St. Petersburg, Russia
2nd day in the Fatherland.
Today we go a bit out of the city to visit.......
.....The Peterhof Palace .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterhof_Palace
As usual we have fantastic summer weather.
I'm guessing if there are no snow drifts , its summer :-P
Again ...gold everywhere.
Its starts to rain a bit.
But we tour the interior during the rains.
No interior pics though.
Follow the rules or get a free stay at your neighbourhood gulag.
The rear of the palace overlooks the sea.
What a view.
Those statues are all part of a fountain.
That is not fed by pumps but by gravity.
The rains here are short.
As we make our way down...
The weather improves.
Gold everywhere.
Nice huh.
Memories.
We will walk to the sea.....
...and take a hydrofoil back to St. Petersburg.
Beautiful statues.
Soon we reach the bottom.
And wait for the musical fountain.
With a bit of pomp...
It starts .
Very , very nice.
So cool.
Superb !!
A last look at this wonderful spectacle.
Then we tour the palace grounds.
More fountains .
Lovely grounds.
And more fountains.
We're almost at the end of the grounds.
That way.
A look back.
Finally...the sea.
Our rides.
Very cool interior.
Someones' enjoying herself :-P
Back in the city ...
...we continue our tour.
A last visit to this amazing place.
...before we leave Russia for good.
Our last stop was at the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Interior of the fort.
Mobile WCs.
The main cathedral.
They were playing John lennon's ''imagine'' with the church bells.
Imagine that . ;-)
The interior.
Beautiful
As usual.....
...gold everywhere.
Tomb of Peter the Great, founder of St Petersburg, - the one with the bust.
Beautiful roofs.
The final resting place of the Romanovs' including the famous Anastasia
A last look at the amazing interior.
Then a last pic stop at the onion domes.
Russia was amazing. I wish i could ride across this country.
One day i'll be back .
Day 9
Today we tour Finland 
Sailing in...
Sights of Helsinki.
Summer huh...
First we visit a park to see a monument.
Not this.
This.
The Sibelius Monument.
I'm so bored.
Next to see a church.
Built in to the rock.
Temppeliaukio Church
Still bored.
Views of the city.
Then we come here.
An island.....
Also known as an open air museum of local culture.
The Seurasaari
If only i had my .22
Open air museum of disuse ?
This girl keeps following me :-P
And her bunny...
see.....
Anyhoo...we walk....
and walk...
A boat shed.
shedding boats :-P
A trolls hut ?
Homestead .
A closer look.
All this buildings are from this country's past.
Farms...
Turbo props :-P
Dallas...with JR etc
Even typing this i'm so bored.
After Russia ,everything pales in comparison.
A tiny chapel.
We stop for a coffee.
Then its back to the city.
As you can see, perfect summers weather.
Ice breakers.
Some nice buildings.
Our final stop is here.
The Senate Square
With the Helsinki Cathedral
Cobblestones...see...cobblestones..
Not so bored now :-)
The main building of University of Helsinki is at the rear
Working our way back.
Soon we reach the docks.
Ships passing in the night... 9pm here.
Time for dinner...
With a view.
Priceless.
Day 10
Looking for the perfect 10.
First we drive around the city.
With views of the Royal Palace
......Opera house etc.
Many beautiful buildings.
See :-)
one of the Royal palace entrances.
Superb weather :-)
Sweden's parliment building.
After we drive around.....
...we will take a trip out of town...
Passing summer homes....
Swedish countryside.
To visit here.
Sigtuna.
Its a picturesque medieval town.
St Olof's Church ruin
St. Mary's Church
Built in 1255 !!!!
Nice stained glass.
Old tombs.
Coat of arms ?
Ancient wall frescos.
See the date ?
Interior of the ruins.
Ancient Viking Runic stone.
Sigtuna old town hall . - 1744.
The medieval town.
Stora gatan, the old main street .
Lake Mälaren
A nice walk here.
And soon its back to the city.
To visit this.
The Vasa museum.
Such a dumb story .
Look at the height of the rudder.
Ornate.
Nice to see though.
Its back on the coach.
Through the city...
Back to our cabins .
Dinner and shows :-)
Day 11
At Sea
This is the last day onboard.
So what do people do ?
Shop of course.
Then give an innocent smile ...
We take a last lap around the ship.
And soak in the experience.
The best part of the day at sea .
Day 12
We dock at Copenhagen .Take a short flight to our next destination.
Amsterdam ,Netherlands
Check in here.
The red light district.
Where all the action is .
My hotel and all important coffee house.
Where they serve anything but coffee ;-)
Sights around. I wonder what they sell ??
Today we just walk around the hotel...
Take in the sights.
...and atmosphere.,
I'm not saying i did , i'm not saying i didn't.
There was a flight on Amsterdam airlines ,which i may or may not have taken.
The flight goes to a very elevated level
and as i hear ,you may get strange thoughts .
Ha ha ha ha
Day 13
Amsterdam ,Netherlands
The worlds smallest car ?
Today its on the hoppy bus.
To see all the canals.
And the city proper.
Windmills .
More canals...
God knows?
Then it was onto the hoppy boat.
To get a fish eye view.
Nice apartments.
And bell towers.
Boathouses.
People actually live in those.
A very nice city.
Intercontinental Amstel hotel by the canal.
More house boats.
The rail station.
Chinese food everywhere.
Making our way back.
Leaving the boat...
And its back on the bus.
Then we walk around the town.
See the shops.
Colourfull.
I wonder what they sell. :-P
Look at that poor girl.
Poor thing...hardly any clothes .....
She too.....
must be the poorer part of town ;-p
Look...a palace...
...and a hospital.
Maybe i can work here ;-)
There may or may not have been another flight in the evening.
ha ha ha ha
Day 14
After a glorious time seeing the magic of the Baltic we finally head home.
As i always say
Life is short.
Go see the world by any means ,
..as long as you go !!
Our work is not our life,
we work to be able to live a good life.
Go !!!!!!
Cheers.
