2009 - Scandinavia
July 18th - July 27th
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 1 - Copenhagen, Denmark
80 images
I arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday evening. Mom picked me up and we spent an hour going through our bags and making sure we weren’t over our allowed 44 lbs. Saturday morning, Carl made us breakfast while we got ready, and arrived at the airport at 7:30 am. We flew to Atlanta, and we had a couple hours until our next flight, so we ate at a TGI Fridays in the airport for an early dinner. Our flight from Atlanta to Copenhagen, Denmark was 9 hours. Mom and I watched 2 movies, the first was Duplicity, which neither of us liked, and the second was Last Chance Harvey, mom enjoyed it. Not me so much. Afterwards we tried to sleep, but in the row next to us was a crying baby. I tried using my MP3 player to help drown out the crying. I slept a little off and on, but gave up and decided to read instead. We arrived in Copenhagen Sunday morning around 9 am. We then had a full 9 hour touring day. The first day of touring is always a bit rough, because of lack of sleep and no showers, same clothes, needing to brush hair and teeth, etc. but it was a neat day. We drove through the main part of the city, seeing the neat buildings and canals. We talked about Hans Christian Anderson, the fairy tale writer, and saw the red house he grew up in next to the canal. I took a picture of it. We stopped at the Royal Palace where the queen lives and took pictures inside the courtyard, and also of the opera house across the canal. We then went to visit the famous mermaid statue, based on the mermaid story written by Hans Christian Andersen. We also stopped at the immigration docks and saw a statue named Kristina, as a monument for the Mormon immigrants. Kristina was the great grandmother of the sculptor, who was a Mormon immigrant in the 1850’s to Utah. We stopped next at the church called Church of Our Lady, where the original Christus stands, plus 12 statues of the apostles. Wow they were amazing. My camera batteries died here, so I only got a couple of pictures here. I could have stayed and looked at those statues much longer. Michael Wilcox told us before we got there, that things such as art or music, if it tells truth, it will be beautiful and good. And those statures, plus the paintings we see later in the Fredericksburg Castle left me with such awe, because of the beauty and goodness portrayed. It spoke the truth to my heart. We then went on to a castle that the queen likes to stay at during the winter months. We just got some ice-cream and took some pictures of the outside. Then we continued on to the Fredericksburg Castle. It was a magnificent castle. It was built centuries ago, destroyed by fire in the 1700’s and restored rebuilt in the 1800’s. The monarchs don’t care to live in it anymore, so now it is used as a museum. We were able to hear the world’s oldest organ being played; it takes 3 people to play it. Our guide said it was very rare to hear it being played Of the 5 years of bringing tours through the museum; this was the first time he saw and heard it being played. The chapel and ballroom and all the ceilings were so magnificent. The best part was the King’s prayer room, where all the original famous paintings of Christ’s life were. And the gardens in the back looked amazing, I would have loved for time to walk in them. On the way to the castle, we took a 30 minute coastal drive. I kept dozing off though, no matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes open, I love the coast! Today was a good day. We saw some neat things and places. Unfortunately, we are leaving Denmark tomorrow morning. I would have liked to spend more time here.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 1 - Copenhagen, Denmark]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 2 - Bergen, Norway
33 images
Today we got up around 7:00 am. We had breakfast at the hotel, and made a sandwich for lunch later (which we ended up doing most days). We left our hotel at 9:45 and drove to the airport to fly to Bergen, Norway. I was at a window seat, and it was so amazing watching us fly into Bergen. It reminded me a lot of the area off the coast of Washington near Seattle, with all the rocky islands and tall pine trees and birch trees and the coast. Bergen is right on the coast, made up of little islands with maybe a handful of houses on an island, or some with just one or two houses, and bigger islands that are connected by bridges. It was cool to be able to see it all from the sky as we flew in, it was so beautiful. We arrived around 2:00 pm. And then we went on a city bus tour with a local guide for about 3 hours. We drove all around the city and he told us about the buildings and the history. They have several homes and buildings built in the 1700-1800’s that they have kept up and preserved. In fact, our hotel is right behind a row of old 1800’s wooden shops along the coastline. He said that 80% of the homes in Bergen were wood, and they have lost several of the old buildings due to fires. We stopped at a pier to overlook the main part of the city, and we saw several jelly fish in the water. How cool is that! Bergen is a beautiful city. Tomorrow we will see more of it, so I am excited. We got back to our hotel around 5:00 pm. And mom and I spent the evening talking and had our snacks for dinner.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 2 - Bergen, Norway]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 3 - Bergen, Norway
