We set sail...

It’s that time again – we’re off exploring the world

This time our goals are volcanoes, thermal springs, lava fields in Iceland and Greenland between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, polar bears, the midnight sun and the huge icebergs.

To do this, we leave our comfort zone, which actually consists almost exclusively of destinations in the south, in the warm sun, and dare to do something "absurd". In the summer, we sail through the Baltic Sea, North Sea and beyond, all the way up to the north, to Greenland.

The cooler climes are not actually at the top of our travel list, but we wanted to amaze everyone around us who knows our previous travel destinations.

The trigger was our new-found passion for cruises. After the first two smaller tours to the Bahamas for four days and the small tour through parts of the Caribbean last January for six days, we decided to take a closer look at the offers from the various shipping companies.

After we had set a daily limit for the costs, the search could begin. Eventually we came across the MSC tour, which went from Copenhagen through the Baltic Sea and then out to Iceland and Greenland. Since we had already prepared and booked an individual tour of Iceland a few years ago, but then had to cancel everything due to a flight cancellation and the resulting change in plans, the wish to come to Iceland was pushed back into the distance for a while.

And then came the financially attractive offer from MSC for a four-week cruise. The long duration of the trip made the offer suitable for us. This meant that we anchored for more than one day at the points that were important to us (the northern coast of Iceland and, on the way back from Greenland, the southern coast of Iceland), which gave us a relatively longer time to do and experience a bit more. In addition, special destinations were offered, such as Prins Christian Sund and Qaqortoq and Nuuk, two beautiful cities on the west coast of Greenland. This made the trip even more tempting. There was also the excitement of living on the ship for a whole four weeks - after previously only four and six days respectively...

The first week of the tour, which takes us through the Baltic Sea, is not necessarily our favorite. But in addition to Warnemünde, we also have Gdansk, the islands of Bornholm and Gotland, and beautiful Stockholm on the agenda.

The plan was to fly from Cologne to Copenhagen with SAS.

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It all starts with the journey to Düsseldorf Airport. With the Regional Express from Cologne Central Station to Düsseldorf Airport. Actually, it only takes about 30 minutes.

Arrived at the platform in Cologne. A large crowd of people is standing on the platform. In the afternoon there is one of the European Championship games in Düsseldorf, but only the "highlight" Slovakia (sorry Marianna 😉) against Ukraine. The train arrives and the crowd pushes towards the entrances. Luckily we are on the train relatively quickly with our suitcases and backpacks. But what happens next is simply madness. The rest of the crowd pushes into the already full train. People shout "the train is full, there's no room for anyone else", but the pushing continues. I thought for a moment that if panic breaks out here now, people will be crushed. At some point the train staff managed to keep the doors clear and they could be closed.

The journey continued via Deutz and Mülheim. It was the same thing every time, pushing and shoving but no one got in. We were already standing in the train, pressed against each other. After a while the doors were closed and the journey continued, now 20 minutes late. The conductor called later and announced that we would now continue to the main station in Düsseldorf.

There were more interruptions along the way because trains had to be allowed to pass and in the end the train was diverted via Solingen and Hilden because the station in Düsseldorf was overcrowded and a time loop had to be created. In Düsseldorf the train finally emptied and we could breathe freely and stand again. We arrived at the Düsseldorf airport station one and a half hours late.

At the airport everything went as usual, we checked in our bags and waited until boarding. We were sitting comfortably in the (small) plane and thought we were about to take off, when the pilot made an announcement: Due to the storm front that is currently over North Rhine-Westphalia, we cannot take off and have to wait about an hour until the front has passed. Great, but this time it is an act of God. And after takeoff we realized that it was better to wait than to take off. The weather was still not calm and we were shaken up quite a bit. After just under an hour we were able to land in Copenhagen and we were sure we were on solid ground.

Now it was a matter of finding the right train connection to the hotel, which was near the airport. We knew in theory how to get there, but on site it is sometimes not so clear, including when buying tickets. Nevertheless, we managed it and got to the hotel.

When we got there, we realized that it was actually a very small room. The smallest was the bathroom. A wet room that had a toilet, bath and shower all in one, and all in three square meters. The picture says it all.

Now we needed something tasty to eat. Apart from two cereal bars each, we had nothing in our stomachs. We had already found out where and how we could get food nearby. We chose a pizzeria in a disused shopping center, or at least that's what it looked like. Nevertheless, the pizza was tasty and satisfied our appetite.

After a good night's sleep, we continued on in the morning. Now we had to go to the Ocean Port, where the MSC Poesia was waiting for us. After a half-hour walk, we arrived there, were able to drop off our luggage and check in.

Our cabin is nice, as spacious as we've been on the other two cruises, and the window doesn't particularly obstruct the view. A coarse-mesh net was stretched a few meters away and only partially blocked the view outside. Everything was fine.

After we had gotten our bearings, our stomachs started to growl and we wanted something to eat. We just had to decide: warm food or coffee and cake? We decided on both, one after the other.

Then we looked for the gym so we know where we can burn off the calories again from tomorrow... Found it and then went back to unpacking the suitcase. What a nice feeling to be able to put something away in a cupboard at Rolf's after three weeks of living out of a suitcase... happiness can sometimes be so small and inconspicuous. :)

And when unpacking, Günther also found the two belts that he had already assumed were not packed. They were in the suitcase after all... For Günther, this "disorder" and sorting according to the different "places of residence" was just too much...

But now everything is fine and we are looking forward to the next four weeks here at sea.