Sunday 9 May 2010

Last seaday and the Kiel Channel

We ended our "Baltic Sea" cruise with nice weather. After two days with stronger winds and waves everybody enjoyed the calm sea on our way to the Kiel Channel. Most of the passengers were sleeping a little bit longer because last evening Klaus told in the Panorama lounge stories out of his own life as a lecturer on the "Seven Seas". It was already very late when most passengers left the lounge to go to bed.
But after breakfast we had again a full program for the whole day. Those passengers, they haven't been on the bridge before had now the chance to visit our Captain Rune Andreassen and to enjoy the nice view from his working place. At 10.30 a new lecture series started. Klaus gave us the last informations about the Kiel Channel and Friederike gave us an informative lecture about seabirds. During lunchtime we had the possibility to see the slideshow from our onboard photographer Cyndie. The slideshow was so well done and it was nice to remember all our stops we had on our cruise. After lunch Katja abducted us into the world of the vikings. And than it was "waffle time" again. After all this good food we need a diet when we are at home again. At 16.30 Friederike told us about Greenland, Antarctica and Spitzbergen. After we had seen all these wonderful pictures we are thinking already about a new cruise onbord MV FRAM.
Just after dinner we reached the Kiel Channel. Nearly everybody stood at the open decks or sit in the Panorama lounge with a nice drink. Green trees (they haven't been green in Russia or in Scandinavia) and yellow rapefields were passing by. And of course the locks have been very interesting for all of us. We nearly had no time for packing. The last evening onbord is not the nicest evening at all. You want to do everything at the same time, packing, relaxing in the bar, a last talk with the expedition team etc. But perhaps it is not the last day onboard. There is always a chance to come back. There are so many different destinations waiting for us. The knowledge about this will make it a littele bit easier to say good bye.