61 images
This morning after breakfast we walked to the train station about a mile away. From there we started our “Norway in a nutshell” tour. We took the Bergen railway up to the City of Voss. It was a high speed train, only took about an hour. We spent much of the time in tunnels under the mountains, which was neat, but disappointing in a way because I wanted to see the countryside more. But we were able to see a lot still, and I have really been impressed with how gorgeous Norway is. It’s not what I expected. It’s all granite mountains and tall trees and water and ocean and great rivers and waterfalls with pretty wooden houses on the sides of the mountains and small grassy valleys. Once we arrived in Voss, we got on buses. Voss is a big skiing city in the winter. In the summer it is know for its extreme sports like cliff jumping and parasailing. On the bus we drove for about an hour to Gudvangen. Along the way we drove down a steep and narrow raid in a town called Stalheimskleiva. It had 13 really steep bends and 2 gorgeous waterfalls. I would have loved to have walked down that road. Once in Gudvangen, we got on a boat that took us through the fjords of Naeroyfjord, which is the narrowest fjord in Europe, and Aurlandsfjord, and ended in Flam. It was a 2 hour boat ride and it was spectacular. The mountains were gorgeous and had so many beautiful waterfalls! I loved it so much! It was pretty cold with light sprinkles of rain off and on, so I was pretty cold after an hour being out on the top deck. So mom and I went inside for some hot chocolate to get warmed up, then we went back out for the last 30 minutes. By then, the rain was coming down harder, and there was even more of a wind-chill, so we went to the middle deck, that had a covering and was more protected from the wind and rain. Our boat arrived in Flam, a beautiful town at the end of the fjord and we had a bit of free time. We looked through the souvenir shops, mom bought a troll and piggy bank and I was looking at some gorgeous sweaters. The one I wanted was $157. Oh well. In Flam, we got on the Flam railway. It wasn’t a high-speed train like the first one, it was more “old fashioned” and meant for touring. It was an hour long, going from Flam to Mrydal in the mountains. The mountain scenery was beautiful, and we stopped at another breathtaking waterfall. It was so misty from being so close to the waterfall, and it was already cold outside, so we didn’t stay out long. Only long enough to get some pictures. In Myrdal, we got back on the high-speed train, which took us back to Bergen. At the train station, several of us needed to use the restroom. But it had a toll on it for 10 kronen, which is around $1.80, to use the bathroom, and none of us had that exact change to put in the slot. We weren’t very happy. Finally another lady from our group came by and she had the change available and opened the door for us, and we just held the door open so all of us could use it without having to pay again. We walked back towards our hotel, and stopped to eat at a little shop nearby. Mom had fish n chips and I ordered a kebob—thinking it would be meat and veggies on a stick. But it was more like a Yarro, meat inside a flatbread sandwich with lettuce and onions. It was good though. Everything is so expensive in Bergen. That meal cost mom and I over $30, and I saw another sweater I really liked, but this one was $215. I guess I don’t get to take home any Norwegian sweaters. :( Back at the hotel, I was still pretty chilled form our cold day outside, so I thought I would check out the pool, and hopefully get to sit in a hot tub before bed. I went to the pool room, but was disappointed with the shallow cool pool, and no hot tub to be seen, and I was looking around for a steam room or something. There was an open room at the end of the hall and I walked inside and saw a man just wrapping a towel around him. Apparently I had walked into the men’s dressing room! I was so embarrassed; I apologized and ducked out fast. I did not go back, but just soaked for awhile in our tub in the room instead.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 3 - Bergen, Norway]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 4 - Bergen and Oslo, Norway
17 images
