World Cruise Day 159/163 Scenic Scandinavia - Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark - we're Born(holm) again tourists

Cruise day: 159/163

Ports days: 87
Sea days: 72
Countries: 28
Continents: 5
Ports: 62

We're back in Rønne on the Danish island of Bornholm again today.  

This morning's activity was the two-hour included bus tour around the island.  There aren't a ton of photos as I posted a bunch in the May 20th post.

We had an interesting bus today - a double-decker tour bus.  We liked it as the view from the upper deck was terrific.  Walking inside the upper deck was another matter as you had to be less than perhaps 5'4" tall to be able to stand upright.  They also had this interesting button overhead in each pair of seats.

It appeared that if you pressed it, you would receive both martinis and coffee - we thought that was an odd combo so we passed on the opportunity

We saw this bus - I'm not sure how this bus is powered, but if it has anything to do with the name, I do not want to ride in it - I'm guessing that every 200 miles it makes a mandatory stop at Taco Bell

Like last time, the only stop this tour makes is in Hammeren at the Hammershus Castle Ruins.  Follow the post I linked above for more details.  The weather was certainly better today than the last visit with mostly clear skies and a temp in the mid-50s.

If you look closely toward the lower left, you can see some goats

I didn't get a chance to see this side on my last visit

More on Hammershus.

We drove around the island, driving through quaint villages and watching along the coastline.

The Peoples Meeting Dome - a deconstructed geodesic dome

We returned to our ship after the two-hour tour, hungry for lunch.  We grabbed salads and then caught the shuttle into Rønne.  We wandered the streets doing some window shopping, and enjoying the sights and architecture.

St. Nicolas' Church

Some local art on display.

Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society

Baptist Church

Post office

A bee was working these flowers

Get in there, little buddy!

Even when you've got nothing but a rock wall, nature still finds a way

After about an hour, we caught the shuttle for the return ride to the ship.  After the last couple of days of lousy weather, it was nice to enjoy blue skies and sunshine.

 It was evident that Arlona is still feeling COVID impacts as shortly after we returned to the room, she was out cold for a nap.  The fatigue seems to keep hanging on as well as a, let's call it mental fog, as she describes it.  The cough seems to have mostly disappeared, except first thing in the morning.

As we started sailing out, we got one last great look at Rønne with its lighthouse on the left, St. Nicolas' Church, all the red roofs, and the wind turbines in the background

The channel in and out of the port is quite narrow - you can see how close we were to the marker

The inner marker

The outer marker

A couple of swans did not seem interested at all that the Viking Star was sailing by

We also got a good look at the massive crane in port that handles the wind turbine columns

One of the columns was hoisted into a specialty machine

You can see the rusted end of the column - that's the part that is inserted into the sea bed, anchoring the turbine offshore

I have no idea what this machine does, but it is an amazing piece of specialized machinery

The seagulls seemed to appreciate the Star churning up something delicious

It was quite a convention of seagulls behind us

The shuttle bus driver talked about Bornholm's commitment to green energy - 52% of their electricity is already being produced by renewable methods - he said that an offshore wind farm was in progress about 50 miles south of Bornholm - I'm pretty sure this was it

Once fully operational, it will significantly overproduce for Bornholm's needs, creating the opportunity to export energy to Sweden as a new way to bolster Bornholm's economy

We are on the way back to Warnemünde, Germany - our gateway to Berlin.  Tomorrow, we have a 12-hour day planned.  We will take a chartered train into Berlin along with about 250 other passengers.  We all then split into our specific excursions.  Ours combines a bus and boat tour of the city, hitting many of the highlights before our train takes us all back to the ship.  It will be a long day, especially for Arlona, but we're looking forward to it.  I'll be hauling the laptop so I can work on tomorrow's blog entry during the two-hour train trip back to Warnemünde. That way I will get to sleep tomorrow night. :-)

World Cruise Day 148/163 Viking Homelands - Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark - Show me the way to Bornholm...

