Ivan the Great Bell Tower in Kremlin - Sept. 24/17

Ivan the Great Bell Tower

Finally I dragged Craig inside the Kremlin! It was a gorgeous Fall day with the sun shining, clear blue skies - perfect for taking in the view from Ivan the Great Bell Tower (a church tower within the Moscow Kremlin complex).

We learned that you can only purchase tickets for the Bell Tower for specified times and you can only purchase those tickets within 45 minutes of that time slot. You may show up 46 minutes before the time, but they won't sell you a ticket! You also could show up to purchase a ticket and that time slot is full - so you'd have to wait another hour to purchase tickets for the next time slot. Not the easiest method - not sure why they don't just sell (at anytime) a certain amount of tickets for each time slot.

Total height: 81 metres (266 feet)

Built in: 1508 

# of Steps: 329 total leading up to the highest observation deck (not allowed up that high) 

# of Bells: 22 

It was the tallest building in Russia for nearly 400 years. Napoleon's soldiers failed to destroy the tower in 1812, but it was damaged and later repaired in 1819.

Internet photo of the complex. On the ground floor, the walls are 5 metres thick!

Entering the Kremlin along with all our Chinese friends (Because there are SO many Chinese tourists in Moscow, I was under the impression that Chinese citizens do not need a visa for Russia, but that is not correct - they do need one).

Nice cannons!

Kremlin Arsenal

The Tsar Cannon - bronze (1586) - never used in war, but it bears traces of at least one firing. According to Guinness world records - it is the "largest bombard by caliber" in the world. It weighs 39.312 tonnes

The Tsar Bell (aka Royal bell): It has never been in working order, suspended or rung. Completed in 1735, the bell is made of bronze, weighs 445.166 pounds and was cracked during a fire in 1737. Because of the heating and unnatural cooling, a piece weighing more than 11 tons broke off.

The Tsar Bell in front of the Bell Tower we were about to climb up

Putin's heli pad

Artifact located within the Bell Tower

The 1st observation deck - cool bells!

View of Assumption Cathedral from observation deck of Bell Tower (aka The Cathedral of the Dormition, or Cathedral of the Assumption is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos)

This was a great deal - it only cost us 250 Rubles (about $5Cdn) to enter the Kremlin walls, walk around anywhere outside (well, almost anywhere) along with a free audio guide as we toured the tower.

Looking back towards the Kremlin - this intersection was all closed off to cars - a very rare sight - due to a marathon going on in the city

 

Cruise: Northern Europe September 2 - 11, 2017

Cruise #5 (I think...😕)

Norwegian Jade 
Northern European cruise
from Southampton (England) to: Rotterdam (The Netherlands) - Oslo (Norway) - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Hamburg (Germany)

Saturday, September 2nd: The day Maggie & Alan left (at 2:45 am) we left for London to start our cruise vacation. We stayed the night a the Airport hotel (Hilton - lovely) and the next morning we took a coach (bus) to Southampton (approx. 2 hours away).

Sunday, September 3rd: Embarkation day
All went fairly smoothly other than we were a bit late leaving and then the bus was overbooked, so they had to kick off a passenger that had a "flexible" ticket. We arrived at the teeny Southampton bus station and then had to cue for a taxi to the port (in the rain). Apparently the bus used to go right to the port (way more convenient for cruise passengers), but instead they use this very cramped station about 5 km's away from the port.
Embarkation went smoothly and we were all aboard our home for the next 8 nights! We opted for an inside cabin this time (it's nice and dark for sleeping 😴) on deck 8 (#8079) near the middle of the ship (think of a teeter-totter = less movement).

Passengers: 2402
Crew: 1037

At 143 sq feet, this was a tight space for 9 days together - only one person could get ready at a time. You can see the end of the bed (white) on the bottom right corner - that's the size of it plus the bathroom Craig is in and a closet behind the white door. Doesn't really matter though - we only sleep (and nap) and get ready here. On our 1st night we hit the hot tub and met a young Canadian couple: Gillian & Andrew who you will see in more pictures later on.

The Grand Pacific dining room - the main dining area

Monday, September 4th: Rotterdam

Sailing into the port of Rotterdam - very excited for our bike tour. Had to do it while in The Netherlands! They have dedicated bike lanes here and you need to be very aware when crossing as a pedestrian or they'll run you down!

 So we arrived here at the above station to meet our guide for the bike tour. It was, however, a little confusing getting here! Had we just followed a map like Craig usually does (and does well) we would have been fine, but we heard there was a free shuttle into town, so we hopped on. Although it let us off in a neat area, it was nowhere near the station. We were told to take a tram to the station, so we bought a ticket and jumped on the tram. Little did we know, we had actually purchased a ticket for the metro, not the tram, but nobody checked our ticket, so we just stayed on anyways. We figured we had paid for a ticket - not the RIGHT ticket mind you, but a ticket! lol It got us to Central Station where we met our tour guide Ariane. She was awesome! Loved her right from the start. We were joined by 2 Brits from our ship: Alan & Geoff.

