Silver Wind Live! Helsinki to Hamburg, June 4-16, 2023

[jpalbny]

25 minutes ago, alithecat said:

Question for you. Did Silversea provide the red jackets for this trip, or did you take your old Antarctica jackets? We are going to Iceland and Greenland next year. Someone said that you only get the jackets in that region on Arctic cruises. 
Thanks.

 

We brought ours. SS will very likely provide a parka for your trip though. They did in 2019 for our circumnavigation of Iceland. 

[jpalbny]

Friday June 9th.

 

3AM owl hunting.

 

Success! A female on the nest with her 3 owlets. The male arrived with breakfast while we were there.

 

 

Cell phone shot. All others were through the spotting scope.

 

 

 

Babies!

 

 

 

[lincslady]

It was worth it, jp.  Lovely photos, thank you.  You can see why they say 'wise old owl'. How near could you get to them?

 

Lola

[RachelG]

3 hours ago, alithecat said:

Question for you. Did Silversea provide the red jackets for this trip, or did you take your old Antarctica jackets? We are going to Iceland and Greenland next year. Someone said that you only get the jackets in that region on Arctic cruises. 
Thanks.

They did not provide the coats on this trip, but when we went to Greenland, they were provided.

[Host Jazzbeau]

52 minutes ago, RachelG said:

They did not provide the coats on this trip, but when we went to Greenland, they were provided.

So you can't tell a book by its cover, but you can tell a Silversea expedition veteran by their parka! 😀

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

It was worth it, jp.  Lovely photos, thank you.  You can see why they say 'wise old owl'. How near could you get to them?

 

Lola

 

Not too close. We were on a path and the nest was in the forest, a good distance away from us. It was hard to spot and without the scope it would have been hard to see the owls.

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So you can't tell a book by its cover, but you can tell a Silversea expedition veteran by their parka! 😀

 

Not only that, but you can "date" them by the styles of the parkas in their collection. 

 

We have one that says "Prince Albert II" so that's an antique from 2009. When they first started the two-piece parkas I think the liner was blue but we don't have one from that series. We have grey liners. 

 

We're seeing all sorts of the parkas on this trip. Good to be cruising with so many SS veterans. 

[tgh]

A PAII Parka has to belong in the SS hall of fame, ours are still clogging up the hanging space.

A  bit sad to note that the PAII has her last cruise in SS colours in October.. a very sad occasion for me

[Lirio]

9 hours ago, alithecat said:

Question for you. Did Silversea provide the red jackets for this trip, or did you take your old Antarctica jackets? We are going to Iceland and Greenland next year. Someone said that you only get the jackets in that region on Arctic cruises. 
Thanks.

I went to Greenland last year and got the red jackets.

[jpalbny]

Friday June 9th. Oulu, later that morning. 

 

It was a great wildlife tour, not just for the owl sightings. We saw a few moose aside the road but they bolted before any pictures were possible. Saw lots of hares, and many birds including a Capercaillie, which our guide said was quite rare to spot.

 

We had a breakfast stop aside a beautiful lake where we enjoyed the morning light.

 

 

Cool water skating insects.

 

 

Mosquitoes too, but they were sluggish in the cold weather. We were cold too, despite both layers of our parkas, because a chilly breeze was coming from the north. So a nice campfire took care of that.

 

We tried for another sighting but the Eurasian pygmy owl was shy and we only got a glimpse of its face looking out of the nest box. Chris has a cool picture of its eye!

 

 

The mosquitos were very dense in the forest! So we didn't wait around too long for the pygmy owl. It seems that mosquito season is ramping up quickly. 

 

Back to the ship around 8AM where we had a second breakfast in LT. We were ready for the 9AM shuttle into town but it was about 10 minutes late. We were off walking around the city by 9:30.

 

At city hall, an exhibit about democracy. As best I could tell.

 

 

We walked through a nice pedestrian section of town until we reached Market Square. The Toripolliisi Statue is a well-known landmark and a good photo stop.

 

 

Market Hall was worth a quick stroll too.

 

 

We headed out between the theater and the library. Here, a statue and some flags to celebrate Oulu being named a European Capital of Culture for 2026.

 

 

And evidence of one scofflaw Finn. All those orderly spots for scooter parking, and it's perfectly outside the lines.

