St Petersburg - Russia, Is it another Paris or Amsterdam?

Church of the Spelt Blood. Neither words nor pictures can capture it's beauty.







Thursday, July 7
We arrived here this afternoon. The St Petersburg Hotel, where are staying, has gotten bad reviews from several sources on the web. On the bus ride into town from the airport, what we saw of the city was not inspiring, lots of traffic, dirty boring looking buildings. Pat and I began to think that maybe the hotel would be every bit as bad as the reviews had portrayed it. We were very relieved when we entered the lobby and found it fairly modern and nice looking. Next we were in our room looking at one of the most impressive views we have ever seen from a hotel room. One wall is almost all glass. We were looking out over the wide Neva River, and in the distance, in several directions, we could see the spires of some of the famous places in St Petersburg.

We took a hour walk to recon the area to determine if we needed a tour guide or not. Quickly we realized that St Petersburg is very big and the places of interest are spread around the city. At least too far to walk to all of them. Returning to the hotel we booked to see the Swan Lake ballet for that evening and a full day tour for the next day.

The ballet was at the Fontanka Concert Hall located on the Fontanka Canal. The ballet was excellent. When we walked out of the theater, our taxi driver was there waiting for us just as we had agreed. We had read that foreigners will be charged more for event tickets that Russians. That proved to be the case here. We thought we had gotten very reasonably priced tickets, $30 apiece. During the first intermission, we struck up a conversation with the gentleman next to us. He was from Finland, spoke excellent English. He had paid $3 for his tickets! This was, he explained, because he spoke Russian. Not a big deal to us though. We were very happy with our concert package.

Friday, July 8th
The InTourist booking agent at the hotel St Petersburg arranged for us to have a private guide and driver for the whole day. The total charge for this, including admission to the Hermitage, was $100. Our guide was Natalia. She spoke excellent English and understood the nuances of our humor. Besides a general city tour she took us to a couple of places out of the routine to satisfy our requests. At one point during the day the subject of George Bush came up. She had a tour group once from Texas and they were all supporters of Bush. Natalia told us, without us prompting her, that she thought these Bush supporters were simple people, not well educated. By the end of the day, 5 PM we had seen every side of the main city and toured parts of the Hermitage. The Hermitage was the winter palace for Catherine the Great. Now it is a huge musem revialing the Louvre in Paris.







Our guide, car driver, and my wife, Pat outside an art academy.














Our room has become a welcome refuge at the end of a long day. Looking out the large glass window at the Neva and St Petersburg is like watching a movie unfolding befor you. There are many boats on the river and the city with its many spires and domes makes for a great backdrop. I even woke up at 2 AM to see look out the window and see one of the many bridges open to allow for big ships to pass through. During the day looking at the bridges, you'd never guess that they are draw bridges.

Saturday, July 9th
Today we did the town on our own, returning to many of the key sites that we had seen the day before. We took the underground Metro. The underground stations are beautiful to behold. They are very clean and we felt very safe using the Metro. The cost per trip was our equivalent of 30 cents. Very cheap. It was easy to figure out where we were going and where and how to get off.



Our tour guide told us that we must take a canal boat tour. She was absolutely right. We saw this beautiful city from a completely different angle. One of the highlights of the boat tour was seeing a wedding party come out onto a bridge that we were about to go under. They looked very happy and waved at us as we passed under the bridge. We learned that in St Petersburg it is very popular to get married at historic places.





Part of the day was just hanging out on the main street, watching people, doing some shopping for souvenirs. We had a late lunch in the Hermitage Restaurant. It is located across the huge plaza from the Hermitage. We loved our food and the decor, which is like an art gallery. Lunch with a tip, which the waiter was quite surprised to receive, came to $50. Very reasonable for the quality of food, service, and decor.








The plaza at the Hermitage.












St Petersburg has some lovely tree lined avenues off the main boulevard.











We headed home around 6 PM. The street performers were out now, though there weren't as many as you would expect for a city this size. Only one group could be ranked as good. The rest we saw ranged from being amateur to three drunk young men banging away on guitars.

All in all we found this to be a fun day. I was impressed to see people working on a weekend cleaning up the public places. The trash receptacles were well used and even the numerous people we saw drinking beer seemed to know to put their empties in the trash receptacles. We were surprised to see that drinking in public places is allowed and that so many people, men especially, were obviously drunk.

Sunday, July 10
The sun sets late, barely gets below the horizon, and is up early at this latitude. Most mornings we were able to sleep in till 8 AM. But this morning Pat worke me up at 6 AM, thinking it was later, to start packing. After another excellent breakfast buffet, we checked out of the hotel, put our bags in the safe luggage area, and went out for a leisurely morning walk over to the Peter's Fort and the cathedral of Peter and Paul. This turned out to be a lovely morning, even though both of us are tired and ready to return to Sweden.

