Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

[funnel]

I love your photos from the balloon!

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

Great!

 

/Erik

[Cindy]

 

We had booked , and paid for , a flight on Balloon Tallinn . But when we showed up we were told that it might rain and it was too windy ( It wasn't ) . Further , we were told that there are NO refunds ! They did tell us to check back later for a possible flight . After a fruitless discussion , we chose to go to the old town and would stop back after returning to the port . We only took one photo there - of a pouting Pat .

 

 

 

Plan B - again !!

 

 

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 yo7ur balloon ride in too!

Edited July 21, 2016 by Cindy

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

;)

[scubacruiserx2]

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 !

 

[Gracie115]

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

[scubacruiserx2]

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

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

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 !!!

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

[perfect match]

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.

[Tiggertastic]

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

[scubacruiserx2]

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:

[scubacruiserx2]

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 .

 

 

 

 

[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 .

 

Edited July 23, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Inside of the fortress is a statue of Peter the Great in which you could sit and have your photo taken .

 

 

 

But access is now restricted .

 

 

 

 

If you look above Pat's head you will see a green bridge with 2 people . They are walking to the place where a cannon shot is fired every day at noon .

 

 

 

Followed by the bells ringing in the Cathedral .

 

 

 

Gennadiy tells us about the church as the bells are ringing in this video clip :

 

 

 

The interior of the beautiful cathedral was packed with some pushy tourists !

 

 

Some coffins containing the remains of many Czars including Catherine the Great and Peter the Great are here . You can see a small black bust and some white flowers on the lower right which mark the coffin of Peter the Great .

 

 

[morbihan]

Lovely to be reminded of our cruise in May.

[Gracie115]

One of the wonderful things about your review is that I will know where to go when we DO do a Baltic cruise and I won't need a camera much because I could never take the wonderful shots you do.....but will have this review to go back to and reflect!!!

[scubacruiserx2]

Also at the Peter and Paul Fortress , Baltic Air conducts helicopter flights on the weekends and holidays .

 

 

 

 

As you can see , the Mil 8 is quite large .

 

 

And while we waited for the flight , I took a quick look at the cockpit .

 

 

The flight is best experienced thru video . So click on the links , set to HD and turn the stereo up and come fly with us !

 

Engine start up :

 

 

 

Take off over the Artillery Museum :

 

 

 

The Field of Mars with the Church on Spilt Blood in the center of the photo .

 

 

 

So see how many site that you recognize in this 6 minute clip :

 

 

It begins with Smolny Cathedral now covered up for renovation .

 

And here's Smolny Cathedral ( from a previous flight ) .

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Lovely to be reminded of our cruise in May.

 

That's the reasons why we enjoy taking photos . To remember and to share with others . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

One of the wonderful things about your review is that I will know where to go when we DO do a Baltic cruise and I won't need a camera much because I could never take the wonderful shots you do.....but will have this review to go back to and reflect!!!

 

Thanks Gracie , but you and everyone can take better photos , myselfie included ! Here's how :)

 

1. Memory is cheap , but memories last a long time - so take lots of photos ( I have lot of bad ones too ).

 

2. Change camera settings of the same place - I will shoot a nice scene 3 times using Auto , Sports and Landscape settings .

 

3. Edit . It's a second change to fix or make things better .

 

4. Learn how to use your current camera better through practice , a book or instructional video on youtube .

 

5. Look for a basic camera school on youtube .

 

6. Last of all, upgrade your equipment . All of the previous things can be done free , so try them first !

 

:) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

After our return to the ground we had a nice lunch at a cafeteria in the fortress . Our next stop was at the Artillery Museum , which had walked around on the outside before , but never the inside . Gennadiy had hired a employee there who has an exhaustive knowledge of the 850,000 items exhibited .

 

http://www.artillery-museum.ru/en/collections.html

 

 

 

We began at a statute of Peter the Great who founded the museum .

 

 

 

I believe that this cannon was cast in a single piece by Andrey Chokhov , who also cast the famous Tsar Cannon in Moscow .

 

 

 

There were also some knights in shining armor there !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also there was a painting of Winter Palace with a chariot drawn by 6 horses . Mounted on the gilded chariot were cannons and the Artillery Banner .

 

 

 

And here's the real thing in person .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2016 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

After a couple of hours there , and on our third museum of the day , we were all a little tired as we completed our tour . But Tyler's energy perked up as he saw the shooting range and he had a blast !

 

 

 

And when we got outside with the cooler weather and the tanks - he was ready to climb !

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards , we had an off the grid church which had we wanted to visit .

 

 

 

 

Because it's a working church , ladies must wear scarfs or hats and photography in not permitted inside . Below it is a cafe with tea for the adults and a piece of chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream which Tyler loves for dessert .

 

 

Gennadiy dropped us at our final stop - some friend's house where we would be having dinner . We met them in 2009 on a lunch with a family "tour" , offered through Denrus . Our friendship with Yuri and Nellie has grown over the years , and it was our pleasure both to see them , and to introduce them to Tyler . 3 hours just flew by as we dined and drank together . But we all had a busy and early day coming up , and so Tyler reluctantly said goodbye to his Russian бабушка & дедушка , as we took a cab back to the port .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Deb922]

Really enjoying your trip report. Like that you visited "off the beaten track" sites. So interesting. Thanks.