Sun. July 24: Discovering Gdansk, Poland and the Home of the Teutonic Knights

The sun rose over the Baltic Sea at 4:44 AM. After spending the previous day at sea, with no shortage of things to do aboard the Viking Sea, we docked in the port of Gdynia, in Northern Poland. We split off into two groups- Beth, Meg, Gary, and Page explored the old town of Gdansk while Dave and David headed out to the countryside to see Marlbork Castle, a sprawling Teutonic castle and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In Gdansk our first stop was a 12th century Roman Catholic cathedral, famous for its organs of 7,876 pipes, 5 keyboards, and one person playing all of this! It is the most popular church to be married in because of its melodious organs. You have to book your wedding at least 2 years in advance for this church. Our guide said, "First you book your wedding, then you spend 2 years finding a fiance!"

We arrived in old town Gdansk, a city over 1,000 years old. We crossed over the river lined by row houses, similar to the ones you see in Amsterdam. At one time this was one of the biggest ports in Europe.

 

The 14th century medieval treadmill crane (seen below) still stands along the river port. It has 4 giant wheels inside that men turned by walking in them, much like hamster wheels. It could lift 2 tons and was used to load and unload cargo.

Our guide, Agnes, was typical of hip, trendy young Poles. She was especially excited about Pope Francis coming to Gdansk in a few days for the World Youth Conference. She guides in the summer and teaches elementary school during the school year. She led us through the great gate entrance to the old city and we were immediately struck by how beautiful the buildings were. She told us how many people have an image of Poland as being made up of dull, grey buildings reminiscent of the Soviet era when in fact, Poland has always been beautiful, even when the Soviets occupied Poland. She told us it was against Communist propaganda to show how beautiful Poland is.

The many diverse facades of the buildings were so beautiful.

In the square is a monument to Daniel Fahrenheit, a physicist, engineer, and glassblower born in Gdansk. It holds an antique thermometer to honor his contribution to a universal temperature scale.

We meandered down several, narrow cobblestone streets and like most medieval cities, there was a huge, towering church in the square. This one is the biggest brick church in the world and holds 25,000 people.

Since Northern Poland was on the Baltic Sea and ship building and sea port trade was a major part of their economy, you will see several  statues and fountains with a "Neptune" theme. This one was particularly interesting with a sea horse's tail replacing the fig leaf!

There were many bakeries along the streets and families were returning from church, sitting outside at the cafes enjoying coffee and pastries. Page had one of the waffle pastries layered with nut butter and elderberry jam. It was delicious.

One of the side streets was made up of lovely homes and restaurants with front porches. Old stone gargoyles jutted out over the porches as rain spouts. Our guide pointed out this cat which belongs to the owners of this house and frequently perches on the gargoyle spout in order to be the most photographed cat in Poland!

The old town square is lined with merchants and guild houses.

Anywhere we go in Europe we see unique, interesting fountains. This fountain was a square with 4 lions in different poses positioned around the points of the square. Rubbing the lion gives you good luck!

It's hard to believe that so many of these beautiful cities were partially destroyed during World War II. This picture taken right after WW2, in the area we walked, is a somber reminder of the devastation of war and the determination of Europeans to rebuild and restore their beautiful towns to their former grandeur.

On our way back to Gdynia, where are shipped was docked, we passed Gate #2 in the Gdansk Lenin Shipyard where protesting workers were fired upon by the Communist regime in 1970, lighting a spark that led to Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement, and ultimately Polish independence.

While we went on the city walking tour, Dave and David were off to the Polish countryside in search of the magnificent Malbork Castle, the largest brick fortress in the world. (It has 30 million hand-made bricks.) No question. It lived up to its reputation!

The Teutonic Knights (part of the Crusades) built the fortress in the 1200's as their headquarters for protecting the surrounding agricultural land from the Prussian tribes. The UN designated it a World Heritage area in the 1960's because of its key place in Polish history. In between it underwent various expansions and then Germans used it as their headquarters during the war until the Soviets took it by force in 1945. (Previous to that it has never been successfully breached.)  As you can see from this World War 2 photo, it underwent a massive restoration and is now spectacular. 

The fortress has three separate castles - the High, Middle and Lower Castles, separated by multiple dry moats and towers. These features made it amazing and fun to prowl around - envisioning what it was like when the 500 Teutonic knights and 200 servants lived there. Inside the fortress was magical with vaulted ceilings, frescoes, and art work everywhere. One center courtyard in particular caught our attention. It had 50+ window-openings that had intricate relief of people, animals, dragons and other goodies. What fun it was to find and photograph them.  

