Aug. 19-Sept. 3, 2007
Traveling with Holiday Vacations from Eau Claire, Wis.
and NCL Norwegian Dream Ship
16 days
Holiday Vacations
This was a trip
of a life time! We really enjoyed it. Even tho it began
like a night mare!!!
Day 1: Our plan was to fly out of Watertown, SD on the 5 PM flight to catch a 7 PM flight in Mpls. to London. Well, we went up to Watertown, did a bit of shopping for last minute things and then went out to the airport. I noticed there were no cars around but figured that we were early and this is a small airport. So I went in and remarked it was sure quiet, and was told that was because there were no planes flying!! Beginning of night mare!! So he checked the schedule and then scheduled us out of Sioux Falls the next day at 3 PM. He gave us a voucher for overnight at the Holiday Inn and we drove to Sioux Falls, chuckling. We contacted our tour company and found out that we and 5 others had had trouble and we needed to catch Monday's plane in MPLS to get to London before the cruise ship sailed. So............
Day 2: We are in Sioux Falls, drove out to the airport about 11 AM to make sure we were scheduled and etc. and were told YES. So went back to the hotel to get our suitcases. While parking...my cell phone rang and the tour company told us they were just notified that the flight wouldn't go and there was no room for us on the 5 PM flight!! So our only alternative was to DRIVE as fast as possible to get to MPLS to get on the 7 PM flight. We DROVE!!! The tour agent directed us to a 'park and fly' that was easiest for us to get to as we don't know our way around MPLS. All went well, we were checked in and at the right gate and etc. 1/2 hr. before the plane loaded!!!! So that was our beginning. We had missed one day of touring London, which I felt bad about, but it couldn't be helped. There were 7 of us in the same 'boat'!!
Day 3: We tried to sleep on the plane......did as well as we could!! We arrived at the airport in London, where our tour bus met us and we immediately went to Dover to board the NCL 'Dream' ship. We were glad to get settled in and leave on our cruise.
Our Cruise ship, the Norwegian Dream. This will be 'home' for 12 days.
Day 4:
We have been
on
the North Sea all night which was a little rough altho we didn't feel
much of it. We move on to the Kiel Canal which is a short cut
across that end of Germany to get into the Baltic Sea. They tell
us that this is the largest ship to travel the Canal because of the
height and length. When we reached the 'locks' in the canal, it
was raining really hard and it was time to eat!! We didn't
get to stand outside and watch the water change or the people waving at
us from under umbrellas. That night we
went on through the canal.
There were other boats in the canal. We had to wait in line
to go through the locks. People waved to us from the shore and in
some areas it was built up quite a bit. Of course there were
loading and unloading docks for different companies along the
way. We saw a lot of windmill power generators. There were
many sheep grazing along the canal and so pretty and green.
As you can see in the first picture, our ship was prepared to
lower it's smoke stacks to get through the locks and under the bridge
ahead. We were the largest ship in the Kiel Canal but there were
many many more!! All waiting their turn to go through the locks.
Day 5: Warnemunde, Germany
Our ship is docked here in the morning. A very nice little town. We chose to navigate the old town which was close and not go on any of the extra excursion. Some of the passengers took a train to Berlin and back. We enjoyed our time in the 'old town' part of Warnemunde. It was early in the morning, the shops were just opening up. We had to cross the railroad by way of the tunnel under ground to get to the 'old town'.
This is the painted cow that marked the way to the tunnel!
Upon coming up the other side, this was an old train station turned
into shops and other street shops. The third picture shows the
contrast of our ship behind the train station that is used today.
This little town had a very nice beach....also a nude beach! There was a lot of sand, very nice sand and the young people were really enjoying it. The first picture is a residental street that we walked down, the homes are a bit more modern. The center is the lighthouse and 'teepot' which was like a commercial area for shops and antique shops. The picture at the right is the street about noon. There were many shops on the street for the tourists. Note the shapes of the buildings in the background. There were homes above the shops.
This is the Lutheran church. I had a bit of trouble getting a good picture with all of the other buildings and trees around. The center picture is inside of the church. The altar area appears to be carved wood of the last supper. The back of the church has a balcony where the pipe organ was, and there was a concert going on at the time.
Day 6: A day at sea.
This day was good to rest up, check out the ship and get acquainted. We TRIED to not eat all of the time!! The opportunities to continually eat are amazing!! There were several place to eat, I think we ate at the sports bar's buffet a lot. We did attend some of the shows in the evening. There were free ice cream cones every afternoon by the pool!! (we didn't miss very many!)
The room attendants made various 'towel animals' to greet you in the evening. The first one is an elephant. The second picture is Owen watching CNN on TV in our room. You can see that we had a nice window to the sea, which was nice watching for ships and etc. in the evening and while we were 'cruising along'. We really chuckled the night we found the towel dog wearing Owens spare glasses!!! You can also see a monkey hanging over Owen's head in the center picture!!