We'll get to our son's apartment this evening around 8 PM. Then we're up around 5 AM in the morning to fly to Tallinn, Estonia. We'll spend a night there. Return to Sweden for one day, then fly home via Iceland, the way we came.

Oh yes, the question, "Is St Petersburg another Amsterdam or Paris?" It may have some similarities to both cities, canals like Amsterdam, an architectual style similar to Paris, but it is St Petersburg and should be appreciated for its uniqueness that makes it St Petersburg.

Norway - It's way more than you can possibly imagine.

June 24, we've spent a few days with Helene's parents on their farm which is about 3 hours north of Stockholm by car. Someone from Helene's mother's family has lived in this house since the 1600's. Talk about a connection with the past. Siv and Kent are great hosts. We love them dearly. One day they took us out to a wonderful buffet at a resort overlooking a wide river with a sandy beach. Another day, Siv and Kent prepared a traditional mid-summers eve dinner for us and then took us to a local village for a traditional mid-summers celebration. Chad, Pat, and I said goodbye to Helene and her family around 4:00 Pm and began our drive towards Norway. We have no idea of how far we will get this evening. Once again, it doesn't get dark. Fatigue is the only reason to stop.

I'm going to jump ahead for a minute. Norway is so much more than you can imagine, I'm not going to attempt to describe in detail what we saw each day. That's because every bend in the highway revealed something new and spectacular. Just when we'd think the natural beauty couldn't get any more beautiful, we'd be surprised again. So, I will just describe the main highlight of each day. On our journey we drove 1600 miles in 7 days. Food in Norway is as expensive as people have told us. To keep within our budget, we stocked up on sandwich makings. While we drove, the person in the back seat of our tiny Kia was the designated sandwich maker. This allowed us to cover great distances without having to stop to spend time and money at a restaurant.




Back now to driving into the mountains of Sweden on our way to Norway.
I've never seen so much timber in my life. Miles and miles for as far as we could see there were snow covered mountains, trees, and lakes.







Around 10:30 PM we decided that we should make camp. We pulled into a camground at the edge of a river. The sky was overcast. We set up our 3 person tent and prepared to go to bed. I stepped out of the tent and found that the cloud cover had disappeared and everything, including me, was bathed in the most golden and soft light. I called Chad to come out, and then Pat came out.
Other people in the campground emerged from their campers to look at the light. Down on the river a marsh owl flew out of the marshes and swooped along the banks of the river. We took pictures like crazy. A guy from Belgium said that he had been there for 2 days and hadn't seen the sun. Off in the distance, maye 10 miles, a mountain that had been non-descript, bathed in shadows, began to catch the rays of the sun and glow against a grey background.




June 25, up at 7 AM, nothing is open, no coffee, start driving.Down the road we see a fox
crossing the highway. I stop the car. He walks towards us and stops across the road from the car, gives us a look and then goes down the embankment. Soon we are above the treeline.












We pass several herds of reindeer and catch a closeup of this one by him self.








Ruros, a copper mountain town that is a world heritage site, gives us a break for a couple of hours to walk the streets and have our coffee and roll. Next stop is Trondheim. Great cathedral there but ait's closed for a wedding. The town doesn't appeal to us. We head south now towards Alesund. We stop to camp about an hour north of the town. It rains during the twilight of the artic night, but our tent keeps us warm and dry.






June 26, break camp and head towards the Atlantic Highway. We'd been undecided about our route, but at the campground we'd seen a poster of the highway and decided that was the way to get to Alesund. If you have the choice this section of about 10 miles of highway and bridges is worth your time to travel.










Alesund came next. It's a cute little town.









We had great fish n' chips for dinner, climbed the hill overlooking this lovely town, then headed
off for the fjords. Our goal was to get near to Geringer. This is the fjord where you see all of the photographs of cruise ships floating beneath the towering walls of the fjord. We were a little concerned about which road to take to get there. The guy at the campground last night had suggested a route where the road was so narrow, and the cliffs so steep that the police wouldn't drive there. A lady we met at a tourist shop on the Atlantic highway told us we need not worry and that we should take the world famous breathtaking Trollstigen (Trolls Highway).













When the pass was in sight, we couldn't believe that a road really went up the face of what appeared to be a near verticle cliff. Waterfalls poured out of hidden valleys and thundered down to the river by our right side. We spent an hour here just taking pictures, driving aways, getting out taking more pictures. This is the most powerful place that I have ever been to.








