Ferrying around the Balmy Baltic to Russia

Frankly, I never would have expected that the Baltic could be balmy, but to my great and happy surprise the whole area was last week!   Clear blue skies, with full sun and temperatures hot enough for sleeveless, even in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Ferrying has got to be the best way to get around the Baltic sea to visit the various major ports of call.  Though I love cruising,  I really wanted to take more time in each city visited to soak up the prevailing energy, without rushing around to see the major points of interest.

Another factor was being able to investigate the culinary scene, which is one of my passions.  As usual, I always start any trip planning by scrutinizing the restaurants that would reflect the best of that region’s foods.

Scandinavia and the Nordic capitals area are striving to really develop the unique glories of their various cuisines.   Emphasis on using only locally obtained products was very pronounced in Stockholm and Tallinn, Estonia.

I flew into sunny Stockholm and started by Baltic journey by staying on a boat hotel, that had just been retired from daily trips to the Finnish islands.    It was parked alongside the bank of Stockholm’s old town, which has kept for the most part the cute nordic flavor of colorful pastel painted houses with their pointed roofs with the curl on top.

I found the Swedes to be in general much more laid back, and less rushing about than the French, especially Parisians.   Additionally,  I am always amazed by their ability to speak such fluid  english, and like the Dutch, it is impeccably spoken with very little accent.

I had chosen a restaurant, Kryp In, that offers reindeer, and I was blown away by the quality and taste of the meat.  The chef had gently roasted the loin of reindeer to a rosy  pink and served it with a lingonberry sauce along with creamed pumpkin and horseradish mashed potatoes.

I was so impressed with the meal and his homemade dark rye bread, that I stopped by to chat with the chef afterwards, with him graciously giving me the recipe in Swedish.

A new taste treat for me was sea buckthorn ice cream, which is made from the bright golden berries that are indigenous to the Baltics.  They are more sour than the red lingonberry and are often used to flavor various desserts.

The following evening, we then embarked upon our first over night ferry belonging to the Silja Tallink LIne, heading towards Tallinn, Estonia.  The golden sun was setting as we slowly sailed past multiple vibrant green little islands of the Swedish archipelago.

The fresh sea air was wonderful to breath and revitalizing on the sun deck, so much that I stayed out till the last rays disappeared below the horizon.  Though it was hot during the day, as soon as the sun went down, the coolness  took over in minutes, which I had never experienced before.

I thought about the dark winter days here , where the sun might only show its face for 30 or so minutes.  Most Scandinavians admitted it was difficult to live through, with one saying that “light is life”, a profound statement of multiple dimensions and truth.

Though I do not expect much from cruise fare, the Silja Tallink Line put on an absolutely wonderful Scandinavian buffet with some of the best smoked salmon and gravlax that I have ever tasted with mounds of  lumpfish caviar, marinated mussels,  along  with small nordic shrimp that were juicy and sweet.  That was just their seafood offerings and one could easily made a sumptuous meal just from that!

Additionally was some wonderfully flavored rare roast beef with several decently executed sauces .   The salads and vegetables were all first rate, as well as the delightful dark breads .  Bright red lingonberries, raspberries and  deep colored blueberries with sour cream rounded out my meal.

Bright blue skies welcomed us in the morning to Tallinn, Estonia.  As we penetrated into the rather small walled in medieval town, I felt I was entering into another time.

As I have by now seen quite  few of medieval cities, Tallinn is by far the cutest and most colorful.   Pastel blues, yellows, greens, and apricot colored houses, snugly adjoining each other perched on large uneven cobblestones that made for treacherous walking.

Besides falling in love with the dark and dense molasses tasting bread, which is one of Estonians greatest pride, I was also very impressed with the cuisine in the two restaurants I went to, Rataskaevu 16 and Leib Resto ja Aed.   Both of them were intent on using only local products, be it eggs, cheese, meat and greens. Leib chef’s homemade rhubarb schnapps was a taste sensation.

