St Petersburg, Part II

This was one of the few reminders of the Soviet period, other than blocks of apartment buildings in the modern part of St. Petersburg. Our guide said that there were still a number of statues to Soviet leaders in the city.

As I said earlier, my favorite thing to photograph, the Church of the Spilled Blood...

The Summer Palace and some of its famous fountains. No pictures were allowed inside.

Another view of the gardens and the fountains of the Summer Palace of Catherine the Great, among others...

St Petersburg, Russia

I have tons of pics from St Petersburg, just a few for the blog right now...

Without a doubt my favorite thing to photograph in St Petersburg, the Church of the Spilled Blood, here shown with the Canal going by. I didn't realize there are canals all over St Petersburg, and 412 bridges.

One of the many typical Russian restaurants. Our guide's favorite was McDonalds...

The Hermitage, after possibly the Vatican, the world's greatest art museum.

Oh, and Palace. The Hermitage was also a palace. I've been through many glorious mansions in the US, but none of them had throne rooms.

Estonia, Tallinn

A view of the "old" city.

The gang, except Sue who is taking the picture.

An Eastern Orthodox church in Talinn, Estonia.

The ferries that go to Finland...we were on the green one!

An old tower. The whole town had been rebuilt after bombing by the Russians.

There are some people dressed in traditional garb. Note the shoes!

Then, there are more modern devices.

The Talinn opera house, also showing the film "Milk."

Finland Day 5--Estonia

We took a 2 hour ferry ride over to Tallinn, Estonia. Here we are going through the city gate towards a fine Estonian restaurant.

The old wall has a ton of artisans with hand made crafts. We looked but didn't buy!

Some churches in Estonia

Lake House & Sauna, Heinola, Finland

Fred enjoying his sauna

Fred cooling off after his sauna

The wonderful lunch Kaisu and Oula fixed for us.

The view of the lake from the cabin. This is where Fred is swimming in the earlier picture.

Saturday in Heinola, Finland

Outi's friend Kaisu invited us to spend the day at her summer home. It was quite lovely.

In the afternoon, having coffee in the sun. Outi, Peg, Kaisu, another friend Oula, and Fred.

Some of the beautiful flowers and the lake behind.

Another shot of the flowers.

Lahti, Finland

Another view of the ski jumps in Lahti, we were at the top of the tallest one.

Peg, Outi's friend who took us around Lahti, Outi and Fred in front of the Sibellius Concert Hall in Lahti.

Market at Heinola

We went shopping with Outi at the local market in Heinola. It had wonderful fruits and vegetables as well as clothing, brooms, hardware and other things. Heinola is a town of 22,000 people.

Fred and Outi in front of the oldest town in Heinola, from 1785.

In Lahti, the ski jump. At the bottom is a pool, open in the summer. In the winter, that is covered and is where the ski jumpers finish after they land the jump. These ski jumps are used in the world champtionships when they come to Finland.

15th century church in Lahti, with the 18th century bell tower. It began as Catholic and became Lutheran after the reformation. About 90 per cent of Finns are Lutheran. Eastern Orthodox is the next largest denomination because of the Russian influence in Finland.

View from Hotel in Heinola, Finland

We are on a river, don't know the name, that feeds to the Gulf of Finland. It's beautiful, great birding, the temperature and weather last night and this morning are perfect! Fred just arrived, so we're heading off to breakfast!

Finland Day 1 - Helsinki & Heinola

Peg arriving off our plane in Helsinki. You can see Sue on the steps behind the lady in blue. Fred and I were already on the bus. The plane held about 200 people, and was full. All of us slept for most of the trip (except lunch). Sue slept for the whole trip!

Another view of the plane and ramp and the kind of bus that took us to the terminal. It was a beautiful sunny day!

Outi's house in Finland and the stagion wagon that took five of us (including Outi) and our luggage from the airport.

Fred reading in Outi's garden. I took this picture before I raided the raspberries!