Before we reached our last port-of-call on this cruise we sailed through the Kiel Canal.  The canal is 98-kilometers (61 miles) long and links the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.  The canal cuts off 250 nautical miles (460 km) of distance by allowing ships to avoid having to go around the Jutland Peninsula with its storm-prone waters.  It was finished in 1895 but was widened between 1907 and 1914.  Our ship, being a small cruise liner was able to navigate the route and we spent the day wandering on and off the deck to see the countryside slowly pass by.We lost our lovely sunshine and the day was wet and cool.  There were many pleasure boats and cross-canal ferries to watch. There were also some really nice homes along the canal route.   It’s called the “Flying Bridge” for a reason.  The Captain can get a good clear view of where the sides of his ship are at all times which is pretty handy going under some of the bridges and bringing the ship into ports.
I have no idea what the value of these homes might be in Germany but they would be very expensive in western Canada.                    We passed some lovely, lush farmland. This looks a little tight.  Probably looks tighter than it actually is though.                                             Not a lot of room to spare.Out the lock at the far end and off we go into the North Sea on our way to Hamburg.