Day 7: Tallin, Estonia
This was a very unique place. We went on a tour of the 'old town'. This part of the city is atleast 6 centuries old, truly amazing, Medieval Europe. We had a very good tour guide and learned so much. Amazing, all of the wars that had destroyed so much in these small areas and a lot of it had been rebuilt. The city has been rebuilt and modernized since the fall of the former USSR in 1991.
The old town that we toured was completely walled with many 'look out' sites. Second picture is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Orthodox church that was built in 1900 over the grave of the Estonian hero. We couldn't only peek inside because there was a service being conducted. A very interesting church!! The building in the last picture is the oldest building standing from the original town, several centuries ago. The streets were all cobble stone.
Another section of wall and little look out towers. Second picture shows a line of watch towers on the stone wall, there are 26 in all. If you look close at this picture you can see our ship in the distance! The third one is some of the buildings that had shops where we did some shopping. We also saw many beautiful pieces of Amber........that was the stone to buy there!! (I didn't but some bought some very unusual pieces.)
This is the Lutheran Church. This door was so you had to step down into the church. The guide explained that centuries ago, it wasn't build that way, but the rubble in the street kept piling up, deeper and deeper so the street is higher than the street level of the church! I was not allowed to take pictures in this church. It was very unique.....many important people are buried in the main part of the church and around the walls. The center picture is the tall steeple that didn't fit in the closer picture and the third picture was the front side of the church, the altar and pulpit lie behind the windows. It was ornate but not extremely so. A lot of carved wood.
This outdoor concert theater was shown to us with much pride. They have held some very large European concerts there. The second picture is where the water Olympics were held in Estonia a few years back. The last one, this was taken from our ship and is of the old town part of Tallinn. Our tour didn't take us to very much of the modern day town, the little old town sections are so unique to us and more of an attraction.
Day 8 & 9: St. Petersburg, Russia
We could not leave the ship alone in St. Petersburg, we had to be with a groups that was touring. We signed up for 2 tours a day and saw a lot. We didn't go on one tour that our friends did, that of visiting the area where the ordinary people live. They told about that, it was a different story, not much had been restored or cleaned up yet from days gone by. St. Petersburg restored its' original name after the fall of the USSR in 1991. You may have read about the city as Leningrad. St. Peter is the 'Hero' of this city.
The Hermitage Museum
The first picture is the little Russian Band who played for us while we were in line to get our visa's and find our tour bus. We went to the Hermitage, a museum. This museum consistes of 5 buildings, the one pictured above was the Tsar's Winter Palace and is the one we spent the most time in. The Baroque Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 and Catherine the Great was the first resident. The Hermitage is like non other museum, the building itself is a muesum with added artifacts. It is special and a must see.
The third picture is one of the stair cases when you first enter. The shimmering gold always caught your eye. I had to pay extra to take pictures here, but it was worth it!!!
First picture is one of the huge hall ways with the area done in real gold and white. The third picture is the floor in one area. Not all floors were like this but this one was exceptional. There were several huge urns like the one in the third picture, but this one was the largest.
Even
the ceiling were decorated. It was hard to pick from my many
pictures taken, which ones to put up here. The last picture is a
corridor that is decorated from top to bottom! Note the ceilings
and walls. It was all very breathe taking.
The Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul
This is the oldest structures in St. Petersburg. It is a walled area, built in 1712-1733. The first picture shows the area from the canal. When we took the tour, the center picture is the Cathedral with the tall spire. The third picture is the inside, very beautiful, very ornate.
The first picture is inside of the Cathedral, the pulpit. The second picture are the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul and family members. The third picture is the unique little band that played for us.
The first picture is a
statue created in more modern days of St. Peter. One mistake, the
artist used two different size models to copy from and it came out with
too small of a head, St. Peters head was normal size! The
middle picture is the Cathedral from a different view. The third
picture is to show how thick the walls are in the fortress!
The Cathedral of Spilled Blood
Day 10: Helsinki, Finland
We didn't take a scheduled tour of Finland. On the map you could see that you could easily walk to the churches and market. So that is what we did. We did get a bus ride to the area and also came back to the ship on the bus.
The Lutheran Cathedral sits up on the hill above the Senate Square (old city square). You can barely see them, but the 12 apostles line the outside edge of the roof. This church was finished in 1854 and is very plain like protestant churches of that day were. On the left is the altar area with boxed in pews. On the right is the raised pulpit, both features are very protestant.
The first picture is the statue that is half way up the long stairs to the Lutheran Cathedral. This statue says Alexander II on it, a Russian Czar who was well liked by the Finns. The building in the center is a department store. We didn't go in it, but that is what we were told. On the right is a picture taken by the wharf, I thought it was so interesting with the big church above.
