The final stops of the MacMania 3.5 sail ping - ponged us across the Baltic ocean , from due north to south , before returning us to where we get to make our bye .
We ’ve genuinely been blessed with good weather on this trip-up . With a single exception ( see below ) , every undivided sidereal day on this cruise has been sunny and strong , with high temperatures in the 70s and even 80s . From now on when I hear hoi polloi verbalize about how moth-eaten Scandanavia sustain in the winter , I ’m not sure if I ’ll really be able to believe them . Maybe this is how the Scandanavians keep all the good warm weather to themselves ? It ’ll plausibly take a wintertime trip to this realm to convert me that it ’s not all midnight sunset and warm breezes . I barely expected a tropic holiday when I signed up to cruise the Baltic , but that ’s what we all gravel .
As we docked in Stockholm I honestly did n’t know what to expect . Our Rick Steves guide book raves about the metropolis , but I knew nothing about it and had fundamentally no expectations . Boy , was I impressed . On a sunny day , with the weewee glinting as you foil one of Stockholm ’s dozens of bridges , Sweden ca n’t be all in .
The city is build up on numerous islands , tie in by bridges . We started at the sail dockage , walked onto the master island lodging the urban center center ( include a purple castle and legion narrow streeets — be sure to insure out the terminal MacMania 3.5 photo gallery for word picture ) , then eventually made our way through the in high spirits - economic rent district of township and onto an island that houses an entertainment parkland , an open - aviation museum , and a seventeenth - century sink Swedish warship .
That war vessel is theVasa , and it was a fizzle , sinking in Stockholm ’s harbour on its maiden voyage . But the brackish water of this part of the sea helped keep it from rotting , and in the 1950s it was unwrap and put forward . Now it ’s a view into a time when manhood ’s cut - border engineering efforts were n’t expend on operating system of rules and microprocessors , but on wooden ship with magniloquent sails and massive cannons . TheVasais put up in a museum that was essentially built around it , so it somewhat apes the ship ’s excogitation , including marvelous sail - like suspensions in the center .
After our ardent daytime in Stockholm , we returned to theWesterdamfor yet another all-night canvass , this one to the small city of Visby , a medieval harbor on the west coast of Gotland , the largest island in the Baltic . Stockholm was my pet metropolis on this risky venture , but Visby might have been my favorite halt — and it was all too short , only about six hours .
Visby is apparently famed for its blush wine , and they were everywhere . We walked next to and through the city ’s ancient ( and very entire ) medieval bulwark , hiking on the trails just outside the wall and marvel at its medieval watchtowers , which still proudly fly the Swedish pin . Honestly , standing outside the city paries made me find more like I was playing World of Warcraft than being a real - spirit camcorder - toting holidaymaker .
Back inside the bulwark was Visby ’s mind - boggle botanical garden . There were coolheaded home to sit in the specter — respectable on yet another hot , cheery day — and beautiful , sunshine - swing out flower bed . The combination of Visby ’s saturated air and the immense bit of blooming flowers dedicate the air a scent and quality that I ’ve never really experienced before . I could ’ve spent all day sitting on a towel in the center of the park .
Our former return from Visby fall in the MacMania cruise participants their next opportunity for league session , and I do n’t remember they were let down . Chris Breen give an advanced GarageBand seance that blew me away , mostly because I ’m a medicine fan and not a player , so I ’m stunned at the skills of hoi polloi who can make medicine . David Pogue had ‘ em rolling in the ailes with his massive three - hour iPhoto blast - out . And I attracted a minor but loyal audience to discover about iDVD , DVD burning , and the like .
Another day , another port , and so Friday was a visit to the southern coast of the Baltic , our southernmost point on our journey — and the embrasure of Warnemünde , Germany . Warnemünde is a sleepy town near the large city of Rostock , Germany , and both are apparently summer destinations for the resident of northerly Germany . I ’m afraid I ca n’t point out on just how quaint the previous town of Warnemünde is , because like many other cruisegoers , I need reward of Germany ’s first-class track system to visit a larger German city . Many cruisegoers went to Berlin , but we resolve to save Berlin for our next visit ( my wife spent a semester in East Berlin in the early ’ ninety and says that if we ’re going to go back there , it needs to be for longsighted than a half - Clarence Day ) .
or else , we drive the rails to Hamburg , another urban center with pee all around . We receive up with some onetime syndicate friends who train in from Frankfurt for the day , and even took the kids for a visit to the Hamburg Zoo , where my daughter get to give an apple to an elephant . They do n’t do that form of affair in American zoos . It rain some on our solar day in Germany , the only rain we got on the stumble . It was also a little ice chest — in the mid-60s , which candidly we enjoyed as a break from all the high temperature we ’ve been come .
When we render to the ship , it was already pretty previous — almost 10 . There was just time for a warm tardy dinner and some German beer via a local German brewery . I do n’t think it ’s legal to go to Germany andnotdrink their beer , although I hear that some have try .
Our final stop was the port of Århus , Denmark , just a stone ’s throw from the mythical world of wonder known as Legoland . My married woman ’s parent inhabit an hour away from America ’s Legoland ( it ’s in Carlsbad , California ) , so we skip that side trip . In fact , because our visit to Århus was originally scheduled as a day at sea , the MacMania cruise did something unprecedented — we held classes while we were in port .
As it turned out , I think everyone was reasonably pooped out and willing to skip another Danish port to get some time learning more about the Mac . The big school term on Saturday was David Pogue ’s in - depth guide to Tiger , which pack the way for a full three hours . People who came to MacMania 3.5 expect to get some information about Apple ’s newfangled operating system certainly got a big shot of Tiger knowledge . And just like that , it was over . We had our final “ Ingenious Bar ” gathering that evening in the ship ’s Crow ’s Nest , attended by myself , Chris Breen , Geek Cruise captain Neil Bauman , Geek Cruiser and Perl guru Randal Schwartz , and host by broadcaster and podcaster Leo LaPorte . Everyone got a free drink and discuss all sorts of topics , from Mac - related matter to seriously unrelated matter , including a spirited treatment of exactlywhenthe “ Star Trek ” TV render Jumped the Shark .
After the Ingenious Bar close down up shop for the last prison term — with Leo signing off in true broadcaster fashion — we headed for dinner party in the Westerdam ’s dining way , and all the ship ’s Filipino and Indonesian dining stave made a power point of making a final visit to utter to my kid . I think my kids ( a baby and a toddler ) gave as much pleasure to the faculty — being so far away from their own kids — as the staff did to my nestling . After dinner party , we tamp our bag and got quick to disembark .
It was a great grouping of Mac users and Mac experts on this cruise , and it was also a outstanding joy to meet the family members they brought along . And , no doubt , many of us willmeet again — after all , MacMania 4 ( Mexican Riviera ) is come presently , with MacMania 4.5 ( Italy and the Mediterranean ) due a year from now . I ca n’t wait . And if you ’ve bask these cruise web log , consider being a part of it sometime by join us on one of these trips of a lifetime .
