Musical and other adventures

Mon 12, Tues 13 and Wed 14 August - we make our way home

musicaladventures — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:57:00 GMT

Mon 12 and Tues 13 - After what has been a wonderful holiday we finally had to face the reality that all good things come to an end, and make the second leg of our long trek home. We set off to the Singapore Changi airport at lunchtime, even though our flight wasn't departing until 8.15pm. There was not much we could have done in the city without getting hot and sticky, and requiring another shower and change of clothes. We chose to stay cool indoors instead.

For us, filling in time at an airport does not involve shopping for overpriced duty free goods! We wandered around a bit, sat and watched planes - including some from Asian carriers we hadnt come across before, and had a bite to eat and checked emails etc.

Finally it was time for us to make our way to the departure gate. At Changi, the departure gates only open about an hour before the flight. You go through security just before entering the departure waiting area, rather than just after checking in and dropping off your suitcases. This makes the security process so much more of a pain than it is when you get it over and done with when you first arrive at the airport. We went to our departure gate at the appointed time and went through security and sat down. A few minutes after we sat down our crew arrived and went to board the aircraft. They emerged a few minutes later and set off to another departure gate. The announcement soon came, telling us that we had to go to another departure gate. Off we charged and when we got there, we had to go through security again. This time the security area serviced 4 gates rather than just one. What a pain to have to line up and go through it all again. If you have the security check when you first arrive rather than at each gate, this wouldn't happen. We sat down and waited for the boarding call. Our flight departure was delayed and finally they started making announcements and apologising for the delay. Before boarding, we all had to file past more security staff and open our bags for a physical security check. It took so long to board the flight, with all this process.

When on board the plane, the pilot announced that we had to swap planes as there was a problem with the toilets on the one we were meant to use. He said the plane was air worthy but it would be a tad inconvenient for us passengers if we couldn't relieve ourselves!

We were very late departing but arrived in Sydney only about 10 minutes late, so we made up plenty of time. We had great jet stream tail wind which helped to make up over an hour.

I hate overnight flights, because I am hopeless at sleeping on planes. We were both tired when we got home but had to go to the supermarket for a few provisions and had something to eat before finally getting some shut eye.

Wed 14 - Today we feel much more human after a good sleep in our own beds. This morning I decided that after suffering pain in my toe for the last 5 weeks, I would go to the hospital for an x-ray. This confirmed my suspicions that I had definitely broken my toe but that it was slowly healing. I just have to battle on until it heals properly. Next time we go away, I will be a lot more careful!

This morning, the postman turned up with mountains of mail which had been held for us over the last 10 weeks. Rob and I made good use of the time we were sitting around in the hospital waiting room, by taking all the mail with us, opening it all and sorting out what needed attention.

I have one more day of freedom before returning to work. We can now start planning our next trip. The planning will give us lots to look forward to.

Sat 10 and Sun 11 Aug - Activities in Singapore

musicaladventures — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 22:56:00 GMT

I think I may have mixed up the day of the week and the date in my last blog entry - lack of sleep on the flight from Copenhagen caused that! I have today's blog entry dates right.

We finished our first day here by going to China Town on the train and mingling with the locals as we ate dumpling noodle soup, in a very crowded food hall in quite hot and sticky temperature. There is so much choice for food here, we always find it hard to know what to have.

Yesterday we did lots of walking around the shopping malls in Orchard Road. You need to have huge bank accounts to shop here - I didn't buy anything! There are so many shops selling exclusive designer label goods. We enjoyed ourselves mixing with the locals as they shopped. We finished up having dinner in one of the food courts - delicious hand made noodle soup - totally different to the soup we had in China Town.

Today we ventured further, catching the train to see the Gardens by the Bay. It is an ultra modern park spanning 101 hectares built on reclaimed land and has only been open for about a year. Within the complex, there are two giant domed conservatories with a huge number of plants. In one of them, you walk on walkways high up amongst the plants. The environment changes, the higher up you go. There are waterfalls and different air temperatures and atmospheres and different plants at every level. The second dome displays a selection of flower gardens from around the world. This includes typical Australian flowers and plants, including the Kangaroo paw. The domes were lovely and cool, which was a welcome respite from the humidity. Thankfully, today was not as hot as yesterday. Early this morning there were some showers which may have helped cool the temperature.

We also visited the most prominent landmark in Singapore - the Marina Bay Sands, which is an absolutely magnificent resort complex consisting of three hotel towers with a boat-like observation deck across the top and a huge atrium style foyer right along the three towers. The complex includes hotel accommodation, apartments, restaurants etc and of course - more exclusive brand name shopping! To stay there, live there or shop would all require very deep pockets indeed. Our only mission was to go up to the observation deck to see the views over Singapore. The experience complimented our Shard experience in London (oh, and the Shard is taller by about 20 stories). We had great views over Singapore and also could see the huge pools and gardens further along the boat shaped deck on the top of the hotels. Luxury indeed. We go for much more modest accommodation!

We had a late afternoon snack of steamed dumplings, before coming back to our hotel to sort out packing for our return home tomorrow. We are finishing the evening with a drink and nibblies in the club lounge at the hotel, where they treat you like Royalty.

Tomorrow we have to go to the airport to catch our flight home. Boo hoo. Why can't holidays go on forever?

Thurs 8 Aug - off to Singapore

musicaladventures — Fri, 9 Aug 2013 20:15:00 GMT

We are now slowly making our way home, stopping for three nights in Singapore. We flew with Singapore Airlines, on a Boeing 777-200 departing Copenhagen at about 12.30 (an 11 and a half hour flight). The flight started smoothly but an hour after takeoff we suddenly struck some quite severe turbulence. Four times, the plane dropped altitude suddenly, then rose suddenly, causing everyone to bounce in their seats. All the people around us, screamed each time this happened. The Captain ordered the flight crew to sit down. Luckily we had not been served dinner or drinks - or we would have all ended up wearing our food and drinks! This was the worst turbulence Rob and I had ever experienced. Thankfully the flight settled down after this! The Singapore Airlines flight attendants were very good, as usual. They are far more attentive than any other airline we have been on.

We arrived in Singapore just after 6am this morning, and we eventually caught he shuttle to our hotel at 7.45. We didn't think we would be able to check in as we were very early. When we arrived, we were surprised when they said they could check us in straight away. We had booked a room at a special rate in the Royal Club class. This has entitled us to a few extras that we don't usually get.

