Here are some of the phrases we maybe used but probably didn't :)
Danish
taler du engelsk? - do you speak English?
jeg taler ikke dansk - I don't speak Danish
ja yes (yea)
nej no (nai)
menge tak - thank you very much
(man-ge tak. tak for kaffe = thanks for coffee)
goddag - good day (g’day)
hej hej - bye bye (hi-hi)
undskyld mig - excuse me
jeg forstår ikke - I don't understand (yai...
jeg forstår - I understand (yai..
undskyld mig, hvor er toilettet? - excuse me, where's the toilet?(vo er toy-leddo?)
Norwegian
Unnskyld meg du snakker engelsk? - excuse me, do you speak English?
Jeg snakker ikke norsk - I do not speak Norwegian
Ha det bra! - Good-bye!
takk skal du ha - thank you
jeg er sulten - I am hungry
jeg tar ... - I will take ..., I will have ...
hva koster det? - what does it cost?
hvor ligger ...? - hvor er ...? where is/lies ...? where is ...?
unnskyld, kan du hjelpe meg? - excuse me, can you help me please?
Numbers (basically the same for Norwegian and Danish)
en - one
to - two
tre - three
fire - four
fem - five
seks - six
syv, sju - seven
otte /åtte - eight
ni - nine
ti - ten
German
yes / no -- ja / nein
please/thanks - bitte/danke
Excuse me! - Entschuldigen Sie!
Where's the restroom/toilet? - Wo ist die Toilette?
Do you speak English? - Sprechen Sie Englisch?
I don't speak German. - Ich spreche kein Deutsch.
I would like... - Ich möchte.../Ich möchte gern...
Russian
Do you speak English? - Vy govorite po-angliyski?
I don't understand you - Ya Vas ne ponimayu
Prasteete - Excuse me
spaseeba - thanks
Finnish
Hei - hi
Kyllä - yes
Ei - no
Ole hyvä - please
Kiitos - thanks
Swedish - hej, ja, nej (hi, yes, no)
Snälla - please
tack - thanks
Ursäkta mig - excuse me, sorry
Estonian
jah - yes
ei - no
tere - hi
palun - please
aitäh - thanks
vabandage - excuse me
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day 17: Flight - 10 hours and 50 glorious minutes of it (this is sarcasm)
We left our tiny hotel room and fought the train to the airport. There we checked in, got a tax refund, and checked our one bag. Then we waited for a short while before boarding our plane and going to Frankfurt. The Frankfurt airport it huge. When our plane landed, we took a 10 minute shuttle ride to the gate, then went up, then over, then down two, the over, then up again. We were in terminal A, which was probably as big as the entire Salt Lake airport. We explored the terminal, then plopped until we could figure out what gate we were departing from.
When we were assigned a gate, we found that the security here was strong. To get to the gate, we had to show our boarding passes, then we had to show our passports and get them stamped (yay!), which was unusual, but fine. What was really annoying though, was what we had to do to get on the plane. When they started boarding, we stood up and got in line. But as we slowly made our way to the front, I realized something horrible - they were checking for some sort of security sticker in the back of passenger's passports. So then we were diverted to another line where we had to show our passports and answer some questions about our luggage. Then we had to get new boarding passes printed. Then we had to show the boarding pass and the passport to get on the plane. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had some sort of sign, or announcement. But we didn't find out about this sticker until we had been waiting in line! I asked if something had happened to make security so annoying and was told this was standard - for United. We all swore this was the last time we flew United internationally.
For international flights, you really want to have one of those personal entertainment systems to keep you from insane boredom. This plane didn't have those. It did have a bunch of screens so that it was easy to watch a movie. But the movies shown were horrible. Don't watch "The Adjustment Bureau".
But we survived, and made it to San Francisco alive and sane. Myra went on to the connecting flight, Rich got taken aside for questioning, and I continued on unmolested. I even made it to my hotel! But that is part of a different trip, one that will not be recorded here.
