Thursday 30 August 2012

Baltic Cruise

I don't normally put anything except craft on my blog, but thought I would share a few photos with you!

We recently went on a Baltic Cruise as it was our 30th Wedding Anniversary earlier in the year (and I'll be 50 later in the year). 


First stop was Kalundborg in Denmark. We took the ships excursion to Copenhagen - very expensive place, but kicking myself for not buying a necklace from Pilgrim! 
(Background photo The Oresund Bridge which links the capitol to the mainland, other photos Nyhavn and The Little Mermaid)



Next stop Tallinn in Estonia. Very pretty medieval, walled town. Easy to walk to from ship.
(Background photo - view from ship, other photos are parts of the wall surrounding town, view over the rooftops and  The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral)


Then it was onto St Petersburg, Russia for 2 days. Wow! What a city. We did ships excursions as very expensive to buy own visa, but we had great tour guides. Too many photos to show.
(Background is The Hermitage, other photos Cupolas of Church on Spilled Blood - stunning interior, Gateway to St Catherine's Palace which houses the Amber Room and The Grand Cascade, one of the many fountains at Peterhof Palace and Gardens) 



Next stop Helsinki,Finland. Lovely shops and busy harbourside market.
(Background is one of the lovely sunsets and other photos are the German Church and Helsinki Cathedral

 
Then it was onto Stockholm, Sweden through the wonderful archipelago. Fantastic  shopping in Gamla Stan and we saw the Changing of the Guards at the Palace. 
(Background photo The Archipelago, other photos - one of the streets in Gamla Stan, Changing of the Guard and National Museum).


Our last port of call was Kiel in Germany. Opportunity for more shopping, but this was the day we had some rain so didn't explore the town as much as we would have liked. Did find Woolworths though! After a few hours here we set sail along the Kiel Canal.  The canal was beautiful and so serene. Can you imagine a cruise ship on a canal?It was a shame we didn't leave Kiel earlier to enjoy the canal as it soon became dark. Then it was out to the North Sea (lovely and calm on the way out, but a bit rough coming home).
(Background photo view of Kiel, other photos - ship coming into canal lock and view over the side)

 Oh well, still loads of washing to catch up on and it's back to work on Monday.

Back to crafting soon!
Sandra


( Messing about with Serif Craft Artist!)



3 comments:

Jean said...

Wow! Looks like a wonderful holiday you had.Thank you for sharing your photos and congratulations on your anniversary and your coming birthday.Jean x

Paula (PEP) said...

Looks like you had an amazing time & belated Congratulations on your Anniversary.
When my family first moved to the UK we did the North Sea crossing at least twice a year - it certainly could be rough & it took two nights plus one full day.
have a good weekend.
Paula (PEP)

Chrissie said...

This looks fabulous Sandra, which cruise line did you go with?
We'll be going on the queen Victoria!
Chrissie