Another day, another port. This time St. Petersburg, Russia. St. Petersburg
is rich in cultural heritage, and a masterpiece of architecture that embodies
the soul of Imperial Russia. In 1703, Peter the Great built a fortress on the
banks of the Neva River, and by 1712 a new city had emerged. Elegant façades,
glorious cathedrals, and grand residences were built along the city's canals.
Construction flourished under Catherine the Great, and the city gained new
splendor with elaborate palaces, lovely parks, and magnificent squares designed
by French and Italian architects. St. Petersburg is the most European-influenced
city in Russia, and certainly the most spectacular.
We were warned that typical Russian dishes include borscht, a beetroot soup;
beef stroganoff, thin slices of beef braised with mushrooms, onions and sour
cream; and the famous chicken kiev, chicken breasts wrapped around garlic
butter, usually breaded and sautéed. The Russians are also famous for their
caviar, often served with finely chopped hard-boiled egg and onion on blinis
(miniature pancakes).
Man, was I in trouble. I don't like beets, mushrooms, onions, chicken, eggs
or caviar. Makes you wonder how I gained so much weigh, doesn't it?
Here we had the Russian Rouble. You guessed it. More Monopoly money.
For each of our countries to visit, I thought it would be useful to try to
learn a few key words. I think I was out of luck in Russia. The spell checker
had a breakdown. After all that research, I don't recall uttering a single
foreign word.
We dragged in for a quick breakfast, then joined tour group bus number 3. Had a
great guide, who gave us headsets tuned to her microphone. This gave
us some freedom to look around at things. And, she wasn't continually talking
until we arrived at some crypts toward the end of the tour. Silence can be golden.
Our tour this day was "City Highlights & Pushkin. What's a Pushkin, you ask?
It's where Catherine's Palace is located, and was originally known as Tzar's
Village.
After driving the main, multi-mile road through St. Petersburg, we arrived at
Pushkin. We began with a visit to Catherine's Palace. Renowned for its splendid
fairytale interior of fine furnishings and china, it ranks as one of the
masterpieces of world art.
Peter the Great presented the estate to his wife Catherine in 1710. It served
until the time of the last Tzar as the imperial family's summer residence.
During World War II the palace suffered significant damage. Painstaking work
has restored much of it to its original splendor.
Our arrival at the entrance was rushed, but since I was lagging behind anyway,
I stopped to take this breathtaking panoramic view, assuming I'd have another
chance for more close up photos on the way out. By the way, this never happened.
I'm standing in the middle of the courtyard (if you can call it that), aimed
at the left side of the building entrance, going counterclockwise to the gates
where we entered. Onward to the right side of the building entrance, past where
everyone else was waiting for me, and around again to the gilded gates. Yes,
that's me huffing and puffing in the background.
Toggle clicks or double clicks on the image to start and stop the video. Hope
you don't get dizzy.
At the entrance were intricately carved figurines that were originally covered
with gold leaf.
Once inside, we were at the beginning of an experience of a lifetime. I feel
sorry for kids who loosely use the term awesome. Unless they've seen something
like this palace, they have no clue as to the meaning of the word. Catherine's
Palace is AWESOME!
We were guided through the various lavish rooms including the Throne Room, the
State Dinning Room, the Reception Room, the Blue Drawing Room, and others. Some
rooms were wallpapered in oil paintings.
Just gasp, ooh and ah through these next few photos.
Yes, that's all gold leaf. Stunning in its opulence, it's hard to imagine, I
think they said, ninety percent
of this palace was destroyed during WWII, and most of this is restoration. I
applaud the work that has been done on it.
After the tour in the palace, we were escorted out a side door and through a
section of the garden decorated with several pavilions, monuments, and bridges
in a variety of styles.
The grounds and gardens were massive. Eventually, we exited through a path
where several outdoor vendors peddled Russian souvenirs. I managed to find a
couple of items, including some needlework items.
On the way back to town, St. Petersburg, we made note of architecture and other
items along the way. I spotted one of my favorite places, Baskin Robins.
Unfortunately we couldn't stop there.
Most blocks had some type of police or military presence, just standing. No
guns were visible. It gave the feel of my mental images of communist Russia.
On this day and the next, we crossed the Neva River multiple times.
Back in town, we stopped got lunch at a Russian restaurant. It was supposed to
be beef stroganoff. I had to hunt for the ounce and a half of beef bites smothered
in gravy. The mashed potatoes had a funny taste that I recalled from childhood
to be half mashed turnips. Didn't like them then. Don't like them now. There
was also some bottled water, a glass flat champagne (so I was told) and a shot
glass of vodka with some kind of fly floating on the top in a couple of glasses.
Yum.
We left the restaurant with one more stop to make at Cathedral of Saints Peter
and Paul. It seemed every surface was ornate.
Several of our tour guides discouraged us from purchasing anything from the
venues we visited, saying there would be shopping later. This "later" place
was woefully lacking.
The only souvenir stop in St. Petersburg was a reminder of cheap Mexico shopping.
There were no local handcrafts other than the few at Catherine's Palace (which
technically is in Pushkin), and everything seemed mass produced.
I was barely moving on my walk back from the bus to the ship because of my back.
We returned to our ship quite exhausted, rested awhile and ended our day with
a casual dinner in the Tides Dining room.
Lesley ended up being throwing up sick all night. We had eaten the same thing at
lunch, but decided the stroganoff gravy must have had some oyster sauce in it.
She is very allergic to oysters. It was a miserable night for her.
We dragged in for a quick breakfast, then joined tour group bus number 3. Had a
great guide, who gave us headsets tuned to her microphone. This gave
us some freedom to look around at things. And, she wasn't continually talking
until we arrived at some crypts toward the end of the tour. Silence can be golden.
