7-11-2015: The Great Hermitage Museum

Next morning we are at it again and today it is the world famous Hermitage Museum and a large part of the world was on hand today to join us. Lordy it was a day of being in the middle of a slow moving herd and a bit frustrating. But the four of us share our own guide and what a blessing it is to get information, travel to the right exhibits, use short cuts, by-pass lines and ask questions. How to describe the Hermitage? Overwhelming and then some! The museum began small but it grew and grew as Catherine the Great added more and more to the collection. The tale told of it taking years to view all the museum is true, true, true. Fabulous collections of art. Like Pablo Piccaso painting? They have room after room of his works. Like Gauguin or Degas or van Gogh? How about some Monet? A couple of Leonardo da Vinci paintings call this place home and a late Micheangelo carving is there for viewing. Ancient art is an abundance and the building decorations alone are enough to take your breath away.

Man are we beat and our feet hurt from this day and we look forward to a relaxing rest before dinner.

Thank you Catherine the Great, for another lovely meal!

 

7-10-2015: City Sites

The next day I am feeling much better and we meet our guide for the next few days. Our guide is an older lady that is a walking history book that relates Russian history through the monuments of the City and delightful stores. Though her we feel the darks days the people of Russia have traveled during the soviet years and the wars but also of the beauty they have created in this City. We get a City Tour and there is so much there is no way to remember it all so a book is necessary. But two highlights are the St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Church of the Resurrection or Church on the spilled blood. The Spilled Blood Church gained it's name from the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II inside the church - yeah, they saved the stones covered with his royal blood for all to see today. Both churches are startling in both size and beauty. Impossible to describe but a picture or two may give a hint of the impact of seeing these marvels.

 

 

 

 

7-9-2015: From Russia with Love

Oh, that was a long day but we made it and the dreaded security check at the Airport was not a problem and the folks were very nice. Our driver meets us but his English is not good and our Russian is limited to a toast when drinking Volka. But he knows how to get to our hotel but it still takes a bit.

This is a big City of 5 million and second only to Moscow in size. Moscow is a big 15 million. But Saint Petersburg is the most European of Russian Cities and we already see statues and buildings that make clear this is a city with culture.

We are treating ourselves and staying at the Official State Hermitage Hotel and it is a beauty and I am sure Tina will throw in some photos as proof. And are they nice - just cannot do enough for us. Tina is feeling a bit better but all I want to do is get horizonal and under covers for a few hours.

Get this - Tina and Krim have pre-arranged a driver through the hotel that will take them shopping. Up comes the driver in a Jaguar and carries the ladies bags as he escorts them to a few of the choice stores where they are treated very nicely. Our timing could not be better as the dollar is very strong and the Russian Ruble is very weak. One Ruble is worth 17 cents. I buy a large bottle of coke for 100 Rubles and it is like $1.85.

Our rooms are excellent with heated floors in the bathroom, turn down service nightly, a welcome fruit bowl, a roof top open air restaurant, an Italian Restaurant and a Russian Restaurant. Service is beyond and they aim to please at every level. And they are very friendly - not at all the sour, downcast eyes we expected.

Oh my, and every afternoon to early evening they have music in the lobby, live music! Here is an example of the enjoyment!

http://youtu.be/UNGrAtwiVNg

We have fallen in love with the place.

 

We like to try the local stuff and the chef takes notice and appreciates our open attitude. So, our waiter, who by the way is one charming guy, brings a message from the chef that he would like to prepare for us a seven course meal the following night that will be very special. The price? 3,000 Rubles each person plus wine. It amounts to about $60 each but I will always remind Krim of the 3,000 dinner I arranged for her pleasure. Can you imagine for $60 a 7 course meal in a beautiful restaurant with excellent food? We said "Start Cooking!"

 

7-8-2015: Helsinki High

Ridiculous is all I can say. It sounded like such a good idea to leave early so we would have time to visit our next city in Finland. But now, after a late night and hard hike, 3 AM does not sound so good. But with the new rules of showing up 3 hours before a flight it is what it is. So up at three, out to the airport and before you know it, we are in Finland.

And, Jim is high about seeing his last name all over the Helsinki airport...

Our tour guide meets us and he has a hard crowd to please that would rather just sleep. Planning was so much easier that living!

