Om det är måndag, måste det vara Sverige ...

So similar to our stop in Germany, we’re not exactly sure who thought Nynashamn was close to anything.  When we had booked the cruise, Stockholm was listed as the port of call.  About a week before we left, I was sending our families the itinerary & noticed that it now said Nynashamn.  I’m not sure when it was switched.  I asked about it at the ship concierge desk; they said that because there are so many islands around Stockholm the port authorities require ships to come in and out in complete daylight and as the sun would set around 5pm, we would only have about 2 hours in Stockholm.  From Nynashamn, Stockholm is about a 60 minute drive but as you can get out of the port even if it’s dark we wouldn’t leave until 6pm thus giving us about 5 hours in Stockholm (or 7 hours in Nynashamn).

I guess that makes sense.

Except that Nynashamn doesn’t have a pier for a cruise ship.  So we had to board a tender boat (one of the life crafts) which 70 people at a time ferried us from the middle of a bay to the pier.

At the time of us visiting Stockholm, I had just finished reading the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc), many of the city’s neighborhoods were recognizable to me; Södermaim and Hökens Gata.  The Swedes have yet to cash in on making a good tourist trap to follow Mikael & Lisbeth around the city yet, but I’m sure they will in time.  They have finally (in May of 2013) opened an ABBA museum – that’s only 35 since they hit it big.  So, look for the Millennium museum opening in 2045!

As we neared the royal palace, we were stopped by a police officer and told to stay back as ‘the family’ was coming through.  About 10 minutes later, a large procession of horses processed from the main street to the road infront of the palace.  Everyone on the horses looked to be military in full uniform, so we figured that ‘the family’ had been in the mix somewhere that we hadn’t picked out.  Just then a Volvo SUV with darkened windows followed.  Apparently ‘the family’ didn’t feel the need to be out with the cold, smelly horses.

Back on track, we walked up to the palace.  The palace is Italian in feel and style.  The current palace is from 1754 rebuilt in just 4 years on the same location as the previous palace which burned to the ground in a slightly suspicious fire (some cousins challenging the rule of the current King were a bit too close to town when the fire started).  It’s currently in the middle of a 20 year restoration.  Due to my amazing Photoshop cropping skills, you have been spared the spider web of scaffolding surrounding the outside of the palace.

We tried following a Rick Steves’ walking tour.  Most of the time he does a great job of hitting the highlights and throwing a thing or two of interest in there.  Why he decided this needed to be on the tour, I don’t know.

According to Rick, legend says the statue honor the orphans who had to transfer cargo from sea ships to lake ships before Stockhom’s locks were built.  Some people rub his head for good luck, others for wisdom.  We rubbed our own heads wondering why we’d bothered searching the courtyard looking for this statue.

To get back on the main path, we had to walk down a couple small ally-way type roads.  As we turned the corner to enter one, we came across a group of about 15 school children with two adults.  The line leader child pointed at us and shouted something in Swedish then all the children and the two adults crouched down against the wall of the ally as if they were hiding from us.  I have never been so confused in my life.  Adam & I tried to say hello as we walked past, but all the children kept playfully shouting things at us in Swedish and giggling as they covered their heads and hid against the wall.  Muddled, we move along quickly.  After we passed, the group stood up and continued walking through the ally.  Who knows!

Confused, we entered Stortorget, the colorful old square of Stockholm.  I loved the brilliant reds, yellows and greens of the buildings in the square.  So much so, that there is now a local artist rendition of the square and fountain in my travels art collection.

King Karl XII greeted us as we entered Kungsträdgården, the King’s Garden.  Apparently all this space was needed for the King’s cabbage crop.  I make no further comments.

We ended our tour outside the very modern Stockholm Gallerian Mall.  We had to laugh at the “people” clamoring to get in.

From Stockholm we boarded the ship again for our final two days at sea before returning to London.

