Holiday Day Ten - Bruges

Hi Everybody,

On the 11th August we had our last port to visit and this is Bruges.

Another really pretty city with trees and canals running through it.

Yesterday was a day at sea and after all the excitement of St Petersburg it was nice to just relax

This was a lovely day and a real pleasure to wander the streets and look at the gardens and the water.

Once again the weather was  kind to us and it was very warm.

We walked towards a park where the request was for silence ... but of course the hum of voices could still be heard.

In the park there are tree houses way up above us  and there are lots of them. Children are not allowed to climb the trees.

Below is the explanation of the tree houses ...

 Little cafes dot the streets inviting you in for lunch or coffee and cake and later on in the day they got very busy.

There are also lots of horse drawn caragies and our guide told us they are very well cared for.

They work for eight hours in one day and then have four days off to rest.

This tower is open to the public and all the people waiting at the bottom are going to climb the 300 or so steps to the top.

I wouldn't have the energy to do all that climbing ... plus my knees won't let me any more, but I bet the view from the top is wonderful.

This is a small selection of the lace that Belgium is famous for and it is very beautiful.

There where tablecloths, cushions, clothing in fact all sorts of things that had lace added to them.

And of course no trip to Belgium would be complete without some Belgium chocolate.

We went in to buy some and samples where being offered so it would have been rude to refuse ...and it was delicious.

This lady was coating fresh strawberries in chocolate and we managed to resist these delicacies.

But we did buy some to bring home.

So today we set sail for home, sailing overnight to reach Southampton at 6am.

It has been a wonderful two week holiday and we have enjoyed every city that we have been to, but it seems to have gone by so quickly

I hope you have enjoyed my Travel Tales over the last few days ... but next week it is back to normal and back to card making.

I have managed to keep the Tuesday Tutorial going while I have been away and  there will be a Friday Freebie added again so keep a look out for that.

Thank you for all your lovely comments

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Nine - Warnemunde

Hi Everybody,

Germany is the port of call for this day and this was the view from our balcony as we sailed into the port of Warnemunde

The port is right beside the town and you can see how close it is.

We walked to the Ferris wheel in the picture and from there we went on a boat trip to Rostock.

This is how it is written but it is pronounced Varnemunday ... mind you we heard lots of different ways that people were saying it and some were quite amusing.

Thank goodness we are going to Rostock ... it's much easier to pronounce !!

For four days there had been a sailing regatta going on and this was the last day.

The ships that were in port were beautiful and there where hundreds of them ... some with the sails unfurled as they floated past

There was a fairground at the side of the river and that was very loud and very busy

 This lovely fountain was in the centre of town and has figures around it that are playing in the water.

These brick built boots caught my eye outside a shop and they are huge.

The whole place was lovely to visit but because it was Sunday most of the places are closed, and that kept it reasonably quiet.

This was another hot and sunny day

In fact the only cloudy day we have had was the day we where at sea and there is so much to do on the ship that it didn't matter.

I hope you have enjoyed Rostock with me and at about 5.30pm we sailed again for Belgium

This will be our last port and we visit Bruges which we have been told is very pretty.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Eight - Helsinki

Hi Everybody,

On the eighth day we are off to Helsinki and this beautiful building is in Senate Square. It sits atop wide steps and overlooks the large square

There was an older man singing at the top of his voice as the tourists passed by and it was quite hot today

It was bustling with activity because there are four ships visiting Helsinki today and we all seem to be visiting the same places at the same time.

This photo taken at one of the ports looks like a parking lot for cruise ships and they are all different sizes.

Our guide took us around the city telling us the history of the place and then it was time to hop onto the coach and head off to a woodland village.

This village is now a museum piece and covers a lot of woodland. It was so peaceful to walk through here.

There are several houses that you can go inside and take photographs and we took full advantage of that opportunity.

This is the inside of one and have you noticed the wood burner in the corner.

Not quite the same as those in the palaces but necessary none the less.

The walls look as if they have columns but they are totally flat. The effect is created with paint and is very realistic

We wandered into an old church and saw a beautiful windmill in the forest.

Then we stopped at the cafe in the centre and had a Cinnamon bun and some Finish coffee which was very nice and very welcome.

Heading back into the city we stopped at the monument to the composer Sibelius

 To me this monument looks like a tree ... to others it looks like organ pipes

Every one of the tubes is engraves and it is really very lovely as it glitters silver in the sunlight.

Many many people where there all taking their snap shots and it was a very warm day.

This is also near the Sibelius tree and lots of us wanted a photo of this mask and it is quite large.

 But a woman was sat on the top of it for a long time ... until somebody shouted to her to "Get off" ... which she did promptly

We had some free time in the afternoon and we wandered around Helsinki on our own for a few hours

Then it was time to find the shuttle bus to take us back to the ship and get ready to sail away at 5.30pm

Tomorrow is a sea day and the chance to relax for the day. It has been a hectic few days ashore but we have some wonderful memories of the places we have seen.

The next stop is Germany and we are going on a tour around Rostock ... I hope you will join me

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Seven - St Petersburg

Hi Everybody,

St Petersburg is such a fabulous city and everywhere you look there is gold.

