Tallin/Gdansk


Friday, July 9
A free day at sea. It feels good to have not hurried off to a day of hiking through a new city. We've walked a lot through blocks of cobble-stoned streets in new and exotic sounding locations. Helsinki was unique, St. Petersburg was the highlight, and during the past two days we have skimmed the surface of Tallin, Estonia and Gdansk, Poland. These cities in Europe bring home the facts of our good fortune to live in a country that has not had a world war fought on its soil. These cities and nations have suffered in unimaginable ways. The Russians lost millions of lives during their own revolution and in both world wars, but they helped to destroy the countries of Estonia and Poland after the second world war. Estonia was one of the three Baltic states (others were Latvia and Lithuania) which became familiar to Lutherans because Lutheran World Relief helped sponsor many refugees from these three countries. The Russians took over the Baltic states, and many of their citizens escaped to seek asylum. Our neighbors in Staples, Minnesota were "Displaced Persons" (they were referred to as DPs) and several of my teachers at Luther Seminary also were in that category and were assisted by Lutheran congregations. In 1994 with the demise of the Soviet Union new life has begun to emerge in Estonia. A tourist industry catering to cruise boats like the one we're on has brought an influx of money to both Estonia and Poland, but their infrastructure is not quite up to the challenges they've had to face. And the worldwide economic downturn is hurting both places. Poland was invaded by the Germans as a start to the second world war and destroyed by the Russians at the close of the war. They experienced Russia's heavy handed rule until the 1980's when the Solidarity Movement began among the shipyard workers of Gdansk (then known as Danzig) with Lech Walecza as the leader. This relatively peaceful revolution led to Russia's withdrawal, but it takes a long time for a country to establish a new foundation. Our Polish guide said it will take several generations for people to trust a free-market based economy. Walecza was a successful president, and is now retired and traveling the world to tell the story of Poland. Estonia and Poland are emerging with long histories including days of greatness in their past, but they are striving hard to find their new place in today's world.
Our cruise is moving rapidly towards its conclusion. We have had wonderful weather all the time. We had rain one night, but every day has been mostly sunny with comfortable temperatures. The heavy clothes we packed have been left at the bottom of the suitcase, and I wished I had packed more shorts. Tomorrow we dock at Oslo for a short day of touring, and bright and early on Sunday morning we'll be in Copenhagen's port and return to the Gilbertson's exchange home in the north suburbs for three days before moving on to Stockholm. We are so fortunate to experience this time with good friends exploring parts of the world that are new to us.