The first picture is the
Uspenski Cathedral, an Orthodox church. It stands tall on
the hill. It was built in 1868. The altar area of the Orthodox
church is shown in the center picture. Then there was the
market. You could buy gifts, souvenirs, food, both raw and
cooked. Very interesting. Note that behind the market, you
can see the Orthodox church in the distance.
This first building was wrapped in plastic. It was being renovated and the plastic protected the people in the area from falling objects and dust. The second picture is a fast one taken from the bus of the "Three Blacksmiths". A large department store is behind it. The third picture is the loading of large trucks and etc. on the boat to take them across the Baltic Sea. This was taken from our window.
Day 11: Stockholm, Sweden
Owen, Lucille, Ove & Solvieg
First picture is in the square of Charles John, the statue is King Carl XIV Johan (1763-1844). The cobblestone streets were narrow and the building were tall. There were a lot of shops in the street level of the buildings. The last picture is Evert Taube with the three of us! Evert Taube (1890-1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer.
The narrowest street in Stockholm. The second picture is the town well. The third picture is Storkyrkan (The Great Church) and is the oldest church in the old town. It dates back to about 1279 and became a Lutheran Protestant church in 1527. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole church on one picture! We entered it and I was told I could take pictures but no flash, so it didn't work out too bad.
This is the altar area. The second picture is the front part of the church. Note the raised loft like areas on the sides, those are where the Royalty sits during services. The third picture is of the back and the pipe organ. It was interesting to see the red brick in the columns.
The first picture is the tombs of Royalty that are along the side. The seond picture is something special! This is a very large dramatic wooden statue of Saint George and the Dragon which was made in 1489. It was made to commemorate the Battle of Brunkeburg. Beside this was a beautiful painting from the 1600's. My picture didn't turn out very well of it.
These tall, old building were very interesting! They were very old and were around a large town square. These two were built in the 17th century. The middle picture is the Inner Castle Yard of Stockholm Castle, the official residence of the Swedish reigning royalty. It was build the beginning of the 1700's. The third picture is Riddarholmskyrkan. this church is the burial church of the Swedish Monarchs. The congregation was dissolved in 1807, the original church building burned in 1835 and this building was then built.
This is the house of Parliament, it was built in the early 1900's. We then walked through these gardens and then went to a modern day department store. A very nice place, but a bit expensive for what I wanted. The last picture is the City Hall in the back ground.
Day
12: Copenhagen, Denmark
We had left Stockholm about 4 PM the day before and traveled all night and most of the day to get to Copenhagen in late afternoon. The aim was to get to see Tivoli Park that evening.
It was damp and sprinkling some when the bus took us to Tivoli Park, a large amusement park that was built in 1843 and covers 20 acres.. They say that Walt Disney got his inspiration from this park. The first picture is the front gates. Second is Owen standing beside one of their many painted cows! I'm sure it was a contest thing like we see done here for a fund raiser of some type. The third picture is one of the oriental theaters, which was close at that time.
There were a lot of rides available, much like any of our amusement parks. Then there was a large oriental area which had a very nice resturant. The Pirate ship in the last photo is also a resturant. Of course we had just eaten on the ship, so weren't hungry. There was one souvenir shop that many of us found some nice things in.
Day 13: Copenhagen in AM and then at sea
The next morning we did take a tour of the sights of Copenhagen which included an canal boat ride. As you can imagine, Copenhagen has many canals throughout the city. Again we visited the older part of the city, the newer part is just like American cities.
Denmark is known for their statue of 'the little Mermaid', from one of Hans Christian Anderson's tales.. Our bus took us there first. It isn't very large, more life size of a 10 year old child. It is unique. Then we drove down streets with rows and rows of brightly colored houses...all tall, many 4-6 stories tall with now space between them. The big sail boat, with out sail, was interesting, wonder what it would have looked like if the sails would have been raised!?
This is what the area looked like from the canal. As we parked to get on the canal boat was this statue. They said it was the 'fish wife'! We all chuckled and of course, I had to take a picture!!! The last picture was taken through the bus window (you can see some shadows), it was a house that Hans Christian Anderson had once lived in, you can see the plaque toward the top.
This is one of the oldest
houses we saw, you can see the date on the top, 1681. We
were then taken to an area where the royalty lived, Amalienborg Palace
and Square. Queen Margrethe II lives here as does the crown
Prince Frederik, each in a different palace. The church in the
center picture was in that area and they told how long it took them to
build it being there was always a shortage of funds. We didn't
get in any of the buldings in Denmark. Actually I think they were
trying to shove us on as they had a big celebration coming up that
commemorated when the English navy came in early fall and took over the
Danish navy. This happened in early 1800's, and there were a lot
of visiting, old ships around.
Day 14: North Sea........
We left Denmark the noon before and spent the next night, day and night on the North Sea, going back to Dover.
One evening we were invited to a Chocoholic Buffet. They had many many goodies plus the large sculptures. Also ice sculptures. It was very cool, but I ate too much!!! It was sooo good with a cup of coffee.
