Imagine looking down ten storeys to see a white foam trail behind the powerful engines, a flock of hovering seagulls using the light sea breeze to drift up and down along the row of balconies and three long hooter horns to announce the departure of the Princess Emerald.

A cruise to remember awaits the passengers over a thrilling ten days, visiting seven countries, each with their unique own culture and history. The ports of call will be the four Scandinavian capitals and three cities that used to be behind the Iron Curtain.

Prior to the cruise we visited our Danish friends, Hakon and Lisa in COPENHAGEN. We had met at the end of 2000 in Denmark, to finalise a bi-lateral ankle replacement to be performed on me early in the following year in South Africa. Since then, our friendship has grown into something special, with a reunion every year, either in Denmark or South Africa or even elsewhere in Europe, to celebrate life’s good fortunes and enjoy some worthwhile Bordeaux reds.

It is always a privilege to experience a place with locals who know the less visited sights and enjoy different cuisine, like the traditional Danish smørrebrød, (a platter of Danish delicacies similar to the Spanish Tapas or Greek Meze), at the Kanallen Restaurant.

As an architect, (trying hard to become a travel agent), I was obviously very interested in the new Opera House which was opened since our previous visit to the Danish capital. If one compares this building with the more elegant Det Kongelige Teater on Kongens Nytorv (King’s Square), it totally lacks any of the true Danish traditional roots of architecture.

Driving north of the City, en route to the Summer Palace of the Royal family, Fredensborg Sløt, a visit to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a must.

This reminds me of the Dansk Design Centre, a purpose-built showcase of excellent Danish Design, displaying a changing set of design exhibits as well as  architect Jacobson and Dyson articles. Not to be missed  in Strøget, the pedestrianised shopping area is the designer shop, Illum, which caters for the art orientated customer, as well as Georg Jensen, specialising in silver and gold jewellery.

Before embarking on the cruise ship, we popped in at one of Nyhavn’s many restaurants to celebrate our visit to the Kofoeds, Hans Christiaan Anderson and Copenhagen.

And as with so many cruise ships before us, the Lille Havre (Little Mermaid) was the last to bade us farewell.

The first day at sea gave us time to settle in and relax to this luxury: you unpack once, every day visit another port and city, and return late afternoon to the Emerald Princess for an appetising meal and entertainment. Despite the fact that this hotel at sea caters for 3000 guests, we never experienced a sense of being overcrowded; during daytime, we left the ship to explore the new adventure of yet another country.

The Radisson of the Seas Cruise Liners are much smaller (maximum 800 guests) and everything (meals, wine and coldrinks) are inclusive of the price; to the contrary, on the Princess Cruise Liners, you pay extra for everything, even the bottled water.

We arrived early morning of the third day in STOCKHOLM; chartered busses transferred us into town. Because it was our second visit to Sweden’s capital, we decided to focus only on GamlaStan; this tiny old town area is all that’s left of the city’s history, dating back to the Medieval times.

During our previous visit we stayed in the Mälardrottningen, Woolworth’s heiress Barbara Hutton’s yacht, which was converted into a small hotel and is moored at Riddarholmen quay. It was supposed to be a romantic retreat; but our stay in the minute cabin with two narrow bunker-beds, a plate-sized porthole, a shower door with a hole cut out to open over the toilet and almost no room for our suitcase was far from a memorable honeymoon-experience!

We were just in time for the daily changing of the guards in the courtyard of the Royal Palace; we were fortunate, because during our visit, it was mounted guards, trooping to brass band music, apparently a rare appearance.

The best way not to miss any one of the intriguing warren of narrow winding cobblestoned streets, is to walk down Västerlänggatan and to crisscross the little island until you reach Stortorget, the intimate enclosed square, resembling so many other typical medieval squares in Europe’s old town centres. Unique however, is the pink gabled facades with many a cosy canvass-covered restaurant on ground level and facing the fountain in the middle of the square.

For any keen photographer this offers a haven of opportunities: original window displays, public art sculptures, contributing to a sense of social awareness and addressing important issues, surprising detail around every corner and through each arched walkway. And obviously sitting at a street café watching the people passing by is an additional bonus.

An interesting fact is that in the entire Stockholm, the only licensed liquor store is found on the southern end of GamlaStan; apparently System Bolaget is the only place to sell any liquor in Sweden. Needless to say, the prices are exorbitant.

Very original shops not to be missed are: Bo Bendixen’s original design shop, selling children’s clothing, educational toys, birthday calendars, all with the typical colourful animated designs. For original Costa Boda designer glass items from Växjø, a good shop within GamlaStan is Gallerie 22 in Västertänggaten.

                                                               - Johann Beukes

(The follow-up edition of the travel journal on the Baltic Cruise will be in our November issue of ETCETERA – Helsinki, Sank Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo)