GO, GO, GO!” when she was done reviewing my passport. My daughter reported that the same agent got mad at her when she could not understand Russian.

I arranged a tour with a private tour company and we were joined by several other cruisecritic members. We went to the waterfront, Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood, Russian Orthodox church, Catherine’s Palace and Peterhof before taking a hydrofoil back to town for a tour of Yusupov Palace. We all thought the church with its fabulous mosaics was beautiful. At Yusupov Palace, we enjoyed seeing the theater and the cellar where Rasputin was murdered and had great fun watching the children playing in the “trick fountains” at Peterhof. I liked the reconstructed amber room but would probably not go to Catherine’s Palace again due to the distance and lines/crowds. Perhaps I would feel differently if we hadn’t been so tired but we got only 4 hours of sleep the night before due to a late dinner seating, an even later production show and having to move our clocks forward one hour.

Our tour guide was very good and I am glad we used a private company as our tablemates on ship tours said they did not get to go into the Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood – which was one of the highlights for us.

We went into two souvenir shops. The first stop was impromptu because one of the people on our tour needed to use a restroom. I am so glad we made this stop because the shop, Art Salon Galecin, provided free coffee( which was sorely needed after our short nigh) and had absolutely beautiful products. We purchased two hand painted and signed nesting doll sets. They were pricey but the most beautiful we saw anywhere – very detailed and vibrant but not cheap or cheesy looking. In fact, I wish now I had purchased another set. We also got a beautifully illustrated book of Russian fairytales, one of which is depicted on my daughter’s nesting doll set, and a hand blown, hand painted egg ornament.

When we went back to the port, we had some rubles left so told our tour guide we wanted to stay in the building and shop while she escorted the others to the immigration checkpoint. Our guide told us she was required to escort us the entire time and would be happy to wait while we shopped. We declined as there was nothing we truly needed and did not want to make her already long day any longer. It seemed the height of paranoia, not to mention very odd, that we were not allowed to shop in the terminal shops unescorted – especially since there is nothing else near the port building, so it wasn’t like we were going to just walk out.

In any event, after successfully navigating immigration with nothing more serious than blistered ears from being yelled at, we stopped in the duty free shop on the pier but did not purchase anything as the prices were about 4x more than those we had seen for higher quality products in town.

Have run out of steam now, so will have to post about other ports tomorrow.

Looking forward to the review from Riga:)

Riga, Latvia: We loved Riga. Daughter will be going to art school in the Fall and husband is an architect – there was something for everyone in Riga.

The ship docked right along 11 Novembra Krastmala, just north of the Vansu tilts bridge. There was a sign along the dock pointing the correct way to the old town with steps leading up to the bridge. There was not even a port security kiosk or checkpoint. It was such a pleasant experience after St Petersburg (where we spent a good part of the day in a van and hydrofoil) logistically, physically and spiritually to just be able to walk right off the ship and into town. It was sunny and warm and we so enjoyed the walk past the Castle and park.

Prior to leaving home, I printed off maps from: http://riga-life.com/map/map.php and http://mappery.com/maps/Riga-Tourist-Map-2.jpg We had just as much fun, though, wandering the beautiful winding streets in Old Town after having gone to our “must sees.” Old town reminded us somewhat of Prague but with wider streets.

Our first stop was the Riga Cathedral: http://www.doms.lv/info/?mnu_id=47 We arrived just after opening time at 9:00 and, after paying for entrance (3 or 4 Lats each, as I recall) had about 25 minutes to look around before the cathedral closed to prepare for a noon concert, for which it was also selling tickets. Had we not had so many other things we wanted to see in Riga, we would have been tempted to go to the concert as they were going to play the cathedral organ. Following is a link to the concert schedule in case anyone is interested: http://www.doms.lv/events/concerts.php The cathedral is beautiful but just as interesting to us were the artifacts and weapons in the exterior courtyard from other buildings destroyed during the war. It was fascinating. All of the signage was duo language with English. We thought it was well worth the price of admission. If you want to see the cathedral on a day a concert is scheduled but do not want to attend the concert, I suggest you go as early as possible or in the mid to late afternoon.

We then wended our way to the square in front of the House of Blackheads tourist information center where we spent a pleasant few minutes watching and listening to a singing/dancing troupe wearing traditional garb. An elderly gentleman in the square approached me about purchasing some postcards. He sold me a baker’s dozen set of postcards for 1 Euro. We headed out in the general direction of the Central Market, walking a few blocks along the river and then heading inland a bit. Along the way we happened upon a quaint gift shop and stopped to browse. I purchased a little wire frame tree with leaves of amber for 5.5 Lats and a ceramic Christmas ornament in the shape of a tower with the word “Riga” on it. I also enjoyed looking at beautiful ships made of amber – that night at dinner one of our table mate’s said he had purchased one.