One I had chosen for trying the elk loin, again accompanied by a lingonberry sauce., which was lovely, but had a more earthier flavor than the reindeer.  Sea buckthorn flavored deserts were snatched up with delight, as I doubt I will encounter them in France. .

Estonian dark rye bread is so substantial that is makes up as a meal.  Small triangles of the bread were fried, then rubbed with fresh garlic, and served with a dill and garlic sauce that proved to be addictive! Extra cloves of garlic garnished the plate just in case if you felt in need of some more!

Estonia is famous for their woolen knits and their very long sweater wall is where I  have never seen so many sweaters, hats, mittens and dresses in any one place, all with the colorful Estonian motifs.  I ended up not buying one, perhaps because the choices were overwhelming.

Free entertainment was the rather scruffy looking Lyre player who had an icon of Mother Mary on his chest and a twinkling merry smile.  Candied almonds in all flavors made in huge copper cauldrons were delicious!

What I did walk away with was a huge round load of their delicious bread and Estonian cosmetics that were all made with local ingredients, including sea buckthorn at very reasonable prices.  I would have loved to have taken along some of the most vivid colored flowers, I have ever seen!

It was a quick 3 hour ferry to Helsinki, finland, since Helsinki is only 50 miles north of Tallinn.  I spent most of the day admiring their several ports, having a lovely smoked salmon sandwich with dill overlooking one of their harbors..  I hardly ever drink beer, but was intrigued by one with a hefty price of 8 euros! It turned out to be a deliciously dark brew with a melting bitterness, which went perfect with the dark bread, and dilled salmon.

We boarded another overnight ferry that evening from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg, Russia .   Saint Peters Line, a Russian ferry line, is the only ferry that sails into Saint Petersburg.

Other than listening to a very talented classical piano player in the lounge, I can’t say anything  complimentary about the food, nor the cabin.  I choose this ferry because it is the only way to enter Saint Petersburg and Russia without a visa, for up to 72 hours, which made it worthwhile despite the rather dismal food at inflated prices.

An hour before we were due to arrive in Saint Petersburg, the ship was already sailing past one cargo ship after another parked in the most vast port arrangements I have ever seen in my life.  It was impressive to see those miles and miles of port surrounding the city, making Saint Petersburg, Russia’s  gateway city to the west and an initial window into the power and strength of Russia.

As the first Byzantine doomed churches came into view, I felt a sense of unreality, as I had never before traveled to Russia.  I have always been intrigued by her passionate writers, poets and of course the magnificence of Russian ballet.

I had been introduced and seduced by the portraits of Saint Petersburg as described by Leo Tolstoy in his massive novel War and Peace.  Walking around the city however , I felt a lot of unsettling energy that left me feeling somewhat uneasy.

Was it the fact that I grew up in the cold war era, or was it the devastating loss of life that is interlaced in her history?  The hundreds of  peasant serfs who died building the city for Peter the Great in 1703.

Perhaps it was also the cruelty of the Bolshevik revolution and unimaginable loss of life during the Nazi siege of the city, starving over two million  residents. I am very sensitive to those sort of tragedies as if the stones are still weeping.

Saint Petersburg was for me a city of strong cultural contrasts.  The opulent and majestic cathedrals that dotted the city were like life savers that perhaps preserved the Russian soul during the dark years of Soviet reign.

On the outskirts were the vast and depressing cubicle shaped housing, at one time lauded by Lenin for their communal kitchens, and living areas that robbed one of any individuality. Then there are pockets of the richest and most beautiful of all imaginable dwellings such as the Hermitage Museum, the Peterhof and the Winter Palaces.

After visiting Catherine’s Summer Palace, about 30 kilometers away from the city, I had a feeling about what started the Bolshevik revolution.  This sumptuous gorgeous palace , that defies describing with simple words, was built through siphoning off monies not only from the state, but through”donations” from the many nobles of that  time.

The Tsars Romanov certainly wanted to outdo Versailles and if one weighed all the gold leaf that predominates every single room, I would say they succeeded!  Mind you, that this tremendous costly palace was used only for the summer months, which in Saint Petersburg is an awfully short season.

