Day 23 and 24, May 8-9 St. Petersburg, Russia

From sweet, simple Shrek to overwhelming wealth and indulgence---medivial to Czars.  In One Day.

There's something eerily fascinating about coming to St. Petersburg. It's probably a combination of Cold War remembrances (this was, after all, once an Evil Empire) and all sorts of warnings from ship personnel about pickpockets and black marketeers. It doesn't help that you have to walk past stern-faced, uniformed customs officials at the pier before you can experience the city itself.   Although not my words, exactly our feelings.

 Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg in 1703, in what was then swampland,and  has unbelievably sumptuous Czarist-era palaces (efforts have been underway for years to fix the crumbling ones), onion-domed churches and the lovely Neva River. Peter was inspired by London, Paris and Vienna and carefully developed the city by plans, creating canals and passageways that will remind you of Venice. Most of the design remains intact today, testimony to St. Petersburg's pride -- and the inability of Hitler to conquer the city during World War II.

St. Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia from 1712 to 1914 and remains Russia's cultural center of Russia.. All the big names have been affiliated with St. Petersburg, including Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy. The city itself is like a living museum.   It was once called Leningrad, then the name changed back to St. Petersburg.

We watched several movies and documentaries on Catherine the Great/St. Petersburg before we left home, so we did have an idea of what the palaces/museums involved.  But never did we realize the grandeur, decadance, opulence, magnificence, incomprehensible wealth  that we saw in the buildings/palaces of St. Petersburg.

Friday, our first day, started by an early meeting in Club 6 of the ship with the rest of the group who signed up for the Alla Tours.  As soon as we got off the ship , we walked into the customs/immigration area of the terminal.  It was a little intimidating, but they examined our passports, gave us a little ticket and a stamp and we were on our way.  Outside the terminal, we got divided up into groups of 16 and small tour vans…so much nicer than a big tourbus.  We had a really good group and we were friends by the end of the first day.

The first stop we made after getting into Old St.  Petersburg was for a photo stop of St. Isaac’s Cathredral…quick, because we were going to go into St. Isaac’s on Saturday.  There were tour buses everywhere with loads of people.  It was a hop on, hop off…lol

The next stop was The Hermitage where we had “early-entry” tickets (before the doors actually open for the public)  That certainly didn’t mean that there were no other tour groups though—they also had early entry tickets. 

The Hermitage is the world's second-largest art museum (behind the Louvre) and easily St. Petersburg's most famous attraction. The four buildings that make up the museum include the opulent Winter Palace, which was built by Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth and has undergone major renovations that have left it sparkling. We saw orginals of DaVinci, Renoir, Rembrant, Michelangelo…just totally full of originals and our guide gave us such detailed information on the different paintings.

The art-collecting began with Catherine the Great (although what she collected could only be viewed by royal eyes and invited guests). It continued from generation to generation until it reached it’s current status today. .  It houses over 3 million works of art and if you took just one minute in front of each work of art, it would take you 11 years to see all the pieces

Just before it became evident that the city was to be occupied by the Nazi’s, the locals came into the palace and collected all the art and museum pieces, went down these stairs (see photo), loaded onto trucks and sent the pieces to a small town just outside of Siberia.  In 1945, when the Nazi’s left, the Hermitage was restored and the art returned via these stairs.  Since that time the stairs have never been used again as a memorial to that time.

While the Hermitage's Rembrandt collection is the second-biggest (after Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum), many of the more famous pieces have returned to Holland as part of the Hermitage Amsterdam. Still at the Hermitage on a recent visit: The Danae, which may or may not actually be by Rembrandt but has a place in history for being slashed and burned with acid in 1985 by a madman. It took 12 years to restore the work.

