From RUSSIA, with Love...
Trip Start
Jul 02, 2008
1
19
31
Trip End
Jul 25, 2008
St. Petersburg,
North-West Russia,
Russian Federation
Friday, July 18, 2008
My first impression when I looked out to the dock area was that the Soviets were still in power! I am sure HAL saves money y docking so far out, or it could also be that the ship is too big to get any closer into the city, but we were in the middle of an industrial port. A massive industrial area that smelled of Central Planning and bureaucratic input, and no less. I grabbed a little breakfast and headed down to the meeting room where our special tour was gathering. After a brief introduction from Tanya, the host's significant other, we went ashore and through Russian immigration.
HAL had made a big deal about us making sure we went by the front office to get a copy of our passport to give to the Russian officials, and even went further to explain to everyone to have their passport open to the photo page, the copy unfolded and flat, the tour ticket and your key card (on ship I.D.) available to show to the immigration officials
The View from our ship
. We get up there, and no one was prepared, and the poor woman behind the counter would have been justified by denying everyone entrance. But she didn't. She snarled at Carol (who is full of questions and seeing clarification), was vaguely un-polite to Bob, and just waved me through as she stamped the passport and slipped in a red card indicating that I only had entry for the day with the cruise ship tour.Outside, Chris (the Ensemble Host on this cruise) ushered everyone good naturedly into the bus and we were on our way. Now, we are in the middle of an industrial area, and there are lots of trains around, so I was pretty happy about it. I got some great shots of Russian rolling stock as we drove out of the terminal area, and were greeted by yet another holdout of Central Planning efficiency. At the entrance to the port area, all the traffic must go through a single lane, whether going in or out. They both used the same lane, and there were at least 20 busses for HAL, not to mention the regular traffic. It took awhile, and our guide was beginning to tell us about Russia, and what we could expect on our tour of St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad.
I happily snapped pictures as we drove into the city, past run down buildings with dusty and dirty facades, punctuated by the occasional new construction or modern hotel, not to mention graffiti
Home of the Russian Ballet
. We drove over the oldest bridge, originally a draw bridge, but now just a bridge as the guide explained Russian history. There was so much to see, and we saw most of it. I cannot go on and on and tell you about it all, but the highlights of day one for me were:#1: the Aurora, the military ship that fired a blank shot signaling the beginning of the revolution in 1917.
#2: The statue of Peter the Great outside St. Isaacs Cathedral, the cathedral is also amazing.
#3: The Church of the spilled blood, which is amazing on the outside (and synonymous with St. Petersburg) and even more amazing on the inside. Look at the pictures, and realize that all the "paintings" and murals you see are actually mosaics. It is breathtaking beautiful.
#4: The boat tour around the city, we got to go up and down the canals and see everything, from a water view of the Aurora, to Peter the Greats Summer garden.
And in the middle of the afternoon, we had lunch that was included in the tour (which was complimentary from the Ensemble Travel Agencies). And there was champagne of the boat tour, and shopping at an outdoor arcade near the Church of the Spilled Blood
Modern Russian at a bus stop!
. It was a great day. The only bad part of the day was on the boat tour when Carol was trying to take a shot of Bob (no, not AT Bob, but a OF him!) and the mat she was standing on slid out from under her and she came crashing down, hitting her head on the corner of the boat! It was scary for a few minutes, but she was ok, and ended up only with a slight bump on her head. We kidded her about having no worries, since she had a thick Polish head, she swatted at me un-amused.... ah well, she still loves me none the less!And I learned a lot, like Peter the Great was a big man, almost 7 feet tall! And he was a carpenter, and wasn't above working with his subjects. And he had vision, a vision of bringing Europe to Russia, and Russia into the modern age. Which is why he built, or had built, St. Petersburg, ordering his nobility to move there, and moving the seat of government from Moscow to St. Petersburg where it remained until the revolution. He built a city form nothing, even the original log cabin he built when first exploring the area still stands, although it is with in another building. It's just an amazing place.
After the tour we returned to the ship around 4, and had a quick nap because we were going to a "Folkloric Spectacular", a tour Michael nor I would have chosen, but were doing because Bob had said he wanted to do it. So, we semi dressed up (jeans, shirt, jacket) and boarded our tour bus with 700 other people and headed back into the city. Somehow we realized that dinner was not going to be served. Lord only knows where we got the idea that dinner would be served, perhaps from some early literature, but it wasn't and I was getting grouchy for low blood sugar by the time we arrives at the Hotel where the show was to take place
Me at The Aurora!
. Our bus guide had said it was the most expensive hotel in the city, and we were shocked to see how run down it was. Westernization is still in the works here I guess. Anyways, we seated ourselves, and sat back expecting the worst. Even when it first began Michael and I just kind of looked at each other and rolled our eyes. But as the show progressed, the dancing was amazing, and the songs became more entrancing. All in all, it became a wonderful evening, one that I would highly recommend to anyone traveling to St. Petersburg on a cruise, or otherwise. Some of the production values were lacking, but the sheer beauty and poetry of the performers made up for anything that was lacking. We enjoyed the evening immensely, and after waiting in a long line to re-board the ship, went straight to the Lido restaurant for something to eat. It was Asian themed night, and the food was awesome, especially since we were all so hungry after a long evening! Then off to bed, for day two was only hours away, and we had a full day tour to look forward to. 