Today was a free day in Bergen. We slept in till 8:30, and went down for breakfast at 9:30. We had to be checked out of our rooms by noon, so we went back to our room and packed up, then read until noon. We had until 4:00 pm. until we had to leave for the airport, so we walked down the street to see the Bergenhus Castle. We walked the pretty grounds and got some pictures. The castle was built in the 1200’s and was mostly used as a military fortification. Then we walked through the city to a lake, or pond, and sat on a bench and ate lunch. We had our sandwiches made from breakfast. It started to rain after a bit, so we started to head back towards our hotel. We stopped to look in a few shops on our way back, but neither of us bought anything. We were back at the hotel at 3:30. A lot of our group was in the lobby and there were no seats, but there was an open couch in the bar, so we went in there and read some more. At 3:50, Mike came looking for us. Everyone was on the bus ready to go to the airport. We were the last ones to get on, and as we did, Mike told everyone he had found us in the bar. Everyone laughed, and now we keep getting teased, about being lost in the bar. We then went to the airport and flew to Oslo. We came to our hotel, and we have an early morning, so we plan to get to bed soon. Yet still no luggage has been delivered to our room, so we are just waiting. I was able to send an email to my family today while we were waiting at our hotel in Bergen.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 4 - Bergen and Oslo, Norway]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 5 - Oslo, Norway
93 images
We started our day with a city tour of Oslo on the bus with a local guide. Our first stop was at the new opera house built in 2008. It was an interesting building, built right in the harbor. It reminded me of an iceberg, in fact I think most of the building is underwater. What was cool about it is that we were able to walk all over the roof of it and get nice views of the city. We then went to a somewhat new city park. It was really nice, you can tell a lot of thought and money was put into it. There were so many nude statues, all along the walkways, that weren’t very pretty to say the least, they were actually rather disturbing, and I tried not to look at them. They were not beautiful like other statues I have seen in Italy and Greece, where the human body is made to look beautiful. These were plain and rather fat and ugly. The center column looked like a pile of dead naked bodies to me---ick! I did enjoy the flowers and the roses, and there was a gorgeous fountain and ponds. The layout of the park was beautiful. Then we went to an outdoor folk museum. It was like a little Norwegian village and what the homes and buildings were like a few hundred years ago. In fact, they were all authentic buildings that had been restored and brought to this museum. The neatest building was the Old Stave Church, built in the 1200’s and decorated in the Viking style. At first it didn’t look like it belonged here in Norway, it looked Asian to me, something I would see in China. But it made sense when she said it was Viking. There were old paintings, or actually, you could still see the painting on the walls of the last supper. It was really dark inside and everything was faded. All the farmhouses and guest houses were really cool, with the turf roofs and tiny doorways and beds. People must have been smaller back then. We saw some local people dress up in the traditional clothing and play the violin and dance for us. Our next stop was the Viking museum. In it were housed 3 Viking ships that were excavated, dating back to the 800-900’s. The best preserved and fanciest of the 3 was found buried, it was a funeral ship with 2 royal women inside with their treasures and clothing and even snow sleds. There was also a little wagon with real cats found inside, so they believe one of the women was also a priestess, because the cats represented the fertility god. Wow they were beautiful carvings on the ship and sleds and wagon. They only used knives back then for their carvings. Then we drove into Sweden. We stopped at the border so some of our group could get tax back on purchases and use the restroom. I was able to get a picture of the sign showing we were crossing into Sweden, yay! The total trip was around 4 hours. Along the way, Jim told us about the death of his 30 year old daughter, Nicole this past spring, and Mike talked to us about Norwegian mythology. We got to our hotel in Karlstad around 5:30 pm. It was pouring rain though, so we didn’t wander the city as I would have liked. I’m hoping we will have time for that tomorrow. We went to the restaurant in the hotel, along with almost everyone else from our group, so it took quite awhile to get our food. I just got a club sandwich, and mom had some potato with crawfish gravy. It feels so great to be here in Sweden. After doing so much family history and taking Swedish names through the temple, it’s nice to be here in the country of my ancestors.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 5 - Oslo, Norway]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 6 - Karistad and Stockholm, Sweden
