Just before we boarded the ship of the Silja Line on Midsummer’s Eve, a blonde girl in her early teens, dressed in white with meadow flowers in her braided hair, passed us with her family and friends. Together they were a living symbol of fruitfulness and joy of the season. Now on the white, majestic liner, my companion and I would cross the mild waters, ruffled with a gentle wind, on a confident behemoth weaving its course through both submerged and visible islands lining the southern boundary of the Gulf of Finland.
After the mooring lines had been cast off and the cruise ship had gotten underway and left the port of Stockholm, my companion and I went right up to the cabin house and talked with the captain and his watch team as they plied their time-honored mariners’ trade. Each of many turns to new headings was expertly made by these watch standers themselves, an international crew of sailors–Finns, Swedes, a Dane and Norwegians. Sometimes the ship passed so near to rocks that lay even with the water’s surface or to submerged shoals that laid just below, that navigation seemed divination.
Satisfied that we were sailing with experts who were adept but also good humored and wise, my companion and I left the bridge and went below to sit almost at the waterline on blonde wooden benches with a view of the Gulf through broad windows.
Feasting was available throughout the passage. Thirty different fish dishes and pastes, including caviar, were served at every meal. Food in abundance was available even between meals. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were also available for toasts to the Eve and to each other. The mighty engines tremulously shook as we weaved, but the liner hardly pitched or rolled on that flat, broad and mostly even sea. We sailed at nightfall a lighted barque with starlight above and the heavens reflected on the water mirror that spread all around us.
The range of activities that were available for passengers was broad. A sauna and indoor pool were available and not overcrowded. Two young men sporting with each other on holiday coursed from the sauna to the pool and back again. You could dance, sing, walk the deck, or just stand fore or aft on the weather decks and gaze at the stars.
Our night was met with joy on every side. We were careful not to eat or drink to excess. So much we savored, and the passengers both young and old were genuinely happy. What did the islanders in the Gulf think of us looming large, and then passing by? A few lights showed that some people were still stirring on the islands as we sailed narrow passages. It happened that we fell asleep below decks sitting on a bench, our heads together.
The highlight of our Eurail vacation was our passage on that cruise ship that Midsummer Eve.
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