BALTIC CITIES CRUISE 2019

 

I have dreamed of visiting St Petersburg for over 50 years and we finally decided the best way was to take a cruise and visit several cities along the way.

I started my preparations by weaving a cover to put on a book I bound myself incorporating the maps of each city as well as over all maps as end papers.

 

I drew our route inside the front cover and had to make alterations when the ship took a detour around Denmark.

 

The title page.

 

We joined the ship at Newcastle and spent a whole day at sea on the way to Oslo, our first port of call.  It was a warm sunny day so we sat on the balcony during the afternoon and while Bob snoozed I was treated to the sight of a flock of gannets who followed us for over an hour, long enough for me to take lots of photos and make this sketch in my journal.

 

 

We arrived in Oslo the next morning and decided to take one of the ferries across the harbour the Bygdones where the main historical museums were located.  We met a charming Spanish girl while we were waiting for the boat who spent the morning with us.

 

 

 

Our first visit was to the Viking ships museum where we saw a selection of grave ships that dated from the 9th century.  These were former warships that were then used as the coffins of important people, filled with artefacts like gold and sledges and incredibly well preserved because they had been buried in earth rather than in put in the sea.

 

Next we went to the Folksmuseum, a lovely parkland area full of historic buildings that have been re-located and furnished in the style of the age. The ancient farmhouses have grass growing on top of them and seem very primitive inside.  Each house had a person, dressed in the costume of the time and able to relate the story of their period. We saw house that had been on the outskirts of Oslo before it was redeveloped at the beginning of the 20th century as well as an apartment block with each flat set up in a different decade up to the 1970s.

 

 

 

The museum building had some beautiful costumes, woven wall hangings and rugs as well as painted furniture.  I was fascinated by the story of this red shirt, woven by it's owner that would have lasted her lifetime.

 

 

As we left Oslo there was a tremendous rainstorm which completely obliterated the shore but quickly cleared away to give us this lovely sight.

 

We passed under this bridge at sunset so I had to make a drawing from one of my photos as we sailed on to our next port of call, Tallinn in Estonia.