 

There are numerous islands at the edge of town, in the river mouth, so we tried to do a big loop back to the city. Here, a water park. Not much use today, as it's 8C/46F despite the bright sunshine. 

 

 

Here, a fallen tree was left in place and carved beautifully. A nice monument. 

 

 

Fountains in the river.

 

 

We started looping around but had to backtrack a  little as the hydroelectric plant was blocking our route. But we passed by a beautiful building which Google identified as an elementary school. 

 

 

We were now upstream from the dam and the water level was high. A nice path back towards the city.

 

 

We crossed into City Park and saw the fish ladder that was constructed for salmon. A nice design! It almost looks like a natural stream.

 

 

 

The sun was finally heating us up enough to shed one layer of our parka. There are more fountains in another part of the river. 

 

 

 

And with the right angle, a rainbow! 

 

 

We set course back to the bus. This statue is entitled "Kuluva aika' which translates to "Worn out." How did they know? I resemble these people.

 

 

There were some beautiful murals underneath the overpasses. We stopped for photos.

 

 

And this eagle reminded us that it was time for lunch. 

 

 

We made the 11:30 bus easily and were back on board 15 minutes later. A nice light lunch in LT with some wine (for napping purposes).

 

We had a well-needed nap until 4PM and went to trivia where we had a solid first-place finish. Now at tomorrow's briefing. Tomorrow is our last day in Finland. How sad!

 

But, we are planning for an anniversary celebration tomorrow, capped off with dinner at La Dame.

Edited June 9, 2023 by jpalbny

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, jpalbny said:

Here, a water park. Not much use today, as it's 8C/46F despite the bright sunshine. 

 

Crikey, do they rent wet suits?

 

Happy Anniversary!🥳🍾🍷🍸🥂

[TLCOhio]

14 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Friday June 9th.   3AM owl hunting.   Success! A female on the nest with her 3 owlets. The male arrived with breakfast while we were there.

 

Great, successful visuals.  Wonderful!!  What camera and lens were you using to get so close of a "look" with nice sharpness?? 

 

When the male returned with breakfast, was the Owl food from McDonalds?  Yes, you deserved lunch, wine and a nap.  Well-done.  

 

Oulu looked like it had some interesting architecture, etc.  Interesting for it being named a European Capital of Culture for 2026.  Excellent adventure and reporting. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[alithecat]

8 hours ago, jpalbny said:

We're seeing all sorts of the parkas on this trip. Good to be cruising with so many SS veterans. 

Thanks for the info. I'll ask those on Iceland cruises this summer to be sure. We have our red Antarctica jackets from last winter, but would prefer not to pack them if we'll be getting new ones. I wish we had older style jackets. The new jackets have giant white Silversea vinyl lettering all across the back. I was able to pull off the letters, though it took a while and you can still see where they were if you look closely.

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Great, successful visuals.  Wonderful!!  What camera and lens were you using to get so close of a "look" with nice sharpness?? 

 

 

My Samsung S22 Ultra.

 

One of the pix I posted was a pure cellphone shot. The others were with the cellphone, but through a spotting scope with 25x magnification. So the phone had very little work to do. 

[Lois R]

Hi JP, loving the photos🙂 and wishing you and Chris a very Happy Anniversary.  How many years is it?

[RachelG]

22 minutes ago, alithecat said:

Thanks for the info. I'll ask those on Iceland cruises this summer to be sure. We have our red Antarctica jackets from last winter, but would prefer not to pack them if we'll be getting new ones. I wish we had older style jackets. The new jackets have giant white Silversea vinyl lettering all across the back. I was able to pull off the letters, though it took a while and you can still see where they were if you look closely.

I have had multiple different versions of the jacket.  The old ones which were a single piece were great if you were in sub zero temps, but not so much otherwise.  The two piece ones are much more versatile as you can mix and match as needed

[RachelG]

June 9, 2023–Oulu Finland

 

The alarm went off at 2:30 am for our 3 am excursion, an owl watching tour.  We were at dock in a large industrial port.  It was very cold and windy.

 

We boarded the van along with 9 other intrepid souls and our guide, a very enthusiastic Finnish fellow who clearly know his stuff when it comes to birds and nature in Finland.

