The sun is out and they are on the slopes!  KC is hanging with a nanny (since I can’t lift anything over 10 lbs) while I had a leisurely breakfast enjoying some of the best Eggs Benedict I’ve ever had.  

Tonight involves a sleigh ride and dinner at the Chateau –yummy fondue!

 

After yesterday’s snowfall, many of the trees look like someone decorated them with giant cotton balls!

 

Trey getting ready to hit the slopes on his snowboard.  Gaby is all checked in at ski school!

 

Cool art work on display inside the hotel!

 

Gaby making friends with the hotel dog who flunked dog sled school!

 

 

 

 

 

On our porch!

 

Recuperating 

 

 

 

 

Gaby and Trey!

 

Big Foot?   Lol

 

Seems to like it….

 

No big falls so far😄

 

The resort!

 

 Brothers…

 

What this trip is all about!

 

 

 

 

Well,  once again, we’ve landed in a wonderful place for a family vacation —Whistler, BC in Canada at the Four Seasons resort.  While it’s a VERY long trip from Florida  to get here, it’s definitely worth it!  We had a couple of minor glitches the day we left –an hour wait for plane deicing in Minneapolis and a jetway that couldn’t line up with the plane door upon arrival in Vancouver.  Minor annoyances when we finally got in to our 3 bedroom residence at Four Seasons in Whistler.

Yesterday consisted of recovery from arriving at 2:30 am (nap for KC and me 😉) and everyone else getting fitted with their ski equipment.  The best part of the day was the dog sled ride that Gaby, Trey, Grant and Annette went on!  Super fun!  The photos (taken by Grant) speak for themselves….

Today, KC was dropped off at Whistler Kids school while the rest of the gang went for their first ski lessons. Adventures for everyone!

Well, this is definitely a different kind of blog for me.  But, after being asked by a couple of people to do this, I thought it might be helpful, and I hope informational! It’s also for those who don’t do Facebook and have no real idea what’s happened recently.  So, here’s the story for those who are interested.

In December I turned to put a dish in the dishwasher — and WHAM— I couldn’t stand up for a few seconds.  I knew it must be bad becuse there was a lot of pain.  When I finally stood up I kept thinking, “Maybe I can stretch it out…”  Alas, that did not work.  We had a trip planned to Nashville the next day.  Tried not to do a lot of walking, but I was in a lot of discomfort.  I remembered I had a Prednizone 7 day pack for emergencies and I started the prednizone.  That got me through the trip in Nashville!  I scheduled a coritzone shot in the back for when I rerturned.  I had the shot and it did not help.  We are now well into the holidays with all that entails (and at my house that’s a LOT!)  My back Dr. in Fort Lauderdale was away on vacation.  I scheduled an appointment for Jan. 4, the first available date.  And now the journey really begins.

I was sent that night at 7:15pm to get a new MRI on my back.  Mind you, by now, for whatever unknown reason, the pain has GREATLY diminished.  So, I’m thinking maybe the vertebrae just shifted a little and pinched a nerve.  I had to wait until Friday, Jan. 8 to get in to see Dr. Cantor.  I had already decided that he was going to be my guy.  The first time I saw him in August, he said I wasn’t ready for surgery and if I were his mom he’d still be saying no for the time being.  He told me to return if something changed.  This was his first week back after vacation.  The front desk had told me to be prepared to wait but I didn’t think it would be 6:10pm before he got to me!  BUT, when he did get to me he spent over and hour with me — the last patient of the day.  Somehow you don’t mind waiting as much when you know you are going to get his full attention when it’s your turn.  At any rate, after looking at the MRI, he said I had a   “significant blowout” of the disc.  There were bone fragments everywhere and he was concerned about scar tissue forming.  I asked if surgery could wait until after a planned family trip in March and it was clear he didn’t want to wait that long.  I could travel on a plane at 6 weeks so he checked the surgical schedule (one spot left) and put me in for Jan. 16.  It helped that I had a lot of recent medical tests done because of my right hip replacement last March.  My amazing Dr.’s pulled it all together and I was given clearance.  The original plan was to fuse L4&5 and put a spring on the left side of L3..  Should take about 2 1/2 hours in surgery.

