My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
25 Jul 2012
It's Too Hot, So Here Are Some Beach Photos
The title pretty much says it; summer is doing a guest visit, and as usual, really shows off. 30°C is not my favourite temperature, nor do I like the increasingly high humidity.
The Baltic coast at the Curonian Spit
It was hot, too, when we visited the Curonian Spit, but water on both sides made it bearable. The beaches facing the Baltic Sea are lovely, and only so full of people as in the photos when a tourist group arrives, or during high summer. The beaches at the German coasts are a lot more crowded in summer. Though I still have happy childhood memories of our holidays there.
Another beach shot
Too bad there wasn't enough time to take a swim. Sure, the water was still cold in May, but if I want a warm bath, I can fill up my tub. *grin* Right now I may fill said tub with cold water, though.
A different angle
And as usual, when the weather is too hot ro work, there's a lot of extra work to do. Why didn't that happen last week when it rained more than anything else? Well, at least I'm not the only one being behind updating her blog. ;)
Evening at the beach
When we sailed along the coast of the Curonian Spit in the evening, a light fog came up that made for a melancholy atmosphere. The changing moods are one of the things I love about the sea.
Sunset at the Lithuanian coast
And then the clouds decided to add some nice effects to the sunset that night (it still happened later than in Germany though there was some actual night, other than in St.Petersburg).
Now I hope the heat and the work will lessen next week. :)
Read more! ¶ July 25, 2012 7 comments
The title pretty much says it; summer is doing a guest visit, and as usual, really shows off. 30°C is not my favourite temperature, nor do I like the increasingly high humidity.
It was hot, too, when we visited the Curonian Spit, but water on both sides made it bearable. The beaches facing the Baltic Sea are lovely, and only so full of people as in the photos when a tourist group arrives, or during high summer. The beaches at the German coasts are a lot more crowded in summer. Though I still have happy childhood memories of our holidays there.
Too bad there wasn't enough time to take a swim. Sure, the water was still cold in May, but if I want a warm bath, I can fill up my tub. *grin* Right now I may fill said tub with cold water, though.
And as usual, when the weather is too hot ro work, there's a lot of extra work to do. Why didn't that happen last week when it rained more than anything else? Well, at least I'm not the only one being behind updating her blog. ;)
When we sailed along the coast of the Curonian Spit in the evening, a light fog came up that made for a melancholy atmosphere. The changing moods are one of the things I love about the sea.
And then the clouds decided to add some nice effects to the sunset that night (it still happened later than in Germany though there was some actual night, other than in St.Petersburg).
Now I hope the heat and the work will lessen next week. :)
Read more! ¶ July 25, 2012 7 comments
13 Jul 2012
St.Petersburg - Impressions from the Neva River
A smaller ship like our cruise ship has a few advantages, among them the fact that the ship could get closer (in)to the towns than the big monsters that have to stay in the larger outer harbours. So she sailed up the Neva to anchor directly in town. That will make for a little series of photos.
Cranes in the inner freight harbour
I took those photos when the ship left St.Petersburg - with an extra swing towards the first of the bridges that connects the Vasilyevsky Island with the mainland to the south. There had been a thunderstorm in the morning after a hot day before, and towards the evening, the clouds started to let up, though they still were pretty impressive. I liked the surrealistic look of the cranes against the sky.
Annunciation Bridge, with St.Isaac's Cathedral in the background (mainland side)
Above is a view of the Blagoveshchensky Bridge (Annunciation Bridge, for those who don't want to get a knot in their tongue by pronouncing Russian, lol), the first of the bridges that span the Neva, coming from the direction of the Bay of Finland. The second bridge in the background is the Palace Bridge, and the golden cupola belongs to St.Isaac's Cathedral.
Annunciation Bridge, on the Vasilyevsky side
The Annunciation Bridge has been renovated in 2007 when it also got its current name; before it had been known as Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge. Both bridges are drawn up for some hours every night to let transport vessels pass; thus effectively cutting Vasilyevsky Island off the mainland. This can end in a not so nice surprise for those who missed the time to cross; they'll get stuck until about 5 o'clock in the morning.
The Vasilyevsky side of the Neva
The southern embarkment of the river - on the Vasilyevsky side - has some of the oldest houses in St.Petersburg (early 18th century). The canals and streets on this part of the island show a regular, square pattern that indicates a town planned on the drawing board.