We viewed the art and sculptures in The Hermitage for two hours.  Upon entering, we had to leave our coats at a cloakroom.  It was off and on raining and they didn’t want wet raincoats inside the museum.  No problem.  But by the time we were ready to leave, the doors had opened for the public and the place was wall to wall people shuffling along.  Our guide had outfitted us with headphones so she just talked us all through the mass of bodies.  Most were at the cloakroom trying to leave/retrieve their coats.  We pushed or were pushed to the exit to all gather again and walked outside to lines and lines and lines of people trying to get IN….all with umbrellas. 

Scenes from The Hermitage:

The stairs used to take the art, etc out to be  hidden from the Nazi's

DaVinci's Madonna and Child

Small portion of outside--it's huge

Nicholas II study--all original

Rembrandt's Old Man in Red

Rembrandt's The Prodigal Son

Fortunately, our magic driver appeared right at curbside when we emerged from the crowds on the sidewalk….we stepped inside the van and took off.  The Museum was absolutely breathtaking.

The Hermitage was also the Tsar’s (1763-1917) Winter Palace (still called that today) .  So some of the rooms we saw were their personal living quarters .In 1917, the Bolchivik Revolution did away with the Tsar’s…but their grand palaces remained. 

Next stop was about an hour drive to Pushkin to visit Catherine’s Palace, built in the mid to late 18^th century and has been beautifully restored with lush gardens and parks.  Catherine’s Palace was built as a summer home for Catherine I by her husband Peter the Great, who founded St. Petersburg.  It was later used by Catherine the Great.

There is a room called “The Amber Room” made entirely of amber.  Amber is very popular here.  It is from a petrified pine tree sap—for a South Arkansas explanation.  It’s found in Russia more than any other place and is thought to provide health.  Just before the Nazi occupation of St. Petersburg, all the furniture, appointments, even chandoliers were removed , again, by the locals, put on trucks and stored in the basement of St. Isaac’s Cathedral until after the war was over.  The locals tried to remove the amber but were unable to cut the panels, so it was left on the walls.  When the Nazi’s took over the Palace, they removed the panels by some method.  At that time they disappeared.  Since the war, there have been searches for the amber in Russia, Germany and Poland, but it has never been found.  Our guide suggested that it was so thin, that it just crumbled away.

The Amber Room was re-created and  took 20 years and cost more than $12 million with new amber mined (for lack of a better word) right on the grounds of the Palace.  It was an absolutely beautiful room….amber is various shades of yellow, bronze, gold and brown with some reddish tones.  The inlays are amazing.  Yes, I had to have some amber.  No pictures could be taken there.

You are required to wear booties on your shoes while walking through this palace.  We all looked like Tinkerbell.  But there were little stern-faced Russian ladies at every door watching feet to make sure everybody had on booties.

Scenes from Catherine’s Palace:

Entrance to Catherine's Palace--a summer home

Our Tinkerbell booties

Couch is original (not restored)-over 200 years old

Piano's played in concert and donated by Elton John

In every room--Delft china

From there, we drove back to the city to Aragosta Restaurant where we had a nice Russian lunch.  A cabbage type salad, a wonderful cabbage soup, and a mashed potato with a beef stroganoff of sorts—and oh, yes, Russian tea.  Very nice.  Cabbage is very popular here.

After lunch (a late lunch), we went to my favorite site in all of St. Petersburg.  The Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood.  The most beautiful piece of architecture I’ve ever seen.  Inside and outside. The “spilled blood” refers to the assassination , In 1881, of Alexander II on this very spot.  The church was built around the spot with a shrine inside the church marking the assassination.  The church inside is covered top to bottom, ceiling…all over with over 7500 square meters of mosiacs, all restored after WWII bombings.

There are icons everywhere!  Back in early Russia, most Russians were very religious, but illiterate.  So, the stories of the Bible were told by pictures (icons) and are depicted all over the walls of the church. 

The icons are made from tiny mosiac tiles—tiny little inlaid tiles done by hand…walls, ceilings.  During Communist rule, there was little religion in Russia, but today, after the fall of Communisim, religion has been revived with most Russians being Christian Orthodox.

Services are still held in The Church of the Spilled Blood, but there are no chairs…you stand throughout the service. 

