In the morning, I got up and checked out of the Hilton. First I went to the Solidarity Museum, which celebrates the strikes the happened at the Gdansk (and nearby Gdynia shipyard, which many attribute to the start of the downfall of communism in Poland). The museum showcased the people who started the strike, how the country was under Martial law throughout the 80's (pretty much from when the final strike started in 1980 till the end of communism in 1989, from what I understood), and even how Catholicism affected the country during this time, with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul.
While this was a pretty good museum, there was sensory overload:
(1) like many museums, audio guides we're provided (sort of like a cell phone connected to headphones)-sometimes there is a charge and sometimes they are free. in this case they we're free.
(2) in addition to the audio guide, many exhibits had an IPad/tablet attached to them where you can watch a short film/display on the exhibit.
This is too much and too complex for me-i like to look at exhibits, but figuring out all this technology just seems to distract and impeded from the experience.
Anyway, after about 2 hours at the museum, I got my suitcase, which I kept at the Hilton, and took the train 2 towns over to catch the cruise to Sweden.
To call this a cruise isn't actually true-it's a ferry that has berths on it, plus while I am in Sweden for the day, I won't be returning to the ship for lunch, for two reasons:
(1) Food is extra
(2) There is no ship-one ferry brought me to Sweden, and when I return I will take a separate ferry back.
That said, it was a nice ship. Although the ship was small compared to any cruise ship (there was no swimming pool, fitness center, etc). When I got on, I felt happy with the familiar deck signage, plus the various smells of a cruise ship. (hard to write down, but anyone who has taken a cruise no what i mean).
I got on the ship at 5:00 pm and walked around. As mentioned, there is no pool, but there are a few for-fee restaurants, a dance club, sitting areas on the lido deck, and one or two entertainment venues. There is a also a VERY Large shop (probably the size of a typical Walgreen's), selling liquor, cigarettes, etc. The shop actually had shopping carts, and people we're wheeling them around with cases of wine, liquor, etc.
After I walked around,m I went to the room to take a nap. While the room was smaller then a Carnival ship, it was quite adequate for me, and had a modern flat-screen tv. I plopped into bed and watched tv, which had multiple Swedish channels and very good reception. I watched part of an episode of Glee, and a new show called Private Practice. (I learned using the ship's free wifi that this show is only new to me-it was on from 2007-2013-seems like sort of LA Law 25-30 years later with doctors instead of lawyers).
It has been a long time since i watched more then 15 minutes of TV. Hostels generally don't have TV, and even at the Hilton reception wasn't good, so to lie in bed and watch TV was a treat.
At 8:00 pm or so, i went to the ship's buffet restaurant for dinner. While it was a bit pricey at around $25.00, the food was decent with salmon, whitefish, salads and good deserts and unlimited beer and wine was included.
After filling up on salmon whitefish, potatoes, cake and wine, the plan was to go back to the room, take a nap, and maybe later check out the dance club. The later part never came true. "Gone in 60 Seconds" with Nicholas Cage was in it (there is a Carnival ship shown in the movie-although I couldn't tell which one). it was an entertaining flick, but more so because it was nice to watch anything while lying in bed. After it was over, I went to sleep. The ship was rocking-i guess the waves we're rough-which was soooo comfortable to sleep with. I slept better then I have in a long time. And I was awoken to the sounds of Rod Stewart at 5:30 am...