At the top of the pass we looked back down at the road we had come up. Towards the direction we were heading their were snowfields, and a road that had only been cleared of snow a few weeks ago.







We found a campground about an hour's drive from Geringer. To our surprise we could rent a small cabin for only a little more than a tent site, 30 dollars US. The cabin had no running water. But it was cute with four comfortable bunk beds and a table, and it had heat.







June 27, we went to the grocery store just before the ferry crossing to the road to Geringer. Loaded with our food supplies, we chose to have a brunch on the sand on the edge of the fjord about a mile from where we got the ferry. We didn't get out of this town until around noon.







Geringer proved to be just as impressive as it's pictures, but there was nothing to keep us there besides the tourist shops that feed off the thousands who disembark here from the cruise ships. Off on a ferry for about an hour to an old viking port and then through a remote seldom seen by tourists valley to a famous old hotel, the Hotel Union. It has been completely restored. Kings and queens have stayed here as well as many famous people. It sits on the shores of a lake and a very big waterfall is just across the valley. More driving and great scenary. Around 10 PM we stop at a great camsite ran by a cheerful farmer. He has four cabins. Not large but just done with beautiful wood inside and a TV to boot. The bathrooms and showers are immaculate. Reading in the guestbook in our cabin, everyone comments on the bathrooms.



June 28 fjords, fjords, fjords, and ferries, ferries, ferries. Each ferrry boat ride costs about 15 dollars US. The drive isn't boring though. We love every minute of this journey. We'll be in Bergen by late afternoon. What will it be like? We'll be there for 2 nights. It'll be nice to stay in one place for a couple of nights, to park the car and not drive for 2 days.







Our lodging isjust several blocks from the heart of Bergen. The place is marketed as a youth hostel, but in fact is more like a boutique hotel. We have two rooms, one for Chad, one for Pat and I. The rooms are just 75 dollars a night each and have TV's bathrooms, and mini-kitchens.

June 29, Bergen,we love this town. It is the coolest most alive town any of us have ever been to. Everything is in walking distance. We have been looking at handcrafted wool sweaters but the prices are too high for us. Norway is very expensive. A six pack of beer cost me 15 dollars. However, we happen across a thrift store that looks more like a department store than a 2nd hand shop. In it we find great looking norwegian wool sweaters for around 10 dollars a piece.

Today is our 37th wedding anniversary. We chose to celebrate at a restaurant that features Norwegian foods of the 1600's and 1700's. The service was excellent and the food wonderful, but the bill was quite high, the most we've ever spent on a dinner, and we didn't have drinks. The tab came to 240 US dollars. But we're not complaining. The meal and service was worth every penny.








After dinner we strolled along the Bergen waterfront. It was 10 PM. The sun was bright, and everyone in town was out enjoying the great weather.






June 30, we couldn't drag ourselves away from Bergen. We needed more time to soak up the energy of this great place. We'd thought we'd be in Oslo late this evening. We didn't make it.

The road to Oslo still had more magnificent beauty to reveal to us, and we just had to stop and take in each new sight. Along the way we passed through the world's longest automobile tunnel. 15 miles long. Can you believe that? We found one of those cheap, but cute, cabins to stay in around 10 PM. That seems to be the time that we stop driving every night.

July 1, the beauty continues right up to about 10 miles out of Oslo. Then the countryside just becomes plain beautiful rather than oooh beautiful. Oslo has some nice buildings but the traffic is awful. We were in and out of the town in 2 hours. Now headed for Stockholm we did take one last small detour to the town of Fredrickstad. It's a well preserved 17th century village. What really impressed me there was that we came across a bicycle shop that specialized in fixing up old bicycles. Most shops tell people to junk there older bikes and get new ones. This shop even had retired Norwegian postal service bikes for sale. They were around 40 US dollars apiece. Being a bike lover, I went into the store to congratulate the bike mechanic on the work he did.
Then we headed home.

Midnight Sun - We found it in Kiurna, Sweden

We've relaxed a few days here at our son's home in Sweden, and taken the time to plan the travel adventures we want to have while we're in Sweden for 6 weeks. The summer solstice is approaching. I've always wanted to experience the midnight sun above the arctic circle.

June 19
Our plane lands in Kiurna, Sweden. We're way above the artic circle. The
sun won't set below the horizon for the next few weeks. We're used to excellent public transportation in Sweden, but here in Kiurna there is limited bus service. At the airport no one can tell us when a bus will be by to take us into town. We opt for a taxi to take us the 5 or 6 miles into town. Later, we learn that there is only one bus a day from the airport.