Day 15: Tour London
We arrived at Dover this morning, back where we started about 12 days earlier. A bus was there to pick us up and go to London. We are scheduled to take a one day tour of London and pack in as much as possible!! That we did!
The sun was shining bright on the White Cliffs of Dover, it had been raining just prior to that. We boarded the bus and headed to London to see what we could see in a short time. It was Sunday, so there were a lot of things closed, Cathedrals were having services and etc.
The first picture is a street scene in the older part of London. The buildings are so close together! The second picture is the 'London Eye' which is really unique! I wish we had had time to take a ride. The seats/capsules are like the one on the third picture. Thirty some people can fit into it, they are enclosed and it travels slow, 1/2 hour to make the full circle. We were told that weddings have even been held on it.
It is located on the Thames River, kinda across and the bridge and down from Westminster and Big Ben.
Westminster, that is quite a building. I wish we could have toured it, but being Sunday, that didn't work. Big Ben was being worked on so the time never changed, but it stands tall and straight. This bridge, I believe is the Tower Bridge built in 1894. The ship on the right is HMS Belfast that is now a museum.
The first picture is Albert's Pub. You can see that it is a very old building in the middle of the new skyscrapers and etc. The second picture was taken inside, as this is where we ate Sunday lunch. It was very nice. The third picture a typical landscape of a large city, but I had to get a picture of that strange building to the right. I think the driver said it was an insurance building! It sure catches your eye.
Day 16: Fly home........
We were up early and boarded the bus for our trip to the London Gatwick International airport. Traffic was bumper to bumper, 4 lanes, sometimes not moving at all!!! We had left the hotel at 8 AM, took 2 hrs to get to Gatwick, then 2 more to get through security and to the right gate for our flight.........leaving 15 minutes!!!!
We arrived in MPLS about 3:30 PM, 6 hrs after we had left Gatwick. Of course then there were customs and etc. to go through, but all went well. We were dead tired, so picked up our car and drove south to Owatonna, MN. and said ENOUGH for one day!
Day 17: We stayed at daughter, Diane's at Owatonna, MN. We saw our granddaughters off to their first day of school and then headed west for home!! Yes, it was good to get home, but oh way great memories we have!
Thanks for reading and viewing my pictures. I have so many more, but had to chose just which ones I wanted to put up.
Lucille & Owen
Day 1: Our plan was to fly out of Watertown, SD on the 5 PM flight to catch a 7 PM flight in Mpls. to London. Well, we went up to Watertown, did a bit of shopping for last minute things and then went out to the airport. I noticed there were no cars around but figured that we were early and this is a small airport. So I went in and remarked it was sure quiet, and was told that was because there were no planes flying!! Beginning of night mare!! So he checked the schedule and then scheduled us out of Sioux Falls the next day at 3 PM. He gave us a voucher for overnight at the Holiday Inn and we drove to Sioux Falls, chuckling. We contacted our tour company and found out that we and 5 others had had trouble and we needed to catch Monday's plane in MPLS to get to London before the cruise ship sailed. So............
Day 2: We are in Sioux Falls, drove out to the airport about 11 AM to make sure we were scheduled and etc. and were told YES. So went back to the hotel to get our suitcases. While parking...my cell phone rang and the tour company told us they were just notified that the flight wouldn't go and there was no room for us on the 5 PM flight!! So our only alternative was to DRIVE as fast as possible to get to MPLS to get on the 7 PM flight. We DROVE!!! The tour agent directed us to a 'park and fly' that was easiest for us to get to as we don't know our way around MPLS. All went well, we were checked in and at the right gate and etc. 1/2 hr. before the plane loaded!!!! So that was our beginning. We had missed one day of touring London, which I felt bad about, but it couldn't be helped. There were 7 of us in the same 'boat'!!
Day 3: We tried to sleep on the plane......did as well as we could!! We arrived at the airport in London, where our tour bus met us and we immediately went to Dover to board the NCL 'Dream' ship. We were glad to get settled in and leave on our cruise.
Our Cruise ship, the Norwegian Dream. This will be 'home' for 12 days.
The White cliffs of Dover,
England. Note the old castle on top of the
cliffs. The day was cloudy and rainy when we boarded the ship.
Of course the first thing we had to do was have a safety drill!! Every one bring their life jackets, come to the marked place on deck and make sure you can get your life jacket on the right way!!! We all passed the test!! That is Len, Stevie & Owen in the picture!!
Of course the first thing we had to do was have a safety drill!! Every one bring their life jackets, come to the marked place on deck and make sure you can get your life jacket on the right way!!! We all passed the test!! That is Len, Stevie & Owen in the picture!!
Day 5: Warnemunde, Germany
Our ship is docked here in the morning. A very nice little town. We chose to navigate the old town which was close and not go on any of the extra excursion. Some of the passengers took a train to Berlin and back. We enjoyed our time in the 'old town' part of Warnemunde. It was early in the morning, the shops were just opening up. We had to cross the railroad by way of the tunnel under ground to get to the 'old town'.
