personal experience travel – Page 10

February 2, 2020

From Jackson Hole, WY to Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park , back to Las Vegas

On the way from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, we took our morning break in Afton, Wyoming. Afton is a very small town known for having the largest arch made from elk antlers in existence.

In Idaho, we made a stop in Montpelier. In 1896, Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch robbed the bank in Montpelier. I took a photo of the plaque commemorating the heist. The gang took the money supposedly to spring one of their members from jail. Most of them managed to abscond with the money, but one of the gang was captured and held in prison until 1912. Nearby was Bear Lake. We drove through Logan Canyon to Logan, Utah to have lunch.

When we arrived in Salt Lake City, we took a tour of the Capitol and Temple Square. We could go inside of the Tabernacle, but not the Temple. Non-Mormons are not allowed inside. We could take a look at a model of the Temple, however. We had dinner at the Roof Restaurant that was in a hotel near the Temple Square and had a great view of both the Temple and the Tabernacle.

On our way to Bryce Canyon the next morning, we took a morning break at Scipio, Utah, which had a petting zoo. I made some new friends with several bunnies and baby goats. There were some Ostriches on hand which I was quite content to look at through the fencing. I had once had an experience with an Ostrich back in Texas when I was growing up who was just a tad too friendly.

Then I joined an interesting trio – an Ankole-Watusi (a type of cattle), an Alpaca, and a Peacock. The Ankole-Watusi seemed like he was much more interested in a nap than in people. The Peacock strutted around making noises but did not spread his tail feathers. The Alpaca was just plain adorable. The face was so cute, what with long bangs sweeping across his large, long-lashed eyes.

We made a stop at Red Rock Canyon and took photos of the Salt and Pepper Shakers. We continued on to Ruby’s Inn at the entrance of Bryce Canyon to have lunch. We were also staying at Ruby’s Inn for the night. We hiked into Bryce Canyon to see Bryce Point, Inspiration Point and Sunset Point. A couple of us also went part of the way down the Navajo Trail. We knew that we would have to come back up that same trail at some point and that it was steep, so we only ventured as far as we figured we could return from without giving ourselves heart attacks. Bryce Canyon was really beautiful.

The next day, we went to Zion National Park. The tour coach could only go as far as Zion Lodge. From there, we took a tram to what was called the Temple of Sinawava. I chose to hike the Riverside Trail, which was about a mile long. The temperature was about 102° F. Fortunately the Riverside Trail was relatively level and even had some good shade in places. I had a couple water bottles with me (one for going in and one for coming out) and managed to finish them both by the time I returned to the tram pickup point. Back at the lodge, I had some ice cream and downed about three more bottles of water back on the coach.

We stopped off at a Subway Sandwich shop to pick up lunch to eat along the way while crossing the Mojave Desert. The temperature there was about 112° F. We did take a pit stop along the way and it was like trying to breathe in an oven. It was even hotter than Egypt had been in September/October of 2008.

When we got back to Treasure Island in Vegas, we had a farewell dinner before getting repacked to fly home the next day and into bed. Repacking for the plane home was an adventure due to all of the Native American items I had purchased along the way. But I managed and it all arrived safely with me back in Minneapolis. It helped that I had packed some bubble wrap which I then used on the Kachinas (two of them) and the bowl of the peace pipe. The Lakota breast plate and the horsehair and bead dancer’s bustle I got in Jackson, packed pretty well since they were relatively flat. Also had several pieces of jewelry purchased in Monument Valley, the Black Hills, and Jackson which I placed in plastic sandwich bags I brought with me and tucked in among my clothes.

Next time – a 2014 trip to Greece and the Greek Islands, where we spent 8 days on the mainland of Greece and 8 days on a cruise in the Aegean.

January 20, 2020

Deadwood & The Devil’s Tower

For those who have seen the television series “Deadwood” the Wild West was never wilder. The thing is, that TV series was based on a real town, real people (though some characters in the series were fictional – such as Alma), and real events (including the deadly small pox epidemic).

Wild Bill Hickok really was murdered at the No. 10 Saloon by Jack McCall. Calamity Jane lived in Deadwood and was buried next to Wild Bill (whom she adored) when she died.

Seth Bullock and Sol Star owned a hardware store. When it burned down, they built a hotel on the site, which still stands today. Bullock was also the Sheriff of Deadwood (once Deadwood became a legal part of the US) and was friends with Theodore Roosevelt.

Charlie Utter was a real person as was Al Swearengen. Swearengen owned the Gem Theatre, which was the most prominent of Deadwood’s numerous brothels. In the part of the town referred to as “the Badlands” were most of the brothels , which were also called “cat houses”. They got the name due to their owners purchasing cats to keep customers from shooting at the rats and mice.

There was a large Chinatown in Deadwood and there is a sizeable section in Mount Moriah Cemetery where they once were buried. Many of the bodies have since been taken back to China and re-interred there, so not too many of the Chinese residents’ remains remain.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Deadwood was to park in front of the Midnight Star Saloon where we met up with the Original Deadwood Sightseeing Tour. I highly recommend this tour! It was probably the funniest tour I have ever been on. We all laughed so hard throughout and had a wonderful time. The tour did include a brief stop at Mount Moriah Cemetery. It was so brief, however, that I was glad I had been there a couple times before when I had more time to explore.

We had lunch at Diamond Lil’s Restaurant at the Midnight Star Saloon, all of which is owned by Kevin Costner. The restaurant was decorated with a large amount of memorabilia from Costner’s movies. It was fun to take a look at all that while waiting for our food.