So our journey came to an end. We saw much, did much, went everywhere, and spent way too much money. Did we get homesick? Myra and Rich did pretty much every time we saw something cute and fluffy. "I miss my kitties!" someone would say. But other than that we were fully absorbed in our travels and didn't miss home too much. But we are still very happy to be back in the land of the free! (and much lower prices, and a reasonable amount of darkness, and shops open before 10 and after 5, and.... Need I go on?)
Travel is great, but exhausting, and there really is no place like home!
~Mia
When we were assigned a gate, we found that the security here was strong. To get to the gate, we had to show our boarding passes, then we had to show our passports and get them stamped (yay!), which was unusual, but fine. What was really annoying though, was what we had to do to get on the plane. When they started boarding, we stood up and got in line. But as we slowly made our way to the front, I realized something horrible - they were checking for some sort of security sticker in the back of passenger's passports. So then we were diverted to another line where we had to show our passports and answer some questions about our luggage. Then we had to get new boarding passes printed. Then we had to show the boarding pass and the passport to get on the plane. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had some sort of sign, or announcement. But we didn't find out about this sticker until we had been waiting in line! I asked if something had happened to make security so annoying and was told this was standard - for United. We all swore this was the last time we flew United internationally.
For international flights, you really want to have one of those personal entertainment systems to keep you from insane boredom. This plane didn't have those. It did have a bunch of screens so that it was easy to watch a movie. But the movies shown were horrible. Don't watch "The Adjustment Bureau".
But we survived, and made it to San Francisco alive and sane. Myra went on to the connecting flight, Rich got taken aside for questioning, and I continued on unmolested. I even made it to my hotel! But that is part of a different trip, one that will not be recorded here.
So our journey came to an end. We saw much, did much, went everywhere, and spent way too much money. Did we get homesick? Myra and Rich did pretty much every time we saw something cute and fluffy. "I miss my kitties!" someone would say. But other than that we were fully absorbed in our travels and didn't miss home too much. But we are still very happy to be back in the land of the free! (and much lower prices, and a reasonable amount of darkness, and shops open before 10 and after 5, and.... Need I go on?)
Travel is great, but exhausting, and there really is no place like home!
~Mia
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Day 16: Back in Denmark -- again and again!
We got off the cruise ship around 9 am and lugged our luggage to the hotel, where we left it all in a luggage locker. Just one. Then we took the train to Helsingør to see Kronburg Castle, also known as Hamlet's Castle.
In 1425, Eric of Pomerania built Krogen Castle to help with the collection of the Sound Dues, a toll for merchant ships passing the sound. In 1574-75, King Frederik II rebuilt the castle as a luxurious Renaissance castle and renamed it Kronburg. The castle was ravaged by fire in 1629, but Frederik's son King Christian IV reconstructed the castle in the same style. In 1658, the castle was taken by the Swedish, who looted many of the castle's works of art and carried them back to Sweden. From 1785 to 1924, the castle was used as military barracks. Then it was restored and opened to the public in 1938. It became a World Heritage site in 2000.
We started with a tour of the casements, where soldiers once were quartered, poor souls. It was great fun for us to go down into the dark, cool network of stone rooms and halls... but I certainly wouldn't want to live there! Our guide took us to one oddly shaped room; it started quite wide, but then narrowed to a point. She told us it was used as a form of psychological torture - the cell bars would start at the entrance of the cell, giving the prisoner a very large space. Over time, the bars would be slowly moved inward until the prisoner only had room to stand and lie down. There was no window and no light. And there were rats. It probably worked very well.
This is a statue of Holger Danske, a kind of King Arthur of Denmark. In the legend he is the son of Geoffrey, a king of Denmark, but it's not sure who he actually was (if indeed he was a real person).
After the casements, we took a tour of the Royal Apartments. There were lots of paintings, and tapestries, and gorgeous wooden furniture, but I've forgotten most of what the guide told us. I think I enjoyed the casements better. (Myra liked it all.)
