Day 19 September 26th Penzance to St Martin's

Our final day proved to be less traumatic than the previous one.  It was another fine, calm day as we sorted ourselves out, had some coffee and organised a taxi to take us to the Penzance quay for the 0915 sailing to Scilly.  We were there in good time, soon deposited the luggage, checked in and settled down in the comfy chairs in the upper saloon for the crossing.  We were soon underway and enjoyed more coffee and toasted sandwiches as our breakfast.  Both of us wandered round the deck at different times to enjoy views of the 

Round Island lighthouse

Cornwall coast and the islands as they came into view.  The 2½ hour journey soon passed and we were met on St Mary's quay by Heather and Alan, we had a short conversation with them but soon the launch Voyager was at the quay ready for the final leg to St Martin's.  We were met on the quay by Matthew Martin

Martin/Andersen family

whose family had been looking after our house for part of the time we were away.  We left our luggage in the Higher Town waiting room, walked home and I went with the car for the luggage.  We met the rest of the Martin/Andersen family and all was safely home after a very interesting journey.

 

Day 18 September 25th Dover to Penzance



the white cliffs as we arrive

Our final morning on board was an

Dover Castle

early start as we had to disembark by 0850.  It was another fine day and so after breakfast we were ready to leave.  We collected our luggage (very well organised) and joined the queue to get a taxi to the station.  We soon made it!  I had cautiously booked us on a train leaving Dover at 1145 which would still get us to Penzance by early evening but this proved to be a huge mistake.  We watched the 0945 and 1045 trains leave but decided to wait in the excellent coffee bar for the one we were supposed to travel on.  At about 1130 a notice came up that our train was delayed, a bit later we heard that our route to London was unusable but there would be a slower train going to London Victoria but this would mean missing our Paddington train.  We were regretting not jumping on the 1045! It appeared there was a vehicle accident on a level crossing at Deal.  We crossed platforms to get on the Victoria train but were eventually told he could not move because of a lack of a guard.  Then we were advised that there would be a bus to take us to Ashford International station and so we crossed back to the entrance and joined the bus which took us to Ashford.  Here we were back on track (literally!) and eventually arrived at Paddington to catch a train at 1606 - 2 hours later than planned.  Our journey was now uneventful and we arrived in Penzance at about 2130 and so had a good rest when we settled down at Heather and Alan's flat.   

Day 17 September 24th Amsterdam



The palace

It was a fine day as  we arrived into 

Nieuwe Kerk

Amsterdam and we had already planned what we wanted to do here.  We had visited the city before at the start of our Rhine/Danube river cruise several years ago.  We were moored in the city centre by the railway station and from there we avoided the red light district and walked along Damrak and eventually found the flower market. 

typical Dutch houses

We stopped to take photos of the Palace and Nieuwe Kerk  (16th century church) which we passed along the route.  Christine had looked forward to visiting the flower market but all that was there was a series of stalls mostly

munt clock tower

selling tulip bulbs.  We did stop to buy some roses and other souvenirs.  We had a coffee, 
wandered back via the Munt clock tower to the  main road and caught a tram to return to the station.  We then took the obligatory canal cruise which took 

a sail training boat

us past a lot of the famous sites of the city and under several low 

along the canals

bridges.  It was then a few minutes walk along the Rhine bank to our boat.  A good visit as there is plenty to see and do in a very interesting city, others on the boat had visited the Rembrandt house and the Van 

houseboats along the canal

Gogh museum.  All found that there were huge queues to the Anne Frank house on a Sunday and no one tried a visit. Plenty to return to see on another visit!  We were all aboard and left the quay at about 5pm.

Sunday picnic Amsterdam canal style

  We stayed on our balcony as we made our way to the mouth of the river, through a lock and out onto the open sea.

going through the lock

Day 16 September 23rd The Kiel Canal






road bridge 

various boats we passed

Today we had the interesting journey of taking most of the day to traverse the Kiel Canal in

wind farm

northern Germany.  It saves quite a long journey of going around Jutland and was built so that German shipping and navy had access from the Baltic Sea to the north Atlantic. It was early morning (before we were up) that we entered the lock at the eastern end.  We didn't see too much of what 

 a village

went on but it was obviously not too drastic a change in water level.  After breakfast we

cross canal ferry

went to our balcony and watched the goings on from there.  It was like a day on a river cruise as we could see both banks but in a much larger boat.  It was wide enough for two boats and we passed ships of all sizes going in the opposite direction.  We could also see the vessels ahead and behind us.  The canal is busier shipping wise than either the Panama or Suez canals.  We passed villages, industrial plants,

rail bridge

small car ferries crossing the canal, went under bridges carrying both road and rail traffic and generally were kept well occupied with the changing sights.  