We had some free time after lunch, so I wandered down Main Street to the former Badlands and Chinatown areas to see what might still be there. After walking around a bit down there, I sauntered back up Main Street on the other side of the street.

Mom and I had been to Deadwood back in 1987, when the town was rundown, but what was still standing was totally historic. After “Dances with Wolves” much of the town was bought up and turned into gaming houses and bars. So when my entire family returned in 2005, I was not happy to see the historic bits seemingly disappearing in favor of the gambling. But, by 2013, the TV series “Deadwood” was popular and people were interested in the history again.

The real Deadwood was settled illegally on land belonging to the Lakota people, just a couple years after General George Armstrong Custer and his men discovered gold along French Creek near the current town of Custer. Charlie Utter and his brother, Steve, brought a wagon train full of supplies, prostitutes and gamblers to what was then known as Deadwood Gulch in 1876. Pretty soon Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock (and his wife, Martha, and their daughter), Sol Star, General George Crook, and others were in the town. Al Swearengen, who controlled the opium trade, opened the Gem Variety Theatre and the illegal, lawless town was off and running.

On my way down Main Street, I stopped to take a photo at the later version of Saloon No. 10 (Wild Bill was murdered at its original location). Back in 1987, there was a recreation of the original bar downstairs where they had it set up to look like the saloon would have looked when Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. Now-a-days they actually do a re-enactment with actors. Although the newer Saloon No. 10 was not where Wild Bill was killed, it is still over 100 years old, having been built in its current location after the original burned down in 1879.

On the corner of that block was the Bullock Hotel. It wasn’t open because it was being renovated on the inside. The hotel that was located “kitty corner” across the street was once featured in a couple of the ghost hunting TV series. The Bullock is supposed to be quite haunted as well, but more benevolently, by Seth Bullock himself. He is still looking after his guests.

A couple buildings down from this hotel was the building constructed over the location of the original Saloon No. 10. On August 1st of 1876 Jack McCall lost all his money while playing in a poker game that included Wild Bill. Wild Bill gave him back some of his money, so he wouldn’t be completely devastated. On the following day, while Wild Bill was playing in another game, but with his back to the door (instead of his usual position with his back to a wall), a drunken McCall entered the bar and shot Hickok.

This is the part of town that was known as the Badlands. Nothing remains, however, of the buildings where Swearengen’s operations were located or of Chinatown. This was also the part of town that was devastated by fires more than once when the buildings were all wooden.

Back up Main Street from the location of where Wild Bill Hickok lost his life, just in front of an establishment called Goldberg’s is the location where Hickok’s murderer, Jack McCall, was captured. He ended up being tried for murder twice. This was because his first trial wasn’t legal since the town of Deadwood wasn’t legal. He was actually acquitted in the first trail and then moved to US territory, where he bragged about killing Hickok. In Yankton, in the Dakota Territory he was tried again, convicted and hanged.

When we left Deadwood, we headed directly for the Devil’s Tower. Anyone who saw the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” would be familiar with the Devil’s Tower, which is considered part of the Black Hills although it is in Wyoming.

The Lakota legend behind its unique form was that a group of Lakota girls were playing when they encountered some bears. They ran to a rock and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. The rock began to rise up to get the girls out of the reach of the bears. As the rock rose, the bears clawed at it, causing the deep groves in the sides. Scientists have several theories of its formation, but no single theory has yet won out. I think I’ll go with the Lakota legend.

There were people scaling the Tower while we were there. I went on a hike around the tower. The path wasn’t especially steep and got closer and closer to the tower itself, until it started moving away again to head back on down. From every angle, the Devil’s Tower looked different and amazing. I was thrilled to be able to see it from as close as I could get to it. The tower and its land are considered sacred by several Native American tribes, so visitors need to stay on the path and not touch any of the tributes left there by the Native Americans.

From there, we drove to Sheridan, Wyoming to spend the night.

Next time –Big Horn Mountains, Shell Falls, Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, Shoshone National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park.

January 5, 2020

The Black Hills

I know I have said this before, but I love the Black Hills. My mom, who grew up there, always loved it too. So this was not my first time there. It was just my first time as part of a tour group.

We checked into the State Game Lodge. I had stayed in a cabin there before, but not in the Game Lodge itself. Once I got my things into my room, I went exploring. The older rooms that were empty were open for guests to see. They were very nice.

I was feeling a little disappointed. A friend of mine in Minneapolis was supposed to join me in the Black Hills for a couple of days. But his contract was extended at the least minute on his job and so he didn’t. I had been looking forward to sharing some of the special parts of the Hills with him. But it just wasn’t going to happen at that time.

A Native American breastplate was one of the items that I had hoped to find at a price I could afford. The gift shop in the Game Lodge had a Lakota breastplate at a reasonable price. It was authentically made of bone, beads, and leather. The last thing I wanted was a plastic version. I was assured that it was bone and it felt like bone, so I was pretty sure it was bone. When I got home, my dog confirmed that it was indeed bone. He was mighty interested in it. He always showed interest in anything with actual animal bone, horn, fur or feathers.

We all had dinner together in a special room in the dining room. My choice that evening was bison ribs. After dinner, we went for walk, turning back when it began to get dark.

The next morning we paid a visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The statue (which dwarfs Mount Rushmore) has been under construction since 1948. An Oglala Lakota Chief commissioned the carving and the funds were (and continue to be) raised privately. It is still not without controversy. But I won’t get into that here. We had plenty of time to see a film about it, tour the original house of the family that has been in charge of constructing it, and explore the museum.