29 images
We had a free morning today, so mom and I walked next to the water down the street from our hotel for awhile. It was such a pretty walk, I really enjoyed it. Mom and I have been surprised to see that all the houses so far in Scandinavia are pretty big. Maybe we have just been to the rich parts of the country, but the homes are really big and beautiful. I took several pictures of homes during our walk. After we had all loaded on the bus to depart from Karlstad, Laurie Wilcox told us to get off, that is was Jim’s birthday and we were going to sing to him. I was in the front of the bus and was the first to start walking off, just as Jim was starting to get on. He asked me where I thought I was going. He likes to boss people around and leave right on time, so he was NOT happy to see his loaded buses all start unloading. When we were all standing on the sidewalk, all 90 of us, Jim keeps asking Mike and Laurie what is going on, and Mike keeps telling him that we had to use the bathrooms. But Jim wasn’t buying it because we were all just standing there and not going inside the hotel. Then Laurie pulls out a birthday cake hat and puts it on Jim’s head and we all start singing. Then he figures it out and puts on his sulky face. Afterwards, he yelled at us to all get back on the bus. He acts mean and tough, and my heck he likes to talk, he talked for 2 hours on the bus, I was ready to put on my MP3 player, but I was in the front row, and that would be rude. But he really is nice, deep down—sometimes, maybe, if you’re lucky. His wife Carol is really sweet. We then drove to Stockholm, and got here a little after 3 pm. Around 12:30 we stopped for lunch at a diner, and there was a McDonald’s across the way as well. We just ate our sandwiches that we had made at breakfast. Mike also talked to us on the bus more about the Norse myths, and about Alfred Noble, and the Vasa, since we will be seeing those things tomorrow. Once in Stockholm, we checked into our hotel. I sent a couple more emails home, and then we decided to go explore the city. Another couple was just heading out also, so we walked with them. We found a nice park with a gorgeous old church up on a hill. We walked inside and around the grounds for awhile. We found an ice-cream stand and mom bought some ice-cream. As we were leaving the park, there was a wooden staircase that criss-crossed to the top of another hill. I was curious to see what was up on top, so was this older man we were walking with. He said he would race me to the top, and took off running, taking the steps 2 at a time. I had on heeled sandals, and he had a big head start, so he won L But to be honest, I probably would have lost even if I’d had my sneakers on, but it was nice to have that excuse—losing to a 61 year old man. At the top was a playground, and he even started climbing some poles. We then started wandering back towards the hotel. We walked for about 2 hours, I’m afraid we wore mom out. She said no more walking today. So we went back to our room and had snacks for dinner. I checked out the hot tub, which is on the 7th floor and in a glass room over looking the city, really cool! I planned to go back with my swimsuit on and soak for a bit, but I just didn’t feel good about going alone. There were already some people drinking there. So we’ll read for awhile and get to bed early. It’s a busy schedule tomorrow
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 6 - Karistad and Stockholm, Sweden]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 7 - Stockholm, Sweden
107 images
We began our day taking a bus tour of the city. We stopped at a scenic overlook over the harbor of the Baltic Sea and took some pictures. We then went to City Hall. It is here where all the Nobel prizes are given out. There are 2 great halls, called a blue hall and a gold hall. The blue hall is all marble and brick and a gorgeous marble staircase. The gold hall is exactly that. The walls are completely covered in gold mosaics. Wow, it was amazing. We then went to the royal gardens and saw a gorgeous Asian-type palace, given as a birthday present to one of the queens. It was just for day use, there are no sleeping quarters there. We walked further through the grounds another 10 minutes until we came to one of the royal palaces. It was gorgeous, with amazing grounds and a really neat old theater. After leaving that palace, we went into Old Town and to see another Royal Palace. While there, we saw the changing of the guards, a big band and a soldier procession through the streets. Our guide showed us the locals’ favorite statue. It was a little miniature guy, about 6 inches high, sitting with his knees up. If you rub his head, you are supposed to have good luck. There is a local lady that knits little caps for it. We were then given free time to wander around Old Town. We went in shops, and I bought a T-shirt for me and my 2 boys, and some chocolate and gummy candy and