Baltic, Iceland, Norway and the U.K.on a cruise

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27 minutes ago, Host Bonjour said:

 

...can't say the little man doesn't have varied taste in hats. I don't remember these from my early aughts visit to Berlin but so much was still being rebuilt or torn down in the eastern side of the city back then. But then I just realized I'm a scofflaw when it comes to paying heed to these signs....if the road is all clear, I just go. 🙄 shhhhh

 

Mum's the word .

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It seem like there was a certain nostalgia for some East German things like the little traffic men and the Trabant .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1975 version was rated one of the 50 worst cars of all time by Time Magazine .

 

1975 Trabant

 

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name. Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at an ear-splitting 18 hp, the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness (actually, the body was made of a fiberglass-like Duroplast, reinforced with recycled fibers like cotton and wood). A virtual antique when it was designed in the 1950s, the Trabant was East Germany's answer to the VW Beetle — a "people's car," as if the people didn't have enough to worry about. Trabants smoked like an Iraqi oil fire, when they ran at all, and often lacked even the most basic of amenities, like brake lights or turn signals. But history has been kind to the Trabi. Thousands of East Germans drove their Trabants over the border when the Wall fell, which made it a kind of automotive liberator. Once across the border, the none-too-sentimental Ostdeutschlanders immediately abandoned their cars. Ich bin Junk!

 

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There were a couple of places that we visited in 2016 that had hope to get a better look at 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Museum

 

 

and the Berliner Dom ( Berlin Cathedral ) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Cathedral

 

 

They were both more busy on the outside

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped inside the cathedral for a few photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The last stop in Berlin was at the double dome area

 

 

 

The first dome was the French Church built by the Huguenot community between 1701 and 1705 .

 

 

The second dome is the German Church built in 1708 by the Lutheran community .

 

 

 

Between them is a third building , the Konzerthaus Berlin , built in 1820 .

 

 

 

The Gendarmenmarkt is arguably Berlin's most magnificent square. It is best known for the architectural trio composed of the German and French cathedrals (Deutscher und Französischer Dom) and Schinkel's Konzerthaus (concert hall) which together form one of the most stunning ensembles in Berlin. The "domes" refer to the domed tower structures erected in 1785 by architect Carl von Gontard. They were mainly intended to add stature and grandeur to the two buildings.

 

From Berlin.de

 

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More sun and people this past visit

 

The German church

 

 

The French Church

 

 

The concert  hall had a wedding party

 

 

We did get to see The Victory Column before saying goodbye to Markus and Berlin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we did see a number of what appeared to be crop circles on the return trip .

 

 

 

 

We would like to thank Markus and Frank for a job well done .

 

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It was nice to be back to the ship and we could see a train in the distance that we thought could be returning from Berlin , so we hustled to get on board .

 

 

We saw some food that appealed to us on the Lido buffet . It was our only dinner there . Sauerbraten , Spaetzle ,  a sausage and Sauerkraut with a draft beer .

 

 

We did take the beer with us to see the band by the pool 

 

 

 

 

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Our only previous experience with Kiel was in 2006 on our 1st Baltic Cruise on the NCL Dream . We sailed through the Kiel Canal that connects the Baltic to the North Sea .

 

The lengthening was eventually carried out in March—May 1998 at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany, where the ship was cut in half and a new 40-metre (131 ft 3 in) midsection was inserted.^[12] In addition to the lengthening, the ship's funnel and radar mast were adapted so that they could be folded down, allowing her to pass under the bridges of the Kiel Canal.^[1][5][13] Coinciding with the lengthening the Dreamward was renamed Norwegian Dream.^[1] She re-emerged at 50,764 GT^[8] and with maximum passenger capacity of 2,156.^[5] A documentary film about the lengthening has been broadcast by ARTE Television on 19 January 1999^[14]

^Wikipedia

 

^{We had picked up a band that would play as we went under low bridges . The ship's funnel was flipped on it's side to clear the bridges .}

 

 

^{The shore excursions from Kiel were to Hamburg and Luneburg which we had seen before on a previous cruise} 

 

 

 

 

^{Kiel was our last port before returning to Copenhagen and we hoped for a nice , quite Sunday with no monkey business .}

 

 

 

 

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Balcony cleaning day in Kiel

 

 

We went for a walk

 

 

 

 

 

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A church visit after all it was Sunday

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We had a nice , quite lunch here

 

 

Great Goulash

 

 

 

 

Strudel for 2

 

 

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In the afternoon it seemed like a band of buskers showed up around the ship

 

 

 

 

 

It was amazing how well their makeup stayed on 

 

 

The show went on for hours but in the end they received some well deserved applause

 

 

 

 

Well done Polizei , thank you and thank you HAL !

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Don't they serve crab at the Pinnacle ?

 

 

The Captain's speech

 

 

Overcast Copenhagen 9 AM

 

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With the 9 AM turnaround day it made it very difficult for the crew and passengers who had to scramble for planes and rooms . Additionally , Pentecost Monday is a holiday in Denmark with many people running , and watching , the Royal Race that was run through the streets in Copenhagen . We were doing a tour with a local and we went with the self disembarkation group which was larger than normal . Morten was our guide and driver .

