2013 0802 Stockholm and into the Baltic: Got up at 7:30 after a good night’s sleep. Breakfast in our suite at 8:30 brought by our butler, Nenad. Had Internet troubles, which is becoming the norm. Around 10:30, we headed down to Deck 3 and disembarked. Waited for taxi since none were there. One drove up with the driver delivering flowers from his daughter’s florist shop to the boat. He took us to Milles Garden, which is right across the water from here on an island.
We spent two hours wandering around the garden, the Milles house, the museum. Really delightful to see all this work in one place. Many of the pieces in the main part of the garden are on high plinths, which is how Milles placed them. The gardens/house are high up and right on the water. We could see the cruise ships, including a part of ours – the rest hidden by grain elevators. Wonderful fountains containing sculpture. In the house we saw his collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and fragments. And in the house of his assistant, Anne, there was furniture by Joseph Frank (whose work we saw in Stockholm at Svenskt Tenn). We stopped at the café there for a bite to eat. It’s really also an elegant deli with high-end meats, cheeses, etc., sort of like the Smoke House at home.
Took a taxi back to the ship. Found out it was gay pride weekend and there would be a march in the city tomorrow. Spent afternoon until 3:30 in our suite. Then it was lifeboat drill. We took our life jackets from the room and went to our assigned assembly point (the restaurant where we ate last night), listened to all the instructions, and followed our boat’s guide outside to under lifeboat #6. We ended up sitting right next to the Prestons from Canada, the folks we had first met at Riche in the city. With 600+ passengers and 400+ crew, all are to fit into six lifeboats. Hope we don’t have to test that.
When the drill was over and we had returned our life jackets to our room, we went up to Deck 10 and Horizons (overlooking the bow of the ship with big glass windows) for afternoon tea. It’s as good as we were told it was. Even scones that were almost as good as Linda’s. Ship moved out of the harbour while we were there. After a while, we went outside on Deck 10 to watch the boats around us, other cruise ships coming and going, and the archipelago that extends from Stockholm out into the Baltic itself.
Then back to the suite and some more watching and pix taking from our balcony until it was time for supper. Back to Deck 10 and one of the premium restaurants, Toscana, for our meal. The food and service was as good as you’d find in the best restaurant anywhere. And we had a table right by a picture window to watch as we emerged from the archipelago out into the sea. The water is smooth so far and the day has been lovely. And Marian played the slots and won a few dollars! Then a gorgeous sunset over the open water and the edge of the world.
We spent two hours wandering around the garden, the Milles house, the museum. Really delightful to see all this work in one place. Many of the pieces in the main part of the garden are on high plinths, which is how Milles placed them. The gardens/house are high up and right on the water. We could see the cruise ships, including a part of ours – the rest hidden by grain elevators. Wonderful fountains containing sculpture. In the house we saw his collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and fragments. And in the house of his assistant, Anne, there was furniture by Joseph Frank (whose work we saw in Stockholm at Svenskt Tenn). We stopped at the café there for a bite to eat. It’s really also an elegant deli with high-end meats, cheeses, etc., sort of like the Smoke House at home.
Took a taxi back to the ship. Found out it was gay pride weekend and there would be a march in the city tomorrow. Spent afternoon until 3:30 in our suite. Then it was lifeboat drill. We took our life jackets from the room and went to our assigned assembly point (the restaurant where we ate last night), listened to all the instructions, and followed our boat’s guide outside to under lifeboat #6. We ended up sitting right next to the Prestons from Canada, the folks we had first met at Riche in the city. With 600+ passengers and 400+ crew, all are to fit into six lifeboats. Hope we don’t have to test that.
When the drill was over and we had returned our life jackets to our room, we went up to Deck 10 and Horizons (overlooking the bow of the ship with big glass windows) for afternoon tea. It’s as good as we were told it was. Even scones that were almost as good as Linda’s. Ship moved out of the harbour while we were there. After a while, we went outside on Deck 10 to watch the boats around us, other cruise ships coming and going, and the archipelago that extends from Stockholm out into the Baltic itself.
Then back to the suite and some more watching and pix taking from our balcony until it was time for supper. Back to Deck 10 and one of the premium restaurants, Toscana, for our meal. The food and service was as good as you’d find in the best restaurant anywhere. And we had a table right by a picture window to watch as we emerged from the archipelago out into the sea. The water is smooth so far and the day has been lovely. And Marian played the slots and won a few dollars! Then a gorgeous sunset over the open water and the edge of the world.
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