Russia, Moscow and St. Petersburg

George has returned from a trip to Russia with Svetlana.

George visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. With an overall height of 103 metres (338 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world. It is built on the site of the former world's largest outdoor swimming pool The Moscow Pool. In February 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission from the Soviet Government to rebuild the cathedral and in 1994 the pool was demolished and the cathedral reconstruction commenced.

In St. Petersburg George saw the cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church the Kazan Cathedral or Kazanskiy Kafedralniy Sobor, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, probably the most venerated icon in Russia. The construction was started in 1801 and took ten years to complete. The interior features numerous sculptures and icons created by the best Russian artists of the day and a wrought iron grille between the cathedral and a small square behind it is often cited as one of the finest.

Here George is enjoying the view of the roof tops of St. Petersburg from his apartment.

Poland, Elbląg

Elbląg, Poland, August 2013

George went to Elbląg in Poland with Vibeke and Julie.

Elbląg is a medieval town and the focal point of the old part of the city is the St. Nicholas Cathedral, a 13th-century Gothic church, that was established in circa 1247, the church became Lutheran in 1573. It was damaged by fire in the late 18th century and suffered damage during the World War II. It was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1992.

The centre of Elbląg has cobbled streets and a lot of medieval buildings.

The centre piece is an old tram. Obviously George had to check it out. The history of the trams in Elbląg goes all the way back to 1895. Currently there are 5 lines with a total length of 32 km, and 74 trams.

George went inside to get a closer look.

There are quite a few statues in the city.

Parts of the old city wall can still be seen and in this photo George is watched by Julie.

Denmark, Majestic Maersk

Majestic Mærsk Triple-E, Copenhagen, September 2013

George was fortunate enough to get a second visit to the Maersk Majestic Triple-E container ship. This time with Vibeke.

In this photo you really see the sheer size of the vessel. The hull of the Triple-E is more like a U-shape compared to traditional container ships. An additional row of containers has been added to the Triple-E, giving it 23 rows across its width.

Majestic Mærsk Triple-E, Copenhagen, September 2013

George joined Neil, Bjarne, Lennart and Ole for a grand day out.

They went to see the world's largest ship, The Triple-E Mærsk Majestic, that had anchored at the Langelinie quay in Copenhagen.

The ship is massive. It sails between Asia and Europe. With a draft of 14.5 metres (48 ft), the Triple-Es will be too deep to use any port in the Americas or to cross the Panama Canal, but will be able to transit the Suez Canal when sailing between Europe and Asia.

George walked the almost 400 metres from the bow.

and all the way to the stern. These vessels reduce CO2 emissions by 50% per container moved, compared to industry average on the Asia-Europe trade.

There is a fantastic view from the bridge, where you can see the rooftops of Copenhagen. The capacity of a Triple-E vessel, 18,000 TEU, will also be a new world record. 1 TEU (The twenty-foot equivalent unit) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals.

George feeling at home with a fantastic prize! - George knows at least of one person who would love to win it.

George on the edge...

Here George is in the captain's seat.

Denmark, LEGOLAND

LEGOLAND, Billund, September 2013

George joined Sigfus, Trond and Madeline for a weekend at the Hotel LEGOLAND.

George was welcomed by his old friend and cyborg Darth Vader at the entrance.

George attended the Leg og lær-course (Play and learn) at LEGOLAND Hotel & Conference

The centrepiece in the reception of the hotel was Ollie the Dragon and here they are reenacting the old tale about Saint George and the Dragon.

After the course George went for an evening stroll in LEGOLAND, where he saw the new Legends of Chima diorama.

George also visited the Crocodiles in Chima

He went to see The Kennedy Space Center that he has visited in Florida as well.

After a good night's sleep George again visited LEGOLAND. Here he is having his photo taken at a classic spot.

He saw the Atlantis section and here he is 'under water'.

He also saw the Adventure's section and helped the explorer decipher the hieroglyphs. The writing on the pyramid does not spell "George was here" but "Kilroy was here"

Italy, Sicily

Sicily, September 2013

George has returned from a fantastic holiday to the island of Sicily with Nele and Jesper.

The holiday started in Palermo where they visited the church San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St. John of the Hermits).

The church dates back to the 6th century. It has been extensively modified during the centuries, but a restoration held around 1880 attempted to restore its original medieval appearance.

