STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Saturday, May 13, 2017

Our last stop and we started winding our way through the islands about 4 am. Couldn't resist catching a few photos of the magnificent homes along the waterway.

 

 

  

 

We docked right across the water from their amusement park. It was very active on this warm, sunny Saturday.

 

Elegant Stockholm is nestled where Lake Malaren's cobalt waters meet the Baltic. This stunning cultural capital extends over 14 islands linked by 54 graceful bridges. Hailed as one of the world's cleanest cities, it boasts numerous green parks. The incredibly preserved 13th century Gamla Stan, or Old Town, boasts gabled merchant houses and an array of architectural styles that spans Stockholm 's history, from the enormous baroque Stockholm Palace to the Art Nouveau Royal Dramatic Theatre. In 1897, the city hosted the World's Fair, leading to a revitalization boom designed to show off its beautiful setting. 

 

 

Just a few shots of the magnificent architecture.

 

 

There were people everywhere today, with the outside cafe's being full.  We actually did a tour of the city in the morning and walked around in the afternoon.  Another lovely place and certainly worth a longer visit.

 

Yup, that is Eric doing another geocache. We travelled to 11 countries and were able to log geocaches in each country. It brought us to interesting places that we never would have found on our own.

Well, this winds up our blog. It has been a fabulous trip and we are looking forward to getting home. No matter how wonderful it is to travel and see our beautiful world, family is the most important thing.

Thanks everyone for sharing our trip and a God bless.

HELSINKI, Finland - Friday, May 12, 2017

For a European capital, Helsinki is small, but its history and a Finnish spirit are larger than life. The elegant capital is known as the "White City of the North" for its neoclassical beauty and Art Nouveau grace. 

 

Arts, politics and education converge in Senate Square, a wide-opened space surrounded by the University of Helsinki and the Government Palace.

 

The city's centrepiece is the magnificent Helsinki Cathedral. It's colonnaded entrances echo Ancient Greece and its green domes recall grand old Russia.

Locals and visitors gather at Market Square, buzzing with open air stalls, crafts, souvenirs and news of the day.

 

 

We even found a couple geocaches in the area.

 

We visited the unique Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church), carved into a block of underground granite beneath a domed copper roof.

 

 

The drive out to view Sibelius Monument took us through parks and beaches. It was still very cold, but the locals love the many islands and all have boats.  

 

 

Sibelius monument ...  impossible not to photo bomb here!

We loved the feel of this city. They call it a mini-St. Petersburg.  Easy to get around and there are more than 400 islands in the city.

All for now, love to all

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - May 10 - 11, 2017

How do we begin to describe our two days here........

The guilded city of St. Petersburg is a lavish and bold showcase of the might of its founder,  Peter the Great. It has often been praised as Russia's most Western City, and this was no accident. Peter planned his great project on the Gulf of Finland so he could have access to the sea for his growing navy, but he was also committed to building a splendid city and so toured the cultural capitals of Europe for inspiration. The results of his research are indisputable, even 300 years after the city's founding. Grand boulevards, a lacework of canals, elegant baroque buildings, resplendent palaces and dazzling onion-domed churches grace the landscape, made more magnificent by priceless art and World-class ballet.

Thankfully we did 3 tours. The overall tour was our first and this gave us a good base. There is no way to describe St. Petersburg. The palaces just go on and on...the canals are spectacular! It did not take long for us realize why the Russian nobility was murdered and completely removed. Even though Peter the Great had planned and built an amazing city, the poor were very poor! It was rather breathtaking to see the palaces,  churches, gardens (though snow was evident), canals and museums. 

 

 

 

 

We visited two Churches, St. Isaac's and Church of the Spilled Blood.  Both are Russian Orthodox and have no seats ...  you stand for the service!

 

 

 

Church of the Spilled Blood.  I have so many beautiful photos. All the "paintings" are totally mosaic! Incredible!

 

  

St. Isaac's is even more beautiful. Both churches are Russian Orthodox, with St. Isaac's being the 4th largest single dome church in the world. I have so many beautiful photos!

 

This is the dove on the dome and it is 3 meters wide!

Our second tour was in the evening to a traditional Russian Folk Dance performance. We had done a similar thing in Xian, China and this proved to be equal! No photos allowed, but we have great memories!

The next day we did a canal tour.  Due to poor internet, these are the only photos, but we have lots more!

