Sailing away from Stockholm Sweden.

Sailing away from Stockholm Sweden.

Sweden consists of many islands and is surrounded by a lot of water –lakes and ocean. Sweden is said to have over 27,000 islands and that a 1/3 of it is forest, another 1/3 is land that is either cultivated or lived on and the remaining 1/3 is water.

I was not aware that departing from Stockholm would be so impressive until we were informed that it would take 5 hours for the Eurodam to navigate its way down the channel out into the open Baltic Sea and that it would be manoeuvring its way through and passing many small islands. We started taking some photos and I hope you are interested in seeing some of the islands, forests and houses that we passed so close to.

Departure time is crucial and in this port we had two people literally running to board the ship as the last securing lines were being released. (They were clapped as they boarded.) We very quickly realised why as we became part of a procession of 4 large cruise liners exiting the port only about one minute apart and they then following each other the full distance of the channel. When you look closely the channel is very well marked –red on the starboard side and green on the port side. The ship has to be manoeuvred between the two.

                                         One of the little sauna houses.

 

Most families in Sweden, if they have an apartment in the city will also have a summer home somewhere close to the water. The Swedish people love the water and one in 5 have their own yacht or small boat. Swedish people also love their saunas and every family has at least one sauna – most also have one (a separate building) outside as well as one inside. The outside sauna looks like a separate little house and is usually close to the water so they can plunge into the cold water after spending sometime in the heat of the sauna.  It sounds like a real ritual that they do often for their health.

 

One family owned this island and they had everything on it including a tennis court.

                                          One of the small communities.

                                        One of the islands we passed that was heavily forested.

 

Most of the houses and saunas we passed were painted the traditional brown/red colour with white surrounds around the windows. Some appear to be in very isolated areas and others are nestled together to form small communities. Most of the homes we saw were deserted– there were no light on and we saw very few people. The islands are all exposed rock –very well treed but with no beach areas and every island has a marker or its own little light beacon. Where the houses were there are small landing jetties and in many cases this is the only way their residents can be access the outside world. 

 

The procession of cruise ships leaving Stockholm.

"Beauty on Water" Stockholm Sweden.

“Beauty on Water” Stockholm Sweden.

Stockholm is a vibrant city built on 14 small islands on Lake Malaren connected by over 50 bridges. Stockholm is a very modern city consisting of a cityscape of modern Scandinavian designed buildings interlaced with medieval architecture. Because it is surrounded by sea and fresh water, boating and sailing are very popular outdoor activities for the Swedish people and one in every five own their own boat. Even around the city centre you can see that the water and boats are very important. There are old ships turned into restaurants, cafés and bars, there are people enjoying sightseeing tours on the lake and there are many people sailing their own crafts.

                                         Views of Stockholm.

We have been up since 5am enjoying the picturesque journey up the main shipping channel and manoeuvring our way through the numerous small islands that make up this part of Scandinavia. Now we are docked and we are off on our journey to see the sights of Stockholm and beyond. We first head out of the city and through the northern outskirts of the city into the scenic countryside en route to Sigtuna, an idyllic little town situated on the beautiful Lake Malaren. This town is renowned for its wooden buildings, narrow alleys and for having the smallest Town Hall in Scandinavia which was built back in 1744. This town was founded about 1000 years ago by the first Christian King of Sweden and there are many ruins of old churches in this picturesque little town and also a more modern church which still has the original stone base foundation from a church built in 12 century The new red brick exterior was built using special French bricks in the 19^th century. Sigtuna was the original capital of Sweden and it has the oldest street in Sweden, the Stora Gatan.

                                         The old church ruins in Sigtuna.

                                         The Lutheran Church.

 

It was a gorgeous place to visit -the lake is very picturesque and it was great fun to wander the old alley ways, see the gorgeous old homes and shops and to explore the ruins and the church.

                                          Stora Gatan - the main street.

 

After a really nice lunch in Sigtuna we returned to Stockholm and drove around with our tour guide pointing out all of the major attractions. In the old quarter of the town we left the bus and strolled the old narrow, twisting alleys and cobblestone streets and savoured the romantic atmosphere and the sense of times passed as we walked amongst buildings of the 16^th & 17^th centuries.

 

Beautiful Orange Tulips in the Old Town.

                                                       The Old Town In Stockholm.

 

One of the highlights of the day was a visit to the Vassa Museum. The Vassa was a Swedish  battleship that was the pride of Sweden’s mighty navy back in 1628. Unfortunately this massive wooden sailing ship capsized and sank on its maiden voyage not far from where it was launched. It was forgotten about and in 1961 after being in the water for 333 years it was salvaged and preserved and it is now the centre of this fantastic museum. This astonishingly well preserved vessel is a must see for anyone visiting this vibrant city.

 

The Battleship The Vassa in the Vassa Museum in Stockholm.

 

A painting of the Vassa.

Our Highlights of St. Petersburg Russia.

St. Petersburg Russia.

We have now travelled as far-east up the Baltic Sea as we are going to go and we have arrived at the very large city of St. Petersburg, which is the second largest city in Russia with a population of 5 million people.

St. Petersburg is a very grey looking city consisting of lots of apartment blocks that all look very similar. The city is built on marsh land and consists of 43 islands all very densely populated and linked by many bridges. Getting around St. Petersburg by bus is very frustrating. We had two full day 8 hour- tours booked and we felt we spent half our tour time sitting on the bus. We did however also see some wonderful sites.

 

Views of the Hermitage.

 

 

On the first day we started at the spectacular landmark and world famous Hermitage Museum. This is said to be one of the finest museums in the world and it boasts of 353 rooms, filled with masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and many others. The Hermitage is situated in the Winter Palace which is the former residence of the mighty Russian Czars, on the Neva River. It is just full of amazing paintings and huge tapestries that adorn the museum walls. There are spectacular staircases, marble structures, malachite columns and highly decorated floors and ceilings. It has to be seen to be believed.

