Europe 30 May 2012 - Stockholm

Our visit to Stockholm, Sweden, required tendering to a port and a long bus ride in to the city. We were about an hour south of the city at a port in the town of Nynashamn. The country was beautiful, and in some ways similar to the Pacific Northwest coast, especially around Puget Sound and Vancouver Island.

Stockholm Waterfront

We had bought a shore excursion for the bus ride in and a tour of the Vasa Museum. That turned out to be a good choice.

Once in Stockholm, we got a bus tour of the city, making a stop at Riddarfjarden Lake. From there we could see Stadshuset  (city hall) where the Nobel prize banquet is held. We then went to Djurärden Island where there are several museums.  We drove by Skansen outdoor museum with many school groups touring.

Vasa

Vasa model

Next we came to the Vasa Museum, one of the most historically interesting places in Stockholm. The museum houses the warship Vasa, which sank a couple of hours into its maiden voyage about 300 years ago. It was such an embarrassment, it was simply left where it sank and forgotten about. That is after the cannon were salvaged and masts were cut off so they didn't show above the water line. It was rediscovered in the 1950s, well preserved because of the brackish water, raised, preserved, and moved (carefully) to a museum built for it. It is a fascinating piece of history rediscovered, and reminded us a bit of the "Jesus Boat" at the Sea of Galilee.

After our visit to the Vasa Museum, the bus took us to the city center and let us off near the Opera for a free afternoon. We had about three hours to wander and explore.

The Guard Brass Band

Changing of the Guard

We walked to the Gamla Stan, the Old Town area. At Kungliga Slottet, the Royal Palace, we were just in time for the Changing of the Guard, a rather elaborate ceremony. Soldiers march in to the square, and ride in on horseback, led by the military brass band, also on horseback. They play very well in spite of being on horses. We stayed through most of the ceremony, which lasted about 45 minutes.

St George & The Dragon

Storkyrkan

Next to the Palace is the Storkyrkan (Great Church), a 15th century building that was the scene of kings being crowned till into the 20th century. Notable features inside are a massive sculpture of St George slaying the dragon, and a "light painting" with interesting use of light.

From the church we wandered to Stortoget, the Great Square. It is typical of medieval European town squares. We ate lunch in a café off the square, which seemed to be frequented mostly by locals.

Stortoget

Shopping Street

After lunch we walked the Västerlägatan back to where we were to catch the bus. It just wasn't quite where we expected, but not far away. It was a pleasant ride back to Nynashamn for the tender ride back to the ship. And that ended our last shore excursion of this cruise. We will spend the next two days at sea on the way  back to Amsterdam. 

Europe 29 May 2012 - Helsinki

The port at Helsinki, Finland is a little out of town. Therefore, it is necessary to take a bus in to town, or walk about three miles. We chose the shuttle.

Esplanade

From where the shuttle dropped us off, we walked through Esplanade Park, a long block wide park to the waterfront. There is a monument to someone in the center. At the waterfront end we bought a two-hour tram ticket for a quick unguided tour of the city center on the 3T Tram. It made a large loop, passing most of the sites we might want to see, and gave us a good overview of the city.

Temppeliaukio Kirkko

We began in the central city and did make one stop at The Church in the Rock, or as it is in Finish, Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Temple Square Church). It is a modern Lutheran church carved into a large rock hill. Its organ is by a modern Finish firm, but we didn't hear it. We entered the church only five minutes before it was closing for an hour and a half for a funeral to take place. For once, our timing was good.

Back on the tram, we continued our city tour passing through several neighborhoods. We passed the Olympic Stadium, the Finnish National Opera House, Linnanmaki Amusement Park, the Swedish Theater (designed by Eero Saarinen), and went through the design district from where comes much modern furniture, and finally returned to the starting point near the waterfront.

Old Market Hall

The Old Market Hall, built in 1888, is an interesting market area with food stalls and restaurants. It is noted as one of the most beautiful in the world. Next to it, is an open air market on the waterfront with the usual collection of food, crafts, and souvenir stands.

Vendaces & Potatoes

We had lunch at one of the food stands in this area. The local dish we shared, along with sausage and paela, was Vendaces & Potatoes. Vendaces are small fish, about the size of small sardines, but come from fresh water lakes rather than the ocean. The whole fish, about 2 inches long, is deep fried, and you get a large pile of them. And I do mean whole fish; head, tail, skin, bones if any, and all. They were really pretty good. We washed that down with a local beer.

Uspenki Cathedral

"Bridge of Love"

On the hill above the market was Uspenski Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Helsiki. Leaving the church, we crossed the "Bridge of Love" over one of the canals. There is a tradition in Helsinki for couples to come here after their wedding ceremony and place a lock on the bridge. There were many.

From there we walked to Senate Square, an open square surrounded by government, university, and church buildings.  The central train station was a few blocks away and our next stop. It is a large building with a tall clock tower that was designed by Eliel Saarinen. Since we weren't going anywhere, we only used the WC.