Next (and I think this is VERY important) he put me on a high protein diet.  There was no red meat, no carbs and no sugar.  I had to drink 80 oz of water a day!  (that was tough for me but I did it every day!)  I also had to drink what I’ve lovingly nicknamed “The Green Dragon”.  This consisted of 6 oz of Almond Milk, followed by a cup of frozen berries, one scoop of Egg White Protein powder — and then comes the killer (yuck) 1 scoop of Green Vibrance.  That scoop turns the whole shake into something that looks like green pond scum!  To get the first one down, I would take a slug of the shake and then a sip of coffee.  It wasn’t “gaggingly bad” but I certainly didn’t love it.  However, after 10 days of them, I have come to actually think they’re pretty ok and now I don’t mind them at all!  The diet continues for three weeks after surgery so it’s a good thing my taste buds came around!  He also wanted two hard boiled free range organic eggs a day (they don’t have estrogen in them).  The rest was chicken or fish and veggies.  I’m pretty sure most of his patients don’t go all in on the diet and the water, but I did.  No cheating at all.  Normally I would have done it for 2 weeks prior to surgery but I didn’t have that much time.  I found at my preop meeting with Dr.Cantor’s very nice PA., that I have to wear the back brace for 3 months (I can take it off to sleep) and I can’t drive for 3 months!  Wow!  That was a shock.  And to reinforce it, she told me if I were driving with the brace on and was hit by another car and it was totally their fault, I would still be fully liable and they could sue and take everything.  I’m not going to be cheating on the driving part!  Uber and I will be best friends and there are enough friends and family around to help out too!  Still, it was a bit of a shock and a taste about older folks must feel when family tells them they can no longer drive!  Losing that independence is kind of a big deal until you adjust to it…

The night of the 15th, I ate a light meal, had completed my 80 oz of water and then they want you to drink 800 ml of gatorade.  The morning of surgery, 2 hours before I arrive at the hospital, I must drink another 400 ml of gatorade.  The gatorade component comes from a recent study at Mass General that showed people who drank the gatorade as prescribed came out of anesthesia much more quickly and felt stronger.

The day of the surgery Bill spent a LONG time(almost 4 hours) in the preop room. They finally came to wheel me off and Bill went to the waiting room. I remember nothing more until I came to in intensive care.  When I came too, the PA, John, from Dr. Cantor’s office, explained what happend.  When they cut through the muscle in my back they came upon a “spaghetti mess” of my nerves!  It seems that the derma (sheath through which all the nerves go through) had a 3/4″ hole worn in it.  So the first few hours of surgery was untangling all the the nerves, replacing them in the derma and repairing the derma.  He then fused L4&5 as planned and cleaned up a lot of bone fragments.  He could not put the spring between L3&4 so he did bone grafts.  This will give me great mobility when it’s healed.  It turns out my spine was not connected.  The bone was sitting on top of another bone but it was cracked all the way through.  I was one bend away from blowing out more discs! My 2 1/2 hour surgery turned in to 6 hours!  I still can’t get over that the spine was not connected! I amaze myself when I think of the miracle that occurred when I had the cortizone shot in December.  That Dr. had no idea the disc had ruptured and that there were nerves that had escaped and yet he didn’t hit any….My pain level improved dramatically during the month of Dec.  I was taking Lyrica at night and that seems to have totally numbed those nerves.  I should have been a raving, screaming mess, and yet, I was certainly willing before surgery to wait until March for this surgery.  If my granddaughter, Gaby, had a winter recess in Feb like many of the private schools, I think Dr. Cantor would have let me wait a few weeks since no one had any idea of how bad it really was.

I woke up in Intensive care and wanted to get the nurse.  I was SO thirsty.  The beds at this hospital do not have that handy control on a cord that allows you to raise and lower the bed.  That feature is on the rails and since I couldn’t twist, that was a small problem. But, to get in touch with the nurses there’s a phone on a cord that was supposed to be next to me.  It had fallen on the floor.  I yelled, but the nurses were busy (I could see them) and they didn’t hear me.  I had a small moment of panic but then I thought if I raise my arm in the air with all the iv’s in it, some kind of alarm is going to go off.  So that’s what I did.  A few minutes later someone came in.  I got my water and I asked them to wrap the phone cord so it could not fall down off the bed.  Remember now, for me I am in a new world of no bending, twist or lifting for the next three months.  Twisting is hardest for me.  I am very tempted while sitting to try and lean forward and twist to get something off a table.  So tempting when it’s only an inch or two out of my reach!

I woke up feeling GREAT!  And, I’m not kidding.  I felt strong and was not in any real discomfort when on the pain meds!  The Physical therapist came to work with me and cleared me right away.  I could do steps, practiced getting in the passenger seat of a car and took long laps with my walker down the hallways.  I am supposed to take a lot of little short walks every day but no other physical therapy at this time.  That will come in about 2 months I’m told.

