< Continued from page 4
Helsinki:
Helsinks a compact city situated on a peninsula that juts out into the Baltic Sea. It is further north than ay other national capital in the world. Finland has become a major player in the world's "new economy" and Helsinki has become a place synonymous with hi-tech industries (Nokia, and others). The people are dynamic and their approach to life is bold. You can sense this when you are there.
We docked in the morning at a pier located 15 minutes from town. Free shuttle service is provided to the center of the city. Adjacent to where the Millenniumwas moored, is the Kvaerner Shipyards, the builder of all of the vessels operated by Carnival Cruise Lines. The new Carnival "Spirit", a huge ship looking even larger than the Millenniumwas under construction there.
We elected not to take a conducted tour because we were a bit familiar with the place from our prior visit. The city is good for walking around and the weather was fine.
We located an Internet Café in a library just a couple of blocks from the Stockmann's department store. We could go on-line using a speedy ISDN line, and we sent out emails and attached pictures, all free of charge. It was a library, after all.
We walked down the beautiful Esplanade, visited the market place at the end just in front of the Orthodox Church, walked the couple of blocks up to the ornate Lutheran Church and the Senate Square.
We had lunch at an upscale place on the Esplanade called Kappeli.
The food was quite good and the diners seemed to include some of the local movers and shakers.
There is a lot of bustling street traffic, street cars, and pedestrians, all people seemingly in a hurry to get to their next destination.
Helsinks still another fine Scandinavian city offering a lot to see and enjoy in the few hours we were there.
St. Petersburg:
It's just a short overnight cruise from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia. However, in appearances you could just as well have gone from one planet to another.
St. Petersburg is beautiful city, but because of the lousy economy the condition of the building exteriors is very poor, many of the streets filled with pot-holes, and the parks are overrun with weeds. So much culture, such a contribution to civilization, reduced to this.
It seems however that appearances at least are better than when we were here two years ago. This is especially the case in the commercial areas, near the center of the city. Go a few blocks away from the main streets, and things are still pretty shay, not unlike Manhattan. There is just no money to deal with the deteriorating infrastructure, but they are trying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is from St. Petersburg, so the local people are hopeful they will get their fair share of infrastructure improvement funds. In the past, they feel a disproportionate share of this money has been directed towards Moscow.
The streets are filled with old, rusted-out Soviet Lada cars which strongly resemble the Fiat 128 sedans built in the late 70s. Among these, you see many shiny Mercedes and Audi cars, undoubtedly owned by the so-called "New Russians".
From the top deck of the Millennium, we could look out across the vast harbor, the largest in Russia. Several traveling cranes were transferring cargo from ship to shore. It seemed the cranes were operating at only a small percent of available capacity, more than likely an entirely different scene than the one that existed during the Soviet glory years more than 10 years ago.
On the first day, we opted for a 4-1/2 hour city tour with an extended visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress. We also stopped briefly at St. Isaac's Cathedral, the historical warship Aurora, the orthodox and picturesque Church on Spilt Blood, and the Smolney Convent.
The Crown Princessand the Marco Polowere berthed alongside the Millennium. Closer into town, on the Neva River, we passed the super opulent Silver Windand the very small Renaissance V.There was some talk that in a few years, all ships will be allowed to tie up closer to the city.
For the evening of the first day in Russia, we had pre-purchased tickets for the Folklorio Concert. This concert turned out to be one of the highlight events of the trip for us. The group was called the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company of Siberia, and the show was held in a nondescript concert hall in center of the city. The seats were hard and the audio visuals were marginal. Still, it was wonderful.
Whereas the city itself can be depressing in places because of its rundown condition, this show put on by high energy young dancers, singers and musicians was totally exciting and uplifting. Everyone in the audience seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.
Part 3 of cruise review to the Baltic on the Celebrity Millennium.
Helsinki:
Helsinks a compact city situated on a peninsula that juts out into the Baltic Sea. It is further north than ay other national capital in the world. Finland has become a major player in the world's "new economy" and Helsinki has become a place synonymous with hi-tech industries (Nokia, and others). The people are dynamic and their approach to life is bold. You can sense this when you are there.
We docked in the morning at a pier located 15 minutes from town. Free shuttle service is provided to the center of the city. Adjacent to where the Millenniumwas moored, is the Kvaerner Shipyards, the builder of all of the vessels operated by Carnival Cruise Lines. The new Carnival "Spirit", a huge ship looking even larger than the Millenniumwas under construction there.
We elected not to take a conducted tour because we were a bit familiar with the place from our prior visit. The city is good for walking around and the weather was fine.
We located an Internet Café in a library just a couple of blocks from the Stockmann's department store. We could go on-line using a speedy ISDN line, and we sent out emails and attached pictures, all free of charge. It was a library, after all.
We walked down the beautiful Esplanade, visited the market place at the end just in front of the Orthodox Church, walked the couple of blocks up to the ornate Lutheran Church and the Senate Square.
We had lunch at an upscale place on the Esplanade called Kappeli.
The food was quite good and the diners seemed to include some of the local movers and shakers.
There is a lot of bustling street traffic, street cars, and pedestrians, all people seemingly in a hurry to get to their next destination.
Helsinks still another fine Scandinavian city offering a lot to see and enjoy in the few hours we were there.
St. Petersburg:
It's just a short overnight cruise from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia. However, in appearances you could just as well have gone from one planet to another.
St. Petersburg is beautiful city, but because of the lousy economy the condition of the building exteriors is very poor, many of the streets filled with pot-holes, and the parks are overrun with weeds. So much culture, such a contribution to civilization, reduced to this.
It seems however that appearances at least are better than when we were here two years ago. This is especially the case in the commercial areas, near the center of the city. Go a few blocks away from the main streets, and things are still pretty shay, not unlike Manhattan. There is just no money to deal with the deteriorating infrastructure, but they are trying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is from St. Petersburg, so the local people are hopeful they will get their fair share of infrastructure improvement funds. In the past, they feel a disproportionate share of this money has been directed towards Moscow.
The streets are filled with old, rusted-out Soviet Lada cars which strongly resemble the Fiat 128 sedans built in the late 70s. Among these, you see many shiny Mercedes and Audi cars, undoubtedly owned by the so-called "New Russians".
From the top deck of the Millennium, we could look out across the vast harbor, the largest in Russia. Several traveling cranes were transferring cargo from ship to shore. It seemed the cranes were operating at only a small percent of available capacity, more than likely an entirely different scene than the one that existed during the Soviet glory years more than 10 years ago.
On the first day, we opted for a 4-1/2 hour city tour with an extended visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress. We also stopped briefly at St. Isaac's Cathedral, the historical warship Aurora, the orthodox and picturesque Church on Spilt Blood, and the Smolney Convent.
The Crown Princessand the Marco Polowere berthed alongside the Millennium. Closer into town, on the Neva River, we passed the super opulent Silver Windand the very small Renaissance V.There was some talk that in a few years, all ships will be allowed to tie up closer to the city.
For the evening of the first day in Russia, we had pre-purchased tickets for the Folklorio Concert. This concert turned out to be one of the highlight events of the trip for us. The group was called the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company of Siberia, and the show was held in a nondescript concert hall in center of the city. The seats were hard and the audio visuals were marginal. Still, it was wonderful.
Whereas the city itself can be depressing in places because of its rundown condition, this show put on by high energy young dancers, singers and musicians was totally exciting and uplifting. Everyone in the audience seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.
Part 3 of cruise review to the Baltic on the Celebrity Millennium.
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