Baltic , Norway , Iceland and the U.K. on the Zuiderdam 2019 with photos

[scubacruiserx2]

The Church on the Spilled Blood's exterior was covered up in June so here's a few exterior shots of this iconic church .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A video clip and some still photos from the interior mosaics

 

 

 

 

 

Czar Alexander II was assassinated on this spot and the church was built over top of it

 

 

This marks the spot on the outside

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Savior_on_Blood

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christ as a boy

 

 

Tomorrow we will visit a couple of new churches and the Faberge Museum

 

 

 

[erewhon]

Really appreciate you posting all your great photos.

Thank you.

 

[ORCRUISER]

Enjoying your posts. Pretty sure we were with you on a South American cruise in 2013.

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, erewhon said:

Really appreciate you posting all your great photos.

Thank you.

 

 

You're welcome and thank you for writing in 

[jimbri]

Wonderful photos and videos.  Thank you for sharing.

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, ORCRUISER said:

Enjoying your posts. Pretty sure we were with you on a South American cruise in 2013.

 

Was that on the Zaandam on November 30 ? We had some great weather in Glacier Alley .

 

 

The first glacier seen was the Romanche Glacier with it's spectacular waterfall .

 

 

 

 

 

It was estimated that from the top of the glacier to the water was 2000'. Thus the cascade is in excess of 1000' !

 

 

 

 

A video clip of the glacier

 

 

 

 

 

The tiny green " dots" on the left side of the picture are 50' tall trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enlarged photo of where the waterfall emanates from the glacier

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

8 minutes ago, jimbri said:

Wonderful photos and videos.  Thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you , we're glad that you are enjoying them .

[jbhcw]

I've been following but not posting...but just have to tell you your pictures are stunning...thanks so much for sharing!

[scubacruiserx2]

On Tuesday we had a couple of new neighbors

 

 

 

We stopped at this church for some photos

 

 

 

 

A service was in session so no photos

 

 

The next stop was Vasilyevsky Island where the Rostral Columns are

 

 

There is a nice view of the city here

 

 

It's hard to see the Hermitage with the sun in our face . This is a key point for better photos .

 

 

But with the sun at our back ( or side ) we can see the details of Peter and Paul Cathedral

 

 

We started moving to our next stop but the traffic wouldn't allow us time to get back to the Faberge museum and so we turned around toward the museum

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

15 minutes ago, jbhcw said:

I've been following but not posting...but just have to tell you your pictures are stunning...thanks so much for sharing!

 

And thank you for posting , it means a lot to us !

[scubacruiserx2]

This is our review from 2015 of the Faberge Museum

 

 

The Shuvalov Palace

 

 

 

We were given a book that lists all of the articles on display

 

 

 



 

 

We also rented an audio guide , but rarely used it . Beyond this point is a strict , no photos zone .

 

 

 

And some photos from last month since we are now allowed to take photos

 

 

The silver room

 

 

 

The blue room , this is where the Faberge Eggs are kept

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabergé_egg

 

Because of the glare from the lighting and the plexiglass it was hard to get real good photos so  we took these photographs from this book that we purchased in their bookstore by Tatyana Muntyan and V. S. Voronchenko .

 

 

 

 

The Resurrection Egg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosebud

 

 

 

 

 

Bay Tree

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

This collection has the distinction of having the first of the imperial eggs , the Hen egg , from 1885 .

 

 

 

 

 

It also has the last of the 50 imperial eggs , the Order of St. George egg made during WW I in 1916 .

 

 

 

Additionally , there are numerous other objects d' art from Faberge , like this picture frame .

 

 

 

 

Which opens to display the last Tsar , Nicholas II .

 

 

 

 

And this , Lord the Almighty icon .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Here's some more of the most beautiful of the Faberge eggs :

 

 

The Renaissance Egg of 1894 is also called the Resurrection egg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lilies-of-the-Valley Egg 1898

 

 

 

 

The Fifteenth Anniversary Egg 1911

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cockerel Egg - clock 1900

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The last of the Imperial Eggs is a show stopper , the Coronation Egg . It's the egg used for the cover of the book that these photos have been taken from . The surprise found inside of the egg is an exact replica of the carriage used to carry the last Tsarina , Alexandra , to her coronation ( think Diana and Charles ) .

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Coronation_Egg

 

 

The Imperial Eggs are found in the Blue Room of the Faberge Museum . Photo from the Faberge Museum website :http://fabergemuseum.ru/

 

 

 

 

There are thousands of other works from the House of Faberge like the Duchess of Marlborough egg clock .

 

 

 

 

 

And the Kelch eggs

 

 

http://www.mieks.com/eng/Kelch-Eggs/Kelch-Eggs.htm

 

 

 

The Kelch Hen Egg

 

 

 

 

The Kelch Chanticleer Egg clock

 

 

 

 

When the hour strikes , the chanticleer pops up from the clock , and moves it's beak , head and wings .

 

 

 

There was a time , just 2 years ago , that if you wanted to see Imperial Eggs , it required a trip to the Moscow Armory in the Kremlin . But now , thanks to the tireless work of many craftsman , and the vision and generosity of Mr. Viktor Vekselberg , the Imperial Eggs have returned home , where they were created .

 

 

 

 

This is some of the collection which Mr. Vekselberg purchased from the estate of Mr. Malcolm Forbes for 100 million dollars in 2004 . This museum is the new superstar in St. Petersburg , and is a must see . There also have an excellent , interactive web site where you can see much more !

 

 

http://fabergemuseum.ru/

[scubacruiserx2]

Faberge pendant eggs . Our friend Yuri that we met for dinner makes some like this that are sold in the gift shop 

 

 

 

 

Icons

 

 

 

 

We liked this vase

 

 

These paintings were lit from behind

 

 

After a Faberge bath room break to wash our hands , Irina asked us if we would like to eat at their cafe .

 

 

 

 

We respectfully declined wishing to eat at a place near where we had rented an apartment when we stayed in Saint Petersburg .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A video clip of the egg room and eggs

 

 

 

[ORCRUISER]

Yes, we were on the Zaandam.  I think we went on a Shore Excursion organized by someone on the Roll Call with you.  No idea which one.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

54 minutes ago, ORCRUISER said:

Yes, we were on the Zaandam.  I think we went on a Shore Excursion organized by someone on the Roll Call with you.  No idea which one.

 

Me either , perhaps my wife would remember .

We did redo the Zaandam trip to include Antarctica with some great penguin , whale and  glacier encounters and a stay in Patagonia this year if you would like to read about it here :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Where we had lunch was Kilikia and it features Armenian food . We had Greek Salad

 

 

Dolma ( no photo )

 

Kamatz Matzoun (yogurt meatballs) 

 

 

Kharcho - Georgian lamb soup

 

 

Chicken Kabobs with wild rice

 

 

Washed down with a 3 bears beer , Papa bear sized .

 

 

http://kilikia.spb.ru/menyu

[ski ww]

Again great photos. Thanks for posting.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

Again great photos. Thanks for posting.

 

You're welcome . Just finished editing St. Petersburg photos .

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The same architect who designed the Winter Palace and Catherine's Palace designed Smolny Cathedral 

 

 

We have seen it several times but never been inside

 

 

It looked different inside than we had imagined

 

 

Almost plain in comparison to many other Russian Orthodox cathedrals

 

 

 

 

The  white ceiling almost like a canvas waiting for the artist's touch

[erewhon]

Thank you for sharing your interesting photos.

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, erewhon said:

Thank you for sharing your interesting photos.

 

You're welcome , we're just about ready to leave SPB .