I had read everything I could get my hands on before surgery, and having just had my hip done, I had been familiarized with hospital routines.  The hip surgery was done at Boca Community Hospital, a very pleasant experience from a patient point of view.  Dr. Cantor does surgery out of Holy Cross Hospital.  Holy Cross has a great reputation and a very good health grades report.  However, I have a slightly different point of view as a patient.  I spent a little longer then most of their patients because my poor bladder was in shock and not cooperating.  They had to recath me.  (Ugh.)  So on day 4 after surgery I was allowed to go home with the catheter in.  During my four days, the nursing staff was SO nice but so overworked.  The nurses only came in to take vitals and to dispense meds.  Only 3 times did anyone listen to my chest with a stethoscope.  The breathing exercise tube they give you I used every hour.  At Boca Community last year a nurse would pop in to be sure I’d done the exercises and watch me do the ten puffs.  This time not a single person asked if I was using the breathing exerciser.  It just sat on my table.  On day three I asked someone to come change my sheets.  They did come a couple of hours later.  They never swept the floor on my side of the room.  What ever fell on the floor stayed there.  Only one night aide made you feel “guilty” when you called her at 3 am. I’d apologize and she would tell me it was perfectly fine, but you knew it wasn’t….  Three people fell while I was there…My nurse had one of the people that fell.  They had someone watching her, but she tried to get out of bed on her own and fell.  My nurse was talking about the amount of paperwork she was going to have to do…I was cleared on Tuesday by the physical therapist who saw me, but subsequent PT’s came every day and wanted to do all the same things I had already been cleared for…Seemed a bit of a waste…Food was not good.  But most people are there for such a short time it probably doesn’t matter.  It is nice that you can order from a menu at at any time between 6:30 am – 6:30 pm.  You call and they deliver when you tell them when you want it.

I am home now on day 9 after surgery and I’m doing great.  I got the catheter taken out yesterday along with 14 staples.  I am up and walking great.  Spend a fair amount of time in my lift chair watching the Australian Open.  Leaving the walker behind more and more.  The brace now fits over a tank top and then I can wear a tunic over that so you don’t see the brace.  Everyone is quite amazed at how well I’m doing.  I can’t stress enough how much better I felt coming out of this surgery then I did my hip surgery.  I’m told this should have been quite a bit more painful, but not for me.  I swear the diet Dr. Cantor put me on and the Gatorade thing made a HUGE difference.  Dr. Cantor has only been doing the Gatorade for a couple of months.  Mass General did a study on surgical patients and those that drank Gatorade the night before and morning of came out of anesthesia quicker and feeling stronger and more “with it”!  I definitely fit in that category.  I went out to dinner last night up at the club.  For those not squeamish, I’m posting the before and after of staple removal.  Feel free not to look!  I’ll post again in about a month…Who knows what I’ll be doing by then?  LOL

     

Our last day in Churchill was a little anticlimactic, but how could it not be?  We did a helicopter ride while others in  our group went dog sledding and some people chose to do both!  

Our helicopter tour was terrific!  We were up about an hour and flew to the South Cape where we saw a “pile of bears” sleeping and still waiting for the day the ice is frozen enough that they can begin the long awaited seal hunting.

The rugged and desolate landscape was beautiful.  It was amazing to see from the air what the terrain was like.  It is a totally different perspective from going out in the Polar Rover.  You can see beautiful images in the ice terrain as it begins to freeze over.  If you ever do this trip, I highly recommend the helicopter ride.  One other item of note.  If you do this trip, make sure you have warm gloves that you have TESTED while operating a camera or phone.  My gloves were too bulky so I was always pulling them off .  If you’re lucky enough to have a lengthy encounter with wildlife, you could be outside for a long time.  No one wants to give up picture taking, but when your fingers begin to turn totally numb, you’re better off retreating to the warmth of the rover for a quick thaw!

The final day departure  gift, was the Polar Bear lift from the “polar bear jail”.  Today was  the day they decided to relocate a mother and cub that have been in the holding facility.  Mothers and cubs jump to the top of the list to be relocated over single males.  There are two less in jail today so the current population is 12 in holding.  However, while in the helicopter, we saw a polar bear being transported to the holding facility so the number may now be 13.  The negative reinforcement of being tranquillized and locked up for a period of time is meant to discourage the bears from returning to town.  Once captured, they put a green dot on their backs for 2 reasons.  One, they want to know if someone is a repeat offender by coming back to town.  Two, the native Intuit still are allowed to hunt for food and that includes polar bears.  They want them to know that the bear has been tranquillized and has a fair amount of chemical still in his tissues.  It wouldn’t be  healthy for humans to eat that meat.

We had a terrific group of 14 people that were a pleasure to be around which made the trip just that much more fun.  People were unselfish and would move away after taking some photos to allow someone else to use the prime photo spot.  Everyone was always spot on time for departures! 

