Travel/Scandinavian Cruise Part II: A feast for the eyes and stomach – Champaign/Urbana News

By LAWSON LAU

Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Fish are jumpin’, or, more accurately, are a-fryin’ in the kitchens on our 11-day Scandinavia/Russia cruise on the Regal Princess.

Food, fun; food, gym; food, snooze; food, family; food, excursion into town to taste local dishes. It really doesn’t get too much better than this.

After Oslo, Norway; Warnemunde, Germany; and Tallinn, Estonia, we anchored in St. Petersburg, Russia, for a couple of days before heading for Helsinki, Finland; then Stockholm, Sweden; and finally returning to Copenhagen, Denmark.

War and peace in St. Petersburg

From the St. Petersburg excursions offered, we chose to visit Catherine Palace, Peterhof Palace and Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, as well as go on a St. Petersburg River and Canal cruise.

Catherine I of Russia commissioned the building of a summer palace in the 18th century that is named after her. Its grandeur gives a glimpse into her power and extravagance. Statues adorn the outside of the pastel-blue building with a formal garden on its grounds. More than 200 pounds of gold were used for the facade and statues. More gold was used in the formal dining rooms. Displays of Chinese porcelain and silk attest to Russian-Chinese ties.

World War II, however, saw the German occupation of the area. When the Germans retreated, they looted the palace of whatever the Russians were unable to evacuate before the invasion and then set it on fire. Paintings depicted the destruction. Painstaking restoration took place over the decades.

Russian czars had a penchant for building palaces. Hence, Peterhof Palace was started during the reign of Peter the Great and completed after his death in 1725. Ornate fountains, a canal, formal gardens and statues render it a picturesque spot for wedding photos.

Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, with its distinctive colorful Russian domes and scenes taken from the Bible, stands as testimony to a distant time in Russia when Christianity was vibrant in its land and its emperors and tsars built cathedrals. “Spilled Blood” refers to the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in 1881. The church was built on the spot where he was murdered.

Stern-looking palace staff ensure that tourists do not step out of line. Nevertheless, there was a glimmer of wry humor when we went on a canal cruise with multiple low-hanging bridges. A sign stated, “Dear Guests! There are 500 bridges in St. Petersburg. But You have only one head. So be careful.”

The Church in the Rock

Many of the cathedrals we visited were once vibrant centers of worship; now, they are largely tourist sites in an increasingly secular Europe. One exception is the Lutheran Church in the Rock, or Temppeliaukio Church, in Helsinki, Finland, that opened in 1969.

Its services were well attended. It accommodates 750 people. A major tourist attraction, it’s also used for concerts and weddings.

In contrast to the architecture of the cathedrals, the Church in the Rock was excavated out of, yes, rock. Hence, it is built in rock, as well as on rock.

It was summer, but Helsinki is near the North Pole. To experience winter in summer, we opted for the Winterland Ice Bar. A highlight for us was a family ride in a sled pulled by a couple of huskies.

Exploring Sweden

As for Stockholm, Sweden, our final city, we decided to explore it on our own. We went on a walking tour on a warm, sunny day, mingling with throngs of people, especially at lunch hour.

We, however, did not have time to take advantage of an offer: “The city of Stockholm welcomes you to fish her waters free of charge. Every year, anglers catch hundreds of salmon and sea trout.”

Life aboard the Regal Princess

A missionary friend from New Zealand loved to pun. Eyeing the last piece of morsel on a plate in a Lazy Susan at a Chinese wedding dinner, he said with a grin, “If no one else wants it, I’ll let it go to my waist.” “Waist” is a homonym for “waste.” I did a Santa Claus response: “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

A superabundance of food was present 24/7 throughout the cruise, and wastage was not uncommon. “The eyes,” so goes a Chinese saying, “are bigger than the stomach.” I tried not to waste food, although “it was paid for.”

Just once, I downed two entrees and two desserts. (“You could have three or four entrees and desserts if you wish,” egged on our poker-faced waiters; theirs is not to reason why, but to serve and watch the ecstasy and agony.) Food is weighty stuff, and it was a tad difficult to rise from my seat when the plates were finally polished off.

Many activities were available on board, such as learning how to dance; watching movies on a gargantuan screen on the deck either in sunlight or under the wide and starry skies; swimming or frolicking in the pool; giving away money in the ravenous, cavernous casino; shopping for souvenirs; reading in the library or on deck; drinking at the bars; luxuriating in the spa; and burning calories in the gym or walking/jogging deck.

Besides our stomachs, our eyes and minds and spirits feasted on vivid snapshots of the past and present in these European cities. It was a veritable cornucopia of sights, sounds and smells; of stories of heroism and deprivation; and of family.

Lawson Lau was a journalist and magazine editor, an officer in the military, and taught business English and humanities at three colleges. He is the pastor at All Nations Baptist Church in Mahomet.