A Regal Baltic Cruise

Having breakfast we watched the shore creep closer as the Regal Princess nudged herself alongside. By 8.22am we were berthed at Munkkisaari Pier in Helsinki.

We had chosen "City of Helsinki" as our tour from the nine available. At 9.15am we were in the International Show Lounge to collect our green sticker matched our bus number - like being at kindergarten! The 2.5 miles to the town centre offered a pleasant stroll, but the three hours allowed ashore suggested a tour - at $36 the organised excursion seemed good value.

Boarding the bus at 9.30am we travelled to Senate Square where we alighted for a wander around. Surprising to think that in 1808 the entire city burnt down. The new city included a series of public buildings along clean new-classical lines. Senate Square is a fine example with the Government Palace on the one side and the University on the other. An impressive monument to Tsar Alexander II, the only one in existence anywhere, stands in the Square.

The impressive white classical style, green coppery domed Lutheran Cathedral of St Nicholas is also here - sometimes referred to as the wedding cake church. The central dome represents Christ and the four smaller ones his apostles. We were able to enter and wonder at the grandeur.

A short distance from the square is the Kauppatori Market Square. Many stalls with fruit, vegetables, fresh fish, flowers, handicrafts and souvenirs were on sale creating a colourful and perfumed scene.

Continuing our bus tour, south of the town we came to the unique Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church) carved and blasted from solid granite about 30 years ago and covered with a huge copper dome. We joined the throng of tourists gazing with awe inside. Outside I scaled the rocky heights to take a photo of the domed roof.

Driving north we alighted at Sibelius Park. Inside a bust of Jean Sibelius, the great Finnish composer gazes forlornly at vertically glued together stainless steel pipes - his monument!

The art deco stadium Olympic Stadium planned for Olympic games in 1940 had to wait 12 years because of the war to a later Olympics. In the forecourt stands a statue of Finland's greatest athlete, Paavo Nurmi.

In the time left to us after the bus tour we explored Esplanadi Park and the streets running off it. Down one of them we had lunch in a cafe. Crossing over a canal bridge from Kauppatori Market Square we came to the eye-catching gold-red-and blue Russian Orthodox Uspensky Cathedral. As I lowered my camera a bride steps out of a car. More camera fodder but it meant in all decency we couldn't enter the church.

Efforts made to make tourists welcome in Helsinki include a tram system running around the main attractions - makes sightseeing a doodle. If only we had had a bit more time to explore the city we would have used these trams. Anyway back to the Shuttle Stop and the Regal Princess - St Petersburg awaits!

Thrashing bow thrusters and anchor chain thundering down the hawser pipe wakened us at 6.15am. Daylight flooded in through the still curtained window. I heaved myself upright and twitched the curtain aside. The Regal Princess swung gently at anchor in calm water off Nynashamn, a small harbour at the southern extremity of Stockholm's picturesque archipelago.

After breakfast we headed for the International Show Lounge. On entry after showing our excursion pass, we had a round green sticker with "D5" attached to us. We had opted for the "Stockholm Sampler" out of the six choices on offer and this identification tied us in with our bus number. A quiet-spoken officer directed us to make our way down to Deck 4, to the ship's tender. Eventually we were heading for the shore and in around 25 minutes we were boarding bus "D5". After an hours drive through verdant tree studded countryside, we were in Stockholm the town built across 14 islands. Our first port of call was the Vasa Museum.

It featured the warship Vasa designed by Gustavus II in 1628 to be the most powerful warship afloat. About 10 minutes into its first voyage it heeled over and sank. The harbour mud and brackish water preserved it. Recovered in 1956, treated with preservatives and floated on to a slipway, it had a museum built around it. It is a capsule of thousands of items from another age. The stern and bow carvings alone are startling.

Following a tour through about half of Stockholm we halted at Riddar Holmen for a photo stop. Across the water lay the City Hall with its three crowns. Here in the Concert Hall every year the Nobel Prize banquet takes place.