The mini bar is free (but most of it is soft drink, which we don't drink anyway). There are two small beers (the only alcohol provided) plus some bottled water, which is very useful. Each day, we can have complimentary afternoon tea in the Royal Club lounge. We thought this would just be a cuppa and a biscuit, but it turned out to be a big pot of tea, along with a three tiered cake stand with mini sandwiches, cakes and scones! The amount they gave us was perfect, and not too much but they fussed over us, offering more helpings, and more tea, which we declined. It seemed that we could have had as much as we wanted!

We also get a free 'cocktail' each evening. (I had a glass of wine and Rob had a beer). There are nibblies to go with the drink but we are giving those a miss and saving our appetite for a meal in China Town. It is table service, and they fuss over you like Royalty!

Our hotel is just off the top end of Orchard Road, which is very convenient for everything. When we checked in, they told us it is Singapore's National Day today, so we might see some special activity when we go out for a bite to eat tonight.

Tomorrow after we have recharged our batteries with some sleep we will set off to see a few things we haven't seen on previous visits.

Wed 7 Aug - off to Copenhagen

musicaladventures — Thu, 8 Aug 2013 03:10:00 GMT

After our last 8 days in Tallinn, we finally set off to catch a plane to Copenhagen. We are now slowly making our way home, and stopping in Copenhagen for one night. Tomorrow we are off to Singapore for three days, then we come home via Sydney. Whilst it will be nice to be home, it is sad to be leaving Europe. We have been in Europe since June 5th, which is around 2 months. It will be hard to face the reality of going back to work. I am not looking forward to that!

Tallinn airport is small but has great facilities. There are cafes and bars in between every two gates. Maybe this is their way to encourage passengers to be close to their gate instead of having to make a last minute dash after they have eaten and drunk at cafes and bars a long way from the gate. We flew by Estonian Air on a CRJ900 and had a very nice flight of about one and a half hours. They pride themselves on their punctuality, and we took off exactly on time.

We are staying at a hotel at the airport, so we are ready to fly out tomorrow. This afternoon has been a lazy one (we seem to have had lots of lazy times lately!)

We are looking forward to Singapore. We have stayed there a few times and although the weather is far too hot and humid for our liking, we really enjoy the food.

Tues 6 Aug - our last day in Tallinn

musicaladventures — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 01:54:00 GMT

This has been our last day in Tallinn for the organ music festival. There are still 5 days left of the festival but we fly to Copenhagen tomorrow. The festival dates were postponed by a week this year, which has meant that our timing only allowed for us to attend a bit more than half the festival. We could have gone to more concerts than we did, but we selected those of most interest to us and allowed time to do other things.

Today we went to a fabulous concert at St John's Church. Again, as for yesterday's concert, there were two students who performed the first bracket on the small organ at the front of the church. They were both 19 year old girls (one from Estonia and one from Russia). They played pieces by Bach, Buxtehude and Arvo Pärt. The remainder of the concert was performed by an American organist, James David Christie. He played works by Pēteris Vasks, (a Latvian composer born in 1946) Bach and Felix Alexandre Guilmant (a French composer). The pieces by Vasks and Guilmant were very flamboyant and showed the extraordinary dexterity of Christie's capability. By comparison, the Bach pieces were more mellow!

Christie has a huge international experience and amongst a long list of positions held, he has been the organist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1978 and is music director of Ensemble Abendmusik, a Boston-based period instrument orchestra and chorus specialising in sacred music of the 17th and 18th centuries. He has performed with many world renowned period instrument orchestras and is a professor of organ and has taught at numerous establishments. He is quite an exuberant character. We saw him chatting with various people before and after the concert and he had a lot of students flocking up to him afterwards. He received a standing ovation from Andres Uibo (who we heard play previously, and is the convenor of the music festival).

On a side note - there was one loud speaking male offender, who insisted on talking during one of the pieces. One of the Church officials quietly went over to him to give him a warning. He continued to talk loudly, so she went back to him and promptly marched him out of the concert! Before this happened, we decided to move after the first movement that was played by the Russian girl, to get away from a bunch of enthusiastic music students who insisted on whispering! We didn't feel like chastising them in front of their teachers, so moved near the back of the church. We then had a good position to hear the big organ when Christie took over.

Throughout the festival it has been wonderful to see such talent emerging in the young people. We have a lot of budding brilliant organists emerging.

Mon 5 Aug - another musical experience

musicaladventures — Tue, 6 Aug 2013 01:51:00 GMT

Today we had a lazy start to the day, before setting out this time to St John's Church for another concert.

The concert began with two Russian students playing - a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old boy. They both study at the Academic Music College at Moscow Conservatory. The girl played Bach Prelude and Fugue in F Minor BWV 534 and the boy played Bach Trio Sonata No 6 BWV 530. There were two different organs played throughout the concert. The two students played a smaller one situated at the front of the church. It was quite a reasonable size organ with two manuals and the pedals. We thought they played absolutely brilliantly and they obviously have bright futures ahead of them. The audience reaction was really positive.

The rest of the concert was performed on the big organ at the rear of the church in the organ loft, by Yuval Rabin, who was born in Israel. He has lots of experience performing in various countries and also teaches and composes. He started his performance with a piece he composed himself. It was based on Jewish Shabbat songs, written in 2000. It certainly had a Jewish sound about it. He went on to play a work by Liszt then a work by a composer called Haim Alexander (another Jewish piece). The concert finished with a well known piece by César Franck. His performance was fabulous.

During one of the pieces, there were two women a few rows in front of us, nattering away. Luckily we couldn't hear them so they weren't bothering us. They were, however, bothering the man sitting in the row in front of them. He got up and went over to them and said some stern words to the ladies. Thankfully they got the message. What on earth could be so important to discuss, that people feel the urge to talk about it during a concert, when they should be quiet and listen!

This brought back memories of a time we attended Evensong at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. There was a lady who was incessantly talking, annoying quite a number of us. We all turned to her and, in unison, said SHHHHH and thankfully she promptly got the message. We can't understand why anyone would come to a choral evensong and proceed to talk! And at Windsor!!