This little town had a very nice beach....also a nude beach! There was a lot of sand, very nice sand and the young people were really enjoying it. The first picture is a residental street that we walked down, the homes are a bit more modern. The center is the lighthouse and 'teepot' which was like a commercial area for shops and antique shops. The picture at the right is the street about noon. There were many shops on the street for the tourists. Note the shapes of the buildings in the background. There were homes above the shops.
This is the Lutheran church. I had a bit of trouble getting a good picture with all of the other buildings and trees around. The center picture is inside of the church. The altar area appears to be carved wood of the last supper. The back of the church has a balcony where the pipe organ was, and there was a concert going on at the time.
Day 6: A day at sea.
This day was good to rest up, check out the ship and get acquainted. We TRIED to not eat all of the time!! The opportunities to continually eat are amazing!! There were several place to eat, I think we ate at the sports bar's buffet a lot. We did attend some of the shows in the evening. There were free ice cream cones every afternoon by the pool!! (we didn't miss very many!)
The room attendants made various 'towel animals' to greet you in the evening. The first one is an elephant. The second picture is Owen watching CNN on TV in our room. You can see that we had a nice window to the sea, which was nice watching for ships and etc. in the evening and while we were 'cruising along'. We really chuckled the night we found the towel dog wearing Owens spare glasses!!! You can also see a monkey hanging over Owen's head in the center picture!!
Day 7: Tallin, Estonia
This was a very unique place. We went on a tour of the 'old town'. This part of the city is atleast 6 centuries old, truly amazing, Medieval Europe. We had a very good tour guide and learned so much. Amazing, all of the wars that had destroyed so much in these small areas and a lot of it had been rebuilt. The city has been rebuilt and modernized since the fall of the former USSR in 1991.
The old town that we toured was completely walled with many 'look out' sites. Second picture is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Orthodox church that was built in 1900 over the grave of the Estonian hero. We couldn't only peek inside because there was a service being conducted. A very interesting church!! The building in the last picture is the oldest building standing from the original town, several centuries ago. The streets were all cobble stone.
Another section of wall and little look out towers. Second picture shows a line of watch towers on the stone wall, there are 26 in all. If you look close at this picture you can see our ship in the distance! The third one is some of the buildings that had shops where we did some shopping. We also saw many beautiful pieces of Amber........that was the stone to buy there!! (I didn't but some bought some very unusual pieces.)
This is the Lutheran Church. This door was so you had to step down into the church. The guide explained that centuries ago, it wasn't build that way, but the rubble in the street kept piling up, deeper and deeper so the street is higher than the street level of the church! I was not allowed to take pictures in this church. It was very unique.....many important people are buried in the main part of the church and around the walls. The center picture is the tall steeple that didn't fit in the closer picture and the third picture was the front side of the church, the altar and pulpit lie behind the windows. It was ornate but not extremely so. A lot of carved wood.
This outdoor concert theater was shown to us with much pride. They have held some very large European concerts there. The second picture is where the water Olympics were held in Estonia a few years back. The last one, this was taken from our ship and is of the old town part of Tallinn. Our tour didn't take us to very much of the modern day town, the little old town sections are so unique to us and more of an attraction.
Day 8 & 9: St. Petersburg, Russia
We could not leave the ship alone in St. Petersburg, we had to be with a groups that was touring. We signed up for 2 tours a day and saw a lot. We didn't go on one tour that our friends did, that of visiting the area where the ordinary people live. They told about that, it was a different story, not much had been restored or cleaned up yet from days gone by. St. Petersburg restored its' original name after the fall of the USSR in 1991. You may have read about the city as Leningrad. St. Peter is the 'Hero' of this city.
The Hermitage Museum
The first picture is the little Russian Band who played for us while we were in line to get our visa's and find our tour bus. We went to the Hermitage, a museum. This museum consistes of 5 buildings, the one pictured above was the Tsar's Winter Palace and is the one we spent the most time in. The Baroque Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 and Catherine the Great was the first resident. The Hermitage is like non other museum, the building itself is a muesum with added artifacts. It is special and a must see.
The third picture is one of the stair cases when you first enter. The shimmering gold always caught your eye. I had to pay extra to take pictures here, but it was worth it!!!
First picture is one of the huge hall ways with the area done in real gold and white. The third picture is the floor in one area. Not all floors were like this but this one was exceptional. There were several huge urns like the one in the third picture, but this one was the largest.
Even
the ceiling were decorated. It was hard to pick from my many
pictures taken, which ones to put up here. The last picture is a
corridor that is decorated from top to bottom! Note the ceilings
and walls. It was all very breathe taking. The Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul
This is the oldest structures in St. Petersburg. It is a walled area, built in 1712-1733. The first picture shows the area from the canal. When we took the tour, the center picture is the Cathedral with the tall spire. The third picture is the inside, very beautiful, very ornate.