The was an amazing trip for all who made the journey.  We were incredibly lucky with much of what we saw.  I’m sure no one will ever forget the cool things we learned and the amazing events we witnessed !  Thank you Fred , and Natural Habitat, for a lifetime memory!

Our trusty rover driver, Arner, lovingly guided our rover over the bleak and bumpy terrain to a flat area not far from the Tundra Lodge (a lodge on wheels that is brought out to a designated spot each season). We are staying in the town of Churchill in what is considerably more “luxurious ” accommodations.  The Lodge on wheels has one person per tiny cubicle.  It’s sort of like a short train on wheels.  At any rate, we spotted a lone bear just relaxing on the side of our “trail” path.  Arner got us fairly close and we just kept watching this male.  Suddenly, the male bear  got up and began walking toward our rover.  Oh my gosh, he was right next to us! The Rover has a back wire mesh deck that we can stand on to take photos.  This bear was SO interested in our rover.  He even walked directly under our feet on the back deck of the rover.  If it were allowed, we could have reached down and touched his fur.  (Definitely not allowed though). While this first guy was checking us out, low and behold, here comes his friend!  He was curious to see what we were all about.  There was some thought that they may have picked up the scent of our  onboard latrine, even though it is totally encased.  But for whatever reason, after a brief nose to nose greeting, these two males gave us a thorough once over!  I wonder what they thought of the thousand of clicking noises they heard from our cameras!  But not only did the two bears spend a great deal of time under and next to our rover, when they finally decided to leave, they gave us an amazing show of “Play sparring” for a long time.  They go nose to nose as they walk until both males suddenly rear up on their hind legs and begin a series of bear wrestling moves each trying to get the other guy down!  This was done out of boredom and was totally play.  However, it does give them practice for when it becomes more serious during the mating season!  We watched this show for a couple of hours while we had lunch!

As we moved a little further on, we came upon a mother with two cubs.  Suddenly, a big male wandered into the area.  As soon as mom saw him , she and the cubs took off running!  Although unusual, if a male is hungry enough he can be a threat to the cubs.  Hence the reason mom scurries away.  Just last week, a male attacked one of two cubs and killed it.  Mom took off with the other cub.  

Fred told us how rare it was for TWO bears to come up so close to the Rover.  It was the first time it has happened this season.  It was also quite unusual to see the lengthy sparring of the two males.  It’s unusual because they are usually so hungry at this time of year that they won’t expend the energy or the calories.

Those were two AMAZING highlights of the day.  We had a wonderful dinner at the famous Gypsy’s back in Churchill.  Tomorrow we have a helicopter tour if the winds calm down.  (Today there were guests of 40mph).  We will board our charter at 2:00pm for the flight back to Winnipeg…. 

What a phenomenal trip this has been.  We were incredibly lucky with everything!  Animal sightings, animal behavior, great educational guide and a terrific rover driver made everything just perfect.  Could not have asked for anything more!

 The early morning started out with finding a very old and thin bear.  As he walked , you could see the bones on his back and see his skin flapping.  All bears are thin this time of year because they really haven’t eaten since July when the ice disappears and seal hunting is over.  They can eat up to 150 pounds at one sitting.  They put on as much fat as they can from capturing the seals.  The live off the fat in the summer.  Females mate in March or April, but they don’t make a den until August.  There are many more males then females so the competition is fierce during the  mating season.  A male bear must be at least eight years old before he can mate.  Females can mate at age six.  They have recently discovered that when females are “in season” they have “scent pads” on their feet which will leave a trail of pheromones for her male “suitors “!  When more then one male shows up, this ensues with a battle to win  the ladies “paw”! The loser slinks away for another day.  Females may mate  with several different males and she can have cubs with multiple fathers,  While a blastocyst is formed and divides a couple of times, it won’t implant until August when she’ll make her den and not reappear until her cubs are just a little smaller then mom.  She needs the extra time from March until August to put on as much weight as she can since she won’t be eating for 6 months and she has to nurse the cubs after they’re born.  The cubs will be with her for the next two and a half years. After that she will breed again.

Though we saw lots of bears, their activity level was low because it is so warm.  They’re preserving their energy .  So, when we saw a group of four young males and two of them were “play” sparring, it was unusual since most are lying low to save their energy.

We also found a mom and cub.  Sometimes the number of cubs is determined by how successful a hunter mom was. If she doesn’t gain enough weight to support two or three cubs, her body will only implant one.  The little guy was adorable!  They were digging in the dirt and eating the lichens.

