The Baltic Sea

  Sunday, May 29, 2022 Åland, Finland   Last night we had a talk by the ethnomusicologist who is traveling with us.   He started with Finlandia by Jean Sibelius and explained its origins as a political protest anthem against Russian domination of Finland at the time (1899).   He then moved to heavy metal rock music, by far the most popular music in Scandinavia today, and quite cleverly tied the two together.   He was simply amazing.   We traveled north overnight to the Åland Islands, a strategically located archipelago with a complicated history.   Currently they belong to Finland, but function quite autonomously, a result of a decision made by the League of Nations after WW I.   The people, however, speak Swedish, and English is the second language, learned by all schoolchildren starting in Grade 3.   Finnish is optional, starting at Grade 5.   They make their own laws, have their own auto registrations, not Finnish, and their pas...

 Saturday, May 28, 2022 Kalmar, Sweden   We have traveled up to the southeast coast of Sweden and have docked in Kalmar:   The city was founded in the 12 th century, and in 1397 it was the site of the formation of the Kalmar Union, uniting all of Scandinavia under a single ruler which lasted until 1523.  Kalmar Castle is the major feature of the city, and we took our Zodiacs to the castle:     We entered the castle over the moat:     The interior is appropriately opulent for kings and queens; I’ll show a few samples.  Here’s an interior door with exquisite marquetry and an incredible hinge, part of a room completely covered with marquetry walls:     Here’s a dining room set for dinner, with a peacock and a swan on the table:     This is a portion of the king’s bedroom:   There is a frieze which goes all around the ceiling of the bedroom; this is a portion of it:     As we left ...

  Friday, May 27, 2022 Bornholm, Denmark   The weather is treacherous, and the incredible winds (40 mph plus) created waves and swells which precluded our going ashore this morning.   We had sailed overnight to the islands of Christianso and Bornholm, but we never got to visit Christianso.   I spent some time in the nicely appointed “wellness” area where I used the elliptical machine and the stationary bicycle.   During lunch the ship motored to a sheltered cove at the town of Nexo, where we were able to take the Zodiacs to the wharf and visit Bornholm.   The island is home to about 45,000 people, and, although part of Denmark, is closer to Sweden and Poland than it is to Denmark.  It is the somewhat rectangular shaped island way east of the rest of Denmark:   We drove over lush farmland with newly planted fields, many of which were yellow (canola or, interestingly, mustard which looks the same).   We stopped at the Osterlars round ch...

  Thursday, May 26, 2022 Copenhagen Departure and  Lübeck   On Wednesday, we met our group in the morning and had our final COVID antigen tests.  Denmark has been remarkable—no indication that COVID even exists.  No masks anywhere, even at Don Giovanni at the opera Tuesday night.  But we are re-entering the jurisdiction of the USA and will be in Germany, so we go back to the usual precautions.   We are about 35 passengers on a ship which holds 140.  It will be almost like a private cruise, as the ship is fully staffed.  Many people have cancelled due to COVID and also due to the changes in the itinerary.  We took a bus to our ship and found our cabin which is lovely.  It’s quite roomy for a ship’s cabin:   The desk has a glass top and under it is a shelf with an atlas opened to Scandinavia:   We have a great balcony:     We had lunch aboard the ship during which time there was great excitement a...

 Tuesday, May 24, 2022 Copenhagen Day 2   After breakfast, we walked through a lovely park to the Rosenborg Castle, build by King Christian IV early in the 17 th century.  Since 1838 it has been a public museum, and it houses treasures from the Danish rulers.  The art is only so-so, but the artifacts and the treasury are astonishing.    I’ll show a small selection of the vast contents.  Here’s a chest with an integral clock:   The clock face is, we think, an enamel scene of the story of Moses striking the rock for water and the Israelites rejoicing.  This was the portion which Joyce and I read and taught d’vars on for our 50 th anniversary celebration:     Here are the thrones in the Great Hall, protected by silver lions:     There is an extensive collection of ivories:     Here’s a chalice with medallions, some of which are ivory cameos:    A crown:     We spent abou...