Arrived in London

I arrived at St Pancras at 8.59 am this morning.

Visiting Denmark

Lone Gaarten, Marie's mother who took me on a tour of small villages with thatched cottages, fields, wind turbines and rhodos.

Church and thatched roof house overlooking sea.

This is the house where Hans Christian Andersen was born in Ondense, Jans Gaarten took me to a most comprehensive museum on Denmark's most famous son.

The fiord on the east coast near Horsens.

Horsens Denmark

Pictures of Marie, cafes along the stream in Århus, the Old
Town in Århus, fields outside the Gaarten's house, and Boy-

I am now in Horsens staying with Marie Gaarten's parents, Jan and Lone. Marie was our first exchange student in 1994 and she visited in 2001.

I enjoyed Helsinki where I managed to miss the Eurovision Song Contest but I met Maria Selin's mother Marjukka and her dog Taavi, who travelled to Helsinki by plane and was returning to Rovaniemi by train with Maria. Marjukka lives in the north of Helsinki where her husband farms reindeers.

I travelled to Stockholm by ferry, lots of food, and wonderful views of islands as we left Helsinki and for about 2 hours as we went into Stockholm. Then by train to Horsens which is north of
Copenhagen on the bit joined to Germany.

The house is surrounded by fields with barley, quite high - so different to Irkutsk 2 weeks ago.
Today I went to Århus and saw in the museum a work 'Boy' 1999, 490 x 490 x 240 cm by Australian artist Ron Mueck, whom I had never heard of. Have you?

Helsinki

Pictures of Maria at Poovoo, island in the harbour, city from the ferry, Museum of Contemporary Art, Maria and her mother,

Strawberry stall outside a department store and fashions for bicycle riders.

The Church in the Rock

Church

Helsinki - so easy

I have met up with Maria Selin, who was an exchange student in our home in 1995 I think. We have walked around the city and visited Poovoo an historic town about 1 hour away by bus. We ate snails and rocquford in the sun. She is somewhat changed but it is really lovely to meet up with her again.

Helsinki -

• People open doors,


• Say thank you
  
• The streets are not crowded


• English is spoken everywhere


• Less history


• Cold but warming up at 15 degrees


• You can take dogs on planes in a basket at your feet and some hotel rooms are allocated for people with their dogs


• TV does not dub foreign films or programs


• You can drink and clean your teeth with the tap water - first time since Hong Kong


• A woman was walking with a cat on a lead


• Friends of the Earth Finland has an interesting T shirt - polar bear with 2 parts broken off


• The 3T tram goes around the city in a circle, cheap and easy to use

From Russia with Love

Meal in building where

Alaska was sold

Parking

Hermitage

I am now in Helsinki, so ordered, manageable but the population of St Petersburg lives in the whole of Finland. While it took 9 hours to cross the border in the east to enter Russia it took 1 hour to leave, no searches, no forms, and a SMILING Finnish official who said welcome to the EU, and that they were preparing for the English fans returning from the football match against Moscow.

I spent the last 2 days walking around St Petersburg and a day in The Hermitage. It was easy as I had had an overview and knew which areas I wished to visit - British, (Constable portraits) Rembrandts, Rubens, Impressionists, Spanish,- El Grecos - etc. The grey sisterhood helped, every time I had the map upside down a nice attendent would turn it the right way up and point me in the quickest direction. It was also easy as one, as it is possible to avoid the tours.

St Petersburg - days to wander

St Vladamir

Church of the Resurrection of Christ

St Isaacs

The tour has now ended. We have

covered 12 000 km from Hong Kong. As there are so many churches it was not surprising I went into one with a service happening - wonderful vestments - or the back of it - seems to be in need of a Second Vatican Council happening. Lots of people there on a Monday including young people.

St Petersburg

The Aurora, which fired the blank shot at the Winter Palace in 1917 which started the Revolution.

Petrodvorets, a modest estate built by Peter the Great, which was used by Germans in WWII and is now largely a reconstruction.

The

More surpurlatives

We have seen:-

• Ballet Giselle in Hermitage Theatre - small, beautiful and part of the Winter Palace


• Opera - "Eugene Onegin" - in Mariinsky Theatre - the most beautiful theatre I have ever seen, 6 circles - 3 persons deep - decorated in gold with a royal box. Wonderful production, three of us went from the group, it is part of the Festival of White Nights - it was light at 11.05 as we left. There are no photos check google.


• Tombs of the Tsars, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicholas and Alexander et al.


• The Hermitage in 4 hours - I will return again on Tuesday


• Peterhof - Summer Palace of Tsars, which was taken over by Germans in WWII but restored since. - much gold, glitter and fountains but it was raining.


• Dostoevsky's apartment where he died


• Restaurant we had lunch in was the building where the settlement was signed to sell Alaska to the US in 1860's.


• And of course more Churches

Tour ends tomorrow morning but I stay here for 2 more days and then go to Helsinki. It is amazing that 28 days have gone, I have slept better than at home, had no major food upsets and been constantly overwhelmed by places previously I had no interest in visiting.

Moscow again

We went to the Tretrykov Museum - lots of well know names, exhausting, then we walked around Gorky Park. The following morning we went to the Pushkin Museum, and caught a train at 12.40 am to St Petersburg.

Moscow Metro

Outside a metro station an old women is custodian of 2 porte loos - a cold job.

Inside the metro - fantastic walls, ceilings and lights

and people.

Tuesday in Moscow

We went to the Kremlin - I had no idea is was so big, lots of separate buildings and gardens. We went into more Churches - Sister Aquin would be so pleased to know Russia is the country of Churches. - and into the Armoury which houses the treasures of the Tsars, no wonder there was a revolution, the wonder was it took so long to come.

We saw the wedding dress of Catherine the Great, carriages of Peter the Great and Catherine, incredible jewel encrusted chairs, clothes etc. We also saw the the only Faberge eggs Stalin did not sell. Again I had no idea.

I then set out alone and managed to find my way, cross the roads, buy a pair of sandals because I am feeling so scuffy and find my way back to the hotel on the Metro - which again is fantastic.

We then went to the opera - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - by Shostokovich. It was in the small Bolshoi next to the real one which is being renovated. A beautiful little opera house, program was in English and Russian and the surtitles were in English - obviously for tourists but there were lots of Russians there. We had to go through a scanner to enter the theatre.

Much to my surprise I really enjoyed the music, large, lots of bassoons, and full on, the set was very grey and drap with effective splashes of red. I will have to rethik my view of Shostokovich.

Pictures of Moscow

In Red Square

Bar near another statue of Pushkin

Hotel in Moscow Sovietsky Historical Hotel

This historic hotel was commissioned by Stalin in 1952 (plumbing and electricals demonstrate this) for visiting dignitries. The outside is what is officailly called Stalin Empire style but locally Stalin Vampire style. The inside is grand, not the food however and the breakfast waiters operate in 1952 Russia. Those who stayed here incude Maggie Thatcher, Chuck Berry, Indira Ghandi, Nicoli Cesesceau, Juan Carlos of Spain and us.