SEA DAY AND AMBER!

Saturday, August 8, 2026--Happy Birthday, Denise!
On the Baltic Sea/Aboard Sapphire Princess
72F and sunny

TK took this great photo from our 

stateroom this morning!

Sea days are not too exciting.  I cannot believe I slept another 10 hours.  The seas are calm.  We are about 274 miles from Copenhagen, cruising at 18 miles per hour.  There are few ships on the sea.  We did see Rugen, Germany—Germany’s largest island, 357 square miles. I actually did not know that Germany had any islands, and it has 97 with 76 inhabited!  We were able to see the chalky cliffs while having lunch.  Dear Readers, did you know about the German islands??

Chalky Cliffs on Rugen, Germany
(not my photo)

TK spotted a ship along the way-

we haven't seen very many

Since knowing about amber is my new quest for information, I went to an enrichment lecture—WOW! All the things I do not know.  Keep in mind the following information is from Janie’s notes. 

We all know that when any tree is injured it produces resin to heal itself. Over time the “scab” drops off tree.  The Baltic Sea was once a huge forest of all kinds of trees (lecturer said bigger than the size of the Great Lakes combined).  Glaciers arrived 20 million years ago leaving a lake twelve thousand years ago.  The forest floor became a seabed.

Then the lecturer jumped to:

• In November-March the Baltic Sea is rough.  The amber pieces on the seabed are churned up, break away from the seabed, and are swept along to the shore.  
• Today people in rubber suits and boots wade into the sea (Baltic) with fishing nets and scoop up the amber
• Amber is considered Baltic gold
• Amber was once worshipped as godlike—when held up to the light it looks like the sun.
• There are 320 colors and shades of amber
• Amber has healing properties—the resin healed trees! During the Black Plague it was used successfully to help people recover. Lecturer said that when we visit Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia we will see amber creams for arthritis and rheumatism. We will also see tablets for heartburn—ground up amber
• True amber is at least 40 million years old minimum
• Insects and floral material are in less than 1% of amber-- Over 500 extinct insects have been found in amber
• Amber is an organic gem—2-2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale (1 is lowest/talc—10 is highest/diamond
• Other organic gemstones include pearls, coral, and jet. They are derived from living organisms
• After the movie, Jurassic Park, amber became more popular.
• Tests for true amber: floats in salt water; hot needle test-produces smoke and emits a distinct aroma, like pine or burning incense + it is hard to penetrate with a needle; place amber in refrigerator for 1 hour—when removed true amber will still be the same temperature; static electricity—rub the “amber” on your pants-if a piece of tissue will stick to it—it is not amber

A FEW COLORS OF AMBER and age

• Lemon yellow—young—40 million years
• Green—in Baltic area only—50 million years—rare
• Honeycomb—most common—55 million years (has inclusions)
• Cherry—60 million years--rare
• Butterscotch—65 million years

That is probably enough rambling about amber!

We attended the Veteran Get Together--it is always nice to meet the veterans on board. Today there were about 30 veterans, representing all branches. Five were veterans of the Australian Army and each of them served with the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan during conflict. One woman veteran.  TK and I sat with several Navy vets, and one served on the Shangri-La in Mediterranean. I think Friend H's father was on the Shangri-La.

Tonight was a formal night, and we dressed in nicer duds. The only photo for dinner was TK’s dessert.

TK's hazelnut souffle

 

Along the Baltic

Happy Birthday, Denise!!

Tk’s Takes:  He said if he didn’t know better, he would think we were in the Caribbean, the sea was that calm.  He also noted that Mamma Mia was playing on the movie screen this afternoon and wanted to share that fact with Lawrence, our dear cruise friend from Wisconsin