bill and cathy travels: BALTIC CRUISE

STOCKHOLM - SWEDEN

This is our ship "Vision of the Seas" waiting for us.

Sending a text message to advise we are safely on board, as you do! Had to wait a couple of hours until our "State room" is available (no longer called cabins). Note the 500mm can of Fosters beer, smallest available, for 8 euros.

All lined up at muster stations for lifeboat drill.

Pool area.

This is Captain Liz and Navigation Officer.

Captain Liz has a Danish seafaring father and Japanese mother. Cathy is most impressed. I'm trying to think of reversing type jokes!

Heading out through the Stockholm archipelago behind two ferries.

Bird island.

HELSINKI - FINLAND

Shuttle buses lined up for ships passengers.

Someone has a cynical attitude towards Putin in neighboring Russia.

The library.

The "Bridge of Love".

Back on board.

Formal dress at dinner tonight. This is the only way we could get this Japanese lady to pose for a photograph. Her partner didn't know he was included! We were second sitting so not dressed for dinner yet.

ST PETERSBURG - RUSSIA

First impression of Russia. A very unglamorous block of flats which looked like it had been put together by DIY. Uneven blocks and cement not pointed.

What a contrast. This is the entry hall to the Hermitage Museum (So called because Catherine The Great would live here amongst all this opulence in solitude).

Throne room.

Portrait of British General, Wellington who forces defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Marquetry floor.

Malachite Urn. Put together from small pieces of Malachite glued together.

Mosaic table made from precious stones.

Trainee forgers perhaps?!

Our guide in her element. Did a brilliant job with an amusing turn of phrase like. "If you have big clothsies roll them up and put them under your arm" also " be attentive".

Between Pissarros.

and Van Goghs

A Matisse

Picassos.

AFTERNOON WALKING TOUR.

Our guide, Katya, under the umbrella. Her co guide was Vitaly who didn't stop talking. We liked Katya's summing up at the end of the tour "Thank you for saving up your money and leaving your families to come and see us and thank you for trying to understand us as we don't understand ourselves!!"

Russians like to get married in famous (to them) locations.

Bears of Hope. One for each country around the world.

The Australian Bear.

Summer Palace in the rain.

Defence Academy.

Column from single piece of granite.

Cruising on the Neda river.

The Church of the Resurrection.

BACK ON BOARD.

Art auction.

Caribbean band.

Ketut, from Bali, our cabin attendant has been busy.

RIGA - LATVIA

Party of people having a meal hoisted in the air. Why?!

Street entertainers. A little older than we are used to.

Freedom Monument erected in the 1930's when Latvia had a period free of oppressors. It was not to last. In 1991 when they liberated themselves from the Russians about 11 people were killed here. During the Communist era people were not allowed to put flowers here. They had to put them on Lenins monument.

Cattle structures made from pinewood off cuts. Latvia's main industry is timber.

Our 'surprise' guides in Riga, Gun and Bjorn who flew there for a couple of days. Thanks to an American on board the ship, who lent us his mobile phone - which worked! (ours didn't) we were able to rendezvous. Our ship tied up about 15kms from the city centre and without the phone we would never have met up.

GDYNIA / GDANSK - POLAND

Chatting with some American passengers prior to disembarking.

Welcoming band and marching girls.

St Marys cathedral in Gdansk where we were treated to an organ recital.

The organ has about 2000 pipes, some only 25mm long and others HUGE. The sound was deafening when these were played.

Gdansk was virtually flatened during the war but has been painstakingly restored from photographs since.

The rebuilt Royal Street.

Our guide, call me Jack, who gave a brilliant tour.

A working clock.

Lech Walenska's office. He was the union leader (Solidarity Movement) instrumental in the downfall of communism who became President of Poland and still comes here to work.

Exhibition of grinding Amber. Amber floats in water, plastic doesn't.

This is close to the site of the start of World War 2. A German battleship sailed from this point and attacked a Polish Army training school about 6 km away. The Poles held out for a week and about 15 of 500 were killed the rest were arrested and survived the war.

Memorial at entrance to Gdansk shipyard. Many strikers were killed here.

500 metre long block of flats. Guide did not like them.

VISBY - GOTLAND - SWEDEN

Ships Tender leaving the "mother" ship bound for Visby.

The "Vision of The Seas"

Gotland was an important location for commerce in the Middle Ages being on the trade route to Russia. Hence the need for a defensive wall around the capital Visby.

Pretty streets against the wall.

Religious works of art inside church. (different)

A quiet place for lunch.

Back to the mother ship.

Our Kansas, USA, dinner companions.

The "Flag" ceremony. There were 56 nationalities in the crew of 780.

Our Indian waiter who produced two different curries for us.

Diners waving napkins at the final evening appreciation of the waiting staff.

While all this was going on we hadn't had our dessert and the start of the Olympic 2012 opening ceremony in London was being shown on screens in the theatre. So we missed quite a bit of it not that the picture quality was very good anyway.