Baltic , Norway , Iceland and the U.K. on the Zuiderdam 2019 with photos

[scubacruiserx2]

Our last stop was at our first stop  , The church of the Assumption of Mary . We could now take some photos inside .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When in a Russian Orthodox  church you must stand and ladies must wear a head covering .

 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

Amazingly beautiful.  Thank you.  I have to say I laughed out loud at the changing of the guard in Moscow. It reminded me of those nature shows with the male birds performing their displays to attract a mate.

[scubacruiserx2]

It was time to return back to the Zu and say  До свидания to Irina and Nickoli and thank them for a job well done . We got back a little early to avoid the last minute crowds .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

It was time to kiss twolips and Saint Petersburg goodbye .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near miss with a Meteor

 

 

A meteor shower

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had dinner on the veranda for sail out through Kronstadt 

 

Ooops , wrong main course

 

 

That's right , Chicken Kiev

 

 

 

 

The Bespokoynyy ( Restless ) Museum ship and the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt

 

 

 

We visited this Cathedral once

 

 

It can hold 5,000 people and lists the name of all the dead Navy veterans

 

 

No photos inside but I found this one online 

 

 

I think the Russians are more supportive of their Military , Police and Firefighters and their freedom to worship then most countries . Perhaps having been occupied during the war and without freedom of religion for so many years have shaped their beliefs .

 

Sailing through the flood gate we were leaving Russia behind 

 

 

 

 

And the sunset followed us

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We arrived in Helsinki before 7 but the shuttles didn't run until 8:00 . We couldn't see where to meet the shuttles from our cabin so we went forward for a better look .

 

 

They were beyond the dirt pile at the end of the blue building

 

 

 

They let us off near this statute that reminded me of Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still

 

 

We were comfortable when we found the waterfront and Market Square

 

 

 

It had been 13 years since we were last here and some things had changed

 

 

 

Back then we had film instead of digital and dark hair 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Helsinki Cathedral looked closed

 

 

 

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

 

And so we hiked to our farthest walking point , Uspenski Cathedral  , which is suppose to be the largest Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Western Europe .

 

 

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

 

 

There was a service so we didn't take photos inside 

 

 

We walked past The Bridge of Love which is covered with locks 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We headed back to Market Square for a bite to eat

 

 

 

Which had now become busy

 

 

 

 

We bought a plate of Moose sausage and meatballs here

 

 

Which was great with the mustard and lingonberries

 

 

[erewhon]

Thanks for your update, beautiful sunset.

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, erewhon said:

Thanks for your update, beautiful sunset.

 

You are welcome .

[scubacruiserx2]

We next took the tram to the rock church

 

 

 

The tram ride was $5 each and admission to the church $6 each

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite noisy and busy inside and some people had to be hushed up .

[ski ww]

I'm always surprised that the godless communists kept all those church's, they are beautiful.

[scubacruiserx2]

11 minutes ago, ski ww said:

I'm always surprised that the godless communists kept all those church's, they are beautiful.

 

They didn't keep them as churches but as other buildings . St. Issac's Cathedral In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism . 

 

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood 

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior. The Soviet government closed the church in 1932.^[2] During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary morgue for those who died in combat and from starvation and illness. The church suffered significant damage. After the war, it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Saviour on Potatoes.

Modern usage[edit]

In July 1970, management of the church passed to Saint Isaac's Cathedral and it was used as a museum. The proceeds from the Cathedral funded the restoration of the church. It was reopened in August 1997,^[2] after 27 years of restoration, but has not been reconsecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship. The Church of the Saviour on Blood is a museum of mosaics. In the pre-Revolution period it was not used as a public place of worship. The church was dedicated to the memory of the assassinated tsar and only panikhidas (memorial services) took place. The church is now one of the main tourist attractions in Saint Petersburg.

 

wikipedia

 

The Large Cathedral of Christ the Savior had a more dubious future

 

Demolition[edit]

 

The cathedral in the early 20th century

 

Demolition, 5 December 1931

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the USSR's official state atheism resulted in the 1921-1928 anti-religious campaign, during which many "church institution at [the] local, diocesan or national level were systematically destroyed."^[7] Following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin chose the prominent site of the cathedral as the proposed site for a monument to socialism known as the Palace of the Soviets. It was to have modernistic, buttressed tiers to support a gigantic statue of Lenin perched on top of a dome with his arm raised in the air.