The audiences throughout the Aldeburgh Music Festival that we went to earlier in this trip, were very well behaved! This reminds us, that we saw a brief documentary a few days ago on DW TV (on this occasion, an English version). It was about the Aldeburgh Music Festival, and in particular, Benjamin Britten and the centenary festival. In our first coastal walk to Lowestoft during the festival, along the shingle beach, we had a German film crew with us. We found out that they were making a documentary about the festival. When we saw it on TV, there we were, walking along the shingles! We achieved notoriety! They interviewed Alan Britten, Benjamin's nephew (who we met several times through the festival) and on camera he admitted that Uncle Ben had taken him to the pub on numerous occasions, when he was a tad under age! Tsk tsk!

Sat 3 and Sun 4 August - organ music adventures

musicaladventures — Mon, 5 Aug 2013 01:13:00 GMT

Sat 3 - throughout the organ music festival there are some half hour recitals. We went to the Niguliste Church for one of these concerts, performed by an Estonian organist, Anna Humal. She played the most fabulous pieces by Messiaen and César Franck. The organ has a magnificent sound and the church has very good acoustics. The organ is at the back of the church, in an organ loft. The pews can face either the back or the front of the church, by moving the back of the seat. Therefore we could all face the organ, even though we couldn't see the organist until she got up and bowed at the end of the concert. (Before the concert started a young couple sat down in front of us and were talking constantly, which was OK. When the concert started they continued talking, but dropped to a whisper. That was sort of ok in the loud opening moments of the Messiaen, but when the music was softer, it was very annoying. I was thinking of moving to another seat at an appropriate time, but Rob took matters into his own hands, on behalf of the whole audience, and poked them in the back and told them to shut up! You should have seen the guilty looks on their faces! They didn't utter a word for the rest of the concert!)

Later in the evening we returned to the Niguliste Church to hear another Estonian organist, Professor Andres Uibo perform. Andres is the convenor and organiser of the music festival and has studied under a range of organists including Ton Koopman. Andres performs in a lot of countries around the Baltic states, Europe, the Russian Federation and Japan. He is also a composer, and the major work on the program was one his own compositions in 4 movements. During this concert they had set up a video camera in the organ loft and a screen down below, so you could watch him playing the organ (including the pedals. His composition was a very complex work which required a massive amount of changes to the organ stops throughout the piece. It was absolutely fascinating to watch him playing and managing all the changes to the organ stops for each manual. He was frantically busy throughout the whole piece! We felt that parts of his piece showed influence from Arvo Pärt (an Estonian composer). Andres Uibo's piece was the most spectacular work which incorporated a huge range of tone colour and volume. We were riveted throughout.

Andres appears to be quite an unassuming, quiet bloke. Before this concert he was siting with us riff raff, waiting to be let into the church! He chats to people and appears to be very pleasant. Before we left Australia, we had some email communication with him and his staff about the dates of the festival. He told us that we would be honoured guests!

Sun 4 - back we went to the Niguliste Church for another half hour concert. This time, the organist was Denis Kasparovitch, who was once a student of Andres Uibo. The program consisted of works by Bach, Scheidemann (who lived before Bach) Reger and Franck. We enjoyed all the pieces. Again, we didn't see the organist until after the concert, when he bowed. The music was excellent and on this occasion, the audience was very well behaved! Nobody talked!

Thurs 1 and Fri 2 Aug - exploring Tallinn and hearing organ music

musicaladventures — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 03:59:00 GMT

Thurs 1 - After a slow start, we set off to see some more in the old town. As we are going to some organ concerts in the Dome Church (aka Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin) during the festival, we thought we would start by going up the hill to check the route to the church and have a look at it. It is right at the top of Toompea Hill, 50 metres above sea level and is just at the back of the old town. The Toompea Hill area dates back to the 13th century, when the Danes erected a stone castle on the site. The hill has changed hands many times over the centuries but still remains enclosed in the impressive limestone fortifications built during the Livonian war (1558-82). The area is just like an extension of the old town, but in a hilly area. The Dome church was originally built as a wooden church by the Danes in 1240 and is the oldest church in mainland Estonia. The church has undergone several restorations over the three centuries since it was first built. Inside, there are 107 aristocratic coats of arms plus a number of tombs. In our opinion, the inside of the church leaves a lot to be desired! Not our favourite. We briefly heard the organ and it was wonderful. The organ music concerts should be great, judging by what we heard.

We also visited the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which is new by comparison with the other churches. It was built between 1894 and 1900. It is a Russian Orthodox Church which doesn't have the splendor and large space of those we saw in St Petersburg.

The Estonian parliament meets in a building close by but it was completely covered in scaffolding.

Up in this hilly area, there are some viewing platforms from which you can get some great views over the old town and towards the port area and out to the sea.

Today was totally different to yesterday in that the hoards of tourists seemed to have disappeared and the markets in the main square had vanished! There were nowhere near as many ships in the port so that may explain the lack of tourists. This made for a much more pleasant relaxing day.

Having such a commanding view across to the old town, from our hotel room is great. We can plan what we want to do for the day and actually visualise our projected routes, before we set off.

Fri 2- We have just come from the Dome Church and have heard music on a wonderful organ. Today's performance was called an opening ceremony and was like a cross between a service and a recital, as the priest said prayers and spoke between pieces. This was a short recital consisting of three pieces, which all showed off the organ very impressively. Two of the organists were young and showed heaps of talent. They sound like they have great futures ahead of them.

The church pews are the type that are boxed in and you enter each pew through a door. When people are seated, all you can see is their heads (or if they are shorter people, you can only see the tops of their heads). The people in the congregation back when the church pews were installed, were possibly a lot shorter than we are today, so you wouldn't see them at all when they sat down! Rob said that if one had committed sins during the week and didn't want to be noticed by the priest during the sermon you could virtually hide yourself from view by sinking down into the pew or even lying down, so the priest couldn't make eye contact with you!

This morning we wandered around another part of the old town. You entered this part of the town through another set of fortifications which included 'Fat Margaret Tower' which is the largest part of the fortifications and the closest point to the harbour. Its walls measure 4 metres thick. It has had a varied history, including being a prison but it now houses a museum.

One of famous hotels in the old town is called The Three Sisters hotel. The hotel was originally three adjoining merchant houses that were converted into a luxury hotel. The houses were built in 1362 and the the hotel is proud to have hosted lots of dignitaries, including Queen Elizabeth II. From the outside, the hotel didn't look big enough to have rooms the size that the Queen would stay in. Maybe she had a whole floor of rooms to herself, when she stayed there! Along the same street we saw some attractive buildings which have been well preserved.