Scenes from Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood:

Worshipping at the gates of heaven

Top of a tall, tall tower inside-Jesus at 12

About 5:30 or 6 we got back to the ship to stand in another mass of lines to get back through immigration/customs.  Not enough workers—too many people.  While we waited for the lines to go down a bit, we shopped in some of the port shops.  Finally, got through the lines and back to ship to crash for the night….we were all so tired.  But had to be ready to go again for Saturday—early.

It was a good day.  Rainy off and on, but not too bad.  Mid-50’s all day.

Saturday

Up and at ‘em early….it was hard.   We are here during the “white nights” where there’s daylight for 24 hours—It never completely gets dark.  So at bedtime, it still looks like dusk. 

But we loaded back in the same van and got on our way by 8 a.m.  and it was an absolutely beautiful day.  Sunny and 50-s.  A perfect day for all  our outdoor activities scheduled for today.

Today was Victory Day in St. Petersburg, a huge celebration of the end of Nazi occupation  (1941-1945). 

Now, I know I’ve talked about the crowds of people we’ve encountered.  Nah….today was tens of tens of thousands.  They were here for a parade, all day celebrations located throughout the city ending with fireworks tonight.  It was an obvious celebration and appreciation of the military.  They were everywhere.

First off,  we took  a boat ride down the Neva River (which runs through St. Petersburg)  and canal connections.  We saw the military equipment of all kinds, including tanks and missille launcers,  lined up and ready for the parade….even a submarine was in the River for display.  All along the streets, the bridges over the River and canals, were people walking with flags and ribbons towards the Palace where the celebration and parade began.  They waved, we waved and it was just people to people…..no politicians or politics involved. 

Scenes from the canal and Victory Day Celebration:

We didn’t see the parade itself…but most of the participants---we saw.  It appeared to be military parade only.  There were hundreds of young men and women in their uniforms of various kinds.  But the streets were literally packed with people. Some of them carried the Russian flag, but a lot of them also carried the former Soviet flag.

After the canal ride, we visited the Yusupov Palace ( a hugely, obscenely wealthy Russian family) and the Gregory Rasputin connection.  Now this is a story for a movie…and I think there actually was one long ago.  I’m just gonna say:  Google it and read it for yourself.  It is an interesting story.  Rasputin was shot while in the palace and tried to escape…..read the story.  No pictures allowed (unless you pay) inside this, but it looked much like all the other palaces….rich, over-the-top. 

The wealth of the Russian Tsar’s was acquired through centuries from the beginning of Russia.  All there was at that time to “trade” or pay with was land.  Therefore some people began to acquire land—which in turn became gold  mines, silver mines, amber, lumber and other natural resources.   The land owners allowed people to  live on their land, sharecrop and pay taxes to them.  Wealth grew and was passed down and multiplied from generation to generation.  In other words, the rich got richer and the poor stayed the same.

Next stop was the St. Isaac’s Cathedral, our photo stop on Friday.  It is located right in the middle of all the celebrations going on for Victory Day.  OMYGoodness, the people!!!  But our magic driver found a spot very near the entrance.

Crowds:

St. Isaac’s Cathedral… the biggest in St. Petersburg, is an immense, awesome spectacle. It's not all that old -- it was completed in the mid-19th century -- but it's replete inside and out with gorgeous mosaic murals, granite pillars and marble floors. Its huge gold dome can be seen for miles around.  It’s another “active” church used today.  Our guide explained the little room off to the side (no pictures, please) of where you go for prayer in front of whatever icon you want (Mary, for any need of the home; Jesus, for help in grieving, etc, etc.)  She also explained the customs of her religion, the Trinity, and her baptism.  Very touching.  I love the Christian Orthodox symbolism and beautiful

Icons and worshipfulness.  You go to church to worship, not to see and be seen.  There are no musical instruments, just voices.  You remove your hats/caps; women cover their heads.  It’s very reverent and I would imagine you would feel like you’ve stepped into heaven with all the icons of Jesus, Mary, Peter, Paul and all the disciples surrounding you on the walls, ceilings and columns.

