From Saint Petersburg it was a short hop over to Helsinki. Helsinki differs from the other ports in that it is a rather newer city and doesn't really have an old town.
We walked the area using the self guided walk from Rick Steves, strolling through the outdoor market, (neglected to get a good pic of the market, so here is one of some building art instead)
photo by Bill down the tree lined promenade, past a couple of statues, the train station with its Art Deco style and finally this lovely stuffed reindeer. I also saw a man of about 40 wearing some neon orange manpris, FYI.
One of the top attractions in Helsinki is the " Church in the Rock", a copper domed structure built in 1969. It was blasted out of solid rock and has a bomb shelter for 6,000 people under the floor. Very modern!
Yet another attraction in Helsinki is the beer tram, seen below.
photos by Bill
Patrons of the tram ride around town while sampling the local brew. All in all, quite an interesting day in Finland!
Today we started out with a ride on a Russian subway. They are famous for their elegant, museum-like decor. This one has marble walls and chandeliers.
photo by Bill
A thick glass column below.
Subways were built during the soviet era.
Later we went to Peter the Greats' Palace and saw the gardens which had many grand fountains.
photo by Bill
photo by Bill This group of young boys who attend a military school were there on a field trip walking in formation.
The afternoon found us at the palace where Catherine the Great spent her summers. Of course it was glorious.
So fabulous that we had to wear these shoe covers like doctors wear so our peasant feet would not scuff the royal floors. Well, the floors were nice.
The ceilings were all nice too, painted in elaborate murals.
Not to mention the golden walls, mirrors, and sconce candelabras. It was blinding. There was room after room like this.
photo by Bill
Shiny domes towered over the backside of the palace which was under construction, thus covered with a realistic painted netting.
They used these ceramic stoves to heat the rooms rather than fireplaces.
Believe it or not, I think these are some kind of fringed tulip.
The palace was devastated during World War II but they managed to hide away the art and some of the furniture. It took a really long time, but finally it was rebuilt with historical accuracy using photos that were taken before the Nazis began bombing it. The most challenging part was the recreation of the amber room, the walls completely covered with mosaics of amber. They spent a fortune to acquire the amber and make every detail exactly match how it looked originally. It was breathtaking. Of course no photos allowed. Oh, and I forgot to mention I ate borscht for lunch and it was good!
The last two days have been spent discovering the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. We landed here on Sunday and soon found out we were very fortunate to have booked a private tour online before we came on our trip. The tour agency arranged all our paperwork for us and were waiting for us with an English speaking guide, a comfy van and driver. It was great. They took us right to the door of the places we visited and our guide had all the tickets and entry fees prepaid and lead us through everything with great information and lots of opportunities to ask questions. There were two other couples, so our little group of 6 was perfect. We saw so many incredible sights and even got to ride the metro! I have always dreamed of going to the famous Hermitage Art Museum which started out as a palace of course. It was very grand and dripping with guilded ornaments.
We did not even scratch the surface of the art they have here. Catherine the Great was an avid collector!
Royal reception hall below.
We saw two works by Da Vinci
Incredible mosaic everywhere, some so finely done you could not discern them from a painting.
Tulips dominated the gardens.
The most unusual thing I saw was this huge golden peacock which was given to Catherine as a present. It is actually an automated clock that moves when it is wound up.
They only wind it up on Wednesdays, but they have a video that gives you some idea of what it does.
Next we went to the church on the spilled blood where one the Czars was assassinated. The onion domes were quite shiny and impressive.
It was right on one of the many canals that crisscross the downtown.
The inside was an incredible array of mosaics and gold.
Of course the gift shop sold replicas of Fabrege eggs. So sparkly.
Here's me and our tour guide, Anna. It was great spending two days with her asking all kinds of questions about politics and life in Russia. She pays 13% income tax and everyone has free medical. You can pay for a supplemental policy if you want a higher standard of care. Unemployment is not a problem and climate change, I.e. Global warming is totally a non issue. Most Russians are not at all concerned about it. There is wide support of Putin. Education is free through university as long as you keep your grades up. The biggest concern of Russians right now has to do with pensions and what we would call "social security" payments to the retired. Apparently this was a factor in why some people in Crimea wanted to join Russia. Pensions would be higher and more secure. They have internet and American TV if you have satellite. Many people are very religious and the government is supportive of the church which is mostly Russian Orthodox.
Beautiful fence and park outside the church.
I have to say Russia was much more modern, well to do, and opulent than I had expected.
It has been fun cruising the capitals of the Baltics on the Empress, a ship out of Spain. Spanish is the main language on board so my Spanish has gotten a bit of a workout. Yea!
It's my first time to have a balcony and I'm loving it! That's our balcony in the picture right on the end with the great view.
It was fun having breakfast with a couple from Istanbul, Turkey and another couple from Wales who have been living in southern Spain for the last 11years. They drove a small rv around Europe and now I want to do that too! We also met several other Americans and had a great time on the ship and on shore with them. Such interesting and fun people! All in all, a fabulous experience. The only real downer was no internet services on board. They offered 200 minutes for like $50 but we heard it was very slow and spotty satellite service so we did not go for it. As a result, I will be posting four posts today which were written while on the cruise. Today we have left the ship and our cruise has ended. So now we are exploring Copenhagen for a couple of days! More on that later.
Today was an exciting day in Tallin. We struck out to walk to the Sea Plane Harbor which is a marine museum. It was quite a walk but we finally found it. It's a large sea plane hanger housing all kinds of WWII and soviet era guns, mines, torpedoes as well as a full size submarine used by the Soviets. That's the sub on the left below.
We got to climb down inside. Some guys apparently had to sleep in the same compartment with the torpedoes.
The bunks were tiny like about 51/2ft long and 20 inches wide.
So much equipment it's hard to see the periscope right behind the ladder.
Outside they had several small ships you could go on, including an icebreaker.
As we were walking to the museum we saw this group of sailors.
Turns out they were marching toward their training vessel and were part of the Swedish Navy! Here is their ship below. They sailed it over from Sweden and would soon be taking it on to the Mediterranean .
Lucky for us, they were having an open house and so invited us on board!
They were all very sweet young folks who spoke very good English .
We had a great time chatting with them. What a treat!
Tomorrow we will be off on our own ship for 7 nights on our cruise . It is going to be very exciting, but I am not sure that we will have internet access so I might be out of the loop for a while. Strolling back we passed by the Texas Honky Tonk. We went in and had a Lone Star beer and listened to some Willie Nelson. Yes, in case you were wondering, they had nachos, fajitas and even chili rellenos on the menu.
Old world charm was just across the street.
Then, in the main square, what should we find but an exhibition of dancers from Malaysia. First the guys danced,
Then the girls! I think they were trying to drum up interest in Kuala Lumpur.
Well, now it's on to Saint Petersburg, Russia! Let's hope I don't get seasick.