 

No traffic, but daylight already.  We drove into the forested countryside.  Along the way, we spotted several hare, large and brown with a while puffy tail.  Further along, we saw moose, 1 on one side, and 2 on the other.  They were close by, so we got a good look.  We arrived at the trailhead and hiked a short way into the forest to an undisclosed location where there is an owl nest.  Mama owl and her 3 chicks were home, and we got some very good views.  The babies are super cute. Then all of a sudden, Dad swooped in to deliver breakfast.  It was pretty spectacular to see him with wings spread.

 

We were freezing from just standing there, so we got back into the van and went to a campsite beside a lake where they built a fire.  The ship had sent snack boxes, mostly pure carbs, so I only ate the small sandwich, but there was good hot tea and coffee as well as the now ubiquitous blueberry juice and chocolate covered blueberries.  The fire was really quite nice once it got going.

 

Back in the van, we went to another site, but no luck there, so we moved on to another where there is a nesting box set back pretty far in the woods.  No good trail here.  We hiked over soft mossy ground and through a lot of brush to the box where a little yellow eye peaked out at us.  That was all we could see.  Back to the van, we were warned to check for ticks.

 

We returned to the ship.  George was supposed to do the white water swimming, but he was frozen from the owls so took a nap.  I was scheduled for a Nordic walk through town.

 

We took a bus to the town center. By now it was bright and sunny but still cold with a sharp wind.  We needed to get moving. They decided us into two groups-I was in the all walking, no talking group.  Poles were available for those who wanted them.

 

We went through the town center with some interesting statues and pretty spring flowers then into parkland that runs all through the town.  There is an extensive network of bike/pedestrian paths which go all over the city so that you can easily get around with encountering motorized vehicles.  We did a little over 5 km at a brisk pace and ended up at a restaurant where we had a snack of Finnish pancakes with lingonberry jam and whipped cream.

 

The bus took us back to the ship, with a drop of in the town center for those who wanted.  I went back to the ship to fetch George, and we were off to find lunch, hopefully some slacks and a warmer jacket for George.  

 

We ate lunch at a small Italian place.  The owner/waiter is from Parma, and his wife, the chef, is from Amalfi.  The menu is limited but authentic and delicious.  She was making the pasta fresh to order.  George had ravioli with a cherry tomato sauce and I had tagliatelle with pesto and licorice.  So good! And very reasonably priced.

 

A couple of local ladies who had also been eating in the restaurant insisted on walking us to the shopping mall in the middle of town.  We easily found two good jackets for George which was on sale 50% off, but the search for dress slacks was impossible.  All the slacks we found were very narrow at the bottom and would not work with George’s dress boots.  And the only other shoes he brought are hiking shoes and sneakers.

 

We took the shuttle back to the ship.  Trivia was a win.  Then I was able to get some work done as the internet is back to working.

 

We had dinner in La Terrazza.  There is a cute 6 year old boy on board with his parents.  He is a joy.  Perfectly behaved, and we got to sit next to them.  George has started playing little games with him that he played with our boys when they were young, so they had a great time.  Dinner was delicious.  We both had salad and lentil soup, then George had a pesto past and I had the shrimp which was outstanding.  Tiramisu for dessert—yum.

 

There was karaoke tonight, but our tour leaves at 6am and I need some sleep after getting up at 2:30 am.

[jpalbny]

June 9th. Dinner.

 

Another early dinner in the MDR. A windowside table with a great view. The menu.

 

 

Some interesting choices. Chris started with the lobster frittata. Delicious. The sauce was unexpected though as it tasted more soy sauce-based.

 

 

I tried the sour sea bass salad. Not much sour flavor. I put extra salt and some balsamic vinegar on it to make it sour enough. 

 

 

A gull followed along, probably looking for a piece of my fish.

 

 

The pilot boat collected our pilot and we forged onward.

 

 

Mains were Chilean sea bass for Chris and black cod for me. Large portions. Nicely prepared though if i could split hairs I'd want the skin on mine seared a bit more crispy.

 

 

 

Included wines were a Pinot Grigio from Hungary and a red that I don't remember as we didn't drink it. 