  Next came a younger solitary male. He actually walked in front of our parked rover.  The bears are normally solitary except for this time of the year when they come together in Churchill to go out on the ice when it forms (which is really late this year)!  Bears can be seen drinking water at this time of year, but during hunting season they get all the water they need from the seals they eat.  The bears have extremely strong jaws which are needed if they are 

pulling up to a thousand pound seal out of the water.  The bears will patiently wait above a seal breathing hole to get their prize.  They pounce as soon as the seal pops his head up!

Today was such a beautiful sunny day we were hoping the skies would stay clear tonight so we’d have a chance to see the Northern Lights.  The Lights weren’t particularly strong,  but you could definitely see them!  So beautiful!  Although Churchill gets a view of  the Northern Lights about 200 days a year, November is not one of those months.  It is still warm enough that there is almost always a cloud cover!  We got very lucky!  The photos I got were with a handheld camera and to really get a good shot, you need a tripod.

Before dinner at the Tundra Lodge, we had a very interesting speaker!  She is an elderly woman who is part Cree Indian and part  Scottish.  She calls herself a “storyteller” and even she doesn’t know what she’s going to talk about until she begins.  She is a member of the Metis nation of people.  She is the daughter of a fur trapper and has done a lot in the last decade to recreate some of the lost arts of the Cree nation.  She has taught lots of people these “lost” arts so they will be passed on, hopefully, to future generations.  She was awarded a very high medal from the government for her work in the preservation of these art techniques.  I don’t think today could have been any better!  

Our guide , Fred, is really an awesome teacher.  I wish I could : 1. Remember everything he tells us and 2. Had  the time to write it all down.  I try to give you the highlights that I’ve found interesting.  But, it’s like being in a classroom for 8 hours and trying to write down everything thing you were taught and you only have an hour!  Trust me when I tell you there are so many fascinating things to learn about the wildlife and the geology of this area. 

Some of the photos will  give you the sense of the harshness of the landscape as winter nears.  What’s harsh for most species is a vacation wonderland for polar bears.  They are suitably adapted for their environment!  The bears stay warm because of the amount of fat they 

consume.  The Arctic Fox has a different  method and stays warm with a very high metabolism! 

They must constantly eat to keep their metabolism revved up. So many cool things ( no pun intended) happen every day out on the Tundra!

Stay tuned for day two on the Tundra!  

Churchill is an old town which grew to be a permanent place because of the Hudson Bay Company and the fur trade.  The polar bears congregate in this area every year waiting for the Bay to freeze over so they can venture out on the “sea ice” to hunt for seals!  They will not be back until next March when they will come ashore for mating season.  While the females are impregnated in March and April, the mothers won’t make a den until September.  The bears basically eat very little over the summer months, living off the fat they’ve accumulated during the winter hunting season.  A polar bear must eat a seal at least every 5 or 6 days in the winter hunting season in order to survive.  The moms and cubs will emerge from their dens in October and begin the wait for the Bay to freeze over.  When that happens , all the bears will leave this area.  I will have lots of facts for you tomorrow night after our first full day on the Tundra Rover we go out on.  The rovers are heated and have a bathroom! Yea!  Their is a platform on the back of the sixteen passenger vehicle which you can step out on when the rover is stopped.  Tonight we left at sunset and went to hear a lecture at the science/research center.  While there, we saw our first bear being chased by the “bear patrol jeep!”  It was too close to the research center and people.  It’s strange to see one running full out (and this one was).  Polar bears must stay cool at all times!  Running heats up their bodies and can be dangerous!  Think of a human running a marathon in a parka and snow boots.  Pretty tiring and difficult.  It’s the same for the bear.

Disembarking from the ship was quite easy and we had two cars waiting to take us and all our luggage to the hotel. It was a beautiful weather day, though it did turn hot this afternoon if you were walking in the sun!  Bill and Gene forged ahead this morning.  They were more energetic walkers and Bill wanted to do the tour at the Nobel Museum.  The Nobel Museum is where they decide who will get the Nobel prize.  Bill thoroughly enjoyed the tour.  Meanwhile, Tom graciously agreed to stay with the girls as we strolled from one cute shop to another!  I managed to find a few more cute things for KC and Gaby and Barb found things for her grandchildren.  Barb is a knitter and we found a beautiful yarn shop where she bought gorgeous yarn.  Bill and Gene caught up with us at the changing of the guard.  We had a delicious lunch at a cute Italian restaurant called Sally’s.  Our rooms were then ready at the hotel so we’re packing the latest shopping finds and resting before meeting for an early dinner.  Four of us are being picked up at 6 am tomorrow for transportation to the airport.  The other couple, the Breslows, don’t have to leave until around noon.  Strangely enough, we all get home within a couple of hours of each other!