The first picture is inside of the Cathedral, the pulpit. The second picture are the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul and family members. The third picture is the unique little band that played for us.
The first picture is a
statue created in more modern days of St. Peter. One mistake, the
artist used two different size models to copy from and it came out with
too small of a head, St. Peters head was normal size! The
middle picture is the Cathedral from a different view. The third
picture is to show how thick the walls are in the fortress!
The Cathedral of Spilled BloodThis was really breathe
taking! So beautiful, so unusual. All of the murals on the
wall and other wall pieces are mosaics. It is unbelieveable the
hours of work that has gone into the beauty of this church. It
was built as a memorial to Emperor Alexander II who was assassinated on
March 1, 1881 at this spot.
The floor was even made of mosaic pieces. It was really something to see. My pictures don't do it justice. Our tour guide was a bit crabby, and didn't want us to shop in the many shops across the street. Wish we could have spent a bit more time there.
Peterhof Grand Palace and Gardens
The floor was even made of mosaic pieces. It was really something to see. My pictures don't do it justice. Our tour guide was a bit crabby, and didn't want us to shop in the many shops across the street. Wish we could have spent a bit more time there.
Peterhof Grand Palace and GardensWe took a bus a little ways away to
Peterhof. This was built by Peter the Great as a resting place in
the country. The Grand Palace can be seen in the first
picture. There are so many gold water fountains on this
property. The top of the palace is adorned by the two headed
eagle.
This palace was built in the early
1700's. Along with the 120 fountains found in the lower and upper
parks surrounding the palace, it was known as the 'Russian
Versaille'. During World War II, much of this was destroyed but
has been restored in the later years.
The fountains in the lower gardens were beautiful.
So much gold and so much water!! The Grand Cascade is located
directly behind the Grand Palace and features an impresive golden
statue of Samson grasping themight jaws of the lion. There are
nearly 360 acres of park, all very beautiful with trimmed shrubs and
flowers. We didn't get to enter the Palace, that was another
tour and they didn't get to see the gardens, not a good trade
off!!!
The fountains in the lower gardens were beautiful.
So much gold and so much water!! The Grand Cascade is located
directly behind the Grand Palace and features an impresive golden
statue of Samson grasping themight jaws of the lion. There are
nearly 360 acres of park, all very beautiful with trimmed shrubs and
flowers. We didn't get to enter the Palace, that was another
tour and they didn't get to see the gardens, not a good trade
off!!! Scenes from St. Petersburg
The large statue of St. Peter on his horse in the center of the
city. 2nd picture is Old city gate, from the very earliest days,
one of two that still stands in the city. The last picture is a
'pink' building of old and the canal with the bridge with horses on
each corner.
The large statue of St. Peter on his horse in the center of the
city. 2nd picture is Old city gate, from the very earliest days,
one of two that still stands in the city. The last picture is a
'pink' building of old and the canal with the bridge with horses on
each corner.
The churches were very interesting,
most having a dome or onion shaped top. The third one is the
Grand Choral Synagogue, it was build in 1893 for the Jewish
population. The bottom right one is St. Isaac's Cathederal,
built in 1818-1858. St. Peters statue riding the horse is in the
park area near here. This was an amazing city. It would
take weeks to see 'it all'. We had a full two days and only saw
selected parts.
Now we must move on...................
Now we must move on...................
Day 10: Helsinki, Finland
We didn't take a scheduled tour of Finland. On the map you could see that you could easily walk to the churches and market. So that is what we did. We did get a bus ride to the area and also came back to the ship on the bus.
The Lutheran Cathedral sits up on the hill above the Senate Square (old city square). You can barely see them, but the 12 apostles line the outside edge of the roof. This church was finished in 1854 and is very plain like protestant churches of that day were. On the left is the altar area with boxed in pews. On the right is the raised pulpit, both features are very protestant.
The first picture is the statue that is half way up the long stairs to the Lutheran Cathedral. This statue says Alexander II on it, a Russian Czar who was well liked by the Finns. The building in the center is a department store. We didn't go in it, but that is what we were told. On the right is a picture taken by the wharf, I thought it was so interesting with the big church above.
The first picture is the
Uspenski Cathedral, an Orthodox church. It stands tall on
the hill. It was built in 1868. The altar area of the Orthodox
church is shown in the center picture. Then there was the
market. You could buy gifts, souvenirs, food, both raw and
cooked. Very interesting. Note that behind the market, you
can see the Orthodox church in the distance.
This first building was wrapped in plastic. It was being renovated and the plastic protected the people in the area from falling objects and dust. The second picture is a fast one taken from the bus of the "Three Blacksmiths". A large department store is behind it. The third picture is the loading of large trucks and etc. on the boat to take them across the Baltic Sea. This was taken from our window.
