We passed under the Oresund Bridge (Öresund or Øresund Bridge depending on whether you live on the Danish or Swedish side) on the way from Stockholm to Aalborg.

I had thought we would do so when sailing from Copenhagen to Warnemünde but we seemed to turn north out of Copenhagen (I could just about make out the bridge in the southern distance) and then west. At that point we had to go in to dinner so I assumed the ship travelled down the west side of Zealand then instead of passing under the bridge.

Unfortunately it was about one o’clock in the morning when we passed under the bridge – and dark; so the photos aren’t much cop.

Video. (It was quite windy):-

Closer appraoch:-

Eastern support tower:-

Video. (I don’t know whose the voices are. Other people were also enjoying the experience):-

The coach had dropped us off near Gamla Stan – old Stockholm, well worth a wander round. (In pre-coronavirus days anyway):-

Art Nouveau-ish Building, Gamla Stan, Stockholm:-

Church and bridge round corner from Gamla Stan:-

Traditional architecture:-

Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) statue and building opposite Riksdag and Opera House, Stockholm:-

More modern Swedish style:-

Next stop on the Baltic cruise was Stockholm for our fifth day in a row of shore excursions. We were getting a bit knackered by then but Stockholm is a stunning city and made up for that. Being built on islands there is water everywhere and loads of bridges.

Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) and bridge. What a lovely aspect:-

This was by the other side of the Riksdag:-

Two for one here, foreground and background:-

This rather less elegant one was near the ship’s berth:-

When I first glimpsed this tower I had hoped it might be Art Deco but it’s not. Looks like a communications tower:-

Or leaving St Petersburg (as it is again.) I liked the alliteration though.

I snatched these through the coach window on the way back to the ship’s berth.

An old bridge over a waterway:-

This one I realised later is on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt at the Anichkov Bridge over the River Fontanka and I had photographed it from the street:-

A Fire Station:-

This is the bridge almost hidden behind the building under construction I photographed from the ship’s prow:-

And this is the one between the ship and the Zenit Arena (aka Krestovsky Stadium) – see same link above:-

Bridge and Krestovsky Stadium:-

Krestovsky Stadium/Zenit Arena plus part of the bridge, also two blurred birds:-

St Petersburg is criss-crossed by waterways, not only the River Neva. Several of them pass under the western portion of Nevsky Prospekt. One of these is the Griboyedov Canal which runs from the Church on Spilled Blood to go under the road and on to link the River Moyka to the River Fontanka.

The Moyka River itself (see previous post) runs from the River Fontanka at the Mihailovsky Castle past the Church on Spilled Blood on under Nevsky Propekt eventually to reach the River Neva.

The Fontanka River makes a big half loop round the city centre and under the Anichkov Bridge at Nevsky Propekt:-

There’s always something pleasing about a river in the middle of a city:-

Building, St Isaac’s Square:-

One of St Petersburg’s many palaces:-

Part of another:-

Government building:-

Street scene. Notice the number on the traffic light. This is a countdown clock to when the signals will change. All the road crossings had them. The (animated) “green man” even speeded up his walk as the time ran down. These are brilliant ideas. They should bring them in here:-

Canal with “blue bridge” near St Isaac’s Square:-

It’s amazing what you can see on rooftops:-

A touch of the new (and temporary) and the old.

Fifa 2018 World Cup fan park:-

Reverse of fan park + canal and bridge:-

Main road aspect:-

Contrast that with this typically Russian building right beside the fan park:-

But just over the road from that:-

The stunning Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood:-

The church’s peculiar name arises because it was built as a memorial over the spot where Tsar Alexander II had been assassinated. Unfortunately it was swathed in scaffolding last May.

Church on the Spilled Blood, St Petersburg, from Field of Mars:-

A bridge on the Neva (Troitskiy Bridge?):-

Sampsoniyevskiy Bridge on Bolshaya Nevka, St Petersburg:-

Building and Sampsoniyevskiy Bridge on Bolshaya Nevka:

Weaponry and, below, military vehicles, outside a military museum (of artillery.) Seen through rainy bus windows.

An old sailing ship alongside the Petrovskaya Embankment:-

The same ship from the Kutuzov Embankment across the River Neva. There is what looks to be a mosque in the background here:-

There are two Egyptian sphinxes by the banks of the River Neva in St Petersburg. Our tour guide was quite proud of these. They stand on what is known as the Quay of the Sphinxes. It wa sthe first stop on our first tour.

Sphinx Ornamentation:-

The sphinxes are close to the Blagoveshchensky Bridge Over The River Neva:-

Next we stopped to see the Rostral Towers (or Columns) once beacons for St Petersburg’s original port and another symbol of the city:-

The first stop on the cruise we took last year was … Dundee! It’s only about twenty-five miles or so away from Son of the Rock Acres but it cost £200 less, each, for us to board at Newcastle rather than embark a day later at Dundee. No brainer.

The ship’s docking point in Scotland’s fourth city did give me a view of the Tay Bridge I hadn’t had before, though.

To the extreme right of the above photo is the new V&A Dundee, better seen in the photo below with RSS Discovery and Discovery Point beyond V&A:-

Wandering round the city centre I came across these stone penguins having a wee daunder:-

Nearby was this plaque commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Great War. “Dedicated to the glory of god and to those men and women who in all corners of the world gave their lives in service of our beloved country. We Will Remember Them, 11th November 1989.”