Stockholm

I was up with the sun this morning and headed up to the top deck to watch the sun rise. There were no waves as we wound our way through the mass of small islands that surround Stockholm. As the city itself is built across several islands it is no surprise that it is also surrounded with islands. The boat arrived around nine-thirty and we drove into town and had a quick tour of the town. I then went on the 'optional' tour of the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a warship that sank in the harbour on her maiden voyage. She was discovered in 1961 raised, restored and is now on show for all to see. It ship was very impressive and really big too. The city itself was nice with winding streets and old buildings. There were a lot of people however which made moving through the small streets a little more difficult. That evening we had our last dinner with the group. Said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

Helsinki

I liked Helsinki. It was a nice city and one I could quite happily go back to. Clean with friendly people. We had a tour of the city and this time it wasn't rushed and took in all of the major sites. The tour ended at the Senate Square and we were given the rest of the afternoon to have a look around the city centre. I did just that. I walked down the mall, around the harbour and a had a good look though a couple of the department stores. We were catching the ferry in the afternoon to so I stopped at a pharmacy and got some sea-sickness tablets, just in case. It was good to see that English is spoken in more places here otherwise my trip to the chemist would have turned out to be a bit harder. The weather was cool but bright and sunny and it was the perfect day.

Everyone met up back at Senate Square where, after a group photo, we climbed back on the bus and were taken to the ferry. The ferry was another big one. Inside there were around 14 levels. Three levels of shops and the rest were rooms. I had to share a room with four other people. It was small and didn't have a window. After taking my tablets I went down to join a few others from the tour in the bar. As we departed I went upstairs to watch the city fall into the distance. Up on deck it was very windy, just outside the harbour you could see the waves and their white caps. It looked rough. Once we got out past the surrounding islands, it was. Soon the rain started again and the waves seemed to get bigger. I was glad that I took my sea-sickness tablet but I took one more just to be on the safe side. They did their job and I spent and enjoyable evening back in the bar below decks. Even when I went to bed the tablets were still doing their job. I could feel the boat lift off with every wave and a second or so later crash down before the cycle started again.

St Petersburg to Helsinki

It was an early morning the next day as we headed back into the city centre. We had a quick (and I do mean quick) tour of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The fortress is home to the Russian Mint, the place where Peter the Great is buried and was even used as a military prison that help famous prisoners such as the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The guide raced us through some of the different sections, not waiting for photos or for the group to come in close before giving his spiel on the fortress. At the end of the tour we were given some time to browse the overpriced souvenir shops before getting on the bus again and heading north-west towards Finland.

We drove through horizontal rain to the border where we had our passports stamped by guards with stern expressions. We entered Finland at Soumi and as soon as we were there, the differences between the two countries were obvious. The towns were neater, the cars were clean, the roads were good and I could read and understand some of the signs.

We drove through lakes, forests and more lakes. Everything was very wintery and even in the pouring rain looked magical. We arrived at the Scandic Hotel in Helsinki in the evening. It was a nice hotel and good to get back and relax after rushing around Russia.

St Petersburg

The city limits of St Petersburg appear to start not long after the border. Getting over that border however is an adventure in itself. We crossed at Narva, a small town with a big fortress. The crossing process was quite long (although the wait was the longest was on the Estonian side leaving the country). Checking and double checking of passports, getting ticket for the bus, going back again getting said tickets stamped. I'd imagined entering Russia to a vastly from the rest of Europe. I'd imagined a Russia like the one I'd seen in the movies. Stern looking guards, big guns, tanks on street corners, grey buildings, snow and a lot of signs I can't read. Well, it was a lot like that, except for the guns, tanks and snow. The border was certainly an eye opener. While the male guards looked stern and menacing the female ones tried, but when you're wearing high heals and a short skirt its kind of hard to look mean. In the end we made it though and continued on our way to St Petersburg.

