Baltic Dispatches Part 2

By: Emilie Kretschmar on behalf of Art Caplan, Emmanuel and Robert Hart Director of the Center for Bioethics

It is always exciting when a Penn Alumni travel trip returns to the States- at least for those of us back in the office. Looking at pictures, talking to the faculty host, hearing from happy alumni… these are all things I look forward to when a Penn Alumni Travel trip returns.

If you are a frequent visitor to the Frankly Penn blog, you may remember a recent post by Art Caplan, Emmanuel and Robert Hart Director of the Center for Bioethics. Art was our faculty host on the June alumni cruise through the Baltic Sea. His post, direct from the cruise boat itself, gave us a taste of the fantastic journey our Penn Alumni travelers were enjoying. Now, back in the States, Art recaps his journey for us:

 The voyage to the Baltics proved to be a charmed one.  Almost no rain for ten days in a region not known for sunshine.  A ship captain and crew who were entertaining, informed and very responsive to the passengers.  A group of alumni from Penn and nearly a dozen other American and Canadian universities who were friendly, enthusiastic, inquisitive and apparently lacking in a need for very much sleep.

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg

I thought that the highlights of the trip were the Hermitage in St. Petersburg–a world class museum on a par with the Louvre but still staggering to see; Riga, Latvia a small city of architectural wonders whose architects had a real sense of playfulness, the fjords of Norway and the chance to hear international figures like Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev.  I don’t think of myself as a cruise person but this trip took my wife and I and our Penn alumni friends to a series of places that we would not otherwise have been likely to visit in a very comfortable mode of travel.  There was as much or as little socializing as you cared to engage in and as much or as little walking and touring as you chose to do.   If you get the chance, I would urge a visit to this part of the world by boat.  Seafaring built the cities of the Baltic, and an alumni cruise is surely the best way to visit them.

The charming city of Riga, Latvia

If Art’s recount of the Baltic Sea cruise has inspired you to take your own trip, check out our newly released 2013 Penn Alumni Travel calendar. We hope to see you on a future Penn Alumni Travel trip!