Cruise day: 158/163
Ports days: 86
Sea days: 72
Countries: 28
Continents: 5
Ports: 62Ahh, weather. We took good weather for granted so much of the time of the world cruise that we got spoiled. And now we're paying for it. Today, in Karlskrona, Sweden, the temperature was in the low 50s, skies were overcast, and it rained. And rained. And rained. In fact, it rained more or less continuously throughout our 2.5-hour included walking tour. Hmm...it rained yesterday too. Guess what the forecast is for the next several days? Rain. It seems that we are in it and may continue to be in it until the end of this cruise.
Today's tour was called Karlskrona by Foot and that's exactly what it was, a walking tour around the town. While sunshine would have been nicer, it wasn't pouring, so it was manageable and we enjoyed the tour. It started with a boat ride as we could not dock in Karlskrona. Therefore, they dropped the lifeboats and everyone that was going ashore had to tender in.
As we floated toward land, we passed some naval exercises, literally.
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| There is a naval base here and several naval vessels were tooling about |
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| This is literally naval exercise - these seemingly junior folks were out rowing |
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| They seemed to be fairly new at it as they were not very coordinated - good thing the Captain didn't want to waterski |
We arrived in Karlskrona and were greeted by guards in traditional uniforms.
We started our walking tour of the city.
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| Admiral general of the Swedish Navy, Hans Wachtmeister |
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| One of several "Sweetwater" wells that served Karlskrona |
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| Our guide explained that since the ground is nearly all granite, fresh, or sweet, water was shipped in and stored in these wells for use by the residents |
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| This was part of an extensive tunnel system used to transport steel to the shipyards |
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| The Bell Tower - more on that below |
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| Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church |
We walked from the port and arrived in Stortorget, or The Great Square - a huge town square in the middle of Karlskrona.
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| A castle in the square? Nope - this is a water reservoir! |
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| That's The Fredrik's Church on the right, from 1744 |
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| Charles XI, or Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 to 1697 - Karlskrona was named for him |
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| Church of the Holy Trinity, or The German Church |
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| The German Church on the left and the old town hall on the right |
We continued our walk toward Fisktorget - the old fish marketplace.
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| That building on the right is the western gunpowder house - the gunpowder storage was moved outside the city to prevent fire from accidental explosions |
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| The ”Fiskargumman” (Fisherman´s wife) statue by Erik Höglund is a reminder of the time when the women would row in from the islands and sell their fish to the town residents |
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| As we toured the city, we couldn't help but admire the enormous pots of beautiful flowers that lined the streets and walkways |
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| This art piece caught Arlona's eye - it appears to be all granite with a translucent image that has a digital artifact look to it - it was really interesting to look at |
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| Our guide pointed out small islets in the harbor that essentially mimicked what the entire area looked like before development - mostly bleak, hard granite |
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| We thought this was a fun sculpture - the Swedes are very much into athletics |
Our next stop was in the Björkholmen district where the first shipyard workers built their houses. The houses are modest and quite small.
We were able to see the inside of one of the houses.
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| The kitchen was right off the entry |
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| Turn to the left and you see the modest living room that likely also doubled as the bedroom |
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| Turn back to the right and you see a small sewing room - that's the entire house - a bathroom was located in a separate building out back |
We continued walking toward the shipyard area.
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| Part of the old city fortification walls that now surround the newer shipyard |
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| Looking toward the new shipyard |
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| That's the "new" crane on the left (blue) - it is still old - and the old hoist on the right (the gold building with the angled roof) - it was used to place and repair the tall masts on sailing ships |
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| This is an entrance to a massive bunker under the city designed to hold and house at least 6,000 people |
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| The Admirality Bell Tower - and that spelling came right from Karlskrona's website |
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| This area marks the division between the civilian and military parts of the city - this wall marks the actual dividing line |
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| The new naval shipyard - they don't like people taking photos, although as Arlona suggested - with satellites that can see belly button fuzz - who cares? The Swedes - they care. |
We keep walking and arrived at the Admirality Church.
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| The Royal Church of the Admirality, Ulrica Pia, dates from 1685 and is one of the largest wooden churches in Sweden |
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| Legend has it that this guy - Rosenbom - was a beggar that died from a lack of donations - now, tradition says that you tip hit hat and drop a coin inside |
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| Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh was a Swedish military engineer, Governor-general, and Field marshal that was known for his works on fortification |
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| The County Governor's residence |
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| Arlona, doing her thing feeling the water - it was indeed wet |
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| Speaking of water - you can't help but get a chuckle out of these water closet signs in the port |
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| Karlskrona bills itself as "Your calm getaway in the Baltic." The sign goes on to explain that the currency in Karlskrona is credit cards - "You'll have a real hard time finding a store that will accept Euro, or cash altogether." |
After taking the tender back to the ship, we looked out back toward town and could see nearly everywhere we just visited.
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| You can see the bell tower on the left, the green roof of the Admirality Church, the rounded dome of The German Church, and the two towers on Frederik's Church |
After lunch, we returned to the room. Arlona tried reading for a bit but soon shifted into nap mode. This is not typical and is evidence that she is still a little beat up from COVID. We will continue to take it a little easy for the remainder of the trip.
We sailed away right on schedule, passing some of the fortifications.
After a nice dinner of NY Strip for Arlona and Mahi Mahi for me, we headed to the Explorers' Bar for an out-of-the-ordinary evening trivia of Cruise Director Bruce's Brain Busters. Bust it did, as even though we finished in second, we only scored 13/22. The misses:
- What company has supplied all the FIFA soccer balls since 1972?
- What decade & year was the Chinese communist party formed?
- What was the name of Henry VIII's third wife?
- What musicals did the following lead characters appear in?
- Nellie Forbush - South Pacific
- Christine Daaé - Phantom of the Opera
- Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-tiki adventure began where?
- Lithology is the study of what?
- Where are the twin towers located that feature a double-decker sky bridge between them on the 41st floor?
After trivia, we wound up spending the next three hours chatting with a very nice couple, Joe & Julie. The time just flew by until we realized it was 11PM and we have an excursion in the morning. Well, that, and Arlona needs her recovery sleep.
Tomorrow morning, we're back on the island of Bornholm in Denmark. We will be taking the included bus tour and then walking around the town of Rønne.
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