By now it was about 10:00 and we were beginning to wonder where all the local residents were because the streets seemed strangely quiet. We soon found out at our next stop – the Central Market - which is housed in 4 huge former zeppelin hangars right by the central train station and which has been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. There was at least as large of an outdoor area surrounding the hangars with hundreds of stalls. I have never seen so many beautiful fruits, vegetables and flowers in my life. The indoor fish market in the last of the hangars was fascinating and beautiful. There were also stalls for shoes and clothing, including an outdoor stall selling bras where we saw a woman trying one on over her clothing. And the place was bustling. We enjoyed people watching as much as we enjoyed browsing the stalls. At one of the outdoor stalls we happened to see a woman crocheting a shawl. My daughter had fallen in love with a crocheted shawl in Iceland but we did not purchase it because the shop was asking $400 – she found one at the Riga market for less than 10% of that and it meant even more because she met the woman who made it. The Central Market is well worth the walk just to experience it – even if you are not in the market to purchase anything: http://www.latvia.travel/en/riga-central-market

After enjoying the market we decided to head back to old town for lunch. On the way we happened across a modern shopping mall (http://www.galerijacentrs.lv/en) and decided to make a pit stop to use the restrooms. The developers of that mall knew what they were doing when the located the restrooms on the 4th floor requiring you to pass multiple stores on the way. All of the stores had sale signs and daughter could not resist getting a tee shirt at the Mango store.

After that detour, we headed to Alus Seta beer garden, Tirgonu 6, where we hoped to have lunch. http://lido.lv/eng/companies/catering_companies/alus_seta/ Unfortunately, it was 12:30 before we got there and the place was packed and had a line of people waiting. If you want to go to Alus Seta you might try to get there earlier or go later after the lunch crowd. Fortunately, there are many other places with outdoor seating to choose from, particularly ringing the square near Alus Seta and along Kaku iela/Brivibas bulvaris towards the Freedom Monument. We found a spot at a large outdoor deck right on the square and enjoyed some sausages, an appetizer sampler plate (called a beer sampler), some beer and a lemonade. Just as we finished eating, we happened to see one of our table mates and decided to walk with him towards the Freedom Monument. He soon peeled off to go to a pub he had noticed earlier and we headed on. The park bisected by the river in the northeast sector of town is really beautiful with winding paths, trees and flowers. There were pedal boats for rent along the river. We did not rent a pedal boat but it sure looked like fun.

We continued our walk to Alberta Iela street to see the gorgeous Art Nouveau buildings: http://www.latvians.com/en/Personal/Features-AlbertaIela/index.php It was getting hot by this time and it was a bit of a hike but well worth it. There were some really amazing details on the buildings. Afterwards, we noticed a sign for a shop called Art Nouveau Riga at Streknieuku 9 (http://www.inyourpocket.com/latvia/riga/shopping/giftsandsouvenirs/Art-Nouveau-Riga_11785v) They had beautifully crafted merchandise including hand painted silk scarves bearing art nouveau designs. Daughter found a poster for her dorm room and husband found an absolutely gorgeous glazed tile – I now wish we had purchased more.

After our successful shopping stop, we headed back across the river to have one last drink at an outdoor patio right across the street from the Castle before making our way back to the ship. (Actually, we had 5 drinks – 2 beers, 2 waters and 1 cider – all for 7 lats!). Back on board we sat on our aft balcony for nearly an hour watching Riga slowly fade into the distance and already talking about a return trip.

Thanks for the outstanding reviews

Cheers

Len

Great to hear that you enjoyed Riga so much! You are always welcome back! :)

Gdansk/Gdynia: We were in port at Gdynia from 11am-7pm. We enjoyed Gdansk very much but would have liked to have spent more time there. Between logistics issues with transportation from the port city, the weather that day which brought several fast moving but strong rainstorms and daughter coming down with a sore throat and the sniffles, we were only able to spend a few hours in Gdansk.