On our way from the Game Lodge to the statue, we passed by the reconstruction of the stockade that had been built shortly after General Armstrong Custer and his troops discovered gold at French Creek in 1874. Although the US government had signed a treaty with the Lakota back in 1868 promising that the Black Hills would forever belong to the Lakota, this all went out the window the minute gold was discovered.

After Crazy Horse, we drove to Mount Rushmore. We had quite a bit of time there too, so I hiked the entire Presidential Trail and explored the studio. The model of what the carving was planned to look like was very different from the finished work. For one thing, it wasn’t just going to be the heads of the presidents, but their bodies from the waist up, as well.

This model was constructed after the position of Thomas Jefferson was changed. Originally Jefferson was supposed to be carved on Washington’s right. But the stone was not of good enough quality and the face also just didn’t look right, so Jefferson’s face was dynamited and placed on Washington’s left instead. This meant that the entire plan needed to be changed regarding the placement of the four presidents. Mom and her family were present for Jefferson’s unveiling in 1936.

We had lunch at Mount Rushmore and then returned to the State Game Lodge for some free time before joining the Buffalo Safari in the evening. Three large male bison were hanging out between the Game Lodge and its cabins. I stayed on the bridge over the creek and took my photos from there. Several others got a little bit too close for safety. People always think they can outrun the bison, but they can’t. Those suckers can really move. Fortunately, the bison weren’t at all concerned and didn’t charge anybody.

Once they left (heading up into the mountains behind the Game Lodge), I took a walk down to the General Store in the opposite direction. When I returned to the Game Lodge, some of the others had decided to take a hike up the trail behind the hotel. I figured that the bison were long gone, so I joined them.

Along a level portion of the trail, we heard a noise to the front and below where we were. We all stopped still and then saw a single, gigantic bison come up the side of the mountain and cross the path a ways ahead of where we stood. We all stayed still. It didn’t seem to notice us and he continued on his way. We turned around and went back to the Game Lodge.

The game keepers at Custer State Park have always said that the bison respect what is larger than them. So they use large vehicles that are open air, can seat about eight to ten adults and have all-wheel drive. They keep in touch with each other so they can follow the wildlife and they spend most of the time off road. This was my second time on a Buffalo Safari. Both times we rode in among the herd, which I absolutely loved.

We also encountered White Tail Deer, Pronghorn Antelope, and Prairie Dogs. We saw some Elk from a distance, but I was on the wrong side of the vehicle to get a decent photo. The deer also kept their distance. But the antelope and bison weren’t concerned by us much and had no problem with being relatively close. The Prairie Dogs were putting on a show, popping up and down from their holes and dashing around. Each time they did anything, they looked in our direction to make sure we were watching.

We briefly stopped at the grave of a baby who had died on the 6^th of June in 1902. The date we were there was the 5^th of June, 2013.

Once the safari was done, we met up with the rest of our group and some other people who had taken a similar tour from Bluebell Lodge. The spot was not far from Bluebell. The cookout included steaks or burgers, baked beans, corn on the cob, cornbread, coleslaw, and a dessert. We were entertained by some silly comedy and bluegrass music.

By the time the cookout was done and we were traveling back to the Game Lodge, it was quite nippy. Fortunately we were furnished with warm, wool blankets. Our route back included crossing Mount Coolidge. It was too dark to see much, however, which was probably a good think since my last encounter with Mount Coolidge was rather scary.

Next time – Deadwood and the Devil’s Tower.

December 1, 2019

Arches National Park & Colorado Rockies

I loved Monument Valley so much that I was reluctant to leave. But our next adventure was to take place at Arches National Park at Moab, Utah. En route, we passed a rock formation called the Mexican Hat. The nearby town of 31 residents was also called Mexican Hat.

We went by another interesting rock formation before entering Arches National Park. The park contains roughly 2,000 natural arches and is considered to be the largest concentration of naturally formed arches in the world. The arches were formed from an underground salt bed that was deposited there about 300 million year ago. Humans have occupied the region for 10,000 years – since the last Ice Age. Ute petroglyphs can be found.

One feature that I found interesting was something called the Petrified Dunes. These had once been sand dunes that turned to rock. They were cool to see, but didn’t translate well into photos until I hiked up to the North Window. The view on the other side had a pretty decent example of Petrified Dunes about mid-range.

The Balanced Rock was one of the famous rock formations. I thought it resembled a seated alien with a large head. The head was about the size of three school buses. It seems to be staring at a solid stone wall. We parked by the Balanced Rock so we could take some photos. I have included two of the nine I took here.

We then drove over to where we could walk to the North Window, the Turret Arch and the Double Arch. I had packed hiking sticks and pulled them out of the suitcase that morning, carrying them onto the tour coach. They really came in handy. The climb to the North Window turned out to be steeper than it first appeared. It was also a hot day and we were in a desert. I felt that the hike was worth it to see the view on the other side. It was also worth it to get closer to the Turret Arch.

When I came back down from the Turret Arch, I could cross the road and take a better look at the Double Arch. This arch was formed differently from the rest of the arches in the park. It was created from water coming from above and escaping through the two arches that were formed.

From there we drove to a spot from which we could take the long hike up to see the Delicate Arch. The hike was more of a climb as it was nearly straight up (and this was considered to be the easier of the possible routes). The sun was beating down with the temperature hovering near 100°F. I drank a lot of water on the way up.

The Delicate Arch is made of sandstone and is often used as a symbol of the state of Utah. Originally it didn’t lie within the boundaries of the Arches National Monument that had been created in 1929. But the monument was enlarged in 1938 to include the Delicate Arch. Once again, it was worth the climb. It was quite beautiful.

