More of Suomenlinna

Here's the theater where they were rehearsing Cyrano:

People do live on the fortress islands and this house and its matching playhouse were charming:

I had coffee in this cafe which has a very 'al fresco' terrace too.


There is an artists' community living and working on the fortress too - here is their shop:

A lot to see, and so different from the busy city just minutes away. It's full of history and beyond what I can share from an afternoon stroll. Here's the site if you are interested in learning more: http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/

Suomenlinna

Finally, I can share a post about the renown Suomenlinna fortress, Finland's world heritage site. I couldn't leave without seeing it, and the weather was promising so I was able to hop on a ferry using my regular transit card as it's right within the Helsinki zone. On Memorial day, too. Suomenlinna can be seen from the cruise ships, especially the star-shaped rampart - the first protection point from the sea.
Here is the King's Gate, built in 1753-54 for King Adolph Frederick of Sweden, the founder of the fortress:

A history lesson on the move through the sites:


There is a military base on a nearby island so there were loud booms regularly from their exercises, which really added to the impact of coming upon the antique weaponry everywhere. And this is a gunner's view from the ramparts:

A Moment in Time

I thought chances were good that a photo I submitted to the New York Times "A Moment in Time" project would make it in, given my location, and it did. You can view it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/03/blogs/a-moment-in-time.html#/4bde647eb93af13e4c00008c

(You'll have to copy&paste the link into your browser.) They asked for pictures taken exactly at 3pm UTC on May 2nd, and they were inundated with photos from all over the world. Nice spot for some armchair traveling. Use the 'return to globe' link to explore further.

Catherine's Palace

(This is the last entry of our Russian visit - best to start on page 1.)


The walkway along Catherine's Palace, or the Summer Palace.

Gerald's favorite - a cute cupid napping in the sun.

No shortage of detail!

This is an awesome contemporary artwork by Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave - a copy of a dress in a portrait of Elizabeth, made completely of paper.

The palace was extensively damaged in WWII and has been meticulously restored, and these 3 cupids show the darker pre-restoration gold (& more cupids for Gerald!).

One of Pavel's rooms, not normally opened so we were lucky to see more of the palace.

This is the Chinese silk room, with Catherine as a flower goddess in the portrait.

One of their most important treasures - Venus.

All of the galleries are unique and opulent.

The throne room.

An arcade where Czarina Elizabeth would walk on rainy days.

St. Petersburg & The Hermitage

A point by the sea, where we saw newleyweds getting pictures taken later.

A small May Day demonstration viewed from the Hermitage, with a police barricade.

Gerald and Jupiter in The Hermitage.

Just a few masterpieces on view.

Visiting neighbors

We were glad to finally make it across our eastern border and into Russia for a guided visit to St. Petersburg, just a five hour train ride from Helsinki - city center to city center. There was an immediate contrast once we crossed the border, with a lot of ramshackle houses and decrepit buildings along the tracks, but then the caliber around St. Petersburg was much higher. Looks like a huge economic divide between the haves and the have-nots. We were then to spend the rest of our visit touring the czars' haunts and by Sunday Gerald was truly suffering from 'gilt glut' and if he never sees another golden cupid, he'll probably be quite content. But I did enjoy the sheer mastery of craft everywhere, in such abundance, and of such variety. Our guide, Ada, provided so much context as we toured through the Hermitage, the city, and Catherine's Palace. In 2.5 days we toured around in a mini-van with just one other couple - a mother and daughter from Britain who were nice company. I'll just post pictures with captions in subsequent pages (5 in all) - it was an excellent long weekend away, and the Russians we met were welcoming and interested in us, and the iced vodka was quite delicious too.

Why we like trains

Fresh pastry & tea

Charming cafes

Five hours to Russia!

A relaxing way to arrive in town centers.