European Football Championship in Ittileq

It was the last day aboard MV FRAM. We nearly could not believe it, but after 18 days we felt like home on our ship so that most of us did not want to go home. The weather was so unbelievable nice again, we had nearly no wind. The sea was smooth like a little lake; the sun was shining out of a spectacular blue sky; nice white clouds gave our photos the last kick. How could we think now about packing?

The highlight of the day was the soccer game in Itilleq, a small settlement with only something around 100 inhabitants. We were sure, that a lot of people around the world were watching the European Football Championship at home, but we were also sure, that we had more fun during the very special football game between MV FRAM and the inhabitants of Itilleq.

There have been no rules that disturbed the play. Everybody could play in the MV FRAM team, passengers, officers, staff members. For a while we have been only a handful people against 20 or 25 inhabitants, but later we got more players. Sometimes we had even 40 or more people playing more with than against each other. It was a coming and going, for a while it looked that the field was too small and so the team continued the play anywhere in the village, we could not even see them sometimes. It was a wonderful and for sure an unforgettable football game.

In the evening we reached the Kangerlussuaq Fjord. This fjord belongs with a length of 180 km to the longest fjords of the world. Snow and ice covered mountains, hanging glaciers, giant moraines and totally flat eroded stones were waiting to be photographed by us. Many of us enjoyed the last evening in the midnight sun but it was not too late, when the last passengers went to bed. Today was only the last day aboard MV FRAM, tomorrow it will be our last holiday day. So we needed at least a little nap to be fit for the day in Kangerlussuaq tomorrow.

 

The Shetland Islands – Island of superlatives

The Shetland Islands are an archipelago located between Scotland/Orkney, Norway and the Faroe Islands. They are the northernmost part of Great Britain. Perhaps you can even say the islands lie in the middle of nowhere between the North Sea and the open Atlantic. The climate is mild and wet and influenced by the Gulfstream. 

People settle on the islands since more than 5000 years what makes the island so very interesting for historians. All over the islands you can find relicts from former houses or settlements. So is for example the so called “Mousa Broch” - something like an old stone burg out of the Iron Age - very well-known.

But most tourists visit the islands as they are famous for their wild life. It is still springtime so far in the north. The sheep got just their lamb, the Shetland ponies their foal and the flowers just start to bloom. 

And what are the birds doing? Of course they have their spring feelings too. Some are still mating but most are sitting on their nest for breeding. That is the best time of the year to watch sea birds. The sea around the Shetland Island is very high-producing and that is the reason why so many different species of birds are breeding in the steep cliffs. 

In the water next to the coast we were watched by a Grey Seal. On sandy banks we could watch Harbor Seals relaxing in the warm sun. 

For the naturalists under the passengers the day was like heaven. Especially as it was so sunny and warm most of us didn´t want to leave the islands.

But tomorrow is another day that will be filled with new experiences. We are heading forward to the Faroe Island where we expect to be tomorrow in the late morning. The sea is still calm and we have just enough wind that the huge Northern Gannets and Northern Fulmars can join us in a spectacular evening light.  

Time to say good bye!

Our last day: that means: a last time lectures, a last lunch, a last time waffles in the observation lounge, a “Captain´s Farewell Cocktail”, a last dinner in the restaurant and …. That sounds a little bit sad, but there are nice things too: meeting with passengers which became new friends during the trip, nice talking in the bar and perhaps the most important thing – nice memories of a sunny trip around the Baltic Sea.

To let everybody know how wonderful our trip has been we will show an abstract of pictures from the whole trip, starting in Stockholm. If anybody becomes jealous, you are welcome at any time aboard MV FRAM! 

Kalmar – Our last stop before Hamburg

In the early morning we reached Kalmar, one of the oldest cities in Sweden, in the historical Province Smȧland. We lay directly in the center of the city again and so it was easy to explore the city by ourselves. When we walked through the streets of Kalmar we recognized that the city must have been very important during the last centuries. Most of the historical buildings have been nicely restored. Nobody will ever know how many pictures we have done for example from the Cathedral, the city hall, the castle ……. How wonderful, that most of us use a digital camera now. It makes life so much easier.