The government plans for economic development in Russia during the 1930s required more funds than were available at the time. In searching for additional sources of revenue and funding, government agencies saw monetary value in religious and historical monuments that had not yet been destroyed or otherwise repurposed for government use. On 24 February 1930, the economic department of the OGPU sent a letter to the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee asking to remove the golden domes of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. The letter noted that the dome of the church contained over 20 tons of gold of "excellent quality", and that the cathedral represented an "unnecessary luxury for the Soviet Union, and the withdrawal of the gold would make a great contribution to the industrialization of the country." The People's Commissariat of Finance did not object to this proposal.^[8]

On 5 December 1931, by order of Stalin's minister Lazar Kaganovich, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble. It took more than a year to clear the debris from the site. The construction of the Palace of Soviets was ultimately halted due to a lack of funds, problems with flooding from the nearby Moskva River, and the outbreak of World War II. Some of the marble from the walls and marble benches from the cathedral were used in nearby Moscow Metro stations. The original marble high reliefs were preserved and are now on display at the Donskoy Monastery (see the photo). For many decades, these reliefs were the only reminders of one of the largest Orthodox churches ever built. The flooded foundation hole remained on the site, but in 1958 under Nikita Khrushchev, it was transformed into the world's largest open air swimming pool, named Moskva Pool.

Rebuilt cathedral[edit]

 

The rebuilt cathedral, view across the Moscow River.

 

Night view next to the river.

In February 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission from the Soviet Government to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year. The architect Aleksey Denisov was called upon to design a replica, but was soon fired from the project because of disagreements with the Mayor’s office.^[9] When construction was well under way, he was replaced by Zurab Tsereteli, who introduced several controversial innovations.^{[citation needed]} For instance, the original marble high reliefs along the walls were replaced by modern bronze ones, which have few, if any, parallels in Russian church architecture.

A construction fund was initiated in 1992 and funds began to pour in from citizens in the autumn of 1994, and about one million Muscovites donated money for the project. In this year the Moskva Pool was demolished and the cathedral reconstruction commenced. The lower church was consecrated to the Saviour's Transfiguration in 1997, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated on the Transfiguration Day, 19 August 2000.

 

The central dome of the cathedral

Below the new church is a large hall for church assemblies. The cathedral square is graced by several chapels, designed in the same style as the cathedral. A footbridge across the river from Bersenevskaya embankment was constructed between 21 June 2003 and 3 September 2004 (photo). On the slope of the hill to the right of the cathedral are the monumental statues of Alexander II and Nicholas II.

 

Wikipedia

 

Freedom and the people made the difference after Communism . When we visited the church we saw a plaque honoring the contributions from the Mc Donalds Corperation .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We forgot to add the video clip of the Rock Church . Did you notice that flying saucer copper disc on the roof looked like the one from The Day the Earth Stood Still ? Gort , Klaatu barada nikto !

 

 

 

 

With our shopping done , we came back a little early .

 

 

Walking through this place we remembered a wine and cheese tasting event in 2006

 

 

 

One soft cheese tasted so horrible that I spit it out and frantically tried to wipe the nasty taste off , but to no avail .

 

Back on the ship we realized that some new neighbors had moved in .

 

 

 

 

Not long before our departure time there was an announcement looking for several passengers . They did make it back when they felt like it with some applause .

 

 

 

 

 

After sail away we were eating some snacks on the balcony 

 

 

There was a large flock of aggressive seagulls in a feeding frenzy landing on our rails and dropping their droppings on our deck and the 4th floor deck that sticks out from the ship . We clapped to shoo them away but they were persistent . When we looked around the side of the ship we noticed that they were being hand fed .

 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

Wow.  They really wanted that gone.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

They didn't keep them as churches but as other buildings . St. Issac's Cathedral In 1931, it was turned into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism . 

 

The Large Cathedral of Christ the Savior had a more dubious future

 

Demolition[edit]

 

The cathedral in the early 20th century

 

Demolition, 5 December 1931

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the USSR's official state atheism resulted in the 1921-1928 anti-religious campaign, during which many "church institution at [the] local, diocesan or national level were systematically destroyed."^[7] Following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin chose the prominent site of the cathedral as the proposed site for a monument to socialism known as the Palace of the Soviets. It was to have modernistic, buttressed tiers to support a gigantic statue of Lenin perched on top of a dome with his arm raised in the air.

