scubacruiserx2

Before we reached the P&P Fortress , Gennadiy stopped the car in front of the Mickhailovskiy Castle and told us the story about it . Paul I , the son of Catherine the Great and heir of the throne , was obsessed with all things Medieval and was concerned about being assassinated . And rather than live in the Winter Palace he built this castle , complete with moat and drawbridge , before he became Czar .

Less than 40 days after moving into it , the new Czar was assassinated in his bedroom there .

The Peter and Paul Fortress was the first structure built in SPB .

And because of it's cathedral's bell tower , it is visible throughout the city . And at 122.5 meters , it's the tallest Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the world .

This photo , which I took at the base of a Rostral Column , shows the P&P Fortress . It is a copy of the image found on the Russian 50 Ruble note .

Here's Tyler , with wind blown scarf , entering the Fortress .

Can you recommend where to find those great maps that you are sharing, were in the baltics next month. Thanks

I search on line . The most recent one of SPB is from a HoHo boat tour and shows most of the major sites around the city .

And here is a really good one which I forgot to put up when we first arrived at the port .

The red arrow points to the port and Kronshtadt and Peterhof are near the top . Toward the bottom left is Pulkovo , the airport and Tsarskoe Selo ( Czar's village ) , which is where Catherine's Palace is located .

I am enjoying my virtual Baltic cruise! Your pictures and the info that accompanies them is so good I feel like I've really been there. I already have so many trips I'd like to take that I'll have to add this one to my seriously long list.

Thank you Nancy , I appreciate that . A photo is worth a thousand words ! We hope that you are well and diving ! This morning we are planning , with Tyler , a dive trip to Cozumel or a Disney water park trip in August - so we'll see ! :cool:

Gennadiy translating for Pat .

We were the only people in the museum on that day , NO crowds !

And in this video clip , Gennadiy translates the curator's information :

Lenin's office

bedroom

and sitting room .

The sitting room was used for another famous painting of Lenin .

After our tour while Gennadiy returned the museum keys to security , we were asked to wait here , where Pat snapped this photo of these unique phones !

Our next stop was the Peter and Paul Fortress .

Smolny was chosen by Lenin as a place to stay and as the Bolshevik headquarters after the October 1917 revolution . It and the White Hall were prominently featured in propaganda paintings afterwards .

The red arrow points to Stalin

And these 2 photos are part on the Lenin Museum there .

In the above photo the red arrow points to where Leon Trotsky's image was and a hood now is . He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929 and he was assassinated in Mexico in 1940 . .

In this display case is a photo of Joseph Stalin who became the leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin . The photo below is of Sergey Kirov , a political rival to Stalin in Leningrad . He was assassinated in this very building in 1934 . The Mariinsky ballet changed it's name to Kirov after his death , but it returned to it's original name after the breakup of the USSR .

The Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens was the first women's educational institution in Russia and paved the way for women’s education in the country. The institute was founded at the urging of Ivan Betskoy and in accordance with a decree signed by Catherine the Great on May 5 (April 24 according to Julian calendar) 1764.

From the article :Smolny Institute: Girl power VS Communist power.

There is a small room in the building with the photographs and paintings about the Institute .

Catherine the Great

According to the empress’s decree, the objective was to raise “educated women, good mothers and useful members of family and society.” Although the stated aim of the institute was to bring girls up “in beauty and happiness,” Russia’s first educational institution for women was famous for its strict discipline. Students had to get up at 6 a.m. and had virtually no free time. They were accompanied everywhere by schoolmistresses, and there was no opportunity for them to leave Smolny — all parents signed a document promising that they would not take their child home for 12 years.

From the Moscow Times article : Catherine’s Maidens – Beautiful, Plain, Noble

Sleeping accommodations

Dance lessons

This was the same White Hall in which were now seated .

But it played a much different role in 1917 !!!

Smolny has played a major role in Russian and Soviet history . This is the Smolny Cathedral our first stop .

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/smolny-cathedral/

We have never been inside of it and so we asked to go inside . But when we arrived there - another renovation .

Our next stop , around the corner was the Smolny Institute .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolny_Institute

Do you think that it was cold ?

A statute of Lenin is displayed here prominently .

It is currently the official residence of the governor of St.Peterburg . The view from the front steps .