The four masted barque Sedov
Another pretty sight was the four-masted square rigged barque STS Sedov; a training ship for cadets of the Russian navy. She was just preparing for a voyage around the world and would leave two days later.
The Sedov against the Vasilyevsly skyline
The ship has an interesting history. She was built in Germany in 1921 as Magdalene Vinnen (later Kommodore Johnsen), a freight carrying sailing ship. After WW2 she came to Russia as war reparation and was renamed Sedov, after the Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov who had died on an expedition in 1914. She served as sail training vessel of the Soviet Navy until 1957, then she was used as an oceanographic research ship until 1966. In the following years, the old lady was only infrequently used until she got overhauled in 1981.
Mary's Annunciation Church on the Vasilyevsky side, seen thrugh the rigs of the Sedov
The Sedov participated in windjammer races during Soviet times and won a number of prices. After the independence of Latvia, she got transfered from Riga (her home since 1982) to Murmansk.
Cranes in the freight harbour
Let's come to some geological details: The Neva is only 74 km long, running from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, but its water discharge puts it at place three after the Volga and the Danube. The river is navigable throughout and part of the Volga-Baltic waterway which already the Vikings used.
View over the Neva from the Peter and Paul Fortress
The water flow from Lake Ladoga to the Neva is pretty consistant all year round, so the floods that so often hit St.Petersburg are caused by the inflow of the Baltic Sea during storms. The Neva freezes from December to mid-April, in summer the temperature peaks at 17-20°C.
View from the Stock Exchange place to the Peter and Paul Fortress
The last steps in the formation of the river were the glaciers of the last Ice Age and their retreat which caused the Littorina Sea to form, 7-9 metres above present sea level. A wide strait between the delta and the future Lake Ladoga was covered by water. But the land around the lake rose faster and thus a closed reservoir developed (the race of seal particular to Lake Ladoga is a witness from that time). The rising level of the lake flooded a moraine ridge and ran into the valley at the Ivanovo rapids, the modern Neva with its tributaries Tosna and Mga formed about 2000 BC. The average decline of the river is 4.2 metres.
View from the Stock Exchange to the Palace Embankment
The development of St.Petersburg altered the hydrological network of the delta. The town was founded in 1703. The swampy terrain was not the best place to build a town, but Tsar Peter the Great wanted a Baltic Sea harbour. Tons of earth had to be moved which was used to raise the city; countless timber posts had to be dug into the ground, and canals had to be built for drainage. When the work was completed, the delta of the Neva consisted of 48 canals and rivers, and a hundred islands. Some of the canals were filled in over time so that today only 42 islands remain. A tour through the canals is one of the nicest ways to explore St.Petersburg.
View towards the Eremitage
The area belonged to the realm of Veliky Novgorod, also known as Holmgård in the Norse sagas, since the 9th century; a time when the population was a mix of Slavic and Scandinavian elements, the latter ruling as the Rurikids. Several Norse kings spent a time of exile in Novgorod.
Novgorod had access to the rivers leading south via the river Volkhov / Lake Ilmen, while the route via the Neva / Lake Ladoga went further east; both made Novgorod a trade centre in the Middle Ages. The Hansa League erected their own depedance or kontor, the 'Peterhof', in 1192, thus making the place one of the earliest parts of the rising trade net.
Sunset over the palace embankment
Quarrels and outright war with the Swedes were almost a constant feature of the area. In 1240, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich won a great battle against them which earned him the name Alexander Nevksy; he still features as popular Russian hero. Later, during the Great Northern War 1700-1721, Peter the Great would integrate the lands around the Neva into the Russian Empire and found the town named after him.
White nights at the Neva, with the golden spike of the Admirality in the background
St.Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire in 1712. It was renamed Leningrad after the revolution and suffered a devastating siege during WW2 which was only broken in January 1944. After the glasnost, it regained its old name St.Petersburg. But the white nights at the Neva never changed.
Read more! ¶ July 13, 2012 0 comments
A smaller ship like our cruise ship has a few advantages, among them the fact that the ship could get closer (in)to the towns than the big monsters that have to stay in the larger outer harbours. So she sailed up the Neva to anchor directly in town. That will make for a little series of photos.