The last part of the castle we viewed from the inside was the chapel. It was amazing the amount of carvings decorating that one room. The pews! Every end was carved with a different scene. It was cool, but we have been a little overexposed to detail for the last two weeks, so this room didn't hold us long.
We finished walking around the castle and then took a ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden. It was a 15-20 minute ride and we stayed there for all of an hour before returning to good old Denmark.
We checked into our hotel and were transported back into to a time where three people shared a room the size of a walk in closet and the bathroom was the size of a coat closet....
Basically, our hotel room looked a lot like the stateroom we left this morning. Only smaller. The bathroom is especially impressive. There is a shower curtain. If you close this curtain, the bathroom becomes a shower. Yup. (And A/C costs extra.....)
We set out on a quest to finally sample the gyro-like things that Rich saw the second time we came to Copenhagen. We found the exact shop and enjoyed a hearty meal of a gyro thingy, fries, and a small soft drink. All for the low, low price of 59 kroner. Actually, this was one of the best-priced meals we've seen in Denmark.
We returned to our tiny room, got ready for bed, and spent the next hour or so trying to get to sleep so we could wake up at 7 the next morning. Or so I predict.
~Mia
In 1425, Eric of Pomerania built Krogen Castle to help with the collection of the Sound Dues, a toll for merchant ships passing the sound. In 1574-75, King Frederik II rebuilt the castle as a luxurious Renaissance castle and renamed it Kronburg. The castle was ravaged by fire in 1629, but Frederik's son King Christian IV reconstructed the castle in the same style. In 1658, the castle was taken by the Swedish, who looted many of the castle's works of art and carried them back to Sweden. From 1785 to 1924, the castle was used as military barracks. Then it was restored and opened to the public in 1938. It became a World Heritage site in 2000.
We started with a tour of the casements, where soldiers once were quartered, poor souls. It was great fun for us to go down into the dark, cool network of stone rooms and halls... but I certainly wouldn't want to live there! Our guide took us to one oddly shaped room; it started quite wide, but then narrowed to a point. She told us it was used as a form of psychological torture - the cell bars would start at the entrance of the cell, giving the prisoner a very large space. Over time, the bars would be slowly moved inward until the prisoner only had room to stand and lie down. There was no window and no light. And there were rats. It probably worked very well.
This is a statue of Holger Danske, a kind of King Arthur of Denmark. In the legend he is the son of Geoffrey, a king of Denmark, but it's not sure who he actually was (if indeed he was a real person).
After the casements, we took a tour of the Royal Apartments. There were lots of paintings, and tapestries, and gorgeous wooden furniture, but I've forgotten most of what the guide told us. I think I enjoyed the casements better. (Myra liked it all.)
Ballroom (with original floor):
Room:
Tapestry:
The last part of the castle we viewed from the inside was the chapel. It was amazing the amount of carvings decorating that one room. The pews! Every end was carved with a different scene. It was cool, but we have been a little overexposed to detail for the last two weeks, so this room didn't hold us long.
We finished walking around the castle and then took a ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden. It was a 15-20 minute ride and we stayed there for all of an hour before returning to good old Denmark.
Sweden:
Sweden:
Back in Denmark (for the 4th time)
We checked into our hotel and were transported back into to a time where three people shared a room the size of a walk in closet and the bathroom was the size of a coat closet....
Basically, our hotel room looked a lot like the stateroom we left this morning. Only smaller. The bathroom is especially impressive. There is a shower curtain. If you close this curtain, the bathroom becomes a shower. Yup. (And A/C costs extra.....)
We set out on a quest to finally sample the gyro-like things that Rich saw the second time we came to Copenhagen. We found the exact shop and enjoyed a hearty meal of a gyro thingy, fries, and a small soft drink. All for the low, low price of 59 kroner. Actually, this was one of the best-priced meals we've seen in Denmark.
We returned to our tiny room, got ready for bed, and spent the next hour or so trying to get to sleep so we could wake up at 7 the next morning. Or so I predict.