Before leaving the park, we drove around to look at other areas and other formations. Another formation I found interesting was called the Three Gossips. It does look like three women clustered together, but they could just be three close friends and not necessarily gossips.

We drove along the Colorado River into the state of Colorado to Grand Junction, where we paid a visit to the Grande River Vineyards. We had a tour of the winery, a wine tasting and lunch. After lunch we headed towards Vail, where we took a break. By this point, we were well up into the mountains and surrounded by snow. So we had gone from summer temperatures of around 100° to snow. I had a rain jacket with a zip out lining with me that I put on before leaving the coach for our break.

Vail was a small town with mainly hotels and restaurants and ski resorts. From Vail, we continued to climb up to about 11,000 feet above sea level. Eventually, we arrived in Denver, where we spent the night at a downtown hotel.

The next morning after breakfast, we began our journey to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had our morning break in Cheyenne, Wyoming, lunch in Torrington, Wyoming, and an afternoon break in Edgemont, South Dakota. Edgemont is at the southernmost edge of the Black Hills.

Next time — the Black Hills, Deadwood & the Devil’s Tower.

November 17, 2019

Monument Valley & Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman was an author who set his mysteries mainly in the Four Corners Navajo Reservation. The main characters were Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. Four of his books were made into films that were featured on PBS Masterpiece Theatre. I’m a fan of the books, so I was especially interested in seeing the area in which they took place.

We had entered the reservation shortly after leaving the Grand Canyon National Park and had lunch at the Cameron Trading Post. Our afternoon break took place in Kayenta – the gateway town for Monument Valley. This was Director John Ford’s favorite place to film his westerns.

Although the state of Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, the Navajo Nation does. So we were on a different time from the rest of Arizona while within the reservation.

Goulding’s Lodge was our destination. The Gouldings had relocated to Monument Valley in the 1920s and set up a Trading Post there. During the depression, the Gouldings traveled to Hollywood and convinced John Ford that Monument Valley would be the perfect location for his next film, Stagecoach, starring John Wayne. Since the valley is located within the Navajo Reservation, all income generated from it goes to the Navajo people.

After getting settled into our rooms (which had great views of the valley), we left in four wheel drive vehicles for a Navajo cookout in a small nearby canyon. After dinner, a storyteller told stories and sang songs. Two of his uncles had been Code Talkers during World War II.

The next day, we visited a Hogan after breakfast. A Hogan is a special kind of home. It is both sacred and a dwelling. It is important when entering a Hogan to move in a clockwise direction, never counterclockwise.

If someone dies in a Hogan, it is abandoned and never lived in again. So they continue to be built with logs, mud, and grasses — nothing very permanent. The one we visited had a sweat lodge nearby as well as a summer Hogan, which was much more open and built with logs.

Within the Hogan, a couple of women demonstrated carding wool, hand spinning, grinding corn, and creating a traditional Navajo woman’s hairstyle. Since I had long hair, I was chosen to be the model. I was able to keep it into the following day.

We then loaded back into the four wheel drive vehicles and went on a tour of the main views of Monument Valley. We saw the Left Mitten, Right Mitten, Merrick Butte, Elephant Butte, and John Ford’s Point, where there was a horse on which people could pose. Then we saw the Three Sisters, the North Window, Rain God Mesa, Cly Butte, the Thumb, and the Totem Pole. Even though I tend to prefer mountains, trees and lakes over deserts, I found Monument Valley to be breathtakingly beautiful.

We returned to Goulding’s Lodge for lunch and some free time. I explored both the Trading Post and the Trading Post Museum. The museum includes the living quarters of the Gouldings as well as mementos from all of the films made in the valley.

Next time – Arches National Park (in Utah) and the Colorado Rockies.

October 19, 2019

The Baltics: Stockholm

Once we disembarked from the overnight ferry from Helsinki, we set off to explore Stockholm. Sweden has been populated since about 12,000 BC with Stockholm showing evidence of people from roughly 8,000 BC on. The Viking Age included the Swedes, Norwegians and Danes from the 8^th to 11^th centuries. They were a busy bunch – exploring, raiding, settling – all over the place. The majority of the examples of Viking writing – Rune Stones – can be found in Sweden.

Although we drove all over town looking at everything, our first actual stop was City Hall. The building is not terribly old, having been built in 1907. However, its claim to fame is that the Nobel Prize banquet is held in the Golden Hall. Even though the photo I have included in this post is a tad fuzzy, it does show the extent of the gold mosaics the best of the photos I took while there.

Our next stop was to drop off anybody who wasn’t interested in seeing the Vasa Museum so they could roam around at leisure before rejoining the rest of the group after lunch for a walking tour of the Old Town. We arrived at Palace Square just in time to see the Changing of the Guard. I managed some decent video of it, but just one photo.

The Vasa Museum was amazing! I have mentioned in past posts that I love ships and have some ship captain ancestors. The Vasa is the most magnificent shipwreck I have ever seen. It is the only nearly intact 17^th century ship in the world. As a royal warship, it was extremely ornate and large. It seems that its size was its downfall.

It was built in 1628 and capsized, with all hands, on its maiden voyage, while still in the Stockholm harbor. Some of the crew managed to swim to shore, but about 30 didn’t. In the 1960s, the ship was discovered, raised, reassembled and put on display in a museum built especially for it.

Because the Baltic is cold, it doesn’t have as many of the little creatures that tend to destroy wood, clothing, and even human remains. So they found the ship very close to entirely intact. They also found lots of clothing, dishes, pots & pans, games, weapons, cannons, ammunition, sails, chests, barrels, and even some food and skeletons.