The bus tour ended at the Opera House and for three hours we explored on our own. We headed across the old bridge to the historic heart of the town, the Gamla Stan, built on an island. Passing through an archway with the Museum of Medieval Stockholm to the left and the Houses of Parliament to the right we wandered winding cobblestone streets lined with buildings dating from the 16-century. Picturesque shops, restaurants and art galleries set a wonderful tone. At one of the restaurants we stopped for lunch. At the back of the restaurant was a stairway leading down to the oldest wall in Stockholm.

The old Royal Palace is in this quarter, containing over 600 rooms in the baroque style and several museums to display the crown jewels, the royal carriages and Gustav III's collection of antiques. We just had time for a brief look in the ornate chapel.

After a wander along the flag bedecked street leading into the new town and finding an Internet café all to soon we had to make our way back to the bus. We had indeed been on a "Sampler". From leaving the ship to returning amounted to only 7 hours. To see everything properly would take several days. One day we will return.

At 6:20am, Regal Princess docked at commercial pier #33 in St. Petersburg, giving us a view across heavy-duty gantries. The harbour was busy - several other large cruise ships nearby disgorged passengers.

We had booked for the "Grand St.Petersburg with Hermitage tour" for day 1 out of the nine choices available – cost $154. The tour started at 8:30am and finished at 5pm. Unlike at our other destinations here, we had to go through passport control. To go ashore, we either had to be part of an escorted tour or have a visa. Still, a band playing on the pier welcomed us warmly.

The designer of this grand city, Peter the Great, seized Neva from the Swedes and founded his new capital there in 1703. Thousands of peasants cleared forests, drained swamps with their bare hands, and drove millions of piles into the mud to support the city.

Peter hired the best Italians, French, Germans, and Scots architects to design palaces and homes in the Baroque style. Canals and bridges linked the muddy islands into a new cityscape. At the geographical centre of the streets, Peter placed the Admiralty building. After Peter, the work continued unabated. Catherine the Great had the Winter Palace built.

The town suffered in World War II. Hitler’s army surrounded the town and laid siege to it for 900 days. Over 650,000 people died of fighting and starvation. Rebuilding after the war was slow. From the town’s faded grandeur, its former splendour is slowly emerging.

Our tour bus halted by the river in front of the blue, Baroque building of the Nakhimov Naval Academy. Moored in front of us was the light cruiser Aurora in her light grey livery. A single shot from this modest ship started the October Revolution of 1917 and the storming of the Winter Palace.

Taking advantage of the tourists attracted to the area were stallholders - several with amber jewellery for sale.

Another stop was by the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. It is a church built in the Russian style with several domes. It is the decorations of the walls that are startling. The church looks as though a great artist has been at work but durable mosaic tiles form the images. The church marks the place where murdered Tsar Alexander II fell.

Never missing an opportunity, stallholders were busy in front of the church. The free-enterprise economy is swinging in St. Petersburg!

We attended the Smolny Cathedral for a brief choral performance. One of the famous ballet theatres that we saw was the Aleksandrinsky Theatre. We saw Swan Lake - the one that lent its name to a famous ballet. Unfortunately, it had done a dying swan act, for there were no swans there and the lake was small.

Our tour included lunch in the Astoria Hotel. Classical marble statues lined its corridor walls. Items served included Caviar and Chicken Kiev. Champagne and vodka came as standard with the lunch. A lively musical group provided entertainment.

Across the square in front of the hotel was St. Isaac’s Cathedral. As happened in Helsinki, I was taking a photo when out of a car pops a bride – camera fodder!

Our tour bus arrived at the Winter Palace in the afternoon. It forms one of the five buildings making up the Hermitage, which houses one of the world’s finest art collections, including paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Rembrandt.

The Hermitage was heaving. Around 25,000 people jostle through it each day. Guides there were aplenty - I simply listened to the nearest one, often not my own. The crush made me fear that I would lose contact with my guide and wander the corridors of the Hermitage for eternity searching for the exit. It was impossible to browse the items individually - the masses were often between me and it. Seemingly it would take around seven years to examine everything, but it was the rooms themselves that made the biggest impression on me. There was gold leaf everywhere to an extent – depending on taste - that was either grand or vulgar.

In one room a golden coach held my attention. It resembled the Coronation Coach that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain used at her coronation.