 

Chris had the black forest cake and I had the chocolate blueberry trois-feuille. Missing the other 997 layers but yummy just the same.

 

 

 

A nightcap in the bar before bed. Another early wake-up call at 6AM tomorrow. Should be easy after today! 

[TLCOhio]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

My Samsung S22 Ultra.   One of the pix I posted was a pure cellphone shot. The others were with the cellphone, but through a spotting scope with 25x magnification. So the phone had very little work to do. 

 

Appreciate this helpful follow-up from J.P.  Interesting that you did that much and so well with your cell phone and that spotting scope.  Good work!!!

 

Wonderful updating and details from RachelG.

 

Continue to love the excellent "food porn" from J.P.   Assuming you are using that same cell phone for those visuals, right?   Looking so wonderful and tasty.  Keep it coming.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

June 9th. Dinner.

 

Another early dinner in the MDR. A windowside table with a great view. The menu.

 

 

Can someone please explain to me what secrets of the sea are in Brioche Forest Berry Pudding?

Edited June 10, 2023 by gnome12

[FauxNom]

39 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Can someone please explain to me what secrets of the sea are in Brioche Forest Berry Pudding?

The menu always starts with a sort of "chef's recommendation" theme menu with a cute name. I don't think it's meant quite as literally as you might suppose. 😉 You can choose all or some of those courses combined with others from the rest of the menu (or off menu if you ask in advance).

[jpalbny]

Saturday June 10th. Anniversary hiking at Valsörarna. 

 

This is a nature reserve which we were lucky to visit. Few are allowed here and you have to stay with a guide at all times. 

 

Glacial uplift causes the land to rise 8.5 mm per year here. So over the recent centuries the landscape of these islands has changed substantially. 

 

We had been expecting a 6:30 call for hiking but instead the call came at 6AM. Luckily we were almost ready and scrambled to make the second zodiac. We were ashore and hiking by 6:30.

 

A boggy and rocky landscape with some trees but mostly scrub vegetation. The path was narrow and we didn't have much time to stop, as we had 2+km to hike each way. Time was limited. Onward! 

 

 

Cool weather despite the bright sunshine. 

 

 

We stopped briefly at a monument where the bones of Russian soldiers are interred. Gruesome story. In the winter of 1808-9 the Russian soldiers marched across the frozen gulf and burned a Swedish town. However they were ill-prepared for the cold and many froze. Apparently the bodies lay where they were, and only years later the bones were finally gathered up and interred. 

 

 

Further onward we crossed a bridge from the late 1800s. Back then, there were two separate islands. Glacial uplift at work - now they are one.

 

 

We made double time through a really boggy section of woods. The mosquitos were very dense. Luckily they were sluggish in the cold.

 

We made it to the lighthouse. An odd location, because the sea is nowhere to be seen.

 

 

It was built by the same company that made the Eiffel Tower. But due to glacial uplift, it's no longer near the coast. Maybe they should put it on wheels!

 

 

Where is the ocean?

 

 

Since we'd made such great time, we could continue on to the southern coast of the island. Finally, water.

 

 

And whooper swans in the distance. 

 

 

Now it was time to turn back. The mosquitos were warming to our presence so we had to move.

 

 

We went even faster on the way back and after the boggy part in the middle of the island, we stopped at this lake. It used to be an inlet of the sea, but now it's risen so high that there's no longer a connection. So it's become a freshwater lake with lots of bird life.

 

 

The trees grow low and slowly here. Conditions are harsh.

 

 

We finished and were back on the zodiacs by 8AM. Silver Wind awaits us.

 

 

We made it with plenty of time for breakfast at LT. We even had an outdoor table, first one of this cruise. 

 

Now sailing to Vaasa for more fun this afternoon. 

[lincslady]

You two are certainly earning your copious dinners.

 

A Happy Anniversary, jp and Chris, and many more.

 

Lola

[FauxNom]

Happy anniversary to you two! I'm (as always) really enjoying the pix and descriptions, so thank you.

[RachelG]

June 10, 2023–Valsorarna Island and Vaasa Finland

 

The seas were totally smooth during the night, and we slept so soundly, so soundly in fact that the thing that woke me up was the zodiac announcement.  WhAt?  I had set the alarm for 5:10 am as we were to be ready for the zodiac at 6 am.  It hadn’t gone off.

