Saint Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg has been described as a city built for giants and this is very true.  Everything is big - the palaces, the churches, the memorials, the parks.

This was Vanessa's second trip to St. Petersburg.  She did a short visit in 1995 while she was studying at Uppsala University in Sweden.  In 1995, you didn't see anything from the West - no McDonalds, no jeans, no advertising, etc.  It's very different now with plenty of the same stores, cars and fast food places you'd see in a North American or European city.

Our first stop was the Hermitage.  It used to be a palace for Russia's czars (kings and queens) and is now a gigantic museum with three million exhibits.  We spent the better part of a day there and only covered about a third of the museum.  We spent more time looking at the building than the exhibits.

Entrance to the Hermitage

Vanessa in one of the opulent rooms

Blake beside statues outside the Hermitage

After a day of touring the museum, we saw a performance of Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theatre.

Cast of Swan Lake

We also visited a summer residence of the czars - Pushkin Palace.  It's as big and grand as the Hermitage.

The ballroom - the carvings on the wall are covered in gold

The dinner table - more gold

Our next stop was Peterhof which is a palace built by Peter the Great.  Peter was a key figure in Russia's history and was largely responsible for turning Russia into a major power in the late 17th century.

We couldn't take photos inside Peterhof but it's just as ornate as what you've seen above.  The grounds around the palace are the real highlight and here are a few photos.

Gold statues outside of Peterhof (before the fountains turn on)

Statues after the fountains turn on

St. Petersburg doesn't just have big palaces - it also has big churches.  The biggest is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.  The church got its name because it's built on the site where Czar Alexander II was assassinated and the church was dedicated to him.  Here are a few photos.

Us outside the church

The interior - floor to ceiling paintings and huge chandeliers

St. Petersburg was a great way to start our trip to Russia.  After St. Petersburg, we hit the water for a cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  Stay tuned.

Blake and Vanessa

Ireland - Part 3

Our last two stops in Ireland were Waterford and Dublin.

Waterford is famous for Waterford Crystal.  The crystal isn't made in Waterford anymore but there is a showroom.

Crystal globe for $10,000 

The crystal globe was too pricey to be a trip souvenir for us.  We bought a $10 Christmas ornament instead - easier on our bank account and much easier to get home in one piece.

We stayed at Waterford Castle

The castle

Vanessa looking out from our room

After Waterford, we were on to Dublin.  We only had one full day in Dublin and the weather was colder and more rainy than anywhere else in Ireland so we didn't see as much as we'd like.  We did a very short bus tour and a little bit of walking.  We also went to see the dance show Riverdance.

Below are Vanessa and Molly Malone.  Molly Malone is the girl from the traditional Irish song ("alive alive oh / alive alive oh / crying cockles and mussels alive alive oh").

Molly Malone is a song you're guaranteed to hear when there's live music in Ireland.  You're also guaranteed to hear "Whiskey in the Jar" which we didn't realize was a traditional Irish song long before it was redone by the rock groups Thin Lizzy and Metallica.

One of many bars in Dublin

We celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary in Dublin.  The surprise of the night was finding out that our server lived in St. Albert for two years.  His place wasn't far from where we live.

We now say goodbye to English-speaking countries and move on to Russia.

Blake and Vanessa

Ireland - Part 2

Hi again.  Here's more from Ireland.

Gap of Dunloe - The gap is a pass through two mountain ranges near Killarney.  The weather was poor so we took a carriage ride rather than walk.

Photo taken by the carriage driver - no we didn't drive ourselves!

The Gap

Cork - More rain and cool weather so we didn't venture far from the hotel.

There was a putter in our room so I worked on my golf game

Blarney Castle and Blarney Stone

Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone are a short drive from Cork.

Kissing the Blarney Stone is said to endow the kisser with great eloquence.  We can definitely use more eloquence but we noted that Tripadvisor.com ranked the Blarney Stone as the most unhygienic tourist attraction in the world.  With mixed feelings, we scaled the steps of Blarney Castle to the top where the Stone is.  When you get to the top, you find out that the Stone is in a difficult to reach spot and you need to hang upside down with a guide holding your waist.

