North Sea Cruse 2001

This is our cruise ship for the North Sea. The aft end is shown in the photo above left

Looking down into the main salon area from a higher deck level. Hard to believe this is a ship, not a grand hotel somewhere

These are the seas that kept us out of Finland.
Our ship had great gyroscope stabilizers but
we could still feel a bit of pitch and roll. I believe
the seas were around 20 feet.

The Little Mermaid statue was a present from brewer Carl Jacobsen (The Carlsberg Breweries)
to the city of Copenhagen, made by a then little known sculptor called Edvard Erichsen. The Little
Mermaid was unveiled at Langelinje in 1913, as part of a general trend in Copenhagen in those days,
selecting classical and historical figures to be used as decorations in the city's parks and public areas.

These multicolor homes are typical for the area as well as in the Netherlands.

If you look closely you will see numerous wind turbine
generating towers in the background. This was in 2001
but they were already very popular in Europe.

Why a statue of David on the seacoast of Scandinavia, I have no idea, but here he is.

Sunset over Scandinavia

Some harbor Views

And some city views. I like the contrast between the old and new construction in the bottom one.

Oslo's Vigeland Sculpture Park

For more information about this fascinating Park click here

One of the main attractions was a visit to the Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg, Russia.
This is the exterior of one of the buildings.

A marble interior hallway and chandeliers graced the interior of one building.

Throne of one of the Russian Tsars, possibly Peter the Great.

These are photos of some of the artwork in the Hermitage. There was one old attendant on duty who kept saying "No Pictures, No Pictures" so being upright Americans who always follow the rules we devised a plan that one group would go to one side and take photos. As soon as the attendant ran that way they would put away their cameras and we would start on the other side. We had her running from room to room for a good hour. We got photos and she got exercise. When we left she said, Oh, you Americans, but she said it with a smile!

For more photos and descriptions of the exhibits please click here

From the simplest to the luxurious autos.
We saw them all in Russia. Note what looks
like solid rubber tires on the three wheeler.
And of course the always present bicycle.

Yes, they really are everywhere. Do they serve Ruskiburgers?

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Bavaria, Germany and Austria