I spent two weeks on a Nordic cruise with my mum. Here's how it went
Waking up next to the Stockholm archipelago, I pull back our cabin's curtains to reveal the soft, yellow dawn light gently pushing against the low, grey clouds. Their reflection is mirrored in the Baltic Sea, the surface swirling in a mixture of luminous gold and silvery grey, like chiaroscuro in a Rembrandt painting.
'Why are you up?' asks my mum, still snuggled under her blanket.
'This is what I'm doing, Mummo!' I say, gesturing at the fairy-tale vista from our balcony aboard the Viking Jupiter.
It's not long before Mum joins me, wrapped in her dressing gown. I've got mine on, too, not to mention a cream faux-fur hat. We are on the Viking Homelands Tour, a trip we've talked about for years (Scandinavia has long fascinated us both). It first weaved its magic for me when Mum passed on her passion for Viking sagas and Scandi noir novels and dramas. More recently, I've been taken with the region's fashion, licorice, pastries and fairy tales.
Though neither of us is usually short of words, we're silent as we cruise past the beauty of the archipelago. Rocky outcrops make way for larger islands; small summer houses, painted red or navy, nestle among birch and pine trees.
'Look, a swan!' says Mum, pointing in the distance. Her eyesight is better than mine, so I put on my glasses. 'Oh, it's Swan Lake!' I say to Mum as more white swans come into view.
Water is central to the identity of the Swedish capital. I zip a puffer over my PJs and head to the top of the ship for a panoramic view of this city of islands. In front of us is Gamla Stan, the Old Town, founded in the 13th century. Turning around, we see Södermalm, one of the city's coolest neighbourhoods.
Our cruise had begun in Bergen and, before we set sail, there was a day to wander through one of Norway's oldest cities. Then, each morning during the 15-day trip, my body clock seems in sync with our port arrivals so there's no need to set the alarm. The gentle morning light guides us into ports including Eidfjord, Stavanger, Oslo, Ålborg, Copenhagen, Berlin (via Warnemünde), Bornholm, Gdansk and Tallinn. In each, we got to experience their beauty and hear their fascinating histories.
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