From sunny Hammerfest we sailed for 19 hours to reach Murmansk, different in every way. Murmansk is a young city, founded in 1916 to become a harbor receiving war supplies from the Allies as they attempted to keep Russia in the war against Germany. Thanks to the Gulf Stream Murmansk is ice free year round, making it a great harbor. And, if you look at the Russian map you'll see that it lacks for warm weather ports, particularly for such a large country.
The night before, leaving Hammerfest. The sun never really sets at this latitude and time of year.
Beautiful Murmansk. Almost seems like pulling into the yacht harbor in Monaco, rows of apartment buildings going up the hillside.
Soviet era railway station. Everything is Soviet era, since the Soviet revolution occurred just after the founding of the city.
Apartment buildings everywhere.
First stop -- Museum of the Northern Fleet. Didn't really want to visit this, but it was the only tour that was available and going off at a reasonable time. Our first, pre-registered choice, didn't leave until 6pm.
The museum was mostly dioramas, pictures and models.
A guide explained that this was a "Photoshopped" picture.
One room celebrated the merchant convoys of WW2 arriving in Murmansk and Archangel,. PQ-17 was the most famous for its horrific losses. Note how far north the convoy ran, trying to stay away from German planes and submarines. (Mermansk at red flag on map)
The outside of the museum. Everything in the city looked like it was in great need of refurbishment. The inside was dark and dingy, peeling paint and old cigarette smell.
Next up, a monument to the soldiers of WW2 at the Aloysha monument.
Very tall -- look at the people at the base
Our ship in the beautiful harbor. Bright sunny day.
Soviet era pigeons still around.
Monument to those who stay behind.
Savior on Waters Church.
This "lighthouse" is the symbol of the city, but it's just a building that serves no function.
The nuclear powered Kursk sank in 2000. This is the recovered conning tower, a memorial to submarine crews.
Another apartment building.
The northern most McDonalds in the world. We tried to get the bus driver to go through the drive-through, but it turns out that they don't have drive throughs in Russia.
City park
8 degrees Celsius at 5:19pm.
We passed this on the return to the ship. Seemed like a fitting ending to Murmansk.
The night before, leaving Hammerfest. The sun never really sets at this latitude and time of year.
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