Given all the riches that surrounded the struggling poor during the Tsars reign, it is not surprising that a upheaval was ripening under the Tsar’s nose, with enough hatred to fuel the bloody revolution.   When the divide between the have it all folks and the have-nots grew to such a striking distinction, one can easily see how the revolutionary match was lit.

The Hermitage was a true feast for my eyes and I wished I could come back often, as like the Louvre, it is impossible to see in a day or even two.  The building was part of the Tsars palace and just the ultimate baroque decoration itself, was nothing short of spectacular and immense beauty in each room, in addition to the wonderous works of art, some of which will be shown in another post, as this one is already to long!

The Tsars were heavily influenced by French culture and the court and nobles were said to  prefer to speak in French on social occasions.  Not surprising then the signature dish of Russia, beef straganoff was created by a french chef.

Traditional Russian foods ,be it  stroganoff, chicken Kiev, borsch, or blinis have been easy for me to do myself, so I was not really interested in eating these traditional foods here.  Instead I wanted to divulge in Georgian foods, which I find more complex and interesting.

Soon after arriving to the first Georgian restaurant, we were pulled into dancing to traditional folk music by fellow women, one of whom turned out to be a delightful friendly Russian expat living in Kansas, who was visiting her mother. For her, life was understandably easier in America, but she missed the emotional soul of Russia.

It was only recently that Putin lifted the ban on Georgian wines, which I found to be primal with a fruity earthiness and smoky after taste.   The famous cheese bread, called khachapuri and the Kharcho and eggplants, both made with crushed walnuts was outstanding and served to prime my desires to visit this mysterious country that reportedly is  the cradle of wines.

My parting thoughts was that mother Russia seems to being doing fine economically, from just my small window of observation.  Prices are very inflated in hotels and restaurants and for the most part, people looked well dressed, except store windows displayed rather matronly looking garb in comparison to Parisian stores.

The hotel proprietor Andrei, who was very warm and friendly, said Saint Petersburg has only about 60 sunny days in a year with a cool rainy September, and yet we were lucky enough to have enjoyed crystal clear blue skies with full sun for three! I hope to return there to see more of the Hermitage and to have more time to stroll around the city gardens and canals.

The last overnight ferry back to Helsinki provided me with enough time the next day to  meander around the open food market on the port before the flight back to Paris.  As seen in the photo, there were literally mounds of  glorious bright red and blue berries galore. The  golden ones are sea buckthorn.

I bought a liter of lingonberries for only 2 euros, and a liter of chanterelle mushrooms for 3, both of which are  real steals considering how expensive things are in Finland.  A large bunch of fresh dill, along with an expensive lettuce was perfect for my envisioned dinner that night that I would carry home.

Paris welcomed us back  in all her beauty with thick grey clouds and drizzle.  As I usually do to prolong any vacation, I fixed up my treasured buys for several dinners with a  Scandinavian spirit.

The dill was scattered on smoked salmon I had left over in the frig .  It tasted wonderful with the cremant from burgundy, (a sparkling wine that can rival champagne) that I intently left chilling, purposefully awaiting my return!

My grilled quail was rosy and succulent with the lingonberries.  Last night a great free range yellow chicken that is one of the glories of France was roasted to a juicy perfection and served with a lemon dill cream sauce, garnished with those impeccably fresh chanterelle mushrooms sautéed with a touch of shallots, garlic and more dill!

The expensive Finnish lettuce dressed in my vinaigrette, was sprinkled with croutons made from the rye bread saved from the  Finnair flight.    Some likewise leftover sheep milk’s cheese went wonderful with the luscious dark Estonian bread that I wished I had carried more home.

The lingonberries were paired with pears to make my delicious cobbler, only lightly sweetened with sugar so as not to overwhelm the taste of the berries.

I only wish the Baltic sun had followed me home, but was  immensely grateful to have been lucky enough to be there during their last warm spell of the season.  I will have to await another time to experience the white nights in July, and celebrate the summer solstice there!