 

The massive and grand staircase in the entrance to the Hermitage.

Mosaic Floors



 



 

The Roof Top Garden.

 

One of the fantastic rooms at the Hermitage.

In the afternoon we went some distance out of the city to Peterhof to visit the Magnificent Gardens and Fountains of the Yusupov Palace.

Us in front of the fountains.

 

 

The Main Fountain.

The next day we went in the opposite direction to the town of Pushkin to see the magnificent Catherine’s Palace. This grand residence has been fully restored over the past 40 years as it was extensively damaged during the 2nd World War. It is massive n size and is light blue and white in colour. Inside each room is spectacular in its own right. Words cannot explain the beauty – I hope that some of the photos do. There is a Grand Hall, Throne Room and a Very Large Ball Room as well as many other rooms. You can only see so much on a tour like this, but I am sure we have been taken to the grandest parts of the palace and we have been given as much information as we can handle.

 

 

Outside views of Catherine's Palace.

 Inside the Grand Palace.

 The Gold Ball Room.





The Blue Room.

 

The main stair case is just magnificent and it is decorated with plates and vases of the finest Japanese and Chinese porcelain and many of the rooms are gilded with gold and decorated with floor to ceiling mirrors. Each room has the furniture and Famous painting of the time and the table are set in the finest dinner ware specially made and designed for that room.

There is one room that is totally decorated in amber. It is just amazing as it glows in soft oranges, yellows and reds.

In the afternoon we go back to the centre of St. Petersburg to see the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Isaac’s. This is the largest Cathedral in the city. The interior is richly decorated with different kinds of marble, malachite and other semi-precious stones and it has a magnificent painted dome which is encircled with gold statues of angels and many glorious paintings everywhere. It would be one of the most eye pleasingly decorated cathedrals I have ever seen. It has not been used as a working church since the 1930’s and it is now a State run Museum.

 

St. Isaacs Cathedral.



 

 

We stop to take photos of the Church of the Spilled Blood which looks very beautiful. I am sorry that we did not get to see inside.

The Church of the Spilled Blood. 

The souvenir shops are full of Babushka Dolls which are wooden painted stacking dolls and represent the family. Some are very exquisite but they are also very pricy. The Russian also make beautiful hand painted lacquer boxes which are absolutely beautiful but well out of my price range.

 

The Stacking Dolls.

On both Days we had free time for lunch and we were dropped off at major shopping complexes. They are exactly the same as ours, with many of the same shops and most of the signage is in English. On both days we enjoyed KFC. It was exactly the same as we have in Australia except you can also purchase a local beer. We really enjoyed our lunch break and even though we were very tired at the end of the 2 days, we did have a great time seeing the sites in Russia and we have many great memories.

Country Life Experience in Finland.

Country Life Experience in Finland

It is Friday and we are in Helsinki the Capital of Finland. It is a fine but crisp day about 8°and we are going on a 4hr tour, firstly around the city of Helsinki and then we are venturing into the countryside to visit and have morning tea in a typical Finnish home.

This morning the Eurodam had to manoeuvre its way through dozens of small islands on its way to the port. Helsinki has thousands of small, pretty islands of rock and most are covered in a forest of trees. There are quaint little houses dotted through the trees on some of the larger islands, and there are lots of small light houses and channel markers.

 

 

This morning we sailed past many small well forested islands.



Helsinki is a very pretty city with many Neo-classical style buildings that date back to the mid 1800’s. It has a population of 590,000 people living in it and it is surrounded by lots of water with many bays, harbours and ports. We have a very enjoyable bus ride around the city and our tour guide points out all the major sites. She also explains that most Finnish people who live and work in Helsinki also have a summer or holiday house situated not far away but it has to be on the water. The Finns love the water and most own their own boat.

We stop to take photos at the Lutheran Cathedral, which is the unofficial symbol of the city and situated at the top of the Senate Square. There is also a large monument in the centre of the square.

 

The Lutheran Cathedral and Square.

 

We then head out of the city to the typical Finnish farming community of Sipoo. The countryside is a mixture of heavily forested areas of pine, spruce and silver birch trees and very green open fields with pretty lakes. It is dotted with pretty reddish brown farm houses but there are no animals in the paddocks they are all still in the barns for winter.



 

The Old Church of St. Sigrid's.

We stop to visit St. Sigfrid’s the oldest church in the community which dates back to the 15^th century. It is an impressive old stone church with cobblestone floor and minimal decoration. .Going to church in this building must have been extremely cold especially in winter when there was snow everywhere, it was freezing in the church today and the sun was shining.

 

The New Church which was built in the 19th Century.

 

After traveling through the forest we arrive at Harriet’s countryside home beside a beautiful lake. Harriet makes us feel very welcome and we have a wonderful time looking inside her home at her treasured collections as well as her outside sauna and garden. We have refreshments which consists of coffee, apple cake, seasonal berry pastries with special butter and egg mix and home-made ice-cream. All where delicious. We then have a walk down to the lake. Everyone really enjoys their visit and seeing and hearing about how the Finnish people live and their customs.

The Finnish Country we visited on our tour.

 

 

Inside Harriet's Home.

 

Bread hanging from the ceiling.

 

The Lake at Harriet's Home.

Our sail away from Helsinki that afternoon was very picturesque. Cruising the flat Baltic Sea has been great. To top it off at about 10.30pm we had the warm beautiful sun streaming into our cabin and we experienced the most fantastic sunset of bright pinks, oranges and purples reflected on a perfectly flat ocean. It was a fabulous end to a terrific day.