The first port we stopped in was Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is located on the Gulf of Finland and boasts a population of 400,000- about 40% of which are Russian. The city itself has been invaded and attacked multiple times- it had a bit of a run-down feel. But it also had some amazing sights and a lovely 'Old Town' area that has been well-maintained despite it's tumultuous history. Our first stop on the tour was the ruins of an ancient nunnery. We were told that Ivan the Terrible used the headstones from the graveyard of the nunnery as cannonballs during one of his attacks. He also burned the church down, which accounts for it current state of ruins.
Kyle & me at the nunnery ruins
The Old Town area of Tallinn was beautiful and boasted this amazing cathedral:
Cathedral in Tallinn
From the Old Town area you could also get a great view of the entire city of Tallinn.
Here we are at the look out point
After our day in Tallinn, we set sail for St. Petersburg. To get into Russia, you have to apply for a visa. So, to bypass this little obstacle, Kyle & I took an official cruise line tour. The tour lasted 9 hours and took us to the Hermitage Museum, Peter and Paul Fortress, a traditional Russian lunch and general sightseeing around the city. The Hermitage Museum was the most impressive thing we saw during our whole trip. The museum includes a series of six buildings including the Winter Palace. It also boasts over 3 million pieces of art, the largest collection in the world. Needless to say we were quite impressed. The Winter Palace put any palace we've seen in the UK to shame.
Inside the Winter Palace
An interior room in the Palace
The royal throne
Cuckoo Clock
Kyle & I thought the cuckoo clock at the Hermitage was really impressive. It is hard to tell here how large it is, but it was amazing and still in working order. We were disappointed to find out that it is only started up for Heads of State and very privileged guests.
Peter and Paul's fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg and was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great. The fortress houses an impressive cathedral with the burial tombs of royal family, including Peter the Great himself.
Inside Peter & Paul's fortress
Tomb of Peter the Great
Part of our tour included a traditional Russian lunch. The food itself was fairly bland and normal- chicken and rice, cabbage soup and a tomato and cucumber salad. However, lunch started off with a shot of Russian vodka- can't beat that!
We got to get a view of the city as well. There were quite a few amazing buildings but also quite a few buildings that reminded you of Russia's past. There were a lot of concrete, run-down buildings that fulfilled all my visions of what communism must have looked like.
Amazing Russian architecture
One of the most interesting buildings in the city is called the 'Church on Spilt Blood'. It was given this name after Alexander II was murdered on the site in 1881. His son built the church as a memorial to his father on the exact site of the murder. Because of this fact, part of the church hangs over the canal.
Church on Spilt Blood
Canal the church is built over
One of the few remaining Soviet symbols on a building
One interesting Russian tradition that we got to experience on our tour was wedding season. It is tradition for most weddings to take place in the summer and after the ceremony for the bride & groom to drive around the city, drinking champagne, and taking pictures of themselves by local landmarks. We counted about nine brides during our tour.
Well, our touring of Europe has come to an end. This was our last trip while we're living here. We feel really blessed to have gotten to see so many different places and cultures and we feel very appreciative that we were fortunate enough to be born in America. I would say without a doubt- the greatest country on earth.
-Stacie
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