Lapland is the northern area of Finland. Randy and I met Santa Claus while we were there. We had to cross into the Arctic Circle to do so. Santa’s hometown is Rovaniemi, which is where some of these pictures are from. And if you ever wondered why Santa is always surrounded by reindeer, you need to see Rovaniemi […]
Olavinlinna Castle, or St. Olaf’s castle, is a Medieval castle located on a picturesque island, linked to the mainland in the area of Savonlinna which is located in the southeast of Finland. The city was founded in 1639 around the castle St. Olaf, but the castle itself was built in 1475 by Erik Axelsson Tott, to protect the area […]
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings […]
Saint Petersburg, located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, used to be called Petrograd (from 1914) and Leningrad (in 1924) and back to Saint Petersburg in 1991. Saint Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia. In […]
Peterhof Palace is a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built at the request of Peter the Great. If you have seen Versailles and thought that it was amazing, wait until you see Peterhof Palace. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The featured picture, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, was demolished during the Soviet period, and later reconstructed from 1990–2000. The rest of the photos were equally thought provoking and brought me back to a time when I was young and completely fearful that the Soviets were going to threaten our existence and our future. Some […]