My first view of the Russian countryside was that there wasn't that much of it. A bit of forest comes after the border but the outskirts of St Petersburg start soon after. From there it is highways, tower blocks and industrial areas. I was amazed at how many vehicles are on the roads in Russia and around St Petersburg. From the suburbs to the city centre, cars, trucks and buses were everywhere with a traffic jam almost from the border to the city centre. In russia there are many different makes and models of cars on the road. From Lada to Lamborghini. Russian, Japanese, German or American, all makes and models are here. One thing that they all have in common though is how dirty they all are. And that traffic lights and road signs appear to be merely suggestions to the drivers, sometimes followed, sometimes not. I was also surprised to see how Western it all seemed. I'd expected something totally different. Of course I couldn't read any of the signs or anything else like that but that didn't matter. Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana and all the other fashion brands were obvious. This city has money and a lot of it.

I went on the 'optional' tour of the Hermitage museum. The Hermitage is a palace that is filled with all the famous and amazing artworks from not only Russia and those countries that it controlled, but also from the rest of Europe. The tour was supposed to tell us about some of the more famous paintings but for some reason, our tour guide neglected to order headphones for the group (this we found out after waiting outside for half an hour). Leaving everyone struggling to hear what the paintings were about as the guide didn't bother to raise his voice. I left the tour and went round the galleries myself. I got just as much information from the pictures and didn't have to rush through. When I left the museum I wandered the streets until it was time to be picked up.

The bus arrived and everyone got on the bus. We drove to the Nickolavsky Palace to drop off some of the group who were going to attend the folk evening. Or at least that is what I thought. I was expecting to be taken back to the hotel but the tour director decided to change the plan and told everyone who was not going on the bus that they would have to sit around and wait for the others at the show. That was three hours away and the area didn't look to be the best. There were only three shops close by and and a lot of closed buildings and dark alleys. Not the best spot to be dumped for three hours. For the next three hours I looked in the closed shop windows and wandered around the dark alleys. After that, I sat down on the kerbside and waited for the bus. There were eight other people who thought they were going back to the hotel but were left as well. It was not a good end to the day.

Tallinn

The tour of the old town was impressive. Our guide Nikolai walked us through the town giving history and shopping tips throughout the old town. The town is divided into two parts. The upper and lower. The upper part on top of the hill was home to the royalty, parliament, churches and people with money. The lower part of the town was home to the markets, shops and workers. Today, a few more shops were open so the rest of the morning was spent shopping for souvenirs and eating pancakes.

In the afternoon I went on the 'optional' tour of the baroque style Kadriorg Palace to see the art collection. The palace was ordered to be built by Peter the Great so I guess that one would expect a pretty good collection. After the palace we went for a tour of some other sights in Tallinn including a destroyed nunnery and the Olympic sailing village. I also got to stand on a beach on the shores of the Baltic sea.

Riga to Tallinn

It was a 9am departure from the hotel this morning. From there we drove to Irnagii and crossed the border into Estonia. Lunch was included and taken in a quiet village called Parnu. The village wasn’t that small but it was certainly quiet. The streets were empty and the shops were closed. We wandered around for a little while but with nothing open it was just really a village, as we arrived back to were the bus was going to be I saw that most were waiting there and obviously had the same idea.

The hotel we were staying at this evening was called the Kreutzwald Hotel Tallinn. It was a nice little hotel although I didn’t stay in it for long. As soon as the bags had been delivered I went for a wander into the city. The old town was about a kilometer from the hotel and up a reasonable steep hill. As the old town is sat on top of a hill (and snakes its way down wards). It was overcast but wasn’t raining so I thought I’d make the best of the goodish weather and have a look. Even though the place was pretty quiet the old medieval buildings were impressive as always and the views of the surrounding city from the little lookout spots. The skyline was full of old roofs, church steeples and tower blocks. But, to have a closer look, that would have to wait until tomorrow.

Riga

Riga is a beautiful old town with many art nouveau buildings. We had a tour of some of these buildings and heard a bit of what makes a building art nouveau as opposed to something else. The morning was spent looking around the city and the afternoon spent on an ‘optional’ tour of the Ethnographical Museum. We had a tour guide taking us around the different houses in the museum. He also told us a bit of the history of the time when Latvia was under the control of communist Russia. It was quite interesting and a nice way to spend the afternoon.