~Mia
Day 15: Day at Sea - Tiebreaker
We slept in! Then we ate. I read our on deck and got sunburnt. Then we ate again. Then we participated in Visual Trivia and won decks of cards. It took a long time for that point to come, as the crew member hosting the trivia didn't seem to know how to use a computer, or PowerPoint. The subjects were pasta, currency, and flags. At the end we were tied with one other team, so she gave us three more flags to identify. The other team got one right, Rich got all three, so we won. (Rich is pretty great at trivia.)
We were going to attend a pizza-making thing but it turned out to be for kids (what kids?) so instead we went to watch a video documentary on the Vikings. Around then we probably had ice cream again. In the evening we did normal trivia and did not win but it was fun. Then we ate dinner, and a lot of it. Once excellently filled, we went back to our room to pack.
The last event of the day for us was the last performance, a ventriloquist comedian. He was hilarious and very good, we all enjoyed the show. At the beginning, he told us that he was a comedian and a ventriloquist, so any time we weren't laughing that was the ventriloquist part.
That's pretty much it. It was great to finally have a day of vacation :).
~Myra
We were going to attend a pizza-making thing but it turned out to be for kids (what kids?) so instead we went to watch a video documentary on the Vikings. Around then we probably had ice cream again. In the evening we did normal trivia and did not win but it was fun. Then we ate dinner, and a lot of it. Once excellently filled, we went back to our room to pack.
The last event of the day for us was the last performance, a ventriloquist comedian. He was hilarious and very good, we all enjoyed the show. At the beginning, he told us that he was a comedian and a ventriloquist, so any time we weren't laughing that was the ventriloquist part.
That's pretty much it. It was great to finally have a day of vacation :).
~Myra
Day 14: Nynashamn/Stockholm - There are no kids on this ship
After a nice long sleep thanks to a good backwards time change, we had a nice breakfast and were all ready to take the tender across the bay to the little town of Nynashamn... but we had to wait a while for our turn, which is why I am writing this now. Not much has happened yet, except so far Sweden looks real pretty.
---
We survived the tender ride (after waiting about an hour), found the train station, boarded a train, and made it to Stockholm! A day pass cost us $24 a person and their credit card machine was broken, so we paid in cash and we got change in krona. We won't be using the pass except to get back. Then we paid 100 kr a person for a 24 hour ticket for the Hop On Hop Off boat. This is interesting only because we had been briefly looking into doing a cruise ship excursion, but instead we did it ourselves for about half the price.
We found the Royal Palace, but we didn't go inside - a little palace'd out at this point.
So we took the boat to the island with the Vasa museum on it, but we had already decided not to go inside, a good thing because it turned out the museum was full and they weren't letting anyone in until it had emptied some.
The Vasa museum is dedicated to the 17th century war ship the Vasa, which sunk in the harbor on its maiden voyage because it was too heavy. It lay in the harbor for many years until they pulled it out, so it was remarkably preserved and a huge tourist attraction. But it wasn't cheap to get in, so we just explored the island instead.
We walked through the park and saw lots of little baby birds,
then got back on the HoHo boat and went to see the 19th century amusement park, Gröna Lund. We walked around the area a bit, found WiFi and posted on the blog, then got on the boat and went to Gamla Stan, the old town.
The old town was pretty, but it was basically shops and restaurants in old buildings and cobblestone streets.
The train ride was an hour, so we had to leave Stockholm at this point, in order to make it back for the last tender at 5.
The tender back was filled with teenagers we had somehow missed over the entire trip. For a while we had been almost positive we were the youngest people on the cruise -- Rich especially insists there are no kids on the ship (though we have seen at least ten of them). There is even a kids play area for the invisible kids.
The show tonight (or wait, was it last night? I'm confused) was a magician named Sanders. He was kind of annoying, but his act was fun. Though Rich was not impressed.
This night, the sun set so early, before 10. Wow!
