# GlobalEdAllies continued their travels and studies by visiting a variety of Baltic countries.
Tallinn, Estonia
The Lower Town of Tallinn is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and a fantastic place to just take a wander. The Tower at the entrance of the Old Town is called Fat Margaret (constructed by Margaret Sambiria in 1265) and much of the architecture you see along the way is quite whimsical. Three churches are located in this area; The Church of the Holy Ghost, St. Olaf's, and St. Nicholas'. The Town Hall sports dragons and below an open air mark plays host to the oldest pharmacy, performances, a market, and a variety of eateries. We ate at the Olde Hansa medieval style! The Hell Hunt was also quite tasty! Learn more about the history of the city in the Great Guild Hall (yellow, now a museum) or find a place with The Brotherhood of the Blackheads (colorful doors pictured) if you are single, male, and a foreigner in Tallinn and not eligible for guild membership.
The Lower Town of Tallinn is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and a fantastic place to just take a wander. The Tower at the entrance of the Old Town is called Fat Margaret (constructed by Margaret Sambiria in 1265) and much of the architecture you see along the way is quite whimsical. Three churches are located in this area; The Church of the Holy Ghost, St. Olaf's, and St. Nicholas'. The Town Hall sports dragons and below an open air mark plays host to the oldest pharmacy, performances, a market, and a variety of eateries. We ate at the Olde Hansa medieval style! The Hell Hunt was also quite tasty! Learn more about the history of the city in the Great Guild Hall (yellow, now a museum) or find a place with The Brotherhood of the Blackheads (colorful doors pictured) if you are single, male, and a foreigner in Tallinn and not eligible for guild membership.
The Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is located in the UPPER TOWN. This part of the city is where the center of power has traditionally been located (the Pink building across from the Nevsky is a legislative building).
Also located in the Upper Town are a series of faceless monk statues. I somehow became wary of Dr. Who appearing...
Tallinn has a KGB museum located in the hotel which used to house their headquarters. The hilight was the ability to take pictures from its the upper floors. Interested? Go to DC to the Spy Museum for a much better experience.
The music festival grounds features a statue of Gustav Ernesaks founder of the song festival movement so important to the Estonian people during the Soviet occupation period. The festival is held every 5 years in July.
A quick stop along the way to Riga to play in the Baltic at Parnu with friends.
Riga, Latvia
Long a center for trade under the Hanseatic League, Riga suffered greatly during the world wars. The "liberation" of Riga by the Red Army in 1944 ushered in five decades of Communist rule, but since Latvia regained independence in 1991, Riga has worked hard to restore the city to its former glory. My travels centered upon the area known as the Old Town and the Quiet Centre before heading to Stockholm.
Long a center for trade under the Hanseatic League, Riga suffered greatly during the world wars. The "liberation" of Riga by the Red Army in 1944 ushered in five decades of Communist rule, but since Latvia regained independence in 1991, Riga has worked hard to restore the city to its former glory. My travels centered upon the area known as the Old Town and the Quiet Centre before heading to Stockholm.
Riga's joyous explosion of Art Nouveau buildings has been recognized by UNESCO as unparalleled. The Quiet Centre has some of the finest examples easily experienced with celebratory walk on a cloudy afternoon.
A small sample of the sights in Town Hall Square... even our old friend Sherlock!
Stockholm, Sweden
Last year I was thrilled to spend my birthday on the Great Wall of China....this year I am spending it in Stockholm, Sweden! We started out our visit with a picnic at Drottningholm Palace. Baroque in style, the complex has a park, the world's oldest theater still in active use, the Chinese Pavilion (a gift to Queen Lovisa Ulrika from her husband King Adolf Fredrik in1753), as well as the Palace. My favorite room of the Palace was Queen Hedvig Eleanora's State Bedroom (finished in 1683) which reminded me a great deal of my favorite Catherine d'Medici bedroom from the Loire Valley.