Day 11: Stockholm, Sweden
This
day was very very special for me! When we departed the ship, my
cousin Ove & Solvieg Olsson were waiting for us!! Ove and I
have corresponded for 35-40 years and now we were finally meeting in
person!! A dream come true!! What a wonderful day we had,
we walked around the 'old town' (Gamla Stan) and visited.
Owen, Lucille, Ove & Solvieg
First picture is in the square of Charles John, the statue is King Carl XIV Johan (1763-1844). The cobblestone streets were narrow and the building were tall. There were a lot of shops in the street level of the buildings. The last picture is Evert Taube with the three of us! Evert Taube (1890-1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer.
The narrowest street in Stockholm. The second picture is the town well. The third picture is Storkyrkan (The Great Church) and is the oldest church in the old town. It dates back to about 1279 and became a Lutheran Protestant church in 1527. I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole church on one picture! We entered it and I was told I could take pictures but no flash, so it didn't work out too bad.
This is the altar area. The second picture is the front part of the church. Note the raised loft like areas on the sides, those are where the Royalty sits during services. The third picture is of the back and the pipe organ. It was interesting to see the red brick in the columns.
The first picture is the tombs of Royalty that are along the side. The seond picture is something special! This is a very large dramatic wooden statue of Saint George and the Dragon which was made in 1489. It was made to commemorate the Battle of Brunkeburg. Beside this was a beautiful painting from the 1600's. My picture didn't turn out very well of it.
These tall, old building were very interesting! They were very old and were around a large town square. These two were built in the 17th century. The middle picture is the Inner Castle Yard of Stockholm Castle, the official residence of the Swedish reigning royalty. It was build the beginning of the 1700's. The third picture is Riddarholmskyrkan. this church is the burial church of the Swedish Monarchs. The congregation was dissolved in 1807, the original church building burned in 1835 and this building was then built.
This is the house of Parliament, it was built in the early 1900's. We then walked through these gardens and then went to a modern day department store. A very nice place, but a bit expensive for what I wanted. The last picture is the City Hall in the back ground.
We watched the changing of the
guard at noon. It was very interesting to witness the ceremony
and all of the ritual that they go through. It is similar to what
others nations do for royalty and what we do at the tomb of the unknown
soldier in Washington, DC.
I took many more pictures but have chosen these for you to see. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. My father was full Swedish and here I was in Sweden, getting back to my roots. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Ove and Solvieg.
I took many more pictures but have chosen these for you to see. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. My father was full Swedish and here I was in Sweden, getting back to my roots. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Ove and Solvieg.
We had left Stockholm about 4 PM the day before and traveled all night and most of the day to get to Copenhagen in late afternoon. The aim was to get to see Tivoli Park that evening.
It was damp and sprinkling some when the bus took us to Tivoli Park, a large amusement park that was built in 1843 and covers 20 acres.. They say that Walt Disney got his inspiration from this park. The first picture is the front gates. Second is Owen standing beside one of their many painted cows! I'm sure it was a contest thing like we see done here for a fund raiser of some type. The third picture is one of the oriental theaters, which was close at that time.
There were a lot of rides available, much like any of our amusement parks. Then there was a large oriental area which had a very nice resturant. The Pirate ship in the last photo is also a resturant. Of course we had just eaten on the ship, so weren't hungry. There was one souvenir shop that many of us found some nice things in.
Day 13: Copenhagen in AM and then at sea
The next morning we did take a tour of the sights of Copenhagen which included an canal boat ride. As you can imagine, Copenhagen has many canals throughout the city. Again we visited the older part of the city, the newer part is just like American cities.
Denmark is known for their statue of 'the little Mermaid', from one of Hans Christian Anderson's tales.. Our bus took us there first. It isn't very large, more life size of a 10 year old child. It is unique. Then we drove down streets with rows and rows of brightly colored houses...all tall, many 4-6 stories tall with now space between them. The big sail boat, with out sail, was interesting, wonder what it would have looked like if the sails would have been raised!?
This is what the area looked like from the canal. As we parked to get on the canal boat was this statue. They said it was the 'fish wife'! We all chuckled and of course, I had to take a picture!!! The last picture was taken through the bus window (you can see some shadows), it was a house that Hans Christian Anderson had once lived in, you can see the plaque toward the top.
Day 14: North Sea........
We left Denmark the noon before and spent the next night, day and night on the North Sea, going back to Dover.
One evening we were invited to a Chocoholic Buffet. They had many many goodies plus the large sculptures. Also ice sculptures. It was very cool, but I ate too much!!! It was sooo good with a cup of coffee.
Day 15: Tour London
We arrived at Dover this morning, back where we started about 12 days earlier. A bus was there to pick us up and go to London. We are scheduled to take a one day tour of London and pack in as much as possible!! That we did!
The sun was shining bright on the White Cliffs of Dover, it had been raining just prior to that. We boarded the bus and headed to London to see what we could see in a short time. It was Sunday, so there were a lot of things closed, Cathedrals were having services and etc.