But of course there have been excursions too and most passengers used the opportunity of the guided tours.

Smȧland is also called the “Kingdom of Crystal” as it is very famous for its glass factories at least since the 18^th century. Many companies - like Kosta-Boda - are well known in the whole world. So it is no wonder that we were offered an excursion that was focused on the art of glass. It was wonderful to see how the glassblowers created new models.

Another group made a longer excursion to Öland. Öland is 140 km long and with a maximum of 15km extent a very small but unbelievable nice island between the mainland and the Baltic Sea. The whole island consists of limestone which gives the area a very special impression. There are many flowers and animals which are specialized on this lime stone. The center of the island, called “Great Alvar”, is very scraggy and can only be used by the farmers for their cows, sheep or horses.

But in former times this Alvar had been a very important area. The so called “Gettlinge burial ground” showed that the island was settled since the Stone Age. 

In the fortress Eketorp, in the center of the Alvar, we learned a lot about the life from the Iron Time up to the Middle Age.

At the southern end of the island you can find the “Long Jan”, with 42 m Sweden´s tallest lighthouse.

Around 19.30h everybody has been back aboard – full of new impressions. 

After a nice Philipino Buffet the crew awaited us in the Panorama Lounge for the very, very well known MV FRAM Crew Show. 

Welcome to Riga

During the night we sailed through a very smooth Gulf of Riga. Early in the morning we reached the city Riga, lying at the mouth of the river Dougava. Riga is the capital of Latvia and with approx. 650.000 inhabitants the largest city of the Baltic States.

Directly after breakfast we started our excursion through Riga´s historical centre, which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its Art Nouveau architecture.

It was a little bit difficult to reach the centre as there was the well-known Riga Marathon with more than 12.000 numbers of participants going on. But the city of Riga was very impressive for everybody, especially with the sunshine we had again.

As we spent the whole day in Riga many passengers went out again in the afternoon. It was a good idea to have a nice cup of coffee in one of the cafés and watching people.

Other passengers went on a bus tour to the seaside resort Jurmala. It lies directly at the Gulf of Riga, 25 km west of Riga. In the Soviet time it was a main resort for important politicians, but today everybody is welcome. The 33 km stretch of the white sandy beach was especially nice to see in the sunshine.

The evening ended with the famous fashion show. All the wonderful models – presented by Corinna – belonged to the officers and the expedition team.   

Two golden days in a golden city

We arrived in St. Petersburg yesterday. And again we could sail directly into the city and again it was warm and sunny. That is not normal for St. Petersburg – there are only a few very sunny days in a year and we got two of them. Perhaps we have only angels aboard.

St. Petersburg is difficult to describe with words. Everything is so impressive. The river Neva, the neoclassical fronts of the houses, the palaces and churches and of course all the golden cupolas, which are shining in the sun. 

We had many different excursions during these two days in Russia and we made the decision:

Let the pictures talk!!

View from our pier to the other river bank (Photo: Bronny)

View from our pier to the other river bank (Photo: Bronny)

St. Petersburg by night (Photo: Bronny)

Spilt Blood Church (Church of Resurrection) (Photo: Glardon)

The Hermitage (Photo: Glardon)

 

Local Food Market (Photo Glardon)

Catharine Palace (Photo: Glardon)

Peterhof (Photo: Bronny)

Peterhof: Grand Palace and Fountains (Photo: Bronny)

Peterhof Park (Photo: Bronny)

St. Isaac´s Cathedral (Photo: Imbs)

State Symphony Orchestra St. Petersburg aboard MV FRAM (Photo: Bronny)

Peter and Paul Fortress (Photo: Bronny)

Peter and Paul Cathedral (Photo: Bronny)

Norwegian National Day (Photo: Tjessem)

Norwegian National Day (Photo: Tjessem)