Vanessa and the Blarney Stone - do her lips touch the Stone?

Blake and the Blarney Stone - do his lips touch?

Blarney Castle and the grounds that surround it are amazing even in the rain.

View from the top of the castle

Vanessa in caves under the castle - hiding from the rain

Blake in one the towers of the Castle

More to come from Ireland.

Blake and Vanessa

Ireland - Part 1

Friendly people, beautiful countryside, good food, lots of music - Ireland has it all.  We'd call it paradise if the weather was better.  As we found out, it can be very cold, windy and rainy in July.

We did a week-long driving tour through southern Ireland.  Our stops were Adare, Killarney, Cork, Waterford and Dublin.  Here are highlights from the first half of our trip.

Adare

Thatch roof houses

Empty beer kegs - must have been a big party

Bunratty Castle (near Adare)

Bunratty Castle - 600 years old with a new roof added in the 1950s

Staircase inside the castle

Top of the castle

Ring of Kerry - the Ring is a day-long driving trip around a peninsula in southwest Ireland; the scenery is very much like the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton

Stone fort built in the 8th or 9th century

Ballycarberry Castle

Vanessa in a gap in the castle walls

Us with the Atlantic Ocean in the background

Fogher Cliffs on Valentia Island (west end of Ring of Kerry)

Valentia Island

That's Ireland so far.  The weather was good up to this point but it gets bad on the second half of our trip.

Blake and Vanessa

British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix car race was the first sporting event on our trip (hopefully it won't be the last!).  It is one of the biggest sporting events in England with over 100,000 people at the track and millions more watching on television.

It was Blake's chance to see the best drivers in the world up close.  Vanessa has no interest in car racing but it gave her the opportunity to test her fancy new camera on some really fast moving subjects.  

Here are photos from the first day.  The drivers were doing single laps of the track and their times were used to determine the order that they start in for the actual race on day 2.

One of the dozen or so grandstands and part of the track

Mark Webber had the fastest time

Fernando Alonso was slower as he did some off-roading

Blake is ready to race - maybe next year?

One of the parking lots - very well organized

The race itself was the next day.  The winner was Fernando Alonso (the guy in the sand above).

Pre-race show by the Red Arrows (Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team)

Start of the race - it rained just before the start

  

Fernando Alonso (red car) getting ready to pass Lewis Hamilton - the hometown favourite

The best part of car racing is what you hear rather than what you see.  We have video that captures the sound of the engines but the files are too big for the blog.  We'd be happy to show them to you when we get back. You can also talk to Blake about off-throttle blown diffusers and other racing details or talk to Vanessa about the burst function on her camera.

The next sporting event is ... stay tuned.  Blake is making plans.

Blake and Vanessa

Oxford

Oxford was another great city.  It reminded Vanessa of Uppsala in Sweden where she did her last semester of university - both Oxford and Uppsala are university towns.  The University of Oxford is the second oldest university in the world and its buildings and students dominate the area.

Here are a few photos from around town.  

High Street

Gargoyles

Bikes are a necessity in Oxford - just like Uppsala

The oldest part of Oxford is Oxford Castle.  It was built in the 11th century and then converted into a jail in the 14th century.

Oxford Castle - the tower on the right part of the original structure

Vanessa's mug shot

Blake was jailed for driving on the wrong side of the road

Us on the motte ("raised earthwork") that was part of Oxford Castle

The coolest thing we did in Oxford was see a performance by the Oxford Philomusica.  It was a great night of classical music.

Blake and Vanessa

P.S.  We knew that it would be a challenge to find the time and a place to do laundry while on our trip.  Here's the result of our first laundry effort:

The blue spots on the sock are ink.  The person who used the dryer before us left part of a pen in the dryer and the pen exploded when we used the dryer.  Most of our socks and underwear have ink all over them.  A little Oxford blue colouring to remind us of our trip to Oxford!