We briefly saw St Olav's Church but were unceremoniously shut out just as a bride arrived for her wedding! We will have to go back again some other time.

Tues 30 and Wed 31 July - off to Tallinn, and wandering around Tallinn old town

musicaladventures — Thu, 1 Aug 2013 02:58:00 GMT

Tues 30 - After a leisurely breakfast we set off for the bus station in Tartu to catch a bus to Tallinn. The bus was very luxurious, although not quite the same class as the bus we caught from Riga to Pärnu a few days ago. We had individual TVs but they didn't supply headsets. We saw a lady get her own out of her bag, so it seems that is what you have to do. We both ended up playing some games, which didn't need the headsets, along with looking out at the scenery.

When we bought the bus tickets, the lady asked us how old we were (Rob must have had an ancient look on his face!) He ended up getting his ticket for half price!

The trip took about two and a half hours and was an excellent ride.

Again, we travelled through lots of sprawling suburbia before arriving at the bus station. Our hotel is just outside the old town, rather than in the centre. We are on the 22nd floor, and have great views over the old town.

We have taken it easy this afternoon and look forward to some more musical adventures in the coming days. There is an organ music festival starting on Thursday, so we hope to be enjoying lots of lovely music while we are here.

Wed 31 - Today we really got a good feel for the old town of Tallinn. It is such a wonderful area, with the typical cobblestone streets and historic buildings. This must be the peak time of year for tourists to visit Tallinn, as the whole place was absolutely packed with huge tour groups! In fact, from our hotel, we can see the cruise ships docking, so this is obviously a very popular place for tours.

We entered the old town via the Viru Gate. The pair of towers that make up the gate were built in the 14th century and they are one of Tallinn's best known images. The surrounding stretch of city wall dates back to the 16th century. The first building we saw as we passed through he gates, was an old building which now houses a McDonald's cafe. What a prime position they command (and a master stroke of strategic planning)!

The main square (and this time it is actually a square) is dominated in the centre by an old market which has been there for centuries. The square is surrounded by medieval buildings and the Town Hall (which dates back to 1404 and has a spire that makes it look like a church). It is Northern Europe's only surviving late gothic town hall. The market stalls were quite obviously targeting the needs of tourists with souvenirs and clothes etc. At the bottom of the square is the old Town Hall chemist shop. It is such a quaint building which is one of the oldest chemist shops in Europe. Its origins date back to 1422.

On our wanderings, we went through St Catherine's Passageway which is a medieval alleyway with uneven stone walls and overhead vaulting. It runs along the surviving wall of the old St Catherine's church which was built in 1246. So much history here.

St Niguliste church, was originally built in the 13th century but most of what remains today is from the 15th century. We visited the church today and it is where we will be spending some time during the organ music festival. It is now a museum and concerts are held there regularly. It was interesting that very few tourists were in this area, by comparison to other parts of the old town that we visited today. Maybe churches are not high on the list of things tour groups like to visit.

There is so much to see here and we have only seen a fraction of it so far. We are here for a week, so will be able to explore much more.

Sun 28 and Mon 29 July - more meandering around Tartu

musicaladventures — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 00:33:00 GMT

Sunday 28th - Yesterday evening I must have overdone things for my poor toe, as this morning it was quite painful. Today we just meandered around, so I could try not to overdo it. I know walking around isn't helping me to heal but I don't want to just lie around in the hotel room!

We started out by walking up the road to see St John's Church but unfortunately it was closed at the time we visited. It is quite impressive on the outside. It dates from 1330 but was severely damaged in World War II. The church has been reconstructed and the new spire added in 1999 and the church as a whole is reputed to be one of the best examples of brick gothic architecture in Northern Europe. We hope to go back tomorrow to see inside.

We went back into the main square and sat admiring the neo classical style buildings along the gently sloping cobblestone square. (Mind you, whoever called it a square doesn't understand geometry, because the square is actually rectangle!) The Town Hall is situated at the top of the square and is predominantly pink in colour. Right in front of the Town Hall is a fountain with a statue in the middle of it, depicting the sculptor's nephew kissing his girlfriend in the rain, under an umbrella. It made us think of the very famous scene in the movie Singin' in the Rain with Gene Kelly doing the wonderful dance in the rain.

All the buildings and lamp posts in the square are adorned with fabulous floral displays.

On our way down the sloping square (rectangle) we came across the Tartu Art Museum which is housed in a building with very distinct lean to it (not unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa). The building did belong to the famous Russian Field Marshall Barclay de Torry, who successfully led the Russian army against Napoleon in 1812.

We walked across the Kaarsild pedestrian bridge over a river. The bridge has a supportive arch. The legend of this bridge says that unless you walk over the arch (not the bridge, but the arch) you will not be accepted as a student at the Tartu University. These days, the police fine people for doing this. It looks rather dangerous because there are no support railings or anything to hang on to!

We had a delicious tomato soup for lunch, in a cafe associated with a bookshop. This reminded us of a little cafe we found in Pärnu, where we had the best cups of tea. That cafe was also situated in a bookshop.

During the afternoon we visited the Botanical Gardens. They are not set in vast grounds but they have used the undulating terrain in an innovative way to display a large range of different gardens and colourful plants, in a peaceful environment.

It was an absolutely beautiful day with glorious sunshine and not a breath of wind. Unlike parts of Southern Europe we are not suffering from heat wave.

We are finishing the day with dinner in a very quaint pub near the university, which is housed in an old building with very high ceilings of 11 metres.

Monday 29th - Today was another sunny day, but by mid afternoon it was starting to get too hot for our liking.

We started out by strolling up the cathedral hill behind the university. In medieval times a fortress and cathedral stood on the hill but both were abandoned during the Livonian war in the mid 16th century. The cathedral ruins dominate the area and show the original grandeur of the building. Part of the cathedral has been rebuilt as a library. There is a sacrificial stone along one of the paths, which was the site of worship for pagan Estonians. There are a couple of bridges - the devil's bridge and the angel's bridge. Both are obviously quite different to each other. The angel's bridge has a myth that if you cross it for the first time, holding your breath and making a wish, your wish will come true. I did just that, wishing that my foot pain would go away. I am still waiting for my wish to come true!

We also passed by the old university observatory which was built in 1820. This building is now a science centre.