lollipops for the family. I also bought a pretty fairy and a key chain. Mom also got a couple fairies and a piggy bank. Our next stop was really cool. We went to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is an old battle ship, built for the king in 1603. It sunk just 900 feet from shore on its maiden voyage. It was raised, intact, in 1961 and now lives in this museum. It was huge! As we walked in the building and saw this amazing wooden real 1600’s battleship, we all said wow! It was kept pretty dark in there, to help preserve it, and I hope I got some decent pictures. But no pictures could give it justice. The carvings were beautiful, it was a beautiful ship. Our last stop for the day was at the harbor to board our ferry that we will spend the night on, and take us to Finland. It is a huge boat though, more like a cruise ship. We have our own cabin with a pretty big window; we are on the 10th deck, so we have a great view. We have 2 twin size beds and our own bathroom with a shower. It’s a nice ship. We went to see how much a buffet dinner would cost. It was 35 Euro, so around $50 each. So we opted for our snacks for dinner instead. We went to the sundeck for awhile, and then came back to our cabin. We have been reading, taking pictures of the islands outside my window, and now we are getting ready for bed. Good bye Sweden.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 7 - Stockholm, Sweden]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 8 - Helsinki, Finland
75 images
We docked in Helsinki Finland at 10 am. We then boarded our bus and had another city tour with a local guide. Our first stop was at Senate Square and the impressive church, called Tuomiokirkko. Most Scandinavians consider themselves to be Lutherans, so most of the churches we have seen have been Lutheran. Although the local guides tell us that only a handful of people show up to church on Sunday. It is usually only full around Christmas time. This church was built atop a hill on one end of the square, and you had to go up several steps to reach it. There was a beautiful statue in the middle of the square, dedicated to the Czar Alexander the second. He did a lot of good for Finland while he ruled. Our second stop was at a local park. There was a very odd but cool monument dedicated to a famous Finnish composer. I can’t remember his name, but he wrote the music that belongs to one of our hymns, and one of my favorites, Be still my soul. We then went to see another church called Temppeliaukio church, or Church in the Rock. It was the weirdest, but really cool church that I have ever seen. It was just like a hole dug into a granite wall, and the walls are just rough stone, and the ceiling is a bunch of bronze bands. It was really neat looking. It was small, but like no other church I have ever seen before. We then stopped at the LDS temple in Helsinki. That was a surprise because I had talked to Mike earlier, asking if we could drive by some of the other temples, I would have loved to have seen the Stockholm temple, but he said no. It is so peaceful on temple grounds. I was happy to be there. And our last stop for the day was in a quaint town called Porvoo. It is the second oldest town in Finland. We had 2 hours there on our own. The cobblestone streets must have been hundreds of years old, because they were so rounded down and uneven, you had to walk with your eyes down so you didn’t trip. It was hard on your feet. But it was a cool town. We walked up to the church and looked in the shops. I bought myself a bracelet and ring and some truffles. Mom got a keychain and ice cream of course. The last half hour, I spent on the dock by the bridge. It was so beautiful and peaceful sitting there, looking at the red timber buildings and the bridge and water. We then came back to our hotel around 5:30 pm. At 6:00, I got a call from a gentleman in our group, letting me know that he and his wife were going swimming in the hotel pool at 7:00, and asked if I wanted to join them. I was happy he thought of me and accepted. They came to sit by me while I was on the dock and he mentioned he’d love to go for a swim in the water, and I told him I would too, but that the river water looked so silty and dirty. And I told him how I wanted to swim in our hotel the other night, but didn’t feel comfortable going alone. So it was really sweet him to remember me and invite me along. Mom and I went to get dinner in the restaurant at the hotel. I ordered spaghetti. It was different, but good. The service was pretty slow though, so I didn’t get down to the pool until 7:30, and they were just leaving. But I decided to stay and swim for awhile anyway on my own. I swam for about 20 minutes, and then went back to the room.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 8 - Helsinki, Finland]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 9 - Tallin, Estonia
78 images
