See the slideshow at Flickr.com

Our second to last stop on this amazing vacation was Tallinn, Estonia. Freed from the Soviets in 1991, Estonia is one of the 3 Baltic nations (who can name the other 2 for $500?).

We spent most of the day walking around the “old town”, which dates back to the 13th century. It felt like you were in one of those medieval festivals that are always coming to your town.

There was a parade going on the day we were there that was really cool….below and above you can see some of the highlights from it! (Jeremy was not in the parade).

We were lucky to find seats at a cafe in a square by the stage that the parade participants were now performing on. We had a couple beers and a pizza. It was surprisingly good for Estonian pizza!

This swing was in a shop where we bought the cutest sheep made of real sheep fur! I guess that would be wool. We named him Baaaaaarry. On to Stockholm!

]]> http://www.jeremyschneiderman.com/2008/08/03/tallin-estonia/feed/ 2 http://www.jeremyschneiderman.com/2008/08/03/church-on-spilled-blood-video/ http://www.jeremyschneiderman.com/2008/08/03/church-on-spilled-blood-video/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:46:05 +0000 Lauren and Jeremy http://jeremyschneiderman.com/?p=63 Here is a video highlight from our tour of the Church on spilled blood.

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA88asg4E3E

Catherine Palace is about an hour into the countryside and served as a “summer” residence. It was quite impressive! There is an Amber room in the palace that is literally made of amber. In WW2, the Nazis stole the amber panels and they were never recovered. They have since been recreated. 

Following Catherine Palace, we had lunch at a restaurant at the palace, complete with vodka shots, russian dancing and costumes you wouldn’t be caught dead in! 

Then we drove about half an hour to Peterhof. This palace was built by Peter the Great to rival Versailles in France. It lies right on the Gulf of Finland. One of the most breathtaking parts of the palace is the 300 acre fountain and statue park. The grounds consist of 150 fountains, including the largest one in the world! 

Again, this palace was occupied during WW2, but has been restored to its original state. Oh, by the way, we rented it out for next summer if anyone wants to join us. 

Video highlights coming soon!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF-8hgShi_o

Today was our first day in St. Petersburg, Russia. We went to the Hermitage, which is a museum that houses 2.7 million works of art. There are several areas to tour in the museum…our guide told us if you spent 1 minute at each piece exhibited, it would take you 7 years to cover the whole thing! Luckily, our tour was narrowed down to only certain rooms! We specifically saw the Gold room, or treasury room, which holds gold and jewelry of the czars. It was stunning. We also saw the theater.

(Entering the Hermitage)

(The Hermitage)

During our visit, we saw works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, da Vinci (only 14 of his works exist in the world and the Hermitage has 2), Matisse, and many others. It was really amazing..our guide was wonderful. She studied languages and art history and she actually got teary eyed when speaking of Rembrandt’s masterpiece Return of the Prodigal Son. We learned a lot and really enjoyed the visit.

(Lauren looking at some Vincent van Gogh’s)

(Lauren pointing out other pieces of art)

After going back to the ship for a quick dinner, we went back ashore for a ballet performance of Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre (formerly the Kirov). The theatre was unbelievably gorgeous. I really can’t describe it and the pictures don’t do it justice. The performance itself was amazing…even Jeremy loved it! (oh, and we weren’t even the youngest people there)!

(Kirov Theatre)

(On the way to the ballet)

( Us @ the ballet – Swan Lake)

This picture was us at dinner on the ship. The dinner had a russian theme. Everyone had a couple of shots of vodka followed by caviar and the most amazing black cod! (Yes, we are getting fat)!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J3NqiagMxc

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(Jeremy’s Jopo)

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(Lauren’s Jopo)

Enjoy the Video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQMg6uxiyrU

(Nyhavn)

So we spent the day in Copenhagen on Sunday. This picture was taken in an area called Nyhaven which is basically 2 pedestrian streets with a canal running in between. Lots of little restaurants and bars are here. Jeremy went into a little bakery and ordered a chocolate danish…, apparently they don’t call them that here and the girl did not look too happy with him. After spending the morning exploring on our own, we joined our tour and headed to see some sights.

(Amalienborg Palace)

This is the summer residence of the Queen (Margaret?). She was not here at the time, apparently she is married to a French man and they were spending some time at their vineyards in France. Anyhoo….we didn’t go in of course, but just walked around outside of it. It was another beautiful day, probably 80 degrees.

(Rosenborg Castle)

Our next stop on the tour was Rosenborg Castle, where we entered the treasury to view the crown jewels. Nothing special, I could’ve just opened my jewelry box at home and seen the same things…..NOT!  It was quite impressive although nothing was labeled so you weren’t exactly sure what you were looking at. 

(Crown Jewels)

This one I could figure out….emeralds!

(Queen Lauren)

I happen to think I look fabulous in a crown! (Although the tour guide was laughing at us because this is apparently the kings crown…oops). 

(Copenhagen Icebar)

And now for the highlight of our tour….The Icebar! We all had to don these lovely “anoraks” to enter the 23 degree bar downstairs. While down there we each had a drink which came in a cool little ice “cup”. After downing those, we sat on the little fur bench for a few minutes and enjoyed the reprieve from the heat. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtsnZww0yKs

(enjoy the video)

(Us @ Icebar)

Self explanatory picture I think. Some lady expressed to us how disgusted she was that she had to put these gross gloves on that 649 people were wearing before her…..good thought. 

(Nobu 2nd time around)

Back on the ship we were able to get a seat at the sushi bar for another amazing meal. We are lucky to have on board the executive chef from the Beverly Hills location who made some really yummy dishes. We actually went to the show after and saw a very funny comedian/magician. Then today he did another show where he taught us some tricks….so when we get home…watch out folks!

***Don’t forget to send us comments below, we enjoy them!**

www.youtube.com/watch?v=otPbzfH8AdY

Denmark update coming soon!