A dedicated bike storage area under Central Station - this is only a tiny section in the picture - it goes on and on.

Ariane was the perfect mix of talking about the city and its history and showing us interesting things. The weather was cloudy, but perfect for biking around. This bridge was one of the city improvement projects - I can't find information on that, nor can I remember much detail, but citizens of Rotterdam were asked to submit their ideas for improving the city. Certain ideas were chosen and I believe Ariane said they were given 2-4 million to develop their ideas. This bridge was one of those ideas. It allowed people to cross over busy areas instead of having to go underground. It cost a LOT of money though and they had to ask for sponsors and each sponsor's name is written on the vertical slats.

A short stop at the inner courtyard of a government building

Craig says "look over"... that's difficult to do when riding a bike! And dangerous in this city! lol This was a pretty safe spot though - no traffic or bikes or pedestrians to hit.

A lovely church downtown. Churches here (and also in Copenhagen) are used for other functions besides religious ones. Concerts, parties, etc. are held here - helps with the costs of maintaining the building because not so many people attend church these days (apparently).

Markthal (market hall) - what a truly unique and interesting building both inside and out.

Awesome internet photo shows it well!

Surrounding the market area itself are apartments - each one on the inner courtyard has a window looking down into the market. I'm not sure how the ones on the curve work?! The ones on the very top have a glass panel on the floor looking down into the market. A very interesting design!

Hmm... sausage. We actually bought some cheese at the market. Lots of goodies to choose from at a fairly hefty price.

Known as the "pencil building"

Probably one of the neatest areas was where these "cube houses" are. They look like a little village of houses. Very cool design, but probably not the most practical to actually live in. Ariane said they are quite large in terms of square meters, but a lot of the space is wasted from the crazy angles. You can rent one of these apparently on Airbnb!

Love silly selfies - Alan was getting the hang of his selfie stick thanks to Craig.

This face on Ariane sums up exactly what she is like - awesome lady!

Here's a picture from the internet showing an example of the interior of one of these cube houses.

Rotterdam has an interesting history. On the 14th of May, 1940, the Germans bombed the inner city and 17th century port. According to Ariane, the Germans could not take the city by land, so they wrote a note and had someone walk over to the Netherlands Colonel to tell them to surrender or be bombed. The Colonel didn't like this "unofficial" looking note and went over to demand a proper one. The story goes that the Netherlands agreed to surrender (to save their cities) and when the Germans send up a flare to let the bombers know it was meant to tell them to abort the mission. The bombers in the South apparently didn't see the flares and bombed the city. Perhaps the flares were actually just letting the bombers know where the Germans were located so they wouldn't bomb them?? Only 4 historical buildings remain of the old inner city of Rotterdam. It took 10 years to rebuild and make it a more livable city. Now, the city has very modern architecture and the whole design was redone to have a more accessible harbour. The harbour area is HUGE - I think she said 40 km's long! It's the largest port in Europe.

Our cruise ship in the background

The 3 buildings you see are meant to mimic a cruise ship - I don't quite see it, but the idea is there.

Jump shot from a barge on the water!

Ariane explained that they have some well-known graffiti artists here. Although graffiti is illegal, these artists approach the building owners and ask permission and the owners actually pay them to do so. This one represents the downtown. The yellow squares being the cube houses.

More cool graffiti

The selfie that the kids got in on... too cute.

Ariane sent us this one - guess on the panorama setting.

The Netherlands is known for being a liberal country, but this "art" takes that pretty far. At first it was so offensive that nobody wanted it to be anywhere near them, their home, their shop. Then, because of the controversy it became pretty famous, so then shops wanted it near them to draw crowds! The reason it's offensive - if you haven't noticed, is Santa Claus is holding a butt plug! It is a symbol of modern consumerism.

Dimsom - the "washy washy" guy on ship who'd spray your hands with disinfectant as you enter the buffet dining area! We LOVED this guy - so full of smiles and cheer. We'd actually be disappointed when he wasn't there. He was named "Dimsom" because his Mom apparently craved dim sum while pregnant with him!

Our route on the big screen

Free booze package!

Tuesday, September 5th: Day at sea

Wednesday, September 6th: Oslo

It was raining pretty hard in Oslo. It didn't stop us, but it made it less pleasant for sure. I had shoe issues and ended up with blisters and walking on the backs of my shoes.

It's difficult to balance on this thing! Craig actually did a better job than me, but I didn't want to "go for it" in case I sprained an ankle or something! 😁

Maybe it was easier sideways? I was pointed forwards!

