The trip ended in Stockholm, but I have few recollections of what we saw. One was the City Hall, where Nobel Prize winners received their recognition. There are some interesting murals on the walls.
Another was the museum housing the 17th Century Vasa, a ship sunk in the 1628 and resurrected in the 1960s. It’s a reminder that Sweden, which has pled neutrality in the 20th century, was one of the great powers in the past. Ask Peter the Great about the Great Northern War, which brought Swedish troops deep into what is now Ukraine. And brought Peter to consider resettling the capital from Moscow to a new city on the Baltic. In any case, it’s the only intact vessel from the 17th century.
And finally, I do have pictures of the Old Town. We probably got the standard tour of the city.
By this point, we were ready to come home–but also to go on further cruises; no packing and unpacking was nice, but the lack of free time would bedevil me.
We’re nearing Stockholm, on what Carolyn described as our “soldiers in the army” approach.
Art Deco in Riga
After the wondrous medieval city of Tallinn (joke–named after the soviet leader from the 40s), which included the tallest building in the world–circa 1600, naturally a church–we came to the imperial city of the Russian Czars.
Though I’ve been to St. Petersburg before, I’m still in awe of the wealth the Czars had. So much that even though I had been here before, we saw only one place I’d been to! One of the palaces was built by Peter I because it was halfway between the city and the naval base. I would love to be able to say, “build me a castle here, spend anything you wanted, and outdo the French.” The architect succeeded in all counts. The Hermitage is similar—built as a palace, then as a house for the extensive artwork purchased or pilfered by the Czars and later the Soviets, it’s an awesome place, full of paintings and people. When we had our free time (if it’s 2:00, we must be in the Rembrandt room!), I wandered into the Asian art, which I had to myself. There were murals ripped from the walls of caves Dave and I had visited in central Asia, and Indian sculptures that “were in the Berlin museum until 1945”)! Wondrous stuff indeed, but so ostentatious one wonders why the Russian peasants tolerated it until 1917! St. Petersburg seems much busier and seemingly more prosperous than I remembered, but we have had little contact with locals other than guides, and guides represent the chamber of commerce!
We went to a folklore dance in one of the former grand duke palaces, which featured Cossacks, I (along with several of the other Jews aboard—the record of antisemitism in the Baltics isn’t confined to the Nazis–whispered to Carolyn, “These are the folks who convinced my Dad’s family to flee to the US”).
Helsinki
Yesterday, we stopped in Helsinki, and I have to admit we had little to prepare us for it. Almost, “Oh, are we going there?” Again, a wonderful surprise–neither medieval nor majestic, but full of neat architecture, and–for the first time on the trip, an opportunity to wander aimlessly (the downside of the tour trips!). I had reindeer for lunch, and I hope Rudolph will not hold it against me for Christmas. Cause I’ve been behaving–hard as it might be! The Scandinavian countries (north side of the Baltic plus Denmark) are among the richest countries in the world, though the populations are really small–under 5 million.
Great trip, full of mediaeval and majestic–St. Petersburg is full of the lavish wealth of Russia, all squandered by the Tsars on themselves, while most of the other cities spent time between Sweden and Denmark in the early period, then the Knights, then Sweden/Poland, and finally Germany/Russia. Saw a wonderful performance in St Pete by Cossacks, the same wonderful folks who helped me be an American.
One revelation occurred at the Amber Room of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The panels for the room were gifted to Catherine by Frederick of Prussia, and vanished during Nazi occupation. Ironically, the room, symbol of Russia, was one of the first items Stalin rebuilt–Stalin being the exemplar of world-wide communism!
Helsinki was a treat, but these northern Scandinavian countries are wealthy!
One thing they never warned us about: the Baltic is a shallow sea, so when it gets stormy, it rocks. I remember reading, “The World is Flat,” in a storm, and was ready to challenge Thomas Friedman’s title as the ship tilted and drawers opened and closed.
Carolyn has described our shore time as “soldiers,” but it’s been a great pace on shore, and kind of fun aboard–especially doing yoga on the foredeck! Not enough time for me to wander aimlessly, though!
Somewhere, I missed a few days on this trip, which included a stop in what are now the Baltic Republics–Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. I’ve documented elsewhere going back with this tour.
