At last I have my photos sorted !

Monday 8th August   Stockholm Sweden

I think that I was too overwhelmed and excited to take photos today

So, thanks Google for finding me pics that I can remember.  I may have to use you again.

Stockholm is built on 14 islands linked by 54 bridges

The island in the centre is the Parliament building and the road in the foreground is where we got lost looking for the Shuttle Bus back to the ship

Tuesday 9th August  Helsinki  Finland

Helsinki Cathedral

The Rock Church
or
Tempelpatsens Kyrka - in Swedish
It opened in 1969 after an a competition for a design on this site
It is carved out of solid granite, has wonderful natural light and acoustics 

In the afternoon we went to the ice bar
Tables, bar, glasses all made of ice and filled with delicious berry flavoured vodka

Next a husky sled run

I look pretty scared !

A great experience

Wednesday and Thursday 10th and 11th August

St Petersburg

Our first view of the Hermitage from the other side of the river

I am going there tomorrow, so I am excited about that 

Paul is acting tour guide while our official guide organises a loo stop

The Church of St Peter and St Paul

Not much to look at from outside .....

But what a glorious gilded interior holding treasures

The tomb of Peter the Great

The tomb where the remains of Nicholas 11, his wife Alexandra and three of their children were laid to rest on 17th July 1998

This is a picture of the funeral ceremony

Although the two remaining children were not buried with them until 11th September 2015

We also saw the Church of the Spilled Blood

It was built where Alexander 11 was fatally wounded in March 1881

The church was built between 1883 and 1907

No time to go inside but we saw many lovely sights in St Petersburg

Paul spotted this Wedding car

We saw at least three weddings on our tour

The Hermitage

The square on the land side of the Hermitage was amazingly spacious

The entrance gates

The building itself was just amazing

This ceiling was painted to look as though it was plaster relief, but was in fact flat.

The inlaid floors were also amazing

I was surprised that we were allowed to walk on them

But they have been treated with  a protective layer

This just looks like a garden, but Catherine had it built on the second floor, a marvel at the time

This is the Peacock Clock

It was made in England and when it chimes it spreads it's tail feathers - amazing again

I could not keep my mouth closed as i walked round !

An early painting by Leonardo da Vinci

However fantastic the exhibits i just loved the building

Like this fantastic ceiling

And these pictures of the Grand Staircase

Tallin  Estonia

Tallinn is a Medieval walled town

There are many towers along the walls but this is the most important

The flag flying from this tower tells the world who rules the city

When Estonia split from the USSR it was a bloodless revolution

They just hoisted their flag

The Cathedral of St Mary. A Beautiful building but by this time we were having our fill of churches !

A good vantage point for an overview of the city

I loved this restaurant where all the flower boxes were filled with herbs 

More lovely flowers set in what seemed to be an old staircase

Back to the ship

Life on board

The seafood section of the buffet was especially good for Paul

We tried the Italian and French Restaurants, wonderful also

But if you just wanted to pig out on Seafood or even lovely fresh French bread and cheese

This was the place

Paul looking happy after lunch 

Not surprising !

However I came back not having put a pound on ...

Good healthy food, even if there was an amazing lot of it

Plenty of walking too

The onboard entertainment was mixed, but mostly good

We enjoyed this tribute to The Beatles

Also a show celebrating the Rat Pack

Every day there were interesting talks, I especially enjoyed the Viking History lectures

Thank you Toby.  He was from Birmingham University

And also a daily preview of what we could expect from the port the next day

The Long and Winding Road show.

Sunday 14th August Gdansk Poland 

This was the only port of call where I felt disappointed with the tour

Gdansk meant to me the Shipyard rebellion in 1981 and Lech Walesa, when 17,000 shipyard workers went on strike and began organised resistance to the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Europe

This is a picture of the famous Gate No 2 which  is celebrated in Solidarity Square

Solidarity Square today
The three cross memorial and the building designed to look like a ship under construction
There is also a part of the Berlin Wall on display
Which reminds me, whatever happened to the fragment that my Mother had ?
Anyway, that is another story.
I was amazed that we did not stop here

Gdansk itself was very pleasant with a beautiful waterfront

Interesting market (I bought myself some earrings)

Wonderful Gargoyles everywhere

A picturesque fountain

This is the Birthplace of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit who was born in Gdansk in 1686

  

A monument was built to remember him
A reproduction of his Thermometer, Barometer and clock

On a lighter note, I had a couple Zlote left after buying an ice cream so I had my fortune told by a budgerigar.
He selected a card out of the rack for me.
I think that I will live happily ever after !

Monday 15th August  Warnemunde  Germay

This was the port for a visit to Berlin

A scheduled train arrived early, a view from our cabin

However, we decided that a twelve hour trip for four hours in Berlin did not make sense.

We will go another time.  I suppose it was ok for the majority of passengers (American) 

 It is a long way for them to come back

So we opted for a visit to a microbrewery instead

We had a good explanation about how the beer was made

Then samples of Beer and Pretzels

Not too sure at 9.30 am !  But we made the best of it ...

This was the beer we were tasting

The Brewery had a nice little beer garden behind it

Easy access from train station to Brewery to Football Stadium, and reverse

Popular place I would imagine

We carried on to the old Hanseatic town of Rostock

Locally this fountain is nicknamed the pornographic fountain

I chose this view carefully

Personally I preferred the wart hog !

