Rønne is a small town, servicing a holiday resort and second home region, with an interesting history. Preserved, in the middle of a suburban street, we were shown the point at which the Swedish 'oppressors' were vanquished.
Of course, the Swedes, similarly, believe that they were once oppressed by the Danes.
But more recently, during WW2, the town was an important German communications base and after the German surrender, the German Commander, Gerhard von Kamptz, in the absence of a British officer, gave his command up to the Danish Resistance, of whom he was, obviously, aware. Shades of the BBC TV series: 'Allo 'Allo!
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I was particularly interested, because my mother's Danish uncle, Paul Kofod, distinguished himself in the Danish Resistance, which was very active against the German occupation on Jutland and that was no joke.
However, the Russians were not having this. So, they bombed the town, killing the mayor and several other Danes, who had, wrongly, imagined that the war was over.
The Russians then invaded and did not leave until 1946. They held von Kamptz, as a POW, until 1954. According to our local guide he later returned to Bornholm where he was well received and hailed as something of a hero, possibly deservedly. He had earned the Iron Cross and Knight's Cross (multiple medals) for valour during the war. He lived to 96 and is buried in Keil in the same cemetery as a number of other German Naval officers.
In the local museum was an exhibition - 'The Russians are Coming' - that had a particular currency, considering the recent outbreak of war in the Ukraine.
Unlike Sweden, Denmark is a member of NATO. So, any renewed Russian attack, perhaps on the small naval presence in the harbour, would unleash World War Three. People seemed unconcerned.
The mysterious pieces of gold foil (above) are embossed with images. They pedate any known group of islanders and have been found in their thousands. Their purpose is not certain. They could memorialise the dead or could be tokens of wealth, like bank notes, as they are too flimsy to have been used as coins. The clocks were also important for some reason, that I've forgotten (first in Denmark?).
Quite a large part of the exhibition recalled the Russian bombing and subsequent occupation - mainly photographs and a film.
At sea again and relaxing in Eden - aft - the bar at the stern - "it's the back of the ship sir".
Our first mission in Helsinki was to go shopping. Quel dommage! Wendy's hair wand had gone kaput. But she doesn't necessarily require a reason to go shopping.
The ship's bus-shuttle service deposited us near the inner harbour and pointed us to the Cathedral square. The Cathedral itself is reached by a high flight of long steps (like Sydney Opera House). As it is a Lutheran church it's quite plain.
The faith competing for the souls of the less spartan Fins is Finnish (Russian) Orthodox, at the other extreme, when it comes to church decoration.
There's a long boulevard (Esplanadi) leading from the harbour to the shopping district, where coffee shops also abound.
The Russian influence can also be seen in the streets, that resemble St Petersburg (without the canals).
Before embarking on the cruise, we purchased a number of guided shore excursions. Here, we chose to see some of the countryside and were taken by bus to several locations, the most interesting of which was the house of a woman who opens her house and provides local food to bus groups like ours.
The nearby forest provided some interesting vistas, in addition to forest berries, I was reminded of Steinhöfel in Germany.
For some reason her departed husband had felt the need for a large-calibre German field artillery piece (dated 1918), that was probably in working order when acquired.
Maybe it was in case the Russians invade. It seemed to be in pretty good nick, with suitable ammunition it could still make a mess of a Russian tank.
Finland has a very long common border with Russia and they have invaded before, most notably in November 1939 when the Russians suffered huge losses and encouraged Hitler to tear up his agreement with Stalin (to carve up Poland between them) and invade Russia.
