We disembarked in Bergen and most of the group went their separate ways. I stayed on for two days and was delighted to tour the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s home where we were treated to a piano concert overlooking the small cottage where he composed many of his most famous works. The midsummer solstice on June 21st, the longest day of the year, was a beautiful day in Norway and the furthest north we had been for the entire trip, so it was a fitting place to end the trip.

June 18: At Sea, when we weren’t attending the numerous lectures offered by guest professors onboard, there was time to sit and enjoy the calm waters of the North Sea and relax.

June 19: Le Boreal’s captain maintained top speed to take us north of Bergen to the longest and most spectacular Fjord in Norway, where we spent the afternoon negotiating this narrow fjord with numerous water falls.

A visit to the Little Mermaid and a lovely canal barge tour of this picturesque city is a must. Denmark is making great strides in wind generated energy, so our arrival in Copenhagen involved the ship navigating through fields of wind generators.

I had visited Gdansk when I was living in Warsaw in 1984 in the dark days just after martial law was lifted. It was wonderful to return and see how much progress had been made to restore the town. We were able to go inside the shipyard where Solidarity was formed and visit the great monument commemorating the workers uprisings against the Soviet state. We then had some time to explore the old town and learn about amber, a soft stone formed from prehistoric pine trees that is found in the Baltic Sea. Gdansk is one of the best places in the Baltic to find amber jewelry. Our guide kept reminding us that we would all meet at the “Green Gate” to return to the ship, and when we arrived at this gate to the old city, she said, “Remember we will meet at this “Green Gate” at 3:30pm, but we are in Poland so it is Brown!”

If it’s Wednesday, it must be Latvia! Riga has been painstakingly restored over the past 10 years with an influx of funding from abroad and it is now a UNESCO world heritage site, deservedly so. The town was not heavily damaged in the war as the Germans withdrew quickly in the face of the advancing Soviet army, fearing they would be cut off. As a result the buildings of Riga and the architecture are well preserved and represent some of the best examples of art nouveau and architectural styles going back to the 13th century, in some cases side by side. There is much to explore here. The city was being readied for the major midsummer night celebrations the following week.