 

When we left the harbour, Eric was interested in seeing the flood barrier built to protect St. Petersburg. We did a geocache where we saw the flood levels on an obilsk.

 

This is the photo from the Earthcache we did. I sent it in to the cache owner and said we were from Nova Scotia ...  he wrote back ...  yup he lives in Nova Scotia!  Go figure😏

Eric is now going to describe the flood gates ...  Outside the harbour the government constructed twenty four kilometres of dams including four spillway structures and a tunnel section. Where the tunnel goes underground, a set of swinging doors can close to stop the incoming tides. This also closes off the shipping channel and they close the spillway gates as well. The two doors close the entire shipping channel so each door must be close to a hundred meters wide!!!

We could go on forever....absolutely fantastic experience and we have so many beautiful photos.

  

Canal tour ....

Wonderful time ...  all for now, love to all

TALLINN, Estonia - Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Due to the terrible internet in Russia, we had to take a few days off!  But we are now in Helsinki, Finland with pretty good internet, so here we go ....

 

Tallinn ranks as one of Northern Europe's finest medieval Old Towns. It's easy to feel like you've stepped back in time as you stroll its cobbled streets and weave past splendid red-roofed buildings.  In its regal walled Upper Town on Toompea, or Dome Hill, church and state constructed beautiful government edifices and colossal cathedrals. The Lower Town is a charming maze of squares, gabled houses and churches.  Estonia's most pivotal moment unfolded at the nearby Song Festival Grounds where 300,000 citizens rose up and sang against Soviet rule.  This Singing Revolution was waged--and won in 1988--without a drop of blood.  There's more to sing about at the local confectioners' shops, offering all manner and shape of delicious marzipan.

It was COLD but sunny and we did a 4 hour walking tour of the Upper and Lower towns.  Beautifully restored, it offered us many amazing photos. One of our favourite stops! 

 

The wall around the Upper Town.

 

Another beautiful domed church.

 

The Lower Town

 

Chocolate and marzipan shop.

 

 

It was a quick stop here as we had to leave at 3:30 in order to arrive in St. Petersburg in the morning.  This is another very poor country and if we had more time would have been great to explore.  They had beautiful wooden crafts, furs and clothing. They were smart when they joined the Euro Zone and are part of NATO.  SKYPE was developed in Tallinn and it boasts a strong tech industry.

All for now -- love to all

GDANSK, Poland - Sunday, May 7, 2017

We just finished our stop in Poland, actually the ship doesn't leave for 3 more hours, but we have been advised that internet might not be good for the next few days, so I figured I had better get this post done. We have a day at sea tomorrow and on Tuesday, we will arrive in Tallinn, Estonia.

Gdansk, Poland is widely known as the city of glowing amber (of which I bought some) and Gothic cathedrals. It's lustre hardens back to medieval times when it was one of the most  prosperous cities in the Hanseatic League (check your high school history), the mercantile powerhouse of the Baltic. The city's rich history is on display in the remarkable restored Old Town, a splendid mix of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque styles--from the royal residence of the Green Gate to the 15th-century Artus Court, a merchant's palace. Perhaps its most fascinating structure is the Gdansk treadwheel crane, a 14Th-century human-powered device that loaded and unloaded cargo.

 

  

The treadmill crane.

 

 

Some scenes from the restored downtown.

 

 

The downtown was completely destroyed by the Germans in WW II. It has been painstakingly restored.  We both had a feeling that we were only shown the good part of the city. Our tour guide gave us a very deep description of the horrible persecution during the war by the Germans and the subsequent communist regime. It was heart-breaking to hear about the terrible living conditions and the "solidarity " movement that changed the country. This is a poor country, but they are free. They definitely have a two-tier system for health care and social benefits. As beautiful that everything looks, there still exists deep poverty. They have a negative birth rate and totally refuse to accept any immigrants.

Here are a few more photos...

 

The symbolic memorial for the solidarity movement at the shipyard, which now is a small fraction of its old self.

 

Yes....they have another unique manhole cover!  I am really getting into collecting photos of them.

 

No idea who these guys are ...

 

 

St. Mary's Catholic Church ... the largest brick church in Europe .... still being restored.  It was a Lutheran Church at one point.

 And of course we did one geocache!

All for now.  Sea day tomorrow...REST!  Love to all...