Of Winds and Whispers.

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They even had their own theatre.A short performance by 4 singers was presented as part of the tour-

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So the last room in the tour was the Oak room-

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Amazing detail in the woodwork.

Off now to a "gift store" where most tours end up.You can have a free shot of vodka though.After this was a visit to another cathedral.I asked if we could fit a quick visit to the cruiser Aurora in as it is of historical interest with a shot from it's guns signalling the start of the Bolshevik revolution but also we have a granddaughter Aurora.

The guide said it couldn't be fitted in but at the gift shop our driver was consulting his phone.He was looking at the traffic information and persuaded our guide that it could indeed be fitted in so that was next.

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So to the Aurora.It was still raining heavily but OK with an umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other-

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Nearby was the shack that Peter the Great lived in whilst the palace was being built-

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So to St.Isaacs the largest Russian Orthodox church in the city and the largest in Russia until they built a larger one in Moscow.Stripped of it's icons after the revolution it became the Museum of religion and atheism.Now used as a church again.Original paintings inside but they deteriorated due to the cold,damp conditions so most are now mosaics.

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Well this time in St.Petersburg has come to an end.Back to the ship for a cappuccino then I went to a performance by a jazz quartet on this cruise.There were about 70 Swiss on board and a Swiss jazz quartet-the Robi Weber quartet were giving shows.They were very good.On this occasion one of the passengers in the audience was recognised-he had been a drummer with the Count Basie orchestra 50+ years ago.Still good.

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And the special guest-

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[duct tape]

We have sailed with them. Really enjoyed the music. Have a great continuation of your journey.

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As the concert continued we slowly cruised out of the Neva River-

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Into bed early and woke up next morning in Helsinki with these views from our suite-

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We have been to Helsinki before so just a stroll around town-

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Mrsdrron assured me we didn't have enough time to go to the Expo.

As we walked further up the main street from the port I realised I was being stalked-

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By an 87 year old Japanese artist.Leave me alone Yasoi!

Helsinki has become a lot dearer in the 6 years since we first visited 6 years ago.Mrsdrron thought it good shopping then but not now.She did manage to find a pair of Italian shoes though.Back to the ship through the market.Fruit looked good but expensive.

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Once again the Stockholm ferry berthed behind us.

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An after lunch.Venetian Society Cocktail Party and dinner with the Captain.Two UK couples who live in the USA and a Scots couple.Great night.As usual hit it off with the Scot.Before that though we sailed out of Helsinki.

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So a first for me on a cruise forum.I am posting this from 37000 feet somewhere over the former USSR bound for Bangkok.

So more of the sail away from Helsinki-

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And we fit through this opening-

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The next day was a sea day.So what do you think the pictures were of that day?

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So it is now Copenhagen and the end of the first cruise.Only 4 passengers continuing on.Again we have been to Copenhagen so again used it to stretch our legs and do a walk around the nearby park.A very pleasant day.Of course we did visit Copenhagen's most popular lady-

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Churchill Park-

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There is also a large mermaid on the Copenhagen waterfront-

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Now she has weapons!

And sometimes at that age they can be-

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We tried to use all our remaing Danish currency but 2 icecreams left us with 5.5 DEK-not enough for a postcard.

Back to the ship for a late lunch.The new passengers were arriving in dribs and drabs.Another 2 crew we had cruised with before also arrived.We then took advantage of the internet before the newbies organised their internet.On the first crew only Medallion and above had unlimited complimentary internet.On this cruise it was everyone so on sea days it got very slow.

 

We had dinner with an American couple whose luggage had been lost by KLM.They became part of our trivia team along with another American couple and a Scot's couple.We became a formidable team.