Coburg, Germany

The town square in Coburg.  Oh, how I LOVE Europe!

Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

This is a city that I would definitely visit again.  There just wasn't enough time to explore everything I wanted to explore.  There was a marathon happening in the city on the day we visited and we weren't able to use the bus system which cut our touring time drastically. 

Our first destination was the Vasa Museum, where a 17th century warship at the bottom of the sea is now inside a museum.  These pictures are NOT of the Vasa Museum.  I think every single tour bus was at the Vasa Museum this day.  There was a 2 hour wait when we got there ... we decided to tour Stockholm instead.  These pictures are of the Danish Renaissance palace turned into the Nordic Museum located right next door to the Vasa Museum.  We didn't go inside here either, because our 5 kids would rather not see 5 centuries of traditional Swedish lifestyle.

The Royal Dramatic Theater is pictured on the left.  I took this picture when the tram stopped and opened it's doors.  It isn't the best picture, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity I was presented because the building is beautiful.

Tallinn, Estonia in a few hours

Here is a look at our cruise ship since you always have to have one of these.

A little map of what we have on the agenda here in Tallinn, Estonia.

Here is the Town Wall and 1 out of 26 defence towers built in the 16th century.  In its day the walls were 3 meters thick, 16 meters high, and stretched around the city 4 km long.

St. Petersburg, Russia (Day 2)

just a side note ... to bypass getting a visa to enter Russia we had to do excursions through our cruise.  We usually do not do excursions because we like the freedom we have otherwise, especially when it comes to taking pictures.  I am so sad that we weren't able to explore more and get the perfect shot.  If you google these sights you can find some amazing pictures, I highly suggest doing so in order to get a better feel of what it is suppose to look like, especially St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Church of the Savior on Blood

(also known as the Church of Spilt Blood)

Walking down this little canal you turn around and you see this amazing church

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia

The Hermitage in

St. Petersburg, Russia

Here is what the entrance to the Hermitage looks like.  Don't be deceived though, this place is HUGE!

To get a better idea of what this place actually looks like and how huge it is there are a bunch of youtube videos ... here is just one of them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr1r7OToSeg

the Grand Entrance

the Throne Room

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki, Finland

We basically did a tram tour throughout Helsinki.  

This little statue/fountain is across the street from the Market Square.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit the Market because we were a little lost trying to catch the tram in the right direction.

Riga, Latvia

These are just some shots we took while walking around Riga trying to find the TI (tourist information center).  I love the little side streets, the rod iron on the windows and the door to the Cathedral.  I love all the details that are everywhere.