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| Sorry for the long delay in getting part 2 (and part 3, sheesh) of our trip home, but a funny thing happens during the summer... we are so busy doing summer things, ice cream, lake, family, friends, that this little story just gets put by the wayside. But now we are getting back to school, and suddenly, well, this just seems to be more fun. So, on with the story. Here we are, in Tallin, Estonia. Now, and be honest here, what do you really know about Estonia? If you are at all like us, the answer is, well, not much, really. |
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| Tallinn has two parts, the main modern city, and the old walled part of the city. The old part is much more photogenic, and so it is to that part that we set off. |
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| There were a lot of tourists around, so we decided to take off in the other direction, and came across this guy playing an instrument. R-man, being interested in music, stopped to listen. After making a small donation, we got to hear a brief history of the "key harp", a Swedish instrument, being played by this guy here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa |
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| This is St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral. When you go inside the ladies (not the tourists, the parishioners) wear traditional head coverings and will sell you candles to light. |
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| The wall of towers square. |
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| This is part of the town hall square. |
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| That cool tower is part of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin. All of these churches let you inside, but you can't take pictures. Well, maybe you could, for a small fee. |
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| Lots and lots of cobblestone. |
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| Waiting to get inside. |
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| What fun is a medieval city without archery??? |
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| Another musician. We got this guy's CD. |
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| The town hall square in full swing. |
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| Sitting on the Bench of Dreams! |
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| The view of the Tallinn harbor. If you are planning to visit Tallinn, here is a link to the tourism board. It also has more info on some of the places we visited: http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/fpage/explore/attractions/cat-370 |
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| The next day was a tour of St. Petersburg. We decided to take a cruise sponsored tour because the application process for a visa to Russia was pretty complicated http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1006.html and also expensive. The cost of the tour was about the cost of the visa. And so, if you will be in Russia for less than 72 hours and are taking a state approved tour, they let you come in. |
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| After driving for about 45 minutes through communist era buildings (think Ivan Drago concrete block style) we come to Peterhof. |
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As you enter you have to put away your camera, put little protective booties over your shoes (like these, below) and generally assume an air of seriousness.  |
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| and so, there are no pictures of the inside, but you can see more here: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/peterhof/index.asp and if you scroll down a little bit here: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/peterhof/grand-palace.asp you can see some of the inside rooms. One thing that we liked that was not shown is Peter's bed. I guess Peter the Great was about 6 feet 6 inches tall, but he had this short little bed with all of these pillows. It was popular at the time to sleep sitting up, for good health, but if you happened to see anyone with a big bunch of pillows (Gary) you can ask them, "What, do you think you are Peter the Great?" |
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| Anyway, here are some more of the gardens surrounding Peterhof. |
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| This is the entrance to the lunch restaurant. |
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| Of course, even here in the middle of Russia, I am anticipating the Fourth of July... see you soon! |
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| So we learned that Peter the Great was a pretty hysterical guy, he made his guests drink vast quantities of vodka, and for the ladies... |
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| he would get them to stroll down this promenade and then soak them, fancy dresses, make-up, and all. |
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| If you see a guy in a black Zorro mask, watch your cash. |
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| I had the kids pose here by the water so that I could pocket a rock from Peterhof. |
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| Of course, amid all of this grandeur, Porta-pottties. Which are not grand. |
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| Next stop, the pier, where we get to ride a hydrofoil across the water. |
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| We stop at a gift shop with typical souvenirs, and of course, fur hats! |
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| We didn't see a heavy police presence, but our tour guide told us about the changes that have taken place since communism. Now the former KGB headquarters is the police headquarters.... hmmmmm.... |
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| Next stop, the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cathedrals/Peter-Paul-Cathedral.asp |
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| This place is amazing. |
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| Inside, along with some amazing art and architecture, are the coffins of many of the former rulers of Russia. |
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| The lights on one of the bridges was designed by Eiffel, the same guy that did some tower in Paris. |
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| The Church of the Resurrection of JC, http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cathedrals/church-resurrection-jesus-christ.asp we just had time to jump out and take some pictures in front of this one. |
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| and yet somehow managed time to also get this shot. Meatheads! |
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| The bronze horseman, a tribute to... can you guess.... let's see.... yup, Peter the Great! |
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| Drive by... not sure what this building is, but it sure is pretty. |
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| Leaving St. Petersburg... |
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| and Gary said he found the perfect house for me... love it! |