 

 

The Zuiderdam was a little further out than we normally dock in the foreground 

 

 

The RCI ship is within walking distance to a number of sites

 

 

We wanted to get to the Little Mermaid before the people started crawling on her

 

 

 

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There's also a Polar Bear with cubs nearby

 

 

We also saw the genetically modified Little Mermaid - no crowds here

 

 

The next stop was Kastellet 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellet,_Copenhagen

 

The barracks

 

 

The church was in session

 

 

 

The windmill

 

 

the church

 

 

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It look's like someone has a big headache

 

 

Perhaps a bite to eat

 

 

 

We all had a Ristet . This isn't my photo , but it was what we had . Grilled onions and pickled cucumbers = YUM

 

 

 



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A couple more churches 

 

 

Saint Alban's  (English Church )

 

 

 

 

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And The Church of Holmen (Sailor's Church )

 

 

 

They were closing this one when we were there

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Amalienborg , the Queens Winter Palace .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalienborg

 

 

It's also where you can see the changing of the guard

 

 

 

 

 

There is a police presence there during the changing which has prompted a saying : The Danish Army is the only Army which requires police protection !

 

 

 

 

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Frederik's Church

 

 

 

 

 

We had arrangements to go up above the dome for a view of the city .

 

 

The climb to the top of the church was a tiny , dark , steep , circular stairway in which you couldn't see anything except the shoes of the person in front of you . And when one person stops , the whole group stops . So , were the views worth the climb ?

 

 

In the distance , we could see the Church of our Savior

 

 

 

 

And the Eclipse

 

 

 

And almost below us , where we had been .

 

 

 

Note : This segment was from our previous cruise . Where the Eclipse is was a RCI ship and where the RCI ship in the distance is , was where the Zuiderdam was this trip .

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Nyhavn was busy before the race

 

 

 

Our last visit

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyhavn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And , a return to our starting point , Nyhavn .

 

 



 

 

Tivoli Gardens

 

 

It was the inspiration which caused Walt Disney to built an amusement park after he had visited Tivoli . It's located in the city .

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

The Pantomine Theater

 

 

 

 

The Moorish Palace

 

 

 

 

The H.C. Anderson statute is just down the street

 

 

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On our last trip we stopped at Rosenborg Castle

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenborg_Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a moat below the bricks

 

 

 

A side view , from near the restrooms

 

 

 

 

 

The top floor of the castle is a large room called The Knight's Hall .

 

 

 

 

The walls are covered by 12 tapestries and at one end is a silver throne , the Throne for Audience

 

 

 

 

 

There are several paintings on the ceiling

 

 

They reminded us of the Moscow Metro

 

 

 

And the Royal Danish Coat of Arms

 

 

  

And on the end opposite of the silver throne , The King's and Queen's Coronation Throne guarded by the Three Silver Lions .

 

 

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Our last stop in Rosenborg Castle was the basement . At the entrance the guards were more vigilant than the ceremonial guards which we had seen earlier .

 

 

 

The Treasury

 

 

 

Order of the Elephant

 

 

 

The Oldenburg Horn

 



 

 

And finally , our last stop in the Danish Treasury - The Crown Jewels . The following descriptions are from the Kongerness Samling website , but the photos are mine .

 

The Order of Dannebrog Star

 

 

 

Star of the Order of Dannebrog, gold with brilliants and rubies. Made after amendments to the statutes of the Order in 1808, probably for Frederik VI.

 

 

In this case is the Danish Crown Regalia including :

 

 

 

The Anointing Sword, gold with enamel, table-cut and rose-cut stones. Used by the Absolutist kings and possibly by Frederik III. Originally a wedding present from Christian IV to Frederik III in 1643.

 

 

The Orb, gold with enamel and table-cut stones. Made in Hamburg for Frederik III’s coronation in 1648. Used at anointings during the period of Absolutism.

 

 

The Sceptre, gold with enamel and table-cut diamonds. Made for the coronation of Frederik III in 1648 by an unknown goldsmith in Copenhagen. Used at anointings during the period of Absolutism until 1840.

 

 

The Ampulla of gold with enamel and table-cut stones. Made for the coronation of Frederik III in 1648 by an unknown goldsmith in Copenhagen. Used at anointings during the period of Absolutism.

 

 

and the

 

Amethyst (1305 carats/261 g.) in a casing with Christian V’s name in gold on enamel, possibly made by Paul Kurtz, 1671. The jewel was only used when the kings sat on the throne during the anointing

 

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And the crowns . Beautiful to look at , but hard to take photos to do them justice !

 



 

 

Christian IV’s crown

 

Christian IV’s crown, made 1595-1596 by Dirich Fyring in Odense.

 

Gold with enamel, table-cut stones and pearls; total weight 2895 g. The figures on the crown’s large points illustrate the virtues and powers of a king.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detail of King Christian the IV's crown .

 

 

Within another case resided two crowns , the larger and older of the two is King Christian the V's .

 

 

The Crown of the Absolute Monarchs, used by the kings from Christian V to Christian VIII.

 

Made by Paul Kurtz in Copenhagen, 1670-1671. Gold with enamel and table-cut stones. Total weight 2080 g. Also 2 garnets and 2 sapphires, of which the largest dates back to Frederik I and was presumbaly a gift to his father, Christian I, from the Duke of Milan in 1474. On the palmette above this is a table-cut diamond, behind wich Christian V’s monogram in gold thread can be seen. Since the abolition of absolutism, the crown has only be used at the castrum doloris of the deceased Kings.

 

Ibid

 

And the smaller of the the two is the Queen's Crown

 

 

 

 

The Queen’s Crown, made for Queen Sophie Magdalene by court jeweller Frederik (I) Fabritius in 1731.

 

It was in use until 1840. The table-cut stones are believed to have come from Queen Sophie Amalie’s crown from 1648. The crown was especially crafted for the queen, since the previous crown was worn by the much despised Anna Sophie Revntlow, the second wife of Frederik IV.

 

 

 

 

 

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This year our last stops were at The Copenhagen Cathedral known for it's statutes of Jesus and the Apostles

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And The Church of our Savior

 

 

 

 

 

It was another great tour but time to get back to the ship