Around the Block is cruising the Baltics this week

Commentary

And then on to Krakow, Poland

Sharon and I are cruising the Baltic sea for the next week. The cruise started in Copenhagen with port calls in Karlskroner, Sweden, Gdansk, Poland, Klaipeda, Lithuania (only about 50kms from the Russian Oblast known as Kaliningrad), Riga, Latvia, Tallinn, Estonia, Helsinki and Stockholm. From Stockholm we’ll fly to Krakow to visit friends.

With all this travel, Around the Block will probably focus less on news and politics (although if I’m amused and/or outraged by something or someone, I might have to opine), and more on observations from this trip.

Here are two quick ones.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen, which I’ve been to many time for both business and pleasure, remains a delightful, albeit expensive, city. The food scene is first rate, the people are friendly, the architecture eclectic, shopping, particularly on Strøget, one of the first pedestrian city-center shopping streets is a pleasure, and Tivoli Gardens remains the greatest amusement park in the world.

But anyone who hasn’t visited Copenhagen in a while, which includes me, as my last visit was probably over 20 years ago, will be struck by one amazing observation and one incredible fact.

Observation: Strolling the streets of Copenhagen I noticed a huge difference between cars in Denmark and cars at home: something like one out of four to five cars on the streets of the city are electric (EVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) or simply hybrids. Amazing!

CleanTechnica: Denmark Crushes 50% EV Sales Barrier 

Fact: According to the website, CleanTechnica, 50% of new cars sold in Denmark are now either EVs (27%) or PHEVs (31%). And there are dozens of EV models from both European (particularly VW and Fiat) and Korean (Hyundai and Kia) manufacturers sold in Denmark but not available in the U.S. Why are the Danes doing the right thing while we can’t even get the EVs that are ostensibly available in the U.S. into American auto dealer showrooms? Is this just another example of American Exceptionalism?

Karlskroner, Sweden

Karlskroner is a small town in Southeast Sweden known mostly as the headquarters of the Swedish navy. It was probably added to Baltic cruise itineraries when St. Petersburg, Russia, for obvious reasons, was taken off the port call list. Normally I wouldn’t report on a stop in a town like Karlskroner because, frankly, there’s not much to report. But whenever I visit a foreign city I often think, “is this a place I’d like to live in.” After visiting this house in this heritage neighborhood, Karlskroner did not make the shortlist.

Two rooms…sewing room which doubles as a bedroom, separated from the dining room by a tiny kitchen (sink, mini-bar sized fridge, 2 burner stove) with an outhouse toilet/shower…asking price: €600,000.

And you thought San Francisco was pricey!

But more important than real estate prices is what I learned about Sweden’s military now that it will be joining NATO. While the few Swedish navy destroyers I saw looked impressive, I thought folks at home would like to see what Sweden will be bringing to the party to enhance NATO’s ground forces:

Take that, Putin!

Next stop Gdansk, home of Polish solidarity. More to come.