Although Russia certainly welcomes tourists (and their dollars
and euros), their visa rules are still a bit stringent. And visas are
expensive. It is nearly impossible to simply wander on your own to all the
major sights. The easiest and safest (and cheapest) way to get a visa is by
being on an organized tour. So we contracted ahead of time with Alla Tours, a local
private company for a full two-day tour of many of the signifiant sites in and
around the city. It was a good choice.
After clearing immigration, we met our tour guide for the next
two days outside the cruise terminal. We were on a minibus with 10 others from
the ship. A much nicer size than the full size bus tours from the ship. Our
guide was a young northern looking blond named Paulina. She did a very good
job.
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| Kazan Cathedral |
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| Farmers Market |
We first drove into St Petersburg and around the city a little.
We were given a quick introduction to city life by a visit to a market, which
was mostly like a indoor farmers' market. Following that was a stop at a
Russian Orthodox church with a service in progress. It is Sunday. But we
couldn't understand any of the sermon in Russian.
The St Petersburg subway system is known as an especially
beautiful one. The stations are very deep with what may be the longest
escalators we had ever seen. They are tastefully decorated in an artistic
manner. We rode only a short distance between two stations just for the
experience.
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| Astoria Hotel (in Russian) |
Today was Founders Day, the anniversary of the founding of the
city. Many squares and streets were closed for planned festivities. Our next
goal, St Isaacs Square and Cathedral was certainly no exception. Our driver had
a hard time navigating the area. One building on the square that caught our
attention was the Astoria Hotel. (Jen is right. You can never get completely
away from Astoria.)
We drove along the Neva River on Vasilievsky Island. From there
we could see the Hermitage museum which was our next destination. We had
tickets for an early entrance before the museum is open to the general public.
It is an incredible collection of art, most of which there is not room to
display. And it began as the private collection of Catherine the Great. We
spent about two and a half hours in the museum.
Lunch was at a local restaurant across Palace Square from the
Hermitage to sample local food. I think the wait staff knew no English, so
there were no explanations of what was served. There was a salad, and then
soup, followed by what I think was stroganoff. The food was pretty good and
it's always good to eat local.
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| Lunch: Stroganoff (?) |
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| The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood |
After lunch the next stop was another church, The Church of Our
Savior on the Spilled Blood. The church is named for the place of the
assassination of Czar Alexander the II in the middle ages. The exterior is
extremely brightly colored and has many domes. The interior has beautiful
mosaics ( much of them gold) on the walls and ceiling.
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| Low Bridge(s) |
Since St Petersburg is built on several islands along rivers and
canals, it is sometimes known as the Venice of Russia. So we took a river boat
cruise. We went along several canals and rivers and under many low bridges,
ending in the Neva River, the main river of the city. It is always an interesting
perspective to see a city from the water.
We made two more sight-seeing stops after the cruise. The first
was at Yusopov Palace, famous as the place where Gregory Rasputin was murdered.
(It's a bit amazing how many places are associated with someone's murder or
death.) And the final stop of the day was at St.Peter & St. Paul Fortress.
There is, of course, a cathedral at the fortress. Peter the Great and other czars and their families are
buried here.
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| Royal Kripts |
We had originally planned to stay in the city to attend a
folklore performance after dinner. However, Dick was not feeling well, so we
returned to the ship with the others. We hated to miss this cultural
experience.
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| White Night (12:30 AM; sun just setting) |
During the summer, northern Russia is known for its long days
(or short nights) known as "White Nights." While Dick slept, Karen
got up and saw such a phenomenon at about 12:30 AM, when the sun had not quite
set.
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| at St Nicholas |
Paulina met us the morning of Day 2 to see more of St
Petersburg. We went by St. Nicholas church which is by a canal, and has always been
a church, even in the Soviet era. It stayed open allowing people to come a
pray, even when no services were allowed. Our first stop was at Alla's shop to
pay for the tour and have the opportunity to buy souvenirs. We purchased a
nesting nativity in the style of the nesting Russian dolls. It is a unique
addition to our collection.
From there we headed out of St Petersburg to Catherine's Palace
and Peterhof. On the edge of the city, we stopped briefly at the Leningrad
Siege memorial.
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| Cupolas of church at Catherine's Palace |
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| Hall of Mirrors in Catherine's Palace |
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| Throne Room |
Catherine's Palace is a huge complex with one more room than
Versailles. It even has a Hall of Mirrors, though the mirrors don't cover as
much of the walls. It's still very impressive. One of the most impressive rooms
is the "Amber Room." The walls are mostly covered with amber, a
semi-precious stone that is often used to make jewelry. It is a truly amazing
sight.
Outside the palace, we walked through the huge and beautiful
gardens. Before returning to the bus and a sack lunch. That was another
interesting Russian meal. It was a "pancake" wrapped around chicken
to make a sandwich.
The next stop was at Peterhof, one of Peter the Great's palaces.
The palace is under refurbishing and not open. The gardens are the main
attraction.
We first walked the upper gardens while Paulina bought our
admission tickets. They are not spectacular but beautiful, nonetheless. There
are simple fountains in this section.
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| At Peterhof |
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| Trick Foountain |
In the formal gardens, the fountains are not simple. It fact, it
is known as the fountain park. All the fountains, and there are a couple
hundred of them, are gravity fed and operated using no pumps or electricity. It
is amazing to see what engineers in the 18th century were able to accomplish.
Peter also had a sense of humor and constructed several "trick fountains."
If you step on a certain cobble stone the fountain begins and you get wet. We
saw groups of children really enjoying these fountains. Peter didn't like
living in huge palaces and actually lived in the smaller palace next to the
river. The huge palace was used for state functions.
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| Peterhof Fountains |
Our return to St Petersburg was by hydrofoil, which is much
faster than by road. The bus met us where we docked near the Hermitage. On the
way back to the ship, we stopped at St Isaac's Cathedral, the largest in St
Petersburg. We had previously only seen the outside. It has amazing artwork and
ikons inside as most Russian churches.
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| St Isaac's Dome |
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| St Isaac's Cathedral |
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| St Isaac's Mosaics |
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| Kronshtat Cathedral |
We returned to the ship in plenty of time to sail out of the
city. As we left, we sailed past the Naval Shipyard, Kronshtadt. In addition to
all the ships and a submarine or two, the shipyard has its own cathedral, a
typical looking Russian Orthodox church. It's amazing that it's still there
after the Soviet era. It has been refurbished and is quite a beautiful sight as
we sailed away from St Petersburg.
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