In the town Cefalù George climbed the head shaped rock outside the town that probably gave the town it’s name. Cefalù translates to head.

George stayed in Cefalù until sunset.

- Getting the right George angle is important!

This time it resulted in this Halo George photo that has been promoted to cover photo for George’s facebook page LEGO George Travels.

They went to see the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Tindari. The statue, which is of Byzantine origin, was smuggled out of Constantinople in the 8th and 9th Centuries when a storm forced the ship into the port of Tindari. She now sits behind the altar with the inscription “nigro sum sed formosa” (black am I, but beautiful). Local legend tells that the lagoon was created after a pilgrim who came to see the Madonna refused to pray to the Madonna because she was black. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean just behind and the Madonna made the land rise to save the baby. Even the sands have taken shape of the profile of the Madonna.

George visited Taormina from where he could see Mount Etna. Mount Etna is a 3,323m active stratovolcano. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.

Here George is leaning against some volcanic rock in front of the latest eruption’s lava stream that took away a restaurant that was right in the centre of this photo. Numerous villages and small towns lie around or on cones of past flank eruptions. Since the year 2000, Etna has had four flank eruptions—in 2001, 2002–2003, 2004–2005, and 2008-2009. Summit eruptions occurred in 2006, 2007–2008, January–April 2012, and again in July–October 2012.

When on Sicily do like the Sicilians – a Corleone wine.

Indonesia, Borneo

Borneo, September 2013

George has visited Borneo with Jørgen. Borneo is the largest island of Asia and is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world.

He started out in China Town in Singapore.

George then took a longboat into the rainforest.

George dipped his feet in the river and was well treated by the small garra-rufa fish, that nibbled his feet. The fish is nicknamed Doctor Fish.

George passed a Malay fishing village that was built on stilts right on the river bank.

George went deep into the jungle and found the head hunters' longhouse.

George was at a plantation where pepper was grown.

George visited the Taman Negara National Park and avoided getting attacked by the wild animals.

George went trekking and followed the Santubong Jungle and Summit Trek and made it to the top of the Santobong mountain 800 metres above sea level, where he had a great view of the jungle.

From the summit George enjoyed the view of the South China Sea.

Brunei

Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, Sept. 2013

George has been fortunate to get a tour of Brunei with his friend Ben.

They went to see the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. The royal Islamic mosque is located in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the Sultanate of Brunei. The mosque is considered one of the most beautiful mosques in the Asia Pacific and a major landmark of Brunei. The mosque is built in an artificial lagoon on the banks of the Brunei River at Kampong Ayer, the "village in the water".

George at the Kampung Ayer, the Water village is an area of Brunei's capital city Bandar Seri Begawan that is situated after the Brunei Bay. 39,000 people live in the Water Village. This represents roughly ten percent of the nation's total population. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River.

George visited the magnificent Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, which is considered one of the grandest monuments to Islam in the region. It is known locally as the Kiarong Mosque as it is situated in Kampong Kiarong, a few kilometres from the capital. The mosque was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne, and was officially opened on the 14th of July 1994, so it is fairly new.

George went to see the e-Government of Brunei. E-Government describes the use of technologies by the government to help the citizens, business and even government employees in their access of government services and information. In the e-Government vision, the public can submit their applications electronically via the Internet and mobile phones, available 24 hours a day. This minimises the time spent queuing and submitting forms at government buildings. The services delivered must be easy to use, navigate and most importantly intuitive.

George went to the Prime Minister's office, where he had a meeting at the Prime Minister.

George also attended a royal ceremony at the Royal Palace Istana Nurul Iman. The name Istana Nurul Iman means Palace of the Light of Faith. Upon completion, Istana Nurul Iman, became the largest residential palace in the world and the largest single family residence ever built. The palace contains 1,788 rooms, which includes 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall that can be expanded to accommodate up to 5,000 guests and a mosque accommodating 1,500 people. The palace also includes a 110-car garage, an air conditioned stable for the Sultan's 200 polo ponies, and 5 swimming pools. In total, Istana Nurul Iman contains 20,000,000 m² (21,152,782 square feet) of floorspace.

Here George is checking out the menu.

And at the dinner with the Royal family George enjoyed the beautiful plates

George had enjoyed his visit to Brunei. It had been a some long busy days and on the way home George needed to refuel.