Prior to leaving home, we intended to set off on foot for the train station because I had read that others had done so and had found this map on the internet which indicated the cruise port was fairly close: http://atol.am.gdynia.pl/imeko2005/Gdynia.jpg

From also looking at Google Earth prior to leaving home, we thought we were further away from town than shown on the map so when we got off the ship (as soon as we were cleared to do so), we spoke with someone on the pier who confirmed that it was a much longer walk to the train station than expected. (We were docked right at the breakwaters about 3 large bays north of where indicated on the map above). Therefore, we opted to take the ship shuttle into Gdynia for 8Euro/10 USD round trip. We lined up for tickets but then had to wait for the second shuttle bus. The shuttle dropped us off at Kosciuszko Square/Zeromskiego Street. Shuttles were running every 20 minutes or so, with the last one back to the ship leaving at 6:00.

We walked the 20 minutes to the train station and stood in line at the SKM window just inside the doors to the station for tickets. There were only a few people in line in front of us but one of them had many questions so by the time we got our round trip tickets to Gdansk, validated them in the yellow boxes inside the terminal (just before the steps leading up to the platforms), and walked up the steps to platform 1 we had just missed a train. We found a bench to sit on and waited 12 minutes for the next train. The platform was very busy when the next train arrived, so husband stood on the train.

The train ride from Gdynia to Gdansk took 40 minutes with 8 or 9 stops along the way. From what we could see from the train window Sopot looked very charming and if we go back, we may try to stop there for a bit. All in all it took us one and one-half hours from the time we got off the ship to the time we arrived at Gdansk Glowny train stop.

I had printed off several maps of Gdansk prior to leaving home because I could not find one which had everything I wanted (points of interest, details, yet legible street names for my weak eyes). I found this website to be helpful – on the right side at the bottom is a link to download a map of Gdansk. I downloaded it, zoomed to 200% and printed on legal size paper: http://www.********************tourists

As well as this map: http://www.2congress.eu/media/files/mapa_gdansk.pdf

I also found this walking map (click on the map to enlarge) with description of the sites which I had reviewed and highlighted with those things we were particularly interested in seeing: http://thevisitor.pl/index.php?id=251

Upon leaving the train station in Gdansk, we walked by the Old Mill, stopped in a souvenir shop which my daughter found intriguing and then hoofed it over to St Mary’s Basilica, which was high on my daughter’s list of must-sees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary's_Church,_Gda%C5%84sk

Admission was 4 zt each. We enjoyed looking around the Basilica and were happy we were doing it on our own because even though it seemed like it took us a long time to get to Gdansk, we saw two large tour groups from the ship waiting to get in as we were leaving. We then made our way to western end of Dluga/Dluga Targ to pick up the many points of interest on the walking route attached above.

By the time we made it to the river, daughter was beginning to wilt a bit and storm clouds were rolling in so we grabbed the last covered outdoor seats at this restaurant: http://www.tawerna.pl/en/indexen.html

We enjoyed watching folks aboard a pirate ship docked right alongside the restaurant while we were waiting for our interesting lunch of Polish specialties, like horseradish soup! The storm arrived before our food did, the craft vendors on the sidewalk scrambled to cover their wares and soon it was pouring down rain. It was windy enough that we had to also set up our umbrellas behind us to keep dry. Daughter later told me that she loved just being able to walk the town and sit down at an outdoor patio to eat lunch, people watch and ride out the storm. She had a very tasty apple strudel for dessert.

There was a break in the rain so we headed off to see the crane and to start down Mariacka street. Most of the jewelry stores had cases set up outside to show off a sampling of their wares. Daughter happened to see some cameos pendants carved from amber that she loved at this shop:

http://www.apart.vns.com.pl/ We purchased one in a silver setting for about $95 USD , which came with a certificate of authenticity, then continued walking and browsing until it started raining again.

We darted in to a souvenir shop so husband could purchase a hat and because it was pouring down rain by this time and because husband was getting worried about the train connections, walk to shuttle, etc we decided to head back to Gdynia. The train back was even more crowded than going as it was around 5:00 by this time. Trains to Gdansk leave from platforms 3-5. If there are trains at more than one platform, check the signage alongside the trains to figure out which one is leaving first.

We enjoyed Gdansk even more than we thought we might and only wished the ship had offered shuttles all the way to Gdansk so we did not have to spend so much time on transport there.

Thank you for these great reports. It helps those of us that are anxiously awaiting our turn. Gdansk is the one that worried me the most, but it's good to see it is really do-able.

Could you spell out the first link to a map of Gdansk, between the www. and "tourist" is blanked out.

My husband, 19 y.o. daughter and I just returned from a 7 night Baltics cruise aboard RCI’s Vision of the Seas.