I took those photos when the ship left St.Petersburg - with an extra swing towards the first of the bridges that connects the Vasilyevsky Island with the mainland to the south. There had been a thunderstorm in the morning after a hot day before, and towards the evening, the clouds started to let up, though they still were pretty impressive. I liked the surrealistic look of the cranes against the sky.
Above is a view of the Blagoveshchensky Bridge (Annunciation Bridge, for those who don't want to get a knot in their tongue by pronouncing Russian, lol), the first of the bridges that span the Neva, coming from the direction of the Bay of Finland. The second bridge in the background is the Palace Bridge, and the golden cupola belongs to St.Isaac's Cathedral.
The Annunciation Bridge has been renovated in 2007 when it also got its current name; before it had been known as Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge. Both bridges are drawn up for some hours every night to let transport vessels pass; thus effectively cutting Vasilyevsky Island off the mainland. This can end in a not so nice surprise for those who missed the time to cross; they'll get stuck until about 5 o'clock in the morning.
The southern embarkment of the river - on the Vasilyevsky side - has some of the oldest houses in St.Petersburg (early 18th century). The canals and streets on this part of the island show a regular, square pattern that indicates a town planned on the drawing board.
Another pretty sight was the four-masted square rigged barque STS Sedov; a training ship for cadets of the Russian navy. She was just preparing for a voyage around the world and would leave two days later.
The ship has an interesting history. She was built in Germany in 1921 as Magdalene Vinnen (later Kommodore Johnsen), a freight carrying sailing ship. After WW2 she came to Russia as war reparation and was renamed Sedov, after the Arctic explorer Georgy Sedov who had died on an expedition in 1914. She served as sail training vessel of the Soviet Navy until 1957, then she was used as an oceanographic research ship until 1966. In the following years, the old lady was only infrequently used until she got overhauled in 1981.
The Sedov participated in windjammer races during Soviet times and won a number of prices. After the independence of Latvia, she got transfered from Riga (her home since 1982) to Murmansk.
Let's come to some geological details: The Neva is only 74 km long, running from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, but its water discharge puts it at place three after the Volga and the Danube. The river is navigable throughout and part of the Volga-Baltic waterway which already the Vikings used.
The water flow from Lake Ladoga to the Neva is pretty consistant all year round, so the floods that so often hit St.Petersburg are caused by the inflow of the Baltic Sea during storms. The Neva freezes from December to mid-April, in summer the temperature peaks at 17-20°C.
The last steps in the formation of the river were the glaciers of the last Ice Age and their retreat which caused the Littorina Sea to form, 7-9 metres above present sea level. A wide strait between the delta and the future Lake Ladoga was covered by water. But the land around the lake rose faster and thus a closed reservoir developed (the race of seal particular to Lake Ladoga is a witness from that time). The rising level of the lake flooded a moraine ridge and ran into the valley at the Ivanovo rapids, the modern Neva with its tributaries Tosna and Mga formed about 2000 BC. The average decline of the river is 4.2 metres.
The development of St.Petersburg altered the hydrological network of the delta. The town was founded in 1703. The swampy terrain was not the best place to build a town, but Tsar Peter the Great wanted a Baltic Sea harbour. Tons of earth had to be moved which was used to raise the city; countless timber posts had to be dug into the ground, and canals had to be built for drainage. When the work was completed, the delta of the Neva consisted of 48 canals and rivers, and a hundred islands. Some of the canals were filled in over time so that today only 42 islands remain. A tour through the canals is one of the nicest ways to explore St.Petersburg.
The area belonged to the realm of Veliky Novgorod, also known as Holmgård in the Norse sagas, since the 9th century; a time when the population was a mix of Slavic and Scandinavian elements, the latter ruling as the Rurikids. Several Norse kings spent a time of exile in Novgorod.
Novgorod had access to the rivers leading south via the river Volkhov / Lake Ilmen, while the route via the Neva / Lake Ladoga went further east; both made Novgorod a trade centre in the Middle Ages. The Hansa League erected their own depedance or kontor, the 'Peterhof', in 1192, thus making the place one of the earliest parts of the rising trade net.
Quarrels and outright war with the Swedes were almost a constant feature of the area. In 1240, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich won a great battle against them which earned him the name Alexander Nevksy; he still features as popular Russian hero. Later, during the Great Northern War 1700-1721, Peter the Great would integrate the lands around the Neva into the Russian Empire and found the town named after him.