The government plans for economic development in Russia during the 1930s required more funds than were available at the time. In searching for additional sources of revenue and funding, government agencies saw monetary value in religious and historical monuments that had not yet been destroyed or otherwise repurposed for government use. On 24 February 1930, the economic department of the OGPU sent a letter to the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee asking to remove the golden domes of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. The letter noted that the dome of the church contained over 20 tons of gold of "excellent quality", and that the cathedral represented an "unnecessary luxury for the Soviet Union, and the withdrawal of the gold would make a great contribution to the industrialization of the country." The People's Commissariat of Finance did not object to this proposal.^[8]

On 5 December 1931, by order of Stalin's minister Lazar Kaganovich, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble. It took more than a year to clear the debris from the site. The construction of the Palace of Soviets was ultimately halted due to a lack of funds, problems with flooding from the nearby Moskva River, and the outbreak of World War II. Some of the marble from the walls and marble benches from the cathedral were used in nearby Moscow Metro stations. The original marble high reliefs were preserved and are now on display at the Donskoy Monastery (see the photo). For many decades, these reliefs were the only reminders of one of

In February 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission from the Soviet Government to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year. The architect Aleksey Denisov was called upon to design a replica, but was soon fired from the project because of disagreements with the Mayor’s office.^[9] When construction was well under way, he was replaced by Zurab Tsereteli, who introduced several controversial innovations.^{[citation needed]} For instance, the original marble high reliefs along the walls were replaced by modern bronze ones, which have few, if any, parallels in Russian church architecture.

A construction fund was initiated in 1992 and funds began to pour in from citizens in the autumn of 1994, and about one million Muscovites donated money for the project. In this year the Moskva Pool was demolished and the cathedral reconstruction commenced. The lower church was consecrated to the Saviour's Transfiguration in 1997, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated on the Transfiguration Day, 19 AThe central dome of the cathedral

Below the new church is a large hall for church assemblies. The cathedral square is graced by several chapels, designed in the same style as the cathedral. A footbridge across the river from Bersenevskaya embankment was constructed between 21 June 2003 and 3 September 2004 (photo). On the slope of the hill to the right of the cathedral are the monumental statues of Alexander II and Nicholas II.

 

Wikipedia

 

Freedom and the people made the difference after Communism . When we visited the church we saw a plaque honoring the contributions from the Mc Donalds Corperation .

 

 

I'm not sure why the above article and my comments have been lined out .

[scubacruiserx2]

28 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Wow.  They really wanted that gone.

 

 

 

It's easy to destroy things that may take years to build like that Cathedral .  There were plans to destroy many more churches but the war changed those plans .

[scubacruiserx2]

Dinner menu 

 

 

Weather

 

 

Tadpole legs

 

 

Spicy Turkey salad

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

This was our 3rd trip to Stockholm so we felt comfortable as a DIY port . The first part is a long sail in through the Swedish Archipelago with some nice scenery .

 

 

We get pretty close to some of the islands and houses

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was still very early but the bow was open

 

 

 

 

 

[erewhon]

9 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

I'm not sure why the above article and my comments have been lined out .

 

Curious about the lines.

 

Thanks for your update.

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, erewhon said:

 

Curious about the lines.

 

Thanks for your update.

 

You're welcome

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your reports, videos and pictures are all wonderful.  As to lines through your report -- don't know why that was done as one can still easily read everything.

[scubacruiserx2]

On our 1st to Stockholm we could walk to Gamla Stan . On our 2nd we  could take a shuttle to ride the 2.8 miles to Gamla Stan . On the Zuiderdam there was no shuttle . You could use a HOHO or walk . We were do in port at 8 but cleared 7:15 , before the Pinnacle was open . We went to boat the bus as soon as we could . Ours was at the end in the sunlight .

 

 

The sun was quite bright and after about 25 minutes we left .

 

The first stop was the Norway Museum 15 minutes later . We wanted to go to the next stop but we were told to get off now . We asked when he would begin the hoho route and he said later . We decided to walk the waterfront to the next HOHO boat pickup .

 

 

 

The Vasa Museum was also closed

 

 

 

Looking for our HOHO boat

 

 

 

We came to the ABBA Museum also closed .

 

I wasn't a major fan of their music in the day but I never remembering Agnetha looking sooo beautiful  before .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

6 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Your reports, videos and pictures are all wonderful.  As to lines through your report -- don't know why that was done as one can still easily read everything.

 

It's strange . Over 6K posts and never seen it before .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We got off at the green B and walked to the green D next to the amusement park

 

 

 

And we waited for the right boat - about an hour .

 

 

Another wrong boat

 

 

 

 

The right one packed to the gills . We had been in the sun for over 1-1/2 hours and we could feel the burn 

 

 

When we got off by the AIDA ship there were many people waiting for our 2 spots . They could have walked about 30 minutes to Gamla Stan