Because Pat and I have Russian Visas and have stayed in Russia several times , SPB would have been a DIY port for us . Most of the passengers on the Eclipse were from the UK or the USA and would be doing a ship's tour or a tour from a private Russian company . Tyler also has a Russian Visa , but to cover the maximum amount of sites , and to keep it interesting for him and us , we used a hybrid approach . To us , size matters on private tours and smaller is better . Larger 'private' tours are cheaper but lack input , flexibility , personal attention and are limited by the slowest moving person ( like photographers who don't know when to go ) . Thus we consider a private tour , in SPB , to be the 3 of us and our guides and/or drivers . And so we use 2 different guides and 2 different drivers for a total cost of $ 900 US . This is not meant to denigrate anyone else's experience but rather , it's the way that we did it , in an effort to achieve what we wanted to see and do , for a minimal price .

We had an early date with our guide and driver , Gennadiy Chentsov , and a full day planned . And having heard the horror stories from others about the difficulty of getting through immigration on day 1 , we were ready to go . We didn't wait for an announcement to go ashore , but rather , we left as soon as we saw a group from the ship leaving . There was another group going down the forward stairway and so we just joined in . Many people commented on the stern faced officials in immigration asking probing questions , but that hasn't been our experience . Just answer their questions honestly .

We did have more questions because of our Visas and lack of tour tickets , but a supervisor was called and the whole process took less than 5 minutes . This was our first experience in the new terminal and this is where you will meet your private tour guides , if you have one .

Because we got through immigration so fast we had some spare time , so I went outside to take a pano shot .

We met our guide and driver , Gennadiy , at the front gate and we made a couple of photo stops on the way to Smolny, our first tour .

The Quay with Sphinxes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quay_with_Sphinxes

And the Russian museum .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Museum

Note the Spilled Blood Church on the left hand side of the photo .

And here's a map of SPB .

How exciting this part of the trip must have been for your grandson!!!

It's funny how different people are . Tyler's brother would have very excited if he were there , but Tyler is usually very calm . He enjoys sleeping in ( like most teens do ) , where Timothy would have been wide awake ! So it's one early bird and one night owl !! It was a balance between seeing a lot in this busy port and having down time . We did cut our nights shorter than what Pat and I would have done , if it were just us there , and we did let him sleep in on day 2 and day 3 . :) :D

If you are interested , I put up a 2 minute video clip of when we passed through the flood gates here :

The Azura and the Emerald are sister ships in the Grand Class and they were constructed at about the same time .

We were pulling into Terminal 4 our home for the next 3 days .

A new football stadium is being constructed in SPB for the 2018 World Cup .

https://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2010/dec/03/world-cup-2018-russia-stadiums

In our cabin , our personal global WiFi hotspot was up and running for P & T , while I reviewed disembarkation procedures .

We were ready to go !

I love your photos from the balloon!

Such an unusual angle to see Tallinn and all the ships!

Great!

 

/Erik

They do offer a great view and there were only 6 on our flight . And while it can hold up to 30 people per flight , it might be difficult to move around .

Wait...they don't refund you even if they are the ones to cancel? That's not right!

 

I'm a little jealous of your weather...it was raining and about 40 degrees the day we were in Tallinn. :(

 

Edit -- I read on and see you also got some rain, but you got your balloon ride in too!

While we were thrilled that we got fly , the weather and lighting was best in the morning , when we were initially there . Here is their prices :

Prices

You can purchase a boarding pass on location or in advance at balloontallinn.ee. Advance boarding pass guarantees immediate Express boarding pass status that allows you privileged access in the queue. A limited amount of Express boarding passes are also available on location and provide identical privileged access.

Come to fly in the mornings from 8 am till 10 am and save 20% of price

Boarding passes either on location or bought in advance online

Adult 25 euros

Child aged 7-16 15 euros

Child under 7* free

Family** 60 euros

* Children under 12 need at least one escort of at least 16 years of age, per one escort maximum 2 children under 7.

** 2 adults and up to 2 children under 16, valid only for the members of the same family.

Express boarding pass on location

Express adult 40 euros

Express child aged 7-16 25 euros

Express child under 7* free

Express Family** 100 euros

* Children under 12 need at least one escort of at least 16 years of age, per one escort maximum 2 children under 7.

** 2 adults and up to 2 children under 16, valid only for the members of the same family.

In hindsight , it might be best to purchase tickets there - if they are flying . And if it were really crowded , you can pay more to bypass the line .

;)

This map from Wikipedia shows SPB and the Ring Road . The blue arrow is the flood gates where we entered and the red arrow is Peterhof .

Peterhof and it's dock are on the right and on the left , under renovation , is the Peter and Paul Cathedral .

The cathedral

The Emerald Princess arriving at the Marine Facade

The P&O Azura was already tied up .

And the Emerald wasn't far behind .

With the 3 short port visits completed , we now entered into the Evil Empire for 3 full days and 2 nights . Cold war hyperbole aside , it would be a long and busy stay !

Another ship

And with more on the horizon , the sea was blissfully calm !

In order to reach SPB we would have to sail through the C-1 flood protection gates at Kronstadt . There is a good video about it here :

The Emerald Princess sailed through ahead of us .

Here we go ! You can see the massive flood gate . What you don't see is a massive underwater tunnel carrying truck and cars beneath us !

And we're through !

I notice that they have added another food category 'Fit,' to the menu.

I wonder how recent that is?

Well spotted Jackie ! We don't know how long that category has been around but we chose to ignore it , because when we're on a cruise we want to indulge , and enjoy ourselves . :) :D

why am I thinking you didn't enjoy that chicken "kiev" .

Below , from Wikipedia , is what I'm used to having , and expected . Perhaps what I received was the new 'Fit' version . ;)

Chicken Kiev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Place of origin Russian Empire

Main ingredients Chicken breast, garlic butter, herbs, bread crumbs

Cookbook: Chicken Kiev Media: Chicken Kiev

Chicken Kiev (Ukrainian: котлета по-київськи, kotleta po-kyivsky, Russian: котлета по-киевски, kotleta po-kiyevski; literally "cutlet Kiev-style") is a popular dish of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled around cold garlic butter with herbs, then coated with eggs and breadcrumbs, and either fried or baked.

Dinner in the MDR .

Spinach and Artichoke dip

Chicken Kiev ( It was unlike any Chicken Kiev that I had ever had before ) .

Celebrity Today

Next : The Evil Empire

After the rain stopped , I went up on deck for some final photos of Tallinn .

Front row seats for the Emerald's sail away .

More Baltic blues

Away she goes !

Moving forward for one last look

And a last photo of Tallinn's Old Town .

Great review and pictures. Out of interest (the kids are asking), what movies are available / showing on Eclipse at the moment?

I wish that we could help you but we didn't watch any movies - only the football ( soccer ) matches . Maybe somebody else who has been on more recently can help you .

Lovely aerial pictures!! You are braver than we are! :)

I'm not sure about braver , but it was a first time balloon ride for the three of us and it was tethered , like a kite ! :) :D

It was cold , breezy and raining . Additionally , with the back lighting there was a lot of glare , so it was tough to get good photos . But the beauty of the city , both Old Town and new , shone thru !

And , back on the ground , with the light at our back , the ladies in waiting looked beautiful

from every angle !

The high angle views are spectacular

Looking East with the sun at our back

The ladies had taken the city view and some coaxing became necessary to exchange places .

"Joe , the balloon is flying !" Was my wake up call and a quick view out of the window confirmed it while I quickly dressed for weather . And we only had about an hour before departure time , we were reminded as we left the ship . We arrived just in time to see a launch . First The World .

And then , the balloon .

Pat and Ty went inside while I took a couple of shots .

DW informed me that they wanted $20 more for afternoon flights , and concerned that they might arbitrarily cancel us again , I paid . " Will we get to fly ? " I asked before paying . " We hope so ", was her less than convincing answer . Our guardian angels on this day came in the form of 2 local ladies who appeared , wanting a flight also , thus increasing our chances of flying . But , we should have copied them when they took blankets with them as we boarded the balloon . But how cold could it get in 15 minutes ?

Up , up and away !

They had informed us that we could walk around the gondola , before we left the ground , but that we should stay balanced and not all go to one side .

I can't believe the balloon place did not give refunds. What a nice way to make money for them. Ugh!

The weather and lighting were the best in the morning , and so we were surprised when they didn't fly . :(

We walked back after looking round the town but they had a stop on the edge of the main market square - where we got off.

Thank you , It's nice to have that option available .:D :)

With the rain and some steep terrain I became concerned with Pat slipping and possibly falling .

This very thing had happened in Cork requiring an ankle surgery and so we found an easy walk down .

But when we stopped near here for photos , we were surrounded by a group of very pushy tourists and so we moved away .

Instinctively , we looked for a less crowded way back to the ship . If we had known about the blue train , we would have used it .

We did stop to get Tyler's scarf and to take a photo , back at the port . Tallinn looked beautiful in the sunshine of this photo .

About this time it began to thunder and we were looking forward to lunch and a nap .

We did this last year from the Cruise Ship as our daughter wanted to go on it. I think it cost us € 6 each and took us right up into the Market square (via the Cathedral and other points of interest). So a mini tour on the way.

 

We thought it was far better value than the HoHo buses which can't actually go up into most of the old town. Plus we got our bearings on where everything was on the way in.

Thank you for sharing that . It sounds like a great way of doing it ! Where do you pick up the return train ?

That looks very similar to the 'Road Train' we saw in Warnmunde.

We have also seen them in St. Petersburg and Alesund , Norway . Here's a video clip from Alesund :