~Myra & Mia, varying paragraphs
---
We survived the tender ride (after waiting about an hour), found the train station, boarded a train, and made it to Stockholm! A day pass cost us $24 a person and their credit card machine was broken, so we paid in cash and we got change in krona. We won't be using the pass except to get back. Then we paid 100 kr a person for a 24 hour ticket for the Hop On Hop Off boat. This is interesting only because we had been briefly looking into doing a cruise ship excursion, but instead we did it ourselves for about half the price.
Stockholm:
More Stockholm:
We found the Royal Palace, but we didn't go inside - a little palace'd out at this point.
So we took the boat to the island with the Vasa museum on it, but we had already decided not to go inside, a good thing because it turned out the museum was full and they weren't letting anyone in until it had emptied some.
The Vasa museum is dedicated to the 17th century war ship the Vasa, which sunk in the harbor on its maiden voyage because it was too heavy. It lay in the harbor for many years until they pulled it out, so it was remarkably preserved and a huge tourist attraction. But it wasn't cheap to get in, so we just explored the island instead.
Myra's favorite part:
The Gate:
Boats:
then got back on the HoHo boat and went to see the 19th century amusement park, Gröna Lund. We walked around the area a bit, found WiFi and posted on the blog, then got on the boat and went to Gamla Stan, the old town.
We saw someone doing this game/gamble con with the 3 boxes and the marble:
The train ride was an hour, so we had to leave Stockholm at this point, in order to make it back for the last tender at 5.
The tender back was filled with teenagers we had somehow missed over the entire trip. For a while we had been almost positive we were the youngest people on the cruise -- Rich especially insists there are no kids on the ship (though we have seen at least ten of them). There is even a kids play area for the invisible kids.
The show tonight (or wait, was it last night? I'm confused) was a magician named Sanders. He was kind of annoying, but his act was fun. Though Rich was not impressed.
This night, the sun set so early, before 10. Wow!
~Myra & Mia, varying paragraphs
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Day 13: Helsinki - It's June, so it's hot
We awoke to a beautiful sunny and warm day, and a 45 minute walk into town. By the time we got there, it was a beautiful HOT day. On the way we stopped at a beach to play in the ocean, but it wasn't enough to keep us cool for long (despite the near freezing temperatures).
We walked past a marina, three different parks filled with children, and the docks for the ferries to Stockholm. When we rounded a bend, we clearly saw the two cathedrals of Helsinki, each on their own little hill, rising above the city.
We entered Market Square, where there were a bunch of market stalls selling anything from fruit, to meals, to reindeer pelts, to jewelry, to souvenirs. We walked though it all to get to Uspenski Cathedral. It was closed, but from its hill we got a nice view of the city. The cathedral was made of red brick and accented with some sort of green metal I suppose could have been copper. The top was decorated with golden ornaments, and the contrasting colors looked very pretty together.
Next we walked to the Lutheran Cathedral, which had a lot more steps to climb.
It was worth it though, because not only was it open to visitors, but someone was playing the awesome organ the entire time we were there.
When we left we found WiFi, but it was weird and gave us some problems. It let me post Tallinn, but only half of the first day of St. Petersburg. It also wouldn't let us get mail. So we moved on. (Eventually, Myra notes.)
We started our walking tour in Market Square and walked up the main street. Most of the things on the tour aren't worth mentioning here, but at the end we visited Temppeliaukio, which is a church built into the rock and that was pretty interesting.
Also interesting is that they charge a euro to use the restroom. Seems pretty smart of them, since there is no entry fee to get into the church.
After that we started back. I really need water, but I was waiting to get some at a grocery store so I wouldn't have to pay an arm and leg for it. But there were no grocery stores! At least, there weren't any until I dragged Rich and Myra into a mall to check the basement, something I learned from China. And low and behold, there was a grocery store in the basement! Not only that, but they had WiFi! So we got ourselves a table in the food court and sat there for about an hour, resting, drinking, and checking email. Also, they didn't charge for use of the bathroom :). The cheapest container of water was this giant 5 liter container, so we tried to drink as much as possible, but I still had to drag around at least 4 liters of it for the rest of the day.