Today we also went back to St John's church and this time it was open. We could see that when they restored it, they kept as much of the original as possible. On one side of the nave the high pillars still appeared original, but the other side was new. Inside the church, hundreds of terra cotta figures, dating from the Middle Ages, are around the walls. It is believed that there were originally 1,000 of them.

Tomorrow we are off to Tallin, where the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt lives for about half the year. (He lives in Berlin the rest of the year).

Fri 26 and Sat 27 July - leisurely look around Pärnu and off to Tartu

musicaladventures — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 14:31:00 GMT

Yesterday we took it easy and spent time wandering around Pärnu some more. We sat in a couple of lovely parks and also visited a market. The market was very low key by comparison with Riga's huge market in the Zeppelin Hangars. We walked along the river but it also was very ordinary. The nicest parts of Pärnu are the old town, the parks and some of the inner residential areas which have lovely wooden and stone houses, with very high pitched roofs. There was one for sale not far from our hotel and I was curious to find out what it was like inside and how much it cost. We walked past it many times and on one occasion it was open for exhibition but unfortunately they were closing it when we got there. Oh well - we didn't get to find out. Rob thought I might be tempted to buy it! It certainly would have made a nice B and B. Rob hurried me along before I had a chance to make a last minute dash into the house.

As we were walking back to the hotel lots of cars drove past honking their horns. The first car was decorated with flowers and ribbons, so it was obviously a wedding. There were about 30 cars in the procession all with the same colored ribbons tied to the radio antenna. They all charged through a big intersection with five streets coming into it, and one poor sod had to sit there in his car for about 10 minutes before he could cross the intersection.

Today we set off to catch the coach to Tartu. The trip passed through lots of little towns and villages as we drove from the west to the east of Estonia. Along the way, people got on and off the coach, but the whole process was much more orderly than what we experienced in Latvia. The driver on the coach in Latvia was like a cranky pants with most of the local passengers, however today's driver was very calm and accommodating to everyone.

The countryside is lush and green, and as flat as Latvia, with only one very slight hilly area. The trip took about three and a half hours, and was very relaxing. As we came into Tartu, we drove through sprawling suburbia and past big shopping centres etc. Both of us realised we had forgotten how big Tartu is by comparison to Pärnu. Tartu has Estonia's second largest population. We were deposited at the bus station and made our way to our hotel. Before too long we crossed over from the new part to the old part of Tartu via expansive pedestrian streets and it was like another world. There are many attractive buildings and floral displays and parks. Our hotel is right in the centre and is another quaint hotel, like our one in Parnu. Our view consists of roof tops, which contrasts with the garden views of the Pärnu hotel. It is right opposite the Tartu University main building which is reported as being one of Estonia's finest neo-classical buildings.

We went to the supermarket in search of a few provisions, including milk for cups of tea, and some bottled water. The fridge in our hotel is not very cold, so we thought we had better buy a small carton of milk rather than a large one, and replenish it each day so it stays fresh. This all turned out to be a bit of a funny saga. The first supermarket we went to, was a very nice (and quite expensive) shop. We found a small carton of milk but the water was three times the price we had been paying, so I refused to buy it. Off we went to the second supermarket, which had the cheap water but not the small carton of milk. Rob picked a carton but I wasn't convinced it was milk, as the words on the carton were different to what our dictionary said. Despite all my protestations about buying this carton of liquid to put into our tea, Rob insisted on buying it. We went back to our hotel to have our cuppa and as soon as Rob poured the substance out of the carton into the tea, it curdled and smelled odd. I thought it might have been sour cream but as we have wifi in the hotel, I immediately searched for an explanation of what we had bought and it turned out to be a European fermented drink! Whereupon I was saying words to the effect of 'I told you I didn't think it was milk and you wouldn't listen to me!' Rob tipped it down the sink and we went out again to buy proper milk this time! instead of trapzing back to the expensive supermarket we went to a mini supermarket nearby, and found exactly what we wanted, and went back to the hotel to have that much needed cuppa!

Wed 24 and Thurs 25 July - exploring Pärnu

musicaladventures — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 03:14:00 GMT

The last couple of days, we have taken it easy, just wandering around Pärnu. The old town is lovely and at this time of year there are lots of floral displays everywhere.

There is a Tallin Gate, not far from where we are staying, on the way to the old town. This is the only trace of the 17th century ramparts that protected Pärnu at one time. Until 1710, when Swedish rule came to an end it was known as Gustav's Gate, named after King Gustav of Sweden.

During our wanderings, we visited St Elizabeth's Church, which was founded as a Lutheran church in 1747 by the Russian Empress Elizabeth, but is now a Protestant church. The information we have, says that the organ was built in 1929. When we entered the church we noticed 2 organs rather than one. There was a really modern looking organ with pipes built around a circular window, which an organist was playing when we entered the church. I have just trawled through google and found that the new organ was built in 2010. There are occasions when both organs are played simultaneously, during performances with orchestra and choir. It must sound wonderful.

We also visited the Town Hall, which is a strange mixture, consisting of the original building dating back to 1797, and an Art Nouveau extension, built in 1911. The original building was very attractive, whilst the extension was very dark and not at all in keeping with the original. I don't understand what they were thinking when they built that extension!

We visited St Catherine's Orthodox Church which was built in 1768 during the reign of Russia's Catherine the Great. The outside was quite impressive but the inside was very small. Restoration work is currently underway and there was scaffolding inside, which rocked from side to side as a workman did his restoration work. It didn't look at all safe!

There is a new concert hall in Pärnu which was built in 2002. We just missed some concerts we would have liked to hear, and there aren't any more scheduled while we are here. We had a look inside, before setting off through more parkland.

Pärnu has a beach which is about a kilometre from our hotel. It is a sandy beach, but there were absolutely no waves to be seen! On our approach to the beach, there was a sign warning people that they might see nudists on the beach! Today the nudists must have decided it was too chilly for a sunbake or a swim as there were none to be seen.

Last night there was an outdoor pop concert in the grounds of our hotel, and another one is starting now as I type. Both are in complete contrast to the fantastic concert we heard on our arrival!