We left our hotel early this morning to catch our ferry to Estonia that departed at 7:30 am. The ferry was very big and very nice. Mom and I mostly read at a table near windows, I went outside for a bit, but we were going so fast and the wind was whipping all around, so I didn’t stay out long. The ferry ride was 2 hours long, and then we docked at Tallin, Estonia. Today was a free day. We had buses pick us up from the ferry and drop us off next to the old walled town, built 1000 years ago. This wall escaped all the bombings during the war, so ¾ of the original city wall still stands, with many 800 year old buildings and cathedrals inside. The streets seemed easily 1000 years old, the cobblestone streets were so rutted and worn down, like yesterday in Porvoo. We were given a map of the area, with places of interest marked. We spent the next 5 hours walking all over the city, looking in shops, cathedrals and viewpoints and just wandering the streets and alleyways. My highlight of the day was climbing the tower of an old church built in the 1200’s. I spent 2 Euros to climb up narrow, steep winding stairs to the top of this tower, and see the view of the city below me. It was so amazing, I could have stayed up there for a long time, but mom was waiting for me below, reading Twilight on the pew next to a depiction of Christ’s crucifixion. I find that amusing J After walking for miles around the city, my feet and shins were starting to ache from all the uneven cobblestones, so I can’t imagine how badly moms must have hurt her. We still had an hour and a half till our bus came to pick us up, but we found a bench in a nearby park and read and listened to American Indians (of all people) singing and playing music, until we left. We then had another 2 hour ferry ride back to Helsinki. When I asked mom as were getting back to our hotel, what she wanted to do for the rest of the evening, she said, “Die!” Well, tomorrow will mostly be a bus day, so we can rest our feet.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 9 - Tallin, Estonia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 10 - St. Petersburg, Russia
38 images
We left Helsinki at 7:00 am. and began our drive to the Russian border. We arrived at the border a little after 11:00, or 12:00 Russia time. Along the way, we finished our introductions, and we read and slept. The border crossing took about 45 minutes. They had to inspect our bus and under it and our passports twice. We then drove another 4 hours into St. Petersburg. Along the way, Mike talked to us about Russian history and the beginning and ending of the Czars. I found it fascinating. I really didn’t know much at all about Russia. He also told us a few Russian fairytales, since they are found all over in paintings and on the lacquer boxes. Once here, we went to see the Peter and Paul Fortress that the Czar Peter built in 1703, after he had won this part of the land from Sweden, and then he built this city, St. Petersburg. It is the 2nd largest city in Russia, with 7 million people living here. Inside the Cathedral at the Fortress is where many of the Czars are buried. It was a beautiful church. The sarcophagi are inside. After we left the fortress, we had a short bus city tour, saw a ship from WW2 called Aurora, and the first small palace that Peter built in 3 days. Traffic was thick and slow. The guy behind us made a joke that this was “Russian hour”. We had a stop at a cathedral that was built in memoriam for one of the Czars that was assassinated, the church of the resurrected Christ, or Mike called it the church of the over spilling blood, because it being where the assassination took place. It is no longer a church today, it is a museum. It was incredible from the outside. We didn’t go inside. We then went to our hotel. Mom had worn her pants on inside out all day J Everyone was so tired from the long bus day and were happy to arrive at the hotel. Mom and I ordered some dinner through Room Service. It was called chicken pozharsky. It was SO good! One thing I wanted to mention, it hasn’t been dark at all on our trip. Being this far north, as soon as the soon sets, around midnight, it comes right back up, so it goes from dusk to dawn, just like that. It was interesting.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 10 - St. Petersburg, Russia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 11 - St. Petersburg, Russia
109 images