We did drive up to a beautiful park and walk down past another of Catherine’s Palaces and we also saw the current residence of the 62 year old President.  The President is chosen by the 101 members of Parliament.  This President is retiring in August and marrying a woman who was a state department official and who is now pregnant at age 32.   Tallinn is a very old city having been established in the 11th century.  They do have a very modern 4 lane highway going out of town to the countryside having been built a few years ago with money from the EU.  Estonia could not have afforded to invest such money in highways where high speeds are allowed and racing occurs –up to 150mph.

We were not given a lot of information  we could understand.  In fact, four of us did not even go on the walk in Old Town.  The reports were that it was very difficult walking and extremely crowded plus the weather was threatening rain.  

We docked this morning in Stockholm which is a series of islands connected by bridges.  Ther are 14 islands with four main ones being the “center” of Stockholm.  We had a terrific guide today who drove us all around.  We got a little “taste” of what the city is like.  These days it is crowded but clean and the impression is excellent.  We did get the impression from our guide that the people are quite worried about the huge influx of Muslim refugees.  There is no work for them.  They are currently allowed everything the citizens are allowed –free healthcare, housing, 80% of your income paid to you if you have a child and stay home for one year.  The Swedes have one or two children but the Muslim families have substantially more children.  They are fearful of Isis and believe Sweden will be attacked and that it is just a matter of time.  The government has realized that it cannot keep taking in and supporting 165,000 refugees a year.  The Swedes pay 60% of their income for taxes.  But the Immigrants aren’t working and are not paying into the system. The government just announced restrictions on immigration and we saw many young people protesting  this decision outside a government building.  Difficult times are on the horizon….

We have to get off the ship tomorrow morning but we spend tomorrow night in the city before we all fly home.  We hope to get out tomorrow and see some more of the city sights.

But the crown jewel for us today was the tour of the Vasa Museum.  It contains the most perfectly preserved warship (64cannons) that was built on the orders of Adolphus Gustavus in 1628.  The King was in Poland fighting a war and ordered the biggest ever sailing ship to be built.  It was meant to intimidate by its mere size.  When he saw the ship under construction, he decided it did not have enough guns and ordered one more deck to be added with more cannons. The men building the ship did  not have the courage to tell him it would make the ship quite unstable so they followed his orders.  Its maiden voyage lasted 20 minutes before turning over and slowly sinking to the bottom.  Many men on board went down with the ship. The water was quite cold.  What preserved the ship was that in sank in the mud and went down in brackish water.  Stockholm is between a lake and the sea and the area where she went down is where the fresh water meets the sea.  Salt water will destroy timber much more quickly because of a kind of worm that exists in salt water.  So the mud and the lack of salt water preserved the ship amazingly!  You will be amazed when you see the photos.  At least, we were amazed.  The ship was finally raised from the water and mud in 1961.  Quite a feat but an archeological treasure trove!  The political history of this part of the world might have changed if the Vasa had ever made it out of the harbor!  Enjoy the photos!

Tallinn photos are first.

Nicholas II was the last Czar of Russia. His wife was Alexandra and he had children, one of whom is the famous Anastasia who was the object of speculation for many years.  When Lenin was in power, the symbol of a monarch was very dangerous to him. He wanted no loyalty given to the Nicholas’s family.  He sent people to secretly murder the czar and his family and to make the bodies disappear.  They did indeed murder the family, but it was taking too long for some of the bodies to burn, so they were taken to a mine shaft and thrown inside.  When their remains were later discovered, Anastasia’s body was not with her family, giving birth to rumors that she somehow survived.  This was completely false.  They later found her remains about 65 yards away from the rest of her family and it was confirmed by DNA tests. 

