Belgrade, Serbia

For Labor Day weekend, we jetted off to Serbia. Why? The flight on Wizz Air was affordable and it gave us another country to cross off our list. I do not know anyone who has visited before, so I went in with little knowledge about the city. 

We stayed at Hotel Nevski which was in a convenient location to the places we wanted to see while in town for the long weekend. The room was huge and the breakfast spread was plenty to fill us up for days of touring the city. 

After checking in, we headed to Republic Square and the National Museum of Serbia. They had a ton of great pieces of art on display including some very well known names like Picasso, Degas and more. 

A major attraction in Belgrade is the Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park. We booked a walking tour through Tripadvisor. Part of the tour included the underground tunnels/bunker which was a really cool (literally and figuratively) part to see. 

This statue was originally in the town center back in the day, but was moved up here because it was offensive to the lady folk. Delicate ladies should not have to gaze upon a naked man. ;)

The military bunker was an interesting place to visit. These tanks were used to hold drinking water for the soldiers living in the bunker.

All around Europe you can find some version of Mexican or Tex-Mex food and most of it is not worth the effort. We strolled by a restaurant after the fortress tour and thought why not! It was billed as "Santa Fe Tex-Mex" which made me chuckle. My chicken tacos had a Carolina BBQ sauce on top. A little weird, but tasted good enough. 

After our inauthentic taco lunch, we had a boat tour. It was a leisurely ride on the Danube and Sava rivers (the two meet here in Belgrade which has led to some turbulent times in the city's history). 

Another tour that we enjoyed during our visit to Belgrade was a street food tour. The first stop was to a "pie" shop where we tried a traditional Serbian dish that is often served at breakfast or dinner. It's filo dough with different fillings like meat, cheese, potato or spinach. 

We also tried "meat fingers" (don't ask me the Serbian name...), pizza topped with "salad" (think chicken salad), a Serbian pre-game wine shot and dessert balls of Austrian/German influence. 

And finally we went on a street art tour. Belgrade was covered in tags, graffiti and street art. Many pieces are inspired by the two soccer teams. The city has also hosted many out of town street artists to create beautiful murals. The bird mural was my favorite of the tour and was created by an Israeli couple. 

 

Kiel, Germany

Our penultimate cruise stop was to Kiel, Germany. We had a walking tour booked through NCL. Charles was feeling a little under the weather that morning, so I went on the tour without him. Our guide took us to see the highlights of Kiel including a couple museums like the Kiel Maritime Museum and the Kiel Stadt Museum. 

On the first Saturday of the month, this tower plays songs using their bells. We were lucky enough to be visiting Kiel on the first Saturday of the month and our tour guide made sure we enjoyed a bit of the bell concert. The music lasts for about an hour, so if you're visiting Kiel on the first Saturday of the month make sure to include this into your itinerary. 

After the walking tour I went back on the boat to check on Charles. He was feeling better after his nap, so we went back out to explore Kiel. We grabbed some pastries and coffee at a bakery, walked through the old botanical garden (where we encountered the snail) and visited the very small aquarium. 

Warnemünde, Germany

The next couple of stops on our NCL cruise brought us to northern Germany! This day was billed as "Berlin", but with a three hour train ride just to get to Berlin it made more sense to stay closer to the ship. Berlin can wait until another day when we have more time to spend exploring the city. 

This stop was Warnemunde. We booked an excursion through the cruise which brought us to the Steam Train Molli for a short ride before visiting a seaside resort town and a church. 

Our guide (a very fun German guy, BTW) recommended visiting this tower. This part of Germany was under Soviet rule during the post-WWII era. This tower was used to patrol and look for people trying to escape East Germany. They had a display outside the tower showing some of the inventive ways people tried to escape. 

For two Euros (honor system), you can climb the tower to look out. Charles ventured up there and I stayed on the ground.

I honestly cannot remember what the significance of stopping at this church was, but it was cool to walk around inside. 

After returning from the tour, we had some time to walk around the town where the cruise terminal was. They had two lighthouses--one green and one red. The town had a variety of shops and restaurants. 

It seems like every bridge in Europe presents the opportunity to attach love locks. 

Gdansk, Poland

The day of Charles' birthday was our stop in Gdansk, Poland. It was a short day and we booked an excursion through NCL. We bussed from the cruise port to Gdansk where we embarked on a walking tour with a very fun guide. He showed us around his favorite city. 

We very much enjoyed walking around the town, but both agreed that it was too short. We did not have much time to enjoy a Polish baked good, perogies or beer. So we might have to plan another visit in the future! 

 

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Our NCL cruise brought us to Lithuania as the next stop in our journey. Charles has visited Lithuania for work a couple times, but never near the coast. We disembarked in Klaipeda and had an excursion booked to visit Witches Hill. 

The excursion stopped at the beach for a way too short visit. We had just enough time to walk past the dune, snap a picture and then go back to the bus.