On Day 2 we had opted to visit Peterhof Palace out of eight choices - cost $75. Peter the Great had built it outside St. Petersburg. The drive each way took about 60 minutes. This time we were fortunate, for the Palace had opened specially for us. To protect the floor, we donned special slippers. The rooms were small, so we made rather slow progress around the palace. Some wall decorations were Chinese hand-painted wallpaper.

Here the rooms were just at ornate as the Hermitage. In one room sat a golden throne. In another, miniature paintings decorated the walls. Afterwards, we wandered through the 300-acre park with its series of spectacular fountains rivalling Versailles in France. The fountains fed by a gravity supply keep working. Many of the fountains had golden statues. It is impossible to describe the splendour, so see the attached photos instead.

The visit to Peterhof Palace was only a morning visit. Some passengers had been making fuller use of their time. Some visiting Moscow on Day 1 had a disaster. Not only did it rain, but also, Red Square shut because of a terrorist attack. Some passengers had also gone ashore to a ballet performance in the evening, but we had had one onboard ship – free!

Although all the cities we visited were special in their own way, St. Petersburg is the one that deserves the title "Grand."

By 9:10am, we had made fast alongside Polskie Pier in Gdynia - gateway to the historic city of Gdansk. The wonder of Gdansk is that it is there to explore. During World War II, it was 90% destroyed. Rebuilt mostly from salvaged materials to its original design, some of Poland’s finest medieval buildings again stand proudly.

Six tours were on offer. We booked for the $34 Gdansk City Tour - a walking tour with 2.5 hours of free time to explore on our own. At 11:45am, a bus took us into Gdansk and dropped us off at an easily identifiable spot near a narrow bridge.

From our onboard briefing the previous night, I recognised the huge Port Crane on the waterfront. As many as 20 workers at a time climbed the steps of a large tread-wheel and powered the crane to hoist cargo and lift ship’s masts for fitting.

Our guide led us down a narrow street called Mariacka to the Church of our Lady - the largest church in Poland and the largest brick church in the world. Built between 1343 and 1502, it holds 25,000 people. Inside is the touching 15th-century Madonna of Gdansk. Overhead, a figure swinging from ropes applied a fresh coat of whitewash to the ceiling.

Passing the former Prison Tower and Torture Chamber through the Italianate Golden Gate and down the Long Street with its lavishly decorated houses, we came into Long Market. Here stands the 1633 red-brick town hall with its tall, slender tower.

In front of the Town Hall is the Neptune Fountain, the Symbol of Gdansk. The Golden House nearby takes its name from the gold-plated Renaissance façade. At the end of the Long Market is the imposing Green Gate, the official seat of royal power in Gdansk.

Great houses of ordinary burghers stand proudly everywhere in this quarter. Carved lions, dragons, and shields on the gables and stoops, especially along Chlebnicka and Piwna Streets, which run parallel to the Market, provide the clue.

In our free time, we explored along the Old Harbour with its imposing Port Crane. We stopped at one of the many cafes in this area for coffee and watched the world go by. The area reminded me of Nyhavn Canal in Copenhagan. On the far side, devastation from World War II remained. Perhaps they are leaving it as a monument to the follies of humankind?

Returning to get back to our ship by 4:45pm, we passed a tall stainless-steel monument – a mute reminder of the sacrifices made by the shipbuilding trade union Solidarity under the charismatic leadership of Lech Welesa. The shipyard workers came out in strike against their Communist masters, and eventually they were to topple Communism.

We passed follies of centralised planning – for instance, their fetish for records such as building the longest residential block in the world. Their buildings were horrible box-like creations completely devoid of style. Now attractive buildings are reappearing.

At 6:30am, Regal Princess berthed in the harbour of Old Tallinn. As usual, she woke me up with the roar of bow thrusters and other power sources.

This time we had booked, out of the 10 choices on offer, for the "Walking Tour of Old Tallinn." At $38, it seemed reasonably priced. As usual, we weren’t getting long to explore. We were going ashore at 7:45am and returning by 12 noon.