A great effort he makes and we start with a Church in downtown Helsinki so so different. A location was purchased by some nuns but the neighborhood right away put the kabosh on any plans for a big high church building. But the good citizens offered a solution that went something like this, "You nuns have purchased a pile of rocks, a granite wall to be specific, why not erect a low level church made of the natural stone" The idea was a great one and and the result is a unique "Rock Church" with a rock foundation and walls with an open roof that can be changed with the season. It is a delight and beautiful.

It is green in Finland and from the plane we see Finland has vast forests. The Olympic Games were held here in 1952 (I think) and the stadium still is used for events. We swoop in for a look. The field is very close to the stands so viewing must be very good.

On a hill overlooking the City is a big orthodox church that could be Russian but the Finland folks like Finland Orthodox better and a beautiful church it is. No pews - did you know that Russian and Finnish Orthodox churches do not have pews and the folks must stand for the entire service? Me neither. The City is pretty and interesting but I keep thinking of the winter when daylight is only 4 or 5 hours and it is so cold they have ice breaker boats to keep the harbor open from the freezing temperatures.

Dinner was nice but that night found Tina and Clyde sick as dogs and a flight to Russia to catch in the morning.

7-7-2015: Church, Fire and Brimstone

It's a bright, sunny day today! We head up to the church that was built to resemble the columns by the ocean. In the church, you can go up into the tower and capture beautiful views of the city. All concrete the church dominates the area. It is not old but impressive but plain as befits Lutherans - humble folks. An organ plays and the sound is awesome. Outside the church is a very impressive statue of Leif Erikson donated by the US of A on the 200 year anniversary of the City.

Beauitiful views of Reykjavik!

But this day is volcano day. It seems some Iceland Geologist was walking around in a lava field - because that is what geologists do for a living. So he happens upon a hole and being very scientific he decides to toss in a rock to see how deep the hole is. No sound. "What" says he, "No sound?" Back he comes the next day with friends he can trust, a light and a long rope. Down he goes on the rope for one, two, three hundred feet (I think that is right?) before he hits bottom. "Weird" he thinks. Every volcano he or anyone knows either blows off the top or fills the top with magna that cools and blocks the hole. Yet, here is it and the explanation is still not known. They think it is a volcano that shot out a few spits of magna and then quit.

That was 4,000 years ago and the volcano god seems content to rest so we will visit the volcano like the nut that used a rope. You do not just drive up and take an elevator to this beauty. Nope. We catch a van to meet the van that takes a drive to the ski base.

We are then treated to a fast paced walk on a gravel path through a lava field for 45 minutes and it is cold.

We arrive at base camp and man, I am happy to see the camp. Rest is in order and we wait our turn to enter the volcano but it takes special equipment so on goes the helmet, on goes a well, thing that hooks round our hips with a loop in front to hook us onto safety lines.

We are called and up we walk to a plank over a chasm so deep light does not quite reach there. We hook on a safety line to walk over the Captain Hook replica plank thing trying not to think that should things go wrong, hanging from a crappy hook on a line over a dark hole in the earth that was once full of hot lava shooting into the sky is our plan B.

Oh, well, the walk is short and we are safe in a little tin box suspended on a little steel wire hooked onto a little motor with a little pulley holding us, the operator and two large guys from Canada. Down we go and it was a bit like a vertical cave but the color was, well, amazing. The minerals make the color and there is copper, sulfur, iron and other minerals. We land and get a chance to walk around. It is strange being inside a volcano. After all, this is the land Jules Verne wrote about in his "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

It is time to go and back in base camp we are awarded with a hot bowl of soup before we head back at light speed (these people are in great shape! and we are at the higher end of the age scale for visitors to this adventure). It is so fun to do these trips - we take the walk with folks from India, China, Germany and Canada and they are all great. Last night in Iceland and we hate to leave our second hotel that is so nice and quite and dark!

Iceland is a land that is magical indeed.

7-6-2015: Lava, Lakes and Wine

 

 

Our guide, Gylfie is awesome and he notes that we had scheduled a trip to a museum, but he also notes we like to hike and see local spots. So, "Suggestion" he says, "Our museum has a great Viking Ship but you are going to Norway and will see Viking Boats so how "bout you skip the museum and we take a hike". We trust and say, "Take us brother, we believe"

Turns out our gut was right and we have a great day in a National Park visited by few and not far from the City. Note this - a beauty of this City is the fact that 30 minutes takes you from City to isolated wilderness. So cool! Iceland is Volcanos and their evidence is everywhere.