 Malbork Castle: if you are ever in Poland it is a 'must see'! 

We invited a special dinner guest to join us tonight. Constantine Pappas is one of the entertainers on board. He is a young graduate of Fresno State, majored in opera, and is an amazing singer of all genres. We have enjoyed watching and listening to his performances. He entertained us at dinner with stories about the ship and what it's like to try out for theater and singing productions, including auditioning to be part of the Viking performance group. His  ultimate goal, after he finishes traveling around the world on Viking, is Broadway and with his outgoing personality and talent, we expect to see his name in lights some day soon. 

We experienced the earliest sunset on our trip thus far, 8:58 PM and looked forward to the next day in Berlin, Germany.

Exploring Medieval and Modern Tallinn, Estonia

The sun rose at 4:44 AM today, welcoming us to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is an old city established in medieval times. Today's Estonia, including old towns like Tallinn, fuses modern and medieval- beautiful old buildings and traditions combined with a growing tech sector and modern buildings. It was here that Skype and Spotify started. According to the Wall Street Journal, Estonia produces more tech start-ups per population than any other country in Europe. It is a city with charm by the bucket load and its old town is a UNESCO site.

Walking into the old town, we passed many cute shops and restaurants, including this colorful bicycle-themed  bistro.

 

We walked on cobblestoned streets, headed up to the walled Upper Town, or Toompea, feeling like we stepped back into medieval times. We meandered through narrow alley ways, arches, and tunnels into the maze of this charming city.

We entered the town square where there was a huge open air market of local crafts, surrounded by beautiful  old gabled buildings.

Page bought a pair of beautiful hand painted earrings from "Pippin" who designed and made the earrings. She packaged them and signed her name for Page and drew a cat on the bag.  Many of the crafts people dressed in traditional costumes.

 As we neared the top of the hill we came upon the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Church.

 The view of the city was stunning- red roofs, "Old Thomas" the rooster weather vane, and even a proud sea gull eyeing all the visitors as if to say "Welcome to my realm"!

We walked back down through the village encountering several interesting things along the way- an old wooden pig planter, the entrance way to Balthasar's Garlic Restaurant with a dessert called Jalkiruoat- Garlic ice cream on a bed of rhubarb with fresh strawberries, honey garlic, and a passion fruit caramel (needless to say, we didn't stop to try it), and several pretty doors. Knights in shining armor, charming door fronts and medieval dragon window ornamentation- so many things that make Tallinn such a charming town.

Tallinn is famous for their marzipan (and things made from linen and wool). We stopped at a marzipan confection shop. Marzipan candies are made from almond paste and are molded into a variety of flowers, buildings, fruits, cartoon characters, etc.  We tried the marzipan and decided they look prettier than they taste..

We noticed two interesting modes of transportation on the street- these beautiful carriage horses with longs woven French braids and an old Chrysler Imperial car decorated for a bride and groom getting married in the church nearby.

As we walked back to port, we noticed another huge ship (on the left) docked next to our "small" ship on the right. Traveling with 900 passengers seems a lot, but imagine traveling with 2,000 or more!

After another scrumptious Viking dinner, the evening ended with the Viking performance, The Long and Winding Road,  on the ship's pool deck backed up with a live band. Adam, Constantine, and Eric, 3 very talented young, professional musicians on tour with Viking, performed a medley of Beatles' hits. The sunset at 10:09 PM as the ship sailed for Gydnia, Poland (412 nautical miles). 

Thur. July 21: Exploring Splendid St. Petersburg, Russia(Day 2)

The sun rose over St. Petersburg, Russia at 4:15 AM. Today we were ready to explore one of the largest and oldest art museums in the world, The Hermitage, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great. Catherine was an avid collector of art and bought collections from all over the world for her own personal enjoyment. In her lifetime she collected 4,000 European paintings and thousands of relics- a huge achievement in the art world. She took great pride in her collection and was acknowledged as a patron of the arts. Today the Hermitage has expanded to occupy 6 buildings around the Palace Square, including the vast Winter Palace, former residence of Russian emperors. The museum not only contains priceless collections of art from all over the world, the buildings are a work of art in and of themselves with their lavish interiors that were once the palace rooms of the Russian royal families.

 

We entered through the Winter Palace gate, beneath the gilded double-headed eagle and passed into a lovely courtyard before entering the museum.

 

Inside the museum, we started up the grand staircase, immediately captivated by the grandeur of this palace.

 

While the walls and ceilings were covered with art, we couldn't help but look down and admire the wood parquet floors. In every room there was a different design and so many types of wood arranged in a myriad of patterns. 