St.Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire in 1712. It was renamed Leningrad after the revolution and suffered a devastating siege during WW2 which was only broken in January 1944. After the glasnost, it regained its old name St.Petersburg. But the white nights at the Neva never changed.
Read more! ¶ July 13, 2012 0 comments
12 Jul 2012
Theodor Fontane, Gorm Grymme, 1864
Here's another translation of a ballad by Theodor Fontane. He not only liked Scottish subjects but took up the occasional Scandinavian (hi)story as well, like this tale about Gorm the Grim, better known as Gorm the Old (Gorm Gamle), a king of Denmark.
(The German original can be found in the comments)
King Gorm rules over Danemark;
He's ruled for thirty years.
His mind is sound, his hand is strong,
But white has turned his hair.
White are his bushy eyebrows now
That silenced many men.
An irate look he oft assumes;
They call him Gorm the Grim.
Reconstructed Viking ship, Roskilde
And the Jarls held feast at Jul's high time;
Gorm Grymme sits in the hall
And beside him on her bone carved chair
Sits Thyra, Denmark's pride.
Quietly, they hold each other's hand
And look in the other's eye;
There is a smile in both regards -
Gorm Grymme, what softens your mind?
Down the hall and near the gate,
Long curls are flying wild.
Young Harald plays with stick and ball,
Young Harald, their only child.
His frame is slender, blond his hair,
His tunic golden-blue.
Young Harald has seen fifteen years,
And both parents love him true.
Oseberg ship, Viking Ship Museum Oslo
They love him both, but foreboding
Darkens the noble Queen's heart.
But Gorm the Grim points t'wards the gate,
To Young Harald he extends his hand.
He stands to speak, his crimson cloak
Slides softly to the ground,
"Whoever tells me he is dead
Will die this very hour."
Another view of the Oseberg ship
And moon's times pass. Snow melted long,
And summer came as guest.
Three hundred longships set to sea,
Young Harald stands by the mast.
He stands by the mast and sings a song
Unitl the wind lifts it off,
The last sail vanished beyond the horizon;
Gorm Grymme followed its trail.
And moons did pass. Grey autumn day
Lies over sound and sea;
Three ships sail slowly homeward way
With tired rowmen's beat.
Black are their pennons; on Brömsebro Moor
Lies Harald in his blood. -
Who dares to bring the king this news?
Not one man was so bold.
Gokstad ship, Viking Ship Museum Oslo
Queen Tyra walks down to the sound,
She had just seen the sails.
She says, "and if your courage fails,
I'll tell him of this tide."
She lays aside her gemstones fair
And the coral rings and straps.
A robe she dons of deepest black
And strides into the hall.
Into the hall. Along pillar and wall
Hang golden tapestries;
Black curtains now with her own hands
Drapes all across the queen.
She lits twelve candles; their flick'ring light
A sombre glow but give.
And she spreads a weaving black and tight
Over the chair of ivory.
Remains of a sunken Viking ship, Roskilde
Enters Gorm Grymme with trembling gait,
He walks like in a dream.
He stares along the hall, black-veiled;
The candles he barely sees.
He says, "the air is sweltry here,
I'll go to sea and strand;
Give me my cloak of red and gold,
And then lend me your hand."
She handed him a fine-made cloak
That was not gold nor red.
Gorm Grymme said, "what no one dared,
I will speak: he's dead."
Gorm Grymme sat down where he stood;
A gust swept through the house.
Queen Thyra held her husband's hand,
The candles all blew out.
A dragon head from a ship prow (Viking Museum Oslo)
We know but little about King Gorm. He died in 958/59 according to dendrochronological dating of his burial site, and he erected a rune stone - the smaller Stone of Jelling - for his wife Thyra, Pride of the Danes (Danebod).
Historiographic evidence by Snorri Sturluson (Heimskringla, about 1230) says that Gorm was a son of Hardaknut who first conquered Denmark (or more likely, what today is Jutland), that he had at least two sons, Knut and Harald - later known as Harald Bluetooth - and a daughter, Gunhild, who married Erik Bloodaxe. Knut must have died rather young because his brother inherited their father's lands alone, but he left behind a son, Harald the Golden, named so for the riches he gained in his Viking excursions. Gorm also survived his wife, else he would not have made a runestone in her memory.
