Just About "Finnished" In Helsinki, Finland

Our fourth port call brought Debbie and I to Helsinki, Finland. Out of all the port calls, this was our briefest visit. We only had 5 hours to explore Finland's capital and largest city, and so we were off! We stepped off one large boat onto a smaller one as we toured the greater harbor area. 

There are several interconnected islands in Finland that make up the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress that dates back to the 18th century. This particular island exhibited cannons that were used to fortify the stronghold of this section of the fortress.

Our boat finally pulled into Helsinki's waterfront, and the first thing we saw was the white Lutheran Cathedral that sat prominently over the city.

However, the charm of European architecture was evident at first glance, and beautified the harbor with one fell swoop.

The market square's "indoor market" was a striped beacon for day trippers that flocked there for a sundry of flea market commerce and vendor eateries. 300 yards from this bustling hub was another one just as busy - the market square's outdoor market.

The waterfront was littered with all sorts of boat rides and boat tours like the one below.

A couple blocks from the maket square was this intriguing building.  At one time it may have been a former central train station, but now served as a mall for specialty boutiques and restaurants.

The Russian Orthodox Uspenski Temppeliaukio Church was another architectural delight!

 The central park was several blocks from the waterfront. I didn't catch the name on the statue above, but the one below was Eino Leino, Finland's most celebrated and cited poet of the 20th century.

And then, it was time to board our ship and set our course for our last port call in Stockholm, Sweden. Here's the last sighting of Finland as we pulled away from the harbor....

To St. Petersburg, Russia With Love

The city tour of St. Petersburg was also enjoyable, as Debbie and I continued our sightseeing of Russia's second largest city (after Moscow). St. Petersburg has undergone several name changes over the years. It was formerly known as "Petrograd" (1914-1924); more familiarly remembered as "Leningrad" during the cold war (1924-1991); and finally as "St. Petersburg" in honor of the city's founder Tsar Peter I of Russia's patron saint, St. Peter the apostle .

In my opinion, the best thing about Russia is the eyecandy delights of its onion shaped Russian orthodox cathedrals. The one above is The Church of the Resurrection, a.k.a. The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood, that was built in honor of Tsar Alexander II who was assassinated at the site in 1881. The church has the most mosaic square tiles than any other church in the world. It was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! There were several churches in St. Petersburg that we passed (like the one below), but The Church of the Resurrection was my absolute favorite!

St. Petersburg has been dubbed "The Venice of the North." It sits on the delta of the Neva River, which empties into the Baltic Sea, and is comprised of 101 islands that are connected by many bridges; hence, its other nickname "The City of 101 islands."

One Russian church that we stopped at that surprisingly did not have an onion shaped cathedral was the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Its golden spire was 404 ft high that has a golden angel at the top holding a cross. This spire was a noted landmark in the city's skyline.

I loved this statue that stood atop the little museum across from the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The Hermitage situated in the center of St. Petersburg consisted of the Winter Palace (former state residence of Russian emperors), museum, theater, and the Auxiliary House. Incidentally, the Hermitage Museum contains over 3 million works of arts and artifacts.

This was the statue of Tsar Nicholas I on a rearing horse that faced St. Isaac's Cathedral, which he had built in 1818. The cathedral is the 3rd largest domed church in the world. The equestrian monument of Tsar Nicolas I was built between 1856 - 1859.

I have no idea what this building was, but I thought it was very kewl.

And of course Debbie and I had to buy furry Russian hat souvenirs! LOL.

Catherine The Great's Summer Palace

One of the determining factors of going on this Baltic cruise was that one of its port calls was St. Petersburg, Russia! Visiting St. Pete has been on mine and Debbie's bucket lists for a long time, so imagine our excitement when our ship pulled into port. We signed on for a couple of ship excursions. The first one was Catherine the Great's summer palace in Pushkin, a suburb of St. Petersburg about 45 minutes outside of the city. Catherine II of Russia, a.k.a. Catherine the Great, was the Empress of Russia from 1762-1796. She was a tyrannical, imposing leader with titillating sexual taboo habits that have been bandied about in history. However, despite her personal failings, she was the impetus that re-vitalized Russia, expanded its borders, and made it one of the great powers of Europe during her time. Catherine the Great's summer palace was the most impressive palace that I have ever toured. Although the palace was attributed to her, Catherine the Great found the site that was first built by her grandmother Catherine I, and torn down to be rebuilt more opulently by her mother Empress Elizabeth, to be "old-fashioned" and a "reckless extravagance." Debbie and I found it to be a work of distinctive opulence. Although the palace was greatly destroyed by the Germans in WWII, it has been rebuilt and refurbished to resemble its former glory.

This was a bizarre cloud that hung over the palace on the day that we toured. It looked as if God's eye was inspecting the palace. It was eerily bizarre... and beautiful.

There are 2 cupid statues inside the palace that are placed at French doors on opposite wings. The one that faces East is called "Awakening Cupid," because it wakes with the sunrise. The one facing West is called "Sleeping Cupid," because it sleeps when the sun sets.

Every room had ceilings that were just as brilliantly opulent as the next.

Prominent porcelain chimneys were eyecatching works of arts!

My favorite room was the Portrait Room, as a collage of paintings decorated the room from top to bottom. Talk about artistic overload!

Catherine the Great loved horses and fashion. She never wore the same dress twice. Here is a replica of the dress that she wore in the painting below. Do you think it was safe to say that Catherine the Great was a "clothes horse?" LOL.

Catherine the Great's summer palace was an architectural dream of golden spires and gilded ballrooms, and is a worthy visit for would-be castle seekers out there!