The tour started on Toompea Hill. The Estonians built their first stronghold here, defended on three sides by steep hills. After them came Danes and Germans, but the fortress on the hill was always the dominant feature of the upper town. The oldest parts visible today are the corner towers, including the one nicknamed Pikk Herman. From the vantage point of Toompea we obtained panoramic views and photos over the Lower Town.

Next to the fortress stands the Cathedral of St. Mary, better known as the Dome Church. It continues to be a cathedral, but also hosts frequent concerts on its powerful pipe organ. The lovely Baroque interior is a surprise, as the outside is 13th-century Gothic décor. The church’s Gothic spires present a vivid contrast to the onion domes of the nearby Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

The medieval town is a mosaic of twisty cobblestoned streets, gabled roofs, fairy-tale turrets, and soaring spires, all packed within an ancient fortress wall. The guide told us that Tallinn’s Old Town has preserved its original format to such a degree that it earned the city a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Tallinn is an outstanding and exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a medieval northern European trading city that retains the salient features of this unique form of economic and social community to a remarkable degree.

We proceeded down a steep, cobbled street called Long Leg Street to the Town Hall Square, which has been the centre of town life since the 11th century. It provided space for outdoor markets and now has several outdoor restaurants. The Gothic Town Hall dates from 1371 and is the only surviving example of this type in the North. The graceful spire was built in the 17th century.

A concert was put on for us in an ancient monastery. The performers were skilled at playing musical instruments that I had not seen before. Having some free time, we had something to eat at a restaurant in Town Hall Square.

Our guide took us to a street full of trading stalls. They had lots of woollens – a speciality of Tallinn. Another street around the corner had stalls containing nothing but flowers. They were so well made up that I did my best to preserve them for posterity in a photo. At the end of the street were the twin towers of the original city gates.

Another tour over – back to the ship, which I now regard as home.

By 6:35am, the Regal Princess was fast along Akerhus Pier in Oslo. The ship lay almost in the city centre. Akershus fortification was across the quay and the Radhus (town hall), a striking red-brick marvel with twin towers, was within camera range. It was tempting to get off and have a wander.

Having been in Oslo before, I was keen to see new sights, so the 4 hours ashore called for an organised tour. We therefore chose out of the five tours on offer "National Gallery and Oslo Highlights." The tour cost $48, started at 8:45am, and finished at 12:45pm.

The first stop was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump - used in a competition held in March each year, which started in 1892 and is the oldest in the world. Getting to the dizzy top means a steep climb from the top of the elevator shaft. As we could see the entire city and the Regal Princess from where we stood we decided we were high enough already. Besides, my wife, who had left her souvenir hunting till rather late, was busy shopping in the souvenir shop at the bottom.

Our next stop was the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Sculptur Gustav Vigeland created and displayed some 650 statues, some of them huge. These works in granite, wrought iron, and bronze depict the many stages and episodes of human life. We entered at one end of the park and worked ourselves across to the end containing the Monolith. It is 46 feet high and carved from a single block of stone. The carvings show human figures clambering on top of one another. Interpretation is up to you. While some think it is trying to get nearer to God, in my own mind it described the rat race with ambitious people trampling underfoot those more capable and doing the work. I draw my experience from the academic sector.

Next on the list was the National Gallery. It houses the state’s largest collection of paintings, sculptures, and graphic art. This is the place to trace the surge of 19th-century Norwegian paintings prompted mainly by feelings of nationalism. There is a whole room devoted to Edvard Munch, which includes "The Scream." Bridal Voyage on the Hardanger Fjord by Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude is striking. Coming from Scotland, the paintings of hills and glens struck a chord with me, as many of the geographic characteristics of the countries are similar.

Sailing back down the 56-nautical-mile-long Oslofjorden, we passed colourful hamlets and marinas. At one point, we passed a fortified island with gun muzzles pointing seaward. From here, two Norwegian reservists using torpedoes and guns sank the German cruiser Blucher leading the invasion of Norway in 1940. The sinking brought precious time, which allowed the royal family to escape. We passed directly over the famous wreck, her presence marked only by a slight oil slick.

Back to Copenhagen and a flight home.