Tues 23 July - off to Pärnu and an unexpected musical adventure

musicaladventures — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 17:22:00 GMT

This morning we bid farewell to Riga again and caught the bus to Pärnu, Estonia. This was no ordinary bus - it was a Lux Express bus with first and second class seats. Every seat had TV monitors with movies etc plus wifi, GPS tracker, power sockets for every seat, and complimentary hot drinks etc. We treated ourselves to first class because it wasn't expensive. Second class had two seats together on either side of the aisle, and first class had one seat each side and lots more leg room. All the seats were leather and very comfortable. First class had reclining seats as well. It was a very nice trip for 2 and a half hours. On the way out of Riga we drove through an area of beautiful homes with lake views. Once we left suburbia, the countryside was very flat and we drove through lots of forests. We skirted around the Baltic coastline and past a number of lakes. When we crossed the border from Latvia to Estonia, they still had the original disused passport control points. Crossing the border here, brought feelings of entering another country, which you don't often experience in Europe these days, since the borders are pretty much much invisible now.

I decided to watch a movie during the trip and it was hard to make a choice because all you could do was to select what kind of movie you wanted to see (e.g. Comedy, drama etc). I chose comedy and there were half a dozen movie titles listed but no description of the plot or the cast. I chose one called The Big Year and it turned out to have Steve Martin in it and it was a hilarious idiotic movie about bird watchers (which they call birdies) gallivanting all over the world by various means, trying to see as many bird species as possible, and competing with each other to see the most number of birds! Enjoyable light hearted fun to watch.

We arrived in Pärnu and walked to our hotel, through some lovely streets in the old town, with shops and cafes then past beautiful homes. The hotel itself is a lovely quaint building set attractive gardens. It was built in 1905 and is reported to be one of the most impressive examples of Art Nouveau architecture in the country. Over the years it has been used as a casino, health establishment and a library, before being converted into a hotel.

We went up the steps with our cases and we thought we had come to the wrong entrance because there was a concert about to start in a lovely open foyer with stairs and balconies upstairs, which looked over the foyer. In fact, we had come to the right entrance, and the nice man checked us in within two seconds flat, and the concert started as he helped us up to our room. We heard the first 2 pieces while we were up in our room (because we left the door open and the sound wafted up) and decided to hurry downstairs to listen to the music. We stayed for the rest of the concert. It was a program of Handel, Telemann, Purcell and others, with a harpsichord, cello, viol, violin, two different flutes and recorder and a soprano singer. Different combinations of the instruments were used in the various pieces, with the harpsichord playing in all pieces.

The concert was a wonderful way to begin our time in Pärnu, and it was had a similar feel to the Bush Baroque concerts, that we have been involved with many times. Bush Baroque is the inspiration of good friends of ours in Australia, who host the concerts in their country home and are enjoyed by many people. The concert today had an audience of about 80, most of which were in the foyer and some were upstairs in the balcony. We tried three different spots during the concert and got the best of all aspects.

After the concert we ventured back into town to explore and have some dinner.

Sun 21 and Mon 22 July - last day in Liepāja then back to Riga

musicaladventures — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 06:31:00 GMT

The last two days haven't been very eventful. Yesterday we walked off the beaten track to see more of the waterfront in Liepāja. On the way, we passed lots of wooden homes that don't rate a mention in the tourist blurbs, but a lot of them were nicer than those that the tourists see in the main streets.

We had a few tram rides on their old trams (we love any excuse to catch trams). Aside from this, we didn't really do much else. My sore foot was still bothering me, but I have soldiered on regardless.

Our hotel where we were staying, was full of character and set in lovely gardens, and with the seaside park just on the other side of the road. We spent some time sitting in a gazebo and admiring the garden. There were lots of facilities for parties and children and later in the day, we saw a party going on.

Today, we went off to catch the bus back to Riga, where we are staying for one more night before heading off to Estonia. The buses are big coaches and most people have reserved seats but the bus stops quite a lot along the way, to pick up or set down passengers and the bus fills up with passengers standing up for long distances. The trip lasts for nearly 4 hours and some people stood for over an hour. It seemed rather odd that they would allow so many standing passengers on a long distance bus. The trip went very smoothly until our final approach into Riga. There were major road works going on, and the traffic was banked up for a long way. Our driver was excellent and he handled it very well. Other drivers were not so patient - several cars mounted the kerb and drove along the footpath, in order to jump the queue! Their strategy worked but they probably upset a lot of people in the process. With all the delay, our bus was over an hour late getting into Riga!

We aren't staying in the old town tonight, as we thought we would stay closer to the bus station, for our trip tomorrow. We went out for a spot of dinner then returned to the room and turned on BBC World to see what was happening with the Royal birth and we saw the live announcement and all the fanfare that resulted. I was really hoping the baby would be a girl, since they had changed the rules for succession to the throne, but this wasn't to be. Maybe next time, when this new baby fathers a child in the future!

Sat 20 July - more exploring in Liepāja

musicaladventures — Sun, 21 Jul 2013 02:38:00 GMT

Liepāja can certainly be described as a city of contrasts. Today, we went from one extreme to the other!

Our hotel is not far from the beach. You can't see the beach from the hotel but you can walk there in about 10 or 15 minutes. You walk through a leafy green park, with lots of walkways and bike paths, and it feels like another world. The paths lead you to the beach which has lovely soft white sand. Today was cool and windy, so nobody was swimming but on a good day, lots of people must take advantage of the good waves and soak up the sun.

After visiting the beach we continued walking through the park and past some lovely old wooden homes and a bathhouse with large columns on its facade. These date back to the early 20th century, when Liepāja was a health resort.

We continued our walk along a walking trail through town to see various buildings along the way. Some were in much better condition than others, and we continued to encounter extensive road and pavement works going on everywhere. We finished our morning by walking along the canal which serves as a small port.

We had a bus ride to Karosta which is a neighborhood in the north of Liepāja. Karosta was a military harbour built by the Russians during the late 19th century. It used to house 40,000 personnel. Today, it is described as like a ghost town, with lots of unoccupied buildings. The main attraction there is St Nicholas Orthodox Church which, strangely enough, was used as a gym and a cinema by the Soviets. It is now a working church again. The church is situated in a very odd environment, surrounded by thousands of what look like run-down government flats. We found this very strange. The old military prison is also a main attraction and has been preserved and is now a museum. We didn't visit the prison but apparently visitors can be locked up for a few hours or overnight and be yelled at by the guards!

Friday 19 July - exploring Liepāja

musicaladventures — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 01:51:00 GMT

Today we walked around town slowly, with me hobbling with one very bruised foot.