 

We quickly scurried into our clothes and were at the zodiac platform in 6 minutes which has to be a record.  And we weren’t the last to arrive, and actually had to wait about 5 minutes to board. I had a chance to look to the alarm on my phone, and sure enough, it was set for 5:10 am, so no idea why it didn’t go off.

 

It was really a perfect morning with bright sun, little wind, and distinctly warmer with the temperature around 55F which is perfect for hiking.  We landed at a nice concrete dock. Valsorarna is a small flat island off the west coast of Finland.  It used to be inhabited, but now no one lives there.  There are a few fishing cabins, but it is a protected nature reserve and access is strictly regulated.

 

Our goal was to hike to the lighthouse and back.  You have to stick to the trail and stay with the guide.  There are some sheep and moose on the island though we didn’t see them, but we did see their evidence.  The area was quite different from where we have been previously on this trip.  The ground is very rocky and covered with juniper and blueberry bushes.  No dense forest, but a lot of birch trees.  And about a billion mosquitos.

 

Our guide reassured us that there about 45 different species of mosquito on this island, and only 3-4 bite people.

 

We hiked past a huge burial ground for Russian soldiers who died here, not from a battle, but because they were totally ill equipped for the harsh conditions.  Between 400 and 1000 died.  The Russians just left the bodies where they fell.  Years later, a Finnish lady launched a campaign to gather all the remains and bury them properly.

 

We walked over an old stone bridge that now goes over nothing as the stream has filled in, then through a big swamp where they have made a boardwalk.  Mosquitos were so dense, it was like a fogbank.  Even with mosquito repellent and my hood up, I got quite a few bites.

 

We trudged on and arrived at the lighthouse, which was built by the same person who designed the Eiffel tower.  It is bright red and steel.  You can see the design resemblance.  There were the buildings where the keepers and there families lived, but which are now falling to disrepair.

 

We had to retrace our steps to get back to the dock, so we power walked through the mosquitos.  The zodiac ride back to the ship was one of the best.  The ocean was totally still, so we got to go fast.  We set sail for Vaasa.  And I solved the mystery of the missing alarm.  All morning, my iPhone time kept switching time zones back and forth between Finland and Sweden.  So it was apparently in the wrong zone when the alarm was to go off.

 

Lunch was an Indian buffet. Usually, on cruise ships, when Indian food is served,the spice level is taken down several notches to a point that it is barely a mild curry.  Not so today.  I love spicy food, and this was just the ticket.  George almost cried due to the spiciness though.  

 

We had an early trivia where we came in 2nd as we couldn’t remember what a baby rabbit is called (we should have know that) and we could only think of 3 of the members of the Jackson 5.  All the while, we were sailing through what appeared to be a very narrow and shallow channel toward Vaasa.

 

We arrived at the dock in Vaasa early, an hour and a half early, but they couldn’t move up the tours to earlier or let us off the ship earlier, which was disappointing. It is another commercial port, not really set up for cruise ships, so you can’t just wander off the ship on your own.

 

Originally, on the schedule we received when made our tour reservations, the timings were different (we were to arrive in Vaasa at 1 pm), and I signed us up for a meteorite excursion which would have been done in time for us to eat dinner ashore.  So I made dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant which has reindeer steak on the menu as George wanted to try that.  Then 2 days ago, they said we would be arriving later at 4 pm.  So I cancelled the excursion, so that we could keep our dinner reservation.

 

We caught the shuttle to downtown.  Vaasa is a large town with a nice central area downtown.  There is the usual city hall and large church and lots of shops and restaurants along the Main Street.  We did see a couple of homeless people who clearly had mental health issues, and more cultural diversity (some Muslims speaking Arabic, some people of African descent).

 

We walked around a bit, went into the grocery store to check things out, then went to our restaurant which was bustling business with a view of the bay.  George and I shared a beet starter and burrata with roasted tomatoes, then he had reindeer streak and I had the local perch.  All finished off with rhubarb pie.  It was really delicious and very high quality for what we considered to be a very reasonable price.

 

We ended up back at city hall to take the shuttle bus back.  It wasn’t there yet, but the bus for those on the walking tour was, so they let us ride too.