Oceania Marina - Kristiansand, Skagen, Warnemünde

Norway - Kristiansand

Mitzi woke up early this morning around 6a. She grabbed the Q2, the Q3, and the M11 and took pictures of the sunrise.

The Q2 and Q3 had the best photos, here they are. She's dived into this Leica craze and is taking wonderful and amazing pictures. So fun to do this together.

When I finally got up around 7:30a I opened the curtains a bit and captured the sun a little higher.

As we got close to the port in Kristiansand this beautiful land mass came into view.

We got off the ship and instantly found some fun pictures.

Riding motorized scooters was something Mitzi had told me she wouldn't do at this age.  She had a friend take a spill off a scooter and knock out her two front teeth!   However as we walked by some she said, "Isn't it tempting?" I said I wouldn't ride one. "But isn't it tempting?" she asked again. "Well honestly yes," I honestly replied. She said, "Let's do it".

I quadruple checked to make sure she really meant it and she did. So ... we did it! Her girls are going to be very surprised.

We rode up on the mountain we had passed coming into the port.

There's a WWII bunker and defense structure still up there.

The views are beautiful.

Just walking off the edge!

Then we rode the scooters into town. There was a medieval fight going on. These three young girls were very interested.

Mitzi saw this sheep toy in the window of a store.

Okay we needed to use the WC (restroom). We went into a mall and the bathroom door had a credit card reader on it. To pay for access.

We got the door open and both walked in, but I was embarrassed for people seeing us walking into the same little toilet room together. Mitzi thought my embarrassment was hilarious – hence the pictures.

We found some ice cream on our way back to the ship. And our butler Churchill was sitting out on the dock talking to his family on the phone. He's behind us in the baseball cap.

It's funny to see him in a butler jacket with coattails on the ship. Then dressed normal off the ship. It reminds us that the butler role, and really all the service roles on the ship, are play acting. Not real life. That's actually strangely comforting.

We had dinner reservations at the Red Ginger on the ship. Our favorite restaurant.

The curtains were open into part of the galley so I went over and got the chef's picture. These talented hard-working people do not get enough credit for their craft.

Mitzi got the Lobster Pad Thai again. I got the Sea Bass again (seriously the best fish I've ever had). And I added a Red Curry Chicken which was excellent.

We are so spoiled, and when we have to get off this ship in a week, we are just not sure how we are going to take care of ourselves haha.

Denmark - Skagen

The view when we opened the curtains this morning.

Skagen is a small town of about 8,000 people. We rented bikes near the port and enjoyed a pleasant ride out to the lighthouse.

The people who put the lighthouse exhibit together did a wonderful job.

A few hundred stairs to climb to the top!

This picture Mitzi took of me taking a picture of the M11 was a minute before the camera had a tragic fall. Luckily not from the top of the lighthouse. And luckily not on Mitzi's head, although it was a close call.

Inside the stairs on the way down the strap disconnected from the camera. The camera hit the concrete step I was on, bounced off and down about 7 feet to another concrete step narrowly missing Mitzi's head. Then bounced off that and landed on a concrete platform. Where it came to rest.

Both the camera body and the lens experienced damage and are not operational. Probably repairable by Leica though. Hopefully. I'll take it to the repair shop in London when we are there next week.

The battery won't come out so I can't get the pictures off the memory card. Which is sad because there are some great pictures on there!

We are just very glad it didn't hit Mitzi in the head. The thing is solid metal (the camera not her head haha). It would have been horrible if that happened so we are grateful for that.

We got some black licorice ice cream at the their little store. However we found out it was dairy free. And after that it just didn't taste as good :)

There is a point on this beach where the Baltic Sea meets the North Sea.  It is the point out beyond Mitzi.  Beautiful beach...... however, we decided after the camera incident, we would skip the long sandy walk and go get some lunch.  This was a good call.  

Saw this old Porsche. And after the camera incident and a lot of physical output today, I needed a short nap. Bliss.  Mitzi is really coming along with her current quilt top!

A couple days ago our butler said he wanted to bring us a nice dinner and celebrate our anniversary a month early. So tonight was the night.

He hustled and bustled and delivered the best fine dining in room experience we've ever had. The food was from the Polo Grill. He set everything up. Then delivered course after course after course. We had a great time.

The sun was setting during the meal and Mitzi got a great picture of it.

Shrimp, salads, soups, sunset, peanut butter and jelly.

Maine lobster, fillet mignon, and a happy anniversary cake.

What a fun experience!

I must say Oceania takes really good care of it's passengers. We are so spoiled we aren't sure if we know how to take care of ourselves anymore haha.

Germany - Warnemünde

We are in this port for two days. A lot of the passengers traveled 3 hours to Berlin, but we've decided to stay on the ship and stay close.

We explored the Warnemünde area today.  Lots of art and lots of intereting food.

This sandwich looks it has worms. Maybe it's shrimp but it really looks like worms.

This toy store had Steiff bears. The woman that taught Mitzi how to make these bears used Steiff bears as a patterns. They are made with mohair and are excellent qualtify. Just like Mitzi's bears.

Seeing this lighthouse I may have felt a little trauma. See yesterday :) We wanted to climb up but they only take cash, no credit cards. Foiled again!

We had dinner at Jacques, the french restaurant on the ship. For our entreé we shared the Sea Bass. It's quite amazing.  It's baked into pastry crust in the shape of a fish!

We walked about 3.5 miles today. I talked to my brother Roark this evening, and had my weekly talk with Emily. Much of the time I was on the phone I was walking around the outside track on deck 14. When I looked at my mileage today I clocked 7.4 miles. Dang!

Germany - Warnemünde (Day 2)

This is a 2-day port stop so we are still in Warnemünde. We stayed on the ship all day, getting caught up on work.

Mitzi finished piecing her quilt and started piecing a new one. It's a beautiful pattern and required piecing together about 69 separate pieces per square, and there are 16 squares. Plus all the sashing!  She is so talented and creative.

It was a pleasant day.

In the evening we went over to the local Lutheran church for an organ recital.  I'm pretty sure Martin Luther was German who started the Lutheran church. And it seems like organs in churches have a long history in Germany. So it was cultural and moving to hear an organ in a Lutheran church in Germany!

After the recital we walked over to Tolle Wurst for some bratwurst. I've been looking forward to eating one of these authentic bratwurst's in Germany. It did not disappoint.

We had retrieved 20 Euros on the ship so we finally had cash. And could buy a softserve ice cream! We haven't found a single softserve place in Germany that takes credit cards.

As we walked back to the ship the sun was setting. Not too many people were around. It was quiet and peaceful.

Back on the ship we decided to check out the Terrace Café. They are doing a German food theme tonight and it was fun to experience more bratwurst and other types of food.

They had this huge wok with 6 different kinds of meat, along with sauerkraut. We know the server with the glasses. She noticed our Leica cameras on the first day of this cruise. She dreams of getting a Leica film camera someday. I hope she does.

Oceania does an amazing job on the food. Truly outstanding. The quality is top notch and they are always introducing new foods. And most of the time they have food types local to where we are. It's been a wonderful part of this experience.

We ate on the back deck as the sun was going down. We are very grateful to be having this experience.