Fin...almost...land

Our second to last stop on our cruise was Helsinki, Finland, which easily qualifies as the most modern of any city we visited on this trip. In fact, that point actually makes the city rather underwhelming when placed alongside Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm. As a significantly more modern city, most of Helsinki was constructed after 1809 when the Russian decided to move the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki in order to be closer to St Petersburg, it’s much easier to get around, yet is far less enigmatic because of its modernity. That’s not to say Helsinki isn’t an attractive or interesting city, it just doesn’t compare well to any of the other destinations on this particular cruise.

When arriving at Helsinki the ship deposited us about a half mile from the city market which is open daily and described as an excellent place to begin the Rick Steve’s self guided walking tour. Along the way to our walking tour we nearly strolled right past the Eastern Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral that is set atop a hill just beyond the city center. We never got all that close to the cathedral but it was certainly an imposing site with its gold plated Russian styled onion domes and deep red brick construction found in many of the protestant churches throughout much of Europe.

Our walking tour kicked off at the open air market which was just opening up for the day. In the parking lot of the market is an obelisk known as the Czarina Stone and commemorates a visit from Czar Nicholas I and Czarina Alexandria. As we waited for the market to open up we contemplated how long the local turtles had been milling about waiting for the fish stands to open up.

Deciding that perhaps we didn't want to wait that long we moved ahead with our walking tour. We didn't make it terribly far before we came across Amanda’s very own Bar & Bistro. Who knew my wife was so entrepreneurial? We would have hung around here as well for tea and sandwich's except that it was a Sunday and they were closed for the Sabbath. Of course, the appearance of a couple more stone turtles not far away may have informed our decision as well.

A few more late arrivals to the market

A short walk down the street from Amanda Bar & Bistro is the fountain from which the restaurant takes its name. Harvis Amanda has become a symbol of Helsinki and as many symbols do, even comes with a bit of controversy. Apparently the risque nature of the fountain offended the more conservative politicians of the town so they refused to pay the sculpture, Ville Vallgren, for many years. To exact his revenge for this slight Vallgren had the statue constructed in 1908 with the lovely lady's posterior facing the city budget office on the opposite side of the square. It has been in that position ever since.

After passing through the Esplanade and doing a bit of window shopping, we thought dad might like the designer men's handbag we found, we came to a statue known as the Three Blacksmiths. A rather stark, if not blatantly austere depiction of manual labor. The Finns claim it portray's their solid character and sense of co-operation yet I get a slightly, okay significantly, different sense when standing in front of it, but then I am obviously from an entirely different cultural background. However, as our guidebook notes, the statue does depict a certain strength and determination that is apparent from the numerous bullet holes that pockmark its base. 

The next few points of interest listed on the tour where the train station, a statue of Mannerheim, (once considered, and quite possibly still is thought to be the greatest Fin in history after serving as Regent of Finland, Commander in Chief of Finnish Defense forces in WWII, Marshall of Finland and finally the 6th President of Finland), a really bizarre sculpture of a giant eal-like fish, Finlandia Hall and the National Museum of Finland. Unfortunately, as it was a Sunday, the only building that was opened was the train station so we made sure to get a few shots of its interior before making our way up to the Church in the Rock.

Having made it the the Church in the Rock, or Temppeliaukio as its called in Finnish, we hoped to make it in for a service as the pictures we'd seen online looked amazing. However, we arrived a good hour and a half before the next service was scheduled to start and rather than wait around in the near freezing temperatures we decided that we'd simply have to come back to Helsinki another time. We did take a picture of the outside and as you can see the church was quite literally hewn out of a rocky hill.  

