Thur. Tallinn Estonia rainy 52. We took a tour to old upper town. Top left is a theater where this person was famous for using his hand jesters. Next to it is a statue of a man that lead the big chorus for 60 years. Second row left is the cobble stone streets which were in the upper and lower old town.
Picture below is some of the old buildings. Top right is the place where once a year they have a song festival Sat. and Sun. About 2,500 have studied and are accepted to sing.
This is a picture of the olympia village in 1980 where they held the sailing. the next picture is Toompea Hill. Here is the Palace ,Palace Square, and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Cathedral).
Fri. St. Petersburg, Russia Rainy 54. Only 30 days of sun shine each year. 70% divorce rate and alcohol abuse. They believe weather is a factor. We had an early slow start. We usually go and get on the buses and go but today we had to go through customs twice when we got off ship and just before we got on. The first six pictures below are of some of the apartments from the 60’s to now. The government owned the buildings and everyone lived free. Now you rent or buy your apartments. 90% of them rent. The last six are of the water ways they are known as Venice of the North.
There are monuments and statues everywhere. The picture below shows some of them. There are 100 statues of Linden still remaining here but destroyed every else.
We went on a city tour where we saw the outside of buildings and did not go in. Here are some of the buildings we saw. Vasilievsky Island and the Rostral Columns, River Neva(which has Rostral Columns the original lighthouses top and bottom 3rd pictures) Old Stock Exchange, lighthouses, St. Isaac,s square with it’s cathedral, Hermitage Bronze Horseman in Decembrists Square, Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, and many more things. We passed by the Peterhof Palace known as the Russian Versailles. The Grand Cascade fountain which we could not see features Samson prying open a lion’s jaws as water cascades down terraced steps. We just saw the gardens surrounding the palace with lots of white marble statues.
Picture below top left Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood (3-1-1881 assassination of Tzar Alexander 2). Top right Hermitage Museum (with an art collection to rival the Louvre, the Tsar’s former Winer Palace and four other buildings is the home over 3 million artworks, including paintings by Da Vinci, Monet, Rembrandt and Renoir). Bottom pictures are of St. Isaac’s Cathedral (cathedral’s central gold dome is one of the largest in the world, and covered with 220 pounds of gold in 1818 and took more than 3 decades to complete).
Top left I am trying free vodka. It was good but very warm going down. 2nd picture is horse sausage!!! Top right I was trying on Russian hats. Bottom left is the banner they put for it is a huge celebration here for the 70th yr celebrating the victory of world war 2.May 9th 1945-1015. Bottom right Russian dolls that have many smaller dolls inside.
SatWe are still in St. Petersburg Russia clear 55. This is there 70 ann. of the ending of WW2. They had a big ship parade then other actives downtown. Since we do not have a visa we could not go to town to see it. We did see some on the TV while doing laundry. After dinner we left port. Then enjoyed the production showtime Fiera.
Mon. We arived at Nynashamn Sweden sunny high 55. Top left picture is a tender(temp.45) which we had to take to port because the ship was to big to get into Nynashamn and Stockholm. Stockholm was the host of the 1912 summer Olympics. As we traveled to Stockholm we passed many red homes. Which is residue of copper mining which produces this color. As we got close to Stockholm we stopped by the Ericsson Globe Arena built in 1989 (the rest of the pictures). It is the worlds largest spherical. They have four large areas where they can hold events. The old on is the flat roof that says Ericsson is the old stadium the one with the open roof is the new one.
Sun. HELSINKI, FINLAND clear 42 when we left on tour and 55 when we returned. Sunrise 4:55a.m.,Sunset 9:40p.m. Finland is known as “the land of the midnight sun.” During the summer, the sun is visible for a full 24 hours and stays above the horizon for over 70 days. Our guide told us Finland people are not much of a conversationalist. They only talk when spoken to and answer very short answers. Their motto is Speech is silver and gold is silence. Also she said they say I love you only once and if it changes then they will tell each other!!!!Top left the call the naughty boy. Top right 18th century Uspensky Cathedral. Helsinki makes 60%of the Ice Breakers (bottom left) they also make cruise liners. Bottom right is Market Square (alot of the stores were closed today because of Mother’s day)
Top left is the Russian Embassy next to it is Presidential Palace, 3rd picture Uspensky Cathedral. Top right where there diplomats stay. Bottom three is Rock Church(Temppeliaukio) This one of a kind Lutheran church is built into a solid rock. Natural light pours in from the church’s glazed dome and the rough stoned interiors amplify sound making it a unique concert venue.
Picture below is Helsinki Cathedral (19 century) at Senate Square.
Picture below is one of the highlights that Linda was looking forward to Winterland. It is one of the world’s largest ice bars. Toasting with their vondka from a glass made of ice. Everything is made of ice. They had Santa’s area, ice igloo with beds three different bed types to choose from if you choose to sleep there. We did a slide ride.the temp. was 3below and they provided very warm parka’s, boots and gloves. Gramps enjoyed himself as much as we did!!!
Mon. We arived at Nynashamn Sweden sunny high 55. Top left picture is a tender(temp.45) which we had to take to port because the ship was to big to get into Nynashamn and Stockholm. Stockholm was the host of the 1912 summer Olympics. As we traveled to Stockholm we passed many red homes. Which is residue of copper mining which produces this color. As we got close to Stockholm we stopped by the Ericsson Globe Arena built in 1989 (the rest of the pictures). It is the worlds largest spherical. They have four large areas where they can hold events. The old on is the flat roof that says Ericsson is the old stadium the one with the open roof is the new one.
There were many exciting things to see from a city that has kept from the 16 century to now. Stockholm cover 14 separate islands. We went to the old town called Gamla stan. The 2nd picture both rows is Queen street where folks would travel to the Palace. Top left is some of the waterways for the city is made up on many islands. There are many statues of men though out there history. Housing is everywhere. They have evan put apartments between building which block the view for many people. We drove under buildings that they have built over the roads. We passed Royal Palace, Opera and the Parliament buildings(bottom left).
A lot of the churches were tore down when they went from Catholic to Lutheran. Top left was one that they started to take down but stopped then rebuilt. It was beautiful and the pictures we saw showed it as nice on the inside. City Hall (top middle) and Western Bridge (top right). The Place was plain but very large (bottom left). The Parliament bottom right two pictures. Stockholm became the venue for the first Nobel Prize in 1901. on Dec. 10 they have the Nobel banquet at city hall. The old stock exchange building became the Nobel Museum. Vasa Museum is the home of the warship Vasa. In the 17th and 18th centuries Sweden was a world power they built a ship between 1926 to1928. The ship sank within one mile of maiden voyage. It was retrieved in 1961 with many artifacts found.
Tues. This is the last sea day. Wed. we fly home to dad's. Below is some of the things we did and saw on ship.
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