On the buildings .. on the furniture ... on the paintings ... on the statues in fact almost everywhere you look

This photo is of Catherine Palace and it is in a place called Pushkin

To visit here you go through large ornate gates and on the way a Russian band was waiting to greet us.

It is awesome and was built by Peter for his beloved wife Catherine.

It is reputed to have had over 100 kilograms of gold to cover the front and the domes of the palace

A lot of the palaces are painted in bright colors.  Green, Pink, Blue, Orange and it gives a really pretty effect as you look around. This one is a kind of Sky Blue and White

The gardens in front are also beautiful and it would take you hours to walk around all of it.

When Catherine died this beautiful Palace was abandoned and it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times in its history

But let me take you inside to see some of the wealth that was around in Catherines day.

 This white staircase has gold in the panelling on the walls and the doors have perspex panelling over them so that you don't brush against them

Everywhere you look there is grandeur and finery and it must have been a magnificent place to live.

You would need a map to get round it it's so big

Walking into this room you are immediately attracted to the walls as they are covered in gold leaf ... but let me tell you what the large blue objects are.

They are wood burners and they are in many of the rooms ... several placed at intervals around the sides of the rooms as Russia gets very very cold

They are huge and the picture does not indicate their size ... but I bet it took a lot of wood to keep them going

This is one of the dining rooms laid out as it would have been for a banquet.

The table was set with lovely ornaments and of course the gold is on them and on the chairs too.

The floors throughout the palace are gorgeous and a different pattern in each room.



Catherine Palace was well documented as it was built and it became invaluable when the whole building was intentionally destroyed during the war.

An empty shell was all that was left but a large amount of the restoration has been completed.

The Grand Hall has been used to hold concerts to attract funding and Elton John appeared there in 2001 to a private audience

In one of the rooms we were not allowed to take photos and so we had to stand in the doorway and get what we could around the crowds.

This is the copy of the Amber room and the walls are covered in Amber and gold. It is beautiful and very ornate

During the war the original  mysteriously disappeared and has never been found and so this copy has been painstakingly reproduced.

The final part of our visit to Catherine Palace was a visit to the Amber workshops.

Here we could watch the craftsmen at work with the amber as they created pieces to fit this beautiful frame.

Amber is very light and is a fossilised tree resin that can be carved with really small tools.

The process of getting the different shades was explained and as we left we all received a piece of amber as a gift.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip to Russia with me and we have a few more stops along the way yet.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Holiday Day Six - St Petersburg

Hi Everybody,

St Petersburg sits on the banks of the River Neva and it was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great

It has changed names several times in its history and was once the capital of Russia

This has to be one of the most famous sights  associated with this city and this is the Church of the Spilled Blood and it is beautiful.

The domes are covered in gold leaf and it is truly a spectacular sight to behold

Going inside this church is a must as it is just as beautiful inside as it is out.

This is the inside of this magnificent building and every inch of it is covered









But I must warn you of Pick Pockets here as in any big city and you won't know about it until they are well gone ... with your wallet.

There is so much to see and do here and it is a really busy city with lots of slow moving traffic.

Two days was not nearly long enough to see all the wonderful sights

There is a palace on every street corner and it would take you years to visit them.

But another place to visit is the Winter Palace and I could have spent hours in there looking around the rooms.

The gold is everywhere and as long as you don't use flash you are allowed to take photographs.

The walls here are white and gold and the floor is simply wonderful.

Imagine going dancing to a grand ball dressed in all your finery on a floor like that.

And gold chandeliers are everywhere ... many many of them to each room

This is the throne room and it was huge.

I don't have the space to show you all the pictures I took and they do not do justice to what your eyes can see.

Never the less I hope you have enjoyed just a little glimpse into Russia

This is the Hermitage and holds a vast collection of over four million items.

Our guide told us it would take 12 years to see all the things in here and of course they are not all on display at the same time.

It was wonderful inside and I could have spent hours in there ... but our time was limited

This next one is a painting and NOT a photo.

The reason it is a painting is because the actual building is covered in scaffolding and polythene as the restoration work is carried out in the summer months.

This is Smolny Convent and it was originally built as a church.

But the story our guide told us is that someone committed suicide and so it was never consecrated and therefore it couldn't be used as a church and these days it is used as a convent instead.

 In the afternoon we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and this was  very busy but worth the wait.

 Once again an abundance of gold and marble and inside are the tombs of all the Russian Tsars and their families throughout history

 But this was the saddest moment for me as this is where the remains of Tsar Nicholas and all his family are interred

The story of Anastasia has been romanticised down the years saying that she survived when the her family where murdered by the Bolsheviks on 1917

But her remains where found with the rest of her family  when they where found in 1998

It was a very sad tribute to them and very beautifully kept in lovely surroundings

Russia is a place that you cannot visit unless you have a visa but if you are on a cruise then the visa is done for you by the cruise company.

It is is so well worth it and the opulence of this city will amaze you.

These pictures do not show the real colors of this wonderful city

Now to bring you back to present day this is to let you know that I will be on Create and Craft at 9am tomorrow the 20th August.  Then later in the day I have a two hour show at 12 noon so please join me if you can 

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx