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We recently used Frommers St Petersburg Day by Day. Wealth of info, maps of city and Metro in a compact form easy to carry and consult without looking too much like a tourist! A very walkable city with so much to see and enjoy.

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In general I like the DK Eyewitness Top 10 books --there is one for Tallin--they have good maps and are slim. I also use Frommer's Day by Day series. For our Scandinavia-Russia Cruise we are using Rick Steve's Scandinavia for planning. We are using a private tour in St. Petersburg so do not need maps etc for there but have the larger DK Eyewitness book for orienting ourselves to the city.

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To add to films on Sweden:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (based on "Millenium" by Stieg Larsson)

Actually add the books -- The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, The Girl who played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest -- all fiction

 

Almost any of the Robert Massie books (all non-fiction) would be recommended:

Peter the Great: His Life and World (9/18/2012)

The Romanovs: The Final Chapter (9/18/2012)

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea

 

Also good by Barbra Tuchman The Guns of August (3/28/1994)

 

For WWII Fiction - Herman Wouk Winds of War and War and Rememberance have some good Eastern European scenes/chapters. Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird (1965)

 

If you are going to Helsinki be certain to research and listen to a little of Sibelius, Finland's national composer. I was clueless prior to planning for our first trip.

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Also for Helsinki: Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture (Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture) [Paperback] Editor. Ms. Marianne Aav

The Helsinki Tourist board sends free literature with great maps that show the location of the Design district.

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  • 3 weeks later...
We recently used Frommers St Petersburg Day by Day. Wealth of info, maps of city and Metro in a compact form easy to carry and consult without looking too much like a tourist! A very walkable city with so much to see and enjoy.

 

Thank you! :)

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  • 4 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I enjoyed the book Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander. It is a fictional account of Rasputin's last days through the eyes of his eldest daughter.

 

If you have children traveling on the cruise with you, reading the Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren could be a lot of fun as well.

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I will second The Singing Revolution documentary about Tallinn. Really fascinating to learn more about the fall of the USSR in someplace other than Berlin.

 

The Singing Revolution is available online at YOUTUBE. After watching the movie, I have decided to take a bus out to the TV TOWER (Teletorn) to see the place where the bloodless stand-off with Russian tanks took place. plus it is supposed to have a fantastic view.

 

One of the HOHO buses ( the one with 3 routes- 3 colors) will take you there. Or you can take Bus 34A at Viru Square.

 

http://www.teletorn.ee/en

 

 

 

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DG0C3SKovw

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rNYUIm1is

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tLmVGIqVDU

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF4ZZH5UNUw

Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfv5XkeSN-g

Part 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n70n4k33Pk8

Part 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fHF6BZr4q0

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Planning for your 2020 Baltic cruise? Start reading now.

 

 

No kidding! I recently started reading Peter the Great. Our cruise starts June 21 and I wish I'd started reading sooner!! I'm hoping to get this done and read Massie's book about Catherine, too.

 

I should have finished this thread before ordering the Singing Revolution. It's not currently on Netflix or PBS and couldn't find it On Demand, so ordered it on eBay. Then read a few posts later that it's on YouTube. Ah, well. :o

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Just read "The Madonnas of Leningrad" by Debra Dean --very poignant and beautiful look at the life of a guide in the Hermitage during the siege of Leningrad and her memories through the lens of aging.

I loved reading the Jan Gaillou trilogy on the beginnings of Sweden that was recommended in an earlier post.

"Peter the Great" is on the back burner!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I enjoyed the Danish film "A Royal Affair" (which I found on Netflix). It's lovely to look at and tells of the scandalous episode in the 1760s that involved King Christian, his young English wife and the king's German physician. Pretty juicy stuff . . .

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I enjoyed the Danish film "A Royal Affair" (which I found on Netflix). It's lovely to look at and tells of the scandalous episode in the 1760s that involved King Christian, his young English wife and the king's German physician. Pretty juicy stuff . . .

 

I will have to look for this on Amazon Prime. I love a good scandal. :cool:

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Apparently, the movie sticks pretty closely to what actually happened (surprise) . If you look at portraits of Queen Caroline, however, her looks weren't in the same category as the actress who portrays her (no surprise).

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  • 3 weeks later...
I looked back over this thread and although Oslo is on many Scandinavia itineraries there are no books related to Norway. In 2014 we will be on a cruise to Norway --any reading / movie suggestions?

 

Max Manus is well worth a watch: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029235/combined

 

These also seems good but I haven't seen them myself:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279064/combined

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1736633/combined

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  • 4 months later...
Top ten Swedish films to see before you die

 

When it comes to Swedish cinema, most people probably think of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Pippi Longstocking.

But there's a lot more to it than that, argues Jan Göransson from the Swedish Film Institute.

Check out his top ten.

 

http://www.thelocal.se/20130911/50196

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