 

Helsinki: We were scheduled to arrive in Helsinki at 10:00am but were a few minutes late arriving so it was 10:20 or so before we were cleared to leave the ship. We had intended to take a public bus from the port but learned on board ship that a shuttle bus was offered; due to time constraints we decided to go that route. We got off the ship as soon as we were cleared to do so because we wanted to try to make it to Suomenlinna in time for an 11:00am English-speaking tour. The shuttle, which cost 12 Euro each round trip dropped us off at Mannerheimintie and Etalaesplanadi.

 

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Thanks so much for the review. In Helsinki, were you at West Terminal, or some other terminal? I am looking for free wifi near the ports!

I'm going to have to read about Riga and Gdansk tomorrow, but I was curious: Did you go to Tallinn? If so, would you happen to have a good tourist map? I printed out one I really liked (at least a month ago) but now I can't find the source and would like to print the area to the east of it. Last night I tried mappery, viamichelin, Tallinn's public transportation site, and a couple tallinn tourism web sites with no luck. The map is colored, readable, very detailed and has tourist sites marked. I have ********' walking tour map, plus the usual Google maps (and by the way, I LOVE Google Earth!!) but this one is really fantastic and I'm so annoyed that I now can't find it again.

Waiting for your future posts! Thanks SO much - very helpful!

Thank you for these great reports. It helps those of us that are anxiously awaiting our turn. Gdansk is the one that worried me the most, but it's good to see it is really do-able.

 

Could you spell out the first link to a map of Gdansk, between the www. and "tourist" is blanked out.

Hi again! Might want to check on when the St. Dominic's Fair ends in Gdansk. It is ongoing when we're there, but think it may be over by the time you get there. It starts July 27 and runs 3 weeks, or something like that.....I'm hoping it will be fun, but that the SKM trains won't be extra crowded while we're there, as there are so many things I want to see in Gdansk.

rgastin: I am glad to hear you are going to go it on your own. One of our table mates told us that as soon as he got to Gdansk on the ship's tour he thought there was nothing planned which he could not have done on his own just as well and at his own speed.

I also found this guide helpful for our trip: http://www.inyourpocket.com/data/download/gdansk.pdf Perhaps you will be able to find an updated version which covers the time you will be in Gdansk.

The other map (witht he missing url info) can be found at: http://www.********************tourists

roothy123: In Helsinki, we were at the West Harbor (Hernesaari). Unfortunately, our short cruise did not include Tallinn. However, I am eager to go there now as one of our servers in the diamond lounge told us that Tallinn is the favorite port of all of the crew members. She said there were good restaurants and the crew loved purchasing chocolate at great prices to send home to their families. We loved Riga and Visby so much, it is hard to believe someplace could be even better but based on what she said you are in for a real treat.

Ruth -

I wish it was still going on - I had checked into it and it's over by the time we get there. I hope you guys enjoy it though!

kccrzr ...thanks for trying to give me the link for the map, but once again it's missing.

Ruth -

Is this the one you were looking for?

http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/eng/fpage/travelplanning/brochures

There's also another map on the main brochure on page 64 - maybe that is the one you were thinking of as it shows a larger portion of Tallinn.

kcczr: Visby? Did you say Visby? Did I miss that review or is it coming up? That's one port I'm really looking forward to. Thanks for the info on the other ports. Yes, it's amazing what you can do on your own, especially in Europe, with its excellent public transportation. And yes, I love inyourpocket.com also - covers most of the Baltic ports cruise ships go to.

Maybe, if you still have the patience, you can spell out the link that CC keeps blotting out with "dot" for each dot. That has worked for others in the past. I would also love to take a look at your links, as I'm always looking for the best maps.

Shirley, thanks so much for the map suggestions. I'm going to have to look at the first one when I get to my desktop computer, as it doesn't like me trying to zoom more than once. I guess it's because it's a pdf, but not sure... Anyway, I don't think it's the same one I have (or at least I have part of!!) but it does look like a keeper. Also, that detailed one on pg 64 is great. Also, I forget: For us, did someone on CC mention a shuttle in Riga? I can walk, but my husband might like it.

roothy123: so strange, first copied/pasted and then manually entered. Cite is:

en dot gdansk dot gda dot pl backslash tourists

Alternatively: you can (1) go to gdansk dot pl (2) choose the English flag at top right, (3) at top left pull down screen, choose Gdansk, (4) choose "For Tourists" on menu at left, (5) Along right hand margin at the bottom, choose "Download Gdansk city map"

We did go to Visby but I have not had time to recreate my review yet. (I had done a single, long review of all ports late Sunday but lost it when I was logged out of cruisecritic either because of a timeout or because I was using Safari).

