It’s well known that intrepid travelers often have a bucket list of must-see destinations and I would be no exception – I’ve danced the habanera in Havana; I’ve observed the ancient ritual of “tea pickers” in Sri Lanka; have held a baby panda in my lap at the Chengdu Giant Panda Preserve in Sichuan, China; and I survived a three-day river rafting sojourn to reach Angel Falls in Venezuela – but Russia had always eluded me. That is, until my husband and I were considering a trip that would be worthy of a milestone wedding anniversary.
We wanted adventure, but not too much, and we demanded international travel that wasn’t too wearying. We decided on a Baltic Sea cruise that would take us to Russia and several countries we had not previously visited. Accessing these countries by ship had the benefit of minimum stressful air travel.
Our elegant stateroom was our home away from home for an 11-day Crystal Symphony Baltic Sea cruise.
This was pre-COVID, so air travel, especially international travel, at the moment is something I’m avoiding based on my recent challenging experience. But the silver lining is this: the pandemic has created an entire class of armchair travelers — so much adventure to enjoy! Upon return to pre-COVID times, I hope you will be inspired to look forward to future travel with unencumbered pandemic restrictions. The tourism-related work force in our community, around the country and around the world depend on it. Until then… join us a trip to the Baltic Sea.
Adventure on High Seas
We found the ideal prescription for adventurous travel without the rigors of traveling from country to country, packing and unpacking. etc on our 11-day cruise aboard the Crystal Symphony -– adventure by day, fabulous food and wine by night.
Our cruise set sail from Copenhagen, Denmark and stopped in the former Soviet Union republics of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, -- each are now their own fledgling independent countries with fascinating history and culture. They regained their independence in 1991 and have since worked to step out of the shadow of the USSR. Estonia has quite successfully developed robust tourism due to the fact that its capital city, Tallinn, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with history that dates back to the 1200s.
Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, has become a popular tourist destination with its medieval fortified walls and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The contemporary architecture of the Estonia Art Museum in Tallinn keeps pace with 21st century culture and is a nice juxtaposition to its historical heritage.
The Baltic Sea, nearly 1,000 miles in length and about 120 miles in width, has been an important European waterway for centuries as it borders Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, and Russia.
Currently the Baltic Sea is also the site of a perplexing anomaly that scientific researchers discovered in June 2012 — an object 200ft wide and 300ft below the Baltic is thought to be 140,000 years old. Some have surmised that it might be a UFO. Scientists are still exploring it but for now it remains a mystery. The anomaly is said to have a ‘staircase leading to a dark hole’ and has baffled oceanographers since its discovery. You can read more about this discovery:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/750245/baltic-sea-anomaly-crashed-ufo-seabed-ocean-x-peter-lindberg
But back to Planet Earth. After leisurely traversing the Baltic Sea and visiting many notable ports of call, on Day 8 we arrived in St Petersburg, Russia with great excitement. With the city’s jaw-dropping fanciful architecture and a mind-numbing collection of art and treasures, the experience did not disappoint. St. Petersburg is the vibrant cultural center of Russia while Moscow is the stern political center of the country.
A Glorious Past, Dynamic Present
Our first stop in St. Petersburg was the famed Hermitage Museum which is comprised of several distinct museums -- the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, and the New Hermitage-- all seamlessly linked with interconnecting walkways and galleries. The Hermitage Museum collection holds priceless antiquities, French, German, Italian, and English paintings, sculpture, tapestries and thousands of objects. Dramatically situated along the banks of the Neva River, The Hermitage, French for “place of solitude,” is spectacular by any measure but daunting in its enormity. In fact, it’s so immense that it is said if you would spend one minute on each object it holds, it would take you seven years to see everything.
The Winter Palace part of the immense complex of The Hermitage, completed in 1761. Below is one of the many interconnecting hallways of The Hermitage Museum.
The Hermitage celebrated its 250th Anniversary in 2014. The opulent Baroque building, originally designed in 1754 by Italian architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli, and was intended to rival Versailles’ grandeur. It was built to be a residence for Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great but she passed away months before it was completed in 1761. The first occupant was Catherine ll who founded it as a museum in 1764 with her purchase of 250 German paintings. She continued to amass a collection that would rival any European museum.
St. Petersburg is visually dazzling and the streets are immaculate. It also has a dynamic and sophisticated contemporary culture. The city was established in 1703 by Peter the Great, the 17th century legendary Russian czar. Its name was changed to Leningrad during Vladimir Lenin’s reign during the 1917 Russian Revolution but changed back to its original name in 1991.
Church of the Spilled Blood so named to commemorate the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in March 1881.
Peter the Great is much revered in Russia and is heralded as a visionary leader who possessed a dizzying number of skills – a true Renaissance man before it was even a thing. Peter the Great was a dentist, a carpenter, a shipbuilder, a surgeon, a brilliant military strategist, and sewed his own clothes!
Peter the Great’s Peterhof Palace, built to rival Versailles, celebrated 300 years of spectacular working fountains in 2021.
Peter the Great has almost patron-saint status and is much revered for his enormous contributions. He made numerous political and structural reforms that modernized Russia into a powerful nation. “But don’t forget, he also had a reputation for being cruel and ruthless,” noted our tour guide. “He executed his own son for treason.”
Shocking events such as that are not isolated to Russian history, they still take place today. As culturally sophisticated as Russian society is, any anti-government sentiments are closely guarded. This past April, Vladimir Putin changed Russian law to allow him to remain in power until 2036. Russians we spoke to were reluctant to share their personal beliefs, however, there is an underground joke that the city will soon be called Putingrad.
Russia is extremely expensive but Russians seem to be living well – while they are helpful and warm, they aren’t smiley personalities. “Smiling is considered unmanly for men, and women don’t smile because they don’t want to get wrinkles,” explained one Russian businessman we spoke to.
If you consider visiting Russia, you will need to apply for a Russian visa at least six months in advance. However, visas are not being processed during COVID. Notwithstanding its political climate, Russia is a fabulous destination that you should definitely add to your bucket list.