The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood: Russia

Peterhof Palace Gardens: Russia

Warnemunde, Germany

Today was the last day of our cruise, and we spent it in Warnemunde, Germany. In Warnemunde, we visited the Sherwin Castle and Gardens. The castle previously belonged entirely to the royal family of Germany, but now the majority of the property is home to Parliament. Today we saw the parts of the castle used for the museum and also were able to explore the surrounding gardens. It was a gorgeous place to visit and a great way to end our cruise.

Riga, Latvia

We spent our day in Riga on a Jewish Heritage tour. Our tour took us to Rumbula, a Jewish memorial in the center of town, a getto museum, and a synagogue that has survived in Riga until today. We learned a lot about the declining Jewish population in Riga and what factors contributed to those deteriorating numbers. We also got to see much of the town, which is about twice as big as Tallinn, while going from location to location on our bus tour.

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn was a small, but interesting city. We took a tour and discovered its abundant history and also had a change to explore both the upper and lower parts of of the city. We only spent a few hours in Tallinn, but we got to see many things, from the more modern buildings, like the picture in the upper right of the Estonia Modern Art Museum, to the more classical buildings and parts of town that can be seen in the lower three images.

St. Petersburg, Russia

In St. Petersburg we visited a number of historical sites, scattered throughout the city. Our first day was spent going to The Hermitage Museum/ Palace Square (bottom right) and a number of cathedrals and churches (like St. Isacc's- the top 2 left pictures), and The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (top right). Today was our second day in St. Petersburg and we spent the majority of it outside at the Peterhof Palace which is also home to Peter the Great's Gardens and Fountains. The architecture of the buildings, as well as the layout of all the gardens are meant to bear a strong resemblance to Versailles in France. We had a traditional Russian lunch, and visited Catherine's Palace in the afternoon which was really stunning.

Helsinki, Finland

Today we spent the first day of our cruise in Helsinki, Finland. Compared to Stockholm, Helsinki is a  bigger city with many more large industries. We didn't do a tour or anything, so we explored the city on our own for a little while. I found Helsinki to be a city that is packed with different examples of not only historical architecture, but also many examples of modern architecture, especially in the newer apartment buildings. Now we are sailing off to St. Petersburg, Russia where we will spend the next two days.