First, the Park and the Chinese Pavillion.
Last year I was thrilled to spend my birthday on the Great Wall of China....this year I am spending it in Stockholm, Sweden! We started out our visit with a picnic at Drottningholm Palace. Baroque in style, the complex has a park, the world's oldest theater still in active use, the Chinese Pavilion (a gift to Queen Lovisa Ulrika from her husband King Adolf Fredrik in1753), as well as the Palace. My favorite room of the Palace was Queen Hedvig Eleanora's State Bedroom (finished in 1683) which reminded me a great deal of my favorite Catherine d'Medici bedroom from the Loire Valley.
First, the Park and the Chinese Pavillion.
Inside Drottningholm Palace. Staircases, libraries, bedrooms (!), and nerds who find Catherine the Great visiting too! The view isn't bad from inside either! Welcome Marianne to our wandering NC Band!
We left Drottningholm by boat to travel to the City Hall (you can see Drottningholm in the background as we pulled away) WE SAW VIKINGS! The steps leading to Stadhuset, the City Hall, are flanked by two statues- Dansen and Sangen- and Loki is imprisoned nearby. The building contains the Council Chamber and the Blue and Golden Halls where the annual Nobel Prize festivities are held.
The Gamla Stan, or the Old Town, has been an active center for trade and governance since the 13th century. The central square is surrounded by numerous shops, restaurants, historic buildings, and the Modern Nobel Museum. While we were visiting the central exhibition was celebrating the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Junior's Peace Prize. I sat in President Obama's chair from his Peace Prize ceremony--it now sits in the cafe signed. I fits-I sits!
Near the Gamla Stan is the Royal Palace where one can see the daily changing of the guard, the Crown Jewels in the Treasury (no pictures allowed), the private residential quarters, and the State Rooms. Today the Palace is a Royal Workplace, but not the daily residence of the Royal family.
The Chapel
The State Rooms and Residential Areas. HIS throne is located in the State Rooms...HERS in her own receiving area. The current ruling monarch is Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife is Queen Silvia.
The Palace Church, Storykyrkan Cathedral, is across from the Palace grounds. The most famous work of art contained is the statue of St. George and the Dragon.
The VASAMUSEET was on first museum visited on Museum Island.
After a maiden voyage of just 1,300m in calm weather, the royal pride of the Navy, the royal warship Vasa, capsized in Stockholm's harbor on August 10, 1628. The warship was rediscovered in 1956, raised, restored, and a museum dedicated to its memories was opened in 1990. The Ships-head is a lion symbolizing King Gustav II Adolf- the Lion of the North. The gun ports mimic the figurehead. Carved soldiers decorate the Vasa's stern.
After a maiden voyage of just 1,300m in calm weather, the royal pride of the Navy, the royal warship Vasa, capsized in Stockholm's harbor on August 10, 1628. The warship was rediscovered in 1956, raised, restored, and a museum dedicated to its memories was opened in 1990. The Ships-head is a lion symbolizing King Gustav II Adolf- the Lion of the North. The gun ports mimic the figurehead. Carved soldiers decorate the Vasa's stern.
Welcome to Museum Island! Museum Island has many options to pick from a Viking Museum to an open-air museum, The Skansen, to Rosendal Palace. Immediately near our entrance is the Nordic Museum which resembles a Renaissance castle and includes items from everyday life in Sweden since the 1520s. The collection includes fashion, toys, jewelry, and home goods. As you enter the museum you are treated to the sight of a giant King Gustav Vasa.
We head back to Finland after Stockholm, then St. Petersburg!
St. Petersburg, Russia
To visit St. Petersburg has always been my dream (which includes a ride on the Neva during winter in a troika but that would now require a time machine). Founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703, St. Petersburg is located on the Neva Delta straddling a number of islands earning St. Petersburg the nickname the 'Venice of the North'. Our visit started with a bus ride through the city. Included here are pictures of the Rostral Columns (decorated with ships prows in celebration of naval victories), views of the Peter and Paul Fortress across the Neva (built by conscripted labor, the Fortress was the scene for political torture in its prison cells and a grand cathedral which houses the tombs of the Romanovs), and Peter himself.