First stop of the day is in an industrial area with "Do not trespass signs", We are thinking...where is Gylfie taking us? The fish hanging place by golly. These Iceland folks show respect to animals by letting nothing go to waste - fish for instance. Filets go to Iceland stomachs and most visitors. The rest of the fish they hang in the air to dry. Yep, smells like fish left out to dry. The skin is saved and put into use making purses and wallets and such - really, I am not kidding - we saw them. The rest of meat is made into fish jerky or chips. Sorry, did not try any of those - they must keep them for themselves! Bones? Maybe for fertilizer in the thin soil. And ain't nobody talking 'bout the fish eyes and I ain't asking.

As we drive along horses.....little short horses with long tails and oh so cute. They are Islandic horses, not your common quarter horse or wild mustang. These are home grown and only grown here in Iceland. The short legs must help with something that Darwin thought important - closer to the short grass in the winter? Easier to stay upright in the strong wind? Short legs to maintain warmth when winter arrives. Can't say but they sure are cute.

Our day takes us to lava covered fields where a kind of moss has grown over making the field appear as a soft lumpy meadow. The lava is sharp but the moss covering softens the rock and it is powerful and soft at the same time. But Iceland is also steam from volcanos and it is everywhere. We see clouds of steam and a plant for capturing and processing the hot steam and water and shipping it to the City. There is such an abundance that they send hot water for heating all the homes and businesses and still have enough left to heat the sidewalks and areas to keep off the ice and snow. Not a sign of pollution of any kind except for cars in this country.

 

We stop the car, scramble to the top of a hill for a great view. But the climb is not that easy as the tuft grass is more than difficult the climb and sometimes we resemble sheep as we move up the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of sheep, we see lots and you just want to take one home. Short little legs, they grow only here and even the girls have horns. We stop and a male starts running to us as us to protect his flock acting very aggressive.

Turns out they were all interested in a free lunch and when offered any crackers we had, they were very happy to share the valley with us. We take a short walk to a lake - clear, full of arctic trout and other fish I am sure. Not one around but at the end of the lake is one small cabin. One cabin, one lake, no people - good lord, sign me up! I wanted to stay, stay stay. We just roamed about in this beautiful area and headed back to town.

We stop by a place where the rocks are constantly being reclaimed by the sea. An ever changing landscape by an old lighthouse. The lighthouse master says after a huge part of a rock is reclaimed, I've relandscaped again.

Our guide notes folks, no doubt from another land, on top of a cliff that drops straight to the sea. Look closer you see a split in the cliff like it had been cut by a knife as if it were cheese. "Well", says our guide,"I would not climb on that because it will soon, maybe today, maybe in 10 years, drop off into the sea and people standing there will get a last thrill". We take the advise and wave to the people on the cliff.

 

 

Tonight we are invited to our German friends apartment they rented, for dinner. We bought a bunch of food at local markets, have some Aho wine left and a new hotel without a bar and life is good. Great dinner with friends, great discussion of the world and a nice walk home.

What a great day and another awaits tomorrow.

 

7-5-2015: Continents, Glaciers and Geysers Galore

Oh my god, sleeping is not easy in this hotel room. The never setting sun and never closing bar below makes for a sleepless night. And we are paying WAY too much for this room. But another day awaits and we are looking forward to the next adventure.

We head off for our first stop of the day to Pingvellir, which in 2004 was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. Just so happens that Pingvellir lies on the junction of two tectonic plates that are pulling away from each other, Eurasia and the North American plates on the Mid Atlantic Range. The junction of the plates are more clearly visable here than anywhere else in the world. We even walked between two continents, imagine that! This is a messed up place - volcano shoots out black soot and lava covered fields and the tectonic plates literally pull the island apart. The island is growing and being destroyed but how often can we touch two continents at one time. Yep - this place is magic. No troll spottings but magic still.

 

Off we go heading to a glacier where our snowmobiles await. A quick lesson how to survive and keep most of your limbs in case of a tip-over and we are given control of a monster machine.

Funny how Krim and Tina just jumped on the back with us - poor innocent ladies! Give it the gas and we fly off to soon cross over from fresh snow to a glacier and there we are alone as if on the moon. It is barren, no trees and snow white to the horizon. It is a stark beauty that is hard to describe.