The Royal Palace - the official home of the Norwegian Monarch. Built in the early 19th century.

This is an enormous park in the city - I call it "naked statue park"...

He's wearing his backpack on the front to keep it dry. A lovely walkway towards the statue part of the park.

Strange, but interesting... all the statues were naked adults and children

Craig's favorite statue - looks like child abuse to me or crazy alien babies attacking.

I was walking on the backs of my shoes at this point! Still having fun though!

Even the gate depicted nudes.

Water on the lens...

The beautiful fall colours of the vines

3 trolls - I'll take the tall one!

Some lovely graffiti

Every cruise Craig looks forward to his smoked salmon for breakfast. On this ship he usually ended up in the dining room by himself for his 1st breakfast because there was no salmon in the buffet.

 Thursday, September 7th: Copenhagen
It was lightly raining AGAIN (geesh), but we were prepared with good shoes, rain gear, umbrella and ponchos! We had another free walking tour here (with Soren), so we wandered into town to our meeting point.

Impressive mermaid

Walking along the harbour into downtown - the famous mermaid - in the background you see a sloped building. Apparently it is a waste plant with a ski hill on the roof.

The old stock exchange building until 1974

The Danish parliament

Old Town part of the city

LOVED this old harbour area - so quaint!

Jumping in the rain in Palace Square - why not? Amalienborg Palace is the where the royal family resides

They call this King's Way from the church, through to Palace Square to the fountain.

Our tour ended here at the Copenhagen Opera House. Yet another controversial opera house because the architects totally disagreed on the design and because it cost over 500 Million US to build! Soren, our guide mentioned that the Danes are not particularly happy with this building - wishing it was more prestigious looking like the Sydney Opera House.

Viking carving at the buffet following a fruit carving lesson on the ship

 Friday, September 8th: Day at sea

Saturday, September 9th: Hamburg, Germany

As we (Gillian, Andrew, Craig & I) walked into town from the port we stopped along the way to pose with our lobster friend. We signed up for another free walking tour here and our new friends joined us. Gillian's grandparents are from Germany and it was her first time on German soil.

Lots of swans here - I thought this was cute.

Inner courtyard as we walked through the town hall (our meeting point for the walking tour).

St. Nicholas' Church - Hamburg. This tower is much more impressive in person - the only part that remains is the tower as you see it. The rest was bombed in WW2.

Internet photo: Pre WW2 how the church looked

Internet photo: Not sure when this picture was taken...

The gang on our walking tour together: Andrew, Gillian, Craig & I

History: This was a cigar factory. Apparently an employee purposely set the fire, but with perfect conditions and building proximity the fire quickly spread across the city in what is known as the Great Fire of Hamburg which burned from May 5-8, 1842. Our guide mentioned something about barrels of rum being poured into the river and then firefighters trying to dowse the fire with the water from the river which only fed the fire... not sure if this is true or not?? I may have remembered this story wrong. They give you lots of information on these tours!

The warehouse district where merchants used to be able to work duty free which helped them trade their wares.

It was "cruise days" in Hamburg when we were there. It's the finale of a week of cruise-related events apparently. That meant there were a lot of food stalls, beer gardens, etc. with lots of people out and about. We stopped after the tour to enjoy a bratwurst & beer. There were 6 major cruise ships in the harbour at the same time on this day and in the evening we all gathered together for our grand departure. As each ship passed a certain area, fireworks would go off and the hundreds of thousands of spectators on shore would cheer and wave at us. The harbour was lit with blue lights also. It was a really unique experience that we enjoyed very much. Especially because the weather cleared in the afternoon so we could enjoy it out on the 12th deck! They call it the "cruise parade".

Gillian & I enjoying some donut-like pastry after our bratwurst.

Gingerbread princess - too bad it didn't taste good (to me). It actually tastes the same as the Russian gingerbread. Sadly, I only ate one tip of my princess crown. 👑

One of the funny ships in the harbour with us - love the face on the front!

The tug boat starting to pull us backwards - further into the harbour for the grand cruise parade!

The city lights up for the parade

Loved it! So interesting and beautiful

This is a cool shot of the canal and the very expensive (800 million Euro) opera house.

6 years late and 10 times the estimated cost, the opera house finally opens in Hamburg! It has hundreds of curved panels which each cost a fortune. There are also 45 luxury flats and 250 hotel rooms to help finance the costs.

Nice yacht beside us continuing the "blue lights" theme of the evening.

Our love bird companions enjoying the evening

Internet photo from 2014 cruise day celebrations

Sunday, September 10th: sea day

Having a little fun on board for the final sea day of the vacation.

It was another wonderful holiday spent with the love of my life - 18 years married next week! Happy Anniversary my love!  💝
Happy Birthday too!
🎂