Here we are on 14 June in Charlotte airport, ready to begin on our adventure, a cruise to the Baltic. We decided on texting selfies from every port to annoy our children!
We arrived early so that we could have some time in Stockholm and what a treat Stockholm is-- beautiful and full of the bluest water, like a Venice or Bruge.
Here we enjoy a water taxi.
We walked on the waterfront and crossed Beautiful Bridges that pop up everywhere!
We followed an excellent Rick Steves walking tour "Stockholm's Old Town (Gamia Stan)" from Northern European Cruise Ports, tailoring it to what we wanted to do as we went along.
We walked along this quiet "Priests" Lane, so much to see here that tells of early life in Sweden.
The old town square, the heart of medieval Stockholm. In the middle is the old well where people poured their water. We ate a tasty lunch in the Grillska Huset which is behind Kevin.
We looked out onto these buildings. The white stones in the red building remember the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520 when the Danes invaded and murdered 80 Swedes. I have been reading Peter Massie's Peter the Great which is set later in time but continually reminds the reader how important this part of the world was during the middle ages.
On another stroll I found this charming mermaid and merman.
And here we get a glimpse of the old shoreline through the buildings where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic. Across the water are elegant buildings--Tiger Woods lived in one with his Swedish wife. Trolls and elves are popular in this part of the world.
Reproductions of the fanciful figures on the ship.
I loved the history part of the museum--so much to learn about this part of the world. I would have liked to stay longer here.
Our selfie for the Day!
Wonderful fun park we passed, as we watered back to the new city.
We loved our hotel right in Central Stockholm which allowed us to explore the new city.
That night, we packed our bags and left them outside our hotel room. And the next morning, we traveled on a bus to our cruise ship, the Marina! Our bags were outside our veranda room.
Leaving Sweden, gulls swarmed the ship as we sat on our veranda, sipping wine from the bottle that Donald, our travel agent, had ordered for us!
We saw cruise boats coming and going.
Remembering some of those stark cold landscapes from Henning Mankel's and Steig Larson's stories, I wondered what these landscapes would look like in the winter. Hopefully we will return.
Our first port of call was Tallinn, Estonia on the morning of 18 June. It was overcast but I had not brought my raincoat and bundled up as best I could but it poured rain almost the whole time we were there and I did get wet.
Tallinn was part of the Eastern block, thus much of the old city, like Krakow, was not developed or modernized after WWII by USSR, and ironically protected and preserved. Now it is a trendy little city, the darling of cruise lines.
We had a delicious lunch in the warm and intimate Vanaema Juures (Grandma's Place) a cellar cafe, very reminiscent of Polish venues.
Then coffee in this cozy internet cafe where we checked our email.
Picturesque gift shop where I bought some warm socks.
St Petersburg 19-21 June
We do not have a Russian visa and had to rely on the cruise ship tours. I later learned that we could have made our own tours which may have been better.
On our first tour, we traveled on some back streets, crowded with traffic and looking pretty shabby, only slightly better than Poland did when we lived there in 1988-89.
Our first stop was the last home of Fyodor Doestevesky at Kuznechny Lane, #5 1878-1881 where he lived with his second wife and three children. While here he wrote The Brothers Karamozov and Notes from Underground, a book that Kevin often taught.
We were greeted by his hat.
This apartment where he lived for the last two years of his life with his beloved family is now a museum. Here is a display of the restoration process, plumbing for the wallpaper when the great man lived here.
Our guide was the very small woman and our translator the other. The guide told us that a cup of tea is prepared daily for D.
Family portraits--the guide said that D was very attached to his family and enjoyed meals with them.
His view onto the street.
Lovely view of St Peter and Paul and tall steeple where Peter the Great and most royalty are buried.
That evening we attended the ballet Swan Lake in an intimate theatre, a wing of the Hermitage built by Catherine the Great for private performances.
As we were leaving, around eleven o'clock pm, a noisy crowd celebrated on the banks of the Neva.
And in the distance we spotted beautiful red sails coming up the Neva!
We watched as they passed the very jubilant crowd !
We went back to the ship tired and hungry and ordered a small supper from the 24/7 very convenient Room Service.
The next day we had booked a tour of the Hermitage, the winter palace of the czars and now a great art museum, full of treasures. We were impressed, by both the throngs of people visiting and the amazing interior.
Our guide trying to separate us from the crowd
Inside we saw many marvelous things, probably the most impressive is the gold room. There were many small and ancient things in glass cases--a glittering and luxurious collection from the Russian Czars. We could not take photographs in that area.
Huge stone vases
Impressive ceilings!
Coronation thrones
And Staircases for Royalty
Costumes for Royalty!
Our selfie for the day was in the shop by the port where we found interesting tee shirts for the boys!
We always pass this statue of Peter the Great. Wonder if he would approve the soviet style apartment buildings surrounding it.
This is the Catherine Palace.
After seeing the front of the palace, we went into a small travel museum. Nice tea set for traveling.
Peter Massie describes how difficult travel was in Peter the Great's lifetime. The sea was best in the summer; sleds were best in the winter so it was nice to see this little sled.
Band on the side of the Palace
Welcoming us inside this lavish palace
Room after room
The amber room. The original amber was taken down and hidden during WWII but then never found so new amber was found to decorate this splendid room.
And, a ballroom where we enjoyed champagne and music
And period dancing!
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