Very intricately carved, the ship would have been quite colorfully painted. They had a model on display, painted in the colors that they thought would have adorned the ship. But I liked looking at the real thing the best. There were several levels of walkways around the ship, so it could be seen from all angles. It was possible to see it from underneath as well.

I spent as much time as I could exploring the ship and its contents which were on display with it. I had lunch at a cafeteria within the museum (so I wouldn’t need to leave until I absolutely had to) and picked up a couple books about the ship before Andrej practically pried me away to rejoin the rest of the group at the Royal Palace.

Kronor Castle, which was built on the site in the 13^th century, burned down in 1697. The new palace was built in the Rococo style in the 1720s. We didn’t have time to take a guided tour of the palace before joining our local guide for our walking tour of the Old Town. Having to choose between the Vasa and the palace, the Vasa had won out for me.

The Old Town had medieval foundations from the 13^th century, but the majority of the town had burned down in the 17^th century and was rebuilt. They built upon the old foundations, so the town still had very narrow streets. The most narrow was a series of rather steep steps (included in a photo here).

We went inside of a very beautiful old church with lots of highly polished dark wood, gold gilding, and paintings. Along the street outside, were several buildings that managed to salvage their original medieval doors. Most of them were still private homes, but here and there was a pub or restaurant or antique shop (with weapons, chain mail, and helmets). What I thought was incredible though, was old cannons and rune stones at the corner of some of the buildings (a photo of one is included).

Before ending the tour, we had some cake and hot chocolate (or coffee or tea) at a restaurant in a medieval cellar. The building had begun as a monastery and later became a prison after the 16^th century dissolution of the monasteries.

The next day I flew home from Stockholm by way of Newark, New Jersey.

Next time —a wonderful 2013 tour of the Western US National Parks.

Stockholm Harbor
Stockholm
City Hall
The Golden Hall
Royal Palace
Changing of the Guard
The Vasa
The bow and bowsprit
The forecastle
Starboard
The gun ports
Port
Stern
Looking up at the masts
Some contents with ship in the background
Old Town with Church Steeple
Interior of church
Medieval street
More of the Old Town
Old cannon and rune stone

October 15, 2019

Baltics 2012: Finland

The country we now know as Finland has been inhabited since the end of the last Ice Age, which was about 9000 BC. The 12^th and 13^th centuries saw a lot of crusades by the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians to the various “pagan” tribes that lived in Finland. Ultimately it was the Swedes that conquered and colonized the region. Finland became part of Sweden. In the 18^th century, due to wars between Sweden and Russia (with Finland lying between them), Finland ended up as part of Russia. They didn’t become independent until during World War I.

The northernmost province of Finland is called Lapland. Most of the population there consists of the Sami People, who inhabit large areas of northern Norway, Sweden and a Russian peninsula as well. In addition to fur trading, coastal fishing, and sheep herding, a major profession of the Sami is reindeer herding (which is legally reserved exclusively for them in most regions of the four countries they inhabit).

Helsinki was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden as a trading town in 1550. During the plague of 1710, the vast majority of the population died. It wasn’t until Finland became part of the Russian Empire and Helsinki was made the capitol of Finland, that the city began to thrive again.

After driving past the harbor, our first stop was at the Olympic Stadium from the 1952 Summer Olympics. Next, we visited the Sibelius Memorial. Jean Sibelius was a composer most famous for his seven symphonies and a piece titled “Finlandia”. I thought his memorial was very pretty. The wind also blew through the pipes of the memorial and so created some lovely music of its own.

Temple Church was chiseled out of stone and is partially underground. Someone was playing the organ when we arrived and the place was filled with music.

Senate Square included the Finnish Parliament, the President’s Residence, Helsinki Cathedral, and a statue of Alexander II. He was the Russian Czar who was blown to bits in St Petersburg. We had our group photo taken in front of the statue (I’m just behind the lady in the red jacket on the front row). During our free time, Heike had other plans, so Debbie and I toured the interior of the Lutheran Cathedral.

We also joined up with a British couple, Linda and Nigel, and took a harbor tour by boat. Every house we saw had a sauna house down by the water. Some of the saunas were small and simple; others were quite elaborate. The photo I included here, is of a middle class sauna.

There were several tall-masted schooners in the harbor. One had a pirate theme and was apparently being used as a party vessel. I caught a pretty decent photo of Uspenski Cathedral, which is a Cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland, from the tour boat.

Back at the harbor, Debbie and I had reindeer sausages. Mine is on the right with lingonberries, ketchup, mustard and onions.

We rejoined the rest of the group at 3:45pm to board the overnight ferry to Stockholm. After leaving the port, Heike and I explored the ship and had a pint in the pub. Debbie was my roommate for the ferry. Heike was rooming with two women. The cabins were really tiny.

Debbie, Heike and I had dinner together at the 8pm buffet. Although the other two made an occasional venture to some of the other areas, after getting some shrimp salad in the Salad Market, I pretty much stayed in the Seafood Market, dining on salmon mousse, caviar (two kinds), smoked salmon, and herring. I did get some chocolate mousse for dessert in the Dessert Market. They had all the wine you could drink too.

The weather began to act up as we were having dinner and the crossing ended up being pretty darn rough. Andrej said it was the worst of the 35 times he has done it. The seas were choppy with lots of wind and rain. We were tossed around in our beds during the night, making it somewhat difficult to sleep.

