Drama at Helsingborg

  Sailing away from Stockholm, guests were invited to a sunset sail away party at 3:45 pm. '....soft lighting of the amazing sunset...'. At 3:45 pm it is bright daylight in Sweden in June!!

Entering the impressive and showy brunch buffet for the third time on this cruise, TSH and Diva were advised by a ship's officer to 'act like you have not seen it before. Just say 'Wow''.

Approaching Helsingborg (Hamlet's castle), the Captain of the Silver Spirit declared a Code Alpha - the signal for medically trained crew to attend an incident. Later that evening, a helicopter appeared and a medical evacuation took place - the first time TSH and Diva have witnessed such an occurrence. They have no information about what happened or whether the two events were connected but they send best wishes to all involved. 

For you I will make an exception*

In Stockholm, the Silver Spirit was not berthed near the old town, as has been the case in the past, but was berthed a good way out. With limited shuttle buses. So when TSH and Diva went out in good time for the 9:00 shuttle it was already full and they stayed onboard. 

They were in Stockholm for two days and were able to take an organised tour to the ABBA museum. The building, in any case too small for the exhibits, was over-crowded with cruise ship passengers (the irony!!) from the Silver Spirit and a number of others so this was not a great experience.

Diva is very independent in spite of her current mobility problems. She always refuses a helping hand from crew members and bus drivers. She reluctantly accepts help from TSH. But when she was walking along a tricky bit of gangway and the Captain of the Silver Spirit leaped forward to help her she accepted - 'since you are the Captain'.

* Leonard Cohen    Chelsea Hotel

Here we go Again

 

On going ashore in Stockholm, TSH and Diva were greeted with the sounds of ‘Mamma Mia’. Other people on the shuttle bus had remembered to pick up a paper map but judging by the resultant conversations, most were not able to make much use of them.

At one stage, Diva noted the turn they needed to make to get back to the shuttle bus. On the corner was a café called ‘Brod & Salt’. Only later did they discover that it was part of a chain with branches all over the city. TSH proved to be a good guide, as he had been to Stockholm a number of times before. He also had somehow managed to secure Werthers Originals to hand out on the way back to the Spirit of Discovery.

Diva has a lot of sore muscles but no headache.

On return to the Spirit of Discovery, the music had been changed to ‘When all is said and done……its time to pay the bill’.