Another game from my little pack of tricks "how many words can you find in the name of your destination". Good thing we weren’t going to Pisa as it would have been a very short game. Copenhagen - with a little bit of help from the plane enthusiast sitting beside me we came up with 50 words, 2 seven letters – not bad for 10 minutes of brain power. Why do airlines all have different rules about weights and numbers of bags? A rhetorical question. We spent a wonderful 5 minutes repacking our bags as Norwegian Air insisted that each bag could not be over 24 kgs - where other airlines insist that one bag can be lighter as long as the combined weight is not over the maximum for two people. At Copenhagen airport we waited a long time for our bags and when they arrived they appeared to have been left out in the recent downpour (either that or someone had poured a very large jug of water over them). Did you know that passport stamps are beginning to be a thing of the past – we haven’t had one since we left the UK (how sad is that?). A taxi ride (fast) to the boat and we were ready for our 7 day cruise around the Baltic capitals. First impressions – had we booked a room at a Las Vegas casino? Glitzy and full of excited people. There are places for everyone - rooms for different languages (8 different ones of which English is a minority), a library for those wanting some quiet, outside sunny spots by the pool or up front to see the view, places you can eat any time until the early hours of the morning and friendly staff from all over the world (high percentage from the Phillipines, India, South America and 1 from Liverpool to help those few English speakers). We had an indoor room (cheaper by far) and found it quite large and unexpectantly nice (two year old ship means modern design and bright decor), reasonably quiet and very very dark at night. There is music and shows every night (dance shows can only be described as spectacular – break dancing very very good, but even the singers and other artists managed to keep our attention for 60 or so minutes). We could even croon and practice our waltz steps with ‘Love Boat’ music. We went on a tour of the kitchens, shiny, sparkling clean (just like the ads for sunlight liquid) where we learnt about managing waste, how they prevent cross contamination with specific areas designated for dealing with meat and designated staff only allowed in certain areas eg cooks in cooking places, cleaning staff in clean up areas etc. We thought that a cruise would be the easy way to see the Baltic capitals – a bit of a treat with not having to lug our suitcases around too much (our new black one already has a broken wheel). But after walking the decks a few times from our cabin in the back to the food places in the front we’ve decided it might have been less exercise to walk between hotels and stations in towns. First day at sea we had a life boat drill - up early to put on our life jackets and stand on the deck in queues to watch the staff put on and take off their life jackets in 8 different languages (interesting though if an emergency called for it there would be strict loading priorities on the life boats - woman and children first - even though there is enough room for everyone or so they say!).
Our first stop was Tallin – a delightful little city (400,000 people) which reminded us of Bratislava. A place we could have spent more than 1 day wandering around. A number of cruise ships had arrived during the morning and the town was abuzz with markets, cafes and food places (one McD’s, two Irish and one Australian pub) with many locals dressed in medieval dress. It rained a bit but up went the umbrellas and the walking tours continued. We stopped in a cafe for some nice desserts (I know it was lunch time but just too tempting) and then walked up to Parliament (where the tv cameras were out but we had no idea why), around the church of Alexandr Nevsky (Tallins oldest church and well maintained) and into the Dominican Monastery (13th century which was lovely and tranquil), down to the Occupation Museum (which was closed on Mondays which was disappointing as we were keen to learn about the fall of communism in Estonia and the War of Independence which appears to have shaped the political life of the country since the early 1920’s). On our way back to the ship we walked up and across the roof of the Tallin Concert Hall near the port. Although no history was available to us at the time we decided that it was built during the communist regime (grey, dominant and large) and it had been left intentionally to slowly return to nature - a reminder of the times, but not a monument to something the country would prefer to forget.
Then on to St Petersburg where we visited Catherines Palace (lots of gold and white with one room completely outfitted in Amber). Sheer decadence built to suit the tastes of an over indulged Princess. The palace had been destroyed by Hitler and his troops and rebuilt and renovated during the communist era. We wandered the garden, took a boat ride around the canals (tide high so we were allowed outside if we lay on the floor as the boat went under bridges) and went to Swan Lake in the evening. It is hard to describe our impression of St Petersburg and our first visit to a Russian city. Was it where the tour took us, was it the well informed but unenthusiastic tour guide with her monotone of history but we detected a ‘heaviness’ and a lack of vibrancy. We had a sense of being excluded from the real Russia – no smiles, no enthusiasm, people walking from A to B with a determination, a city without laughter. The streets were wide, traffic heavy (Harry noted that most cars were either European or Japanese with only Russian commercial vehicles), but we saw no market stalls, little socialisation on the streets and certainly no bars or cafes over flowing on to the pavements on quite a sunny day. It is interesting though, if the tour had taken us to the Nevsky Prospekt which is the cultural and commercial centre of the city we might have seen a different and far more interesting city and this is confirmed by friends who have also visited the city. So our advice to fellow travellers is be careful about choosing organised tours - paying the $120 visa and ‘doing your own thing’ just might be the way to go.