  We passed through one of the throne rooms and then entered a room with portraits of Russian military heroes. Our Hermitage guide, Natasha, was a wealth of information. It was like having our own private curator!

One of my favorite artifacts in the Hermitage is the Peacock Clock, made in 1772, and housed in the Pavilion Hall.   It is made of gold and when it is wound (which they do only a few times a year), the pieces move (peacock, rooster, squirrel and other animals). The mechanism is housed under the mushroom. There is a You Tube video that captures the movement when the clock is wound. 

In the small Hermitage, Catherine's own "smaller" building where she retreated to be alone with her art (she is quoted as saying, "There is only me, my art, and the mice."), there is also a roof top garden. Rooftop gardens were quite novel at that time.

As we entered the Italian Renaissance collection in the old Hermitage, we timed our visit just right! Usually there is a long line waiting to catch a glimpse of the DaVinci paintings.

 

We continued gazing at the collections of Italian and Spanish collections, including Giovanni Tiepollo's Triumph of Manus Curius Dentatus depicting an ancient conquest on elephants. Since the artist had never seen an elephant, the imagined features of the elephant are quite interesting!

 

There was also a huge vase on display in this section, taking up the entire room! It is 8.4 ft tall, weighs 9 tons and is made of Jasper.

We saw some Rembrandts in the collection of Dutch Golden Age painters. We next saw the collection of Greek Classical Sculptures and ancient Greek pottery. The men in these sculptures had abs without ever going to the gym and there were muscles in places where anatomically, muscles do not exist!  

 

There were several Greek wall reliefs. Gary mentioned this one "looks like an early attempt at photobombing!"

We concluded our visit looking at the ancient Egyptian antiquities, including sarcophagi.

We returned to the ship, prepared to set sail for Tallinn, Estonia. At 6:00 we went to the Explorer Lounge to savor a flavor of Russia- Russian black beluga caviar with blinis and champagne.

Dinner tonight was at the Chef's Table. This was our most interesting meal on the ship thus far- a 5 course chef's tasting menu designed to feature a variety of spices and prepared with molecular gastronomy techniques and a wine pairing for each course: starter- carrot and cardadom cream with orange and star anise foam; 1st course- spicy tuna tataki with szechuan peppercorns and coriander, followed by a granita of ginger and tarragon with infused vodka and lemon foam, main course- beef tenderloin (prepared sous vide) with Spanish paprika, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon served with a purple potato mousseline and oyster mushrooms, and dessert- apple tarte tatin with cinnamon and a butterscotch calvados sauce. It was amazing and each of the wine pairings brought out the flavor of each dish so remarkably!

We ended the evening listening to a cabaret song and dance performance, followed by an after sunset (9:53 PM) performance of the Rat Pack Revisted.

Wed. July 20: Exploring Splendid St. Petersburg, Russia (Day 1)

After a 4:13 AM sunrise, we arrived in port at 7:00 AM. Beth tried the Nordic pancakes today, and after breakfast, we were ready to go through immigration. 

 
Since Russia requires visas, we had to go through Russian security, get our passports stamped, and receive a visitor's card. My oh my, those Russian immigration officers were quite jovial (not or nyet as a Russian would say!).  Once we cleared Russian immigration, we met our local Russian guide who was very friendly and personable. She works as a guide during the day and an English teacher in the evenings.

We entered the bold and magnificent port of St. Petersburg, on the Gulf of Finland, a city envisioned 300+ years ago by Tsar Peter the Great to be the beautiful northern capitol patterned after the finely planned elegant capitols of Europe. Peter the Great used St. Petersburg as the home of his growing army. Peter the Great's vision for this shining city resulted in grand boulevards, a lacework of canals throughout the city, elegant baroque-style buildings, opulent palaces, and onion-domed churches. Contrasted with the "Commie-block" style of plain, ugly, grey concrete Soviet era buildings, St. Petersburg is a grand jewel and today is the home of several UNESCO World Heritage sites.

We broke into two groups- Beth, Dave, and Meg went to the Peterhof Palace and Gardens and David, Page, and Gary went to the Catherine Palace.

As the Gary, David, and Page group drove out into the outskirts of the city we entered "Pushkin land"- a beautiful area of parks and buildings dedicated to the great Russian poet and novelist, Alexander Pushkin. He embodied the Russian national consciousness and became the pride of the country. An important part of his literary heritage is his fairy tales, based on Russian folklore.

Upon arrival to the Catherine Palace we stood in a long entrance line. The waiting was quite enjoyable as we were entertained by a group of museum-employed Russian musicians who played traditional Russian music to the groups standing in line.

David and Page had fun recreating the "statue look".