Rather than walking all the way back towards the town market in the ever increasing cold we made a tactical decision to find the closest tram stop and brave Helsinki's public transit system. Thankfully, Mr. Steve's has included a self guided tram tour for Helsinki in his Scandinavian guide book so Amanda and I purchased our tickets from the driver and found a bench with a heater in the back and watched the sites wiz by while we stayed in relative comfort. The Tram makes a very convenient loop of the entire city in the form of a figure eight with the intersection occurring a few blocks between the Esplanade and the Train Station and right next to a handful of restaurants and cafes. For lunch we chose a small, yet packed cafe that served this

The sandwiches were tomato and brie garnished with a removable leaf of lettuce and a very good pesto dressing. The hot chocolate was rich, smooth and of course hot, and the desserts were chocolate decadence in every sense of the word. I'd return to Helsinki just to eat at this cafe again. 

After polishing off our lunch we had quite a bit of time to kill before the ship left so we ambled over to the four story mall down the street and did a little shopping before making one final tourist stop on our way to the ship.

The Lutheran Cathedral is set on Senate Square and supposedly possesses dominating views of the local area. Closed on Sundays except during services we were unable to test this claim, but given its location at the top of the square and the height of its spire I wouldn't doubt it. The Lutheran Cathedral is probably also the most iconic building in Helsinki as it is considered Carl Ludvig Engel's masterpiece of architectural design. It's also an excellent photo to close this chapter of our trip with. Not to worry though as Amanda will be guiding you through our day in Stockholm with the next post.

From St Petersburg With Love

The pinnacle of our Baltic Cruise, St Petersburg is a fantastic place to visit for a few days! The opulence and grandeur on display at the Catherine Palace and Peterhof Palace are remarkable and our experience of the ballet will be something I will remember forever! Yet St. Petersburg wasn’t finished with us. Our second day began at the immensely impressive Hermitage Museum. The largest art museum in the world, we were told several times that in order see every piece on display for at least ten seconds it would take us more than ten years! Needless to say we didn’t have that kind of time so we focused on the highlights.

Interestingly enough, even though I was surrounded by the largest collection of art and culture in the world I quickly discovered that a majority of the photos I was taking were focused on the buildings themselves. The Hermitage spans five baroque buildings in what is the cultural heart of St Petersburg, one of buildings was was the Winter Palace of the Tsars’ until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Having walked through both the Catherine and Peterhof Palace’s the day before I rather expected the halls of the Hermitage housed in the Winter Palace to be equally ornate. What I wasn’t prepared for was that same level of detailing to extend throughout the museum. It is nigh impossible to tell when you are exiting one building and entering another as the parquet flooring, crown molding and decorative ceilings are consistently excellent throughout.

In between the photographing the floors and ceilings I did manage to squeeze in a few pictures of the art work as well. These are a few of my favorites:

Our tour of the Hermitage ended outside in the Palace Square where Russians have commemorated their victory over Napoleon with a 156 foot monument named the Alexander Column. If you’ve been to St Peter’s Square in Vatican city, think back to the feelings you had standing in that immense space and you’ll understand what it feels like standing next to the Alexander Column in Palace Square.

At this point of our visit to St Petersburg I wasn’t sure what more could surprise me but I was willing to remain hopeful that our last guided tour of the day would not disappoint. So we loaded up onto yet another bus and made our way to the river boat cruise which would take us through the myriad canals and waterways that make up St Petersburg. This was an aspect of the city I was not prepared for as I had envisioned St Petersburg to be much like Rome, Paris, London or any number of other great cities built on a majestic river. In my mind part of the city would be on one side of the river and part of the city would be on the other side of the river. While this concept is technically accurate, it fails to take into consideration the vast series of smaller rivers and streams that form the delta for the Neva River that St. Petersberg is built atop. St. Petersburg, much like another famous Italian city, Venice, is connected by thousands of bridges and hundreds of canals which from a scenic perspective definitely adds to the character and ambiance, but from a transportation point of view make traversing the city exceedingly difficult.