We finally made it back to Market Square, where we hopped on a boat bound for Suomenlinna fortress.
It was getting late (we needed to be back at the boat by 5), so we only had a half hour to explore the island. It was pretty cool, with walls and buildings dating back from the 18th century.
But we were tired and couldn't wander far, so we didn't see as much as we would have liked.
We made it back to the ship with a whole ten minutes to spare, then collapsed in our room for a half hour before rushing off to Evening Trivia, where we didn't do nearly as bad as we thought. But we still didn't win :(I might have forgotten to mention it when it happened, but we did win at trivia once). We had a nice dinner, went hot tubbing, then went to a magic show. After that, Myra and I went to check out the Chocoholic's Buffet, which was interesting to see, though not as good to taste, but still fun.
Then we all slept happily ever after.
~Mia
We walked past a marina, three different parks filled with children, and the docks for the ferries to Stockholm. When we rounded a bend, we clearly saw the two cathedrals of Helsinki, each on their own little hill, rising above the city.
We entered Market Square, where there were a bunch of market stalls selling anything from fruit, to meals, to reindeer pelts, to jewelry, to souvenirs. We walked though it all to get to Uspenski Cathedral. It was closed, but from its hill we got a nice view of the city. The cathedral was made of red brick and accented with some sort of green metal I suppose could have been copper. The top was decorated with golden ornaments, and the contrasting colors looked very pretty together.
Next we walked to the Lutheran Cathedral, which had a lot more steps to climb.
It was worth it though, because not only was it open to visitors, but someone was playing the awesome organ the entire time we were there.
When we left we found WiFi, but it was weird and gave us some problems. It let me post Tallinn, but only half of the first day of St. Petersburg. It also wouldn't let us get mail. So we moved on. (Eventually, Myra notes.)
We started our walking tour in Market Square and walked up the main street. Most of the things on the tour aren't worth mentioning here, but at the end we visited Temppeliaukio, which is a church built into the rock and that was pretty interesting.
The Outside:
The Inside:
After that we started back. I really need water, but I was waiting to get some at a grocery store so I wouldn't have to pay an arm and leg for it. But there were no grocery stores! At least, there weren't any until I dragged Rich and Myra into a mall to check the basement, something I learned from China. And low and behold, there was a grocery store in the basement! Not only that, but they had WiFi! So we got ourselves a table in the food court and sat there for about an hour, resting, drinking, and checking email. Also, they didn't charge for use of the bathroom :). The cheapest container of water was this giant 5 liter container, so we tried to drink as much as possible, but I still had to drag around at least 4 liters of it for the rest of the day.
We finally made it back to Market Square, where we hopped on a boat bound for Suomenlinna fortress.
It was getting late (we needed to be back at the boat by 5), so we only had a half hour to explore the island. It was pretty cool, with walls and buildings dating back from the 18th century.
It was a fortress:
But we were tired and couldn't wander far, so we didn't see as much as we would have liked.
Bye bye, 'semolina' (as Mia called it):
We made it back to the ship with a whole ten minutes to spare, then collapsed in our room for a half hour before rushing off to Evening Trivia, where we didn't do nearly as bad as we thought. But we still didn't win :(I might have forgotten to mention it when it happened, but we did win at trivia once). We had a nice dinner, went hot tubbing, then went to a magic show. After that, Myra and I went to check out the Chocoholic's Buffet, which was interesting to see, though not as good to taste, but still fun.
Then we all slept happily ever after.
~Mia
Day 12: St. Petersburg part 2 - Let's drive to Moscow
We started the day with a drive through the city in rush hour traffic, while learning more history and facts, then we did a short canal ride through a couple canals and down a part of the main river. It was very pretty, especially since the day turned out warm and sunny.