We had a look at St Joseph's church. It was a very dark - in fact, too dark to really see it properly. We then went onto Holy Trinity Cathedral. It was very light inside! It also houses a mechanical organ, which was the world's largest until 1968. The organist was practicing when we got there, so we sat for about half an hour to listen to the music. Unfortunately there is also restoration work going on in the cathedral, and a builder was constantly using a saw or drill, which made it hard to listen to the music properly. Goodness knows how the organist managed to practice under those circumstances.

After a spot of lunch, we walked past one of the oldest 17th century buildings. Russia's Tsar Peter I stayed there in 1697. It wasn't exactly a prepossessing looking building. Perhaps the Tsar was trying to be in cognito when he stayed there.

On our way to the market square, we visited St Anne's Basilica. This is the oldest church in Liepāja - first mentioned in documents in 1508. It has a very elaborate altar built by a wood carving master in 1697. Unfortunately no photos were allowed and we couldn't get close to it. The organ is the third largest in Latvia, after the organs in Holy Trinity Liepāja, and the Dom Cathedral in Riga.

We wandered through the markets, which sold lots of fresh produce and had the most fabulous flower market.

After this, we bought a few provisions and hobbled back to the hotel to rest and to escape the cold blustery weather which was significantly worse this afternoon than it was this morning.

Thurs 18 July - off to Liepāja

musicaladventures — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 04:49:00 GMT

This morning got off to a bad start because I kicked my little toe on the leg of the bed and it really hurts! Hopefully I haven't broken it - I taped it up with a bandaid and am hoping for the best. Rob provided plenty of sympathy!

We said good bye to our hotel in the centre of Riga and caught the taxi to the bus station to catch our bus to Liepāja. We were nice and early for the bus, which we always like to be. The trip took about 3 and a half hours from Riga (including stops). Liepāja is on the west coast of Latvia, on the sea. It is Latvia's third biggest city. The countryside along the way was very flat.

My foot was aching, from the whack I gave it this morning and it really started to hurt once we got off the bus and were standing up. We couldn't see any taxis anywhere, so walked to our hotel. We had planned to walk anyway, but I was thinking 'ow, ow, ow' with every step! The walk was not straightforward, as they are doing a lot of road and footpath maintenance everywhere, so this presented challenges along the way. We finally made it to the hotel. I took some much needed Panadol and put more band aids on then we set off to the supermarket to buy some salad to eat in the room for dinner. Hopefully a rest will make my foot a lot better for tomorrow's exploring of the town.

Tues 16 and Wed 17 July – Day in Riga and Day trip to Rundāle Palace

musicaladventures — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 05:02:00 GMT

Tues 16 - Yesterday we had more of a look around the old town of Riga. In one of main squares there is beautiful ornate building with a restored façade, called the House of Blackheads. It was originally built in 1334 for the city’s guilds. Over time, the blackheads, a guild of unmarried foreign merchants became the sole occupants. Their name derives from their patron, St Maurice (who was often depicted as a Moor) and they were known for their riotous parties. The façade includes an astronomical blue clock. The building was devastated by bombing in 1941 and the Soviet authorities demolished the remnants 7 years later. The current structure now dates from 1999. In its past, the composers Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt visited the original building which included a concert hall.

We saw the changing of the guard outside Freedom Monument, which was a very understated affair. We have never seen any guards standing so still as these ones were. We walked to the Opera House which is a very impressive building with large columns, and the most wonderful flower beds out the front.

The rest of the day was pretty much just wandering around, and looking at a couple of shopping areas. For any young lady who wants to buy clothes, bags, shoes etc, the Galleria shopping centre is the place to visit. We really needed to stoke up our batteries, as we are still trying to shake off the last of the colds, so we took it easy. We decided to visit St Peter’s church to go up the tower to see views over Riga. However by the time we got there, it was threatening rain and the clouds were getting a bit dark. As it happened, we stumbled across a rehearsal for a concert being performed by a youth orchestra. They were absolutely wonderful. We listened for the best part of an hour then went back to our hotel, deciding to postpone the tower till tomorrow.

Wed 17 - Today we had a tour guide take us to Rundāle Palace, which is over an hour’s drive from Riga. The palace was built in two periods, from 1736 to 1740 and from 1764 to 1768. It is considered to be one of the finest palaces in the Baltic region. The palace suffered damage during the 20^th century and the rooms have served as government offices, an elementary school and a granary. Restoration began in the Soviet era in 1972 and is still in progress. On top of the palace, on one of the chimneys, a family of storks has built a nest. They come back every year to the same nest! There are extensive gardens around the palace, with wonderful roses (including rose bushes dating back to around the early 1800s. The rose gardens reflect one of the rooms in the palace called the Rose Room, which has some beautiful floral motifs of roses on the walls and the ceiling. The gardens have been recreated from the original plans (which we saw today) and were to include three fountains but at this stage, there is only one fountain and two ponds. The interior has been restored as close to the way it was. There are two Dutch fire stoves which are original but the others are recreations. The gold hall and the white hall were the grandest rooms in the palace. We saw similar stoves in the palaces in St Petersburg. Some amazing restoration work has been done on the parquetry flooring, which had suffered lots of damage and now are back in original condition.

On the way back to Riga, we visited the ruins of the Bauska castle, which stands on the narrow peninsula at the confluence of Mūsa and Mēmele the rivers where they form the Lielupe river. It is a 15^th century castle, and when you climb up to the top of the tower, you have lovely views over the area.

The tour guide we had was very interesting and told us lots of interesting things about Latvia, including information about the economy, salaries, employment etc, and funny stories about Latvian life and the ways people try to get the most for their money, (especially when purchasing things such as fuel or alcohol, which is mostly cheaper across the border). Latvia is part of the European Union and will be adopting the Euro from January 2014. They currently use the Latvian Lats, with 1 Lat equalling about 1.50 Euro. People are a bit afraid that everything is going to cost more once they move to the Euro but the Government are apparently being firm about businesses keeping their prices the same after the conversion.

After returning from the tour, we went off to St Peter’s church and did actually go up the tower this time, to see the views, and it was well worth it. We have found Latvia to be very flat, apart from the area around Sigulda which we visited a couple of days ago. Finally we went to S John’s church and it just so happened that the organist started rehearsing music, so we sat down and listened. It was a fabulous sounding organ and we were so pleased we heard it. We were so intent on the music that we didn’t realise the lady was locking up the church, and when we got up to leave, she had to fossick through a bag to find keys to unlock multiple doors to let us out the back. At least we didn’t have to sleep the night there!

