Baltic States

This was the first time for me to experience a cruise holiday. It turned out to be a terrific way to go on holiday, waking up each day in a new country, without having to re-pack.

Baltic States

The Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy near Oslo, is one of two buildings comprising the Museum of Cultural History. In the Viking Ship Museum there are grave finds from Tune, Gokstad, Oseberg and Borre.The Gokstad ship, built of oak, is 24 meters long , 5 meters wide and is the largest of the three ships in the museum. It could accomodate 32 oarsmen and was much more sturdily built than the Oseberg ship. The keel and mast step are sturdier and the ship's sides are higher, with two strakes above the oar holes. The oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail.

Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973) was one of the greatest distance runners of all time. Known as "The Flying Finn" , he dominated long-distance running throughout the early part of the twentieth century, setting 25 world records at distances from 1,500 meters to 20,000 meters and winning nine gold and three silver medals at three Olympic Games from 1920 through 1928. Nurmi is one of only four athletes to win nine gold medals.
The monument consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius
Face of Jean Sibelius (circa 1910) in cast stainless steel

The statue was damaged during bombing in World War 2 in 1944. Marks of the damage can still be seen in the base of the statue.
Besides celebrating its 450th birthday, Finland's capital was also named as one of the nine European Cities of Culture for the Year 2000
Eminent and beloved Estonian choir leader and composer. In 1944 he established the Estonian National Male Choir and remained it's director until his death in 1993
The Orthodox Cathedral, Tallin. Built by the Russians in the late nineteenth century.

I personally found Gothenburg to be a very dull, impersonal place. There did'nt seem to be much going on
I won a prize for this photo of hundreds of Volvo cars waiting for export on the Gothenburg dockside.

The dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg and its gilded cupola can be seen glistening from all over the city
The Aurora is credited with firing the first shots of the 1917 Russin Revolution.She assisted in the seige of Leningrad in WW2, was sunk, recovered, and rebuilt. Sitting at its berth alongside the famous Hermitage, this ship has witnessed the demise of the old USSR, and the emergence of the present amalgam of individual States formed from the old Soviet Union
The Resurrection Cathedral. Also known as "Our Saviour On The Spilt Blood", as it is built on the very spot where a terrorist mortally wounded the Emperor
A Gold Leaf dome at the top of The Resurrection Cathedral
The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world. Experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on display in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all

St Catherine's Palace, St Petersburg
Arriving in Stockholm by sea, is nothing short of breathtaking. The Stockholm Archipelago is made up of 24,000 islands, with many of Stockholm's people actually owning houses on some.
The Millesgarden Sculpture Park and Museum. Fascinating statues placed on several different terraces, set against the sky.
One of Stockholm's many pavement cafe bars.
Busy, bustling Stockholm Old Town.

Af Chapman is a steel full-rigged ship moored on the western shore of the islet Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, Sweden, now serving as a youth hostel. The Stockholm City Museum saved it from being broken up in 1947 and since 1949 it is managed by the Svenska Turistföreningen (STF, Swedish Tourist Association) and serves as a youth hostel with 285 beds
A nice North Sea sunset to see us on our way as we depart Stockholm.
The statue of The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour at Langelinie. This small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon. This statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1950s for various reasons, but has each time been restored. In 2007, Copenhagen officials announced that the statue may be moved further out in the harbour, as to avoid further vandalism and to prevent tourists from climbing onto it. The Copenhagen City Council are planning to move the statue to Shanghai for the duration of the Expo 2010 (from May to October).

Trooping the Colour
Danish legend states that, Gefjon, an Nordic Goddess was promised as much land as she could plow in a night. She apparently turned her four sons into oxen and used then to slice off a piece of Swedish land which she then threw into the sea, creating the island of Zealand. The hole she left became Swedens biggest lake, Lake Vanern.
Also known as the Marble Church

We arrived in Bruges just about the same time as the rain

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Baltic States

Oslo

Depicting family life, Vigeland Park, Oslo

One of Oslo's main attractions is Vigeland Park. The park covers an area of 80 acres. All of it's 212 sculptures were made by Gustav Vigeland who also designed the layout of the grounds.

Gothenburg

Glass blowing workshop, Gothenburg

Situated on Sweden's West Coast, Gothenburg is among the most popular holiday regions in the country. Personally, I found it a bit dull, and without character.

Tallin

Flower market

I found Tallin to be a lovely, lively little town. It has had a very violent history, constantly suffering from numerous attacks from Russia. there is still a large Russian community that is somewhat frowned upon by the Estonians. A lot of Finns can be found walking around Tallin, usually carrying empty holdalls. They then proceed to get incredibly drunk before filling their holdalls with cheap alcohol and boarding ferries back to Finland, where it is much dearer to buy alcohol.

St Petersburg

Winter Palace, St Petersburg

St Petersburg is a relatively young city, by both Russian and European standards, and was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. Despite its short life so far, St Petersburg has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Great's "Venice of the North" to the modern events of the 1991 coup, the city has always bustled with life and intrigue, revolution and mystery.

Helsinki

This charming city boasts an array of attractions such as historical sights and grand structures minted with the city's other half, the ocean itself. It stretches along the Gulf of Finland along the Baltic Sea. Being the country's capital, it is the most populated and it offers modern corporate attractions for cultural, educational, religious and political networks of Finland

Stockholm

King Karl X1V Johan

The love of my people is my award, was the motto of King Karl XIV Johan. He was king of Sweden and Norway from 1818. Location: Gamla stan, Stockholm
From year: 1854

Copenhagen

Little Amsterdam, Copenhagen

Copenhagen is one of Europe's oldest capitals with a royal touch - the monarchy in Denmark is the oldest in the world!

Bruges

Canalside dining

The historic city centre was added to Unesco’s World Heritage List. The current city boundaries still coincide exactly with those of the medieval city centre, and the spaces and structures that were so typical of Bruges in the past have been faithfully preserved.

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