Our trips are filled with so many activities and excursions, it’s the afternoons at sea aboard the National Geographic Orion when passengers are reminded that they’re actually on vacation. These are times of leisure and relaxation. Granted, there are informative lectures, but even those can be watched on the TV in one’s cabin while reclining lazily in bed. Days at sea also give us the opportunity to stuff our faces with enormous amounts of food. Indeed, the constant feasting on delicious meals, drinks, sweets, snacks, and other libations are surely the reason our clothes seem to have shrunk by the time our trip is over. Don’t blame it on the laundry staff, the galley (and our own gluttony) are responsible.
Luckily for our waistlines, we weren’t at sea the entire day. Some of us began our second day in Riga on a lovely photography walk led by National Geographic photographer Alison Wright and Lindblad photo instructor David Cothran. Unique reflections and interesting compositions were our focus as we wandered around the outskirts of the old town. Soon we all clustered around an old bridge to capture shots of a passing canal boat.
Half an hour later, we were the ones seated in the boat, waving at the people on top of the same bridge. Today was a fantastic opportunity to see the city from new perspectives, both from the water and on land.
But enough sightseeing. Our ship departed Riga at noon, and we had other priorities to attend to.
Our usual, bountiful buffet lunch began the afternoon, followed at 4:00 p.m. by tea time, accompanied with platters of small sandwiches and sweets. At 6:30 p.m., our chef had a Nordic and Baltic specialties tasting prepared, featuring (to name a few) Finnish crisp bread, Danish pickled herring, Swedish smoked rainbow trout paté, Latvian smoked fresh water sprat, and Estonian smoked pork loin with prunes and apple, along with a large selection of Baltic beers and aquavit. That’s not to mention the powerful force field of the ever-present cookie jars located at various places on the ship, which seduce even the most self-controlled at all hours of the day and night.
One of the passengers spent his afternoon enthusiastically teaching anyone who would listen—including our historian, captain, and bar manager—how to make his invented “dirty apple” cocktail. He gave us special permission to share his recipe with the world: fill a glass half full with hard cider then slowly pour Guinness beer over a spoon so that it floats on top of the cider. The mixture changes as you drink it, the Guinness and the cider slowly mixing together. Don’t mix them while pouring or you will have a “rotten apple”.
After our Nordic and Baltic tasting, it was hard to believe that we had a magnificent four course dinner waiting for us in the dining room. It seemed like an impossible task, but somehow we managed to clean our plates. After an after dinner coffee or a second serving of ice cream we retired to the lounge for conversation, music, more drinks, and of course, themselves cookie jars.