Tomorrow we are off to Liepāja (pronounced differently to the way it appears). I looked up the pronunciation on Google before we set off to the bus station to buy our tickets, so I got the pronunciation right! Ordinarily, we would walk to the bus station with our bags as it is not very far, but the extremely uneven nature of the cobble stones, plus having to go up and down steps, and across tram lines to get to the bus station, didn’t sound like a very desirable option - so we have ordered a taxi instead (very unusual for us).

Sun 14 and Mon 15 July – More in Riga and day trip to Sigulda and Krimulda

musicaladventures — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 04:33:00 GMT

Yesterday was a bit of a laid back day, starting with doing a spot of washing at a Laundromat which Rob had sussed out on the internet before we left Australia. While the washing was going around and around, we went to a Church nearby and sat in on their service. The organ was playing and the choir was singing. The choir was up in the gallery so we couldn’t see them, but most of the choristers sounded like teenagers, and sang very well. The service was fairly low key, with a smallish congregation, but the church was lovely.

We spent the afternoon doing some lovely walking across the wide river which has several bridges across it. It was rather hot in the sun but we ducked into the shade whenever we could. We decided to catch one of their old dual set trams back to near the central produce market in the old Zeppelin hangars, instead of walking back. Before coming to Riga we had found out the ticket prices for tram rides and had our money ready to pay, but there was nobody on board to take our money and we could only see electronic scanners for those who had electronic tickets. Oh well, we did try to pay but managed to have a free ride.

Today we did a trip to Sigulda on the train. The diesel train was very old and had about 5 or 6 carriages. The tickets on the train here are very cheap, with a one way ticket only costing the equivalent of about $3 for a trip of over an hour. Mind you, the quality of the ride left something to be desired. The carriage shook quite a bit when slowing down and the suspension of the train appeared to need restoration, however the seats were very comfortable. We arrived in Sigulda then caught a little old mini bus to Turaida to visit the Turaida Museum Reserve (the most visited museum site in Latvia). The Reserve is a heritage site of 42 hectares of grounds, with archaeological, architectural, historical and art monuments, all of which provide an account of the events from the eleventh century onwards. The main site we went to see was the old Turaida castle, which was originally built in 1214 and burnt down in 1776 but the original medieval structures are preserved in the basement and ground floor levels. The castle tower is still pretty much intact and the ruins of the old castle have been preserved. The Turaida Church was also worth a visit – built in 1750 and it is a timber building with a lovely baroque spire. Turaida is a very beautiful area and so green and lush, with lots of lovely flowers.

We caught another little bus to Krimulda, only 5 minutes away, to see the ancient castle and manor. We went past the old castle ruins, then got off the bus and walked to the old Krimulda manor and estate. Whilst it was interesting, the whole site was looking rather shabby and needs a lot more care and restoration, which the authorities are aware of. We caught a cable car over the Gauja River Valley. We saw scenic views of the surrounding forests, running down to the river. The cable car went down into the valley, then up again to Sigulda. From the cable car stop in Sigulda, we walked back to the train station, through what they call the Walking Stick park, which has lots of highly decorated walking sticks, which creates lots of fun for kids. Walking-stick Park was established in 2007 and is dedicated to a symbol of Sigulda – a walking stick. For more than 200 years, locals have been making sticks for tourists and this tradition is still lives today.

We rattled and shook our way back on the train to Riga. All in all, it was very nice relaxing day.

Sat 12 July – Walking around the old city of Riga

musicaladventures — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 03:35:00 GMT

Riga, Latvia, was founded in 1201, and has some wonderful old building in the centre of the old town, which have stood the test of time. St Jacob’s Cathedral, which was sited outside the old city walls, was built in 1225, to serve the surrounding villages. St Jacob’s is a beautiful building inside – two toned brick and plaster, and beautifully preserved. The Dome Cathedral, by contrast, was very austere and needed some upkeep! Apparently the interior décor was destroyed during the reformation, which is why it is so plain now. They are restoring the organ, which has taken some time and is nowhere near finished yet. We had originally thought we would go to an organ recital in the Dome Cathedral but when we saw the small part of the organ that appeared to be operational, we changed our minds.

We saw Riga’s oldest stone residential building, dating back to the 15^th century, and the sign over the door indicated it was originally owned by a baker. We walked through the Swedish Gate, which is the sole remnant of 8 city gates and was built in 1698 during a period of Swedish rule. There is a cylindrical powder tower which is all that remains from a total of 18 towers that were once part of the city’s defences. Its 14^th century foundations are among the oldest in the city but the rest of the structure was built in 1650, being rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Swedish army in 1621.

We walked past a building called the Cat’s House, which was rather amusing. It had two feline statues high up on the roof top at either end. The story goes that before world war one, a merchant who owned the building was refused entry to the Great Guild because he was Latvian and membership was reserved for Germans only. In retaliation he put two statues of black cats with arched backs and tails up – onto the roof, positioning them so that their backsides faced the Guild Hall. After a lengthy court battle, the merchant eventually gained entry into the Guild and turned the cats around!

We went out of the old town, moving towards the city area and saw the Laima Clock and the Freedom Monument. The Laima Clock was erected in 1924 with a practical purpose: to help inhabitants of Rīga come to work exactly on time. In 1936 the clock was decorated with the name and logotype of the country’s largest confectionery manufacturer, ‘Laima’. After the World War II, the clock was used for displaying political information. In 1999, the Laima Clock was fully renovated and returned to its look of the 1930s. The Freedom Monument, which is a very imposing high structure, was built to honour soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence, but these days it is considered an important symbol of sovereignty of Latvia, the unity, independence and freedom of the Latvian people.

We visited the Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. The Cathedral is the biggest Orthodox church in the city. Having served as a planetarium and a restaurant during the Soviet Era, the building has been completely restored as a church and holds regular Orthodox services. It was absolutely spectacular inside but we couldn’t take any photos. It would have made an excellent planetarium, but we are glad it is now a functioning church again!

There are some lovely parks around that area, which were lovely to walk through. Later in the afternoon, we visited the Central market, which is housed in 5 disused Zeppelin hangars, plus the surrounding outdoor areas. It is predominantly a food market, with everything from millions of strawberries and cherries and other fresh fruit etc, to fish, cheese, meat, nuts, cake, dried fruit, etc etc. It is one of Europe’s largest markets. A food shopper’s paradise!