The main part of the excursion was to Witches Hill. It features wooden sculptures depicting folk lore for Lithuania. I was very much looking forward to this part because it sounded like a really fun combination of nature, art and stories. Our guide shared a few stories, but her storytelling skills were not fantastic. She rambled, so it was hard to follow along. 

Shortly after arriving to Witches Hill, it started to rain which then turned into a DOWNPOUR! We got completely soaked. Before departing on the excursion we decided not to bring our rain jackets. There wasn't a cloud in sight by the ship. Huge mistake! Because of the downpour, we were not able to hear all the stories throughout Witches Hill and were just a bit miserable through the rest of the walk back to the bus.

After getting soaked on the trail, our excursion brought us to a weather vane shop where they make beautiful, custom weather vanes. The stories behind the designs were really cool. 

The other thing the Baltic area is known for is amber. At the weather vane shop, we had the opportunity to try amber tea and amber schnapps. I did not try any. After being soaked through from the rain, ingesting more liquid did not sound appealing. The shop had a beautiful selection of amber items and we purchased a piece to use as a Christmas ornament. They also had a book of Lithuanian folk tales. Since we were not able to successfully hear the stories along Witches Hill, I thought the book would come in handy. 

Riga, Latvia

Onto Latvia! Our NCL cruise stopped in Riga. We booked an excursion through the cruise, but had some time before to walk around the city on our own. 

I liked how this statue seemed to break free from the ground. I am not sure what the statue represents, but it spoke to me.

I am not an assertive enough person for these kind of photo opportunities. Eventually I scooted in for a quick photo before we continued our stroll.

Our excursion was a visit to a nearby resort town, Jurmala. After driving a bit through the area, we got off for some free time to walk along the beach. Man, did it feel nice to stick my feet in the sand. The time at the beach was way too short, though. After the beach, we walked by some shops on the way to the meetup spot to get back on the bus.

Jurmala has a ton of cute little houses. Someone on the tour called them doll houses and the description was so fitting. I would love to spend more time here soaking up the sun and relaxing on the beach.

Is it a beach trip without ice cream???

Latvia's favorite sport is hockey and we happened upon this in a park. 

Another large Riga photo opportunity!

Tallinn, Estonia

The third new country visited on our Baltic cruise was Estonia! We booked a food tour (not through NCL) and had some time before the tour to explore Tallinn on our own. 

We toured the Estonian Maritime Museum. It is located in the Fat Margaret tower (Tallinn towers have some quirky names), so as you visit each level of the museum you get better and better views of the city. The very top level is an outdoor bar that offers a great vantage point. The museum was very well done with a lot of interactive displays. Strangely, there was a karaoke booth on one of the levels.

A large part of the Baltics has some warranted emotional baggage in regards to Russia. We happened upon the Russian embassy while strolling around Tallinn. As you can see, people don't much care for Russia.

We enjoy food tours! It takes the pressure off finding places to eat and helps us learn more about the city and culture that we're visiting. The Tallinn food tour was fantastic and so varied! The first stop was one of my favorite bites of the tour (I'm getting a bit hungry just looking at the picture). These are lamb dumplings served with a garlic oil and sour cream. So delicious! 

We also tried sea buckhorn juice. I had never heard of sea buckhorn, but the juice was refreshing.

Another stop was to a chocolate shop! They had some common flavors, but also some very unique ones. We all tried chocolate with reindeer moss. They also had flavors like spruce and kama flour (more on that in a little bit).

There were a few medieval style restaurants in Tallinn. We visited this one that had some cool ambience inside. We tried a soup and sausage roll. It felt like we stepped back in time.

Another stop brought us to a pharmacy, which may seem strange. They have been making marzipan forever! We were able to sample some. According to their website, this marzipan is "a good cure for alleviating the ache of love and promoting brain activity." 

Our next stop was to sample kama. I was at a table with three other people who sampled their kama before I had a bite and they had me worried. They did not seem like big fans. Upon trying it, it just made me think of yogurt. To be fair, yogurt in Europe is a little different than yogurt in the US and I have grown more accustomed to European yogurt. It tends to be more sour tasting. Kama has an interesting texture from the grains. I don't know if this is something I would order on my own, but I'm glad to have tried it.

The café where we tasted kama is also known for marzipan, although we did not try any of theirs. I loved the display case filled with the painted marzipan figures. They are too cute to eat!

We walked through a food hall and tried some delicious lemonades! Charles had the kind in the orange can and it tasted like apple pie. Mine was an apple lemonade, but did not have the cinnamon spice flavor.

These mini pancakes were so yummy! Charles had condensed milk on his and I chose Nutella.

For the last stop our guide gave our group the choice between ice cream or local brewery. We chose brewery! This part of town was covered in really cool street art, too. Charles and I enjoyed a refreshing cider while enjoying the sunny afternoon.

We thought about booking a street art tour in Tallinn, but there were no tours offered the day we visited. I would love to return to Tallinn to go on that tour, though! There were so many cool pieces!