In Senate Square

Tuomiokirkkko

We returned to Senate Square and Tuomiokirkko, the Lutheran Cathedral. It is a large white square building with a dome and a large organ. Again we did not hear it. There is also, of course, a Luther statue along with one of Melancton. The altar piece is a large painting.

Obligatory Ice Cream Cone

Once again we walked through Esplanade Park. There was entertainment on the band shell stage as we passed. And finally, we stopped for an ice cream cone at a stand in the park, a very popular Finnish thing to do.

Returning to the ship, again by shuttle, we sailed away from Helsinki, passing through many islands in the Baltic Sea heading for Stockholm.

Europe, 27-28 May 2012 - St Petersburg

St. Petersburg! A city of beautiful Russian Orthodox churches and other significant sites that had long been on "The List" and was now a reality.

Although Russia certainly welcomes tourists (and their dollars and euros), their visa rules are still a bit stringent. And visas are expensive. It is nearly impossible to simply wander on your own to all the major sights. The easiest and safest (and cheapest) way to get a visa is by being on an organized tour. So we contracted ahead of time with Alla Tours, a local private company for a full two-day tour of many of the signifiant sites in and around the city. It was a good choice.

After clearing immigration, we met our tour guide for the next two days outside the cruise terminal. We were on a minibus with 10 others from the ship. A much nicer size than the full size bus tours from the ship. Our guide was a young northern looking blond named Paulina. She did a very good job.

Kazan Cathedral

Farmers Market

We first drove into St Petersburg and around the city a little. We were given a quick introduction to city life by a visit to a market, which was mostly like a indoor farmers' market. Following that was a stop at a Russian Orthodox church with a service in progress. It is Sunday. But we couldn't understand any of the sermon in Russian.

The St Petersburg subway system is known as an especially beautiful one. The stations are very deep with what may be the longest escalators we had ever seen. They are tastefully decorated in an artistic manner. We rode only a short distance between two stations just for the experience.

Astoria Hotel (in Russian)

Today was Founders Day, the anniversary of the founding of the city. Many squares and streets were closed for planned festivities. Our next goal, St Isaacs Square and Cathedral was certainly no exception. Our driver had a hard time navigating the area. One building on the square that caught our attention was the Astoria Hotel. (Jen is right. You can never get completely away from Astoria.)

We drove along the Neva River on Vasilievsky Island. From there we could see the Hermitage museum which was our next destination. We had tickets for an early entrance before the museum is open to the general public. It is an incredible collection of art, most of which there is not room to display. And it began as the private collection of Catherine the Great. We spent about two and a half hours in the museum.

Lunch was at a local restaurant across Palace Square from the Hermitage to sample local food. I think the wait staff knew no English, so there were no explanations of what was served. There was a salad, and then soup, followed by what I think was stroganoff. The food was pretty good and it's always good to eat local.

Lunch: Stroganoff (?)

The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood 

After lunch the next stop was another church, The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood. The church is named for the place of the assassination of Czar Alexander the II in the middle ages. The exterior is extremely brightly colored and has many domes. The interior has beautiful mosaics ( much of them gold) on the walls and ceiling.

Low Bridge(s)

Since St Petersburg is built on several islands along rivers and canals, it is sometimes known as the Venice of Russia. So we took a river boat cruise. We went along several canals and rivers and under many low bridges, ending in the Neva River, the main river of the city. It is always an interesting perspective to see a city from the water.

We made two more sight-seeing stops after the cruise. The first was at Yusopov Palace, famous as the place where Gregory Rasputin was murdered. (It's a bit amazing how many places are associated with someone's murder or death.) And the final stop of the day was at St.Peter & St. Paul Fortress. There is, of course, a cathedral at the fortress. Peter the Great  and other czars and their families are buried here.

Royal Kripts

We had originally planned to stay in the city to attend a folklore performance after dinner. However, Dick was not feeling well, so we returned to the ship with the others. We hated to miss this cultural experience.

White Night (12:30 AM; sun just setting)

During the summer, northern Russia is known for its long days (or short nights) known as "White Nights." While Dick slept, Karen got up and saw such a phenomenon at about 12:30 AM, when the sun had not quite set.

at St Nicholas

Paulina met us the morning of Day 2 to see more of St Petersburg. We went by St. Nicholas church which is by a canal, and has always been a church, even in the Soviet era. It stayed open allowing people to come a pray, even when no services were allowed. Our first stop was at Alla's shop to pay for the tour and have the opportunity to buy souvenirs. We purchased a nesting nativity in the style of the nesting Russian dolls. It is a unique addition to our collection.

From there we headed out of St Petersburg to Catherine's Palace and Peterhof. On the edge of the city, we stopped briefly at the Leningrad Siege memorial.

Cupolas of church at
Catherine's Palace

Hall of Mirrors in Catherine's Palace

Throne Room

Catherine's Palace is a huge complex with one more room than Versailles. It even has a Hall of Mirrors, though the mirrors don't cover as much of the walls. It's still very impressive. One of the most impressive rooms is the "Amber Room." The walls are mostly covered with amber, a semi-precious stone that is often used to make jewelry. It is a truly amazing sight.