Let me back up a little.  Nicholas II was a family man and spent no time in Petrograd (St Petersburg) to rule.  He left the running of the government to the corrupt officials while he stayed with his family in a nearby town.  He had never really wanted to be a ruling czar, but since he was the last monarch in line, he had no choice.  The   Russian people began to realize that the country was not doing well and rumblings of a revolution began.  Nicholas eventually was forced to abdicate  and a man, Kapersky, took over running the country.  He was sympathetic to the royals and kept them under “house arrest” in a town outside of St Petersburg.  It wasn’t really an arrest.  It was meant to keep the family safe from the revolutionaries in Petrograd ( St. Petersburg). As things continued to heat up, Kapersky sent the family to the Ural Mountains where they were basically  in hiding.  Lenin, one of the early leaders of the Bolshevik party, was forced to flee to Finland for his safety during the rule of Kapersky.  He promised the Fins that if they helped keep him hidden, when he gained control back in Russia, he would grant  Finland its independence….The Bolshevik party was very small in number, but with less then 100 members, they managed in one night to sneak into the palace and imprison Kapersky and his soldiers.  Lenin had initiated this coup.  He then gained power and began to preach his Utopian idea of socialism.  He truly believed in the ideal concept of all of the people controlling everything.  He told the workers that they could own the factories and appoint the head of the factory.  If the people didn’t like the man they appointed, they could throw him out and choose another.  He told the farmers they could work and run the collective farm and appoint the head of the collective.  And, he continued to tell them that if the head of the collective was no good the people could replace him.  These ideas of “power to the people” began to take hold and Lenin won the hearts and minds of the workers, the peasants and the soldiers.  He told them he would sign a peace treaty with Germany to end Russian involvement in WWI and the soldiers could go home.  This entrenched his power.  He fulfilled his promises early, setting up collective farms, ending the war with Germany and granting Finland independence.  But although his ideas sounded wonderful, in reality it didn’t work.  People were living in communal apartments — maybe 4 or 5 families in a tiny apartment.  He had hoped the people would all love and support each other, but of course that didn’t happen.  Actually, communal living is still in existence today, but with greatly reduced numbers.  The current government is trying to get people out of the communal apartments, but there is a 30 year waiting list for some to get a private apartment with a stipend from the government.

Times got worse under Lenin’s socialism and the people were discontent.  Corruption was prevalent in Lenin’s government.  Lurking In the background of the Bolshevik party was Stalin.  When Lenin dies a natural death, Stalin has entrenched himself as the new leader who will get rid of the government corruption and improve the life of the people with communism.  Stalin was a brutal man, many would say a psychopath, who killed anyone who was a threat to him or his power.  He sent thousands to the Gulags where they labored in the mines until they died.  If they were supporters of Lenin’s peoples’ party, they were killed or imprisoned.  Stalin stayed in power until the early 1950’s.  He had a longer rule because of the terror of the KGB coming for you, and because, in part he got credit for being a victor in WWII.  The Russian people like a strong ruler, but not necessarily a crazy one!  Hitler even betrayed Stalin. He had secretly signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler and did not believe the multiple reports from spies that were telling him Hitler was preparing to invade Russia.  Thus, when Hitler did invade, Russia was totally unprepared for the invasion.  Hitler had betrayed him.  Russians are a proud people and fierce  fighters!  They lost more then 27 million people during the war.  Just to show you what kind of ruler he was, after the war when Russian soldiers returned home being victors, they thought they would be going home to their farms.  But anyone who had fought outside of Russia in the European part, was thought to be dangerous because they had seen the western world.  So he had them killed or sent to the gulags.  Quite a guy…

We also visited the Yusopov  Palace.  It was the home of a very well known ballerina.  The Yusopov family was the wealthiest “noble” family in Russia.  Yusopov was the curator for all the art work at the Hermitage.  As he bought art pieces for Catherine from the money she gave him, he also helped himself to some of the spoils.  

Yusopov was involved in the plot ,with the  cousin of Czar Nicholas II, to murder the influential “Mad  Monk” as he was called.  Rasputin had become very close to Nicholas’s family because of the medical help he seemed to provide his son, who was a hemophiliac.  Actually, it was Nicholas ‘s wife, Alexandra, who became enamored with Rasputin because it was her line that carried the hemophiliac gene.  Yusopov and his friends plotted to kill Rasputin out of fear of his influence on the Czar.  Yusopov Invited Rasputin to his home.  The first plotter, a doctor , was supposed to put poison in Rasputin’s tea and cakes. Yusopov is entertaining Rasputin, but after two hours, he went to the rest of the conspirators and said “He isn’t dying.  We must do something else.” The next plotter, went in where Rasputin was on his knees praying and shot him.   Still, he did not die.  He next tried to strangle him and he believed him dead, though he was only unconscious.  The man who believed Rasputin was dead, ran to get the others to tell them he was dead, but when they all came back to the room, the window was broken and Rasputin was gone.  They followed the trail of blood in the snow and when they caught up to him they strangled him again, tied him up with a rope and threw him in the river.  When the police later found the body (in their haste the murderers had not put a rock at the end of the rope to send him to the bottom) it was discovered that the rope had Yusopov’s  initials on it and he was arrested but later fled to France.  Nicholas had two guards that were supposed to protect Rasputin.  When they rushed into the house saying they heard two gunshots, Yusopov confessed he had just killed Rasputin.  But, being the wealthy man he was, he bribed the guards to say they had seen Rasputin leave alive.    When an autopsy was done on Rasputin, it was discovered he had water in his lungs, so he actually died of drowning when they threw him in the river.  There are two theories about why the poison in the tea and cakes didn’t kill him. One theory is that Rasputin never drank tea or ate sweets. The other is that the Doctor who was supposed to put the poison in the food,

had  second thoughts because of his Hippocratic oath and never put the poison in the food.  No one knows for sure.