Maybe it was the seafood, but Debbie, Heike and I seemed to be among the few who weren’t seasick the next morning at breakfast. After breakfast, Andrej had us all meet him in a special spot with our cases and he led us to where we were the first people to get off the ship. We thought that was a pretty good perk.

Next time – Stockholm, Sweden.

Helsinki Harbor
Olympic Stadium
Sibelius Memorial
Temple Church
Interior of Temple Church
Helsinki Cathedral & Statue of Alexander II
Our Tour Group
A Harbor Tour Boat
A Private Sauna
A Two-Masted Schooner
Uspenski Cathedral
Harbor Food
Reindeer Sausage with Lingonberries
Our Overnight Ferry to Sweden
Onboard Our Ferry
Looking from the Ship down to the Helsinki Port
Slipping out of the Harbor
Caviar & Other Seafood

October 6, 2019

The Baltics 2012: Saint Petersburg, Part 2

After lunch during our full day in Saint Petersburg, we paid a visit to the Hermitage Museum. The museum was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and was opened to the public in 1852.

The main building in which the museum now resides began life as the Winter Palace – the official residence of the Russian Emperors (Czars or Tsars) from 1732 to 1917. The original Hermitage was built to the side of the palace and was expanded to include the palace after the Russian Revolution. It now encompasses six buildings. Although the second largest museum in the world (the largest being the Louvre in Paris), only a fraction of the entire collection is on permanent display.

The entrance was through the Winter Palace. Several of the State Rooms of the palace were incorporated into the museum pretty much intact from when they were being used as State Rooms. After entering the palace portion of the museum, we encountered the Grand Staircase, a room with large papier mache chandeliers, the Small Throne Room and the Armorial Hall (aka the Gold Room). The Gold Room was gilded in real gold.

By the time we got to the 1812 Gallery (a hall dedicated to the War of 1812) the building gradually became less of a palace and more of a museum. I have included here more of the photos that I took of the expanse of rooms instead of photos of specific pieces of art. Some of the most famous paintings, such as the two by Leonardo da Vinci, were behind glass, making them difficult to photograph decently. They had loads of paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens as well as the Italian Renaissance artists.

There were rooms with tapestries and beautiful furniture and sculptures. There were a lot of items made from malachite (a green mineral that looks kind of like green marble), which is prevalent in Russia. On the third floor they had room after room of paintings by French Impressionists such as Pissarro, Monet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, etc. Then there were the Egyptian and Classical antiquities, prehistoric art, jewelry and decorative arts (including a platter with a real snake incorporated into the design), a Knights’ Hall full of armor, German, Swiss, British and French fine art, Russian art, and on and on – even some modern art.

After exploring the heck out of this museum, we went outside and sat by the river to recover before heading back to the hotel to get ready for that evening’s entertainment. We were going to dinner and a show at the Nikoleavsky Palace. The palace was built in the early 1800s for the Grand Duke Nicholas (son of Czar Nicholas I). The Grand Duke was neither especially handsome nor particularly bright. He ended up squandering his money on mistresses and mortgaged the palace. He then went mad from cancer that had spread to his brain. His former palace was gorgeous, however, and the show was of Russian folk dancing. The food was served buffet style.

The next day we explored some more of the city. Along the Fontanki River, we saw (and I photographed) some soldiers. If the country had still been the Soviet Union, I wouldn’t have dared taken that photo.

Along the Nevsky Prospect, the main street of St Petersburg, we saw a statue of Catherine the Great with the Alexandrinsky Theatre behind her. The theatre was opened in 1832 for dramatic, ballet and opera performances. Also in the area were St Catherine’s Church, the Kazan Cathedral, and Stroganov Palace.

We took one last drive along the Neva River to say goodbye to the Winter Palace & the Hermitage, the Marble Palace (which was built by Count Grigory Orlov, a favorite of Catherine the Great, in 1768), the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral, and a statue of a Roman Soldier before heading for the part of the city that was developed when it was known as Petrograd on our way out of St Petersburg.

After a drive in the Russian countryside, we left Russia (which was much, much easier than entering it had been) and crossed over into Finland.

Next time – Helsinki, Finland and the overnight ferry to Sweden.

Winter Palace
Palace Square
Hermitage Entrance
Grand Staircase
Papier Mache Chandelier
Small Throne Room
Armorial Hall (Gold Room)
1812 Gallery
Malachite Room
Another Gallery
Snake Platter
Nikoleavsky Palace
Folk Dancing
More of the Show
Soldiers
Catherine the Great Statue
Canal next to Hermitage
Marble Palace
Old Petrograd

September 29, 2019

The Baltics 2012: Saint Petersburg, Part 1

The three biggest reasons why I chose the Baltics tour were: 1) Denmark – from which my mother’s father’s parents came, 2) Latvia – from which one of my sister-in-law’s parents came, and 3) St Petersburg – just because it was St Petersburg. Back in the 1980s, my mom had gone to Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev with a church group. It was still the Soviet Union at that time. But it wouldn’t be too many years before the dissolution in 1991.

Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, St Petersburg was the capitol of Imperial Russia. The capitol was moved to Moscow in 1918 after renaming St Petersburg as Petrograd in 1914. Then, in 1924, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad. The name went back to St Petersburg in 1991 at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. So, when Mom visited, it was called Leningrad.

She had been taken to Lenin’s tomb when she was there. By the time I got there, he had been buried. I took a photo of a Subway Sandwich shop to show her how much had changed since she was there. However, not everything had changed.