We went to the Hermitage museum this morning. We got there around 9:30 and had an hour to wander around the square and waterfront and get pictures. We then went inside the main plaza of the museum and waited to get our tickets. While waiting, we ran into 2 missionaries, on their way to volunteer at the museum. We talked with them for awhile; they said the foreigners are really friendly to them, but not the locals. They even got pepper sprayed. We weren’t able to get into the museum until around 11:30. There were so many people and everything seemed so disorganized, but it was worth it to go inside. I had to pay $8 to take in my camera and get pictures. We saw so many amazing rooms and paintings and decorations. It was a gorgeous palace, lived in by the Czars. We then had a bit more of a city tour, stopped at a couple sites and churches for pictures. And our last stop was at the Yusonov Palace. It was a private palace owned by a family richer than the Czars. It was nice, but after seeing the richness and luxury of the Hermitage, it couldn’t compare. Being on our feet all day with little rest time, people were tired and anxious to get back to the hotel. There is a show that some of us are going to tonight, a folk dance and singing. It was really enjoyable.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 11 - St. Petersburg, Russia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 12 - St. Petersburg, Russia
51 images
Today we saw two sites, St Catherine’s Palace, (her summer palace) and St. Isaacs Cathedral. We had driven by the cathedral yesterday and taken pictures of the outside, today we had a guided tour inside. The drive to the Summer Palace took about an hour. It was away from the downtown area, out in the suburbs so traffic wasn’t very bad. The palace was gorgeous, especially the Amber room. The Amber room walls were completely covered in Amber. Every spec was Amber tiled. One thing I didn’t know before this trip is that Amber is petrified tree sap, so it is very rare. I wish I could have taken a picture, but it wasn’t allowed. The palace was greatly damaged during WW2 and the Germans took the original Amber from that room, but they spent millions and over 10 years to restore all the Amber to the walls. It was an amazing room. We also walked around the grounds and saw the bath house by the pond. We were able to get some nice outside pictures of the palace. We then went to St. Isaac’s Cathedral. It is the 4th largest cathedral in the world. The columns outside are incredibly huge. It took 40 years to build this cathedral to the Orthodox Church. Now it is just a museum. I think the builders and founders of the cathedral would be sad indeed. Not many people are religious anymore. This cathedral was incredible inside and out. All the floor and walls are marble and gold overlays and mosaics and paintings. It was very beautiful. We then went to the train station, and caught our train to Moscow. It took 5 hours to get here. I slept an hour, read a Russian fairy tale book and started a new book and looked at the scenery. I saw homes that looked like little sheds, all run down, and a lot of buildings in disrepair. There are a lot of poor in Russia. Many homes don’t have running water. Our Russian guide said it was good for the old people, not to have running water, because they had to walk everyday and fetch their water, it kept them healthy. Moscow is every bit as busy as St. Petersburg; it was crazy just walking to our buses from the train. But our hotel room is gorgeous, a very big, nice room. It even has 2 queen beds, which I haven’t seen outside of the states. Usually there are only 2 twin beds. We will be at this hotel for the next 4 nights.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 12 - St. Petersburg, Russia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 13 - Moscow, Russia
53 images
Today we went to see the Kremlin and the Armory. We don’t get served breakfast in this hotel, so we tried to get up early enough to run to the McDonalds for breakfast, but we were afraid we wouldn’t meet up with the group in time, so we skipped breakfast, and didn’t eat lunch until 2:00 pm, which made us have low energy, for a busy walking day. The Kremlin, I had no idea what a Kremlin was. I assumed it was a cathedral or palace or something similar. Kremlin actually means a walled city or fortress. It was a walled square with different cathedrals and the president’s headquarters. We walked form our hotel about 20 minutes to this place. The first thing we saw was the armory. And again I was surprised by what it actually was. I assumed I would be seeing a bunch of swords and shields and guns. It actually was filled with such extravagance—gold and silver and gems galore—you could feed all of Russia. These were all items of the Czars, and gifts from the Ambassadors to the Czars. We saw so many treasures, tons of weight in gold and silver. And dresses or coronation gowns and robes of priests. One robe of a priest had over 100K pearls sewn in. And a cover for a bible had 1000 diamonds on the cover with rubies and garnets and emeralds and sapphires. And a rocking crib made of silver and studded with diamond all around the top. I thought I saw incredible gems in England with the crown jewels. That would have only been one case out of 2 floors and many many rooms full of amazing treasures. I wish I could have taken pictures. We did see some swords and “armory” type stuff too. One room was full of swords and maces; wow the maces looked so cool! And guns and shields. Everything was still encrusted with gems. It must have been show weapons, who would really use a shield in battle