western lock

We went to the restaurant for lunch at one stage and eventually arrived at the western end lock at about 1530.  Again there was not much of a change in water levels at this lock.  We were soon on the open sea and having picked up several pilots, they were transferred to a large pilot boat
 which then took them to 

container ship in lock

boats waiting to enter the canal.  

the Astor

the pilot boat

We could see the Frisian Islands and some windfarms with the Astor cruise boat following us out of the canal.  The end of the day was much better with clear, warm weather.  Eventually we went inside and prepared for dinner after another relaxing but absorbing day.


Day 15 September 22nd Heading South East

Our next day was spent entirely at sea as we headed southwestwards towards the Kiel Canal.  The day was fairly uneventful as we were out of site of land for almost the entire day.  It was slightly misty and so we only occasionally saw land, another boat or a wind farm.  We spent the day mostly reading and knitting with breaks for food, a wine tasting session and a port lecture 

us ready for dinner

on Amsterdam.  I still had the remnants of the cold but hopefully did not pass it on to anyone else.  At the end of the day we had a Captain's circle party and then a formal dinner with us dressing up.  A good day as it was fairly relaxing.

Days 13 & 14 September 20th & 21st Stockholm

 



the theatre

We had two days in Stockholm but because 

natural history museum

I was feeling below par on the first day we did not leave the ship.  I have had a cold since Sunday and although it was with me the previous three days, I battled on wanting to see the sights etc of St Petersburg and Helsinki. I did not wake up feeling too good 

king ? outside national opera house

on the Wednesday and we decided to have a quiet day, pick

the Vasa

the brains of those that went ashore and complete the highlights tomorrow.  Over dinner we talked to others and the “must do” things seemed to be a Hop on Hop off bus tour of the city and then visit the “Vasa” 

Vasa along port side

museum.  If time allowed a boat tour round the immediate waterways would be good.  The Vasa was a boat like the Marie Rose in Portsmouth which in 1628 on her maiden trial sunk in 

Vasa from stern

Stockholm harbour.  It was reputed to have a lot of its structure, equipment and possessions of those trapped on board when she went down.  We caught the uncomfortable Hop on Hop off bus at about 0900 and because it was rush hour it took 2 hours to arrive at the museum.  We were able to take photos of important buildings on the way.  The Vasa museum was amazing showing a time capsule of 1628.  It was reclaimed in 1961 and has been treated to preserve it for the future.  There was film about the boat which started in English at 1100 and so we just made that and it was good in setting the scene for the the disaster and recovery.  We spent 2 hours in the museum including a coffee break with the local speciality of a cinnamon bun.  The information was all laid out in English on 4 levels, we were not able to go on the boat but we could see the plans and decks.  After being absorbed by this we had to return to the ship (we missed a harbour boat tour)where we had to board by 1430.  After one or two misgivings we found the bus and arrived back in good time.  The voyage leaving Stockholm was beautiful with thousands of small islands to weave through so the need for a pilot was very apparent.  We sailed through them and off into the sunset!
 

leaving Stockholm

    

leaving Stockholm

Day 12 September 19th Helsinki



president's palace and market

inside Rock Church

Our next destination was Helsinki (they are coming thick and fast

 at the moment) and we had docked by the early morning.  It was not such an early start for us as we had no tour booked. It was overcast with the threat of showers and so we took our 

inside Rock Church

waterproofs with us as we began our own tour.  We had been on a port lecture and both of us agreed that the one place we wanted to visit was the Rock Church.

outside of Rock church

  The ship had docked very close to the city centre and we soon made our way across the presidential palace square where there was a market and then found the Tourism Information centre.  Armed with a street map, tram tickets and instructions we just about made our way to the drop off point and found the said 

the Lutheran Cathedral

church.  It was hewn from solid granite

leaving Helsinki

 and hence our interest even though it was quite a modern church.  Once inside we found a wonderful, calm, plain atmosphere with a pianist playing which was a different to highly decorated cathedrals and churches of St Petersburg.  We spent some time taking internal and external photos.  After this we thought we deserved a coffee break and found the local coffee shop.  We caught the tram back to the centre of town (by this time it was beginning to rain and donned overjackets).  We had a wander and looked at the Lutheran Cathedral from the outside.  We then 

exiting through small islands

went back to the ship as she was

an island lighthouse

 sailing soon and as we left the port we took some photos of the small islands on the approach to the city.  It was a short visit and we did not get to everywhere we would have liked but we had a good taster of its architecture and history.  On discussions over dinner, others had been on a waterways cruise which sounded a very good idea considering the nature of the city layout.