After the canal ride we went to the metro and rode one stop -- the whole point of this was simply to see the metro, which is a sight to itself. First, the escalators are the longest I've ever seen, and Elena told us that in some parts, where the system runs under the river, it takes 4 minutes to ride the escalator down, and these are steep, fast escalators. Then there is the decorated underground area. The walls and floors are marble, with pretty colors, there are large decorated lamps, and it really is a pretty area.
Still, crowded, and the trains themselves were not ornate in any way. As Mia put it, the trains were quite out of place in the metro.
After that we saw a local farmer's market, with excellent-looking fruits and veggies but it was an ugly, dirty area. Elena said she does not shop there because it is too expensive, she prefers the supermarket.
The next site was Peter and Paul's Fortress, the building with the most history... I don't really remember any of it. The church was designed in the Classic style since Peter the Great was influenced by European buildings, and he built it for his patron saint, Peter. By the way, St. Petersburg is named for the saint, not the tsar. Instead of onion domes, it has a spire.
Insides the church are many tombs for the various Romanov rulers of Russia: Peter the Great, his wife Catherine, their daughter Elizabeth, etc.
Also buried there are Nicholas ll and his family, whom you may know were murdered as the Bolsheviks wiped out the entire Romanov line (save for his mother). Wanting to keep the murders secret, they poured acid on the bodies and hid the remains. Later, the remains were recovered, but two children were missing, Alexi and one of the girls. Thus sprung the stories of Anastasia. About two years ago, the other two remains were found and identified as those of Alexi and the missing girl (our guide said it was not Anastasia but Maria).
The next stop was the Hermitage museum, located in the Winter Palace and surrounding buildings. The art collection was impressive, a lot of French Impressionist. There were works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, etc. However, better than the art were the buildings themselves. The ceilings especially were gorgeous.
We visited a tiny part of the museum, and since it had been closed the day before, and there were 4 cruise ships in port, it was very crowded in those frequently-toured areas. It took us close to 2 hours. It is said that to see the entire collection and spend 3 minutes at each display, it would take 3 years.
Finally, now at 2:00, we got lunch. Our hunger may have contributed some to our disinterest in the art. This time the restaurant was more modern-looking, but we got a traditional meal, kind of. A potato salad (yum), beet soup (very traditional), and chicken and rice -- very bland, but we concluded that in itself must be the tradition. Then we went on to the best thing of the day and our favorite building of all:
The Church of Our Savior On Spilled Blood was built on the site of Alexander ll's assassination, where his blood spilled (they even kept a small portion of the cobblestone street).
Alexander ll was much loved by the people, having abolished serfdom among other things. The church is built in the traditional Russian Orthodox style with the onion domes,
and it went through some hard times. In the Soviet time it was going to be destroyed (the government destroyed over 200 churches) but it wasn't. During the Siege of Leningrad it was used to store corpses because 500,000 people died and they had nowhere and no strength to bury the bodies. Later it was bombed by the Nazi's, and eventually restoration began. Our guide said when it was unveiled in 1993 the city was pleasantly shocked, because of it's beautiful architecture and colors that contrasted so much with the grayness of Soviet times.
The inside, if you can believe it, was even better than the outside. Walls and ceiling were covered in mosaics depicting bible scenes. 12,000 shades of colored glass were used. Each mosaic took about two years to restore after the damage.
It is a tradition for people at weddings to go to the bridge near the church, we saw three bridal parties in total. The couple puts a lock on the bridge for something like a wish for a successful marriage. Also, seeing a bride here is good luck.
When we finished with the church we had an extra half hour, so we had to decide on something to fill it, someone suggested driving to Moscow :) but in the end we did a little shopping, then it was time for the tour to come to an end.
On the ship there was a Russian performance, but it was out on the deck in the hot sun and the players could not compare to what we had seen the night before, so instead we made it to evening trivia! That was a good day, and now the time changes will be in the right direction.