To visit St. Petersburg has always been my dream (which includes a ride on the Neva during winter in a troika but that would now require a time machine). Founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703, St. Petersburg is located on the Neva Delta straddling a number of islands earning St. Petersburg the nickname the 'Venice of the North'. Our visit started with a bus ride through the city. Included here are pictures of the Rostral Columns (decorated with ships prows in celebration of naval victories), views of the Peter and Paul Fortress across the Neva (built by conscripted labor, the Fortress was the scene for political torture in its prison cells and a grand cathedral which houses the tombs of the Romanovs), and Peter himself.
St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of the world's largest cathedrals. Dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia (Peter the Great's patron saint as he was born on his feast day) the Cathedral was opened in1858. Deconsecrated during the Soviet era, St. Isaac's became a museum of atheism, and although the Governor of Saint Petersburg offered to transfer the cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2017, the church has not exercised this offer. Angels crown the four attic corners, the dome is gilded gold (painted gray during WW II to avoid the Cathedral being targeted) , and circled by statues of angels.
The Church on Spilled Blood, also known as the Resurrection Church of Our Saviour, was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1883. Designed in the flamboyant Russian Revival style, the mosaic panels on the Tympanum show scenes of the New Testament.
One of the greatest museums in the world, The Hermitage is actually a collection of buildings, the most impressive of which is the Winter Palace built for Tsarina Elizabeth in 1754-1762, and added to by Catherine the Great to house her art collections. During World War II, the Palace served as a field hospital, during the Revolution it was the Provisional Government Headquarters until it was stormed by the Bolsheviks, and in 1993, the Hermitage became the first museum in Russia to admit possession of "trophy art" seized from Nazi Germany.
We begin our visit with an appreciation of the architecture of the Winter Palace now they believe restored to its original color scheme. Travel down the hallway, seeing the magnificent staircase in the distance. Proceed to the upper floors after a quick look back from above.
We begin our visit with an appreciation of the architecture of the Winter Palace now they believe restored to its original color scheme. Travel down the hallway, seeing the magnificent staircase in the distance. Proceed to the upper floors after a quick look back from above.
Thrones & Romanov Symbols! One of the first rooms you enter celebrates Peter the Great and his throne. The second throne room would be where the final Romanovs received visitors. For those who have visited Versailles, the mirrored room is a clear shout out to the standards for majesty established in France.
Architectural wonderland! In many ways I choose to take this trip for this day alone. I read my first Massie book Nicholas & Alexandra during elementary school, and that, along with the movie Young Bess, and I was hooked. College major decided upon. To walk the halls of Tsars and Tsarinas--for many it was crowded and hot and too fast to enjoy--but for me, it was transformative.
The Art! Celebrating the defeat of Napoleon (I always find a little Waterloo!), Rembrandts, Reubens, and mechanical bird clocks
OH MY!
OH MY!
Our visit to St. Petersburg was too short! Back to the cruise ship and on to meet Santa!
Rovaniemi, Lapland
Reindeer Games were on the agenda for our first day in the Arctic. We joined in a Sami welcome ceremony and learned of our future afterlives when we will return as reindeer to Lapland. You can see where my antlers will sprout! To learn the story watch Stephanie's youtube video.
SANTA!!! I was able to meet with him June 25th--only six months until he returns the visit to my home-base in New Jersey. Crossed the Arctic Circle to visit his workshop and his very busy Post Office.
Global Awareness discussions at the Arkticum Arctic Museum and the Pilke Science Museum. Hands on experiences for kids of all ages! Will need to come back to see the Northern Lights since in June Rovaniemi is the Land of the Midnight Sun.