However, taking a canals and waterways tour of St. Petersburg is definitely worth it if you ever get the chance. Along many of the waterways, buildings are only separated from the water by a one way street or small walkway imparting a feeling of cruising through a man-made canyon between five and eight stories high. Our captain eventually worked his way back towards the river where we got some great views of the Peter & Paul Fortress and the golden spire of the Peter & Paul Cathedral which towers over the ramparts of the centuries old fortress and marks the burial site of many Russian Tzar’s including the Romanov’s. It was from this spot that the groundwork for the city was first put down on the orders of Peter the Great who hoped to build an empire that would rival that of any of the great European empires of the day. St Petersburg served as the capital of Russia for more than 200 years until the Bolshevik Revolution led to a new form of socialist government that was established in Moscow.

As rivers go I found the Neva to be surprisingly large by just about any standard. These next few photos are taken from our boat which is roughly halfway between the embankments on either side of the river and as you can see there’s quite a bit of water between me and the banks of the river. Another impressive sight from the river was that of the Hermitage Museum which we didn’t quite make it past before we started down another canal on the way back to our starting point. This canal took us past yet another beautifully appointed building that we were told served as a warehouse for storing soap at one point in its history! Now it’s another of the many museums that can be found throughout the city. Near the end of our canals and waterways cruise we were afforded a brief yet seductive view of our next destination. The Church of the Spilled Blood.

Before boarding our bus we were got a great view of St Isaac’s Cathedral and its iconic dome consisting of 200 lbs of gold. In another of the many fascinating stories from the second world war the dome was covered by sheets of lead in hopes of hiding it from the Germans should they succeed in taking the city. Fortunately the city never fell to the Germans despite almost 900 days under siege and thus this protective measure was never in danger of being tested. 

The Church of the Spilled Blood and its “onion-domed” cathedral was built on the site where Tzar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. Constructed entirely out of the royal family’s wealth to commemorate Alexander II its opulence rivals that of any palace found in the city. The exterior is a combination of brick and stone construction topped by the vibrantly colored domes and embellished with gold and mosaics. The interior walls and ceilings are festooned entirely with intricate mosaics of Christ, various Saints, Angels and other religious motifs. The floor is of marble in geometric patterns throughout with the lone exception being the actual cobble stoned section of street where Alexander II was shot and killed.

As we made our way back to the ship one final time from St Petersburg I took a moment to reflect on everything we had done and seen. On the one hand the palaces, museums and cathedrals are all as impressive as any place I’ve ever visited. The level of intellectual and artistic skill required to accomplish all that we experience is truly incredible. Yet, on the other hand, none of this can be taken in a vacuum as each of these sites exists within the backdrop of what is still very much a city on the rebound. Poverty is still readily apparent in many places throughout the city and the gulf between those who have and those who do not is every bit as visible there as it is in most other large cities across the world. Many of the buildings be they shops, apartment complexes , industrial centers or entertainment venues are constructed in a manner that pays little heed to visual aesthetics much less contemporary ideas on health and safety. More than a few buildings featured uneven façade’s where stones meant to be decorative fascia were visibly out of level but not in an artistic way. It’s as if the builder was in a rush to get the job completed and simply through up whatever sized stone he had closest to hand.

There are also many signs of their communist past scattered throughout the city on the occasional building or monument. I don’t point this out as a means to suggest that they are still a people living in the past or that their sixty plus year “experiment” with socialism should be cast aside and forgotten post haste. Rather, it seems to provide a regular reminder of just how deeply into despair their nation, and this city in particular, were driven by the socialist cause and just how far they still have to come in order get beyond the corruption that was spawned out of it. Our tour guides regularly mentioned how much the city has changed in the preceding 20 years since the fall of Communist Russia and while they readily recognize and openly discuss many of the problems they still have, it’s always with a mind towards what they are striving to build in this historic city. St Petersburg will likely remain one of my favorite destinations thanks in part to the magnificent palaces, museums and cathedrals found throughout the city, but also because it is a city actively striving to lift itself beyond its past and into the 21^st century while still managing to paying homage to its illustrious if checkered history.