The cruise line arranged an exclusive concert for us, at Catherine's Palace, on our evening in port. A small chamber ensemble played period pieces, a couple danced several minuets etc, and a Jessica Rivera look-alike 😎 sang Caro Mio Ben, a few Rossini pieces, and some other stuff that was familiar but not identifiable.

 

 

 

The Amber Room at Catherine's Palace. While it was once known as the 8th Wonder of the World, the original amber pieces were stolen by the Nazis, so it had to be reconstructed.

 

After several hours, Barbara called it "opulence overload".

 

 

More Hermitage.

 

 

 

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Art and elegance everywhere, including a little scribble by Leonardo da Vinci. Our guide managed to sneak us past all the lines, and there were many.

   

The Sibelius monument in Helsinki. Generally considered somewhere between ugly and appalling.

  

Managed to post a few pix from Helsinki - I have a backlog of photos from St. Petersburg to post, but as always, it may depend on wifi and local cell data. In any case, once I start posting, anyone sufficiently bored who needs to see every last photo 😎, well, remember to hit "view older posts" at the bottom of your screen, as you won't be able to simply scroll to the earlier posts.

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Reindeer pâté, anyone? Howzabout bear?

 

Open air market in the twin square. Check out the meringues on the top of the first pic. Lots of fish obviously,, but heavy on the fresh berries, too.

     

Helsinkians call this the Rock Church for obvious reasons - carved deeply into the granite.

 

We are in St. Petersburg, but the ship's wifi is not strong enough to transmit photos. And the local cell data I've been using up until now with my iPhone international SIM card and my little portable hotspot do not function, unsurprisingly, in Russia. So not to worry, we haven't been abducted by the KGB or anything - the last few photos of Helsinki and the ones from St Petersburg will just have to wait until we arrive somewhere with friendlier tech.

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self explanatory.

 

The local Orthodox church, and a particularly attractive early 20th century train station. (Pardon the raindrops on the glass)

  

 

Around town in Helsinki. The lilac trees are in full bloom so the parks smell wonderful.

 

 

 

The sailing from Tallinn across the Baltic is less than 50 miles, we got into Helsinki, Finland, at about 10:30p. The sun is just beginning to set behind this outgoing ferry.

 

We were able to get a tour of the bridge - quite fascinating & all computerized, of course. The giant 3' wooden hand is used by the officers, to wave at people on the docks....😎

 

 

 

The "Navigator of the Seas" is in port with us. She is a monster, accommodating 3,800 passengers - so is just about 10 times as big as we are. Too big for one picture - the ones below are looking forward, and looking aft. Unbelievable.