We travel for a bit and pull to a stop and like kids make angels in the snow and then tried a jump picture with all the snow gear on, I think someone took a picture?

Off we go and cross a stream running just under the snow. Scrape off the thin snow layer and below is the aqua blue glacier water dividing the glacer and new snow. Beautiful and special. How can a landscape with no green, no trees, flat white to the horizon be beautiful?

We head back to base camp and turn in our snowmobile gear and head off to Gullfloss, a huge waterfall that would remind you of Niagara Falls. And oh my, this thing is huge!

 

Oh what a day, but it's not over yet! Gylfi takes us to see the Feysisstofa Geysir fields, which are amazing! We know geysers from Napa, Yellowstone and stuff but maybe this one shoots ice! Nope, just like ours but frequent and just like ours people stand in the wrong place and get wet. No pumps visible so it is nature at work and is that not cool, or rather hot?

Ah, just like advertised, Iceland is magic.

 

 

7-4-2015: Iceland is a Hit!

 

 

We are off for our first day of sightseeing with IceLimo (what a great company!) and what a day it will turn out to be. We are headed to the South part of the Island and before we go far it hits you that this place is different that anywhere else you have been. We are above tree line and volcanos and mountains still have considerable snow patches. Lupin was brought in planted everywhere to assist holding the thin soil, keep the ash from flying around and to give some beauty to boot. Mission accomplished as there are fields of purple flowers everywhere so our timing is perfect.

First stop is a couple hours away and what a surprise as the wind nearly blows us over. And it is a little chilly so more chothes are necessary. But the place is magical. Black sand beach from the ash stretches for miles while rocks clusters lead off shore and a basalt tower rises from the sea. A cave appears and like crinkled reynolds wrap adorning the ceiling and basalt columns shooting a couple hundred feet up the side of the mountain you can understand the creation of mystical creatures like trolls and mermaids and such. One such story is the tale of a fisherman that found seal skins lying on the beach at this place and decided to take one home. Returning he found a naked and beautiful girl crying. Taking her home he soon fell in love, married the girl and started a family. One day the girl found the seal skin and gave into the urge to slip into the skin and slipped into the sea never to return to land again.

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It is a strange thing for us, from the middle lattitude, to have our back to the ocean and look across a field at a glacier. But off we go to take a look and we bounce over a dirt road and there it is the tongue of one of the largest glaciers in Europe. Like many glaciers, this one is melting back at a fast pace - about 150 yards from last year but still bigger than 1,000 years ago. Chunks are breaking off and floating down the river. It is such a cool sight but the power is evident and it gouches out the rock before it.

Glacier of Sólheimajökull

 

Glacier of Sólheimajökull

It is time to check out some waterfalls and this island has hundreds if not thousands of them to see. The first gives an opportunity to climb straight up a ton of steps that causes a stop or two to take in the view. A platform awaits at the top to look over the top and this is a big falls!

 

Time for lunch and our guide knows a place that used to house cows but now takes in people to eat cows - or steers actually. Good food and homemade ice cream that was so good Tina actually eat some!

A couple more waterfalls await and they show off in great style. Our guide - wait, did I tell you about our guided? We got a winner here with a great sense of humor, answers our every wish, knows his stuff, answers our questions and hails from Iceland just like his family has since 1600 or before. We are having a great time. Anyway his favorite waterfall is a treat to say the least. The top is visable but the lower half is visable only through a narrow crack in the rock. But our guide leads us through the crack, rock hopping along the creek, soaking wet from the spray but worth it all as we arrive at the base of the falls and look up at least 300 yards toward the top. It is sublime and breathtaking. Still another waterfall awaits just a short walk away and this time we get to walk behind the falls and get wet again. But it is so worth it because it is huge and we look out through the falls and what is this? Our guide pops a bottle of champagne and pours us all a glass! It is July 4th and we celebrate by drinking Champagne behind a waterfall in Iceland. We bring on miniture flags and he plants a couple on the front of the Ford Excursion as we cruise back toward the hotel. More steam rises as we drive along and we learn the entire city is heated by using all the heat associated with the volcanos in the area and that translates into an average electrical and heating bill of $75 for folks.

 

 

It has been quite a day and after a very nice dinner and a little Aho wine we head for bed knowing tomorrow will be another wonderful time . Iceland is a hit!