Day 11 September 18th St Petersburg Day 2



Katherine's palace

  Our second day in St Petersburg began early and with us oversleeping!  We were supposed to join the group at 0700 but did not wake 

reception room in Katherine's palace

up until 0630.  It was rush but we made it with me unshaven.  We had booked to view two more palaces today which were situated outside St Petersburg along the gulf of Finland.  It took us about an hour to get to Katherine’s palace.  She was the wife of Peter 

palace dining room

the Great and when he died (fairly young) it was agreed that she would ascend to the throne.  She was very capable and everyone acclaimed the way carried out her duties – how’s that

looking through doors to several rooms

 for girl power!  She then had to decide on a new palace and built another grand palace coloured blue and white.  I did not go to this palace in 1971 and it was very impressive to see the way it had been restored after suffering so much in WW2.  We saw plenty of gold leaf both inside and outside and the whole setup was certainly not to be missed. It was Christine’s favourite palace of the three.

fountains at the Peterhof

 

domes on the Peterhof

It was now about 1100 and we motored towards our next destination the Peterhof palace.  It took about an hour and towards 1200 we stopped for lunch at a restaurant.  The meal was tasty including caviar, vodka and chicken.  Again we had some local folk style singers who entertained us well.

It was soon time to proceed to the Peterhof but by this time it was beginning to drizzle.   As it was Monday the palace was closed for the general public and the two coaches from the cruise ship were the only ones inside which made life a lot more comfortable.  We went through the rooms but were not allowed to take any internal photos.  The rooms were the usual opulent style with lots of gold leaf, paintings and tapestries. It took less time to visit here but the  overall impression was highly favourable with so much attention to detail.  By the time we had to go outside it was raining steadily

a view of the gardens

another of the many fountains

and we had left our waterproof jackets and trousers in the coach which we could not reach!  The gardens were beautiful with hundreds of fountains cascading to the sea, there were even some trick ones which soaked you if trod on the wrong part of the cobbles.  We went across one but did not get drenched.  After a tour of the gardens it was time to board the coach and make our way back to the cruise boat.  An exceptional day which everyone round the dinner table enjoyed.

Day 10 September 17th St Petersburg

St Isaac's Cathedral

We arrived overnight in St Petersburg having sailed to the far end of the Gulf of Finland.

The Hermitage

  We had arranged two full days of tours and for the first one we were required at the meeting point at 0820 so we had an early start (some people had already started at 0700).  This day consisted of a coach tour of the city followed by a visit to St Isaac’s cathedral and then a visit to the Hermitage museum/palace.  We took hundreds of pictures each day in this beautiful city but you will be pleased to see that we have 

Interior of St Isaac's

included a small taster selection here.  I had been here in about 1971 and it was good to see that restoration work is continuing after the extensive damage suffered during WW2.  When the city was established as a summer residence of the czar every other Russian noble wanted to build a palace in the neighbourhood and so we passed several of these beautiful palaces.

hall in the Hermitage

  We also entered the Russian Orthodox cathedral of St Isaac’s which has multi-domes and a lavish interior and is now a museum.  It was not bombed during WW2 because German pilots used it as a marker.  We found the interior very lavish but quite inspirational artwork.  We then had some lunch in a local restaurant who had laid on some

singers in traditional dress.

Hermitage clock

  We were soon on the road again and were dropped off at the Hermitage Palace/Museum .

 

Rembrandt's prodigal son

hallway in the Hermitage

 



grand stairway at the Hermitage

This guided tour was really good, we were taken through reception rooms, throne room,  dining rooms, ballroom, bedrooms and ancilliary rooms.  Decorated with plenty of gold leaf or silk wall coverings.  The museum artefacts included paintings by Da Vinci, Titian, Rembrandt etc.  There were also incredible clocks and some of the china was commissioned from Wedgewood.  Altogether an incredible tour with too much to take in but so, so interesting.  We arrived back at the boat fairly exhausted and were pleased that dinner was informal.  A good end to a fantastic day.