Amsterdam to Warnemünde

It was a pleasant morning on the day of sailing from Amsterdam, July 19, so I decided to walk from the hotel to the ship, the Celebrity Constellation. I left early and got to the terminal about 10:20 AM, which was still too early to board. But, I did manage to avoid the rain, which began around 11:30. Once on the ship, I had a couple hours to wander around as the staterooms were not yet ready. So I used that time to walk each deck and get acquainted with the layout.

As we left the dock, we had to maneuver through the canal toward the North Sea, taking about two hours to reach the lock that separates the canal from the North Sea. It was interesting to see the lock open and our huge ship go inside. From the upper decks, it didn’t appear that we had much clearance on the sides, but a lower-level look revealed 50 feet on each side. Once we were through the lock, it was cruising North and the weather got a little rough.

We were in fairly rough seas on the first morning, Friday July 20^th. Many people were having motion sickness, and it stayed rough until about 4 PM when we began a “U Turn” to the right into the straits between Norway and Denmark. I gave my first presentation, about Sweden, at 1:00 in the Celebrity Theatre, and the 45 minutes went much faster than I thought it would. I talked with a few people after I was done; some wanted to talk about heritage, and a few wanted my opinion on which tour they should take in Stockholm.

That night was the first formal dinner, and so I suited up for it, and had an enjoyable dinner in the San Marco Restaurant. Our table only had 4 people, and so dinner wasn’t an extremely lengthy affair. I returned to my cabin to find out that I was going to be escorting a tour in Warnemünde the next morning, so it was early to bed for me.

The tour on Saturday the 21^st was “Delightful Warnemünde,” a walking tour of the town. After a stop along the pier for our tour guide to give us an orientation to Warnemünde and the neighboring Rostock, we walked into the small village, and went to the Evangelical Church – the only church in town. It used to be a Catholic Church, but has since become Lutheran. We were entertained with a fifteen minute concert on the pipe organ, and it was very delightful.

We continued our walk to the beach, but the strong winds (ambient temperature around 60 F) put quite a chill in the air. Our xt stop was a lovely little restaurant in the base of a windmill from the 19^th Century. A small sampling of a white and a red wine (not local; no grapes in the area) was offered, and we then boarded a little tram o continue our tour around town and back to the pier. There was still plenty time left in the day to wander around on my own, but the strong wind didn’t make that an inviting thought. The warmth and comfort of the ship seemed a better idea (plus I was able to watch the British Open on TV.

We are at sea tomorrow as we sail toward Sweden; I am giving two talks (one on Finland, and the other on St. Petersburg), so it will be a busy day, followed by five consecutive port days.

Free time? Well, I haven’t done any writing on my Sydney novel, as I appear to be very tired all the time. Yes, I’m taking my vitamins and drinking water – the energy level just isn’t there.

Thanks for following along – feel free to post any comments (including questions) if you’d like. I’ll be back online in a day or two. Until then, auf wiedersehen from Germany.

Stuart

In Amsterdam -- All's Well, Finally!

The trip started off fine; my flight from Boise to Chicago was on time. And, even though it was a regional jet, the only carry-on luggage I had was my back pack; the other two pieces were checked all the way through to Amsterdam. So I didn't have to wait for them to bring my "green tagged gate checked"bag to me. Arrived in Chicago at gate B18 and had to go through the tunnel over to C19 for the non-stop flight to Amsterdam. I got there, and they should have been boarding. There was no activity, aside from a few people sitting there. That didn't look good.

I went to a departure screen and saw CANCELLED -- that is certainly not good. Fortunately, the United Club was close by, and I went in to see what I could do. "Hurry, she said, they're boarding to Munich right now, but you need to go there immediately." Another agent asked, "Bags?" Yes, two of them. "I'll try to get them re-routed for you."

I said Thanks, and headed out the door and ran to gate C10. It was a comfortable flight to Munich, and then I got on a Lufthansa flight from there to Amsterdam, arriving about 3+ hours later than my original schedule -- not a problem for timing. That's one of the reasons I came in a day before the cruise -- Just In Case! As the bags began to come out on the belt, I saw one of mine. Whew! They made it. Oops -- only one made it on the same flights as I was on. Off to the baggage office; I wasn't the only one with that problem. They didn't know where my bag was. Filled out the form, and took the one bag with me.

One thing I like about the Amsterdam airport is the train station right in the center. So off to a kiosk I go to buy a ticket to Centraal Station, but they only take credit cards with a chip and a PIN. Mine doesn't have that. I go to the ticket counter, same thing. Take US Dollars? No. I found a bank, and got a terrible exchange rate. But I got the coins I needed to buy my ticket, and I boarded the 2:48 express train. Arrived in town, and now it's raining. Fortunately, my rain jacket was in the one bag I got. Out I go to walk to the hotel through the rain, pulling one bag with me.

My room (a 7 x 14 foot "single" plus bathroom) is on the fourth floor up a bunch of narrow, steep, winding stairs. Elevator -- ha ha ha! No elevator. I called the baggage people about 30 minutes prior to their closing -- nothing on your bag yet, I'm told. I go down two floors to the desk to ask where I can buy a razor, etc., for tomorrow. "The airport just called, and your bag will be here between 8 and 10 PM tonight." It was about 7:15 at the time.

Went out for dinner -- still raining. Bought a compact umbrella on the way back from dinner. My bag arrived about 9:15 -- sure glad it's here. So now I'm all set for tomorrow; I just hope it's not raining if I ha to walk the mile or so to the cruise terminal -- taxis aren't that plentiful here, but I will try to get one.

I'm starting to post picture on the PHOTOS page on the right side of the main blog page.

Time for a long sleep with ear plugs in -- very noisy area.

All's well -- finally!

Stuart