Outside the palace, we walked through the huge and beautiful gardens. Before returning to the bus and a sack lunch. That was another interesting Russian meal. It was a "pancake" wrapped around chicken to make a sandwich.

The next stop was at Peterhof, one of Peter the Great's palaces. The palace is under refurbishing and not open. The gardens are the main attraction.

We first walked the upper gardens while Paulina bought our admission tickets. They are not spectacular but beautiful, nonetheless. There are simple fountains in this section.

At Peterhof

Trick Foountain

In the formal gardens, the fountains are not simple. It fact, it is known as the fountain park. All the fountains, and there are a couple hundred of them, are gravity fed and operated using no pumps or electricity. It is amazing to see what engineers in the 18th century were able to accomplish. Peter also had a sense of humor and constructed several "trick fountains." If you step on a certain cobble stone the fountain begins and you get wet. We saw groups of children really enjoying these fountains. Peter didn't like living in huge palaces and actually lived in the smaller palace next to the river. The huge palace was used for state functions.

Peterhof Fountains

Our return to St Petersburg was by hydrofoil, which is much faster than by road. The bus met us where we docked near the Hermitage. On the way back to the ship, we stopped at St Isaac's Cathedral, the largest in St Petersburg. We had previously only seen the outside. It has amazing artwork and ikons inside as most Russian churches.

St Isaac's Dome

St Isaac's Cathedral

St Isaac's Mosaics

Kronshtat Cathedral

We returned to the ship in plenty of time to sail out of the city. As we left, we sailed past the Naval Shipyard, Kronshtadt. In addition to all the ships and a submarine or two, the shipyard has its own cathedral, a typical looking Russian Orthodox church. It's amazing that it's still there after the Soviet era. It has been refurbished and is quite a beautiful sight as we sailed away from St Petersburg.

Europe, 25-26 May 2012 - At Sea & Tallinn

The Glassy Sea

Friday 25 May, was a sea day. That's normally pretty quiet and not much of note to talk about. But the sea was a bit unusual. This cruise has been very smooth, with virtually no rough seas. Today was exceptional, as we had never seen such smooth water. It literally reminded me of the line from an old hymn about the "glassy sea." Extremely smooth and glassy looking.

Fabergé Ornament

The other interesting event was Karen won a raffle. The prize was a Christmas ornament hand made by Sarah Fabergé, from the family that makes the fantastic decorative eggs, and other things. 

On Saturday we landed at another well preserved medieval city, Tallinn, Estonia. A more modern city has grown up around the old walled medieval city. We walked from the cruise terminal through the newer city in to the old city.

The first landmark we came to was Fat Margaret, a 1529 round tower on the medieval wall.

Inside the wall, the first church we saw was St Olav, but it wasn't open that early. From there we walked along Lai Strasse, passing many medieval houses and other buildings. That brought us to the Town Hall Square, a typical center of the city.

In our usual quest to see medieval churches, our next stop was Holy Spirit Church, perhaps the oldest building in Tallinn. It was not originally a church, but a 14th century Alms House. As is the unfortunate case in many European cities, especially Eastern Europe, it is no longer an active church.

 

From there we walked through an outdoor market area and arrived at St Nicholas. We did not pay the admission to go inside to see a major piece of art, the painting, Toten Tanz.

View from St Olav Tower

Brotherhood of Blackheads

We walked along Pikk Strasse on the way back to St Olav. Along the way we passed the most photographed door in Tallinn at the Brotherhood of Blackheads. While Karen shopped the area, Dick climbed another church tower. When St Olav church was built, the people of Tallinn wanted to have a significant landmark, so they built the tallest church tower in Europe. At least it was at the time.

Steps of St Olav Tower

Next we walked along an art street, Lange Strasse, to the upper old town. In that area is the Russian Orthodox church, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Across the square, the Estonian Parliament meets at Toompea Castle. Nearby is the Dome Church, the oldest church in Tallinn and perhaps in Estonia. There was a sign outside which said, we thought, there was to be an organ recital at 1:00 PM. So we walked a little way to a Greek(!) restaurant for lunch, which was good. After lunch we returned to the church, but they knew nothing of an organ recital. Oh, well.

Alexander Nevsky

We then headed to a city viewpoint, Kohtu Viewpoint. It did provide a good overview of the city. On the way down from the viewpoint, we passed a public archery field on our way to Kick in de Kök. And from there to Freedom Square before returning to the Old Town.

Coffee and Pastries 

Tallinn skyline from ship

At Master's Courtyard, we stopped for coffee and pastries at a chocolate shop. Not sure how we passed on the chocolate. We then followed St Catherine's Passage, a very narrow shopping alley. That brought us to another section of the city wall, which we walked along, mostly next to not on. Karen bought a typical Eastern European knit shawl and Dick visited another church, this one Orthodox. Then it was time to head back to the ship after another fine port day in another new (to us) city.