The Season of Gift-Giving is upon us, and though most of us won’t be giving away Imperial Easter Eggs by Faberge, it’s fun to see gifts fit for a tsarina. I include the Imperial Eggs this month rather than the Easter season when they were given, because they’re very much
One of the interesting aspects of travel is that often what you think is true turns out to be slightly different. The complex I’d always thought of as Catherine’s Summer Palace never had that name. Officially the structure was called the Great Palace of Tsarskoye Selo until 1910, after which
Peter the Great became the first of the Romanov tzars in 1682. Standing at six feet, seven inches tall he was an imposing figure. Today his legacy still dominates St. Petersburg, the city he founded on the banks of the Neva River as his Window to the West. So, it
Once a major trading center in the Hanseatic League, VISBY on the ISLAND of GOTTLAND is a charming glimpse into the past, said to be the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia. The 13th century walls are the strongest and most extensive in Scandinavia. At the opposite extreme, is Gallows
Once upon a time in the 17th century, Sweden took direct control of the Baltic region and emerged as a Great Power. In 1680 Charles IX decided to relocate the Royal Swedish Navy from Stockholm to Trossö Island, one of thirty islands in the Blekinge archipelago. The new city was
Possibly the most famous site in Copenhagen, the bronze Little Mermaid sits on a rock at the shoreline of the Langelinie Promenade. The eternally young mermaid personifies Hans Christian Anderson’s somewhat gruesome well-known tale of a young mermaid who gave up her pleasant life underwater to win her true love.
Palanga is on the shore of the Baltic Sea and the busiest summer resort in Lithuania. In addition to seaside activities, Palanga is famous for its Botanical Garden and the Amber Museum located within a Neo-Renaissance palace museum completed in 1897. The garden covers just over 247 acres with forests
Like other Baltic States, Latvia first appeared on European maps after World War I when Russia relinquished several nations. During World War II, the Soviet Union held Latvia until the Germans took over. After the war, Latvia again fell under Soviet control, finally gaining her independence in 1991. Since that
We don’t hear much about the Baltic States, so I thought it might be useful to look at a map before visiting Tallinn, Estonia. The states on this map are Finland, The Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania spent much of their history dominated by
Last week I held an impromptu photo contest to guess where I took two pictures. Alas, no one tried to guess, but today I’ll still give you the answers. The first photo, shown at left, is indeed tricky. It’s the ceiling of Temppeliaukio Church, also known as the Rock
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