It rained all day during our visit to Helsinki and so at the last moment our cycle trip around the Finnish capital was cancelled and we had only one option ‘a boat trip around the islands’. Donned in lycra and high vis tops (only joking but we did have our shorts on) we arrived on the boat and during the trip we learnt alot about the health and education systems, climate (in summer you travel by boat but in winter you can make the same trip by car over the ice) and the economy of Finland but didn’t get to see much as the windows were scattered with raindrops and the cloud was low. Apparently the city is a mix of architectural styles, has many museums and art galleries and lots of churches but we’ll leave others to experience them and be on our way...
Ever been to a city and thought ‘we could come back here’ but you know you probably won’t as it will be too far away from home for another trip and besides there is too much else to see. Well, Stockholm is one of those. It is a pretty city built around the harbour and a fresh water lake – lots of bridges where only pedestrians can wander. We visited:
Then on to St Petersburg where we visited Catherines Palace (lots of gold and white with one room completely outfitted in Amber). Sheer decadence built to suit the tastes of an over indulged Princess. The palace had been destroyed by Hitler and his troops and rebuilt and renovated during the communist era. We wandered the garden, took a boat ride around the canals (tide high so we were allowed outside if we lay on the floor as the boat went under bridges) and went to Swan Lake in the evening. It is hard to describe our impression of St Petersburg and our first visit to a Russian city. Was it where the tour took us, was it the well informed but unenthusiastic tour guide with her monotone of history but we detected a ‘heaviness’ and a lack of vibrancy. We had a sense of being excluded from the real Russia – no smiles, no enthusiasm, people walking from A to B with a determination, a city without laughter. The streets were wide, traffic heavy (Harry noted that most cars were either European or Japanese with only Russian commercial vehicles), but we saw no market stalls, little socialisation on the streets and certainly no bars or cafes over flowing on to the pavements on quite a sunny day. It is interesting though, if the tour had taken us to the Nevsky Prospekt which is the cultural and commercial centre of the city we might have seen a different and far more interesting city and this is confirmed by friends who have also visited the city. So our advice to fellow travellers is be careful about choosing organised tours - paying the $120 visa and ‘doing your own thing’ just might be the way to go.
- The city hall (where the Nobel prizes are not given out but the dinner and dance is held). The exhibition included a dinner setting of the nobel prize dinner - each diner gets 70cm to enjoy their meal. The salt holder is in a shape of a koru leaf. We were impressed by the architecture and design (not as grandiose as palaces but built with a purpose that commoners could visit and admire). The organ is huge and apparently takes some playing as it takes 2 seconds for the music to travel from the keyboard to the pipes.
- The palace where we learnt heaps about the royal family (at one point in Swedish history the king was elected and if he wasn’t liked he was shot – "better than torture" our guide said). The king and queen now inherit the position from their parents but it is the first born and not the first male that does the inheriting - and there is no coronation simply a ceremony of allegiance. The royal head is also far more active in politics and meets at least quarterly with all the Ministers (see photo of all the red chairs in the meeting room) to discuss political issues (get the impression impartiality is not required).
- Parliament (on an island by itself) which looked down the pedestrian mall busy with shoppers (where you could get a street massage).
- Stockholm’s narrowest street (Harry could just walk down it without going sideways) and the smallest statue (not much bigger than Caramello). We were also shown a "gossip mirror" - before tv, people would sit in their chairs and look at the mirror to see if friends were coming along their street - upon seeing friends windows would open and invites for afternoon tea would follow.
- The Vasa which was a Swedish warship that was built in 1628. The ship sank on its maiden voyage - it only got about 2 km out from its moorings. The model showed a beautifully carved and painted ship, and the ship was salvaged in 1961 and was in surprisingly good condition (low salinity in the Baltic sea we heard).
On the last night of the cruise I began to feel a sore throat coming on (was it all that airconditioning) and our second day in Copenhagen I spent in bed. The first we decided to catch the hop on hop off bus and said 'Hi' to the little mermaid on the sea front, wander through the park and castle, took photos of fountains and the second day Harry wandered to the Resistance Museum and up and down some canals to see where Hans Christian Anderson lived and worked
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