14
Days Sailing the Baltic Sea
Elite Traveler, May / June 2003
by Bill Strubbe
Excerpt
of Article.
Tours for the Swedish, Polish and Danish legs of
this trip are expertly arranged by
DavidTours [DavidTravel].
Day
8: STOCKHOLM When in Stockholm, there’s
no better place than The Grand
Hotel, (Mick Jagger, Bono and Madonna tend
to agree). Its crown jewel, the 1,000-square foot
Flag Suite, features a Jacuzzi
under a glass cupola and a delightful turret room.
Tour the Old Town with the guide Orit
Feldman-Dahlgren and visit antique shops in the
Upplandsgatan and
Odengatan districts. Your order of
fresh fish is overseen by the eccentric chef
Wedholms at Wedholms Fisk in the
posh Ostermalm district. (For dessert don’t
miss bilberry pie or lingonberry cheesecake.) Have
dinner at The City Hall Cellar,
where you choose a menu mirroring past Nobel Prize
Banquets served over the years.
Day
9: SWEDISH TOUR Take a trip to
Mariefred, a picturesque village
of wooden homes. (Tours for the Swedish, Polish and
Danish legs of this trip are also arranged by David
Rubin or DavidTours [DavidTravel].) Visit the Swedish Center for
Fine Art Printmaking, then a tour of
Gripsholms Castle. Lunch at
Gripsholms Vardshus, Sweden’s
oldest country in dating back to the 17th Century.
Visit the 300-foot Vasa Warship
Museum, and the have dinner at a banquet
table under the bow of the ship. If weather
permits, take a hot air balloon over night-time
Stockholm.
Day 10: RAGSKAR ISLAND, SWEDEN
Spend the day relaxing on this private island on
the outer skerries, frequented by Swedish artists
Anders Zorn and Bruno
Liljefors. Pass the day reading, hiking,
and bird watching at the nearby bird sanctuary.
Third-generation owner Bjorn Akerland takes you
fishing, then prepares a simple and tasty dinner –
salmon mousse with Swedish caviar, grilled fillet
of perch, caramel pie – served either
Cliffside or in the boathouse (with doors open to
the sea and sunset). During the midnight-sun
period, simmer in the wood-fired sauna and brave a
dip into the chilly waters. Tonight you’ll
sleep on beard.
Day
11: GOTLAND, SWEDEN Gotland Island is
known as Sweden’s sunniest resort island, and
also as the world’s largest treasure trove of
pirate plunder. You’ll be glad that guide
Torbjorn Jern is by your side, as the island
abounds with Viking fort ruins, early churches,
medieval towns, and 400 giant carved pagan “Picture
stones.” After lunch at Bistros in the
medieval capitol of Visby, rent a bike and pedal to
one of the many gorgeous beaches for a swim, and
check out the remarkable rock formations known as “Raukar.”
Dinner is at Donners Brunn, a 16th
Century merchant house. Tonight, sleep in the
bi-level De Bergska Suite at the
Wisby Hotell.
Day
12: GDANSK, POLAND You will be yet at your
yacht this morning by local expert Andrew
Flakowski, who will take on an exploration of the
historical port city (and the birthplace of the
Solidarity movement in the 1980s.)
Enter the Old Town by the Golden
Gate and enjoy a walking tour through
charming medieval streets. You’ll be hosted
at a private luncheon in the City Hall
Building at Korzenna Street, followed by a
private visit to one of the most extraordinary
medieval castles of Europe: Malbork
Castle (the largest European brick
castle). Experience a unique “step back in
time” dinner (with period music provided by
the heralded by the local musical group Capella all
Antico) before heading back to your yacht for the
night.
Day
13: COPENHAGEN Check in the 250-year-old
Hotel D’Angleterre. The
1,400-square-foot Royal Suite will
do just fine for this tail-end of your journey:
silk tapestries, gilt paneling, antiques, a
luxurious bathroom with spa and a terrace
overlooking Kongens Nytorv Square.
Your driver and guide, Hanne Harhoff, takes you on
a city tour: the Old Stock Exchange, Tivoli Garden,
Nyhavn harbor, and, of course, the Little Mermaid.
Back at D’Angleterre, indulge in a three-hour
Elite Traveler’s Recovery treatment with
therapist Lotte Arndal before your early evening
pick-up to the Karen Blixen
Museum-Rungstedlund, the former home of
the Out of Africa author, for a private
tour.
Day
14: DANISH DELIGHT After breakfast, board
your helicopter to Funnen Island
and Falsled Kro, a 16th Century
smuggler’s inn now ranked among Denmark’s
finest restaurants. Stroll the gardens and harbor.
In the afternoon, helicopter to
Tasinge and Valdemars
Castle, where the Baron and Baroness
Iuel-Brockdorff welcome you to their ancestral
home. An early dinner is waiting for you in the
private vaulted cellar under the chapel in the
Slotskaelderen Restaurant. Chopper
back to Copenhagen and the D’Angleterre and
get a blissful night’s rest before your
return to the real world!
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