No one could doubt that this was a shoe shop
Quite delightful

We took a leisurely boat ride back to the ship

It looks huge but only carries around 900 passengers so it is able to get into the smaller ports

Tuesday 16th August   Copenhagen  Denmark

There is no doubt that we are in Copenhagen

Here is the Little Mermaid

We are enjoying  the weather and the lovely views

Until is starts raining !

It is the first wet day that we have had so not too much to complain about

It was worth getting wet to see the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace

Although Paul did no think so ...

Me .... drowned rat in a very fetching poncho bought from the souvenir shop
Paul stayed comfy and dry on the coach

Wednesday 17th August   Aalborg  Denmark

As soon as we arrive in Aalborg we learn about the Danish way of life

Denmark is said to be the happiest country in Europe and Aalborg the happiest city in Denmark

This is not a very pretty picture taken from our cabin, but this plant burns the rubbish from the city (no nasty smells) and 80% of the city is heated from this plant 

  

This is Alborg 'Castle'

Pretty and not fortified as you would expect from the happiest city in Europe

Paul, as you would expect, was more interested in the classic Chrysler car

Alborg is a small port and not much visited by cruise ships.   The 'Costas' etc are just too big.  So we were given a wonderful welcome everywhere. This Viking 'village' was set up for us, with displays of fighting and handicrafts

We were also given a special welcome at the church where volunteers served coffee and cookies 

 

This was everyone's favourite guy as he served Schnaaps with pork crackling and rye bread, and taught us how to drink in the Danish way.

OK, touristy but fun 

This was Alborg's main post office, now a bank as it was hardly used any more

Another view of the Post Office, where you can see the pigeon lofts.  How technology has moved on.

This was a newspaper kiosk in Copenhagen, but Danish people rarely read newspapers any more.

Aalborg bought it from Copenhagen and made it a tourist information centre.

Then Copenhagen wanted to buy it back.  "No way" said Aalborg.

Typical streets in old town Aalborg

Thursday 18th August  Stavanger  Norway

A typical street view in old town Stavanger

It is required that the houses are painted white and kept in good condition 

At the top of the hill there was a lovely little park complete with Children's sand pit

The Cunard Queen Elizabeth in the background

We had a stroll round the market while the tour went into yet another church.

Unfortunately we never found them again !

We probably enjoyed ourselves more exploring by ourselves

By the lake was this enchanting statue of a boy feeding the ducks

The ducks are considered important in Stavanger as they come ashore every year to breed in the lake

So the city built little steps for them to make it easier to come ashore

There is great excitement when the first ducks arrive and they are guided through the traffic for a long (by duck standards) walk

  

So, all the houses have to be painted white

Many years ago one resident would not paint his house white as white paint was much more expensive

Blue it has stayed

As we walk back to there is a fantastic reflection of the ship in the building on the quay

By 5.30 pm we were on our way again followed by seagulls

They were taking food from Paul's hand

Friday 19th August Flaam Norway  -  My favorite place

We needed a pilot boat to enter the narrow and spectacular Aurlandsfjord

The small town of Flaam sits eight hours inland at the heard of the fjord

We took an early morning stroll - this really is the Land of the Trolls

On impulse we jumped on the Flaam railway train for the 9.45 am departure

Leaving just enough time for us to get back for the afternoon trip that we had booked

The little train was comfortable and traditional

The views were spectacular in the morning mist

 We made a stop at the Kjosfossen Waterfall

Oh ... Just to prove we were there !

Then we heard strange music and the Spirits that we had been told about appeared

They are renowned for singing and luring men into the mountain

An amusing touch - no Trolls though

In the afternoon I took a scenic coach ride in the opposite direction

Paul decided that he had done enough for one day !

Back along the fjord and then up into the mountains where we visited a mountain lodge

The lodges are traditional resting places for travellers, walking cycling etc in the mountains

Some of them are privately owned and can be very picturesque

Sadly it was time to leave Flaam at 6.00pm

But that seemed an ideal time to enjoy a drink on our balcony

 and  watch the beautiful scenery go by

Saturday 20th August  Bergen Norway - our final port of call

We wandered round the now familiar Scandinavian style of the old town  

One house was proudly displaying it's date of build

1790

Next we visited the Archaeological Museum

This contained exhibits from an area that had been destroyed by fire

(Not unusual with so many wooden buildings)

And later excavated

These remains are very notable because of the state of their teeth

As a result of an excellent diet of fish and vegetables - and NO sugar

Next we visited the area of the Merchants Warehouses by the Quay

Narrow streets with cranes jutting from the top of the buildings

Next the covered fish market

There is also an open air market but this has become a touristy restaurant area

Much to the disgust of our guide !

One shop was proudly displaying a small shark

Dried cod was hanging everywhere from the roof

The dark packets are smoked whale meat.

Our guide, who had strong opinions about fish said 

"It is like biting into steak until a moment later the oily fishy taste hits you"

There were prawn by the bucket load 

and these are Spider Crabs which Paul ate virtually every evening

Walking back to the ship we saw an old steam ship pass by

And Bergen Marina which was amazingly full

It may have been because of the outdoor concert that was being held in Bergen that night

Our last night on board and we crack the bottle of Champagne that had been put in our fridge when we boarded.  A happy end to a wonderful holiday.