 

 

Of the 58 halls and grand salons in the palace, we saw about eight of them, starting with the grand staircase. We donned booties over our shoes so as not to destroy the wood parquet floors. One word captures it all- opulent! We entered the Great Hall, largest room in the palace with sculptural and ornamental gilded carvings throughout. The Picture Hall was quite interesting- painted works of art extend throughout the entire walls. We saw several dining rooms, a room covered with red foil between gold panels, and a pink and green room that reminded me of Wedgewood china. 

 The inlaid furniture was exquisite and the rooms had floor to ceiling "wood stoves" to heat the cavernous rooms. These were constructed from Delft tiles imported from Holland.

Beth, Meg and Dave spent the morning in St. Petersburg exploring Czar Peter the Great's expansive palace, Peterhof (Peter's Palace), and its beautiful gardens. He was inspired by a visit to France when he was enthralled with the French palace, Versailles. Peter wanted to create something here on the shores of the Gulf of Finland that would exceed its beauty while incorporating its extensive use of fountains and gardens. The palace itself stood out to us for its beauty and opulence, including its extensive use of gold gilding. He built it for celebrations and entertaining, particularly when he lived there in the summers.

Surrounding the hilltop palace are beautiful gardens and fountains, often highlighted by gold statuary. Because there were no electric pumps in 1703 when its construction was begun, all of the fountains were created by gravity-fed hydrology as water from the high ground was fed through a labyrinth of pipes and valves to feed dozens of unique and beautiful fountains. Peter created additional, smaller 'palaces' on the waterfront of the gulf so he could better enjoy the seaside  during the short summers at Peterhof. Amazingly, the palace was actually built twice: the original construction under Peter's direct supervision beginning around 1703 and then a second time when it had to be rebuilt following its near-total destruction by the Germans during the three year siege of St. Petersburg during World War II.

 

after lunch we all went on a panoramic city tour together. St. Petersburg is called the "Venice of the North" with its many canals and bridges throughout the city. The main river is the Neva River. We crossed over the Neva and admired the beautiful wrought iron "sea horses" bridge.

Gazing across the river you can see the beautiful gold (yes, real gold!) dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which we would see later up close.

From across the river you can also see the gleaming gold spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress. This spire stretches 404 feet into the sky.

 

Along the beautiful Neva River esplanade there are several monuments with nautical themes including two tall columnar monuments with bows of ships protruding from them and a Neptune statue at the bottom. On top there is a flame that is occasionally lit.  Buildings along this stretch of the river, that goes out to see, depict Neptune and other nautical figures.

Next we went inside the Peter and Paul Fortress (and seemed to acquire a new "tour guide"!) and entered the Peter and Paul Church, a Russian Orthodox church built in 1712. The church was quite opulent inside. The main floor includes the white marble crypts of the emperors, tsars , and tsarinas of Russia. After Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, their daughters and son, their doctor, and a few household servants were executed by the Bolsheviks, their bodies were thrown into a coal mine. It was just recently after the collapse of the Soviet Union that the Russian government recovered their bodies (all but 2) and identified them with DNA analysis. Their bodies now lie in the marble burial vaults inside the Cathedral and the other two will shortly join them.

We stopped at the colorful onion-domed Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. This onion-domed decorative memorial to the assassinated emperor, Alexander II, is the personification of splendid ecclesiastical Russian architecture. Unfortunately this is one of the areas where bands of gypsies, which travel throughout Europe's tourist destinations, employ their well-developed pick-pocketing craft. Two members of our trip were pick-pocketed here, even after extensive warnings from our guide. One man even lost his passport.

Our last stop, before returning to the ship, was at the landmark Issac's Cathedral. The columns are made of single pieces of red granite weighing 80 tons each. To get a sense of scale, look at this group of Chinese children visiting St. Isaac's and the man standing by the huge door. [note: the picture of the cathedral was not taken with one of our cameras. We didn't have a pic taken far back enough to see the entire cathedral.]

It was time to head back to the ship but not before freeing Meg and Page who were detained at Peter and Paul Fortress for committing transgressions!

 

The evening ended for Beth and Dave with a visit to the concert hall of the former Soviet Military General Officers for a delightful immersion into the native songs and folk dances of the Russian people of the countryside. The brilliantly colored and detailed costumes were exquisite and complemented the rousing enthusiasm of the troupe of approximately 20 singers and dancers. The 2.5 hour performance was exhilarating.. It was easily their favorite experience in St. Petersburg!

A splendid day in the magnificent city of St. Petersburg ended with a 9:54 sunset. We can't wait to see what tomorrow in this city will bring!