Cruise day: 148/163

Ports days: 78
Sea days: 70
Countries: 25
Continents: 5
Ports: 58

COVID update

Arlona is still in isolation - day #6.  She still feels like she has a bit of a cold - nothing much more than that.  On the upside,  I did get to see her in person, sort of.  Since we were docked on the port side today, before my tour, I could walk down and see her.  So far, she is still testing positive, so for now, that means she stays until day #10 unless two negatives show up between now and then.

It was wonderful to see that face!

For reference, I really wasn't that close - but still closer than I can get any other time - you can see her standing just above and to the left of the "V"

Bornholm - what is that?  A city?  A country?  No and no.  It's an island and that's where we find the Viking Star today.  

Specifically, it is an island in the Baltic Sea that is considerably closer to Sweden than Denmark.  In fact, mainland Denmark is the fourth closest country.  Distances from Bornholm to:

1. Sweden - 22 miles
2. Germany - 55 miles
3. Poland - 58 miles
4. Denmark - 85 miles

So why is it part of Denmark?  Well, it wasn't.  It's flipped between Sweden and Denmark in times of war.  In the last transfer from Sweden to Denmark, the locals asked that they always remain part of Denmark from now on and that's how it is today.

The included Scenic Bornholm bus tour today took a panoramic drive around the island.  This more or less shows our route.

Rønne is an industrial port.

A tight squeeze as we backed into Rønne

What are these?

Whole bunches of wind turbine towers - three are stacked together to make the entire tower - are manufactured right here on Bornholm

We had some nice accordion music for our arrival

The temperature was about 30 degrees cooler than yesterday and it was a bit windy, but it wasn't raining and that made for a good day.  We headed north from Rønne.

Our tour company names all their buses - I was on Lone

A row of typical summer homes on the water

Our only stop today was in Hammeren at the Hammershus Castle Ruins. It is the largest castle ruin in Northern Europe. Constructed in 1200 by the archbishop of Lund and the Danish church, Hammershus played an important part in the struggles and wars in the middle ages in Europe.  It was deserted in 1745 and allowed to fall into decay. The people of Bornholm were free to gather building materials from the site until 1822 when the ruins were put on the national historic register

We continued our tour north to Sandvig before heading to the southeast, following the coast.  Along the way, we passed field after field of rapeseed that is used to produce canola oil.

I thought this one was cool as I happened to also capture a small yellow bird zooming along just above the blooms

Our guide explained that this fence was assembled by hand over three generations from all the different granite that is found on Bornholm

The library in Allinge

The town of Gudhjem on the east coast

Gudhjem Mølle - a dutch windmill from 1893

Another windmill 

This is Melstedgaard - an agriculture museum

Some of the thatched roofs were amazing

Yet another windmill - most are no longer operational and are kept for historic value

Østermarie Church

Østermarie Church

St. Canute's Church -possibly the smallest church on Bornholm

Like the art in yesterday's post - don't ask me to explain it

After our tour around Bornholm, we returned to the ship.  The shuttle bus to downtown Rønne was waiting, so I hopped on with some friends and we zipped over to the city.

St. Nicolas' Church - our landmark for finding the return bus

We made a wrong turn and wound up in a residential area

That red house on the left is as crooked as it looks

We found our way to the commercial area.

It appears that Doc Brown has made some unusual modifications to the Delorean

The commercial area is quaint and walkable

Genuine Texas - except they serve Carlsberg, not Lone Star

After many more wrong turns, I found my way back to the shuttle and returned to the ship.  Then, it was time for lunch, laundry, and writing this fine piece of literature.

Our sail away from Bornholm was uneventful and happened right on time at 4PM.  I met some folks for drinks in the Explorers' Bar at 5:30PM and then met friends in the World Cafe for dinner at 6:30PM.  You know it's a good night when the conversation lasts and lasts and you don't get back to your room until 9:15PM.  That's a great thing.

We have about 200 miles to cover tonight before tomorrow morning's arrival at Gdańsk, Poland. The weather is looking iffy tomorrow.  If the potential rain and wind show up, I will consider canceling my walking tour and wait until Arlona & I come back to Gdańsk on May 29.  But, if the weather cooperates, I'll be out and about tomorrow in Poland.