There is a legend that Gorm swore an oath to kill whoever brought him the news of his son Knut's death and that Thyra managed to make him guess the sad news himself by hanging the hall with black cloth. But the legend is not, as some websites say, to be found in the Heimskringla. I found a version in Charles Morris' Historical Tales ('Gorm the Old', vol. 9, 1908), he may have used the same sources as Fontane.
Read more! ¶ July 12, 2012 4 comments
Here's another translation of a ballad by Theodor Fontane. He not only liked Scottish subjects but took up the occasional Scandinavian (hi)story as well, like this tale about Gorm the Grim, better known as Gorm the Old (Gorm Gamle), a king of Denmark.
(The German original can be found in the comments)
King Gorm rules over Danemark;
He's ruled for thirty years.
His mind is sound, his hand is strong,
But white has turned his hair.
White are his bushy eyebrows now
That silenced many men.
An irate look he oft assumes;
They call him Gorm the Grim.
And the Jarls held feast at Jul's high time;
Gorm Grymme sits in the hall
And beside him on her bone carved chair
Sits Thyra, Denmark's pride.
Quietly, they hold each other's hand
And look in the other's eye;
There is a smile in both regards -
Gorm Grymme, what softens your mind?
Down the hall and near the gate,
Long curls are flying wild.
Young Harald plays with stick and ball,
Young Harald, their only child.
His frame is slender, blond his hair,
His tunic golden-blue.
Young Harald has seen fifteen years,
And both parents love him true.
They love him both, but foreboding
Darkens the noble Queen's heart.
But Gorm the Grim points t'wards the gate,
To Young Harald he extends his hand.
He stands to speak, his crimson cloak
Slides softly to the ground,
"Whoever tells me he is dead
Will die this very hour."
And moon's times pass. Snow melted long,
And summer came as guest.
Three hundred longships set to sea,
Young Harald stands by the mast.
He stands by the mast and sings a song
Unitl the wind lifts it off,
The last sail vanished beyond the horizon;
Gorm Grymme followed its trail.
And moons did pass. Grey autumn day
Lies over sound and sea;
Three ships sail slowly homeward way
With tired rowmen's beat.
Black are their pennons; on Brömsebro Moor
Lies Harald in his blood. -
Who dares to bring the king this news?
Not one man was so bold.
Queen Tyra walks down to the sound,
She had just seen the sails.
She says, "and if your courage fails,
I'll tell him of this tide."
She lays aside her gemstones fair
And the coral rings and straps.
A robe she dons of deepest black
And strides into the hall.
Into the hall. Along pillar and wall
Hang golden tapestries;
Black curtains now with her own hands
Drapes all across the queen.
She lits twelve candles; their flick'ring light
A sombre glow but give.
And she spreads a weaving black and tight
Over the chair of ivory.
Enters Gorm Grymme with trembling gait,
He walks like in a dream.
He stares along the hall, black-veiled;
The candles he barely sees.
He says, "the air is sweltry here,
I'll go to sea and strand;
Give me my cloak of red and gold,
And then lend me your hand."
She handed him a fine-made cloak
That was not gold nor red.
Gorm Grymme said, "what no one dared,
I will speak: he's dead."
Gorm Grymme sat down where he stood;
A gust swept through the house.
Queen Thyra held her husband's hand,
The candles all blew out.
We know but little about King Gorm. He died in 958/59 according to dendrochronological dating of his burial site, and he erected a rune stone - the smaller Stone of Jelling - for his wife Thyra, Pride of the Danes (Danebod).
Historiographic evidence by Snorri Sturluson (Heimskringla, about 1230) says that Gorm was a son of Hardaknut who first conquered Denmark (or more likely, what today is Jutland), that he had at least two sons, Knut and Harald - later known as Harald Bluetooth - and a daughter, Gunhild, who married Erik Bloodaxe. Knut must have died rather young because his brother inherited their father's lands alone, but he left behind a son, Harald the Golden, named so for the riches he gained in his Viking excursions. Gorm also survived his wife, else he would not have made a runestone in her memory.
There is a legend that Gorm swore an oath to kill whoever brought him the news of his son Knut's death and that Thyra managed to make him guess the sad news himself by hanging the hall with black cloth. But the legend is not, as some websites say, to be found in the Heimskringla. I found a version in Charles Morris' Historical Tales ('Gorm the Old', vol. 9, 1908), he may have used the same sources as Fontane.
Read more! ¶ July 12, 2012 4 comments