Before leaving for the trip, I had to purchase an entry visa for $400. This involved filling out a voluminous form with much more information than I felt that they needed. They asked for the address of every place I had ever lived my entire life. For every place I ever worked my entire life, they wanted the name of the company, the address, the name of my boss, and what I did there. They also wanted the name, address, and years of attendance for every school. At the University level, they wanted what I had majored in as well. I did the best I could and then had a photo taken without me smiling. They didn’t want anyone smiling in the accompanying photo. I guess being happy was not an option.

On the Estonian side of the border, things took barely any time at all. If we had blinked, we would have missed that side of the border. The Russian side was another matter.

Only a handful of us were from the US. The rest were from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. However, they parked us over to the side and kept us waiting for hours while they let several other buses and tour coaches through. Despite all of the forms filled out to get the entrance visa, we had many more forms to fill out. Then we needed to be interviewed one by one.

Drug sniffing dogs were sent through the coach while bomb detectors and cameras were slipped under the coach. Our luggage was all removed and we had to open it for inspection. As we completed our inspections and interviews, we were sent into a room where we were watched over by armed guards until we were all done. Then they had us sit there for a while longer before we could get back on our coach. In the meantime, we ate the bag lunches that Andrej had purchased for us before leaving Estonia. Obviously this was just their modus operandi.

Also, while waiting, we adjusted our watches due to Russia not participating in Daylight Savings Time. At that point, we were nine hours ahead of Minneapolis. By comparison, London is six hours ahead of Minneapolis. We adjusted our watches several times on this trip.

After reaching Saint Petersburg, we were given a basic tour of most of the main sites of the city. Our only stop was at St Isaac’s Square. There we could see St Isaac’s Cathedral, Mariinsky Palace, and an equestrian statue of Czar Nicholas I in the center.

Dedicated to St Isaac of Dalmatia, the cathedral was a museum during the years of the Soviet Union. It has since been restored as a cathedral. The Mariinsky Palace was built by Nicholas I for his daughter and her husband as a wedding gift and is located directly across the square from St Isaac’s Cathedral.

St Petersburg had lots of people dressed in 18^th century Imperial Russia costumes at various historic sites throughout the city. We encountered our first one at St Isaac’s Square. Since she was the most elaborately costumed, I have included the photo I took of her.

We headed from the square to our hotel and dinner. We started the next day with the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. The Kunstkammer was the first museum in Russia and was founded by Peter the Great in 1727. It was essentially a “cabinet of curiosities”. The most gruesome exhibit was and still is the severed head of the brother of a former mistress of Peter the Great who had been executed for embezzlement.

A pair of Rostral columns, originating in Grecian and Roman times to celebrate a military or naval victory, stood not far from the museum in front of the former stock exchange (the Borse). The island also contained an Academy of Sciences, a Naval Academy and the Cruiser Aurora.

The Aurora was built in 1900 and saw service in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. By World War II, it was used as a training ship. After the war, it was permanently moored on the Neva River and turned into a museum ship. During World War I, one of the first events of the Bolshevik Revolution was a mutiny that took place onboard the Aurora.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built on the spot where Czar Alexander II was blown to bits in 1881. It was gorgeous and everything that an ornate Russian Orthodox Church should be. The interior contained more mosaics than any other church in the world, so the church has been used as a mosaics museum.

Our last visit before lunch was to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was the original citadel created by Peter the Great in 1703. There was a mint, a prison, and a mausoleum for non-reigning Romanovs. The mausoleum was created because the Cathedral was getting too full of tombs.

Before visiting the Cathedral, we looked at a statue of Peter the Great. The statue was considered to be an accurate portrayal. The Czar was about six feet eight in height, but was not in proportion for his height. His hands, feet, shoulders and head were all smaller than they should have been.

Inside of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was definitely crowded, we saw loads of tombs, including Peter the Great, Catherine I (his wife), Elizabeth I (his daughter), and Catherine II the Great (his other daughter). A special room with the remains of Czar Nicholas II and his family was set to the side. DNA tests had been performed on the remains they found and all – the Czar, his wife, Alix, and their children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei – were properly identified and interred.

The remains of Alexander II were in a rose-colored tomb with his wife next to him in a black tomb. The newest tomb (other than the memorial to Nicholas II and his family) contained Nicholas II’s mother. A quartet of men did some acapella singing in a side chapel.

Lunch was a cruise on the Neva River. En route to the boat, we passed the Admiralty, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great, and a couple of Egyptian statues. Periodically during lunch, I had to take a break from the food (which included borscht) to take photos of what we were passing. Smolny Cathedral, which was attached to a convent, and Kresty Prison, which began life in the 1730s as a wine warehouse and later converted to a prison, rebuilt and expanded, were two of the buildings we saw from the river that we hadn’t seen during other trips around town. During the Soviet era, Kresty Prison became notoriously overcrowded with ten times the number of prisoners for which it was designed. We could also see a statue of Lenin in front of the rail station.

Next time – more of St Petersburg, including the Winter Palace/ Hermitage Museum.

Subway Sandwich Shop
Statue of Nicholas I
St Isaac’s Cathedral
Mariinsky Palace
Costumed lady at St Isaac’s Square
The Kunstkammer
The Rostral Columns
Naval Academy
Cruiser Aurora
Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
Another view of the church
Statue of Peter the Great
Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Cathedral
Royal tombs inside cathedral
Tomb of Nicholas II and family
Smolny Cathedral
Kresty Prison
Statue of Lenin outside of rail station

September 22, 2019

The Baltics 2012: Estonia

We arrived in Parnu, Estonia by lunchtime. We had lunch together at a restaurant in the Old Town with a set menu – soup, main course, and dessert. It was quite good. Parnu is on a bay of the Gulf of Livonia in the Baltic Sea. The Old Town gave us some beautiful buildings to look at as we walked off that large lunch.

