Lead writer for our adventure documentation team.
We headed to Helsinki, Finland this morning, which is the fourth and final country on our agenda. This trip necessitated taking a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, roughly a 2 – 1/2 ferry ride. When we say ferry, it wasn’t the type of ferry you might cross the mighty Mississippi on. It’s the size of a small cruise ship and has amenities onboard such as duty...
(Fair warning, this will be a long post with a lot of pictures… there was a lot to see today.) Our time on Saaremaa ended this morning and we headed for Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. We again had to take the ferry, which is thankfully only a 20 minute ride. Once we arrived in Tallinn, we hit the ground running, which seems to be the only way we know how to...
We left Riga today for Saaremaa Island. The drive to our next stop was a couple of hours and uneventful except for the fact that we crossed into Estonia, the third country on our trip. We stopped in Parnu, Estonia for lunch and a quick look-see. Parnu is a beautiful resort town that explodes during peak season because it’s such a popular destination. We were there in...
Today we said goodbye to Rinno Hotel, their amazing breakfasts, and the beautiful city of Vilnius. We truly enjoyed our few days in Vilnius. The plan was to drive 4 hours to Klaipeda and then ferry to the Curonian Spit. But as we traveled, the traffic on the motorway came to a dead stop. Tomas checked traffic and found that the motorway was closed so we had to divert...
Somehow Jay has been elected as the front seat passenger/asker of questions. Poor Tomas…. He just doesn’t know what he’s in for, but we’re all in for an education!! One thing we did not mention about our guide is that he has experienced two major changes in his 40-some years on earth – the fall of the USSR/the independence gained by Lithuania and then Lithuania...
We normally have nothing to report on our return travel day/days, which is a good thing. But we wanted to share a last small couple of things that usually wouldn’t be worth mentioning in the blog, but since you weren’t able to go with us on the original booking in 2020 (small little world-wide pandemic), or the re-booked trip in 2021 (pesky little pandemic...
Our last full day on the Fridtjof Nansen and our last full day in Argentina! No fun activities in the morning. Our bags have to be out by 21:00 tonight and we have an activity planned until 20:00 so the main objective today was to be mostly packed by lunch time. The afternoon/early evening activity was a cruise through the Beagle Channel, which separates Chile...
Another day in Ushuaia, Argentina…. And another amazing weather day! We mention the weather because they somewhat describe their weather as we do in the Midwest, but on steroids. Their weather can literally change every hour, which isn’t surprising since they’re squished between the ocean and mountains. Rain was in the forecast, clouds were getting...
There were two ship-wide meetings today – one to discuss compensation and one to discuss the remainder of the trip. Hurtigruten provided options – stay in Ushuaia and join the Antarctic cruise that leaves in a few days, re-book for 2023 on one of several trips, receive a partial refund, or take trip credit on a future Hurtigruten trip. Considering the situation...
Another day at sea, headed north instead of south. And a continued dose of the Drake Passage. While it wasn’t truly highlighted yesterday (with the other news to relay), the 2nd day on Drakes (heading south) was again very “fresh” as our captain called it, with swells back up in the 8 to 10 meter range. Soooo, 2 days on the Drake (the typical), but now 2 more back...