covered in emeralds? There was also a room full of the carriages they used in the 1700’s. Wow! They were more spectacular than any I have every imagined. Mom said they looked like Cinderella carriages, and I disagreed. I thought it was better than anything I have ever seen in any Cinderella movie. I can’t describe all the amazing things we saw. Then we went outside and walked around the square. We did go in one Cathedral, where some Czars were buried. Afterwards, we sat in a park and Mike talked to us for a bit about Moscow and the Cold War. Then it was after 2:00, and mom and I still hadn’t eaten anything for the day, so we walked to a nearby McDonalds and had a bigmac, fries and vanilla shake. We then found a nearby grocery store, and bought a few things for breakfast and lunches for the next couple of days, and finally made it back to our hotel. We got to rest for about an hour until it was time for us to see a Russian.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 13 - Moscow, Russia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 14 - Moscow, Russia
13 images
We met in the lobby this morning at 8:00 am. and listened to Mike talk some about Russian literature and Svetlana (our Russian guide) talk to us about her history. She is the daughter of the main advisor to Stalin. We then got on buses and had a city tour of places outside of the downtown area which we have been in so far. Our first stop was at a cathedral called the Church of Christ the Savior. It was just completely rebuilt in 2000; the original had exploded in the 1930’s. It was rebuilt to look exactly as the original. It was gorgeous inside, bright and ornate and beautiful paintings everywhere. Afterwards we went to a look out area of the city of Moscow, and it also had the University of Moscow across the street. Then we stopped for lunch at a hotel, it was a buffet. I was so grateful or warm, cooked food and enjoyed most of it. Mom didn’t care for it. They had yummy fried potatoes and rice and soups. The desserts looked really good, and I got 4 different kinds to try, and I didn’t like any of them. We then had about 3 hours to go to a famous market. It was 2 mile square city blocks full of outdoor shops. I bought 3 Marushka dolls, a watch, and 2 T-shirts for my girls. We got back to our hotel around 5:00 pm, but then left at 6:15 to go to the circus. It was really fun, I really enjoyed it. My favorite act was the cats. About 8 cats performed for us, rolling on cylinders, doing back flips and jumping over legs as she kicked and even some trapeze acts. It was so cute. When we walked back into our hotel room at 10:00 pm, the phone was ringing; it was Dave and the kids. It was the first time I have talked to them since I have been away, so I was very happy.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 14 - Moscow, Russia]()
2009 - Scandinavia - Day 15 - Moscow, Russia
106 images
Today was our last touring day, and we saw some really cool things. We met in the lobby and walked to the metro, or subway station. It was built as bomb shelters in the 1930’s and our guide said it was 12 stories underground. We got on different trains and got off on different stations and saw how beautifully they were decorated. They were like palaces with all the marble and paintings and mosaics and statues. It was really fun. We then went to the Red square. It was so cool to stand in the Red Square and see the cathedral of St. Basil. Today was one of the national holidays for the military, and since it is also Sunday, they had a little service in front of the cathedral. So the area right in front of the cathedral was sealed off. We watched the service for about 30 minutes, then walked back to our buses and went the cemetery of the rich and famous, from about 1800 and forward. It was somewhat small, but it had recent presidents and wives and military and governments officials, plus several famous scholars and authors and musicians and dancers and actors. But the best thing about this cemetery was the head stones. You can’t really even call most of them headstones, because they were statues or busts or all kinds of different things. It was simply amazing walking around and seeing all the different graves. I took pictures of several of them that I really liked. We saw Stalin’s wife that committed suicide and Gorbachev’s wife, and Svetlana’s father. Our last stop was at a park next to small lake, which supposedly is considered “swan lake”, because this is where the composer of Swan Lake got his inspiration. And across the lake was a walled compound which is a convent. Several hundred years ago, if the Czars didn’t like you and you were a woman, you were sent to the convent. One of the Czar’s, Peter I think, sent his wife and sister to this convent. While we were here, Mike gave a sacrament meeting type talk about love and the one true support, and to keep rowing and not to drift—all ideas of Tolstoy’s. It was wonderful.
![2009 - Scandinavia - Day 15 - Moscow, Russia]()
