The Hermitage!

I took many pictures of the art works in this fabulous collection, but only a few of them turned out well. They are, in order, portraits of Gregory Potemkin, Alexander II and the Duke of Wellington, who together defeated Napoleon, then canvases by da Vinci, El Greco, and Rembrandt.

Living

One has only to compare the efficiency of this modern apartment complex in St. Petersburg with the wasteful, inefficient, primitive dwellings of the 18th century to appreciate the progress made in recent years.

One last look back...

...at the inside of the ornate Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral:

More Romanovs

Here are the tombs of Alexander II and his wife Maria. His tomb is made of jasper and weighs 7 tons. He is much beloved for having abolished serfdom (effectively, slavery) in 1861.

This is the tomb of Maria, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicolas II. She was interred here next to her husband in 2006, having died in Denmark in 1928. Hers is presumably the final interment in the cathedral.

Finally, this is the last resting place of Nicolas II and his family, together with a few of their servants, who were executed by the communists in 1917. Their commingled remains were placed in this small chapel in 1998. A very solemn place.

The Romanovs

Here are the tombs of the Romanov tsars:

Peter the Great--

Elizabeth I--

Catherine the Great and Peter III--

Peter and Paul Cathedral

From the outside--

On the inside, this beautiful, baroque Orthodox church houses the tombs of the Romanoffs.

Around town

The Winter Palace, site of the Hermitage Museum--

The Cathedral of St. Isaac--

Nevsky Prospekt on the day after Victory Day--

The old and the new...

...or the stately old and the hideous new. You decide.

Town Square

Every city, especially ours (Dallas), needs to take a cue from the Germans, who call their city hall, the Rathaus. Of course, "rat" does not mean to Germans what it means to us. But you get the idea. Estonians appear to have retained a remnant of that spelling for the Tallinn city hall, Raekoja Plats. At any rate here are some snaps of the Tallin Town Square.

A curious street in Tallinn...

... looked like this. Several artists displayed their works on the wall to the right, and a hi-tech busker played her amplified violin to the accompaniment of recorded orchestral tracks. I thought her bow arm needed some instruction, but Ellen wasn't interested.

State and church

Here is the Toompea Palace, where the Estonian Parliament presently meets.

This is the rear of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

Land ho!

We arrived in Tallin, Estonia, after sailing two nights and the whole day between.

It's all about...

The centerpiece of this floating palace is this. The chandelier is topped with the figure of a seahorse, though from this angle, it looks for all the world like a dollar sign!

If one could get bored on a cruise like this, there is always the casino (and several other forms of entertainment).

Around the ship

This is the front observation room:

The covered pool, with retractable roof (not retracted; brrr)

Here is the uncovered pool, in the stern of the ship, for a really cold dip.

Dining...

...is luxuriously!
Ellen is with our friends, Jerry and Kay:

Aboard ship

We met the Zuiderdam in Copenhagen, boarded, and found our stateroom, the bags arriving safely after a couple of hours.

The room is cozy, to say the least. We certainly have everything we need.

Zmouse

Ellen writing: I think that they need to add more to their sign outside this hotel-Zleep. It doesn't say everything about it. For instance, I happen to be a very light sleeper but with white noise and earplugs, we lead a happy existence together. So I think they need to add Zmouse underneath Zleep. For I was gratified to find that Bob zlept as quietly as a little Zmouse!!!! They could also add underneath that, no zmusic  and no zice! Thankfully we were not met with the blare of loud, horrid music upon entering the hotel but when I asked if they had ice machines upstairs, she, of course, looked at me like I was from Zmars. I had brought along an ice bag for my back but, stupid American, I had already forgotten their distaste for Zice. Bob saved the day, however, and we zlept, ziced, and zmoused through the night!

Wings to bed

Copenhagen, where we came to this:

Apparently they spell "sleep" with a "z" here.
This is about as close to a hotel automat as you can get.
Meet the desk clerk==>

Room was fine. I zlept till 3am, and then went to breakfast==>

Danish post-modern decor.

Wings to Europe

The AA 777 awaits us... First to London Heathrow, 8-1/2 hours, then...

a bit of breakfast at the airport.

Then on to Copenhagen, on a BA A321.

Getting ready!

Ok, friends, 

Ellen and I are preparing for the cruise. We leave Sunday night, 7pm, to fly to London and then to Copenhagen, Denmark. 

----Change to Danish money.

We embark on Tuesday afternoon, spent one day and two nights at sea and arrive at Tallinn, Estonia.

----Change to Euros.

The next night we sail to St. Petersburg, Russia.

----Change to rubles.

We spen two days in St. Petersburg where we will see the Peter & Paul Fortress, the ballet, and the Hermitage museum. The next night we sail to Helsinki, Finland.

----Change back to Euros.

In Helsinki, where we have precious little time, we hope to see the famous Rock Church. Since it will be a Sunday, it should not be closed (we would hope). Then we sail to Stockholm.

----Change to Swedish money.

We should be able to spend time in the Old City in Stockholm. Then on to two places in Germany, the former allowing day access to Berlin and the latter near Hamburg, on successive days.

----Change back to Euros.

We then return to Copenhagen to disembark the cruise and say goodbye to 3000 of our closest friends.

----Change back to Danish money (assuming there is any left).

We will spend one night in Copenhagen, and then we catch an early plane to London and then home.

----Change back to dollars.

----Pay off the credit cards. Fun first, pain later.

I hope we can post some interesting pictures along the way. WiFi aboard ship is sketchy, by all accounts, but it may be possible to find some access ashore, here and there. So, be patient--the pics are coming!