Thanks much; I'll try to pull up the sites. CC can be weird with links.

Awaiting Visby with baited breath! Bummer about losing your whole review! Of course, CC won't let you post a lot at one time - there's a fairly small limit on number of characters. Better to do it the way you're doing it. Thanks for the detailed info.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews. Very helpful!

kccrzr

Thank you for the detailed directions, they worked perfectly.

And again, thank you for such detailed reviews of the ports, it helps immensely!

I just found a card I picked up in a wonderful shop we visited in Riga, Boutique Hobbywool at Maza Pils iela 6. It has high quality woolen clothing, hats and mittens as well as some very fun and clever products, many made of wool. There was a cute kit with yarn "How to Knit Like a Latvian." Although most of the products are made of wool, my husband purchased a beautiful glazed dish. http://hobbywool.com/en/shops/salon-in-the-old-town.htm

We had a great experience in Visby. The tendering process to get there – not so much. We were scheduled to be in port from 9-6 with the first tender to Visby (and tender tickets distributed) beginning at 9:30. Husband and I planned to be on one of the first tenders out and then return to the ship around 1:00 to collect our daughter who wanted to sleep in a bit because she was still feeling under the weather. Husband got to the lounge where tender tickets were to be distributed prior to the process beginning. Once it was announced that they were ready to begin handing out tickets, he said there was a mad rush to the desk and he felt fortunate to have received a ticket for tender group 3 which he was told would probably be called around 10:00am. Group 1 was called around 9:40am. At approximately 10:00 there was an announcement that tendering was taking longer than expected due to rough seas. By this time people on ship excursions were starting the tender process, which also slowed down the independent cruisers. The medical department was called to the tender ship at around 10:15 because someone had fallen on the ramp. Luckily, we were told when we enquired that the person was ok with no serious injuries. At this point we called the cabin to check on our daughter and to tell her we had not yet been called. She decided to go ahead and get ready and go with us. She was able to get dressed and meet us in the Centrum before tender group 2 was called. It was 10:50 or so before we were called to the tender loading station. (One of our table mates was in group 16 and others in group 20 – they said they knew there were at least 23 groups and they did not get off the ship until after noon).

Once onshore we were immediately charmed by Visby. It is one of the most beautiful towns we have seen with quaint winding streets, cottages with roses (somewhat reminiscent of Luss, Scotland), an amazing number of ancient church ruins and the beautiful sea. We used this map to get our bearings and then just wandered: http://www.planetware.com/map/visby-gotland-map-s-visby.htm

We started off along the harbor, up past the information center, then back down towards the sea along the medieval wall to see the powder tower, botanical garden (which is absolutely gorgeous), maiden’s tower, silver cap (which we climbed up) and then around to the north tower, taking little side streets and detours along the way, including to a pharmacy to pick up some throat lozenges. St Mary’s cathedral was very interesting, particularly the juxtaposition between the ancient church and the very modern art exhibition it was hosting. Although we could not go in, St Nicholas was also interesting because the old church shell has been converted to a theater.

We meandered along, stopping at shops here and there when the spirit moved until we decided it was time for lunch. We ate on the outdoor patio of a restaurant right on the southwest corner of Stora Torget (market square) and enjoyed some pasta and local beer, Wisby Pils. It was a beautiful, sunny day and there is nothing better than being able to linger over a good meal, good food – and good beer! We ate pasta but many people were ordering the house specialty, a very hefty dish called Steak on a Plank.

After eating we enjoyed walking for a few more hours until daughter decided she wanted some dessert. We first stopped at Creperie & Logi

(http://www.creperielogi.se/) because I had read good reviews on tripadvisor. However, we decided to go on both because there was a 20 minute wait and because they served only inside the restaurant, not at the outdoor tables, and it was too nice of a day to be inside. After a few minutes we happened across a bistro with an outdoor deck fronting the street and an inner walled patio garden and sat down for some drinks and a dessert for daughter. We had a great time people watching and dog watching – we saw some of the most beautiful, large, long-haired dogs and the streets were bustling. It was late afternoon by now and daughter was tired so we headed back to the port to catch a tender back.

Visby was filled with beautiful sights at every turn, tempting restaurants and even a beer garden - it’s a good thing we purchased an extra memory card for our camera!