Musical Interludes - Noble Caledonia

History and Music Under Sail
The Summer Palace at Peterhof, St Petersburg
Join us for a journey of history, art and music
in the Baltic aboard the magnificent Sea
Cloud II one of the largest fully rigged threemast
sailing ships ever built for passengers.
The Baltic is to Northern Europe what the
Mediterranean is to Southern Europe. So, at
the height of summer where better to
explore under sail than on a journey that
begins in St Petersburg, taking in the most
interesting and important places around the
Baltic before sailing across to Dundee.
Bordered by many countries vying for
commercial and political influence, the
Baltic’s long history makes a fascinating study
as we visit the major cities of this almost
enclosed inland sea. With our guest speakers
and local guides we can see how in the
Middle Ages it was dominated by German
merchants, who formed the Hanseatic
League. This afforded a protection for their
ships as they traded in salted herring and cod
from Norway and Iceland, copper ore from
Sweden, timber and furs from Russia and
Poland, as well as hemp, honey and amber. In
the ebb and flow of history the Russian
Empire later became a more dominant
political force and Sweden a more dominant
trading nation, only to see the rise again of
Germany in the last fifty years and the
breakup of the Russian Empire in the events
of the early 1990s.
Planning an itinerary for a sailing ship is
somewhat different to conventional cruising
as an important aspect is the time given over
to sail. Unpredictable winds mean allowances
have been made, after all the whole point of
joining a vessel such as Sea Cloud II is to have
sufficient time on board and at sea to
experience the joy of being under sail. So,
with this in mind the itinerary includes more
time than usual at sea.
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ABOARD SEA CLOUD II
WITH PETER WARWICK
& HUMPHREY BURTON
9th to 23rd July 2014
in the Baltic
The Itinerary
Day 1 London Heathrow to St Petersburg, Russia. Fly by scheduled flight.
Arrive in the afternoon and transfer to Sea Cloud II. Welcome drinks and
dinner onboard. Moor overnight.
Day 2 St Petersburg. We will begin our exploration of St Petersburg with a
morning city tour which will take us on a drive past many of the fine
aristocratic palaces and noble buildings including the splendid St Isaac
Cathedral and the St Peter & Paul Fortress. Return to Sea Cloud II for lunch and
enjoy an afternoon at leisure either onboard or exploring St Petersburg
independently. After an early evening meal onboard, we drive to the
magnificent Yusupov Palace for a private visit. Once the home of Prince Felix
Yusupov, the palace has been recently refurbished and now includes a
theatre. A guided tour of the palace where Rasputin met his end will be
followed by drinks and canapés and a performance by London Festival Opera.
Day 3 St Petersburg. This morning we drive out to Peterhof, where a series
of terraces bright with gilded animated fountains lead to the palace built by
Peter the Great on the edge of the Gulf of Finland. After touring the grand
palace and park, return to the vessel for an early lunch. The afternoon will be
devoted to the Hermitage, a great treasure house of art and history,
containing some of the finest European paintings, amassed by Catherine the
Great, as well as the Impressionists collected by the Russian merchants in the
early 20th century. Sail in the late afternoon.
Day 4 Helsinki, Finland. Spend a relaxing morning and arrive in Helsinki
during lunch. We shall moor close to the city centre and explore Helsinki by
foot. Visit the colourful Market Square, the President’s Palace, the impressive
architecture of Senate Square including the Lutheran Cathedral of Finland
and Uspenski Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Church with its striking onion
domes. Take advantage of the long northern evening light with a pre or post
dinner walk. Sail in the late evening.
Day 5 Tallinn, Estonia. This historic maritime city completed its city walls in
the 16th century and the Old Town within these walls is one of the
best-preserved from the Middle Ages. Tallinn is dominated by Toompea
Castle, once a fortress, and now the seat of the Estonian parliament. It is set
high on a steep hillside overlooking the city and the Baltic. Afternoon at sea
• Dundee
N O R T H
S E A
UNITED
KINGDOM
NORWAY
Lillesand
•
Skagen•
DENMARK
Copenhagen•
Stockholm
•
GOTLAND
SWEDEN
Visby•
BORNHOLM
ISLAND
B A L T I C S E A
Gdansk •
POLAND
FINLAND
Helsinki •
St Petersburg•
GULF OF F INLAND
•
Tallinn
ESTONIA
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
RUSSIA