Scenes from St. Isaac’s Cathedral:

We made our way back to the van….even the guide was breathing hard…through the masses, but we all stayed together and made it out.  Lol.

On our way out to Peterhof Palace and Gardens, we got out and experienced  the Russian subway for couple of stops.  It went DOWN for 150 feet by escalator and was beautiful.  Carvings everywhere, marble walls and floors.  The trains were old, but very fast and full of locals –we stood but it was not very long.  Julia, our guide, I think was worried that we wouldn’t all get off together, but we did.  We walked back up from subway (not as deep underground at this point) and the van was there waiting for us. ......

Russian Subway:

 With lunch in our seat.  The famous Stolle meat and fruit pies—Russians cannot live without them.  My lunch was glutenfree so I had cabbage salad!  But it was good and served with gf wafers, banana and nuts.  We ate on the way to Peterhof.

We had read about the gardens and anxious to actually see them.  The huge Palace was another summer home –this was Peter the Great’s and Catherine I summer home-complete with their own cathedral.  Julia said we’d seen enough palaces so we didn’t go inside (I totally agreed) but the gardens were unbelievable.  Interestingly, there are a number of “smaller” palaces on the grounds where they preferred actually living in—they didn’t like the big, huge palaces so used them for functions .  What a waste—but it was the times, the way of life. 

The fountains are a man-made miracle.  They use no pumps—done completely by gravity with water coming from the mountains in underground streams.  The water is then run into the Gulf of Finland which lies next to the grounds.  It is not recirculated.  And, of course, during the winter months, there is no running water, so no fountains.

The design of the huge fountain below the Palace is another extravagance that only a few could afford and only a few could ever see--- until now, and now millions view them every year—and nearly that many the same day we saw them.  You can’t deny their beauty.
Scenes from Peterhof:

Their own personal cathedral 

Peterhof Palace

We walked through the gardens (a portion of the gardens) down to the smaller residences where they preferred to live.  Peter the Great designed one small fountain there to “fool” his guests.  A cobblestone square laid out in front of a bench—when you walked on the cobblestones to sit down, a sprinkler went off.

Then, a fairly long walk along the shoreline of the Gulf of Finland to a quick ride back to St. Petersburg via a hydrafoil fast boat.  Instead of a hour+ ride via van, this was a 30 minute ride across the Gulf.  And the seats were super comfortable…a great rest which we all were dying for.  Extremely tiring day.

Back on the van and a ride and quick visit to  Peter and Paul’s Fortress—the birthplace of St. Petersburg.  It was originally constructed in timber over 3 months during 1700-1721, and was rebuilt in stone after 1730 for a military fortification but has  never been used for that purpose.  It was later used as a political prison.  It is the burial place of many Russian emperors starting with Peter the Great (1689-1725) and ending with Nicholas II (1894-1917).  The remains of the last Russian Tsar and his family were murdered brutally and their bones were discovered in recent years and were buried beneath the cathedral on July 17, 1998.  That would be an interesting story that I plan to re-read.  I vaguely remember hearing about the discovery of their bones.  The inside of the cathedral is beautiful with all the tombstones of the royalty.

Scenes from Peter and Paul's Fortress:

Back through the masses of people (Julia kept saying that these places –except for downtown—were really not crowded.  Come back in summer months to see crowds)  and to the ship for the end of the two day visit to Russia.  Getting back through customs today was very quick, very easy .  We ate, and laid flat.  Exhausted.

I know this is a long blog, but this is for us to remember what we did.  And it’s not nearly as long as today was for us.  Lol. 

This has been one of the highlights of the whole month long voyage for us.  Never dreamed in a million years that we would get to visit here and enjoy it so much. 

Tomorrow is Helsinki, Finland.  Plans are to do a HoHo….later in the morning.