I asked a taxi driver why the bus service was so infrequent. He said,"No one lives here." Well, that isn't exactly true. 19,000 people live here, but most own cars. It's a young city as far as Swedish towns go. It was started to serve the iron ore mine here. The mine is the town. Turns out that future mining will require tunnels under the town. This will require for most of the town to be moved. Yes, moved. Isn't that amazing. The first section of town, including the railroad, major highway, and the city hall will be moved within 10 years. The complete move will be completed within 30 years. The mine is owned by a corporation owned by the Swedish government. The corporation owns most of the town. So, although they are seeking public input, the corporation can do as it pleases. This is the largest iron mine in the world. On a tour we'll take in a few days, we'll learn more about the mine.

We find the guest house we'll be staying in. With no public transportation, we set out on foot to explore the small town. By evening we have decided that we have to rent a car is we want to really explore this beautiful area of northern Sweden. There is train service to the high mountains to our west and on to Narvik in Norway. But a train gives us no latitude for exploring on our own time schedule.

The sky has been overcast all day. No chance to see the midnight sun if this keeps up. At 1030:PM I look out the window and see that the clouds are gone. I tell Pat that I'm going outside to see if it's worthwhile to hiké up on the nearby mountain to see the midnight sun. Outside, the sun casts a warm golden glow. The air is cool.Kids are riding there bikes. Jack rabbits are hopping around in people's yards. Yes, this is a night to see the midnight sun.

Back in our apartment, I tell Pat how I have seen how the sun sliding at a gentle angle across the sky towards the distant mountain tops. It doesn't descend straight down as would see it at our lattitude in California.

11:00 PM, we begin the hike up to the mountain. The air is a little colder now. We're outside of town now and on a dirt road that winds to the west around this mountain that serves as a little ski area in the winter. We don't need to go clear to the top to watch the dance of the sun as it toys with the mountain peaks. It's taken us 90 minutes to get here. The mosquitos are out now but aren't a real problem. We sit, we walk, we sit. We're in awe of this specatcle. The sun refuses to sink below the distant horizon. It just skims along the tops of the peaks about 50 miles to the west. We'd like to stay and watch the sun begin it's slow advance back into the sky, but now it's chilly and the mosquitos are getting more aggressive. Walking back towards town, a couple we'd met earlier on the road, stop their car and offer us a ride bacck into town. They've driven for 5 days to witness the midnight sun. They're in there 70's and have wanted to see this all their lives. We all agree that it was every bit as fantastic as we had imagined. Magical is what it is to see this with our own eyes.



It turns out that this is the only night that we could have witnessed the midnight sun, as the sky was overcast the remaining days we are in Kiurna.



June 20, we get a rental car, about 65 dollars a day, and begin exploring the roads and valleys to the west.


First, we drive to where we can see the highest peak in Sweden. There, we offer some backackers from Belgium a ride back into Kiurna. Then we start up the road that goes to Narvik in Norway. We have no plans to drive there. We'll just drive until we feel that we've seen the best of the mountain and lakes and then turn back. Of course darkness isn't an issue. It's daylight all day long. So, only fatigue and boring landscape will be reason for turning back. Well, the landscape unveils itself mile after mile, and it just keeps getting more and more spectacular. Past rivers, huge lakes, mountains cut right out of Tolkein's Ring, we finally find ourselves in Narvik, Norway.


That's where we turn back, after exploring a fjord just south of Narvik. We look for a good place to eat with a view, but find none. It's 9:30 PM when we find arrive back in Kiurna. Dinner is a cheap pizza a few blocks from our apartment.

June 21, we hadn't thought we would want a tour of the mine, but everyone in town says that we have to take it. We do. We board a large passenger bus that descends to 540 meters below the surface. There are 240 miles of roads underground in this huge mine. The tour is worth the time and money we spent on it. Out of the earth again, we drive east to where the famous Ice Hotel is located in the winter. The landscape is strikingly different from that west of town. The west was mostly grass and birch trees no taller that 15 feet. The east is trees, low mountains, and rivers. Lunch is at a tourist Sami camp where we have reindeer meat fryed in a big black frying pan over an open fire. The site of the Ice Hotel and the exhibition there makes us want to return here someday in winter to experience the hotel and the winter night. Now we turn in our car and catch the train. We share a sleeper cabin with a nice guy from Kiruna who is heading south to visit his parents. The cabin is very comfortable. About 10:30 PM we make the seats into bunk beds and bed down for the night. When we wake in the morning we'll be nearing Bollnäs. The airfare and train ride cost about the same. We're glad that we got a sleeper cabin. The people who have only seats look totally miserable and unhappy. They have paid less money but are paying a price in discomfort. 14 hours on a train sitting upright the whole way is not our idea of fun.