-Myra
After the canal ride we went to the metro and rode one stop -- the whole point of this was simply to see the metro, which is a sight to itself. First, the escalators are the longest I've ever seen, and Elena told us that in some parts, where the system runs under the river, it takes 4 minutes to ride the escalator down, and these are steep, fast escalators. Then there is the decorated underground area. The walls and floors are marble, with pretty colors, there are large decorated lamps, and it really is a pretty area.
Still, crowded, and the trains themselves were not ornate in any way. As Mia put it, the trains were quite out of place in the metro.
After that we saw a local farmer's market, with excellent-looking fruits and veggies but it was an ugly, dirty area. Elena said she does not shop there because it is too expensive, she prefers the supermarket.
The next site was Peter and Paul's Fortress, the building with the most history... I don't really remember any of it. The church was designed in the Classic style since Peter the Great was influenced by European buildings, and he built it for his patron saint, Peter. By the way, St. Petersburg is named for the saint, not the tsar. Instead of onion domes, it has a spire.
The inside:
Also buried there are Nicholas ll and his family, whom you may know were murdered as the Bolsheviks wiped out the entire Romanov line (save for his mother). Wanting to keep the murders secret, they poured acid on the bodies and hid the remains. Later, the remains were recovered, but two children were missing, Alexi and one of the girls. Thus sprung the stories of Anastasia. About two years ago, the other two remains were found and identified as those of Alexi and the missing girl (our guide said it was not Anastasia but Maria).
The next stop was the Hermitage museum, located in the Winter Palace and surrounding buildings. The art collection was impressive, a lot of French Impressionist. There were works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, etc. However, better than the art were the buildings themselves. The ceilings especially were gorgeous.
We visited a tiny part of the museum, and since it had been closed the day before, and there were 4 cruise ships in port, it was very crowded in those frequently-toured areas. It took us close to 2 hours. It is said that to see the entire collection and spend 3 minutes at each display, it would take 3 years.
Throne with the crest of Russia (the 2-headed eagle):
Mechanical peacock:
A door:
Finally, now at 2:00, we got lunch. Our hunger may have contributed some to our disinterest in the art. This time the restaurant was more modern-looking, but we got a traditional meal, kind of. A potato salad (yum), beet soup (very traditional), and chicken and rice -- very bland, but we concluded that in itself must be the tradition. Then we went on to the best thing of the day and our favorite building of all:
The Church of Our Savior On Spilled Blood was built on the site of Alexander ll's assassination, where his blood spilled (they even kept a small portion of the cobblestone street).
Alexander ll was much loved by the people, having abolished serfdom among other things. The church is built in the traditional Russian Orthodox style with the onion domes,
and it went through some hard times. In the Soviet time it was going to be destroyed (the government destroyed over 200 churches) but it wasn't. During the Siege of Leningrad it was used to store corpses because 500,000 people died and they had nowhere and no strength to bury the bodies. Later it was bombed by the Nazi's, and eventually restoration began. Our guide said when it was unveiled in 1993 the city was pleasantly shocked, because of it's beautiful architecture and colors that contrasted so much with the grayness of Soviet times.
The inside, if you can believe it, was even better than the outside. Walls and ceiling were covered in mosaics depicting bible scenes. 12,000 shades of colored glass were used. Each mosaic took about two years to restore after the damage.
Close up on one of the mosaics:
The marbled floor:
It is a tradition for people at weddings to go to the bridge near the church, we saw three bridal parties in total. The couple puts a lock on the bridge for something like a wish for a successful marriage. Also, seeing a bride here is good luck.
More of 'em Russians:
When we finished with the church we had an extra half hour, so we had to decide on something to fill it, someone suggested driving to Moscow :) but in the end we did a little shopping, then it was time for the tour to come to an end.
On the ship there was a Russian performance, but it was out on the deck in the hot sun and the players could not compare to what we had seen the night before, so instead we made it to evening trivia! That was a good day, and now the time changes will be in the right direction.
-Myra
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