This was the home of a famous ballerina friendly to the Czar.  She fled to France when the Bolshevik Revolution occurred.  Lenin actually spoke to the workers from the balcony of this house. It became their headquarters.  

The balcony from which Lenin spoke to the people.

Lenin himself.

A painting of Lenin speaking from the balcony.

Patterned after the Uncle Sam poster “We want you!”  This was to recruit the workers to the red army.

Sample of the mined rocks from the gulag prisoners.

Prisoners had numbers, not names.  They put their numbers on the pile of ore mined in a day.  They were required to mine enormous amounts in a single day.

Sample of a tiny communal kitchen in an apartment.  This might have been shared by as many as four families.  You never knew when a new family was moving in.  They would just appear.

Example of dormitory style bedrooms in a communal apartment.

Second largest Orthodox Temple is Europe.  The largest is in Belgrade.

Inside the Temple.  Since it is Orthodox, women attend services but sit in the balcony.

A delicious lunch where beef stroganoff is the specialty!  Yum!

Entrance to Yusopov palace.

Marble stairway.  Yusopov tried to buy it when he was in a castle in Italy. They said no.  He bought the castle, took out the staircase and installed in his home in St Petersburg!

One of the bedrooms in the Yusopov Palace.  Walls are original silk coverings.

New type of oil lamp.  Originally, chandeliers were lit with candles.  This new type had oil stored in the bottom and tubes that fed the oil to the lamps.  It was a great improvement because it lasted so much longer.

Mrs. Yusopov wanted to be an actress but her noble position wouldn’t allow that.  So, she had her own theater built where she could perform. It is still used today for performances in the evening and seats 180 people.  Today it seems that acapella groups perform in many of the palaces.  These gentlemen were excellent and the acoustics were amazing.  

Beautiful carved wood.  The chandelier was carved from oak.

Looking into,the entrance hall with the marble staircase.

Mr. Yusopov who conspired to murder Rasputin.

The conspirators who murdered Rasputin  plotting their deed in the basement of Yusopov’s house.

Rasputin 

Where Rasputin was kneeling and while praying he was shot.

Rasputin at the table where they first tried to poison him.

Tomorrow we dock at Tallinn, Estonia.  We had a great last day in St. Petersburg and avoided most of the rain.  Just a few drops as we were boarding the ship!

After walking  the gardens, we made our way to the Hydrofoil departure point and took a hydrofoil back to the city.  It takes about 30 minutes by hydrofoil to go from Peterhof in the country to the city center.  

After disembarking, I checked my iPhone and realized I had walked 5 miles today with a lot of stairs.  After such a short night’s sleep, I was done.  We made one more stop at the beautiful church of St Isaacs, but fear not, I sent Bill with the camera!

But to back up, this morning’s first stop was the The Peter and Paul Church and fortress built by Peter the Great.  The bastion that was built was the first of its kind in Russia.  The design was taken from the French.  The wall was built , not in a straight line, but in a kind of “zig zag pattern” so it looks more like a hexagon.  The Romanoff’s are buried in the Peter and Paul Church.  It was not open when we were there.  

The next stop was The Fabrege Museum which holds 10 of the fabulously jeweled Easter Eggs designed by Carl Fabrege.  The designs he created always had some kind of a “surprise ” inside.  They are amazing works of the finest craftsmanship by the master jeweler.  There were 50 eggs created, but Russia has only 19. –9 here and 10 in Moscow.  The rest are lost, broken or in private collections.  Many of the eggs were made as gifts for the Czar and Czarinas of Russia.  It was a custom of the nobility to give a small Fabrege egg to a child at its birth and then one for each year thereafter until,the child was 18.  At that point, they took the eggs back to Fabrege and he hung them all on a chain.  It is a sad note that Fabrege fled to Switzerland with nothing when the revolution occurred.  He died with no money having had to leave all behind.  He was heartbroken that the Russuan life and era he knew was gone forever.

The next stop was The Church of the Spilt Blood.  It so named because it was built on the location where Nicholas the II was assassinated by Bolshevik revolutionaries.  The church was built to honor him.  Inside the church there is a small section of the street preserved with the stain of Nicholas II’s blood on the stones.  The church is one of the most beautiful in all of Russia as you can see in the photos below.  It took 27 years to restore the church which fell into disrepair when communism enveloped the country.  Please note that ALL the images you see are mosaics.  Quite remarkable!