The first picture is a street scene in the older part of London. The buildings are so close together! The second picture is the 'London Eye' which is really unique! I wish we had had time to take a ride. The seats/capsules are like the one on the third picture. Thirty some people can fit into it, they are enclosed and it travels slow, 1/2 hour to make the full circle. We were told that weddings have even been held on it.
It is located on the Thames River, kinda across and the bridge and down from Westminster and Big Ben.
Westminster, that is quite a building. I wish we could have toured it, but being Sunday, that didn't work. Big Ben was being worked on so the time never changed, but it stands tall and straight. This bridge, I believe is the Tower Bridge built in 1894. The ship on the right is HMS Belfast that is now a museum.
The first picture is Albert's Pub. You can see that it is a very old building in the middle of the new skyscrapers and etc. The second picture was taken inside, as this is where we ate Sunday lunch. It was very nice. The third picture a typical landscape of a large city, but I had to get a picture of that strange building to the right. I think the driver said it was an insurance building! It sure catches your eye.
This is Buckingham Palace, it was
built in 1702. We weren't able to get too close. Nor were we
there for any special timing of the guard changing and etc. You
can see the large heavy gates in the second picture. The first
picture is the fountain and statue is the center court in front of the
Palace, it is the Queen Victoria Memorial.
This is Westminster Abby.
Here again, we couldn't tour the main part of the church because it was
Sunday they were holding services. So we went around back and
found this huge square area that opened into a center courtyard with
lush green grass. There was a lot of history here!!!
The floor was burial places for many. I did get a picture of the
one from 1328 but also saw some from 1000's but they wouldn't
photograph very well.
Note that this big center area of the tower, has steps to the second story, there is no ground level entrances. The second picture is the Waterloo block that we toured that holds the 'Crown Jewels' and huge punch bowels and more jewels!! Wow, they were something. They wouldn't let me take pictures here.......so now to explain it!!. The third picture is in the yard area, in the area where the beheading of royalty was held! The story was told of how some of the kings wives who had fallen out of favor with him, lost thier heads in the area! The un-important people who were put to death, lost their heads in public. The third picture is the Queens home and is still used today. We did witness the changeing of the quard here. Just beyond all of this we did tour Torture tower and the Bloody tower. These were build close to the front gates and was the place where prisoners were taken, known they would never return alive. Kinda spooky!!
This is our wonderful travel guide, Judy. She kept track of us to keep us in the right place at the right time!! The group picture was taken just before we entered the Tower of London.
That evening we had a very nice meal and room at the Thistle Hotel.
THE TOWER OF LONDON
This was really
something!! This enclosed area, complete with moat and
stone walls was begun in 1078. It was hard to comprehend, I guess
I never understood what the Tower of London was!! Each tower on
the corners of the big White Tower building were different. The
third picture is a Yeoman. There are about 40 of them on
the grounds for security and explaining things. They were
also called 'beefeater's' because it's said they were lucky enough to
dine on meat even during times of beef shortage. They are now
selected from among the military for their long service and good
conduct.
Note that this big center area of the tower, has steps to the second story, there is no ground level entrances. The second picture is the Waterloo block that we toured that holds the 'Crown Jewels' and huge punch bowels and more jewels!! Wow, they were something. They wouldn't let me take pictures here.......so now to explain it!!. The third picture is in the yard area, in the area where the beheading of royalty was held! The story was told of how some of the kings wives who had fallen out of favor with him, lost thier heads in the area! The un-important people who were put to death, lost their heads in public. The third picture is the Queens home and is still used today. We did witness the changeing of the quard here. Just beyond all of this we did tour Torture tower and the Bloody tower. These were build close to the front gates and was the place where prisoners were taken, known they would never return alive. Kinda spooky!!
This is our wonderful travel guide, Judy. She kept track of us to keep us in the right place at the right time!! The group picture was taken just before we entered the Tower of London.
That evening we had a very nice meal and room at the Thistle Hotel.
Day 16: Fly home........
We were up early and boarded the bus for our trip to the London Gatwick International airport. Traffic was bumper to bumper, 4 lanes, sometimes not moving at all!!! We had left the hotel at 8 AM, took 2 hrs to get to Gatwick, then 2 more to get through security and to the right gate for our flight.........leaving 15 minutes!!!!
We arrived in MPLS about 3:30 PM, 6 hrs after we had left Gatwick. Of course then there were customs and etc. to go through, but all went well. We were dead tired, so picked up our car and drove south to Owatonna, MN. and said ENOUGH for one day!
Day 17: We stayed at daughter, Diane's at Owatonna, MN. We saw our granddaughters off to their first day of school and then headed west for home!! Yes, it was good to get home, but oh way great memories we have!
Thanks for reading and viewing my pictures. I have so many more, but had to chose just which ones I wanted to put up.
Lucille & Owen