I remember that we got off at Klapeida (which was Memel) and bussed to the capitals of the small republics. At this distance in time, I don’t recollect specific details, but here’s what I think I remember.
The small populations startled me. The 3 countries have probably no more than 10-12 million people. The languages (and religions) and histories were different. Lithuania, for example, was at one time part of a Kingdom of Lithuania and Poland, or Grand Duchy of Poland and Lithuania, that stretched over much of Eastern Europe. Crusaders made Estonia Lutheran. Vilnius at one time was the next Jerusalem because of its large Jewish population.
They had in common a respect and sometimes fear (rightly) of their large next door neighbor. They shook off Russian rule in the interwar period, though Vilnius was part of Poland, the rest of Lithuania was not, and the other two were independent countries. Before the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, all three countries were sucked back into the Russian orbit. When the Soviet Union imploded, they became independent again.
One of the shipmates was a retired Dole marketing executive. When I asked him about how to market to such small populations, his reply was concise: “frugally.”
The trip through Lithuania reminded me of Wisconsin–farms, emphasizing the importance of agriculture, albeit in a short growing season. Vilnius, where we stayed, is a city of about 600,000, with beautiful Baroque churches marking its identity as a predominantly Catholic country. There was information, as well, about the collaboration of Lithuanians with the Nazis. A small synagogue remains, a testimony to the once flourishing Jewish community. Over 300,000 Jews and large numbers of other Lithuanians were erased during the Nazi years.
From Vilnius, we drove to Riga, a different country with a different history. Riga, like much of the Baltic Region, was settled by Germans, who brought Christianity to the pagans in the area. By the 18th century, it was in the Russian orbit, where it remained until World War I. Independent between the wars, it was ceded to Russia by the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty that divided Eastern Europe between the Russians and Germans. In 1941, the Nazis invaded, and Latvia was restored to Russian rule after World War II. In 1990, it became independent again. Thanks to the wars, it has a square near the main church that is surrounded by bistros, and made a pleasant evening of people watching. Riga is known for its Art Deco buildings, and some older sites that have made it a UNESCO world heritage city. We had a good tour of the city, but as I recall, we had 15 minutes of “free time” to “explore on your own.” That’s when I decided I’d have to come back and wander.
We reboarded the boat and resumed our cruise till we came to Tallinn, known in its earlier days as Reval, the capital of Estonia. The tourist sites come in two parts–the city was once two hostile cities–the lower old town and the upper fortress. Speaking a language akin to Finnish (not a Romance language), the country has its own history (similar to the other Baltic republics, fighting the Teutonic Knights, the Swedes, the Russians, each other. The upper walled fortress has 36 towers. The lower has a square with a Town Hall and the oldest pharmacy in Europe, dating to 1422. It still dispenses. It’s compact enough to walk around in, with great views from the upper city. An early 20th Century Orthodox Church was part of an effort to Russify Estonia. It did not work, but it left the Alexander Nevsky Church for posterity.
On the seas–first C was for castles. We rented a car and driver in Copenhagen and went where Carolyn wanted–to the castle at Elsinore, setting for Hamlet, a wonderfully dismal setting for a wonderfully dismal play; thence to two other castles. Copenhagen is full of castles and we saw lots of them. Carolyn (left) is hiding the Little Princess.
Then we joined the cruise, another C, where we lowered the average age by 20 years (key question–what did you do before you retired?).
The next C was cod, on an island which is the biggest supplier of cod for the McD chain! An extra plus was a medieval round church (which was also a castle–protection for the local folks).
Today we were in Gdansk, which was 70 percent destroyed during World War 2, but has been restored (under the communists). Delightful city, with castles and churches. Highlight was seeing Lech Walesa museum and meeting him in person. He said he hopes he is the last revolutionary (led Solidarity, which unraveled the Iron Curtain), because then no one would have to tear down his statues. Neat day.
May have better access tomorrow. We’ll be on land at a hotel in Vilnius. Been doing yoga on deck–it’s great.
One was the City Hall, where Nobel Prize winners received their recognition. There are some interesting murals on the walls. 
troops deep into what is now Ukraine. And brought Peter to consider resettling the capital from Moscow to a new city on the Baltic. In any case, it’s the only intact vessel from the 17th century.