The town was founded circa 1251 by a bishop, destroyed around 1600, and then was rebuilt. It changed hands several times between the Poles, Lithuanians, Swedes and Russians, until becoming part of the newly formed country of Estonia after World War I. Like Latvia, Estonia was occupied by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets again during World War II, ending up under Soviet rule after the war.

Parnu is mainly a resort town and vacation spot for Estonians, Finns, Russians, and Swedes. Its location provides beaches, water sports, and a very well laid out Old Town with loads of restaurants and hotels.

We arrived in Tallinn early evening. With civilization dating back 5,000 years, Tallinn itself was founded as a town in 1248 by the Danes. Estonia overall was civilized as far back as 9,000 years. Tallinn was also part of the Hanseatic League. Tallinn has never been raised or pillaged, but was bombed by the Soviets near the end of World War II. Despite that, most of the Medieval Old Town is intact and is considered to be the best preserved medieval architecture in Europe. As such, it is a World Heritage site.

Information Technology is a thriving industry in Estonia. Skype originated in Tallinn. The hotel had computers in the rooms, so I could send emails to folks back home. This was before I had a smartphone with internet capabilities (I got one of those in February of 2013).

We went into the Old Town (which wasn’t too far from our hotel) for a “Medieval Dinner”. The only thing that was Medieval about the dinner was the building, which was 14^th century. The Old Town is mainly pedestrian only, so we walked in from where the tour coach dropped us off and did a little bit of a tour before reaching the building where the dinner was being held by seeing the 13^th century St Nicholas Church and the Town Hall Square.

The Town Hall dates to the 13^th century with its tower dating to the 17^th century. It is the oldest town hall in the Baltics or Scandinavia and the last surviving Gothic Town Hall in Northern Europe. It has the coolest painted dragon gargoyles up near the roof (which you can see in the photo I have included). The square was originally the market square of the town and now has loads of restaurants. They also have a wonderful Christmas Market there every year. The restaurant we were visiting was in the cellar of one of the buildings on the square.

On our way back to the tour coach (which had moved elsewhere and parked after dropping us off) after dinner, we looked at some Medieval foundations viewable through glass windows in the street, and the Square of Freedom.

The following day, we started at the Upper Town (also known as Toompea). Toompea Castle is now used as government buildings, including Parliament. The population of Tallinn was a little over 50% ethnic Estonian and roughly 37% ethnic Russian with the rest of the people being a mixture of several different ethnic groups. There was a lovely Russian Orthodox church called the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the Upper Town. It was built in the 1890s when Tallinn was part of the Russian Empire. The nearby Dome Church, was built by the Danes in the 13^th century and is the oldest church in Tallinn.

After visiting another amber shop (which had some earrings in gold, instead of the silver everyone else had), we went to a viewing area to see the Lower Town (called All-linn) below. We could also see out to the Baltic. Several ferries traveled back and forth daily from Tallinn to Helsinki, Finland – mostly bringing folks from Helsinki for the day as prices were much lower in Estonia than Finland. A certain amount of Estonians would travel to Helsinki in the morning for their jobs as salaries were higher in Finland.

We could also see the spire of St Olaf’s Cathedral. Although built in the 12^th century, the church burnt down several times over the centuries, so it isn’t at all original to the 12^th century any more. Otherwise it would have had the title of the oldest church in Tallinn instead of the Dome Church.

From Toompea, we took a long, steep cobbled road (named Pikk Jalg) down into the All-linn. When we arrived at the Town Hall Square, we met up with our local guide, Nikoli. His mother was ethnic Estonian, while his father was ethnic Russian. He was adorable and took a liking to me. Actually lots of tour guides do because I am always so interested in what they are talking about and usually have a pretty good understanding of the history of the place already. I also don’t give them much difficulty about anything. So I’m easy to deal with.

Just like Dubrovnik, Croatia, who claimed that they had the oldest pharmacy/ chemist/ apothecary in the world, Tallinn made the same claim regarding a building they had in their Town Hall Square. Actually they were both beat by the 12^th century pharmacy in Florence, Italy.

Nikoli gave us a walking tour of the Lower Town, which included a very lovely, but small luxury hotel with a Presidential Suite (and balcony). Then he led us into one of my favorite places in Tallinn – St Catherine’s Passage. We entered through a deep arch from behind St Catherine’s Church, which had been built 700 years ago. On one side of the passage had once been a monastery. Several Medieval gravestones were mounted on the wall on that side. The buildings on the other side had been turned into shops, bars and restaurants.

At the other end of the passage, was a narrow street between the city walls and some lovely Medieval houses. The round Helleman Tower was just outside of the passage. A little further along was an even older square tower. At this point, the walls had a covered, timber-framed top. One could walk along the top of the wall largely out of the elements.

When we reached the Viru Gates (which were also original), that was the end of the tour. Most of the group was staying in the area to have some lunch and then would join Nikoli for an optional tour of Tallinn’s Russian Museum. I wasn’t interested in the museum as we have a great Russian Museum in Minneapolis not far from my house. Heike also wasn’t interested in the museum, so we got on the tour coach, which was parked just beyond the Viru Gates and rode back to the hotel. We had lunch there, and then went for a walk in the general neighborhood of the hotel. Nikoli seemed disappointed that we weren’t joining him for the museum tour, but I’m sure he survived.

Next time – adventures in crossing the border into Russia (where they were still acting like they were the Soviet Union) and St Petersburg.